Celebrating Films of the 1960s & 1970s - Tom Lisanti

TOM LISANTI PAYS TRIBUTE TO "VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS" (1965)

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 04 May 2013 05:36:00 -0500

On his web blog Sixties Cinema, Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti pays tribute to schlock producer Bert Gordon's 1965 teenbopper exploitation flick Village of the Giants, featuring such cult stars as Tisha Sterling, Joy Harmon, Vicki London and Tony Basil. Click here for the story behind the film as well as original TV ads.

DVD REVIEW: "MY BLOOD RUNS COLD" (1964) STARRING TROY DONOHUE AND JOEY HEATHERTON

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:50:00 -0500

By Tom Lisanti

I admit it. I am a Troy Donahue fan. There I said it. Not surprising since I love and have been writing about Sixties starlets for over ten years. If there ever was a male version of a starlet, it was Troy. I purchased the DVD box set Warner Bros. Romance Classics Collection featuring four of his early Sixties movies and recently viewed My Blood Runs Cold (1964) from Warner Bros Archive as a DVD-on-Demand. The pairing of Troy Donahue as a loon and Joey Heatherton as the blonde he desires in this suspense film didn’t burn up the silver screens across the country and left most critics cold, but the coupling of America’s favorite bland blonde boy with the Ann-Margret wannabe made for bad cinema you just got to love.

By 1964 Troy Donahue had reached super stardom and was one of the most popular young actors at the time, but he was extremely unhappy with the roles being offered him. He could be lackluster at times and was by no means a great actor, but with his looks Troy didn’t have to be, as his boy-next-door charisma made teenage girls (and some men) swoon. His film career began in 1957 with small roles in a number of films including Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Summer Love (19580, Live Fast, Die Young (1958), and Monster on the Campus (1958) before he was cast opposite Sandra Dee as tortured naïve young lovers in A Summer Place (1959) for Warner Bros. The film, beautifully filmed off the coast of Carmel, California doubling for Maine and featuring a lush score by Max Steiner, was a huge hit especially with the teenage set. The studio wisely then signed Donahue (who shared the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer – Male for his performance) to a contract. He then co-starred on the lightweight TV detective series Surfside 6 (1960-62) in between essaying the romantic leading man in a series of glossy romances (most directed by Delmer Daves) opposite some of the prettiest starlets of the day.

Continue reading "DVD REVIEW: "MY BLOOD RUNS COLD" (1964) STARRING TROY DONOHUE AND JOEY HEATHERTON"

BOOK REVIEW: "STEVE MCQUEEN: THE ACTOR AND HIS FILMS"

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:24:48 -0600

By Tom Lisanti

Steve McQueen: The Actor and His Films by Andrew Antonaides and Mike Siegel from Dalton Watson Fine Books is one of the finest, most lavish movie books about a single actor that I have ever read. All of iconic superstar Steve McQueen’s films are equally discussed from his classics (The Blob, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Cincinnati Kid, The Sand Pebbles, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, Papillon), to his lesser known earlier movies (Never Love a Stranger, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery)An Enemy of the People, The Hunter), to his misfires (The Honeymoon Machine, Soldier in the Rain, Baby the Rain Must Fall), to his TV series (Wanted: Dead or Alive). Most coffee table-type movie books that I have encountered are extravagantly- made, featuring glorious photographs, but containing very little substance. However, Steve McQueen: The Actor and His Films is not only handsomely produced, featuring over 1,000 rare B&W and color photographs, but also contains an in-depth analysis of all of McQueen’s movies listed chronologically. This does not mean McQueen’s life story is ignored. The writers expertly weave in the actor’s journey into each chapter. Reading about his childhood clarifies his actions and behavior as an adult, such as his legendary insecurities and his determination not to bested by anyone particularly a co-star. Each film is allocated one chapter featuring a plot summary; a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie (often with comments from cast or crew); the reaction of critics and the audience to the final product; and an analysis of the movie itself and McQueen’s performance. All of this is accompanied by rare photos and a plethora of international color posters/lobby cards. Considering how much effort and expense went into the making of this book, you might expect it to be nothing but a paean to the actor no matter what the merits of a specific movie. Not here. I commend the writers for taking an honest and balanced approach in commenting on McQueen’s choices and his performances.

As a film historian myself, my favorite part of the book is the backstory for each of the movies. The King of Cool on screen was not so beloved by many of his co-stars or directors off-screen. It is interesting to read about the tricks McQueen employed to upstage agitated movie star Yul Brynner on the set of The Magnificent Seven. Similarly, on Soldier in the Rain McQueen, somewhat immaturely, took out his frustrations on Jackie Gleason and director Ralph Nelson when his choice to direct the movie, Blake Edwards, walked just before filming began. The authors are correct to take him to task for his behavior here and on other movie sets. They rightly point out he was miscast as Soldier in the Rain’s loser G.I., delivering a performance that was “another oddity and one of the worst misfires of his career.” Indeed, it's McQueen’s awkward performance that drags co-star Jackie Gleason down. Sans McQueen on screen, Gleason is wonderful as evidenced in his scenes with the sparkling Tuesday Weld as his dumb blond blind date, who has some surprising insights to the world.

