To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which Western made in Spain was originally to star Victor Mature, but he was too drunk to work so Rory Calhoun replaced him?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew it was FINGER ON THE TRIGGER.
Which American actor worked with directors Donald G. Jackson, Robert Vincent O'Neil, Michael Winner, Fernando Cortes, Paolo Bianchini, Sergio Leone and Sidney W. Pink?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Rory Calhoun.
Which American actor, who appeared in Westerns shot in Spain, reportedly spent time at the California Youth Authority's Preston School at Ione, CA, followed by the State Penitentiary in Springfield, MO and finally at San Quentin State Penitentiary in CA.?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Rory Calhoun.
And now for some new brain teasers:
In which Italian/Spanish Western does a natural right handed actor have his gunhand mangled, so that he has to kill the bad guys in the end with his left hand?
In which Italian/Spanish Western does a natural left handed actor have his gun hand disabled, so that he has to kill the bad guys in the end with this right hand?
In which Italian/Spanish Western does the hero have both hands mangled so that he has to take off the trigger guard of his pistol in order to access the trigger?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Jose Tores in DA UOMO A UOMO, aka DEATH RIDES A HORSE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes. Bertrand van Wonterghem and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Andrea Aureli and Dan Vadis in URSUS GLADIATORE RIBELLE, aka URSUS REBEL GLADIATOR, aka REBEL GLADIATORS.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from L'ULTIMO TRENO DELLA NOTTE, aka LAST STOP ON THE NIGHT TRAIN, aka NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Shih Kien and Ahna Capri in ENTER THE DRAGON.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
**********************************************************************
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:
Mildly enjoyed:
LOS MONSTRUOS DEL TERROR, aka THE MONSTERS OF TERROR, aka DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, aka ASSIGNMENT TERROR (1970) - A slapdash combination of plot elements from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, LOS MONSTRUOS DEL TERROR involves extraterrestrial beings from the dying planet Ummo taking over the deceased bodies of Earth beings Michael Rennie, Karin Dor and Angel del Pozo as part of a plan to destroy the human race by using their own superstitions against them. As the project was originated by producer Jaime Prades as a follow-up to the success of writer/star Paul Naschy's LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO, Naschy's werewolf/wolfman character Waldemar Daninsky was the first monster drafted into the plot, though after the body of vampire Manuel de Blas was stolen from a carnival sideshow. Inspector Craig Hill is put on the case after some dead bodies are found and soon discovers that pages have been torn out of The Anthology of Monsters at the library. Reportedly, Naschy complained that Prades promised him a lavish budget so he wrote scenes involving flying saucers and the Golem which were never filmed. He did get a living Egyptian Mummy, played by Gene Reyes, though. Unlike H.G. Welles' WAR OF THE WORLDS where the extraterrestrials are defeated by terrestrial germs, these aliens are defeated by the human emotions, particularly sexual lust, found in their revived human bodies. It all ends like THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN with the villain's castle blowing up. The vampire is named Count Janos and the creature is Farancksalan, so the title DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN is erroneous. A more accurate title would be WEREWOLF VS. MUMMY VS. FARRANCKSALAN. As in a movie from Hammer in England, the vampire character is done away with rather quickly, as are the other monsters. Naschy changes the werewolf story by being only able to die by being shot in the heart with a silver bullet by someone who loves him enough to die with him.Thankfully, Ella Gessler is around to fulfill this need. Adding to the sensual content of this flick, Patty Shepard is a woman who was able to escape an attack by Naschy, but soon begins an affair with Inspector Hill. Shepard and Hill get a chaste bed scene, but Karin Dor gets three scenes, and the filmmakers avoid any real nudity. Reportedly, director Hugo Fregonese made two-thirds of the movie before he quit. Tulio Demicheli then took over and is the only one to get an on-screen credit. Just to confuse matters more, the IMDb reports that both Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi and Eberhard Meichsner also worked on the film as directors.
