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.

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By Cai Ross

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 for the 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.”

For more on Godard's life and career, click here. 

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

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!”

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John M. Whalen is the author of "Tragon and the Scorpion Woman...and Other Tales". Click  here to order from Amazon

By Doug Oswald

Oliver Reed, Candice Bergen and Gene Hackman are on opposing sides of “The Hunting Party,”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 Affair”) 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,” “Inglorious Basterds” and “Django Unchained.”

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.

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BY DARREN ALLISON

Rosso come La Notte

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.

To order: https://www.allscore.de

(Darren Allison is Soundtrack Editor for Cinema Retro)

BY TODD GARBARINI

Dustin Hoffman has played a tremendous variety of roles throughout his 50-plus year career: an underconfident graduate in love with his fiancé’s mother; a terminally ill hustler; a mathematician forced to defend his home; real-lifers Lenny Bruce and Carl Bernstein; a marathon runner out to avenge his father’s and brother’s deaths; and most notably as a divorced father and a mentally challenged genius (for which he scored two Academy Awards for Best Actor), among many other memorable performances. However, there is one film that he made during all his great work in the 1970s that, despite receiving a sizeable theatrical release and decent reviews, is virtually unknown to anyone outside of his most ardent admirers. His young fans today who know him primarily from the “Fockers” films are probably oblivious to his interpretation of ex-convict Max Dembo in Ulu Grosbard’s streetwise Straight Time, which was shot in the Spring of 1977 in Los Angeles and opened nationwide on Friday, March 17, 1978. This is one of his best outings (my personal favorite film of his) and proof that Mr. Hoffman is one of cinema’s greatest actors. It’s a strong, quiet yet often brutal and measured performance, one that should have earned him an Oscar nomination as he portrays a convict trying desperately to fit into society. The film possesses a bleak outlook on life, and the unsavory and nearly irredeemable and generally unlikeable characters who populate the film’s landscape are brilliantly realized by all involved.

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.”

My introduction to Straight Time came in the form of the film’s trailer that was shown prior to a screening of (I kid you not) Walt Disney’s Pete’s Dragon that my family took my younger sister and I to see at a local neighborhood movie theater when I was nine in early 1978. It was not the sort of fare I would have expected to see advertised in front of a children’s film, though I distinctly recall seeing Mr. Hoffman pull down M. Emmett Walsh’s pants, baring his bottom. The trailer on the Blu-ray is intact with this sequence, however the pulling down of the pants is only hinted at and not outright or explicitly shown. Whether this is the way the original trailer played theatrically or not 43 years ago, the answer is buried deep in my hippocampus and neocortex, and I’m tending to believe that if Mr. Walsh’s derriere had been shown, my mother would have protested, as anything even remotely sexual to my sister’s and my own eyes was anathema to her. (This was evinced by her reaction to Lesley Ann-Down’s risqué outfit in the trailer to The Great Train Robbery shown before my virgin screening of Superman: The Movie in December 1978 would attest to.) Given the evidence, my gut feeling is that I imagined it.

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.

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BY TODD GARBARINI

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 France”, 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 Basterds”, 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 Jew”, 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 Paris”, 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 Kino”, 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 Face”, 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.

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BY ADRIAN SMITH

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.)

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“A SENATOR, NAZI SPIES, AND A DOG”

By Raymond Benson

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.

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN 

“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.

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(John M. Whalen is the author of "Vampire Siege at Rio Muerto". Click here to order from Amazon.)

BY FRED BLOSSER

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.” 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.” 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 Horseman” (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.

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(Fred Blosser is the author of "Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti Western Heroes". Click here to order from Amazon)

(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 The Fast 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 “fixer”, 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.

BY DOUG OSWALD

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,” “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,” “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.

“Tobruk” 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.”

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.

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“NEXT STOP… HIJACK!”

By Raymond Benson

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,” 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.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

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.

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

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 Sergio” (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."

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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.”

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.”

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.”

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).

(The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge)

(Adam Driver)

(George MacKay, star of "1917" arrives.)