Each chapter of this book is wonderful in its own way. The standout chapters for me are those pertaining to The Sand Pebbles and Papillon, one of my favorite movies of all-time. The authors fairly give equal credit to the success of these films both to McQueen and their directors/writers. Thus, I was surprised that in their analysis of The Cincinnati Kid, the authors give director Norman Jewison most of the credit for its success and didn’t even mention screenwriter Terry Southern who took Ring Lardner, Jr.’s original script and rewrote it even as the movie was being shot. Some of the most iconic images from the film come from the mind of that genius satirist.

The authors offer such knowledgeable insight into McQueen’s less-successful films that I now have an urge to view. For instance, Nevada Smith, the prequel to 1964’s hit The Carpetbaggers. Critics dismissed this Henry Hathaway-directed western in 1966 and I believed the criticism of it being below-par. And since leading lady Suzanne Pleshette is one of my least favorites from the Sixties, I really had no desire to sit through it despite my admiration for McQueen. However, the authors create a convincing case for giving it a try, from the beautiful vistas that fill the wide-screen, to the expert way Hathaway juggles character development and action, to Pleshette’s character being not the typical love interest. Not to mention the fact that McQueen is shirtless throughout a lot of the movie, though they concede that it is a stretch to believe the actor, who was in his mid-thirties at the time, as a teenage half-Indian vowing revenge on the varmints that tortured and killed his parents. However, they conclude that McQueen triumphs over this and his performance “engages the viewer emotionally.”

I highly recommend Steve McQueen: The Actor and His Films by Andrew Antonaides and Mike Siegel to fans of the superstar and to Sixties/Seventies film enthusiasts. The authors do a superlative job from their perceptive prose to the magnificent visuals selected to accompany each chapter. A bit pricey you may say at $69 (cheaper on Amazon.com), but this spectacularly produced book is more than worth it.

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BOOK NEWS: "DUELING HARLOWS: RACE TO THE SILVER SCREEN" BY TOM LISANTI NOW AVAILABLE

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:58:00 -0600

Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti's new book Dueling Harlows: Race to the Silver Screen has just been released. Here is the press release:

Dueling Harlows: Race to the Silver Screen is the fascinating backstory of the competition to get two rival film biographies both titled Harlow into theaters first that quickly turned into one of the nastiest, dirtiest feuds that Hollywood ever witnessed

In 1965, in a rare occurrence not seen before or since, two motion pictures with the same title about the same subject opened within weeks of each other.

Carol Lynley was Jean Harlow in Bill Sargent’s Harlow a quickie B&W independent production filmed in Electronovision. Carroll Baker was Jean Harlow in Joseph E. Levine’s Harlow a big budget color extravaganza from Paramount Pictures. Both endeavored to tell the story of the legendary thirties blonde bombshell’s passionate love life and her meteoric rise from bit player to super star before her death at the young age of twenty-six.

Dueling Harlows recounts the struggle it took to get these rival movie biographies into theaters first considering the almost daily war-of-words between the movies’ showman producers, which almost escalated into fisticuffs at the 1965 Academy Awards ceremony; the casting problems each faced; the poor screenplays, which hampered the productions; the hurried pace to complete filming causing on-set frustration; and the law suits that followed in the aftermath. Both movies were failures at the time but have camp appeal today.

Dueling Harlows (with 18 photos) contains new interviews from people who worked on the movies including actors Carol Lynley, Michael Dante, and Aron Kincaid; assistant directors Richard C. Bennett and Tim Zinnemann; casting director Marvin Paige; plus film historian Robert Osborne and producer David Permut. Also included are vintage comments from Joseph Levine, Bill Sargent, Carroll Baker, Ginger Rogers, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Michael Connors, and many more.

Tom Lisanti an award-winning author of seven books about Sixties Hollywood. Visit his web site www.sixtiessinema.com.

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TOM LISANTI: GONNA HAVE A "SKI PARTY"

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:09:00 -0500

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

Frankie Avalon (Todd Armstrong/ Jane), Dwayne Hickman (Craig Gamble/ Nora), Deborah Walley (Linda Hughes), Yvonne Craig (Barbara Norris), Robert Q. Lewis (Donald Pevney), Bobbi Shaw (Nita), Aron Kincaid (Freddie Carter), The Hondells (Themselves) Steve Rogers (Gene), Patti Chandler (Janet), Mike Nader (Bobby), Salli Sachse (Indian), John Boyer (Ski Boy), Mikki Jamison (Vicki), Mickey Dora (Mickey), Bill Sampson (Arthur), Mary Hughes, Luree Holmes (Ski Girls), Sigi Engl (Ski Instructor). Uncredited: Christopher Riordan, Ronnie Dayton, Jo Collins, Paul Gleason, and Annette Funicello (Prof. Roberts). Guest Stars: James Brown and the Famous Flames, and Lesley Gore.

