Here's a vintage behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the 1968 western "Guns for San Sebastian" which had Anthony Quinn squaring off against villain Charles Bronson in an underrated gem from the era. Click here to order Blu-ray from Amazon.

By Fred Blosser

In “Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace,” a 1962 German production with an international cast, Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective (Christopher Lee) knows that his archenemy Professor Moriarty is up to no good in a mystery that involves the Thaysia, a freighter recently docked in London from North Africa. Anything that draws Moriarty’s attention is bound to be associated with the vast criminal network of “forgery, robbery, burglary, and murder” on which he has amassed his fortune. But what does the professor have to do with the Thaysia? That remains to be determined by Holmes, and even then, he’ll have to offer credible evidence of wrongdoing. “Knowing is not proving,” the detective observes to his associate Dr. Watson (Thorley Walters). To the police, Moriarty is a respectable academic whose pursuit by Holmes seems to verge on delusional obsession.

Sherlock soon learns that a priceless Egyptian artefact, a jewelled necklace once worn by Cleopatra, lies at the heart of the mystery. Three of Moriarty’s henchmen stole the relic during an archeological dig in Egypt, and one of the three, Peter Blackburn, made off with it and left the other two in the hands of the Egyptian police. Holed up in a country estate with his wife Ellen (Senta Berger) and her friend Paul King, Blackburn patrols the grounds with a rifle and keeps a close eye out for intruders. He doesn’t have to worry now about one of the other thieves he betrayed, Harrison, who was murdered on board the Thaysia by the third partner, Samuels. But Samuels is still at large and back in England, and it’s only a matter of time until Professor Moriarty exercises his claim for the necklace, using Samuels as his tool. Holmes hurries out to Blackburn’s estate in hopes of getting there first, but by the time he arrives, a dead man wearing Peter’s clothing is lying in the house, his face shattered beyond recognition. Ellen and Paul claim the dead man is Blackburn, the victim of a violent break-in. The police accept the identification and suspect the couple of foul play. No one else was present in the house, signs of a break-in are questionable, and the Blackburns’ marriage was known to be troubled. But the necklace is missing, and Holmes reads a different story from the clues.

Once the backstory of the stolen necklace is established about 25 minutes into the 85 minutes of the movie, and Sherlock uncovers the identity of the dead man in Blackburn’s clothing about 20 minutes after that (in a scene suggested by the plot of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Valley of Fear,” in an otherwise original screenplay by Curt Siodmak), “Sherlock Holmes and the Stolen Necklace” becomes less a murder mystery than a contest between Holmes and Moriarty for the stolen necklace. First one and then the other comes into possession, with Moriarty trying to secure his claim with a variety of deadly gadgets and booby traps that would give James Bond and Indiana Jones pause. He even offers Holmes a partnership and a share of the profits from the necklace. “We are wasting our forces warring against each other,” he amiably suggests. But Sherlock is undeterred: “I have only one ambition at present, to see you hang.” The exchange sets up a trap that Holmes evades with clever foresight, with a sort of resolution to follow after that as Holmes turns the recovered necklace over to the police. The authorities transport the recovered necklace to auction in a carefully guarded van, but Moriarty has an audacious strategy for snatching it back before the van and its escort reach the auction hall. He and Holmes both have more tricks to play in the final moments of Siodmak’s clever script.

Directed by Terence Fisher, “Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace” was not released theatrically in the U.S. In those days before social media and today’s plugged-in movie junkies with websites, few thriller fans in America were likely to have heard of it. In fact, the only ones in the know may have been we relative handful of teenagers who read “Castle of Frankenstein” magazine. A 1965 issue referred to the film, with a couple of accompanying publicity stills, in an article by Michel Parry that surveyed current movie activity in the U.K. and Europe. Even then, we could hardly predict that it would be a half-century on before we would have a chance to see the film in a sharp, subtitled version. It’s difficult to overestimate the benefits of today’s home video and streaming platforms in finally rescuing obscure titles like this from oblivion.

“Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace” has an uneven reputation among Conan Doyle fans who have seen it. Some regret it was filmed in black-and-white instead of color, which might have given it a higher profile for U.S. distribution, but others prefer the black-and-white cinematography as a better fit with the atmosphere and the Edwardian setting of the production. One drawback all can agree on: in the English-language dubbing, Christopher Lee’s voice was replaced by somebody else’s; the voice double does an acceptable job, but the loss of Lee’s distinctive tones is unfortunate, especially in the scenes where Sherlock coolly exchanges verbal barbs with the politely sinister Moriarty, played by German actor Hans Söhnker. In a mostly German supporting cast, the gorgeous Senta Berger is the one most likely to be remembered from the Cinema Retro era, but Spaghetti Western fans will recognize Wolfgang Lukschy as Peter Blackburn; credited as “W. Lukschy,” he played John Baxter, the corrupt town boss double-crossed by Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, in “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964). Rotund actor Leon Askin, who has prominent screen time as Moriarty’s chauffeur and henchman Charles, is another of those “Hey, I’ve seen him before” faces; he had guest roles in every 1960s and ‘70s American TV show from “The Monkees”, “Hogan’s Heroes” and “My Favourite Martian” to “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

“Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace” streams on Amazon Prime Video in a lustrous high-def print apparently sourced from a 2024 Blu-ray edition from Severin Films. A different print posted on YouTube, courtesy of a site called All Time Classic Movies, offers a good, clear alternative for viewers who may not have access to Prime Video.

(Fred Blosser is the author of "Focus on the Spaghetti Western #1:The Films of Tony Kendall". Click here to order from Amazon.)

Click here for this month's daily schedule of films being show on TCM.  

By Adrian Smith

I am a big fan of these ‘Tales of Adventure’ collections from Imprint. They are the modern equivalent of the ‘Midnite Movies’ series from MGM around 20 years ago, which presented double-bills of some of the best B movies in the vaults. Many of the films which were previously available through that series are now getting the Blu-ray upgrades they deserve, including the four films in this set.

One can view this collection in a few different ways: as a Doug McClure boxset, a Kevin Connor collection (he directed all four of these) or as an Edgar Rice Burroughs-themed set. Three of the films here are adapted from original Burroughs material and one was made up to fit the general theme and appear as a Burroughs story. Whichever focus you choose to put on the set, the films are a lot of fun and watching them close together will make you long for that time in the 1970s when cinema was simpler – when men were heroes, women needed rescuing, and dinosaurs were made of rubber and papier-mâché.

The Land That Time Forgot (1974), an Amicus production for American International Pictures shot at Shepperton Studios, was the first and is still possibly the best, or at least has the most compelling narrative of the four. Based on Burroughs’ 1918 novel, it is set during the First World War and sees a German U-boat sink a British ship and then take on the survivors, including an American (Doug McClure) submarine builder, a scientist (Susan Penhaligon) and various members of the crew. Through acts of espionage and mistrust between the two sides, they eventually agree to cooperate whilst in international waters, and suddenly find themselves stranded near a mysterious frozen continent where they are forced to land to restock supplies. They soon discover that this is in fact an uncharted subcontinent full of prehistoric creatures and cavemen at various points of evolution. They capture and befriend one of them who helps them find oil, allowing them to gradually refuel so that they can leave. Of course, nothing is quite so simple, and the intrigue between the British and the Germans causes regular fights, double-crossing and tension. Only the U-boat captain (John McEnery but dubbed by Anton Diffring) seems capable of maintaining his sense of honour but gradually loses control over the impatient crew.

