BY TODD GARBARINI

Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, which opened on Friday, July 18, 1980, had stiff competition at the box office: Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Friday the 13^th, The Blue Lagoon, The Big Red One, Dressed to Kill, Fame, and The Blues Brothers were all in major release at the time. While Next Movie and did respectable business, it went on to gross even more moola when Universal released is on a double bill with John Landis’s beloved Blues Brothers later. The film picks up sometime after Cheech and Chong’s maiden cinematic outing, Up in Smoke, left off two years earlier. Written by the slapdash and seemingly always high dynamic duo and directed by the latter of the two, Next Movie plays out like their comedy album routines (“Dave” from their self-titled 1971 debut album is one of their best-known and funniest bits) which is exactly how Abbott and Costello’s early film appearances were scripted (in their case they were based on their radio routines). Next Movie was shot in 1979 as evinced by the appearance of North Dallas Forty and Being There on Los Angeles movie marquees in the distance and concerns two struggling potheads who go through a series of (mis)adventures while attempting to start a rock band. They siphon gas out of a truck into a refuse-filled garbage can with explosive results. They have an ongoing feud with their neighbor who is fed up with their antics. Their house has been condemned and they find themselves at a welfare office. Cheech’s girlfriend Donna (Evelyn Guerrero), one of the welfare workers, has an off-screen tryst with him while Chong sits next to a very young Michael Winslow who makes some truly funny sound effects that would make him so popular later in seven Police Academy movies. The scene goes on a bit too long, but it’s a great showcase for Mr. Winslow’s considerable talents. Donna’s boss reprimands her for her momentary lapse of reason under Cheech’s spell and they make a run for it. Later, Cheech’s cousin Red (also played by Mr. Marin) blows into town and, while also financially impecunious, fights with a hotel receptionist (Paul Reubens) who is carted off by the cops while shouting Al Pacino’s famous “Attica! Attica!” mantra and ends up jailed after assaulting the men.

The boys are then invited to a party by a roller-skater (when was the last time you saw one of those onscreen?) which takes place in a whorehouse in a sequence that elicits laughter as Cheech watches and reacts to some action outside of one of the rooms. They scare off the clients by playing back audio on a boombox that they recorded earlier of the hotel altercation. This is a cute tactic that has worked to comedic effect in everything from the aforementioned Abbott and Costello to Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The clients spill out onto Sunset Boulevard in a frenzy and end up at the house of one of the girl’s parents, who are in a constant state of hilarity, and the action moves to a comedy club wherein a fight breaks out. Paul Reubens reappears here in a very early appearance as Pee-Wee Herman. The film eventually ends with a strange bit of “far-out” silliness involving pot, flying saucers and animation. The message of the film, if there is one, is that “life’s a party”. If you’re a fan of the titular doofuses who are funny and amiable, you’ll enjoy the film. Some of the episodes go on a little too long and it makes one wonder if the filmmakers simply expected the audience to be stoned while watching the film!

Like Shout! Factory’s recent release of Universal’s Car Wash (1976), Next Movie is a film that was drastically altered for its television airing which included different scenes and music. While it would have been nice to have had this alternate version on the new Blu-ray, Cheech and Chong fans will appreciate the new and colorful transfer which is much clearer than previous home video transfers. Shout! Factory has done another bang-up job with the image looking very bright and the colors vivid. Los Angeles, like New York at the time, had a look and feel and character all its own which is now gone thanks to corporate America. The brothel that they leave is on a street that has lost its integrity much like the most memorable and colorful establishments that appear in Martin Scorsese’s New York in Taxi Driver (1976).

The Blu-ray contains these extras: a theatrical trailer, radio sports, and a roughly 20-minute onscreen interview with Cheech Marin,who discusses the making of the film.. 

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Car and Driver magazine takes a fun look back at some of the super-cool vehicles driven by Roger Moore on television and in feature films from "The Saint" to "The Persuaders" and, of course, James Bond. (They even included "The Cannonball Run"!) Click here to view. 

BY JOHN M. WHALEN

Legendary filmmaker Sam Peckinpah was one of the true believers—one of the last of the diehards. He believed that a man was only as good as his word, and if he couldn’t keep his word, he was no good at all. Just about all of the 14 films he made during his short career centered around that idea. In most of them there is the man who stays loyal to his friends and true to his code, contrasted with his opposite, the man who sells out. “The Wild Bunch” told the story of an outlaw and his gang being pursued by a posse led by a former friend turned Judas goat. “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” recounts Garrett’s betrayal of his former saddle mate, William H. Bonney, to the Santa Fe Ring. Even the spy thriller, “The Killer Elite,” is about a security agent whose friend sells him out for a price.

For Peckinpah, it was more than just a good theme for a movie. It was a way of life. Oddly enough, the tough-talking, hard-drinking brawler, who earned the nickname “Bloody Sam,” because of the bloodshed and violence in his films, was often labeled a cynic. But as somebody once observed, a cynic is just an idealist who’s had his teeth kicked in too many time. Peckinpah’s filmmaking career was one long kick in the teeth. He battled with the suits, the studio execs, who didn’t like him or the way he made movies. They didn’t like the way he defied them by going over budget and schedule, or shooting scenes that they thought weren’t necessary (but which Sam believed were the heart of the story); and they didn’t like the way he wouldn’t buckle under. He was a man with a vision, and he would not compromise that vision, no matter what they did to him. His films were often cut and butchered after he finished them. Nevertheless, he persevered on, bloodied, battered, and, in the end, clutching self-destructively at alcohol and drugs to keep going. He came to an early end in Mexico at age 59 after suffering a heart attack.

Peckinpah started in television. He cut his teeth on TV westerns, writing 11 half-hour episodes of “Gunsmoke,” creating “The Rifleman,” and “The Westerner” series and contributing scripts for “Trackdown,” “Tombstone Territory,” and other shows of that era. Even in those early efforts you could see the embryonic formation of his thematic ideas. In one “Gunsmoke” episode, Matt Dillon grieves after accidentally killing a friend in a gunfight. His friend had told him that he didn’t think much of a man who notched his gun after a shooting. At his gravesite, Matt notches his own gun for the first and only time, as a reminder.

“Ride the High Country,” freshly released on Blu-Ray by the Warner Archive Collection, was Peckinpah’s second feature film. “The Deadly Companions” had preceded it, but suffered from a low budget and the heavy-handed influence of an amateur producer. “Ride the High Country” was the first movie where he had control over the material and could shape it the way he wanted. It also had the added plus of having two western film legends in the cast—Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott. McCrea is Steve Judd, former lawman of some note in his earlier years, now an old man who hires on to guard a gold shipment from the Coarsegold Mine. He may be on in years, but he’s still the same ramrod straight man he’d always been. He teams up with his old friend Gil Westrum (Scott), who, in contrast, has let time bend his principles a bit. When we first see him he is running a phony Wild West shooting gallery, posing as a Buffalo Bill-type character. When Steve tells him about the shipment of gold and asks if he knows anybody who’d like to sign on with him for the job, dollar signs light up in Westrum’s eyes. He joins Judd, bringing along Heck Longtree (Ron Starr), his young sidekick, telling him he’s pretty sure he can convince Judd to go along with his plan to steal the gold rather than deliver it to the bank. It’s the classic Peckinpah set-up. During the ride to the mine, Westrum keeps working on Judd, dropping hints about how little money they had made as lawmen. Judd admits he doesn’t have much to show for all those years. He even has a hole in the sole of his boot to prove it. But when Westrum keeps at him, asking him what keeps him going, Judd utters the line that everybody quotes when they talk about this movie: “All I want is to enter my house justified.”

In Nick Redman’s excellent featurette, “A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and the High Country,” included as a bonus feature on the disc, Peckinpah’s sister, Fern Lee Peter, provides some insight into Peckinpah’s upbringing and the hidden, more sensitive side of his personality. Sam’s father, a lawyer and later a judge, was a huge influence on him, and there is a lot of his father in the Judd character—a man of uncompromising moral rectitude. Sam grew up with his brother, Denver, who was eight years older, and used to tag along with him and his older friends, trying to put on a tough front. But he was smaller than the other boys and more sensitive, more like his mother, to whom he was closer. According to Peter, like her, he “was able to tell when someone hurt.”

There’s a subplot in “Ride the High Country,” that reveals that hidden, sensitive side. A young girl, Elsa Knudson (Marriette Hartley), rides with the bank guards up to the mountain camp to meet her fiancé, Billy Hammond (James Drury), one of the miners. Billy has three brothers (Warren Oates, John Davis Chandler, and L. Q. Jones), and a father (John Anderson). A scruffier, more depraved bunch of characters, you’ve never met. (All the members of the Hammond clan, by the way, were played by actors who had appeared in various TV episodes Peckinpah had written—an informal Peckinpah stock company.) A nightmare wedding scene presided over by drunken Judge Tolliver (Edgar Buchanan) is shot entirely from Elsa’s point of view, and anyone who says Peckinpah was misogynistic and insensitive to women, should watch to see how sympathetically he portrays Elsa’s predicament.

The trajectory of the plot follows Judd’s ultimate clash with Westrum and a final confrontation between them and the Hammonds. The climax is both redemptive and apotheotic. The final shot of “Ride the High Country” is, perhaps, one of the simplest and yet most moving images ever put on film.

The Warner Archive Blu-Ray presents the film in 1080p High Definition with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Sound is DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. George Bassman’s somber score sounds good. Picture quality is first rate and Lucien Ballard’s cinematography of locations in and around Inyo National Forest never looked better. The disc also includes audio commentary by the Peckinpah Peckerwoods (Paul Seydor, David Weddle, and Garner Simmons), all of whom possess extensive Peckinpah knowledge, but tend to go overboard ooh-ing and ahh-ing over every little thing the director did. It’s a tad annoying but informative.

“Ride the High Country,” is a classic that every fan of westerns must see and see again. The Warner Archive Blu-Ray is a “must have” for the true believers out there. 

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John M. Whalen is the author of "This Ray Gun for Hire...and Other Tales." Click here to order from Amazon. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber has released a new DVD edition of John Wayne's late-career detective flick "Brannigan". The 1975 film takes Wayne out of the saddle and deposits him squarely in central London ("The Duke's in London. God Save the Queen!" read the tag line on the film poster.). The "fish-out--of-water" crime thriller concept began with Don Siegel's outstanding "Coogan's Bluff" (1968), which inspired Dennis Weaver's hit rip-off TV series "McCloud". Still, the premise works well with Wayne's tough Chicago Irish cop Jim Brannigan sent to London to extradite a top crime figure, much as Clint Eastwood's Coogan was shipped to New York to bring a criminal back to Arizona. Wayne had gone the detective route the year before in "McQ". He had originally been offered the role of Dirty Harry but correctly assumed his fans would not stand for him playing such an anti-Establishment character. Still, the phenomenal success of that movie made him realize that the Western genre was in decline and that he'd better switch gears occasionally to keep his loyal fans on board. Wayne was said to loathe "McQ". It was a downbeat, cynical look at corruption in the police force. Ironically, for many of his fans, it is regarded as one of the best films from the latter part of his career. Teaming Wayne with an ace director, John Sturges, the film provided the Duke with an intelligent script, surprising plot turns and a less-than-larger-than-life character to portray. The movie did fairly well despite Wayne's reservations so perhaps that is why he immediately returned to the crime film genre with "Brannigan". In reality, Wayne had planned to do a detective film with this title for at least a decade. A 1964 trade industry story announced he would begin filming it in "the near East". The project never happened. When it was dusted off a decade later, it was temporarily titled "Joe Battle" before mercifully assuming its original title. 

Like "McQ", "Brannigan" is a crime thriller but the two films are far apart in terms of style. "Brannigan" is directed by the underrated Douglas Hickox ("Theatre of Blood", "Zulu Dawn") with emphasis on humor, as we see Wayne immediately learn that the crime kingpin he is to escort home (John Vernon) has been allowed to escape. His counterpart is Scotland Yard Inspector Swan, played by Richard Attenborough. This "Odd Couple"-like teaming of two radically different acting styles is one of the true delights of the film. Both Wayne and Attenborough are clearly enjoying each other's company and their good natured "one-upmanship" provides plenty of genuine laughs. As the two detectives relentlessly track down their man, there are plenty of memorable action highlights including a well-staged car chase that includes a jump over the rising Tower Bridge. There's also a major, well-staged pub brawl that's right out of the John Ford playbook.  Director Hickox makes the most of London's fabulous sites, which adds immeasurably to the film's pleasures. (This is only one of two movies to be shot in London's ultra-exclusive private Garrick Club and Hickox makes the most of it, showing off the elegant facility for a sequence in which Brannigan and Swan debate police tactics over lunch.) There is also a spirited, lively performance by Judy Geeson as a young Scotland Yard detective who enjoys a playful but platonic relationship with Brannigan. The supporting cast is a strong one with John Vernon and Mel Ferrer providing the villainy.  Ralph Meeker gets relatively prominent billing but his on-screen appearance lasts little more than a minute, indicating some of his footage may have been left on the cutting room floor. The film climaxes with an assassin trying to gun down Brannigan from a speeding car at the old Beckton Gasworks, a ghastly-looking industrial facility that was memorably used for the pre-credits sequence of the 1981 James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only". All of this is set to a zippy jazz score by Dominic Frontiere that is off-beat for a film in this genre. "Brannigan" is not a late-career Wayne classic in the way that "The Cowboys" and "The Shootist" can be regarded. But it is a hell of a lot of fun and provides Wayne with a role that fit him like a glove. Nearing seventy years old, he could still at this point carry off the action sequences credibly.  

The film has been available for many years through MGM and Twilight Time released a Blu-ray limited edition that is now sold out. The Kino Lorber transfer is excellent with a crisp, clean image that does justice to the London scenery. Sadly, no commentary track but Kino Lorber does provide the original trailer along with a gallery of trailers for other action flicks available from the company. The sleeve also eschews the standard U.S. artwork of Wayne in a pub brawl in favor of more offbeat artwork from the European campaign showing the Duke firing a pistol. Recommended. 

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The Bond in Motion exhibition at the London Film Museum has opened a special section dedicated to the 50th anniversary of "You Only Live Twice"that includes original props, rare photos and original storyboards. The Bond in Motion displays also include a virtual history of 007-related props and vehicles. Click here for tickets. 

BY DARREN ALLISON

In a 2014 interview with Robert Markowitz, Walter Hill stated ‘I think in casual conversation I would have told anybody I wanted to direct. At the same time I knew Hollywood was a closed off place...’ Working as a script writer, Hill began climbing his way up after working on the script for Hickey & Boggs (1972). He was then asked by Peter Bogdanovich to co-write The Getaway (1972), a movie he was lined up to direct with Steve McQueen. Whilst the script was in its early stages, McQueen fired Bogdanovich from the project and immediately enlisted Sam Peckinpah to replace him. However, Walter Hill was given the chance to stay on and instructed to begin rewriting the script fresh from page one. Six weeks later the script was complete and the film went on to become a major success. A slice of good fortune perhaps for Hill, but he still maintains that it was the success of The Getaway that ultimately determined how he came to be a director. Hollywood may had been closed off, but it provided Hill with a rare opportunity. In 1973, Hill began writing the script for Paul Newman’s The Mackintosh Man. It was also the same year he met producer Lawrence Gordon. Following differences during the writing of The Drowning Pool (1975), Newman’s revival of private eye Lew Harper, Gordon invited Hill to Columbia in order to write his next film, Hard Times (1975). Gordon also agreed that should Hill decide to write the script he would also allow him to direct the movie.

Whilst Hill would later come to be known as a great action auteur, he made a rather wonderful debut with this pulp triumph. Not only would it conjure an evocative period atmosphere, but also boast memorable performances from both Charles Bronson and James Coburn.

Bronson plays a drifter suddenly caught up in the fight game during the Great Depression. Chaney, a down-on-his-luck loner, hops a freight train to New Orleans where, on the seedier side of town, he tries to make some quick money the only way he knows how - with his fists. Chaney approaches a hustler named Speed (James Coburn) and convinces him that he can win big money for them both.

Hard Times still holds up extremely well andBronson keeps his performance low key whilst maintaining the strong, silent tough guy persona. Bronson was in his fifties when he took on this role, which did concern Walter Hill to a certain degree. Nevertheless, Bronson’s Chaney still presents an imposing figure - lean, chiselled and certainly still got the moves. However, it’s Coburn’s Speed that almost steals the show. It’s a wonderful, if somewhat sleazy portrayal. For Speed it’s just about the money, Cold and ruthless, he’s a character who likes to spend many as fast as he can get it. In many respects it is Bronson who helps elevate Coburn’s performance – simply because he allows him so much. Bronson was never going to outwit or outtalk Coburn in the dialogue department; instead Bronson uses his fists or general physicality in order to convey his talking. It’s a nicely balanced pay off that works perfectly well and shines on screen. Strother Martin is also worthy of mentioning as Poe, the ‘cut man’ who completes the team between hustler and bruiser. Always a classy character actor, Martin seems to provide a magnetic quality every time he appears on screen. Jill Ireland again plays Bronson’s love interest, at Bronson’s request as I believe. Her character of Lucy is rather one dimensional and adds very little to the overall narrative. It could have arguably been eliminated completely without ever really upsetting the nicely paced flow of the film. Hill would later comment that he removed a great deal of her scenes in the final edit, much to Bronson’s disapproval.

BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA

There’s nothing I like better than getting hold of a movie that I’ve been searching over three decades for and adding it to my collection. At my age, there aren’t many vintage films left that I don’t own in one format or another, so when I heard that the 1976 cult classic Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw was getting a Blu-ray release, I was quite enthused. This movie has somehow always managed to elude me. It never seemed to play on any of my cable stations in the early 80s, we never had a copy of it at the video store I worked at in the mid-80s and I was still never able to find a copy of it anywhere throughout the 90s. To be honest, by the time the 21^st century hit, I completely forgotten about this movie, so I was pretty surprised and even more excited to find out that it was not only being released on Blu-ray, but also with quite a few special features. Why? To begin with, I’m a tremendous fan of the director; not to mention the entire cast and, last, but not least, I just love fun, action/crime/drama exploitation films from the 1970s.

Produced and directed by Mark Lester (Truck Stop Women, Roller Boogie, Class of 1984), written by Vernon Zimmerman (Unholy Rollers, Fade to Black) and released by American International Pictures, modern western Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw tells the tale of quick-draw expert and Billy the Kid enthusiast Lyle Wheeler (Marjoe Gortner, Earthquake, Food of the Gods, Viva Knievel!, Starcrash) who, together with waitress and aspiring country singer Bobbi Jo Baker (TV’s one and only Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter) experiences a dangerous cross country adventure filled with love, robbery and murder.

So, was the movie worth the wait? I certainly think so. It may not be in the same league as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), but it’s still an extremely enjoyable, well-directed, written and acted low-budget feature that definitely deserves to be seen. To begin with, Mark Lester’s direction is not only solid, but he is just at home directing the quiet, more character-driven and dramatic/romantic scenes as he is directing a sequence involving heavy action and stunts. Next up, Vernon Zimmerman’s wonderful writing not only creates an engaging story, but interesting and likeable three-dimensional characters as well. Lyle Wheeler aka the Outlaw, seems to live by his own code and has definite ideas of good and evil; right and wrong. Marjoe Gortner effortlessly and believably gets all this across and makes his character quite likeable. (This may be my favorite Gortner performance.) The stunning Lynda Carter gets to show a bit more range then she did as Wonder Woman and is extremely convincing as the hopeful and somewhat naïve Bobbi Jo. The rest of the outrageously talented cast not only add immensely to the film, but clearly came to play. Jesse Vint (Chinatown, Forbidden World) perfectly plays Slick Callahan; a wild, not too bright cocaine fiend and boyfriend of Bobbi Jo’s sister, Pearl. Gorgeous Merrie Lynn Ross (Class of 1984, TVs General Hospital), who also co-produced the film, brings a hardened heart quality to slightly ditzy stripper Pearl, and the always welcome Belinda Balaski (Piranha, The Howling) shines as hippie waitress Essie Beaumont. Rounding out the top-notch cast is Gene Drew (Truck Stop Women) as a no-nonsense sheriff, B-movie legend Gerrit Graham (Beware! The Blob, Phantom of the Paradise, The Annihilators, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.) as a helpful hippie, Virgil Frye (Graduation Day), who replaced Dennis Hopper, as a macho gas station attendant with something to prove, Peggy Stewart (Alias Billy the Kid, Beyond Evil) as Bobbi Jo’s alcoholic mom, and James Gammon (Major League) as a fast talking salesman.

BY JEREMY CARR

Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three is perhaps the legendary director’s most underrated film. There are several reasons for this, many having to do with the impressively high standards set by Wilder’s own prior work. On the heels of Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960), this 1961 film seems infinitely more perceptive, but it doesn’t have that “classic Hollywood” sheen. It is every bit as acerbic as Wilder’s other overlooked masterpiece, Ace in the Hole (1951), but the pointed politics of One, Two, Three make it somewhat less popularly appreciable than the earlier film’s media reproach (though both are supremely relevant today). More than anything, the fact of the matter is that by 1961, Wilder’s finest hours did lay behind him, in part evinced by more than a dozen Oscar nominations and six wins. With everything considered, maybe One, Two, Three doesn’t live up to Wilder’s more acclaimed predecessors, but what films do? Forgoing that delimitation, though, this riotous Cold War comedy deserves due credit. And now that Kino Lorber has released the picture on an excellent new Blu-ray, this is as good a time as any.

Set in 1961 Berlin, straddling the border between East and West Germany and sitting at a precarious cultural and political crossroads, One, Two, Three is the portrait of a divided city, where the communist side goes about its daily business of parading, while its democratic half grows under the influence of Western, specifically American, culture—pop (in two senses of the word) or otherwise. And what could be more American than an emblematic bottle of Coca-Cola? Hoping to strike a deal that cracks the Iron Curtain and allows for the East German distribution of this iconic beverage is C.R. MacNamara, played with great gusto by James Cagney. Balancing family with business and patriotism with commerce, MacNamara is the quintessential “no culture, just cash” ugly American. Angling to become a high-ranking executive in the Coca-Cola company, he is put in the arduous position of babysitter when his stateside boss gives him the irksome task of keeping tabs on his daughter, the blustery ditz Scarlett Hazeltine (Pamela Tiffin).

Pining for a promotion, MacNamara accepts the responsibility while also contending with his home life—two children and his jaded wife, Phyllis (Arlene Francis)—and his office life—some overly-disciplined desk jockeys and a sexy secretary named Fräulein Ingeborg, played by the Swiss Liselotte (Lilo) Pulver. Things go from better to bad to worse when Scarlett’s nighttime excursions plant her firmly in the arms, and the bed, of comrade Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz), an ardent East German communist who steals Scarlett’s heart and indoctrinates her bubblehead with anti-capitalist sentiment, something very much in opposition to MacNamara’s corporate responsibilities and her father’s livelihood. With the Hazeltine family en route, and a baby on the way (the pregnant Scarlett is just 17, mind you), One, Two, Three becomes a hilariously rapid race-against-the-clock skirmish over ideals, politics, family, and, of course, soda.

Keeping this barreling train on its tracks is Cagney’s MacNamara, a blustering whirlwind of fierce mannerisms, bold proclamations, and often dubious motivations. In the biting words of Wilder and his frequent co-writer I. A. L. Diamond, the innuendo between MacNamara and the voluptuous Ingeborg is unexpectedly risqué (he’s fascinated by the nature of her “umlaut”), while the incessant banter gives His Girl Friday a run for its rapid-fire money. MacNamara declares that the East Germans are “shifty” people, and he should know; he’s as shifty as they come. He’s a high-anxiety blowhard and an unscrupulous schemer, and with his terse delivery, Cagney plays the part in a brisk nod to his wise-guy persona. At the same time, the relentless verbal pace is amplified by star’s physical dynamism, revealing Cagney’s dance-driven proficiency as well as his oral aptitude.

BY ROBERT E. TEVIS

In the pantheon of recorded and performance comedy, right there on the first floor, you will find a monument to the Firesign Theater. How they began to occupy that hallowed estate is the subject of a new DVD called Everything You Know is Wrong --The Declassified Firesign Theater 1968-1975, released on the Bright Red Rocket label.. Like most enthusiasts, I became acquainted with their mind-blowing material as a high school and college student who was just learning to appreciate the wit and wisdom of these modern thespians.

For those of you who were not alive in those glorious years, or were distracted by the British Invasion called Monty Python, the Firesign Theater was our own, 100% American comedy troupe comprised of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Philip Proctor. Best known for their comedy albums on Columbia records (including such unique titles as “Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him,” “How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You’re Not Anywhere At All,” and my personal favorite, “Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers.”) The title of this DVD is taken from their 1974 Columbia record, “Everything You Know Is Wrong.” Defined by many as “surrealistic comedy,” I don’t think the adjective is necessary. This is comedy that puts a smile on your face, and a laugh in your heart, and isn’t that what comedy is supposed to do—regardless of how it gets you there.

Evolving from radio performances at KPPC-FM and KPFK in Los Angeles, they excelled in creating images in your imagination of people, sounds, and situations—absurd, irreverent, and downright funny. The DVD set fills in the blanks for the fans who followed them over the years, and creates a need for all those record albums in those who will discover them through this compilation.

Disc one starts with an audio only program taken from “The Les Crane Show” in April 1968. This Firesign Theater performance was a live re-creation of their “Oz Film Festival” routine (listed in the LA Times TV listing as an “Art Movie Put-on”) –based on an improvisation from the first time they worked together on “Radio Free Oz” in November 1966. There is no known recording of that first performance which makes this recording hysterically important. While Crane’s show was televised, only the audio has survived, because it was taped by a member of the Firesign while standing in front of his television set.

Les Crane’s interview is especially fascinating because it sounds, at first blush, like a serious interview with serious film artists. The nervous laughter of the studio audience demonstrates that they were not sure either if it was an act or not. I found their unique film techniques quite believable not only for the time, but even today. I only wish I could have seen the production still which Jeanclaude Jeanclaude brought with him from his film “2002” which showed golf-balls and a coffeepot in space.

I also wish I knew what the viewers thought, when they watched the commercials the troupe did for the Jack Poet Volkswagen dealership in Highland Park, California. Wonder no longer, as you can see them for yourself in the second section of disc one. You can view them all with commentary by the group, but why would you want to do that? I listened to commentary because I had to. You can just focus on their message—which was designed to sell something. I’m not sure it was cars. I guess it only goes to prove that everything I know is wrong.

In the liner notes for “The Jack Poet Volkswagen TV Ads,” the Firesign Theater claim partial responsibility for Jack eventually losing his Volkswagen franchise. I find that hard to believe. Those were some hot cars in those ads. They must have sold a lot of Love Bugs to those who followed Tony Gomez’s directions up the Pan American Freeway from South America to Highland Park.

And who was the man polishing the Bugs in the background? The unknown member of the Firesign? Will we ever find out? Well, stand-by readers! Philip Proctor reports to me that, as this piece goes to press, “That man is Jack Poet,” himself! Immortalized in this two disc set.

Director John G. Avildsen has passed away from pancreatic cancer. He had an eclectic body of work that began in earnest with his work as a cinematographer on several high profile films of the 1960s including "Hurry Sundown" and "Mickey One". Avildsen graduated to the director's chair with the surprise indie hit "Joe" in 1970 a serio-comic look at an ultra conservative working man (Peter Boyle) whose rage boils over from what he believes are anti-American protest movements against the Vietnam War. Three years later Avildsen directed the acclaimed drama "Save the Tiger" which won Jack Lemmon the Best Actor Oscar. In 1976 he directed the most unlikely of blockbusters, "Rocky", which won the Best Picture Oscar. Avildsen took home the Best Director award. He also scored with the "Karate Kid" franchise and also directed the zany comedy "Neighbors" with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as well as "The Formula" with Marlon Brando and George C.  Scott and the 1990 sequel "Rocky V". He was working on new film projects when he succumbed to cancer. Click here for more. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Olive Films has released the now obscure 1941 British film noir "Pimpernel Smith" starring Leslie Howard, who also directed. The movie (known as "Mister V" in  the United States) was released in 1941 at a time when England was hanging on by a thin thread as Hitler dominated most of Europe. As with all of the countries involved in WWII, the British film industry relied heavily on top stars appearing in inspiring movies that would boost public morale. This was especially true in England which saw its major ally, France, capitulate to Hitler in a matter of weeks, leaving the island nation standing alone against the Nazi menace. . At the time "Pimpernel Smith" was released in July 1941 (American would not enter the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of that year),  the Brits were enjoying a spate of good news. After the disastrous experience of the British expedition force in Dunkirk, the nation had been subjected to the Blitz, the daily bombing by the Luftwaffe. London was especially hard hit in what Hitler had hoped to be a strategy that would have destroyed the RAF and led to his massive invasion of England. Instead, after a year of bitter fighting, the RAF had defeated the Luftwaffe and Hitler put his invasion plans on hold as he dealt with the consequences of his misguided incursion into the Soviet Union. With the Battle of Britain now over, the Brits could catch their breath and resume normal activities such as attending the cinema without worrying about being bombed into oblivion. Apparently "Pimpernel Smith" was an especially popular boxoffice hit in 1941, though the film's reputation as faded into oblivion in the decades since.

Howard's film production is a modern, loosely-based version of the classic "The Scarlet Pimpernel"- one of the first famous tales in which the dynamic hero hides behind a meek and mild alter ego to keep his identity secret.  The story is set in the months before England went to war with the Axis powers following Germany's invasion of Poland. Howard plays Prof. Horatio Smith, a tweedy, eccentric academic who teaches at Cambridge. He arranges to take a group of his male students on a field trip to Germany ostensibly to undertake an archaeological expedition to prove that an ancient Aryan culture had once existed there- a notion that appeals to the xenophobic Nazi establishment. In reality, Smith is the unlikely anonymous hero whose exploits are filling the newspapers with tales of adventure, much to the delight of the British and the consternation of the Germans. Through daring schemes that border on the outrageous, Smith has been able to rescue important political prisoners from jails and concentration camps. His latest foray into Germany is designed to rescue Sidmir Koslowski (Peter Gawthorne), a Polish intellectual who is of value to the Allies. He has been arrested by the Germans on suspicion of being a spy. As the field trip gets under way, Smith plays up his role as an absent-minded professor, much to the amusement of his students. However, when he receives a flesh wound during one of his nocturnal secret missions, the boys catch on and insist that they be enlisted into helping Smith free Koslowski. Smith reluctantly concedes to accept their help. On the surface, Smith is treated as an honored guest by the Germans but the local military commander, General von Graum (Francis L. Sullivan) strongly suspects he is actually the "Pimpernel" and is determined to prove it and arrest him before any more prisoners can be freed. Von Graum forcibly enlists the services of Koslowski's beautiful daughter Ludmilla (Mary Morris) and makes her serve as a spy, holding her father's well-being over her head as collateral. Her mission is to seduce Smith if necessary in order to get proof of his extracurricular activities. Predictably, the two fall in love and Smith now not only has to rescue Koslowski, but his daughter as well. 

Despite the fact that Leslie Howard was at the height of his career coming off of his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind", "Pimpernel Smith" is a low-budget film that resembles a Poverty Row production. Perhaps resources and funding for films in wartime Britain were scarce even for a movie with strong propaganda value such as this. Virtually the entire film was shot on soundstages- and rather claustrophobic ones at that. City views glimpsed through windows are represented by low-grade matte paintings and there are only a few fleeting shots of actual exteriors. It's to Howard's credit as star and director as well as the screenwriters that the movie overcomes these distractions with a highly engrossing story line that builds in interest and suspense during the two-hour running time. Howard is in top form and he is more than matched by Francis  L. Sullivan who makes for a larger-than-life villain in both the figurative and literal sense of the term. Sullivan uses his considerable girth and wry delivery to channel the best characteristics of Charles Laughton and Sydney Greenstreet. The witty script allows some wonderful byplay as Smith and von Graum maintain a superficial politeness even though they both regard each other as mortal enemies engaged in a cat-and-mouse game of strategy. Mary Morris makes for a lovely leading lady though the male actors who play Smith's students are so wholesome as to come across as absurd. It doesn't help matters that the styles of the era make them appear to look older than Smith. 

It's a pity that there were no further adventures of Pimpernel Smith. However, real-life tragedy intervened when Leslie Howard was flying back to England from neutral Portugal in 1943 aboard a civilian aircraft. The plane was shot down by German fighters and all aboard were killed. Germany claimed the tragedy was an error but theories persist that his may have been targeted because of rumors that Churchill was aboard. Another theory was that the Germans wanted Howard dead in retribution for an Allied propaganda campaign he had been carrying out in Spain and Portugal. (For full analysis of the conspiracy theories behind Howard's death, read this entry on Wikipedia.) Thus, one of the film industry's most popular leading men had his life cut short due to the war even though he wasn't serving in combat."Pimpernel Smith" is a modest film but one that resonates very well today and gives us a full appreciation of Howard's talents as both actor and director. The Olive Blu-ray is sans any extras, which is a pity because of the aforementioned dramatic elements of Howard's life that would make for a good commentary track. However, the picture transfer is very impressive and does justice to the fine cinematography of Mutz Greenbaum.

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By Mark Cerulli

The energy was building, the drones were flying and the mood was celebratory as Technicolor officially opened its brand-new Culver City TEC Center dedicated to the brave new worlds of VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) and other immersive media platforms.

The official name is “Technicolor Experience Center”, and it’s been having a “soft” opening for almost a year, but now the doors are really open... The facility is a collaborative lab and incubator to develop future content and delivery platforms in the Immersive media space. “The TEC is really a work in progress,” explains Marcie Jastrow, Technicolor’s SVP Immersive Media and the executive in charge of the Center. “It’s a safe place for people to come and learn. It’s part education, part production and part post-production.” Although Technicolor is the parent company of hot VFX shops The Mill, MPC and Mr. X, which combined work on fully 80% of Hollywood blockbusters and 50% of Super Bowl spots, the TEC is agnostic – meaning they welcome all producers and projects.

Mention “Technicolor” and most people think old time movie color, but as Tim Sarnoff, Technicolor’s President of Production points out, “We processed our last foot of film in 2015, we’ve been growing in the digital space for years.” Technicolor owns over 40,000 patents and is ubiquitous today. “Everyone touches something that involves Technicolor,” says Sarnoff, “… from your smartphone, TV, set-top boxes, blockbuster movies to Super Bowl commercials.”

One cool item on display was “The Blackbird” a VR vehicle designed by The Mill that has been transforming auto advertising because it can mimic almost any type of car and its unique 3D camera rig can capture a virtual version of any environment. Along with making auto ad shoots easier, The Blackbird (named because it was built in the very same hangar where the legendary spy plane, SR-71, was constructed) can also help automotive designers envision a new vehicle much earlier in the design process.

