BY LEE PFEIFFER

Once upon a time a highly successful film director named Blake Edwards teamed with his very popular actress wife to make a big budget Paramount musical called "Darling Lili". Released in 1970, the WWI-era movie was a major flop. Edwards blamed studio head Robert Evans for having made significant cuts to the final version of the film, though Paramount maintained that the film's budget had gone out of control and they had to exercise their right to salvage it through whatever means necessary. Several years later, Edwards had a contentious relationship with MGM that  was exacerbated by the studio altering his final cuts of "The Carey Treatment" and "Wild Rovers". Hell hath no fury like a director scorned, especially a director who was not lacking in self-esteem. Ultimately, Edwards sought his revenge with the release of his notorious 1981 madcap comedy "S.O.B."  The movie is a take-down of the film industry, presenting an ugly picture of Hollywood as a place populated by crooks, shnooks, disreputable studio brass and disloyal hangers-on all willing to sell their souls to advance their careers. Doubtless, Edwards was done wrong by certain studio executives but by all accounts, he wasn't "Mr. Popularity" either. Edwards had fractious working relationships with many people including Peter Sellers, with whom he made several successful "Pink Panther" films despite the fact the men came to loath one another. I was having lunch with a former studio big wig in 2010 when I informed him that the news just broke that Edwards had died. His response: "It's a shame it took so long." Ouch! 

Edwards was indeed multi-talented. He was capable of directing successful dramas ("Days of Wine and Roses") and the occasional thriller ("Experiment in Terror") but his niche was comedy and for a period of years he produced some great successes including "Operation Petticoat" and "Breakfast at Tiffanys" as well as the best-received Inspector Clouseau films ("A Shot in the Dark" and "The Pink Panther".) By the 1970s, however, his films were under-performing. In 1975, more out of necessity than sentimentality, he and Peter Sellers returned to the "Pink Panther" franchise and scored three more hits. "S.O.B." was his most personal film, however, and allowed him to figuratively put his considerable list of enemies in his cross-hairs. Edwards wrote, produced and directed the film which boasted an impressive all-star cast, including Julie Andrews, who would break new ground in her career by famously baring her breasts (thus causing Johnny Carson to quip to Andrews that he was thankful to see that "the hills were still alive!")

The film begins with a comical suicide attempt by once-esteemed film director Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan), who can't cope with the demise of his career due to the catastrophic boxoffice returns on "Night Wind", his mega-budget family musical starring his wife Sally Miles (Julie Andrews). Felix bungles the attempt which will become a running gag throughout the film as fate keeps preventing him from taking his own life. Now suffering from a mental illness, Felix is convinced that he has heard advice from God about how to salvage his film and career. He approaches the Machiavellian studio chief David Blackman (Robert Vaughn, whose character is supposedly based on Robert Evans.) Felix offers to reimburse the studio for their investment in the musical so that he can own all the rights and reshoot it as a pornographic production complete with the songs intact, only with an S&M take. Blackman jumps at the chance to redeem his own reputation and agrees, but Sally is a tough sell. Her entire career has been built on playing sweet, innocent characters, much as Andrews's career was defined in the early days. She is appalled at Felix's mental state and the fact that he hocked their entire net worth to pull off this madcap scheme. She turns to the film's original director, Tim Culley (William Holden) for advice and he and their mutual friend, quack physician Irving Finegarten (Robert Preston) for counsel. They both convince her the daffy scheme might work and would prove to be a good career move. With Sally reluctantly immersing herself into a sex-filled musical, word around Hollywood gets out that Felix might actually be creating a potential blockbuster. This causes Blackman to renege on the deal. Felix now goes entirely off the deep end and "kidnaps" the reels of his completed film in order to thwart Blackman from exploiting him.

Movies that present Hollywood as a soulless climate are as old as the film industry itself but "S.O.B." is in a class of its own in this regard. There are no sympathetic characters. As Felix devolves into complete madness, his family, confidantes and friends all conspire to take advantage of him for their own selfish purposes. Edwards presents a Devil's Playground of cheating lovers, emotionless sex and untrustworthy partners. It was a parlor game back in the day to guess which real-life personalities were being portrayed on screen. For example, there was little doubt that Shelly Winters' obnoxious talent agent was based on the much-feared Sue Mengers. Loretta Swit, playing the film's most grating character, seems to be a compilation of every gossip columnist who Edwards grew to loathe. Other well-known stars are also used to good effect including Larry Hagman, Robert Webber, Robert Loggia, Marisa Berenson, Stuart Margolin and Craig Stevens. Ostensibly, the star is Richard Mulligan, who gives a very spirited performance that is ultimately undone by Edwards having him cross over into theater of the absurd. Because of the large cast, most of the actors don't get much screen time but those who do resonate very well especially Andrews, Holden, Preston, Webber and Vaughn. The latter has a show-stopping scene that almost rivals the unveiling of Andrews' prized bosoms when it is revealed that his character of the macho studio executive has a passion for making love to his mistress (Berenson) while he is attired in female lingerie.

"S.O.B." is genuinely funny but, as previously stated, Edwards goes overboard into silliness especially in the last third of the film. Until then the events that we witnessed have been mostly plausible but Edwards goes over the top and resorts to almost slapstick as well as introducing some characters such as a manic Asian chef and an Indian guru (played respectively by Benson Fong and Larry Storch) who would be far more at home in a Pink Panther movie. Still, it remains a biting satire that is mostly quite enjoyable- and it's all accompanied by a score from Edwards' frequent collaborator, Henry Mancini.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray looks gorgeous and contains the original trailer.

