February 28 - March 5, 2026

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Which French actress was "discovered" by Jean-Pierre Melville and put under contract, but decided that she didn't want the Melville contract and began making movies in Italy?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Isabelle Corey.

Which French actress worked with directors Alberto De Martino, Roberto Rossellini, Giacomo Gentilomo, Guido Leoni and Mauro Bolognini?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Isabelle Corey.

Which French actress ended her career in 1961 and died in 2011 reportedly from cancer?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Isabelle Corey.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which German actress worked for directors Alfred Vohrer, Rudolf Thome, Sergio Corbucci, Gerhard Janda and Sherry Hormann?

Which American actor worked with directors Greydon Clark, Peter Sasdy, Alfonso Brescia, Sergio Corbucci, Fernando Di Leo and Bruno Corbucci?

Which Italian screenwriter was a frequent collaborator with Bruno Corbucci?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Bertrand van Wonterghem last week's photo of Elisa Montes and Loredana Nusciak in 7 DOLLARI SUL ROSSO, aka SEVEN DOLLARS TO KILL.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert, Angel Rivera and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from PERSEO L'INVINCIBILE, aka MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Katell Laennec in MALABIMBA.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo from THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

RED SHORGHUM (1988) - Chinese novelist Mo Yan originally published RED SORGHUM in five parts. This movie is based on the first two parts of the novel. Set in the period before the Japanese invasion of World War II, the film is unlike any other I've seen if for nothing else but that all of the men here have shaven heads and are not monks. Also unusual, the film is narrated by the unseen grandson of the story's main characters. Gong Li is the ninth child of a poor farming family, who is sold to a rich old man who has never been married and has leprosy. As she travels to the old man's winery in a sedan chair, she catches a glimpse of Jiang Wen who is one of the bearers. The wedding party is stopped by a masked man claiming to be a famous bandit. When the masked man tries to take Li into the bushes, Wen leads the other bearers to attack. They discover that the masked man is not the famous bandit and that his gun is fake, so they kill him. After a certain period of time with her husband - whom we never see, Li takes the customery trip to see her parents. Disgusted by her father, she spurs her mule to race ahead. Alone on the road, Li is pulled from the mule by another masked man who takes her into the sorghum field. When she unmasks the man, she finds it is Wen and decides to lay with him. When Li returns from visiting her father, she finds that her husband has died. Some suspect murder and some suspect Wen as the culprit. Faithful worker Teng Rujun helps to convince Li to take over the winery, and she promises to make it successful for everybody. Rujun doesn't approve when Wen suddenly shows up drunk claiming that he is Li's real husband. And so begins a series of events which leads to the winery becoming a great success until the Japanese Army shows up to force everyone to help build an highway. After the Japanese attempt to teach the locals a lesson by having two men flayed alive, Li convinces her workers that they must attack the Japanese when they return in the morning. Not surprising, this leads to tragedy. This was the directorial debut of Zhang Yimou, who had previously been a celebrated director of photography. The storytelling is pretty simple, and there is very little attempt to explain the psychology of the characters, which prevents a strong identification with them. But with the narration of someone far removed from the events, the film takes on the aspect of a folk tale that is surprisingly compelling.

Mildly enjoyed:

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. "Family Harmonies: Michael Peter Balzary (Flea) and Melissa Jefferson (Lizzo)" (2026)

Did not enjoy:

THE ASSOCIATION (1974) - Well, this is certainly different from any other Golden Harvest film that I've seen. There is a fifteen minute "before the opening credits" sequence. Against a vivid painted backdrop of a red sky, Angela Mao is led to a place of execution by armed guards. The leader of the guards is policeman Yu Byong, who has a cliched flashback of being in love with Mao, shown by their running together in slow motion. She then has a flashback to how corrupt military officers were trying to take away her father's command. This seems to be set during pre-revolution China of the 1920s; a time of corrupt war lords. Her father refuses to give up his command, so the corrupt officers leave signalling the corrupt doctor to demand payment for the expensive medical treatment that's been keeping the father alive. When the father explains that he can't afford to pay him, the doctor then decides to rape the wife. Hearing the struggle, the father gets out of bed to kill the doctor, but then has a fatal attack. The doctor then rapes the wife, in a rather long sequence, before strangling her to death. Daughter Angela Mao comes home, see her parents dead, and then proceeds to fight with the doctor. The policeman Yu Byong arrives just as Mao delivers the death blow. The corrupt officials ensure that Mao is executed for killing the doctor, but Byong promises her to get justice. After the opening credits, Byong is soon investigating the death of a young woman. From the local temple, he goes to the woman's parents. The parents explain that their daughter went to the Women's Welfare Association, which provides legal abortion services that are carried out as if they are performing a Satanic Ritual. The women are sent for abortions from an association that is supposed to help young women but is actually a brothel, run by a woman dressed like a geisha. Byong wants to bust the whole set-up, but it turns out that the miliary authorities are actually behind the corruption. The bad guys try to distract our hero by getting him to protect a private bank they know a desperate criminal plans to rob. After Byong foils the robbery with the help of some loyal cops - including Sammo Hung, he accuses the authorities of setting him up to be killed. At that point, the villains attempt to assassinate him as he is walking in the night. Luckily, Central Police Bureau agent Angela Mao shows up - and no one seems to notice that she looks just like the executed woman - to see that justice is delivered. Actually Carter Huang, aka Carter Wong, shows up to make the arrest, but the villains quickly gun him down. So it is up to Mao and her soldiers to kill all of the bad guys. There is so much topless female nudity in this film, that it seems to have been intended as a sex movie with a crime story attached. The mix is more confusing than it is thrilling, but it does seem to be a critique of pre-Communist China.

LUCKY SEVEN II, aka MAGNIFICENT 7 KUNG-FU KIDS (1989) - A gang of kidnappers are running rampant in Hong Kong. How can the police cope? By assembling a team of kid criminals, and the son of the police chief, to become the "7 Lucky Kids". Ridiculous kung fu slapstick is rampant in this flick, as well as many hits to male groins and pissing jokes. It turns out that the gang run by Kao Fei, aka Phillip Ko, is destroyed by the gang led by Yukari Oshima, who has a team of black leather clad women modeled after the three black women in ARMOR OF GOD. While the little boys are intimidated by girls in social circumstances, they have no problem taking on attacking black leather clad women - especially with grenades. Eventually the boys take on Oshima in a very long battle in a warehouse. When they run out of pellets with which to hit her with slingshots, the kids attack Oshima with ropes and cords with which to tie her up. The end is never in doubt, but the police chief suggests that the kids watch themselves, or perhaps they will have to reassemble for a future case. I might never have seen this movie if S.C. Dacy hadn't sent me a copy. Chen-Kuo Chao is the credited director.

NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS (1995) - BASIC INSTINCT did wonders for Sharon Stone's career, so Madonna tried something similar with BODY OF EVIDENCE, which didn't work out so well. I guess Rebecca De Mornay - whom I much prefer watching over Stone and Madonna - thought she should give it a try. This film was probably responsible for the stalling of what had seemed to be a promising career. Dr. De Mornay is investigating whether accused rapist and murderer Harry Dean Stanton is suffering from multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia. The discussion of these mental problems, including why they are different, should be the first clue as to how this erotic mystery will resolve. Who is harassing De Mornay with a box of dead flowers and the printing of her obituary in the newspaper? Is it her upstairs neighbor Dennis Miller? Is it an unknown associate of Stanton? Is it  Antonio Bandras whom De Mornay met while shopping for wine? Is it Stanton's creepy lawyer Tim Kelleher? Is it De Mornay's long estranged father Len Cariou? This was celebrated theater director Peter Hall's only effort to make an Hollywood movie, which he eventually admitted was a mistake. What tempted him to give it a try, especially considering the lousy screenplay credited to Lewis Green and Jordan Rush? Of course, I would have been tempted given the chance to see De Mornay naked, but he doesn't give the audience nearly as much eye candy as Stone and Madonna provided. However, Pino Donaggio provided a music score better than the movie deserved.

REVOLUTION (1985) - I like the concept behind this movie - a story set during the American Revolution of 1776 told from the perspective of a man who didn't want to get involved. Why producer Irwin Winkler decided to hire Robert Dillon, who wrote MUSCLE BEACH PARTY and PRIME CUT, to script it is a bit of a puzzler. Hiring Hugh Hudson to direct made more sense as he had a critical success with CHARIOTS OF FIRE and there were great expectations for GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES. After the tremendous failure of REVOLUTION, his feature film career was virtually over. I can't say that what happens to our hero, Al Pacino, in this story isn't possible, but Hudson is unable to make the dramatization of it convincing. And the photography by Bernard Lutic is often so dark that it is hard to understand what is going on. Many critics opinionated that the film looked to have suffered in the editing room because scenes rarely flow comfortably from one bit to another. Interestingly, when Hudson and Pacino went back to do a "director's cut" of the film in 2009, they added more narration and cut out about ten minutes. Reportedly, they also changed the ending, which sounds positive. The romantic story between Pacino and Nastassja Kinski seemed particularly unnecessary unless someone felt that the film needed an unlikely romantic finale. Donald Sutherland gets to be the face of British oppression of the colonists, and after establishing the family confict between mother Joan Plowright and daughter Kinski, didn't anyone feel that there should be a resolution when the war is over?

THE TOMORROW WAR (2021) - I guess we have to blame director James Cameron and ALIENS for the tide of military movies trying to pass themselves off as Science-Fiction stories. While ALIENS has a matriarchal theme, TOMORROW WAR is all about the patriarchy. Not the political system, but the importance of fathers. A group of soldiers from the future show up in the middle of a soccer match, to basically demand that the people of the present send people into the future to prevent the elimination of the human race by alien creatures who eat people. What the aliens will use for food after they kill off every human is just one of the issues that is never addressed. A world wide draft is declared and Iraq War Vet and science teacher Chris Pratt is torn away from his wife, Betty Gilpin (of Nurse Jackie) and daughter, Ryan Kiera Armstrong (of BLACK WIDOW and 2022's FIRESTARTER) and dropped into a future war zone. It turns out that Pratt is under orders from his adult daughter, Yvonne Strahovski, who wants to capture a female alien to figure out why the toxin that the humans created which kills all of the male aliens but doesn't work on the female. So we got some ALIENS and a whole lot of STARSHIP TROOPERS with some touch of WORLD WAR Z, too. The deployment into the future only lasts for seven days, but Strahovski perfects the toxin and gives it to Pratt with the plan that he will get the toxin mass-produced in the past, and then bring it back to the future. However, the "jumplink" is now inoperative, so Pratt can't go back to the future. Then he and some of his surviving commerades do what I thought the future soldiers should have done in the first place - figure out when and where the arrival of the aliens occurred and stop them then. In order to do this, Pratt has to rely on his estranged father, J.K. Simmons, to get to Russia. Zach Dean is credited with this screenplay which is way more complicated than it is enjoyable. Chris McKay of THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE is credited as director and he shows no taste in balancing over-the-top action with corny emotional scenes. However, the production does sport an impressive cast including those previously mentioned as well as Sam Richardson of Veep and Mary Lynn Rajskub of 24.

                                                       

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David Deal Enjoyed:

SUDAN (45)

A SAVAGE ART (25) - Excellent documentary on the political cartoonist Pat Oliphant.

THE BLOODSTAINED SHADOW (78)

APACHE DRUMS (51) - 1880. Gambler Stephen McNally just got himself kicked out of the small town of Spanish Boot by mayor Willard Parker. McNally and Parker both go for Coleen Gray, so the animosity is thick. On his way out, McNally stumbles across the site of slaughtered dancing girls that were also exiled from the town. The Apaches are on the war path but no one believes McNally when he goes back to warn the ungrateful citizens. Things will definitely take a turn for McNally as he rises to the occasion to lead the town against the Apaches. Termed a Frontier Gothic, this top-notch western comes from the Val Lewton school, and in fact it was his last production. This is atmospheric, thoughtful and interesting, definitely worth a watch.