Over 400 people crowded Technicolor’s new space – designers, directors, executives from gaming, TV, film studios and technologists, all curious about the night’s other big announcement: Technicolor and HP’s new collaboration: MARS Home Planet, an ambitious project to use VR to design a life-sustaining environment for 1 million humans on the Martian surface. Hopefully we don’t have to flee Mother Earth just yet (!) but this will be a vast experiment where students and members of the public worldwide are invited to participate.

“We wanted to tap into the collective human imagination and inspiration to reinvent life on another planet…” enthuses Sean Young, HP’s Worldwide Segment Manager, Product Development. He also pointed out that while HP is known for its printers, they’ve been working in the film and media space for 75 years, starting with building a color grader for Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

MARS Home Planet uses NASA’s research and footage of the Martian surface to create a realistic backdrop for engineers, creatives, scientists and others to reimagine what human life on another planet could be. Wanna be an astronaut? Go to hp.com/go/mars. The first 10,000 explorers get a download code for the Fusion Mars 2030 VR Experience.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

All things come to those who wait. Having somehow inexcusably missed actor/writerJim Brochu's award-winning play "Zero Hour" that depicts the controversial life and career of Zero Mostel, I was able to see the show's most recent revival at the Theatre at St. Clement's  which is just off Broadway. The show is presented by the Peccadillo Theatre Company, which specializes in staging worthy productions in the prestigious venue that is just off Broadway. For Brochu, the one-man show is a triumph.. He wrote the script himself and the production is directed with flair by three-time Oscar nominee Piper Laurie. Mostel was a larger-than-life talent and he is played with uncanny skill by Brochu, who somehow makes himself into the spitting image of the iconic actor (he doesn't bare the slightest resemblance to Mostel off-stage). The imaginative scenario finds the entire play set in Mostel's New York painting studio in 1977, shortly before his untimely death at age 62. (It was news to me that painting was his real passion and that he considered acting a sideline that paid the rent.) When the story opens, Mostel welcomes a New York Times reporter who is there to conduct an interview. "Welcomes" is perhaps not the proper word: Mostel addresses the unseen writer with a barrage of insults and quips that appear to be only partly said in jest. As Mostel unveils the story of his life, he is simultaneously busy painting a portrait of his guest. He relates his humble beginnings in Brooklyn and his respect for his hard-working, honest father. His parents were Orthodox Jews and his mother never forgave him for marrying outside the religion. The strained relationship apparently lasted until his mother was literally on her death bed and she refused to greet Zero's young son Josh because he was the product of a mixed marriage. Much of the show covers Mostel's diversified acting career, which came about quite accidentally. He was on a trajectory toward fame and fortune when he had the misfortune of falling under suspicion during the McCarthy era. Called before a committee with a demand to save his career by naming colleagues who were alleged to be communists, Mostel refused. Consequently, he was blacklisted for years with devastating effect on his psyche, not to mention his finances. Mostel airs his grievances against those artists who "named names", such as Elia Kazan and up-and-coming legendary Broadway director Jerome Robbins. Years later, however, he would work with Robbins despite his personal revulsion of the man because he recognized he was an artistic genius.

During the 90 minute production (played without intermission), Brochu's intense performance makes you think you are actually watching Mostel himself. He rails, rants, raves and charms. Mostel was capable of making crowds laugh uproariously but at the same time was known to be a challenge to work with. Mostel addresses these character flaws in the story, admitting some faults but denying others. One must keep in mind that the show is not an objective overview of his career simply because it presents Mostel relating his own version of his personal history. He tells fascinating stories about his most famous roles in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and as the original Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof"- and denounces the film version of the latter because he wasn't asked to star in it (allegedly because he was too difficult to work with) He also dismisses his cinematic triumph in Mel Brooks' "The Producers", saying that he hated the film because "I looked like a beached whale". If all Brochu offered was the Mostel who possessed a volcanic temper, the show would be unbearable. Who would want to spend 90 minutes with such a boor? However, he also shows us Mostel's softer, sentimental side especially when it came to him remaining loyal to the people who stood by him during the blacklisting years. (Burgess Meredith is singled out for praise as is his friend, Philip Loeb, who committed suicide because he was blacklisted). Mostel also proudly embraces his liberal political views, repeatedly pointing out that he agreed to have Jerome Robbins hired for his plays because  to not do so would have been the equivalent of blacklisting - something Mostel felt the political left should never be responsible for. Strangely, the play doesn't make mention of Mostel's final film appearance in the 1976 movie "The Front", a scathing indictment of McCarthyism that was created by people who had been blacklisted (director Martin Ritt, screenwriter Walter Bernstein and Mostel, among them.) 

"Zero Hour" is a remarkable achievement about the life of a great talent whose name is in danger of fading into oblivion. If younger people know who he is it's largely because of "The Producers"- if they even know about the film. However, for now, Mostel's and legend are alive and well on the stage of the Theatre at St. Clementine's. The production runs through July 9. Don't miss it- this is New York theater at its very best. 

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BY DOUG OSWALD

There was a time when movies about the Vietnam War were sparse if non existent, especially during the years when the war was raging (one of the rare exceptions being John Wayne’s “The Green Berets” in 1968). Once popular movie genres like the war movie and western were prolific on television and in cinemas, but were beginning to fall out of favor in the 1970s. They were being reinvented and metamorphosed into post modern psychological examinations of the nature of violence and war. Hollywood commonly referenced the Vietnam War by creating characters in movies depicted as dysfunctional or they commented on the war by setting the movie during a different war “The Sand Pebbles” and “M*A*S*H” are outstanding examples of Vietnam War movies in disguise).

“Go Tell the Spartans” was part of the small tide of movies about that war released in the late seventies and eighties. The 1978 release features a terrific performance by Burt Lancaster as well as an interesting supporting cast of up and coming actors. The film's opening prologue states: "In 1954, the French lost their war to keep their Indo-China colonies and those colonies became North and South Vietnam. Then the North aided a rebellion in the South and the United States sent in 'Military Advisors' to help South Vietnam fight the Communists. In 1964, the war in Vietnam was still a little one -- confused and far away."

Lancaster is war weary Army Major Asa Barker, commander of a South Vietnam outpost in 1964. A veteran of WWII and Korea, Barker commands a small group of American advisors at the outpost on the eve of the American build-up in Vietnam. His command also includes a few South Vietnamese soldiers and villagers as he negotiates with the corrupt regional governor to ensure his troops receive proper artillery cover as they engage North Vietnamese forces.

Barker’s second in command is Captain Alfred Olivetti (Marc Singer), a capable junior officer almost as jaded as Barker. They are assisted by the capable Signalman Toffee (Hilly Hicks) who is always ready with communications to headquarters before being asked. Replacements arrive at the outpost and they include the usual assortment of misfits, fence sitters, thoughtful soldiers and a gung-ho newly commissioned lieutenant. Corporal Stephen Courcey (Craig Wasson) is the college drop-out eager to serve his country by helping the South Vietnamese. Sergeant Oleonowski (Jonathan Goldsmith) is an experienced veteran near to reaching his breaking point. Lieutenant Raymond Hamilton (Joe Unger) is the recently commissioned officer a little too eager to engage the enemy and Corporal Abraham Lincoln (Dennis Howard) is the opium addicted stoner. Cowboy (Evan Kim) is Barker’s Vietnamese scout who is a bit zealous in his methods of enemy interrogation. Character actor James Hong is also present as one of the villagers assisting the Americans.

Barker and his men are ordered on an expedition to an abandoned French military outpost to report on enemy activity. They encounter the fort cemetery with 300 French graves from the First Indochina War where a sign written in French quotes the Greek historian Herodotus referencing the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Greece; "Stranger, go tell the Spartans that here we are buried, obedient to their orders." The men soon find themselves engaging an overwhelming force of Viet Cong. The soldiers realize the similarities between their expedition and the doomed French soldiers who died there 10 years earlier as they make a stand against the Viet Cong. Several of the characters succumb to their fate as happens in all war movies, but the film does this in a sincere depiction of the futility of war in a way that honors those who serve and sacrifice.

Based on Daniel Ford’s 1967 novel, “Incident at Muc Wa,” the title was changed to “Go Tell the Spartans” by screenwriter Wendell Mayes. Ford based the novel on his experiences covering the war for “The Nation.” The novel covers what is historically known as “Operation Blaze.” Mayes beefed up the character of Barker in the hopes a major Hollywood actor could be coaxed into taking the part. After several years in development Hell, Lancaster accepted the part under the direction of Ted Post for Avco Embassy. The movie literally had a spartan budget and was shot on location in California which doubled for the jungles of Southeast Asia. “The Green Berets” suffered from a similar lack of location filming and it’s a glaring liability in both films. If the viewer can overlook this and accept pine trees for jungle palms, the movie works quite well as a compelling war drama with expertly staged battle scenes.

The Scorpion Blu-ray release looks and sounds terrific with a running time of 115 minutes. The new high definition transfer in widescreen is a vast improvement over the previous 2006 DVD release. Extras on the disc include interviews with cast members Marc Singer, Joe Unger, David Clennon, Jonathan Goldsmith and director Ted Post. The interviews include interesting anecdotes on working with Burt Lancaster and the process of bringing the movie to the big screen. If you own the 2006 DVD, this Blu-ray is a worthy upgrade and recommended for fans of the genre.

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BY TIM GREAVES

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the events that preceded The Amityville Horror’s arrival on screen, I'll start with a little backstory. In November 1974 one Ronald DeFeo murdered six members of his family in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue on Long Island, New York. 13 months later George and Kathleen Lutz, along with her three children from a previous marriage, moved in; unperturbed by the gruesome events of a year earlier, they had purchased the property at a bargain price. The family fled the premises just shy of a month later, claiming to have experienced a succession of terrifying paranormal events. Their experiences soon became the subject of a book by Jay Anson, published in 1977. Following extensive studies by a number of parapsychology experts, many of the Lutzes stories would later be debunked, but at the time the couple became something of a media sensation. Director Stuart Rosenberg's film – which, as movies will, played a little economical with the facts (at least as they were laid out in Anson's book) – was released in 1979 and not only proved to be a major hit for American International Pictures but was one of the highest grossing ever independents to that time. So, did any of those paranormal incidents really take place, or was it all just canny media manipulation? George and Kathleen are dead, both having passed away prematurely in 2006 and 2004, respectively, so the true story will probably never be known. But that house on Ocean Avenue has changed hands five times since the Lutzes left – with the owners having modified the building's facade and getting the address legally changed in a bid to dissuade tourists from pestering them – and there has never been another report of an untoward occurrence. One can make of that what one will. In any event, back in the 70s George and Kathleen Lutz appeared to enjoy the attention their alleged misfortune brought them and considerable monies were generated. And at the end of the day the possibility that, actually, it wasn't all a hoax affords the whole business an enduring appeal. Rosenberg's film spawned a dozen spin-offs and sequels and was itself remade in 2005. On a final historical note, in a 1980 episode of the British TV series Hammer House of Horror entitled The House That Bled to Death a family are driven out of their new home in the wake of a number of paranormal events. They sell their story for a substantial sum and the tale ends with them living a life of luxury and the revelation that they fabricated everything for the money, although there's one final devilish twist in which...well, I won't ruin it here; those interested in the Amityville phenomenon, on which The House That Bled to Death was clearly riffing, will find it well worth seeking out.

But back to the 1979 film itself. I first saw The Amityville Horror theatrically (twice) upon its initial UK release early in 1980 – six months after its US opening the previous summer. Although its effervescence has diminished somewhat in the intervening years, back then the belief that I was witnessing what were supposedly true events added a distinct frisson to the proceedings.

Recently married George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin and Margot Kidder) move into a large property on Long Island, the site of a familial massacre just a year earlier. A succession of relatively minor incidents – inexplicable odours, toilet bowls ejaculating viscous black gunge – begin to tarnish the happy household, and George's health plummets. After priest and friend of the family Father Delaney (Rod Steiger) is driven out by an unseen presence whilst he's in the process of blessing the house, the abnormal occurrences intensify and it becomes apparent that the residue of something evil is at work. When George's mood darkens and his sanity begins to unravel, Kathy starts to fear for the lives of her entire family. 

The Amityville Horror was co-produced by Elliot Geisinger and Ronald Saland, known primarily for a number of behind-the-scenes shorts they directed and produced throughout the 60s and 70s. But the name that stands out here is that of executive producer Samuel Z Arkoff, instantly recognisable to movie buffs from Vincent Price horrors (Cry of the Banshee, The Abominable Dr Phibes and its sequel, Dr Phibes Rises Again), through blaxploitation classics (Coffy, Blacula, Slaughter) to clunky monster flicks (The People That Time Forgot, The Food of the Gods, Empire of the Ants); if Arkoff's name was on it you always knew you were in for a fun ride. And The Amityville Horror is nothing if not that. 

Director Stuart Rosenberg, working from a Sandor Stern screenplay, conjures up an efficient little creepy embroidered with all the standard haunted house tropes; bumps in the night, thunderstorms, blood-spattered dream sequences, bricked-up cubbyholes, tormented babysitters, and at one point the hoariest of them all, the sudden appearance of a howling cat. But there are also enough genuinely efficacious jumps and starts throughout to keep viewers on their toes. The whole shebang gets strong backing from a terrific Lalo Schifrin score, its haunting (no pun intended) nursery rhyme theme – the sound of chanting children set against low strings combining to invoke a crawling sense of ill-ease – surely ranking among the composer's finest works. It was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Score of 1979 but lost out to George Delerue's A Little Romance.

BY HANK REINEKE

There’s enough cross-plot evidence to suggest that some ideas woven into World Without End (Allied Artists, 1956) were based in part on H.G. Wells’ classic 1895 novel The Time Machine. Wells’ immortal tale would, of course, soon follow the less-celebrated World Without End as a lavish, big-screen Hollywood feature of 1960. Though director-writer Edward Bernds readily admitted to familiarity with Wells’ The Time Machine, he insisted his screenplay was a wholly original creation. Though the similarities between the two works cannot be discounted, Bernds refutation has merit. Certainly modern science-fiction’s fascinations with time and space travel were hardly of the abstract, and most certainly predated Wells’ own literary musings on the subject.

That said, Bernds World Without End is of its own time and primarily a stereotypical 1950s Cold War-era vehicle. It’s a call for a return to reason and détente in the decade following the game-changing horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The real monsters in this film are neither the over-sized arachnids nor the ambling Cyclops-Neanderthals. Instead it’s the hawkish politicians, generals, diplomats and scientists who recklessly helped dress the stage for earth’s inevitable apocalypse. There’s little denying this is a “message” film. Even before the credits roll, the film opens dramatically with a grim, red-tinted vision of an atomic mushroom cloud spiraling heavenward.

It is March of 1957, and the U.S. has sent a spacecraft on mankind’s first ever flight to red planet Mars. Surprisingly, the four man crew is not scheduled to touch down on the Martian surface; this flight is purely a reconnaissance mission in which they are tasked to twice orbit Mars for photo-mapping. In Washington D.C., Pentagon officials, members of the press, and distraught family members have become increasingly anxious as contact with the spaceship has been lost. The astronauts onboard are less concerned. They realize this breakdown in communication is merely temporary, likely the result of their spacecraft entering Mars’ magnetic field.

Unfortunately and unbeknownst to the crew, on the return voyage home, the spaceship accidentally wanders into a time displacement vortex. The craft crashes into a snowy region that the rattled astronauts – all of whom have miraculously survived – not unreasonably assume is one of Mars’ famed polar icecaps. It’s not, as they soon recognize when exiting the craft without the assistance of oxygen helmets or pressure suits. Journeying from the snow-capped mountain, they dimly recognize the outline of the Rockies, believing they might have somehow landed on the border of Idaho and Wyoming, or perhaps that of Colorado and New Mexico.

They quickly begin to have their doubts when they wander into a cave and are attacked by giant spiders “as big as dogs!” Surviving that sticky encounter with the assistance of their pistols, an overnight campout under the stars is summarily ruined when they’re viciously attacked by – and barely stave off - a gang of marauding Cyclops-Neanderthals who brandish primitive hand weapons. Taking supposed safe harbor in still another cave, the crew is trapped inside when a steel panel mysteriously descends from above. Their abductors are, to the great relief of all, friends.

They learn from a panel of paternal, subterranean elders referred as “The Council,” that they are indeed back on earth. But it’s now the year 2508, some 551 years since they had first been launched into orbit. They also learn that the earth was almost entirely destroyed in the “Great Blow” of 2188. This was the year of Armageddon when “man destroyed himself” through foolish use of atomic weaponry and the absence of wisdom.

BY DEAN BRIERLY 

For a film director with such an iconic resume, there’s a surprising scarcity of scholarly books devoted to Robert Wise, the man who directed such classics as  "West Side Story" (1961), "The Haunting" (1963), “The Sound of Music” (1965), “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), “The Sand Pebbles” (1966) and many other critical and commercial successes. To say nothing of his stature as the man who edited “Citizen Kane” (1941) and “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942) before taking up decades-long residence in the director’s chair.

Wise brought a self-effacing approach to directing, one that never drew attention to itself. He may have had the most “invisible” style of all the major directors from Hollywood’s Golden Era, which no doubt helps explain why he never had the auteur imprimatur conferred upon him by French critics who swooned over Welles’ baroque visuals, Douglas Sirk’s melodramatic excess, and Howard Hawks’ male-bonding thematic.

The identifiable characteristics of a Wise film were subtler, if no less crucial: the ability to advance the narrative through visuals, seamless editing, an unfailing command of pace, the ability to draw consistent performances from his casts. His adaptability and mastery of all aspects of filmmaking helped him excel across every genre. Noir, sci-fi, horror, westerns, musicals, romances—Wise made outstanding films in each of these categories.

In what is surely good news for fans of Robert Wise and classic films in general, Joe Jordan, film historian and author of “Showmanship: The Cinema of William Castle,” has filled an important gap in film scholarship with his new book, “Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures.” As the title implies, this is not a biography, but an in-depth study of Wise’s films. The book’s length, 500 pages, testifies to the prodigious research Jordan conducted on his subject.

Jordan’s approach is rather unique. He provides an extended synopsis and assessment of each film, bookended by contextual information relating to pre- and post-production issues and interspersed with relevant dialog exchanges and copious film stills. These analytical synopses, for want of a better term, are so lengthy and detailed that readers are likely to find themselves running the films through their heads as Jordan provides his own running commentary on how Wise achieved certain effects through camera setups, staging of action, direction of actors, attention to sound, and so on. Even if one has an intimate familiarity with Wise’s films, Jordan continually surprises with his insight and observations, and makes one want to watch them all over again.

Another highlight of the book are the personal recollections from many of the actors and actresses who performed in Wise’s films. These oral histories, some of which run to several pages, are also deftly woven into the overall narrative. The contributors are an interesting bunch. None of them are superstars per se (not all are actors, either), and while some names are more familiar than others, all are extremely talented professionals who made significant contributions to Wise’s films. It’s refreshing to read fresh perspectives from personalities not often heard from. There’s an unassuming tone to each of their recollections, which is fitting, given the modest, self-effacing nature of the man they’re discussing. Their memories are informative and entertaining, all of them linked by the greatest respect for their subject.

Stunt man Jack Young recalls doubling for James Cagney on “Tribute to a Bad Man” (1956), and being impressed by the relaxed yet professional atmosphere on Wise’s set—a recurring claim made by everyone who worked on his films. Young offers a superbly concise description of Wise as “a good director who cracked a soft whip.” He also reveals some interesting facts about the nature of his profession in the 1940s and ’50s, when stunt men also served as stand-ins and lighting doubles for actors, a practice no longer allowed.

BY FRED BLOSSER

“Sabata” (1969; U.S. release, 1970), “Adios  Sabata” (1970; U.S. release, 1971), and “Return of Sabata” (1971; U.S. release, 1972) are often referred to as “The Sabata Trilogy,” thanks to clever marketing by MGM, which originally released the three Italian Westerns theatrically and on home video here in the States. Technically, “trilogy” is a misnomer. As I noted in an article review on this site in 2014, “Adios, Sabata” was released in Italy in 1970 as “Indio Black, sai che ti dico: Sei un gran figlio di...,” with Yul Brynner as the title character Indio Black. It was rebranded for distribution in the U.S. and some European markets when “Sabata,” starring Lee Van Cleef, turned a profit for MGM and producer Alberto Grimaldi. Commercially, it was a smart move, keeping the Sabata name on marquees until the true Van Cleef sequel, “È tornato Sabata... hai chiuso un'altra volta!,” followed in American theaters as “Return of Sabata” in the Watergate summer of 1972. For a longer analysis of the first Van Cleef movie, not included in the review that follows, see the 2014 review.

Only Mr. Magoo would mistake Yul Brynner and Lee Van Cleef for each other, but reviewers had an “Oh, well,” attitude about the casting, simply assuming that Brynner had stepped in for Van Cleef between the first and third movies. Audiences didn’t seem to notice or care. Anyway, many of the same credits appeared on all three films, ensuring some continuity of style: producer Grimaldi, director “Frank Kramer,” actually the Americanized alias of Gianfranco Parolini, scriptwriters Parolini and Renato Izzo, and supporting actors Pedro Sanchez, Nick Jordan, and Gianni Rizzo. The strategy probably benefitted the three films over the long haul, as well. With genre pictures, series tend to have more staying power than stand-alone titles. On DVD, MGM Home Video released the three movies in 2006 both as individual discs and as a boxed set under the “Sabata Trilogy” label. Kino Lorber Studio Classics produced a Blu-ray edition of “Sabata” for the U.S. market in 2014, and now has completed its set with “Adios, Sabata” and “Return of Sabata,” released simultaneously as individual discs.

In “Adios, Sabata,” Brynner’s title character signs up for a caper to steal the Emperor Maximilian’s imperial gold from murderous Col. Skimmel (Gerard Herter) and turn it over to Juarez’s good-guy Mexican revolutionaries. The “inside man” for Sabata at Skimmel’s military post, and alternately his rival for the gold, is Ballantine (Dean Reed), a portraitist and con artist. Lots of explosions ensue, along with chases, battles, gunfights, and trick weaponry (like Sabata’s rifle magazine that also serves as his cigar holder). As a “gringos south of the border” action-fest, it’s better than any of the sequels to and reboots of “The Magnificent Seven,” including last year’s dour remake.

In “Return of Sabata,” Van Cleef’s character comes to Hobsonville, Texas, as the star of a Wild West sideshow in a traveling circus. Sabata tells his old Army subordinate from the Civil War, Clyde (Reiner Schöne), now the proprietor of a local gambling house, that he plans to stick around long enough “to collect the $5,000 you owe me.” Actually, Sabata has a bigger score in mind, related to his reason for traveling with the circus, and to the money being raised by town boss McIntock through exorbitant sales taxes to fund “civic improvements” in Hobsonville. Where Van Cleef’s original Sabata was a steely man of mystery, his character in “Return of Sabata” is more relaxed, to the point of mugging for the camera in a couple of scenes, having a gorgeous hooker girlfriend, Maggie (Annabella Incontrera), and indulging in what today’s viewers might regard as a couple of sexist comments. Some reviews unfairly conclude that the plot makes no sense. If you pay close enough attention, it does, but “Kramer” makes the narrative hard to follow, inserting details and events in rapid succession and seemingly at random. Only later do they pay off with verbal or visual punchlines. It’s hard to tell if he was being intentionally disruptive to keep viewers guessing about Sabata’s motives along with Clyde and McIntock, or if he couldn’t resist adding every gag that he and Izzo thought of.

Like “My Name is Nobody” (1974), the next-to-last Spaghetti produced by Sergio Leone, “Return of Sabata” indulges in too much noisy, surrealistic circus business for anybody but the most avid Cirque de Soleil groupie. Where “Sabata” had one acrobat in the protagonist’s entourage (Nick Jordan), the sequel has two (Nick Jordan and Vassili Karis). An opening “shootout” in a weirdly lit room between Sabata and a passel of gunmen turns out to be part of the sideshow act. It concludes as the stage lights come on, the gunmen get up, wipe off their fake blood, and joke with each other, and a noisy troupe of clowns runs in. Viewers allergic to clowns may be tempted to punch “stop” or “fast forward” at that point. The first of the gunmen “shot down” by Sabata appears to be played by actor and stuntman Romano Puppo, Van Cleef’s stunt double in several Spaghettis, even though Puppo doesn’t appear in the cast credits for the picture in IMDB and the Spaghetti Western Data Base.

Licensed from 20th Century Fox and MGM, the KL Studio Classics Blu-ray editions of “Adios, Sabata” and “Return of Sabata” have sharp hi-def clarity and a strong color palette, nice upgrades from the previous DVD discs. Extras are scanty, limited to reversible case sleeves with the American poster artwork for the films on one side and the Italian on the other, and trailers for the Sabata films and “Barquero,” an inferior 1970 American Western starring Van Cleef. Unfortunately for aging fans, the audience most likely to remember Van Cleef and Brynner, no SDH subtitles are provided. The German Blu-ray editions from Explosive Media that preceded the KL releases are superior in this respect, including both audio and captioning options not only in English but also in Italian and other languages. Too, it’s unfortunate that KL didn’t spring for the rights and the costs to port over and translate the attractive, informative insert booklets that Explosive Media’s Ulrich Bruckner included with the German discs. Regardless, fans will appreciate Kino Lorber for making “Adios, Sabata” and “Return of Sabata” readily accessible in the U.S. market in good hi-def prints.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER "ADIOS, SABATA" FROM AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO ORDER "RETURN OF SABATA" FROM AMAZON

You Only Live Twice opened in UK cinemas 50 years ago today (on the 13th in America), and to celebrate the release of the biggest Bond of all Cinema Retro's September issue pays tribute to this cinematic extravaganza with a 32-page 'Film in Focus' special. Apart from Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury's interview with Nancy Sinatra (a rare in-print interview about her involvement with the film), we feature many rare and never-seen-before stills and behind-the-scenes photos, features on props and collectibles, and exclusive interviews with Karin Dor, Leslie Bricusse, Julie Rogers (the singer who was originally contracted to record the title song) and Mark Cerulli catches up with Tsai Chin for her memories of the film. And that's not all - Bond composer David Arnold discusses how the music to You Only Live Twice changed his life forever, and we have an exclusive interview with the late Ken Wallis, the creator of the Little Nellie gyrocopter,  who discusses the helicopter accident (with photos) that caused cameraman John Jordan to lose his foot; plus Raymond Benson meets 'Bond Girls' Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama, and Peter Lamont explains the logistics of building the massive volcano set. A not-to-be-missed issue!

Cinema Retro #39 is published this coming September (October in the US), and is the last issue of the 2017 season #13 subscription. Make sure you subscribe or renew for this season! Issues #’s 37 and 38 ship immediately, followed by the #39 in the fall.

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By Todd Garbarini

I disliked Car Wash upon seeing it for the first time On Demand several years ago and didn’t even make it all the way through. Having grown up listening to Richard Pryor and George Carlin in the early 1980’s I had always wanted to see this film that showcased both of their talents but could never seem to find it on television or on VHS in any of the independent video stores that I frequented. The former West Coast Videos and Blockbuster Videos were of no help either. Given the opportunity to see it On Demand, I must have been in a different mindset as something about the film must have rubbed me the wrong way, but a new viewing of it has changed my mind completely.

Car Wash, which opened in theatres in New York City on Friday, October 15, 1976 (remember the 8^th Street Playhouse?), is a delightfully funny slice of Los Angeles 1970’s craziness that looks at the lives of a sizeable group of men who wash cars by hand for a meek owner, Mr. B., played by the late great character actor Sully Boyer, the bank manager from Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Mr. B. can’t afford to install the automatic, machine-run equipment necessary to wash cars more efficiently at the Dee-Luxe Car Wash (even a young boy sees through his claim to have his workers do the washing by hand to give it that “personal touch”) while, unbelievably, carrying on an extra-marital affair with Marsha, the cute girl at the cash register (Melanie Mayron, who looks like she could be the sister of adult film performer Sunny Lane). The main characters are the washers themselves and we are introduced to them as they change in the locker room and talk about the lives that they really want to be leading. One wants to be a superhero, another two are a fairly good singing duo, and the angriest of the lot calls himself Abdullah (Bill Duke) and wants to be anywhere but there as he’s tired of the shenanigans. Lindy (Antonio Fargas of Starsky and Hutch) is a drag queen with a good heart and has some of the best lines in this Joel Schumacher-scripted film.

As the action progresses, we meet several clients who want only tip-top service. Lorraine Gary from Jaws portrays an inspired bit of Beverly Hills middle-age housewife hysteria who is in a hurry as she speeds through the LA streets talking on a mobile car phone(!) with a young son who can’t stop vomiting for reasons never explained. Kenny (Tim Thomerson) catches Marsha’s eye and suavely hands her his business card. Another involves a man recovering from a prostate operation and a bottle of urine that parodies the ape throwing the bone into the sky in 2001: A Space Odyssey. One of the stand-outs is Richard Pryor as Daddy Rich, a goofy preacher who travels in luxury with an entourage that includes The Pointer Sisters and spouts enough verbal puns to illustrate that not much has changed between the days of snake oil salesmen and those “doing God’s work” while being called out by Abdullah. His reaction after getting out of the limo (look fast for the sophomoric TITHE on the license plate) for the first time when he gets a look at Lindy is hilarious and priceless. The car wash even has Daddy Rich’s photo mounted on a wall next to JFK and MLK. George Carlin also appears as a loquacious taxi driver who boasts to a hooker/passenger (Lauren Jones) how much he trusts people just as she quietly bolts from his cab without paying her fare. He spends the rest of the film looking for her while she hangs around right under his nose, completely unrecognizable in a different outfit. The film’s episodic nature recalls Robert Altman’s style of filmmaking.

It’s not all fun and games as the script takes an unexpected turn into serious territory where it deals with Caucasian and African-American relations. One of the washers is himself an ex-convict doing his best to stay on the straight and narrow and provide for his children who greet him at work in a sweet and tender scene. Later, he is nearly killed when a fired employee tries to rob the cash register after hours. The incident is completely unexpected and deeply poignant as the former promises to help the latter out of his situation as the would-be robber emotionally breaks down.

Some of the scenes would probably not be scripted like this had the film been made today, and as of early 2016 there was a rumor that the film was being considered for a remake. In 2001 a film called The Wash (not to be confused with the 1988 film of the same name) was released and was directed by DJ Pooh and starred Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg that took place at a car wash.

BY DARREN ALLISON

 

Cineploit Records launches two new releases“Omaggio al Maestro Ennio Morricone” (Cine 20) and “Omaggio a Joe D´Amato e Marcello Giombini” (Exploit 01) 7″ EP to mark their 5 year anniversary.

Cinema Retro picked up on Cineploit’s talents very early in the day. I've been reviewing their releases now since those very first humble beginnings. When it comes to labels that are dedicated in keeping retro genre film music alive - Cineploit are arguably the very best. Never afraid to explore new avenues or indeed breathing new life into classic Giallo or Poliziotteschi film scores, the label has decided to celebrate their anniversary with the release of a tribute album ‘Omaggio al Maestro Ennio Morricone.’

 

This highly impressive compilation of the Maestro's work is performed by various groups and artists from the Cineploit stable, and very lavish it is too. The vinyl version comes in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with UV Spot, printed inner sleeve and is available in a limited coloured vinyl edition exclusive at Cineploit. The CD also comes with a Bonus track. The regular LP version is on 180g black Vinyl with or without the CD. The CD version also comes in an LP style wallet with an 8 page booklet and features different front sleeve artwork. As always, Cineploit offer a wide range of buying options at their website.

• Zoltan – Pazuzu (from Exorcist 2)

• Videogram – The Thing (from Soundtrack)

• Orgasmo Sonore vs. Sospetto – Adonai (from Il Giardino delle Delizie)

• Rashomon – Stress Infinito (from Spasmo)

• Oscillotron – La Lucertola (from Una lucertola con la pelle di Donna)

• LAWA (Leonard/Wank) – Sentenza di Morte (from Roma come Chicago)

• Orgasmo Sonore – Matto, Caldo… Girotondo (from Vergogna Schifosi)

• Luigi Porto feat Fromwood – Strana Bambina (La Piovra)

• Thelema – Die Ballade von Präfekt Mori (from Il Prefetto di Ferro)

• Sospetto – Inseguimento No. 2 & 3 (from Una breve stagione)

• LAWA (Leonard/Wank) – Revolver (from Revolver) * CD Bonus

Cineploit have also taken this opportunity to repress and rerelease the long sold out 7" EP

 

 

“Omaggio a Joe D´Amato e Marcello Giombini” by Deak Ferance & Roger Conrad (Exploit 01) and features music from “Man-Eater aka Antropophagous” and “Erotic Nights of the living Dead”. The vinyl features stunning retro artwork to both front and back and is released in a limited edition of just 350 copies on Orange/Black Splatter Vinyl.

Cineploit never fail to impress me, through either their quality recordings or their equally beautiful standard of packaging. With imminent new album releases coming from both Sospetto and Thelema, the future is certainly looking bright! Happy anniversary Cineploit!

http://www.cineploit.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5lEi3wmsK4 (*Lee – Great promo video)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Adam West, one of the most enduring pop culture figures of the 1960s, has passed away at age 88 after a battle with leukemia. West was a hunky young actor laboring in bit parts in films such as "The Young Philadelphians", "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" and co-starring with the Three Stooges in their last feature film "The Outlaws is Coming!" when he got the opportunity to audition for the role of Batman in ABC's new TV series. The essence of the show was that it would be played as a broad comedy. West impressed the producers with his ability to pretend his character wasn't in on the joke. West played Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne as stalwart, incorrupt heroes. He approved young Burt Ward to play the role of Robin despite not having any previous acting experience. The show, which premiered in January 1966, took off like a rocket especially with young people who appreciated the funky humor and the eye-popping production designs. ABC decided to emulate the old Batman serials but presenting the show as two half-hour episodes on consecutive nights, the first one always ending with a cliffhanger.  Many actors of repute competed to play villains in the show including Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Vincent Price and many others. In 1966, Fox rushed a feature film based on the series into production with West and Ward starring.

The show also inspired the short-lived TV series "The Green Hornet", which gave Bruce Lee his first dose of fame. By early 1968, however, the show's novelty had worn off and it was canceled. West struggled to find acting gigs. In 1971 he won good reviews for a dramatic performance in "The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker", playing a supporting role. West was proud of the film but it wasn't a hit and his career went back into the doldrums. West never went out of style, however, and make lucrative appearances throughout the decades at fan conventions around the world.

He also got a late career boost by providing the voiceover work for the hit animated TV comedy series "The Family Guy" as well as for the "Batman" animated series. West also enjoyed a surge in popularity whenever a new "Batman" feature film would go into production and he was a participant in the long-awaited home video release of the "Batman" TV series in 2014.  In 2013, Netflix ran a documentary "Starring Adam West" in which the actor reflected on his career. For more click here. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Winston Churchill may be the  famous figure of the 20th century to be most-portrayed on film. Indeed, it's hard to sell a historically-themed British film or TV series that touches upon the WWII years without making Churchill a central character. For actors the role must seem irresistible. After all, Churchill's real-life mannerisms and eccentricities remain the stuff of legend. In an age when most people are seemingly uninterested and uninformed about history, Churchill Mania is very much in vogue in some quarters. In the new film independent film "Churchill", Brian Cox becomes the latest thespian to portray the larger-than-life statesman. He does a brilliant job of it, too, having gained over twenty pounds in the process. It may seem that Churchill is one of the easiest legends to be imitated. As with John Wayne, it seems any drunk with a lampshade on his head can knock out a reasonably effective impersonation. However, Cox delivers one of the more effective interpretations of the man, playing up his physical and emotional frailties. The film concerns itself only with the period of timing leading up to the D-Day invasion- and there lies the rub. It is known that Churchill had strong reservations about the audacity of the Allies launching an "all-or-nothing-at-all" gamble to liberate Occupied France. However, the extent of those reservations has long been debated by historians. Churchill apologists have argued that his concerns were relatively minor and that he ended up being an enthusiastic proponent of the plan. His critics say that he whitewashed history in his memoirs and believe that he was reluctantly dragged into supporting the invasion only when it became clear that his objections were being overruled. The screenplay for the film is firmly in the second camp, making Churchill a man who was vehemently opposed to D-Day to the point of making himself a nuisance to Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery, who were hell-bent on taking the gamble. I don't proclaim to be an expert in Churchillian history so I can't address concerns cited by some other critics that the film exaggerates his objections to the invasion and the impact it had on the military and his wife Clementine (Miranda Richardson). She is portrayed as a long-suffering spouse who must endure her husband's constant temper tantrums and self-centeredness. This isn't a minor point. The entire plot is basically centered on Churchill's position on the D-Day invasion. The film does acknowledge a known fact: Churchill did favor a massive invasion of Europe but wanted the Allies to land in Italy, where they already had a foothold. His ideas were dismissed by Eisenhower in favor of using Normandy as the landing point. Although the film doesn't specify why Eisenhower rejected Churchill's plan, historians say it was because the fighting going on in Italy was proving to be far worse than anyone had predicted and the feat of getting an entire invasion force over so many geographical obstacles would have greatly slowed or diminished the effort. Although some critics have said that "Churchill" is a bastardization of history, there are scholars who back up the representation that Churchill was vigorously opposed to Eisenhower's plans for the Normandy invasion. As indicated in the film, he was haunted by the battle at Gallipoli in WWI, which he had planned. It resulted in massive Allied losses and Churchill was obsessed with not having another major invasion result in such casualties. What the film undeniably presents in an accurate setting is Eisenhower's momentous decision to trust his weatherman and approve the launch of the D-Day invasion, taking advantage of a sliver of barely acceptable conditions at sea. Half of his advisers told him not to do it while the other half told him he must. It's a scene filled with drama and tension- and one in which Churchill finds himself relegated to the status of bystander.  

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Scream Factory™ is celebrating five years of fear with the special screening event 5 Nights of Fear airing on Shout! Factory TV.  In celebration of the now-iconic horror brand’s fifth anniversary, Scream Factory will present nightly screenings of cult favorite films Nightbreed, Bad Moon, The Exorcist III, Hellholeand Rabid. 5 Nights of Fear will air from Monday, June 12 through Friday, June 16 each evening at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/, and on Pluto TV Channel 512.  

On Monday, the terrifying celebration begins with Clive Barker’s creature feature Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut. On Tuesday, fans can howl with horror to Eric Red’s Bad Moon. Wednesday, things get even more wicked with William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III. Then on Thursday, get locked up in the glorious grindhouse film Hellhole. Finally, on Friday, fans can absolutely devor David Cronenberg’s Canadian classic Rabid.

Fans of Scream Factory and cult horror won’t want to miss these films streaming free! Join the conversation to tweet the terror live using the hashtag #5NightsOfFear.  

Be sure to follow along at:

Twitter: @Scream_Factory

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScreamFactoryDVD

Schedule of Films*

Monday, June 12 at 7 p.m. – Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut

Tuesday, June 13 at 7 p.m. – Bad Moon: Theatrical Cut 

Wednesday, June 14 at 7 p.m. – The Exorcist III: Theatrical Cut

Thursday, June 15 at 7 p.m. – Hellhole

Friday, June 16 at 7 p.m. – Rabid

*Times listed are Pacific time, approximate and subject to change.

Shout! Factory TV’s 5 Nights of Fear will be streaming nightly from June 12 – June 16 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/, and onPluto TV, CH 512. For mobile, tablet and connected TV devices the marathon is accessible via the Pluto TV app. The marathon is also available via Pluto TV in the living room (Roku, Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Android TV devices, Chromecast and Apple Airplay), on the go (apps for iOS, Android and Amazon) and at your fingertips on PC’s, Mac’s or on the web.

BY MARK CERULLI

Anyone who grew up in the 1970s fondly remembers “Chiller Theater” playing on WPIX in the NY area.  Chiller introduced me to all the Universal classics – Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman and, of course, Karloff’s 1932 addition, The Mummy. Universal’s new re-imagining of their beloved classic isn’t that Mummy, not by a long shot– but we’re in a different time and a different world, so why not?

This new Mummy stars Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, an Army commando/antiquities raider who finds and sells priceless relics on the black market. He’s stolen a map from a lovely, combative British archaeologist (Annabelle Wallis) that leads him to modern day, ultra dangerous Iraq. After he and his Army bro (Jake Johnson) call in an airstrike to save them from insurgents, a missile blast reveals the hidden tomb of Ahmanet, an Egyptian Princess who murdered her immediate family in a quest for power. Her punishment was being buried alive – in a vat of mercury, which the ancient Egyptians believed prevented her evil spirit from escaping. Tom Cruise inadvertently raises her and all Hell breaks loose – literally.

Stunning Algerian actress Sofia Boutella (the legless assassin from Kingsman: The Secret Service) plays our new Mummy – it was a bold choice, but the ONLY one director Alex Kurtzman could make as no one could out-Karloff Karloff. Boutella is menacing, seductive and a screen presence who can more than hold her own with Tom Cruise.

The film has already received a drubbing from some critics and die-hard monster fans. They took issue with Tom Cruise’s casting and the filmmakers’ use of CGI. While I was surprised to hear that Cruise had signed on, The Mummy is something different from his usual action hero chores and he embraced it with his trademark enthusiasm. He convincingly plays a macho military guy fighting against Ahmanet’s spell, trying to win back the archeologist and save the world from the princess’ zombie hordes. (Did I mention she can raise the dead?) While the filmmakers did use CGI, the work by Technicolor’s MPC is, as expected, top notch – from sandstorms blowing through London’s Financial District, to attacking camel spiders and dead Crusaders stalking the London Underground.

So we have a new, female Mummy, we have global icon Tom Cruise, we have zombies, chases and car crashes. What’s the only thing missing? A frame to hang it and future monster movies on. Well, the filmmakers thought of that too: enter “Prodigium”, a super secret organization dedicated to wiping out evil and it’s hot on The Mummy’s trail. Prodigium is run by… um… Dr. Henry Jekyll. Cue the needle skip sound!

Jekyll, played by Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, is a clue that The Mummy, impressive as it is, is part of something bigger – the Dark Universe, Universal’s reinvigorated monster franchise. Take a deep breath and step back… unless you’ve been buried alive for the last decade, Hollywood is, for better or worse, in the mega franchise business: Iron Man, Thor, Deadpool, Kong, Star Trek, Pirates, Harry Potter, MI, Fast & Furious, Hunger Games, James Bond, Jack Reacher, etc. Why? Because with rare exceptions, they make boatloads of money. If you view it in that context, Dr. J’s appearance makes a bit more sense. Crowe is fine as the good doctor and his evil counterpart who gives Cruise a righteous thrashing while trying to enlist him to the dark side, but I kinda wish they hadn’t crossed horror streams, so to speak… that said, The Mummy is everything you could want from a $120 million film – it’s fast, exciting, and impeccably made. And it isn’t all airless CGI: early on, the military plane transporting Princess Ahmanet’s sarcophagus is hit by a swarm of crows. The resulting crash was filmed on 16 parabolic flights to show Cruise and Wallis banging around the cabin in Zero G. There’s a high-speed ambulance crash on the moors of England that practically puts you in the driver’s seat. Cinematographer Ben Seresin uses the vast Namibian desert to great effect; and love him or hate him, Tom Cruise is a damn good actor. His almost-nude scene reveals he is also as ageless as the Sphinx. So kick back and enjoy this Mummy. You’ll always have Karloff’s classic on your DVD shelf.

From the November 21, 1960 issue of Boxoffice magazine. 

By Todd Garbarini

Barry Levinson’s 1982 comedy Diner celebrates its 35^th anniversary (yikes!) with a special 35mm screening at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. A highly revered coming-of-age story directed by the man who helmed Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Good Morning Vietnam (1987), and Rain Man (1989), Diner features and all-star cast that includes Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin, and Paul Reiser. The 110-minute film will be screened on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 7:30 pm.

PLEASE NOTE: Producer Mark Johnson and actor Paul Reiser are scheduled to appear in person for a Q & A following the screening.

From the press release:

DINER (1982)

35th Anniversary Screening

Saturday, June 10, at 7:30 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre

Followed by Q & A with Producer Mark Johnson

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 35th anniversary screening of one of the best loved films of the 1980s, Barry Levinson’s 'Diner.' Levinson made his directorial debut with this feature set in his native Baltimore in 1959, and he earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. The frequently uproarious comedy-drama, set to a rousing soundtrack of hits from the period, follows a group of friends who hang out at their favorite diner as they try to navigate the perilous path from adolescence to adulthood. Long before 'Mad Men,' this film skewered the blatant sexism that was rampant in the era.

The extraordinary cast, many of them new to movies, includes Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Paul Reiser, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, and Ellen Barkin. Levinson encouraged his cast to improvise, and their rapport helped to electrify the film. Many of them went on to make an impressive mark in both film and television over the next decades. Time’s Richard Corliss wrote that 'Diner' was “wonderfully cast and played.” People Magazine declared, “All the performances are remarkable…but the ultimate triumph is Levinson’s. He captures both the surface and the soul of an era with candor and precision.”

Mark Johnson won the Academy Award for producing the Best Picture of 1988, 'Rain Man,' also directed by Levinson. His many other credits include 'The Natural,' 'Good Morning, Vietnam,' 'Avalon,' 'Bugsy,' 'Donnie Brasco,' 'A Perfect World,' 'The Chronicles of Narnia,' 'The Notebook,' and the award-winning TV series 'Breaking Bad,' 'Better Call Saul,' and 'Rectify.' He has chaired the foreign language committee of the Motion Picture Academy for many years.

The Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre is located at 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211. The phone number is (310) 478 – 3836.

Click here for tickets.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

With passing of Chris Cornell, writer Jeremy Fuster of The Wrap web site had the inspired idea to contact famed motion picture composer David Arnold to discuss his collaboration with Cornell on the song "You Know My Name" which was used over the opening titles in the 2006 James Bond film "Casino Royale". No less than the future of the Bond franchise was riding on the film's success, which was anything but assured. A lot of bad press was aimed at Daniel Craig in his first film as 007 and word-of-mouth was less-than-enthusiastic. However, those doubts were shattered on the night of the royal premiere in London with Queen Elizabeth in attendance. Critics showered the movie with praise and Craig made his unique mark on the character of Bond. Arnold recollects how he and Cornell agreed that they needed to create a gritty title song that symbolized the new era of Bond and the new emphasis on realism. Click here to read. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Olive Films has released a Blu-ray edition of "Those Fantastic Flying Fools" although the packaging bears the film's alternate title, "Blast-Off". The 1967 production is largely forgotten by all but the most avid retro movie lovers. Clearly inspired by the success of director Ken Annakin's 1965 blockbuster "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines", "Blast-Off" is far more modest in its ambitions and the pleasures it delivers but it still offers a rare opportunity to see many  great "second bananas"  in leading roles. The movie apparently had a checkered history with Bing Crosby, Senta Berger and Wilfred Hyde-White having been associated with it in the early stages only to drop out for various reasons. As it is, the movie presents an impressive number of talented comic actors in a tale loosely inspired by the writings of Jules Verne. (The movie was released in the UK under yet another titles, "Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon").  The film presents Burl Ives, well cast as P.T. Barnum, making a trek to England where he encounters a the nutty Prof. von Bulow (Gert Frobe, ported over from "Magnificent Men" in an almost identical role), who is trying to convince skeptical colleagues that he can develop technology to send a manned rocket to the moon. Barnum, ever the opportunist, doesn't care whether the plan is feasible or not, but he smells a great way to attract paying crowds to see the rocket before its attempted launch. He partners with the Duke of Barset (Dennis Price), a true believer in von Bulow's ambitious plan, and before long even Queen Victoria is on board helping with the financing and providing logistical military support as von Bulow goes through an often disastrous series of experiments using high levels of gunpowder to find the perfect formula to act as propulsion for the rocket. 

The story dovetails with individual side plots that present Daliah Lavi as Madelaine, a lovely but ditzy French girl, who is equally in love with two would-be husbands, Henri (Edward de Souza), a wealthy playboy and Gaylord, an American inventor who is also developing technology to bring a man to the moon. Through a convoluted set of circumstances, Gaylord and Madelaine  end up arriving in England at the precise spot where Barnum and von Bulow are performing propulsion tests. Madelaine ends up getting lost and falls into the hands of the lecherous Harry Washington Smythe (Terry-Thomas), a notorious con man who has convinced Barnum and the Duke to hire him as an adviser and accountant. The rambling screenplay finds Gaylord and Henri both competing to find Madelaine, who is attempting to prevent the rocket launch from being thwarted by a Russian spy(!). The movie contains some fine cinematography (it was filmed entirely in Ireland) and director Don Sharp keeps the action moving at a frantic pace without making the plot seem too confusing. Ives is as commanding as ever, Donohue has a rare opportunity to show his skills in slapstick scenarios and Lavi shines in a rare leading role that reminds us that she coulda/shoulda been a much bigger star. The real fun comes from the British actors, including Lionel Jeffries as a competing scientist who joins ranks with Smythe to undermine the rocket launch that is to take Gaylord on what may be a one-way trip to the moon. Terry-Thomas predictably chews the scenery, playing yet again another charming rogue and Dennis Price does well as the foil for the zany characters surrounding him which includes ever-reliable Graham Stark. Even Hermione Gingold pops up briefly as the matron of a school for wayward girls who has turned the charity into a classy bordello. John Scott provides the lively score and the film boasts some impressive costumes and production design elements. The Olive Blu-ray has a superb transfer and includes a work print trailer that doesn't have titles. Recommended. 

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The latest issue of Cinema Retro (#38) has shipped to subscribers worldwide. 

Highlights of this issue include:

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of  The Dirty Dozen with an extensive report on the making and legacy of the film by Brian Hannan and fascinating insights by Dave Worrall. into the TV sequels and television series . 

Nicholas Anez looks back on the 1967 smash hit biker film The Born Losers that introduced the character of Billy Jack.

Mark Mawston gets an inside look at the movie music of director/composer John Carpenter.

Brian Davidson celebrates the career of actress Susan George.

Mark Mawston interviews actress and blues legend Dana Gillespie.

Dawn Dabell revisits the underrated cult movie The Hand of Night (aka The Best of Morocco).

Whatever happened to rising British star Victor Henry? Brian Davidson provides the tragic answer. 

Raymond Benson works overtime, providing us with his Ten Best Films of 1957.

Gareth Owen looks back at the illustrious past of Pinewood Studios

Plus Darren Allison's latest soundtrack news and reviews and the newest Blu-ray and film book releases.

Where else can you find an eclectic line-up of articles such as these? Please continue to support the world's most unique film magazine in print by subscribing or renewing today for issues #37, 38 and 39- a full year's worth of Retro reading.

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“SCHOOLGIRL CRUSHED”

By Raymond Benson

George Roy Hill’s 1964 comedy, The World of Henry Orient, is based on a novel by Nora Johnson that fictionalizes her own experiences as a schoolgirl in New York City when she and a friend allegedly had crushes on pianist Oscar Levant. She and her father, Nunnally Johnson, adapted the book to screenplay.

It’s the story of two mid-teens, competently played by newcomers Merrie Spaeth (“Gil”) and Tippy Walker (“Val”), who attend a private girls school in the city. Gil’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and another divorcee in a nice Upper East Side apartment. Val’s parents are still married, but unhappily, and they’re constantly traveling the world for her father’s (Tom Bosley) business. This leaves Gil and Val to indulge in precocious imaginary “adventures” around the city.

Val develops an infatuation on eccentric womanizing concert pianist Henry Orient (Peter Sellers) and the pair stalk him around town as he has first an affair with a married woman (the delightful Paula Prentiss) and later Val’s own snobbish mother (Angela Lansbury). Orient spots the two girls several times, leading him to have paranoid fantasies that they are spies working for the cuckolded husbands. In short, the youngsters’ shenanigans end up running the naughty man out of town.

The movie is really an odd little coming-of-age tale concerning children from dysfunctional or broken homes. It works well enough (it was positively received upon release), but it’s hardly a “Peter Sellers movie,” as the publicity campaign promises. Sellers, who receives top billing, is barely a supporting player in the story, although he is indeed very funny. His antics with Paula Prentiss—a highly underrated comic actress who shines in her brief moments—are enjoyable, and the crazy Carnegie Hall concert in which he performs his latest avant-garde composition is hilarious—worth the price of admission.

Mostly the film focuses on the two girls, who, for their debut performances, aren’t bad at all, but don’t quite have the screen charisma to elevate the film to intended heights (Spaeth never acted again; Walker went on to do some television and a couple of other films before retiring from show business in 1972).

The film might be a delight for anyone who knows New York City. As the picture was made on location, it’s a virtual tour guide for the sights, mainly Central Park and the Upper East Side. Elmer Bernstein’s lively score is memorable—especially the catchy main title theme and Orient’s wacky P.D.Q. Bach-like “symphony” (that includes a fog horn).

Kino Lorber’s DVD release comes with no supplements other than trailers for other releases by the company. The video image is fine.

Probably little-seen today, The World of Henry Orient is an interesting time capsule from its era, most significant for being one of three 1964 pictures in which Peter Sellers starred. He was, arguably, at his peak.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

I'm always in the mood to watch a James Garner movie and the Warner Archive has cooperated nicely by releasing his 1963 comedy "The Wheeler Dealers" which pairs Garner with the lovely, talented (and somewhat underrated) Lee Remick. The movie presents Garner in his signature role as a lovable rogue. This time he plays Henry Tyroon, a Texas millionaire investor in any and all business deals that might turn a fast profit for him and his partners. When we first meet Henry he has been a downward spiral. His latest speculation on an oil rig delivers about a gallon of "Texas tea" before it starts gurgling up dust. Henry's accountant warns him that he'd better start raising a couple of million dollars for new investments or he'll be flat broke. Heeding the warning, the ever-confident Henry arrives in New York and pretentiously dresses like an innocent Texas good ol' boy, complete with string tie and cowboy hat. It's all part of the charm offensive to make him look as honest and unassuming as possible. In short order he meets with Molly Thatcher (Lee Remick), an assertive young securities analyst who is part of a small group of brave females who are trying to break the glass ceiling on Wall Street. They are finding it's actually made of concrete but Molly has landed a job at a financially-challenged securities firm headed by Bullard Bear (Jim Backus), who takes a paternal liking to her. However, in order to cut costs he's been advised to fire Molly, largely because the notion of a female handling the stress of a finance job is regarded as an amusing but improbable idea. Bear can't bring himself to actually fire her so he gives her a "Mission: Impossible"-type assignment: find a buyer for some virtually worthless stock in a widget company that Bear has lost a considerable amount on. Henry charms Molly and takes on her cause, offering to help offload the stock with some loyal investors of his. These turn out to be three Texas millionaires who follow him around in their private jet (complete with built-in saunas!) in the hopes of being able to invest in his next big idea.

The movie quickly becomes "Doris Day and Rock Hudson Lite", with Henry trying to seduce savvy big city girl Molly who assures him that while she is not "pure as the driven snow", she's also not one to go for a one-night stand. In the realm of 1963 Hollywood comedies, sex was often hinted at, as it is here, but it's rarely consummated between unmarried couples. As Henry and Molly take road trips trying to unload the widget stock, they end up spending the night in the same hotel (gasp!) but when the quarters prove to be too close, Molly makes Henry sleep in his convertible (which at least is equipped in 007-style with a phone and built-in bar.) So much for the sexual sophistication of New York city female circa 1963, at least in the minds of Hollywood screenwriters.  The script follows all the predictable aspects of a Day/Hudson comedy: double entendres, mistaken motives and at least one good temper tantrum on the part of the leading lady (caused here when she discovers that lovable ol' Texan Henry is actually a Bostonian with a Harvard degree). The film represents the second feature film directed by the soon-to-estimable Arthur Hiller but despite his attempts to keep the action light and breezy he's saddled with a confusing script that is far too labored with Wall Street jargon that seems confusing today let alone in 1963. It's also unclear whether Henry is an outright con man or just a guy who doesn't mind gnawing at the ethical edges of financial dealings. Indeed, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote of the film, which opened at Radio City Music Hall,  "If you're one of those people who doesn't know the difference between a 27 per cent depletion allowance and a 50 per cent override—then you'd better not look to this fun thing to cause you to split your sides." At times the financial aspects of the banter would seem to appeal only to people who wear green eyeshades in their professions. Fortunately, Garner (who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance) is in top form, as is Remick, who was certainly one of the most beautiful leading ladies of the era. The film also boasts an impressive cast of familiar second-bananas in amusing supporting roles: Chill Wills, Phil Harris, Vaughn Taylor, the aforementioned Jim Backus, Louis Nye (as a modern artist who makes money by selling junk paintings to pretentious millionaires), John Astin, John Marley and Howard McNear. Even Alan Sues, Bernie Kopell and James Doohan turn up in blink-and-you'll miss them roles. Patricia Crowley is funny as Molly's more sexually liberated roommate who is willing to trade a night under the sheets for a big night on the town. 

The most interesting aspect of "The Wheeler Dealers" is a sociological one. The treatment of women who try to exercise their brain power through business careers comes across as a 1963 horror show. At best they are viewed in a patronizing manner by male bosses who treat them in a childlike manner. At worst they are driven from their jobs by misogynistic knuckle-draggers who advise them to stay home and cook, clean and look after the kids. Sadly this was the overwhelming sentiment of the era. Perhaps younger women should watch films like "The Wheeler Dealers" so they get a greater appreciation of what their mothers and grandmothers had to endure simply to hold down a professional job. It's also rather interesting to see the social protocols of the time- young women dress to the nines for a date (complete with those elegant gloves that stretch up their arms) and guys feel free to light up giant stogies in fancy restaurants without even earning so much as a disapproving glance from other patrons. 

The movie is not exactly a gem and it's lacking in real belly laughs, but it is consistently amusing enough to recommend it largely because you can do worse than to spend 107 minutes with the engaging members of the cast. The Warner Archive Blu-ray boasts a fine transfer that does justice to the impressive opening credits and zippy title song. An original trailer is included but don't watch it until after you've viewed the entire film as it gives away a key scene in the climax.

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BY DOUG OSWALD

“Hitler’s SS: A Portrait of Evil” is a 1986 made-for TV movie telling the fictional story of Helmut (Bill Nighy) and Karl Hoffmann (John Shea), brothers who become a part of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. The movie opens in 1931 as we meet the brothers, their family, friends and associates. Hoping they can sway and minimalize the radical elements through their intellect and character, Helmut and Karl willingly join the Nazi Party.

The Hoffmann brothers are eager participants in the Nazi party early on as their mother Gerda (Carroll Baker) provides worried commentary. Factory worker Karl joins the SA while his university student brother Helmut is coaxed into joining the SS by fencing instructor Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), much to the objection of his mentor and Jewish professor Ludwig Rosenberg (Jose Ferrer). Tony Randall is interesting appearing as a comic performer for the Nazis known as Putzi. Mitzi Templer (Lucy Gutteridge) is a beautiful nightclub singer and friend of the brothers.

The story of the brothers unfolds in episodic fashion through to the end of WWII covering 14 years and the inevitable fall of the Third Reich. Nighy and Shea give thoughtful and sincere performances as brothers who support each other and Germany and attempt to reel in the extreme elements of the Third Reich. The movie is well made, the drama compelling and it kept my interest throughout with a cast filled by many veterans of British television. Although their initial reason for joining is an honest attempt for change, the old “just following orders” argument comes to mind, and it’s hard to feel any real empathy for the brothers even when the movie comes to the tragic conclusion.

Directed by British television veteran Jim Goddard, best known in America for the TV movies “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1980 and the outstanding “Reilly: Ace of Spies” in 1983. He had a brief foray into feature films with “Bones” in 1985 and “Shanghai Surprise” in 1986, but returned to television after their failure at the box office. He does a good job with “Hitler’s SS” telling a story that unfolds over 14 years in just under two and a half hours.

The movie is available on several public domain labels. The copy I viewed was “The Digital Gold” DVD, possibly released in 2002, but no details are listed on the DVD packaging itself. The disc lists Leisure Entertainment as the manufacturer. The movie sounds good and the picture is presented full frame as it was when originally broadcast by NBC in 1985. The picture is framed by a thin black stripe on the left and right side of the image area with gray filling out the remaining area. The transfer appears to be taken from an inferior VHS master as the colors are washed out with a few artifacts appearing throughout the presentation. The DVD back cover list a runtime of 150 minutes, but the actual runtime is just under 139 minutes.

There are no extras on this DVD. I recommend the movie, but not the transfer which is about as bad as it gets. The movie is watchable considering there is no other available option and can be purchased for a few bucks on-line or in the dollar bin at your local pawn shop.

“Beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules and swifter than Mercury!”

 By Joe Elliott

Wonder Woman is one of the true wonders of comic book fandom. She first made her appearance during the Second World War and more than 75 years later she’s still going strong. Throughout the decades she has been transformed numerous times, yet through it all she has for the most part maintained her basic form and personality, one driven by a thirst for justice and in defense of the defenseless. Born of Amazonian royalty, she is Princess Diana of Themyscira, a sub-continent located somewhere in the blue mists of time, also known as Paradise Island. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, is the ruler of this all-female happy domain, a position that Diana herself will presumably fill one day. That is, until a man shows up. Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army pilot, literally drops out of the sky, and, badly injured, into the care of the Amazons. Trevor is the first male Diana ever sees and she immediately falls head-over-heels in love. She is eventually chosen to fly the convalescing pilot back to Washington in her invisible plane where she enlists in the fight for “America, the last citadel of democracy, and of equal rights for women.” She at first disguises herself as Steve’s caretaker, the demure nurse Diana Prince. However, it isn’t long until she bursts upon the public scene as the tiara crowned, red bustiered, magic lassoed, “Amazonium” braceleted, kick-booty female warrior we all know and many of us love. She will spend the rest of the war fighting the Axis powers, along with an assortment of other bad actors. Following the end of the conflict her job description broadens out to include a greater variety of crusader of justice duties, along with a few weird detours here and there.

Created by psychologist William “Charles Moulton” Marston (yes, a man!), Wonder Woman was given a special mission from the start. Marston believed there weren’t any real female superheroes that young girls could look up to and emulate. "Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power,” he is quoted as saying. Wanting to change this, he came up with the idea of a female comic book character who had all the physical strength and moral courage of a Superman or Batman, but also was smart, intuitive, and, yes, sexy. In Marston words, a super hero with “the allure of a good and beautiful woman." In addition to all her other qualities, Wonder Woman was also compassionate and caring, traits perhaps more easily expressed openly by a woman than a man. She was, in short, the best of both worlds. Above all, she was a strong woman who, though she considered others’ advice, in the end always made up her own mind about how best to act in a situation. She might love dear ol’ Steve, but there were moments when she realized he was wrong and so acted accordingly. And while she has definitely seen her ups and downs through the years, the decade of the Sixties being, I think, an especially problematic one in her long illustrious career, as she, along with millions of others, searched for a new personal identity (and a stable of writers), she nonetheless endured it all and remains today a contender; one truly worthy of the appellation “Super Hero.” Her broader cultural influence is also noteworthy, inspiring many as she has, including a little Ohio girl and WW fan-atic named Gloria Steinem.

Wonder Woman has continued to evolve and change in terms of her appearance and, to some degree, personality; gifted or saddled, according to how you look at it, with a bewildering array of modern storylines by a myriad of agenda-centric artists. She is about to be reincarnated yet again, this time on the big screen, in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot in the title role. Whatever else they do with the character, I fervently hope the filmmakers will endow this newest WW with the qualities that first made her great and defines the essence of that greatness. According to actress Lynda Carter, who singlehandedly pirouetted into motion a new generation of WW fans, “she’s the symbol of the extraordinary possibilities that inhabit us, hidden though they may be.

And that, I think, is the important gift Wonder Woman offers women. Perhaps our real challenge in the 21st century is to strive to reach our potential while embracing her values. Wonder Woman is fearless. She sees the good in everyone, convinced they are capable of change, compassion and generosity. She’s kindhearted and hopeful, and she has a great sense of humor. Who knows? Maybe she really can save the world.”

Joe Elliott, a writer and educator, lives in Asheville, North Carolina

BY LEE PFEIFFER

In a report for the web site of The Guardian, writer Thomas Hobbs examines an inconvenient truth- as the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death approaches, the King's legacy is being diminished. Young people are not conversant in his achievements and relatively few listen to his music as opposed to other acts from decades past such as The Beatles. Part of the blame must be placed on Elvis himself, who in his later years, had squandered his 1968 comeback by becoming a benign lounge act in Las Vegas. He remained a popular draw but younger people regarded him as someone their parents and grandparents wanted to see. The world was changing rapidly but Elvis,  under the Svengali-like control of Col. Tom Parker, was still attired in skin-tight, garish pants suits and appealing to the sexual fantasies of aging female fans. The unsavory circumstances of his death also worked against his legacy. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin all died from drug overdoses but remain hip even to today's young people. Elvis had the misfortune of dying from drug-related problems while sitting on a toilet, something that has detracted from the tragedy of his death. Even the value of Elvis vintage record albums is declining precipitously. There's plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the Presley estate which greedily licensed virtually any product imaginable, allowing him image to be portrayed on many cheesy "collectibles". No one's making the argument that Elvis's legacy is heading towards oblivion- but it has been poorly served by the people who represent it. Hopefully, younger music lovers who can groove to retro rock will one day discover that Elvis was more than an amiable lounge act, but in fact, was a once-in-a-lifetime musical legend.

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RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

By Lee Pfeiffer

The 1964 sci-fi film Robinson Crusoe on Mars has always eluded me until the Blu-ray release from Criterion. The fact that a company as selective about its titles as Criterion would endorse a deluxe edition of a film that was written off as kid's matinee fodder back in its day gives testimony to the movie's many merits. Directed by Byron Haskin, an old hand at classic sci-fi (War of the Worlds, The Outer Limits), Robinson Crusoe on Mars owes more than its title to Daniel Dafoe's classic adventure novel. Despite its setting in the future, the movie adheres rather closely to the basic premise of the book. Paul Mantee and Adam West are astronauts orbiting near Mars when their attempt to avoid an astroid causes them to be drawn into the planet's gravitational pull. The two men eject separately in escape pods but West is killed in a crash landing. Mantee survival seems like an even worse fate: he has only a limited amount of water and the air is too thin to breathe. He is forced to watch his oxygen tanks deplete gradually, knowing it will lead to certain death. How he overcomes these obstacles provides an intriguing aspect to the movie. It becomes obvious that, although Mantee is accompanied by a surviving NASA chimp, the film's intelligent screenplay appeals as much to adults as it does to kiddees.

Mantee is a charismatic leading man who impressively carries off the more difficult aspects of the role such as trying to remain optimistic even when he suffers setback after setback in his attempts to use a radio to call earth for help. Then there is the chronic isolation. Although he solves the problem of food, air and water, he yearns for human companionship. He gets his wish through an unexpected development. An alien race frequently visits Mars to use slave labor as part of a mining endeavor. When one of the slaves (Victor Lundin) escapes, Mantee rescues him and names him Friday. Before long, the two men are valiantly trying to learn each other's language and customs. Soon, they're sitting around shirtless in their man cave indulging in some male bonding. Before the movie can become Brokeback Mountain on Mars, however, they find themselves under nearly constant assault by the alien spaceships who are relentlessly pursuing Friday. Forced underground, Mantee and Lundin are exposed to various climates and dangers on the red planet as they try to find isolation in the polar ice cap.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Molly Peters, who began her career as a nude "glamour girl" model before starting a short-lived film career, has passed away at age 78.  She had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer according to her husband but it was a stroke to which she succumbed. Peters' voluptuous appearance made her one of the more popular of the provocative models who posed for men's magazines in the 1960s. She posed for England's legendary photographer of nudes, Harrison Marks. She landed the only memorable role of her career in the 1965 James Bond blockbuster "Thunderball". In the film, Bond (Sean Connery) was sent to the Shrublands health spa to recuperate from some wear-and-tear. Here he encounters nurse Pat (Peters), a sexy blonde who conveniently is assigned to look after Bond's needs. Within short order Bond has her naked in a steam room. In another scene, Bond memorably massages the nude Pat with a mink glove. At the health spa, Bond discovers some nefarious activities going on by Spectre agents that finds Pat bewildered by Bond's strange comings and goings. Peters' scenes were brief but among the film's most memorable including a scene in which she straps Bond to a therapeutic stretching machine that a Spectre agent uses to almost deadly effect on 007. Following "Thunderball", Peters made the little-seen thriller "Target for Killing" co-starring "Thunderball" villain Adolfo Celi and future Bond baddies Karin Dor and Curt Jurgens. In 1968 she made her last credited film, "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River" with Jerry Lewis. In 1995 this writer along with Cinema Retro co-publisher Dave Worrall along with Mark Cerulli and John Cork, tracked Ms.Peters down. She participated in an extensive on-camera interview recalling her experiences for the "Thunderball" special edition laser disc. The interview is now available on both the Blu-ray and DVD editions of the movie. 

For more click here.  

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF SIR ROGER MOORE WITH

TWO JAMES BOND CLASSICS, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME AND FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, 

AS THEY RETURN TO CINEMAS WORLDWIDE 

WITH PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT UNICEF

London, UK – May 26, 2017 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), Park Circus and EON Productions are pleased to announce a series of special screenings in memory of Sir Roger Moore, to take place at cinemas across the world including: Odeon Cinemas (UK), AMC Theatres (U.S.) and Hoyts (Australia), beginning 31 May 2017. Additional locations to be announced soon.

The newly restored 4K versions of The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only will be screened with 50 percent of all  proceeds benefitting UNICEF. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Sir Roger had been a dedicated and passionate supporter of UNICEF since 1991.

Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions, long-standing producers of the James Bond films said “In honour of Sir Roger Moore, we are delighted these Bond screenings will benefit UNICEF which was the charity closest to his heart.”

Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MGM added “Sir Roger Moore left an indelible imprint on audiences worldwide. There is no better way to remember Roger’s legacy than bringing back his iconic performances as James Bond to cinemas across the world while aiding UNICEF, the charity he steadfastly supported.” 

Nick Varley, CEO of distributor Park Circus said “Park Circus is extremely privileged to be MGM’s library distributor and we are delighted to have the chance to celebrate the life and work of Sir Roger Moore through these screenings, and most particularly as it benefits UNICEF, an organization very close to Sir Roger.”

We would also like to thank Deluxe Technicolor Digital Cinema for kindly facilitating the delivery of this project to cinemas for us.

Details of screenings can be found at www.parkcircus.com and at participating cinemas websites.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

FOR U.S. TROOPS AROUND THE WORLD, THERE WAS NO ONE LIKE HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS…

THIS MAY, JOIN TIME LIFE AND THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER OF THE 20TH CENTURY FOR A TIMELESS, STAR-SPANGLED COLLECTION OF HIS TOP-RATED HOLIDAY TV SPECIALS

BOB HOPE SALUTES THE TROOPS

DVD SRP: $29.95

This Commemorative 3-Disc Set, Available EXCLUSIVELY at WALMART, Collects Some of Hope’s Historic TV Specials Across Five Decades, Patriotically Packed with Memories, Laughs and Stars, and Filmed on Location at Military Bases from Vietnam to Saudi Arabia

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS

Bob Hope, the greatest entertainer of the 20th century, spent nearly half of his 100 Christmases heading up USO shows as a globetrotting Santa Claus with a golf club, a sackful of jokes, and an airplane filled with stars. Armed with a lifelong dedication to America’s troops and a star-studded crew of performers, he performed on battleships and battlefields, sometimes accompanied by the sound of fighter jets overhead. The missions were often dangerous, and their schedule brutal, yet for thousands of servicemen and women far from home there was no one like Hope for the holidays.

Bob Hope’s legendary NBC-TV comedy and Christmas specials – some of the most-watched programs in television history -- spanned five decades, from President Truman to Clinton. And, this May, BOB HOPE SALUTES THE TROOPS, a timeless 3-disc set from Time Life®, collects some of the legendary performer’s greatest and most patriotic holiday specials, including seven classic shows from the ‘60s to the ‘90s, re-mastered from original broadcast elements for optimal viewing:

Bob Hope’s Christmas Cheer in Saudi Arabia (Original Airdate: 1/12/91) -- During Operation Desert Shield, Hope brought his USO Christmas show to U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. Performances include Marie Osmond serenading a serviceman, Hope and Ann Jillian doing a duet and the Pointer Sisters performing “I’m So Excited”; other highlights include a comic exchange between Hope and actress Khrystyne Haje (“Head of the Class”).

The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO (Original Airdate: 1/16/69) -- Hope brought his USO Christmas tour to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Midway, and aboard the USS Hancock and the USS New Jersey in the South China Sea. Bob Hope and former professional football player Rosey Grier trade barbs, the Golddiggers dance on deck for the crews of two passing destroyers and Dick Albers performs his comic trampoline act. At Okinawa, a skydiver parachutes into the audience and Ann-Margret exhorts members of the different services to stand up during her performance. Hope does mail call for the troops, inviting one service member (whose mother says he’s a good singer) to perform and Gen. Creighton Abrams thanks the entire cast and crew for coming to Vietnam.

Bob Hope: Memories of WWII -- Hope looks back at World War II with his wife, Dolores Hope, and colleagues who share their recollections about the period, including the shift from shipping audio recordings of radio shows from the U.S. to actually traveling overseas to perform for troops stationed abroad. Frances Langford and Bob reminisce about their first wartime tour. Footage includes historic clips of Bob, Jerry Colonna and Frances Langford doing a radio show for the Armed Forces Network, Bob onstage with Bing Crosby, and a celebrity road trip to sell war bonds.

The Bob Hope Christmas Special (Original Airdate: 1/15/65) -- Hope and company embarked on a 1964 Christmas tour to entertain troops stationed in Guam, Okinawa, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Along the way, the troupe went from the freezing cold of Korea to the tropical heat of Thailand and in Vietnam experienced danger when the hotel across the street from theirs is bombed. Jill St. John demonstrates the latest dance moves with service members, and Anita Bryant, on her fifth USO tour, serenades two soldiers guarding the stage.

The Bob Hope Christmas Show (1/16/63) -- From more than a dozen military bases in the Pacific, Bob Hope and his entourage performed the 1962 Christmas tour in Japan, Korea, Guam, the Philippines, Okinawa, Formosa, and aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. Among the highlights: Lana Turner and Bob Hope do the bossa nova and there’s more comedy when Bob brings Miss USA Amedee Chabot onstage. The show closes with Anita Bryant leading everyone in Silent Night.

The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the Globe with the U.S.O. (Original Airdate: 1/17/72) – In 1972, Hope brought his USO Christmas tour to Hawaii, where Don Ho and His Wahinis perform Tiny Bubbles. Then, the company head to Wake Island and Okinawa and on to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Spain, and Cuba. Along the way Bob delivers his topical stand-up, and jests with Jill St. John, pitcher Vida Blue, and astronaut Alan Shepard.

The Bob Hope Christmas Special (Original Airdate: 1/17/73) -- Hope made his 22nd Christmas tour of U.S. military bases to entertain troops, starting with a send-off from Santa Claus (actor and pro football player Merlin Olsen) as the group departs for the Aleutians, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Diego Garcia, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, and the USS Midway. Highlights include Bob doing his custom-tailored monologues (with departing fighter jets drowning out his act in Thailand), a “fatigue version of Sanford and Son” with Redd Foxx, and Rudy Cardenas’ show-stopping juggling. Bob brings a star-struck service member onstage to sing to Miss World Belinda Green, dances and sings with Lola Falana, and jokes with L.A. Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Format: DVD/3 Discs

Running Time: 395 minutes

Genre: TV DVD/Comedy

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Audio: Stereo

The 1971 Hammer horror cult classic "Twins of Evil" will receive a rare big screen showing on Tuesday May 30 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn. Showtime is at 9:30. Here is the official description from the Alamo Drafthouse web site:

Hosted by TV writer/producer, recovering film critic Bruce Bennett. Admission only $10!

By 1971 the UK Hammer House of Horror had traded cleavage and blood trickle for R-rated female nudity and comparatively extravagant applications of “Kensington Gore”. TWINS OF EVIL literally doubles down on the nudity care of comely Maltese identical siblings Madeleine and Mary Collinson. And writer Tudor Gates’ grafting of vampire yarn with witch-hunt mentality jeremiad offers plenty of opportunities for bloodletting - particularly via a climactic beheading. But with all due respect to the Collinsons, the most memorable charms on display in TWINS OF EVIL are of a more backward-glancing variety. Taking a page from Michael Reeves’ WITCHFINDER GENERAL, director John Hough (DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY) stages and paces TWINS as much as an urgent 50’s American western as a 70's grindhouse horror film. Star Peter Cushing’s genius for effortlessly civilizing outlandish genre scenarios had long been Hammer’s secret weapon. But playing a fatally conflicted parochial scourge in TWINS would be Cushing’s first role after the devastating loss of his wife Helen and more than anywhere else in his career, Cushing's performance is palpably anguished. John Wayne has THE SEARCHERS, Peter Cushing has TWINS OF EVIL.

“UNWELCOMING COMMITTEE”

By Raymond Benson

Although the picture takes place a couple of months after the end of World War II in the year 1945, Bad Day at Black Rock is really a western. The setting is a desert town that’s barely a whistle stop for a train that hasn’t halted there in four years; the main street looks as if it’s right out of Dodge City, and the opening credits are designed in big, colorful, bold words that spread across the wide CinemaScope screen. Even director John Sturges is primarily known for his many westerns.

Good Guy Spencer Tracy rides into town—on that train—and is met with inexplicable hostility from everyone he meets. All he wants is to find a guy named Komoko—a Japanese farmer who supposedly lives just out of town. Most of the residents seem afraid to help Tracy. The ones who aren’t scared are bullies who attempt to intimidate Tracy into leaving town. It doesn’t take long for Tracy to figure out that Black Rock is run by Bad Guy Robert Ryan. Even the alcoholic sheriff (Dean Jagger) is in Ryan’s pocket, as well as the young female mechanic (Anne Francis), the telegraph operator (Russell Collins), and the hotel clerk (John Ericson). Ryan has a couple of bruisers (Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin) who do most of the threatening. The only civilian seemingly willing to extend an ounce of courtesy to the stranger is the undertaker (Walter Brennan).

So why is Tracy so unwelcome? Why is Black Rock so paranoid? What secret in its past are the citizens obviously protecting? Tracy—not one to back down easily—decides to try and get the answers before the gang puts him in the ground.

These are classic western trappings. It’s High Noon, only Tracy has come to town to find everyone against him, rather than the other way around. Ryan is the archetypal greedy, mean cattle baron, and Marvin is his six-shooter-slinging henchman. The only difference is that everyone in Black Rock gets around in a car instead of on a horse.

As film historian Dana Polan states in the accompanying audio commentary, Bad Day is a B-movie disguised as a prestige picture. The studio is MGM. The CinemaScope/color photography is impressive. The star is Spencer Tracy, adding “respectability” to the film. And, in the end, it’s a “problem picture,” in that the movie is about racism. All that spells “importance.”

None of that really matters, for Bad Day at Black Rock is simply solid entertainment. It is suspenseful, full of tension, has action—a car chase, hand-to-hand combat, a shootout—and admirable performances. Tracy was nominated for an Oscar Best Actor. Sturges was nominated for Director, and the adapted screenplay by Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman received a nod.

The Warner Archive Collection release presents a 1080p High Definition transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio. 

Supplements include the aforementioned commentary and the theatrical trailer.

It’s a few-frills package, but Bad Day at Black Rock is a no-frills thriller that packs a raw and gritty punch. Recommended.

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN

It goes without saying that Kirk Douglas is a Hollywood icon. From his first role as Walter O’Neill in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,” (1946) to “Spartacus” (1960) and beyond that until his last, so far, appearance in a made for TV movie, he remains—even in retirement after a stroke and a helicopter crash— one of those larger than life movie stars, the kind they just don’t make any more.  He had a look and a style. Those shiny white teeth could as easily smile charmingly at you or snarl like a barracuda. His bright blue eyes could be full of tenderness one minute, as in his love scenes in “Spartacus,” or fierce and mean as in “Gunfight at the OK Corral.” He played complex characters that were always a mix of good and bad, but never evil.

Such a character is Johnny Hawks, the frontier scout he plays in “The Indian Fighter” (1955), made in the middle part of Douglas’ career. He had moved up from tough guy film noir roles by then and this was the first film made by his own production company, Bryna Productions. The film was made on location in Oregon by Hungarian-born director Andre de Toth, who wore an eye patch, had seven wives and 19 children (talk about the kind of man they don’t make anymore!). It tells the story of Hawks, who is brought in by the Army to lead a wagon train of settlers through Sioux Indian territory. Rather than the peerless good guy who has no flaws, Johnny has one major hang-up. He is easily distracted. When, in the opening scene he spies Onahti (Elsa Martinelli) the beautiful daughter of Chief Red Cloud (Arthur Franz), bathing in a river sans clothes, he can hardly keep his mind on his job. His ogling is interrupted by Sioux brave Grey Wolf (Harry Landers) who says, if he lays one more eyeball on the fair Indian lass, he’ll set him up for a quick scalp treatment. Nevertheless, Johnny during negotiating safe passage for the wagon train and trying to establish peace terms between the tribe and the soldiers at Fort Benham, manages to make a few passes at Onahti, who resists at first, but soon surrenders to Johnny’s virile charms.

Plot complications come in the form of two shifty ne’er-do-wells, Lon Chaney and Walter Matthau, who spend most of their time getting the Indians drunk enough to tell where they can find the gold said to be located on Sioux land. When Johnny abandons the wagon train for a night to have a little dalliance with Onahti, all hell breaks loose. Several braves are killed by the gold hunters and the tribe goes on the warpath. The wagon train narrowly makes it back to the fort, and everybody wonders, where the heck is Johnny Hawks ? Johnny wakes up that morning under a tree lying next to the Indian chief’s daughter. He had a great night, but, boy, is he in trouble.

The film climaxes with the Indians besieging the fort in a scene that resembles something out of “The Vikings” (1958), one of Douglas’s later films, The Sioux set the fort on fire by lobbing balls of flame at it from long poles cut from saplings. I don’t know if that has any historical authenticity, but in his commentary, provided on a separate audio track, Western film historian Toby Roan, makes note of the scene’s uniqueness, and gives credit to the filmmakers for at least coming up with a different approach to the old Indians-attacking-the fort scene.

Incidentally, Roan is the proprietor of a highly-recommended blog on western films, https://fiftieswesterns.wordpress.com/, where you will find all kinds of interesting info on older westerns. I had seen “The Indian Fighter” before, but I wasn’t aware, until Roan pointed out that beloved character actor Hank Worden ("Old Mose" in “The Searchers”) actually plays two parts in this movie. He’s a jail house guard, and also Crazy Bear, one of the Indians that Chaney and Matthau ply with liquor, trying to find out where the gold is. Roan provides a ton of other insights into the making of the film. He knows which construction company built the full-sized Fort Benham out there in the Oregon wilderness and even what kind of lumber was used.

Kino Lorber presents “The Indian Fighter” in a 1080p transfer on Blu-ray in Cinemascope with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Colors are bright and clear, and Wilfred M. Kline’s cinematography of the Oregon forests and the snow-covered Cascade Mountains in the distance are a treat for the eye. It was de Toth’s first Cinemascope film, and he used the wide-angle lens in several scenes to do a full 360 degree pan of the beautiful vistas surrounding the actors. The inestimable Franz Waxman contributed a very colorful score for the film, and it’s too bad this release is not in stereo.

“The Indian Fighter” is an entertaining movie, but it’s not without problems. De Toth’s direction seems to be focused more on the scenery than the bloody frontier action taking place, resulting in an overall lack of intensity. Douglas, however, and his supporting cast acquit themselves well. Douglas displays a lot of physicality, doing quite a bit of stunt work himself. In fact Roan points out that doing a horse fall, he ended up with a broken nose.

It’s also definitely a film of its time. It’s not likely that you could make a film today entitled “The Indian Fighter” unless it was about a boxer in Bombay. And Johnny Hawks’ forceful seduction of Onahti in the river bed might be protested by feminists today as nothing more than a glorified rape. However, the movie gets points for a sympathetic portrayal of the Sioux (even though there are no native Americans in the cast), whose Chief Red Cloud tells Johnny his concern about the white men coming into the territory is not the loss of the gold they are after, but the pollution of the air and water they will bring. Nice environmental touch.  “The Indian Fighter” is a mixed bag, good but not without its flaws, just like Johnny Hawks.

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John M. Whalen is the author of "This Ray Gun for Hire...and Other Tales." Click here to order from Amazon.  

By Lee Pfeiffer

Fifteen years after co-producing and directing the British Victorian-era war classic Zulu, Cy Endfield brought an epic prequel to the story to the screen with Zulu Dawn. Unlike the original film, however, this 1979 release suffered from a bungled and scatter shot North American release that ensured that very few Yanks or Canadians ever had the opportunity to see the film in theaters. Botched release notwithstanding, the movie is in many ways as good as its predecessor, even if the screenplay falls short on presenting the main characters in a fully developed way. The story pertains to the greatest British military defeat of its era as the Victorian penchant for colonialism extended into South Africa. Initially the indigenous Zulu tribes had a cordial relationship with the British, but a foolish change in political strategy saw increasing incursions onto Zulu territory. The Zulu king went to great lengths to avoid confrontation until it became obvious that the local British officials were intent on taking their land by military force. The British expeditionary force led by Lord Chelmsford (Peter O'Toole) is well-armed with the latest weaponry and feels completely confident about a quick victory over the tribesmen, who are largely relegated to using primitive weapons. Like his American contemporary, General Custer, Chelmsford is an egotist with an overblown sense of self-confidence. He makes Custer's mistake of dividing his army into smaller units, spaced far apart. When the Zulu warriors mount a massive, surprise attack in what became known as the Battle of Isandlwana, the British are quickly overwhelmed. Like the original film, Zulu Dawn treats the native tribesmen with full respect and the script is clearly sympathetic to their cause. The British soldiers are depicted as courageous and gallant, but their superiors are generally seen as pompous snobs. A notable exception is the true life character of Col. Dumford (Burt Lancaster), a maverick Irishman who leads a contingent of African troops fighting with the British. Dumford tries to convince Chelmsford that his military strategies are flawed but his pleas fall on deaf ears. By the time Chelmsford and his reinforcements arrive at the battlefield, they find a seemingly endless plain of thousands of dead bodies, as only a handful of British troops managed to escape.

Zulu Dawn is a genuine epic with first rate production values with a sterling cast that includes such prominent actors as Simon Ward, Anna Calder-Marshall, John Mills, Denholm Elliott, Nigel Davenport and Bob Hoskins. The latter half of the film is devoted entirely to the battle sequences and they are stunningly staged and photographed, with Elmer Bernstein providing the stirring score. The movie is very well directed by Douglas Hickox, who is primarily remembered for Theatre of Blood and John Wayne's Brannigan. However, one must acknowledge that on a film of this scale, much of the credit must go to the second unit team as well.

Severin Films, which recently released a terrific special edition of another great '70s British war flick The Wild Geese (click here for review), has presented Zulu Dawn as a special edition Blu-ray/DVD dual package. The quality is outstanding on the Blu-ray but I'm always even more impressed by Severin's bonus extras. In this case, they include a fascinating history of the Zulu conflicts with scholar and author Ian Knight, who talks seemingly endlessly about every facet of the battle. The word "endlessly" here is meant as a compliment. Although I consider myself a military history buff, Knight's segment is like attending a master class and I realized how little I actually knew of the events depicted in the film. Knight explains that, although the Zulus won the battle, they suffered tremendous losses in the process and their victory was short-lived, as Lord Chelmsford ultimately sent their king into exile. The Severin crew also flew Knight to the actual battle locations in South Africa and it's truly amazing to see how untouched they remain to this day. (Crudely constructed above--ground grave sites for the soldiers still dot the battlefield.) There are also raw footage outtakes and some deleted scenes including several variations of Bob Hoskin's character's death. Another interesting segment features an extensive interview with historical and military consultant to the film, Midge Carter. Carter was an unemployed Brit with an in-depth knowledge of the film who just phoned the production company and ended up getting hired to ensure accuracy. Carter makes for an engaging interview, telling interesting tales about how he prevented historical inaccuracies from being included in the film. He also trashes director Hickox as a snobby elitist with a less-than-impressive work ethic. He also shares his scrapbook of on-set photos which had been autographed by every member of the cast.  Severin interviews are always excellent to watch, thanks to producer David Gregory and Carl Daft's determination to let them go on as long as necessary and not worry about the length of the pieces. I only wish this was the case with some of the documentaries I produced for major studios, where there was always a bizarre determination to trim everything to the bone. Severin also doesn't indulge in gimmicky special effects or camera work. They simply turn on the camera and let the subject talk. Not fancy in terms of technique, but a wonderful throwback to how interviews used to be presented. Finally, there is an original theatrical trailer included in the set.

Chances are you haven't seen Zulu Dawn. You're in for a real treat with this superb presentation of an excellent film.

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By Todd Garbarini

Arguably the best Star Trek film ever made, Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), which was originally subtitled The Vengeance of Khan but was changed so as not to interfere with Richard Marquand’s Revenge of the Jedi which itself was changed to Return of the Jedi, celebrates its 35th anniversary this year and is the subject of an exclusive screening at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre. The 113-minute film, which stars William Shatner and the crew of the Enterprise, will be screened on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 7:30 pm on Digital Cinema Projection (DCP).

PLEASE NOTE: Director Nicholas Meyer is scheduled to appear in person for a Q & A following the screening.

From the press release:

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
(35th Anniversary Screening)
Wednesday, May 31, at 7:30 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre
Followed by Q&A with Director Nicholas Meyer

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 35th anniversary screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, regarded by many buffs as the best feature film in the long running series. After the box office disappointment of the first Star Trek feature in 1979, Paramount Pictures and producer Harve Bennett decided to take a fresh approach to the follow-up film, cutting the budget drastically and bringing in talented newcomers to revitalize the popular franchise.

Nicholas Meyer, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and novelist of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, had made his directorial debut with 1979’s Time After Time. He came to this new project, as he freely admitted, as a Star Trek novice, but he brought intelligence, ingenuity, and wit to the sequel. Meyer and the screenwriters decided to bring back one of the memorable villains from the TV series, the intergalactic tyrant Khan, and hired Ricardo Montalban to reprise his role from that episode. Of course the regular cast members of the Starship Enterprise — William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig -- were also on board, along with newcomer Kirstie Alley. Another newcomer to the enterprise was young composer James Horner, a future Oscar winner who had one of his first major credits on Star Trek II.

Critics endorsed the new approach. Variety called the film “a very satisfying space adventure, closer in spirit and format to the popular TV series than to its big-budget predecessor.” The commercial success of Star Trek II insured a long voyage for the Enterprise on the big screen and on television for decades to come.

Director Nicholas Meyer also worked on Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI. In addition to The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Time After Time, his many other credits as writer and/or director include Volunteers, Company Business, Sommersby, the TV movie The Day After, and two Philip Roth adaptations, The Human Stain and Elegy.

The Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre is located at 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211. The phone number is (310) 478 – 3836.

Click here for tickets.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Sir Roger Moore, the iconic British actor who swept to fame playing The Saint and James Bond, has passed away from cancer at age 89. Moore grew up in a middle class lifestyle in Lambeth during WW2 and was among the children evacuated from the city during the Blitz. He had planned a career as a cartoonist but his good looks and charismatic personality drew him first to modeling and then studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He found success early in his career and was placed for a time under contract with MGM in Hollywood. However stardom didn't follow immediately.  Moore mostly appeared in soap opera stories opposite big stars but none of the films were very successful and was dismissed as just another pretty face. In  the 1956 period costume drama "Diane", he was Lana Turner's leading man- but the film was a dud and one critic described Moore as  "a lump of English roast beef", something he would joke about through the rest of his life. Moore left MGM and starred in "The Alaskans" TV series and was brought in to star in "Maverick", appearing in 16 episodes over a three year period. That lead to his starring as Simon Templar, the world class adventurer in the TV series "The Saint". The show ran for seven seasons and was a major international hit. Following that he also starred with Tony Curtis in the popular TV series "The Persuaders". When that show left the air Moore was hired to star as the third actor to play James Bond, following in the footsteps of Sean Connery and George Lazenby. Moore's first Bond film "Live and Let Die" in 1973 was an important one for the franchise. Had audiences not responded well to his interpretation of 007, the series might have ended. Moore decided not to imitate Connery but to provide his own unique interpretation of the role, emphasizing the humorous aspects. Audiences responded with enthusiasm and Moore would play the role in seven films over a twelve year period. He left the series after "A View to a Kill" in 1985. 

During Moore's tenure as Bond he made numerous other feature films including the highly successful 1978 adventure movie "The Wild Geese". Other notable films include "ffolkes" (aka "North Sea Hijack"), "Shout at the Devil" and "Gold". In the 1981 blockbuster comedy "The Cannonball Run" he played an eccentric who thought he was Roger Moore. In his post-Bond career Moore occasionally made films or appeared on television but devoted much of his time as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In that capacity Moore traveled the globe raising countless millions of dollars to help impoverished children. He often said that it was his work for UNICEF that he was most proud of. His charitable work was an obvious factor in his being knighted in 2003. His good friends Sean Connery and Michael Caine, both of whom achieved significant career boosts by also playing spies in the 1960s, were on hand for the ceremony. In recent years Moore had traveled extensively to promote numerous books he has authored with his personal assistant Gareth Owen. Sir Roger and Owen also developed speaking tours in which they would discuss his long film career in casual chats on stage in front of appreciative audiences generally in capacity-filled theaters. 

On a personal note we at Cinema Retro had the pleasure of knowing Sir Roger Moore very well. He was an early supporter of our magazine and even provided an endorsement below our banner head. He remained a contributor to our publication and was always there to provide an amusing story or anecdote. He was completely devoid of egotistical behavior and found self-deprecating humor to be his best weapon against criticism. He once told this writer that he learned early on that critics found it no fun to mock an actor who mocked himself. Sir Roger was also beloved by his fans. He always had time to chat with them or sign autographs. Sir Roger's passing represents a sad day for all who loved and admired him- but his legacy as an actor and humanitarian remains secure. He is survived by his wife Kristina and his children Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian. 

For more click here.  

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The new documentary "Becoming Cary Grant" premieres on Showtime June 9. Grant was the most opaque of Hollywood superstars. While audiences packed theaters showing his movies, Grant rarely gave interviews, wouldn't appear on TV shows and generally maintained an aura of mystery around him- which compares favorably to today's publicity-starved celebrities who sometimes leak their own sex tapes in order to get some publicity. The documentary traces Grant's rags-to-riches story and the strange tale behind his mother's estrangement from him- something that haunted him throughout his life. The most controversial aspect of the movie was Grant's well-known indulgence of LSD under medical supervision. In that regard, Grant- the most "Establishment" of stars- preceded the hippie movement by years in terms of preaching about the psychological benefits of the drug- though by the mid-1960s the dangerous side of LSD had turned the public against its use and even Grant ultimately moved away from it. Grant went into self-imposed retirement after his final film, "Walk, Don't Run" in 1966, still at the height of his boxoffice appeal. He did appear at the Oscar ceremonies in 1970 to accept a lifetime achievement award and in the 1980s he embarked on one-man show tours in which he conversed with everyday people usually in small town venues. Grant died in 1986 after leaving the stage from one such appearance. For more click here. 

The web site the007dossier.com has posted a vintage broadcast in which Sean Connery sits with film scholar Mark Cousins to watch and comment on scenes from his James Bond films. (Thanks for reader Mark Ashby for sending the link.) 

 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

At a packed symposium in Cannes where he received a three-minute standing ovation, Clint Eastwood discussed his philosophies of filmmaking along with the personal experience of growing up in the Depression. Eastwood said that he views movie-making as an emotional experience not an intellectual one and warns that when an emphasis on intellectual aspects of a film overrides trying to move the audience emotionally directors can find themselves in trouble. Eastwood addressed his long-standing complaints about what he perceives as political correctness in the film industry and warns that "We've lost our sense of humor."  Ironically it was Eastwood's sense of humor that earned him rare bad press concerning his personal life.  Traditionally Eastwood stayed out of commenting on national politics but in 2012 he appeared at the Republican convention to endorse Mitt Romney with a bit of improvised comedy that earned him a good deal of criticism because of  barbs aimed at President Obama that many felt crossed the line in terms of being too distasteful. Eastwood was not overtly active in the 2016 presidential campaign and he did not address the current political situation in his appearance at Cannes. During his chat at Cannes he did acknowledge that he sometimes misses acting on screen. (He has not starred in a film since "Trouble with the Curve" in 2012). He says he will return to acting "someday", a vow that might seem overly-optimistic for a man of 86 years of age- but we wouldn't want to bet against him. For more click here. 

“TESTS OF FAITH”

By Raymond Benson

Martin Scorsese has made several films that are challenging for an audience. Even some of his most acclaimed pictures, such as Raging Bull, are difficult to watch and “enjoy.” Scorsese tackles hard truths about the human condition, and many times they’re unpleasant and disturbing. Sometimes the dramas he explores are not what one would call a “good time at the movies.”

That doesn’t mean they’re bad. On the contrary, great art often requires an audience to meet it halfway, to capitulate and embrace the pain that is at the heart of what the artist has intended to convey.

Silence is one of those films. A decades-long passion project for the director, based on the novel by Shūsaku Endō, it is about the “silence” of God that is the biggest obstacle faced by people of faith. The subject matter would have been at home in hands of someone like Ingmar Bergman, who tackled this topic several times in his career. Nevertheless, Scorsese’s oeuvre has often been informed by his Catholic upbringing and his struggles with it. While his 1988 film, The Last Temptation of Christ, was a deeply personal and, yes, a religious picture, it was met with controversy and even banning in some territories. Silence is an even more religious statement from the master filmmaker, and it, too, has received mixed responses. Some hailed it as a masterpiece. Others said it was an overlong, colossal bore.

Silence is a period piece that takes place in 17^th Century Japan, when Portuguese Jesuit priests were attempting to bring Christianity to that feudal kingdom. One particular priest, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), had gone to Japan on such a mission, but news comes back to Portugal that he has renounced his faith and disappeared. Two young priests, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver) are sent to locate him to find out what happened—and spread the Gospel while they’re at it.

It doesn’t go well. The priests encounter the cruel and calculating samurai known as the “Inquisitor” (magnificently portrayed by Issey Ogata), who does everything in his power to crush the priests’ objective, wipe Christianity from his land, and keep an iron hold on the citizens’ beliefs. Different methods of torture are his preferred weapons of rule. As time passes, the priests’ faith is severely compromised—but Rodrigues hangs on, fighting with every fiber of his being to the bitter end.

Which doesn’t come for two hours and forty-one minutes.

Therein lies the problem I had with what otherwise was one of the most gorgeously-photographed motion pictures I’ve seen in years. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto earned an Oscar nomination—and probably should have won. The production and costume designs by Dante Ferretti should have also at least received nods. The movie is indeed beautiful to look at, on par with such visual feasts as Barry Lyndon, Days of Heaven, and The Tree of Life.

It’s just… long. And very slow. The meditative pace, intentional as it is, serves the subject and the picture well up to a point. The movie is additionally extremely quiet; the soundtrack consists of mostly sounds of nature along with delicate period music of an Eastern flavor by Kathryn and Kim Allen Kluge. The relentless suffering of the characters—in silence—takes its toll. Perhaps that’s what Scorsese wanted to do. To test the audience, just as the priests are tested.

The acting, especially by Garfield, shows extreme dedication to the material. Both he and Driver lost a good deal of weight for their roles. At one point during filming, as recounted in the documentary supplement on the disk, the entire cast and crew broke for lunch on a beach—but the two actors chose to stay in a boat away from shore and not participate in the meal.

The new Paramount Blu-ray disk exquisitely captures the film. It looks fantastic, as it should, with a 1080p High Definition transfer. There are several sound options—5.1 DTS HD Master Audio in English, and other languages in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The only supplement is the aforementioned making-of featurette, Martin Scorsese’s Journey Into Silence, which provides a satisfying overview of the production and its genesis.

Devotees of Martin Scorsese should give Silence a chance, but don’t expect the flash-bang editing of GoodFellas. This is an art film of the highest order, one that you may find very rewarding if your endurance makes it to its final, glorious image before the end credits.

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(The new documentary "Becoming Bond" is now showing on the Hulu network.)

BY MARK CERULLI

Prior to seeing Josh Greenbaum’s illuminating documentary, Becoming Bond, which premiered on HULU May 20^th, I had dismissed George Lazenby’s mystifying refusal to continue as 007 as just another gullible young actor taking bad career advice; like Tom Selleck passing on Indiana Jones, Travolta nixing Forrest Gump, Thomas Jane handing Don Draper to Jon Hamm… but there’s more to it than that, a lot more as it turns out.

Cleverly combining interview footage of Lazenby, still hale and hearty at 77, with well-staged recreations, Becoming Bond dives deep into this complicated and impulsive star to understand HOW he could casually dump one of the most coveted roles in the history of film. As it turns out, that decision is symbolic of who George Lazenby really is: intelligent, charming, naïve but most of all, independent. Lazenby is, and has always been, his own man. From pissing off teachers in grade school, to pursuing a girl from an elite family many social stations above his own, George always did what George wanted to do. Usually documentaries feature others talking about the main subject in order to create a full picture. Early on, director Josh Greenbaum felt Lazenby’s stories were so rich, he wanted to recreate them – it was an inspired choice. Australian actor Josh Lawson is perfect as a young George Lazenby, gradually finding his way in the world and effortlessly using his charm and chiseled looks to become a top model. A fluke landed him dinner with a London talent agent (played by real Bond Girl, Jane Seymour) who got him in the door to audition for 007, then George did it HIS way: conning a brusque Harry Saltzman (comedian Jeff Garlin) into handing him the keys to the Bond movie kingdom, then confounding him when he wouldn’t play by his rules. Lazenby did his and Cubby Broccoli’s film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which became a box office hit in 1969 (despite popular belief that the movie bombed.) Suddenly the world – and a world of women – were at his feet, but it was a lot for a guy from tiny Goulburn, Australia to handle. Maybe too much. Lazenby turned down a one million dollar payment to sign a seven-picture deal, something most actors would give body parts for. Once the Bond producers realized none of the usual leverage worked, they were playing by Lazenby’s rules, which meant there were no rules: George does what George wants. In the end, Lazenby did okay without Bond – he made his money in real estate, acted in other films, married, became a father… but oh what might have been.

After the documentary screening at LA’s delightfully quirky Cinefamily Theater, cast, crew and George himself answered questions, and once again, George was George. When asked if he regretted walking away from Bond, the actor said, “If I had stayed as James Bond I would have probably had three wives in Beverly Hills, mansions, been a drug addict… that’s the kind of person I would’ve been because it wouldn’t’ve been me.” He admitted he just didn’t like taking orders. Sitting next to him, actor Josh Lawson perceptively pointed out that, “the things that caused George to walk away were the things that got him the job in the first place.” After the Q&A, Hulu threw down an after party with an open (bless them) martini bar. There the cast and Lazenby mingled with guests – including this CR scribe. I had met George before, but had forgotten how freakin’ big he is in person. (A fellow Bond fan said he was the tallest of all the Bonds.) Shaking his enormous hand reminded me of shaking hands with boxing champ George Foreman during my HBO producer days. No wonder Lazenby knocked out a stuntman during his Bond action screen test. (An act seen in the documentary, followed by Saltzman stepping over the twitching body to tell George, “We’re going with you.”) Absolutely priceless, all true – and pure Lazenby!

Lazenby’s composure is remarkable given how close he came to having it all. In fact, the only time he became visibly emotional was when he discussed the one decision he does regret: giving up the girl of his dreams, a lovely upper class gal named Belinda (wonderfully played by Kassandra Clementi). Like her co-star, Clementi had never met Lazenby until Wednesday’s premiere and she had never even seen On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which was shown after the festivities. And how did she like it? “I loved the film,” Clementi said via her publicist, “And George Lazenby was unsurprisingly just as captivating and charming as he is today.” Sounds like a newly-minted Bond fan…