The quintessential and politically incorrect New York movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
(1974) is an adaptation of John Godey’s novel of the same name and is brilliantly
directed by Joseph Sargent with loads of smile-inducing and laugh-out-loud
humor. This is the not the reaction one would associate with a film that is
marketed as a taut exercise in suspense, but one needs to understand and
appreciate the era in which the film was made. New York City was in financial
distress fifty years ago, with crime, violence and drug use running rampant.
Subway cars were blanketed in graffiti, and it was a dangerous time to be
walking the streets.
Pelham is the first and best of three filmed versions of
the novel and concerns four heavily armed men, all sporting moustaches and
machine guns. They are named after colors to mask their identities (this idea
was lifted by Quentin Tarantino and used to great effect in his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs). They commandeer an Interborough
Rapid Transit (IRT) train from the subway system and hold eighteen passengers
hostage. They demand one million dollars in cash for their release within one
hour – a mere pittance in 2025’s dollars – and will shoot one passenger per
minute should the police fail to provide the money by the ascribed deadline. Robert
Shaw shines as the lead baddy and heads the superb cast which also features
Martin Balsam as a sneezing confederate; Walter Matthau is the Transit
Authority lieutenant who negotiates with Shaw and lives on his wits, making a
last-minute snap decision that buys them time; Hector Elizondo is virtually
unrecognizable as the monkey-in-the-wrench who causes problems for Shaw with his
own sense of bravado; and Kenneth MacMillian is the Borough Commander. Among
the film’s highlights are Matthau’s off-handed and embarrassing treatment of
the representatives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway System who are visiting; Tom
Pedi’s role as Caz Dalowicz whose no-B.S. approach to the hijackers results in
a shootout in the tunnel; Lieutenant Rico Patrone (Jerry Stiller) who reads the
newspaper and is annoyed that he is being “interrupted” by the Japanese reps touring
the facility; Lee Wallace’s turn as the Mayor (he is a near dead ringer for
Mayor Ed Koch who became the New York Mayor four years after the film’s
release) and his inefficacy in dealing with the situation at hand, including
his Deputy Mayor, played brilliantly by Tony Roberts; and Robert Weil as a transit
worker – he’s a character actor who appeared in dozens of great New York films.
It also has one of the best endings to any film of recent memory.
Pelham manages to juggle suspense and outright human hilarity
in a way that few films that I have seen are able to. Bob Clark’s Black
Christmas, released the same year, also walks a tightrope of laugh out-loud
jokes on the one hand and intense fright on the other. While the idea of a
group of men “hijacking” a subway car might seem farfetched and implausible,
how about the city’s departments co-operating collectively to achieve a
peaceful outcome to the scenario at hand? There’s one for the books!
The Taking of Pelham One Two
Three was released on Wednesday,
October 2, 1974 in New York City. What the film
captures perfectly is the sense that working people have about themselves and
their jobs, a “another day at the office” mentality as they go about their
routines. The sentiments of the film are timeless and ring true in a city where
corruption and racism run behind-the-scenes and are perfectly sized-up by Doris
Roberts’s turn as the mayor’s wife when she tells him what he will receive in
return for paying out the ransom: eighteen sure votes, exposing the
expendability of the passengers.
Pelham was also lensed in 1998 for television by Felix
Enriquez Alcala, starring Lorraine Bracco, Edward James-Olmos, and Louis Del
Grande. This version posits Vincent D’Onofrio taking the place of Robert Shaw
and updates the times with a $5 million dollar ransom. Despite the film’s star
power, the lack of profanity in the New York setting, the use of archaic train
cars betrayed by the presence of oversized ceiling fans, and a lack of tension
all combined to make the film unrealistic, filling the audience with a yen to
revisit the original.
Tony Scott made a version in 2009 with John Travolta and Denzel
Washington, this time stylizing the title with Pelham 123 as numerical
numbers and upping the ransom to $10 million dollars. Gotta love inflation. It
is a well-made version with less emphasis on humor and more on action and it is
a film that stands on its own, and one of the few times that Mr. Washington
portrays a modern day Everyman just trying to get along.
A movie-only edition of Pelham was issued on Blu-ray in 2011, and
that transfer appeared to be derived from the same master that was used on the
standard definition DVD released in 2000. A new 4K restoration was performed in
2022 by Kino Lorber and the film was released as a two-disc set on 4K UHD and standard
Blu-ray with a much-improved image. There were a host of extras added, which
can be found on this standard Blu-ray release now available following the 50th
anniversary of the film’s release:
First up is an audio commentary by film historians
Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson which runs the entire length of the film.
They are informative and highly engaging and are an example of what I love
about commentaries. They give a fair amount of information on the background of
the cast, discuss the film’s themes, and how the film’s overall look was
achieved, among many others. I am a sucker for these 1970’s gritty New York
films, and this one fits the bill.
There is a second audio commentary by actor and
filmmaker Pat Healy and film programmer/historian Jim Healy and is equally
informative and entertaining.
The Making of Pelham One Two Three is a cleverly-titled piece that runs 6:08 and
features the actual shooting of the film during November 1973 through April
1974. It is told from the perspective of a transit policeman, Carmine Foresta,
who was hired as a technical consultant on the film. He has a small role in the
film also while appearing briefly in Francis Coppola’s The Godfather Part II
(1974) and Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975). My only complaint is
the short running time. I would have loved to have seen more behind-the-scenes
(BTS) footage and hear input from cinematographer Owen Roizman, who shot The
French Connection three years earlier for William Friedkin and has managed
to capture New York City in a way that I have not seen from any other director
of photography.
12 Minutes with Mr. Grey features a 2016 interview with actor Hector
Elizondo who recalls getting the role and enjoying his time working with the
late director Joseph Sargent. He points out how the station that they shot in
was fairly clean as it was unused (there was no way to interrupt actual daily subway
traffic) and therefore free of graffiti.
Cutting on Action runs 9:09 and features a 2016 interview with film editor Gerald B.
Greenberg, who won an Oscar for cutting The French Connection. That film
is highly lauded for its memorable subway/car chase through Brooklyn, NY. In Pelham,
there is an action sequence featuring police cars racing to the subway station
to get the money to the henchmen. Mr. Greenberg gives insight into his work on
the film. Again, I would have loved a longer piece. He discusses the editing
process and being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of footage he had to work
with. He brought in another editor, Robert Q. Lovett, to help him cut the film
and help create tension and suspense.
The Sound of the City runs 9:07 and features input from composer David
Shire. He began composing music for television shows back in the 1960’s, such
as CBS Playhouse and The Sixth Sense before creating the amazing
score for Francis Coppola’s The Conversation (1974). His theme to Pelham
is no less brilliant. He recalls how the music originally sounded like a
“dissonant Lalo Schifrin.” He would later score Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae
(1979) and win an Oscar for his collaboration with Norman Gimbel for the song It
Goes Like It Goes.
Trailers from Hell with Josh Olson runs just over two minutes and he
comments on the film, rightly praising it for its accomplishments as a great
New York movie. Interestingly, the film did not make money at the box office. I
suppose that New York humor does not go over well in Montana…
There is an Image and Poster Gallery that
runs 2:20 which features artwork and black and white snapshots of scenes from
the film.
There are two radio spots, and this is something
that I truly miss from the past. I loved hearing these spots for movies on the
radio, especially the ones created for horror films. These spots are a fun
listen.
The TV spot for the film is included here.
There are also theatrical trailers for Pelham;
Don Siegel’s Charlie Varrick (1973) and Stuart Rosenberg’s The
Laughing Policeman, both from 1973 and both with Walter Matthau; Guy
Hamilton’s Force 10 From Navarone (1979); Joseph Sargent’s White
Lightning (1973) with Burt Reynolds; John Frankenheimer’s The Train
(1964) with Burt Lancaster; Tom Griers’s Breakheart Pass (1975) with
Charles Bronson; and Andrei Konchalosky’s Runaway Train (1985) with Jon
Voight and Eric Roberts.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is one of
the best films made during the American cinema's most riveting decade.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
“Brilliant and brutal, funny and exhilarating”
— Washington Post
“Audacious, outrageous, indulgent, extreme”
— Toronto Star
“Callous, insolent, breathtaking”
— The Guardian
In 1994, writer-director Quentin Tarantino blew away audiences and
critics with his brazenly brilliant tribute to hard-crime capers, PULP
FICTION. 30 years later, the acclaimed and award-winning film
continues to thrill new generations of fans with its infinitely quotable
dialogue, superb cast, ingenious plot, and chart-topping
soundtrack.
In celebration of the cinematic masterpiece’s 30th anniversary, PULP
FICTION will return to the big screen in October for special
presentations featuring pristine new 35mm prints in select theatres across the
U.S. In addition, the film will be released on 4K Ultra HD in a 30th
Anniversary Collector’s Edition on December 3, 2024 from Paramount Home
Entertainment.
Hailed for its “combination of gorgeous dialogue, genre-literacy, guns,
and gore” (Times UK) as well as its “smart, offbeat, strangely sexy cast”
(Chicago Tribune), PULP FICTION became a cultural phenomenon that
redefined cinema. The Miramax film took home the Cannes Film Festival
Palme d’Or, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature, the Oscar® for Best
Original Screenplay, and dozens of additional awards. The star-studded
cast includes John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim
Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna
Arquette, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Willis.
PULP FICTION will be presented on both 4K Ultra HD
and Blu-ray™ in a new Limited-Edition set that also includes extensive legacy
bonus content and access to a Digital copy of the film in a collectible premium
slipcase, a new slipcover with pop-up artwork, lobby card reproductions,
photography select sheet, and decals. Bonus content is detailed below:
4K Ultra HD
Not the Usual
Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit
Chat
Here are Some
Facts on the
Fiction
Enhanced Trivia
Track
Blu-ray
Not the Usual
Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat
Here Are Some
Facts on the Fiction
Pulp Fiction:
The Facts – Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Behind the
Scenes Montages
Production
Design Featurette
Siskel &
Ebert "At the Movies"- The Tarantino Generation
Independent
Spirit Awards
Cannes Film
Festival – Palme d'Or Acceptance Speech
I’ve always loved action cinema. It’s one of
my all-time favorite genres. When I was a teenager in the mid-1980s, I saw a
VHS copy of the action film Bucktown
and I’ve been a huge fan of its star, Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, ever since.
A former pro football defensive back for
(amongst others) the Kansas City Chiefs (1965-1967), Williamson, who holds
black belts in Taekwondo, Kenp? and Shotokan karate, later moved on to acting.
Some of his first appearances was guest starring on TV shows such as Star Trek and Ironside. He quickly graduated to features, appearing in Robert
Altman’s M*A*S*H and Otto Preminger’s
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.
In 1970, Williamson starred in the
appropriately titled action movie Hammer (the
nickname was given to him during his football days). The film was a success and
it began his long and entertaining career as an action movie superstar. Standing
at 6ft. 3 inches tall and rarely seen without a prop cigar in his hand, Williamson
would go on to appear in a plethora of action classics (many of which were
distributed by major Hollywood studios) such as Black Caesar, Take a Hard Ride, Black Eye, Three the Hard Way,Mean Johnny Barrows (which he also
produced), and 1978’s Inglorious Bastards.
In 1976, the Hammer created his own company,
Po’ Boy Productions, which would not only see him star in, but also direct, a
ton of action films the likes of Death
Journey, No Way Back, Mr. Mean, Foxtrap, and The Kill Reflex. Williamson is also a veteran of Italian
exploitation cinema. He has appeared in the cult classics The New Barbarians, The New Gladiators, and Black Cobra 1-4. Just to name a few. In later years, he would act
in films such as From Dusk till Dawn
(for cinema titans Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino) and Original Gangstas (directed by the
legendary Larry Cohen and co-produced by Williamson) and he shows no signs of
slowing down.
Recently, the Hammer’s somewhat forgotten,
1973, action-packed, James Bond-like film
That Man Bolt was released on Blu-ray.
Solidly directed by David Lowell Rich and Henry
Levin from an entertaining screenplay by Ranald MacDougall and Charles Eric
Johnson, That Man Bolt tells the tale
of courier and martial arts expert Jefferson Bolt who is hired to transport a
million dollars from Hong Kong to Mexico City. However, Bolt soon realizes that
he’s been set up and now he’s dead set on paying back everyone who double-crossed
him.
Produced by Universal Pictures and released
in December of 1973, That Man Bolt,
aka Operation Hong Kong, is an
exciting adventure flick (sort of a 007/martial arts combo) which not only
contains well-crafted action sequences, but also some memorable characters
played wonderfully by its talented cast.
Leading the way, of course, is the always
charismatic Fred Williamson who convincingly plays the intelligent and capable
Jefferson Bolt. There are also appearances by familiar faces such as Byron
Webster, Miko Mayama, Teresa Graves, John Orchard, Jack Ging and Paul Mantee;
not to mention martial arts champions Mike Stone, Emil Farkas, David Chow and Kenji
Kazama. Enter the Dragon fans will
recognize Geoffrey Weeks who appears in a brief role, as well as the voice of
the great Keye Luke (who not only dubbed Shih Kien in Enter, but also performs the same duty here).
The fun film which was shot in L.A., Las
Vegas, Macau and Hong Kong, also features some terrific cinematography by Emmy
Award winner Gerald Finnerman, and a cool, Lalo Schifrin/John Barry-like musical
score by composer Charles Bernstein.
That Man Bolt has been released on
Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The region one disc presents the movie in its original
1.85:1 aspect ratio. The 2K transfer looks gorgeous. The disc not only contains
the original theatrical trailer, but also
That Man Hammer, a short, but entertaining interview with Fred Williamson.
Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, early 70s action-adventure that definitely
deserves to be re-discovered. It’s also a very nice addition to your Fred
Williamson collection. And if you’re just beginning to get into the Hammer’s
filmography, That Man Bolt is a great
place to start.
Franco Nero was too young to take the lead role as the titular Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966), a grizzled Civil War veteran dragging a coffin across the mud flats of the southern US-Mexican border, but some clever makeup and several days of stubble added at least ten years to the then 25-year-old and a star was born. His piercing blue eyes dazzled audiences, and he hasn’t stopped stealing the screen from his co-stars ever since. Whenever he appears on screen he leaves an impression, whether he’s mowing down an entire western town with a machine gun in Django or playing the Pope to Russell Crowe’s exorcist in, er, The Pope’s Exorcist (2023).
UK label CultFilms have restored and released Nero’s career-making Italian western Django, available for the first time in the UK on Blu-ray, alongside two other hugely entertaining westerns, Keoma(Enzo G. Castellari, 1976), also starring Nero, and A Bullet for the General (Damiano Damiani, 1967), which sadly doesn’t star Nero, meaning this collection doesn’t quite add up to a Franco Nero boxset. However, A Bullet for the General does star a magnificent Gian Maria Volonté alongside Klaus Kinski and Martine Beswicke, and could arguably be the best film of the three. Rounding out this fantastic set is the documentary Django & Django (2021) which, perhaps inevitably, focuses on Quentin Tarantino’s relationship with the original Django and Spaghetti Westerns in general, and it is a great deep dive into why these films continue to resonate with audiences in the 21st Century.
Each of the films in this set is accompanied by a terrific set of bonus features too: there are new and archival interviews with many of key players, including Franco Nero himself, but this reviewer’s favourite addition is the introductions to each film by Alex Cox; writer, director and former presenter of Moviedrome, the influential late-night cult film slot back in the mid-1990s. He knows a thing or two about Italian cinema, and having seen Cox appear on other discs introducing and discussing films as well, I would like to argue for his inclusion on all film releases from now on. He is authoritative and has an encyclopaedic knowledge, and he is also witty and likeable. Watching him on these discs really makes me miss Moviedrome. Each of his three introductions here are worth their weight in stolen Mexican gold.
The boxset comes in a card case with three poster reproductions and is an essential addition to any western aficionado's library. CultFilms have also released Django as a standalone 4K UHD set which comes complete with a 64-page bound book written by Kevin Grant, who has written some excellent books on European westerns, published by FAB Press.Truly we live in a golden age. (The discs are region-free).
Something
happened to me while watching John Cassavetes’s film Gloria that, to my
knowledge, has never, ever happened before and probably will never, ever happen
again. Towards the end of the film, the titular heroine exits a cab and asks
the cabbie for the time, and she replies, “It’s 9:20.” Unbelievably, this was
the exact time of day that it was on my clock as I watched the film in the
evening. In films, people give the time to others when asked (Charles Martin
Smith is told that it’s “a quarter to twelve” when attempting to purchase
alcohol in George Lucas’s 1973 film American Graffiti), but the
phenomenon of the onscreen reel time being in synch with the offscreen real
time is something that I have not experienced before, and it got me to thinking
about how certain things happen by mere happenstance.
The
cinema of John Cassavetes is an acquired taste as he was a maverick who made many
films on his own terms. If the general audience loved his work, it would
infuriate him and he would recut the film, as was the case with 1970’s Husbands,
a film that was released, critically acclaimed, pulled out of release and
re-cut into a completely different film, culled from roughly 240 hours of raw
footage. Co-star Ben Gazzara stated that his favorite version of the film ran
four-and-a-half hours. The director often employed members of a small but loyal
acting troupe headed by his wife, Gena Rowlands, who portrays the titular
heroine in this film, shot between July and September 1979 and released in New
York on Wednesday, October 1, 1980. She received her second Oscar nomination
for her performance here, the first being for A Woman Under the Influence
in 1974, also under the direction her husband.
Gloria is a film mired in Manhattan, Harlem
and the Bronx in New York. The film opens with nighttime establishing shots of
the New York skyline to the music of Bill Conti best known for the theme to Rocky
(1976). The Statue of Liberty and several bridges are luminescent and invoke Richard
Donner’s Superman: The Movie filmed there two years earlier. The
daylight exposes the filthy streets and the people who inhabit them. A six-year-old
Puerto Rican boy, Phil Dawn (John Adames), narrowly escapes being killed by the
Mafia following his mob accountant father’s (Buck Henry of all people) involvement
with them turned sour. Phil is saddled with a copy of the Bible, which in
reality is incriminating evidence that the Mafia wants back in their hands. His
parents and siblings all become collateral damage as he and the family friend,
Gloria, bolt and attempt to get away. Gloria is part of the Mafia. She
possesses street smarts and packs heat, unflinchingly firing upon her enemies
in broad daylight, though no cops appear to be anywhere in sight. Like the
interior of Marcellus Wallace’s suitcase in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction
(1994), this Bible proves to be a MacGuffin to keep Gloria and Phil on the run.
Initially,
Gloria and Phil cannot stand one another, and the former appears to be
reluctant to be saddled with the latter despite her promise to Phil’s parents
to take care of him. Eventually, they grow on one another and, dare I say it,
even develop a mutual affection. John Adames proves himself to be a capable
actor though, to my knowledge, this is his sole screen credit. The film,
despite reportedly being disparaged by its director (who probably would have
been happy to completely recut it), is a showcase for its leading actress, who
is always fascinating to watch.
Gloria was released on Blu-ray in August 2018 by
Twilight Time and that pressing contained an isolated musical score. There is a
new pressing of the film, this time by Kino Lorber, and the results are
unspectacular. This is not a carp about Kino,since they always do a bang-up job
on their Blu-ray releases. The
film image is dark at times, especially in the beginning scenes in the
apartment building (look fast for Tom Noonan as a Mafia soldier), and it looks
as though it was transferred from a theatrical print, minus the reel-change cue
marks. I am only assuming this to be the case (though I am probably incorrect),
or perhaps this was how it was either photographed or developed as the liner
notes are absent of the usual declaration boasting a high-definition transfer
from the film’s original camera negative.
The only extras to speak of on this pressing
are theatrical trailers for Gloria, Sidney Lumet’s Gloria remake
from 1999, Gorky Park (1983), 52 Pick-Up (1986), Code of
Silence (1985), Number One with a Bullet (1987), and Lonely are
the Brave (1962).
Burt Reynolds was a movie star who became a
“Hollywood Legend” the hard way—he earned it. He started out in small roles on
TV in the 50s and 60s, went to Europe and made some spaghetti westerns, just
like his pal Clint Eastwood. He had his own TV series (“Hawk” and “Dan August”)
and gained stardom on the big screen after playing Lewis, one of the four guys
in “Deliverance,” who run into bad luck at the hands of some good ol’ boys in
the Tennessee backwoods. He became a superstar with the release of “Smokey and
the Bandit” (1977), which he starred in with Sally Field and Jackie Gleason.
His career ended with “The Last Movie Star,” (2017), where he basically played
himself, a faded legend, who still manages to hold onto his dignity. He was
about to play a small role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time . . . in
Hollywood (2019)” but died in 2018before filming began.
His career had a lot of peaks and valleys. “Heat”
(1986), now available on Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber, while an entertaining movie
with Reynolds at his charismatic best, was definitely not one of the peaks.
Considering it was written by Oscar-winning writer William Goldman, (“All the
President’s Men” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,”) and directed by
Dick Richards (“Farewell My Lovely”), it should have been a lot better than it
is. Reynolds plays Nick Escalante (also known as “Mex”), a Las Vegas bodyguard
who dreams of one day leaving the rat race in the States and going to Venice,
Italy to enjoy La Dolce Vita. Hmmm. That sort of reminds me of another guy
William Goldman wrote about once, only he wanted to go to Bolivia. Anyway as
“Heat” begins, Mex takes on a couple of jobs that he probably should have known
better than to accept. One has him protecting a nerdy dude by the name of Cyrus
Kinnick (Peter McNichol), who thinks he needs a bodyguard in case he wins big
at the casino. Mex doesn’t last long on the job when he discovers Kinnick’s
idea of big winnings is $50, and he quits. The other is a call for help from
Holly (Karen Young) a Vegas hooker, an old friend of his, who was beaten and
raped in a casino hotel room by three guys. She asks him to help her get
revenge.
Mex (you probably couldn’t use that nickname
today) finds out the rapist is a punk Mafioso by the name of Danny DeMarco
(Neill Barry), who has two musclebound bodyguards of his own. Mex never carries
a gun, but he’s known for being an expert with anything that has a sharp
cutting edge. He pays them a visit and takes all three of them down with
nothing more than the sharp edge of two credit cards and a few flying kicks, a-la
Bruce Lee. He calls Holly up from the lobby and she takes a pair of scissors
out of her purse and leaves Danny with a little souvenir on his private parts.
She finds $20,000 that Danny had flashed around to tease Mex with earlier and
offers half to him. He turns it down and tells her to leave town. It turns out
Danny is connected to a local Mafia boss by the name of “Baby.”
Holly leaves town but manages to get 10 grand to
him, which becomes a plot device that reveals that Mex has a gambling addiction
problem. He takes the money, turns it into $100,000 at the Blackjack table run
by a dealer named Cassie (Diana Scarwid), and ends up losing it all. So now we
know why Mex has trouble paying the airfare to Venice. Kinnick shows up again
and asks if he can just hang out with him so he can learn how to be a cool
tough guy like him. Sounds dumb, doesn’t it? It is. Somehow, even though
there’s a meeting with “Baby,” and later an action setpiece with Danny and some
new goons he’s hired, the story loses momentum.
Part
of the problem is Goldman’s script, which is all over the place, with enough
story elements for at least two different movies. Or maybe they planned to spin
it off into a TV series. But the biggest problem with “Heat” is what was
happening behind the scenes during production. “Heat” was originally to be
helmed by Robert Altman. That deal fell through, so they brought in Dick
Richards to direct and for some reason Richards and Reynolds didn’t get along.
It got so bad that a fight erupted and Reynolds punched Richards in the face.
Richards left the picture after directing only 13 percent of it and sued
Reynolds. “That punch cost me half a million,” Reynolds said. Television
director Jerry Jameson was brought in to finish the picture without receiving a
credit.
It’s
too bad in a way that Altman didn’t take the job after all. Goldman’s
screenplay, with all the various story ideas bouncing around in it, would
probably have been right up Altman’s alley. He might have come up with
something on the order of his earlier hits “The Long Goodbye” (1973) or
“California Split” (1974).
Kino
Lorber presents “Heat” in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio in a very clean
1920x1080p transfer. A rollicking audio commentary is provided by action film
historians Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder. The disc also contains previews of
a number of Burt Reynolds films available from Kino Lorber. In case you’re
wondering if Mex ever get to Venice… I’ll never tell. But, if he did, let’s
hope he made out better than that other guy did in Bolivia. Recommended primarily for Burt Reynolds fans.
The
1957 romantic comedy, The Prince and the Showgirl has likely received
more press about what went on behind the scenes and the notorious animosity
that existed between the two stars, Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. The
latter was also producer and director of the picture, although the production
company was the first title made by the newly-formed Marilyn Monroe
Productions. The 2011 picture (was it that long ago?), My Week with Marilyn,
featuring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh, depicted the stormy relationship
between Monroe and Olivier and how Monroe behaved rather, well, erratically and
irrationally toward her director/co-star, other actors, the cinematographer,
the costumer, and nearly everyone else on the set. The actress even brought
something of a “support coach” with her every day in the form of Paula
Strasberg, who, with her husband Lee, ran the Actors Studio.
Unless
one had actually seen the real movie, The Prince and the Showgirl,
one came away from My Week with Marilyn with the impression that Monroe
was a mess, that Olivier hated her guts, and that the movie they made was a
disaster.
The
Prince and the Showgirl is actually a charming, well-acted, funny, and
touching piece of work. This reviewer is happy to say that Marilyn Monroe is marvelous
in the role of Elsie Marina, a chorus line showgirl of a musical playing in
London’s West End in 1911, when the picture takes place. Monroe displays impressive
comic timing and wit, does a pratfall or two with aplomb, and categorially
holds her own against the likes of renowned thespian Olivier. He, too, is quite
winning, even though his accent as a “Carpathian” prince regent (from the
Balkans) sometimes causes one’s eyebrows to rise. But make no mistake—this
movie belongs to Monroe, and this reviewer would easily cite her performance
here ranked in her top five.
Funny
how the bad rep of a movie and its making clouds what one really sees on the
screen.
Granted,
The Prince and the Showgirl was received with lukewarm praise upon its
release. The BAFTAs honored it with several nominations, including Actor,
“Foreign” Actress, Screenplay, and British Film. It received no Academy Award
nominations. The film did very well in the UK, likely due to Olivier’s presence.
Perhaps the picture’s indifferent reception in the USA was due to its rather
slow pace, length (a few minutes under two hours), and the fact that the story
takes place mostly in static one-room sequences of the Carpathian Embassy.
That’s not surprising, because the movie is based on a stage play, The
Sleeping Prince, by Terrence Rattigan, who also penned the screenplay.
Perhaps Rattigan adhered too closely to the conventions of the stage. All of
these things are indeed flaws in the motion picture.
Still…
this is a worthwhile romantic comedy on the strength of the two leads,
especially Monroe’s luminous performance. Not only does she look fantastic, as
always, but she truly does light up the screen with charisma, warmth, and
delight. Other standouts in the cast would include Richard Wattis, who nearly
steals the movie as the frustrated foreign office suit who is charged with
keeping the prince happy during his stay in London, Sybil Thorndike as the
prince’s dowdy but often frank mother-in-law, and Jeremy Spenser as the
prince’s son, King Nicolas, who to this reviewer resembles what Quentin
Tarantino might have looked like at the age of sixteen.
The
Warner Archive has released a region-free, beautifully rendered, restored presentation of
the feature film in high definition. That 1950s-era Technicolor pops out, and
the costumes are undeniably gorgeous. Unfortunately, the only supplement on the
disk is the theatrical trailer.
The
Prince and the Showgirl is enthusiastically recommended for fans of Marilyn
Monroe. Fans of Olivier, who does what he can when someone so appealing is
sharing the screen with him, will find it interesting. For this reviewer’s
money, The Prince and the Showgirl is far more enjoyable than My Week
with Marilyn, which now seems to be a rather sordid coda to this romantic
comedy bauble.
Click hereto order from the Cinema Retro Movie Store.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Writer and director Quentin Tarantino delivered one of the most
influential films of the 1990s with the critically acclaimed contemporary
classic PULP FICTION. Now, for the first time ever, fans
can experience the groundbreaking and wildly entertaining tour de force on 4K
Ultra HD™ Digital, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™, and in a Limited-Edition Collector’s
SteelBook® December 6, 2022 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
A touchstone of postmodern film, PULP FICTION is a
must-have for every film fan’s collection. Winner of the Palme d’Or at
the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the film also won the Independent Spirit Award
for Best Feature and the Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay. The
film features a star-studded cast, including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson,
Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving
Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken and Bruce Willis.
The PULP FICTION 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Limited-Edition
Collector’s SteelBook include the feature film in sparkling 4K Ultra HD, access
to a Digital copy of the film, as well as the following legacy bonus content:
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc
·Not the Usual Mindless Boring
Getting to Know You Chit Chat
·Here are Some Facts on the
Fiction
·Enhanced Trivia Track (subtitle
file)
Blu-ray Disc
·
Not the Usual Mindless
Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat
·
Here Are Some Facts on the
Fiction
·
Pulp Fiction: The Facts –
Documentary
·
Deleted Scenes
·
Behind the
Scenes Montages
·
Production Design Featurette
·
Siskel & Ebert "At
the Movies"- The Tarantino Generation
·
Independent Spirit Awards
·
Cannes Film Festival – Palme
d'Or Acceptance Speech
·
Charlie Rose Show
·
Marketing
Gallery
·
Still Galleries
·
Enhanced Trivia Track (text
on feature)
·Soundtrack Chapters (index points in
feature)
Synopsis
Critics and audiences worldwide hailed PULP FICTION as
the star-studded movie that redefined cinema in the 20th century.
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino delivers an unforgettable cast of characters—
including a pair of low-rent hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), a
gangster's wife (Uma Thurman), and a desperate prizefighter (Bruce Willis)—in a
wildly entertaining and exhilarating adventure of violence and redemption.
Click here to order Steelbook Limited Edition from Amazon
Just as the school holidays were about
to start, way back in the December of 1982, ITV began previewing their upcoming
festive slate. In amongst the sleigh-bell soundtracked shots of Morecambe &
Wise, Ted Rogers and Mike Yarwood et al, Richard Kiel grabbed a thick metal
cable and bit into it with his silver dentures. This little tit-bit was all any
of us kids could talk about in school the next day. ‘Did you see it? Moonraker’s
going to be on TV on Boxing Day!’
I can’t remember anything else about
that Christmas, only the desperate excitement in the run-up to watching the
biggest, best James Bond film ever made! And back then, it was both of those
things because we were, y’know, kids.
Moonraker was (and remains) the entry-level
kids’ Bond movie. Once you realise that the concept of a space shuttle full of
American marines armed with laser guns being fired into space is as
intelligence-insultingly absurd as the idea of a double-taking pigeon, the
lustre wears off rapidly.
And so it came to pass that over the
years, the most successful Bond movie yet released saw its reputation take an
almighty plummet, hovering at the bottom of most Bond popularity charts; an
overblown, camp nadir that even Cubby Broccoli recognised as ‘a bit too much’ (by
contrast, the next Bond adventure, For Your Eyes Only was a pointedly
earth-bound gadget-free caper based on the retrieval of what looked like a ZX
Spectrum keyboard).
Admitting that Moonraker was
one of your favourite Bond movies in the company of cineastes was a faux pas
akin to suggesting that the best Star Trek movie was the fifth one, or
that Robert De Niro never did it for you as an actor until he started making
those hilarious Meet The Parents movies.
The Daniel Craig years - in which Bond
was transformed from a smooth, quip-spouting, all-action Lothario into a
tortured, reluctant assassin, as bruised and broken on the inside as he is on
the surface - made the comic nonsense of Moonraker seem even more
ludicrous, unforgivably so.
Yet all of a sudden, Bond’s misbegotten
Star Wars cash-in has recently started to find voices of support piping
up in its defence. Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary could have chosen from
hundreds of thousands of other movies to launch their new Video Archives
podcast, but for episode 1, out of every movie ever made they went for Moonraker.
Of the two film-makers, Avary is the
one pleading the case forthe
defence.In time-honoured tradition, he
considered it beneath his contempt when it was first released in 1979. “I was
absolutely dubious of it. I hated it.
“I’ve noticed that when I see films
that I dismissed quickly back in the day; I sometimes look at them now and I am
seeing things and appreciating things that I just wasn’t prepared for back
then.” Among those things that Avary now appreciated were Ken Adams’s beautiful
sets, John Barry’s lush score, the still-impressive special effects, Michael
Lonsdale’s cold dismissive performance, and the opening skydiving stunt, which
Avary & Tarantino both cite as one of their favourite pre-titles sequence
in the series: ‘Real people are doing this!’
Avary continued, ‘It’s a spy film, it’s
an action movie, it’s a romance, it’s a travelogue, it’s a sci-fi…it’s also a
horror film. It switches its tone constantly. It becomes whatever it needs to be
in the moment. It’s a comedy, it’s even a western at one point.’ He even
confesses to crying at the end when Jaws finally speaks.
Tarantino’s enjoyment is more
circumspect. He has little enthusiasm for Lewis Gilbert’s handling of action
scenes, especially the gondola chase. At one point he bellows, ‘Any movie that
cuts to a reaction shot of animals doing comic double-takes can never be taken
seriously under any circumstances!’
The Video Archives Moonraker reevaluation
followed on the heels of its surprise appearance in the 2021 Marvel movie Black
Widow, in which Scarlett Johansson’s superhero assassin enjoys some
much-needed downtime by watching Moonraker - a film she’s seen so often
she can recite the dialogue from memory.
Moonraker was, to Johansson’s character, what
it is to so many of us: a comfort watch (it also serves as a witty foretaste of
the rest of Black Widow; a film that ends up set aboard a colossal
airborne sky-station which our hero destroys in mid-flight).
It has also taken on an unlikely
contemporary resonance, thanks to the intergalactic antics of a new breed of
super-billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and - especially - Elon
Musk, who have recently been playing with their little rocket ships and all,
like Drax, clearly obsessed by the conquest of space.
Watching these space-fixated moguls,
all of them rich beyond the wealth of nations, seemingly sharing Drax’s casual
disdain for the trite pauper-concerns of mere earthlings, Moonraker’s
plot suddenly becomes targeted future-satire from the least-likely source.
Then again, it could just be something
far simpler. This new warmth towards Moonraker might well have stemmed
from the loss of Roger Moore, who became the first Bond to head to the great
casino in the sky in 2017. There has rarely been a more beloved actor, and the
shock of suddenly not having him around any more may have led many to
reconsider the legacy of someone we have now lost forever.
Moore’s Bond movies - built around his
unique presentation of the character - were unabashed entertainment. They were
designed at an eye-wateringly huge cost by some of the most talented and
dedicated artists in the industry for one simple, noble purpose: to give family
audiences a thrill ride and make them happy.
Produced for a then-staggering
$34million, Moonraker was released at a time of economic stagnation,
constant strikes, international unrest and unremitting gloom. No wonder
audiences rushed into cinemas to bask in its technicolor glamour, warm humour
and impossible silliness. No wonder its charms seem so suddenly appealing once
again.
Godard with Belmondo and Seberg filming "Breathless".
By Joe Elliott
French director Jean-Luc Godard, who was a significant part of
the 1960s French New Wave movement, died on Tuesday at age 91. Godard was among
a handful of brilliant and innovative French filmmakers of the period that
included Louis Malle, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer and Francois Truffaut. While
these young turks of the cinema viewed their work as intellectually
serious statements of their times, they did so with an air of stylish
nonchalance, off-handed humor and striking visual flair. Heavily influenced by
American movies, especially film noir of the 1940s, they, in turn, influenced
the next generation of American movie makers, among them Arthur Penn, Woody
Allen, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
Godard’s
“Breathless” ("À Bout de Souffle") is
probably the film for which most of us remember him best. His first feature,
it’s a witty, romantic cops and robbers picture starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and
American-born Jean Seberg as his girlfriend. “Breathless” is filled with
many memorable grace notes and startling visual signifiers, not the least of
which is the radiant young presence of Seberg herself. (Who can ever
forget the "New York Herald Tribune" sweater she wore?) According
to film critic Pauline Kael, whose early support of Godard helped create a
market for his pictures in the States, the director “saw something in the cheap
American gangster movies of his youth what French movies lacked; he poeticized
it and made it so modern (via jump cutting) that he, in turn, became the key
influence of American movies in the 60s.” In his later years, Goddard grew
more embittered and combative in his attitude and
was frequently critical of younger filmmakers. However, he never lost
his childhood love of the cinema. In a 1989 “New York Times” interview he is
quoted as saying, “I never thought I would do better
than John Ford or Orson Welles, but I thought I could perhaps do what Godard
was meant to do.”
Quentin Tarantino has said he thinks the worst American
movies were made in the 50s and the 80s. He dislikes 50s movies because of
their blatant censorship and 80s movies because the central character always
had to be likeable. On the Joe Rogan Experience he pointed out the difference
between a Bill Murray movie and a Chevy Chase movie made in the 80s. Bill
Murray’s characters always started out as assholes but became likeable by the
end of the film. “Chevy Chase movies don't play that shit,” Tarantino said. “Chevy
Chase is the same supercilious asshole at the end of the movie that he is at
the beginning.” He also decried
the way movies in the 50s hardly ever cast Native Americans in Westerns.
All this is to say I’d bet Tarantino most likely would
hate Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray release of
Universal International’s “Foxfire” (1955), starring Jeff Chandler and Jane
Russell. Chandler was a hunky heart throb who rose to fame and fortune playing
Cochise opposite Jimmy Stewart in “Broken Arrow” (1950), and again with Rock
Hudson in “Taza, Son of Cochise.” Chandler was Jewish, but the public bought
him as a Native American and even as half-Native American, which he plays in
“Foxfire.” His character, Jonathan Dartland, is a mining engineering working in
a copper mine in Lodestone, Ariz., who is ashamed of the fact that while his
father was white his mother is an Apache. He hasn’t spoken to her in years even
though she lives in a nearby Apache Reservation, where she conducts guided
tours.
One day a tall brunette bombshell named Amanda Lawrence
arrives in Lodestone from New York and gets picked up by Dartland and his alcoholic
doctor friend Dr. Hugh Slater (Dan Duryea) when her car has a flat out in the
desert. Despite the fact that Russell was 34 years of age when the movie was
made, and you’d think would have more sense than a 17-year old, Amanda falls
head-over-heels gaga in love at first site with Dartland. Which is hard to
understand, since he’s such surly, morose guy who doesn’t interact well with
others, especially if they get nosey about his Apache background. But Amanda
will have her way and the day after a night of dancing and who knows what else,
SHE proposes to HIM!. At first he tells her it couldn’t possibly work but next
thing you know they’ve gotten hitched. Everybody’s there at the wedding, except
of course his Apache Mama.
I guess they had to go through with it, even though is
seems unbelievable that these two crazy kids would tie the knot so suddenly,
but Universal International had been promoting the movie with the tag line: “JANE’S
GOT JEFF!”. Which I suppose was a 50s version of the tag line that was used
when Clark Gable came back to the movies after serving in WW II to star in
“Adventure” (1945): “Gable’s back, and Garson’s Got Him!” With that line, “JANE’S
GOT JEFF!”, there had to be a wedding, and of course all the plot that would
come after it
One of the most bizarre twists in the plot comes when
Amanda decides to take the bus tour out to the Apache village to meet
Jonathan’s mother. She finds her with a group of tourists, giving them the
historical lowdown on Apache customs. She speaks in a beautiful voice that has
a nice Viennese accent! Saba, the Apache Princess, is played by Celia Lovsky,
the Austrian actress whom you may best remember as T’Pau, the Vulcan matriarch
in the famous Star Trek episode “Amok Time.”
“Foxfire” was directed by Joseph Pevney, who directed 14
episodes of “Star Trek,’ including the “Amok Time” episode. I guess Lovsky’s
performance as Saba years earlier in 1955 made a lasting impression on the
director, or maybe they were just good friends.
Also in “Foxfire” are Mara Corday, as Dr. Slater’s
jealous nurse, who has a crush on Dartland; Robert Simon as Ernest Tyson, the
man who owns the copper mine Dartland works in; Barton MacClane as Dartland’s
foreman, and Frieda Inescort as Amanda’s mother. Dan Duryea give his standard
booze-gobbling performance as the alcoholic doctor, who vies for Amanda’s
attention.
Other than the love story, “Foxfire’s” secondary
storyline concerns Dartland’s belief that the copper mine they’re working on
has a shaft that could lead to a hidden Apache gold mine. Amanda helps Dartland
convince Tyson to come up with the money for the exploratory work, which leads
the film to one of those predictable mine cave-in disasters.
“Foxfire” has a couple of interesting factoids associated
with it. First, it was the last film to be shot on three-strip Technicolor
film, and the photography out in the Arizona desert by William H. Daniels is
well transferred to Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray disc. Second, although Frank Skinner
composed the score for “Foxfire” the main theme played during the title credits
was written by Henry Mancini, with lyrics written and sung by Chandler. And in
case you want to know, “Foxfire” is what they call the phosphorescent glow that
rise up at night from the rotting timbers in the mine shaft.
The disc comes with a theatrical trailer, and an audio
commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger. It’s not a bad film. It has its
flaws, but if you’re not as finicky as Tarantino, it’s always interesting to
see these artifacts from a different era. “JANE’S GOT JEFF!”
Oliver
Reed, Candice Bergen and Gene Hackman are on opposing sides of “The Hunting
Party,â€a 1971 Western released on
Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. Reed is Frank Calder who kidnaps school teacher Melissa
Ruger (Bergen). The plan is to hold her for a ransom, but Frank also wants
Melissa to teach him to read. Frank and his gang are pursued by Melissa’s
sadistic husband Brandt Ruger (Hackman), a wealthy and powerful rancher. The
film opens with Frank and his gang killing and butchering a cow from a heard of
cattle and cutting out chunks of meat which they eat raw. The scene is
disconcerting and is juxtaposed with a scene of Brandt forcing himself on
Melissa, who is not enjoying his actions which border on rape and clearly
involve the infliction of pain.
Frank’s
gang are warned by lawmen to stay away from their town. They ride past the town
bank which is heavily guarded and pass through town to the school. There they
grab Melissa after her husband departs on a hunting trip with friends on his
private train. Brandt and his friends also have several prostitutes and we
witness Brandt’s sadism as he employs lit wax candles on the prostitute in his
bed. When notified of his wife’s kidnapping the next morning, Brandt and his
friends begin their pursuit of Frank and his gang along with his new high caliber
hunting rifles with scopes. His friends think they are on a rescue mission, but
they learn Brandt is less interested in getting his wife back than getting
revenge.
Meanwhile,
Frank tries forcing Melissa into teaching him to read, but she refuses and
tries to escape several times. Frank rapes her and soon after she nearly shoots
him. Frank gives her the ultimatum of teaching him to read or starving to death.
Melissa succumbs during the only lighthearted scene in the movie in which she
is tempted by Frank with a jar of peaches. Melissa is drawn to Frank and a
romance develops between the two. Frank is an outlaw, but a man she is willing
to be with and betray her sadistic husband. Brandt and his men soon catch up
with Frank and his gang and starts picking them off like snipers, as they can
kill at a great distance. One by one, Brandt’s men lose interest when they
realize Brandt is less interested in rescuing his wife than killing Frank and
his gang like animals. In one scene he even stacks the dead men along side the
pond where they were killed, to the disgust of Brandt’s men who soon recognize
their friend has gone mad.
Apart
from the female lead, there are no “good guys†in this Western. They are all cutthroats,
thieves and rapists or psychopaths. The movie is a blend of the Spaghetti
Western and the new Hollywood action movie violence of the late 60s and 70s. Candice
Bergen gives a terrific performance in an otherwise bleak and nihilistic movie,
providing moments of hope that the story will turn in a different direction.
She’s raped or nearly raped several times in the movie and her performance is a
great follow up to her equally good performance in “Soldier Blue†from 1970.
Gene Hackman gives a nasty performance,which is a forerunner to roles in other
movies such as “Unforgiven†in 1992. Oliver Reed is understated for the most
part and has an effective American accent in his only Western. It’s hard to
figure out Frank Calder and his motives. Is he a bad guy? For sure, but he also
gains our sympathy if only because the businessman Brandt Ruger is far worse
than Frank and his gang members.
Familiar
faces round out the cast with the likes of Simon Oakland, Mitchell Ryan, L.Q.
Jones and William Watson to name just a few. Directed by Don Medford, the movie
was filmed on location in Spain, which was irresistible for Hollywood
productions trying to take advantage of the popularity of the Spaghetti Western
craze and the Spanish vistas still largely unfamiliar to most movie-goers in
America at the time. Known mostly for working in television where he had a
prolific career, Medford directed this and the second “In the Heat of the
Night†sequel, “The Organization,†which were both released in 1971 and remain
his only big screen credits. Well, almost. In addition to the dozens of
television credits as director from 1951 through 1989, he also directed the
first episode of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.†(“The Vulcan Affairâ€) which was
edited and released theatrically as “To Trap a Spy†in 1966. Thus, Medford
could lay claim to three theatrical features depending on how one categorizes
them. The screenplay is credited to William W. Norton, Gilbert Ralston and Lou
Morheim, who may have crossed paths with Medford in television. The movie has a
score by Italian composer Riz Ortolani ,who may be best known for his score to
“The 7th Dawn†and more recently for three Quentin Tarantino films: “Kill Bill,â€
“Inglorious Basterds†and “Django Unchained.â€
One
of the problems with the movie is that it is very bleak with only the
previously mentioned levity which seems out of place compared to the rest of
the rest of the movie. While the film is unsettling, it is very good with fine
performances by the three leads and the great supporting cast. This isn’t the
kind of Western the Duke appeared in during this time period and one can debate
which style was better: the extreme violence or the more traditional off-screen
blood and violence. I appreciate both and I think there’s room for this
variety, but there’s no doubt we were seeing one of the last gasps of the Hollywood
Western.
The
movie looks great on Blu-ray and I suspect it’s as good as it’s ever looked on
home video, having being released previously on DVD and VHS. The disc has an
audio commentary by Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson which I found very
informative. Other extras include a 12-minute interview with actor Mitchell
Ryan who shares his recollections while working on the film. The disc includes the
trailer for this and other Kino Lorber releases and reversible cover art. Forget
what you’ve heard or read about this movie, “The Hunting Party†may not be for
everyone, but is recommended for Western fans due to the terrific cast of
leading and supporting players.
It’s
always good to hear from All Score Media, a label that continues to focus on
retro soundtrack releases and new soundtrack music produced in a retro style. Mondo
Sangue are a group that continue to flourish within that new/old style genre of
fictional scoring, and they do it extremely well. Their latest album, Rosso
come La Notte (ASM 050 / LP 21300-1) is in fact their fourth release for the
label, the previous three of which have been featured either within the pages
of Cinema Retro or here on our site. Mondo Sangue are certainly diverse in
their range, exploring the Spaghetti Western genre, the fantasy sci-fi
adventure and with this latest outing, the world of Italian Giallo.
Arguably, the European Giallo genre is among
the most popular, with colourful, atmospheric use of music which defined the
entire psychedelic mood of the period. Mondo Sangue has cleverly stuck to the
formula here, with plenty of recognised references to Italian genre cinema, and
why wouldn’t they? It is after all, a genre-defining sound. So whilst it may
sound somewhat familiar, we are certainly listening to something entirely
original. The familiarity merely acts as a layer of comfort and in doing so,
perfectly sets the scene for an entirely fresh and enjoyable listening
experience.
Like other fictional scores, we are of course
required to use our imagination a little more, as we have no previous visual
concepts in comparison to a film that we have perhaps become accustomed to.
However, we do have a premise. The Milanese taxidermist Barbara travels to the
Black Forest for a museum assignment and shortly afterwards disappears without
a trace. Her sister follows her and not only comes across a mysterious series
of murders in the tranquil place, but also a dark secret …
There is certainly a nice dream-like,
otherworldly feel to Rosso come La Notte, and it’s easy to find yourself
completely immersed in its quality. The Stuttgart duo Mondo Sangue (Christian
Bluthardt and Yvy Pop) have not only proven (again) that they have a natural
flair for this style and concept, but it’s their passion and their love for
this niche music that ultimately transcends over to their releases. There’s no
question that their heart is undoubtedly in it, and it shines through in
abundance.
Like their previous releases, Mondo Sangue
and All Score Media have produced a stunning package for their album with
period artwork by artist Adrian Keindorf. The 180g vinyl LP provides a rich
sound quality, comes in a lavish gatefold sleeve and is strictly limited to
just 666 copies - all of which are hand-numbered. Each LP comes with a film
poster and a digital download code. In addition to this, 100 special edition LP
copies come sewn in screen-printed butcher paper. Overall, it’s a classy
addition to their impressive catalogue of releases.
Winnetou and His Friend Old
Firehand (1966) Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra
For
their second release, All Score Media have unveiled another great from their
Peter Thomas collection. Winnetou and His Friend Old Firehand (aka: Thunder at
the Border , Winnetou and Old Firehand ) (ASM 049 / LP 21299-1 / CD 21299-2)
was the 1966 finale of the Karl May film adaptations of Horst Wendlandt's
Rialto film. Alfred Vohrer (Perrak, The Yellow House on Pinnasberg), described
by cult director Quentin Tarantino as a genius, directed the film, moving away
from the contemplative German to the far more violent Spaghetti Western genre.
The move triggered an ambivalent response from critics and fans ranging from
"explosive" to "the low point of the series".
It also marked a change of direction in terms
of the film music, when Peter Thomas was brought in to replace Martin Böttcher
as the established “Winnetou composer†and was to remain the only Karl May film
to receive a Peter Thomas score. However, this wasn't due to a negative
response, far from it. Moreover, it was simply a case of ‘practicality’. Thomas
was, at this period of his career, extremely in demand. Between Edgar Wallace
thrillers and Jerry Cotton action films, he simply had more commissions than he
could handle. It was not until 1980 that Thomas returned to the subject with
the music for the TV series Mein Freund Winnetou.
Thomas’s resulting score fell somewhere in
between Böttcher's Karl May string melodies and the much more experimental and
stylistic Spaghetti Western music of Ennio Morricone. The score is impressive,
and never plays safe, it’s title theme paves the way and sets the tone
perfectly with plenty of high energy strings and wild playful brass. It’s
typically Thomas in full flow.
This packed (42 tracks) score marks its world
premiere on vinyl and has been fully remastered. The The CD version goes a step
further and also contains three previously unpublished tracks that were found
within Peter Thomas' estate, as well as a another bonus track with the composer
himself at the piano, as he presented the first demo to the film producer along
with his spoken comments (recorded in 1966 in the Bavaria Tonstudios, Munich).
Following on from their Bruce Lee: The Big
Boss (CD / LP ASM 048, 2020), this is All Score Media’s second LP / CD release
in the new dedicated series of the composer who died on May 17th, 2020. The
packaging and audio quality is again exceptional with Adrian Keindorf
responsible for the superb artwork to both the gatefold sleeve of the LP and
the digipack CD. The LP appears on high quality 180g vinyl as standard in black
and in a very attractive limited edition pressing of 300 LPs in transparent
turquoise. Another couple of first-rate releases from Dietmar Bosch and his
team, long may it continue.
Max is released from Folsom Prison after
completing a six-year incarceration for burglary. Despite being mild-mannered,
we sense that there is something brooding beneath the surface just waiting to
erupt out of control. (Actor Jason Isaacs portrayed Irish mobster Michael
Caffee in the Showtime series Brotherhood from 2006 to 2008 who returns
home following a jail stint with a similar disposition.) Max makes the six-plus-hour
bus ride down to Los Angeles and he gets his first taste of life outside of
prison when he calls and leaves his parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh)
a message that Earl says he didn’t get when Max meets him the following day.
They get off on the wrong foot when he makes the mistake of not going to a
halfway house, rubbing Earl the wrong way. The conditions of his parole are
that he is to discuss all his intentions with Earl first. After getting a room
at the Garland Hotel for the week, he tries out for a typing job at the
Wilshire Agency. Under the eye of Jenny Mercer (Theresa Russell), we see that
Max has a problem with rules as he continues typing long after Jenny calls
“time†on the test. Despite this and his revelation of his past, she agrees to
date him. Max looks up a former convict, Willy Darin (Garey Busey just before
his breakout role in the Oscar-winning The Buddy Holly Story), at Willy’s
house in the Echo Park suburb of Los Angeles. Willy’s wife Selma (an
unrecognizable Kathy Bates) is less-than pleased at their reunion and confides
her trepidation to Max who, although visibly hurt, leaves the house. The look
he gives her on his way out is one of a wronged man who doesn’t forget. Yes,
that’s Gary Busey’s real-life son, then-credited as Jacob, playing his onscreen
son Henry. Again, Max abides by his own rules, and it costs him when Willy
shoots up heroin in his room and leaves behind evidence that Earl discovers
when he visits Max unannounced, costing him time back in L.A. County jail for a
week. When Earl springs Max, he asks him the identity of the person who shot up
in his room. Max flips out and steals Earl’s car, leaving him hanging half
naked against a freeway divider fence. Max is now back to his old ways, pulling
petty hold-ups to make ends meet while looking for shotguns and semi-automatic
pistols.
Straight
Time began life as No Beast So Fierce,
an intriguingly titled 1973 novel written by the late paroled and convicted
felon Edward Heward Bunker, who would go on to achieve a modicum of success in
Hollywood by appearing in Steve DeJarnett’s Miracle Mile (1988) and
Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) among other films. Reportedly,
Mr. Hoffman began directing the film himself before handing over the reins to
veteran director Ulu Grosbard whom he worked with previously on Who is Harry
Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? in 1971 so
that he could focus on playing Max. Mr. Bunker appears briefly in the film, and
the plot is bolstered by the always excellent Harry Dean Stanton as Jerry, an
ex-con who, like Willy, is also bored by his legit profession and wants to get
back into the game and do jobs with Max. The trouble with Max is, he’s reckless
and takes unnecessary risks, allowing his temper to get the better of him. He
wants the bigger scores and when he and Jerry rob a prominent bank in broad
daylight, he goes way beyond the time at which he should leave, narrowly escaping.
Things go awry when his hunger for more money gets them into big trouble
following a jewelry store that he scoped out earlier with an unassuming Jenny who
thinks he is buying her an expensive watch.
Straight
Time raises a lot of questions: Why does
Jenny, an attractive woman, get involved with Max? Why do Max and Jerry take
scores with no masks on? Is The System really trying to help ex-convicts assimilate
back into a free society, or is it simply there to give the impression of
attempting to handle ex-convicts as they try to get back on their feet? Do we
sympathize with Max for a life of crime? Is a life of crime better than working
for The Man? Who is responsible for the recidivism rate among paroled convicts?
If the film seems familiar in how it handles the issue of thievery, it might
not come as a surprise that writer and director Michael Mann did some
uncredited work on the screenplay. His films Thief (1981), L.A.
Takedown (1989) and Heat (1995) are all examinations on thieves and
the way they live their lives, especially how the rush of stealing is what they
find exciting. Tom Sizemore said it best in Heat: “For me, the action
is the juice.â€
It
would be another six years before premium cable viewers would have an
opportunity to see the film; four years after that my visit to the new
Blockbuster Video in an adjacent town made me giddy with delight as the aisles
were filled with VHS copies of movies that I knew of yet never saw before. Max
Dembo beckoned me from the cover of the oversized Warner Home Video clamshell
box for Straight Time, his large sad eyes asking me to rent it and give
it a chance, which I did and did not regret in the slightest.
Straight
Time was released on DVD by Warner Home
Video in May 2007 with a much-needed upgrade from the old VHS transfer. It’s
now available on Blu-ray through their Warner Archive line and it looks even
better. I appreciate Warner Archive retaining the original black and red “A
Warner Communications Company†logo from the period. This edition carries over
the audio commentary track featuring director Grosbard and star Hoffman who
both give wonderful anecdotes about the making and history of the film. The
aforementioned trailer is also included. It’s marvelous hearing Mr. Hoffman
talk about this film, as it reminds me of the excellent commentary that Jack
Nicholson provided to Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Passenger (1975),
arguably the actor’s greatest film.
Cinematographer
Owen Roizman, already a veteran of some great New York-lensed films such as
William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971), Joseph Sargent’s The
Taking of Pelham 123 (1974), Sidney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor
(1975) and Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976), brings his characteristic
visual genius to the Hollywood and Wilshire Boulevard streets of Los Angeles
and makes the city another character, with close-ups of Montgomery Ward and
Woolworths, their signage stylized in long-gone and forgotten fonts.
Composer
David Shire provides a wonderfully catchy minimalist score that I would love to
see released on compact disc (remember those?).
Ironically,
Dustin Hoffman and his roommate, Gene Hackman, were both were voted least
likely to succeed in their Pasadena Playhouse classes when they first started
out. Hilarious.
During
the years that I spent in elementary school, watching movies on television was
an exciting prospect. Considering that for me there was no other way to see
films other than theatrically, viewing movies on television was something that
I looked forward to regardless of the film being shown. In 1979, my best friend
at the time was one of only a handful of people I knew who had cable
television, in his case HBO. He told me about a great many films that I was not
even aware of: Don Coscarelli’s Kenny & Company (1976), Frank
Simon’s The Chicken Chronicles (1977), Sidney J. Furie’s The Boys in
Company C (1978), and Enzo G. Castellari’s The Inglorious Bastards
(1978). I always hoped that some of these films would make their way to
television. Some did, some did not. His recollection and explanation to me of
what he saw in these films made me regard him as quite the raconteur. These
films seemed to make a big impression on him and listening to his enthusiasm
for them made a big impression on me.
The Inglorious Bastards
also made an impression on film director Quentin Tarantino, who worked at Video
Archives in Manhattan Beach, CA for a number of years while in his twenties
during the VHS and Beta home video viewing boom. He saw the film on television
several times while living in Los Angeles and later the film, to my surprise,
was released on home video under the titles of Deadly Mission and,
unbelievably, G.I. Bro. He was hired by the video store’s owner as he
was already a scholar of cinema and could discuss and recommend movies to the
paying customers. His enthusiasm for this film led him to adopt the title to
his 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, a two-and-a-half-hour World War II
film that he spent at least six years thinking about and writing. It’s his sixth
film as a director and he is still in command of his powers.
Inglourious Basterds,
a brilliantly entertaining revisionist view of how we wish the war in Europe
ended, is separated into five chapters. Chapter One, subtitled “Once Upon a
Time in Nazi-occupied Franceâ€, is one of the most intense sequences that I have
ever seen in a film. At just over 20 minutes, it is a lesson in bravura
filmmaking. In 1941, a farmer, Perrier La Padite (Denis Menochet), is cutting
wood and his wife is hanging up the family clothing when her mood changes – she
hears the distant sound of a motorcycle. She knows that it can only be Germans.
As the family prepares for the inevitable interrogation, we know from their
body language that something is amiss. Although several German soldiers arrive only
one of them, Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz, in an Oscar-winning performance), approaches. He is complimentary
and ingratiating towards Perrier and plays a verbal game with him to ascertain
if his family is hiding Jews, an assumption that he already knows to be true.
How the director handles this scene cinematically illustrates why he is one of
cinema’s best filmmakers. The tension that he builds and the measured sentences
that Landa uses to get the information that he wants is first-rate dialog. When
the massacre of the hidden Jews in the floorboards occurs, one girl, Shosanna Dreyfus
(Melanie Laurent), survives and runs off under Landa’s laughter and admiration.
Chapter Two, “The Inglourious
Basterdsâ€, takes place in 1944 and concerns Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt,
and his name is a play on actor Aldo Ray, who appeared in many war films) who oversees
a group of men who capture and scalp Nazis. Sergeant Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth),
aka “The Bear Jewâ€, is part of this group designed to turn the tables and
instill fear in the Germans. This sequence is a joy to watch as it gives the
Nazis a taste of their own medicine.
In Chapter Three, “A German Night in
Parisâ€, we are reacquainted with Shosanna under the assumed name of Emmanuelle
Mimieux. She now owns a cinema and is harassed by Fredrick Zoller (Daniel
Bruhl) who is smitten with her and, like other Germans, won’t take no for an
answer. Later, Zoller attempts to interest Mimieux and is again rebuffed. At a
restaurant gathering with Joseph Goebbels, Mimieux is strong-armed to permit a
Nazi propaganda film, Nation’s Pride, to be shown with all head Nazis in
attendance including, amazingly, Adolf Hitler. Sure enough, Landa comes into
the picture, and Mimieux does her best to answer his persistent questions about
her theatre, trying to gauge if Landa knows her real identity. This sequence,
like Chapter One, is extraordinary as the dialog is constantly masking what is
going on beneath the surface, and the audience is never sure what might happen
next. Unpredictability is just one of Mr. Tarantino’s many talents.
Chapter Four, “Operation Kinoâ€, is
similar to Chapters One and Three in that much is going on, however the
probability of things going very badly is always imminent. A mixture of
undercover agents and Germans ends the scene in a bloodbath that sets the stage
for the film’s finale.
Chapter Five, “Revenge of the Giant
Faceâ€, is an extraordinary ending to the Nazi’s evil and their ultimate
comeuppance as the cinema is packed with Hitler, Goebbels, Heydrich and many of
the architects of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question. The Giant Face
alluded to belongs to Shosanna who, along with her lover and theater co-worker
Marcel, carry out the plan to kill the Nazis by locking the escape routes and
igniting a pile of combustible nitrate film stock located behind the screen.
The cinema comes crashing down in a conflagration that causes deaths of the
Nazis. The Basterds get their machine gun kicks by shooting as many enemies as
possible. The ending is surprising, but ultimately satisfying.
Mr. Tarantino burst onto the film scene
in 1992 with his debut film Reservoir Dogs. I saw it in New York, and I
knew that I was in the hands of a truly gifted storyteller. His follow-up, Pulp
Fiction, took the 1994 Cannes Film Festival by storm and won the Palme
D’Or, and he snagged an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (and again in 2013
for Django Unchained). His subsequent films have not disappointed, and the
dialog is often just a vehicle for something more tension-filled or sinister. Other
times, it’s completely innocuous. The back-and-forth storytelling, jumping
ahead at times, makes the action at hand that much more interesting. Inglourious
Basterds is a linear narrative and despite there being a myriad of
characters, the three major ones are Raine, Landa, and Dreyfus/Mimieux and the
film pretty much revolves around them and their motives: Raine wants to kill
Nazis, Landa wants to be evil, and Dreyfus/Mimieux wants to be invisible. His
salute to war movies and cinema in general is everywhere – just setting a good
portion of the action in a theatre is a labor of love. Eli Roth’s character is
named Antonio Margheriti, named after the late filmmaker from Italy. So, the
references are everywhere. At 2½ hours, the film is fascinating and flies by.
He even throws in the obligatory “Wilhelm Scream†for good measure.
The film is now available in a new Universal
2-disc release which comes with a standard 1080p Blu-ray, a 4K Ultra High
Definition Blu-ray, and a digital copy. If you have a 4K player and 4K TV, that
is the one to go for as the picture is glorious, no pun intended. The extras
are plentiful, though I would have loved a commentary track, and they include:
Extended & Alternate Scenes
(HD, 11:31) – This section has three scenes: Lunch with Goebbels,
extended version in one take; La Louisiane Card Game, extended version,
and Nation’s Pride Begins, alternate version.
Roundtable Discussion with Quentin
Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Film Critic Elvis Mitchell
(HD, 30:45) – This is a funny and informative interview, with the surprising
revelation that Brad Pitt received the script and shot the film six weeks
later.
The
New York Times Talks (HD,
1:08:07) – This is a just-shy-of 70-minute dialog between the director and New
York Times Magazine Editor-at-Large Lynn Hirschberg. As usual, the director is
enthusiastic about all-things cinema and speaks with a great deal of energy
about the film and his desire to make films without regard to the morality of
his characters.
Nation’s Pride:
Full Feature (HD, 6:10) – This is the film that the Nazi’s watch in the cinema,
and The Making of Nation’s Pride (HD, 4:00) is self-explanatory. It’s
very cool to see Bo Svenson appear in Nation’s Pride since he was in the 1978
version of The Inglorious Bastards. It would have been great if a
restored version of that film had been included as well!
The
Original Inglorious Bastards(HD,
7:38) – This is a look at the director of the original film, Enzo G.
Castellari, and his cameo in the Tarantino film.
A Conversation with Rod Taylor
(HD, 6:43) and Rod Taylor On Victoria Bitter (HD, 3:19) – The late actor
Rod Taylor, whom many will recall from the The Time Machine (1960) and The
Birds (1963), is virtually unrecognizable in these mini interviews. He
talks about the director’s enthusiasm for film, and a funny story about
Victoria Bitter, the Australian beer.
Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel
(HD, 2:41) – This is a humorous collection of slate shots and the funny on-set
comments in between takes.
Hi Sallys
(HD, 2:09) – This is a bittersweet piece as it pays homage to Mr. Tarantino’s longtime
editor, Sally Menke, who tragically passed away at the age of 56 in 2010 due to
dehydration while hiking in hot weather conditions.
Film Poster Gallery Tour with Elvis
Mitchell (HD, 10:59) – This is very interesting as Mr. Mitchell talks
about the history and meaning behind the beautiful posters that can been seen
in the cinema in the film.
Inglorious Basterds Poster Gallery
(HD)
Trailers
(HD, 7:34) – Teaser, Domestic, International, and Japanese trailers for the
film.
When
film fans hear the name of Italian director Lucio Fulci, it almost inevitably
brings to mind his oft-quoted moniker as the “Godfather of Gore,†thanks to the
films made towards the end of his career that caused so much trouble with the
British film censors; Zombie Flesh Eaters
(1980), The Beyond (1981) New York Ripper (1983) being some of the
most notorious.To view him as such
however is to miss out on what was an extraordinarily prolific career which
also included musicals, comedies, westerns, historical dramas, fantasy films,
science fiction and thrillers. This new Blu-ray and digital release of The Psychic, out now in a 2K restoration
from Shameless Films, is an opportunity to reassess one of his less well known
films, which is only now being released in the UK for the first time.
The Psychic tells the
tale of a woman who has visions of murder and death. These visions cause her to
break through a wall in her rich new husband’s old farmhouse, where she
discovers the skeleton of a woman murdered four years earlier. Naturally her
husband is under suspicion, and with the help of a doctor friend with an
interest in parapsychology she tries to replay the memories of these visons in
her head over and over again, looking for clues that might prove her husband’s
innocence. As pieces of the puzzle fail to add up however, she begins to
realise that some of what she has seen may in fact be a premonition of murders
yet to come, possibly her own.
The
original Italian title was Sette note in
nero, or “Seven Black Notes.†The seven notes in question refer to the tune
that is played each hour on a watch worn by our heroine, gifted to her by the
husband’s sister. This sister has dozens of lovers who give her gifts, and the
watch apparently came from someone in the Vatican. This is just a sly hint
towards illicit goings on in the Catholic Church. In some of Fulci’s other
films, such as Don’t Torture a Duckling
(1972), the criticism would be far more overt.
With
its amateur detective attempting to solve a crime by constantly revisiting
distorted memories, The Psychic sits
squarely within the tradition of the giallo,
the sub-genre of Italian thrillers that often featured bizarre murders,
unreliable witnesses, amateur detectives and red herrings galore. Described as
an “elegantly constructed murder mystery†by historian Stephen Thrower (who
wrote the definitive book on Fulci’s career), this is an entertaining thriller
that leads the audience down dark paths and blind alleys before finally
delivering an exhilarating ending straight out of Edgar Allan Poe.
This
new Shameless Blu-ray edition includes both the original Italian and English
dubs, and a wealth of new interviews. Sadly, Fulci himself is no longer with
us, but his daughter Antonella Fulci appears in two separate interviews, one
focused on the film and the other on her father. Put together, she speaks in
these interviews for almost an hour, and it is fascinating to get insight into
both her personal relationship with her father as well as her own analysis of
his career. Also appearing on the disc is the writer Dardano Sacchetti, who
also speaks for around an hour, and with almost a hundred different credits, he
has had a rich and diverse career and is full of great stories. The final
interview is with the film’s composer Fabio Frizzi, who discusses how he got
started in composing for film as well as his relationship with Lucio Fulci.
Frizzi was a frequent collaborator with Lucio Fulci, and several years ago went
on tour performing music from these films around the world (something this
writer was lucky enough to see one Halloween). And if you are wondering why The Psychic score sounds familiar, that’s
because it is yet another Italian score pinched by Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill!
The
Shameless Films Blu-ray, in a distinctive yellow case, comes with a collectible
O-ring featuring the iconic American poster art, and also includes a reversible
sleeve which uses the original Italian artwork which made the Edgar Allan Poe
connection even more explicit.
The Psychic deserves
to become better known as a fine example of the 1970s European thriller, and
this new restoration is the perfect way to see it.
(Note: this release is currently available in Region 2 UK format only.)
Want
a fast-paced action thriller, starring attractive leads and a precocious dog,
that deals with Nazi spies in the political climate immediately following the
war, and be done with it in only 62 minutes? This 1946 potboiler directed by
Phil Rosen and starring notorious Lawrence Tierney is for you!
Step
by Step is
not a film noir, which was what most crime pictures ended up stylistically
becoming in the period after World War II. Instead, it’s a rollicking good
action drama that packs what today might be two hours’ worth of plot into a
don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-something single hour. The picture is not only
well-written (screenplay by Stuart Palmer, story by George Callahan) and
well-shot, it has a superb cast that functions quite well in this tight little
ride.
Perhaps
most interesting for today’s audience is the leading man presence of Lawrence
Tierney, who had burst onto the Hollywood scene with the previous year’s Dillinger.
Handsome, rugged, and tough, Tierney could have been a major star… but he blew
it with his off-screen behavior that got him into trouble. Tierney was known to
have alcohol problems and was arrested many times for brawling in public.
Quentin Tarantino brought him—and his legendary Hollywood bad boy reputation—back
into the mainstream in a major guest cameo in Reservoir Dogs (1992). At
any rate, seeing him in Step by Step—young, virile, and surprisingly personable—is
a revelation.
Tierney
plays Johnny, a Marine veteran just home from the war. His smart little
terrier, Bazuka, follows him everywhere. He meets a gorgeous blonde, Evelyn
(Anne Jeffreys), on the beach. Evelyn is a secretary for Senator Remmy (Harry
Harvey, Sr.), who is working with a National Security agent to uncover the
identities and whereabouts of leftover Nazi spies in the USA who are planning
on committing terrorist acts. Before Johnny can see Evelyn again, however, a
trio of the baddies (Lowell Gilmore, Jason Robards Sr., and Myrna Dell), abduct
the senator and Evelyn. Johnny and Bazuka take it upon themselves to rescue
Evelyn—but in the process Johnny and Evelyn are accused by the police of being
murderers and fugitives!
Thus,
Step by Step is a spy movie, a chase picture, a lovers-on-the-run flick,
and even a boy-and-his-dog film… all bundled into a compact ball of excitement.
The
Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray release looks terrific. There are a couple of
welcome supplements, too. The Trans-Atlantic Mystery is a 1932 short
written by S. S. Van Dine (who was responsible for the “Philo Vance†mystery
novels), one in a series of “Criminologist Dr. Crabtree†mystery yarns that
were made as short subjects in the 30s (with Donald Meek as Crabtree). Its age
shows, but it’s an interesting curio from the era. Also included on the disk is
the fabulous Daffy Duck cartoon, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, in which
Daffy becomes “Duck Twacy.†Great stuff.
Step
by Step from
Warner Archive is a surprising, little-known title from yesteryear that packs a
punch. Highly recommended.
“Springtime
in the Sierras†(1947) is one of Roy Rogers’ better movies. There are three or
four great action scenes, half a dozen songs, a solid cast, including the most
cold-blooded villainesses to ever show up at a Saturday matinee, and a worthy
theme dealing with wildlife protection. Republic Pictures must have splurged on
the budget for this one too, just for wardrobe alone. By my count Roy wore a
dozen of those colorful western shirts that John McClain said he was so partial
to. It’s a very cool movie but it’s a pity that most people have only seen a
version of it that has 20 minutes of footage missing. A quarter of the original
75 minute version ended up on the cutting room floor back in the 1950s, when it,
along with many other of Rogers’ movies, were sold to television and had to be
edited to fit into a one-hour TV broadcast. That’s the bad news. The good news
is that there is a full-length version available. It’s not perfect but better
than the alternative. We’ll get into the details later.
“Springtime
in the Sierras†starts with Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers delivering a herd
of horses to Jean Loring (Stephanie Bachelor) the new owner of the Lazy W ranch
in the Sierra Nevada country where Roy grew up. Things seem normal at first except
for an abandoned fawn that Roy finds wondering in the forest. He takes the fawn
to an animal sanctuary run by his old friend, game warden Cap Foster (Harry
Cheshire), where he finds the fawn’s mother dying of a gunshot wound. Foster
tells him a lot of animals are being killed out of season by a gang of professional
hunters who sell the illegal meat at a high profit to big city restaurants and
private clubs.
Roy leaves
the game warden, who puts Bambi’s mother out of her misery, and goes into town
where he meets with old friends, brother and sister Bert (Harold Landon) and
Taffy Baker (Jane Frazee). Taffy is gaga over Roy and while Bert seems to be
glad to see Roy, there’s a dark cloud of some kind hanging over him. The next
day Roy spots a hunter with a high-powered rifle and chases him through the
woods. The hunter manages to get away, but Roy suspects, much to his dismay,
that it was Bert. A little later, Cap Foster comes upon the gang of hunters,
which, as it turns out, includes Bert, and attempts to place them under arrest.
Jean Loring, with her vicious sidekick Matt Wilkes (Roy Barcroft), comes up
behind Foster and take his gun. Bert is horrified when Jean aims Cap’s pistol
at the game warden, saying very casually, “This might hurt a little,†and
cold-bloodedly shoots him. For a movie filled with cuddly animals, and cowboy serenades,
this, nonchalant burst of brutality comes as a shock. It certainly unnerves
Bert, who decides he no longer wants any part of the hunting racket.
Let’s stop
the action here and discuss this unusual twist in the screenplay by A. Sloan
Nibley, who wrote this and several of Roy’s other flicks. Normally a writer
would have had Roy Barcroft, as Jean Loring’s henchman, do the killing. But
Nibley and director William Witney give the story a decidedly dark turn by having
the femme fatale shoot him herself. And from that point on the story takes a
decidedly weird direction, especially when Cookie Bullfincher (Andy Devine),
the local photographer, tells Roy that shortly after Loring bought the ranch
she had a bunch of refrigeration equipment brought in. Dum-de-dum-dum. Of
course I don’t have to tell you that the freezers are used to store the illegal
meat and that it won’t be too long before Roy and Bert both end up hogtied and
left to turn into popsicles in one of the freezers.
While Roy and
Bert freeze, Jean is all smiles hosting a big party for everyone, as a farewell
tribute to the late Cap Foster no less. She was a cold one. Obviously Roy isn’t
going to freeze to death, and I don’t want to give away the ending, but I will
say it involves the use of a large white truck. That’s right a truck. And that’s exactly what makes Roy Rogers’
movies so unique. Up until that scene, which is near the end of the movie,
we’ve seen every one riding on horseback, dressed in cowboy outfits in scenes
that could have taken place in the 1880s. But now all of a sudden there’s a big
1947 Ford Box Truck in the movie and you know what? We really don’t even notice
the incongruity. We’re not jolted by it because Roy Rogers’ movies take place
in a world of their own. In a Roy Rogers movie, the horses and stagecoaches of
the Old West exist in the same world as modern day airplanes, cars, radios and
movies.
Quentin
Tarantino, who is a big William Witney and Roy Rogers fan, in an interview once
said Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly†tops his Top Ten List of
great movies, because Leone creates his own world in his films. He said Leone
is a combination of “a complete film stylist, where he creates his own world,
and storyteller.†The same thing is true in a good Roy Rogers film, especially
those directed by Witney. They exist in Roy Rogers’ special world, and it’s a
damn cool world.
While the
most often seen version of “Springtime in the Sierras†is the 55-minute one,
back in 2012 Film Chest released a DVD that it billed as a “restored†version
“in its original Trucolor.†At the current time, it’s the only full-length
version available, but if you’re expecting to see a Blu-ray quality picture in
vivid color and detail, you’ll be disappointed. There’s been no attempt to
clean up the DVD, and the result is something about as good as a decent VHS
tape. It’s a far cry from Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray restoration of “Sunset in the
West,†which has brilliant color and sharp picture detail. What has been
“restored†in “Springtime in the Sierras,†apparently, is the film’s original
75-minute length. The DVD has gone out of print but is still available through
Amazon and other outlets, and until someone like Kino Lorber, decides to
restore it on Blu-Ray, it’s the best version available.
There’s
another feature that makes this DVD even more worth checking out. As a bonus
feature, there’s a copy of a 1961 Chevy Show, an Easter special starring Roy
and Dale Evans, with special guests that include Charley Weaver and a rare live
appearance by Martin Milner and George Maharis, the two dudes from the “Route
66†TV series. They actually do a live Chevy commercial—something they never
did on “Route 66,†even though Chevrolet sponsored the adventures of the two
guys in the Corvette. Maharis, who was trying to launch a singing career at the
time, gets to sing “Free and Easy.†It’s a real curiosity. Does anybody do
Easter specials anymore?
So there it
is—the good the bad and the ugly of “Springtime in the Sierras.†All in all, it’s
a DVD worth owning until a truly “restored†version becomes available. Happy
Trails.
Philip
Borsos’ “The Grey Fox†(1982) has been released on Blu-ray in a 4K restoration
by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.The film
opens with good news and bad news for its protagonist, Bill Miner (Richard
Farnsworth).Good news first: Bill
emerges a free man from San Quentin in 1901 after serving twenty years for
armed robbery.The bad news?Nearing sixty, Bill has one expertise-
holding up stagecoaches.Illegality
aside, it’s now a useless specialty because stagecoaches have become
obsolete.Then, watching “The Great
Train Robbery†at a nickelodeon, he has an epiphany.Although stagecoaches may be a thing of the
past, holding up trains that carry express shipments can’t be that much
different, he reasons.His first robbery
goes sour, but he experiences better success after he crosses the border into
British Columbia to prey on the railroads there with his junior associate
Shorty (Wayne Robson).Needing a base of
operations, he finds a new name and cover identity in the remote town of
Kamloops as “George Edwards,†a mining engineer, thanks to local businessman
Jack Budd (Ken Pogue), a former associate in crime.Budd doesn’t do the favor out of the kindness
of his heart.He has his eye on a herd
of horses that he wants Bill and Shorty to rustle for him.But the arrangement proceeds smoothly enough
that Bill begins to feel at home in Kamloops.He even finds romance with Kate Flynn (Jackie Burroughs), a self-employed
photographer in her forties.She is as
fiercely independent as he is.She has
to be, she argues: “In this country, you’re not taken seriously unless you’re
Caucasian, Protestant, and most of all, male.â€He admires her spirit and she is charmed by his modest, respectful
demeanor.Like everybody else in
Kamloops, including the friendly resident lawman Fernie (Timothy Webber), she’s
unaware that “George Edwards†is actually the notorious Bill Miner, “The Gentleman
Bandit.â€Unaware that is, until a
tenacious Pinkerton detective (Gary Reineke) shows up in town on Bill’s trail
from the botched robbery in Washington.
“The
Grey Fox,†a Canadian production, was Philip Borsos’ first feature film.The production is distinguished by the
striking compositions, assured pace, and keen sense of time and place that
you’d expect to see from an older, more seasoned filmmaker.In fact, Borsos was only 29.The director’s promising career encompassed
only four more movies, including an ambitious but troubled Canadian-Chinese
co-production, “Bethune†(1990), before leukemia claimed him at age 41.After “The Grey Fox†became a hit in Canada,
it was distributed by Zoetrope in the U.S. on the art-house circuit, a wise strategy
for Borsos’ low-key, character-driven Northwestern.Richard Farnsworth, in his first starring
credit, was the only U.S. actor on the marquee.A veteran Hollywood stunt man and bit player, Farnsworth had won acclaim
and an Academy Award nomination for a supporting role in “Comes a Horsemanâ€
(1978).While a star like Henry Fonda,
Burt Lancaster, or Lee Marvin would have given the production a higher profile
at neighborhood theaters, it’s difficult to imagine that any of them could have
bettered Farnsworth’s quietly sly, believably weathered presence. Farnsworth
was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe and a Best Performance by a Foreign
Actor Canadian Genie Award. He also received the London Critics Circle Film
Award for Actor of the Year. The rest of the cast is comparably good.
The Kino Lorber
special edition of “The Grey Fox†is packed with special features, including
audio commentary by Alex Cox, interviews with producer Peter O’Brian and
composer Michael Conway Baker, a featurette about the 4K restoration, and a
theatrical re-release trailer.Fans of
Westerns and flavorful period dramas will welcome the opportunity to revisit
the movie they may have seen long ago on home video in the VHS era, or to
encounter it here for the first time.
(RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST ARTICLES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVE.)
BY TODD GARBARINI
I’m a sucker for car chases. Not the
perfunctory, last-minute “Hey, this movie needs a car chase!†variety, but the
kind that comes as a result of a particular plot point wherein someone or some group has to get away from some other
group. While most new car chases such as TheFast and the Furious sort are usually
accomplished through CGI, I find that this sleight-of-hand fakery virtually
abolishes all tension. The best ones that I have seen all did it for real
through innovative and unprecedented filming techniques and excellent editing: Grand Prix (1966), Vanishing Point (1967), Bullitt
(1968), The Seven-Ups (1973), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Road Warrior (1981), The Terminator (1984), F/X (1986), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), and The Town (2010) all have action sequences that put the full wonder
of film editing on display.
There are two major car chases in the
late John Frankenheimer’s Ronin, which opened on Friday, September 25, 1998, and
it’s the second and longer one that ranks up there in the pantheon of The Greatest
Car Chases Ever Filmed. The French
Connection (1971) and To Live and Die
in L.A. (1985) are the granddaddies of car chases in my humble opinion and Ronin’s is certainly in the top ten,
with a stupendous wrong-way-driving-against-incoming-traffic sequence through a
tunnel in France to composer Elia
Cmiral’s exciting score.
The title of “Ronin†is originally a
reference to the feudal period of Japan relating to a samurai who has become
masterless following his master’s death as a result of the samurai’s failure to
protect him. To earn a living, the samurai wanders from place to place
attempting to gain work from others. For the uninitiated, title cards prior to
the film’s opening credits inform us of this. This name relates to the film as
several mercenaries meet for the purpose of stealing an important silver case.
Sam (Robert DeNiro), Vincent (Jean Reno), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), and Spence
(Sean Bean) and several others are the persons for hire. Deirdre (Natascha
McElhorne) is the one who called them all together but she offers little in the
way of an explanation as to what the contents are. Like in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992), they don’t know
one another and work under the assumption that all involved are trustworthy
which eventually will be their undoing. Now ya see, if they has listened to the
James Poe episode “Blood Bath†on the old time radio show Escape!, none of this would have ever happened! Yeah…
Sam used to work for the CIA, Vincent
is a “fixerâ€, Spence is a former Special Air Service expert in weaponry, Gregor
is an expert in electronics, and Larry (Skipp
Sudduth) is one of the drivers. Sam is the most inquisitive and probably has
the most to lose. They don’t discuss their past and are eager to get paid. Sam almost
acts like the ringleader, but he has some serious competition after they secure
their objective and are double-crossed. It then becomes a game of who can trust
who (naturally, the answer is no one). There are some really good supporting
performances by Michael Lonsdale (I hadn’t seen him in a theater since Moonraker!) and Jonathan Pryce and the
action always keeps moving forward but unlike today’s films, the action
sequences are well-staged and edited and have depth to them. A terrific
addition to Mr. Frankenheimer’s filmography.
Rock
Hudson and George Peppard are WWII commandos in “Tobruk,†available on Blu-ray
by Kino Lorber. Hudson is Major Donald Craig, a Canadian prisoner of war on board
a German transport ship anchored off an Italian controlled port in North Africa
sometime in late 1942. A group of frogmen surface near the ship and sneak on
board with silencers fixed to their guns in order to kidnap Craig. The frogmen
are led by Captain Bergman (George Peppard) who is part of a team of German
commandos. They take Craig to a German airfield and fly him to a desert landing
strip. They’re unexpectedly greeted by a group of British soldiers led by Colonel
Harker (Nigel Green). It turns out Bergman is the leader of German Jews who
fled Nazi Germany for obvious reasons and are now part of a British commando
unit operating in North Africa. Craig has an expertise in map making which they
need to navigate a mine field, gain access to the German occupied port at
Tobruk, Libya, and destroy it in time for a British sea invasion.
The
movie is based on an actual, although unsuccessful, attack on Tobruk in
September of 1942 which did include German-Jewish soldiers and fake British
POWs. Just like the actual events, the British commandos in the movie pretend
to be POWs in order to get to their ultimate destination undetected. During the
journey through the Sahara desert, the group encounters the German and Italian Army
as well as Arab horseman seeking money for captured British hostages, an aerial
strafing from a British fighter plane and a mine field crossing.
Directed
by Arthur Hiller, the movie appears to be an unusual choice for the director best
known for dramas and comedies such as “Love Story,†“The Hospital†and “Silver
Streak;†but he did previously direct “The Americanization of Emily†which
features a Normandy invasion sequence and his comedy “Silver Streak†is
interspersed with action sequences. Mingled between the action and
military battle scenes in this film, the British and German-Jewish commando
team deal with serious issues like bigotry and anti-Semitism with Hudson caught
between the two camps as the outsider as they make their way across the desert.
Hudson
is very good in “Tobruk†and broke away from being stereotyped as a leading man
of several very popular romantic comedies to star in thrillers and heroic military
parts in “Battle Hymm,†“A Gathering of Eagles,†“Ice Station Zebra,†“The
Undefeated†and “Hornet’s Nest.†In the 1970s he had continued success as a San
Francisco police commissioner in the popular television series “McMillan &
Wife†which ran from 1971 to 1977. He continued to work, mostly in television,
in such high profile productions as “The Martian Chronicles,†the Agatha
Christie thriller, “The Mirrror Crack’d†and made brief returns to series
television in “The Devlin Connection†and “Dynasty.†His final feature film was
“The Ambassador†released a year before his death in 1985 at age 59.
Peppard,
no stranger to tough guy roles, plays a German soldier for the second time following
his performance as aviator Bruno Stachel in the WWI classic “The Blue Max.†Interestingly,
he didn’t attempt an accent for “The Blue Max,†but did for “Tobruk.†Prior to
this he appeared in the WWII adventure “Operation Crossbow†which was preceded
by a string of high profile big budget movies like “How the West Was Won,â€
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s†and “The Carpetbaggers.†Like Hudson, Peppard found
success in a hit television series, “Banacek,†which ran from 1972-1974. He
also starred in the popular television series, “The A-Team,†which ran
from 1983-1987. Another series, “Doctor’s Hospital,†ran for one season from
1975-76. Peppard remained busy on television and film featuring in a couple the
cult classics, “Damnation Alley†and “Battle Beyond the Stars" until his death in 1994 at age 65.
Nigel
Green is a standout as Colonel Harker, the leader of the commando unit. One of
the great character actors of British cinema, Green is memorable in just about
everything he appeared in. “Jason and the Argonauts,†“Zulu,†“The Masque of
the Red Death,†“The Ipcress File,†“The Face of Fu Manchu,†“The Skull,â€
“Khartoum,†the underrated “Let’s Kill Uncle,†“Deadlier Than the Male,†“The
Wrecking Crew,†and “Countess Dracula†to name just a few of his memorable appearances
in movies. He also appeared in numerous television series throughout is career.
He played a similar character to Colonel Harker as the head of a commando unit in
another WWII movie set in North Africa, the underrated “Play Dirty.†His career
was cut short by an accidental overdose of sleeping pills in 1972 at age 47.
Guy
Stockwell rounds out the featured cast as the German-Jewish second in command, Lt.
Mohnfeld. The older brother of actor Dean Stockwell, Guy may be best remembered
for this movie and his role as Draco in “The War Lord†from 1965. Stockwell
remained busy acting in movies and television until retiring in 1990. “Tobruk†also
features a cast filled with many familiar British character actors including Jack
Watson, Percy Herbert, Norman Rossington and Irishman Liam Redmond. Leo Gordon
does double duty as the screenwriter and playing a rare good guy role as
Sergeant Krug.
“Tobrukâ€
is overshadowed by the popularity of “The Dirty Dozen†which was released a few
months later and both films are part of the “Men on an Impossible
Mission†genre. “Tobruk†doesn’t pack quite the same punch as movies like “The
Dirty Dozen†and “Where Eagles Dare,†but in hindsight, it is a very
entertaining WWII adventure with a satisfying plot, terrific performances and
plenty of action. The Arizona Desert stands in for most of North Africa with a
few scenes shot in Spain. Imperial Beach, California stands in for the final
battle scenes at the gun emplacement and the California Army National Guard
provided technical assistance. The movie features an abundance of graphic
deaths via flame thrower which may have served as an inspiration to Quentin
Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.â€
Released
by Universal in March 1967, “Tobruk†has a run time of 110 minutes and looks
and sounds terrific, preserving the Techniscope widescreen image. This Kino
Lorber Blu-ray release is a worthy upgrade of the previously released Universal
Vault Series DVD. The Blu-ray includes an audio commentary by Steve Mitchell
and Steven Jay Rubin which is as entertaining as it is informative. The disc also
includes optional subtitles and the trailer for this and other Kino Lorber
titles. The movie is a welcome addition for fans of 60s WWII movies.
There
were many motion pictures made in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s that depict New York
City as a less than desirable place to be. A hell on earth full of crime,
grime, sin, debauchery, drugs, gangs, and corruption. You know the titles—The
Out of Towners, Midnight Cowboy, Joe, Taxi Driver…
While
the portrayal may very well have been true, to a certain extent, this reviewer
lived in Manhattan over a decade during the relevant years and found it to be
the most exciting, vibrant, culturally potent, and beautifully stimulating
environment. Not only that, the #6 IRT train (the “Pelham 1:23,†hence the
title) is one this reviewer rode almost daily, so the stops, the milieu, and
the atmosphere were dead-on familiarities. As some of us like to say today in
the age when 42nd Street and Times Square have been “Disney-ized,†we miss the
old days when New York had “character,†and we’re not talking about Elmos and Iron
Men hawking photos with tourists.
One
must add to the above list of New York films the marvelous thriller, The
Taking of Pelham One Two Three, from 1974. Director Joseph Sargent
delivered a gritty and accurate nail-biter that displayed Manhattan in its visceral
authenticity, especially regarding the underground subway system, where most of
the movie takes place. New York’s Transit Authority (MTA) cooperated with the
filmmakers, however there is a disclaimer that they didn’t advise or take part
in the story details or provide information on how the trains worked. The one
condition the MTA made to allow filming in the subway was that no graffiti
could be seen in the movie. At the time, graffiti was everywhere, and subway
trains and stations were primary targets for the artists. Throughout the 70s
and 80s, the MTA was at war with graffiti artists—it was a never-ending battle
to keep the cars clean. Thus, the unmarked subway cars seen in the film are the
only thing about it that could be called unrealistic.
Pelham
is
terrific. One unexpected element that makes it so good is the humor exhibited
in the dialogue and by the superb performances of the actors, especially those playing
the Transit Police and the MTA employees. The likes of Walter Matthau, Dick
O’Neill, Jerry Stiller, and Tom Pedi keep the proceedings lively and
entertaining.
Four
armed men (Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, and Earl Hindman) in
similar disguises (hats, overcoats, mustaches) board the #6 Downtown train,
each using the pseudonym of a color (Mr. Green, Mr. Blue, etc.—nearly twenty
years before Reservoir Dogs, and it is acknowledged by Quentin Tarantino
that Pelham was an influence). At around 28th Street, they hijack the
train, separate the front car from the rest, and park it between stations in
the dark of the tunnel. They hold seventeen passengers and a conductor hostage
and demand $1 million in cash from the city within one hour. Lt. Garber
(Matthau) of the transit police oversees the negotiations and getting things
moving. A mayor downtrodden with the flu (Lee Wallace, who uncannily resembles
future New York mayor Ed Koch, although Koch was not mayor at the time the
picture was made) must approve the payout, the bank must gather the dough, and
the police need to deliver the bundle to the hijackers on time before they
start executing hostages.
It’s
the perfect example of a “ticking clock†thriller, and director Sargent,
screenwriter Peter Stone (adapting from John Godey’s novel), and the actors
pull it off with finesse. Another major component to the film’s success
is the funky, brassy score by David Shire.
Kino
Lorber’s Blu-ray restoration looks and sounds great, and it comes with an audio
commentary by actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and film programmer/historian Jim
Healy. Supplements include a recent interview with actor Elizondo, who provides
several amusing stories about the making of the film and the other actors
involved; a recent interview with composer Shire; and one with editor Jerry
Greenberg. A “Trailers from Hell†episode with Josh Olson, an animated montage
of stills and posters, and the original theatrical trailer round out the
package.
In
short, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a seminal “New York Movie,â€
a quintessential “1970s picture,†and one of the better thrillers ever made.
Note: It was remade in 1998 as a TV movie and in 2009 as a theatrical film, but
neither of these comes close to the power and ingenuity of the original.
Ennio Morricone, the Oscar-winning and prolific film composer, has died in Rome at age 91 from complications resulting from a fall that had left him with a fractured hip. In the course of his career, Morricone rose from composing music for little-seen Italian films to becoming an icon of the movie industry. He worked virtually non-stop, turning out a head-spinning number of film scores. However, it was his collaborations with director Sergio Leone that brought him to international attention. When United Artists head of production David V. Picker saw Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, both of which had been sensations at the European boxoffice, he purchased the distribution rights for the movies for English language territories. He also agreed to finance the third and final film in the series, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The films proved to be sensations worldwide and audiences responded enthusiastically to Morricone's quirky scores. His music for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly remains one of the most iconic main film themes ever composed, rivaled only, perhaps, by the James Bond Theme. Morricone's work was highly original, and for the Italian westerns often included full choirs singing intentionally unintelligible words. Ironically, in the United States, Morricone's main theme for "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" became a major hit on the radio, but it was a cover version performed by Hugo Montenegro and his orchestra. Even after the success of the Leone Western trilogy, Morricone continued to compose scores for low-grade Italian films. One of the most amusing was "O.K. Connery", the title song for the 1967 James Bond spoof "Operation Kid Brother" which starred Sean Connery's brother Neil. The film (currently streaming on Amazon Prime) was dreadful but you might find yourself humming Morricone's catchy opening song. Morricone teamed again with Sergio Leone for another western masterpiece "Once Upon a Time in the West", as his star rose internationally and he became increasingly revered by film enthusiasts worldwide.
Over the course of decades, Morricone retained his status as a workaholic composer. In 2006, he received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime achievements. It was presented to him, appropriately enough, by Clint Eastwood, star of the Leone "Dollars" trilogy. Morricone continued to compose non-film scores that were acclaimed in their own right and often performed by him in live concerts that were always hot ticket events. However, it was the movies that cemented his legendary status. He had been nominated for numerous Oscars before winning in for his score for Quentin Tarantino's 2015 film "The Hateful Eight". His influence continues today. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" theme is currently heard in a TV commercial, as is his magnificent composition from that film, "The Ecstasy of Gold", which is the signature theme for Modelo beer commercials.
For more about Morricone's career, click here to read obituary by Jon Burlingame of Variety.
Do the names Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, Frank Kramer,
Sartana, Sabata, Tuco or Trinity mean anything to you, amigo? If they do, it’s
probably because you’ve seen a few too many Spaghetti Westerns. "Spaghetti
Western," for those tenderfoots that might not know, is the name given to
a host of western films made in Italy and Spain during the sixties and
seventies featuring an international cast usually headed by an American actor
who had seen better days. Cowboy actors like Rod Cameron, Edd Byrne, and Guy
Madison went to Europe after their TV and film careers petered out to battle
outlaws, rustlers and ruthless killers who looked more like they just stepped
out of a pizzeria in Palermo than a saloon in South Texas. These movies are
wild, violent, and weird, but there was a certain something about them that
kept you watching.
Although patterned after the Hollywood western, they are different in
style, form, and content. The stories were full of double crosses and more
twists than a rusty corkscrew, and sometimes it was hard to tell the good from
the bad. Morality depended on how fast a man could draw a gun, but usually the
man who rode into town seeking revenge for past wrongs came out the winner. Of
course the most famous American TV Cowboy to strike it rich overseas was Clint
Eastwood through his association with Sergio Leone. As the Man with No Name he
and Leone made “A Fistful of Dollars,†“A Few Dollars More,†and “The Good the
Bad and the Ugly†and created not just a career but perhaps even a legend.
In Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, “Once Upon a Time . . . in
Hollywood,†Leonardo DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton, a washed up seventies TV
cowboy who makes the trip to Rome to restart his career by starring in "Uccidimi
Subito Ringo, Disse el Gringo," ("Kill Me Now Ringo, Said
the Gringo"). That slightly looney title inspired Fred Blosser, author and
movie reviewer for this site, to put together a book every Italian Western fan
should track down. Blosser, better known as a Robert E. Howard scholar, (see, "Western Weirdness, and Voodoo
Vengeance: An Informal Guide to Robert E. Howard's American Horrors"), has
seen more Spaghetti Westerns than anyone I know. He probably wouldn't admit it,
but I'd say he's an expert on the subject. “Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti
Western Heroes,†is what he calls an informal readers guide to the pistoleros,
bounty hunters, mercenaries, and desperadoes of the Italian Western.
"Like Tarantino’s fictitious film," Blosser says,
"dozens of actual Italian Westerns were released with names like Ringo,
Django, Sartana, Sabata, and Trinity in the title. These films still remain an
indelible part of pop culture more than a half-century after they first
appeared on big screens in Europe and the U.S."
The book examines a representative section of these movies, beginning
with a brief overview of the genre. Selections from Leone and Corbucci
are highlighted, followed by the movies of the Sabata series, four non-series
Westerns starring the legendary Lee Van Cleef, two films by “the Fourth Sergioâ€
(Martino), two classics in the socially conscious “Zapata Western†sub-genre,
an array of lesser-known Sons of Ringo, and as a postscript, five
representative examples of the German Western school that paralleled the opening
phase of the Italian Western.
This book is full of information on films ranging from the well-known,
to the really obscure. If you're a fan and are looking for a book that provides
historical context for these movies, and perhaps tells you something you never
knew about them, this is it. Even a tinhorn four- flusher like me can find it
useful. There’s enough info on many of the titles that you'll be able to fake
it at your next cocktail party and convince your friends you've actually seen
them. Don't wait. Mosey on over to Amazon and tell them Tuco sent you. And
remember: "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk."
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Blaxploitation?
No, Bruceploitation!
The
Film Detective Presents 40th Anniversary Edition of the
Cult
Classic Fist of Fear, Touch of Death on Blu-ray & DVD
Collector’s
Set 4K Restoration With Exclusive Special Features
(With
Blood-Red, Blu-ray Case), Available March 31st
ROCKPORT, Mass. — March 23, 2020 — For Immediate Release —
The Film Detective (TFD), a leading classic media streaming network and film archive
that restores classic films for today's cord-cutters, is proud to announce the
40th anniversary edition of the cult classic Fist of Fear, Touch of Death in a
special collector’s set.First presented in 1980 by veteran distributor and
producer Terry Levene and director Matthew Mallinson, the action-packed Fist of
Fear, Touch of Death premiered as one of the final pieces of the
Bruceploitation era.
A subgenre of 1970s cinema, Bruceploitation clung to the
box office success of the Bruce Lee legacy after the star’s untimely demise in
1973, utilizing Lee lookalikes and archival footage from the legend himself.
Carving a niche within the grindhouse market, Bruceploitation not only appealed
to fans of the day, but has generated a cult status in recent years.
True to Bruceploitation fashion, Fist of Fear, Touch of
Death features eye-popping combat scenes viewers will have to see to believe,
putting the 1979 World Karate Championship at center stage, where martial
artists take their shot at eliminating the competition and claiming the title
of “successor to the Bruce Lee legacy.â€
Using mockumentary-style interviews in the film, hosted
by Academy Award-nominee Adolph Caesar, martial arts masters Fred Williamson and
Ron Van Clief, among others, emerge from every corner of the martial arts world
to give their take on whether any competitor can be deemed worthy of the Bruce
Lee legacy.
Lee himself receives top billing in the film, appearing
in archival footage dubbed “The Bruce Lee Story,†a chronicle of Lee’s early
years partially taken from the 1957 film, Thunderstorm. In the film, a Kung Fu
move known as the “Touch of Death†shrouds Lee’s untimely demise in mystery,
before returning to the World Karate Championship to watch the new victor claim
the title.
Said the film’s star, Fred
Williamson, “It was never meant to be a serious martial arts movie. It’s a
comedy and satire … a bad movie that was good. Why was it good? It was
entertaining, which is, after all, why you make a movie.â€
Said Phil Hopkins, founder of The Film Detective, “We are
excited to be giving Fist of Fear, Touch of Death the restoration it deserves
in honor of its 40th year. Fans of Quentin Tarantino’s recent tribute to
Hollywood’s Golden Age, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, are sure to appreciate
this grindhouse classic and new, never-before-seen special features.â€
A drive-in circuit sensation in 1980, this special 40th
anniversary collector’s set is guaranteed to pack a punch with audiences,
featuring a blood-red, Blu-ray case and a stunning 4K restoration from the
original 35mm camera negative under exclusive license from the film’s original
producers at Aquarius Releasing, Inc.
EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL FEATURES: Stars Fred Williamson and Ron
Van Clief are reunited for interviews, masterfully produced by Prince Henry
Entertainment Group founder Frazier Prince; and producer Terry Levene, director
Matthew Mallinson and scriptwriter Ron Harvey give their behind-the-camera take
on the film in new interviews conducted by producer and editor Jim Markovic as
part of an exclusive, 30-minute featurette, That’s Bruceploitation, by Daniel
Griffith from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures. Limited-edition Blu-ray copies will
feature a special liner note booklet written by Justin Decloux and Will Sloan,
hosts of The Important Cinema Club podcast.
Fist of Fear, Touch of Death is available for purchase on
The Film Detective website March 31 in a limited-edition Blu-ray ($24.99) or on
DVD ($19.99). With a limited pressing of just 1,500 Blu-rays, this exclusive
deal won’t last long. Fans can secure a copy by ordering at www.thefilmdetective.com/fist-of-fear
About The Film Detective:
The Film Detective is a
leading distributor of restored classic programming, including feature films, television,
foreign imports, and documentaries. Launched in 2014, The Film Detective has
distributed its extensive library of 3,000+ hours of film on DVD and Blu-ray
and through leading broadcast and streaming platforms such as Turner Classic
Movies, NBC, EPIX, Pluto TV, Amazon, MeTV, PBS, and more. With a strong focus
on increasing the digital reach of its content, The Film Detective has released
its classic movie app on web, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. The Film
Detective is also available live with a 24/7 linear channel available on Sling,
STIRR, and DistroTV. For more information, visit us online at www.TheFilmDetective.com.
Cinema Retro's Mark Mawston takes you on the red carpet for the
2020 BAFTA Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London with some up close
and personal photos of the celebs. (All photos copyright Mark Mawston.
All rights reserved).
In
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,†Rick Dalton (Leonardo
DiCaprio) accepts an offer to star in an Italian Western out of
desperation.His days of TV fame are
behind him, he needs a gig that will keep his name in lights, and no American
studios are beating down his door.In
real life, Chuck Connors’ lead role in Enzo G. Castellari’s 1968 Spaghetti
Western, “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone,†was less an existential crisis
like Rick’s than one more job in a long, busy career.If Connors was ever at risk of unemployment,
you wouldn’t know it from his resume.Across four decades, he starred in four television series, had recurring
parts in two others, and made prominent supporting appearances in more than a
hundred other movies, series, and made-for-TV films.He was a solid actor who could credibly
portray everything from tough but compassionate cops to the improbably tall,
blue-eyed Apache chief in Geronimo
(1962), to a backwoods yokel named “Superman†who’s comically mistaken for the
real deal in the old George Reeves TV show.
In
Castellari’s film, now available in a Blu-ray edition from Kino Lorber, Connors
plays Clyde McKay, a master thief hired by the Confederate high command to
steal a million dollars in gold from a Union fort during the Civil War.In Mission: Impossible style, he’s told that
if he’s caught, he’s on his own.“The
Confederate Army didn’t hire you and knows nothing about you.â€To carry out the job, McKay forms a team of
five outlaws with the usual specialties.Blade is a knife thrower.Dekker
is an explosives expert.Bogard is a
strong man.Hoagy is a crack shot.Kid is so boyish he makes today’s teen-fave
Timothee Chalomet look like Harry Dean Stanton -- but don’t let that fool you,
McKay advises; “he has one virtue -- he likes to kill and he’s good at it.â€Captain Lynch (Frank Wolff), who devised the
big heist, tells McKay that when he finishes the job with his five men, “kill
them all and come back alone.â€This
seems like an odd command, even given the famously unfathomable workings of the
military mind.If you have a crack team
that’s successfully executed one impossible mission, wouldn’t you rather keep
them around in case you need their skills again?But McKay accepts it with a cynical smile,
perhaps confident that he’s wise not to trust Lynch, or maybe he realizes he’s
simply a character in an Italian Western, a genre in which entire movies like
this one were based on everyone in the story double-crossing everyone
else.Anyway, logic probably wasn’t a
big consideration for Castellari’s core U.S. audience of sleepy, stoned
teenagers who would have caught “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone†as the
final feature in an all-night, up-till-dawn quadruple-bill at the local
drive-in in 1968.
For
the rest of us, Castellari keeps the action moving so briskly and flamboyantly
that we have little time to ponder fine questions of wartime ethics, even with
the luxury of pause and rewind on home video.Right out of the starting gate, McKay and his commandos wreak havoc at a
military base by pole-vaulting across roofs, jumping into wagons from second-story
balconies, blowing up supply sheds, knocking other guys through bannisters to
the floor below, and dropping a massive chandelier onto a bunch of troops who
have obligingly congregated underneath.This pre-credit sequence turns out to be the team’s audition for Captain
Lynch, and it’s followed by three other big, blow-em-up set pieces,
interspersed with more fistfights, shootouts, and acrobatics than I could
count.Where most American Westerns (and
their stars) had gotten old and creaky by 1968, “Kill Them All and Come Back
Alone†keeps its crew of stuntmen and stuntmen-turned-actors like Ken Wood
(Blade) and Alberto Dell’Acqua (Kid) on the move.It’s silly and almost as exhausting as an
hour on a Peleton, but not much more childish than the CGI fights in today’s
Marvel Comics movies, even when Castellari’s stunt doubles go flying back from
punches that clearly miss their chins by several inches.
The
new Kino Lorber Blu-ray presents the movie in a superlative 4K restoration at
the 2.35:1 Techniscope aspect ratio.Fans of escapist action movies will appreciate such care for an
unpretentious Italian Western that would have been ignored by most critics,
back in the day, as hardly a notch above a 42nd Street porno loop.The disc contains both the original,
100-minute Italian print (with English-language subtitles) and the dubbed,
99-minute version released to U.S. theaters.The loss of a minute doesn’t really compromise anything, and if you’re
not turned off by the dubbed dialogue for the European actors, you may prefer
the English-language track because there, Connors speaks in his own distinctive
voice.Director and Spaghetti Western
enthusiast Alex Cox contributes a feature-length audio commentary that’s
informative and amusing in equal proportion.Cox notes the cumulative daffiness of the running, jumping, and falling
stunts in the film, but he’s also appreciative of several technically
complicated shots that Castellari and his crew mount with all the skill of a
big-budget, A-list production.The Kino
Lorber Blu-ray can be ordered HERE.
In
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,†Rick Dalton (Leonardo
DiCaprio) accepts an offer to star in an Italian Western out of
desperation.His days of TV fame are
behind him, he needs a gig that will keep his name in lights, and no American
studios are beating down his door.In
real life, Chuck Connors’ lead role in Enzo G. Castellari’s 1968 Spaghetti
Western, “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone,†was less an existential crisis
like Rick’s than one more job in a long, busy career.If Connors was ever at risk of unemployment,
you wouldn’t know it from his resume.Across four decades, he starred in four television series, had recurring
parts in two others, and made prominent supporting appearances in more than a
hundred other movies, series, and made-for-TV films.He was a solid actor who could credibly
portray everything from tough but compassionate cops to the improbably tall,
blue-eyed Apache chief in Geronimo
(1962), to a backwoods yokel named “Superman†who’s comically mistaken for the
real deal in the old George Reeves TV show.
In
Castellari’s film, now available in a Blu-ray edition from Kino Lorber, Connors
plays Clyde McKay, a master thief hired by the Confederate high command to
steal a million dollars in gold from a Union fort during the Civil War.In Mission: Impossible style, he’s told that
if he’s caught, he’s on his own.“The
Confederate Army didn’t hire you and knows nothing about you.â€To carry out the job, McKay forms a team of
five outlaws with the usual specialties.Blade is a knife thrower.Dekker
is an explosives expert.Bogard is a
strong man.Hoagy is a crack shot.Kid is so boyish he makes today’s teen-fave
Timothee Chalomet look like Harry Dean Stanton -- but don’t let that fool you,
McKay advises; “he has one virtue -- he likes to kill and he’s good at it.â€Captain Lynch (Frank Wolff), who devised the
big heist, tells McKay that when he finishes the job with his five men, “kill
them all and come back alone.â€This
seems like an odd command, even given the famously unfathomable workings of the
military mind.If you have a crack team
that’s successfully executed one impossible mission, wouldn’t you rather keep
them around in case you need their skills again?But McKay accepts it with a cynical smile,
perhaps confident that he’s wise not to trust Lynch, or maybe he realizes he’s
simply a character in an Italian Western, a genre in which entire movies like
this one were based on everyone in the story double-crossing everyone
else.Anyway, logic probably wasn’t a
big consideration for Castellari’s core U.S. audience of sleepy, stoned
teenagers who would have caught “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone†as the
final feature in an all-night, up-till-dawn quadruple-bill at the local
drive-in in 1968.
Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack,
Hardcover: by Maurizio Baroni, 368 pages, Publisher: Gingko Press; 01 edition
(31 Oct. 2019), Language: English, ISBN-10: 3943330338, ISBN-13: 978-3943330335
BY DARREN ALLISON, Cinema Retro Soundtrack Editor
Whilst Maurizio Baroni’s book on Maestro
Ennio Morricone might not be the first to be released in 2019, it is certainly
a serious contender as the most rewarding. Comparing Baroni’s book with the
summer release of Alessandro De Rosa’s Ennio Morricone: In His Own Words, is arguably
a little unfair. Both books are very different in terms of context. De Rosa’s
book is a more methodical study of Morricone’s compositional style, his
non-film music and other composers. In essence it is written more in a
biographical style.
However, Master of the Soundtrack is laid out
in a very simplistic way and with the main focus (for the first time) centring
on Morricone’s discography. Baroni’s book consists of two basic halves. The
first half features a great deal of written articles and interviews from the
likes of famous admirers, directors and critics. Among the contributors are:
John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, Sir Christopher Frayling, Edda Dell’Orso,
Dario Argento, John Boorman and a great deal more. Most of the written pieces
have previously been published but nevertheless work perfectly when gathered
together and set out among this single bound volume. Trying to track down
various articles and interviews on Morricone is seldom an easy task, but Baroni
is a fan first and foremost, and as a result, provided all of the practical
legwork and strenuous digging on our behalf. From a fan’s perspective, all that
is required is for us is to sit back, read and reap the rewards. The written
articles make up for the first thirty or so pages and make the book very easy
to navigate.
The second phase of the book (pages 31-332)
are split into decades and is a lavish compendium of Morricone’s catalogue of
work. Each of the chapter’s opening pages introduces a complete year-by-year
discography of Morricone’s film and television soundtrack releases along with
their associated directors. It is here where you first begin to digest the sheer
sense of enormity and proficiency in regards to the composer’s vast body of
work. From here on, Baroni’s book shifts into top gear with page upon page of
beautifully illustrated covers consisting of albums, EPs and 45s – all of which
have been collated from various regions of the globe.
All of the images are supported by captions
providing either background information and/or fascinating related titbits. The
editors have also refused to scrimp when it comes to reproducing these splendid
images. There are no postage stamp sized illustrations here. Instead you will
find half page images often with two more covers occupying the other half page.
The illustrations have clearly not been hurried, the attention to detail is
first rate and it is obvious that whoever was responsible for this task has
taken the time to lovingly restore each and every record sleeve. It not only
stands out, but also makes all the difference. It simply elevates this book
into a whole new level of quality. Add to this the occasional full page of
original sheet music or cue sheets and it pretty much confirms we are in the
comforting realms of Morricone bliss.
Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack is
not an inexpensive book, but admirers of the Italian composer will simply love
it, as would any serious collector of soundtrack music. One could argue that
you are paying by the poundage when it comes to this heavyweight beast of a
book. However, rest assured, upon its arrival, you may also find a counter
argument – in that it’s actually worth every single ounce.
Ken (Dale Midkiff) and Bob (Preston Maybank) land
in a propeller plane and speed off on motorcycles to a large mansion. Ken calls
Julie Clingstone (Debbie Laster) via radio as Bob scales the side of the
building. Julie wants him to give her access to “the mainframe†when suddenly,
somewhere a puppet (yes, a puppet)
begins yelling Danger! Danger!, obviously aware of the imminent
intrusion. Edward Brake (Wellington Meffert) is sleeping in bed in the mansion
while Bob takes off his necklace and lays it on the ledge after reaching the
mansion’s roof. He rotates a parabolic dish and the puppet, operating some sort
of a crude computer and using telepathic powers, makes the necklace turn into a
sphere (think Phantasm). Bob starts
to bleed from the face and falls to his death. The action breaks into the
opening credits to “Nightmare†as sung by Miriam Stockley.
If you’re still reading this, I commend you,
because I would have stopped at the mention of the word “puppetâ€. There are few
films that leave me at a loss for words (Quentin Dupieux’s 2010 film Rubber is hands-down the most
infuriating movie I have ever watched; I might have to re-watch that one as I
must have missed the point completely),
but Henri Sala’s Nightmare Weekend
(1986) is, in the words of the late film critic Gene Siskel in his review of
1978’s Surfer Girls, one of the most
improbably lousy movies I have ever seen. This doesn’t stop one’s viewing of
the film from being a total loss,
however, as Nightmare is if nothing
else that we can be absolutely sure of a time capsule of the 80’s, with
artifacts of the Zeitgeist on full display: girls workout wearing leg warmers,
a guy dances nearly everywhere with a Walkman in his pants, a tough guy and his
Laura Brannigan lookalike chick get it on atop a pinball machine, and computer equipment is
crude, big and bulky. Clocking in at 85
minutes, Nightmare seems longer than
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part
II (forgive me for mentioning them both in the same sentence, I do
apologize). Edward Brake is an entrepreneur/inventor who has created a
computerized “Biometer†which changes naturally aggressive animals into docile
house pets. He ultimately wants it to be used for the betterment of society,
but it’s just not ready for prime time. His partner Julie can’t wait for him
and goes behind his back to team up with a nefarious organization that will pay
her millions for the Biometer. Edward’s daughter Jessica Brake (Debra Hunter) is a Carol Alt
lookalike who, with her friend Annie (Lori Lewis) and another woman, has been
chosen to be part of Julie’s experiment for which they will both be paid 500
dollars each for their involvement. The idea is to see how the Biometer works
on people. The aforementioned puppet, named George, is housed in Jessica’s room
and is operated by a computer named Apache, indubitably the precursor to the Apache HTTP Server (Danger! Danger! Sarcasm!), and is part of
the whole operation. The motley crew, and there are a lot of characters to keep
track of unnecessarily, all find themselves one way or another being affected
by the Biometer.
The
two biggest issues with Nightmare are
the screenplay and the editing. I love bad movies that are entertaining but
unfortunately this isn’t one of them. The
film never seems to make up its mind as to what it wants to be: horror,
soft-core porn, comedy, campy/serious? Scenes and shots are so
short it’s nearly impossible to keep track of the goings-on. It’s also
occasionally insulting to women as they are all pretty much on display simply for
men’s gratification.
Nightmare is a Troma
production which means that it exudes its own special, patented brand of strangeness.
It’s difficult for another film director or producer to attempt to ape the Troma
style as it is a singularly unique, signature and patented style of strangeness.
Shot in July 1983 in Ocala, FL on a budget of ostensibly half a million dollars,
Nightmare defies
description which, in the hands of a seasoned auteur like David Lynch, can be a
good thing. That isn’t the case here. Nightmarefalls into the “so-bad-it’s-badâ€
camp. You feel like you’re watching auditions with an amateur acting troupe,
although amazingly other reviewers have championed the acting in an otherwise
disjointed film. That being said, if you’re a fan of the film, it has been
released as a DVD/Blu-ray combo from Vinegar Syndrome. The image has been scanned in 2K and looks
really nice and is a far cry from the VHS tape from 30 years ago. It also
contains an interview with producer Marc Gottlieb that runs just under 13 minutes.
He’s very engaging and fun to listen to as he describes the making of the film
and how they promoted it at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Dean Gates, who did
the makeup effects, speaks for nearly 23 minutes and provides us with an
interesting perspective on the effects that he created in the days before movie
companies made the switch to CGI for most of this type of work.
Vinegar Syndrome has put together a really nice
package for this title. It has a reversible cover and very colorful
artwork.
Nightmare
Weekend is best
viewed on a weekend while severely inebriated!
“Nightbreed†is a movie I’d wanted to see
for many years. I’m not in a minority. I have the excuse that I missed its
initial limited theatrical run and simply never got round to seeing it. Later,
whenever I went to hire it from the video store on its VHS release , it was
always rented out- no doubt due to its then blossoming cult status. However,
those that did see it initially also
desperately wanted to see it again. By
that I mean that the print that was first shown in theatres and released for
home entertainment wasn’t even close to the vision director and author Clive
Barker had for the project. It was, as many classics have been, butchered as unsympathetically
as the creatures the film celebrated by those “above†who simply didn’t
understand or care. This is touched upon in Arrow’s new press release synopsis
for the film- a cult gem which seems to have morphed as much as the creatures
of it title:
Nightbreed,
from the mind of legendary visionary of the macabre Clive Barker (Hellraiser,
Candyman). A nightmare-induced fantasy
set in a world like nothing you’ve ever experienced before… Nightbreed will
leave you questioning who the real monsters are. The victim of studio interference
and an unrepresentative marketing campaign, Nightbreed has since undergone a
radical reappraisal. Arrow Video is proud to present two versions of this
depraved cult classic and an insane selection of extras that will likely never
be bettered, for the ultimate nightmarish viewing experience.
This release from Arrow is sumptuous and easily the best
version of “Nightbreed†both fans and fascinated seekers such as myself have
yet seen become officially available. The extras, as ever, are excellent and
the transfer is probably (according to those who know) the best the film has
had and may be even better than the prints seen on its initial release. As I’ve
touched on, the film has a huge following and I recently caught up with two of
its most high profile fans, poster artist Graham Humphreys and director John
Stevenson. Although both agree that the infamous Cabal Cut is still the Holy
Grail as far as the films various versions go, this director’s cut is a welcome
treat for fans. I asked them why they thought the movie was still so important
and why fans should seek out this latest Arrow release….
John Stevenson on
Nightbreed
It
wasn’t Clive Barker’s source novel “Cabal’ that got me obsessed with
‘Nightbreedâ€. It wasn’t even the film version, which I saw in the first days of
its release in 1990 in San Francisco. It was the Titan book ‘Clive Barker’s The
Nightbreed Chronicles’ released in 1990 to coincide with the theatrical
release. The book contains beautiful portrait photography by Murray Close of
over 30 of Midian’s denizens (created by Bob Keen, Geoff Portass and their team
at Image Animation) and their wonderfully strange and imaginative back stories,
courtesy of Clive Barker.
Looking
at the book was a much more satisfying experience than watching the frustrating
theatrical release which had cut most of Midian’s monsters, and reduced the
screen time of the few that remained to fleeting seconds. The film also gave no
sense of the fascinating monster society that ‘The Nightbreed Chronicles’
filled in, in Barker’s dark and witty personal histories of his creations.
Writer Jason Hellerman of the No Film School web site presents highlights of an interview with Martin Scorsese conducted by Quentin Tarantino at the Director's Guild of America. Makes for some fascinating reading...Click here for article.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, when Leech sets McKay up to
be humiliated by riding a killer bronc, and McKay declines the invitation, once
again Patricia is disappointed. Everybody goes through that initiation, she
tells him. McKay rides off and goes to visit Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons), who
owns a valuable piece of land, and doesn’t come back until next day. Leech
tells the major McKay was lost—“the lostest man I ever saw,†thus causing McKay to call him out as a liar.
Now in these parts when a man calls you a liar you either go for your gun or
start swinging a fist or two. But instead McKay tells him he doesn’t intend to
let him draw him into a confrontation with horses, guns, or fists. Well, that
tears it. Pat can’t have any respect for a man who won’t stand up for himself.
McKay thinks it’s time to go back to town and rethink this marriage business.
All this takes place against the backdrop of a larger
conflict between the major and his next door neighbor, Rufus Hannassey (Burl
Ives) and his three sons, including the wild and vicious Buck (Chuck Connors).
They’ve been squabbling over the Big Muddy and water rights for years. Terrell
has the upper hand. He’s got the larger spread, more men and money, while the
Hannasseys live in relative squalor on an arid piece of dirt with little water.
The major uses the Hannassey boys’ hazing of McKay as a pretext to ride out to
their spread and teach them a lesson, which includes shooting holes in the
Hannassey’s water tower and later driving Hannassey’s cattle away from the
water of the Big Muddy.
“The Big Country†is based on a novel by pulp writer
Donald Hamilton, best-known for the Matt Helm books that were turned into Dean
Martin comedy/action flicks. (One of them, “The Wrecking Crew†with Sharon Tate
is featured in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once
Upon a Time in Hollywood.â€)_ But Wyler hired Quaker author Jessamyn West (“Friendly
Persuasionâ€) to write an adaptation that put pacifism front and center as the
central theme of the film. In 1958 the Cold War was in progress and the threat
of nuclear annihilation had everybody nervous. (It’s still a threat, but now we
have Netflix and binge-watching to keep us from thinking about it.) With “The
Big Country†Wyler tried to preach that there is a better way to solve disputes
other than by giving in to violence which can only end by wiping out
civilization. (“The Big Country†is the opposite of a Sam Peckinpah western,
where violence and destruction are portrayed as inevitable and ultimately cathartic.)
It’s an odd movie, in which most of the scenes are filled with tension and the
threat of violence, but fail to have a satisfactorily pay off. For example,
McKay walks away from the killer bronc, but later rides the horse when no one
is around to witness it except Ramon (Alfonso Bedoya), one of the Mexican ranch
hands. And when McKay decides to leave the ranch he wakes Leech up in the
middle of the night and fights him when no one is awake to see it. He makes the
point that he isn’t a coward, but doesn’t feel the need to prove it to anybody.
Actor Robert Forster has passed away from brain cancer at age 78. Forster enjoyed a long career that included many major feature films as well appearances on popular television shows. He made his feature film debut in director John Huston's 1967 pyscho-sexual drama "Reflections in a Golden Eye". In the film, Forster played a hunky U.S. Army private with a penchant for taking nude nighttime horseback rides, a scenario that obsesses a secretly gay officer played by Marlon Brando. He would soon land a plum supporting role opposite Gregory Peck in the 1969 western thriller "The Stalking Moon". That same year, Forster had a rare leading role in director Haskell Wexler's controversial and acclaimed counter-culture drama "Medium Cool" that chronicled the riots at the `1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Stardom didn't follow, however, and Forster soon found himself laboring in supporting roles in mostly forgettable films. He would later admit that by the mid-1990s his career was virtually over. That's when Quentin Tarantino, a long-time admirer of his work, cast him in his 1997 film "Jackie Brown". The role of Max Cherry would earn Forster a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and revitalize his career. From that point on, Forster worked consistently in films and television including key roles in David Lynch's reboot of "Twin Peaks" and "Breaking Bad". His latest project, the feature film "El Camino: Breaking Bad", has just been released. For more on his life and career, click here.
Sunday, 29 September saw the BFI in London celebrating "Bond Day", the annual worldwide homage to agent 007. This year marks the 50th anniversary of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as well as the 40th anniversary of "Moonraker" and the 20th for "The World is Not Enough". I'd been with Cinema Retro's cover guy for our latest issue, actor John Richardson, and we’d been looking at shots from when he’d auditioned for the role of
Bond in "OHMSS" back in 1969. As John himself said “I wasn’t right for the role.
I wasn’t the right build and the guy who did do it was far more suited to the
role than meâ€. That “other fella†that John was referring to was George Lazenby
who attended a post-screening Q&A of "OHMSS" with David Walliams. This event
was worth the ticket price alone as it resulted in what the BFI called “The bluest
interview†on its stage ever. The reason it was unforgettable were the stories
that George shared from the filming of his first and only appearance as 007
(bar "Return of The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and a couple of ads and guest spots in which he played a thinly-veiled 007-like character). Probably
the most memorable was when George told of his first day on set when the crew
had taped a German Sausage to his inside leg under his kilt in order to get a
reaction from the girl who put her hand there up there in the film to write her
room number on his inner thigh. George and the crew were expecting screams of
fright but actress Angela Scoular was merely nonplussed and just asked “Aren’t
you wearing underwear� I think this says more for her long-time boyfriend
Lesley Phillips than anything else!
George also discussed his time with Bruce
Lee, as it was George who Bruce was dining with on the night he died. In a
scene very similar to the one in Quentin Tarantino’s recent "Once Upon a Time In
Hollywood", George regaled us with stories of his time with Bruce. He said the
reason they became friends is that Bruce, just like in the Tarantino film, was always surrounded
by groups of people and was discussing how long it would take to dispatch those standing
around him at the time. He went round each person, from actors to stunt men to
bodyguards with answers like “10 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute†until he got
to George. He looked at Lazenby and said “I’m not sure how long it would take
me to get you down, George. How long do you think� George said he just looked
at Bruce and said “As long as it takes you to catch meâ€.From that moment he and Bruce were friends. This
memorable screening was followed by "Moonraker", which was just as well-received.
The Q&A after this screening (which was a rare big screen showcase for
Derek Meddings amazing special effects) included Martine Beswick, Carole Ashby, composer
David Arnold, David Walliams and director John Glen. Again, some of the stories
were quite ear-opening yet just as informative (and as blue!) as George’s had
been. Humor has always been an important component of Bond, and I’m hoping there will be some of it on display in Daniel Craig’s last outing "No
Time to Die" which wrapped that day too, making September 29th, 2019 a Bond-tastic one
for all fans of Agent 007.
(Photos copyright Mark Mawston. All rights reserved.)
Writing in Variety, Joe Leydon outlines ten key retro films that feature in Quentin Tarantino's ode to 1969, "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood". As one might expect from the director, the films range from boxoffice hits ("Valley of the Dolls", "Easy Rider", "The Wrecking Crew") to obscure titles the average viewer will not be familiar with ("Fort Dobbs", "Model Shop"). Click here to read.
Forty
eight years ago, United Artists continued their series of highly profitable
Bond double features by releasing arguably the biggest 00 double bill of them
all – Thunderball and You Only Live Twice.Both films had coined money on their initial
releases, with Thunderball being the
highest-grossing 007 film of that era – in fact, of many eras, right up until Skyfall in 2012.Thunderball
earned a stunning $141 Million worldwide (over onebilliondollars in today’s money), a number that
must have had UA’s finance department humming the Bond theme at 727 Seventh
Avenue. You Only Live Twice pulled in
over $111 Million worldwide, its profits squeezed perhaps by a competing Bond
film, the over-the-top comedy, Casino
Royale with Peter Sellers, David Niven, Terence Cooper and Woody Allen as various
Bonds or an Italian spy knockoff starring Sean Connery’s younger brother, Neil.
(More on that later.)
Throughout
the 60s, 70s and into the early 80s, United Artists cannily fed the demand for
Bond with double features that also served to ignite audience interest between
new films.The double-bills were pure
cash cows for the studio – the movies had already been produced and paid for,
so all UA had to do was book the theaters, buy TV, radio and print advertising,
then, as Bond producer Cubby Broccoli was fond of saying, “Open the cinema
doors and get out of the way.â€
As
a (very) young Bond fan in New York City, the exciting double feature TV spots
for “The Two Biggest Bonds of All†got my attention and I desperately wanted to
go.My father, an advertising and music executive,
thought noon on a Saturday was the perfect time – instead we were greeted with
a line around the block and a sold out show. Apparently that satisfied my dad’s interest in
the movies because we never went back. Almost
five decades later, I still regretted missing those two fantastic films on the
big screen…
Enter
Quentin Tarantino.Throughout July, his New
Beverly Theater in LA ran most of the classic Bonds in vintage 35MM IB
Technicolor prints, reportedly from his own collection. (The IB refers to
“imbibitionâ€, Technicolor’s patented die-transfer process resulting in a richer,
more stable color palette.) So while
there was no 4-hour, action-packed double feature for me, I finally got
to see both films in 1960s 35MM, only a week apart.Even fifty years later, they didn’t
disappoint:Thunderball remains a bonafide masterpiece.Fortunately Quentin owns a very good print,
so the colors were still lush and it was fairly scratch-free.The main titles set to Tom Jones’ timeless
song still popped in an explosion of colors and sound effects. The scenes of
Domino and Bond meeting on a coral reef were hauntingly beautiful. The frantic Junkanoo
chase fairly jumped off the screen and Thunderball’s
iconic underwater battle is still a showstopper.(The filmmakers cleverly refrained from
wall-to-wall music so the sequence incorporated underwater breathing and other
natural sounds. Kudos again to 00 audio genius, Norman Wanstall.)
You Only Live Twice is a true epic and
only the master showmen, Monsieurs Broccoli and Harry Saltzman could have
pulled it off.They reached into the
highest levels of the Japanese government to secure a lengthy shoot in what was
then a very exotic location in a much bigger world.Japan was almost a character itself in their sprawling
space age tale that occasionally bordered on sci-fi.Much
has been written about Ken Adam’s volcano crater, but seeing it on a big screen
really brings out his mind-blowing vision, especially during the climactic
battle where the “ninjas†rappel down from the roof as controlled explosions rock
the set.One can only imagine how that
went over with 1967 audiences who had never seen anything like it.Putting it in context, Tarantino had selected
various spy-themed trailers to run before the film – including The Wrecking Crew, TheVenetian Affair and The Liquidator.Although they were all successful and well made,
their sets and action sequences looked positively cheap in comparison to a Bond
film.
Both
features starred a young, vibrant Connery whose acting chops were on full
display.Connery played Bond for
real.He made you believe… once you bought into him as 007, then his strapping on a
jetpack to fly over a French chateau, or a SPECTRE construction crew hollowing
out a volcano - in secret - to create a rocket base seemed totally
plausible.Sure Connery had put on a few
pounds between Thunderball and Twice, but he was still fit and looked
fantastic in his custom-made suits.And his
fight with Samoan wrestler Peter Maivia (grandfather to Dwayne “The Rock†Johnson)
in Osato’s office is still one for the ages.
(Above: Mie Hama joins in celebrating Connery's birthday on the set.)
As
most Bond students know, Twice was a
grueling shoot for the mercurial star.He was subjected to intense press and fan interest in a country that had
gone wild for 007.Connery needed security
to accompany him from location trailer to set. Going out for a quiet dinner was
out of the question – even visiting the loo was off limits after an overzealous
photographer poked his lens into Connery’s toilet stall! But if he was feeling angry or bitter about
his situation, he was too much of a pro to let it show in his performance.In spite of the pressures, there were some
good times on the Twice shoot during
the furnace hot Asian summer of 1966 – now-famous photos show Connery-san
laughing with lovely Mie Hama at his 36th birthday party on
location, or back at Pinewood, smiling at Donald Pleasence during a light
moment in the control room that even had Blofeld’s hulking bodyguard (actor Ronald
Rich) laughing in the background.
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywoodâ€
is a mad, wild romp through a film geek’s mind—a hallucinatory homage to
America’s dream factory. It’s also a funny/sad farewell to a time when people
believed in the dreams the factory once delivered on a regular basis. Rick
Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an actor who once had a popular TV western series
called “Bounty Law.†The series got canceled and he’s making a living playing
villains in guest star roles in other TV series. His agent Marvin Schwarzs (Al
Pacino) advises him to go to Italy to make spaghetti westerns lest he finally
fade into bad guy oblivion. Dalton’s friend, stunt double, and confidence
booster, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), thinks it would be a great idea, especially
since Dalton’s drinking is beginning to impact his career.
Tarantino plays this story line out against the backdrop
of Hollywood as it was between February and August 1969. He has us follow the
two friends behind the scenes of studio backlots, in restaurants, and parties
at places like the Playboy Mansion, where we are inundated with references to
dozens, if not hundreds, of films and TV shows of that era. Hardly a frame of
film rolls by without a movie poster appearing on a wall, a black and white
image on a TV set somewhere of some old show, or a word of dialog spoken that
does not hearken us back. Hollywood Boulevard was even given a facelift, with
false 1969 fronts placed over the current buildings. Booth lives in a house in
the Hollywood hills next door to the home of director Roman Polanski and his
beautiful wife Sharon Tate. He only wishes he could establish contact with them
to give his career a boost.
As Dalton struggles to conquer his alcoholism and
remember his lines, we follow Cliff around downtown LA running various errands in
Cliff’s Cadillac Eldorado. He eventually picks up a young female hitchhiker
named Pussycat (Margaret Qualley). He turns down her offer of sex fearing she’s
under 18, but agrees to drive her out to the Spahn Movie Ranch where she’s
living and where he and Rick used to film Rick’s series.
When they get to the ranch, the movie takes a detour into
dark territory. Cliff finds a group of mostly female hippies living there and
Pussycat asks where “Charley†is. When she learns Charley is out somewhere she
says it’s too bad and tells Cliff: “Charley would probably like you.†Cliff wants
to visit with ranch owner, his old friend George Spahn (Bruce Dern in a part
originally intended for the late Burt Reynolds) but Squeaky Fromme (Dakota
Fanning), the leader of the girl hippies, says it impossible. Cliff is not one
to be trifled with and forces his way into George’s bedroom and determines,
even though he’s in bad shape, he’s not being taken advantage of.Tension builds when Booth finds the tire on Rick’s
car slashed. He has a violent confrontation with the scuzzy hippie who did it.
The scene is filled with Tarantino’s patented brand of tension, but only serves
as a teaser for what is to come.
And what is to come? Plenty, but to reveal the
astonishing ending to “Once Upon a Time . . . “ would be to ruin it for anyone
who hasn’t seen it yet. It is an ending both shocking, gratifying, and oddly
enough, hilarious beyond all expectations. It provides a cathartic release
after two and a half hours of building tension and inner rage that leaves you
breathless at the end. Tarantino’s writing has never been sharper. His ability
to foreshadow events, and to plant story ideas that become important and useful
at the climax are masterful. His skill as a director is at its peak. He gets
performances out of DiCaprio and Pitt I never would have thought they could
deliver. They supposedly based their characters on Burt Reynolds and his stunt
man buddy Hal Needham. I can see Reynolds in DiCaprio’s performance, but to my
mind Pitt seemed more like Hollywood stunt-man legend Jock Mahoney, who had
that same calm, confident swagger in real life that Pitt affects.
One of the highlights of “Once Upon a Time . . .†is the
much-talked about scene between Cliff and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) on the set of
“The Green Hornet.†Lee is shown arrogantly boasting that he could defeat
Cassius Clay in a fight, which causes Cliff to laugh out loud. Lee says he
would teach him a lesson for laughing but his hands are lethal weapons and if
he accidentally killed him he would go do jail.“Anybody who kills anybody by accident goes to jail,†Cliff says. “It’s
called manslaughter.†Which prompts a quick round of hand-to hand combat. The
outcome is a bit of a surprise, but Lee, to say the least, makes quite an
impression.
There are so many things to like about this film, but it
is not without its shortcomings. Tarantino’s foot fetish is becoming a joke and
a distraction. His treatment of Sharon Tate is pretty shallow, as some critics
have complained, but only if you are looking at her as a real human being and
not the symbol of a lost age, as Tarantino intends. The film is a bit long, but
frankly I wouldn’t cut a single frame, and in fact I hope the Blu-ray contains
additional footage that wasn’t used. All in all, this is the movie of the year,
and a must-see for anyone who loves old movies and TV shows.
John M. Whalen is the author of "Tragon of Ramura". Click here to order from Amazon.
I personally have never been a huge fan of sex comedies
as most of the ones that I have seen generally rely too much on infantile
attitudes towards sex or gross bathroom humor as a means of generating laughs
and simply fail to provide a payoff. The good ones are the type that men and
women can comfortably watch together and laugh with rather than at. Porky’s
(1981) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) are two examples of this.
Gas Pump Girls, filmed in 1978 and released regionally in
1979, is probably the most entertaining movie ever made in Sacramento,
California. It takes place following a group of seniors’ high school graduation.
The film is big on nudity but soft on sex despite the suggestive ad campaign poster
boasting the tagline “You'll love the service they give…†Girls is the result
of director Joel Bender’s idea to use the tried-and-true film trope of a
dilapidated business that needs a much-needed injection of fresh blood for it
to be resuscitated and to prosper. George Cage’s wonderful Skateboard (1978) similarly
featured an avuncular Allen Garfield doing his best to marshal teenagers and
Leif Garrett into a skateboarding team that would make money for him. In Girls,
Huntz Hall of the “Bowery Boys†fame is Joe, the owner of a gas station desperately
in need of a make-over after his competitor across the street commandeers his patrons
with a souped-up, state-of-the-art service center. His niece June (Kirsten
Baker) enlists the help of her attractive friends Betty (Linda Lawrence), April
(Sandy Johnson), January (Rikki Marin), and Jane (Leslie King). They all give
the gas station a much-needed facelift via a new paint job and a new name:
Joe’s Super Duper. Who better than a group of beautiful and nubile young female
women to come to the rescue and make Uncle Joe’s establishment lucrative? This
premise is by no means original, but it works well in this film as the ladies
find an answer to every hurdle thrown their way through ingenuity, especially
when their tanks are empty and they need to get more gas for their customers,
and quickly!
With the help of skimpy work outfits to showcase their
considerable assets and the hiring of their boyfriends as mechanics, one of
whom is Roger (Dennis Bowen), the group is on their way to saving the day until
a three jerks who call themselves the Vultures, comprised of Hank (Demetre
Phillips), Butch (Steve Bond), and Peewee (Ken Lerner), come in to trash the
place out of a sense of boredom. These guys look like rejects from the Pharaohs
in George Lucas’s American Graffiti (1973) or gang members from Randal
Kleiser’s Grease (1978). June, however, is very persuasive in getting the
Vultures on their side as tow truck operators when the rival and cigar-chomping
Mr. Friendly (Dave Shelley) vows to shut them down by sending over two
hoodlums, Bruno (Joe E. Ross) and Moiv (Mike Mazurki), to intimidate them. The
ladies turn on their charms in some truly humorous moments which include adorable
April giving the time to a customer (Paul Tinder, who resembles a young Ronny
Cox) as he’s in the garage lift – you won’t look at oil changes in quite the
same way after this scene; April enticing a hilariously excited Bruno to stave
off a robbery; and the whole crew breaking into a dance sequence in the garage
(look fast for the little kid wearing the same Darth Vader shirt that I had in 1978!).
Sandy Johnson is the standout among the ladies. Introduced to the world as
Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in June 1974, Ms. Johnson made a memorable
albeit brief appearance in movies during the 1970’s and disrobes in Girls with
such glee that you cannot help but root for her. She is perhaps best known to horror
film genre fans as Judith Margaret Myers, the ill-fated sister of the indefatigable
killer Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978).
Sprinkled throughout the film is the voice of a radio
deejay, played by New York’s own “Cousin Brucie†Bruce Morrow, a cute device
probably lifted from the Wolfman Jack character in American Graffiti. This
appearance no doubt inspired K-Billy’s Sounds of the Seventies in Quentin
Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992).
The ending of the film is crazy, as the girls and boys
dress as Saudi Arabian oil magnates who feign their way into the office of the
head of the rival gas company. The sequence features a rarity in cinema – a
contrite businessman.
Unsurprisingly, the film wasn’t nominated for any awards
in the acting category and I will say that much of it is stilted and sounds
recited and forced. However, the ladies are so sweet and good-natured that this
is a minor quibble in an otherwise funny and entertaining romp.
When the revered folksinger and author Woody Guthrie
passed away on October 3, 1967 – following a long, tragic battle with
Huntington’s disease – his friends and colleagues were moved to celebrate his
life and legacy with a tribute concert.The
manager of Guthrie’s business affairs, Harold Leventhal, commissioned the
blacklisted novelist and screenwriter Millard Lampell to re-work an old script
he had earlier fashioned from Guthrie’s bountiful catalog of songs and
prose.Lampell was well suited to the
task, not merely an outsider looking in.In 1941 Lampell would co-found the Almanac Singers, the agit-prop folk
music ensemble that featured Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and several others.
That original program, Woody Guthrie’s California to the New York Island, first broadcast
on CBS-TV’s Camera 2 program in
December 1965, would serve as the template for the proposed memorial Tribute to
Woody Guthrie.The tribute concert would
be staged twice with afternoon and evening’s performances at New York City’s
Carnegie Hall on January 20, 1968.The
Carnegie tributes would have likely sold out quickly without any impetus beyond
the simple desire of celebrating Guthrie’s life and work.But when Leventhal announced that that the
reclusive Bob Dylan – not seen on a concert stage since May 1966 – would be included
on the tribute bill, both shows would sell out within hours of the ticket
on-sale. Even without Dylan’s
participation, the bill at Carnegie was formidable and featured the finest
folksingers from the New York City scene:Seeger, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Odetta,
Richie Havens and Tom Paxton.The
evening program at Carnegie Hall was recorded from the venue’s house system and
shelved away for the possibility of a future LP release.Sadly, neither of these Carnegie Hall shows
was professionally filmed.
While this tribute was originally conceived as a standalone
memorial program, Guthrie’s colleagues and admirers on the west coast were
feeling, not without justification, slighted.Guthrie’s earliest successes were, after all, on radio station KFVD out
of Los Angeles.And Woody, a radical balladeer
and refugee from Oklahoma’s dust bowl, was quickly embraced by those in L.A.’s progressive
political circle.So much so that
Guthrie was offered a gig as an occasional columnist for the mostly doctrinaire
west coast Communist Party newspaper People’s
World.
Guthrie’s Manhattan-based heirs were sympathetic to their
west coast brethren’s disappointment.So
it was a relief when it was announced that on September 12, 1970, there would
be a Pacific coast Tribute to Woody Guthrie concert staged at the Hollywood
Bowl.Dylan, to the disappointment of
many, would not perform at this second concert.But several of Carnegie’s musical guests would return: Seeger, Havens,
Odetta, Arlo Guthrie, and Jack Elliott.At the Hollywood Bowl, folk-diva Joan Baez would replace Judy Collins.Also joining the cast for the first time were
Country Joe McDonald and an old colleague of Woody’s from the days of People’s Songs, Earl Robinson.
As
a new Arrow Films Blu-ray edition of his 1972 Italian Western “The Grand Duelâ€
reminds us, Lee Van Cleef was once a familiar screen presence.In the 1950s you could hardly watch TV or go
to the movies without seeing his hawkish face, usually peering out venomously
from under a stetson as a Western heavy.Following personal setbacks and changes in industry trends, Van Cleef’s
roles became fewer, slighter, and harder to land in the early 1960s.And then Sergio Leone came calling.Leone wanted to pair Clint Eastwood’s Man
with No Name with a second American actor in “For a Few Dollars More†as a
rival bounty hunter named Colonel Mortimer.Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, and Lee Marvin all turned down the role.By default, Leone approached Van Cleef. It
was a providential choice for both men.“For a Few Dollars More†was a smash hit in Europe on its December 1965
release, and Italian producers quickly queued up to offer Van Cleef starring
roles in other Spaghetti Westerns while Leone brought him back for another
high-profile part as Angel Eyes, the “Bad†one in “The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly.â€
After
the Leone films opened with stunning success in the U.S. in 1967 and the other
Spaghettis followed on the lucrative drive-in circuit a few months later, Van
Cleef was a highly bankable star and American producers made their own
overtures.For a time, Van Cleef pursued
a transatlantic career in Westerns, starring in further Italian pictures like
“Sabata†(1969) and “Return of Sabata†(1971) and international co-productions
like “Bad Man’s River†(1971) and “The Stranger and the Gunfighter†(1974),
while filming three American movies: “Barquero†(1970), “El Condor†(1971), and
“The Magnificent Seven Ride!†(1972).The American pictures were dull and talky, and even though they gave Van
Cleef star billing, shared with Jim Brown in “El Condor,†the roles were
lackluster.In “The Magnificent Seven
Ride!â€, he’s stuck with a bad toupee and looks so disinterested that you expect
him to fall off his horse from boredom any minute.
Ironically,
through big studio backing, the dismal American productions received healthy
advertising play, while “The Grand Duel†from the same period barely registered
in the U.S., although it was greatly superior.Directed by Giancarlo Santi and scripted by the prolific Ernesto
Gastaldi, it passed quickly through drive-ins and second-run theaters in 1974.Theoretically “The Grand Duel†wasn’t a bad
handle as a literal translation from the Italian title, “Il grande
duello.â€The phrase suggests both the
battle of wills between the good guys and the bad guys that drives the plot.
and in a literal sense the shootout that decides the contest in the end.Still, the picture might have had more
attention here under a catchier, more clearly Western title.With the advent of VCRs a decade later, its
home-video visibility was a little more robust if comparably
underwhelming.The movie appeared on the
collectors‘ market and budget VHS shelves under several titles: “The Grand
Duel,†“The Big Showdown,†and “Storm Rider.â€
Santi
had worked as Leone’s assistant director on two films, and like most of Leone’s
other Italian successors and emulators, he had absorbed a lesson from “For a
Few Dollars More†that the American filmmakers apparently failed to
recognize.The ideal starring role for
Van Cleef was the “man in black†template embodied in Colonel Mortimer, that of
an aging, almost superhumanly proficient gunman, usually dressed in formal,
funereal attire.The character is
defined by steely authority, a mysterious history, an elusive sense of sadness,
and an air of menace.Circumstances
throw the character into partnership or rivalry with a younger, more impetuous
man who may become either his protege or his prey -- the outcome hangs in the
balance until the final reel.The
contrast with the headstrong, less seasoned younger partner underscores the
wisdom, experience, and patient cunning of the Van Cleef character.
Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" has come to Netflix in the format of a four-part mini-series with about 25 minutes of unseen footage added to the cut. Tarantino is enthused about the possibilities the format affords directors who do not want to be confined to the running time of a theatrical release. He is currently preparing a director's cut of "Django Unchained" that will run considerably longer than his original version. However, he says that not all of his films should be extended beyond their theatrical cut running times and cites the "Kill Bill" movies among them. For more, click here.
Mill
Creek Entertainment has released a double-bill of“Fort Yuma Gold†(1966) and “Damned Hot Day
of Fire†(1968) in a Blu-ray + Digital edition.Mill Creek notes that the films are two of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite
Spaghetti Westerns -- a shrewd strategy to attract fans who may be interested
in sampling the same, often hard-to-find genre movies that Tarantino devoured
in his formative years.Both pictures
are above-average Italian Westerns.
In
“Fort Yuma Gold,†directed by veteran Italian filmmaker Giorgio Ferroni as
“Calvin J. Padget,†outlaw chief Nelson Riggs schemes with renegade Confederate
Major Sanders to steal a million dollars in gold from Fort Yuma, a Union
outpost, in the last days of the Civil War.While Sanders orders his troops to make a diversionary, suicidal attack
on the fort, he and Riggs will sneak into the post through an abandoned mine
and grab the loot.When a Union
commander some days’ ride away learns about the plot, he dispatches two of his
soldiers, Captain Lefevre and Sergeant Pitt, to warn the fort, guided by Lt.
Gary Hammond, a Confederate prisoner of war.As a native Westerner, Hammond knows the safest route to Fort Yuma.The two Northerners don’t.Secretly, Hammond hopes to elude the two
Yankees en route, locate Sanders‘ detachment, and avert disaster by warning his
friend Lt. Brian, one of Sanders’ adjutants, about the Major’s treachery.
The movie’s traditional plot is reminiscent of
Hollywood’s Civil War Westerns like “Escape from Fort Bravo†and “Alvarez
Kelly,†reflecting the strategy generally used by Italian studios in the early
days of the Spaghettis to make their films look as much like American
productions as possible.The actors
billed as “Montgomery Wood†(Hammond), “Red Carter†(Sgt. Pitt), and “Benny
Reeves†(Juke, Riggs‘ henchman) were actually Italians Giuliano Gemma, Nello
Pazzafini, and Benito Stefanelli.Gemma
also used the “Montgomery Wood†alias in three other Italian Westerns, and his
resemblance to American leading man and future best-selling novelist Tom Tryon
may have helped further the impression that “Fort Yuma Gold†was an import from
America.The deception probably worked
as long as ticket-buyers failed to recognize Ferroni, Gemma, Pazzafini,
Stefanelli, Dan Vadis (Riggs), Jacques Sernas (Sanders), and Antonio Molino
Rojo (Brian) as homegrown veterans of the Italian sword-and-toga epics of the
late 1950s and early 1960s.When the
popularity of the toga spectacles waned with the rise of the Italian Westerns,
many writers, directors, and actors transitioned easily from one genre to the
next.The hammy, WWE-style melees
between gladiators and centurions in the Hercules and Samson movies became the
saloon brawls of the Spaghettis, with athletic actors like Gemma, Pazzafini,
and Stefanelli doing their own stunts.By 1966, in turn, public tastes in the Italian Westerns had begun to
favor the cynical, down-and-dirty violence of Sergio Leone’s massively
successful Spaghettis over the American model.In Italy, “Fort Yuma Gold†opened as “Per pochi dollari ancora†or “For
a Few Extra Dollars.â€The moviemakers
were clearly hoping to ride the recent smash success of “For a Few Dollars
More,†even if Ferroni/Padget’s style bears little likeness to Leone’s.If you don’t expect a polished American
picture on one hand or a nihilistic Leone clone on the other, you might enjoy
“Fort Yuma Gold†on its own terms as a mostly fast-paced, sincere B-Western.
In
some respects, one could argue the same for Gianni Ferrio’s Un Dollaro Bucato
(One Silver Dollar) (1965). Also released as Blood for a Silver Dollar, producer
Bruno Turchetto was quick to jump on the whole ‘Dollar’ bandwagon. Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars had only been in the can for a year, so the genre was both
fresh and ripe for harvesting.
The
film’s soundtrack began life rather quietly; it was first released as a single
on the Fonit label in 1965 and featured the song ‘‘A Man... A Story’’ performed
by genre regular Fred Bongusto and was coupled with an instrumental version
performed by the Ferrio orchestra. The single was re-released in Japan by King
Records, where the film was received well. Philips also released it in Japan as
part of an EP containing A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and Django,
so the music was certainly keeping good company – and deservedly so.
Despite
the obvious influences, there’s certainly no denying, Un Dollaro Bucato remains
a terrific score. Ferrio’s music is fluid and doesn’t just root itself firmly within
the western genre. In fact, certain cues wouldn’t sound out of place in a spy
thriller - another genre that was finding its feet with the emerging Bond
franchise. Aside from the more regular, stylistic western cues, there’s plenty
of mystery and tension, and Ferrio makes great use of brass horns to build the
drama. So yes, Morricone inspired for sure, but there’s also a great deal more.
Silva
Screen Records have chosen well. Ferrio’s Un Dollaro Bucato remains a hugely
popular title. In more recent times, cues have found their way into Quentin
Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009), and been featured in the Red Dead
Revolver video game series. Silva Screen has created a stunning vinyl package
containing 21 beautifully produced tracks. It’s a stand out example, and obvious
that a great deal of thought has gone into this project. Not only does the
sleeve contain some creative, new artwork, but at the same time it maintains
the retro style reflective of the much loved 60s genre. Best of all perhaps is
the 12†platter, an eye catching piece pressed in a stylish silver & red
coloured vinyl, an element which ties in rather perfectly with the ‘silver’ and
‘blood ‘of the film’s alternative title. It’s a shimmering example of how vinyl
can (and should) be produced for the ongoing revival. Long may it continue to
shine!
Some of the best private eye thrillers tend to be complex and sometimes incomprehensible affairs. Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep", for example, had a plot that could not be comprehended even by the people who made the film, but it ranks as one of the great movies in the crime genre. Similarly, director Arthur Penn's 1975 mystery "Night Moves" (the title is- appropriately enough- a metaphor) sat on a shelf for over a year before it went into general release, only to be greeted by an apathetic public. There were some prescient critics like Roger Ebert who foresaw the film's enduring qualities but, for the most part, "Night Moves" didn't get much attention in a year in which the likes of great films like "Jaws", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Barry Lyndon" were in release. The movie began to gain steam over the decades with the critical establishment and is now considered to be a classic by many, thus its arrival on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive is much appreciated by retro movie lovers.
The film reunited Gene Hackman with Arthur Penn after their triumphant work on "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Hackman was a supporting character in that film but received an Oscar nomination. In "Night Moves" he is the front-and-center star, in almost every scene and he dominates the movie with a superb, laid-back performance that is so natural that it reminds us of how Hackman's genius was to make you think you are watching a real-life person. He plays Harry Moseby, an L.A. private eye who isn't down-and-out like most of his cinematic counterparts, but is not setting the world on fire, either. He's a complex man haunted by bad childhood memories and he's got some contemporary problems, as well. His wife Ellen (Susan Clark) is bored and frustrated that Harry is too remote and spends far too much of his time on low-paying cases. He catches her having an affair but it's clear her lover (Harris Yulin) is more of a distraction than a passion. While Harry is trying to reconcile with Ellen, he's hired by Arlene Iverson (Janet Ward), a one-time minor starlet with a knack for marrying rich men. She wants Harry to find her wayward, runaway 16 year-old daughter Delly (Melanie Griffith), with whom she has a terrible relationship. Seems Arlene is dependent upon the funds from a trust that her late husband set up for Delly. As long as Arlene lives with the girl, she can continue residing in a mansion and enjoy a lavish lifestyle. However, once Delly turns 25, the spigot is turned off and Delly gets control of her fortune. The case leads Harry to the Florida Keys where Delly's stepfather, Tom Iverson (John Crawford) (divorced from Arlene) runs a charting plane service. He's surrounded by plenty of unsavory types, some of whom are employed as stuntmen in the movie business. At least two of them- Marv Ellman (Anthony Costello) and Quentin (James Woods)- have had sexual flings with the free-spirited Delly. Harry discovers Delly living openly with Tom Iverson and she resents having to be brought back to L.A. by Harry. She tells him her mother only views her as a source of income. While at Tom's place, Harry also becomes involved with another female with a troubled past, Paula (Jennifer Warren), who had once been both a stripper and a hooker before latching onto Tom and helping him with the plane charter business.She speaks in riddles and her dialogue with Harry is marvelously coy. (When she asks him where he was when Kennedy was assassinated, he replies "Which Kennedy"?).
Alan Sharp's terrific screenplay is witty and complex and chances are that when some of the mysteries are resolved, you'll end up scratching your head wondering what it all meant. "Night Moves" is a film that requires a few viewings before it all makes sense but that's part of the delight in seeing it for the first time. The dialogue crackles with bon mots and there are numerous intriguing sub-plots that sometimes overshadow Harry's primary mission, which, it turns out is explained in part by a MacGuffin. Hackman is superb, as is Arthur Penn's direction. The film has a moody, menacing atmosphere throughout, aided considerably by Bruce Surtees' typically dark cinematography. The supporting cast is letter-perfect with Jennifer Warren outstanding in an early screen role (she should have become a much bigger star, though she has found success as a director.) Also seen in an early role, James Woods impresses substantially in his limited screen time. Susan Clark (long underrated as an actress) is very good indeed, as is veteran character actor Edward Binns and Janet Ward. Young Melanie Griffith also impresses, though, ironically she played essentially the same role in another gumshoe flick that same year, "The Drowning Pool". I also admired the jazzy score by Michael Small. The finale of the film is most memorable. It's not only suspenseful and exciting but also intriguingly ambiguous with Harry on a boat literally spinning in circles, as the viewer may well be in terms of comprehending what has just occurred.
Because the original film elements of "Night Moves" were in decline, the Warner Archive spent a good time of time and money to restore the movie to its initial grandeur. The results paid off with an excellent transfer that does justice to Penn's artistic vision. Kudos to all involved. There are also some bonus extras: an original trailer and a vintage featurette, "The Day of the Director" that provides some very good behind-the-scenes footage of the movie in production. However, the Blu-ray cries out for an audio commentary to allow analysis of the film's many complex aspects. Perhaps a future release will include one. For now, this is a "must-have" for your video library.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE
Glory days: by the late 1970s, Reynolds and Clint Eastwood were the two most bankable stars in the world.
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Burt Reynolds has died at age 82 from a heart attack in his home town of Jupiter, Florida. Reynolds had been suffering from poor health in recent years but was still appearing in films. He was announced as one of the stars of Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Reynolds entered acting in the 1950s but his rugged good looks sometimes worked against him as he was told he bore too close a resemblance to Marlon Brando. He made "B" movies before gravitating to television where he landed a recurring role as a blacksmith in the hit series "Gunsmoke". Reynolds would go on to star in other short-lived TV series that never capitalized on his real life wit and humor. Of playing the title character in the "Dan August" detective series, Reynolds would quip that he had two expressions: "Mad and madder". Reynolds slogged through undistinguished feature films in the 1960s, some of which were undeniably appealing but none of which resonated with the public. However, he gained considerable attention with his frequent appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" where his self-deprecating sense of humor and racy quips endeared him to Carson's mammoth nightly audience. He agreed to pose nude (well, mostly nude) for Cosmopolitan, which caused a sensation. However, Reynolds said he regretted the decision because it detracted from his ability to be taken seriously as an actor. The release of director John Boorman's "Deliverance" in 1972 changed that. Reynolds gave a terrific performance and the "A"-list roles started pouring in. Most of his films had a considerable element of humor attached to them, combined with Reynolds' ability to do his own stunts. He became popular playing wise-ass characters with a penchant for towel-snapping humor. In 1977, he struck gold by starring in "Smokey and the Bandit", a film which became a phenomenal success with rural audiences. The Reynolds persona was often that of a good ol' boy from the south who took on corrupt cops and politicians. For a period of years, Reynolds could do no wrong and became one of the biggest stars in the world. However, his judgment often failed him and turned down major roles in classic films in order to star in forgettable movies. A misguided stunt on the set of "City Heat" in the early 1980s caused him severe injuries and helped spread rumors that was was suffering from AIDS. His career never fully recovered, but in 1998 he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for "Boogie Nights". He didn't win and he also squandered the newfound respect he had earned by churning out mediocre films and TV movies. Not helping matters was his messy personal life that saw marriage problems, nasty divorces and bankruptcy issues spread across the pages of tabloids.
Still, Burt Reynolds was a genuine superstar at his peak and he never went out of style, as evidenced by the enduring affection for his films- and yes, he certainly could act.
On Sept. 15, 2000 the New
York Times ran an interview with Quentin Tarantino in which the famed
director raved at length about a Roy Rogers movie called “The Golden Stallion
(1949).†He absolutely loved the film and its director, William Witney, calling
him a “forgotten master.†According to Tarantino, Witney was the ultimate genre
film director, making everything from the classic Republic Pictures serials, to
western feature films (including 27 Roy Rogers flicks). He later did films for
American International, and shot numerous TV series including “Bonanza.†The
thing that appealed to QT the most about “The Golden Stallion†was the way
Witney was able to sell the idea that Roy Rogers regarded Trigger as much a
friend as any human being could ever be. He does five years on a chain gang to
save his horse from being destroyed after being framed for killing a man. As far-fetched
as that idea sounds, Tarantino thought Witney,Roy and Trigger absolutely made you believe it. (Click here to read the NY Times article.)
In “The Golden Stallion†Trigger has a bit of a fling
with a mare that smugglers were using to transport diamonds across the border.
A colt named Trigger Jr., was the result of that dalliance, and screenwriter
Gerald Geraghty picked up that thread to build a new story for Roy’s next
picture. In some ways, the result, “Trigger, Jr.,†is an even better movie,
with a story line that has darker undertones and a shocker of an ending.
In this picture, Roy is in charge of his father’s
traveling circus and sets up headquarters for the winter at the ranch of his
dad’s former partner Colonel Harkrider (George Cleveland). Roy’s publicist,
Splinters (Gordon Jones), thinks the idea of wintering there will bring good
publicity, but the Colonel isn’t too happy about it. The Colonel’s older daughter
was recently killed in an accident during her bareback riding routine. As a
result of the trauma her death caused, the Colonel himself has been wheel
chair-bound ever since. Worse, his grandson, Larry (Peter Miles), is terrified
of horses. He has nightmares about them. The Colonel constantly berates the boy
for being a coward. The Colonel’s younger daughter, Kay, (Dale Evans) hopes
having the circus on the ranch will help the two of them recover their
psychological balance. But she knows it won’t be easy.
It doesn’t help that all the local ranchers in the are
being muscled by a villain with no less a sinister name than Manson (Grant
Withers), who heads The Range Patrol, an outfit that provides protection for a
price. Those who don’t join up find barns burning, and livestock suddenly
disappearing. No sooner does Roy arrive than he finds Trigger Sr. and Jr. about
to be kidnapped by a couple of rangers. Roy and Splinters manage to rescue the
horses after some fisticuffs, of course. (People complain about violence in
films today, and say they wish movies could be like they were in the old days.
I guess they never saw any of Witney’s Rogers films. They were full of
shootouts, fistfights, bar room brawls, and they didn’t spare the fake blood
either.)
Roy and the Colonel convince the other ranchers to stop
paying the Range Patrol, which prompts Manson to put more pressure on them.
There’s an interesting historical element introduced into the story at this
point. At a horse auction, Roy finds out that there was an Army remount station
nearby. The remount stations were where the Army bought, trained and sold horses
for service in the U.S. Calvary. The station is out of use now, but a white
stallion “killer†horse is being kept there pending its destruction by lethal
injection. Roy tries to buy him but the sheriff informs him that there’s a
court order calling for the horse’s destruction. However, Manson puts the doctor
(I. Stanford Jolley) on his payroll and they take him to a hideout in the hills
so they can use him to terrorize and kill the ranchers’ horses. He becomes
known as The Phantom and it isn’t long before the other ranchers cave in the
Rangers and Roy and the Colonel find themselves alone in opposing them.
The situation worsens as Trigger is attacked by the
Phantom and a blow to his optical nerve renders him blind. Trigger goes down
and he can’t get up. Things get pretty tense as Larry decides he must be a
coward as his grandfather says, since he’s too afraid to even help Trigger. He
runs away and in the meantime more livestock are being killed. I don’t think
I’ve ever seen any other western where so many horses are shown dead or dying
out on the prairie, in this case all victims of the Phantom.
“Trigger, Jr.’s†brisk pace (it’s only 66 minutes long) moves
over the downbeat elements of the story so quickly, you don’t get much time to
react. But when you think about them later, you realize it’s all pretty heavy
stuff. There are only three musical numbers in the movie and one of them is the
haunting “Stampede†which is used to illustrate one of Larry’s nightmares. Jack
Marta’s cinematography and lighting create an impressionistic mini-masterpiece.
It’s not all doom and gloom, of course. The colorful circus wagons, the scenes
of the acrobats and aerialists rehearsing, the lions and trained seals performing
provide splendid splashes of color to offset the somber story line.
The cataclysmic prison riot near the end of The
Big House (1930) reaches such a fevered pitch that army tanks are called in to
combat the inmates. The tanks roll into the prison yard like armor-plated
creatures, and then, unexpectedly, start rolling towards
the screen, towards the viewer. What did movie audiences think in 1930 as these
shiny, black, menacing machines moved towards them? By the riot's end, a
single tank crashes through a wall, its main gun slowly swiveling, as sinister anything
in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.It’s
impressive even now, watching on an Acer laptop in 2014. What was it like in
one of the vaunted movie palaces of yesteryear? Did audiences cheer
because the army was going to save the day? Or was there some fear, too, fear
that the machines were coming not just for criminals, but for everybody…
The Big House, now available on DVD as part of the Warner Bros Archive
Collection, was a spectacular success for MGM, and ushered in the prison movie
as a viable genre. Films had been set in prisons before,
but it was The Big House that established the characters and themes that would
mark the genre forever (ie. the scared new guy, the crusty lifers, the
conniving weasel, the kindly old guard, the dour but ineffectual warden, the inevitable
jail break, etc.). The film was also a marked contrast to the slick
films made by MGM at the time, causing Chester B. Bahn of the Syracuse Herald
to write that this "stark tragedy" was "so horrible, so
devastating, that you don't want to think about it, don't want to talk about
it."
Although prison movies weren't churned out the way westerns and horror movies
were during the 1930s, the subject undoubtedly had legs. We still see
prison movies today, as well as TV shows (of both the scripted and “non-scriptedâ€
variety). But every prison movie or show we see now has something of The Big
House in its DNA. The Big House did it first, and I’m not sure if any
modern prison movies have done it any better. More explicit, perhaps, but
not better.
For one thing, The Big House was unabashedly artsy. Directed by George Hill
with photography by Harold Wenstrom, the film is framed by rich, deep blacks
that gave the atmosphere a harder edge than most black and white films of the
day. A more accurate description of the film would be “black & grey,†for
there isn’t much white in it. Grey is the color of the prison uniform,
and grey is the color of the detainees’ pasty complexions. The prison is a
murky place, and when a con is being marched into the “dungeon†to serve some
time in solitary, it’s as if he’s being marched into the very wings of
Hell.
The opening scene follows a truck filled with new prisoners as it approaches
the monolithic, unnamed building. There’s something about the scene that
looks like an illustration come to life, especially when the prisoners step out
of the truck and appear incredibly tiny as they march into the prison. Kent
(Robert Montgomery) is a newbie, sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter after
killing a man in a car accident. He’s thrown into a cramped cell with two
legitimately bad men, Butch (Wallace Beery) and Morgan (Chester Morris).
One of the warden’s aids laments that a young kid doesn’t stand a chance in a
cell with such hard cases, to which the warden agrees that overcrowding and
idleness are the banes of the prison system. Kent’s journey through
prison life, though, is only part of the story. The film's
greatness comes from the interplay between Butch and Morgan, for they are
two hardened criminals who lean on each other to get through their dreary days.
Butch is downright sadistic, the sort of brute who harasses people only to back
off and say, “I was only kidding.†He’s allegedly murdered several people,
including a few of his past girlfriends, but one never knows if he’s serious or
not. He also lets his temperament get the best of him, even turning on his
buddy Morgan more than once during the film. Morgan, meanwhile, falls for
Kent’s sister (Leila Hyams) when he spots her during visiting hours.
Sam Fuller is one of these iconic directors that
independent film makers like Quentin Tarantino andRobert Rodrigues idolize for being a maverick
who frequently got away with making movies his own way, even if the studios
that employed him didn’t always like it. But even though he preferred to make
hard hitting, semi-expose movies like “Shock Corridor†and “The Naked Kiss,â€
Fuller also knew which side of the bread was buttered and could make a movie
that both he and his studio bosses knew could be a commercial success. “Hell
and High Water†(1954), released by 20th Century Fox, is one of those. Made at
the height of the Cold War, it capitalized on America’s fear of the atom bomb,
the Red Menace, and catered to the belief that private individuals can sometime
be more effective than government at solving the world’s problems.
A group of such individuals, scientists from around the
world, want to investigate suspicious activities on an island in the North
Atlantic by the Chinese communists (though their nationality is never
mentioned).They hire former submarine
commander Capt. Adam Jones (Richard Widmark) to take them to the island in a
rebuilt Japanese sub (the kind that Captain Jones calls “a sewer pipeâ€). The
scientists suspect that the island is being used as the site for the building
of an atom bomb and are scheming to start WW III. Fuller had a hand in writing
the screenplay as well as directing and so Capt. Jones is your typical Fuller
hero. He’s tough, he’s brash, he’s honest, and he’s cynical. He agrees to take
the idealistic scientists to their destination but only because they’ll pay him
50 G’s to do it.
He assembles some of his old crew, including Gene Evans
(a Fuller regular), and Cameron Mitchell, the sub’s sonar man. The lead
scientist in charge of the expedition is Professor Montel (Victor Franken), who
is fond of saying: “Every man has his own reason for living, and his own price
for dying.†Just for the sake of spicing things up a bit, the old professor
brings along an assistant-- a sexy young French female scientist played by
Bella Darvi. Darvi’s personal story is both interesting and tragic. She was
discovered in Monaco by Darryl Zanuck and his wife Virginia. Mrs. Zanuck
thought she had star potential and even created Bella’s screen name. Darvi is a
combination of Darryl and Virginia. She made only three Hollywood movies before
a sex scandal involving Zanuck broke out, causing Virginia Zanuck to split.
Darvi’s career never really took off and after the scandal she returned to
Europe where she eventually committed suicide at age 42.
But to return to our story, of course, the presence of a
woman on board a salvaged Japanese sub manned by a bunch of horny, sweaty guys
is a totally believable thing and isn’t going to cause any sort of plot
complication. But then believability isn’t a word you’d associate with “Hell
and High Water.†Especially not when the sub encounters another submarine, (Chinese?
I guess, who knows for sure) demanding to know what the hell they’re doing
there. What follows is the usual cat and mouse sequence you find in most
submarine movies. After a torpedo is fired at them, they dive for the bottom.
The torpedoes on Jones’s sub don’t work because they didn’t have time to get
them in working order before they started out. They stay there trying to not
make any noise so they don’t get pinged by sonar. The other sub lands a few
hundred yards away and they try to outwait each other. Finally, Jones and his
men have had enough and the captain orders the ship to make a break for it.
He’s got a new plan. He rams the “sewer pipe†into the other sub and sinks it.
Hooray, the good guys win. But wait. This is supposed to be a peaceful
scientific expedition. What about all the Chinese sailors (or whatever they are)
killed on the other sub? Wouldn’t that be like an international incident?
Wouldn’t that actually be an act of war itself that might lead to WWIII, just
the very think they were trying to prevent?
Kino Lorber has released the 1968 espionage thriller "The High Commissioner" on Blu-ray. The film, which was titled "Nobody Runs Forever" in it's UK release, is significant in that it paired two charismatic leading men- Rod Taylor and Christopher Plummer- in a low-key but well-scripted tale that sustains interest throughout. The film is based on John Cleary's novel and presents some offbeat and refreshing elements for a spy movie made at the height of the James Bond-inspired phenomenon. Most refreshingly, the two protagonists are Australians, a rare instance in which heroes from "Down Under" are showcased in a non-Australian movie of the era. Taylor plays Scobie Malone, a tough-as-nails police officer in the Northern Territory who is content to fulfill his job of keeping order in the Outback and arresting small-time trouble makers. He is reluctantly assigned to travel to London for an unusual mission: to bring back the Australian High Commissioner, Sir James Quentin (Plummer) and have him stand trial on charges that he murdered his first wife many years before. When Scobie arrives in London, he realizes that the timing of his mission could not be more sensitive: Quentin is hosting an important diplomatic conference with African leaders in the hope of finalizing a major treaty that could affect the balance of power in the African continent. The world is watching as Quentin tries to iron out details to make the treaty a reality. When Scobie informs him of his assignment, Quentin seems curiously nonplussed about the nature of the charges against him- but he is quite concerned by the fact that his sudden absence from the conference would almost certainly cause the talks to collapse. He imposes on Scobie to give him a few additional days to sort out the final details on the treaty. Scobie takes an instant liking to Quentin and his adoring wife Sheila (Lilli Palmer), and agrees with the request. Scobie's cover story to Sheila is that he is simply acting as a bodyguard to Quentin, but she seems to suspect his real motive is more nefarious. When an attempt is made on Quentin's life, Scobie is instrumental in thwarting it. The two men ultimately bond as friends and Scobie begins to suspect that Quentin could not have possibly murdered his first wife. Why then is the Australian government convinced he had? More pressing is solving the problem of who is behind the assassination attempt on Quentin and who in his inner circle is a mole. It appears a shadowy organization feels threatened by the chances of the treaty succeeding- and wants to thwart it by killing Quentin.
"The High Commissioner" is a film that plays best if not examined in detail because there are plenty of loosely-developed plot points. It's never quite explained why Scobie was taken all the way from the Outback for this particular assignment. Surely the government could have found one equally capable law enforcement officer who was a bit more accessible. It also becomes clear that the plot to thwart the conference is just the "MacGuffin" in that it's never thoroughly explained who the bad guys are or why they feel threatened by Quentin's peace conference. Nor do we learn precisely what is being negotiated at the conference. What we do have are some intriguing characters including two of the most glamorous actresses of the period: Daliah Lavi, in full dangerous femme fatale mode as a seductive enemy agent and Camilla Sparv as Quentin's loyal secretary who holds a not-so-secret crush on him. While on assignment, Scobie allows himself to be seduced by Lavi (who wouldn't?) but remains chaste with Sparvi's character, so as to not impede his professional standing with the Quentins. The film moves along at a brisk pace under the direction of Ralph Thomas, who had recently helmed two other spy flicks- "Deadlier Than the Male" and "Agent 8 3/4" (aka "Hot Enough for June". ) Thomas showcases Taylor's rugged good looks by giving him Bondian opportunities to wear tuxedos and engage in plenty of mayhem. The film's climax takes place at Wimbledon, where the villains intend to assassinate Quentin by using a gun placed inside a television camera. The murder charges against Quentin come to a head in an emotional discussion Scobie has with Sheila, though her explanation for his innocence seems rather weak. The film builds to a fiery and explosive final scene that is undermined only shoddy special effects.
The best aspect of "The High Commissioner" is that it provides a good role for Rod Taylor, one of the most charismatic leading men of the 1960s. Taylor was usually cast as American or British characters because he had mastered both accents, but here he is allowed to talk like a native Australian, which, in fact, he was. Equally at home in posh cocktail parties or flailing away at the bad guys, Taylor was the epitome of the charming tough guy. Plummer also gets an interesting role though the character is never fully developed and plays second-fiddle to Taylor's. Nevertheless, he embellishes the much-besieged Quentin with quiet dignity even when narrowly dodging bombs and bullets. Lilli Palmer is especially poignant as Quentin's ever-faithful but long-suffering wife who is harboring a terrible secret that figures in the explosive climax. There is also an impressive supporting cast that includes Clive Revill as a butler whose allegiance may be in question, Calvin Lockhart as a handsome international man of mystery and an unrecognizable, black-haired Derren Nesbitt as a villain. The lush locations begin in Australia before moving to London, where director Thomas capitalizes on them. Interiors were shot at Pinewood Studios.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is up to the company's usual fine standards and includes the original trailer. Recommended.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Acorn Media.
The new
season of the smash hit U.K. dramedy, plus over 1.5 hours of bonus content;
Starring
Martin Clunes (Arthur & George) and Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly)
with guest
stars Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Avatar), Art Malik (True Lies, Homeland),
DOC MARTIN,
SERIES 8
DVD and
Blu-ray Debut from Acorn on December 12, 2017
“A smart,
gentle comedy with loads of wit and zest†—The Globe and Mail
“Sweet,
stirring, and completely addictive†—Slate
“Delightfully
quirky†—Los Angeles Times
“Absolutely
bloody hilarious†—London Evening Standard
Widely
considered one of the most successful British series in the U.S., U.K. and
worldwide, DOC MARTIN, Series 8 makes its DVD/Blu-ray debut on December 12,
2017 from Acorn TV, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand. Martin
Clunes (Men Behaving Badly) returns as Dr. Martin Ellingham in the eighth
series of this smash-hit British comedy. In these all-new episodes, the doctor
continues his practice in the picturesque seaside town of Portwenn, while
raising his son with wife Louisa. The DVD and Blu-ray 3-Disc Sets feature 8
episodes, plus a bonus disc with behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews
($39.99, Amazon.com).
After all
their ups and downs as a couple, Dr. Martin Ellingham and his wife, Louisa (Caroline
Catz, Murder in Suburbia), are finally living together with their son, James
Henry, but their problems are far from over. With Louisa’s encouragement, James
Henry has grown attached to Buddy the dog, but Martin is disgusted by the
four-legged friend. In need of a new nanny, Louisa finds herself juggling too
many responsibilities and considers switching careers, causing a rift with Martin.
Meanwhile,
Portwenn is abuzz as the residents prepare for a wedding. The Larges hope to
profit from the festivities, but when Martin’s aunt Ruth (Emmy® winner Eileen
Atkins, Cranford) considers selling the family farm, her decision causes
trouble for their business endeavors. As some relationships bloom and others
falter, can Martin cope with all the changes—or will he risk the fragile accord
he’s forged with his family? Guest stars in Series 8 include the return of Caroline
Quentin (Dickensian) and Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) as a forthright American
tourist anxious for the Doc’s time.
BONUS DISC: Behind-the-scenes
featurettes on the production process (70 min.) and interviews with the cast
and guest stars (41 min.), including Martin Clunes, Caroline Catz, Ian McNeice,
Joe Absolom, Eileen Atkins, Selina Cadell, and Caroline Quentin.
Street Date:
December 12, 2017 SRP: $39.99 each
DVD 3-Disc
Set: 8 episodes – Approx. 413 min., plus bonus – SDH Subtitles – UPC
054961259397
Blu-ray
3-Disc Set: 8 episodes – Approx. 413 min., plus bonus – SDH Subtitles – UPC
054961259496