BLIND CORNER (63) - Barbara Shelley is two-timing blind composer William Sylvester with artist Alexander Davion. When Barbara suggests that Alexander kill her husband, things begin to get sticky. A fun, twisty mystery that is all very civilized, of course. Recommended.

BULLET FOR A BADMAN (64) - Ex-Texas Ranger Audie Murphy is now a farmer with a wife and kid. When his old foe Darren McGavin robs the bank in town, Audie and a rag tag posse (including Ed Platt and Alan Hale, Jr.) take after him. Turns out McGavin was once married to Audie's wife and the kid is his too. When the posse catches up with Darren (and opportunist Ruta Lee) all this bad blood comes to the fore and the company must weather the attentions of marauding Apaches on the way back to town. This combination of road movie and siege western has some unexpected depth along with the usual redemptive ending. Another solid Audie entry.

ALMOST FAMOUS (00) - This still holds up extremely well.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (43)

Mildly Enjoyed:

ADORABLE CREATURES (52) - Through flashbacks we learn of a young man's affairs with three mostly annoying women until, eventually, he meets his true love, his neighbors' daughter, whom he has known for years. Christian-Jaque's (Dead Run) sex comedy is very breezy but also very French; it is chock full of characters double-crossing and manipulating each other to no end. It's also too long. So there.

BUNCO SQUAD (50) - Con artist Ricardo Cortez puts together a team to defraud a rich widow of her two million clams using the old spiritualist racket. The bunco squad, headed by detective Robert Sterling, gets wind of it and begins to unravel the scheme. Police procedural with a couple of spooky scenes to spice things up a bit. Not bad.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed:

Kaidan semushi otoko / House of terrors (1965, Hajime Sato)

Enjoyed: 

Une ravissante idiote (1965, Edouard Molinaro)

Les visiteurs (1980, Michel Wyn) (6 epis)

Boule de gomme (1930, Georges Lacombe)

Joe Dakota (1957, Richard Bartlett)

The fiend who walked the west (1958, Gordon Douglas)

Mildly enjoyed:

The adventure of Sherlock Holmes' smarter brother (1975, Gene Wilder)

40 guns to Apache pass (1966, William Witney)

Dog eat dog (2015, Paul Schrader)

Next (2007, Lee Tamahori)

Pony express (1953, Jerry Hopper)

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Angel Rivera enjoyed:

"THE REBEL" S1; E1 Johnny Yuma (1959)
                                E3 Yellow Hair
                                E 10 In Memoriam
                                E 11 The Vagrants
"The Rebel" which starred Nick Adams has been uploaded to YouTube. While I do not remember ever having seen it, I was curious so I watched a few episodes. First there was the pilot episode known as "Johnny Yuma". Yuma played by Nick Adams is a former Confederate soldier who is headed home a year after the Civil War ended, where he finds that his father who was the sheriff of his hometown has been murdered by a gang of thugs led by a pre-"Bonanza" Dan Blocker and they have taken over the town.. With the help of his father's ex deputy (Strother Martin) Yuma is able to exact revenge. After talking with the editor of the local newspaper played by John Carradine, Johnny wanting to be a writer goes traveling for experience while keeping a journal. 
The second episode finds Johnny finding a fort where there is no one except a man raving like a lunatic (played by Royal Dano). He explains that when the fort came under attack by the Kiowa, he hid. When the battle was over he came out among the Kiowa pretending to be crazy because he knew that the Kiowas would leave him be as they don't harm "the mentally unstable". Johnny is captured by the Kiowa who are led by a famous chief, Satanta.(played by Rodolfo Acosta who played a similar role as a Kiowa war chief in Elvis Presley's best Western, "Flaming Star" (1960) Johnny is able to save himself by challenging one of the Tribesmen and beating him. The Kiowas then let Johnny go on his way. 
In "In Memoriam" Agnes Moorehead has built a memorial for her son in the town she owns and runs for her late son was  killed in the Civil War. Even though her son was a Union soldier, Johnny happened to be there before he died and had promised to return a locket he gave him to give to his mother. When Moorehead's foreman played by Western star Bob Steele (also best known as Trooper Duffy of "F Troop"(1965-7) fame) discovers Johnny mentioned her son in his journal it is revealed that Moorehead's son was shot by his own side as a deserter. Madelyn Rhue best known to Star Trek fans as Khan's woman, Marla from the "Space Seed" episode, plays Moorehead's daughter.
In the last episode I watched Johnny Yuma is arrested for "vagrancy" and forced in to hard labor by a corrupt sheriff and his men. Yuma is only set free after he gets the attention of a sympathetic clergyman and reveals the corruption of the town sheriff. All in all an interesting series. 


