Joe Dante's addictive Trailers from Hell presents producer Roger Corman narrating the trailer for his 1966 smash hit The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra. Corman reveals some amusing anecdotes about the making of the film, including a death threat he received from the actual Hell's Angels. Watch the trailer and learn how the ever-resourceful Corman persuaded them that it wouldn't be financially profitable for the Angels to murder him.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE "TRAILERS FROM HELL" WEB SITE AND ENJOY HUNDREDS OF OTHER CLASSIC TRAILERS.

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC.

BY MARK CERULLI 

Like the old-time movie serials, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom picks up shortly after the previous film ends to keep the overall story going. The famous resort is now in shambles, slowly being reclaimed by the jungle and the surviving dinosaurs have been left to die out on Isla Nublar. The screenplay by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow (who directed the previous film) cleverly incorporates the current spirit of environmentalism with a raging debate to save the remaining dinosaurs, or let them die out again. When the island’s volcano erupts (shades of the current situation in Hawaii) a private foundation headed by the partner of the park’s original founder, John Hammond, comes to the rescue...

Armed with deep pockets and the best of intentions, the partner (James Cromwell) enlists former Jurassic World staffers Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) to round up as many dinosaurs as possible for transfer to a sanctuary. Joined by a computer whiz (Justice Smith) to help locate the valuable creatures, they meet up with a gritty capture team headed by Jamie Gumb himself (Ted Levine). They have a, um, different agenda: selling dinosaurs to the highest bidder! Sure enough, a double-cross ensues and the dinosaurs, including many of the most dangerous species, are on their way to an auction deep below the partner’s remote mansion. Here the film combines the best of a Jurassic Park adventure with elements of a haunted house – including that trailer clip scene of a carnivore’s giant claw tapping on the floor.

Howard and Pratt, although strong, are overshadowed by the real “heroes” of this film - the incredibly lifelike CGI dinosaurs. In fact, they carry most of the story as the human actors dodge lava explosions and giant snapping jaws.

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC.

Director J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls) keeps the action swift and unrelenting – although he slows it enough to include a haunting scene of a doomed brontosaurus left behind on the Island’s dock as the last transport ship pulls out. Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as the eccentric mathematician, Dr. Ian Malcolm – although his scenes are confined to a senate hearing room. B.D. Wong returns to the series after a 25-year absence. (Somehow, he barely looks a day older!)

While nothing can equal the game-changing impact of the 1993 original, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is another high-octane installment of what will undoubtedly be a long and successful franchise.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens nationwide on Friday, June 22 From Universal Pictures.

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. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

For years, John Travolta pursued his dream of portraying the late New York crime boss John Gotti in a high profile biopic. The long, torturous road to the big screen took seven years before the film was finally released. Travolta had been brought on early due to his star power and passion for the project but despite the actor's extraordinary and often creative ways of publicizing the film, it has fallen flat at the boxoffice. The Hollywood Reporter attributes this to almost universally poor critic's reviews, although audience surveys indicate that those who have seen it viewed the film favorably. The production had to cope with inexperienced producers and patchy financing agreements before filming was completed in 2016. Lionsgate, the studio behind the theatrical distribution, got cold feet about releasing the movie, thus leading to further complications as alternate partnerships and financing had to be found to secure the theatrical engagements. For the story, click here.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray edition of the little-remembered 1970 romantic comedy "How Do I Love Thee?" The film's primary distinction is the interesting teaming of Jackie Gleason and Maureen O'Hara. By this point in his career, Gleason was a force of nature in the American entertainment business. When his variety show went off the air, CBS couldn't induce him to do another series so the network actually paid him not to work for any other network. When you get paid a fortune not to work, you know you're doing something right. Gleason had settled in Miami Beach in the early 1960s as one of the demands he made of CBS in return for doing his variety show. The location offered what Gleason liked most: sun, golf, plenty of drinking establishments and no shortage of beautiful young women. Gleason's impact on elevating Miami Beach's popularity was notable. It was widely believed that the city's rebirth as a hip destination as opposed to a retirement destination was due in part to Gleason referring to Miami Beach as "The sun and fun capital of the world!". Gleason, like his contemporary Dean Martin, had long ago tired of working very hard. If you wanted him, the mountain had to come to Mohammed, so to speak. Thus, it's no coincidence that "How Do I Love Thee?" was filmed in Miami Beach, thereby ensuring Gleason prime opportunities for maximizing his play time and minimizing his work before the cameras. (Gleason had a photographic memory and famously refused to rehearse very much, often to the consternation of his co-stars).

The film focuses on the character of Tom Waltz (Rick Lenz), a twenty-something professor who is rising up the ladder at his university. He's a got a nice house and a beautiful wife, Marion (Rosemary Forsyth) but when we first meet him, he's filled with anxiety. Seems that while visiting the "miracle" site of Lourdes in France, his father Walt (Jackie Gleason) has suffered a major health crisis. Tom's mother Elsie (Maureen O'Hara) implores Tom to race over to France and visit his father, who seems to be dying. Tom wants to go but Marion reminds him of the lifetime of contentious situations he has endured with his father and tells him that this is just another method of Walt trying to gain attention. Indeed, as we see through a series of flashbacks, Walt is a real handful. He owns his own moving company but still has to break his back loading and lifting furniture all day long. He has a pretty fractious relationship with Elsie, largely due to her strong religious convictions that conflict with his atheism. As young boy, Tom witnesses a lot of fighting in the household. When he accompanies his dad on jobs, he discovers that his father is not the devoted family man he thought he was- especially when he witnesses Walt trying to seduce a ditzy social activist and amateur photographer (Shelly Winters in typical over-the-top Shelly Winters mode) who is one of his clients. Walt is similar in nature to Willy Lohman of "Death of a Salesman" in that both men are past their prime but working harder than ever to provide for their family. Walt is a good man, but he's subject to self-imposed crises generally related to his short temper, drinking habits and flirtatious nature. Ultimately, Tom opts to take the trip to Lourdes, even though Marion threatening to divorce him over his decision. The majority of the tale is told in flashbacks that present some moderately amusing situations and some poignant dramatic scenes as well. There's also a good dose of sexual humor, typical for comedies of the era that were capitalizing on new-found screen freedoms.The direction by old pro Michael Gordon ("Pillow Talk") is fine but the screenplay, based on a novel by Peter De Vries,  punts in the final scenes, tossing in an improbable extended joke about cars going amiss on their way to a funeral and a feel-good ending that wraps everything up quickly in a style more befitting a sitcom episode of the era. Still, the performances are fun with Lenz and Forsyth quite good as the young couple and Gleason and O'Hara registering some genuine chemistry on screen.

The Blu-ray transfer is generally fine but around the 80-minute mark some speckling and artifacts appear during the final reel, although it isn't distracting enough to bother the average viewer. The bonus extras don't include the trailer for the feature film but do present trailers for other KL comedy releases including "Avanti!", "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!" and " The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother".

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

It wasn't an unusual practice for movie studio's to exploit an actor's popularity by reissuing an old film under a new title. Case in point: director Michael Winner's 1972 crime thriller "The Mechanic" starring Charles Bronson. It's a top notch action flick and did reasonably well on its first release. However, in the wake of Winner and Bronson's massive 1974 hit "Death Wish", United Artists reissued the film under the title "Killer of Killers", an obvious attempt to make it appear as though Bronson was again appearing as a vigilante. In fact, the marketing campaign was deceptive because in "The Mechanic" he plays a criminal...a professional assassin, to be precise. Yes, he's taking out some bad guys but not on the basis of morality but simply because he wants a fat paycheck from other bad guys. The campaign resulted in this interesting, if dishonest, trailer.

“DEATH AS ART”

By Raymond Benson

Note: I reviewed the Criterion Collection’s 2008 DVD release of this film here at Cinema Retro. The product has now been upgraded to Blu-ray by the company. Much of the following is excerpted and/or revised from the original review, while also addressing the new Blu-ray.

Paul Schrader has always opined that Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters is his best film as a director, and I must agree. Originally released in 1985 (and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas), the film is a fascinating bio-pic about controversial Japanese author/actor Yukio Mishima. Schrader, a successful screenwriter who has also had an interesting hit-and-miss career as a director, co-wrote the film with his brother Leonard and filmed it in Japan with a Japanese cast and crew. Ironically, the film was banned in Japan upon its release due to the controversial nature of Mishima’s infamously public display of seppuku (suicide) in 1970.

But despite Mishima’s questionable act, there is no doubt that he was a formidable novelist, poet, and artist—certainly one of his country’s greatest. Schrader’s film attempts to visualize Mishima’s life and work, as well as make sense of his final days in three different stylistic approaches that are beautiful to behold and brilliant in conception.

The “present” (that is, 1970) is in color, filmed realistically, almost documentary-like, as we follow Mishima (expertly played by Ken Ogata) and his cadets travel to and subsequently take control of a Japanese military base in Tokyo so that he can deliver his public manifesto and commit seppuku. The past—the events of Mishima’s childhood and rise to fame—is in black and white, almost as if we are watching film noir. The motion picture also presents dramatizations of scenes from some of the author’s novels. These are presented in a highly stylized theatricality, in color, with stage sets and “actors.” The narrative ingeniously jumps between these three arcs, revealing the psyche of a complicated, but brilliant, artist. Why would he kill himself as an artistic statement? Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters attempts to explain this enigma.

Philip Glass provides one of his most admirable motion picture scores to date, John Bailey’s cinematography is exquisitely gorgeous, and Eiko Ishioka’s production designs are perfectly suited to Schrader’s sensibilities. Whether or not you know anything about Yukio Mishima, you will find the picture to be an extraordinary cinematic experience.

The Criterion Collection has done another outstanding job of producing a new, restored 4K digital transfer of the director’s cut, which was supervised and approved by Schrader and Bailey. There are optional English and Japanese voiceover narrations (by Roy Scheider and Ken Ogata, respectively—the U.S. theatrical release only had the Scheider narration). Personally, I agree with Schrader’s view that the English-language narration by Scheider is preferable; otherwise there are too many subtitles on the screen when simultaneously translating the narration as well as the Japanese speakers. (There is an additional “early” Scheider narration that I’m not sure adds much to the viewing experience.) The film comes with an audio commentary by Schrader and producer Alan Poul, recorded in 2006.

The supplements are ported over from the original DVD release. This wealth of material includes the excellent 1985 BBC documentary The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima. There are vintage video interviews with Mishima himself; more recent segments with Mishima’s biographers and translators, Philip Glass, John Bailey, and other members of the film crew; and the trailer. The booklet features an essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka’s sets.

Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters is a beautiful, emotionally-powerful film that is an immersive, visual and aural treat. Highly recommended.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

In 1973, director William Friedkin adapted William Peter Blatty's bestselling novel "The Exorcist" for the screen. The film shocked the industry by becoming an international phenomenon and the movie's impact continues to resonate with audiences of all ages even today. In 2016 Friedkin decided to return to the subject of demonic possession by personally filming the rite of exorcism performed by a priest, Father Amorth, the Chief Exorcist of the Diocese of Rome. The result is his new documentary "The Devil and Father Amorth", which has enjoyed some limited art house screenings while simultaneously being released on DVD. Before we go any further, it is appropriate when covering a film of this type for the reviewer to state his/her personal beliefs or lack thereof in terms of the subject matter. After all, Friedkin does the same in his film, stating that he is predisposed to believe in the possibility of demonic possession. I'm not. Friedkin is clearly a man of religious faith. I'm not, having happily lived most of my life as an agnostic who keeps an open mind but who has never seen an inkling of evidence that a higher being presides over the universe. So there we are....with one additional caveat. Although I have never met William Friedkin, I have conducted two separate, extensive interviews with him for Cinema Retro regarding his films "Cruising" and "Sorcerer", both of which I believe were very underrated. Based on those interviews, I can say that I like Friedkin and greatly respect him as a filmmaker.

With those explanatory remarks out of the way, let's delve into "The Devil and Father Amorth". Friedkiin acts as an on camera host of the movie, which opens with some brief archival interviews with William Peter Blatty, who relates that he was a student at Georgetown University in 1949 when he read a remarkable account in the Washington Post about a 14 year-old boy who had undergone the rite of exorcism. Other respected news outlets picked up on the story and it became a sensation. Blatty was fascinated by the alleged  possession and hoped to write a non-fiction account of the incident. However, the priest who performed the exorcism refused to release the identity of the boy or his family and imposed upon him to respect their privacy. Blatty went the fictional route and turned the victim into a 12 year-old girl. The rest, as they say, is history- except that over the decades, the incident has been studied by skeptics who point out that there is scant evidence that the exorcism involved anything other than a boy who had a vivid imagination and that he may well have simply staged the incidents for those predisposed to believe in possession. (The boy's late aunt was a "spiritualist" who had influenced the boy's interest in the supernatural.) Whatever one thinks of the historical facts and theories, Blatty's book was a chilling page-turner and Friedkin's film version would motivate even the most headstrong skeptic to sleep with a nightlight on. Friedkin's documentary has some early scenes of him returning to actual locations from "The Exorcist". The action then shifts to Rome, where he introduces us to Father Amorth, then 91 years-old and proud of his position as Chief Exorcist, claiming to have performed the ritual thousands of times. Friedkin also interviews a woman who underwent the rite and who claims to have been saved by Father Amorth. Her brother, who went on to become Father Amorth's assistant, relates disturbing and fantastic accounts of his sister's alleged possession. Father Amorth gave Friedkin rare permission to film an actual exorcism on the provision that there would be no artificial lighting employed or any crew members present. Friedkin agreed to shoot the rite himself using just a small, hand-held camera.