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Journalist and author Bill Mesce provides an article for the Goomba Stomp web site that is sure to resonate with Cinema Retro readers: his recollection of seeing "The Magnificent Seven" for the first time and how the film's qualities continue to impress him today.  He also describes how the 1960 John Sturges classic afforded up-and-coming actors the ability to showcase their talents in ways that would ensure stardom. Click here to read. (Note that in this original trailer, the hokey song that was added was fortunately not included in the film itself...also the marketing people spelled  Robert Vaughn's name wrong!)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The Warner archive has released the 1972 crime comedy "Every Little Crook and Nanny" as a burn-to-order DVD. The film boasts an impressive cast with Lynn Redgrave top-lined as Miss Poole, a comically stereotypical prim and proper young British woman of good manners who operates an etiquette school for boys and girls. When she is evicted so that the school can be utilized as a site for nefarious doings by crime kingpin Carmine Ganucci (Victor Mature), Miss Poole is facing destitution and the loss of her livelihood. When she goes to Ganucci to explain her plight, she is mistaken for one of many young women who are applying to be the crime lord's family nanny. He is instantly smitten by her good manners and eloquent speech and hires her on the spot. Miss Poole devises a plan to take advantage of the situation. She accepts the position and is soon regarded as an indispensable employee of Ganucci and his wife Stella (Margaret Blye). It seems Miss Poole is the only one who can control the couple's independent-minded, pre-pubescent son Lewis (Phillip Graves.). The kid is a real handful. He's sassy, sometimes arrogant and not prone to following orders, even though he seems to idolize his father for being a feared Mafia don. When Carmine and Stella leave for a romantic vacation in Italy, Miss Poole enacts an audacious plot to stage a phony kidnapping of Lewis in the hopes that she can extort just enough money from Carmine ($50,000) to reopen her etiquette school in another location. To carry out the scheme she enlists her former piano player at the school, Luther (Austin Pendleton) to pose as the kidnapper. The perpetually tense, nerdy young man bungles virtually every aspect of the caper but manages to get Lewis back to his apartment, where the young "victim" forms an instant bond with Luther's doting wife Ida (Mina Kolb), who not only views Lewis as the child she always wanted but uses his presence to chastise her husband for their sexless marriage. Meanwhile, Miss Poole reports the kidnapping to one of Carmine's low-level mob guys, Benny Napkins (Paul Sand). Benny is less-than-happy about being chosen to help Miss Poole deal with the kidnap situation, especially since he knows Carmine will have him murdered if Lewis is not returned safely. Miss Poole assures him that, if they can devise a ruse to get Carmine to send the $50,000 to them, they can retrieve Lewis before Carmine even realizes a kidnapping has occurred. To carry out this aspect of the plot, she goes to Carmine's lawyers (Dom DeLuise and John Astin), who immediately realize that their lives are on the line if they don't get Lewis back safely. An unexpected plot device is introduced wherein Carmine, oblivious to his son's fate, enters a deal with some minor criminals in Italy that requires payment of a sum of money that coincidentally equals the ransom demand. From this point, everyone gets confused (including the viewer) as the main characters scramble about, often working against each other's interests in order to save Lewis as well as their own lives. One of the more off-the-wall elements of the film is dual personality of Miss Poole, who generally acts like a dowdy Mary Poppins-like personality, but who is willing to drop her knickers in order to keep Benny Napkins in line. 

The cleverest aspect of the film is it's witty title. Unfortunately, the screenplay, based on the novel by Evan Hunter,  doesn't carry through on a promising scenario despite (or because of) the fact that it was developed by three writers. The director, veteran screenwriter Cy Howard, who had enjoyed a recent success with Lovers and Other Strangers, keeps the pace brisk and sometimes frantic, and gets spirited performances from a fine cast (Austin Pendleton is most amusing). However, the film never delivers the belly laughs the scenario seems to promise and the movie ends up being more likable than genuinely funny. The DVD includes an original trailer that amusingly plays up the return of Victor Mature as a leading man ("The ORIGINAL Victor Mature!"). Mature, who hit it big in the 1940s and 1950s, had only appeared sporadically on film in the decade prior to this movie. The film does afford him a rare opportunity to show off his skills with light comedy, and he delivers a very funny performance.

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Here is some rare (but sadly silent) film footage of the 1967 London premiere of the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square. The performance was the first Bond film premiere to be attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Star Sean Connery had already given his notice that he was quitting the role of 007. He is seen sporting a mustache that he intended to be seen with in his new Western "Shalako" before producer Euan Lloyd convinced him to shave it off. There are other celebs to be spotted including Laurence Harvey, Jerry Lewis, Tony Bennett,  Phil Silvers and Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, who were filming "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli at the time.

“HITCHCOCK’S EARLY SOUND GEMS”

By Raymond Benson

Alfred Hitchcock’s early British period of work (1927-1939) has been in the public domain and/or out of copyright and available in poor quality renditions online and cheap home video bargain collections for many years. Most of these are unwatchable, not due to the films themselves, but because of the wretched condition of the images. Granted, not everything the Master of Suspense did during these years is up to par with his later Hollywood output that most of us know. Nevertheless, of the 25+ films Hitch made then (nine of them silent), there are indeed some select winners (The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, Sabotage, and The Lady Vanishes all come to mind).

There are also a handful of other admirable and worthwhile gems from the British period, and Kino Lorber has recently issued new high definition restorations of two that have been crying out for facelifts for some time.

Blackmail (1929) is touted as Britain’s first talkie, although it really isn’t. Nevertheless, as audio commentator Tim Lucas says, we’re not going to argue with that notion. Blackmail was such a step forward in technical innovation with its inventive use of sound that the picture deserves to be recognized as, at least, the first British talkie that did sound well. Interestingly, the film exists as a silent film, too. As in the USA, many cinemas across Britain were not yet wired for sound, so Hitchcock made two versions—a silent and a talkie. Originally, the silent picture was longer than the sound version, but some of that material is lost. A recent restoration brings the silent entry in at around 75 minutes, whereas the talkie is roughly 85.

It’s a rather sordid story (then again, it’s Hitchcock!). Alice (gorgeous Anny Ondra) is angry at her police detective boyfriend, Frank (John Longden), so she goes out with an artist, Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard). Crewe attempts to rape her, so Alice murders him with a knife. Unfortunately, shifty street bum Tracy (Donald Calthrop) figures out she’s the one who did it, and he attempts to blackmail both Alice and Frank. Without giving too much away, let’s just say the picture ends with a moral ambiguity.

For an early sound motion picture, Blackmail is surprisingly engaging and suspenseful. Hitchcock’s playful use of the technology (such as in the now-famous scene in which Alice hears the word “knife” repeated and loses her cool over it) is apparent throughout. The picture is also notable for the director’s first big climactic sequence at a famous landmark (in this case, the British Museum).

That said, film buffs may very well find that the silent version of Blackmail to be superior. There is an economy to the purely visual storytelling that the sound entry subtly lacks. They’re both terrific, though.

Note: Although the packaging does not adequately make it clear, Blackmail comes with two Blu-ray disks. The first contains the silent version and the sound edition in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. On the other disk is the sound version in 1.20:1 aspect ratio, which is apparently closer to what the movie was when first released. There is some speculation online regarding the accuracy of these two aspect ratios (see the discussion at https://www.hometheaterforum.com/a-few-words-about-blackmail-in-blu-ray/), but these eyes can find no egregious fault with either presentation. Compared to what we’ve had before with Blackmail, the Kino Lorber release is a godsend. Ironically, the silent version looks the most pristine. Supplements include the previously mentioned audio commentary by Lucas (always listenable), an intro to the film by Noël Simsolo, an audio portion of the conversation between Hitchcock and François Truffaut conducted for the Hitchcock/Truffaut book, Anny Ondra’s celebrated brief screen test, and trailers for this and other Kino Lorber titles.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Hailed as “one of the best TV shows of 2018” (RogerEbert.com) and “absolutely terrifying” (Rolling Stone), “THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE” arrives on Blu-ray and DVD October 15, 2019 from Paramount Home Entertainment. 

Certified Fresh with a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and nominated for six Saturn Awards, including Best Streaming Horror & Thriller Series, “THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE” has been renewed by Netflix as an anthology series, telling a new story each season.

“THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE” 3-Disc Blu-ray and 4-Disc DVD sets feature all 10 episodes from the acclaimed first season, including, for the first time, three Extended Director’s Cut episodes with never-before-seen content.  The Blu-ray and DVD also include exclusive commentary by creator and director Mike Flanagan on four episodes.

“THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE” is the critically acclaimed, modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson's legendary novel about five siblings who grew up in the most famous haunted house in America. Now adults, they're reunited by the suicide of their youngest sister, which forces them to finally confront the ghosts of their pasts... some of which lurk in their minds... and some of which may really be lurking in the shadows of the iconic Hill House.

“THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE” Blu-ray & DVD sets include the following:

EP 101: Steven Sees a Ghost

Steven Sees a Ghost Extended Director’s Cut

Steven Sees a Ghost Extended Director’s Cut Commentary by Director Mike Flanagan

EP 102: Open Casket

EP 103: Touch

EP 104: The Twin Thing

EP 105: The Bent-Neck Lady

The Bent-Neck Lady Extended Director’s Cut

The Bent-Neck Lady Extended Director’s Cut Commentary by Director Mike Flanagan

EP 106: Two Storms

Two Storms Commentary by Director Mike Flanagan

EP 107: Eulogy

EP 108: Witness Marks

EP 109: Screaming Meemies

EP 110: Silence Lay Steadily

Silence Lay Steadily Extended Director’s Cut

Silence Lay Steadily Extended Director’s Cut Commentary by Director Mike Flanagan

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In 1984, the comedy jungle adventure "Romancing the Stone" became a major boxoffice hit thanks in no part to its trio of popular stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Not surprisingly, the studio immediately planned a sequel: "The Jewel of the Nile". This time, however, the stars were not aligned for Douglas, who was also producing. Trouble started in pre-production when Turner said she wouldn't do the film because of deficiencies in the script. Douglas had to exercise a contractual clause to force her to join the production in Morocco- not a good omen for the beginning of an expensive film. Then a tragic accident killed numerous members of the crew, followed by widespread illness on location. Douglas recalled the miserable experience recently, as presented in Deadline. (Click here to read.) Still, the sequel grossed more than "Romancing the Stone" and Douglas and Turner put aside their differences to go on to co-star in the battle of the sexes big screen hit, "The War of the Roses" with DeVito directing.

BY FRED BLOSSER

The fashions, set designs, and social conventions of “Midnight Lace” were finely tuned to the expectations of audiences who trooped to their local theaters to see the film on its release in 1960, making it the year’s eleventh highest-grossing production. Nearly sixty years later, those same glossy Hollywood trappings have an almost campy quaintness. How often do you see anyone wear a pillbox hat anymore, outside of a drag parade? Regardless, the film’s basic plot would still fit nicely into any of today’s TV soap operas. The principal characters would be a little younger, they’d sleep together in the same bed instead of by themselves in separate twin beds, and the male lead would take off his shirt at least once an episode to display his ripped physique -- that’s all.

Kit Preston (Doris Day), an American heiress newly married to British financier Anthony Preston (Rex Harrison) and relocated from the U.S. to London, begins receiving obscene, threatening phone calls from an anonymous stalker. Her husband and her friends are sympathetic at first, but gradually they begin to express skepticism because Kit is the only one who hears the calls. Inspector Byrnes of Scotland Yard (John Williams) is even more cynical: “We waste half our time looking for crank phone callers who don’t even exist, except in the minds of unhappy women. You’d be surprised how far a wife would go to make a neglectful husband toe the mark.” Today a comment like that would get a senior police officer censured for insensitivity if not kicked off the force, but in the mindset of 1960, his opinion seems to be supported by the circumstances. The charming but work-obsessed Anthony spends more time in the boardroom than at home, and as a newcomer to the U.K. the lonely Kit feels isolated. Even her visiting Aunt Bea (Myrna Loy, sharp as a tack and looking terrific at fifty-five) begins to wonder.

From the outset, though, the viewer knows that Kit is telling the truth, and the mystery for us becomes not whether she’s delusional, but who’s behind the threats? The script serves up a rich array of suspects. Is she being menaced by her housekeeper’s smarmy nephew (Roddy McDowell)? By her husband’s financially troubled associate (Herbert Marshall)? By Anthony’s assistant Daniel (Richard Ney), who seems to be nursing other ambitions under his obsequious facade? “So many red herrings!” as critic and writer Kat Ellinger observes in her fine audio commentary on a new Kino-Lorber Blu-ray release of the movie. A handsome construction manager overseeing a renovation next door seems to be a good guy (John Gavin), but he’s troubled by lingering wartime PTSD, and he’s been using the phone in the back room of the local pub to make calls of an undisclosed nature. When a stranger intrudes into Kit’s apartment, inconveniently disappearing when she summons help, he’s likely to become the viewer’s prime suspect, and not only because of his black overcoat and sinister cast of features. He’s played by Anthony Dawson, well-remembered (like John Williams as the police inspector) from “Dial M for Murder.” In the Hitchcock thriller, Dawson was the guy who attempted to strangle Grace Kelly. By and large, the script plays fair in planting its clues and casting our suspicions first on one character and then another, although the resolution may not surprise hardcore movie-mystery fans. The phrase “Midnight Lace” is uttered once in the film as the style of a black negligee that Kit promises to wear if Anthony takes her on their deferred honeymoon to Venice, but it doesn’t have any real bearing on the character’s plight. Still, it’s a classy and evocative title that was repurposed for an inferior, unrelated made-for-TV movie in 1981.

“ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY?”

By Raymond Benson

Although apparently it was not a hit when it was first released in 1956, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Bob le flambeur (aka Bob the Gambler) grew in reputation over the ensuing years and soon became a classic French film noir, often cited as one of the better crime films from that country in any decade.

