Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Limited-Edition 35^th Anniversary Blu-ray^â„¢ Steelbook Arrives June 8, 2021

Blu-ray^â„¢ Steelbooks of Pretty In Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful Also Debut June 8

Writer/director John Hughes’ seminal comedy about a high school student’s wild adventures in the Windy City during a single, glorious day off continues to be enjoyed, quoted and revered 35 years after its theatrical debut.  Originally released on June 11, 1986, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF captures the uproarious antics of Ferris and his friends as they relish the freedom of being not quite grown up.

In celebration of the film’s 35^th anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment will release a FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF Limited-Edition Blu-ray Steelbook on June 8, 2021, which includes access to a digital copy of the film, as well as the following legacy bonus content:

·         Getting the Class Together: The Cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

·         The Making of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

·         Who is Ferris Bueller?

·         The World According to Ben Stein

·         Vintage Ferris Bueller: The Lost Tapes

·         Class Album

Matthew Broderick stars as the delightfully charming Ferris who, with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best bud Cameron (Alan Ruck), ditches school to enjoy one perfect day as a kid with no responsibilities.  In 2014, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which serves as a compendium of films that have been judged to be culturally, aesthetically or historically important. 

Two more John Hughes classics will arrive in Blu-ray Steelbooks on June 8: Pretty In Pink, which also celebrates its 35^th anniversary this year, and Some Kind of Wonderful.  Both films were written by Hughes and directed by Howard Deutch.  The Steelbooks include access to digital copies of the films, as well as previously released bonus content.

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BY TIM MCGLYNN

The Paramount Presents Series recently released The Golden Child on Blu-ray and it is a beautiful disc to behold even though the movie has a few flaws.

It’s 1986 and Eddie Murphy is riding high on the success of Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours and Trading Places and it is time to create another blockbuster for this talented star. What do you do? Well, let’s keep the same formula and feature Murphy as a hip, wisecracking hero who this time finds lost children. Then, throw in a bit of martial arts in the style of John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China and add some Asian mysticism that reminds viewers of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Make sure your lead character displays an anti-authority attitude and even include a humorous scene where he pretends to be a government official flashing a phony badge. Mix it all together and you have 1986’s The Golden Child directed by Michael Ritchie.

Hollywood loves to rehash successful formulas in the hopes that audiences will enjoy seeing the same thing over and over. The Golden Child doesn’t quite make it, however, although the talent is there both in front of and behind the camera. The magnificent Charles Dance is evil Sardo Numpsa who kidnaps a young Buddhist mystic from Nepal known simply as the Golden Child. He also just happens to be the savior of mankind. Sardo wants to channel the special powers the child possesses to advance the Dark Forces and their desire to control of the Earth.

Beautiful Kee Nang(Charlotte Lewis) sees Chandler Jarrell (Murphy) interviewed on a public access television show as a finder of lost children. Charles Levin is hilarious as the 3^rd rate TV host in this scene and is reminiscent of John Candy in Little Shop of Horrors. Kee identifies Jarrell as the Chosen One, the only person who can rescue the Golden Child from the clutches of the evil Sardo. Jarrell initially doubts his choice as the Chosen One, but joins Kee on this mission as he is intrigued by her martial arts skills and attracted to her stunning beauty. Along the way we meet a bumbling high priest played by Victor Wong who helps the pair in their mission, although he doubts they will succeed.

Randall “Tex” Cobb plays a dim but kind-hearted henchman named Til who serves as captor for the Golden Child. Til is easily distracted when his prisoner performs feats of magic in an effort to charm the big oaf. One of these tricks is the bringing to life a discarded Pepsi can in what has to be one the longest, most blatant product placements I’ve ever seen. Cobb was an odd casting choice as an Asian giant, but this was the 80s and Hollywood hadn’t become enlightened as of yet.

Kee and Jarrell do finally rescue the child, but in the process must confront Sardo and all the forces of the Dark World. The Golden Child has the ability to restore life to one who has died, but only as long as the victim is still touched by sunlight. This power becomes necessary during the final battle with Sardo and his minions.

The special effects are outstanding as they are practical and predate the CGI madness of recent films. ILM not only created the Dark World and all the evil creatures doing battle with our heroes, the company served as a producing partner for the film.

The film is bright, colorful and loud which was typical of adventure movies from the 80s. Alan Silvestri and then John Barry were the first two choices as composer but were then replaced by Michael Colombier in an effort to produce a more pop- sounding score. This works well in the Los Angeles settings but seems a bit out of place when the action switches to Nepal. This is a bit disappointing as I am a big fan of the Andrew Powell rock score for Ladyhawke that was produced by Alan Parsons.

It appears that Paramount hedged their bets when test audiences didn’t buy Jarrell as an adventure hero. Murphy was brought back for re-shoots and allowed to improvise some of his dialogue with humor in the style of Alex Foley from Beverly Hills Cop. Being a PG-13 movie, however, there is a lack of the expected profanity. This did not hinder Murphy from dressing down an uptight businessman perusing a porn magazine in one of the funniest scenes. The problem occurs when the finished film doesn’t know which route to take. Not enough humor and a compromised adventure story make this movie kind of a mess. As Archie Bunker once said on All in the Family, ‘Too much of both and not enough of neither.”

Michael Ritchie created a handsome film with first-rate cinematography and special effects. It might have been interesting to see how John Carpenter would have treated this story, as he was the original choice for director. Carpenter went on to helm Big Trouble in Little China instead.

As for the Blu-ray itself, this is one of the first offerings from the Paramount Presents series and it is magnificent. The digital transfer is outstanding with sharp contrast, dense colors and a wonderful 5.1 mix that is a bit heavy on the bass. If this is the quality continues, we’re in for a treat. Extras on the disc include The Making of The Golden Child in HD, The Chosen Ones, Daggers, Design and Demons as well as a theatrical trailer. I personally enjoy the short features on the technical aspects of adventure movies especially when practical effects are used. A commentary track would have been a nice addition, but director Ritchie is sadly no longer with us and Eddie Murphy has all but disowned this movie.

The Golden Child as a whole does have some problems, but individual scenes of action and humor are outstanding. As a gorgeous looking film presented in 1.85, my preferred aspect ratio, it is a great title to show off your video and audio components.

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN 

“Springtime in the Sierras” (1947) is one of Roy Rogers’ better movies. There are three or four great action scenes, half a dozen songs, a solid cast, including the most cold-blooded villainesses to ever show up at a Saturday matinee, and a worthy theme dealing with wildlife protection. Republic Pictures must have splurged on the budget for this one too, just for wardrobe alone. By my count Roy wore a dozen of those colorful western shirts that John McClain said he was so partial to. It’s a very cool movie but it’s a pity that most people have only seen a version of it that has 20 minutes of footage missing. A quarter of the original 75 minute version ended up on the cutting room floor back in the 1950s, when it, along with many other of Rogers’ movies, were sold to television and had to be edited to fit into a one-hour TV broadcast. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is a full-length version available. It’s not perfect but better than the alternative. We’ll get into the details later.

“Springtime in the Sierras” starts with Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers delivering a herd of horses to Jean Loring (Stephanie Bachelor) the new owner of the Lazy W ranch in the Sierra Nevada country where Roy grew up. Things seem normal at first except for an abandoned fawn that Roy finds wondering in the forest. He takes the fawn to an animal sanctuary run by his old friend, game warden Cap Foster (Harry Cheshire), where he finds the fawn’s mother dying of a gunshot wound. Foster tells him a lot of animals are being killed out of season by a gang of professional hunters who sell the illegal meat at a high profit to big city restaurants and private clubs.

Roy leaves the game warden, who puts Bambi’s mother out of her misery, and goes into town where he meets with old friends, brother and sister Bert (Harold Landon) and Taffy Baker (Jane Frazee). Taffy is gaga over Roy and while Bert seems to be glad to see Roy, there’s a dark cloud of some kind hanging over him. The next day Roy spots a hunter with a high-powered rifle and chases him through the woods. The hunter manages to get away, but Roy suspects, much to his dismay, that it was Bert. A little later, Cap Foster comes upon the gang of hunters, which, as it turns out, includes Bert, and attempts to place them under arrest. Jean Loring, with her vicious sidekick Matt Wilkes (Roy Barcroft), comes up behind Foster and take his gun. Bert is horrified when Jean aims Cap’s pistol at the game warden, saying very casually, “This might hurt a little,” and cold-bloodedly shoots him. For a movie filled with cuddly animals, and cowboy serenades, this, nonchalant burst of brutality comes as a shock. It certainly unnerves Bert, who decides he no longer wants any part of the hunting racket.

Let’s stop the action here and discuss this unusual twist in the screenplay by A. Sloan Nibley, who wrote this and several of Roy’s other flicks. Normally a writer would have had Roy Barcroft, as Jean Loring’s henchman, do the killing. But Nibley and director William Witney give the story a decidedly dark turn by having the femme fatale shoot him herself. And from that point on the story takes a decidedly weird direction, especially when Cookie Bullfincher (Andy Devine), the local photographer, tells Roy that shortly after Loring bought the ranch she had a bunch of refrigeration equipment brought in. Dum-de-dum-dum. Of course I don’t have to tell you that the freezers are used to store the illegal meat and that it won’t be too long before Roy and Bert both end up hogtied and left to turn into popsicles in one of the freezers.

While Roy and Bert freeze, Jean is all smiles hosting a big party for everyone, as a farewell tribute to the late Cap Foster no less. She was a cold one. Obviously Roy isn’t going to freeze to death, and I don’t want to give away the ending, but I will say it involves the use of a large white truck. That’s right a truck. And that’s exactly what makes Roy Rogers’ movies so unique. Up until that scene, which is near the end of the movie, we’ve seen every one riding on horseback, dressed in cowboy outfits in scenes that could have taken place in the 1880s. But now all of a sudden there’s a big 1947 Ford Box Truck in the movie and you know what? We really don’t even notice the incongruity. We’re not jolted by it because Roy Rogers’ movies take place in a world of their own. In a Roy Rogers movie, the horses and stagecoaches of the Old West exist in the same world as modern day airplanes, cars, radios and movies.