THE RED TENT (1969) - The Italian Arctic exploration by the airship Italia in 1928 is not well remembered now. It wasn't that well remembered in 1960 when Yuri Nagiban decided to turn the the story of that ill-fated voyage into a novel. Producers Franco Cristaldi and Victor Freilich decided that the story of an Italian crew trapped on Arctic Ice being rescued by Soviet sailors would be a terrific reason to mount the first Soviet film done in co-production with a company in the West. Fiction intruded on the telling of this true story when Cristaldi insisted on his wife, Claudia Cardinale, get a good role. So, what mostly is documentary-like regarding the historic events ultimately plays like a romantic melodrama. Well, the film's framework is akin to an hallucination as well. General Nobile, played by Peter Finch, can't sleep and so imagines many of those involved in the disaster visiting him in the night to perform an inquiry into his conduct. Add to this is a budding romance between a nurse in King's Bay, played by Claudia Cardinale, and meteorologist Finn Malmgren, played by Eduard Martsevich, a member of the Italia crew. In the film, Cardinale insists pilot Einar Lundborg, played by Hardy Kruger, fly out to find Martsevich, seeming to offer her charms as a reward. Later, she also visits the celebrated explorer Dr. Roald Amundsen, played by Sean Connery, to embarrass him into joining the search. When the Italian head of the rescue mission, Capt. Romagna, played by Massimo Girotti, insists that he can only carry out the orders he receives from Rome, she begs him to do more. I know that the usual rule is that filmmakers must provide a romantic story for audience identification, but to add what seems to be a fictional character in such a central role makes everything seem wrong. Veteran Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov had previous successes with THE CRANES ARE FLYING and I AM CUBA and does a masterful job handling an international cast often working on Arctic Ice. In addition to Yuri Nagiban, Richard L. Adams worked on the script, but the version released in the U.S. only credits Robert Bolt and Ennio De Concini. The U.S. version also has music by Ennio Morricone and runs 121 minutes. A Russian language version of the movie is available on YouTube in two parts with English subtitles, but doesn't seem to be the 158 minute version Wikipedia reports. This Russian version has a marvelous music score by Aleksandr Zatsepin which is more dramatic than the Morricone one.
Did not enjoy:
BLOOD (1973) - I've not seen many films written and directed by Andy Milligan, but I feel that his cult of admirers are attracted to the fact that without a discernible budget or talent. he was able to make 27 feature films, many of which got theatrical distribution. BLOOD will not alter the general opinion that he was one of the worst filmmakers ever, but it does have some fun plot elements that are not well developed. Eventually, the plot turns out to be about a married couple, Allan Berendt and Hope Stansbury, who are moving into a new house. She is obviously a vampire, who seems to be reliant on the serum made from a carnivorous plant. Toward the end of the film, she is revealed to be the daughter of Count Dracula, who was promised in marriage to the son of werewolf named Talbot. They have three servants, a woman who is being drained of blood for the wife, a man who lost both of his legs to the plant, and a woman who has an horrible infection on her leg, also from the plant. Berendt has dragged everyone from Europe back to the U.S. because he is convinced that lawyer Martin Reymert is mishandling the inheritance. Eventually, everyone ends up dead except the land lord, who is happily signing over the lease to a new couple named Frankenstein. The only cast member who seems to have had an healthy career after BLOOD is Patricia Gaul, who went on to get 46 credits on the IMDb, mostly from TV, after making a Milligan movie.
SVITATI, aka SCREW LOOSE (1999) - Italian comedian Ezio Greggio was successful on Italian TV until he went to the United States in 1994 to write, direct and star in THE SILENCE OF THE HAMS. He cast Mel Brooks and Dom DeLuise in his film, and Brooks returned the favor by casting Greggio in DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT. When it came time for Greggio to direct SCREW LOOSE, he made it in Italy, France and Montecarlo with Mel Brooks as his co-star. Shot in English, SCREW LOOSE was obviously intended for an audience in the U.S.. Was that why the script was so obvious and dim-witted? Was that what Greggio thought would work for an American audience? The elderly Gianfranco Barra is the head of the Puccini food company who has nothing good to say about his son Ezio Greggio. He becomes so frustrated that he has an heart attack. Greggio calls for his father's elderly doctor, John Karlsen (who made over 50 movies in Italy), who promptly also has an heart attack. In the hospital, Barra makes a dying wish to see the U.S. G.I. who saved him during World War 2. He orders Greggio to find him or he won't get to inherit the company. Greggio goes to the U.S. and discovers that Mel Brooks is an inmate in a mental hospital. Dr. Julie Condra refuses to release Brooks because he is dangerously insane, but when Brooks makes a break for it, Greggio helps his escape. Eventually, Condra follows Brooks and Greggio to Europe, where Brooks goes wild - putting towels over the chests of nude female sunbathers. Predictably, Condra and Greggio fall in love and get Brooks to Barra's hospital bed. It takes a good 20 minutes before Brooks shows up in this film, and he brings whatever fun there is to be had. Some of his manic bits remind his bits from his own movies, including often being inspired to sing old show tunes and getting wheel chair patients into dancing routines. The rest of the cast, including director Greggio, deliver awful performances. Julie Condra is very pretty, and has had a solid career. In 1998, she married Mark Dacascos and had three children.