I thought I'd end my Top 5 Sixties Beach Party movies with a cold treat for these hot summer days. A few films (i.e. Get Yourself a College Girl, Winter a-Go-Go, Wild Wild Winter) switched the locale from the warm California seashore to the chilly mountaintop ski slopes. The best of the crop for me was Ski Party (1965).

Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman play two average college guys, who are losers when it comes to the ladies, so they masquerade as English lasses on a ski trip to discover why their chicks Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig dig suave ladies man Aron Kincaid and what they really want in a guy. Complications ensue when the pompous Kincaid falls in love with Hickman's female incarnation. Meanwhile, when not romping around in drag, Avalon tries to make Walley jealous by flirting with Swedish bombshell Bobbi Shaw. The first half of the picture unfolds quite briskly with excellent musical numbers performed by Avalon, James Brown, and Lesley Gore though the second half bogs down a bit with a ludicrous ski jump contest and an overlong chase sequence, standard for these AIP musical comedies.

Ski Party stands out from the rest of the AIP beach-party movies not only because of the change in locale but because of the superior production values. Credit must go to producer Gene Corman and his crew. The film is exquisitely filmed on location with some awesome ski shots. Alan Rafkin also does a first-rate job of directing and keeps the action moving. He brings some originality to the musical numbers as well. Having Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, Dwayne Hickman, and Yvonne Craig sing "Painting the Town" while on a sunlit sleigh ride helps elevate the song with the beautiful shots of the foursome traveling through the snow-covered back roads. “Lots Lots More" would just have been a standard song warbled by Frankie Avalon with twistin’ beach babes dancing beside him if it were not for Rafkin’s unusual camera angles capturing the curvy features of Walley, Patti Chandler, Mikki Jamison, and Jo Collins.

The musical performances by the guest stars are the standouts of any AIP beach movie. Here it is no exception. Lesley Gore sings the catchy "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" on the bus ride to Sun Valley. Following the release of Ski Party, the song became a hit and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard charts. The Hondells turn up on the beach and rock on "The Gasser" and the title song. Finally, the appearance of James Brown and the Flames who come in out of the snow to perform their Top 10 record "I Got You (I Feel Good)" is truly one of the greatest musical moments in beach movie history.

Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman are well paired as the wisecracking losers-in-love Todd and Craig and are very believable and amusing as the peppery English lasses, Jane and Nora. As the objects of their devotion, Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig are only okay but they look stunning in Technicolor making it perfetly plausible to the audience why the boys would go to so much trouble to win them over. Bobbi Shaw is engaging as a sexy Swede who decides she prefers love, American style. It is nice to see AIP contract players Patti Chandler and Salli Sachse given more to do here than in the Beach Party movies. They along with Luree Holmes, Mikki Jamison, and Playboy Playmate Jo Collins look very good in their bathing suits or tight-fitting ski clothes. For beefcake watchers, there’s lean boyish-looking Mike Nader and handsome, chiseled Steve Rogers. But it is the smarmy charm of Aron Kincaid (pictured above surrounded by a bevy of beauties) as the pompous Freddie who flips for a guy in drag who steals the movie. Usually clad in dark sweaters and turtlenecks (which were a perfect contrast to his blonde hair and fair features), Kincaid is striking looking and awes every girl on screen and every girl in the audience (not to mention a boy or two).

Ski Party is available on DVD and I heartily recommend it!

-Tom Lisanti/www.sixtiescinema.com

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TOM LISANTI: A TRIBUTE TO ARON KINCAID

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 12:28:02 -0600

Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti pays tribute to his friend, actor Aron Kincaid, who starred in such cult movies as The Girls on the Beach, Beach Ball, Ski Party and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Kincaid died earlier this week. Click here to link to Tom's tribute at his Sixties Cinema web site.

JILL HAWORTH: HER LIFE WAS A CABARET, OLD CHUM

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:00:00 -0600

Haworth as Sally Bowles in the Broadway production of Cabaret

By Tom Lisanti

Over the past year, a number of 60s personalities have died, but the one that has most saddened me is Jill Haworth who died in her sleep earlier this week. She was one of my most favorite interviews, as she graciously invited me into her home in 1999. She was just so saucy and honest, holding nothing back. What makes it even sadder for me is that I am reading the new entertaining Sal Mineo bio by Michael Gregg Machaud and Jill is quoted extensively throughout as she had a long romance with the actor.

Petite blonde Jill Haworth made three movies while under personal contract to Otto Preminger--Exodus (where she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Female Newcomer), The Cardinal, In Harm's Way--before going freelance. After starring in the British horror movie It! she landed the role of Sally Bowles on Broadway in Cabaret. The musical was a huge hit and Jill remained in the role for 2 1/2 years.

Surprisingly, when she returned to Hollywood in 1969 all she could get were TV guest spots and horror films, theatrical and made-for-TV, including one that gave me the creeps as a kid, Home for the Holidays. Though Jill never stepped on a Broadway stage again, she did do regional theater during the late 70s and 80s and then concentrated solely on voice over work. She did one last movie Mergers & Acquisitions in 2000 playing a loopy ex-hippie mother of two competing sons. She stole the movie.