The subject of the exorcism is Christina, a 46 year-old architect who has been bedeviled by what she claims are frequent instances in which she becomes possessed by a demon. She claims not to remember the occurrences but those who surround her relate that, when possessed, she speaks in strange languages, exhibits Herculean strength and shouts threats in a voice that is not her own. We learn that the exorcism Father Amorth is to perform will be the ninth time he has conducted the rite in relation to Christina. When we finally do get to observe what Friedkin is filming it certainly is disturbing. Christina is restrained by two men as she wriggles and resists their grip, all the while shouting insults at the priest in an unfamiliar voice. Unlike the famous scenes of the ritual depicted in "The Exorcist", the real-life exorcism is performed in front of a room full of people, presumably friends and relatives of the victim. We watch as Father Amorth doggedly remains fixated on reciting the religious phrases that are supposed to expel the demons. (At one point, the "possessed" Christina identifies herself as Satan.) The Friedkin footage seems relatively brief and he doesn't provide any context as to how much footage may have been edited out of the final cut. While the episode we witness is certainly "harrowing" (as Friedkin describes it) and the affected Christina is clearly suffering from severe disorder, there is nothing in the footage that is likely to convince skeptics that they have just seen proof of a supernatural event. There are no signs of superhuman strength and the admittedly frightening voice Christina speak in could clearly be her own, since every person on earth is able to significantly alter their manner of speaking. Furthermore, there is no context provided regarding whether Christina ever sought professional psychiatric help. Friedkin asks her if she did, but her answer is vague. She simply says that doctors can't cure her, leaving it ambiguous as to whether she ever underwent a psychiatric diagnosis. This is a pivotal point that is not pursued. If she did seek medical help, it would be imperative to interview her doctors. If she did not, then her affliction is one that is self-diagnosed. Friedkin interviews prestigious doctors in America to get their views of the case, having shown them the footage. They all give the answer that people of science would be expected to give: we can't explain it without having examined the patient. They profess to keep an open mind but none will go on record as endorsing the premise that demonic possession could really be behind the victim's affliction. At the end of the film, Friedkin himself stops short of stating for certain that he believes he has witnessed a supernatural event, but the implication is that he clearly thinks he has.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The unexpected success of Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum in "The Greatest Showman" has obviously provided Mill Creek Entertainment to release the largely forgotten 1986 production "Barnum" on DVD. The made-for-television production has one distinction: it stars Burt Lancaster as the legendary marketing genius. I found I liked the Jackman film more than I suspected I would, though I doubt I'll ever have the yearning to view it again. It made many concessions to modern audiences that robbed the film of its authenticity. (I loathe the gimmick found in many period dramas in which the characters speak in present-day vernacular.) "Barnum" is much more low-key and seems to make a sincere effort at presenting the titular figure's fascinating life with some degree of accuracy. Not being a Barnum scholar, I'll take for granted there's plenty of "artistic license" on display here as well. The movie opens with Barnum as a young boy, influenced by his uncle's encouragement to see and embrace the more fantastical aspects of life. The action quickly cuts to him as a young man (played by John Roney, who bears absolutely no resemblance to Lancaster at any stage of his life) working in a dead end job in a small town general store. He finds a way to turn a quick profit by engineering a sweepstakes in which the winner will get a substantial credit at the store. The result is a significant profit for the delighted owner, who shares the proceeds with him. The story meanders a bit through Barnum's early years as he falls in love with Charity (Laura Press), who he married at age 19. The couple would remain together for 50 years until her death. The film is interspersed with occasional scenes of elderly Barnum  breaking  the "Fourth Wall" and addressing viewers directly. The production gets a boost when Lancaster is finally on screen for the remainder of the tale. The screenplay clearly wants to present the showman in a favorable light and he's seen as a kindly, honest figure who delights in using hyperbole to sell his presentations of nature's oddities (including animals and people.) The script takes pains to point out that Barnum always resented being labeled as the man who said "There's a sucker born every minute" and we see him rage against this "quote" that was made up by a newspaper columnist. In the film, Barnum admits to using creative marketing techniques but stresses he treasures and respects his audiences. The movie addresses some of his personal shortcomings, as well. Apparently, the great showman was also a lousy businessman, and we see him make and lose fortunes due to dubious financial dealings with dubious partners. The film chronicles his career highlights from making the little person he dubbed Tom Thumb (Sandor Raski) into an international phenomenon who was invited to meet Queen Victoria. There was also the building of his museums, both of which burned down (once by arson). In his later years, he rebounds and it's interesting to note that Barnum never owned a circus until he was over 60 years old. His importation from England of the giant, trained elephant Jumbo elevated his reputation once again. The film also compellingly shows how he audaciously signed singer Jenny Lind (well played by Hanna Scygulla)to tour America without ever having heard her sing a note. When he discovers no one in America ever heard of her, he embarks on an aggressive marketing campaign that made audiences salivate for the eventual arrival of the woman dubbed "The Swedish Nightingale". (The film avoids any of the speculation that he engaged in a romance with her, a historical debate that is given prominence in the Hugh Jackman movie.)

"Barnum" was directed by Lee Philips, a respected television director whose work here is efficient but unremarkable. The production values are impressive but the pace is often pedantic and unexciting. The strategy of having Barnum address the viewer to relate the highs and lows of his life chronologically looks like an attempt to check off the boxes by rote in order to cram facts into a production that had to make room for commercial breaks. Still there are areas of interest. Following his first wife's death, for example, Barnum found wedded bliss again by marrying at age 64 to a woman who was 40 years younger. The story ends with the formation of his partnership with James Baily to create the famed circus that bore their names (though it doesn't delve into their many business disputes.) The TV movie rests almost entirely on Burt Lancaster's broad shoulders and even at age 72, he still had the trademark toothy smile and distinctive laugh and charisma. Lancaster never gave a bad performance he brings gentle dignity to the role of Barnum.

The Mill Creek transfer is disappointing and at times looks like it was mastered from a VHS tape. Doubtless, the company used the best transfer available but there should be a disclaimer saying as much at the beginning, a policy the Warner Archive often employs. As with most Mill Creek releases there are no bonus features. However, the company is generous in providing digital copies of their releases and this is the case with "Barnum" as well- and it's most welcome.

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BY TODD GARBARINI

In the summer of 1992 I visited a neighborhood thrift store that rented obscure videos of movies made all over the world. Foreign films on laserdisc imported from Japan were transferred to VHS and rented long before “online downloading” became a household term. One of the films was relatively new yet unfamiliar to me although the cover art featured actress Jennifer Connelly on it. I already knew of her from her roles in Dario Argento’s Phenomena (1985), Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985), Labyrinth (1986), Some Girls (1988), and The Hot (yowzah) Spot (1990), but this title looked quite different. Etoile, the French word for “star”, is the title of director Peter Del Monte’s relatively unknown and overlong 1989 dramatic thriller that easily calls to mind Darren Aronofsky’s superior Black Swan (2010) due to its theme of a troubled ballerina. I would almost consider Etoile to be a “lost” Jennifer Connelly film in that most people are unaware of it. Even this video tribute to her on Youtube skips it completely. Although Italian and filmed in spoken English, the film was not released in either Italy or the United States. Ms. Connelly, who premiered at the age of twelve in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (1984) as a dancer, plays Claire, a New York-based ballerina visiting Budapest to audition for Swan Lake. Like in the opening of Phenomena, her character is arriving in a foreign land by way of aviation and finally by taxi. She bumps into a fellow New Yorker named Jason (Gary McCleery) after dropping her slipper in the hotel she is staying at. He’s instantly smitten with her, and who wouldn’t be? At just seventeen, Ms. Connelly is utterly breathtaking. The ballet school is run by Marius Balakin (Laurent Terzieff, who bears a striking resemblance to Pierre Clementi for those Bertolucci fans of you out there). Claire ventures out into an old, decrepit theater and dances alone until she locks eyes with Balakin who is sitting in a seat, looking around at the theater. She bolts. In the meantime, Jason is learning the antiques business from his Uncle Joshua (an unlikely Charles Durning), but cannot stop thinking about Claire and sneaks off, accompanying her on a sojourn to an abandoned old house that used to belong to a ballerina who danced in Swan Lake. Compelled to succeed, Claire decides to audition.

At this point the film takes a turn into seemingly supernatural territory when Claire finds flowers delivered to her room and addressed to “Natalie”. Despite her best efforts, she cannot locate anyone else in the hotel with that name. In the middle of the night, she receives a visit from her teacher’s choreographer and another dancer; understandably freaked out, she then decides to return to New York. While at the airport, a P.A. page for a one “Natalie Horvath” sends her into a trance and she almost willingly assumes the “role” of this person and transforms into a ballerina, with no memory of Claire, her former self. Jason locates her sitting by a lake and is hurt and bewildered by her demeanor and failure to recognize him. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he goes to great lengths to uncover this very obvious transformation that he is powerless to explain let alone comprehend.

Director Peter Del Monte’s best-known film to Americans is indubitably Julia and Julia, the 1987 Sting-Kathleen Turner outing that was touted as the first film to be shot in high definition (it was later transferred to 35mm for theatrical exhibition). The premise of that film also called into mind the sanity of the protagonist, however here Claire merely appears to be a confused and unwilling participant in a world that simply pulls her into it. Although Claire and Jason’s love story isn’t very compelling, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him and ended up rooting for him. The ending is trite, even by the director’s own admission, which he found unsatisfying. Jurgen Knieper, the film’s composer who has done some wonderful work for Wim Wenders, provides a very effective and haunting score that remained with me days after seeing the film, in particular the main theme. The cinematography is also quite stellar as Acácio de Almeida’s camera reveals much more than the laserdisc ever showed, mostly because this new transfer to DVD is made from a new 2K scan of the original film elements with extensive color correction performed. The image is framed at 1.85:1.

The DVD from Scorpion has several extras. First up is an eighteen-minute interview with the film’s director who discusses the challenges that he was forced to deal with while making the film. He took the job as the producer gave him an advance, which is something that he never had before. However, there were many disagreements regarding the film’s tone, etc.

The second extra is an on-screen interview with the film’s executive producer, Claudio Mancini, who has far less positive things to say about the cast and the whole experience. This runs just shy of ten minutes.

The final section contains trailers for the following films: Etoile (1989), Barbarosa (1981), City on Fire (1979), Steaming (1985), and Ten Little Indians (1974).

I would recommend Etoile wholeheartedly to Jennifer Connelly completists.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

MPI Home Video and The George Carlin Estate are proud to announce a special gift to his fans today – the GEORGE CARLIN COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION, a 10-disc must-have DVD, CD and Blu-Ray boxed set which features more than five hours of previously unreleased bonus material including rare performance footage from Carlin’s personal archive. The GEORGE CARLIN COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION will be released on Tuesday, June 12th and the announcement was made upon the occasion of what would have been Carlin’s 81st Birthday. Carlin was born May 12, 1937 and passed away at the age of 71 in June of 2008.

George Carlin’s daughter, Kelly, who helped compile material for the Box Set commented, “While digging around in dad’s stuff, we found a few gems that we just couldn’t keep for ourselves. It’s amazing to think that ten years after his death, we keep finding stuff I’d never seen before!”

George Carlin was not only one of America’s greatest comedians whose albums topped the charts, he was a pioneer of cable TV’s concert format that has become a benchmark of success for all humorists ever since.

And now, all of Carlin’s pointed, often controversial but always hilarious specials originally shown on HBO have been gathered for the first time in the GEORGE CARLIN COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION. Encompassing over five decades of George Carlin’s groundbreaking career, all 14 of the legendary funnyman’s Emmy nominated HBO specials are now available in one package – a remarkable set that also contains a previously unreleased HBO special entitled 40 Years of Comedy hosted by Jon Stewart plus Carlin’s posthumous audio release, I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die.

One of the key bonus pieces of material is Carlin’s first stand-up special from 1973, The Real George Carlin which has not been seen since it first aired. Additional bonus material includes APT 2C (a never-aired HBO pilot from the ’80s) plus two one-hour stand-up comedy club performances that features material performed by Carlin for the first time. There is also never-before-released material from the 1960s – when Carlin was a clean-cut, suit-wearing guest on the variety shows such as Talent Scouts, The Jackie Gleason Show and Hollywood Palace.

The box set features also includes both DVD and Blu-ray discs of the HBO specials Life Is Worth Losing and It’s Bad for Ya plus liner notes written by comedian Patton Oswalt.

George Carlin, a fearless commentator on society and a champion of free speech, now finally gets the boxed set he and fans of great, enduring comedy deserve and the GEORGE CARLIN COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION represents the most complete collection of Carlin performances to date.

# # #

About George Carlin

George Carlin was a Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor and best-selling author whose career spanned more than five decades and literally changed the face of stand-up comedian. His most famous routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" sparked a free speech controversy that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2008, Carlin was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and in 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him the “Second Best Stand-up Comic of All Time.” To date, Carlin is also the only comedian to have a dedicated SiriusXM radio channel solely to his work.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

A Loving ode to a VHS galaxy not that far, far away.

"A fantastic personal account of one of the greatest chapters in movie history. An unmitigated delight."

Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who, Sherlock)

As Ready Player One and Stranger Things proves the retro might of VHS era cinema, Watching Skies: Star Wars, Spielberg and Us is a universal and affectionate tale about the pop cultural remembrances stuck in all our R2 unit's memories.

Like many a British kid in an '80s world of VCRs, Reagan and Atari, Mark O'Connell wanted to be one of the mop-haired kids on the Star Wars toy commercials. Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman and of course Star Wars weren't just changing cinema - they were making lasting highways into our childhoods, toy boxes and video stores like never before,

In this energetic and insightful memoir-through-cinema, Mark O'Connell flies a gilded X-Wing through a universe of bedroom remakes of Return of the Jedi, close encounters with Christopher Reeve, sticker album swaps, a honeymoon on Amity Island and the trauma of losing an entire Star Wars figure collection.

A unique study on how a rich galaxy of movie continue shaping big and vital cinema to this day, Watching Skies is for all Star Wars kids - whatever their era.

It is about how George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, a shark, two motherships, some gremlins, ghostbusters, and a man made of steel jumped a whole generation to hyperspace*.

(*action figures not included).

Published by The History Press. Paperback. 368 pages. Illustrated.

£16.99. ISBN: 9780750970198

ebook: ISBN 9780750986151.

Mark O'Connell is an award-winning writer and author. As a comedy writer he has written for a wide range of actors, performers, titles, and media. As a warm-witted pop culture pundit, he has written and guested for Variety, Sky Movies, The Times, The Guardian, OUT magazine, Channel Four, Five, Yahoo Movies and across BBC radio and television. He was one of the official storytellers of London 2012, owns one tenth of a BAFTA, once got praised by the Coen Brothers, and now travel writes. He is the author of Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan.

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The folks at the web site Flashbak alerted the world at large about the existence of this rare video with young Kurt Russell in the mid-1960s when he starred in TV ads for Mattel's line of generic spy toys under the banner Agent Zero-M. With the spy rage booming at the time, some companies decided to save the licensing fees they would have to spend to market official James Bond and Man from U.N.C.L.E. toys and simply made up similar items that they owned the copyright to. It should be noted that young Kurt also guest-starred in a first season episode of U.N.C.L.E.: "The Finny Foot Affair" broadcast in 1964 during the show's first season. Click here to visit the Flashbak web site for more Agent Zero-M info.

BY LEE PFEIFFER AND DAVE WORRALL 

Actress Eunice Gayson, who made screen history by playing the first love interest of James Bond on the big screen, has passed away at age 90. Gayson played the sexy, single woman Sean Connery's 007 encounters at a high end gambling club in the first Bond thriller "Dr. No" in 1962. Gayson's character set the standard for future "Bond Girls" by portraying an independent, self-assured woman who had no pangs of guilt in regard to engaging in a sexual relationship for the pure pleasure of it. In fact, it is she who seduces Bond, turning up in his apartment and putting a golf ball while clad only in one of his shirts. The character, Sylvia Trench, also appeared in a brief love scene with Bond in the second film in the series, "From Russia with Love". Gayson got the role because she had worked with director Terence Young previously in the 1958 production "Zarak". The original idea was to have Trench appear in each of the films as a recurring character but that idea was dropped when Young, the director of the first two films, temporarily left the series and Guy Hamilton took over. Gayson also appeared in the Hammer Films production "The Revenge of Frankenstein" as well as many other feature films and TV series including "The Saint", "The Avengers" and "Danger Man". On a personal level, we at Cinema Retro mourn her passing. Eunice was a lovely, talented lady with a wonderful wit and sense of humor. We treasure the many hours we spent with her over the years and we are grateful that we saw her again recently at the memorial service for her old friend, Sir Roger Moore, which was held at Pinewood Studios last October. Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have issued the following statement:

"We are so sad to learn that Eunice Gayson, our very first 'Bond girl' who played Sylvia Trench in DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE has passed away. Our sincere thoughts are with her family."

For more about Eunice Gayson's career, click here. 

BY BARBARA IRVIN

The date was Wednesday, March 27, 1974. The film premiering that night at Radio City Music Hall was Mame. This first public screening of the lavishly produced and choreographed story, which took Broadway by storm in the 1960s, was a laborious experience for everyone involved. With its much anticipated release, cast and crew alike showed up to offer their support and to delight in the audience’s appreciation. Even the star, Lucille Ball, attended this highly publicized event. For the first time, fans got a different glimpse of their favorite television personality. That evening, she arrived not as the ravishing redhead people were used to seeing, but as a black-haired beauty in a white dress, which was quite short and just happened to be featured in the film. Moviegoers were getting a preview of what was to come.

And what an entertaining extravaganza it was! The alluring ambiance in every scene, as well as the divine dancing and sensational singing, kept viewers enthralled for the entire two hours and twelve minutes of the picture. Everybody except the critics, of course.

For the most part, the reviewers did not have nice things to say about Mame or its featured players. Some noticed the sentimentality that came through during certain moments, such as the scene in which the main character and Patrick, her young nephew, sing “My Best Girl”. However, the majority of them failed to properly acknowledge a movie that took two years to complete and cost around $12,000,000 to produce. This was especially true with Lucille Ball’s performance. Considering the faith Warner Brothers had in their chosen leading lady, the negative notices were a major letdown to the studio and to the actress herself.

Playing Mame meant so much to Lucille. She saw the role as her last chance to prove to the world that she possessed what it took to be a glamorous movie star. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Lucille made it her ultimate goal to win the producers over. Indeed, they saw something special in her that no other actress could radiate.

Once she nabbed the covered part, Lucille put a lot of effort into creating her own interpretation of the character. Unfortunately, all of this hard work came to a halt when she broke her leg while skiing in Colorado. Lucille felt bad about holding up production. When producers learned about her fear of being replaced, they quickly assured her they would wait for her return.

With projects featuring such big names as Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, Warner Brothers cranked out movies that were popular among the younger crowds. When the company purchased the rights to the musical version of Mame, they envisioned it as a picture everyone could enjoy. Therefore, finding a seasoned entertainer who had plenty of clout became necessary. At the time, Lucille was one of the most influential women in Hollywood, due to her achievements behind the scenes as much as on camera. This factor made it practically impossible for her fellow contenders to be chosen over her.

All of the power in the world could not prevent the barrage of crass comments made by the critics. They took aim at everything from her gravelly voice to her extreme thinness. Despite the harsh remarks, Lucille refused to let her anguish interfere with the promotional tour she embarked on soon after filming wrapped. She willingly posed for photographs, endured the mundane task of answering repetitive questions asked by inquisitive reporters, and appeared on talk shows like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Phil Donahue. Suddenly, the most recognizable female in the field of physical comedy was popping up everywhere.

The cheerful facade occasionally slipped, allowing her candor to reveal itself. Blaming photographers, Lucille once admitted to a journalist that she felt old. Tired of seeing unflattering images of herself every time she picked up a newspaper or magazine and the press stomping on her already crushed ego, she vented her vexation at anyone who would listen.

Having devoted such a huge chunk of time to understanding the inner workings of an outspoken woman began affecting what she said when discussing other topics as well. Always thought of as brash, the ordeal that came with making and advertising Mame only hardened Lucille, solidifying her opinion of the changing industry. Interviewers expecting her jocular side were shocked when she unabashedly addressed her abhorrence for movies containing excessive nudity and sex.

Those familiar with the bygone era of the studio system comprehended Lucille’s belief that family friendly films had the capability to restore traditional values that they felt had been tossed aside for far too long. This wholesomeness started when she worked at MGM. Louis B. Mayer prided himself on preserving the pristine illusion so meticulously maintained by all who flourished under his supervision.

Mame took on a deeper meaning for those who could remember that simpler, carefree time in history. Just as they had done during the Great Depression, people forgot about their worries and eagerly embraced the energy exuded on camera. They listened with a gleam in their eyes and hope in their hearts as Lucille sang the lyrics to “Open A New Window”.

Women related to her optimism. They felt the movie catered to their tastes. In actuality, it was produced with them in mind. When speaking about Mame, Lucille expressed a strong urge to please the ladies who waited in line to see the film. She wanted them to know it was their picture. Finally given the respect they deserved, their gratitude poured out. If only Lucille Ball and Mame had received the same reverence.

(Considered highly knowledgeable in the vintage film era, Barbara Irvin has written for Classic Images. Most recently, she wrote a very detailed profile about Angela Lansbury and her husband, Peter Shaw. This is her first article for Cinema Retro.)

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the Warner Archive:

Burbank, Calif., (May 17, 2018) Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray™ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell (Royal Wedding, Hit the Deck) and Howard Keel (Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy Awards^® and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd (The Band Wagon, Guys and Dolls).

Presented for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio t (based on the original 4 track magnetic mix, but re-built from recording session masters and original stems), the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray has extras to please every mountain man or woman, including the rarely-seen alternate widescreen (1.77 aspect ratio) alternate version presented for the first time in 1080p HD, a commentary from the film’s director Stanley Donen, a comprehensive cast & crew documentary, vintage featurettes including the famous “MGM Jubilee Overture” short (presented in its original CinemaScope 2.55 aspect ratio for the first time in 1080p HD with 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio sound), premiere newsreel footage and more.

Of note is that two versions of the film exist, one in CinemaScope and the other in traditional widescreen. In 1953 when Cinemascope was brand new, MGM was concerned that if it was a fad they would have an unusable film in the long-run, so for protection they shot the film twice. Two different takes of each shot with different staging was filmed which reflect the different frame size of traditional widescreen (which is less wide and more rectangular) and CinemaScope. By the time the film was released, CinemaScope had proven a huge success and the alternate version was rarely seen until its release on DVD in 2004.

About the Film

In Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Adam (Howard Keel), the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly (Jane Powell) to marry him that same day. After they return to his backwoods home she discovers he has six brothers -- all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness... kidnap the women they want from the surrounding villages.

Dismissed by studio executives during production as a ‘second-tier musical’, the film suffered budget cuts during production that precluded location shooting. Overcoming these circumstances, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was an obvious hit in the making when previewed, and opened to great reviews at huge box office success at New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall. This film was so successful that it was theatrically re-issued for many years thereafter, and holds the achievement as one of the highest-grossing musicals ever produced by M-G-M’s “dream factory”. The unique story behind the making of the film is well chronicled by director Donen’s commentary, as well as the comprehensive documentary on the disc, hosted by star Howard Keel, and including interviews with co-stars Jane Powell, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, and Jacques d’Amboise, as well as director Donen, choreographer Kidd, and Musical Supervisor Saul Chaplin (who earned an Oscar for his contribution), among others.

Special Features:

 Disc One: (BD50)

· Audio Commentary by Stanley Donen (Recorded 2004)

· "MGM Jubilee Overture" 1954 MGM’s "30th Anniversary" Theatrical

· Short Subject shot in CinemaScope and Color, featuring the M-G-M Symphony Orchestra, led by Johnny Green, playing a medley of eleven well-known songs used in some of the studio's best-known musicals. (Remastered in 1080p HD, 16x9 2.55 anamorphic aspect ratio with 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio)

· Documentary "Sobbin' Women: The Making of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," hosted by Howard Keel (Produced 1996, updated and revised 2004)-SD

· Radio City Music Hall Premiere - July 22, 1954 (SD)

· "MGM's 30th Anniversary" (1954 MGM Newsreel) (SD)

Disc Two: (BD25)

· Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Rarely-seen 1.77:1 alternate Widescreen Version (1080p HD)

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Following his break-out performance as Superman in the 1978 blockbuster, Christopher Reeve deftly avoided being typecast in the role despite appearing in several sequels. However, his non-Superman flicks were a decidedly mixed bag. Virtually none of them were successful at the boxoffice at the time of their initial release, although Somewhere in Time found a loyal cult audience over the years and  Deathtrap seems more entertaining now than it did in 1982. Reeve proved to be a good, if unremarkable actor, who had an affable screen presence and the kind of handsome features and physique that recalled the more traditional Hollywood leading men of days gone by. (Think Rock Hudson). However, Reeve's scattershot record of choosing film projects prevented him from fully capitalizing on his potential. There were too many boxoffice bombs along the way and Reeve sometimes returned to his first love, live theater, to continue to grow as an artist. One of Reeve's least-known films, The Aviator, has been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The movie was based on the novel by Ernest K. Gann, who specialized in aerial adventure stories. (He wrote the novel and screenplay for John Wayne's smash hit The High and the Mighty.) The film opens intriguingly at a military air base in WWI. Reeve is Edgar Anscombe, a cocky pilot who is training a novice on his first flight when things go wrong. The trainee panics and the plane crashes, leaving the student pilot dead and Anscombe suffering from severe burns. The plot then jumps ahead by a decade. Anscombe is now a bitter and introverted man still haunted by his wartime experiences, especially the deadly training accident that he feels responsible for. He's now working for Moravia (Jack Warden), the owner of a small air fleet that delivers mail from Nevade across the western states. In order to supplement the company's meager profits, Moravia sometimes accepts a passenger to accompany the pilots on their route. Along comes Tillie Hansen (Rosanna Arquette), a perky but troubled 17 year-old whose father (Sam Wanamaker) finds her to be incorrigible. Against Tillie's wishes, he decides to send her to a strict, disciplinarian aunt in order to teach her social and personal values. Anscombe immediately resents having to take Tillie along on his next flight. He snubs her overtures at friendliness and makes it clear that he wants no part of socially interacting with her. However, while in flight over a remote mountain region, their plane develops a problem with the fuel line, forcing them to crash land. Both Anscombe and Tillie emerge unscathed but their trials and tribulations are just beginning. Anscombe admits he went off course to take a short-cut, making it unlikely that rescue parties will find them. Additionally, they lack shelter and food and are menaced by a pack of hungry wolves. All they have for a weapon is a pistol with a few rounds of ammunition. 

Once the survivalist aspect of "The Aviator" kicks in, the film should soar beyond the bland opening scenes that predictably thrust the viewer into yet another one of those scenarios in which the leading man and leading lady bicker and kvetch at each other. However, director George Miller (not the same director George Miller of the Mad Max movies, unfortunately) establishes a leaden pace that makes The Aviator resemble a TV movie. You're practically waiting for the commercials with that omnipresent, creepy guy hawking My Pillow to pop up any minute. The film lumbers through some moments of crisis that don't pack much suspense. Dopey Tillie wants to smoke a cigarette and ends up burning down the wreckage of the plane the stranded couple had been using for shelter. Anscombe manages to kill some game for much-needed sustenance only to have it ripped from him by wolves. The couple decides they must try to make the arduous climb down the mountain to find help. In the film's only unexpected twist, Anscombe comes across a remote cabin only to find its eccentric inhabitant won't help him and threatens him with a gun. Reeve makes for a bland, boring hero in the under-written role of Anscombe and Arquette grates on the viewer like nails on a blackboard with her ditzy Valley Girl-like interpretation of a liberated young woman from the 1920s. The last, inexcusable cliche the screenplay thrusts up us finds the once-bickering Anscombe and Tillie now falling in love.

The Aviator does have some aspects to commend. Jack Warden, Sam Wanakmaker and Scott Wilson manage to outshine the leading actors and put some much-needed realism and empathy into their roles, although Tyne Daly is largely wasted in a minor role. There is a suitably old-fashioned score by the estimable Dominic Frontiere and the film boasts some impressive camerawork by David Connell. The film was shot entirely in Yugoslavia but it must be said that the locations convincingly resemble the American northwest. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray features the usually excellent transfer we've come to expect from the company and an original trailer is included. The Aviator isn't a terrible movie, just an unnecessary one that unfortunately helped contribute to the likeable Christopher Reeve's less-than-inspired career choices.

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It was June 6, 1944 when the greatest military operation in history took place. American, British and Canadian forces  landed at Normandy to liberate Europe. The amazing courage of the Allied forces not only saved democracy on the continent but also made it possible for Germany to re-emerge as one of the great nations of the world. No film has ever better captured the overall epic nature of the battle, as seen from both sides, than Darryl F. Zanuck's The Longest Day. Why not watch it ASAP with your kids and grandkids to remind them of how unimaginable courage made it possible for us to have the freedoms we enjoy today? It's also a hell of a good movie!  

The web site Geek Tyrant presents evidence to bolster their opinion that, in the world of Batman actors, Adam West is still the guy who kicks ass most. Writer Mick Joest displays five key things that West's Batman could do that no other actor ever attempted in their interpretation of the Caped Crusader...Click here to read and view clips..  

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FEATURES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVE

This feature puts the spotlight on those glorious old movie marquees. This one depicts the Loew's Capitol theater on the evening of the New York premiere of The Dirty Dozen in June 1967 at the Loews Capitol. Continue reading to see vintage marquees for Steve McQueen's The War Lover and Requiem for a Heavyweight starring Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason.

“BOARDWALK INTERVENTION”

By Raymond Benson

This small film, which actor/co-producer/co-writer Jon Cryer says could be made 200 times for the budget allotted to Titanic, is an absolute gem.

Written by Cryer and director/co-producer Richard Schenkman, Went to Coney Island… is part coming-of-age story, part mystery, and part social problem film. The latter category encompasses the tackling of mental illness, homelessness, and what one’s obligation might be to a loved one—or simply a friend—who has ceased to function in society.

Daniel (Cryer), Stan (Rick Stear), and Richie (Rafael Báez) have been friends since they were five, growing up on New York streets but basically living a normal existence as precocious, middle-class American boys. As teens, Stan underwent a botched medical procedure to correct a problem with his leg and was left with a permanent limp, brace, and cane. Richie has a reputation as a ladies’ man, but he holds a secret that he can’t reveal. Daniel is the straight-arrow and probably the most intelligent of the trio.

In the present day the threesome is in their thirties. Daniel works a regular job in a pawn shop/jeweler, and Stan is an alcoholic and has a gambling problem. The woman in his life, Gabby (Ione Skye), has about had it with him. Richie is simply… missing in action. He disappeared years earlier after a tragedy occurred in his family. One day, Stan hears that Richie is homeless and living under the boardwalk in Coney Island. Using a childhood code for ditching school and doing something more “important,” Stan tells Daniel that they have a “mission from God”—they must go to Coney Island and look for Richie.

It’s winter, so Coney Island is mostly closed-down except for a handful of sleazy shops and midway attractions. The once famous amusement park is practically a ghost town, on its way to oblivion. Daniel and Stan make their way around the area, encountering various misfits and wackos, until they do indeed find their long, lost friend. Richie isn’t in good shape. What follows is an intervention of sorts, as well as a redemption for the two main protagonists.

Told in numerous flashbacks and contemporary (1998) scenes, Went to Coney Island masterfully draws the viewer into the intimate lives of the characters. It explores their inner demons, but it also exhibits what it means to be true friends. While this might sound like a dire experience, much of the picture is hilarious. The various weirdos and how Daniel/Stan react to them provides the kinds of laughs one might find in a John Hughes picture—only these have a little more bite. This is “dramedy” at its best.

Both Cryer and Stear are excellent in their roles. Schenkman’s direction is pitch-perfect, easily pushing the movie to the top of his eclectic body of work. The way the flashbacks to the 1980s are handled reveal sensitive insight on the mood and sensibility of the era. Schenkman’s handling of the Coney Island sequences evokes a wide palate of moods and imagery.

This is art-house cinema of the highest order.

MVDvisual’s new High Definition Blu-ray release incorporates a frame-by-frame digital restoration from original 35mm film elements, and it looks spectacular. The main feature comes with 5.1 Surround Audio (uncompressed PCM) and 2.0 stereo, plus an audio commentary by both Schenkman and Cryer. The pair also appear in a new, short introduction to the film. Supplements include a behind-the-scenes featurette that contains new and vintage footage; The Producer, a comedy short from the period directed by Schenkman; a photo gallery; and the original theatrical trailer. A mini-poster comes in the package.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God…Be Back by Five could stand alongside such low-budget classics as My Bodyguard, Breaking Away, and sex, lies and videotape. Check it out.

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EVE GOLDBERG presents an in-depth examination of the only film Marlon Brando ever directed: "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961)

"ONE-EYED JACKS: AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS"

A new movie schedule arrived every few months. A two-sided paper treasure chest brimming over with promises of time travel, existential wisdom, and singing in the rain. Wild Strawberries, City Lights, Battle of Algiers, Belle de Jour.

We grabbed up the schedule and studied it with care, taped it to the refrigerator door, marked our calendars. The African Queen, Yojimbo, Rules of the Game.

We made cinema voyages all over town — to the Vista in Hollywood, the Nuart in West LA, the art deco Fox Venice. Before VCRs, DVDs or streaming, revival movie theaters were about the only place a film junkie could get a fix. We might find an occasional nugget on late night TV, John Ford’s Stagecoach, perhaps, or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but for the most part, it was the revival house or nowhere. Citizen Kane, La Dolce Vita, Alphaville.

There was rumor of a weird Western called One-Eyed Jacks, starring and directed by Marlon Brando. Nobody we knew had seen it. The movie took on the aura of myth. Was there really a scene where Brando gets whipped? What had the famously iconoclastic actor done with the time-worn clichés of the horse opera?

Finally, I think it was 1974, One-Eyed Jacks arrived. We trooped down to the Fox Venice, waited in a long line, found seats in the filled-to-capacity theatre, and settled in for the ride. We were not disappointed. From the opening shot — Brando casually eating a banana during a bank robbery — the film was like no Western we had ever seen. Moody, psychological, ambiguous, it was awash in sadomasochism, with a brooding Brando in nearly every scene. And yes, the actor gets his whipping in a scene of perverse cruelty which sears into memory.

Back in 1974, we knew we had seen an odd, strangely subversive, one-of-a-kind film. We didn’t know, however, that this quirky little revenge gem would someday be considered an important (if flawed) masterpiece of cinema, and a fascinating link between two eras in Hollywood…and America.

The Western is a quintessentially American film genre. From its earliest days, the cowboy drama was about good guys (white lawmen) confronting bad (Indians, outlaws). Each movie was a tale of expansionist dreams and masculine aggression. Each was a saga of civilization triumphing over savagery. The Western was, to quote film critic J. Hoberman, “the way America used to explain itself to itself.”

Edwin Porter’s 1903 film, The Great Train Robbery, was one of the first Westerns. This 12-minute story in which bandits rob a train, only to be pursued by a posse of lawmen, revolutionized the art of cinema. Porter used ground-breaking techniques such as cross-cutting and close-ups to create a suspenseful, compelling narrative. The basic elements of the genre were set.

The Western remains instantly recognizable across more than a century of evolving media and myth-making. Gunfights, holdups, and massacres. Horses, trains, rustlers, and barroom brawls. School-teachers, stampedes, and six-shooters.

The Golden Age of the Western is often considered to be the years 1946-1973. Following World War II, with the Cold War blazing hot on the beaches of Korea, the U.S. declared itself the new global sheriff in town. At home, the Eisenhower Era earned a reputation as being a time of complacency and consumerism. But these were also the McCarthy years, when right-wing witch hunts against political progressives were ruining lives and careers. And, at the same time, the seeds of change were taking root. A young civil rights movement began asking America: What the hell are the good guys who fought Hitler doing about racial discrimination and bigotry at home?

The classic 1969 crime caper film "The Italian Job" starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward will be screened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 10 June with Quincey Jones's score played by a live orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler. Click here for info.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Olive Films has released aa Blu-ray edition of the 1971 comedy Cold Turkey. Written and directed by Norman Lear, the fanciful plot is set in Eagle Rock, Iowa, a struggling small town of 4600 residents in Iowa that has fallen on hard times. The town is on the verge of financial catastrophe with most of the once-thriving businesses having moved away when a local air force base was closed. Potential salvation comes in the form of a contest sponsored by a major tobacco company to award $25 million to any town that can give up smoking for a period of 30 days. In fact, the offer is a mere ploy by a cynical tobacco executive, Merwyn Wren (Bob Newhart), who assures his bosses that the contest will improve the industry's reputation without ever incurring the prospect of having to pay off. That's because every person in the town would have to sign a pledge to not smoke for 30 days. A single offense would result in disqualification for the prize. What Wren doesn't count on is the determination of Eagle Rock minister Clayton Brooks (Dick Van Dyke), a disillusioned and depressed reverend who finds renewed vigor in his determination to see his town win the contest and revitalized itself with the prize money. Brooks goes on a one-man crusade to persuade the town's population to sign the petition- not an easy task because seemingly everyone has turned to smoking in order to cope with the stress of their financial hardships.

The film bares a resemblance to Norman Jewison's The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! in that it centers on an a diverse number of small town eccentrics, all wonderfully played by a sterling cast of great character actors: Vincent Gardenia, Tom Poston, Jean Stapleton, Graham Jarvis and Judith Lowry among them. (The latter is as hilarious as ever, playing her typical ancient, foul-mouthed great granny character). There are also appearances by Edward Everett Horton as the senile tobacco company owner and the great team of Bob and Ray as thinly-veiled impersonations of legendary network anchors Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley who come to Eagle Rock when the town becomes the center of national news stories. Pippa Scott is very amusing as Van Dyke's long-suffering wife, who barely gets a word in due to the benevolent dictatorship he has established in their marriage. When the Reverend turns to sex as a substitute for smoking, Scott accommodates him with a bored demeanor and a pained look on her face. While most films that depict a rural population tend to go overboard in portraying them as cute and kind, Lear's film takes a more sarcastic tone. Initially, everyone gets along fine, but as pressure builds to meet the challenge, the townspeople turn on each other. The local doctor (Barnard Hughes) is especially targeted for attention due to his weak will and hopeless addiction to smoking. Graham Jarvis delivers a very funny performance as the nerdy local leader of a Tea Party-like political group that typically disdains "big government" until they decide "big government" can be profitable for them. Even the once-modest reverend gets swept up in his new-found fame as Eagle Rock swarms with tourists, many of whom are wearing masks of his likeness. As the town nears the final hours until the deadline, Merwin and the tobacco company brass invoke every dirty trick imaginable to ensure the prize money doesn't have to be paid. The madcap finale finds the town awash with a variety of individuals seeking to capitalize on the town's quest. Even President Nixon gets into the spotlight! 

Cold Turkey is a gentle comedy with an occasional sharp edge. It evokes memories of The Andy Griffith Show, but manages to make a statement about human traits that can be found everywhere: greed, deceit and selfishness. Van Dyke is excellent in the lead role and he benefits from a terrific supporting cast and a typically "hummable" title song by Randy Newman. I found the film itself to be quite addictive.

The Blu-ray release offers a very fine transfer, but sadly, no bonus extras.

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James Bond actress Gloria Hendry ("Live and Let Die") will make her London cabaret debut on 25 June at Crazy Coqs, where she will perform classic songs from the film series. She will be accompanied by Doug Sides and his quartet. Click here for more info and tickets.

From 1937 to 1971 Look magazine was a bi-weekly publication, a "general interest” publication that along with its main competitor, Life magazine, were the upscale forerunners of all the supermarket tabloids.. Both mainly consisted of pictorial essays on sundry subjects; politics, sports, entertainment, news of the day, even up-close-and-personal celebrity featurettes.

In 1945, a 17-year old high school student from the Bronx, Stanley Kubrick, sold his first photograph to Look. It's subject was a dejected newsstand operator sitting amidst newspapers announcing the death of F.D.R.. For all of its candid appearance, the young Mr. Kubrick gave the news seller direction to "look sadder." A star was born.

From then into 1950 Stanley Kubrick was a staff photographer for Look. His assignments were generally to go out in the streets and take photographs that fit a particular essay a staff writer would pen. He also took many other photographs on his own that captured the sights, sounds and feeling of his home city.

Collected here at The Museum of the City of New York and displayed for the first time are a series of more than 120 photographs taken by young Kubrick and culled from the Museum's Look Magazine archive, an unparalleled collection that includes 129 photography assignments and more than 12,000 negatives from his five years as a staff photographer.

The exhibition is divided into four themes: Looking. Visual Style. Working the System. Media Savvy.

Each takes the viewer through the stages of Kubrick's photojournalistic career that eventually lead one to two clips of Kubrick's earliest films: "The Day of the Fight" and "Killer's Kiss."

From assignments such as "Teacher puts the Ham in Hamlet" to "How a Monkey Looks to People... ...And How People Look to a Monkey" through profiles of celebrities diverse as Leonard Bernstein, Rocky Graziano, Diane Von Furstenberg and Montgomery Clift fans of his film oeuvre can see the Master's eye develop.

The exhibition runs thorough October 28, 2018 and is accompanied by a Taschen published catalog that until June 10th is for sale only at The Museum of the Moving Image.Cinema Retro was invited to a preview showing of the exhibition and highly recommends a visit to the Museum to see this extraordinary collection.

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The Daily Mail and the web site Bored Panda present an interesting aspect to the design of movie posters. Many years ago, the nation of Ghana's political disruptions resulted in a shortage of professional printing presses. Thus, major motion pictures had to be marketed through hand-painted, custom-made posters created by local artists. The results, to put it kindly, were generally less-than-impressive. However, in a bizarre twist, these "so bad, they're good" posters have now become valuable collector's items, fetching up to $15,000 each. For more click here. (Images copyright Bored Panda).

“SCI-FI FOR THE MIND”

By Raymond Benson

Renowned science fiction writer Jerome Bixby produced many short stories in the genre, but he is perhaps most well-known for writing a handful of classic Star Trek episodes (“Mirror, Mirror,” “By Any Other Name,” and more). The memorable original Twilight Zone entry, “It’s a Good Life,” was based on his short story, as was the same segment in The Twilight Zone—The Motion Picture (1983). Bixby was also responsible for the stories or scripts for sci-fi films such as Fantastic Voyage (1966), and It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958).

Bixby’s last work, allegedly completed on his deathbed in 1998, was the screenplay The Man from Earth. Nearly ten years later (2007), Bixby’s son Emerson helped bring it to the screen as producer. The low-budget feature was directed by Richard Schenkman and starred David Lee Smith as “John Oldman,” a man in the present day who has lived without aging for 14,000 years. Released with little fanfare, The Man from Earth grew a cult following and is today considered one of the “great science fiction films you’ve never heard of.” It is the kind of picture that is cerebral, intelligent, and deals with existential themes and ideas. Sci-fi for the mind.

Over the ensuing years, Schenkman and Emerson apparently received many requests from fans of the original work to make a sequel. The idea was resisted until the concept of a TV series was floated. In each episode, the Man from Earth would be on the run, followed by various groups of cultists and “believers”—much the same way Richard Kimble (The Fugitive) had to move from place to place.

Thus, The Man from Earth: Holocene was made as a backdoor pilot to a series, was an official selection at the Dances with Films Festival, and it is now available on home video.

Holocene picks up a decade after the events of the first picture, with John “Young” (he changes his surname with every move across country) teaching religious studies at a community college in a small California town. He’s shacking up with fellow teacher Carolyn (Vanessa Williams), keeping a low profile, and inspiring students. A quartet of these young adults, played with aplomb by Akemi Look, Sterling Knight, Brittany Curran, and Carlos Knight, discover John’s secret, decide that he has all the answers to their many questions about life, religion, and the universe, and begin to, well, stalk him.

One of the students, Isabel (Look), contacts Art (William Katt), the primary antagonist from the first film. Art had been a professor, like John, who wrote a non-fiction book about the Man from Earth, exposing his tale, and was roundly pilloried by the academic world and shunned for it. Thus, he has an axe to grind with John.

Revealing any more about the story would spoil what is a very decent continuation of the original picture. While the first movie took place mostly in one room—like a stage play (and, in fact, Schenkman adapted that film into a play that has been produced around the world)—Holocene has “opened up.” It was shot in various locations around the town. It does retain, however, the intellectual and dialogue-heavy aspects, keeping it in tune with the original and what will, hopefully, indeed become a series. This reviewer has fingers crossed!

Star Trek—The Next Generation’s Michael Dorn and Star Trek: Enterprise’s John Billingsley also appear in Holocene as, respectively, the college’s dean and as Harry, a character from the first film.

The Man from Earth: Holocene is once again a low-budget but thoughtful treatise on the nature humanity. The acting, especially of Smith as John, and of Look as Isabel, is top-notch.

MVDvisual’s Blu-ray looks gorgeous and shows off Richard Vialet’s cinematography with sharp images and vivid color. The main feature comes with an audio commentary by Schenkman and co-producer Eric D. Wilkinson. A Behind-the-Scenes Documentary features most of the crew and cast and takes the viewer through the history of the first film and production of Holocene. Also included are featurettes on the score by Mark Hinton Stewart, the premiere at the Dances with Films premiere, deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary, a kickboxing video made for the movie, photo gallery, poster gallery, teaser trailer, and theatrical trailer.

If you’ve never seen either picture, the original The Man from Earth is now also available from MVD as a special edition Blu-ray/DVD combo.(Click here for review). Holocene may not have the impact of the first movie, but it is indeed a worthwhile follow-up.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE ORIGINAL "MAN FROM EARTH" FROM AMAZON

BY LEE PFEIFFER

When it opened in 1969, New York Times critic Vincent Canby assessed French director Jacques Demy's "Model Shop" as "a bad movie, but a sometimes interesting one." It's easy to understand how Canby- or any viewer- could come to that conclusion. However, watching the film today, it has a lyrical and occasionally beautiful quality. Demy, who made a splash with the international success of his 1964 film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", was inspired to make "Model Shop" after visiting Los Angeles on vacation. He was mesmerized by the city and decided to make a cinematic valentine to a place that many others criticized for its pollution and congestion. Ah, but as Preston Sturges famously quipped, "The French, they are a funny race", and Demy saw only the positive aspects of the city, which gives the film an unusual aspect. At a time when Johnny Carson was making night cracks about L.A.'s smog levels, Demy saw it as an appropriate setting for an offbeat love story. It's difficult to describe "Model Shop" because not much happens in it. The film traces 24 hours in the life of George Matthews (Gary Lockwood), a 26 year-old hunky guy who has graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Architecture. When we first meet him, he's in bed with his petite blonde girlfriend Gloria (Alexandra Hay). Before they even get dressed, they're embroiled in a bitter argument, which we are led to believe is a daily occurrence. This is a relationship on the rocks. Turns out George is a lazy deadbeat. He refuses to look for a job in his chosen profession because he objects to working for crassly commercial corporations, which sounds like a cop-out similar to what many unmotivated people might invoke. Gloria points out that they are dead broke and he has no plan for changing the situation. Gloria isn't burning up the want ads section in the newspaper, either. She's a bit of a ditz who dreams of being an actress and spends most of her time being sexually exploited by opportunistic producers and casting directors. She clearly isn't George's intellectual equal but when she strolls around the house in her bra and panties, it's easy to see why he's made the decision to stay with her.

The film kicks into gear when a repo man arrives at George's house (which bizarrely is situated directly next to an oil rig that operates 24/7) to take away his prized, vintage convertible MG, a luxury he can't afford but can't live without. He buys a few hours time by promising to raise $100. We then follow him around L.A. as he tries to hustle the money from friends who are as broke as he is. He has a chance encounter in a parking lot with an exotic looking woman (Anouk Aimee) who he immediately becomes obsessed with. She's the picture of class and elegance and George creepily decides to follow her. She ends up entering a luxurious home in the Hollywood hills. Hours later, he is motivated to return to the place, only to find her car gone and a disembodied voice from inside the house tells him she was never there and to leave the property. By the kind of sheer coincidence that can only happen in movies, George spies her later in the afternoon on the street and follows her to a seedy Skid Row "modelling studio" where sexually frustrated men can "rent" a model for a 15 minute session for $12 (only $20 for a half-hour!) during which they must remain chaste but can photograph the model in a tacky boudoir setting (film and camera included.) He learns the woman's name is Lola, and it turns out she's the same character Aimee played in Demy's 1961 film "Lola". George snaps a few photos of her and they engage in some awkward conversation before he departs. We follow him as he makes some other pit stops including visiting a small counter-culture newspaper where his friends offer him a job. He's interested but makes a fateful phone call to his parents only to learn that he has received his draft notice and must report for induction in two days. Adding to his misery, his father jovially equates getting drafted to fight in Vietnam to the good times he manged to enjoy in the Pacific campaign in WWII. George, however, is emotionally devastated and fails to see the allure in risking his life in the hope of enjoying some male bonding. Distraught, he returns to the modeling studio and this time engages Lola in conversation. Turns out she is an immigrant from Paris whose husband deserted her. She has a 14 year-old son in France who she is trying to support but is about to throw in the towel because she can't get a work visa and has to rely on the demeaning "career" of posing for naughty photos. Although Lola initially rejects George, she is moved by the fact that he really seems to be in love with her. They are two young people who are going through a life crisis and before the night is over, they share a single lovemaking session before George leaves for the army and Lola catches a flight back to Paris.

There is great concern today among shoppers who purchase items or services on-line regarding the use of their personal data. When it comes to protecting such information, Cinema Retro has long been ahead of the pack. Since our first day of business we have promised our customers that their data will never be shared with any third party for purposes of marketing or research. It's a vow we have always lived up to and will continue to do so. As our long-time customers know, Cinema Retro only sends out a few newsletters a year to its existing customer base.  That's it. You will not receive any E mails from other companies trying to solicit your business nor will you be asked to participate in any marketing surveys.We are well aware of the fact that we all get bombarded with an avalanche of E mail solicitations every day. That's why we only contact our customers on a sporadic basis.

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Cinema Retro has never received a single complaint from customers regarding abuse of their personal information. Occasionally, we do get requests to communicate with customers more frequently through our newsletter, but we intend to stick with our current policy of only sporadically communicating directly with our customers through E mail. We feel the best way to alert interested readers to the latest Cinema Retro news is through our widely-read web site, which attracts movie fans from around the globe.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber, in conjunction with Redemption Films,  has released British crime flick "The Orchard End Murder" as a Blu-ray special edition. Never heard of it? Don't feel bad- neither had I, but the film's obscurity makes this release all the more interesting when one learns the story behind it. The film was shot in the lovely countryside in Kent in 1981 by writer/director Christian Marnham. With only a small budget to work with, Marnham had to restrict his running time to a mere 48 minutes, which precluded the movie from ever being shown as a main feature in theaters. Consequently, it plays out like a TV episode, albeit a very good one. The film opens with a young woman, Pauline (Tracy Hyde), making a phone date to meet up with Robins (Mark Hardy), a young man she met the previous night in a pub. Pauline is clearly a modern woman. She's attractive, dresses stylishly and wants some excitement and, presumably, sex. However, she is frustrated when Robins insists that she first accompany him to his local cricket match, where he is scheduled to play with his team. She becomes bored and decides to take a walk through a large apple orchard, emerging onto the street of a bucolic country village with a small train station. She stops to admire an attractive cottage with a large collection of garden gnomes. She is greeted by the owner (Bill Wallis), who happens to be the local station master. She accepts the kindly eccentric's invitation to come in for a cup of tea but things get disturbing with the abrupt arrival of his lodger, Ewan (Clive Mantle), a tall, mentally disturbed man who brutally slaughters a rabbit in front of Pauline without saying a word. Understandably, she cuts her visit short and walks back through the apple orchard to the cricket match. Along the way, she is intercepted by Ewan who now shows a kinder, more sensitive disposition. Tracy humors him by giving him a kiss but it proves to be a fatal mistake. He lures her deeper into the orchard and when she resists his sexual advances, he strips and strangles her. When evening falls,  Robins, informs the police she has gone missing and before long a major search is launched. The station master discovers the murder when he sees Ewan stroking and kissing Pauline's dead body. Knowing there will be a house-to-house search of the neighborhood, he puts into motion a plan to bury the body in an area the police have already searched.

"The Orchard End Murder" is a slick, well-made mini thriller that is very ably directed by Christian Marnham. Best of all are the performances, with every actor hitting the right note, including well-known character actor Raymond Adamson as a village businessman who may play a crucial role in solving the crime. It must be said that the scene-stealing performance is provided by Bill Walllis, who plays the frumpy station master with a disarming sense of friendliness and gentleness. Nothing riles him, including having to bury a nude woman in the dead of night. His attachment to Ewan is never quite explained, as to whether its based on a fraternal relationship or a sexual attraction. Tracy Hyde gives a brave performance, with much of her screen time being displayed and abused as a nude dead body.

There are several extras included pertaining to the film. Director Marhham gives a thorough review of its production history, stating that the film was released in 1981 as the second feature along with a major hit, "Dead and Buried". However, because second features didn't share in the theater revenues, everyone involved never saw any compensation beyond the pittance they were paid as a flat salary. There are also informative interviews with star Tracy Hyde, who was a flash-in-the-pan childhood star in the 1970s.  Sadly, adult stardom never followed and she retired from the industry. Also interviewed is David Wilkinson, who had a small part in the film before quitting acting and becoming a successful film producer. 

"The Orchard End Murder" is a remarkably accomplished work. It's a pity that a director as talented as Marnham didn't find greater success in the film industry.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Imagine, if you will, that you are a Hollywood producer in the year 1969. ABC TV has recently launched its venture into producing theatrical motion pictures and you have a doozy of a concept. It centers on a spoof of Charlie Chan movies with the distinction that you have enlisted some very eager partners in Japan, thus the main character will have to be Japanese.  You are sitting around a long table in a studio conference room with executives deciding how to move forward. The promising venture will be filmed on location in Japan and. thus, will offer the promise of some exotic locations at your disposal. Since the project is very much inspired by the Pink Panther movies, you've scored a bullseye by enlisting screenwriter William Peter Blatty to author the script. Blatty knew a thing or two about the Pink Panther franchise, having co-authored the screenplay for "A Shot in the Dark". Yes, it's all coming together very nicely. Now comes the fun part: who to cast as the Japanese incarnation of Inspector Clouseau, a bumbling detective named Hoku Ichihara. Names are bandied about and you smile in a patronizing manner because you already know who the most logical actor is to cast: Zero Mostel!!!! A collective gasp from those around the table ensues, along with plenty of backslapping on your stroke of genius. Yes, when it comes to playing a bumbling Japanese detective, who could possibly think of someone more suited for the assignment than the rotund Jewish actor from Brooklyn?

One doesn't know if this is how the film "Mastermind" came into existence but its safe to assume at some point a room full of executives had to green light the casting of Zero Mostel in the lead role in what must surely be one of the most ill-advised films of the era. The concept seems even more egregious in these more enlightened times once you get your first view of Mostel decked out in his makeup, which includes slanted eyes and a droopy mustache that makes him look like a cross between Max Bialystock and Fu Manchu, though to be fair, for decades other unsuitably cast Caucasian actors portrayed Asian detectives, Peter Sellers and Peter Ustinov among them. The film is a jumbled mess that opens with the theft of a prototype of an amazing new human-like robot that has a comprehensive understanding of virtually every command. Some shady characters have also kidnapped the scientist who invented the robot, which is named Schatzi and is played by actor Felix Silas. The bad guys intend to appropriate the design plans for nefarious purposes. If anyone gets in their way, they utilize as hi-tech weapon that puts people in a permanent state of suspended animation. The gimmick is played out ad nauseam and reminds us of why it's generally a mistake to have live actors playing statues or inanimate beings (just look at "The Man with the Golden Gun" for further proof.) Inspector Ichihara is called in to solve the case along with his British sidekick Nigel Crouchback (Gwan Grainger) and immediately makes a muddle of things, a la Clouseau.

Anyone can make a bad movie but it's a true rarity to make a movie that is so bad it falls into that prized category of being a guilty pleasure; a film that you may want to revisit for all the wrong reasons. "Mastermind" meets that criteria. How had is the film? It's "Which Way to the Front?" kind of bad. The director, Alex March, had recently saw the release of two major studio films, "Paper Lion" and "The Big Bounce". He gamely plows through some juvenile sight gags and even speeds up film frames to emulate the old Keystone Cops films, a concept that already had moss on it by 1969. It must be said that March does a credible job of capitalizing on the Japanese locations and manages some impressive set pieces among the teeming city crowds, most notably a well-staged car/motorcycle chase. Beyond that, however, there is little to recommend. Zero Mostel gamely goes through the humiliations of playing out every cringe-inducing stereotype that had been assigned to Japanese characters in movies of the era. Most notable are the scenes in which his character fantasizes about being a great samurai warrior, which gives you the heart-stopping vision of what it might have looked like if Kurosawa had cast him in the leading role of "Seven Samurai". Mostel is not alone in having made a Faustian deal in return for a free trip to Japan, as Bradford Dillman is also in the cast.

Sorry to report that another of Cinema Retro's early issues is now permanently sold out: issue #5. There are still many other editions available in our back issues section.

Cinema Retro issue #41 has now shipped to subscribers worldwide.

Highlights of Cinema Retro #41:

We take a dive into the filming of The Deep starring Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte

How Doctor Doolittle almost put Fox on life support

Steve McQueen in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner: a re-evaluation

Remembering Mary Ure

Exclusive interview with actress Jane Merrow

Why you can't see the terrific cult horror flick The Outcasts

Burt Lancaster in Robert Aldrich's underrated gem Ulzana's Raid

Subscribe or renew today and help support the world's most unique film magazine- now in our 14th year! You will receive issues #40, 41 and #42 throughout the year. 

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Clint Walker as Cheyenne.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Clint Walker, the towering, rugged-looking leading man who specialized in playing gentle giants, has passed away at age 90. Walker had a diverse career including serving as a deputy sheriff providing security to the Sands casino in Las Vegas prior to entering show business. His first big break came during the craze for western TV series in the 1950s when he was cast in the title role of "Cheyenne", the first network series produced by Warner Brothers. The show proved to be a major hit, with Walker playing a solitary loner who came to the rescue of those being menaced by various villains. The show ran from 1955 to 1962. Walker had less success on the big screen, though he did land top billing in modest productions such as "Gold of the Seven Saints" which teamed him with Roger Moore, the India-based "Maya" and "Night of the Grizzly", a 1966 western adventure. Walker also co-starred with Frank Sinatra in "None But the Brave", a 1965 WWII film that Sinatra also directed. Walker teamed with Burt Reynolds for the 1969 western comedy crime caper "Sam Whiskey".

One of his best remembered roles was as a member of "The Dirty Dozen" in the blockbuster 1967 film in which he played one of a group of convicted military murderers who are recruited to volunteer for a dangerous mission behind enemy lines in Germany. (Walker would reunite with some of his co-stars to provide voice-over work in director Joe Dante's clever 1998 animated tribute to that film, "Small Soldiers".) Although Walker retired after working on Dante's film, he remained popular with his fans and would occasionally attend western-themed movie events. Click here for more.

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Newly released documents and a new book unveil heretofore unknown facts about the infamous meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard M. Nixon in 1970. The King had written to the President in the hopes of being appointed a federal agent so that he could presumably play a role in Nixon's anti-drug war. In fact, his real motive was simply to acquire the badge as part of his collection of law enforcement memorabilia. Nixon aides persuaded the President to meet with the legendary entertainer at the White House. The meeting was initially awkward for both men. Elvis was out of his element in the White House and seemed a bit intimidated in the presence of Mr. Nixon, who, in turn, was not exactly a leading advocate of rock 'n roll music. Elvis was giddy when Nixon arranged for him to get his badge as an "honorary" agent. In the course of their 30 minute conversation, Elvis discussed how he felt he could have a persuasive effect on young people to avoid drugs (though ironically, he was falling victim to addiction himself). He also made some shocking comments about The Beatles that, when they were revealed publicly, alienated the Fab Four, who had idolized Elvis. For more click here

I say what I think of a film and why, and my readers know my tastes by now. Some hate my taste, and so I'm reliable for them, too, since they know they'll like what I hate.

--Judith Crist, American film critic

BY JOE ELLIOTT

This month marks the 96th birthday of American film critic Judith Crist (1922-2012). Crist was one of the most influential and controversial movie reviewers of her day. She was a founding film critic for New York magazine and spent over two decades serving as the in-house movie reviewer for TV Guide. In addition, she was a frequent contributor to NBC’s Today show for many years. She was very much a tell-it-like-it-is kind of critic, totally unafraid to speak her mind even when this got her into hot water with powerful people in the industry, which it sometimes did. While it’s hard to believe today, back in the 1960s and 1970s a bad review from a prominent critic like Crist could help sink a multi-million dollar film project. Her panning, for example, of 1963’s Cleopatra starring show-biz celebrity couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, so upset executives at 20th Century-Fox they threatened to ban her from future screenings of new films.

Crist was equally unafraid to criticize films the public loved, such as the hugely popular The Sound of Music (1965), a feature she characterized as perfect “for the 5-to-7 set and their mommies who think the kids aren’t up to the stinging sophistication and biting wit of Mary Poppins.” Well-known Hollywood director and full-time curmudgeon Otto Preminger sarcastically nicknamed her “Judas Crist,” meant as an insult but also a sort of unintended backhand compliment to her sagacity and prestige as a critic. (An antediluvian alpha male type like Preminger likely would have been especially irked having a woman critique his films.)

Critic Roger Ebert, a great admirer of Crist, credited her for helping turn American film criticism into a popular art form, bringing to it both a sense of fun and seriousness. Her work in turn spurred readers to seek out the writings of other critics and reviewers, including Ebert himself. For this contribution alone we owe her a lot. Then there was the platform she helped create for other savvy women like herself who wished to have their own ideas and opinions taken seriously. In her 2012 New York Times obit it was erroneously reported that she was the first woman to become a full-time film critic at a major American newspaper.

She wasn’t the first, but certainly among the first, and probably the first female to gain real prominence in that position. As a result, she helped open the door for many who followed. In addition, she was an early vocal fan and supporter of such newcomers as Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen. Not a bad legacy.

However, what I personally remember most about Judith Crist was her work for TV Guide. Every week my mom would buy a copy of the guide, then one of the best-selling publications in America, at the local grocery. Each new edition brought the promise of some exciting new movies, either recent theatrical releases or those made for television. Crist reviewed many of these for the magazine. I especially remember the big fall preview edition that came out each year. This was the time when many of the movie blockbusters and Oscar winners of the previous season first came to television as the three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) did battle during “sweeps week,” a four-week period of intense rivalry for viewer ratings. There was always a section by Crist, filled with pithy, often wickedly funny thumbnail reviews of many of the films. Since I couldn’t watch all of them, I trusted her to guide me in my viewing choices.

To this end, I would carefully read each review as if I were going to be tested on it the next day in school, taking special care to highlight those titles she liked best, along with their scheduled air dates. My rule of thumb was, if she liked it, I’d watch it: call her my first movie arbiter, my sovereign, my queen. If I had to have one, and I suppose I did at that early age, I could have done a lot worse. One of the few exceptions I made to this rule were the “Man With No Name” westerns starring Clint Eastwood. For me, these were entirely bullet-proof from criticism and I made it a summer ritual to see each one of them.

Crist's pan of "Cleopatra" outraged executives at Fox.

I wish when I was growing up I’d had a friend like Judith Crist. She said once in an interview that as an adolescent she sometimes skipped school in order to catch matinees of such film classics as The Grapes of Wrath and Grand Illusion. Doubtlessly she was absorbing everything she saw like a thirsty sponge. She watched movies where and whenever she could, not because she was necessarily planning to become a professional critic and writer one day, but simply because it was her passion and love. They entertained her and broadened her perspective. They opened her mind and heart to new people and places. They deepened her understanding of humanity and history. In a word, they brought her joy. Definitely my kind of girl.

Cinema Retro proudly announces its annual Movie Classics special edition for 2018: Roadshow Epics of the '60s! This is an 80-page special that provides in-depth coverage of the making of five memorable epic films:

Mutiny on the Bounty

Lawrence of Arabia

The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Khartoum

The behind-the-scenes struggles to bring these monumental productions to the screen often equaled the events depicted in the screenplays. Indeed, all but Lawrence of Arabia proved to be boxoffice failures (or disasters). However, Cinema Retro provides compelling evidence that all of them were superbly filmed and provided many grand, memorable moments. This special edition provides fascinating insights into the often seemingly insurmountable challenges directors, writers, producers and actors had to overcome in order to bring the films to completion. These are the kind of movies we think of when we hear it said "They don't make 'em like that anymore!". This special Movie Classics issue is packed with hundreds of rare production stills and on-set photos, as well as rare international advertising and publicity materials.

As with all Cinema Retro issues, this is a limited edition so pre-order now to reserve your copy!

(This Movie Classics special edition is not part of the subscription plan. It must be ordered separately.)

Ships in July to the UK and Europe; ships in August to North America and all other world territories.

ALL PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE.

USA/CANADA: MOVIE CLASSICS EPICS

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This will make Eastwood fans' day: he's returning to the big screen in "The Mule".

Screen icon Clint Eastwood will return to the big screen in his first appearance as an actor since 2012. Eastwood will reunite with his "American Sniper" star in "The Mule", which tells the true story of a 90 year-old WWII veteran who becomes involved with a Mexican drug cartel. The plot has been tweeted to make Eastwood's character an unwitting accomplice of the bad guys. Eastwood will also direct the film. For more click here.

BY TODD GARBARINI

The technology that we all know and use today has become so ingrained in our everyday lives that it’s virtually impossible to recall how we all survived without them. Cell phones, portable computers, tablets, realistic-looking video games, Global Positioning Systems, and access to extensive news media on a 24/7/365 basis were pipe dreams just twenty years ago. The computing power that we all take for granted now started somewhere, but most of the present-day users of techno gear weren’t even zygotes when the home computer revolution was just getting off the ground. Yours truly was there when my mother’s uncle worked for the federal government. He was the first to get the really cool gadgets, mostly because he had the disposable income to spend on them. I recall being in his basement in 1977 and playing Atari’s Pong and being wowed by it. I was thrilled to watch movies on Wometco Home Theater (WHT) on his rear-projection TV that he built out of a Heathkit two years later. My mother’s second cousin had the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS‑80 Model I in 1978. Santa Claus delivered an Atari 2600 to me in 1981 (one of the most frustrating aspects of owning one would unquestionably be that the actual 8-bit games themselves couldn’t live up to the excitement depicted on the cover artwork). I was given a TRS-80 Coco (Color Computer) II in early 1984 and wrote programs in BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). In 1989 I did desktop publishing in Pagemaker on an Apple Macintosh SE. In 1995 I purchased a 100MHz Pentium Packard Bell IBM-compatible computer. Where did all of these electronic gadgets come from?

Tomaso Walliser’s 8-Bit Generation: The Commodore Wars is an entertaining and informative documentary that attempts to answer that question. However, it really feels geared towards those like myself who are in the know. I do feel, however, that anyone who isn’t would not only be lost but ultimately frustrated by this film as it assumes familiarity with its subject which it tackles with rapid-fire editing and has an annoying habit of accentuating the onscreen interviews (depending upon the subject being discussed) with strains of Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King and Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra overused to the point of annoyance.Those shortcomings aside, it’s also an insightful look at how modern business is conducted (that is, cutthroat) and how the dominant factor in just about every business decision boils down to two syllables: “money” (and sometimes, “revenge”).

The film, which was shot between 2010 and 2012, primarily focuses on Jack Tramiel, an Auschwitz survivor who saw the darkest side of humanity but was lucky enough to come out of it. His success as a business man following his liberation from the camp is a testament to his human spirit, business acumen and tenacity. He went from selling reconstructed typewriters to calculators to personal computers. Through interviews with Mr. Tramiel and many colleagues who worked with him and for him, we learn about the founder of Commodore International, the company that produced The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor), the Commodore VIC-20, and the Commodore 64. I never owned any of these computers, but the story behind their inception, rousing and unprecedented success and ultimate failure is very intriguing. In addition to Mr. Tramiel, we hear from his son Leonard, MOS Tech engineer Chuck Peddle, Nolan Bushnell (the founder of Atari), Commodore engineer Bil Herd (who also narrates), and a whole slew of others too numerous to list.

