Comic book icon Stan Lee has filed suit against the makers of the new Conan the Barbarian film, saying that the rights to the character actually belong to Stan Lee Media, Inc. Lee, who was the wunderkind who brought Marvel Comics to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, says that the rights to the remake of the 1982 hit film were illegally obtained by the producers. He is demanding 100% of the movie's revenue. The film is performing poorly at the boxoffice so Lee may not get enough to buy him a box of expensive cigars. Click here for more

For the second time since 2010, the porn industry based in Southern California has virtually shut down because an unidentified performer has been diagnosed with HIV. The industry largely self-regulates and has been quite successful in ensuring that sex performers are free of transmittable diseases. However, a similar case last year also resulted in a shut down. The case means that the sex partners of the infected person will all have to be tested, as will the sex partners of those people as well. There is a drive to get enough signatures for a ballot initiative in the state that, if passed, will mandate that actors in porn films wear condoms. In general, most don't because viewers have indicated they find the practice a turn-off. There is no precise date indicated for when filming on new porn flicks in California will resume. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

It's that time of year: production has yet to start on the new James Bond film so fans are getting antsy and speculation is running wild. The latest rumor is that the new film will be titled Carte Blanche and that it might be based on the current 007 novel by Jeffrey Deaver. There is supposedly bits of circumstantial evidence that add up to this possibility. Our own view is to take all this with a grain of salt. The producers have studiously avoided adapting any novelist other than Ian Fleming's Bond stories to the big screen. Although Deaver is a big name novelist, it would seem highly unlikely that he is involved in the production- and there is no way producers would utilize his book title without him being involved. The web site Blic also says it has confirmed that Serbian cellist Jelena Mihailovic has been hired to write the "opening score" for the film, but this is also a long tradition: musical artists or their representatives float "confirmed" stories that they have been hired to score a Bond film. These turn out to be inaccurate but the artist succeeds in getting their name in the press. We don't know if that is the case here, but until Eon Productions confirms any rumor, it's just that- a rumor.  Click here for more

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

Frankie Avalon (Todd Armstrong/ Jane), Dwayne Hickman (Craig Gamble/ Nora), Deborah Walley (Linda Hughes), Yvonne Craig (Barbara Norris), Robert Q. Lewis (Donald Pevney), Bobbi Shaw (Nita), Aron Kincaid (Freddie Carter), The Hondells (Themselves) Steve Rogers (Gene), Patti Chandler (Janet), Mike Nader (Bobby), Salli Sachse (Indian), John Boyer (Ski Boy), Mikki Jamison (Vicki), Mickey Dora (Mickey), Bill Sampson (Arthur), Mary Hughes, Luree Holmes (Ski Girls), Sigi Engl (Ski Instructor). Uncredited: Christopher Riordan, Ronnie Dayton, Jo Collins, Paul Gleason, and Annette Funicello (Prof. Roberts). Guest Stars: James Brown and the Famous Flames, and Lesley Gore.

I thought I'd end my Top 5 Sixties Beach Party movies with a cold treat for these hot summer days. A few films (i.e. Get Yourself a College Girl, Winter a-Go-Go, Wild Wild Winter) switched the locale from the warm California seashore to the chilly mountaintop ski slopes. The best of the crop for me was Ski Party (1965).

Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman play two average college guys, who are losers when it comes to the ladies, so they masquerade as English lasses on a ski trip to discover why their chicks Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig dig suave ladies man Aron Kincaid and what they really want in a guy. Complications ensue when the pompous Kincaid falls in love with Hickman's female incarnation. Meanwhile, when not romping around in drag, Avalon tries to make Walley jealous by flirting with Swedish bombshell Bobbi Shaw. The first half of the picture unfolds quite briskly with excellent musical numbers performed by Avalon, James Brown, and Lesley Gore though the second half bogs down a bit with a ludicrous ski jump contest and an overlong chase sequence, standard for these AIP musical comedies.