Below are some of Jill's sassiest comments to me:

When asked what she thought of John Wayne from In Harm's Way.

"He was the meanest, nastiest man with the worst attitude I ever worked with."

Asked why she stayed in Cabaret so long, she jokingly replied:

"Just to spite Walter Kerr." (Who in his NY Times review said "the musical's one wrong note is Jill Haworth whose worth no more to the show than her weight in mascara.")

When asked if she ever had a chance to play Sally in the film version of Cabaret, she said:

"No, they always wanted Liza Minelli for the movie. She's still doing the movie!"

When Cabaret was revived on Broadway in 2000 with Natasha Richardson and Alan Cummings, Jill was miffed that she was not invited to the opening. When I said "maybe they couldn't find you", she snapped, "I have only been living in the same apartment since 1966!"

Jill never let her stardom go to her head. She was in awe of her Sutton Place neighbor Greta Garbo who walked her dog almost the same time Jill would walk hers. But Jill was too shy to ever say anything. After Cabaret opened, she passed the reclusive star who said, "Good morning Miss Haworth" to which Jill replied, "Good morning Miss Garbo." Jill told me that was worth more to her than anything.

Finally, I received one of the nicest compliments from her after my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema (now available in soft cover at www.sixtiescinema.com) was released. She called to thank me for including her and told me that of all the interviews she had given, the piece I wrote really sounded like her and she appreciated that. Farewell dear Jill.

CATCHING UP WITH SALLI SACHSE...YEARS AFTER THE BEACH PARTY ENDED

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:28:18 -0600

Salli in Ski Party

by Tom Lisanti

I interviewed former 60s starlet Salli Sachse about 12 years ago for my first book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema. Her name may not be familiar, but to fans of American International Pictures’ series of beach movies her face is easily recognizable. With her waist-long honey brown hair and adorable smile, Salli, literally plucked off the beach in San Diego, appeared in almost every beach party film beginning with Muscle Beach Party (1964) through The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) and everything else in between including Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965).

Recalling her time with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, Salli remarked, "Frankie and Annette were very easy going and a pleasure to work with but they weren’t real beach people. Frankie was raised in Philadelphia so I don’t think he ever saw a surfboard in his life! And Annette refused to wear a bikini. She would only wear a one-piece but I think that had something to do with her contract with Walt Disney. Annette was such a straight girl—a good Italian Catholic. Because we grew up on the beach, a lot of us thought we were so cool compared to Frankie and Annette. I remember that on one movie we were filming some beach scenes late in the afternoon. It was really chilly and we were fighting the light. Wrapped in terry cloth robes, a group of us huddled together to keep warm. Carl the prop man handed us a bottle of brandy. We were surprised when Annette took a couple of swigs. She got a bit tipsy and was clowning around. It was the only time I ever saw her let herself go wild.”

When the beach films became passe during the turbulent late sixties, Salli graduated to playing a drag strip groupie in Fireball 500 (1966) to a biker chick in Devil’s Angels (1967) to her most famous role as the LSD freak-out girl opposite Peter Fonda in The Trip (1967) to playing a hippie paramour of rock star Christopher Jones in Wild in the Streets (1968). Unfortunately, along the way there was heartbreak when her husband Peter Sachse tragically died in a plane crash in 1966 while Salli was in Hong Kong filming The Million Eyes of Su-Muru.

Salli chucked her movie career in 1969 to concentrate on modeling then photography then studying art in Europe during the seventies. Returning to the U.S., she earned a Masters in Psychology and became a counselor for "at risk" teens.

In August 2006 Salli was reunited with beach party regulars the late Mary Hughes, Patti Chandler, and Linda Opie for a photo shoot celebrating surf culture in the 1950s and 1960s for Vanity Fair. Below is a photo taken by Salli's friend while visiting the shoot. Pictured are Mary, Salli, Patti and Linda.

Today Salli Sachse has a new web site where fans can peruse pictures of Salli from her Hollywood and modeling days or purchase her beautiful art work. And she is currently working on her memoir, which should prove to be a very interesting read.

Click here to order Fantasy Femmes of 60s Cinema from Amazon

Visit Tom Lisanti's retro web site www.sixtiescinema.com

NEW BOOK ARGUES TO REOPEN NATALIE WOOD DEATH CASE

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:36:00 -0500

By Tom Lisanti

Twenty-eight years ago actress Natalie Wood drowned off the coast of Catalina when purportedly slipping off her yacht Splendour while trying to get into or trying to secure a dinghy after a fight with her husband Robert Wagner. After what the public presumed was a thorough investigation, the police have long closed the case after the LA coroner ruled it an accidental drowning. However, in the new book Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour, co-written by the ship's skipper, new allegations are brought to life including shoddy police work leaving many unanswered questions.

Natalie's sister Lana Wood (best known to movie fans as "Plenty O'Toole" in the James Bond adventure Diamond Are Forever) has joined the authors in demanding that the case be reopened. Click here for more.

Click here to order the book from Amazon

Visit Tom Lisanti's web site at www.sixtiescinema.com

BYE BYE BIRDIE! HELLO, LADA!