This is an exciting, gripping adventure story which shows Doug McClure at his heroic best, and the supporting cast, including several familiar faces such as Keigh Barron and Anthony Ainley, are all excellent. The cinematography is impressive, the Douglas Gamley score is effective, and the special effects are, well, entertaining. This release includes a new interview with Kevin Conner (divided across all four discs), who’s recollections are interesting although at times it does appear that some of his memories of these films are receding into the mists of time. Another new feature is a commentary track from film critic and author Kim Newman and writer and editor Stephen Jones, just the right pairing for a film such as this. The disc also features an interview with Susan Penhaligon and an archival featurette on the making of the film. The picture and sound quality are excellent, and it really demonstrates the high-quality craftsmanship on display.

At the Earth’s Core (1976) sees an American financier (McClure) team up with an eccentric inventor (Peter Cushing, very much in Doctor Who mode), who has built a burrowing machine, The Mole, designed to travel through mountain ranges. On their maiden voyage things very quickly go awry and they find themselves heading deep into the earth, where they finally come to a stop having broken through to the cavernous interior world of Pellucidar. They soon discover humans who are being kept as slaves by the Sagoths, who are controlled telepathically by dinosaur-like bird creatures called the Mahars. One of these humans is naturally a beautiful princess (played by the incredibly luminous Caroline Munro), so of course a love triangle soon forms between her, the American and a jealous fellow-slave. The kingdom is powered by molten lava, and the slaves are forced to protect incubated dino eggs whilst an escape plan is hatched (sorry).

This is an exciting, fire-filled adventure film with some impressive special effects and sound design, much of which feels like it was a dry run for Star Wars (1977), which would also go into production at Elstree Studios. The cast are all fun, even if Cushing’s mad professor can at times be a bit shrill, and Caroline Munro can never get enough screen time; she lights the place up whenever she is on. This was another Amicus production for AIP with a higher budget thanks to the success of The Land That Time Forgot, and it shows. The film looks great on this Blu-ray and comes with more of that Kevin Connor interview along with an interview with Caroline Munro and a new fact-filled commentary from film historians Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons.

The People That Time Forgot (1977) is a direct sequel to The Land That Time Forgot and was another Amicus production for AIP, although they went out of business before its release, so it only says AIP in the credits. In this film a rescue party sets out to find what happened to Doug McClure’s Tyler, who sent out a message in a bottle at the end of that film. The expedition is led by Patrick Wayne as Ben McBride, a daredevil biplane pilot, who along with his mechanic Hogan (the always terrific Shane Rimmer), palaeontologist Norfolk (Hammer regular Thorley Walters) and newspaper photographer Lady Charlotte (Sarah Douglas, about to achieve global fame thanks to her role in the Superman (1978/ 1980) films) is determined to bring his friend home. A ship takes them to the edge of the impenetrable continent, and then the four of them fly over vast walls of ice until they find a rocky, tropical interior where they are instantly attacked by a pterodactyl. Hogan is tasked with repairing the plane whilst the rest head further inland to try and discover clues to Tyler’s whereabouts. They soon bump into a well-endowed tribeswoman (Dana Gillespie), who appears to have bought her outfit at the One Million Years B.C. (1966) department store. She speaks broken English and explains that she was taught by Tyler. Together they must avoid dinosaurs and snakes until they find a tribe called the Nargas who worship a volcano where they are taken prisoner and must try to escape.

The continuity between the two films is not perfect, but The People That Time Forgot, adapted from Burroughs’ 1918 novel, still makes for a great follow-up to the first film. Unlike the studio-bound previous two films in this set, it was mainly shot on location in the Canary Islands and therefore feels much more realistic (along with some interiors and effects shot at Pinewood). According to an interview with Sarah Douglas on this disc, it was hard going with very few creature comforts: Thorley Walters brought his own toilet roll with him for each occasion when he had to nip off behind a rock. With appearances towards the end from Milton Reid and David Prowse (who, let’s not forget, had just shot Star Wars), there’s a bit of a Hammer reunion here which adds to the fun, plus an early appearance from a young Kiran Shah in his first film role. He would go on to achieve global fame as the size double for Frodo the Hobbit in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003).

This Blu-ray looks great, again, and comes with yet another new commentary from Kim Newman and Stephen Jones (these guys are so busy), more of the Kevin Connor interview, the aforementioned Sarah Douglas interview plus one with Dana Gillespie, both recorded in 2016.

Let's take a trip in the Cinema Retro time machine to August of 1970. Here were the big films that were playing in London at the time. Among the titles playing: "Paint Your Wagon", "The Lion in Winter" (in its 78th week!), "Airport", "Battle of Britain", "Patton" (under the UK title "Patton: Lust for Glory"), "M*A*S*H", the star-studded remake of "Julius Caesar", "Woodstock", "Hello Dolly" and John Wayne as "Chisum". Best of all, you could go on a date to a first rate theater in those days without applying for a second mortgage.  (Data from Kine Weekly film trade magazine).

Cinema Retro's Author's Corner column invites authors of books about the arts to enlighten readers with the background story behind their latest work. In this column, author Brian Hannan discusses his new book "King of the Action Thriller: Films from the Mind of Alistair Maclean", which provides the most comprehensive look at the films that were based on MacLean's bestselling novels.  

By Brian Hannan

He was the world’s best-selling author. He was the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood. He didn’t learn to speak English until he was six.“I’m a businessman, not a writer,” claimed the self-effacing Alistair MacLean. While his narrative skills acquired readers in the millions, his understanding of the publishing and entertainment business made him the most business-savvy author since Charles Dickens invented the cliffhanging chapter ending and the author tour. MacLean had an instinctive understanding of synergy.In Hollywood, “property” was king. This was real estate of a different commercial kind, an item on which many fates depended, and which could be used to raise the millions of dollars required to make a movie. And, virtually alone among authors of his generation, and certainly unique among screenwriters, his name acquired marquee status, carrying above-the-credit status, often billed above actors involved, ensuring that movies could be marketed as Alistair MacLean pictures, promising to deliver as certain an experience akin as those who embraced a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Alistair MacLean was unique among the authors who rose to bestselling prominence in the 1950s and 1960s in that his books were translated onto the screen at a startling rate, eighteen in total making the transition. Many became the biggest blockbusters of the day – The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Where Eagles Dare (1968) for example – while others like Puppet on a Chain (1970) and Fear Is the Key (1972) not only attracted a cult following but reinvented the chase picture. His books spanned World War Two and the Cold War, espionage often a consideration, but his gift for authenticity ensured he was as at home in the Wild West or a racetrack.

A number of elements made him stand out from the other big-time bestsellers of the day. For a start, he didn’t rely like Harold Robbins (The Carpetbaggers) on sex, nor a retelling of history in the vein of James Michener (Hawaii), nor reliant in exploring institutions in the manner of Arthur Hailey (Hotel). He wasn’t interested in contemporary issues. He didn’t have a series character like James Bond, which allowed his thrillers to be cherry-picked by a far wider range of producers and Hollywood studios. Although his main characters were loners, often with a disfigurement or major flaw, they were sufficiently different to be interpreted by a very diverse number of actors.

You could argue that he re-purposed the thriller and invented the mission war novel. By the late 1950s the former was polarised between the critically-acclaimed novels of Graham Greene and Eric Ambler and the sexed-up pulp of Mickey Spillane. In the latter, MacLean narratives were defined by serious purpose, dedicated professionals rather than amateurs stumbling onto a conspiracy. The aftermath of the Second World War saw the advent of many mission pictures, but, mostly based on real events, were documentary or gung-ho in style. The Guns of Navarone ushered in a new type of mission book/film, short on exposition and training and overloaded with tension.

Authors rarely become brand names. They may produce bestsellers, become well-known to readers and within the book trade, perhaps appreciated by critics, and yet their fame rarely extends beyond the publication arena. Dickensian, Chandleresque, Shakespearian, Tolkienesque, as well as being shorthand for describing a type of character or a fictional world are, in fact, the biggest accolade that can be bestowed upon an author, that their work has transcended the specific arena of publishing and entered the vocabulary. You can be a multi-million-selling author and still the impact of your work will be limited – nobody has created adjectives around the door-stopping sagas of Leon Uris and James Michener or the thrillers of Lee Child. The contemporary ancillary opportunities available to the likes of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have ensured they have become brands, their names above the titles of movies made from their novels promising a certain kind of experience and, in broader terms, creating a marketing goldmine.

For over two decades Alistair MacLean was a brand name. The only author whose sales came close was Agatha Christie and yet her mysteries, stewing away in an impossibly English landscape, lacked the full international penetration of the harder-edged thrillers of MacLean. Her two most famous characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, barely made a dent in her lifetime on the big screen. But the pull of MacLean was such that his name was not just above the title of the movies but emblazoned across the posters, as if that was all the marquee an audience required.As Elliott Kastner, producer of Where Eagles Dare, put it, “Alistair MacLean is the first bestselling author equally talented as novelist and screenwriter.This puts him astride the entertainment industry like a golden colossus.” Peter Snell, producer of Bear Island (1979), concurred, “He’s simply an author everyone knows. The films have a guaranteed audience and that’s hard to beat, knowing you have an audience before you begin.”Bestsellers had underpinned Hollywood from the outset, studios believing they were a safer bet because resulting films were pre-sold. But as directors became more demanding, their name often superseded that of the author of the source material to the extent that audiences often believe a movie has emerged from the imagination of a director rather than originating elsewhere (Poor Things, 2023, a case in point).Thus, it is regarded as Martin Ritt’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Francis Ford’s Coppola’s The Godfather (1972).But after the first few adaptations of MacLean thrillers, it was never Brian G. Hutton’s Where Eagles Dare or Geoffrey Reeves’s Puppet on a Chain or Don Sharp’s Bear Island. These movies were identified with their author. From the outset his films attracted variable budgets – very big for The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra (1968), the last two designated 70mm roadshows – but considerably smaller for The Secret Ways (1961) and The Satan Bug (1965).

(Author Brian Hannan)

In later films, it was apparent that the author’s name was as big a draw as any of the stars, and that you could make a film based on one of his books without going to the expense of recruiting a major marquee name – George Maharis, Sven Bertil-Taube, Anthony Hopkins and David Birney were virtual unknowns when cast, respectively, in the leading roles in The Satan Bug, Puppet on a Chain, When Eight Bells Toll and Caravan to Vaccares (1974).

Audiences knew what they were going to get and if a director added more exciting action sequences as with, for example, the speedboat chase through the canals of Amsterdam in Puppet on a Chain or car chase in Fear Is the Key, that was a bonus. English was a foreign language for MacLean. Though born in Glasgow’s East End, in 1922, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, he was brought up in a small town in the Highlands of Scotland and spoke Gaelic until, aged five, he attended school. Drafted into the Royal Navy at 19 on what proved a five-year stint, seeing action in the North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and the Far East, these experiences providing authentic material for several books.

Post-war, as a schoolteacher in Glasgow, MacLean tried his hand at short stories to generate extra income, and after winning a competition in a national newspaper was encourage to write H.M.S. Ulysses, the tale of a doomed wartime convoy. A massive bestseller shifting an unprecedented 250,000 copies in hardback, with the film rights selling for £30,000, the combined income allowed him to become a full-time writer, his prospects cemented by the publication in 1957 of The Guns of Navarone. That book sold 450,000 copies in six months and the film rights were purchased by Carl Foreman, who planned a multi-million-dollar star-laden picture for Columbia.However, the first movie to roll off what would become the MacLean bandwagon was a lesser-known smaller-budgeted affair, The Secret Ways (1961). Thereafter, films based on his works appeared at regular intervals. For an author MacLean was unusually involved in the film-making process. Most writers, perhaps attracted by Hollywood mystique and the hefty sums paid out for film rights, generally entertain some interest, at least initially, in participating in the movie machine, but, equally usually, become quickly disaffected by the ruthlessness of a business where the screenwriter is on the lowest rung of the ladder.

William Goldman is usually held up as the best example of someone who straddled both fields with equal success, but of his original works only Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was a big movie hit, and his fame largely rested on adaptations – Harper (1966), All the President’s Men (1975) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). You could as easily argue that he learned from MacLean to write books that were cinematic and enjoy the financial triple whammy of book sales, selling the film rights and writing the screenplay. American agent-turned-producer Elliott Kastner (Harper, 1966), who had set up an office in London, invited the novelist to write an original screenplay. It’s fair to say that MacLean, in creating Where Eagles Dare, plundered his previous mission opus The Guns of Navarone, but jacked up the suspense and action. Kastner then signed up for another two original screenplays as well as novels. While The Guns of Navarone set MacLean on his way as a hot Hollywood property, it was the experience of Where Eagles Dare that created the legend of an author who commanded such a global following that audiences were guaranteed to turn up for movies based on his thrillers. Over the space of 18 years, from The Secret Ways in 1961 to Bear Island in 1979, a colossal 13 of his books were turned into movies, an extraordinary strike rate.

These 13 movies plus another five made for big- and small-screen are covered in this book. Each chapter focuses on one film, detailing its production, casting, and filming and then analysing both the film and the changes made to the book. The final chapter is a big surprise, which I won’t reveal here, and there’s a chapter devoted to what happened to the other books bought by studios or producers but never made – such as the involvement of Lord Puttnam in an aborted effort to make HMS Ulysses – and there’s a section on box office.

King of the Action Thriller: Films from the Mind of Alistair MacLean (McFarland Publishing) by Brian Hannan and, as ever, with copious and often rare illustrations, is available from all good bookshops and online via Amazon and other such traders as well as on Kindle.

Click here to order from Amazon USA

Click here to order from Amazon UK

(Photo: Cinema Retro Archives)

Rare shot of Ernest Borgnine on the Mexican set of Sam Peckinpah's 1969 classic "The Wild Bunch". Borgnine is nursing a foot injury that occurred prior to production and posed some obstacles for him in filming the action scenes. 

By Ernie Magnotta

“Five against a thousand...the odds are even.”

Although they have both worked in other genres, director Robert Clouse and producer Fred Weintraub will be forever remembered for giving us a series of thrilling martial arts/action films such as the immortal Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon (1973), 1974’s Black Belt Jones starring karate champion Jim Kelly, the always amazing Jackie Chan’s The Big Brawl aka Battle Creek Brawl (1980), 1985’s Gymkata, and 1990’s China O’Brien I and II which both star the queen of martial arts, Cynthia Rothrock. However, in 1981 the dynamic duo teamed up yet again for another action-packed, martial arts extravaganza titled Force: Five.

In order stop the dangerous cult of super-rich and powerful religious leader Reverend Rhee (Master Bong Soo Han), government agent Jim Martin (Joe Lewis) assembles a kick-ass team of martial arts experts who attempt to bring the evil, Jonestown-like organization to its knees.

Directed by Robert Clouse (who also co-wrote the film with Emil Farkas and George Goldsmith) and produced by Fred Weintraub, Force: Five was released in June of 1981 by American Cinema Releasing. The film is a semi-remake of the 1976 Black Belt Jones sequel Hot Potato which was also produced by Weintraub.

Force: Five is a very enjoyable martial arts/action picture. Not surprisingly, director Clouse expertly handles the movie’s many exciting action sequences, but we must talk a bit about the sensational cast. First, we have our Force: Five (six, actually). As group leader Jim Martin, World Heavyweight Full Contact Karate Champion Joe Lewis is totally convincing in both martial arts and acting. Fun fact: the charismatic Lewis was handpicked by Bruce Lee to play Colt in Lee’s fantastic directorial debut Way of the Dragon (1972), but had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts. The role eventually went to the legendary Chuck Norris.

The rest of the team consists of World Full Contact Welterweight Champion Benny “The Jet” Urquidez; 10^th-degree Black Belt (in Zen Do Kai Karate) Richard Norton (who appears in several of Clouse and Weintraub’s films); massive actor and Kenpo Karate expert Sonny Barnes; lovely actress Pam Huntington, and talented voice actor Ron Hayden.

Known as the Father of Hapkido, Master Bong Soo Han shines as evil villain Reverend Rhee. There are also terrific performances from Amanda Wyss, Peter MacLean, Bob Schott, Tom Villard, and a brief appearance by Mel Novak.

The acting from our super athletes may not be perfect, but it’s more than passable and it definitely gives the movie some of its charm.

This film will never be considered one of the greatest martial arts/action movies ever made, but it sure is a lot of fun and the cast seems to be having a great time. If, like me, you’re a fan of this stuff, you will, without a doubt, enjoy Force: Five. It has action, adventure, humor and, of course, expertly choreographed fight sequences performed by crazy talented world champions.

Force: Five has been released on a Region One Blu-ray and is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The movie, although a tad soft, looks better than previous releases while the LPCM 2.0 mono/stereo audio is pretty good, but not great. The special features include a wonderful 50 minute interview with Joe Lewis as well as two other interviews with Benny Urquidez. (I believe these features, including the theatrical trailer, are all ported over from the 2016 release by Scorpion.) We are also treated to some cool reversible artwork, a collectible poster, and a limited edition slipcover made up to look like an old VHS rental box. Worth the upgrade.

Click here to order from Amazon

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

To mark the 60^th Anniversary of The Good, The Bad and They Ugly (1966) South West Silents (https://www.southwestsilents.com/) is planning a special weekend celebration of the work of Sergio Leone (1929-1989). This Sergio Leone Weekend (https://hdfst.uk/e145608) will take place at the Bristol Megascreen (originally the Bristol IMAX) on Saturday 18^th and Sunday 19^th April 2026.

The weekend is made up of:

SATURDAY 18TH APRIL:

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964): 12:00PM

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965): 3:00PM

SUNDAY 19TH APRIL:

MY NAME IS NOBODY (1973): 12:00PM

VOGLIO A TTE! (1922): 3:00PM

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966): 4:45PM

There are planned intros by filmmaker Alex Cox (recording his intros from Mexico) and in person intros by Leone biographer and historian Sir Christopher Frayling throughout the weekend as well.

“Producing an event around Spaghetti Westerns made in the 1960/70s might seem a bit off subject for an organisation dedicated to the silent era. But when you start patting the dust off one’s poncho you begin to realise the distinctive silent film elements of Leone’s work.” Co-director of SWS James Harrison says.

“From the outset, there is the use of dialogue; or the little use of it to be honest. Sergio Leone’s screenplays/scripts are renowned for keeping the dialogue to a minimum and you can clearly see this in the Dollars Trilogy; A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and, most importantly, in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) are very much lean when it comes to dialogue.”

Happy to say that all three Dollars films as well as My Name is Nobody (1973) will come from the 4K restorations from Cineteca di Bologna.

Then there is the ‘silent film heritage’ of the director himself. Leone’s mother Edvige Maria Valcarenghi (1886-1969) was a silent film star who gave up her film career by the time Leone was born in 1929. Leone’s father on the other hand, Vincenzo Leone (1879 -1959) continued his career as an actor, writer, producer and director until the early 1950s.

But it was between the 1910s and the late 1920s that Vincenzo’s output (who credited himself as Roberto Roberti) is the most profound. Roberti was making a healthy amount of silent films in the Neapolitan film industry alongside other celebrated Italian and Naples based filmmakers such as Giuseppe de Liguoro (1869–1944) and lvira Notari (1875–1946). We will be marking the work of Vincenzo Leone with a screening of Voglio a Tte! (1922) which we have been able to get from our friends at Cineteca Milano.

And of course, silent films were never really silent, and neither were the films of Sergio Leone thanks to the incredible talent of Ennio Morricone (1928-2020).

So expect the films to be big and loud at Bristol’s Megascreen between Saturday 18^th and Sunday 19^th April 2026.

Passes are available here: https://hdfst.uk/e145608

Alfred Hitchcock was such an iconic personality that he sometimes made himself the foremost presence in trailers for his new films. Such was the case with this very witty trailer for his 1963 blockbuster "The Birds" in which he dominates virtually every frame of the trailer with the only footage from the actual film being seen in the last few seconds. 

Turner Classic Movies presents a superb podcast series about the trials and tribulations suffered by director Joseph Mankiewicz in bringing 20th Century-Fox's 1963 epic "Cleopatra" to the big screen. As you may be aware, the seemingly endless production underwent cast changes, production disasters and countless other challenges. TCM host Ben Mankiewicz hosts this six-part series and he's just the person to do it. As the nephew of Joe Mankiewicz, he provides the inside story based  on first hand knowledge and rare audio comments from his uncle. We're presenting the first episode here. To continue listening to the other episodes (and other TCM podcast editions), click here. But be warned: they are all highly addictive.  

It was 1966 and Batmania was in full swing. Since most viewers were watching the show on B&W televisions, 20th Century-Fox decided to bring Adam West and Burt Ward to the big screen in a color feature film appropriately titled "Batman".  The studio took the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach and hired the most popular villains from the series to appear in the feature film. Here is the original trailer.

By Lee Pfeiffer

I initially saw "Cops and Robbers" on its theatrical release in 1973. Strangely, I retained no memories of the film whatsoever except a few bars of the catchy title theme song by Michel Legrand. I say "strangely" because, upon watching recently, I found the movie to be terrifically entertaining. Perhaps it's because terrifically entertaining films were a dime a dozen back in the 1970s that this particular movie didn't resonate with me at the time. Nevertheless, watching it today, it has a great many pleasures, not the least of which is two leading actors who were not familiar faces at the time, thus allowing the viewer to not have any preconceptions about their mannerisms or previous roles. The film was shot in New York City during a long period of urban decay. Poverty and crime were rising and the infrastructure was crumbling as the city came perilously close to declaring bankruptcy. It's a far cry from today's New York but at the time one benefit of all this chaos was that it inspired filmmakers to take advantage of the somber landscape and use it as fodder for some memorable films. Michael Winner's "Death Wish" and Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" administered the cinematic coup de grace, painting a picture of Gotham as a foreboding urban jungle. This was always overstated, of course, as there was never a period in which New York was in danger of losing its reputation as the most exciting city on earth. However, the grime and grit certainly did much to tarnish its reputation for a good number of years.

Among the films that represented this era was the little-remembered "Cops and Robbers", which is an offbeat entry in the genre of "dirty cop" movies that became popular during the 1970s. The twist is that, unlike the exploits of larger-than-life cops such as Dirty Harry or Popeye Doyle, this film centers on the day-to-day frustrations of  two every day patrolmen - Tom (Cliff Gorman) and Joe (Joseph Bologna)- trying to cope with the frustrations of risking their lives for a salary of $43 a day. We watch as they car pool from their cramped suburban housing units to Manhattan, a daily trek of seemingly endless traffic jams that they must endure in the sweltering heat. (Yes, kiddies, most of us working class clods didn't have air conditioning in our cars in the 1970s.) Their familiar grind includes wrestling with mentally unstable people, watching fellow officers getting shot and having an ungrateful populace take them for granted. With wives and kids to provide for, they are at the end of their ropes. One day, Joe casually confesses to Tom that he recently walked into a liquor store in full uniform and held the place up at gunpoint. He only got a couple of hundred dollars, but was amazed at how easy it was to get away with- largely because everyone assumed the culprit was someone disguised as a New York City police officer. After all, although corruption was widespread even in this post-Serpico period, it was mostly carried out discreetly through payoffs and freebies. New York City cops did not commit overt robberies while on the job. Tom is initially appalled, but is also mesmerized by the prospect of using their positions of trust to carry out an even grander robbery: one that would put them on Easy Street for the rest of their lives. Using a disguise, Tom visits the domain of a local mob kingpin and discloses he and his partner are genuine members of the NYPD- and they want his help to work out a scam that will net both cops $1 million each. They are told to rob untraceable securities in the amount of $10 million, for which they will be paid a $2 million "commission". Tom and Joe create a daring plan to gain access to a major finance company on Wall Street on the very day that the Apollo 11 astronauts are receiving a ticker tape parade. Knowing the employees will be distracted, they enter the premises on the pretense of checking out a minor matter. They bluff their way into the inner sanctum of the company president and hold him hostage while his secretary escorts Joe to a vault and gets the appropriate securities. As is the case in most good caper movies, things initially go well but unexpected snafus arise that threaten the cops' getaway. To say more would be to spoil the fun but suffice it to say that the climax of the movie finds them trying to collect the $2 million from the mob in the middle of Central Park- where both sides try to double-cross each other. The result is a wild car chase seems to doom not only the cops' getaway but the cops themselves.

Director Aram Avakian, working with producer Elliott Kastner, makes the most of the New York locations, eschewing studio sets for real places. This adds immeasurably to the realistic feel of the production. Both Joe Bologna and Cliff Gorman were exceptionally well cast and are completely convincing as urban cops. Bologna was starting to ride high on the heels of he and his wife Renee Taylor's success with "Lovers and Other Strangers" and "Made for Each Other". Gorman was primarily known for his acclaimed stage performance as Lenny Bruce but also won kudos for his role in William Friedkin's 1969 film production of "The Boys in the Band". He's so good in this film, you wonder why major stardom eluded him. There is also an abundance of good character actors including Dolph Sweet, Joe Spinell and Shepperd Strudwick. The witty screenplay is the work of Donald E. Westlake, a noted crime novelist who would later turn his script for the film into a successful book. Westlake only makes one creative misstep. It is essential in most crime movies that feature charismatic cads as anti-heroes that their victims are established as villains who don't deserve the sympathy of the viewer. From the classic caper flick "The Sting" to the long-running  British TV series "Hustle", the targets of the con men must always be deemed to be unsympathetic. In Westlake's screenplay, the victims of the errant cops are every day, working people. Joe's stickup of the liquor store (seen over the opening credits) terrorizes innocent people. Their protracted plan to rip off the Wall Street firm similarly puts non-criminals in harm's way (although Westlake throws in a twist that is designed to water down the victim's plight). Watching the film through a modern viewpoint, when police corruption is no longer considered to be an acceptable part of every day life, the movie's disturbing celebration of officers who are violating their sacred duty to protect the public seems more distasteful today than it did at the time of the film's release. Even viewed within the context of the era, we can certainly sympathize with the cops' frustrations, but their turning to crime makes a mockery of most police officers who resist taking that path. Nevertheless, if you can overlook the sociological factors and accept the film as pure entertainment, it works wonderfully well. 

The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and MGM+. 

Two years after Clint Eastwood's blockbuster hit "Dirty Harry", he returned in the role for 1973's "Magnum Force", directed by his old friend from his "Rawhide" days, Ted Post. Predictably, it became one of the most popular films of the year. This clip shows why. 

They were Hollywood's seemingly least compatible power couple. Charles Bronson was noted for avoiding interviews and publicity while Jill Ireland relished the opportunities to promote her films. The couple had a rather convoluted start to their relationship. Ireland was married to David McCallum when the up-and-coming British/Scottish couple moved to Hollywood to further their ambitions. It worked. McCallum would become a major star within a few years and his career helped give his wife exposure as well. However, behind the scenes the marriage was becoming strained. McCallum and Ireland had formed a close friendship with Charles Bronson when they filmed "The Great Escape" together. When the McCallums moved to Hollywood, Bronson did a lot of socializing with them. But behind the scenes, Bronson and Jill began a tempestuous affair that led to her divorce from McCallum, who went on to marry model Katherine Carpenter. Bronson and Jill married as well and began a long time collaboration of appearing in films together. Initially, Jill had minor roles but as Bronson's star power increased he used his influence to get his wife co-starring roles. In all, they would appear in over a dozen films together before her untimely death from cancer in 1990. 

By Lee Pfeiffer

A while back, I joined my colleagues Paul Scrabo and Tony Latino in providing an Imprint Blu-ray commentary track for Charles Chaplin's final film, "A Countess from Hong Kong" (1967) starring two of the biggest stars of the era, Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. I had only seen it once before and thought it deserved its reputation as one of the most disappointing films in history. Expectations were high for the film, with Chaplin in the director's chair but despite a tidal wave of international publicity, the movie was savaged by critics and audiences stayed away despite the onscreen star power. In recording the commentary track, I seem to recall voicing the opinion that while the film was certainly a deserved flop, I found some nuggets of salvation amidst the celluloid rubble. In this episode of Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell", screenwriter Larry Karaszewski adeptly summarizes much that went wrong in a little over two minutes. It's been said that Chaplin was the only one who deemed the movie to be an artistic success but filming it was a challenge for all. Brando and Loren were at odds during production, which must have been a challenge for them, as they had to enact a whimsical romance. Brando would later tell Playboy that he felt Chaplin was one of the cruelest people he had ever worked with and dared to give him a dressing down about the way the legendary filmmaker would berate his son, Sydney Chaplin (who has a supporting role) in front of the cast and crew. If you've never seen it, do so, if only to see if the film lives up to (or down to) popular opinion.  

Check out Trailers from Hell for many more critiques of retro movies.  

There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to The Three Stooges. People either love them or loathe them. Assuming you are among the Stooge lovers, here's one of their funniest: "Brideless Groom" in which hapless Shemp has to get married quickly for reasons unveiled in the plot. We hope all you fellow Cinema Retro knuckleheads enjoy it! 

By Lee Pfeiffer

The film world has lost one of its most iconic talents with the death of actor Robert Duvall at age 95. He passed away peacefully at his beloved Virginia horse farm, according to his wife Luciana, who he married after co-starring with her in "Assassination Tango", which Duvall also directed. Duvall was an unlikely candidate for leading man stardom. He was born in San Diego in 1931. His father was a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and the family moved quite a bit because of his father's varying assignments. Robert served two years in the U.S. Army and in 1955 moved to New York City where he was accepted as a student at the esteemed Neighborhood Playhouse where he became friends with two other penniless aspiring actors, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. Duvall appeared in guest starring roles in popular T.V. series and made his big screen debut as "Boo" Radley, the mysterious, mentally challenged man who appears in the final scene of the 1962 classic "To Kill a Mockingbird". Despite having his one line of dialogue cut from the film, Duvall's physical presence made an impression on critics and the audience. Big screen roles did not pour in, however, and Duvall resumed guest-starring on television series. He did land a role as an arrogant New York City cop in conflict with Frank Sinatra's titular "The Detective" in 1968 and had a minor role as a taxi driver in the blockbuster crime drama "Bullitt" the same year. In 1969, he landed the plum role of likeable villain "Lucky" Ned Pepper in the screen adaptation of the bestselling novel "True Grit". In the film's most iconic scene, he and his fellow bad guys are decimated by John Wayne (in his Oscar winning role) in a blazing gun battle on horseback. That same year, Duvall teamed with young director Francis Ford Coppola on a dramatic film "The Rain People", co-starring another aspiring actor, James Caan. In 1972, Coppola would hire both of them for pivotal roles in "The Godfather", which was accorded the Best Picture Oscar. Two years later, Duvall returned as crime family lawyer Tom Hagan in the sequel "The Godfather Part II", which also won the Best Picture Oscar. In 1979, he worked with Coppola again on his 1979 masterpiece "Apocalypse Now" in which he played what what arguably the most popular role of his career, the wacky, war-loving Colonel Kilgore, who speaks the immortal line "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning...Smells like victory."

(Duvall as "Lucky" Ned Pepper in "True Grit" (1969). (Photo: Paramount.)

Duvall could seemingly play any role from subtle comedy such as the uptight Major Frank Burns in the 1970 big screen version of M*A*S*H to the corporate hatchet man in "Network" to a trouble country singer in his Oscar-winning role in the 1983 film "Tender Mercies". (Duvall would accumulate six other nominations in the categories of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.) One of his most popular roles was in the blockbuster 1989 Western mini-series "Lonesome Dove".  He was also nominated for an Oscar in a key late-career role in the 1997 drama "The Apostle", a film he championed and helped finance. Duvall's "everyman" persona gave viewers the impression he could well be their neighbor or co-worker. He lacked pretentiousness and, while certainly not reclusive, he did not overtly court publicity. Some of his finest work is in films that were not boxoffice hits such as "Get Low" and "True Confessions". He also teamed with Kevin Costner for "Open Range", a 2003 Western that proved there was still a receptive audience for a genre that was widely deemed to be dead by the major studios. 

Robert Duvall was an actor's actor. He was modest about his talents and expressed surprise and gratitude for his success. Fittingly, New York Times critic Vincent Canby once appropriately accorded him the great compliment of all by referring to him as "America's Olivier". The breadth and depth of his accomplishments have ensured he will be remembered as one of the screen's greatest talents. 

More to come on Robert Duvall's life and career... 

By Hank Reineke

Less forgiving cineastes choose not to put the filmography of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello on par with the works of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. Their argument is that the storylines of Abbott and Costello’s comedies for Universal were too formulaic, the rewarmed vaudeville bits and occasionally violent slapstick actions and pratfalls too low-brow. While I suppose there’s some fair merit to that argument, I disagree. Personally, I don’t care much for too simplistic, contrasting assessments.

There’s one thing everyone can agree on. The partnership of Abbott and Costello was long-lasting. Though both men initially worked separately in various burlesque and theatrical productions, it wasn’t until 1936 they would formally team as a popular act on the vaudeville stage. The pair importantly gained national exposure following an appearance on The Kate Smith Hour radio program in February of 1938. The duo’s comedy repartee was so well-received that show’s producers routinely brought them back. By summer of 1940, the team (prominently under-billed as the “Radio sensations of ‘I’m a baaad boy’ fame”) were signed by Universal to provide comedic support for the Jerome Kern musical production One Night in the Tropics (1940).

One Night in the Tropics opened to mostly tepid reviews. That said, Variety noted the walk-on comic bits of Abbott and Costello provided the film’s “brightest spots,” perhaps even saving “the picture from general tediousness.” The pair quietly returned to vaudeville to earn their bread and butter. The tepid response to Tropics might have signaled an end of the pair’s career aspirations in motion pictures. But due to the passing of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Conscription Bill, Universal was planning on producing a series of “service pictures.”

Three of Abbott and Costello’s first four top-billed pics for Universal were just that, war-effort comedies, all from 1941 and all successful: Buck Privates, In the Navy and Keep ‘em Flying. The team’s single non-WWII-related outlier was Hold that Ghost, also from 1941. That latter spooky-comedy allowed the two to seamlessly team for a third time with the musical Andrews Sisters. It also marked their first mash-up with Universal’s horror and mystery pics of the day.

If the 1940s offered the greatest films of the teams’ partnership, Charles Barton’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is oft-cited as perhaps their greatest cinematic effort. Upon the film’s release in 1948, not everyone agreed that was so, critical reviews decidedly mixed. I suppose to this very day there remain a few who are of contrarian opinions of believing … Meet Frankenstein to be the pair’s best outing. That said, there’s no doubt - in my opinion, of course - that … Meet Frankenstein is seamlessly assembled, each part fit together in a perfect jigsaw: the direction, the casting, the scripting, the performances, the eerie sets, the sight gags, the warmed-over vaudeville bits… everything. The film expertly mixes comedy and mystery.