"HITCH" (2005)
The comedy where Will Smith is the "Date Doctor" helps Kevin James win the heart of the woman of his dreams. Eva Mendes; Amber Valletta; and Adam Arkin costar. Very humorous rom-com.


"WARNING FROM SPACE" (1956/3)
Interesting Sci-Fi film and non-Godzilla film from Japan by Toho's rival studio, Daiei Film Co. Ltd. The first color Sci-Fi film from Japan. Starfish- like aliens try to warn Earthlings about a pending danger, but every time they try to communicate with them, the humans only see them as monsters. Then one of the aliens transforms into a human female and is able to communicate with the earthlings and they work together to help Earth avoid disaster. What is most interesting about this film is that this is a real document of its time as scenes of Japanese interacting and moving about Japan of the 1950s are seen. And not just scenes having to do with the action of the movie. All in all a film worth while watching even though some of it requires a very big willingness of suspension of disbelief.


"THE SAMURAI" S3, E12 "Wolf Ninja" (1963)
This series was very popular in Australia when its English dubbed version made it there from Japan. The episode I watched had to do with the "Wolf Ninja" called that because Ninja assassins apparently don't travel in "packs". I don't know if this show ever appeared in the US, but it somehow reminded me of the Zatoichi films that were shown in the US on cable TV in the nineties. This episode had all the trappings of a good samurai film. The political elements as well as the sword play. The hero, Shintaro prevents the assassination of a lord and kills an old nemesis. Lots of ninja action. The ninja jump into trees backwards  (obviously the film being reversed to create the appearance of the ninja jumping into the trees.) A similar method was used in another Japanese series that made it to the US TV syndication, known as "The Phantom Agents" (1964-1966) who were described as modern ninjas.

Mildly enjoyed:

"MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES" (1963)
This movie starred an actor I had never heard about. (Although I had seen some of the sons of Hercules series, the one I remember most was Maciste. That is why whenever I saw the name I assumed he was a "son of Hercules".) The star was Richard Harrison and this film was a retelling of the Perseus myth and how he battled the Medusa and saved a princess and her kingdom. The same story was told differently in Ray Harryhausen's "Clash of the Titans" (1981).

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Charles Gilbert watched: 

SUPER SEVEN CALLING CAIRO (1965) Cincinnatian Roger Browne plays international agent Martin Stevens romancing Fabienne Dali and Rosalba Neri while battling Massimo Serato and Andrea Aurelli. The Messina brothers provide some stunts.

WESTWORLD (1973) Guests to a new resort choose reality action among Westworld, Medievelworld, or Romeworld. at $1000 a night; all inhabited by robots. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin choose the first and interact with gunslinger Yul Brynner. Soon the site's technicians lose control over the automatons resulting in widespread death.

ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (1987) Richard Chamberlain and fiancee Sharon Stone on an adventure in Africa per title. James Earl Jones tags along. The name is spelled without the 'r' but every time some one says his name in the film it sounds like Quarter.

ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY (1958) B&W. K. Gordon Murray Mexican release. Robot is a cadaver brought back to life by mad scientist named Bat who clads his monster in sheet metal to look mechanical. The mummy makes scrap metal of him in the end.

Sea Hunt S2E01 "Alcatraz Story" B&W. I, too, watched the "Sea Serpent" episode the previous week. This one also has Leonard Nimoy appearing with Christopher Dark as brothers scheming to spring their incarcerated brother from the 'Rock'.

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