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:35:00 -0500

With Paul Lynde on the set of Bye Bye Birdie

If you came of age during the Sixties, you may well remember the name Lada Edmund, Jr. who was one of the original gyrating, mini-skirted go-go girls who danced in a cage on NBC-TV’s music program, Hullabaloo 1965-66. Similar to ABC’s Shindig, Hullabaloo featured a different celebrity host each week to introduce some of the most popular musical performers of the day. However, the show received most of its press not for the rock groups or vocalists that guest starred but for Lada and fellow dancers who bumped, grinded and twisted their way into the homes of teenagers every week. So popular was she that she landed on the cover of TV Guide magazine.

Before she found TV fame, Lada began her career dancing on Broadway. She was one of the original dancers in the 1960 Tony Award winning musical Bye Bye Birdie with Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera and Paul Lynde. When rock star Conrad Birdie is drafted, his manager randomly selects high schooler Kim MacAfee from Sweet Apple, Ohio for Conrad to give his final goodbye kiss to on The Ed Sullivan Show before he goes off to the military. Lada played Penelope Ann, one of Kim’s friends and one of the many hysterical fans of the singing idol. With the first Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie starring John Stamos and Gina Gershon scheduled to open in October, Lada has been invited to return to Sweet Apple, Ohio as a special guest and will be visiting backstage soon.

Besides dancing on stage (including productions of West Side Story and Promises, Promises) and TV, Lada shimmied across the big screen in the beach flick For Those Who Think Young (1964) starring James Darren, Pamela Tiffin and Nancy Sinatra. She then went dramatic in the moonshine movie The Devil’s 8 (1968) and the coming-of-age drama Out of It (1969) starring Jon Voight in his first starring role, though it was released after he found fame in Midnight Cowboy. During the Seventies, she became a stuntwoman in Hollywood and performed death defying feats in films including Smokey and the Bandit (1977) starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, and classic TV shows such as Charlie's Angels and Starsky and Hutch.

With Jon Voight in Out of It

Out of the spotlight for years working as a personal trainer in New Jersey (I tried to locate her for my Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood book without any luck), Lada (now known as Lada St. Edmund) has re-surfaced and has launched a comeback. She is available for interviews through her publicist Walter Newkirk @ newkirkpr@aol.com.

Tom Lisanti has co-written with former 60s actress Gail Gerber her memoir Trippin’ with Terry Southern: What I Think I Remember. Visit his website www.sixtiescinema.com for more information.

RARE SCREENINGS OF "THE VELVET VAMPIRE" IN HOLLYWOOD AUGUST 14-16

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:35 -0500

She Wants to Suck Your Blood

by Tom Lisanti

With the success of the Twilight books and movies and the hit HBO series True Blood, vampires are all the rage these days. Former '60s actress, the still beautiful Celeste Yarnall, will find time from promoting her new book Holistic Cat Care to be a special guest star at this year's Vampire's Con from August 14-16th in Hollywood where they will screen her cult horror movie The Velvet Vampire (1971). According to Celeste, the only known master print is part of Quentin Tarantino's private collection and he is graciously lending it for the occasion. Below Celeste remembers the making of the movie.

In 1971's The Velvet Vampire (whose great tag line proclaimed, "She’s waiting to love you--to death!") Celeste plays the mysterious beauty Diana who after meeting married couple Susan and Lee Ritter (Sherry Miles and Michael Blodgett) at an art gallery lures them into staying the weekend at her Mojave Desert home. Soon both husband and wife find themselves sexually drawn to their mysterious host who suffers from a rare blood disease. Unlike vampires of lore, Diana was able to journey out into the sunlight as long as she is covered up. In the course of twenty-four hours, Diana feasts on a mechanic, his girlfriend, and a servant. After making love with Diana, Lee wants to depart but Susan is fascinated with the charming Diana and wants to stay. Their delay in leaving costs Lee his life while Diana meets her gruesome end at the hands of a cult hippie gang. "I dyed my hair black for this role," says Celeste. "Though the part was a bit corny, I got into playing a vampire. The film had an interesting script by Charles S. Swartz, which explained Diana’s condition very well. This was one of the first films released by Roger Corman’s new production company [New World] and was more original than some of Roger’s other films, which were rip-offs of other movies. I became good friends with Roger and have a lot of respect for his talent."

Celeste accepted the role of Diana despite the nude scenes ("I had my daughter Cami to support.") after turning down previous parts that required nudity including a role in Winning with Paul Newman. "Though I was only semi-nude, it still bothered me, Charles Swartz also produced the film and his wife Stephanie Rothman directed it. They both were very nice and one of the ways that they persuaded me into doing the nude scene with Michael Blodgett was by making it an absolutely closed set. After it was lit, everyone left except the cinematographer, Stephanie, and her husband. The cinematographer’s name was Daniel Lacambre and he was brilliant. He lit and shot the film beautifully."