******************************************************************
David Deal Enjoyed:
GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (60)
THE LIMBO LINE (68) - The Limbo Line represents a commie operation based in London that kidnaps defectors and returns them to mother Russia. Although told to back off on busting the racket, veteran spy Craig Stevens moves forward with befriending Russian ballet dancer and potential victim Kate O'Mara. He allows her to be kidnapped but may be too involved to let the plan to run its course. A modest but dour British Eurospy entry from Samual Gallu (The Man Outside, Theatre of Death). Vladek Sheybal (UFO) leans into his role as the ruthless Russian in charge. Good downbeat ending.
THE BLACK RAVEN (43)
THE LAST OF THE FAST GUNS (58) - Gunslinger Jock Mahony is offered $25,000 to find a man's brother in Mexico and bring him or proof of his death back. Jock's spiritual journey is fraught with danger and double-crosses but eventually he finds his man and himself. Excellent, thoughtful western from the end of the golden years of the genre. The deep cast includes Ed Platt, Lorne Greene, Gilbert Roland, and Linda Cristal. Clever writing and outstanding Mexican locations make this one easy to recommend.
SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (73) - Check Television Fright Films of the 1970s.
Mildly Enjoyed:
KILL HER GENTLY (58) - One night Griffith Jones is driving home when he picks up Marc Lawrence and George Mikell who claim to have had trouble with their motorcycle. Griff knows from listening to the radio that they are escaped cons. Thinking quickly, he lures them into a plan to kill his wife (Maureen Connell) in exchange for money and passage to freedom. This British noir hinges on an amazing coincidence and a plan that falls apart as it moves along. While it's fun to watch Griff's journey to hell, the logic of the piece fails to convince.
LOS CUERVOS (61) - Translates to The Crows. Industrialist George Rigaud keeps busy fending off the ambitions of his directors and underlings (the birds of the title). When Rigaud has a stroke, he is given three months to live. His loyal secretary Arturo Fernandez suggests Rigaud undergo controversial heart replacement surgery, but young and healthy hearts are hard to come by. Julio Coll's (Pyro) business drama veers into medical horror-lite with the back-alley surgery aspect, but it is rather talky overall. On the plus side, it looks very good and has a jazzy if spare soundtrack.
JAY KELLY (25)
Did not enjoy:
THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE (76) - Brenda Vaccaro and her new beau, creepy oral surgeon Chuck Shamata, head to his country house for the weekend. On the road they are hassled by Don Stroud and his goons. Later, the same guys show up at the house to continue the terror. This Canadian thriller from TV specialist William Fruet, is a generally unpleasant watch.
****************************************************************
Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Vipère au poing (TV movie) (1971, Pierre Cardinal)
The spoilers (1955, Jesse Hibbs)
Le viager (1971, Pierre Tchernia)
Ddo Oh Hae Yeong / Another miss Oh (2016, Lee Jong-jae & Song Hyeon-wook) – episodes 11 to 18
Face of a fugitive (1959, Paul Wendkos)
Night of the living bread (short) (1990, Kevin S. O'Brien)
Le feu aux poudres (1956, Henri Decoin)
Mildly enjoyed:
Mohawk (1955, Kurt Neumann)
****************************************************************
Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:
"WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?" (1965)
Mildly enjoyed:
"SAPPHIRE" (1959)
****************************************************************
Charles Gilbert watched:
ARNOLD (1973) Lovers Roddy McDowell and Stella Stevens hatch a plan to maximize her inheritance from recently deceased Arnold. Interesting to see Patric Knowles and Elsa Lanchester in supporting roles. Tongue-in-cheek humor.
DR. JEKYLL AND THE WEREWOLF (1971) A traditional gender couple are attacked in the countryside outside their car by several aged thugs. Local resident Vladimir Daninsky rescues the blonde gal but is too late for her husband. Upon endearing herself to him, she realizes that Vladimir is lycanthropically cursed, and seeks help for him from an old acquaintance (Dr. Jekyll) in London. A serum formulated in his ramshackel lab (stacks of hay and plowing equipment) turns Vladimir into a mildly grotesque sex fiend in lieu of changing into a werewolf. Paul Naschy plays both monsters.
****************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment