Click here to visit the Movie Mags web site, which features an impressive data base of cover illustrations from the legendary ABC Film Review magazine. The now sadly defunct publication entertained British moviegoers for decades with the latest film industry news, reviews and great photos. The site features hundreds of cover illustrations from the 1950s-1972. Click on the thumbnail cover images on the site to enlarge them.

In the 1960s, musicians Ferrante & Teicher were the kings of cover versions of film score soundtracks. n record stores, racks were filled with their albums. In this June, 1964 segment from "The Ed Sullivan" show they perform Riz Ortolani's main theme from director Lewis Gilbert's Cold War political thriller "The 7th Dawn" which starred William Holden, Capucine and Tetsuro Tamba. 

The American Archive of Television presents this marvelous archival interview with Jonathan Harris, who discusses how he came to be cast in Irwin Allen's "Lost in Space". We won't spill the beans but his recollections of meeting with the ingenious but eccentric Allen, who created and produced the series, are hilarious. 

Director Mark Robson's film adaptation of the novel "Von Ryan's Express" is one of the best war films of its era. The trailer is also very good, if you can withstand the hokey, over-the-top narration!

What a year it was! In 1966, you could see the following movies playing locally in Winnipeg, Canada: Dean Martin as Matt Helm in The Silencers, James Coburn as Our Man Flint, The Trouble With Angels, Carry on Cleo, The Sound of Music and a quadruple feature of monsters flicks: Die Monster, Die, Eegah, Tomb of Ligeia and Planet of the Vampires. 

Here's a look at the life and career of Humphrey Bogart illustrated with some great still photos.

From Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell":

Although Charles Bronson had been making movies for nearly 25 years and was quite popular in Europe, this international smash hit made him a superstar for the rest of his career. Michael Winner's provocative saga of a grieving father's vigilante vengeance became a Nixon-era touchstone that engendered four increasingly exploitative sequels over the next two decades. Hard to imagine what originally slated director Sidney Lumet would have made of this with Jack Lemmon in the lead.

As always, you can find more commentaries, more reviews, more podcasts, and more deep-dives into the films you don't know you love yet over on the Trailers From Hell mothership: http://www.trailersfromhell.com

Here's a wonderful blast from the past: the 1983 TV telecast of "All Star Party for Frank Sinatra". 

Here's a blog devoted entirely to director William Friedkin's 1977 masterpiece "Sorcerer". The film bombed with critics and the public when first released but has acquired an enthusiastic following over the decades. Friedkin told Cinema Retro that it was his favorite among all of his films. (See issue #29 for an exclusive interview with Friedkin about the film.) The web site showcases a really cool "Sorcerer" T shirt. 

If the 1960s was the era of spy movie mania, the 1970s was an era of "rogue cop" movies. Seemingly everyone was in on the act and that included John Wayne, who teamed with director John Sturges for the first and only time for "McQ". The Duke played a Seattle detective who is combating corruption in the police department. The film boasted a good script and a fine supporting cast. Here's a highlight from the film. (Lee Pfeiffer)

Click here to order the Blu-ray from Amazon. 

Retro movie historian Mike Malloy presents some vintage interviews in which Henry Silva and Fred Willilamson share their memories of working with Lee Van Cleef.

In this classic clip from the 1967 WWII film "The Dirty Dozen", the late, great Jim Brown shows he could command the big screen with the same assurance that he commanded the football field with as a legendary athlete.

This episode of the marvelous web series "Behind the Stunts" looks at producer Euan Lloyd's classic 1978 British adventure film "The Wild Geese" starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger and Stewart Granger, who was lured out of retirement for the movie. The film is one of the best macho flicks of its era and boasts incredible stunts, which are recounted here by some of the people who performed them.

Here's a blast from the past:  In August, 1966, Boxoffice magazine reported on the opening of a new, state-of-the-art 900+ seat movie theater: the Winchester in Lubbock, Texas. The description reads:

"It was constructed at a cost of about $250,000...Exterior finish of the the theatre is of face brick, Egyptian stucco and glass. From the 400-vehicle paved parking area, lighted and supervised, at the front of the Winchester, patrons enter the theatre under the canopy protection of a drive-through portico. (There is) an elaborate box office, with inside and outside service windows for convenience and a refreshment center highlights the foyer. Year around air-conditioning comfort-controls the entire structure. The projection room, with an all-transistor Century sound system, is equipped for all processes, including Cinerama. Projectors are Century with Strong Futura lamps...The 1,820- square-foot screen measures 28 x 65 feet. There is no stage. Invitational previews of the theatre and showings of the premiere attraction, "Doctor Zhivago", were held on August 16 and 17 and formal opening for the general public-a sellout- was held on August 18. A full house of dignitaries and opinion-makers, industry representatives, and Lubbock press, radio and television people were guests for the Tuesday affair."