("Joker" director Todd Phillips.)

(Mark Strong)

(Composer Alexandre Desplat)

(Hugh Grant)

BY FRED BLOSSER

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.” 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.” 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.” 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.” 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.” 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.” 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.

BOOK REVIEW: "ENNIO MORRICONE: MASTER OF THE SOUNDTRACK" BY MAURIZIO BARONI

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.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON UK 

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REVIEW: "NIGHTMARE WEEKEND" (1986); DUAL FORMAT RELEASE FROM VINEGAR SYNDROME

BY TODD GARBARINI

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 “puppet”. 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. Nightmare falls into the “so-bad-it’s-bad” 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!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

Posted by Cinema Retro in Todd Garbarini on Thursday, November 28. 2019

CLIVE BARKER'S "NIGHTBREED"- OUT OF THE SHADOWS, AT LAST.

BY MARK MAWSTON

“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 ‘Nightbreed”. 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.

Continue reading "CLIVE BARKER'S "NIGHTBREED"- OUT OF THE SHADOWS, AT LAST."

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Friday, November 8. 2019

WHEN SCORSESE MET TARANTINO

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.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Interviews on Thursday, November 7. 2019

REVIEW: "THE BIG COUNTRY" (1958) STARRING GREGORY PECK, JEAN SIMMONS AND CHARLTON HESTON; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” That’s the stock phrase you hear in most western films. But in William Wyler’s sprawling, richly produced western extravaganza, “The Big Country” (1958), Jim McKay (Gregory Peck) spends nearly three hours NOT doing what a man’s gotta do. And he reaps the scorn of just about everybody, including his fiancé Patricia Terrill (Caroll Baker), who lives on a gigantic Texas ranch with her father Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford). McKay is a retired ship’s captain from back east, and he’s come west to marry Pat and start a new life. But you know right off it’s not going to be easy when he steps off the stagecoach dressed like a dude and ranch foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) advises him that he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for him to go around wearing that funny looking derby. Sure enough when he and Patricia ride their buckboard out to the Terrill ranch some rough cowboys, known as the Hannasseys, chase him down and pull that hat right off his noggin and give him a bit of a roughing up. When McKay doesn’t get all riled up about it, Patricia suspects her new fiancé might be a little bit chicken.

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.”)_ But Wyler hired Quaker author Jessamyn West (“Friendly Persuasion”) 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.

Continue reading "REVIEW: "THE BIG COUNTRY" (1958) STARRING GREGORY PECK, JEAN SIMMONS AND CHARLTON HESTON; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE"

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Saturday, November 2. 2019

ROBERT FORSTER, OSCAR NOMINEE, DEAD AT 78

Forster in Tarantino's "Jackie Brown".

BY LEE PFEIFFER

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.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Obituaries on Saturday, October 12. 2019

CINEMA RETRO'S MARK MAWSTON COVERS "BOND DAY" AT THE BFI, LONDON

BY MARK MAWSTON

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 me”. 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 me”. 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.) 

Posted by Cinema Retro in James Bond 007 News on Friday, October 4. 2019

10 KEY FILMS COMMEMORATED IN "ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD"

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. 

Posted by Cinema Retro in Out of the Past on Monday, August 19. 2019

DOUBLE-0 HEAVEN: CINEMA RETRO'S MARK CERULLI FINALLY CATCHES UP WITH THE 1970 "THUNDERBALL" & "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" DOUBLE FEATURE

BY MARK CERULLI

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 one billion dollars 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.”

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 “imbibition”, 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, The Venetian 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 36^th 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.

Continue reading "DOUBLE-0 HEAVEN: CINEMA RETRO'S MARK CERULLI FINALLY CATCHES UP WITH THE 1970 "THUNDERBALL" & "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" DOUBLE FEATURE"

Posted by Cinema Retro in Mark Cerulli on Thursday, August 8. 2019

REVIEW: QUENTIN TARANTINO'S "ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD"

BY JOHN M. WHALEN 

Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” 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. 

Posted by Cinema Retro in Film Reviews & Essays on Sunday, July 28. 2019

REVIEW: "GAS PUMP GIRLS" (1979); BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FROM SCORPION

BY TODD GARBARINI

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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Todd Garbarini on Friday, July 19. 2019

REVIEW: "WOODY GUTHRIE ALL-STAR TRIBUTE CONCERT 1970" MVD DVD RELEASE

BY HANK REINEKE

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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Monday, June 17. 2019

REVIEW: "THE GRAND DUEL" (1972) STARRING LEE VAN CLEEF; BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FROM ARROW

BY FRED BLOSSER

As a new Arrow Films Blu-ray edition of his 1972 Italian Western “The Grand Duel” 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.”

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!”, 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.” 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.”

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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Monday, May 13. 2019

TARANTINO WEIGHS IN ON "THE HATEFUL EIGHT" NETFLIX MINI-SERIES CUT

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.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Entertainment News on Thursday, May 9. 2019

REVIEW: “FORT YUMA GOLD” (1966) and “DAMNED HOT DAY OF FIRE” (1968); BLU-RAY DOUBLE FEATURE FROM MILL CREEK

BY FRED BLOSSER

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.” 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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Monday, April 29. 2019

Un Dollaro Bucato (One Silver Dollar) Music Composed and Conducted by Gianni Ferrio; Silva Screen Records, Vinyl Release, SILLP1579, Available for Order Now.

BY DARREN ALLISON

It’s probably fair to say that a great deal of music that surfaced from the Spaghetti Western genre eventually merged to become something of a cliché. Clearly inspired by the Morricone sound and style, many of the scores came to bear the same signature traits and failed to obtain any real, individual identity. In short, it became an elaborate mixing bowl in which the finished results were served up as individual, but very familiar servings.

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!

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Soundtrack Review on Wednesday, February 20. 2019

REVIEW: "NIGHT MOVES" (1975) STARRING GENE HACKMAN; WARNER ARCHIVE BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY LEE PFEIFFER

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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, November 15. 2018

BREAKING NEWS: SCREEN LEGEND BURT REYNOLDS DEAD AT AGE 82

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.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Obituaries on Thursday, September 6. 2018

REVIEW: "TRIGGER JR." (1950) STARRING ROY ROGERS AND DALE EVANS; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

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.

Continue reading "REVIEW: "TRIGGER JR." (1950) STARRING ROY ROGERS AND DALE EVANS; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE"

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Friday, May 18. 2018

DVD REVIEW: "THE BIG HOUSE" (1930) STARRING ROBERT MONTGOMERY, WALLACE BEERY AND CHESTER MORRIS (THREE INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS); WARNER ARCHIVE DVD

By Don L. Stradley

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-scripted” 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.  

Continue reading "DVD REVIEW: "THE BIG HOUSE" (1930) STARRING ROBERT MONTGOMERY, WALLACE BEERY AND CHESTER MORRIS (THREE INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS); WARNER ARCHIVE DVD"

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, April 12. 2018

REVIEW: SAMUEL FULLER'S "HELL AND HIGH WATER" (1954) STARRING RICHARD WIDMARK; TWILIGHT TIME BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

Sam Fuller is one of these iconic directors that independent film makers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert 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,” 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 pipe”). 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?

Continue reading "REVIEW: SAMUEL FULLER'S "HELL AND HIGH WATER" (1954) STARRING RICHARD WIDMARK; TWILIGHT TIME BLU-RAY RELEASE "

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Friday, February 23. 2018

REVIEW: "THE HIGH COMMISSIONER" (1968) STARRING ROD TAYLOR AND CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY LEE PFEIFFER

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.  

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, January 25. 2018

BRITISH TV CLASSICS "DOC MARTIN" AND "GEORGE GENTLY" NEW RELEASES THROUGH ACORN VIDEO AND ACORN TV

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

Continue reading "BRITISH TV CLASSICS "DOC MARTIN" AND "GEORGE GENTLY" NEW RELEASES THROUGH ACORN VIDEO AND ACORN TV "

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, November 30. 2017

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