Ski Party stands out from the rest of the AIP beach-party movies not only because of the change in locale but because of the superior production values. Credit must go to producer Gene Corman and his crew. The film is exquisitely filmed on location with some awesome ski shots. Alan Rafkin also does a first-rate job of directing and keeps the action moving. He brings some originality to the musical numbers as well. Having Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, Dwayne Hickman, and Yvonne Craig sing "Painting the Town" while on a sunlit sleigh ride helps elevate the song with the beautiful shots of the foursome traveling through the snow-covered back roads. “Lots Lots More" would just have been a standard song warbled by Frankie Avalon with twistin’ beach babes dancing beside him if it were not for Rafkin’s unusual camera angles capturing the curvy features of Walley, Patti Chandler, Mikki Jamison, and Jo Collins.

The musical performances by the guest stars are the standouts of any AIP beach movie. Here it is no exception. Lesley Gore sings the catchy "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" on the bus ride to Sun Valley. Following the release of Ski Party, the song became a hit and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard charts. The Hondells turn up on the beach and rock on "The Gasser" and the title song. Finally, the appearance of James Brown and the Flames who come in out of the snow to perform their Top 10 record "I Got You (I Feel Good)" is truly one of the greatest musical moments in beach movie history.

Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman are well paired as the wisecracking losers-in-love Todd and Craig and are very believable and amusing as the peppery English lasses, Jane and Nora. As the objects of their devotion, Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig are only okay but they look stunning in Technicolor making it perfetly plausible to the audience why the boys would go to so much trouble to win them over. Bobbi Shaw is engaging as a sexy Swede who decides she prefers love, American style. It is nice to see AIP contract players Patti Chandler and Salli Sachse given more to do here than in the Beach Party movies. They along with Luree Holmes, Mikki Jamison, and Playboy Playmate Jo Collins look very good in their bathing suits or tight-fitting ski clothes. For beefcake watchers, there’s lean boyish-looking Mike Nader and handsome, chiseled Steve Rogers. But it is the smarmy charm of Aron Kincaid (pictured above surrounded by a bevy of beauties) as the pompous Freddie who flips for a guy in drag who steals the movie. Usually clad in dark sweaters and turtlenecks (which were a perfect contrast to his blonde hair and fair features), Kincaid is striking looking and awes every girl on screen and every girl in the audience (not to mention a boy or two).

Ski Party is available on DVD and I heartily recommend it!

-Tom Lisanti/www.sixtiescinema.com

The web site B Movie Cast features a discussion of the Hammer Films version of One Million Years B.C. that made Raquel Welch a household name- and her prehistoric bikini an iconic part of movie lore. Click here to download to listen to the discussion that features Cinema Retro columnist Adrian Smith.

The U.N.C.L.E. feature film curse strikes again! George Clooney has quit director Steven Soderbergh's forthcoming big screen version of the classic TV series. Clooney has not specified his reasons for dropping out of the role of Napoleon Solo, which was immortalized by Robert Vaughn in the original show. Efforts to bring an U.N.C.L.E. feature film to the screen extend back to the 1970s and each successive attempt has been aborted for various reasons. The only project to come to fruition was the 1983 TV movie Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. that reunited Vaughn and co-star David McCallum. (Click here for DVD review) In the 1960s, MGM produced eight feature films derived from two-part episodes of the TV series. For more click here

William Friedkin's The Exorcist ranks high on John Landis' list of all-time scariest movies.

The New York Times asks a number of prominent directors of horror films to name the movies that have scared them the most. Click here to read

Rowan Atkinson returns as a bumbling MI6 agent in Johnny English Reborn. The original film fared poorly in the United States but was a major hit internationally. Click here to view the trailer. The film will be released in October-- and it does look pretty funny.

Anne Heche is Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Psycho.

The Huffington Post provides a list of nine completely unnecessary and largely unsuccessful movie remakes. We could add about 5,000 more titles to the list but this is a good starting point. Click here to read and see the trailers.

In the 1960s artist Jack Kirby and his long time friend Stan Lee revolutionized the comic book industry by taking Marvel Comics from the domain of forgettable titles to an icon of American pop culture. By co-creating the great Marvel comic book heroes, Kirby became a legend among fans. In the 1970s he and Lee had creative differences and Kirby committed the unpardonable "sin" of moving over to Marvel's long-time rival D.C. Comics. His heirs have been trying to get financial compensation from Marvel and film studios for projects derived from the characters Kirby helped create. However, to date those efforts have failed. Now the family is appealing unfavorable court decisions and have hired a prominent attorney to represent them. Click here for more

In a frank and illuminating interview in the Irish Times, Harrison Ford reflects on his life and career. With typical bluntness, he explains why he gets second billing to Daniel Craig in Cowboys & Aliens: "I'm not a leading man anymore. I'm a character actor. I've had my time." Ford's no-nonsense approach to evaluating his own career extends to clearing up myths about his early days in the industry. He was no pal of George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola: “I just worked with them a few times. I’ve only ever spent very small, finite periods of time with any of the people I work with.” Ford also says he's no film buff. He enjoys watching movies occasionally but isn't committed to the format in the way a fan would be. It's claimed his wife, Calista Flockhart has never even seen Star Wars. For more click here

Mike Ryan of the Moviefone web site has a bone to pick with Morgan Freeman. He considers the Oscar winner to be a national treasure, which is why he's dispensing some tough love and accusing Morgan of lending his larger-than-life talents to some smaller-than-life feature films. Even though Freeman doesn't star in all of these flicks, Ryan takes him to task for providing voice-overs for sub-standard fare including The Love Guru and the new version of Conan the Barbarian. Click here to read

The Mad Max series, launched in 1979, is being revived.

Director George Miller's attempt to revive his Mad Max series of apocalyptic future movies hit a snag last year when torrential rains destroyed the sets he had built in the Australian desert. This caused the film, titled Mad Max: Fury Road, to be delayed indefinitely. However, star Tom Hardy says it now appears the production will begin again in April 2012- though it will not be filmed in the Aussie desert. Who can blame Miller for wanting to find a more hospitable location? The series' original star, Mel Gibson, won't be involved in the sequel. For more click here

The recent riots in London not only wrecked many small businesses but also heavily damaged a Sony distribution center for DVDs in the north of the city. The fire destroyed the facility and 25 million DVDs that were stored there. Most were independent titles that Sony distributes internationally. The indie labels were hard hit but were uniformly impressed by Sony's ability to use emergency contingency plans to begin re-manufacturing the lost stock. A group of teenagers have been charged with setting the fire as authorities heed Prime Minister Cameron's demands that the most egregious perpetrators be brought to justice. As of now, over 1,000 people have been arrested and formally charged for complicity in the riots. Click here to read a story dated August 11 about the Sony fire.

Hawaii Five-0's classic title sequence was the work of Reza Badiyi.

You may not know the name Reza Badiyi, but if you're a baby boomer, you grew up on his work. Badiyi was a director of many TV series but was primarily known for his classic opening title sequences for such series as Get Smart and Hawaii Five-0. The latter helped pioneer the fast cutting techniques that epitomize today's style of editing. The brilliant opening sequence, set to Morton Stevens' classic main title theme, still thrills fans of the show today. Sadly, many contemporary TV series don't even have opening title credits or ending credits, either. They've been sacrificed to squeeze in an interminable amount of advertisements. Click here for more and to view the Hawaii Five-0 title sequence. (Thanks to reader Bill Parisho for the head's up).

Sir Sean, dapper as ever, photographed by Cinema Retro's Matthew Field at the Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this year.

Although he wasn't the screen's first James Bond (Barry Nelson had that honor), Sir Sean Connery is the man who put 007 on the map, introducing Bond on the big screen in Dr. No in 1962. Today, Sir Sean Connery celebrates his 81st birthday. He retired from acting years ago and has resisted all attempts to lure him back to the silver screen. It can be said the industry has not benefited from his steadfastness. For more on his incredible life and career click here.

In a highly unusual move, Sony Pictures Classics will bring Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris back into 1,000 American theaters this week. Generally, a film that has been out for months would already be the subject of a DVD marketing campaign. However, Allen's modestly-budgeted romantic comedy is having the kind of "legs" in theaters that is almost unheard of today. The film built slowly through fine reviews and word-of-mouth. It's grosses increased for weeks on end and it became the highest grossing film of Allen's long career. The studio feels the re-release will help pave the way for a major Oscar campaign later in the year. Don't look for Allen to show up if it wins: he passed up collecting his Annie Hall Oscar in 1978 because he opted to keep his weekly date to play the clarinet at Michael's Pub in New York. Click here for more

It's raining remakes this week. Now there is word that Will Smith may star in a remake of the 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage about a group of scientists who are miniaturized and placed inside a man's body in order to race against time and save his life. The original film was an early showcase for Raquel Welch. James Cameron will produce the 3-D production. Click here for more

Ridley Scott is returning to his 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner and intends to bring a continuation of the story to the big screen. It isn't known whether he envisions a sequel or prequel but don't look for Harrison Ford to be part of it. Unless the iconic star has mellowed, he's always regarding the filming of the original as one of the most unhappy experiences of his career. Click here for more

Willam Holden and Ernest Borgnine on the set of the original Wild Bunch with director Sam Peckinpah in Mexico. Top Gun director Tony Scott intends to show us how good the movie could have been if only he had been around to act as mentor to Peckinpah.

There's bad news coming for classic movie lovers: another unwanted remake is in the early stages. This time, it's personal: director Tony Scott, who hates to have more than 30 seconds go by without a building or car exploding, intends to butcher director Sam Peckinpah's 1969 classic The Wild Bunch. This project has been floating around Hollywood for years but saner heads kept vetoing it. Now it looks like Scott has the film on the fast track...though there's no word whether he'll keep the story in the old West or update it to contemporary times. For more click here

Jimmy Sangster interviewed at the National Film Theatre by Hammer film scholar and author Marcus Hearn. (Photo copyright Cinema Retro)

Jimmy Sangster, who wrote some of the finest Hammer horror film classics, passed away over the weekend. He was a good friend to Cinema Retro, providing our magazine with many wonderful anecdotes about his long career. In 2008, Jimmy invited Cinema Retro's Lee Pfeiffer, Dave Worrall and John Exshaw to a special tribute held for him at the National Film Theatre in London. Sangster was in rare form and delighted the packed house with his memories of working on so many great films. Click here to read John Exshaw's 2008 report from the event. Like all movie fans, we deeply mourn the passing of this remarkable talent.

By Raymond Benson

The Complete Jean Vigo (The Criterion Collection)

On DVD and Blu-ray

For cinema history enthusiasts, the name Jean Vigo is one of legend. His career in France was brief, brilliant, and controversial. In the early 1930s he made one short silent documentary, a short sound documentary, and two (later) critically-acclaimed and important feature films. Then he died of tuberculosis.

During a period when Jean Renoir was the king of French cinema, Vigo refused to play by the rules and created—at the time—very noncommercial products that would outlive the filmmaker and influence others, especially practitioners of the French New Wave. Francois Truffaut, in one of the excellent extras in this fabulous new set from The Criterion Collection, describes how he first saw L’Atalante (1934) as a child and his life was forever changed. He admits that much of his own work owes a lot to Vigo and that singular work of early naturalism.

Vigo was controversial in his day for following in the surrealist footsteps of his cronies, Luis Buñuel and Jean Cocteau, and then for daring to film a love story that was too realistic for audiences of the time. In many ways, L’Atalante was a French slice of Italian Neo-realism that appeared a decade earlier.

A two-disk set, the first disk contains the four films: A Propos de Nice (1930), which intercuts travelogue and daily street life of the city with absurdist, surreal imagery; Taris (1931), a short portrait of a champion swimmer; Zero de Conduite (Zero for Conduct) (1933), a precursor to Lindsay Anderson’s If… in that it’s about a rebellion in a boys’ boarding school; and the true showcase of the collection, L’Atalante, a ultra-realistic story of an odd marriage and the honeymoon aboard a working barge. The second disk contains a plethora of fascinating extras, including the aforementioned vintage interview with Truffaut, a television documentary about Vigo from the 1960s, a history of L’Atalante’s tortured release history, and more. And don’t forget the usual top-notch and informative booklet full of essays.

The collection is probably not for everyone, but the true film buffs out there are going to eat this one up.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

This superior 1983 TV movie was released on DVD without fanfare by a low-budget label in 2001. The bargain-priced DVD sold out quickly and has been out of print for years. It now commands over $100 for a sealed copy on Amazon.

The film is an outstanding drama made during the heyday of great TV movies. Perhaps because there were so many great ones during this era, Murder in Coweta County didn't get much attention at the time, though it did win very good reviews. The story is based on a true-life crime book of the same name. It centers on a rural county in Georgia known as "The Kingdom" because it was controlled by local crime boss John Wallace (Andy Griffith). Wallace's outward persona is one of a folksy, kind-hearted local businessman. He openly gives money to the downtrodden and conspicuously donates generous sums to the church. In reality, he is a brutal crime kingpin who rules with an iron hand. When a sharecrop defies him, Wallace and his goons pursue him in a car chase, catch the man and beat him to death in front of witnesses. The problem for Wallace is that the crime takes place in the neighboring county- Coweta- where straight-as-an-arrow local sheriff Lamar Potts (Johnny Cash) ensures that nobody is above the law. To the astonishment of the locals, Potts and his deputies initiate an in-depth investigation of Wallace- who predictably reacts with charm and professes his innocence, even as he personally oversees the burning of the body. If there's no body found, there's no way a murder allegation can be proven- or so he thinks.

More good news for Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans: the eight feature films based on two-part episodes from the TV series have been released in one DVD set through the Warner Archive. Cinema Retro has been urging Warner Home Video VP George Feltenstein to release these for years. He promised to do so and has kept his word, much to the delight of fans. Cinema Retro writer Craig Henderson covered each of the eight films in issues #9- 16. Previously, Warners had released only one feature film- One Spy Too Many - as a bonus item on their boxed set of TV episodes. The films were made on a shoe-string and some featured a few special scenes shot specifically to spice up the sex angle. They proved to be enormously successful at the time, in some cases shattering boxoffice house records in the UK. The films included in the set are To Trap a Spy, The Spy With My Face, One Spy Too Many, One of Our Spies is Missing, The Karate Killers, The Spy in the Green Hat, How to Steal the World and The Helicopter Spies. Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and Leo G. Carroll star along with a plethora of big name guest stars. To order click here

If this man sits next to you on a plane, it might be advisable to switch seats.

Sacre bleu! Legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu was involved in a bizarre scandal on a recent flight. Seems the actor had that "get up and go" feeling prior to takeoff but the airline crew couldn't allow him to use the bathroom until they had ascended from the runway. Not one to be put off, Depardieu casually relieved himself in the first class section of the plane, thus causing a two-hour delay as a cleaning crew had to mop up the mess. Click here for more

The Warner Archive has released every episode of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. on two DVDs. The show ran only one season beginning in September 1967. It starred Stefanie Powers as April Dancer, Noel Harrison as Mark Slate and Leo G. Carroll, carrying over his role of Alexander Waverly from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn guest-starred in what many consider to be the best episode of the series, the bizarre Mother Muffin Affair starring Boris Karloff in drag. To order click here

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

If you're obsessed with cars in movies, the Internet Movie Cars Database is for you. The new web site lists information and photos about cars that have appeared prominently in films throughout movie history. From James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 to the Batmobile and those Mini Coopers from The Italian Job, they're all here. Click here for more info

Will Virgin's in-flight screenings of Casablanca will now have to be preceded by a warning regarding the emotional content? Seems sensitive passengers may not be able to handle the emotional aspects of certain films.