The most welcome aspect of the film is that the fabled Universal monsters (Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man) are not mindlessly ridiculed as buffoons. Bud and Lou instead are ceremoniously dropped as inhabitants into the strange world of Bela Lugosi’s vampire, Lon Chaney Jr.’s lycanthrope, Glenn Strange’s monster and Lenore Aubert’s sinister Dr. Mornay. It’s interesting that neither A&C, whose boffo box-office appeal was already in fade near the end of the 1940s, were originally thrilled about appearing in … Meet Frankenstein. The film’s two stars were allegedly not getting along with neither Universal nor each other at this point in their careers. Costello reportedly pronounced the mash-up script as underwhelming.

The quality of the script by Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo and John Grant was also debated by two of the film’s major players who shared differing opinions of it. Chaney Jr. too was not impressed, though his feelings were tinged with a measure of bitterness. The actor had been dropped as a contract player following Pillow of Death (1945), the final installment of Universal’s Inner Sanctum mystery series. Still feeling bruised by that dismissal, Chaney would return reluctantly returned to Universal for … Meet Frankenstein. (The film was actually the actor’s second teaming with A&C, having already appeared in the latter’s Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)).

In an oft-cited damning rebuke, Chaney later groused that A&C made “buffoons of the monsters.” but that quote is rarely bracketed with context. The simple fact remains that in course of … Meet Frankenstein, Chaney’s Lawrence Talbot/Wolf Man is written and played entirely straight. His annoyance with A&C more likely stemmed from the time Chaney’s Frankenstein monster was ignobly lampooned by the pair during two hosted skits on TV’s The Colgate Comedy Hour (1951). Chaney’s feelings were not mirrored by Bela Lugosi who was to reprise his on-screen Dracula for the first time since 1931. The actor was pleased to see Dracula’s sophisticate menace was retained, unblemished as a figure of parody.

I’m not sure the term “oversaturation” was commonplace in the early 1950s, but if it was, the career trajectory of Abbott and Costello would both profit and suffer from it. The two were everywhere: on stage, on radio, on television, on the big screen. Their films continued to do dependably good - if no longer blockbusting - business well into the 1950s. With the advent of television, the pair had become familiar stars on such programs as the Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1951) and their own The Abbott and Costello Show.

The latter program, which began filming in spring of 1951, was a television staple from fall of 1952 through late spring of 1954. Those original episodes would later be syndicated well into the 1970s. The pair’s television appearances - while introducing and extending their popular recognition to a new generation of fans – proved a double-edged sword. Such regular TV appearances would eventually soften their movie-star prowess at the box office.

In any case, the commercial success of … Meet Frankenstein would change the pair’s opinion of sharing similar showdowns with other monsters, Universal and otherwise. It made perfect sense that Bud and Lou’s next meeting with a figure of Universal’s fright-factory would be the Invisible Man. After all, at the conclusion of … Meet Frankenstein, the pair are introduced, sight unseen (naturally) to the laughter of Vincent Price’s Invisible Man. (Price was Universal’s second Invisible Man, having appeared in Joe May’s The Invisible Man Returns (1940). Alas, Price’s “Geoffrey Radcliffe” from Returns is not present in this second A&C thriller. However, director Charles Lamont and the very same trio of writers of … Meet Frankenstein do reference a tie-in to Claude Rains’ original “raving maniac” of James Whale’s seminal The Invisible Man (1933).

Though not a patch on … Meet Frankenstein, this Invisible Man entry is a decent-enough programmer. Newly graduated from detective school, Bud and Lou are contacted by distraught boxer Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz). Nelson is on the run from police, having been falsely accused of murdering his manager. Desperate to clear his name, Nelson has escaped from jail and seeks the help of his fiancé Helen Gray (Nancy Guild). Helen’s uncle, Dr. Philip Gray (Gavin Muir) has experimented with the same invisibility serum originally developed by scientist Jack Griffin, Claude Rain’s character in the Whale film. Gray refuses Nelson’s request for injection as he’s aware that the serum brings about the eventual onset of madness. Undeterred, the boxer injects himself and, with the assistance of Bud and Lou, seeks out the scheming gangsters actually guilty of the murder of his manager.

(Click here to order from Amazon) 

My second personal favorite of the “… Meet the Monsters” series is Lamont’s Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), co-scripted by John Grant and Lee Loeb. To be honest, this third opus is not a great film, but it’s a pretty good one, the first to feature a monster outside of the usual Universal milieu. It helps that Boris Karloff is aboard as the titular Jekyll/Hyde, though the actor’s gift for providing a healthy dose of on-screen menace is perhaps too reserved as written. This pic is actually Karloff’s second “meeting” with the pair, having previously been cast as the mysterious Swami Talpur in Barton’s Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949).

In this entry, A&C play a pair of bumbling American cops sent to England to study the methods of the London police force. The two new Bobbies, as one might expect, fare miserably, even finding themselves arrested and jailed following a wild fray at a Woman’s Suffrage rally in Hyde Park. Relieved of their duties as policeman, the pair hope to work their way back into the good graces of the constabulary by solving the mystery behind recent string of local murders.

The …. Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pic offers two separate storylines that gradually mesh. We are introduced to a beautiful suffragette/part-time chorus hall girl, Vicky Edwards (Helen Westcott). Edwards, we learn, is the ward of guardian of the prestigious Dr. Jekyll (Karloff). Edwards falls in fast-track love with the suffragette-sympathetic but prying newspaperman Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens). This romantic coupling causes distress to Jekyll. As Hyde, the doctor has been murdering Londoners and conducting chemical experiments in a secreted basement laboratory. As Jekyll, he’s despairing and jealous of his young ward’s romance with Adams as he too pines for Vicky’s affections. Of course, Bud and Lou soon find themselves in the middle of this brouhaha of mysterious murders and love triangles.

The reason I regard … Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as the second best of the “Meet the Monsters” pics, is that it successfully brings A&C into a genuinely atmospheric Universal horror film. Though I wouldn’t call the comedic elements secondary to the scenario, director Lamont manages to bring a sense of eeriness to the production: there are eerie fog-bound streets, a masked and cloaked mysterious figure lurking about, a secret laboratory hiding “Batley” (John Dierkes), Karloff’s menacing assisting chemist. The spooky Mr. Hyde mask created by make-up man Bud Westmore is original in design, half-Neanderthal/half-Ape in construction. (Click here to order from Amazon) 

Rare photo of Steven Spielberg with "Jaws" author Peter Benchley in Martha's Vineyard for the filming of the 1975 classic in which Benchley made a brief cameo appearance. Oh, and we know what you are thinking...yes, we'd also drool over acquiring that production crew T shirt that Spielberg is sporting.

Enjoy this vintage documentary, "Steve McQueen: Man on the Edge", narrated by his friend James Coburn, with whom he starred in "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape". (To watch in full screen mode, click on "Watch on YouTube".)

The first issue of Season 22 (issue #64) is now shipping worldwide! Subscribe today and enjoy the world's only magazine devoted to the greatest era of filmmaking!

Here is a brief newsreel of the festivities taking place at the 1962 New York premiere of MGM's "Mutiny on the Bounty", a magnificent epic even though there were almost impossible obstacles to overcome in bringing it to the big screen. (See Cinema Retro's Movie Classics roadshow epics issue for full coverage). Despite causing controversies during filming, Marlon Brando was induced to attend the premiere, a practice he was usually adverse to. Note the theater marquee across the street showing John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate".