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TOM LISANTI PAYS TRIBUTE TO ACTOR DON EDMONDS

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:37:00 -0500

By Tom Lisanti

Amongst the hoopla surrounding the recent passing of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Karl Malden,and a few others, one death sadly slipped under the radar. Actor Don Edmonds died on May 29, 2009 from cancer. I interviewed him for my book, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969. He was a great guy and we stayed in email contact for awhile. I had the pleasure to finally meet him in person at a Chiller Convention in New Jersey. Don was very humble regarding his acting and directing careers and enjoyed talking with fans. Below is my tribute to him from the book:

Actor Don Edmonds was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His father relocated the family to Long Beach, California in the thirties and got work as a timekeeper at the shipyards. Soon the elder Edmond’s entrepreneurial son began offering to shine shoes for military men at the Pike an amusement park in Long Beach earning more money than his father. The cute-looking youngster also had a talent for singing and appeared in local USO shows singing "Mammy" in black face.

As a teenager Edmonds spent his time hanging out on the beach. "The first surfboard I ever saw was in 1950 when my friend Terry McGelrand who was this wild guy brought one back from Hawaii. This board must have been fifty feet long and it had no fin on it. We loaded it up on his Woodie and took it down to the beach. We had always been belly floppers before that. He took it out into the water and stood up on it. We gasped, ‘Whoa, check that out!’"

“We all began surfing after that," continues Don. "A couple of legends came from our group. Hobie Alter had this shack out there where he was experimenting with different kinds of weights and woods. He began designing surfboards. Later he was famous for the Hobie Cat. The other guy who I really grew up with was about three or four years younger than us and he'd plead, ‘Can I hang around with you guys?’ We'd say, ‘No, go away! We're going to look for girls.’ He was always the kid we'd chase away. His name was Bruce Brown who went on to make The Endless Summer."

After graduating high school, Don Edmonds joined the service and became a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. While stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina he joined the Spielhaus Players and appeared in works by such renowned playwrights as Tennessee Williams and William Inge. Returning to Long Beach, the lanky sandy-blonde hair surfer boy was cast in several local theatrical productions before joining the Estelle Harmon Actor’s Workshop where his classmates included BarBara Luna, Bill Bixby, Millie Perkins and Ty Hardin. From there Edmonds was able to finagle an agent to represent him and began landing work on television most notably in five episodes of Playhouse 90.

While working on Playhouse 90, Edmonds became fascinated with directing. "I'd sit and just watch the director. I just knew I wanted to direct. I never just hung out in my dressing room. Instead I would come out on the set and observe gentlemen like Ralph Nelson and John Frankenheimer work. They were young guys back then making their bones too. This was the only schooling that I had. I was just so interested in the directing process."

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THE TIDE GOES OUT FOR "BEACH PARTY" CO-STAR JODY MCCREA - A TRIBUTE BY TOM LISANTI

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:39:00 -0500

Jody McCrea, the son of Joel McCrea, passed away earlier this month. He was primarily known for his roles in cult films. In this excerpt from his book, Cinema Retro columnist pays tribute to McCrea's career.

Tall, strapping, square-jawed Jody McCrea who became a favorite of teenage audiences during the Sixties for his amusing performances as “Deadhead” in the series of Beach Party (1963) movies starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello passed away on April 4 of this year. As the dumb surfer in the bunch, Deadhead could be counted on to say something idiotic in his slow drawl. Though McCrea was always assured a laugh based on how the role was written, it is to his credit that Deadhead came off as sweetly naïve rather than a complete moron.
Jody McCrea was born on September 6, 1934 in Los Angeles. His father was western star Joel McCrea and his mother was the underrated actress Frances Dee. As a child, Jody along with his brother David worked the 2300 acres of ranch that his father bought in the San Fernando Valley. The boys toiled in the bean fields, and per his interview with TV Guide, it was Jody’s early ambition to become “the greatest bean-hoer in the State of California.” While attending the New Mexico Military Institute, Jody visited his dad on the set of the movie Lone Hand. Though surrounded by show business his whole young life, it was on this set that the acting bug finally bit him.
McCrea studied drama at UCLA and began taking acting lessons on the side. He made an uncredited appearance in Lucy Gallant (1955) but his official debut was playing Lt. Baker in the western The First Texan (1956) starring his father, Joel McCrea, as Sam Houston. Jody would go on to work with his dad in other westerns including Trooper Hook (1957) and Gunsight Ridge (1957). McCrea’s first significant part was playing Tim Hitchcock in the William Wellman-directed bio flick, Lafayette Escadrille (1958) starring Tab Hunter as the famous French flying legion of WWI.
Television fans discovered Jody McCrea when he teamed up with his dad to star in the western series Wichita Town during the 1959-60 season. Joel McCrea played the town marshal and his son was cast as his deputy. The series unfortunately was saddled with a bad time slot following the weepy This Is Your Life so when the show’s sponsor pulled out the series was cancelled. He returned to the big screen playing supporting roles in low budget comedies and westerns including Young Guns of Texas (1963) featuring second generation actors (such as James Mitchum and Alana Ladd) in leading roles.
The WWII adventure Operation Bikini (1963) was Jody McCrea’s first pairing with Frankie Avalon and movie for American International Pictures. He was cast next as Deadhead in Beach Party the same year. When that movie broke box office records for the independent company, McCrea was coaxed back to reprise the role of the dumb surfer supporting Frankie and Annette in Muscle Beach Party (1964) and Bikini Beach (1964). Due to his popularity with the teenage audience McCrea progressed to second lead in Pajama Party (1964) playing Annette Funicello’s boyfriend who prefers volleyball to romance. McCrea was finally able to shine and received good reviews for his performance.
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) also gave McCrea a chance to do some real emoting as his character now renamed Bonehead falls in love with a mermaid played by Marta Kristen of Lost in Space fame. He received positive reviews such as in the Los Angeles Times whose critic remarked, “Jody McCrea…handles the comedy as a kooky beach bum on whom the sun really shines.” Regarding his popularity playing a doltish surfer, McCrea told Newsday, “It took me four pictures to figure it out—the kids liked Deadhead because they felt superior to me, to him.” However, McCrea was getting disillusioned with the beach movies due to the fact he was afraid that he would be typecast. After How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) wrapped, affable Jody McCrea was determined to shake his Bonehead persona.
The western Stagecoach to Nowhere based on Oedipus Rex was supposed to be McCrea’s next movie but it was never produced. Instead, the tall, broad-shouldered actor was perfectly cast as a rambunctious racecar driver in The Girls from Thunder Strip (1966) and a hardened biker in The Glory Stompers (1967) co-starring Dennis Hopper and Chris Noel. The latter was co-produced by McCrea.