If you think it's ludicrous that the BBC issues warnings that certain news segments contain flash photography, consider this: Virgin Atlantic will now issue warnings on its flights regarding films that might make viewers cry. According to the airline's research, some passengers are so affected by the emotional content of movies shown on board that they have to take extraordinary measures to conceal the fact that they have been moved to tears. We are not making this up, folks. Click here for more- Lee Pfeiffer

Michelle Williams is now filming My Week With Marilyn, based on Colin Clark's memoir about his experience as a young man on the set of the film The Prince and the Showgirl in which Marilyn Monroe co-starred with Laurence Olivier. The movie was shot at England's Pinewood Studios. Click here for more about the forthcoming production.

The first and, for many, still the most memorable 007 girl: Ursula Andress in Dr. No.

The web site Flavorwire provides background on the legendary James Bond screen sirens along with film clips and undates about what they are doing today. Click here to read

The remake craze in Hollywood has reached a level of absurdity. They're now remaking relatively recent movies. Eddie Murphy's critical flop from 2003, The Haunted Mansion, is to be remade by once-respected director Guillermo Del Toro, who will write and produce the film, which is inspired by the legendary Disney theme park attraction. The Murphy version overcame the bad reviews and did well at the boxoffice, so Disney is going back to the same well to earn some easy coin. Even worse, there are plans to reboot the Judge Dredd "franchise" which consists to date of one costly flop that helped derail Sylvester Stallone's career for years. Click here for more

Writing on the Yorkshire Post web site, Cinema Retro contributor and film historian Tony Earnshaw makes the case for making classic horror movies more accessible to wide audiences. Click here to read

Director Joel Schumacher's new thriller Trespass, about a couple terrorized in a home invasion, will premiere theatrically in November. No big news there. What is big news is the fact that it will also go the direct-to-video route on the same day. That's right- despite all that high profile talent, audiences will have little incentive to pay to see the film in theaters since it can be viewed in their own living room. Click here to read writer Drew McWeeny's analysis on HitFix web site.

A photo surreptitiously shot on the set of The Dark Knight Rises.

On The Huffington Post site, writer Kris LoPresto makes a thought-provoking argument against the proliferation of unauthorized photos and videos shot on the set of The Dark Knight Rises, saying this trend endangers the quality of future action film epics. Click here to read

On September 16, Fox will release Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray with over 40 hours of special features. Click here to view more plus trailer for the set.

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The cast of The Big Lebowski reunited in Manhattan earlier this week to celebrate the cult movie's release on Blu-ray. The 1998 was a critical and boxoffice flop when it was initially released but has since cultivated an international following of enthusiastic fans. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, T Bone Burnett and John Turturro were all in attendance at the event where they met with fans of the Coen Brothers' flick. Click here for mor.

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Has a real life scenario from Jaws occurred in the Seychelles Islands?

A second man has been killed by a shark while swimming close to shore on a tourist beach in the Seychelles Islands, just 20 miles from where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka William and Kate) honeymooned. The latest victim was a 30 year-old British man who was also on his honeymoon. The government has prohibited swimming or snorkeling on the local beaches until the shark has been found. In a scenario out of Jaws, it is suspected that this might be the work of a "rogue shark" that is responsible for both deaths. Such scenarios are rare, but do happen. In 1916, several deaths of swimmers in New Jersey were thought to be due to one rogue shark. For more click here

By Raymond Benson

The Killing (directed by Stanley Kubrick)

Cul-de-sac (directed by Roman Polanski)

From The Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-Ray

Examining early pictures by directors who went on to bigger and better things is always a fascinating exercise. In this case, the experience is both academically rewarding and monumentally entertaining. They are a tremendous amount of fun to watch, yet film aficionados will certainly study the pieces and place them in perspective with the later, betterl-known masterpieces by these two iconic artists. Are there common thematic elements? Do we see glimpses of the later Stanley Kubrick or Roman Polanski in these early efforts? Without a doubt, The Criterion Collection’s new releases of The Killing and Cul-de-sac display the beginning of masterful craftsmanship from two youthful filmmakers.