The fact that this film about hi-tech is available only DVD and not Blu-ray is not lost on me and is quite ironic. DVD is now looked upon by some as a legacy technology despite being around for 21 years, not unlike the very systems depicted and discussed in the film itself. If you are interested in seeing it, you would do well to read this next bit of info very carefully prior to making a decision. The film is available in three different varieties:

- Available here on DVD on Amazon.com (which has a 14-minute TEDx Talk Segment with Leonard Tramiel that can also be seen here on Youtube). Kino Lorber has put together a very professional package for this release.

- Available as a high definition download in a deluxe edition at this link with many extras not on the DVD.

- Available as a high definition download in a Jack Tramiel edition at this link which contains everything in the deluxe edition, plus a one-hour interview with Mr. Tramiel.

I’m still waiting for a documentary on RCA’s Select-A-Vision Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) system…

REVIEW: "FROM HELL IT CAME" (1957); WARNER ARCHIVE BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY HANK REINEKE

One man’s cinematic trash is another man’s cinematic treasure, so I will tread lightly here. Simply put, the low budget horror From Hell It Came (1957) is not a very good movie. The fact that the folks at Warner Archive have made this available on Blu-ray allows film fans a glimmer of hope that their own personal cinematic Titanic might yet see release in this upscale format. This is tough review for me. As a devotee of Silver Age Sci-Fi movies, I wish I could be more charitable of this film’s few merits, but Richard Bernstein’s screenplay offers little more than a cycle of endless chatter. This causes the film’s relatively brief 71-minute running time to seem even more meandering and interminable. That producer Jack Milner and director-brother Dan Milner (The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955) were able to bring this unremarkable film to fruition is laudable, but while this movie has achieved some low-grade cult status - and a memorable monster that has spawned a thousand snickering mockeries – it’s nowhere in the league of such entertaining monstrosities Phil Tucker’s Robot Monster (1953) or Ed Wood’s seminal Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959).

I suppose, if caught in the right combination of shadow and light, the titular tree monster from Hades might be of somewhat cool design… if still not particularly threatening. I think I should mention, in the interest of full disclosure and despite my critical brickbat here, I actually purchased the original DVD release of this when first issued in 2010. So I’m not immune to the film’s (very) limited pleasures. Set on an unnamed island in the South Seas, From Hell It Came manages to unashamedly mix the timeworn clichés of nearly every B-picture worthy of the designation: jungles, quicksand pits, scientists, voodoo doctors, atomic energy and, of course, a lumbering monster. Released in the summer of 1957, From Hell It Came was paired with another Allied Artists voodoo-themed release The Disembodied (a somewhat better film also available as a MOD DVD release through Warner Archive).

Having been born in the first decade of the 20^th century, the aging Milner Bros. were either already over or nearing their chronological half-century mark when they unleashed From Hell It Came on unsuspecting teenage moviegoers. I suppose it’s to their credit that they chose not to pander to their teenage audience – as, for example, that decade’s immensely popular beach-party and biker movies most certainly would. The Milner’s, conversely, seem to have little interest in promulgating lowbrow teen culture. They display an almost refreshing disinterest in appearing hip; this is most evident in their disparagement of the ascendant rock n’ roll phenomena. The natives’ tribal drums are referenced sarcastically as providing “a nice anthropological beat.” The killjoy egghead scientists on the island suggest the crazy, primitive, and percussive tribal rhythms are so “out there”, they’re worthy of topping the contemporary hit parade.

The film’s casting team – assuming there was one, of course – were, at best, making what they could from the shallow pool of available talent. While some of the island’s natives share some physical characteristics of Pacific islanders, most of the indigenous-to-the-island roles are handled by actors who… Well, let’s say they could have been plucked from the sidewalk of the Gambino’s Bergin Hunt and Fish Club of Ozone Park, Queens. Similarly, the best that can be said of the film’s wardrobe and costume department is that they made good use of their 50% off summer clearance coupon at Tommy Bahama.

Though badly mounted, this film is essentially one more formulaic allegory pitting old world superstition against modern science. The tribe’s blood-thirsty medicine man – perhaps sensing his position as exalted healer might soon become redundant - is at the center of the mayhem. He’s clearly unhappy that his healing herbs and folkloric healing incantations have been neatly usurped by the “Devil Dust” of the American scientists, the healing pharmaceuticals of modern medicine. He’s so upset, in fact, that the film opens in a rather savage manner, with poor islander-collaborationist Kimo (Gregg Palmer) being put to a grim death for his collusion with the infidel American doctors. In his last spoken declaration before meeting his maker, the bound and aggrieved Kimo threatens to come back from Hell itself, if only to make the witch doctor and his minions pay dearly for putting him to this terrible end.

Having been grotesquely and mortally staked through the chest, the islanders bury poor Kimo, for no apparent reason, vertically. To no one’s surprise he reemerges later as Tabonga, described – rather aptly - as an all powerful “creature of revenge.” Tabonga is a lumbering monster tree stump that frightens the primitive and enlightened alike… sort of a physical repository of the island’s accumulative evil spirits and bad karma.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in DVD/Streaming Video Reviews & News on Saturday, May 19. 2018

REVIEW: "A SUMMER STORY" (1988); KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY TODD GARBARINI

A Summer Story is the unassuming title of a classy and ultimately emotionally wrenching romantic drama of class differences set in Great Britain in the early 1900’s. Originally released in the United States in the summer of 1988 in a small number of theaters, the film is an adaption of John Galsworthy’s 1916 short story “The Apple Tree” which was also made into two separate radio programs over forty years earlier: Lady Esther Almanac on CBS in 1942 and Mercury Summer Theatre in 1946. Obviously the source material proved to be palatable enough to audiences to warrant adaptations in both the aural and visual spectrums. Director Piers Haggard, known for more sinister fare such as The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and Venom (1981), directs from the late Penelope Mortimer’s adapted screenplay.

Frank Ashton is played by James Wilby, who was coming off the heels of Maurice (1987) and A Handful of Dust (1988) at the time. Ashton (changed from Ashurst in the short story) arrives at a farm in the summer of 1922 with his wife who goes off to look for a view to paint. He approaches a dilapidated fence alone with hesitation and remembrance in a voiceover that can be best described as perfunctory, much like Rupert Frazer’s ill-executed explanation to the audience concerning the secret of his bride in Gordon Hessler’s unfairly under-rated The Girl in a Swing (1989). This is a great misstep right out of the gate, or wet gate, given the film’s transfer from what appears to be a near-mint theatrical print. The sequence would have made the film’s denouement resonate even more than it does if Ashton were given the gift of conveying his emotions by simply exuding them in a wordless opening scene. The obvious emotion would have sufficed to have been accentuated by the lush and poignant strains of Georges Delerue’s violins. It’s so out of place, in fact, that I have a hard time believing that it could have come out of Ms. Mortimer’s typewriter rather than a last-minute-urging of a studio executive following a Q-and-A of a sneak preview, the result of cinematically illiterate audience members wondering what the opening sequence even means. A slow dissolve takes us to a period nearly twenty years earlier when Frank and a friend stumble upon the very same gate and farm. A misstep over the gate leaves Frank with a twisted ankle and a need to convalesce in the abode of the farm’s owners, under the caring eye of their farm girl, Megan David (Imogen Stubbs), who is desired by Joe, the farmhand (Jerome Flynn, Game of Thrones’s Bronn). Her aunt (Susannah York) puts Frank up in a guest room for a decent price but it isn’t long before Megan and Frank begin eyeing each other. Frank meets up with Megan at a sheep-shearing festival. Eventually they make love, read poetry upon a hilltop, and it isn’t long before Joe and Frank come to blows. Frank makes a decision in an effort to be together that will forever change Megan’s life.

The film benefits enormously from the exceptional acting by all of those involved as it tells the story of people who behave in an orchestrated and proper manner, only to have their human emotions boil over when their true wants and desires are threatened. The set design is quaint and colorful, with Lyncombe Farm in Exmoor National Park in Dulverton, Somerset, England being where the bulk of the action takes place.

The U.S. theatrical exhibition of A Summer Story committed a faux pas so egregious in nature I felt it was borderline sacrosanct. The carefully orchestrated main theme of the film which was supposed to play over the end credits was instead jettisoned for the Moody Blues’s new song at the time, I Know You’re Out There Somewhere. How audiences didn’t regurgitate and burn down the Village’s Quad Cinema, I’ll never know.

Now available from the fine folks at Kino Lorber, this new Blu-ray release mercifully reinstates the late Mr. Delerue’s glorious theme over the end credits, righting the wrong enacted upon this lovely film thirty years ago. The soundtrack album from 1988, long out of print, is now available again in a significantly expanded edition from Music Box Records that can be ordered here from Screen Archives. The Blu-ray image is touted as a “brand new 2017 scan of the original vault elements”. As there is no mention of a 2K restoration, I’m assuming that this is 1080P, and the result is the best that the film has looked since its theatrical exhibition, easily besting all previous home video incarnations (the VHS version retained the inharmonious Moody Blues tune). The Blu-ray’s sole extra is a section of no less than seven trailers for the following films: Conduct Unbecoming (1975), Etoile (1989), The Salamander (1981), Trouble Bound (1993), The Last Seduction (1994), Aloha, Bobby and Rose (1975), and Steaming (1985). Curiously, the trailer for A Summer Story is not included. However, it can be seen here on Youtube.

The long-gone Carnegie Hall Cinema in New York showed A Summer Story, and even featured a classy diorama in one of the windows, depicting a scene from the film. Beautiful. Moviegoing in New York is a lost art, a thing of the past…

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

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

On Sept. 15, 2000 the New York Times ran an interview with Quentin Tarantino in which the famed director raved at length about a Roy Rogers movie called “The Golden Stallion (1949).” He absolutely loved the film and its director, William Witney, calling him a “forgotten master.” According to Tarantino, Witney was the ultimate genre film director, making everything from the classic Republic Pictures serials, to western feature films (including 27 Roy Rogers flicks). He later did films for American International, and shot numerous TV series including “Bonanza.” The thing that appealed to QT the most about “The Golden Stallion” was the way Witney was able to sell the idea that Roy Rogers regarded Trigger as much a friend as any human being could ever be. He does five years on a chain gang to save his horse from being destroyed after being framed for killing a man. As far-fetched as that idea sounds, Tarantino thought Witney, Roy and Trigger absolutely made you believe it. (Click here to read the NY Times article.)

In “The Golden Stallion” Trigger has a bit of a fling with a mare that smugglers were using to transport diamonds across the border. A colt named Trigger Jr., was the result of that dalliance, and screenwriter Gerald Geraghty picked up that thread to build a new story for Roy’s next picture. In some ways, the result, “Trigger, Jr.,” is an even better movie, with a story line that has darker undertones and a shocker of an ending.

In this picture, Roy is in charge of his father’s traveling circus and sets up headquarters for the winter at the ranch of his dad’s former partner Colonel Harkrider (George Cleveland). Roy’s publicist, Splinters (Gordon Jones), thinks the idea of wintering there will bring good publicity, but the Colonel isn’t too happy about it. The Colonel’s older daughter was recently killed in an accident during her bareback riding routine. As a result of the trauma her death caused, the Colonel himself has been wheel chair-bound ever since. Worse, his grandson, Larry (Peter Miles), is terrified of horses. He has nightmares about them. The Colonel constantly berates the boy for being a coward. The Colonel’s younger daughter, Kay, (Dale Evans) hopes having the circus on the ranch will help the two of them recover their psychological balance. But she knows it won’t be easy.

It doesn’t help that all the local ranchers in the are being muscled by a villain with no less a sinister name than Manson (Grant Withers), who heads The Range Patrol, an outfit that provides protection for a price. Those who don’t join up find barns burning, and livestock suddenly disappearing. No sooner does Roy arrive than he finds Trigger Sr. and Jr. about to be kidnapped by a couple of rangers. Roy and Splinters manage to rescue the horses after some fisticuffs, of course. (People complain about violence in films today, and say they wish movies could be like they were in the old days. I guess they never saw any of Witney’s Rogers films. They were full of shootouts, fistfights, bar room brawls, and they didn’t spare the fake blood either.)

Roy and the Colonel convince the other ranchers to stop paying the Range Patrol, which prompts Manson to put more pressure on them. There’s an interesting historical element introduced into the story at this point. At a horse auction, Roy finds out that there was an Army remount station nearby. The remount stations were where the Army bought, trained and sold horses for service in the U.S. Calvary. The station is out of use now, but a white stallion “killer” horse is being kept there pending its destruction by lethal injection. Roy tries to buy him but the sheriff informs him that there’s a court order calling for the horse’s destruction. However, Manson puts the doctor (I. Stanford Jolley) on his payroll and they take him to a hideout in the hills so they can use him to terrorize and kill the ranchers’ horses. He becomes known as The Phantom and it isn’t long before the other ranchers cave in the Rangers and Roy and the Colonel find themselves alone in opposing them.

The situation worsens as Trigger is attacked by the Phantom and a blow to his optical nerve renders him blind. Trigger goes down and he can’t get up. Things get pretty tense as Larry decides he must be a coward as his grandfather says, since he’s too afraid to even help Trigger. He runs away and in the meantime more livestock are being killed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other western where so many horses are shown dead or dying out on the prairie, in this case all victims of the Phantom.

“Trigger, Jr.’s” brisk pace (it’s only 66 minutes long) moves over the downbeat elements of the story so quickly, you don’t get much time to react. But when you think about them later, you realize it’s all pretty heavy stuff. There are only three musical numbers in the movie and one of them is the haunting “Stampede” which is used to illustrate one of Larry’s nightmares. Jack Marta’s cinematography and lighting create an impressionistic mini-masterpiece. It’s not all doom and gloom, of course. The colorful circus wagons, the scenes of the acrobats and aerialists rehearsing, the lions and trained seals performing provide splendid splashes of color to offset the somber story line.