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REAL OR IMAGINED: HOMOEROTICISM IN 60S BEACH MOVIES

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:30:00 -0500

By Tom Lisanti

To get in a warm weather mood with summer not approaching fast enough, here is a look at Hollywood surf movies from a different and albeit biased perspective. Gay men are always looking for gay subtext in movies and TV, and I am no exception. Am I reading more into these films? Probably—but it was sure a lot of fun doing the research.

The Sixties beach movie craze began with Gidget (1959) starring Sandra Dee and James Darren, a fictionalized look at teenager Kathy Kohner’s surfing escapades in Malibu during the mid-Fifties. It was groundbreaking as the movie contributed to the mass dissention of surfers on the beaches of Malibu and started a series of surf-theme films such as Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Ride the Wild Surf. The surf movie soon morphed into the beach-party film, whose heyday was from 1963 through 1965, where surfing was only used as a backdrop to fanciful teenage beach adventures. Beach Party from AIP starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello launched Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Soon other studios were releasing their own Beach Party rivals such as Surf Party, The Girls on the Beach, and Beach Ball. Some of these films varied from the formula by shifting the locale to a lake (A Swingin’ Summer) or the ski slopes (Ski Party, Winter a-Go-Go, Wild Wild Winter). These movies for the most part followed a successful simple formula—start with attractive swimsuit clad teenagers twisting on the sand, add a dash of surfing (or ski) footage, mix in romantic misunderstandings, stir in popular musical performers, add aging comedians for comic relief, and whisk in villainous bikers or predatory adults.

Out of the surf and back in the closet: Tab Hunter was one of many male sex symbols who had to hide their sexuality during the beach movie era.

Gay subtext crept into a few of the beach-party movies giving these films camp appeal today. Discounting the obvious fact that these sand-and-surf epics were titillation for homosexual men of the time, as good looking shirtless movie hunks such as Jody McCrea, Fabian, Aron Kincaid, James Stacy, and Peter Brown frolic on the sand bare-chested in swim trunks and on the slopes in tight ski pants. Or that gay actors such as Tab Hunter, Tommy Kirk, and Paul Lynde appeared in these movies, there were other factors that probably were not obvious back in the Sixties. Either a director or screenwriter may have tried to slip in with a wink and a nudge to the homosexual community in an unassuming way that made it past the oblivious producers and censors.

The most obvious example is Muscle Beach Party (1964) featuring a clean-cut group of surfers versus a cult of bodybuilders headed by Don Rickles' Jack Fanny. During the Fifties and Sixties, the public automatically associated bodybuilding with homosexuality because muscle men of the time appeared as objects of desire wearing posing briefs or sometimes nothing at all in physique magazines whose readers were mostly gay men. Writing on the subject, film historian Joan Ormond commented, “Homosexuality in this era was regarded as potentially more damaging to society as the wild antics of surfers.” Hence, the bodybuilders of Muscle Beach Party whom seem to enjoy the company of each other rather than any of the bikini girls on the shore are seen as the bad guys along the lines of Eric Von Zipper’s motorcycle gang of Beach Party as they are out to corrupt the youth of America.