Quentin Tarantino, who is a big William Witney and Roy Rogers fan, in an interview once said Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” tops his Top Ten List of great movies, because Leone creates his own world in his films. He said Leone is a combination of “a complete film stylist, where he creates his own world, and storyteller.” The same thing is true in a good Roy Rogers film, especially those directed by Witney. They exist in Roy Rogers’ special world, and it’s a damn cool world.

While the most often seen version of “Springtime in the Sierras” is the 55-minute one, back in 2012 Film Chest released a DVD that it billed as a “restored” version “in its original Trucolor.” At the current time, it’s the only full-length version available, but if you’re expecting to see a Blu-ray quality picture in vivid color and detail, you’ll be disappointed. There’s been no attempt to clean up the DVD, and the result is something about as good as a decent VHS tape. It’s a far cry from Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray restoration of “Sunset in the West,” which has brilliant color and sharp picture detail. What has been “restored” in “Springtime in the Sierras,” apparently, is the film’s original 75-minute length. The DVD has gone out of print but is still available through Amazon and other outlets, and until someone like Kino Lorber, decides to restore it on Blu-Ray, it’s the best version available.

There’s another feature that makes this DVD even more worth checking out. As a bonus feature, there’s a copy of a 1961 Chevy Show, an Easter special starring Roy and Dale Evans, with special guests that include Charley Weaver and a rare live appearance by Martin Milner and George Maharis, the two dudes from the “Route 66” TV series. They actually do a live Chevy commercial—something they never did on “Route 66,” even though Chevrolet sponsored the adventures of the two guys in the Corvette. Maharis, who was trying to launch a singing career at the time, gets to sing “Free and Easy.” It’s a real curiosity. Does anybody do Easter specials anymore?

So there it is—the good the bad and the ugly of “Springtime in the Sierras.” All in all, it’s a DVD worth owning until a truly “restored” version becomes available. Happy Trails.

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

BY DOUG OSWALD

“WWII: Behind the Front Lines of the War that Shook the World” is a six-DVD set comprising three documentaries released by Mill Creek Entertainment. While the first documentary in the set is about WWII, the second, “Combat Aircrafts,” is a five-part series tracing the history of aviation from the pioneers to modern military aircraft and partially touches on the topic of WWII. The third, “Waves of Freedom,” is a documentary film about American volunteers who helped break the British blockade of Palestine in 1947.

“The Finest Hours of the Second World War” is a 21-part series originally released in 2009 and is a Spanish American co-production from Pacific Media. Written and directed by Jose Delgado, the film footage shot during the war is mostly familiar to those of us who have enjoyed watching similar documentaries over the years. Each episode is about 52-minutes long and was probably designed to fit an hour long time slot. The series begins with events leading up to WWII starting with the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Each episode focuses on one aspect of the war and explains in detail the motivations and mistakes behind the memorable moments of World War II in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific.

The series is narrated by Drew Crosby with the original Spanish narrator, Jose Ma del Rio, also credited. Unfortunately, there is not a Spanish language track or subtitles on this set. The narration is presumably translated from Spanish and the English speaking narrator has a distinctive diction. Crosby places the wrong emphasis on the syllables of certain words, such as strategist, which can be distracting and results in what my high school French teacher called spastic speech. Other than that, the research is sound and when combined with the film and maps, makes for a very interesting take on the war.

Unfortunately, the presentation is in full frame and is also letterboxed on top of that, resulting in a small image area and cropped film footage on the top and bottom. Movies in this era used the full frame ratio of 1.33:1. I found it best to leave the picture as is because messing with it to fit a contemporary wide screen monitor contributed to more fuzziness in a product which is not high definition. The image quality is okay and what you’d expect from film of this era going on 80 years. Overall, the picture and sound were fine, but the image area was distracting. Music and sound effects credited to Rosa Perez & Bakery Publishing were also good. In what is often silent film footage, they added the sounds of men, machinery, gun fire and other sounds of war one would expect which brings the film to life. All 21 episodes are presented on four discs with “The Dawn of War” made up of 11 episodes spread over two discs and “The Fight for Freedom” making up the remaining 10 episodes on the next two discs.

The second documentary, “Combat Aircrafts,” is a five-part series on the history of military aviation with two parts devoted to WWII. This documentary series was also produced by Pacific Media and co-written and directed by Jose Delgado in 2010. Each episode is 52 minutes in length and relies on mostly black and white archival footage. The series is narrated by Drew Crosby with the original Spanish narrator, J. Angel Juares, also credited. The narration has the same issues as the previous title starting with the title which is spelled out on screen as “Combat Aircrafts” and pronounced in the narration as “Combat Aircraft.” It would have been helpful if a native English speaker with knowledge of WWII and military aircraft had proof reviewed the product prior to releasing it to the English speakers. I’m not certain where this was originally presented, but my guess is it was sold independently to various cable television and broadcast outlets. Overall, the presentation is good, presented in full frame, this time without letterboxing the image area. Each episode held my interest in spite of the distraction in the pronunciation style of the narration. All five episodes are presented on one disc.

“Waves of Freedom” is a documentary film about Americans recruited to smuggle Jewish refugees into Palestine which was still controlled by the British in 1947. The men were a combination of Merchant Marine and U.S. Navy veterans of WWII of mostly Jewish background who were recruited on a secret mission to bring European Jewish refugees into Palestine which would soon become the nation of Israel. Made for television in 2008, the documentary was written, directed and co-produced by Alan Rosenthal and is narrated by Antony Thomas. The film clocks in at 52 minutes and features excellent picture and sound quality in the full frame presentation which uses a combination of archival black and white footage from the post-war period and contemporary interviews with the men who took part in the mission which are filmed in color. The movie is presented on its own disc.

The discs on this set offer no supplements of any kind. The set is hard to recommend with so many other better offerings on the same topics. The third stand alone documentary, “Waves of Freedom,” is the documentary of greatest interest, but it doesn’t have much to do with the other programs in this set. (This release also includes digital copies.)

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Latest Addition to the Paramount Presents Line Debuts June 1, 2021 with New Special Features

The endlessly quotable and unforgettable drama MOMMIE DEAREST celebrates its 40^th anniversary with a brand-new Blu-ray in the Paramount Presents line, debuting June 1, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Newly restored from a 4K film transfer, MOMMIE DEAREST is presented in a limited-edition Blu-ray Discâ„¢ with collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments.  The Blu-ray includes a new Filmmaker Focus with biographer Justin Bozung on the film and its director Frank Perry, a new audio commentary with American drag queen Hedda Lettuce, access to a Digital copy of the film, as well as previously released bonus content.  Special features are detailed below:

·         Commentary by American drag queen Hedda Lettuce –NEW!

·         Filmmaker Focus: Biographer Justin Bozung on director Frank Perry –NEW!

·         Commentary by filmmaker John Waters

·         The Revival of Joan

·         Life with Joan

·         Joan Lives On

·         Photo Gallery

·         Original Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis

Based on Christina Crawford’s controversial best-selling tell-all novel, MOMMMIE DEAREST features a powerhouse performance by Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford, struggling for her career while battling the inner demons of her private life. While the public Crawford was a strong-willed, glamorous object of admiration, behind the scenes is a private Crawford—the woman desperate to be a single mother and trying to survive in a devastating industry that swallows careers thoughtlessly.

About Paramount Presents

This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library.  Every Paramount Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive collectible packaging.  Additional titles available in the Paramount Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court Jester, Love Story, Elizabethtown, and The Greatest Show on Earth.

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BY FRED BLOSSER

“Rosebud” (1975), Otto Preminger’s next-to-last film, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in a 2K Blu-ray restoration. In the political thriller, a terrorist cell kidnaps five teenaged girls from a luxury yacht, the “Rosebud” of the title. The kidnappers are members of Black September, an extremist Palestinian faction -- a reference that would have been better known by audiences then than now. Their reasons for seizing the young women become clearer as they open communications with the girls’ parents, an international power elite of politicians, industrialists, and financiers. Sending along a film of the five young women on the deck of the commandeered yacht, nude and shivering, the terrorists dictate that it be televised as a prelude to a series of demands that will demean Israel and it allies on the global stage. If the demands aren’t met as each is put on the table, the girls will be killed one by one.

Fargeau (Claude Dauphin), the grandfather of one of the hostages, engages Larry Martin (Peter O’Toole), a Newsweek correspondent, to advise on the negotiations. It seems to be an open secret that Martin’s press badge is only a subterfuge. He’s actually a CIA operative. Playfully, Martin neither confirms nor denies involvement with U.S. intelligence as he holds down his desk at Newsweek’s Paris bureau. It’s a little like the movies where James Bond’s cover story as a salesman for Universal Export never fools anyone. Helped by an Israeli Mossad agent, Yafet (Cliff Gorman), and calling on his friends in West German intelligence, Martin begins multi-tasking several challenges at once. It’s a daunting checklist but he takes it in stride, much as the rest of us would balance our weekly chores: Find the teenage hostages, who are being held in an undisclosed bunker. Design and execute a rescue plan. In the meantime, counsel the parents on strategies to buy time as various political hurdles arise. And locate and neutralize the elusive mastermind of the kidnapping, Sloat (Richard Attenborough), a wealthy, radicalized convert to Islam. Because the girls are being held in one-far flung location and Sloat is hiding somewhere else, the job becomes even more complicated.

Critics were primed to savage “Rosebud” when it opened on March 24, 1975, after months of behind-the-scenes cast changes, script revisions, and other production difficulties. They didn’t disappoint. “Incoherent plotting,” “ineptitude,” “Idiotic,” and “flaccid” were some of their kinder comments. Preminger’s stunt casting of former New York Mayor John V. Lindsay came in for particular derision. As a U.S. Senator whose daughter (Kim Cattrall, in her movie debut) is one of the kidnapped girls, Lindsay’s “manner of looking worried is to look elegant,” Vincent Canby joked in his New York Times review. Never mind it’s a relatively small role that required Lindsay to do little more than look elegantly worried anyway. Besides, where would Hollywood be without stunt casting?

Robert Mitchum was originally set to play Larry Martin, but he quit (or was sent packing) after he and Preminger clashed. Enter Peter O’Toole. Probably anticipating that fussy viewers would wonder why a CIA operative looks and sounds British, the script pointedly calls Martin a “mercenary.” The implication is that he’s a freelancer on retainer, not technically a CIA employee of U.S. citizenship.

Rumpled and unruffled, O’Toole delivers a sharp performance that’s nicely counterbalanced by Attenborough’s icy turn as the fanatical Sloat and Gorman’s as the intense Israeli agent. The cover of the KL Studio Classics Blu-ray reproduces the original poster artwork of assault rifles, machine guns, and nudity. The collage promises a strong dose of exploitative action, but the script by Erik Lee Preminger and Marjorie Kellogg is primarily a meticulous, gather-the-clues espionage drama. It’s more John Le Carre than “Die Hard.” Martin and his associates are too busy sifting through aerial photographs, geologic charts, and eyewitness statements to provoke any premature shootouts with their adversaries. Once they have the evidence they need, they decide that their objectives -- rescuing the kidnapped girls and apprehending the mastermind -- are better accomplished using subtlety, not large-scale confrontation. The critics called it boring, but the scenes move at a nice pace, and fans who favor movie brains over brawn will be pleased.

There’s also less nudity than the art suggests, at least in the U.S. version offered in the KL Studio Classics print, where the girls are briefly shown from the back as they’re herded on deck to be filmed. Reportedly, an alternative print for other markets depicted full-frontal nudity. It isn’t likely that, today, in the #MeToo era, filmmakers would enact a similar scenario about victimized young women, nudity or not. Sadly, other things haven’t changed in the past 46 years, except for the worse, as Middle Eastern conflicts continue to take a dreadful human toll.

The handsome Kino Lorber disc of “Rosebud” may inspire home video enthusiasts to visit Preminger’s late-career film and reappraise its virtues and shortcomings for themselves. Special features include the theatrical trailer and a full, informative audio commentary by filmmaker/historian Daniel Kremer.

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

BY LEE PFEIFFER

"The High Cost of Loving" is yet another worthy film that has been plucked from obscurity by the Warner Archive. The 1958 comedy offered a rare starring role to Jose Ferrer as well as an opportunity for him to direct a feature film. Ferrer plays Jim Fry, a 15 year veteran of working diligently in the purchasing department for a mid-size company. He is frustrated with the corporate red tape that inhibits productivity but is overall happy in his work as well as with his home life. Why not? He's in his late 40's and his wife Ginny (Gena Rowlands in her big screen debut) is a ravishing blonde beauty twenty years younger than him (though the poster for the film simply ignores this and refers to them as the "young couple".) The film opens on an amusing note that will be familiar to many working couples. We see Jim and Ginny go through their morning workday rituals in an almost robotic fashion, barely saying a word to each other as they each perform their unspoken duties. He gets breakfast ready, she serves him orange juice in the shower. They both sit silently at the table, each taking a quick read of sections from the newspaper. They both climb into their vehicles and pull out of the garage in tandem before, each en route to their jobs. Ginny, against the fashion of the day, has her own career working at a small company. Jim still considers himself a rising star in his own company, a conceit that is reinforced by the news that his employer is being taken over by a much larger corporation. Warned that this often results in layoffs, Jim feels he is immune. He also isn't sympathetic to those who might lose their jobs, attributing it to social Darwinism and "the law of the jungle". 

Jim's smug attitude goes into a nosedive when he discovers that virtually all of his fellow executives have been summoned to a forthcoming luncheon as a get-acquainted meeting with the new brass. The problem is that he didn't receive the invitation. Assuming it must have been a mistake, he pretends he did receive it and joins in all the backslapping among his colleagues who view this as a way to make a good impression on the new bosses and rise the corporate ladder. As the days pass, it becomes apparent an invitation isn't in the cards for him. His concern turns to paranoia as he tries to analyze why all his years of devoted service have resulted in him being bypassed. He becomes obsessed to the point that he barely acknowledges Ginny's news that she is pregnant, something that both have been hoping for quite some time. (Although the film hints at sexual activity, the prudish norms of the time in the film industry relegates both husband and wife to separate beds.)  To bolster his spirits, Jim's best friend from the office, Steve Heyward (Bobby Troupe) arranges for he and his wife Syd (Joanne Gilbert) to go to dinner with Jim and Ginny. However, the evening is ruined by Syd's incessant chatter about the importance of the corporate luncheon, which she doesn't realize Jim has not been invited to. The script plays out predictably with Jim interpreting every action (or inaction) of his new bosses as a sign that he is about to be fired. He looks up an old business contact in hopes of getting a new job but not only are there none open, but he is warned that in terms of his age, he might be considered "over the hill" in the corporate world. Now enraged, Jim plans to have a showdown with the brass and tell him what he thinks of them, unaware that his snub from the luncheon was due to a bureaucratic mistake that they intend to rectify. 

"The High Cost of Loving" is a modest production shot in B&W on a fairly low budget (most of the scenes are studio interiors). However, the movie signifies that paranoia about one's place in their jobs is not a new phenomenon and that discrimination based on age in the corporate world is also a long-standing concern. There is also plenty of sexism that never gets addressed. When she announces she is pregnant, Jim orders Ginny to quit her job ASAP. The corporate world is made up entirely of men in management positions and bosses refer to keeping an eye out for good "men" they can promote. All of the women in the office are clearly in secretarial positions. Ferrer gives a wonderful performance (did he ever not?) and has a deft hand at the comedic elements of the script. He never allows the characters to depend on slapstick or one-liners to get a quick laugh. They all talk the way real people would in the circumstances. There is also a great deal of pathos involved as Jim comes to a life lesson that no one should define the worth of their character  on the basis of a specific job. The film boasts a wonderful supporting cast with Rowlands displaying the star qualities that would serve her well in the years to come. There are also some fun appearances by TV sitcom stars of the future including Jim Backus ("Gilligan's Island"), Werner Klemperer ("Hogan's Heroes"), Edward Platt ("Get Smart") and uncredited appearances by Nancy Kulp ("The Beverly Hillbillies") and Richard Deacon ("The Dick Van Dyke Show" and the only character in the film allowed to go a bit over the top.)

The film is not only delightful but unexpectedly poignant. The DVD includes the original trailer.  

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Cinema Retro continues to shine the spotlight on independent films of merit. 

BY GIACOMO SELLONI

Written by Lucie Borleteau, Clara Bourreau, and Mathilde Boisseleau

Directed by Lucie Borleteau

In French and English with English subtitles.

Alice Lesage is a woman with her life in flux. We first meet her, swimming nude, on a secluded, rocky beach watched by her lover and fiancé. She is approaching thirty and engaged to Felix Bjornsen, a Norwegian cartoonist. She seems happy and at ease. But Alice has a strange occupation for a woman. She is an engineer on a freighter charged with keeping the ship's engines healthy. She's a very good one. But she is a lovely young woman, the only woman on a new assignment on a ship that's new to her, the Fidelio. It may be the name of the ship but it may also be viewed as an omen, Fidelio is eerily similar to the French word "fidèle," which translates into English as "faithful."

She boards the ship only to find the captain is, Gaël Levasseur, her first love. Even in her dirty, blue, grease-stained overalls, she is an appealing woman. Her competency at her job (she is the second engineer) just makes her moreso. Can a young woman, with a woman's heart, desires and longings who will be away from home and Felix for three months, visiting many ports remain faithful?

Ariane Labed is charming as Alice. Melvil Poupaud as Captain Levasseur strikes all the right notes as her temptaion on the ship. Watching them dance around their feelings is intoxicating. When the obvious happens and Felix discovers it, their relationship seems doomed. Anders Danielsen Lie as Felix, is superbly understated as a man in pain from being cuckolded. When home with her family and Felix she receives a new, unexpected offer. The first engineer of the ship has passed away and the position is offered to her.Originally released in 2014 Fidelio, Alice's Odyssey won a number of film festival awards for Lebed and Lucie Borleteau. Well deserved for both. I found the film compelling and the lack of a resolution made me want more of the triangle.

Warning. There are sexual situations and full frontal nudity (both sexes) in the film.

The film rated 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and is available on ITunes and OVID.tv.

BY HANK REINEKE

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from half-a century or more of watching Hollywood films, it’s this; the distant future is no place in time I wish to visit. This pandemic of 2020-2021 aside, the future Tinsel Town promises is made up of things far worse: robots gone crazy, desolate landscapes, warring hordes of mutants and an assortment of post-nuclear zombies running amuck. And that’s not to mention, of course, the bland and unfashionable unisex leotards we’ll all be expected to wear as uniforms. So I stand firm in this conviction and, truth be told, Ib Melchior’s The Time Travelers (American International Pictures, 1964) does little to convince me that I’m wrong.

Melchior’s story is OK. A laboratory accident allows a team of scientists to be catapulted from 5 July 1964 to one hundred and seven years in the future. This event is the result of an overzealous technician pushing the already overloaded circuit board to maximum power. In doing so, the fuses spark and give out. This turn of events is unfortunate as it allows a free floating, collapsible portal to suddenly appear. If you are stupid enough to walk through the portal… Well, it’s a one-way trip. Once entered, the awkwardly hanging portal does not allow anyone to return to the humdrum existences of the present day. This, we’re told, is due to the presence of a circular electrically-charged force field barrier that prevents such return.