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

"GREASE" IS STILL THE WORD AT CANNES

Fans gathered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéma de la Plage on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 in Cannes, France to watch a special 40th anniversary screening of a newly restored version of Paramount’s enduringly popular cultural phenomenon Grease. (Photo:Theo Wood)

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount:

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (May 17, 2018)— Paramount Pictures hosted a special screening of the enduringly popular cultural phenomenon GREASE at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to celebrate the film’s 40^th anniversary. John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser took part in the Cinéma de la Plage event on May 16^th where fans relived the unforgettable moments, sensational soundtrack and classic love story at a spectacular outdoor screening of the newly restored film on the beach.

Thierry Frémaux, Festival de Cannes Director, introduces John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser prior to a special 40th anniversary screening of a newly restored version of Paramount’s enduringly popular cultural phenomenon Grease at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéma de la Plage on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo: Theo Wood)

Director Randal Kleiser and John Travolta. (Photo: Theo Wood).

In anticipation of the film’s anniversary, GREASE was restored to its original vibrancy with the highest quality sound, picture resolution and color. The original negative was scanned and received extensive clean up and color correction using previously unavailable digital restoration tools. In addition, the audio was enhanced from a six-track mix created for an original 70mm release, giving the music more clarity.

(Photo: Theo Wood)

A new 40^th anniversary edition of the fully restored film was recently released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Events on Thursday, May 17. 2018

REVIEW: "A MAN BETRAYED" (1941) STARRING JOHN WAYNE; OLIVE FILMS BLU-RAY RELEASE

BY LEE PFEIFFER

I have a weakness for any movie starring John Wayne- even the bad ones. If you can find something of merit in "The Conqueror", in which the Duke played Genghis Khan, then you've really crossed the Rubicon. "A Man Betrayed", made during Wayne's tenure with "B" movie studio Republic, has been released on Blu-ray by Olive Films. It isn't one of those aforementioned bad Wayne movies, but it's no more than a minor entry in his career.  Wayne had been toiling in the film industry since the silent era. His first big break came with the starring role in Raoul Walsh's massive western epic "The Big Trail", which was released in 1930. However, the film was released during the Great Depression and bombed at the boxoffice. For the next nine years, Wayne was starring in quickie westerns that were termed "One Day Wonders". John Ford came to his rescue by casting Wayne as the male lead in his 1939 classic "Stagecoach". It elevated Wayne to star status but he didn't fully capitalize on the opportunities that "Stagecoach" seemed to afford him. He slogged through starring roles in largely undistinguished productions for many years, interrupted by a few more ambitious productions (Ford's "The Long Voyage Home" and "They Were Expendable"  and DeMille's "Reap the Wild Wind"). It wouldn't be until the late 1940s that the plum roles finally came his way and Wayne was seen as something more than "B" actor. "A Man Betrayed", released in 1941, fits comfortably into the bulk of Wayne's work during this period of his career. It's a low-budget affair, unremarkable in every respect, but still reasonably entertaining.

The film opens in an unnamed city at a scandalous nightclub called Club Inferno, where all sorts of notorious practices take place. (The sign advertises "30 Girls and 29 Costumes!"). Inside, staff members dress as the Devil and exotic dance numbers take place amidst overt gambling. In the first scene, a young man stumbles outside the club and is seemingly electrocuted during a torrential rainstorm when the lamp post he is leaning on is struck by lightning. A closer examination, however, proves he had been shot. Shortly thereafter, we're introduced to Lynn Hollister (Wayne), an affable small town attorney who comes to the city to investigate the death of the young man, who was a close friend of his. In short order he arrives at the home of Tom Cameron (Edward Ellis), a local rich widower who lives in a mansion and who owns the Club Inferno (though is rarely seen there.) Turns out Cameron is the local crime kingpin who controls the political machine and employs an army of thugs and assassins to do his bidding. He presents an affable personality and pretends to cooperate with Lynn's investigation. Lynn meets cute with Cameron's daughter Sabra (Frances Dee), a frisky, witty beauty who takes to him immediately. Before long, Lynn is staying in the guest room and he and Sabra are a couple. Cameron tries to use the relationship to manipulate Lynn but the more Lynn probes into the murder, the more convinced he is that Cameron directly or indirectly was responsible. Cameron is about to run for re-election to political office and like all crooked elected officials, is impatient for Lynn to wrap up his investigation. However, Lynn has uncovered massive evidence of voter fraud with indigent men being paid to vote numerous times for the "right" candidates. As he gets closer to the truth he is also physically threatened by Cameron's thugs. All of this sounds very dramatic but, in fact, "A Man Betrayed" is actually a romantic comedy, with the exception of the dramatic murder scene. Director John H. Auer (who had directed another, unrelated film with the same title a few years before) keeps the mood light and pace fast and gets fine performances from Edward Ellis and Frances Dee, the latter especially good as the spoiled rich girl who learns the father she has idolized is, in fact, a crook. As for Wayne, he was somewhat victimized by studios who wanted to squeeze him into contemporary romances in the hopes he would emerge as the next Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper. But at this period in his career, Wayne looked like a fish out of water in such productions. He gamely goes through the motions but he appears to be a bit uncomfortable without a horse and saddle. As he matured, he got better, as evidenced by his fine work in "The Quiet Man" , his war-based films and his late career detective movies "McQ" and "Brannigan".

"A Man Betrayed" is fairly entertaining even by today's standards. It's a hoot seeing Frances Dee sporting the over-the-top high fashions of 1941 and there is a cryptic reference to the war in Europe months before anyone realized America would soon be part of it. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is the early teaming between Wayne and Ward Bond, who would become close friends and occasional co-stars. Bond is cast against type as a mentally-challenged violent thug who has a knock-down brawl with the Duke. The resolution of the murder and corruption scandals are wrapped up in a rather absurd ending that seems to have been developed to ensure that audiences left the theaters smiling.(Incidentally, the film was also later released under the title "Wheel of Fortune" and was marketed as "Citadel of Crime" in the UK.)

The Olive Films Blu-ray is unremarkable. The transfer is reasonably good but the film lacks any bonus extras.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in DVD/Streaming Video Reviews & News on Thursday, May 17. 2018

DVD REVIEW: "TOM HORN" (1980) STARRING STEVE MCQUEEN

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Steve McQueen's second-to-last feature film "Tom Horn" remains one of his least-seen. The troubled production was a long time in the making and was a personal obsession for McQueen, who was well-versed in the life of Horn, a celebrated frontier scout in the Old West who had reached legendary status, though his name doesn't resonate today the way Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok's have. Horn distinguished himself in the Apache Wars and played a role in the defeat of the fiercely independent tribe. Ironically, he met Geronimo at his surrender to the U.S. Army and befriended the great chief, who came to admire Horn. McQueen produced "Tom Horn" through his own production company, Solar, and the film was also released under the umbrella of First Artists, the company he had formed years before with Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand and Paul Newman with the goal of giving actors more control over the final content of the movies they made. The production was a mess from day one. McQueen had last enjoyed a major hit with the 1974 release of the blockbuster "The Towering Inferno". He was one of the biggest stars in the world but his long-festering personal demons got the better of him. He went into semi-retirement, emerging only to release an art house film production of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" in 1978 that barely saw release. At the same time, McQueen's personal appearance had changed radically. He grew a unkempt beard and long hair and began to resemble Grizzly Adams. Simultaneously, his reputation for being difficult and unpredictable alienated him from the major studios. By the time McQueen decided to make a comeback in mainstream films, the welcome mat was no longer out for him. Still, he succeeded in getting a distribution deal for "Tom Horn" through Warner Bros. 

Troubles began even before the cameras turned. McQueen had numerous directors involved with the project (including Don Siegal) but they found McQueen too demanding and impossible to work with. He wanted to direct the film himself but wasn't a member of the Director's Guild. As he did with his 1972 bomb "Le Mans", McQueen hired a director he felt he could manipulate. In this case it was William Wiard, a respected veteran of many well-known TV series but who had never directed a feature film before. (Rumors flew that McQueen actually "ghost-directed" much of "Tom Horn".)  McQueen also caused celebrated screen writer William Goldman to leave the project but he was replaced by Thomas McGuane, who was recognized as an expert on the life of Tom Horn. (The script was co-written by Bud Shrake, who only wrote a few little-seen films previously.) Just prior to filming, McQueen, a lifelong chain smoker, developed a bad cough that persisted throughout the shoot. It was an omen that bode ominously for McQueen.

The film opens with Horn arriving in Wyoming, already a celebrated legend of the west. He's low-key and lives on the hoof, traveling lightly with his beloved horse, whose ornery nature acts as a weapon for Horn when he finds himself in tight spots. He's approached by John C. Coble (Richard Farnsworth), representing the local Cattleman's Association. They are being robbed blind by rustlers and the local lawmen are either impotent or in on the robberies. Coble hires Horn to stop the rustling by whatever means necessary as long as the Association isn't tied to his actions. In short order, Horn sets to work, gunning down numerous cattle thieves even when he's outnumbered. Before long, the rustling stops but by then the carnage caused by Horn has instilled a backlash in the local population, who suspect he was working as a secret assassin for the Association- which, in fact, he was. The Association decides that Horn is now expendable. He is framed for a murder (though in real life, it was never proven whether he committed the crime or not), is arrested and sentenced to hang by a kangaroo court.

By the time "Tom Horn" opened in early 1980, word-of-mouth on the film was that it was a lemon. The arduous editing process increased the production costs and Warner Bros. was eager to simply be rid of it. Critics loathed the film and it bombed at the boxoffice, marking a major setback for McQueen's plans to re-establish himself as a major boxoffice star. A re-edited version fared no better and "Tom Horn" vanished from theaters quickly. Still, there is much merit in the film beginning with McQueen's low-key playing of Horn as a quiet, humble man. He even keeps his dignity on the scaffold when a new-style hanging device powered by water leaves Horn in the torturous situation of waiting patiently for the water to rise in a bucket in order to activate the trap door. The film is peppered with some wonderful character actors, the most impressive being Richard Farnsworth as Horn's only true friend. Farnsworth had been in so many westerns he practically looked like he walked directly out of a Frederic Remington painting. Also to be found: Billy Green Bush, Elisha Cook Jr, Geoffrey Lewis, Harry Northup and Slim Pickens (who had appeared with McQueen in the 1972 hit "The Getaway"). Linda Evans is cast as a schoolteacher with an exotic background (she immigrated from Hawaii) but her role seems to have suffered in the editing process. She has virtually nothing to do other than provide McQueen with an underwritten love interest. The film boasts great cinematography by John A. Alonzo and a fine score by Ernest Gold, who relies on drumbeats to provide an appropriate dirge-like quality. "Tom Horn" isn't a great western, but it's a very good one and it deserved a better fate. McQueen was already in the early stages of cancer when the movie opened. He managed to complete one more mainstream film before his death: the lightweight action comedy "The Hunter", also released in 1980. Ironically, it proved to be a modest hit and might have helped McQueen revive his career had he not succumbed to his increasingly serious health issues. 

The Warner Bros. DVD of "Tom Horn" has a very impressive transfer and includes the original trailer and a promo clip for the video release of McQueen's TV series "Wanted: Dead or Alive". Given the interesting background to the film, it calls out for a special edition.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in DVD/Streaming Video Reviews & News on Wednesday, May 16. 2018

THE TRAGIC FINAL DAYS OF ROBIN WILLIAMS

Robin Williams suffered from a brain disorder that led to dementia in the final months of his life. Originally, he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Diseasev but his strange and erratic symptoms led to another diagnosis, this one related to dementia. According to "Robin", a new biography of Williams, the actor was tragically aware of his dilemma, as it affected his performances. He would break down crying at the realization that he could no longer remember his lines. It was a tragic fate for a comedic genius and would ultimately result in him committing suicide. For more, click here.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Entertainment News on Tuesday, May 15. 2018

ACTRESS MARGOT KIDDER DEAD AT 69

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Actress Margot Kidder has passed away at age 69. Kidder shot to stardom for her acclaimed performance as Lois Lane in "Superman", the 1978 blockbuster starring Christopher Reeve. She went on to reprise the role opposite Reeves in sequels. Kidder first gained notice in Brian DePalma's quirky Hitchcock-like 1972 thriller "Sisters" and appeared in supporting roles in films such as "Gaily, Gaily", "The Great Waldo Pepper" and "Black Christmas" before landing the role of Lois Lane. In the Superman film, Kidder brought a modern interpretation to the role that had last been played by Noel Neill in the legendary 1950s TV series starring George Reeves. Kidder's vision of Lane was as a sassy, independent and fast-witted single big city career girl who was as courageous and competent as any of her male colleagues. Critics lavished praise on the exciting young talent but her newfound success was short-lived. Aside from the three sequels to "Superman" she appeared in, the only other major boxoffice success she would have was the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror", which was derided as schlock but which proved to be popular with audiences.

Kidder gained a reputation of being unreliable and difficult to work with and the only roles afforded her were in less-than-stellar films. The nadir came in the mid-1990s when her personal behavior devolved to such a point that she was literally found living as a homeless person. Rumors swirled that she was suffering from drug addiction but it was revealed that she had been clinically diagnosed as bipolar. Kidder earned praise for speaking openly about her affliction and she would spend the rest of her life coping with her personal demons, while simultaneously lobbying to help people suffering from mental disorders. She successfully resumed her career, earning respect for her ability to cope with her psychological issues while striving to so many others. Although she never had another major feature film success, she won an Emmy in 2015. She is remembered as tough, honest and gutsy: all qualities that could be said of Lois Lane herself. For more click here.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Obituaries on Monday, May 14. 2018

HITCHOCK'S "VERTIGO" RESTORED 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SCREENINGS IN UK

Cinema Retro has received the following news flash from Park Circus: