Ed Lauter, the popular character actor who specialized in playing tough guys, has died at age 74. Lauter was one of those familiar faces who was recognized by audiences even though many viewers did not know his name. For movie buffs, however, Lauter was well known and highly respected. He had dabbled with being a standup comic in the 1960s before  trying his hand at acting. Lauter quickly gained a reputation as a reliable character actor and he became in-demand during the 1970s. Among his most memorable roles were a ruthless prison guard in director Robert Aldrich's 1974 hit The Longest Yard and as Ann-Margret's ill-fated husband in Richard Attenborough's 1978 thriller Magic. Other prominent roles included Hitchcock's final film Family Plot, The Magnificent Seven Ride!, Breakheart Pass, French Connection II, Hickey& Boggs, Death Wish 3 and, most recently Trouble With the Curve and the 2011 Best Picture Oscar winner The Artist.He also appeared extensively on television and co-starred in the acclaimed TV movie The Jericho Mile.  For more click here

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES

(This article originally ran in June 2007)  

The latest sci-fi special edition release from Fox is the eagerly-awaited Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The TV spin-off series from the mid 1960s has built such a devoted cult following that many people forget it was based on a major big screen feature film produced by Irwin Allen. The eccentric producer has always been marginalized by the lifted pinky crowd for being the schlockmaster supreme, but Allen was a dedicated craftsman who cared not a whit about the critical establishment. He had an uncanny sense for reading the mood of moviegoers and providing the precise type of entertainment they craved at any particular time. By the time his instincts began to fail him in the late 1970s, he had already produced some of the most popular and highest-grossing motion pictures of all time, to say nothing of cult TV classics like Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants and of course, the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea spin-off.

The Total Film web site provides a useful guide to 50 cinematic gems that have not received the recognition they deserve. Although there is a heavy concentration on horror movies, the list does include other genres as well. Click here to view  

By Adrian Smith

(The following review pertains to the UK-Region 2 DVD release) 

This film is a true oddity, and one that will most likely escaped the attention of even the most avid Orson Welles fans. Three Cases of Murder is an anthology film featuring three short stories, each by a different director, linked by British television personality Eamon Andrews, who appears to have just got home from a night at the theatre. The only loose connection is that each is about, well, murder, and each segment also features Alan Badel. a British character actor who was better known at the time for his theatre work, but is superb here.

"The Picture" is set in an art gallery, where the glass over a painting has been mysteriously smashed, and several items have been stolen. Despite these nefarious goings on no culprit has ever been caught. The museum tour guide meets an oddly dressed gentleman (Badel) who engages him in conversation about this painting, a large portrait of a gothic, fog-enshrouded manor house. Before he knows quite what has happened to him, our tour guide finds himself actually inside the house itself. This strange man reveals himself to have been the artist who painted the picture. He had died before it was completed. It transpires that all the pictures in the gallery act as a form of afterlife limbo, where the dead are forced to live inside the paintings, stealing whatever they can from the gallery. Also living in the house are a sinister, attractive young woman and a truculent old taxidermist, obsessed with collecting butterflies.

This first story is by far the best of the bunch, and plays out like a missing Twilight Zone episode, with its stark lighting, fantastical story, weird camera angles and sickening twist ending. Of particular interest is that this segment was directed by Wendy Toye, who was that most rarest of people: a female director in the 1950s British film industry. She had begun her career as a dancer and actress, before moving into theatre and then film direction. At that time there was only one other female director in the country, Muriel Box, showing just what a difficult industry it was for women to rise beyond the traditional production jobs on offer; script girl, wardrobe or makeup. The fact that "The Picture" is the best, most inventive part of Three Cases of Murder is testament to what a great talent she had, a talent that was greatly underused in British cinema.

The second story, "You Killed Elizabeth", is a mini-Hitchcock thriller regarding two best friends who fall out over a girl. Murder and drink-fuelled amnesia lead to another surprise twist where we learn the true cost of betrayal. Compared to the inventiveness of the first segment, this story comes across a little flat. It was directed by David Eady, his first contribution to a feature film. He went on to have a minor directing career in British television and B pictures.

The final story is "Lord Mountdrago", and casts Orson Welles as a pompous foreign secretary in the old boys network of British politics. Although the story was directed by George More O'Ferrall, who had a long career in television, it is claimed Welles himself took over most of the directing. This is only a rumour, but it is not hard to believe given his reputation.

Welles plays the titular Lord Mountdrago, who after publicly humiliating a rival politician (Alan Badel again) begins to suffer from nightmares, where he is himself repeatedly humiliated by this same politician. After receiving psychiatric counselling he refuses to acknowledge that a simple apology to the man he had wronged would solve the problem. Instead he begins to believe that murder is the only way to restore his sanity.

This story shares a similar Twilight Zone feel to "The Picture", but is largely played for laughs. Welles, who was appearing here whilst working in theatre, throws himself into the role with gusto, unafraid of making Lord Mountdrago look increasingly ridiculous, including an appearance at a party where he has forgotten to put on his trousers!

Three Cases of Murder is an odd little film, but is certainly worth revisiting in this new release. It deserves to be given some attention, and serves a reminder of just how creative even low budget B films could be. This DVD from Odeon Entertainment includes a booklet which mostly focuses on Orson Welles. The most significant extra is the inclusion of the short film Return to Glennascaul, an Irish ghost story also featuring Welles which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953. It is a creepy warning on the perils of picking up hitchhikers, and is worth the purchase of this DVD alone.

Cartoonist and film book author Sophie Cossette pays tribute to the late, great British director Ken Russell, calling him "The Mad Hatter of British Sinema" and examining the stories behind Russell's controversial films. There's also her unique cartoons that enhance the very enlightening analysis. Click here to view 

Bergman Meets Bergman

By Raymond Benson

It was the first and only time two famous filmmaking Swedes worked together—the enigmatic, existential, and brilliant director Ingmar Bergman, and the glamorous, international star of Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman (no relation). According to Ingmar in a filmed introduction he made in 2003, he and Ingrid had met and agreed that one day she would act in one of his films. Then, apparently he and Ingrid met again at a film festival in the mid-70s. She reminded him of their promise; he told her about the script he was working on, in which Liv Ullmann would play the daughter, but he hadn’t cast the mother yet. Done deal. But, in a recently-filmed interview, Ullmann relates how the two Bergmans did not get along very well for the longest period. Ingrid wanted to do it one way, Ingmar another—and he had never dealt with such a headstrong Hollywood personality before. In the end, though, Ingrid capitulated to the director, eventually admitting that he was right. He must have been, for she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and picked up a slew of other awards in 1978, and sadly, it was to be her final feature film.

Autumn Sonata is a chamber piece and feels as if it could be a stage play; indeed, it has been adapted to the stage after the fact. The story is simple—a world-famous concert pianist in her sixties stops touring for a moment to visit her estranged forty-something daughter and husband in Norway. Both of them seem to know that they’re going to come to blows at some point during the stay, and they do. The last act is a painful, cathartic angst-fest, as both women—mother and daughter—have it out with what went wrong with their relationship. Oh, and to complicate things, the mother’s other daughter is at the house, too—and she suffers from a severe disability (possibly Multiple Sclerosis). By the end, the actresses will be exhausted and spent—and the audience will be as well. This is serious, heavy-hitting Bergman (the director), and it displays just how effortlessly—it appears—he could dig deeply into the emotional psyches of two very gifted actresses, more so than we have ever seen before. It’s not a particularly “fun” time at the movies, but it is a powerful exercise in acting and directing. Serious fans of the theatre, and with the Bergmans—both of them—will surely find this to be a stunning little drama.

Sven Nykvist’s color cinematography is gorgeous in its new 2K digital restoration. The Blu-ray exhibits some natural graininess, but the improvement over Criterion’s earlier DVD release of the film is substantial. Extras include the previously mentioned Introduction by Bergman himself; audio commentary by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie; the Liv Ullmann interview; a vintage interview between Ingmar Bergman and critic John Russell Taylor at the National Film Theater in London in 1981; and, astonishingly, a three-and-a-half-hour “making of” on-set documentary. That’s more than twice as long as the movie itself. The film chronicles the entire production—initial readings, rehearsals, dress rehearsals, filming—it certainly gives you a feel for how Bergman worked. The usual classy booklet (with an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme) and packaging, hallmarks of The Criterion Collection, make Autumn Sonata a terrific addition to the home collection.

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Italian screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni has passed away at age 87. Vincezoni was best known for his work on the Sergio Leone Western classics "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", both starring Clint Eastwood. Vincenzoni was rather dismissive of his work on these films, saying that he knocked off his writing contribution in a matter of days. In the case of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" he improvised and created a plot outline on the spot in order to win financing from United Artists. Vincezoni said he was most proud of other films that he worked on that were honored on the film festival circuit. Indeed, although regarded as classics today, the Leone Westerns were largely despised or ignored by the critical establishment in the 1960s. Vincenzoni once told Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling that one of his great regrets was allowing a feud over money to break his relationship with the legendary director. When Leone died, Vincenzoni, with more than a hint of amusing ego, took the blame saying, "As the more cultured man, I should have known better." For NY Times obituary click here

By Todd Garbarini 

Not too long after The Little Mermaid was released on Friday, November 14, 1989, I saw it at the Guild Theater (aka the Guild 50^th) next door to Radio City Music Hall in New York. It was a decent-sized theater that showed films from 1938 until 1999 when it was gutted and replaced with a Nautica store (The Little Mermaid’s Ariel would have felt at home here), and it is now an Anthropologie branch for women. Thinking about the Guild Theater made me miss the single screen showcases of New York such as the Biograph, the Festival, the Carnegie Hall Cinema, the 8^th Street Playhouse, The Beekman, the Cinema I and Cinema II, and the 68^th Street Playhouse to name a few (the Paris on 57^th Street is one of the few remaining such theaters). They were decent-size auditoriums and you had a very good chance of seeing something special there in limited release.

The Little Mermaid is one such film. It had been years since I had seen a Disney film exhibited theatrically and, like most of us, had very little inkling that the studio would be releasing a whole new slate of inspired and financially successful animated features in the years to come (especially The Lion King, which I originally saw in the form of an unfinished workprint at the Walter Reade Theater in New York in early 1994). Originally published as Den lille havfrue (The Little Sea Lady) by Hans Christian Anderson on April 7, 1837 in Fairy Tales Told for Children, The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel, a sixteen year-old mermaid who, like human females of that age, becomes restless living under the watchful eye of her father, King Triton, who only has her best interests at heart. Ariel is cautioned about humans and sternly told not to mingle with them. Of course, this only compels her to seek them out. Along with her friends Flounder and Scuttle the Seagull, she surfaces and sees a handsome man named Prince Eric on a ship that enters a dangerous storm. She is instantly smitten, and saves Eric’s life, singing to him and disappearing just before he awakens. Having heard her voice, Eric wants to find Ariel who, in turn, wants to be a part of the human world.

King Triton is suspicious of Ariel and he drills Sebastian (the most memorable character in the film, though it is up for debate if he is a crab or a lobster) for information about his daughter’s sudden change in behavior. When it comes out that she is in love with a human, her father reacts in rage and loses his mind. At the urging of two eels (Flotsam and Jetsam), Ariel goes to see a sea witch named Ursula to find out how she can be with Eric. Ursula is not out to help Ariel out of kindness, mind you. She wants Ariel’s voice, and convinces Ariel to allow her to make her human for three days in exchange for her voice. The plan is to get Eric to kiss Ariel before the designated time runs out, or else she will become a mermaid again and have to answer to Ursula (notions of Cinderella spring to mind!).

All of this action is set to some truly enjoyable songs, the most recognizable and popular of which are arguably “Part of Your World”, “Under the Sea”, and “Kiss the Girl”. It’s hardly a surprise that “Under the Sea” won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, while the film also won both awards for Best Original Score. These are the kinds of songs that are very memorable, even to people who have just heard them and have not seen the film. Twenty-five years later, The Little Mermaid is one of the most well-known of the Walt Disney cartoons, gaining in popularity among young children thanks in no small part to its availability on home video. New generations of fans who were born years after the release of the film have sprung up and still dress up as the characters for Halloween, with Ariel and Sebastian being top favorites.

The new Blu-ray is comprised of an all-new, digitally restored picture. The image is a marked improvement over previous versions and just pops off the screen at you; this is clearly the best the film has looked on home video (I remember seeing it on VHS and most of the image’s detail was completely lost). While The Little Mermaid has been available on DVD in 1999 in a movie-only edition and in 2006 in a 2-disc Platinum Edition with a wealth of extras, those extras have been ported over to the Blu-ray in a special section called Classic DVD Bonus Features. In addition, the Blu-ray contains brand-new, exclusive extras shot in high definition and they are comprised of:

Part of Your World music video featuring Carly Rae Jepsen (3:39)

@Disneyanimation (10:45), a nice look at some of the many faces who have been working for years at Disney, such as John Musker and Ron Clements, in addition to more recently employed animators who were inspired by The Little Mermaid to follow animation as their career path. This is one featurette I would have liked to have seen last at least half an hour or more as I love hearing about what motivates these artists.

Deleted Character - Harold Merman (2:05) is a quick look at a character that was cut from the film. This segment is presented in sketch form.

Under the Scene - The Art of Live Action Reference (13:13) is a look at how the animators use real-life stand-ins who go through the motions of the main characters in the film, and then draw the movements of the performers to get the nuances of the animated characters. Animators John Musker and Ron Clements spoke to actress Kathryn Beaumont about her experiences acting out Alice in Alice in Wonderland and Wendy in Peter Pan to get an idea of how to draw the characters in The Little Mermaid. Ruben Aquino, the directing animator, talks about the challenges of making moving images into living and breathing characters that exude emotion. They also interview the real-life performers who acted out the lead animated roles for Eric and Ariel in footage shot in 1988.

Howard’s Lecture (16:27) is a look at the late Howard Ashman and his contribution to the film.

Part of Her World: Jodi Benson’s Voyage to New Fantasyland (4:45) smacks a little of self-promotion, but it offers up an exuberant Jodi Benson taking us through Disney’s New Fantasyland which showcases many of the later Disney characters.

Crab-e-oke Sing-Along is a cleverly-titled section that allows you to sing along with a handful of the film’s best-known songs.

The aforementioned Classic DVD Bonus Features (in standard definition) is here, too and it includes: deleted scenes; backstage Disney; music and more; an audio commentary with John Musker, Ron Clements, and composer Alan Menken; Disneypedia: Life Under the Sea; Behind the Ride That Almost Wasn’t; and Under the Sea Adventure: A Virtual Ride Inspired by Disney Imagineers.

This 2-disc diamond edition contains a standard DVD of the film and a digital copy. The bonus features included are: Part of Her World: Jodi Benson’s Voyage to New Fantasyland, classic deleted scenes, an alternate version of “Fathoms Below,” and a Fight with Ursula/alternate ending.

All in all, this is a great package of a now classic film, making the upgrade to Blu-ray well worth it. A great idea for Christmas!

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Cinema Retro mourns the passing of director Richard C. Sarafian, who has passed away at age 83. Sarafian may not be a household name but in the film industry he was held in great regard, especially by maverick younger directors like Quentin Tarantino who emulated his work and style. Crusty, outspoken and often littering his sentences with curses that would make a longshoreman blush, Sarafian was an uncompromising man when it came to his personal visions of how his movies should be constructed. He started off directing episodes of classic TV series including I Spy and Batman and his best known work from the 1960s is the eerie "Living Doll" episode of The Twilight Zone in which Telly Savalas as a cruel stepfather gets his comeuppance at the hands of possessed toy doll. Sarafian graduated into feature films and directed the movie which gained him fame, if not fortune: Vanishing Point, the 1971 action film that included ground breaking car chases that influenced action films for decades to come. (Like most superior works, it spawned an inferior remake.) In interview with Cinema Retro for issue #12, Sarafian said the experience of making the movie was not a happy one. Studio brass insisted on re-editing the movie and taking most of the nuance out of the story. He was also dissatisfied with having to cast Barry Newman in the lead, as he had been hoping the studio would sign either George C. Scott or Gene Hackman.  The film laid an egg at the boxoffice but with the advent of home video it became a cult classic. Sarafian had more troubles on the set of the 1973 Western The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing starring Burt Reynolds. During production, a mysterious murder took place on the set that gained the production notorious headlines around the world. Sarafian was more satisfied with Man in the Wilderness starring Richard Harris and John Huston. He also directed the 1976 Sean Connery thriller The Next Man. By 1988, however, his career was in decline due to his refusal to toe the line with studio executives and the fact that some of his films were not successful. He hoped a high profile disaster movie titled Solar Crisis would reignite his career but he went over budget and once again clashed with the studio. Sarafian called the finished film a mess and had his name removed from the credits. In more recent years, he dabbled in acting, playing small character roles in high profile movies.

On a personal note, Sarafian was a great fan of Cinema Retro and would occasionally call this writer to discuss specific issues.Even when he praised an article, it was with plenty of expletives attached. A refreshing aspect of Sarafian's personality is that, while he detested studio "suits", he also didn't shy away from taking personal responsibility for some films he deemed to be artistic failures.  Needless to say, he was a one-of-a-kind talent and movie lovers everywhere will mourn his passing.  

Director James Whale's impact on early sound cinema cannot be overstated. His classics Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are as revered as ever by critics and retro movie lovers. On the TCM Movie Morlocks blog, writer Kimberly Lindbergs delves into Whale's psychological state and examines how his experiences in WWI might have influenced his films...and possibly led to his suicide in 1957. Click here to read

By Lee Pfeiffer

Sony has released the original soundtrack to Robert Altman's 1970 anti-war comedy M*A*S*H as a burn-to-order title. The original vinyl version of the soundtrack, issued in conjunction with the film, was considered quite unique at the time because the bulk of the tracks consisted of dialogue from the film as opposed to composer Johnny Mandel's score. A criticism was that the original release only provided a truncated vocal version of the main theme, which is actually titled Suicide is Painless. In 1995, a remastered CD of the soundtrack was released with the full version of the song along with some bonus tracks and it is this version that has just been reissued by Sony. With the exception of the brilliant title theme, most of Mandel's amusing score is only heard in snippets, with the dialogue from the film still providing the basis for the content. It's rather odd to remember that in the pre-home video era, listening to dialogue from a film such as this was a rare treat. The success of the subsequent TV series has led many people to forget that there initially was an Oscar-nominated film that inspired the show. Thus, you can relive the zany wisecracks of the original Hawkeye and Trapper John (Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould) interacting with Hot Lips (Sally Kellerman), Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Radar (Gary Burghoff, the only cast member carried over from the film to the TV series). A third lead in the film was Duke Forrest, played by Tom Skerritt, but the character was not imported to the TV show, though he is present on the album. 

With the dialogue compromising the bulk of the soundtrack, you can at least revel in Suicide is Painless in its uncut glory. The song was deemed too controversial for TV so an instrumental version was used on the series. The brilliance of the lyrics resonate even today, as the gentle, seemingly benign folk song extols the joys of offing oneself. Shockingly, the lyrics were written by Robert Altman's 14 year-old son, though he did not receive a screen but is said to have made a fortune in royalties over the decades. 

The M*A*S*H  soundtrack is certainly an oddity, coming at a time when albums derived from hit films consisted entirely of music. However, if Altman broke the rules with his off-the-wall anti-Establishment gags, it seems only suitable that the soundtrack did the same. It's a great deal of fun to return to the days when audio snippets of your favorite films were as close as you could get to experiencing them, at least until cut-up, watered down versions would be released to television. 

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The Penthouse production of Caligula raised more than a few eyebrows with the last minute decision to insert hardcore sex scenes.

On the heels of the news that the leading actors had been cast for the film adaptation of the steamy S&M-laced bestseller Fifty Shades of Gray, the web site Do You Remember takes a stroll down memory lane and looks at other notorious major releases that are primarily remembered for their sexual content.  Click here to indulge. 

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Last evening I had the pleasure of being invited to attend the New York Philharmonic's tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. The unique two-night event at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center had commenced on Tuesday with an evening hosted by Alec Baldwin (who helped conceive of the tribute's format.) Last evening, the closing night's performance was hosted by Sam Waterson, who provided insights into the films chosen for inclusion and the composers who created the memorable scores. Under the banner The Art of the Score, master conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos lead orchestra in a presentation of flawlessly performed original music from specific Hitchcock films in synch with dialogue from the film clips shown. It's an impressive feat, given the fact that being off timing by a mere second could wreak havoc on the concept. The film scores honored were To Catch a Thief (Lyn Murray), Vertigo  (Bernard Herrmann), Strangers on a Train (Dimitri Tiomkin), Dial M for Murder (Tiomkin), North By Northwest (Herrmann) and Hitchcock's amusing signature theme, Funeral March of a Marionette which was composed by Charles Gounod in 1872. The entire main title sequences of each film were shown as the orchestra performed the themes. The effect was truly wonderful, with both Kitsopoulos and the orchestra in top form. One became even more aware of how vital Hitchcock's composers were to the quality of his films. What struck me is how such unabashedly lush and often romantic scores have been relegated to the past in today's film industry in which composers are relegated to the status of necessary evils. The work of these masters will be performed for generations after today's largely nondescript film scores have long been forgotten. The strongest part of the performance came after the intermission with particularly effective sequences and music from Dial M for Murder and North By Northwest having a mesmerizing effect on the audience. You could have heard a pin drop. The latter film, which boasts what is arguably Herrmann's greatest score, seemed to be the performance that resonated most with the audience. The concept of having dialogue included in the film clips did not sit well with everyone. My wife, for example, felt that the magnificence of the orchestra was undermined by the inclusion of dialogue in the clips. She maintained that the orchestra was so flawless that the viewer lost sight of the fact that it was a live performance and not simply the original soundtrack being played on celluloid.  The Gounod piece, for example, was presented over silent home movies of Hitchcock. The concept could have worked brilliantly but someone diluted the impact by inter-cutting snippets of the trailer from North By Northwest in which Hitchcock makes amusing witticisms about world travel. It might well be more effective if future presentations designed along similar lines presented the film clips without the dialogue and perhaps inter-cut them with still images so that the full effect of the orchestra could resonate even better with audience. Nevertheless, any evening at Avery Fisher Hall is a special occasion and this was a masterful tribute to a master director. 

Veering off topic for a bit, I do have to be a bit of a grouch, though it has nothing to do with the venue or the orchestra. Rather, it concerns the behavior of audience members. True, they sat in rapt attention during the entire performance. However, at the end of the program, the maestro had barely lowered his baton before a quarter of the audience scrambled for the exit doors, like the sequence in Hitchcock's Torn Curtain in which a false alarm about a fire causes pandemonium. There was a time when audience members would be too ashamed to leave such a grand performance before the orchestra even took its first bow. Just how important is it to get the first cab or get to the parking lot before anyone else? This trend is nothing new. I've noticed it at Broadway plays. Half the audience is gone before the applause even kicks in at the finale. We all know New Yorkers are perpetually in a hurry but there was a time when a sense of manners and decorum would have trumped their impatience. The audience members who remained to applaud seemed to go out of their way to compensate for those who jumped ship early. I dunno. I guess its a sign of the times. In an era when people look to the casts of Jersey Shore and Duck Dynasty for their role models, it's no surprise we're not seeing the likes of Noel Coward sitting next to us in the audience. Their rudeness and lack of courtesy may not have been intended as a slap in the face of the brilliant artists who performed last night, but the result was the same. 

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Director Franklin J. Schaffner was fresh off his Best Director Oscar triumph for Patton when he teamed with legendary producer Sam Spiegel for the historical epic Nicholas and Alexandra. The film was an adaptation of a best-selling book by Robert K. Massie that traced the tragic events leading to the assassination of Russia's last czar, along with his entire family. With a screenplay by the esteemed James Goldman (The Lion in Winter), the film had the potential to be another Spiegel classic. After all, Spiegel had teamed with director David Lean to produce two of the great cinematic masterpieces: The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. Despite their mutual triumphs, Lean (like most people in the film industry) came to loathe the gruff Spiegel, whose mercurial temper knew no bounds. He would chastise gaffers and esteemed directors alike and Lean had had enough. When he began production on his 1965 blockbuster Doctor Zhivago, Spiegel's ego was bruised because Lean had teamed this time with producer Carlo Ponti. If Lean had made a boxoffice smash out of the Russian Revolution, Spiegel would prove he could do the same thing. Thus, Nicholas and Alexandra was borne more out of revenge than inspiration. In addition to hiring Schaffner for the project, Spiegel conspicuously brought two key members of the Zhivago team with him: production designer John Box and cinematographer Freddie Young. However, Spiegel's finances were not adequate to afford the big name stars he had hoped to cast in the lead roles. Thus, he was forced to cast relative unknowns from the British stage: Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman. To give the film some boxoffice allure, he cast a "Who's Who" of British acting royalty in supporting roles, comprised of legendary established stars and up-and-comers. They included Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Brian Cox, Ian Holm, Jack Hawkins (whose part was dubbed due to the actor's recent throat surgery), Harry Andrews, Tom Baker, John Wood, Roy Dotrice, Alexander Knox, Eric Porter and Timothy West. 

The story, steeped in historical accuracy, finds Nicholas ill-prepared to serve as czar over a troubled Russia beset by devastating economic conditions. With the majority of his people facing starvation and a daily struggle to survive, Nicholas resides in palatial splendor in Petersburg with his headstrong wife, Alexandra. Nicholas is a good man in his own way. He cares about the peasants but lives in a bubble that prevents him from relating to their day-to-lives. Born of privilege, he knows no other life. The Romanovs have ruled Russia for three hundred consecutive years and he sees no reason for the tradition to stop with his dynasty. He is delighted when Alexandra presents him with a male heir to the throne, but the boy is sickly and suffers from life-threatening hemophilia. Still, it's a happy family with Nicholas doting over his daughters and young son. He seems oblivious that there is great resentment towards his wife, who manipulates his every move and keeps him cut off from personal friends. He ignores warnings from his ministers that he must tone down Alexandra's lavish spending habits, especially during the poor economic climate. A protest by peasants in 1905 builds tension further when a mishap causes the army to fire on the people, slaughtering hundreds of them. The seeds of revolution continue to grow with the agitator Lenin leading the charge in hopes of establishing a Bolshevik ruling party and deposing the czar. Nicholas' ill-fated decision to enter WWI against Germany brings about catastrophic results. Not only are his armies no match against the Kaiser's but Alexandra is of German heritage, which further builds public resentment against her. As Russian forces face devastating defeats on the battlefields, revolution spreads quickly through the country. Lenin's popularity grows, especially when he promises to make immediate peace with Germany if he is given power. Before long, the czar finds himself essentially powerless. He and his family are arrested but he still believes they will live an idyllic and peaceful life in exile. Instead, they are shunted between distant locations and housed in barely-livable conditions as the new order debates their fate. As we all know, it is a tragic one with Nicholas and his family abruptly shot to death by an assassination squad.

These dramatic developments play out slowly but in an interesting manner throughout the film's 183 minute running time. The performances are all first rate, with Jayston especially good as the sympathetic (if clueless) czar. Suzman is every bit his match as the egotistical Alexandra and each member of the supporting cast provides a gem of a performance, with Olivier and Harry Andrews especially impressive and Tom Baker stealing the entire movie with his mesmerizing performance as Rasputin, the crazed monk who had a Svengali-like influence over Alexandra, much to her husband's disgust. Yet, despite those attributes and a rich production design, the film never emotionally moves the viewer as much as one would expect. The characters remain somewhat opaque and the great historical events that affect them are only given marginal background and explanation. Schaffner clearly wanted to emphasize personal relationships over visual splendor and by and large he succeeded. However, there is some emotional component missing here. He crafted an impressive movie on many levels but one that perhaps did not fulfill its ultimate potential. The movie was greeted with the customary (some would say obligatory) Oscar nominations generally accorded historical epics. It was nominated for 6 awards  (including nods for  Best Picture and Actress) and won in two technical categories. Nevertheless, overall critical response was mixed and the film was considered a boxoffice disappointment. Schaffner would go on to make three more impressive films (Papillon, Islands in the Stream and The Boys From Brazil) and several flops before passing away in 1989 at age 69. Spiegel never regained the mojo he once enjoyed in the industry. He would only make two more relatively low-key films (The Last Tycoon, Betrayal) before he died in 1985 at age 84.

Twilight Time has released a magnificent Blu-ray edition of Nicholas and Alexandra, limited to 3,000 region-free units. The transfer is superb and this release maintains the original intermission break. Bonus features include an isolated track of Richard Rodney Bennett's impressive score, the original trailer and four very interesting vintage production featurettes, as well as an illustrated collector's booklet with scholarly notes by Julie Kirgo (almost worth the price of the Blu-ray alone). Nicholas and Alexandra may not be the classic Spiegel and Schaffner had envisioned, but in this age of dumbed-down action movies, it plays much better than it did upon its initial release in 1971. It's a film that educates even as it entertains and should be a part of any retro movie lover's home video collection. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Following on the successful premise of burn-to-order DVDs, Sony has expanded the process to its audio line, re-issuing retro-based albums on CD that have not been officially available for decades. One of the more notable releases is Come Spy With Me by Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra. Montenegro composed original themes for TV series and feature films during the 1960s including  Lady in Cement, the Matt Helm movies The Ambushers and The Wrecking Crew as well as the music for the 1969 John Wayne-Rock Hudson starrer The Undefeated. However, his greatest success was as the king of cover versions of popular movie and TV themes. Montenegro's album of cover music from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (nevertheless released as the "original" soundtrack) was so successful that it spawned a sequel album. Similarly, his cover version of Ennio Morricone's magnificent theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became an international smash and earned him a gold record despite the fact that his rendition was positively anemic compared to Morricone's original. Nevertheless, Montenegro and his orchestra knew how to arrange music for popular tastes and his future influence on the music industry was characterized by helping to popularize the Moog synthesizer. Among his more successful albums was the aforementioned Come Spy With Me, the title of which was derived from a 1967 low-grade James Bond spoof. Nevertheless, it had a catchy title theme (originally written by Bob Flowers) and the cover of Montenegro's album had some eye-catching graphics of comely spy girls. The tracks include Montenegro's instrumental version of Come Spy With Me (the original had lyrics) as well an eclectic selection of title tracks from popular TV series and feature films:

• Secret Agent 
• I Spy
• The F.B.I 
• Thunderball
• The Silencers
• Get Smart
• Goldfinger
• The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
• Our Man Flint
• The James Bond Theme

It's terrific to have a retro treasure like this back in circulation. Break out your old smoking jacket, grab a fine cigar and pour yourself a glass of wine...for the duration of this record, you'll be transported back to the glory days of spy movie music and the cover artists who celebrated the genre. 

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Novak on the set of Vertigo with Alfred Hitchcock.

Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne pays tribute to the legendary Kim Novak...click here to read. TCM is showing Ms. Novak's films every Thursday during the month of September. 

Ray Dolby, who is credited for revolutionizing the way sound was utilized in the motion picture industry, has died at age 80. Dolby's contributions to the film industry are largely taken for granted in today's era of special effects-driven, big budget movies. However, for those who first experienced the impact of the Dolby sound, the memories will resonate through their lives. The first Dolby sound system effect (which reduced background noise and ensured a crystal clean sound) was implemented in 1971 for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. The younger generation of filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, would find the Dolby effect to be an essential part of their films and created sound-driven action sequences to highlight Dolby's achievements. For NY Times obituary, click here

By Todd Garbarini

When George A. Romero's Day of the Dead premiered on Friday, July 19, 1985, it was released in the same fashion that his Dawn of the Dead was distributed seven years earlier, which is to say without an MPAA rating. The poster sported the caveat (or allure, depending on your point of view): “Due to scenes of violence, which may be considered shocking, no one under 17 admitted.” Widely considered as an independent maverick in the film industry, Mr. Romero once again decided not to submit his film to the ratings board knowing full well that they would demand extensive cuts, leaving most of Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero’s best work on the cutting room floor. One of the major problems with releasing a film unrated is that the perception is that it is, in fact, a self-imposed X-rating. An “X” generally means death at the box office, unless you’re Marlon Brando doing the tango in Paris. Also, most major newspapers refuse to carry ads for such fare. In addition, the film opened two weeks after Robert Zemeckis’s wildly successful Back to the Future, which was still doing incredibly well at the box office. As a horror fan four months shy of my 17th birthday, I was unable to see it theatrically. Like most of my contemporaries, I caught up with it on home video some years later. Having already seen Night of the Living Dead (1968) and it’s (in)famous sequel which takes place in a shopping mall, the aforementioned Dawn, I didn’t know what to expect from Day.

In some ways, it’s difficult to accept the fact that Dawn is sandwiched between Night and Day. Night, which was shot in black and white and tells the story from the lead character’s point of view by giving the characters information slowly just as the audience is taking in all of the dreadful occurrences that are happening to them, can also be viewed as a much more macabre version of an episode of The Twilight Zone. However, there is a grimness to Night that makes it one of the scariest movies ever made. Dawn, on the other hand, takes this same scenario of the zombies out for human flesh and adds a very humorous stance to it. There is even a sequence where a motorcycle gang throws pies in the faces of the slowly stumbling zombies. Day, on the other hand, is much more serious in tone and is clearly the most depressing of the three films. I must admit that at the time that I saw this film, I never would have guessed that over 20 years later The Walking Dead, a television series based upon a graphic novel wherein a select group of strangers band together against an unnamed contagion outbreak and are forced to fend for themselves, would go on to become one of television’s most gripping, entertaining, violent and popular shows. Audiences’s appetite for this type of horrific material only seems to be on the upswing.

I loved Day when I first saw it, and it is my second favorite after the classic Night. Most people choose Dawn as their favorite, however, probably because they saw it when they weren’t supposed to! Day introduces us to a completely different set of characters and actors. It begins with a brilliant sequence that jolts the audience out of complacency and puts them on edge for the rest of the film. Sarah (Lori Cardille), John (Terry Alexander), McDermott (Jarlath Conroy), and Miguel (Anthony Dileo Jr.) are part of an underground army compound in the Florida Everglades trying desperately to understand how to cure the contagion outbreak. They have limited resources and are being watched by Captain Henry Rhodes (Joe Pilato, in a performace that Siskel and Ebert labeled as shameless overacting, but he’s actually really terrific and has some of the most quotable dialogue in the film) and his lackeys Steele (Gary Howard Klar) and Rickels (Ralph Marrero). Meanwhile, Dr. Logan (the late Richard Liberty) is experimenting with live and dead zombies in an effort to understand them and control them so that they can become obedient. Dr. Fisher (John Amplas) is a scientist who also attempts to mediate between Dr. Logan and Capt. Rhodes, however communication between these parties begins to break down and supplies start to slowly run out. Mistakes are made, and Miguel is bitten by a zombie, leaving Sarah to amputate his arm and burn the wound to inhibit the spread of infection.

Dr. Logan continues his experiments, this time on a restrained zombie named “Bub” whose child-like behavior suggests that his memory works, at least partially. Sarah is disgusted to find that he is using body parts as food to reward Bub for correctly performing tasks; she plans to escape with her loyal confederates but is stopped by Capt. Rhodes who freaks out and kills Dr. Logan. All hell breaks loose and chaos ensues, resulting in some truly amazing makeup work by Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero.

Day of the Dead has been released in many different formats. The latest is a Blu-ray release this month from the fine folks at Scream Factory who never cease to amaze me with their tireless efforts on countless new Blu-rays of old horror favorites. Their transfer of the film in high definition is the best that Day has ever looked on home video. If you own the 2003 Divimax two-disc set from Anchor Bay, hold on to it because two of the extras from that fine set have not been carried over to the Blu-ray: the audio interview with Richard Liberty and the 39-minute original documentary The Many Days of Day of the Dead.

The Blu-ray contains:

Beautiful, exclusive and new cover art by artist Nathan Thomas Wilner and a flip-over cover which has the original one-sheet poster art.

World’s End: The Legacy of Day of the Dead (85:26), a brand-new high definition documentary that discusses the making of the film in Pennsylvania. Many of the people involved in the film’s production are interviewed here.

Audio commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, Cletus Anderson (production designer) and Lori Cardille

(this is ported over from the Anchor Bay disc)

Audio commentary with film director Roger Avary, an admitted fan of the film (this is ported over from the Anchor Bay disc)

Day of the Dead: Behind the Scenes (30:42) – This is Tom Savini’s production footage that details his extensive makeup effects used during filming in late 1984 (this is ported over from the Anchor Bay disc, however the beginning is a little different). Shot in standard definition on either VHS, VHS-C or 8mm video.

Wampum Mine Promotional Video (08:12) is ported over from the Anchor Bay disc and was called Gateway Commerce Center Promo on that edition. It takes viewers on a tour of the underground location where Day was filmed. Presented in standard definition.

Underground: The Day of the Dead Mines (07:37) – Hosted by Ed Demko of Cult Magazine, this new, high definition look into the mines where Day was filmed makes one wonder how the cast and crew fared while shooting. Skip Docchio, a facility tech who worked in the mines for 32 years, was on hand during shooting and recounts his memories. Mr. Demko humorously recites some of the film’s dialogue.

Theatrical trailers (05:55) – There are four trailers provided here, and several of them seem like promotional items at film festivals.

TV Spots (01:35) – There are three spots here, all making a point to emphasize that the film has not been rated.

Stills Gallery – this consists of behind the scenes shots, locations where the film was shot, posters/lobby cards (remember when they made those?), and a miscellaneous section that includes images of past video releases.

This disc is highly recommended. It would be wonderful if Scream Factory could get their hands on Mr. Romero’s Creepshow. I have the Region 2 two-disc special edition DVD and the documentary is almost as long as the film itself. Creepshow needs a Blu-ray release and Scream Factory is the company to do it!

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By Lee Pfeiffer

The name Wakefield Poole may not mean much to mainstream audiences but in the 1970s he was quite a controversial filmmaker. Poole initially trained for the ballet then drifted into movie making. In 1971, Poole released Boys in the Sand, the first "up market" hardcore gay movie. It caused quite a sensation and was immediately embraced by long-suffering gay males who heretofore had to be content with low-end, quickly shot pornographic "loops" that played in Times Square grindhouses. Poole's film was taken seriously by the critical establishment and actually earned praise in reputable publications like Variety. The film actually cracked Variety's list of the top 50 grossing films in America, an amazing achievement for a movie with limited appeal and distribution. It also made a gay movie icon of actor Casey Donovan. Poole and Donovan followed this project up with another hardcore porn flick, Bijou, which was released in 1972. Inspired by the fact that his filmmaking techniques were being praised, Poole became more ambitious and managed to cobble together a then sizable budget for his next film, Wakefield Poole's Bible! (yes, the exclamation point was part of the title.) Poole attempted to take three tales from the Bible and bring them to the screen using his own spin on the narratives. We see Adam and Eve, David and Bathsheba and Samson and Delilah in period settings but through Poole's unique perspective. Poole opted to give his actors no dialogue. The film is played silently to the accompaniment of classical music. The result is one of the most bizarre experimental films of its era. Although Poole claims he had a budget of $150,000 other sources state it was actually less than half that. Regardless, it was a significant sum compared to the budgets of his previous ventures. Poole managed to do a lot with very little. Using creative locations and camerawork, he sometimes succeeds in conveying an interesting look for his trilogy of Biblical tales. Most impressive are the film's opening scenes in which we first see Adam. Shot amid some rather stunning rock formations on a beach, Poole soon introduces us to Adam's first encounter with Eve. Understandably, it doesn't take the only man and woman on earth to get down to doing what men and women like to do. The sequence is more romantic than erotic and this sets the tone for the rest of the film. The David and Bathsheba segment stars Georgina Spelvin, then riding the wave of worldwide publicity for her success in the notorious Devil in Miss Jones, considered by many to be the most accomplished porn movie ever made. Although Poole has Spelvin cavorting around fully naked, he presents the Biblical tale as a slapstick comedy with a sexually frustrated wife unable to interest her husband, a macho army general, in anything relating to love making. The third tale is the most effective with actress Gloria Grant (who went on to a legitimate career, winning an Emmy in the process) as a visually striking Delilah who seduces Samson as part of a plot to punish him for the murder of an innocent person. 

The Vinegar Syndrome video label has released Wakefield Poole's Bible! as a special DVD edition, restored and presented in its uncut format. While Poole can be commended for trying to achieve something outside the porn film industry, the movie was too bizarre to appeal to mainstream audiences. Paradoxically, it also alienated Poole's core following of gay men by presenting tales of heterosexual sex, albeit in a softcore format. Not helping matters was the fact that the movie was slapped with an X rating, which even at the time seemed unnecessarily harsh. Poole theorized that it would have been given an "R" rating had the movie been made by anyone else, but his name and that of Spelvin virtually ensured retribution from the ratings board. By his own admission, the film was a flop and was only seen by a relative handful of people in its initial release. The movie has some striking visual elements, some of them effective and creative and others bordering on the pretentious. It's hard to imagine that Poole ever envisioned this pet project being embraced by movie goers on a wide basis.

The DVD is first class and provides bonus features that are far more interesting than the film itself. These include both vintage and recent interviews with Poole, who candidly assesses his own career highs and lows. Poole also provides a brief introduction to the movie as well as an interesting audio commentary track. There is also recent filmed interview with Georgina Spelvin, who claims making the movie was delightful from her perspective. She also tells an amusing story of how she got into the porn industry. As a struggling actress, she was delighted to get a role in a minor film. It wasn't until she began filming a love scene that the director told her in a matter-of-fact manner to start performing oral sex on her male co-star. Spelvin considered it a sign of her dedication to her profession that she suppressed her shock and just went ahead with the task, taking solace from the fact that the guy was "cute". She is a very amusing lady and one wishes her interview segment went on even longer. Similarly, a new interview with Gloria Grant, who also professes pride in her striking performance in the film. She says she still has no regrets about appearing naked on screen because she came into this world naked. The other bonus features include costume tests, a still gallery, a trailer and- most provocatively- silent screen tests of the male and female actors who enact various poses while completely naked. It's somehow far more erotic than the film itself. 

Wakefield Poole's Bible! may have been a commercial and artistic failure, but the DVD is entertaining on so many levels that we can highly recommend it because it offers some fascinating insights into one of the strangest film projects of its era.

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By Todd Garbarini 

There are certain movies that you see on substandard formats such as VHS and you enjoy the film and think nothing of the technical prowess that went into making it. When you see that same film given the proper respect of being telecined, color-corrected from the original camera negative, properly framed in the original aspect ratio and displayed on a 1080P monitor/television, the difference is mind-boggling and literally makes you wonder how you managed to suffer through such mediocre viewings in years past. James Munro’s Street Trash (1987) is a colorful, vile, over-the-top contraption featuring dirty and reprehensible characters in Brooklyn, NY who dwell in an automobile graveyard and have fashioned stacks of tires, empty vehicles, and just about anything else that they can get their hands on into shelter and a way of life. They commit petty crimes, steal from one another, and in short do anything to ensure their own survival. To what end, it remains a mystery, however judging from their behavior their miserable existences are probably more preferable to them than the unknown of what lies in the great beyond. As the film opens, a bespectacled local liquor store owner, who looks a lot like the bespectacled bad guy chasing Louis DeFunes through much of Gerard Oury’s The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973), finds a case of “Tenafly Viper” (presumably whiskey or bourbon) in his basement long after the concoction’s expiration date has passed and elects to sell it in his store for a dollar a bottle. The results are disastrous for those who consume the poisonous drink as they begin to slowly turn into defragmented, messy, colorful blobs that would make Rob Bottin, the effects master on John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), cringe. Fred (Mick Lackey, who also did special make-up effects on the film) owes money here and there and will steal from anyone to get it. Bronson (Vic Noto) is an imposing individual who appears to hold sway over everyone who lives in the junkyard and demands money (probably rent) from them. Shot in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, NY in 1986 long before gentrification of the neighborhood, the opening of the film sports a schizophrenic sequence of fast-moving Steadicam shots of Fred out-witting other bums for money. Names like Vandervoort Avenue, Meserole Avenue, Moultrie Street, Norman Avenue, and Humbolt Street populate the screen. Fred takes to the steps of the abandoned and graffiti-covered Greenpoint Hospital Outpatient Department on Maspeth Avenue (now the fully functioning Greenpoint Renaissance Center), and another bum, Paulie, bemoans the fact that his son is wasting his life on computers! If only he had a crystal ball…

Like David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977), Street Trash virtually defies description. That is part of the film’s charm, if a film like this can possess charm! There are some wildly hilarious moments, particularly in the opening scenes involving Fred and flatulence. Another scene involves a group of squeegee men (people who wash car windshields at red lights and demand payment under the threat of vandalism). Bronson takes this bit of intimidation to the extreme by extricating a stereotypically-dressed nerd, with glasses and bowtie, from his car and throwing him headfirst into the windshield as his girlfriend screams in horror. Bronson is unhinged from the get-go and it comes to light that he once fought in Vietnam. This point is driven home in a sequence wherein he has a flashback and is attacked by the Vietcong. Bronson no doubt inspired the character of Wynyard, the drug-addicted frog in Peter Jackson’s hilarious 1989 Muppets send-up Meet the Feebles (years ago, Anchor Bay promised a deluxe DVD of the Feebles, however it soon disappeared from their “future” list. It has been no doubt delayed due to Mr. Jackson’s involvement in getting his Tolkien fantasies shot, but this would be a perfect film for Synapse to release). Another funny sequence takes place in a supermarket wherein a panhandler stuffs nearly a quarter of the store’s inventory down his pants and is offended when the store manager calls him out on it. The film's craziest sequence, however, involves the removal of a bum’s private part as others use it to play a game of catch, tossing it amongst themselves. It looks like it’s paying homage to the tossed bone in the air in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). It’s humorous but it goes on a little too long. One fellow reviewer referred to this film as “the greatest movie Troma never made,” and he’s absolutely right. In fact, Troma has been making so many crazy, off-the-wall parodies of other movies for nearly four decades that I initially thought that films like Street Trash and Peter Jackson’s wildly entertaining Bad Taste (1986) were made by them. The pacing of the film is a bit off, and it might have worked better as an 80-minute film rather than its full 101 feature-length running time. The timing of the film’s release following Larry Cohen’s The Stuff (1985), about a company that packages industrial waste into the form of a snack, is either deliberate or entirely coincidental, as that film concerns people who, after ingesting The Stuff, have awful things happen to them. If you are a fan of Street Trash, this new Blu-ray from Don May, Jr.’s excellent Synapse Films is a no-brainer. The transfer is absolutely gorgeous.

The film has been released many times before on VHS and laserdisc (both here and in Japan). Synapse Films released it in the US in 2005 as a single DVD disc, then in 2006 as a special edition two-disc set the following year. It is that set that is replicated on the single Blu-ray with the following extras:

The Meltdown Memoirs (2:04:00) I love when DVDs and Blu-rays offer documentaries that are occasionally longer than the feature film that they are discussing. Laurent Bouzereau’s documentary on Steve Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) is a case in point. The documentary on Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners (1995) runs roughly four hours long, as does the one on the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, Never Sleep Again. The same is true of the documentary on Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) on Blu-ray. While some people may find this excessive, true diehard fans, including yours truly, love these added values. The Meltdown Memoirs is no exception. It runs just over two hours in length and is everything that a film documentary should be: entertaining, informative, and comprehensive. Just about everybody who appears in the film can be seen here as well. There is plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, discussions about the cast and financing the film, discussions about special effects, illustrations of conceptual art, the gloriously colorful cinematography and production design, etc. In short, this is just about everything that you need to know about this movie. The original cut of Street Trash ran nearly three hours (gulp!).

Audio commentary number one with writer/producer Roy Frumkes. It is a real pleasure to listen to Roy as he discusses many facets about the making of the film. Usually, special editions offer commentaries as well as interviews which tend to contain the exact same information just packaged differently. The idea behind this, I assume, is to give fans who like watching short interviews but do not like to listen to full-length commentaries the same information, however in truncated form. There is very little repetition in the way of what is mentioned in the audio commentary on this disc, as opposed to the documentary. This is really designed with the hardcore fan in mind, the person who’s going to watch and listen to every extra that the disc boasts.

Audio commentary number two with director James Munro. Director Munro speaks about this film from a technical standpoint which is helpful to people who work behind the camera. If you have already watched the two-hour documentary and listen to Mr. Frumkes, you can probably skip this track and not miss out too much. However, if you’re a completist, there are interesting anecdotes to be sure.

The original Street Trash 16mm short that inspired the feature-length film. This short runs approximately fifteen minutes in length and is interesting to see in contrast to the feature-length film.

The original Street Trash promotional teaser.

Deleted scenes and outtakes. Seven minutes of short scenes are featured here in a sequence that is exclusive to the Blu-ray.

Jane Arakawa interview. A nine-minute interview with one of the actresses from the film that is also exclusive to this Blu-ray.

Theatrical trailer. This runs about two minutes.

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Cinema Retro's own Sheldon Hall gives us a sneak peek at his forthcoming book, Armchair Cinema: Feature Films on British Television, with a look back at the earliest instances of theatrical films being shown on UK TV. Not surprisingly, the British film studios were not at all happy about the advent of TV and initially withheld feature films from broadcast. How the barrier was finally broken by Ealing Studios represents a fascinating part of BBC history. Click here for more

By Lee Pfeiffer 

The Warner Archive has released the 1960 supernatural "B" movie thriller Tormented as a burn-to-order DVD title. The film is yet another entry from the schlock king, producer Bert I. Gordon. The prolific master of micro-budget films made his fare primarily for the undiscriminating drive-in market during the era when such movies often were produced to play as second features. Tormented stars Richard Carlson as Tom Stewart, a middle aged man who resides on an island (the geographical location is never determined.) When we first see him, he is atop a lighthouse where he is being confronted by a pesky ex-love, Vi (Julie Reding). The sultry woman can't accept the fact that Stewart has dumped her to marry the virginal local "good girl" Meg (Lugene Sanders). When all of her sexual come-ons don't tempt him to take her back, she makes it clear that she has some incriminating letters from him that she will release to ensure his forthcoming marriage is sabotaged. You don't have to be the Amazing Kreskin to see what is coming. Vi leans on a railing and finds herself dangling above the rocky ocean front beneath her. She begs Stewart to save her but he opts to do nothing and she falls to her death. Although haunted by guilt, the next morning he recovers her body in an attempt to cover-up the incident. (Conveniently, she let him know that no one other than a boat captain knew she had come to the island.) Soon, however, strange things start happening. Her body turns into a pile of seaweed- and that's just the beginning. Meg's 8 year old sister Sandy (Susan Gordon) shows up on the beach, having found a locket that Stewart had inscribed to Vi. Before long, he becomes obsessed with worry that her death will be made known. Adding to his troubles is the fact that he can hear Vi's voice vowing revenge and ultimately he sees visions of her, as well. (Whether Vi is making appearances from Heaven or Hell, you have to say they have some pretty impressive clothing lines there: she is routinely clad in clingly, low-cut nightgowns.) As the day of the wedding nears, Stewart is a nervous wreck and his trouble increase when the boat captain who dropped Vi off on the island suspects she has been murdered. He's an obnoxious hipster (played by the great character actor Joe Turkel) who sets out to blackmail Stewart. This sets in motion a series of dramatic events as the groom-to-be gets into deeper trouble by trying to eliminate his blackmailer. All the while Vi continues to taunt Stewart, though he is the only one who can see or hear her, as though she is an evil version of James Stewart's Harvey. 

Tormented is typical of Bert I. Gordon fare. The triple threat auteur also wrote and directed the film and it boasts the shoddy production values that made him beloved by B movie lovers. There is one scene that takes place atop the lighthouse in broad daylight. The matte painting of the ocean features water that never moves, which makes the backdrop akin to one you might see in a school play. The script also doesn't even touch upon the unusual aspects of Stewart's engagement to Meg, in that he is old enough to be her father. (Richard Carlson was 48 years old- and seems much older, while Lugene Sanders was 26 but plays the role of a younger woman.)  There are, of course, May/December romances in real life, but the screenplay doesn't acknowledge this and treats the couple as though they are two young kids just starting out in life.  Still, while it's easy to pick on such obvious flaws, Tormented is a surprisingly effective and engrossing thriller in its own way. The Crime and Punishment scenario is obvious. Stewart isn't a bad man. In fact, he's a legitimate victim of a former lover who wants to blackmail him. However, by refusing to save her life, he opens a Pandora's Box of deception that escalates in his attempts to keep his lack of gallantry quiet. As they say of the Watergate scandal, "The cover-up was worse than the crime." There are no performances of any particular merit, but Susan Gordon is most impressive as Meg's precocious young sister who holds the key to Stewart's fate. There is something approaching genuine suspense in the final scene in which Stewart attempts to silence her forever. 

Tormented has plenty of unintentional laughs, shoddy effects and a predictable story. However, I've always admired the art of "B" movie making by those artists who knew they were toiling on projects that never stood a chance of receiving serious critical acclaim. This is a prime example of a well-made film, at least within those parameters. 

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Canadian cartoonist Sophie Cossette uses her considerable talents to pay tribute to cult movies and their stars and directors. Click here to view her tribute to "King Leer" himself, producer/director Russ Meyer, who certainly never went flat busted -both financially and in terms of the films he made, which showcased the best endowed actresses he could find. This was all done in an era when silicone implants would have been considered "cheating". Meyer searched out those ladies who were naturally "gifted" and made quite a few sex comedies that are so tame today they could be shown on the Disney Channel. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, they served to titillate an entire generation of men.  

PangeaSeed, artist Craig Drake and Hero Complex Gallery are pleased to announce a shark-saving effort of monstrous proportions: Smile, You Son of a Bitch! An Art Tribute to JAWS!

For three days only, from November 1 - 3, 2013, at Hero Complex Gallery in Los Angeles, we will host a one of a kind art exhibition featuring original artworks created by 70+ of today’s most renowned artists in celebration of one of the most iconic films in movie history. This unprecedented exhibition aims to engage the audience by helping to further bring much needed awareness to the global plight of sharks.

The three day event will see guest appearances by original cast and crew from the movie, original film memorabilia and collectibles on display, special guest presentations from some of today’s leading shark experts and exciting film screenings. Search deep and wide, without a doubt this is the must-see event of the year for JAWS fans!

Leading up to the opening night reception on November 1, PangeaSeed will release 4 limited edition fine art screen prints entitled “JAWS: The Lost Trading Card Set” created in collaboration with supporting artist Craig Drake and printed via Seizure Palace Screen Printing. A new print will be released monthly to help make this event possible - we greatly appreciate your support.

Follow PangeaSeed.org for more event information and updates.

Gilbert Taylor, the legendary cinematographer, has passed away at age 99. Although he photographed some of the greatest films of all time, Taylor never received a single Oscar nomination (though he was nominated for two BAFTAs for his work on Polanski's Repulsion and Cul-de-sac).  He was among the most revered artists in his trade. Among the classics he worked on: Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day's Night, Dr. Strangelove, Frenzy and The Omen. For more click here

The year was 1972 and Jerry Lewis was embarking on the the riskiest venture of his long, successful screen career. He would star in and direct The Day the Clown Cried, a dramatic and sobering tale about a Jewish clown who is imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. He is only able to survive by making himself useful to his captors by distracting doomed children with his antics as he leads them to the gas chamber. The announcement that Lewis would be involved in such a production raised eyebrows at the time and more than a bit of skepticism that he could pull it off. Lewis had been one of the top boxoffice attractions in the world in the 1950s and 1960s, but by the advent of the 1970s he knew that his squeaky clean family films were out of touch with the Woodstock generation. He was convinced he could launch a new career as a dramatic star and director. However, the film ran into problems almost immediately with production funds from private sources routinely drying up. This forced Lewis to cut the budget practically to that of a home movie level. Still, he soldiered on a completed the film. However, legal battles over the rights have prevented it from ever being released. Over the years, Lewis has shown the movie to only a handful of trusted confidants. Their reaction was uniformly terrible and Lewis now accepts the blame for the movie's artistic failures, saying "I lost the magic" and vowing no one else will ever see the movie. Nevertheless, some footage has surfaced from a German documentary done at the time of production that shows Lewis on the set of the movie and a glimpses of him performing as a clown. Click here to view  

Harris gave a brilliant performance as a woman who has been targeted by evil spirits in The Haunting (1963)

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Julie Harris, who was regarded as Broadway royalty for winning five Tony Awards (a feat never equaled by any other actress), has passed away at age 87. Harris' career in stage, film and TV spanned almost 60 years. She was the first actress to play Sally Bowles in the original stage adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's I Am a Camera, which recounted the journalist's experiences in Berlin during the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of National Socialism. The musical version of the story was later brought to the stage as Cabaret.  Ms. Harris was widely respected throughout the arts and was among those select American performers who was accorded the Kennedy Center Honors. Ms. Harris also appeared in numerous high profile films beginning with his Oscar-nominated performance in The Member of the Wedding in 1952. She also appeared in the 1955 film version of I Am a Camera. She memorably co-starred with James Dean in East of Eden and throughout the 1960s, her big screen career blossomed even while she performed in high profile stage and TV productions. She often played the role of a troubled woman, sometimes beset by psychological disorders. In the 1962 film version of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight, she played a dowdy, plain Jane who unexpectedly falls in love with a down-and-out, punch-drunk boxer played by Anthony Quinn. In John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye, she played a deeply troubled woman whose husband is having an affair with her best friend. Her biggest impact on the big screen during this era was as a woman whose psychic powers lead to tragedy in director Robert Wise's chilling masterpiece The Haunting. For more about her remarkable career, click here. 

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Twilight Time has released Walter Hill's 1975 directorial debut, Hard Times, on Blu-ray as a limited edition (3,000 units). Hill was an up-and-coming screenwriter with Peckinpah's The Getaway to his credit as well as solid thrillers like The Drowning Pool, The Mackintosh Man and Hickey and Boggs. There is no evidence in Hard Times that Hill was a novice behind the camera, either. This is one of my favorite films of the period, though many retro movie fans probably haven't seen it. The story is set in 1933. Chaney (Charles Bronson) is a middle-aged drifter who ends up crossing paths with Speed (James Coburn), a fast-talking promoter of "street fights" (no holds barred matches between local tough guys with no rules or regulations). Needing some quick cash, the soft-spoken, low-key Chaney forms a partnership with the mercurial Speed. In his first match, they win big when Chaney knocks the local champ out cold with one punch. They gravitate to New Orleans where Speed can put together some high stakes fights. They are joined by Poe (Strother Martin) an amiable quasi-doctor (he had two years of medical school) with a penchant for opium but who is skilled at patching up bruised and beaten fighters. Chaney quickly becomes a local legend and draws the attention of a local fight promoter/kingpin who insists that Chaney fight a seemingly invincible slugger he has imported from Chicago. When Chaney refuses, the kingpin kidnaps Speed and holds him hostage until Chaney shows up for the high stakes fight. The script, co-written by Hill, is a prime example of how less can be more, at least in terms of dialogue. Bronson says very little during the film, but conveys much emotion with a nod of the head, the blinking of his eyes or a wry smile. This is evident in Chaney's relationship with a local down and out woman (Jill Ireland), who he basically sees for easy sex. When she presses him to convert their trysts into a meaningful relationship, Chaney simply walks out. No drama. No speeches. Similarly, the superb performances of Bronson, Coburn and Martin seem inspired by the Sam Peckinpah school of men sticking together no matter what. When Speed is kidnapped, Chaney initially refuses to help him. He correctly points out that Speed is responsible for his own reckless behavior that sees him make enemies of the wrong people and foolishly gamble away money as fast as he earns it. Yet, in a crunch, Chaney comes to his partner's aid. There is no fanfare between Chaney and Speed, who knows that, by appearing for the bout, Chaney has saved his life. Instead, just a quick handshake a "thank you." By de-emphasizing overtly sentimental gestures and dialogue, Hill makes the relationship between the trio even more moving. 

Hill and his co-writers pack a lot of memorable scenes into the film's scant 93 minute running time. Aided by editor Roger Spottiswood (another future director) and cinematographer Philip Lathrop, Hill makes every frame of the film count. There isn't a slow moment or a meaningless line of dialogue. Clearly the highlights are the action sequences. This is Fight Club for the Baby Boomer generation. Bronson, who was in his 50s at the time, performs all of his own gut-wrenching fight scenes, along with co-stars Robert Tessier and Nick Dimitri. They are brutal affairs that will quickly convince you that these men are actually beating each other up. The stunt coordination is among the best I've seen in any film. The film's more whimsical sequences are aided immeasurably by Barry DeVorzon's addictive score. 

With Hard Times, Bronson reached the pinnacle of his acting career. It's wonderful to see him reunited with Coburn, his co-star from The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. However, Coburn became even more interesting as an actor as he grew older whereas Bronson grabbed for the low-hanging fruit and began to concentrate primarily on by-the-numbers action movies. The film remains a testament to his abilities as an actor- and credit Walter Hill for bringing those out in full force.

The Twilight Time Blu-ray features a gorgeous transfer but the only extra is the original trailer and the always-welcome collector's booklet with informative liner notes by Julie Kirgo, who hints that Hill was approached to record a commentary track for this release but declined because he doesn't like to look back on his past work. Well, we do- especially when it's a movie as terrific as Hard Times. 

Click here to order from Screen Archives 

TCM's Dennis Adamovich, Robert Osborne and Jane Powell initiate the formal launch of the TCM Classic Film Tour. (Photo: Turner Classic Movies).

By Lee Pfeiffer

In true Hollywood style, it was an offer I couldn't refuse: an invitation from Turner Classic Movies to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and inaugural roll out of the TCM Classic Film Tour of New York city movie locations.  This event, which took place on August 20, was restricted to the media and invited guests. TCM host Robert Osborne was there to greet everyone along with a Hollywood legend, Jane Powell, who was clearly delighted to participate. Osborne and Powell used giant scissors to cut the ribbon on the bus, which is distinctively branded with the network's logo (and appropriately enough, the ultimate New York City "big" star, King Kong). Joining them was Dennis Adamovich, Senior VP of Brand Digital Activation and the guru behind the Turner Classic Movies Film Festivals. Once aboard the bus, we were treated to what the average attendee will experience on the tour. There is a video greeting by Robert Osborne and a knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide (in this case, an impressive young lady named Roseanne who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the NY film locations.) There is an abundance of film clips pertaining to the various sites on the tour. The bus does make several stops to allow attendees to disembark for photo opts. These include the famed Dakota apartments where Rosemary's Baby was filmed (and where John Lennon was tragically murdered), the 59th Street Bridge where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton filmed an iconic scene for Manhattan, Holly Golightly's apartment from Breakfast at Tiffanys, the subway grate where Marilyn Monroe posed for the famed "up skirt" photo from "The Seven Year Itch" , the famed Zabar's market where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan encounter each other in You've Got Mail and, concluding the tour, Grand Central Station, site of many a film shoot including classic scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest. Even an old movie history war horse like myself was humbled by the fact that I could learn so many new facts about these classic films. The tours, which begin operating today for the general public, are three hours in duration and leave from 51st Street and Broadway. Locations are concentrated on the uptown neighborhoods but go as far south as the Empire State Building.

TCM host Robert Osborne with Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer. (Photo: copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved)

The 59th Street Bridge, the "star" of an iconic scene in Woody Allen's Manhattan and the inspiration for a classic song by Simon and Garfunkel. (Photo: copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved.)

Other film locations that play major or minor backdrops for popular movies include those seen in  Plaza Suite, Coogan's Bluff, Live and Let Die, The Apartment, Arthur, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Network, West Side Story, The Out of Towners, The Sunshine Boys, Ghostbusters, The Producers, Serpico, Annie Hall, Moonstruck, The Way We Were, Crocodile Dundee, Big, Superman, the Eddy Duchin Story, Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town, Baby Boom, Weekend at the Waldorf, My Man Godfrey, Hannah and Her Sisters, Midnight Cowboy, Barefoot in the Park, Nothing Sacred, Miracle in the Rain and many more. Much use  is made of classic film clips showing many of these movies, with emphasis on the 1949 MGM classic On the Town, especially in Columbus Circle where Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Jules Munshin made merry (the original subway entrance and news stand are still intact).

Holly Golightly's apartment from Breakfast at Tiffany's is a residential address today. (Photo: copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved.)

The Dakota apartments where Rosemary's Baby was filmed- and where John Lennon met his tragic end. (Photo: copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved.)

Tour guide Roseanne shows the subway grating where Marilyn Monroe shot publicity stills for The Seven Year Itch. Roseanne informed us that the sequence for the film was shot here but was later redone in the studio. However, the iconic images of Monroe on the New York street still resonate with movie fans worldwide. (Photo: copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved.)

There is another value to the tour that extends beyond Hollywood history- and that is the fascinating facts and anecdotes pertaining to how the city itself has changed over the years (and in some cases, remained consistent in terms of film locations.) On Location Tours, which runs the service in conjunction with TCM, also provides trivia questions on the monitors so that attendees can compete for prizes. (This is used as a pleasant way to kill time in case the bus becomes embedded in one of Gotham's notorious traffic jams.)

In all, this is a marvelous treat for both casual movie fans and die-hard TCM viewers. Tickets are $43 for adults, $27 for children. Click here to book tickets and get more info about the tour.  

Veteran movie director Ted Post has died at age 95. Post was closely associated with the early career of Clint Eastwood, directing 20 episodes of Rawhide and Eastwood's feature films Hang 'Em High (1968) and Magnum Force (1973). Post also directed the hit sequel to Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Post is closely associated with classic TV, having directed episodes of Combat!, The Defenders, The Twilight Zone, Peyton Place and Gunsmoke. His latest television project was a remake of the John Ford classic Stagecoach in 1986. Other feature films include The Harrad Experiment and Go Tell the Spartans.   For more click here

Valentin de Vargas with Janet Leigh in Touch of Evil.

Valentin de Vargas, who menaced Janet Leigh as Pancho in Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil," has died at the age of 78.

Vargas died June 10 of myelodysplastic syndrome in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was laid to rest at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico. His daughter, Vanessa de Vargas, said the family wanted to wait until after his burial to announce his death.

Vargas was active in Nosotros, the organization founded by Ricardo Montalban to support Latinos in show business, and he took acting classes taught by Anthony Quinn.

Vargas reunited with Touch of Evil co-stars Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston.

In addition to "Touch of Evil," Vargas appeared in "Blackboard Jungle," Howard Hawks' "Hatari!," "The Magnificent Seven" and William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A."

Vargas also guest starred in such popular TV shows as "Hill Street Blues," "The Wild Wild West," and "Dallas," as well as a classic horror episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour": The Life Work of Juan Diaz, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury.- Harvey Chartrand

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Severin Films has released the definitive version of the cult movie The Manson Family (aka Charlie's Family) as a Blu-ray special edition. If you've never heard of the movie, don't feel bad: most main stream moviegoers have not. However, the film, which became an obsessive dream project for director Jim VanBebber has been a legend on the indie movie circuit for many years. The Severin release is one of those rarities in which the bonus extras equal or exceed the value of the main feature. VanBebber began shooting the movie in 1988 and, in the tradition of all true independent filmmakers, periodically would run out of production funds. He worked in low end jobs and sacrificed anything approaching a reasonably comfortable lifestyle in order to put all of his financial resources into finishing the film. (VanBebber once had to resort to giving blood in order to raise a few dollars.)  The process took fifteen years, leading to the actor who was playing Manson becoming so fed up that he finally walked away from the project. (VanBebber had fortunately shot most of the essential scenes involving Manson by this point). After principal photography finally was wrapped, VanBebber went into years of post-production work, showing the movie at film festivals and trying to perfect a final cut.  

As a finished work, The Manson Family is impressive on a number of levels. The film eschews giving us any major insights into how Manson and his "Family" got acquainted, nor does it attempt to delve into the personal backgrounds of the key members of his inner circle. Instead, the movie simply presents us with how the Family was eeking out an existence in 1969 on a remote ranch that had once been used as a location for Western movies. The place, owned by a aging and naive businessman, is run down and rarely used for filming any longer. Instead, Manson and his followers have basically appropriated the property as their own and they spend their days drinking, smoking weed and indulging in group sex. As Manson's paranoia becomes more pronounced, this seemingly benign existence comes to an end as he encourages his followers to engage in increasingly violent behavior. (VanBebber theorizes that Manson's shooting of a black drug dealer exacerbated his actions because he mistakenly thought he killed the man and thus became convinced that black radicals would try to avenge his death. Ironically, VanBebber concedes that this segment in the finished film also implies that Manson killed the man, when in fact, Manson never personally murdered anyone.)  Manson ultimately orders his followers to commit the Tate/ LaBianca killings, which are so gruesomely depicted that one only realizes later that VanBebber insisted upon showing "restraint" in filming the actual butchering of the pregnant Sharon Tate. (The victims are all incidental characters and are not even referred to by name.) Until this climactic sequence, the film is a rather fascinating depiction of life among the misfits and losers who comprised Manson's inner circle. The story is told in "Rashomon" style with contemporary interviews with the key figures looking back on this period of their lives. The documentary style format works well and it's a credit to VanBebber and his unpaid cast of unprofessional actors that you come to believe you are watching the actual people involved in these notorious events. Where VanBebber goes over the top is in the bloodletting. There probably isn't a tasteful way to depict the brutal murders of innocent people, but VanBebber's insistence that restraint would do injustice to the true horrors that took place does not excuse his pornographic closeups of every aspect of these tortures and murders. I found myself looking away from the screen more than once. Still, The Manson Family is a remarkable achievement considering it was constructed by amateur filmmakers and cast members. There isn't a false note in the performances and their dedication extended to full frontal nudity, which does add a certain courageous quality  and authenticity to the production. As director, VanBebber is quite impressive, even though some of the camera angles and shooting techniques now look somewhat cliched and dated. VanBebber intersperses the story of the Manson Family with sequences of a contemporary group of goth thugs preparing to carry out a murder of their own, having been inspired by Manson. VanBebber's intention was to show that Manson's evil legacy still has tentacles into contemporary society, but the device is rather confusing and off-putting to the viewer. 

For all of VanBebber's troubles, The Manson Family has received scant recognition among movie-goers. The film had a brief theatrical release in England in 2004 but was savaged by critics and died at the boxoffice. Other theatrical screenings have been very limited and VanBebber vowed to never make another film until he had funding firmly in place. Over the years, however, the movie has built a cult following of loyal supporters including the late Roger Ebert (click here to read his original review, which is the very definition of "mixed feelings"). However, on the cult movie circuit, the film made VanBebber a legend among fellow travelers in the indie trade and those who admire his Ahab-like quest to conquer his own great white whale: a final cut of the film that had obsessed him for more than a decade.  

The Blu-ray edition is superb and provides fascinating insights into the long, arduous path to completion that the film underwent. (Most of the materials were presented on a previous DVD release in 2005).  There is an extended version of a 2003 documentary titled The VanBebber Family in which the cast and crew reflect on their memories of making of the movie. It's a warts-and-all affair that doesn't stint in making VanBebber occasionally appear to be more insane that obsessed in his quest to bring the film to completion. VanBebber appears throughout, in uncharacteristic short hair, smoking and drinking as he relates his tales of woe. He also provides an insightful audio commentary that depicts the making of the film in highly personal terms. The Blu-ray also has a new interview with Phil Anselmo, who created the impressive musical score for the movie. There are also some deleted scenes shown as raw footage on a monitor because funding had not been available to make clean, finalized footage of these sequences. Original theatrical trailers are included as well. However, the crown jewel in this edition is a 2001 documentary titled In the Belly of the Beast that covers the action at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. The festival is apparently like Mecca for indie movie makers who embrace the "anything goes" atmosphere and capitalize on showing their latest works or works-in-progress. The documentary dispassionately uses hand held cameras in confined spaces to get inside the heads of these filmmakers. It's a pretty sobering experience. Almost without exception, they choose to depict the ugliest aspects of humanity, with their low-budget productions dwelling on gory closeups of autopsies, butchering, torture and other cringe-inducing sights. They seem like reasonably nice people in interviews, but you have to wonder what the hell is going on in their minds. They know their films have zero chance of getting wide distribution or even making their money back, but they want to indulge in carnage for the sake of carnage. They find appreciative audiences at the film festival with zombie-like fans cheering and applauding during the most gruesome depictions of human behavior (at one point, VanBebber discusses the fact that some audience members laughed during the sequences in his film that re-enact the Tate/La Bianca murders). These are not people you want to be stranded on a desert island with. Yet, one must have admiration for the filmmakers themselves. Regardless of how distasteful their subject matters may be, you have to admire their sheer determination and grit in pursuing their dream projects over a course of years at a cost of all their financial resources. It's a dilemma not uncommon even among major filmmakers today, with big "names" sometimes having to use web-based Kickstarter campaigns to fund their next project. One "professional" director interviewed throughout the documentary is Richard Stanley, but his success is only relative to those whose names will never be known. Stanley had a couple of cult film hits with Hardware and Dust Devil before having been given the opportunity to go mainstream by directing the remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. It was a dream project but Stanley couldn't or wouldn't play nice with the mainstream studio forces around him and was fired after only four days. In his interviews, Stanley shows clips from documentaries he was working on relating to the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion and another fascinating topic, a Nazi propagandist who was Jewish. I'm sufficiently intrigued enough to now search these out. 

The Blu-ray also features interview clips with Charles Manson conducted in the 1980s and the debut of Jim VanBebber's latest short film, Gator Green which centers on a young couple who dabble in drug dealing. When they are lured to a remote bar on the edge of a forbidding swamp, things go wrong immediately and they are captured by a group of backwoods sadists that make the two hillbillies from Deliverance look like Boy Scouts.  The story is set (for no appreciable reason) in 1973 and the villains are (for no appreciable reason) demented Vietnam War veterans. The film, which runs only 15 minutes, starts off moody and atmospheric. The setting is a foreboding bar designed to look like an alligator because it sits next to an alligator preserve. The promising premise quickly disintegrates into a mindless gore fest with the couple subjected to unspeakable tortures. I was a bit disappointed to see VanBebber devolve to this. He is certainly a talented filmmaker, as evidenced by The Manson Family. One hopes that fate affords him the opportunity to use his talents on future projects for something other than presenting the most vile human behavior. 

In all, the Severin Blu-ray is to be highly recommended. It is outstanding on all levels.  

Click here to order from Amazon 

If you can just give Auric Goldfinger some slack when it comes to overlooking his plan to use an atomic bomb to destroy Ft. Knox, he might be viewed as an economic visionary.

In one of the most original spins we've seen in analyzing the James Bond films, Slate.com writer Matthew Yglesias looks at the financial schemes of legendary 007 villain Auric Goldfinger, who- in the 1964 classic film that bares his surname- engages in illicit gold sales and smuggling. Yglesias views Goldfinger as a man ahead of his time and compares his actions and plans as a response to Prime Minister Harold Wilson's austerity measures that he says failed miserably and continued Britain's economic decline. It's pretty deep analysis for the average person who can barely balance a checkbook, but the Slate article brings in some fascinating insights as to why Goldfinger might today just be viewed as a person engaging in a victimless crime that actually benefited England in the long run. (He doesn't, however, excuse Goldfinger's scheme to enhance the value of his own gold by blowing up Ft. Knox!) Fitting improbably into a James Bond article is the specter (pardon the pun)  of President Richard M. Nixon, who Yglesias credits with modernizing U.S. economic policies toward the sale and trading of gold, thus making it accessible to the average person. Click here to read  

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Eureka! Entertainment are delighted to announce the Halloween 2013 theatrical and home video releases of an eagerly awaited new restoration of F. W. Murnau's legendary silent cinema horror classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922), expertly restored in Germany by the world-renowned Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung (FWMS). 

This revival of a horror classic, one of the most famous of all silent films, follows Eureka! Entertainment's hugely successful restoration showcases of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) in 2010 and Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) in 2012. 

Nosferatu's UK theatrical run will be co-ordinated by Eureka! Entertainment and will open in selected cinemas nationwide on Friday October 25, 2013, just in time for Halloween, and will also feature as part of the BFI’s GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film which runs from 21st October 2013 – 31st January 2014. This year the BFI will take Britain back to darker times and thrill the nation by uncovering, as never before, the dark heart of film. With over 150 titles and around 1000 screenings GOTHIC features spectacularly terrifying special events to thrill every corner of the UK. GOTHIC will explore film’s most popular theme, spawning some of the medium’s most iconic, powerful and terrifying scenes and characters whose lasting popularity just refuses to die www.bfi.org.uk/gothic .

Blu-ray, Blu-ray SteelBook and DVD releases of Nosferatu will follow with a raft of special features to be announced nearer the release date, as part of Eureka! Entertainment's award-winning The Masters of Cinema Series www.mastersofcinema.org .

Ron Benson, head of Eureka! Entertainment, comments: “Eureka! Entertainment have had the real pleasure of releasing some of the absolute classics of silent cinema, and there are arguably no more iconic than F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the grandfather of all vampire films, which continues to thrill, chill, and horrify audiences nearly 100 years after it was made.”

Craig Keller, producer of The Masters of Cinema Series, adds: “This new restoration of Nosferatu has been meticulously prepared and looks truly outstanding. It will allow a new generation to experience afresh one of the greatest of all cinematographic horrors, and a monument of German expressionism, looking better than ever. The film is uncanny, legitimately terrifying – to see it on the big screen in the midst of the Halloween season will make for an unforgettable experience.”

Critical praise for Nosferatu:

"The first and probably the greatest of all vampire films." –Jonathan Rosenbaum

"[F. W. Murnau is] the greatest film director the Germans have ever known." – Lotte Eisner

Online:

Eureka Entertainment website www.eurekavideo.co.uk

Masters of Cinema Website www.mastersofcinema.org

Twitter: @eurekavideo / @mastersofcinema

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EurekaEntertainment

By David King

The Warner Archive has released the 1979 film The Great Santini on DVD. In many ways, the film helped break Hollywood’s long-standing glorification of war -- to a point. But it would seem old habits die hard, and when they do, we’re left with an uneven picture that goes to verge of making a powerful statement on war before backing off to familiar and safe settings.

Right off the bat, we’re introduced to a Marine dogfighter, Lt. Col. “Bull” Meechem (Robert Duvall in an Oscar-nominated performance), as he simulates air-to-air combat with his fellow pilots. Here is clearly a man in his element, trash-talking and verbally harassing his fellow pilots as he makes quick work of them.

The grainy stock footage of fighter planes is followed shortly by a group of carousing Marines making trouble in a bar full of stuffed shirts and officers, a scene straight out of the classic World War II films that preceded it. But then the film takes an abrupt turn as we meet Meechem’s family. These are the Von Trapps of the corps, each precocious and at the same time fiercely loyal and more than a little fearful of their father.

We begin to see that the title is more than a little ironic. Despite Meechum’s corps nickname of The Great Santini, there’s very little admirable about this man. He’s homophobic, misogynistic and physically and emotionally abusive to his wife, children and fellow Marines. Throughout it all, excuses are made for Santini. “He’s getting old, and that’s the hardest thing in the world,” explains his wife Lillian (Bylthe Danner). On multiple occasions, it’s observed that all the Colonel needs is a war in which to let out his aggression and let his true skills as a crack pilot be put to good use.

Released in a post-Vietnam 1979, the film (directed by Lewis John Carlino) is uniquely able to make this argument. In war time, perhaps it’s okay for someone to be both a patriot, decorated soldier and an unrepentant asshole, and the audience will accept these character flaws. But in relatively peaceful times, we plainly see a man whose life is unraveling. The film is careful not to reveal this upfront, instead letting his flaws slowly outweigh his positive characteristics. It’s not until the halfway mark that someone observes of Santini, “I know a drunk when I see one,” even if the audience is never fed the stock scene of a man drinking himself to death.

While the film is careful to let this flawed character unfold deftly by Duvall, it’s often heavy-handed. His eldest son Ben (Michael O’Keefe), arguably the film’s true protagonist, butts heads with his father at every turn. He shows emotion and compassion in stark contrast to Santini, but O’Keefe’s performance often borders on hammy overacting (despite the fact that he was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in the film). The movie also disappoints in its scope. Not content to show one man’s struggle to become a better father and husband (although we can argue about how hard he fights for this), it overreaches in an attempt to also solve racism through a unnecessary subplot that seems thrown in for drama’s sake.

In even acknowledging that some skilled warriors need not be admired beyond their military abilities, the film breaks ground. But The Great Santini falls short in delivering any grand message in the end, instead once again reminding us that Meechem isn’t so bad -- he just needed a war to cure him of his self-destructive behavior. One wishes the Warner Archive bare-bones DVD provided some extras for context (the only special feature is an original trailer).

Ultimately, the message seems to be, to paraphrase Flannery O’Connor, that Santini would be a good man if only there had been someone to shoot at his whole life.

Click here to order from Warner Archive and to view preview clip 

Karen Black with (L to R) Alan Cumming and Cinema Retro's Lee Pfeiffer and David Savage under the portrait of Players club founder Edwin Booth.

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Cinema Retro is very saddened to learn the news that Karen Black has died at age 74 following a long battle with cancer that was documented on web sites by her husband Stephen Eckelberry. Black found that her insurance plans would not cover some of the experimental treatments she had hoped to try and planned to travel to Europe where they could be administered. Drained of her savings by the cost of health care treatments, Black and her husband made appeals for financial donations on the web in hopes of raising enough money to get to Europe. Sadly, she became completely incapacitated before that could happen. Eckelberry had documented the last three years of Black's life as part of a documentary about her battle with cancer that will be shown in some format in the future. Black first gained attention in a Broadway show in 1965 before gaining fame on film in counter-culture movies of the late 1960s and 1970s including Easy Rider, Drive, He Said and Five Easy Pieces, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. She worked very steadily in films, TV and on stage. Until her illness struck, she had been performing acclaimed one-woman shows in which she would sing and recount amazing stories about her show business career. She also appeared in many other high profile films such as Alfred Hitchcock's last movie Family Plot and Airport '75, a kitschy boxoffice hit in which she played a stewardess who must take command of a plane when the pilots are disabled. She also appeared in Portnoy's Complaint, The Outfit, The Great Gatsby, Capricorn One  and Robert Altman's Nashville.

On a personal note, I only met Karen Black once, a few years ago when her friend, Cinema Retro columnist David Savage, brought her to the Players club in New York City.  Black had asked if she could bring along a "couple" of friends, which turned out to be about a dozen people including such talents as Alan Cumming and Andrea McArdle. It was a wonderful evening, as this charming lady regaled us with fascinating tales about her long career, which she told me had been derailed due to the financial failure of The Day of the Locust, the 1975 big budget boxoffice flop. Black had the starring role and she said that studios blamed her for the film's failure, although she cited behind the scenes talent as the real reason the movie lost money. She was too considerate even then to name the people she felt were the real culprits, but she did say it was the most unhappy experience of her career. She also discussed her long friendship with co-star Jack Nicholson, who always referred to her as "Blackie" and laughingly said that the role she probably still gets the most fan mail from was the 1975 cult classic TV movie Trilogy of Terror in which she played multiple roles. I recall just how ageless Karen Black seemed that night. She was still very much a head-turner and was charming and funny. I will greatly miss her, as will anyone else who has admired her considerable talents over the decades. 

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SECONDS (The Criterion Collection)

THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (The Criterion Collection)

SCARY SECONDS AND JEWEL-LADEN IRONY

By Raymond Benson

Among the new releases this month from The Criterion Collection, that Cadillac of Blu-Ray/DVD labels, are two oldies-but-goodies—and very different ones—that will impress both the average film lover and the hardcore art house enthusiast. For me, the most anticipated title was Seconds, the 1966 paranoia-science fiction-mystery-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson in a cast-against-type role. There’s no question that the picture was ahead of its time. The circumstances sound familiar—it was a very intelligent, well-made, strikingly photographed genre movie that audiences found too strange or unpleasant, and it flopped... but later, because it really was good, it became a cult classic.

Seconds is a shocking film today; in 1966, it was radical. It was considered an “adults-only” movie, even though its release was prior to the implementation of the American rating system (besides some disturbing violence, there is an extended scene of Bacchus rite enthusiasts stomping grapes in the nude). Filmed in black and white by James Wong Howe—and his work on the picture is arguably the most impressive aspect of this complex film—Seconds tells the story of a middle-aged, successful, married-with-grown-daughter, man who desperately wants a different life. He finds it through a mysterious organization called the Company, which—for a fee—will fake the man’s death, help him disappear, give him a new face and body through means of elaborate plastic surgery, and plop him into the identity of someone else. If, however, the man is not happy with his new life, then his body becomes the faked corpse for the next client.

Thus, the first third of the movie stars the actor John Randolph, whose features, in retrospect, didn’t change all that much over the next forty years. Randolph is terrific—he displays the character’s inner turmoil over his decision with “calm nervousness”; this is who will eventually be housed inside of Rock Hudson, also poignantly wonderful as a sad, frustrated man... and this is the key to the movie. The character that both actors play is not a happy person to begin with...he is destined to be dissatisfied with his second life, too, even though on the surface it seems more ideal.

Criterion’s Blu-ray is gorgeous—the new, restored 4K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack, provides the best possible presentation of this remarkable film. Also of note is the audio commentary by the late Frankenheimer himself, an auteur whose oeuvre is perhaps not as widely respected as it should be. Extras include a new interview with Alec Bladwin (huh?), and the more relevant features such as Hollywood on the Hudson, a 1965 TV program featuring on-set footage and an interview with Rock Hudson. There’s a very good new program on the making of the film, featuring interviews with Frankenheimer’s widow and actress Salome Jens. Plus more. In short, it’s the usual first-class treatment from Criterion.

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Also released this month is Max Ophüls’ acclaimed 1953 French drama, The Earrings of Madame De... (also known as simply Madame De...). For those unfamiliar with Ophüls, you need to be. A German Jew, he escaped Nazi Germany, worked in France, came to America in the late forties and made a few highly regarded Hollywood pictures, then went back to France and made the four movies that cemented his reputation, and Madame De... is one of these. Ophüls was a pioneer in the tracking shot—in his films, the camera moves like a fluid dancer, following actors through sets and along streets. In fact, Stanley Kubrick often stated that Ophüls was one of his favorite directors, and one can see Ophüls’ influence on Kubrick, especially in the latter’s early work.

Madame De...starts off as a comedy, but it soon becomes not a love story, but a tale in which love brings about the characters’ downfalls. It’s an ironic fable adapted from a novella by Louise de Vilmorin about an upper class military couple (Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux), their affairs, and the trust vs. mistrust that exists in marriages in 19th Century France. Mostly, though, the picture is about pride, and how that emotion can dominate that of love. Vittorio de Sica, the famed director, also appears in a large supporting role as Darrieux’s paramour, and he is quite charismatic.

The usual high standard of extras include a commentary by film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar, and especially the excellent “visual essay” on Ophüls’ tracking techniques, narrated by film scholar Tag Gallagher. The booklet includes the complete novella by de Vilmorin, and another extra is an interview with the author, circa mid-sixties, in which she lambasts the film version, never realizing that her own pride is also ironic. Recommended.

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Cinema Retro welcomes our latest columnist, Ernie Magnotta, who will turn his attention to under-rated cinematic gems and guilty pleasures!

By Ernie Magnotta  

“If a movie makes you happy, for whatever reason, then it’s a good movie.”

—Big E

There are good movies and there are bad movies. There are also movies that some people say are so bad that they're good. I hear that all the time. I've heard it since I was a kid. I think what they actually mean is that they're not good in the way most people might normally watch and judge a film; Excellent writing, incredible acting, masterful direction, etc.

The way I see it, there's more than one way to enjoy a film. Every movie doesn't have to be a five-star masterpiece like Gone with the Wind. You do not have to judge a film the way you would judge a mainstream Hollywood movie and every movie that doesn't follow the Hollywood style of moviemaking isn't necessarily a bad film.

There are plenty of films that follow all the rules of proper writing, directing, etc. and are just awful. And there are just as many inept, low budget B-films that are excruciating to watch.

Like I said, there are many different ways to enjoy a film. You can love a film just for the nostalgia alone. It can take you back to a simpler, happier time in your life. You can enjoy it for a certain actor or actors, wacky dialogue, quirky characters, fun setting, wild plot and, although inept in many ways, the film could have a certain charm and, most of all, be fun.

With my ongoing reviews, I’d like to explain why I love these films so much, why they’ve gotten such a bed rep over the years and, also, to prove my statement that there’s more than one way to watch a movie.

*******WARNING: REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS*******

“Put your weight on it! Put your weight on it! PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON IT!”

These words are instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen the insanely fun and quite unique1979 Blaxploitation classic, Disco Godfather. The entertaining film stars Dolemite himself; legendary comedian/musician Rudy Ray Moore in the title role of former cop turned super cool DJ, Tucker Williams aka the Disco Godfather. While happily spinning records at local disco Club Blueberry Hill, Tucker’s world is turned upside down when he finds out that his nephew Bucky (Julius J. Carry III), a promising athlete, has almost OD’d on angel dust aka “The Wack”. Tucker also learns that Bucky isn’t the first person from the neighborhood to suffer from the evil drug. When Dr. Mathis (Jerry Jones) takes him on a horrific tour of a local rehab center, Tucker witnesses firsthand what The Wack can do. It turns out that drug dealer Stinger Ray (James H. Hawthorne) is pushing the stuff all over town and Tucker ain’t havin’ it.

With the help of the courageous Noel (Carol Speed), the Godfather sets out to “attack the wack.” Of course, this won’t be easy because once Stinger Ray finds out, he sends his army of goons out after Tucker and, before you can say Carl Douglas, everybody starts kung fu fighting. When the smoke clears, The Godfather not only emerges victorious, but manages to locate the angel dust factory as well. Once there, however, he is overpowered and forced to take the dreaded drug himself. High beyond belief, the completely out of control Tucker grabs hold of Stinger Ray and begins choking the life out of him. In an ironic twist, the now rehabilitated Bucky arrives on the scene just in time to see his beloved godfather, who is having horrifying drug induced visions, completely freak out.

Prior to becoming a major star in Blaxploitation films, Rudy Ray Moore was a popular comedian known for his hit risque adult humor albums.

The eclectic film, co-written (with Cliff Roquemore) and directed by J. Robert Wagoner, and produced by Rudy Ray and Theodore Toney, is a strangely mesmerizing combination of comedy, drama, action and horror, peppered with disco music and a few dance numbers. (I told you it was unique.) And it’s not hard to figure out how the title was created. The disco craze was in full force at the time and Francis Ford Coppola’s magnificent The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II were two of the most popular films of the 70s. I first saw this movie in the late 80s under the title Avenging Disco Godfather and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it ever since. I always smile whenever anyone mentions it or recites one of the many quotable lines (which I’ll be listing shortly); especially the aforementioned “Put your weight on it.” The film definitely capitalizes on many popular exploitation elements of the time such as drug use, violence and martial arts, but it distinguishes itself from other run of the mill exploitation films by carrying a very positive and important message.

This is a film with an anti-drug message and you can clearly see that Rudy Ray Moore and the rest of the cast and crew were genuinely concerned about the junk that was polluting their neighborhoods. I believe that, amidst all the off-the-wall insanity in this movie, the filmmakers intentionally included this heartfelt message in the hopes of inspiring change. In that way, it more meaningful than many of the soulless, multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbusters we’ve been subjected to over the years. This movie has heart. Now, having said that, is it a good movie in the classic filmmaking tradition? Hell no! Many viewers will find it difficult to watch and that’s totally understandable. Nevertheless, it manages to be thoroughly entertaining. Most of the credit for this must go to the charismatic Rudy Ray Moore, who had to use creativity to overcome a shortfall of production funds. In many interviews, Rudy Ray explained how he had very little to no money to work with and, instead, used his imagination.

The movie is definitely imaginative. In fact, it’s downright original in spots; especially in the frightening scenes where we see the goings-on through the eyes of an angel dust user. Even the more ineptly done aspects of the film (including some unintentionally hilarious scenes) add to its appeal.

A company called Fast Custom Shirts has immortalized the film on a T shirt. Click here to order.

I always say that there’s more than one way to watch and enjoy a movie and that definitely applies to this film. Here are just some funkalicious reasons to check out Disco Godfather:

1. A cool and fun soundtrack.

2. Decent disco and roller disco scenes.

3. The Godfather’s electrifying first appearance is a sight to behold. Rudy Ray shows up shaking his groove thing on the dance floor in a skin tight, silver studded, turquoise jumpsuit with matching choker necklace and platform shoes. I went blind for a full two minutes.

4. When Bucky’s girlfriend frantically tells Tucker that his nephew is on drugs, Rudy Ray delivers the immortal line “Where is Bucky, and what has he had?”

5. Ambulance is pronounced “am-ba-lance.” Can you dig it?

6. When Bucky gets high in the disco, he thinks he’s in the middle of a basketball game.

7. Abby herself, the always welcome Carol Speed, is spunky and cute in her brief role as Noel. She looks good in a showgirl outfit, too.

8. Under the influence of angel dust, Bucky has terrifying hallucinations that include a severed hand, demons, witches with machetes and Rudy Ray turning into a skeleton.

9. There’s a character named Sweetmeat.

10. One of the addicts at the rehab center thinks he’s an unborn caterpillar.

11. E.C.T. stands for Electro Shock Treatment. (?)

12. At the angel dust rally, one woman’s afro is freakin’ ginormous!

13. With its funky fashions, automobiles, slang and décor, the movie is like a 1970s time capsule.

14. 35 minutes in: The dancing Godfather jiggles and gyrates as only he can.

15. 37 minutes in: I can’t even describe this outfit, but it shows off the Godfather’s man-boobs quite nicely.

16. The Godfather has more amazing lines such as “I want you to put a little slide in your glide!”, “She don't weigh but 90 pounds, baby, but she's got her weight on it!" and the classic “I’m the Godfather and my name is Tucker. Everybody knows that I’m a bad mutha…”

17. Tucker is able to read a crooked cop’s badge number from across the darkened dance floor.

18. Lady Reed, Queen Bee from the Dolemite series, is great as a sorrowful mother who keeps her faith in God and never leaves her drug addicted daughter’s side.

19. Keith David (John Carpenter’s The Thing, There’s Something About Mary) is uncredited as a club patron. See if you can spot him. I couldn’t.

20. At Sweetmeat’s party, people snort cocaine off of a Saturday Night Fever album cover.

21. Some dude in karate pants and a Fu Manchu moustache acts like Bruce Lee.

22. At one point, Tucker is attacked in an urban alley by a bullwhip wielding cowboy. For a second, I thought I was the one who was on angel dust.

23. Tucker fights a pseudo-sumo wrestler.

24. During his trip, Tucker hallucinates and has visions of his dead mother and another woman who I’m assuming is his aunt Betty. The reason I came to this conclusion is because five seconds after he sees her, Tucker screams at the top of his lungs “I hate you, Aunt Betty!”

25. Mama becomes a cartoon while a giant snake head bursts out of her stomach and Aunt Betty just laughs at Tucker while boozing it up.

26. Poetic Justice: Tucker, whacked out of his skull from the angel dust he’d been forced to take, mistakes Stinger Ray for a demon and strangles the drug dealer to death.

27. The movie ends with Tucker still trippin’ balls and screaming in terror.

28. The film immediately cuts to the inappropriately upbeat end credits music.

Tell me you don’t wanna see this movie now. I dare ya.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a wild, different and hysterical time, then this is the movie for you. But don’t take my word for it. After all, who am I to tell you what to watch? Here’s what The Godfather himself had to say:

“I am your tower of power; the man of the hour; too sweet to be sour. I’m fine, divine and guaranteed to blow your mind. It’s now Godfather time.”

How can you resist that? You can’t, so just grab yourself a copy of Disco Godfather, relax and have a fun, crazy time.

Do it for Rudy Ray, and while you’re doing it, don’t you ever forget to put your weight on it.

I’d like to dedicate this review to the memory of Mr. Rudy Ray Moore. Rest in peace, Dolemite.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Warner Home Video: 

BURBANK, Calif., August 6, 2013 — When he died in 1955 at the age of 24 in a car crash, James Dean was mourned by millions of fans throughout the world. Despite only making three films – all of them for Warner Bros. – Dean became one of Hollywood’s most spectacular stars, and 50 years later still remains an internationally compelling force, an iconic image, and a cult favorite of timeless fascination.

On November 5, Warner Home Video will debut East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant (a George Stevens production), remastered Blu-ray as the James Dean Ultimate Collector’s Edition – a limited and numbered six-disc set that boasts three feature-length documentaries about Dean’s life including James Dean Forever Young, narrated by Martin Sheen; American Masters James Dean Sense Memories and George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey. Packaged in a double-wide gift set, the collection also contains a 48-page photo book with behind-the-scene images and rare insight into each film. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition will sell for $99.98 SRP; each film will also be available as a stand-alone Blu-ray book for $27.98 SRP each.

All three films were 4k restorations from original camera negatives at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI). Due to color fading, the original camera negatives could no longer yield an acceptable photochemical print.

For Rebel Without a Cause, the stereo soundtrack was reconstructed from the magnetic soundtrack stripes of Cinemascope release prints. The film’s restoration was done by Warner Bros. in collaboration with The Film Foundation. Restoration funding was provided by Warner Bros., Gucci and The Film Foundation.

Details of the James Dean Ultimate Collector’s Edition

East of Eden (1955)

Based on John Steinbeck’s novel and directed by Elia Kazan, East of Eden is the first of three major films that make up James Dean’s movie legacy. The idol-to-be plays Cal, a wayward Salinas, California youth who vies for the affection of his hardened father (Raymond Massey) with his favored brother Aron (Richard Davalos). Playing off the haunting sensitivity of Julie Harris, Dean’s performance earned one of the film’s four Academy Award^® nominations[i]. Among the movie’s stellar performers, Jo Van Fleet won the Oscar^® for Best Supporting Actress (1955).

Special Features:

• Commentary by Richard Schickel
• "Forever James Dean" [1987 Documentary]
• "East of Eden: Art in Search of Life"
• Screen Tests
• Richard Davalos" [Wardrobe Test]
• "James Dean and Richard Davalos" [Wardrobe Test]
• "James Dean, Richard Davalos and Julie Harris" [Wardrobe Test]
• "James Dean and Lois Smith" [Wardrobe Test]

• "Lois Smith" [Wardrobe Test]
• "James Dean and Jo Van Fleet" [Wardrobe Test]
• "Jo Van Fleet" [Wardrobe Test]
• "Costumes and Production Design" [Wardrobe Test]
• Deleted Scenes
• 3/9/1955 NYC Premier

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

In one of the most influential performances in movie history, Dean plays Jim Stark, the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of postwar teens – and still reverberates 50 years later. Natalie Wood (as Jim’s girl Judy) and Sal Mineo (as Jim’s tag-along pal Plato) were Academy Award^® nominees[ii] for their achingly true performances. Director Nicholas Ray was also an Oscar^® nominee for this landmark film which was released less than one month after Dean’s fatal car crash.

Special Features:

• Commentary By Douglas L. Rathgeb
• Documentary "James Dean Remembered" [1974 TV Special]
• Documentary "Rebel Without A Cause: Defiant Innocents"
• Dennis Hopper Interview NEW!
• Screen Tests
• Wardrobe Tests
• Deleted Scenes
• "Behind The Cameras: Natalie Wood"
• "Behind The Cameras: Jim Backus"
• "Behind The Cameras: James Dean"
• Theatrical Trailers

Giant (a George Stevens production) (1956)

Based on Edna Ferber’s best-selling family saga about a Texas family of ranchers and oilmen, Giant stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and Dennis Hopper. In his final film role, Dean stars as wrangler turned oil baron Jett Rink. Directed by the legendary George Stevens, this sprawling epic received ten Academy Award^® nominations[iii] including a Best Actor nod for Dean and earned Stevens a win for Directing (1956).

Special Features:

• Introduction by George Stevens Jr.
• Commentary by George Stevens Jr., Ivan Moffat and Stephen Farber
• “George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him"

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By Todd Garbarini 

Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, which opened on Wednesday, December 25, 1963, may not be all that familiar to young viewers unless they grew up seeing it on VHS in the 1990s or on its maiden DVD release five years ago. I first saw it in January 1973 during a re-release and again in elementary school in the all-purpose room on 16mm in 1975, which was a real treat as it was rare to see a feature-length film in school (the obvious exception being Charlotte’s Web (1973) which was de rigueur for elementary school students.) Having just viewed the new 50^th anniversary Blu-ray, I was shocked to realize just how little of the film I had remembered other than the jousting sequence.

Based upon the 1938 novel by Terence Hanbury White, who passed away some 24 days after the film’s release, The Sword in the Stone concerns the death of King Pendragon, a British ruler whose demise has left his country reeling due to the lack of a successor. In London, the titular sword is buried partially in stone. Upon the sword is an inscription which states that whoever manages to remove the sword from the stone will be ordained the new king of England. Naturally, many overgrown brutes try their hand at it and fail to budge it. Sometime later, a young orphan by the name of Arthur (who is also referred to as Wart) joins his foster brother Kay on a hunting trip. Through a misadventure, he ends up in the home of a magician by the name of Merlin who takes Arthur under his cape, so to speak. When Arthur returns to his foster father, Sir Ector, he introduces him to Merlin. Sir Ector is more concerned with the upcoming annual jousting tournament which is to be held, conveniently enough, in London. Kay will be trained for the event and young Arthur will be his squire.

Merlin takes Arthur through a series of transformations in the hopes of giving the young lad an education. They temporarily become fish in a sequence that predates Finding Nemo by 40 years, and also become squirrels to comprehend the finer aspects of gravity and romantic love in a cute sequence. At this point, Archimedes, Merlin's owl, enters the picture. He is gruff and full of wisdom and takes a “tough love” attitude towards Arthur. The sequence where Merlin begins to wash dishes with his magic will delight children who have seen the Harry Potter films.

Arthur then learns how to fly by being turned into a sparrow and studies under Archimedes’ tutelage. Arthur makes his way down the chimney, the roof of the house shaped just like a witch’s hat – Harry Potter references again – and finds himself in the house of Madam Mim, who ends up in a duel with Merlin, the latter of whom stops the former by transforming himself into a germ and infecting her.

It is now time for the tournament and Sir Ector, Kay, Arthur, and Archimedes go to London. Naturally, Arthur has forgotten Kay's sword at the inn which turns out to be closed and he just happens to notice the sword in the stone. He extricate said with minimal effort and brings it to his father who was stunned when he reads the inscription on. Needing to see his son remove the sword from the stone with his very eyes, he replaces the sword in the stone. When Arthur removes it, it is obvious that he is the chosen King of England.

The Sword in the Stone contains a handful of entertaining songs and the lyrics are enough to baffle both Willy Wonka and Dr. Seuss: “Higitus Figitus” is a tongue-twister. The score was written by the Sherman Brothers, the most prolific songwriting team in the history of film. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Score - Adaptation or Treatment in 1963, but lost out to Irma La Douce.

The new Blu-ray, which also contains a standard definition DVD and a digital copy, is a revelation to behold. The picture can only be described as gorgeous and does not give a hint as to being over fifty years-old thanks to digital restoration. Colors are bright and sharp and look sterling on a large high definition display.

The extras on the disc consist of:

Alternate Opening - Where Wart Meets Merlin (4:02) – this is a look at how the film was originally going to open as seen through storyboards and voiceover.

Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers is an eight-minute featurette on the gentlemen who wrote the music. While is it interesting to watch, I would have liked to have seen much more of them!

All About Magic (Excerpt) – (7:19) is a neat feature in black and white of Walt Disney performing magic tricks. Some are obvious (like the “levitating” table that is being hoisted by strings) and some are a sight to see.

A Knight for a Day (7:06) is a color cartoon featuring Goofy which was released on March 8, 1946 and makes its appearance on this disc thanks to the jousting theme. There is a fair amount of dot crawl on the characters in certain shots as the cartoon has not been restored and appears to be transferred from a theatrical print.

Brave Little Tailor (9:01) is a color cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse that is set during the Middle Ages. It was released on September 29, 1938. Like A Knight for a Day, there is some dot crawl on the characters in certain shots as the cartoon has not been restored and also appears to be transferred from a theatrical print.

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James Cameron has promised (threatened?) that there will indeed be three more films based on his blockbuster Avatar. He will be working with four different screenwriters on the films, which Fox will release over a three year period beginning in 2016. Cameron will co-script each of the films, which will be shot simultaneously presumably with Cameron directing (he is also producing).  It is not certain whether these will be sequels, prequels or both. Cameron has the unique distinction of having the two top grossing films of all time: Avatar and Titanic. Fox is said to be committing to a combined budget of up to $1 billion for the project (Cameron does not work cheap and often exceeds his budget estimates.) Yet, Cameron is considered to be "money in the bank" for any studio lucky enough to enlist his talents. For some of us, Avatar was over-hyped and over-praised, but there is no denying moviegoers embraced the film, seeing it numerous times. Whether that enthusiasm will have waned by 2016 remains to be seen, but it's a likely bet that Cameron-Mania will still be in full swing. - Lee Pfeiffer

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Acclaimed character actor Michael Ansara has died at age 91. Ansara had primarily been known for playing key roles in Western TV series and motion pictures, but is also beloved by Star Trek fans for playing a Klingon commander in three incarnations of the series. Ansara, who was married for many years to actress Barbara Eden, appeared in such films as The Comancheros, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Harum Scarum (aka Harem Holiday) and Sol Madrid (aka The Heroin Gang). For more click here

Actress Eileen Brennan, who was nominated for Oscars for her performances in The Last Picture Show and Private Benjamin, has died of cancer at age 80. Brennan's promising career was cut short in 1982 due to medical complications resulting from an automobile accident. He attempts to return to acting were initially thwarted by her substance abuse problems and she attended the Betty Ford Clinic to help in her rehabilitation. In later years, she did resume appearing in feature films and popular television shows as a respected character actress.   For more click here 

By Ben Williams 

It would be easy to be cynical about yet another entry into one of the many superhero franchises that seem to dominate the landscape of modern cinema these days, but at least with “The Wolverine” there seems have been a conscious effort to mark the film out as more than just another comic book summer blockbuster.

Adapted from the limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, “The Wolverine” sets out to do what all good films should do, and that’s to allow the characters to drive the story forward and thread the narrative with an overarching theme. In short, “The Wolverine” attempts to be more of a structured drama than a comic book adaptation, and in this it mostly it succeeds.

Set sometime after the events of “X Men: The Last Stand”, Hugh Jackman’s Logan has forsaken his identity as The Wolverine and is living rough in a cave in the Yukon mountains. On a depressive, downward cycle, he mourns the death of Jean Gray, (Famke Janssen) whom he visits in the netherworld between life and death. Jean tempts Logan to join her in the afterlife, and yet, as much as he wishes it, his immortality means he must remain tied to this world.

This overarching theme of mortality is hammered home when Logan is brought to Japan by the precognitive mutant Yukio and to the deathbed of her employer, Yashida - a Japanese soldier who Logan saved at the bombing of Nagasaki. In the intervening years, Yashida has gone on to become the head of the powerful Yashida Corp. Like many powerful and ailing men, Yashida yearns for immortality. He offers Logan a chance to pass his immortality on to him, allowing Logan to live - and, crucially, die - as a normal, mortal man.

However, Logan isn’t ready to pass on his “gift”, seeing it more as a curse. He turns Yashida down and resolves to return to his man cave. However, before Logan can get back to his usual hobby of beating up hicks in bars, he encounters Yashida’s beautiful granddaughter, Mariko. Mariko, it seems, is her grandfather’s favourite, which puts her at great risk from her father, Shingen, and Logan’s protective instinct clicks over into hyperdrive.

When Yashida passes away and Logan’s “gift” is forcibly taken from him by the mutant Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), Logan is forced to not only protect Mariko from the Yakuza, but also to come to terms with his own newfound mortality.

This allows for a number of set pieces where the reluctant and vulnerable Logan must unleash his wild side and let the Wolverine’s claws come out. As he protects Maiko, he slowly begins to fall for her. Perhaps now he has something to live for again?

However, it’s not long before the tables are turned and we find ourselves marching squarely into a proper comic book third act territory, full of fights, falls, and explosions. Sadly, although this is where all the stops are let out, this is where the film is let down. Despite all the eye candy on screen, this is also the point where all the characters must find their resolution, which is never easy in an exploding villain’s lair where everyone is fighting each other.

Viper, it is revealed, has an issue with Logan - and men in general - but her character and her motivations are never really explored or developed further than this, and she ends up being the most directly caricatured of these comic book characters.

Yukio and Mariko, who have spent the film as loyal sidekick and damsel in distress respectively, seem suddenly to have little depth as soon as they are not fighting or running away from Yakuza.

Logan - now squarely Wolverine once again - does actually get something of a resolution as he comes to terms with his mortality and finally, rather than running from his nature, embraces it.

“The Wolverine” is, without a doubt, a more character driven comic book film than many we’ve seen in recent times, and it’s theme of mortality is deeper than one than we’d be used to encountering in this kind of film. However, “The Wolverine” is a little too self-aware of its attempted cleverness and often it feels as though it’s too heavy-handed in its approach.

Despite this, “The Wolverine” still manages to be a great deal of fun. Whilst it doesn’t pack the visual punch of “The Avengers” or “Iron Man 3”, it does have more coherence and heart.

Jackman, although stepping into the Wolverine’s boots for the sixth time, still brings the same energy and vigor to the role he did when he first took it on thirteen years ago and any signs of weariness only serve to highlight the character’s mental fatigue. He is clearly very comfortable in this character’s skin (and muscle), which is fortunate, because, if the de rigueur post-credits teaser is anything to go by, we’ll be seeing him in the role again soon. 

(Ben Williams is a London-based contributor to Cinema Retro magazine and MI6 Confidential) 

By Lee Pfeiffer

British war veterans and historians have longed griped that Hollywood films of the post WWII-era often credited Americans for heroics and strategies that should have been attributed to the Brits.  One of the most glaring examples of this revisionist history was the 1963 classic The Great Escape, which shoe-horned Americans into primary roles when, in fact, they were not present during the escape itself. MGM has released the 1969 WWII flick The 1,000 Plane Raid as a burn to order DVD and it fits perfectly into this niche of British-based WWII movies in which Americans get the lion's share of credit. This was largely because it was felt that having an American actor in the lead role would make a film more commercial in U.S. markets. The film was produced by Oakmont Productions, which specialized in making modestly-budgeted WWII films shot in the UK and generally top-lining American leading actors (one exception was Mosquito Squadron, which starred David McCallum.) Christopher George, fresh from starring in the WWII TV series The Rat Patrol, is the star of The 1,000 Plane Raid, which distorts historical fact by giving credit to Americans for launching this first, massive bombing of Germany. In fact, it was a  British operation over Cologne that took place in 1941. George plays Col Greg Brandon, a U.S. Army Air Force officer who is uniformly grim, humorless and hard-driving. He has concocted an audacious plan to deliver a death blow to a major German industrial complex that is considered a crucial target. Brandon suggests launching a thousand bombers from British airbases for a day time raid over the German complex. The top brass accepts his idea but most of the pilots consider the plan to be a suicide mission- and even Brandon concedes that a daylight raid will result in massive casualties. 

Much of the story is devoted to the human element, with Brandon not winning much love from the men in his command due to his relentless methods of training them for the big day. He even alienates the few men who admire him as well as Gaby (Laraine Stephens) , a sexy female British officer  who shares a romantic relationship with him. Brandon also comes into conflict with British liaison officer Taffy Howard (Gary Marshal), a sarcastic, independent officer whose daredevil tactics result in many a downed enemy plane but which also infuriate his superior officers. He and the buttoned-down, by-the-book Brandon lock horns instantly. Brandon also threatens to court martial Lt. Archer (Ben Murphy), a pilot he suspects of cowardice but whom Howard has taken under his wing for private training. The film is quite effective in building tension as the day of the big raid arrives- with even Brandon starting to have doubts about the prospects for success. As with most Oakmont productions, the movie benefits from a fine, intelligent script (this one by Donald S. Sanford) and strong direction by Boris Sagal (the two had previously collaborated on Mosquito Squadron). To get around the budget limitations, the producers utilize extensive real life combat footage with varying degrees of success (some of these scenes are very grainy and blurry). Nevertheless, like any Oakmont film, The 1,000 Plane Raid is first-rate entertainment on a second-rate budget. Christopher George gives a very commanding performance and one realizes that he should have been a much bigger star. To offset George's grim character, the humor in the film is deftly provided by Gary Marshal, who gives a spot-on performance as the quirky British liaison officer. (Look for Gavin MacLeod in a fairly sizable supporting role.)

(Cinema Retro's Howard Hughes is covering the Oakmont WWII movies with in-depth coverage. Issue #26 features Mosquito Squadron.)  

The DVD also contains the original trailer.

Tom Hanks stars in Captain Phillips.

It may be hard believe, with cinemas awash in the latest big, dumb action movie extravaganzas, but reality-based feature films designed to appeal to thinking people are actually making a comeback. The success of recent movies like Lincoln and The King's Speech has convinced studios to at least temporarily recognize that the movie-going audience is comprised of more than pimple-faced kids who are willing to sit through two hours of endless explosions and cheesy special effects. Thus, throughout the course of the year, there will be a number of high profile films based on real life people and dramatic incidents including Captain Phillips, in which Tom Hanks stars as the captain of a vessel who was captured by Somali pirates and who was ultimately rescued by Navy Seals. Click here for more

By Lee Pfeiffer

I love the sheer eclectic quality of the Twilight Time catalog. The company's DVD and Blu-ray releases run include every conceivable film genre and the range of titles runs from undisputed classics to underrated gems to massive misfires that now merit status as "guilty pleasures". Falling firmly into the latter category is Lost Horizon, producer Ross Hunter's notorious 1973 big budget musical remake of Frank Capra's 1937 classic. Both versions adhere to the basic framework of James Hilton's classic source novel but the Hunter version obviously deviates far more in order to accommodate glossy Hollywood elements. (Hilton's obviously did not allude to elaborate song and dance numbers.)  When a film that features so many talented people misfires badly, it's tempting to say, "What were they thinking???" However, in the case of Lost Horizon, special dispensation is merited for the participants because, at the time, it must have looked like an irresistible project. The director was Charles Jarrott, who was then a hot property, coming off the acclaimed films Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots. The producer was Ross Hunter, a Hollywood perennial with a sterling reputation for producing audience-pleasing box-office hits, most recently the blockbuster Airport. The score would be composed by the red-hot team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and the cast would feature many talented actors then at the height of their careers: Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman and Olivia Hussey- with acting royalty represented by the likes of John Gielgud and Charles Boyer. The production numbers would be choreographed by the legendary Hermes Pan, the script was penned by Larry Kramer, who recently won acclaim for his adaptation of Women in Love and the cinematographer was Robert Surtees, himself a film industry legend. What could go wrong? Against all odds, the answer would be: "Everything."

The film opens well enough with Finch as Richard Conway, a British diplomat who has tried and failed to broker a peace treaty in an unnamed Asian nation torn by civil war. We first see him trying frantically to coordinate rescue flights for stranded Americans and Europeans as rebels close in on the airport amid rioting crowds clamoring to get on the last planes out. (The scene would be replicated shortly thereafter in real life with the fall of Saigon.) Conway manages to get aboard the final flight, which takes off even as rebels pursue the plane down the runway. On board is an eclectic group consisting of Conway's brother George (Michael York), Sally Hughes (Sally Kellerman), a burned out and depressed war photographer, Sam Cornelius (George Kennedy), a once-promising architect who is now in hiding due to a financial scandal and Harry Lovett (Bobby Van), a small time night club comedian with delusions of grandeur. They find their plane has been hijacked and they are en route to an unknown destination. Ultimately, they crash land on a mountain range in the Himalayas where they are rescued in a peculiarly timely manner by a number of natives led by Chang (John Gielgud), their elderly but capable spiritual leader. The refugees make a difficult journey through a blinding snow storm before walking through a cave and emerging into a sunny, tropical oasis that is called Shangri-La. Chang explains that the community's unique geographical situation- protected by mountains on all sides- allows the weather to never vary. The warm climate allows for a year-long abundance of crops. It doesn't take the refugees long to discover that this is a fairy tale-like paradise, virtually untouched by the outside world. There are luxurious homes and temples and the people never allow personal disputes to escalate to the level of violence. It is explained that the luxuries and materials for the magnificent buildings were all brought in painstakingly by the few porters who are allowed in from the outside world. (There must have been quite an abundance, as Chang's home alone contains more furniture than the average Ikea store.) Before long, the group becomes comfortable in their new-found paradise with most reluctant to even attempt to leave, a feat that Chang says is all but impossible anyway, given the obstacles provided by nature. Richard Conway falls for Catherine (Liv Ullmann), a pretty school teacher, Harry finds value in Shangri- La that allows him to reaffirm his self-worth and even Sally and Sam form an unlikely romantic bond. George Conway, meanwhile, becomes obsessed with Maria (Olivia Hussey), a beautiful young woman who is bored with living in paradise and longs for him to take her to London. Sam begins to woo a reluctant Sally and reawakens her romantic passions. Even Harry finds his confidence improving when he becomes an unlikely mentor to local children. Nevertheless, trouble brews when George pressures Richard to accompany him and Maria on a dangerous trek out of the Himalayas. Chang warns him that she is not who she appears to be: in fact, she is a very old woman and will revert to her actual age if she leaves Shangri-La. Needless, to say, his advice is ignored. 

Perhaps this Lost Horizon could have been salvaged if the music and choreography were up to expectations, but everyone was asleep at the wheel. The Bacharach/David score contains plenty of musical numbers, but the best of them are simply bland and the worst are laughable. Hermes Pan's direction of the dance sequences is also surprisingly inept, especially a ludicrous fertility dance that resembles one of those big luau parties held every other night at Hawaiian hotels for the tourist crowds. (The sequence was understandably cut from the original release but has been restored for the video edition.) In one weird number, Liv Ullmann leads a parade of school kids who saunter about with their arms swinging back and forth as though they were auditioning for a Planet of the Apes sequel. Most of the vocals by the leading actors were dubbed (very well, in fact) and a few of the songs are bland, but pleasing given the context of the scenes they appear in. The main problem is that, for all the money spent on this lavish production, the movie simply has no heart. Unlike the original, the film never engages you on an emotional level. The Finch and York characters emerge as the most believable and their performances are the most impressive. The opening sequence, as the protagonists attempt to make a desperate escape from the besieged  airport, is the best sequence in the film. It's only when they start tossing in those musical numbers that things go downhill fast. We do get to see Sally Kellerman perform her own musical numbers, but one of them-set in a library- is so embarrassingly staged that it makes for unintentional laughter. We also learn that Olivia Hussey is quite the dancer, performing an exotic number quite impressively but it somehow seems to be one of those titillating numbers that preceded a strip show I once saw in a Hong Kong sleaze joint. Most disappointing is what should have been the emotional climax of the film- the death of her character as she ages dramatically in a matter of moments after leaving Shangri La. In the original film, it's a harrowing and riveting sequence that precedes the story's moving last sequence as Richard Conway's colleagues in a London club toast his mysterious fate as we watch him attempt (presumably successfully) to return across the mountains to his lost paradise. In the remake, these scenes fall flat and never engage the viewers as meaningfully as they should. Most of the blame must be placed on the shoulders of director Charles Jarrott, who never seems to capture the human side of the story because he has to deal with the circus-like logistics of the musical aspects of the production. Charles Boyer and John Gielgud acquit themselves well enough, but there is something inherently distasteful about watching yet another major film in which Asian characters are portrayed by Caucasian actors. 

Having said all that, one must compliment Twilight Time on their first-rate presentation of this cinematic oddity. (Some of the features were previously released on Sony's initial restored DVD version of the film) The Blu-ray transfer is beautiful  and does justice to Robert Surtees' impressive cinematography and there are some interesting extras, including an informative (and candid) assessment of the film by Julie Kirgo. There are also audio tracks of Burt Bacharach  (no singer, he) warbling his work-in-process versions of the songs. Without the bloated visuals that accompany them on film, they actually come across a lot better. He would have been better to farm the tracks out to Dionne Warwick and walk away from the film production. (These songs are creatively played against a variety of interesting behind the scenes photos from the production.) There are also are variety of TV spots and a rather well-worn, faded vintage featurette that is interesting in the way that these mini-propaganda films generally prove to be. There is also a theatrical trailer and an alternate version of a love scene between Finch and Ullmann.  

I recently discussed the film with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. He recalled being at the premiere and how everyone in the celebrity-packed audience seemed to know they were witnessing a disaster- except the producer, Ross Hunter (whose prestigious film career would come to an end with this film). Osborne said Hunter was strategically located at the back of the theater so he could accept congratulations from the attendees after the premiere. Osborne chuckled at the recollection of witnessing Merle Oberon climbing over seats to exit through a different door rather than have to face Hunter. If you view the film on Blu-ray, you won't have to indulge in such gymnastics. The film remains a major artistic debacle, but it should be seen, if for no other reason than to form your own conclusions. Time has a way of making bad movies sometimes look better. It's possible to appreciate the small pleasures Lost Horizon affords even if this won't ever be re-evaluated as an underrated classic.

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(This is a region free release and will play on any international Blu-ray system.)  

By Lee Pfeiffer 

The Price of Fear by Joel Eisner (Black Bed Sheet/Diverse Media, $20), 244 pages, illustrated (B&W), softcover, ISBN # 0988659026

There have been many fine books written about the legendary Vincent Price but author Eisner brings a new twist in his tribute to the iconic actor. Eisner had actually started to collaborate with Price on a new biography and in-depth look at his films. Price’s death in 1993 derailed the project but now Eisner has culled highlights from the interviews he conducted with Price to explore how he felt about his own movies. The book is less a biography than an examination of individual movies, which is a good thing, as the basics of Price’s personal life have been covered countless times before. It’s interesting to read how he felt about some of his best loved films, as well as those he freely admits fell far short of artistic expectations. Price was truly a man for all seasons: a fine actor, raconteur, lover of fine art and master chef. There was so much more to his talents than simply being a horror movie icon, and Eisner does a fine job in illustrating this. Speaking of illustrating, however, the publisher owes the author something far better than the poor photographic reproductions in this otherwise fine volume. An upgrade in production values is merited for a book with so many attributes. The book contains a heartfelt introduction by another legend, Peter Cushing, written when Price was still alive. 

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By Todd Garbarini

From the first frame of Amir Shervan's 1989 film Samurai Cop, you know that you're in for a treat.  Cheesy 1980s artificial pop music that sounds like it was generated by a Casio keyboard, courtesy of Alen Dermarderossian, with white credits set against a black background (a surefire indicator that you're watching a low-budget film) give way to Okamura (Gerald Okamura) complaining that they are not an established gang, and as such, they should be very cautious to make friends with the Chinese and Japanese gangs. He grunts and groans and makes exclamations that aren't always decipherable.  Former porn star Krista Lane, who is part of the gang, says things like, “Here comes the boss!” or “The boss is coming.”  Robert Z’Dar, best known for the Maniac Cop films, is an imposing figure who does the boss’s dirty work.  Needless to say, they get into a fight with a gang they want to do business with after being rebuffed and several people are killed.  Enter black and white cop team Frank Washington (Mark Frazer) and Joe Marshall (Matt Hanon), the poor man’s answer to Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon (1987).  Washington looks like Michael Winslow from the Police Academy series and Marshall is a samurai expert(?!) who looks like former model Fabio.  They spout some of the most quotable, ludicrously awful dialogue I’ve heard in a long time.  When they go out on assignment in a beaten up Chevrolet Caprice Classic, one of them says, “His boss was killed by the Katana Gang.  There’s the blue van over there.”  The other asks, “So, the van belongs to the Katana Gang?”  He must've been at the head of his graduating class.  They enlist the help of another cop, Peggy (Melissa Moore of 1990’s Sorority House Massacre II), in following the culprits and later on Marshall beds her in one of the genre’s most boring sex scenes. 

The cops have run-ins with the Katana Gang in a laugh-out-loud sequence in a restaurant where they threaten the boss and Marshall swoons over Jennifer, the young attractive owner of the joint. There’s a completely unnecessary scene involving a ridiculously effeminate waiter who looks like he fell out of an early Dario Argento thriller.

The film is a time capsule of music, wardrobe, and hairstyles from nearly a quarter-century ago. There is full frontal female nudity, three attempts at sex scenes, and one of the funniest, phoniest car chases I have ever seen (it makes you pine away for William Friedkin’s touch.) The late Dale Cummings plays their vociferous police captain, constantly yelling at the cops to bring him results. One of the funniest scenes takes place in his office (I won’t spoil it) as he threatens to send Marshall back to where he came from.

The film has absolutely no cinematic style despite the best efforts of cinematographer Peter Palian, who shoots much of the action in masters. There is very little intercutting and therefore no excitement is generated. Unbelievably, all of these drawbacks add considerably to the film's overall charm. I wish that the bulk of movies made today were one-tenth as entertaining Samurai Cop turns out to be.

The film has been transferred from the original 35mm film negative and the image is crystal clear. Some of the color timing appears to be off a little bit, however this is a minor quibble. This is unquestionably the best the film was ever going to look.

The extras that the disc comes with include:

An interview with actor Robert Z’Dar conducted over Skype which runs 25 minutes. The image quality is poor, however Douglas Dunning, the interviewer, and the actor are both understandable. Mr. Z’Dar talks about how he got into the business and came to meet the late director Amir Shervan with whom he made three films (Hollywood Cop (1987) and Killing American Style (1990) in addition to this one). Director Amir Shervan intended Samurai Cop to be a straightforward action film. It took three weeks to shoot on a budget of approximately $800,000.00.

An interview with actor and fight co-ordinator Gerald Okamura that runs 20 minutes. He discusses his time working with David Carradine on Kung-Fu and with John Carpenter on Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Escape From L.A. (1996), in addition to Samurai Cop.

An interview with cinematographer Peter Palian who talks extensively about his career in the business runs 27 minutes.

There are also stills galleries and an amusing fan trailer for the film.

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By Lee Pfeiffer 

Sony has reissued the 1961 Hammer Films title Scream of Fear as a burn-to-order DVD. Although the title would seem to imply this is a typical Hammer horror movie production, it is actually a real world suspense thriller. Susan Strasberg plays Penny Appleby, an attractive young woman from a wealthy European family who has led a life of personal turmoil. Her beloved parents had divorced and her mother later died. She depended heavily on the companionship of her personal assistant, who became her best friend. That young woman died tragically and Penny herself almost drowned in an accident that has left her confined to a wheelchair. Although afforded the best medical care in a private sanitarium, she longs to reunite with her father, who she has not seen in ten years. We first Penny when she arrives at the family mansion on the French Riviera. Her attractive stepmother Jane (Ann Todd) greets her warmly but tells her the surprising and disappointing news that her father has been called away for an indeterminate amount of time due to business reasons.  Penny makes it clear she is heartbroken by the development. Jane treats her stepdaughter with all due courtesy but it is clear there is resentment on Penny's part toward the woman she suspects is hiding a secret about her father. When she expresses skepticism about his whereabouts and well-being, she conveniently receives a phone call supposedly from her father, who gives her reassurance that he is doing fine. The call's purpose backfires, however, as Penny makes it clear to Jane she has strong suspicions that the man on the other end of the line was someone impersonating her father. Things go from bad to worse when Penny encounters a terrifying sight: the body of her dead father sitting in a chair inside a storage cottage. By the time Jane arrives to investigate, the body is inexplicably gone. More eerie occurrences haunt Penny, from mysterious piano playing to a second sighting of her dead father. Jane enlists the help of the family physician,  Dr. Gerrard (Christopher Lee), who assures the young woman that these incidents are just hallucinations brought on by stress. Soon, Penny begins to suspect that Jane and Dr. Gerrard are illicit lovers who are trying to have her declared insane. Her one ally is Robert (Ronald Lewis), the hunky family chauffeur who theorizes that  since Penny is the primary heir to her father's fortune, if she js declared mentally ill, her stepmother will inherit everything. He also posits a more frightening scenario: if Jane and Dr. Gerrard had murdered her father, they might think nothing of murdering her, as well, and staging both deaths to look like accidents. 

Scream of Fear was written and produced by legendary Hammer screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. The B&W production was shot on a low budget (this was Hammer, after all) and is very claustrophobic, with most of the action taking place inside the mansion house where Penny is subjected to an increasing number of frightening scenarios. In the true tradition of screen heroines, however, she dutifully investigates every one of them, wheeling herself into dimly lit rooms to see what has gone "bump" in the night. As with most Hammer movies, however, the film rises above its financial limitations due to the excellence of the cast and performances (Strasberg, who died in 1999 at age 60, should have been a much bigger star). Although Christopher Lee's appearances are limited, he is as effective as ever, and its refreshing to see him in a Hammer film that doesn't exploit him as a monster or mad doctor. Ronald Lewis and Ann Todd provide able support. 

Sangster's script, directed very ably by Seth Holt (who also died young, at age 47 in 1971). The story tends to go a bit over-the-top on occasion and doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. For example, the reoccurring appearances and disappearances of Penny's dead father strain credibility when the explanations are finally offered. Similarly, the fate of Todd's character in the movie's awkward final few seconds seems tacked on and is rather unconvincing. Having said that, however, in the aggregate, Sangster provides so many unexpected plot twists and turns that viewers will almost certainly find it difficult to predict where he is leading them. The film is intelligently written, directed and acted and can be highly recommended as one of the more offbeat and effective Hammer films of the period.  

The DVD is an excellent transfer. There are no bonus extras, however.  

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