Melville was an artist known for his minimalistic style that influenced many of the younger rebels who initiated the French New Wave. While Melville himself is usually not considered to be a New Wave director, he has been called the “godfather” of the movement. Both Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut have acknowledged him as a mentor of sorts, and in fact, Godard cast him in a small role—as a filmmaker—in his debut picture, Breathless.

Bob le flambeur is mostly a character study about a former thief/bank robber (played by the charismatic Roger Duchesne) who did time, is out of jail, and is attempting to lead a life without crime. His one vice, however, is gambling, and he can’t stop. Whenever he has money, he spends it on a dice game, at the races, at cards, or at the casino. He acknowledges that he has runs of bad luck… but when he’s feeling lucky, the world is his oyster. He tends to do kind things for people, such as help out a young woman, Anne (Isabelle Corey) who is one night away from being a streetwalker, or also showing a young protégé, Paolo (Daniel Cauchy), the ropes with regard to high stakes and the philosophical risks of life itself. Then temptation strikes—there’s the possibility of making a big score by robbing the safe at a casino with the help of a team of specialists. How the plot plays out produces the kind of irony that is reminiscent of what is displayed in, say, Kubrick’s The Killing.

The picture is an early one in Melville’s career, and he would go on to direct other, perhaps better, titles (Le Samouraï, Army of Shadows, Le Cercle rouge), but Bob le flambeur may be his best known work because of its striking style, the melancholic mood it evokes, and the central performance by Duchesne. It is a standout among the many French noirs being made in the 1950s.

Kino Lorber presents a beautifully restored 1920x1080p high definition transfer that looks gorgeous, and it comes with an audio commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton. Also included is the approximately half-hour documentary, Diary of a Villain, about the influence of the picture and its striking style. The theatrical trailer and other Kino Lorber trailers round out the package.

Bob le flambeur is recommended for any fan of film noir and/or French cinema. You’re sure to be a winner with this one.

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Eon Productions have announced that the official title of the next James Bond film will be "No Time to Die". Daniel Craig returns for what is said to be his final appearance as 007. The film is scheduled to open in April, 2020.  Here is the official press release:

LOS ANGELES – August 20, 2019 – James Bond Producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today released the official title of the 25^th James Bond adventure, No Time To Die. The film, from Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), and Universal Pictures International is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, True Detective) and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fifth film as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (Spectre, Skyfall), Cary Joji Fukunaga, Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Bourne Ultimatum) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Killing Eve, Fleabag) No Time To Die is currently in production. The film will be released globally from April 3, 2020 in the U.K. through Universal Pictures International and in the U.S on April 8, from MGM via their United Artists Releasing banner.

No Time To Die also stars Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, Rory Kinnear, David Dencik, Dali Benssalah with Jeffrey Wright and Ralph Fiennes.

In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Other members of the creative team are; Composer Dan Romer, Director of Photography Linus Sandgren, Editors Tom Cross and Elliot Graham, Production Designer Mark Tildesley, Costume Designer Suttirat Larlarb, Hair and Make-up Designer Daniel Phillips, Supervising Stunt Coordinator Olivier Schneider, Stunt Coordinator Lee Morrison and Visual Effects Supervisor Charlie Noble. Returning members to the team are; 2nd Unit Director Alexander Witt, Special Effects and Action Vehicles Supervisor Chris Corbould and Casting Director Debbie McWilliams.

Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre have grossed more than $3.1 billion in worldwide box office collectively. Skyfall ($1.1 billion) and Spectre ($880 million) are the two highest-grossing films in the franchise.

BY HANK REINEKE

Paging through a dog-eared magazine in a doctor’s waiting room, I happened across a checklist of the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films. With a combination of surprise and disappointment, I was made aware that I’d only caught about fifty-percent of the films listed. Of the remaining 50% there were about half, assuming the proper mood, that I would be interested in seeing sometime. The remaining twenty-five percent were, to be perfectly honest, films too far out of the scope of personal interest. Regardless, I convinced myself that if I can hold on long enough to manage a pension… Well, perhaps there remained a possibility of catching up on a few of those titles as well.

Regardless, it was soul-searching time. While I have been issued an AARP card, I’m not a bona fide senior citizen yet. So why, I asked myself in painful self-reflection, have I not seen half of the one hundred greatest American films ever produced, yet have somehow managed to sit through Billy the Kid vs. Dracula at least a dozen times. Now that I think of it, I’ve sadly probably sat through this cinematic train wreck a dozen more times than even that calculation.

It goes without saying that John Carradine’s turn as Transylvania’s crown Prince of Darkness in Universal’s House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula was not nearly as iconic as Bela Lugosi’s. Carradine’s Dracula was certainly less menacingly foreign in his manner and accent. His was a more gentlemanly vampire, soft-spoken, elegantly dressed with top hat, cravat and walking stick. Though the “Immortal Count” had visibly aged since Carradine’s 1944 appropriation of the role, his sartorial style would not change a great deal when Billy the Kid vs. Dracula was unleashed in 1966. There were a few changes. While the top hat and cape remained in place, the well-manicured moustache he sported in the Universal films has been replaced with a drooping “Snidely Whiplash” soup strainer. Hanging from the pointed chin of Carradine’s triangular noggin sat a Salvador Dali-style goatee.

It was the same character in name only. In the 1940s, Carradine’s Dracula was an otherworldly figure, distinguished and mysterious. In this William Beaudine cult film he’s cast as more of a lecherous, carpet bagging lunatic with obvious bedroom eyes for the sweet and sassy Betty Bentley (Melinda Plowman). And while we’re on the subject of eyes; if Lugosi’s eyes were mesmerizing and hypnotic and Christopher Lee’s bloodshot and primal, Carradine’s are just… Well, plain goofy. Stretching his eye sockets to ridiculous parameters, Carradine’s sclera and pupils resemble a pair of bulging ping pong balls. The result is a gaze neither mesmerizing nor terrifying, but merely ridiculous. He bears the facial expression of man who witnessed in amazement as someone swallowed an enormous sandwich from the Carnegie Deli in a single bite.