The Killing package is two bangs for a buck—not only do you get a crisply clean, picture-perfect remastered edition of The Killing, but on a second disk you also get the same quality remastering of Kubrick’s earlier independent film noir, Killer’s Kiss. What a deal! I remember the first time I saw these movies; there were a double bill at a New York revival house, so I’ll always think of them as a pair. 

Killer’s Kiss was Kubrick’s second feature film, released by United Artists in 1955. Kubrick made it guerilla-style on the streets of New York—he never had permits to film at city locations, so the director quickly shot what he needed and then skedaddled. Kubrick directed it, produced it, wrote it, shot it, edited it, and did the post-sync work. Then he went out and marketed it himself and sold it to a distributor. That’s impressive independent filmmaking, especially for the early 1950s, when indy productions were not what they became in the seventies and beyond. As an entertainment, Killer’s Kiss is unquestionably B-movie material, but most film noirs are. The story is passable, but the picture is so well photographed that it doesn’t matter. Watch for the surreal fight amongst naked mannequins in the warehouse toward the movie’s climax—it’s pure Kubrick.

Would you have enjoyed Psycho even more if you knew in advance about the shock ending?

By Lee Pfeiffer

When I was a teenager, there was a guy in our group, Joey, who would go to highly-anticipated movies with us. He had a juvenile habit of peering through the doors at the end of the movie before the next screening began. Thus, I got to know in advance that James Bond tossed a villain over the side of a ship after placing a time bomb on him in Diamonds Are Forever. I also knew that Sean Connery got shot at the end of The Anderson Tapes. Joey also peered through the doors of the Loews State Theatre on Times Square to graciously inform us that Charlton Heston had just been killed by a spear in The Omega Man. We ultimately excluded Joey from our movie-going excursions but according to researchers at The University of California, he was actually doing us a favor. According to the bizarre conclusions of their recent study, people who are exposed to shock endings in advance reported they had enjoyed a film more than those who were not aware of how the film would end. Maybe- but even after forty years, I still have no intention of seeing another movie with Joey.  Click here for more

Photo copyright Entertainment Weekly.

Entertainment Weekly provides first photos of Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's forthcoming biopic. In an interview, Eastwood says he will objectively examine the pros and cons of the fabled FBI director's 48 year career. Eastwood acknowledges that the only reason Hoover stayed in power so long was because he had something on each of the 8 presidents he served. Simultaneously, he succeeded in keeping his own private life shrouded in secrecy. Eastwood says his film doesn't attempt to definitively answer the question as to whether circumstantial evidence proved Hoover was gay, so there goes those hopes of seeing Leo in a cocktail dress. Click here for more

Jonathan Demme will write, direct and produce a big screen version of Stephen King's forthcoming novel 11/22/63 which focuses on an everyday English teacher who travels back in time with the intention of preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the titular date. For more click here

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

It's gorgeous Caroline Munro as she appeared in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. As lovely as ever, Caroline is a contributor to Cinema Retro. You can read her memories of making The Abominable Dr. Phibes with Vincent Price in issue #2 and making her screen debut at age 16 as a sexy Bond girl extra in the 1967 version of Casino Royale in issue #6.

Hoffman: Broadway-bound.

Arthur Miller's American masterpiece Death of a Salesman will get yet another revival on Broadway next March. The Miller play is especially relevant today, even though it debuted in the 1940s.The story's protagonist Willy Loman is a tragic figure: after years of loyal service to his company, he is unceremoniously fired, thus leading to a series of tragic events. Lee J. Cobb, Dustin Hoffman and Brian Dennehy all triumphed on Broadway in the role of Loman. In the new production, Phillip Seymour Hoffman will try his hand at playing Loman. Andrew Garfield, star of the forthcoming Spiderman movie, will co-star. For more click here

With audiences going bananas for the new Ape flick, producers hope to bring sequels to the big screen.