The scientists soon learn that the desolate, bleak and rocky landscape they’re walking through is planet Earth. The only difference is that it’s now the year 2071 and Earth is dying, the remnants of mankind huddled together for their own safety. We’re told that this unfortunate situation was caused by “man’s own folly,” and the spliced-in stock footage of atomic-bomb blasts pretty much explain how the handful of remaining humans found themselves in their present situation. The survivors have spent most of their time living in subterranean caves. They pass the time by fighting off radiation-scarred mutants who continually try to gain entrance to their shelters so they can rip them to pieces.

Actually, they do little of the fighting themselves. To defend themselves from the mutant-barbarians, the survivors have engineered a race of androids with inverted football-shaped heads to battle it out for them. Sure, they might have committed themselves to take up arms in their own defense. But they’ve been pre-occupied with other matters. They’re building a big starship that – if all goes well – will jettison all of them - sans-mutants - to another solar system and the planet of Alpha Centauri. They reckon it will be a long flight, but Alpha Centauri is the best they can hope for, gas being the price it is. It’s the only other planet – that they’re aware of, at least - that can sustain human-life due to its Earth-like atmosphere.

The problem is one less altruistic and self-serving member of the survivor community is convinced that the starship - as presently designed - will be unable to handle the additional weight of the four time travelers who arrived at an inopportune time due to a stumble through a time portal. So he has plans to leave behind the new and uninvited visitors from 1964 to fend for themselves.

I like bad vintage sci-fi as much as the next guy, but The Time Travelers isn’t a particularly riveting film. Even with a running time of some eighty-four minutes the film seems much longer. You’ll likely be hitting the “Pause” button a few times for a run to the kitchen for a hot snack or a cold beverage. Unless you’re on a strict diet, of course, whereupon you will be glancing incessantly at a clock while pondering if the minute hand is broken. Time seems to be passing by much too slowly. On the surface, The Time Travelers seems a late starter to the glory days of Silver-Age 1950’s sci-fi which – all things considered – should be a good thing. Except in this case it’s not.

Melchior’s screenplay is, at best, workmanlike and the film’s direction is pretty listless (His co-written script for another 1964 film, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, in far more intriguing). The camera of Director of Photography William Zsigmond frustratingly lingers over long-shots of protracted length as people and mutants lumber through the desolate stone canyons of Barstow, California. No one could ever confuse the editing of Hal Dennis to be hyper-kinetic since the completed film’s pacing is, to put it mildly, pretty sluggish throughout. Out of curiosity – and a guilty sense that my own opinion of Melchior’s film might be overly harsh and unfair - I decided to look up the original November 1964 Daily Variety review of the film. I have to say, I can find no fault or hold an opinion contrary to that journal’s own critic: “David Hewitt’s effects are stagey and William Zsigmond’s camera work and Hal Dennis’ editing is so-so.” (Zsigmond would ultimately redeem himself and go on to become a legend in his field.)

There are far too many moments in this film where we wish – and wait – for anything interesting to happen. Melchior’s screenplay, from a story by David Hewitt and himself, is ponderous and predictable. There is a sense that the story might evolve into something when a non-mutant survivor of the nuclear holocaust tries to find refuge in the caves with his brethren. Instead of being welcomed and rescued, he is turned away due to a suspicion of “outsiders” and plain ol’ human selfishness. But this sub-scenario examination of the failures of human empathy and compassion passes by without much fuss or notice.

On the plus side, Melchior’s film may have inspired a couple of future filmmakers to more fully develop ideas proposed here for their own films and TV series. Sexual pleasure in 2071 comes courtesy of a partner-less “Love Machine” that allows survivors who – due to the present lack of resources - need to suppress their emotional and sexual desires until they all land on Alpha Centauri. In the meantime, they can get their rocks off in a more mechanical way, without the messiness or warmth of a human partner. Could this have been the genesis of Woody Allen’s “Orgasmatron” in Sleeper?

And while the tech-minded survivors have not been able to construct a starship capable of handling an extra six-hundred pounds of human cargo, they have succeeded in building a neat matter transporter. This transporter would precede that of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek series by a couple of years. Melchior’s transporter is less dynamic in presentation, making subjects lie sown in a supine position ala a rotisserie chicken, before being whisked away to… Well, to wherever, but mostly not all that far from the place they began.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

If you're among the very few who were impressed by John Wayne's performance as Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror", you'll be delighted to know that the obscure 1978 film "The Norseman" has been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber in collaboration with Scorpion and it affords an abundance of delights that range from similar historical inaccuracies along with the inventive casting of a leading man in what would appear to be a highly inappropriate role. We speak of Lee Majors- yes, that Lee Majors- who had been enjoying considerable success on the small screen as "The Six-Million Dollar Man". Now, Majors wouldn't be the first actor to come to mind to star in a film about Vikings, but, hey, if you accepted the Duke as Genghis Khan, you'll have no problem with Majors in this particular role. Like many actors who found fame and fortune on the small screen, Majors obviously wished to expand his influence to the silver screen. After all, Tony Curtis had been overcoming being severely miscast for many years and made favorable impressions in "Spartacus" and- wait for it!- "The Vikings", playing heroic slaves in both films despite his undisguised New Yawk accent. Majors, a native of Michigan, attempts the same feat here, but alas, with less successful results. He plays Thorvald (presumably no relation to the Marvel Comics hero Thor, but you get the drift), a deadly earnest Viking warrior who is on a mission of rescue and revenge. Seems his father, King Eurich (Mel Ferrer,) set sail to seek out new lands for conquest and he and his crew haven't been heard from since. Thus,Thorvald and his crew attempt to retrace his route in hopes of finding and rescuing him. When they finally reach their destination, you may be perplexed as to why it looks a great deal like Florida. That's because the film was shot in Florida, despite the fact that Vikings didn't get within thousands of miles of the future Disney World. They are instantly attacked by an Indian tribe, which leads to one of the dullest action scenes in memory. Turns out ol' King Eurich and his not-so-merry men have been held captive by the particularly cruel chief of the tribe, who has systematically blinded them and forced them to work as slaves. With the help of a vivacious tribal maiden (are there any other kind in movies of this type?), Thorvald locates his dad and constructs a "Mission: Impossible"-type plan to free him and escape.