“There are pictures I wish I hadn’t done,” Carradine would confess to interviewers on more than one occasion. Usually citing Billy the Kid vs. Dracula as one of these films, the actor routinely excused his signing on to such disasters since an aging actor still needed to work to pay the bills. Though the actor’s reflection is both gracious and understandable, a grain of salt is necessary to digest his belief that, “I started turning down the bad [roles following Billy the Kid vs. Dracula]. My conscience took over and I’d say I won’t read lines and vomit at the same time.” If this was true, then 1966 would have marked the demarcation line between the good, the bad, and the ugly of Carradine’s prodigious filmography. But if this is the case, then how does one explain Carradine’s presence in such delicious post-1966 cinematic trash as The Astro Zombies, House of the Black Death, Satan’s Cheerleaders, and Vampire Hookers – not to mention the four exploitative quickies he made in Mexico City in 1968? This, sadly, is to list only a few of his mid-to-late career titles. One must also graciously choose to ignore most of his walk-on work from 1970 through 1988.

There’s no point in describing the film’s ridiculous storyline in any detail. In the final tally, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula is neither a very good horror film nor a serviceable western. That’s not to say that the film is not entertaining. It’s just not entertaining in any commendable way. Director William Beaudine – famously referred to as “One Shot Beaudine” due to his economic, time-crunched shooting schedules – had been kicking around Hollywood’s second and third tier studios since near the beginning of the silent era. His specialties were second features - mostly westerns and mysteries - but he wasn’t opposed to taking on any film project if it helped to keep him employed.

Though not considered a “horror” film director by any measure, Beaudine would nonetheless helm two Bowery Boy comedies that brushed against the supernatural: Spook Busters (Monogram, 1946) and Ghosts on the Loose (Monogram, 1943). He would also work with Bela Lugosi on two “Poverty Row” horrors for Sam Katzman: The Ape Man (1943) and Voodoo Man (1944). In fact Carradine was cast in the latter film - a vintage horror film guilty pleasure if there ever was one - though the actor sadly relegated to a small supporting role with little dialogue. He and Beaudine would work together again. On this occasion the Shakespearian-trained Carradine managed top-billing status in the mad scientist flick The Face of Marble (Hollywood Pictures Corp., 1946).

Time-tested vampire tropes are pretty much honored and utilized in Carl Hittleman’s script for Billy the Kid vs. Dracula. Unless, of course, these folkloric blends might interfere with Beaudine’s frantic shooting schedule. One crew member suggested that that Beaudine managed to shoot Billy the Kid vs. Dracula in all of five days, though Beaudine insisted he shot both that film and its companion film Jesse James vs. Frankenstein’s Daughter in sixteen days total. In any event, this is the one vampire film that is unusual as it takes place almost entirely in the light of day. If a night scene had to be included as a dramatic necessity, nightfall is usually suggested – and not too convincingly - by setting a blue filter over the lens. The film’s shortfalls weren’t lost on Carradine. Once speaking of his career in film, Carradine opined, “I have worked in a dozen of the greatest, and I have worked in a dozen of the worst… I only regret Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.”

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. 

“TWO JEAN GABIN CRIME NOIRS”

BY RAYMOND BENSON

The French caught on to Hollywood’s wave of crime movies in a big way. In fact, the French critics coined the term film noir to describe the types of B-budget, angst-ridden, expressionistic, hard boiled flicks that were made throughout the 1940s and 1950s in America. French filmmakers had been toying with this style of crime picture since the late 1930s, but in the 50s, they, too, emulated what Hollywood had been doing—only they notched up the violence and the darkness.

Classic French actor Jean Gabin, who became known to U.S. and U.K. audiences with his superb performances in Jean Renoir pictures of the 30s (Grand Illusion, The Human Beast) and early gangster flicks (Pépé le Moko), rejuvenated his career in the 50s by starring in several of these European gangster films. Gabin, who might be described as a French mixture of Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart, was a wonderful, charismatic actor who could play tough guys with a touch of empathy, the same way Bogart could.

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), which translates to, roughly, “Don’t Touch the Loot,” was released in the U.K. as Honour Among Thieves and apparently in the U.S. as simply Grisbi. Gabin is Max, a high-level gangster who has just pulled off a daring heist of gold bars. The idea is to lay low and fence the gold when it’s safe. Unfortunately, a dastardly femme fatale throws a monkey wrench into the plan. Max’s partner, Riton (René Dary) has said too much to his burlesque dancer girlfriend, Josy (a feisty young Jeanne Moreau), who of course blabs it to Angelo (Lino Ventura) a rival gang member who is sweet on her. Trouble ensues.

Razzia sur la chnouf (1955), which translates to, roughly, “Raid on the Dope, or Raid on the Drugs,” was released in the U.S. as simply Razzia. In this picture, Gabin is “Henri from Nantais,” another high-level gangster working in the U.S., who is summoned to France to take over and improve the heroin distribution operation run by a large syndicate. Henri manages a restaurant as cover, and then proceeds to clean house. In the process, he becomes romantically involved with the restaurant cashier, Lisette (the scintillating Magali Noël). As Henri lays down the law among the men, the body count increases, culminating toward an explosive climax.

Both pictures are terrific, but the edge goes to Razzia. While Grisbi employs a fascinating character study in Max, the first half is a slow burn and doesn’t become truly thrilling until the final third—which does indeed erupt in a brutal violence that was uncommon for the 1950s. Razzia is better constructed and is more “colorful” (even though it’s shot in black and white) with the depiction of Chinese and black user drug dens, underworld politics, and the details of the drug operation. Razzia also has a very satisfying twist ending. In both cases, the directors, Jacques Becker and Henri Decoin, respectively, handle the material with firm hands.

Kino Lorber’s two sold-separately Blu-ray packages contain gorgeous, sharp high definition 1920x1080p restorations, in French with optional subtitles, and both also feature an audio commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton. The Grisbi disk has some supplements: a fun vintage interview with Jeanne Moreau; an interview with the director’s son, Jean Becker; and an interview with professor/film critic Ginette Vincendeau. Note that the information on the back of the jewel box states that the film’s run time is 83 minutes, when in fact it is 96. Razzia, unfortunately, does not contain any extras. Both disks offer the original theatrical trailers, plus other Kino Lorber title trailers.

Any fan of film noir, the actor Jean Gabin, and/or gritty crime pictures, will enjoy these two French gems. Sacrebleu!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER "Touchez pa au grsibi" FROM AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO ORDER "Razzia" FROM AMAZON

BY DOUG OSWALD

Ben Kingsley is an escaped Nazi living in Argentina in “Operation Finale” available on Blu-ray from Universal. Kingley is not just any escaped Nazi, but Adolph Eichmann, the highest ranking Nazi to escape justice after World War II. The so called “Architect of the Final Solution” has been living a quiet life in Argentina for 15 years when Israeli intelligence, Mosaad, receive information from blind German ex pat Lothar Hermann (Peter Strauss) and they set a plan in motion to kidnap Eichmann and bring him to Israel to stand trial.

The German community in Argentina is filled with former Nazis who gather for reunions and discuss their mutual hatred of Jews. Lothar’s daughter, Sylvia Hermann (Haley Lu Richardson), meets a boy named Klaus (Joe Alwyn) at the cinema. He invites her to a German party where she is appalled by the overt anti-Semitism. Lothar gets word to the Israelis that Eichmann may be the father of the boy his daughter is seeing. The Mosaad encourage Sylvia to visit the Eichmann home where she meets Vera (Greta Scacchi) and the children as well as Adolph Eichmann himself who is living under an assumed name and working as a mid-level manager. A Mossad agent confirms it is Adolph Eichmann, but they will not know for certain until they capture and interrogate him.

Mosaad agent Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac) is part of the team assigned to develop a precision kidnapping and escape plan. As we know from history, the Israelis succeed in getting Eichmann in May 1960 and bringing him to Israel for a public trial. The agents held Eichmann at a safe house for nine days in order to confirm his identity and smuggled him out of Argentina on an El Al flight. The movie depicts the tense moments when the flight plan was waiting final approval until the flight was released for departure.

The days at the safe house are interesting as Eichmann was kept isolated, blindfolded and handcuffed to his bed. His interrogators finally get him to confirm his identity when the head of the Mosaad, Isser Harel (Lior Raz), purposely misreads Eichmann’s SS service number several times until Eichmann’s perfectionism gets the better of him and he corrects Harel. Eichmann states his desire to set the record straight on his role in the Third Reich as little more than a bureaucrat ensuring the trains ran on schedule. The fact that the trains contained human beings who were being transported to their deaths was of no concern to Eichmann and he took no responsibility for his role in the murder of millions under Nazi Germany.

The film was directed by the multi-talented actor, writer and producer Chris Weitz, best known for his work as director and writer on “About a Boy” and “The Golden Compass” as well as the writer of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The movie does a nice job dramatizing this post-script to World War II and the defeat of Nazi Germany. Oscar Isaac is very good as agent Malkin, especially his interrogation scenes with Kingsley. I do have a problem with Kingsley playing the younger Eichmann in flashback scenes during World War II which make him look like a wax-work figure. The movie ends with Eichmann departing Argentina followed by brief scenes of him on trial. The film includes a coda running prior to the end credits including film of the actual trial and profiles of the agents involved with Eichmann’s capture.

(Fonda and Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider") 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Peter Fonda, the actor, screenwriter, producer and director, has died at age 79 from lung cancer. His family represented one of America's most legendary acting dynasties. His father was Henry Fonda, his sister Jane Fonda and he was the father of actress Bridget Fonda. He and Jane had a fractured relationship with their father that ultimately saw them reconcile in Henry's later years. Their mother committed suicide when they were very young and they were initially told she had died of a heart attack. Peter almost died as a teenager when he accidentally shot himself in the stomach. He and Jane both found success as actors, following in their father's footsteps. Peter's early films found him in supporting roles but his breakthrough role as a leading man came in Roger Corman's 1966 biker film "The Wild Angels", which was made on a shoestring budget but ended up being a high grossing hit. He had another cult hit for Corman the following year with the drug-themed drama "The Trip". Fonda's position as an icon of Sixties pop culture was cemented with the 1969 release of "Easy Rider", which he co-wrote with Dennis Hopper (who also directed the film) and Terry Southern. Fonda produced the movie on a budget of less than $400,000 and sold the distribution rights to Columbia. The movie revolutionized international filmmaking and went on to staggering grosses and great acclaim, although Fonda and Hopper would have a personal falling out relating to the movie.

In the years after "Easy Rider", Fonda had a checkered career. He directed and starred in the 1971 revisionist western "The Hired Hand" which was a boxoffice flop but which went on to become an acclaimed cult movie, similar to Thomas McGuane's 1975 movie "92 in the Shade" in which Fonda also starred. He dropped out of acting and filmmaking for extended periods of time before gaining an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in the 1997 film "Ulee's Gold". Fonda had been back in the news in recent months in relation to the 50th anniversary of "Easy Rider". He was scheduled to introduce the film at a high profile screening of the movie this September at Radio City Music Hall. For more click here.

BY HANK REINEKE

Scream and Scream Again (1970) is the second of three films horror maestro Vincent Price would sign onto in his late-stage years of working for American-International Pictures. This film, a very peculiar one by many standards, was bracketed by two other British horrors for A.I.P., The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970). All three films of these films were helmed by director Gordon Hessler, who also doubled as producer of these first and third efforts.

From 1960 through 1964 A.I.P. enjoyed great success with Roger Corman’s cycle of stylistic Gothic horrors. These films were similar in many ways, often featuring a tortured and/or haunted Vincent Price in Corman’s somewhat liberal adaptations of stories by the likes of literary horror masters Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. The successes of these films were mostly in the studio’s rearview mirror by 1965. With the ticket-buying public’s interest in Gothic horror and costume period pieces clearly on the wane, A.I.P. was doing their best to exploit the talent and drawing power of their most bankable contract star. Depending on who you ask, some argue that this trio of British A.I.P. film projects (1960-1970) ministered by Hessler and starring Price were satisfying only to a base of faithful devotees.

Both Hessler’s The Oblong Box and Cry of the Banshee – not to mention Michael Reeve’s controversial Witchfinder General (1968) – were unrelentingly grim in the presentation of their subject matter. They were all very good films, mind you – some consider the Reeves’ film a masterpiece - but their dark and serious themes and depressing atmospherics simply did not allow Price to bring his trademark mix of Devilish charm and menace to his assigned characters. It wasn’t until the releases of The Abominable Dr. Phibes (A.I.P., 1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (A.I.P., 1972) and Theatre of Blood (United Artists, 1973), that the ship would be righted, all three capitalizing on the veteran actor’s talent as a colorfully self-mocking, blood-letting, and black-humored eccentric.

In Scream and Scream Again, a modern day sci-fi thriller rather than a traditional horror, Price again was burdened again in a humorless role as “Dr. Browning.” The not-so-good doctor is, in fact, a mad scientist engaged in the creation of super-human “composites,” whiling away his days in the laboratory of his stately manor house. Price is, sadly, wasted in a role that could have been played by anyone. Then again none of this film’s top billed players – Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing – were given much to do. If Price’s is the principal star of this film, it’s simply by default. He merely enjoys the most screen time of the three principals listed… but a bit more on that later.

Dr. Browning is not a terribly interesting character; he’s too thinly drawn by screenwriter Christopher Wicking and we don’t see much of him until the film’s closing minutes. The best of Vincent Price’s on-screen characterizations are the ones where he seems relishing the role. One is never really certain if Price even has any idea what is going on around him in Scream and Scream Again. Director Hessler would more or less confirm this in subsequent interviews, confiding to one writer that he thought Price was not particularly fond of the three films he made under his direction. In the case of Scream and Scream Again, Hessler believed the actor “didn’t know what he was doing in the picture; he thought it was all weird and strange.”

If this was the case, Price was not alone in his confusion. Co-star Christopher Lee (who tragically only shares a brief single scene with Price) expressed similar sentiments. As Lee’s on screen time in this ninety-four minute film (U.S. version) lasts little more than eight minutes or so in total, he could more easily dismiss the film’s shortfalls as he wasn’t burdened with the responsibility of carrying the picture. And for a film that teamed the three-biggest horror movie icons of the 1960s and 1970s for the first of only two full-length features together, it’s something of a tragedy that poor Peter Cushing’s role is little more than a cameo. The scourge of missed opportunity is ever-present throughout Hessler’s opus.

Scream and Scream Again is credited as having been based on Peter Saxon’s 1966 sci-fi-novel The Disorientated Man. But, as with seemingly everything relating to this is film, even that’s vague. In fact there was no actual Peter Saxon; the name was a general pseudonym given to a stable of authors over-used and underpaid by a certain British publisher of mass market sci-fi paperbacks. As I’ve never read Saxon’s novel, I cannot say with any certainty if Hessler’s film is in any form a faithful, cinematic reproduction of the source material. I can attest that the director most assuredly captured the spirit of the book’s title. In the final analysis, it could be argued that Hessler’s multiple, shifting and confusing scenarios in Scream and Scream Again produced The Disorientated Viewer.

I won’t attempt to explain the film’s storyline here. In short Hessler’s mosaic narrative is a series of seemingly incongruous episodes bewilderingly stitched together. These threads do come together, somewhat un-satisfyingly, in the end. It was an unusual approach in telling this complex story cinematically but, in my personal opinion, only occasionally successful. On the other hand, the film is never dull, just confusing in its structure. It can also be argued that for a film masquerading as a police case or espionage caper, there’s no palpable sense of tension building to a satisfying climax. Nonetheless, many of the film’s scenes are memorable in standalone instances. Not particularly suspenseful, but memorable.

The mysterious villains of this film are adorned in both business suits and ersatz-Nazi regalia. It’s never overtly explained if these schemers are jack-booted Communists or Fascists, but they’re most certainly totalitarians. The bad guys are seemingly based out of some unnamed East European nation. The Stasi-like military helmets, the term “Comrade,” and a well- guarded checkpoint suggest a hostile regime resembling that of Communist East Germany. But their interest in scientifically developing an army of super-humans is… well, straight from the Nazi playbook.

Disappointingly, and as referenced earlier, the better part of the film does not prominently feature Price, Lee, or Cushing despite their shared star-billing. The film mostly follows the violent doings (and ensuing police investigation) of a renegade composite; a handsome but murderous, synthetic flesh-eating Cyborg who drives a nifty red sports coupe. His modus operandi in choosing victims is by befriending them at “The Busted Pot,” a swinging and noisy London nightclub. To tell more is to give things away. Should you require a more detailed synopsis there are plenty of erudite and thoughtful treatises on Scream and Scream Again published in books, magazines, and on-line.

“MARLENE VS. JEAN”

BY RAYMOND BENSON

Not usually mentioned in naming off the many classic movies made by master filmmaker Billy Wilder, A Foreign Affair seems to always be lumped in with his lesser efforts. This is a mistake.

After the one-two punch of Double Indemnity (1944) and The Lost Weekend (1945), the latter picture winning Best Picture and Director, Wilder made The Emperor Waltz (1948), which truly is a bit of a dud, and then A Foreign Affair, released that same year.

The film featured the fabulous comic actress Jean Arthur in her last motion picture starring role (she would appear in a supporting part a few years later in Shane, her last movie, but would continue to work in theatre and television), and the marvelous Marlene Dietrich, whose star had diminished somewhat by the late 1940s but was still a screen presence to reckon with. The third corner of the ménage à trois that is the center of the picture is John Lund, a leading man wannabe who never quite broke through after a couple dozen near misses.

Post-war Berlin (where a lot of the film was shot) is still in devastation, policed in four quarters by the Allies. The German people are struggling to rebuild their lives and spirits. A Congressional committee comes to the U.S. sector to visit a military base and assess the morale and progress of the troops. Congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Arthur) from Iowa is one of the more patriotic, prim, and proper members of the team. Handsome and charming Captain John Pringle (Lund) is having an affair with German cabaret singer Erika von Schlütow (Dietrich), but the army suspects her of harboring a Nazi war criminal who was once her lover. Frost snags Pringle to unwittingly be her partner in smoking out von Schlütow and in the process falls in love with him. Pringle pretends to be smitten as well to keep Frost from learning of his relationship with von Schlütow. It all becomes a comedy—and musical—of manners set amidst rather serious, sober times for a country fighting to survive.

Like with most Wilder pictures, the humor conflicts with the drama in unsuspecting ways. This is a comedy with bite.

Poor Lund fades into the background compared to the dynamo star power of Arthur and Dietrich, as they battle each other for not only Lund’s affections, but for the audience’s as well. Arthur, who was in her late forties at the time (sadly considered “old” by Hollywood standards in those days), is as charming and funny as ever. Dietrich, who was a year younger, never seems to age. Her cabaret act recalls her numbers in the early Josef von Sternberg vehicles like The Blue Angel and Morocco. As she is essentially the villain in the story, it’s noteworthy that Wilder was able to persuade Dietrich to play a member of the party she openly despised. The two women are fascinating to watch.

Kino Lorber presents a 1920x1080p high definition transfer that is of mixed quality. Portions of the feature look pristine and sharp—albeit with the requisite and welcome graininess one would expect from a black and white feature from the period. Other sections of the movie, however, contain artifacts and vertical lines that hover for several minutes. Still, it’s nice to have this Wilder rarity on Blu-ray, and it comes with an interesting audio commentary by film historian Joseph McBride. There are no supplements other than the theatrical trailer and other Kino Lorber trailers.

Fans of Billy Wilder, Jean Arthur, and/or Marlene Dietrich will surely get a kick out of this time capsule that captures post-war Germany with a good deal of insight and quite a few laughs.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

BY EDDY FRIEDFELD

If you’re wondering whether the original Aston Martin DB5 from “Goldfinger”  is as beautiful in person as it is on screen, wonder no more: it is a pristine specimen, a preserved and likely restored testament to not only the greatest franchise in film history, but a metaphor for ingenuity and quality living.

Displayed prominently recently at New York’s Sotheby’s Auction House on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, I took pictures through the plate glass window, over the course of a few days, once to see the car with the bullet-proof plate raised over the trunk of the car, only to find it lowered back into the car the next day (I assumed that any shooting had stopped) and found the spike protruding from the hub of the rear wheels, which was designed to shred a pursuing car’s tires.

Now if you ask me what it was like to drive what is arguably the most famous car in world history (with the possible exception of the 1966 Batmobile, which I had the privilege of driving), I cannot help you. When I went back for a private media event and asked if it were possible to drive the car, I was politely dismissed by the event’s host and eyed carefully by a powerfully built security guard whose eyes send me a clear message: if I touched the car I would be both shaken and stirred.

The car, one of four James Bond 007 DB5 models built for the two films, of which only three survive, is schedule to be auctioned off this week, August 15, at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterrey, California. Estimate pre-sale for the auction is between four and six million dollars. According to the sleek auction catalog: “Both car and gadgetry have been fully restored by Roos Engineering in Switzerland, ensuring all gadgetry functions as Q intended.”

I am a few weeks away from my 20^th anniversary as a film and entertainment journalist and of the hundreds of articles and reviews that I have written, the most often quoted back to me is the following:

“Mounted on the dashboard of my black convertible are two plastic switches, "Grenade Launcher" and "Ejector Seat." They amuse friends and concern wary parking lot attendants. I own high tech gadgets ranging from a big screen television that can do virtually everything except fly, an IBM laptop with a Celeron processor (I do not know what that is either), to the George Foreman Grill, on which I can broil a steak in eight minutes. But I have never disarmed a thermonuclear device with seven seconds left to detonation, and I have never killed or otherwise disabled a dozen enemy agents while skiing backwards down the Swiss Alps. I have never devised a creative escape from a windowless room as the two opposite, spike-laden walls were closing in on me, and I have never had an arch enemy with plans for world conquest. But not unlike most men, regardless of race, religion, or age, I cannot look at myself in a mirror in a tuxedo without smiling wryly and thinking: "Bond, James Bond."

007 survived the Cold War, eleven sitting presidents, and after almost 60 years, still amasses millions of new fans each year, who watch the same movies over and over, and who quote dialogue like gospel. Bond has become the most enduring movie franchise in history. The signature theme punctuated by the four note riff that plays at the beginning of every Bond entry, where 007 walks to the center of the gun barrel, turns and shoots, is arguably the most recognizable movie theme and opening in history.

To anyone growing up in the 1960s and 70s, it was hard to escape the cultural influence and lure of James Bond and his imitators and progeny, ranging from Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, The Men from U.N.C.L.E to Maxell Smart and Agent 99 from “Get Smart” to Jay Bondrock from “The Flintstones” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”’ Jethro Bodine, who after seeing “Goldfinger”, decided he was going to be a “double-naught spy.” At least once a year for the last 20 years I ask my still good friend and now editor, Lee Pfeiffer to walk the streets of Upper East Side near the United Nations in search of Del Florias’s Tailor Shop, where pulling the hook in the fitting room opens the secret entrance to U.N.C.L.E headquarters, New York.. While he politely declines each year, I remain hopeful despite the fact I realize the tailor shop was located on MGM’s back lot.

Bond is still a powerful archetype–a blend of escapism and the need to put order to an otherwise disorderly world. The real enemies in Bond's world are boredom, frustration, and complacency. Bond was and is the rebel within the system: he “gets the job done.” He is a “closer.” In his world there are no complicated decisions or murky choices, no mortgage payments, or unavailable baby sitters. Megalomaniacs are not the people you want to work for, as they get sucked out of airplanes at 30,000 feet or get tossed off their own space platforms. Someone who cuts you off on the highway can be dispatched with a wing machine gun or a laser beam activated from a control panel concealed beneath the armrest and bad dates (despite the fact that they carry guns and scalpels) get killed by hulking silent adversaries with no necks or get dropped into tanks filled with piranha.

Bond was created and nurtured in the hopeful era when it was believed that one intelligent, passionate, and resourceful person could change the world for the better. President John F. Kennedy said “I wish I had James Bond on my staff.”

Ian Fleming created Bond as "an interesting man to whom extraordinary things happen." He appropriated the name "James Bond" from the author of Birds of the West Indies (which he pulled off his shelf) because he felt the name suitably "dull" and "anonymous." The prescient Fleming’s early insight about globalization was that it would be non-states and stateless organizations, not other countries, that would become villains and antagonists in an increasingly globalized world. In a way, Fleming predicted Google and Facebook having the influence they have today.

The James Bond Aston Martin DB5 represents the enduring legacy of 007 not only as quality entertainment but also as an iconic character of hope and progress. To borrow from another classic icon, “The Maltese Falcon”, “it is the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Cinema Retro contributor Eddy Friedfeld teaches film classes at NYU and Yale, including the history of James Bond

(For additional information about the Aston Martin that is up for auction, click here.)

REVIEW: JEAN-LUC GODARD'S "ALPHAVILLE" (1965) STARRING EDDIE CONSTANTINE; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

CELEBRATING BERGMAN'S SUMMER MOVIES

SILVA SCREEN TO RELEASE GERRY ANDERSON'S "UFO" SOUNDTRACK ON CD AND VINYL

REVIEW: JESS FRANCO'S "ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS" (AKA "Cartes sur table") (1966) STARRING EDDIE CONSTANTINE; BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

REVIEWS: "BUTLEY" (1974) AND "IN CELEBRATION" (1975) STARRING ALAN BATES; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITIONS

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

REVIEW: "PORT OF SHADOWS" (1938) STARRING JEAN GABIN; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

REVIEW: ALAIN RESNAIS' "LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD" (1961); KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO SERIES 2" SOUNDTRACK FROM SILVA SCREEN

REVIEW: ROBERT DOWNEY SR.'S "PUTNEY SWOPE" (1969); DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL EDITION FROM VINEGAR SYNDROME

REVIEW: UMBERTO LENZI'S "THE TOUGH ONES" (1978); BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FROM GRINDHOUSE