In an article for the website Slashfilm.com, writer Devin Meenan briefly outlines the strange interaction between Alfred Hitchcock and MGM that ultimately- and unexpectedly- led to the creation of his 1959 masterpiece "North By Northwest"- and why, despite the film's success, Hitchcock would never work for MGM again.

Click here to read.

Here's the original trailer for the 1968 crime thriller "Madigan", directed by Don Siegel with his usual expertise and featuring a sterling cast. Just one of many gritty crime thrillers from this great era of filmmaking. 

Click here to order the Blu-ray special edition from Amazon

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FEATURES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVE

This feature puts the spotlight on those glorious old movie marquees. This one depicts the Loew's Capitol theater on the evening of the New York premiere of The Dirty Dozen in June 1967 at the Loews Capitol. Continue reading to see vintage marquees for Steve McQueen's The War Lover and Requiem for a Heavyweight starring Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason.

Cinema Retro's Author's Corner column invites authors of books about the arts to enlighten readers with the background story behind their latest book. In this column, author Marshall Terrill provides an inside look at his new book, "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, The Making of Tom Horn and The Hunter", the final two films of the screen legends career, with photographs by Barbara Minty-McQueen, who was made to Steve McQueen during this period of his life. 

By Marshall Terrill

In my new book, Steve McQueen: The Last Reel, the Making of Tom Horn and The Hunter (Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2026) I didn’t set out to write another sweeping overview of the superstar’s glittering career. That story had already been told, and told well. What kept tugging at me instead were his final two films—Tom Horn and The Hunter—and a sense that they hadn’t yet been fully understood.

The seed for the book was planted back in 2009 or 2010, not long after my first collaboration with Barbara McQueen on Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. For that book, we digitized roughly 800 of Barbara’s photographs but only had room to use about 150. A large portion of the unused images came from Tom Horn and The Hunter, and even then I knew they were too important to stay hidden. In my mind, a second book focusing on those films felt like the natural successor to The Last Mile, which was a continuation of both the story and the journey Barbara and I had begun together.

We had a blast working on that first book. It took us all over the world for signings and art exhibits, and for nearly three years it was nonstop. By the end of it, Barbara was exhausted. I, on the other hand, was already thinking ahead. She begged off any talk of another book, and for the next fifteen years the idea stayed on the shelf. It wasn’t until the 45th anniversary of Tom Horn and The Hunter approached in 2025 that I finally convinced her to return—on one condition. She would provide the photographs and I would handle the text. That agreement became Steve McQueen: The Last Reel.

What truly elevated the project, though, was my access to forty-five hours of previously unheard taped conversations with McQueen about Tom Horn. These recordings stopped me cold. When McQueen was alive, he almost never talked about acting. He preferred motorcycles, race cars, anything that felt more rugged. Acting, oddly enough, struck him as not particularly manly. So, to hear him speak so openly and thoughtfully about film, character, camera angles and storytelling was revelatory.

On the tapes, McQueen talks in detail about how he wanted Tom Horn to work visually. He pushed screenwriter Tom McGuane to think less like a novelist and more like a filmmaker. McQueen had an uncanny ability to strip a scene down to its essence—something that sounds simple but absolutely isn’t. One moment that stood out to me involved a scene where the town leaders secretly discuss how Tom Horn’s violence is spiraling out of control. McQueen suggested holding these leaders should meet outdoors, miles from town, so no one could witness it. As a former reporter who’s sat through more than a few “executive sessions” where nothing is recorded on purpose, I immediately recognized how spot-on that instinct was.

Tom Horn wasn’t just another role for McQueen as it was deeply personal. He deeply identified with Horn, once saying he felt like an old man by the time he was seventeen. He even visited Horn’s gravesite and claimed to hear the outlaw’s spirit tell him, “Tell my story.”

(Photo: Marshall Terrill)

Professionally, McQueen was also at a crossroads. Five years earlier, he had co-starred with Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno, then one of the biggest box-office hits of all time. After that, he made An Enemy of the People, a Henrik Ibsen adaptation that depicted him with long hair and a full beard. Warner Bros. shelved the film in 1978 because audiences didn’t recognize the McQueen they expected. As a result, Tom Horn marked his first on-screen appearance in five years, which was an eternity at the time. When audiences finally saw him again, they were meeting a more mature, nuanced superstar.

Then there’s The Hunter, which couldn’t be more different in tone. Here, McQueen knowingly pokes fun at his own image. That choice was entirely intentional and completely against type. To me, it showed a man who was finally comfortable in his own skin. That said, I’ll admit I think he went a little too far. Part of me wanted him to kick ass, and the film leans a bit too cute for my taste. Personally, I find Tom Horn the more satisfying of the two.

Barbara’s photographs—nearly four hundred of them—add an entirely new dimension to this story. In the Tom Horn images especially, you see how hard McQueen worked. He wasn’t just the star; he was an executive producer and, in many ways, the film’s guiding force. He obsessed over details, collaborating closely with writers, costume designers, historians, and directors. By contrast, on The Hunter he showed up, hit his marks, and moved on. The difference is striking.

Click here to order from Amazon

DICK CAVETT INTERVIEWS ANTHONY QUINN (1969)

REVIEW: "LUBITSCH MUSICALS" (ECLIPSE SERIES 8) (1929,1930,1931,1932; Directed by Ernst Lubitsch) (The Criterion Collection)

THOSE GLORIOUS OLD MOVIE ADS

OUT OF THE PAST: MAURICE JARRE WINS OSCAR FOR HIS "DOCTOR ZHIVAGO" SCORE

REVIEW: "TALES OF ADVENTURE COLLECTION 8" BOXED SET FROM IMPRINT

STREAMING REVIEW: "THE TROUBLE WITH SPIES" (1987) STARRING DONALD SUTHERLAND (AMAZON PRIME)

BOOK REVIEW: "A PLACE BOTH WONDERFUL AND STRANGE: THE EXTRAORDINARY UNTOLD HISTORY OF 'TWIN PEAKS'" BY SCOTT MESLOW (RUNNING PRESS)

REVIEW: "DAN CURTIS' GOTHIC TALES: "THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY" & "THE TURN OF THE SCREW" KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

REVIEW: "SCARS OF DRACULA" (1970) STARRING CHRISTOPHER LEE; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

THE ROLLING STONES' "LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER" 4K UHD SPECIAL EDITION FROM KINO LORBER

BOOK REVIEW: "CLINT: THE MAN AND THE MOVIES" BY SHAWN LEVY ( MARINER)

REVIEW: "SHAW-SHOCK: SHAW BROTHERS HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 2" (1960-1974) (IMPRINT BLU-RAY SET)

"THE NEW AVENGERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1976-1977) COMING FROM IMPRINT

OUT OF THE PAST: PROMOTING "THE IPCRESS FILE" (1965)

OUT OF THE PAST: TIMES SQUARE, APRIL 1966

RARE MATT HELM "MURDERER'S ROW" FEATURETTE HIGHLIGHTS THE SLAYGIRLS

"BLACK SUNDAY" UK BLU-RAY RELEASE COMING FROM ARROW VIDEO