Based on the hot boxoffice response to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the film's producers have let it be known that they would like to oversee at least one sequel, if not more. Click here for info

Jodie Foster is among the donors who have stepped to the fore to help save a program that monitors outer space for signs of alien life. The telescopes involved were cut off from government funding but donors, including Foster, have rescued the program. Foster, who starred in the 1997 sci-fi flick Contact about the search for alien life, wrote of parallels to the film in a statement she released in support of the program. Click here for more

The last time the Lone Ranger was brought to the big screen was in 1981: and it was a notorious flop. Nervous about lightning striking twice, Disney has canceled the Johnny Depp Lone Ranger film.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Studios are cracking down on pet projects of big name directors by canceling some high profile productions because of budget costs. Ron Howard and Guillermo Del Toro are among the recent "victims". Now Disney has informed producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Johnny Depp that their long-planned Lone Ranger film is being shut down. Filming was to start in October- but Disney execs got cold feet when the estimated budget hit $232 million. The studio is insisting that the film cost no more than $200. This is how insane Hollywood has become: $200 million for a movie about a guy on horse and it's considered to be too paltry of a sum. The question remains whether Bruckheimer and Depp will have their egos bruised and scale down the budget in order to make the movie. As of right now, it's officially off Disney's schedule. The underwhelming performance of Cowboys & Aliens has the studio nervous- and there are other factors as well. Disney is sinking a jaw-dropping $250 million into next year's John Carter sci-fi epic and there is also the $200 million Oz: The Great and Powerful in the pipeline. Saying "no" to Johnny Depp is almost unheard of in the industry, especially when he has brought billions into Disney's coffers through the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. However, his track record outside of that series is spotty at best and the suits at Disney aren't about to invest a king's ransom just to please him.

Consider how many great directors from years gone by are ready and willing to work but can't find some seed money to bring low-budget projects to the screen. Yet, sums that equal annual budgets of small nations are being routinely spent on films with very dubious prospects. Hollywood executives, like politicians, have devised a remarkable system in which they are handsomely rewarded even if they fail spectacularly. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

The web site Hitfix is reporting that Mike Myers has confirmed he will be reviving Austin Powers in a third sequel in the series. The last time Powers graced the screen was in 2002 with Goldmember. The first film was brilliant satire throughout with its on-the-mark homages to the look and feel of 60s spy movies, Casino Royale in particular. The two sequels were juvenile, uninspired affairs with a few genuinely funny moments strewn about. Nevertheless, they made a fortune at the box-office. Myers, whose career has been in decline ever since, wants to regain some of his mojo just like Powers did. Click here for more

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Warner Archive has released a number of 1960s teen comedies starring Connie Francis, including the 1965 MGM musical When the Boys Meet the Girls. It boggles one's mind to realize that teenagers were still patronizing films like this as late as the mid-1960s. Within a year or two, the entire genre of squeaky clean teen comedies would seem like ancient history in the wake of the new found freedoms in music and cinema. Suddenly some former Connie Francis fans would find themselves bopping around topless at Woodstock. When the Boys Meet the Girls must have seemed hopelessly outdated even in its day. The film was produced by notable schlock master Sam Katzman, and the movie bares his hallmark traits: poor production design and lighting and a razor-thin budget.

The plot finds grad student Harve Presnell hiding out at a remote Western college in order to escape gold-digging fiancee Sue Ane Langdon. He meets cute with country girl Francis, who is trying to help her father save his failing horse farm. Seems dad has a weakness for gambling and the new casino that has opened is draining his life's savings. Remember those corny old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musicals where they would say, "Hey, kids-we can always put on a show in the barn"? Well, this one does them one better. Presnell suggests that they convert dad's farm into a world class dude ranch resort, a feat they seem to accomplish in a few days in between attending classes.

The young woman who was surreptitiously photographed by Alfred Wertheimer making out with Elvis Presley in 1956 has been identified. She is Barbara Gray and she is finally telling her story about her fleeting, one-day romance with the future king of rock 'n roll. Click here for story and video. For Cinema Retro's original story about Wertheimer's book of unpublished Elvis photos, click here