The film was written, produced and directed by Charles B. Pierce, who had gained a good deal of credence through his atmospheric 1972 cult horror films "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", both of which proved to be extremely successful for low-budget independent films. This time around, however, Pierce eschewed the horror film genre that had served him well in favor or making a horrible film, albeit one with plenty of camp appeal and an abundance of unintended knee-slapping dialogue. The first problem is that the viewer can't avoid being distracted by the sight of Vikings cavorting through Floridian terrain. The second problem is Majors in the lead role. As with Duke Wayne's Genghis Khan, he makes no effort to affect an exotic accent and delivers the dialogue in his normal Midwestern accent in a bored, somnambulatory manner, as though he began to have second thoughts about starring in the film the moment the cameras started turning. Among the other victims is the esteemed Cornell Wilde, a fine actor and director, who is reduced to playing Majors' right-hand Viking and shouting out innocuous orders to the crew. Mel Ferrer is made up in a long white wig and beard that seems to be channeling Christopher Lee's future appearances in "The Lord of the Rings" films. Director Charles Pierce cast his son Chuck as Majors' teenage brother, through whose eyes the tale is told. Debutante actress Susie Coelhoe is the helpful maiden Winetta, who gets to dash through the Florida swamps in a sexy one-piece number that seems to be the Viking era equivalent of the mini-skirt centuries before the design was ripped off by those rogues on Carnaby Street. Contemporary American football star Deacon Jones of the Los Angeles Rams doesn't escape unscathed, either. He's bizarrely cast in a nondescript role that includes a single line of dialogue, which unfortunately doesn't explain how his character became history's only African-American Viking. Rounding out the hodgepodge of veteran and novice actors is Jack Elam (!) as a wizened Viking prophet who is shrouded in a hood so that, we are told, his face can never be seen (despite the fact that his face is plainly visible throughout the film.) It should be noted that many of the Viking characters are attired in horned headgear, which actual Vikings did not wear. It seems that director Pierce's historical research didn't extend beyond Hagar the Horrible comic strips. The best news for Lee Majors was that the film never hurt his career, probably because so few people saw it. He went on to star in another hit TV series, "The Fall Guy" with his reputation unscathed.

Although one can be sarcastic about wacky movies such as "The Norseman", it must be said that it's a good thing that companies such as Kino Lorber and Scorpion devote time, energy and resources to keep them in circulation. Even bad films don't deserve the dignity of falling into oblivion and this one is fun to watch, even if for all the wrong reasons. The Blu-ray features a very nice transfer with the trailer and a trailer gallery of other Scorpion releases as the only extras.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Own 14 of John Wayne's Most Essential Films in One Collection for the First Time

Relive some of the greatest performances by legendary actor John Wayne with the JOHN WAYNE ESSENTIAL 14-MOVIE COLLECTION, arriving on DVD May 11, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

An American hero and icon, Wayne had an epic, 50-year film career in which he played the lead in over 140 films. He was nominated^* for three Academy Awards®, winning the Best Actor award for his performance in True Grit.

Representing Paramount’s biggest John Wayne collection ever, this 14-movie set spans nearly 25 years of Wayne’s exceptional career and includes his only Oscar®-winning performance in True Grit and his final lead role in The Shootist. Encompassing epic stories of integrity and dramatic battles of will, these fan-favorites capture the virtue, courage, and humor of an American original.

The films in the DVD collection are:

• · Hondo (1953)
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• · Island in the Sky (1953)
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• · The High and the Mighty (1954)
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• · The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
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• · Hatari! (1962)
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• · Donovan’s Reef (1963)
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• · McLintock! (1963)
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• · In Harm’s Way (1965)
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• · The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
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• · El Dorado (1966)
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• · True Grit (1969)
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• · Rio Lobo (1970)
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• · Big Jake (1971)
• 
  
• · The Shootist (1976)

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DVD REVIEW: "THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT" (1945) STARRING JACK BENNY

STREAMING REVIEW: "EASY MONEY" (1983) STARRING RODNEY DANGERFIELD AND JOE PESCI (AMAZON PRIME)