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EXCERPT FROM GAIL GERBER'S "TRIPPIN' WITH TERRY SOUTHERN"

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:00:05 -0500

Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti has paired with actress Gail Gerber to write her fascinating autobiography that details her experiences in Hollywood as a young starlet in the 1960s as well as her career as a writer and Terry Southern's longtime companion. The book, Trippin' With Terry Southern, is due out in June. Here is an excerpt:

Hollywood, summer of 1964. I had been living in California for almost a year now and still felt like a fish out of water. Growing up in Canada where I studied ballet from the time I was a small child, Los Angeles was mystifying to me with its palm trees, bright sunlight forever contrasting with the deep shade, and its superficial inhabitants. But I readily admit I was sort of a snob myself and didn’t know much about the actors or directors I came in contact with. Petite blondes like Sandra Dee were the reigning young actresses of the time but I couldn’t tell a Sandra Dee from a Tuesday Weld from a Connie Stevens. They were all one big yellow-haired blur to me. And forget about pop music—the minute The Beach Boys or Connie Francis would come on the radio I’d reach for the dial in a mad rush so as not to hear their insipid songs. The dance and jazz worlds were where my interests and background lay.

Arriving in town with my unwarranted bias and without knowing a soul, I had done pretty well for myself, or so I thought, in a short period of time. I had a leading role in a play, two featured movie roles albeit in teenage B-movies, and had done a few guest TV shots. I knew it wasn’t solely my acting talent that was landing me roles. I was a pretty blonde with a shapely figure that looked good in a bikini and wasn’t afraid to show it off, which helped me tremendously. It didn’t bother me in the bit, unlike actresses who I regularly came in contact with, that wanted to be known for their talent rather than their looks.

In August 1964 I found myself back on the MGM lot, after working there previously in the Elvis Presley musical Girl Happy, auditioning for a cameo role as an airport information girl in a big major production. I was very excited. The movie was The Loved One based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh and directed by Tony Richardson who was the hot director at this time. Part of that British “New Wave” of directors in the late Fifties, Richardson directed such well-received movies as Look Back in Anger (1958), A Taste of Honey (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and the hit bawdy comedy Tom Jones (1963). The Loved One was his second U.S. production.

I interviewed with associate producer Neil Hartley, the boyfriend of Richardson who was bi-sexual though married to actress Vanessa Redgrave since 1962. Folks in Hollywood used to joke that Tony only wed Vanessa because he could fit into her clothes. It seemed that every aspiring young actress auditioned for the part but they gave it to platinum blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield whose career was on the down slope. This didn’t help as her scene was left on the cutting room floor and didn’t make it into the final print. As a sort of consolation for not getting that role, I was hired to appear as one of the decorative background cosmeticians working at the funeral parlor with the film’s leading lady, Anjanette Comer. Little did I know that this would forever change my life.

The Loved One starred Robert Morse, who looked adorable with his shaggy Beatles haircut, as the young British poet named Dennis Barlow newly arrived in Hollywood to visit his upper crust uncle (John Gielgud) who shortly thereafter commits suicide when he is unceremoniously fired from the movie studio he has worked at for over thirty years. Barlow then is given the responsibility of the burial arrangements and is led by his uncle’s pompous friend (Robert Morley) to the ornate Whispering Glades funeral parlor foundered by the Blessed Reverned Glenworthy (Jonanthan Winters). He falls in love with one of the cosmeticians named Aimee Thanatogenos (Comer) a strange girl who fantasizes about death and lives in a condemned house on stilts in the Hollywood Hills. But their blossoming romance is complicated by head embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger), a rival for the charms of Miss Thanatogenous and Barlow’s humiliating job at a pet cemetery, which he tries to keep a secret. When all the men in Aimee’s life let her down—Barlow’s occupation is revealed, Joyboy deserts her, Glenworthy proves to be a lecherous phony, and the Guru Brahmin (Lionel Stander), whom she writes to for advice turns out to be a drunkard—she commits suicide by embalming herself.

A number of actors make cameo appearances including James Coburn as a customs inspector, Tab Hunter as a tour guide, Roddy McDowall as a movie studio executive, Liberace as a coffin salesman, and most hilariously Milton Berle and Margaret Leighton as a battling Beverly Hills couple whose dog has died.

My scenes were set at Whispering Glades Funeral Parlor, which took weeks to shoot, and were filmed on location in the extensive gardens and interiors of a lavish estate called Greystone located on Sunset Boulevard. It was the former residence of multimillionaire Edward Laurence Doheny II. I worked mainly with Anjanette Comer, Rod Steiger, and Pamela Curran. Anjanette never spoke to me or any of the other girls playing small roles. Since she had the leading role, I think she thought we were beneath her and not worth her time. She was also busy learning her lines.

I remember hanging around doing nothing my first day on the set. On the second day it seemed it was going to be a repeat of the day before. I was sitting around earning more money than I ever did as a ballet dancer so I really couldn’t complain. There was a whole bunch of us getting paid just to show up. I was all decked out in the same costume as Anjanette, a tight form-fitting white dress with a matching veil, but with absolutely nothing to do but to just sit there and wait in the hot August sun. I spotted a nice shady chair in a quiet spot and made a beeline for it, thinking I could pass the time over there. A crew guy saw my lightning move and said, “That one’s a dancer.” Terry Southern overheard and saw me. He came over and introduced himself as the film’s screenwriter. He was very slim at this time and was wearing his trademark dark sunglasses with a cup of coffee in one hand and his script in the other. I thought, “Oh, great. Another old guy is hitting on me.”

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