BY LEE PFEIFFER

The life and career of Burt Lancaster are covered in the 1996 documentary "Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach", which originally aired on the American TV network A&E. Lancaster had died in 1994 so the show was a timely look at the man and his career while his passing was still fresh in the minds of moviegoers. The  program consists of interviews with some of the screen legend's co-stars and colleagues including actresses Rhonda Fleming, Terry Moore and Virginia Mayo, James Hill, who partnered with Lancaster and Harold Hecht in their initially successful production company, directors Sydney Pollack and Ted Post and actors Earl Holliman and Peter Riegert. There are also insights from biographer Gary Fishgall. Directed by Gene Feldman and Suzette Winter, the documentary is a no-frills affair consisting mostly of talking heads and film clips, mostly comprised of well-worn footage from public domain trailers, though some apparently licensed film snippets also appear. The show also presents occasional audio excerpts from a late-in-life interview with Lancaster, who is refreshingly humorous about his human frailties, admitting that he was headstrong and bossy to the point of directing his directors. The 50-minute running time allows ample opportunity for the participants to present the basics of Lancaster's humble New York upbringing to his early life as a performer in the circus, his lifelong friendship with boyhood pal and fellow trapeze artist Nick Cravat (discussed by Cravat's daughter Tina) and the formation of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, the production company that allowed Lancaster to call his own shots in terms of his career. The company also produced the Oscar-winner "Marty" before going broke in 1959 after funding a number of fine films that nonetheless failed to gel with the public. While Lancaster's colleagues lavish praise on his professionalism and acting ability, as well as his willingness to appear in worthy non-commercial films, they also acknowledge his could be difficult to work with due to his stubborn personality. Earl Holliman recalls working on "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" with Lancaster and Kirk Douglas and noticed how the two old friends and frequent co-stars bickered endlessly as well as tried to instruct each other about acting techniques.

Posed publicity photo for From Here to Eternity (1953).

The documentary reinforces the fact that Lancaster had an extremely interesting career that allowed him to play a widely diverse assortment of characters. Even in his later years, he made his age an attribute, delivering marvelous performances in "Atlantic City", "Local Hero" and "Field of Dreams". His work continues to resonate today. Lancaster fans will find this documentary an interesting and rewarding experience.

(Available for streaming on Amazon Prime. Subscribers can view it for free but it is also available for streaming rental or purchase.)

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Casting young Robert Mitchum in a crime thriller opposite two beautiful leading ladies would seem to be a recipe for a successful film. However, "Foreign Intrigue" manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by saddling the actors with a cumbersome, confusing screenplay. Mitchum is cast as Dave Bishop, an American personal secretary/press agent in the employ of Victor Danemore (Jean Galland), a mysterious rich man who lives lavishly on the French Riviera. When Danemore dies from a heart attack, Bishop becomes intrigued by the mysteries of the man's life and how little he actually knew about him. Even Danemore's young trophy wife Dominique (Genevieve Page) claims to have been a wife in name only and was, in fact, a "kept woman" intended to give Danemore a respectable social status. When Bishop is approached by an assortment of strange characters all of whom are concerned about secrets Danemore may have kept pertaining to their lives, he begins to investigate who his employer really was and why there is consternation in some circles regarding his death. In the process, Bishop not only becomes romantically involved with Dominique but also with Brita (Ingrid Thulin, billed here as "Ingrid Tulean"), a vivacious young woman whose father was being blackmailed by Danemore for reasons unknown. Bishop's investigation turns deadly as he gets nearer the truth with attempts made on his life by mysterious strangers. It turns out that Danemore had been blackmailing prominent European men who had been secretly in league with Hitler. Ultimately, Bishiop is kidnapped by intelligence officials who ask him to volunteer to unmask the collaborators on a mission that could cost him his life.

"Foreign Intrigue" was the brainchild of producer/director/screenwriter Sheldon Reynolds, who had produced a successful TV series of the same title. He saw potential in spinning off the property to a feature film and shot the production on some exotic European locations in color, though the bulk of the movie was filmed in a studio. The story starts off on an intriguing note but soon becomes confusing with the addition of seemingly countless minor characters and red herrings. Even when the main mystery is solved, I found myself still uncertain as to certain characters' relationship to the plot and each other. Although the role of Bishop would seem tailor-made for Robert Mitchum, director Reynolds doesn't showcase the actor's trademark persona as a cynical wiseguy. He can handle himself well in the action scenes and Reynolds makes sure Mitchum has the requisite opportunity to parade around shirtless, but what is missing is the actor's "bad boy" image. His leading ladies are well-cast and Frederick O'Brady is marvelous as a Peter Lorre-like man of mystery but Mitchum and his co-stars suffer from the film's often slow pace. The movie picks up steam towards the finale but the climax is undermined by an absurd scene that is unintentionally funny. It involves Bishop meeting the villain one-on-one in the dead of night on a street in Vienna. Due to plot contrivances, virtually every other character manages to show up, making the secret meeting look like a convention. Adding to the absurdity is the fact that although the scene is set in one of the world's bustling cities, the landscape looks like the opening  of "The Omega Man" with nary a single living soul or moving vehicle seen anywhere. "Foreign Intrigue" will mostly appeal to Mitchum enthusiasts who will welcome the film's availability on Blu-ray. The Kino Lorber transfer is adequate but not overly-impressive, displaying some wear and quite a bit of artifacts. The only bonus features are the original trailer and trailers for two other KL Mitchum titles.

(Incidentally, although the film's credits state that Genevieve Page and Ingrid Thulin were "introduced" in this film, in fact, both actresses had a number of screen credits prior to appearing in "Foreign Intrigue". This was a common - if deceitful- marketing ploy frequently used by movie studios during the era.) 

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BY FRED BLOSSER

"Hudson River Massacre” is a 1965 Italian Western originally titled “I tre del Colorado” and also released as “Rebels in Canada,” “Revolt in Canada,” and “Canadian Wilderness.” In the film, the Hudson’s Bay Company, an English corporation, is tightening its monopoly on the lucrative fur-trading business in western Canada in the late 1800s by driving independent French-Canadian trappers out of business. The French-Canadians counter with an uprising led by Leo Limoux, played by Franco Fantasia, a Spaghetti Western regular with a familiar face if not a familiar name. Trapper Victor DeFrois (George Martin) resists joining the rebels until his brother is executed for robbery and murder on charges fabricated by the ruthless Hudson’s Bay trading-post manager, Sullivan. When that happens, Victor throws in with the resistance. At Limoux’s direction, the young trapper kidnaps Sullivan’s sister Anne and holds her at a remote cabin for ransom. From there, veteran fans of old-fashioned Westerns can pretty much write the rest of the script themselves. What usually happens in these movies when a handsome, stalwart outdoorsman is cooped up with a genteel, gorgeous woman, and the two begin to rethink their animosity toward each other?

The director of “Hudson River Massacre,” Armando de Ossorio, is better known to Euro-movie fans for his four horror films in the “Blind Dead” series about undead medieval knights who rise from their tombs as zombies. As director and co-writer, he keeps the B-Western fistfights and shootouts moving at a fast clip in “Hudson River Massacre,” including the relatively large-scale “massacre” of the title in which the outnumbered rebels clash with a troop of Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the shadow of snow-capped Spanish peaks standing in for the Canadian Rockies. The role of the Mounties as Sullivan’s malleable dupes will surprise older fans who fondly remember Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The Spanish actor George Martin had a busy career in Italian Westerns, sometimes playing against type as a bad guy but more often cast like here, as the hero. He appears to be performing most of his own stunts in “Hudson River Massacre” without the help of a stand-in, except for the more dangerous moments of a fight with a bad guy in a rugged stretch of rapids. He’s ably supported by an attractive trio of European actresses, Giulia Rubini as Anne, Pamela Tudor as a feisty action-heroine named Swa, a common fixture in today’s movies but unusual for a 1960s Western, Italian or otherwise, and Diana Lorys as Nina, a French-Canadian saloon girl whose unrequited devotion to Victor has unfortunate consequences.

A new Blu-ray edition of “Hudson River Massacre” from MVD Classics presents this obscure movie in a serviceable hi-def transfer. The only extra is a trailer, but the Blu-ray includes SDH subtitles that will be welcomed by those who saw unpretentious fare like “Hudson River Massacre” at the local drive-in as kids, back in the day. Italian Western enthusiasts will be equally happy to see another hard-to-find title now available on the commercial market.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber continues to release titles that were originally telecast on ABC TV in the United States as part of the network's "Movie of the Week" anthology series of original productions. While most of the earlier films in the series, which began in 1969, exceeded expectations, with some becoming classics, by the time 1972 rolled around, the network was cutting back on production costs and some less-than-stellar shows were produced. One of the telecasts shown during this period was "The Daughters of Joshua Cabe", a starring vehicle for Buddy Ebsen, who had become a TV icon through "The Beverly Hillbillies" and who would go on to find great success a few years later as TV detective Barnaby Jones. "Joshua Cabe" was shot between the two series. Ebsen is well-cast in the title role that affords him his familiar persona as a laid-back, soft-spoken man of simple means but admirable values. Josh has been proudly calling a beautiful spread of rural land his own, a dream he shared with his beloved wife who passed away many years ago. He now lives a rustic lifestyle with his best friend, Bitterroot (Jack Elam) and the two men are quite content until they receive the alarming news that a new law affects the ownership of homesteads. In order to be declared the rightful owner of the property, Josh only has weeks to find his three estranged daughters of many years and convince them to settle on his land for a period of no less than one year. It's a tall order but he sets out to St. Louis to begin tracking the daughters down. He only finds one of his offspring, Mary (Julie Mannix), and she is content living the life of a nun. She advises him that her two sisters are now living in New York with their families. Dejected, Josh almost gives up on his quest to qualify for ownership of his land until he gets an audacious inspiration: he approaches three wayward women from the other side of the tracks who are living hardscrabble lives in St. Louis and convinces them to move back with him and pose as his daughters for a period of one year. The young women have diverse personalities but they are all streetwise, cynical and willing to go toe-to-toe against the inevitable lechers who try to seduce them. They are Mae (Lesley Ann Warren, billed here as "Lesley Warren), a prostitute being exploited by a charmless pimp, Mae (Sandra Dee), a pickpocket and Charity (Karen Valentine), a recently paroled thief.

Problems arise when Josh's arch-enemy, Amos Wetherall (Leif Erickson) and his four no-goodnick sons set eyes on laying claim to Josh's land to expand their local empire. Their plans hit a set-back when Josh arrives with his three "daughters" but Wetherall and his boys use violent methods to try to intimidate him, including burning down his precious ranch house that he had built for his wife. Wetherall's tactic only reinforce his determination to claim the land legally for his own. The three young women, who had been indulging in plenty of bickering, become united to try to help him, as he's emerged as a kindly father figure to them. The climax finds a showdown between Josh and Bitterroot and Wetherall and his sons to determine who will possess Josh's land. Guess who comes out on top?

"The Daughters of Joshua Cabe" is directed with workman-like efficiency by Philip Leacock, who had a long resume in TV and films as director and producer. The script by Paul Savage is largely unoriginal and predictable. The main reason for watching the film is the delightful cast. The three actresses playing the "daughters" are all amusing with Warren getting the meatiest role as a prostitute. Ebsen is always a delight to watch and he gets plenty of amusing support from Elam, who seemed to inherit Walter Brennan's roles as crabby, eccentric western sidekicks. Erickson makes for a fine villain and his scroungy, sadistic sons are played by well-known actors, specifically Don Stroud, Michael Anderson Jr, Paul Koslo and William Katt (billed here as "Bill Katt".)

The Kino Lorber transfer is adequate, but no more. That's probably because the source material for the print used was less-than-desirable and no one would expect KL to sink a great deal of money into enhancing this modest, little-remembered title, the production values of which are pretty chintzy. IMDB verifies that it was shot on 35mm film but it's hard to believe that the interiors weren't filmed on video, as they have a soft focus look that resembles an episode of a soap opera from the era. The only impressive action scene involves a stampede. Beyond that, the movie is definitely a 1970s Poverty Row production. Still, it's nice to have these obscure TV movies now available on home video, so regardless of their individual merits, we hope KL keeps 'em coming.

The DVD includes a gallery of other KL western comedy trailers including "Support Your Local Sheriff", "Support Your Local Gunfighter", "Young Billy Young" and "Sam Whiskey".

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Marilyn Monroe was among the aspiring actresses who found comfort and safety within the walls of the Hollywood Studio Club.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

In an interesting article for Vanity Fair, Cari Beauchamp explores a fascinating aspect of old Hollywood that most movie fans aren't aware of. It concerns the Hollywood Studio Club, a boarding house with style that was specifically designed to provide a safe haven for young women who had immigrated to Hollywood in the hope of finding stardom. From the earliest days of the motion picture industry, studio executives acted as sexual predators. They held all the cards in their hands. If a fresh, innocent beauty really wanted some good career breaks, they soon learned what the price was. In the silent era, Mary Pickford became the premiere champion of establishing a house where numerous young women could rent a shared room with the knowledge men would not be able to exploit them, at least in their living quarters. Pickford lobbied influential studio executives as well as notorious moralist Will Hays, the film industry czar who would impose draconian censorship standards on the entire industry that would last for decades, to support the concept. She got these powerful men to donate large sums of money to build a more upscale residence for the young women, which would become known as the Hollywood Studio Club. It was not without irony that much of the funding came from lecherous men who were known to sexually exploit women once they set foot outside of their "safe haven". Nevertheless, the concept lasted until the 1970s, by which time reticence to follow the strict rules inside the Club diminished the ranks of young women who were prospective boarders. The place closed in 1975 but left a lasting legacy as an early home to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Moreno, Nancy Kwan, Kim Novak, Barbara Rush, Barbara Eden and many other actresses who found solace within the walls of the Hollywood Studio Club.

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Auger in a publicity photo for "Thunderball".

BY LEE PFEIFFER

French model-turned actress Claudine Auger has passed away at age 78. Auger was France's entry in the Miss World contest at age 17 in 1958. She later entered the movie profession and caught the eye of James Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman when they were casting the female lead for the fourth 007 blockbuster "Thunderball" starring Sean Connery in 1965. Auger wasn't their first choice, as Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie and Raquel Welch had been considered, but for different reasons, did not end up playing the pivotal role. In the film, Auger played Domino, the mistress of Spectre villain Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi. Domino seems content with the life of luxury afforded her by Largo but upon being seduced by James Bond, she courageously risks her life to help him thwart Spectre's nuclear threat to Miami Beach. Although Auger could speak fluent English, like several of the early Bond film actresses, she was dubbed in the final cut of the film. Despite the phenomenal worldwide success of "Thunderball", major stardom did not follow for Auger, although she continued to appear in films and television, mostly in Europe. In 1966, "Thunderball" director Terence Young cast her in a major Hollywood film, the WWII spy thriller "Triple Cross" starring Christopher Plummer and Yul Brynner. She also appeared in the 1971 Italian cult hit "The Black Belly of the Tarantula" with Giancarlo Giannini, who she would later star with in the comedy "Lovers and Liars". Auger continued to act until the late 1990s. Married twice, she is survived by a daughter with her late husband Peter Brent, who passed away in 2008. Auger tended to avoid the spotlight and did not participate in most of the retrospective James Bond events and documentaries made over the years since the release of "Thunderball". For more, click here.

A STAR IS BORN

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, has scored another potential monster hit with its presentation of "Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz", which presents the life of Judy Garland from her early days as a child hoofer and singer through her starring role as Dorothy in MGM's "The Wizard of Oz" at age 16. With a star-making performance by Ruby Rakos, the production hits all the right notes in terms of feel-good family entertainment, as evidenced by the enthusiastic ovation matinee presentation we attended. The show incorporates plenty of classic songs along with some bright new numbers by David Libby, with lyrics by Tina Marie Casemento. It's directed and choreographed at a brisk pace and considerable skill by Denis Jones. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Judy Garland's untimely death. Sadly, as with other legendary celebrities who died tragically before their time, the achievements of Garland's work on stage and in cinema inevitably become compromised by the clouded aspects of her personal life. The new, acclaimed big screen biography dwells on these aspects of her life and career. "Chasing Rainbows", however, deftly avoids this pitfall by concentrating only on her early days as a rising star for MGM. Thus, a more upbeat experience for the audience is ensured, which is probably why Liza Minnelli has enthusiastically endorsed the production.

The story begins with young Judy already in show business as part of family act, performing with her mother and father and her two sisters. The sisters ultimately formed a trio known as The Gumm Sisters (Garland's birth name was Frances Ethel Gumm.) The family struggles financially but her perpetually upbeat parents are determined to find success for the family in show business, thus they head off to Hollywood. Things look grim until Garland lands a contract at MGM, then firmly under the dictatorial control of Louis B. Mayer. She goes through the usual ritual of the era that contract players were subjected to as they are trained to sing, act and dance. Garland, however, is routinely denied promising roles because she is deemed to be unattractive and pudgy. She befriends Mickey Rooney, who reaches mega star status first and becomes one of MGM's most bankable assets. The engrossing book by Marc Acito plays a bit loose with the facts, implying that prior to "The Wizard of Oz" , Garland was struggling at the studio. While it's true her talents were not being capitalized on properly, in fact, she had landed a starring role opposite Rooney the previous year in "Love Finds Andy Hardy". The story follows Garland's frustrations with attempting to land the role of Dorothy in "Oz", but Mayer is intent on casting Shirley Temple. Mayer was convinced that she lacked sex appeal and was largely content to use her for vocal assignments. We watch as the starry-eyed Judy intermingles with her idol Clark Gable (Sean Thompson) and other Hollywood dignitaries, which helps dispel some of the downbeat aspects of her grueling schedule.  We all know how events eventually transpired with Garland succeeding in landing her most beloved role. However, if you are expecting to see Dorothy and her companions skipping and singing down the Yellow Brick Road, be aware that the show ends shortly after Garland is finally cast as Dorothy. (Amusingly, she meets her would-be co-star Buddy Ebsen on the set, as he was originally cast as the Tin Man before a reaction to the makeup forced him to bow out and be replaced by Jack Haley.) "Oz" fanatics might be a bit let down, especially since the ad campaign depicts Garland skipping down a road but there is so much else to admire in the production, any hints of of disappointment are likely to be quickly overcome. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The 1965 adventure film "Sands of the Kalahari" was the follow-up project for star Stanley Baker and writer/director Cy Endfield, who had triumphed the year before with Zulu. The plot centers on a small group of strangers in a South African airport who are frustrated when their plane is delayed for mechanical reasons. They opt to charter their own flight to Johannesburg, which mandates that they fly over the vast Kalahari Desert. A swarm of locusts disables the engine and the plane ditches in a remote area, far from civilization. The survivors are a diverse lot. There's Stanley Baker as an alcoholic who suffers a severe leg injury. Stuart Whitman is a macho All American with a passion for rifles, hunting and making sure he gets the advantage in every situation. Theodore Bikel is a timid, kindly doctor. Harry Andrews is an aging German with knowledge of the terrain and Nigel Davenport is the pilot. The lone female is (naturally) a stunner with strong sexual desires. She's played by Susannah York, one of the most beautiful British actresses to emerge during the 60s.

The survivors find shelter in a cave and, using their ingenuity and Whitman's rifle, manage to sustain themselves. However, they are in midst of a band of savage baboons who pose a constant threat. It doesn't take long before the small group devolves into petty feuds and sexual jealousy, with Whitman emerging as a self-centered villain intent on keeping the food supplies and the woman for himself. The film, which is similar in content to Flight of the Phoenix, boasts an impressive screenplay by Endfield, who does yeoman work as director.  He presents the landscape in such a harsh manner that you'll run for a cold glass of water the second the film ends. The performances are all excellent, with Whitman particularly good as the charismatic villain. His last scene in the movie is one that will haunt you. There are many memorable sequences in the film but to divulge them would spoil the fun of watching this superior, testosterone-driven adventure. Make this one another "must" for your video library.

Although Olive Films has done justice to this magnificent looking film with a fine Blu-ray presentation, there are no bonus extras included.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Just in case you thought the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome only release version of vintage porn flicks, it may come as news that they are also providing another valuable social service: remastering long-forgotten grind house "classics".  Case in point: "The Muthers", a 1976 gem that plays out like the ultimate Tarantino fantasy. It's a combination of several genres: Women in Prison ("W.I.P", for the initiated), chop socky, sexploitation and blaxploitation. It doesn't get any better than this if you were weaned on this glorious type of sleaze that played routinely on 42nd Street. Directed by cult "B" movie favorite Cirio Santiago, "The Muthers" is yet another low-budget flick from the era that was filmed in the Philippines. The movie opens with a memorable introduction to the titular characters. They are Kelly (Jeannie Bell) and her equally sexy sidekick Anggie (Rosanne Katon, Playboy's Miss September in 1978), who are female pirates with an all-male crew ("You go, girls!"). We see them aboard their high speed, armed vessel as they raid a tourist boat and grab the booty. (Since these are good pirates, no one gets hurt). We know the pirates go by the name of The Muthers because their vessel is adorned with a big sign that reads "The Muthers", in what must have been the first case of branding for high seas pirates. When they return to their Hole-in-the-Wall-like village, they are informed that Kelly's teenage sister has gone missing. They start trawling the waterfront bars and learn that she has been abducted by a human trafficking ring. Working with a government agent who wants to bring down the head of the ring, a notorious crime kingpin named Monteiro (Tony Carreon), Kelly and Anggie volunteer to be captured. They are brought to Monteiro's jungle prison camp, which is guarded by a virtual army of heavily-armed thugs. Here they find dozens of young women being kept in brutal conditions. They are forced to perform manual labor and are simultaneously being groomed for sale to a procurer of girls for international brothels. Kelly manages to get a fleeting glimpse of her sister before she learns the younger girl has made a desperate attempt to escape into the jungle- a strategy which goes tragically awry. 

While in the camp, Kelly and Anggie meet Marcie (Trina Parks), another beauty who is regarded as a long-time veteran prisoner who knows all the ropes. Marcie introduces them to Serena (Jayne Kennedy), who is the privileged mistress of Monteiro (who also sleeps with his male guards). Anggie resents Serena for selling out in return for her soft lifestyle at the camp and derisively refers to her as a "house nigger". But Marcie informs her that Serena often provides what human compassion she can towards the prisoners. Ultimately, Kelly, Angie and Marcie enlist Serena in an audacious plan for them all to escape. They do so but Monteiro and his goons are in hot pursuit. As the women hide in the jungle, they face death from the elements, starvation and dangerous critters. In the film's best scenario, Marcie is bitten in the chest by a deadly snake. As Serena sucks the blood out, Marcie gets the movie's best line of dialogue: "Just like every other snake I've met-- won't leave my tits alone!" Although Parks, Kennedy and Katon frustrate male viewers  keeping their clothes mostly intact, Bell delivers the goods with two (not one, but two!) gratuitous topless bathlng sequences. She also saunters around the tropical location clad in a long-sleeve turtleneck shirt, the absurdity of which is overshadowed by the fact that she is conspicuously bra-less. The film climaxes with double crosses, a big shootout between the "good" pirates and Monteiro's forces, with machine gun slinging chicks also going hand-to-hand with the villains. (Yes, everybody is kung-fu fighting.) At one point in the movie, Bell gets to swing vine-to-vine a la Tarzan. As low grade action films go, it doesn't get much lower or better than this- and it's all set to a typically funky '70s disco score. 

Jeannie Bell displays why the questionable choice of wearing a long-sleeve turtleneck in the tropics has its good points.

The Vinegar Syndrome release has undergone a 2k restoration from the original 35mm negative, making it yet another one of their titles that probably looks infinitely better today than it did upon its initial release. An appropriately cheesy trailer is also included that doesn't even credit the actresses, though perhaps they consider that to be a positive.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

The film must have seemed to have the makings of a classic. Director Vincente Minnelli reuniting with Kirk Douglas for the first time since their triumphant The Bad and the Beautiful a decade earlier. Edward G. Robinson co-starring and a supporting cast that included Cyd Charrise, Claire Trevor, James Gregory, George MacReady, George Hamilton and lovely up-and-coming actresses Rosanna Schiaffino and Daliah Lavi. Add to this exotic Rome locations during the era when La Dolce Vita was all the rage plus a source novel by Irwin Shaw -- this had to be a project that couldn't miss. Alas, it did indeed go off-target, but the fact that the 1962 screen version of 2 Weeks in Another Town falls short of its potential doesn't mean it isn't a gloriously trashy spectacle to behold.

Douglas plays Jack Andrus, a washed up, one-time screen legend who is driven to the brink of insanity by the philandering nature of his Italian wife (Charisse), who ended up having an affair with Douglas' friend and collaborator, screen director Maurice Kruger (Robinson). Years later, Andrus is contacted by Kruger, whose career is also in decline, to reunite for a Rome-based major film that could revive their reputations and popularity. When Andrus gets to Italy, he discovers there is no part for him in the picture, but Kruger felt it would be therapeutic to have him assist in the dubbing of the film. Before long, the love/hate relationship between the two men sparks jealous and anger, with Kruger's Lady MacBeth-like wife (Trevor) constantly finding ways to cause friction. Adding to the soap opera aspects of the story is the presence of an Italian screen diva (Schiaffino), whose temper tantrums have everyone on edge. Andrus does find solace in the arms of a young lovely (Lavi) but before long is embroiled in enough personal intrigue and frustration to once again threaten his sanity.

The film is certainly not high art. Douglas dominates the landscape with the type of eye-popping antics that made him a favorite of impressionists during the era. Robinson is far more understated and it's great fun to watch the two conflicting acting styles in the same scenes. The film benefits from some good location scenery including rare glimpses of fabled Cinecitta Studios during its heyday, but Minnelli relies far too often on cheesy rear-screen projection shots that distract from the byplay among the actors. The story is often overly melodramatic and somewhat confusing, with the vast number of characters intertwined in each other's scandals. However, it never reaches the so-bad-it's-good status the similarly- themed The Oscar, which is somewhat of a mixed blessing.  With a few more "over-the-top" elements, Minnelli could have created a trash classic. As it stands, 2 Weeks in Another Town is too campy to be called a truly good film, and not campy enough to emerge as a cult movie. Still, with all the powerhouse talent involved, it never commits the cardinal sin of being dull.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray features a very good transfer and includes the original theatrical trailer.

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BY FRED BLOSSER

Two 1960s murder thrillers with Joan Crawford have been released by Mill Creek Entertainment on single-disc Blu-ray. The cover sleeve bills the package as a “Psycho Biddy Double Feature.” The films are “Strait-Jacket” (1964), the first of Crawford’s three pictures with producer-director William Castle, and “Berserk!” (1967), her first of two with producer Herman Cohen. In using the possibly ageist and definitely sexist phrase “Psycho Biddy,” Mill Creek’s marketing department clearly hopes that audiences will have fond memories of the frenzied, middle-aged Joan Crawford in 1981’s “Mommie Dearest,” shrieking “I told you! No . . . wire . . . hangers -- ever!” at her terrified adopted child, Christina. Never mind that the belittling term “biddy” is problematic in the case of Joan Crawford. There may be plenty of biddies in the world, but the imperious Joan was never one of them. Never mind either that it was Faye Dunaway impersonating Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest,” not Crawford herself. For most casual movie fans, the distinctions are not likely to matter.

In “Strait-Jacket,” scripted by Robert Bloch, prosperous farm owner Lucy Harbin (Crawford) returns unexpectedly from a trip to find her younger husband (Lee Majors -- his first film role) in bed with another woman. Enraged, Lucy seizes an ax and butchers the pair as her young daughter Carol watches. Released from a mental institution twenty years later, Lucy is welcomed home by her brother Bill and her sister-in-law Emily (Leif Erickson and Rochelle Hudson), who have reared Carol in the meantime. Carol (Diane Baker) encourages her mother to ease back into a normal routine by looking and dressing as she had, two decades before. The gray-haired Lucy dons a black, ‘40s-style wig and trades in her dowdy outfit for a tight dress. The tactic goes awry when Lucy, drinking too much out of nervousness and getting tipsy, puts a move on Carol’s uptight boyfriend Michael. More stresses mount. Lucy hears things, sees things, and dreads meeting Michael’s even stuffier parents, who are unaware of her history. As they skip rope outside a store where Lucy is shopping, two little girls appear to be chanting, “Lucy Harbin took an ax . . .” Bill’s creepy, disheveled hired hand, Leo (George Kennedy, almost unrecognizable at first glance), asks if she wants to use his ax to chop the head off a chicken. Lucy’s therapist drops in for a visit and observing how tense she is, gravely suggests that she’s at risk of a relapse. Then one murder occurs, followed by a second, and evidence points to Lucy.

After the headlong pace and gruesome CGI of modern slasher movies, even older viewers are likely to find “Strait-Jacket” quaint at best. A similar production today would probably wind up as a made-for-cable, “my mom is a murderer” melodrama on the Lifetime Movie Network. The film’s pacing is deliberate, and the carnage is low-tech and mostly implied, despite the old lobby poster’s promise in grand William Castle style that “Strait-Jacket vividly depicts ax murders!” Although the restrictions on movie violence had relaxed a little by 1964, and a melodrama filmed in black-and-white like “Strait-Jacket” might tease the MPAA standards on mayhem with slightly more success than one photographed in color, studios were still careful not to push their luck too far. Of the three ax attacks in the film, only one explicitly shows grievous bodily harm. Even so, with quick editing and minimal gore, the effect is more impressionistic than realistic. These days, grislier special effects routinely appear on prime-time TV crime shows.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber continues its welcome habit of unearthing cinematic rarities and making them available to retro movie lovers. Case in point: "Tiger by the Tail", a long-forgotten crime thriller filmed in 1968 as an independent production but not released until 1970. The film is the epitome of a good "B" movie from the era: lean, fast-moving and efficiently made with an impressive cast. The movie is typical of low-brow fare from the 1960s. It's primary purpose was to shot quickly and turn a modest profit. Many of these films, which often played as the second feature on double bills, had the asset of affording leading roles to actors and actresses who rarely had the opportunity to get top billing. Such is the case with this film which features Christopher George in the leading role. He plays Steve Michaelis, a recently discharged U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran who is returning home to New Mexico. However, he makes a nearly fatal pit stop in Mexico and the opening scene is a bit of a shocker.  He's a about to bed a local beauty when two thugs enter the room and a brutal fight ensues that he barely escapes. This seems like an irrelevant scene, given all that follows, but we find out later its pertinent to his fate. Steve arrives in New Mexico where he reunites with his older brother Frank (Dennis Patrick), who raised him after their parents died. While Steve is down-and-out and broke, Frank has prospered as the majority share holder in the local horse racing track which fuels the local economy. The two men have a frosty reunion that is strained even further when Steve discovers that his former girlfriend Rita (Tippi Hedren) is now romantically involved with Frank. Nevertheless, the two men reconcile and things appear to be heading in the right direction. However, fate takes a tragic turn when the racetrack is robbed and Frank is murdered in cold blood. This sets in motion a complicated series of events. Steve learns he will inherit his brother's share of the racetrack stock, something that doesn't sit well with Frank's partners who inform Steve they intend to use a legal loophole to pay him off at a bargain basement price and assume total control of the operation. Steve soon discovers that he may not even get that money, as it becomes apparent someone has ordered him to be killed. Worse, he is being framed for the murder of his brother. The film follows the formula of old film noir crime thrillers and that isn't a bad thing. We see him use his wits and considerable fighting ability to thwart attempts on his life as he tries to find out who is out to get him. The logical suspects are the racetrack shareholders, a group of greedy elitists who don't want to be in business with him. Red herrings abound and Steve learns he can't trust anyone including Rita who informs him she wants them to resume their relationship now that Frank is in his grave.

"Tiger by the Tail" feels and looks like a TV movie of the era and that isn't a coincidence. Director R.G. Springsteen was best known for his work in television where he excelled in directing episodes of classic western  series, and his colleague on those shows, writer Charles A. Wallace wrote the screenplay for the film. (This would prove to be Springsteen's final work in the film industry before his death in 1989.) Springsteen's direction is workmanlike in some areas but more inspired in others. He milks a good deal of suspense from the plot and keeps the action moving at a brisk pace across the movie's 99 minute running time. Springsteen, perhaps because of budget limitations, shoots virtually every scene in a real location which adds authenticity to the production. The film boasts a good cast of supporting actors, all in top form: Lloyd Bochner and Alan Hale as the greedy stockholders, Dean Jagger as a Scrooge-like banker and most intriguing, John Dehner as the local sheriff (in an excellent performance) with a penchant for using twenty dollars words in his vocabulary and who, along with his hot-headed deputy (Skip Homeier) may be complicit in working with the bad guys. Steve's only friends are Sarah Harvey (Glenda Farrell), the perky owner of a gun and souvenir shop who performs ballistics tests in the shop and New Mexico State Trooper Ben Holmes (R.G. Armstrong) who offers Steve whatever limited advice and support he can. The singer Charo (yes, that Charo) is cast in a superfluous role to provide a couple of songs in a local bar and to add a bit of additional sex appeal when we aren't gawking at Tippi Hedren sunning herself poolside in a bikini. As a leading man, Christopher George is top-notch. He's handsome, rugged and capable with fists and a gun as he takes on seemingly insurmountable odds. George should have been a success on the big screen. He was coming off a run in the hit TV series "The Rat Patrol" but never quite got his opportunity to shine on the big screen. "Tiger by the Tale" represents one of his few leading roles in a feature film, though he impressed as villains in the John Wayne westerns "El Dorado" (1967) and "Chisum" (1970). He died in 1983 at only 51 years of age from heart complications.

The Kino Lorber transfer is impressive, as usual, though there are some occasional speckles and artifacts. However, it's doubtful that there are many pristine prints of the film floating around, given its lowly stature. The Blu-ray features a very good commentary track by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, both of whom show a good deal of respect for the movie and all involved in its production. They are especially kind to Tippi Hedren, pointing out that she was long underrated as an actress. (She unfairly took most of the blame for the failure of Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie" in which she starred.) The release also includes a gallery of other action films and mysteries available from KL, though no trailer is included for "Tiger by the Tail". I don't want to overstate the movie's merits. It certainly isn't a lost classic but I suspect you'll find it far more impressive than you might have suspected. Recommended.

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BY TODD GARBARINI

This has been a good year for fans of model and actress Laura Gemser. Recently, Severin Films released a deluxe Blu-ray package of two of her films, a soundtrack CD, a really cool t-shirt and an enamel pin, the last item appearing to be something that is new and all the rage nowadays. We’ll take a look at the two films featured in this collection.

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977)

Laura Gemser, the high cheekbone-chiseled, dark-skinned Indonesian goddess born Laurette Marcia Gemser who appeared opposite Jack Palance in Emmanuelle and the Deadly Black Cobra (1975), returns in Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals as Emanuelle. Here she’s a photojournalist who goes undercover at a mental hospital with a 35mm camera hidden within a creepy children’s doll that takes photos when the eyes open and close. She’s looking to expose the hospital’s treatment of the infirmed and witnesses a horrific event wherein a patient tries to eat one of the nurses. Yes, you read that right. A tattoo on the patient’s torso of a cannibal tribe’s logo stuns Emanuelle. She comes to find out that the woman was raised by a tribe of cannibals called the Apiaca. Eager to pursue this story, she consults with her newspaper editor, an older man who is looped so poorly you practically never see his mouth move. In fact, the whole movie is looped with foley effects and dialogue that all sound so unnatural but hey, that’s part of the fun of these movies. The story compels Emanuelle to seek out Dr. Mark Lester (Ms. Gemser’s late real-life husband, Gabriele Tinti) who agrees to accompany her on a journey to investigate the Apiaca. Before she leaves on her trip, however, she decides to make love to her boyfriend in full view of the New York skyline, but this is the last we see of him as she appears to be smitten with the older Dr. Lester. Mechanical and joyless softcore sex scenes proliferate, even after the point following their arrival in the jungle to pursue the tribe. They are offered assistance by a group of others who go with them: Reverend Wilkes (Geoffrey Copleston), Isabelle (Mónica Zanchi), an overly emotional Sister Angela (Annamaria Clementi), Donald Mackenzie (Donald O’Brien), and his wife Maggie (Nieves Navarro). They are on a mission to locate Father Morales who is supposedly the only person not from the Amazon who has ever had any contact with the tribe. Unfortunately, they only discover his remains, which sets poor Sister Angela into a terrible emotional state.

Poor Donald can’t seem to satisfy Maggie anymore, so when they stop to make camp she elects to get it on with natives in the jungle. As one would expect from director Aristide Massaccesi, better known as Joe D’Amato, the sex scenes are overdone, artificial and completely lacking in passion. Even Emanuelle’s multiple romps do little to exult in the wonder of her lithe figure. If ever there was an award for Best Mechanical and Robotic Sex Scene, director D’Amato would surely win every time.

Naturally, the more the group hikes further into the jungle the more they expose themselves to potentially being captured and eaten. This horrific fate befalls several of the party, but Emanuelle thinks of an ingenious way to escape once they are surrounded. The ending is silly and predictable, but you pretty much know what you’re getting with this acting troupe.

As difficult as it may seem to believe, cannibal films enjoyed a high level of popularity back in the 1970s and 1980s, so it was inevitable that they would make their way into other genres. If the title is unfamiliar to U.S. audiences, it should be. Though shot in the summer of 1977, Last Cannibals didn’t make its way to American shores until 1984 when it was dumped on VHS under the title of Trap Them and Kill Them. Like most exploitation films of the period, some of the action is shot in the streets of New York City and it’s a real hoot to see what Manhattan looked like 41 years ago. One shot has the comedy Kentucky Fried Movie displayed prominently on the marquee of the long-gone Rivoli Theatre which was known for its extended showcases of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Jaws (1975).

The film has just made its way to Blu-ray via of Severin Films and the results are so far above what we’re used to from VHS bootlegs that it looks like a different movie. Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and given a 2K transfer from a good print that significantly brightens up the image, Last Cannibals looks good enough to make one dump the inferior and murky VHS bootlegs of over thirty years ago.

This disc has an unusual amount of extras for this sort of title. Up first is The World of Nico Fidenco which runs twenty-seven minutes. Signor Fidenco is the film’s composer and he has written an upbeat score for the film. He’s very interesting to listen to and describes how his stint in the military got in the way of his original ambition which was to be a film director. After he was discharged, he learned the guitar and studied singing and this led him to composing music for film. He collaborated multiple times with director D’Amato. (Note: if you’re a fan of the score, the first 3000 Blu-ray pressings in a special edition contain a separate compact disc of the score. The end of this review will fill you in on how to order it).

A Nun Among the Cannibals: An Interview with Actress Annamaria Clementi (twenty-three minutes). While watching the interview, I couldn’t believe that the woman speaking to the camera was the same woman who played Sister Angela in the film. She was roughly twenty-three when she shot the film, and is now sixty-five(?!) in the on-screen interview. This bespectacled beauty could easily pass for thirty-eight. Perhaps the interview was shot years ago? It looks new to me. She talks about how shy and aloof she was with lead actress Gemser, and how director D’Amato wanted to put her in his next seven films which she declined(!), as well as a chance encounter with Robert DeNiro when shooting in New York City. She also explains that she was approached by Pino Pellegrino, the man who would become her agent, casually on the street and he asked her if she wanted to become an actress. Remarkably, she trusted him and they had a good working relationship.

Dr. O’Brien MD: This eighteen-minute interview with Donald O’Brien who played Donald Mackenzie reveals how he got his start in acting, like most performers do, in the theatre. I was amazed at how much he had aged whereas the aforementioned Annamaria Clementi looked so much younger.

From Switzerland to the Mato Grosso runs nearly nineteen minutes and features Monika Zanchi whom genre fans will remember from the nutso 1977 outing Hitch Hike with Franco Nero and the incomparable David Hess. She also appeared in the ridiculous Spielberg spoof Very Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (1978).

The last featurette is called I Am Your Black Queen which runs just over eleven minutes and is a poorly-recorded audio interview with Laura Gemser which is subtitled. She talks about how she began, like most attractive young actresses do, by modelling. This is how genre favorite Caroline Munro got her start. Her first film, Free Love, was released in 1974. Perhaps not so surprisingly, she refers to her embarrassment over her nude scenes. Of the few movies that I have seen of her, she rarely if ever looks comfortable in her own skin, almost as if disrobing is a chore.

Last of all is the requisite theatrical trailer.

As I mentioned earlier, the first 3000 copies of this Blu-ray also include a soundtrack CD of the film’s score. The running time on the 31-track CD is one hour. It can be ordered here as part of The Laura Gemser Deluxe Bundle which includes a second film, Violence in a Women’s Prison.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Actor Tab Hunter has died at age 86 after sudden complications from a blood clot lead to a fatal heart attack. Hunter's blonde hair and hunky build made him a natural for the kind of beefcake leading men that characterized 1950s Hollywood. He was put under contract at Warner Brothers and became the studio's top grossing star during the years 1955-1959. Among Hunter's biggest hits of the era was the WWII film Battle Cry and the screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees. Hunter's popularity briefly extended to singing and his recording of "Young Love" was a smash hit, displacing Elvis Presley at the top of the charts. However, changing attitudes among fickle movie-goers in the 1960s swerved away from the traditional studio concept of a leading man. Hunter continued to work but in less-than-stellar productions. He did, however, have memorable cameos in big studio productions such as The Loved One and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.  Hunter remained relevant by appearing on television shows and starring in two bizarre hit cult movies of the 1980s: Polyster and Lust in the Dust. Upon publication of his 2005 autobiography, he came out of the closet and stated he was gay. Hunter acknowledged the obvious: that had he done so back in his glory days, his career would have come to an abrupt end. He lamented how he would have to feign love affairs with actresses and be seen on faux dates. Hunter's late-in-life embrace of his sexuality was welcomed in the gay community and figures prominently in the 2015 documentary Tab Hunter Confidential, which was produced by his long-time romantic partner Allan Glaser. For more click here.

Kino Lorber Blu-ray release.

BY NICHOLAS ANEZ

When No Orchids for Miss Blandish premiered in London in 1948, it created controversy that extended all the way to British Parliament. The Monthly Film Bulletin called the movie “the most sickening exhibition of brutality, perversion and sex ever shown on a cinema screen.” The Saturday Pictorial called it “a piece of nauseating muck.” The Observer’s reviewer wrote: “This film has all the morals of an alley cat and the sweetness of a sewer.” Some politicians were also offended. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food said that the film “was likely to pervert the minds of the British people.” Eventually, the British Board of Film Censors was compelled to offer an apology for approving the film’s production.

Attempts to release the movie in the United States by distributor Richard Gordon were met with threats by the New York Censor Board as well as the Customs Department to confiscate it. Gordon had to bring the movie into the country through New Orleans but it would still take three years of bargaining and the removal of 12 minutes of objectionable scenes to obtain approval for exhibition. Nevertheless, the edited version was still greeted with harsh reviews. Time called it, “ludicrous claptrap from a claptrap novel.” The New York Times chastised it as “an awkward attempt on the part of the English to imitate Hollywood’s gangster formula.”

The critical disdain has never stopped. In the multi-volume reference work, The Motion Picture Guide, Jay Robert Nash and Stanley Ralph Ross write “This a sick exercise in sadism (and) is about as wretched as they come.” The annual Halliwell’s Film Guide summarizes the movie as “hilariously awful (and) one of the worst films ever made.”

The movie is based upon the 1939 novel of the same name by British author James Hadley Chase that was called everything from pulp trash to borderline pornography. When it was published in America three years later, it received equally terrible reviews with many critics accusing the author of plagiarizing William Faulkner’s 1931 novel, Sanctuary. The novel concerns the daughter of a wealthy Kansas City businessman who is kidnapped by the notorious Grisson gang, led my Ma Grisson and her psychopathic son, Slim; she is subsequently subjected to repeated rapes by Slim while in a drug-induced stupor. (Note: when Robert Aldrich directed his film version in 1971, he changed the name from Grisson to Grissom for The Grissom Gang.)

After several attempts to film the novel were aborted by the BFFC, producer George Minter signed playwright St. John Clowes to write a script that eventually was approved. The script eliminated much of the novel’s sleaze but, as it turned out, not enough. Clowes, who had directed one previous film, also signed on to direct. Casting proved to be difficult because of the novel’s notoriety. After several Hollywood actresses refused the role, Minter signed British actress Linden Travers who had played Miss Blandish in the London stage version which had been a huge success in 1942. (As in the novel, Miss Blandish’s first name is never revealed.) For the role of Slim Grisson, Minter hired Hollywood actor Jack La Rue whose most famous role had ironically been as the gangster/rapist called Trigger in The Story of Temple Drake, the 1933 film version of Sanctuary. Due to that film’s infamy, La Rue’s career had subsequently stalled and he had been reduced to playing bit parts until he accepted the role of Slim Grisson.

Clowes changes the setting of the story from 1930s Kansas City to 1940s New York City and converts the sordid tale into a love story. Slim Grisson is still a killer but is also a sensitive gangster who has always had a torch for the heiress. Instead of being held prisoner and sexually abused, Miss Blandish chooses to voluntarily stay with her captor and become his lover. The other members of the Grisson gang remain murderous thugs who become furious over Slim’s refusal to demand ransom from his paramour’s father; this will lead to carnage within the gang. Mr. Blandish also undergoes some changes from a cold patriarch to a caring father who longs for his daughter’s return. Dave Fenner, the private detective of the novel, becomes a wise-cracking reporter who discovers the culpability of the Grisson gang and becomes their target. Meanwhile, the police are determined to end the gang’s reign of terror. With all of these forces against their alliance, the lovers’ plan to escape to another country is doomed.

Regarding the controversy, the film contains numerous scenes of depraved criminals committing acts of brutality along with periodic scenes of suggestive sexual interludes among various characters. What particularly shocked British gentry was the suggestion that an aristocratic woman would not only voluntarily elect to have a sexual relationship with someone beneath her social class but would actually enjoy it. This was simply unacceptable. Also, the film’s depiction of a gang of killers with no redeeming qualities angered social reformers who believed that lawbreakers were products of their environment and could be rehabilitated if taken away from such milieu. Furthermore, many British film critics disapproved of the popularity of Hollywood gangster films and resented the idea of a home-based film emulating this despised genre. Thus, the condemnation of the film was at least in part due to factors other than the quality of the movie.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber has released the 1968 espionage thriller "The High Commissioner" on Blu-ray. The film, which was titled "Nobody Runs Forever" in it's UK release, is significant in that it paired two charismatic leading men- Rod Taylor and Christopher Plummer- in a low-key but well-scripted tale that sustains interest throughout. The film is based on John Cleary's novel and presents some offbeat and refreshing elements for a spy movie made at the height of the James Bond-inspired phenomenon. Most refreshingly, the two protagonists are Australians, a rare instance in which heroes from "Down Under" are showcased in a non-Australian movie of the era. Taylor plays Scobie Malone, a tough-as-nails police officer in the Northern Territory who is content to fulfill his job of keeping order in the Outback and arresting small-time trouble makers. He is reluctantly assigned to travel to London for an unusual mission: to bring back the Australian High Commissioner, Sir James Quentin (Plummer) and have him stand trial on charges that he murdered his first wife many years before. When Scobie arrives in London, he realizes that the timing of his mission could not be more sensitive: Quentin is hosting an important diplomatic conference with African leaders in the hope of finalizing a major treaty that could affect the balance of power in the African continent. The world is watching as Quentin tries to iron out details to make the treaty a reality. When Scobie informs him of his assignment, Quentin seems curiously nonplussed about the nature of the charges against him- but he is quite concerned by the fact that his sudden absence from the conference would almost certainly cause the talks to collapse. He imposes on Scobie to give him a few additional days to sort out the final details on the treaty. Scobie takes an instant liking to Quentin and his adoring wife Sheila (Lilli Palmer), and agrees with the request. Scobie's cover story to Sheila is that he is simply acting as a bodyguard to Quentin, but she seems to suspect his real motive is more nefarious. When an attempt is made on Quentin's life, Scobie is instrumental in thwarting it. The two men ultimately bond as friends and Scobie begins to suspect that Quentin could not have possibly murdered his first wife. Why then is the Australian government convinced he had? More pressing is solving the problem of who is behind the assassination attempt on Quentin and who in his inner circle is a mole. It appears a shadowy organization feels threatened by the chances of the treaty succeeding- and wants to thwart it by killing Quentin. 

"The High Commissioner" is a film that plays best if not examined in detail because there are plenty of loosely-developed plot points. It's never quite explained why Scobie was taken all the way from the Outback for this particular assignment. Surely the government could have found one equally capable law enforcement officer who was a bit more accessible. It also becomes clear that the plot to thwart the conference is just the "MacGuffin" in that it's never thoroughly explained who the bad guys are or why they feel threatened by Quentin's peace conference. Nor do we learn precisely what is being negotiated at the conference. What we do have are some intriguing characters including two of the most glamorous actresses of the period: Daliah Lavi, in full dangerous femme fatale mode as a seductive enemy agent and Camilla Sparv as Quentin's loyal secretary who holds a not-so-secret crush on him. While on assignment, Scobie allows himself to be seduced by Lavi (who wouldn't?) but remains chaste with Sparvi's character, so as to not impede his professional standing with the Quentins. The film moves along at a brisk pace under the direction of Ralph Thomas, who had recently helmed two other spy flicks- "Deadlier Than the Male" and "Agent 8 3/4" (aka "Hot Enough for June". )  Thomas showcases Taylor's rugged good looks by giving him Bondian opportunities to wear tuxedos and engage in plenty of mayhem. The film's climax takes place at Wimbledon, where the villains intend to assassinate Quentin by using a gun placed inside a television camera. The murder charges against Quentin come to a head in an emotional discussion Scobie has with Sheila, though her explanation for his innocence seems rather weak. The film builds to a fiery and explosive final scene that is undermined only shoddy special effects. 

The best aspect of "The High Commissioner" is that it provides a good role for Rod Taylor, one of the most charismatic leading men of the 1960s. Taylor was usually cast as American or British characters because he had mastered both accents, but here he is allowed to talk like a native Australian, which, in fact, he was. Equally at home in posh cocktail parties or flailing away at the bad guys, Taylor was the epitome of the charming tough guy. Plummer also gets an interesting role though the character is never fully developed and plays second-fiddle to Taylor's. Nevertheless, he embellishes the much-besieged Quentin with quiet dignity even when narrowly dodging bombs and bullets.  Lilli Palmer is especially poignant as Quentin's ever-faithful but long-suffering wife who is harboring a terrible secret that figures in the explosive climax. There is also an impressive supporting cast that includes Clive Revill as a butler whose allegiance may be in question, Calvin Lockhart as a handsome international man of mystery and an unrecognizable, black-haired Derren Nesbitt as a villain. The lush locations begin in Australia before moving to London, where director Thomas capitalizes on them. Interiors were shot at Pinewood Studios. 

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is up to the company's usual fine standards and includes the original trailer. Recommended.  

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BY TIM GREAVES

The British sex film was a truly unique beast. Finding its feet at the back end of the 1950s, proliferating throughout the 60s and 70s, and all but gone the way of the dodo by the early 80s, sex may have been the selling point but scarcely was it delivered upon. Usually depicting the act itself as a bit of a lark and something to be sniggered at, due to restrictive British laws at the time the menu in this country was mostly comprised of light titillation as opposed to the more, er... shall we say ‘gratifying’ material being served up to European and Stateside audiences. With little to see beyond pert pink posteriors and bountiful bare bosoms, visuals whose stimulation value was already negligible were often further quashed by the wince-inducing sound of a slide-whistle.

The films that general audiences probably think of in regard to this period of time – if indeed they think of them at all – are the likes of the Confessions comedies, which is hardly surprising, for their appeal was unprecedented and the first in the series, Val Guest’s Confessions of a Window Cleaner, was the highest grossing British film of 1974. Yet looking at the 70s alone it’s remarkable just how many light-hearted boobs’n’bums films were birthed. I should know, I saw a fair few of them at a crummy, long-gone little cinema in Winchester. Most of them were excruciatingly awful too, albeit in an inexplicably endearing way.

In 1992 ‘Doing Rude Things’ by David McGillivray was published and at that point was the only book of its kind. An assembly – and expansion upon – a series of articles that had originally appeared in the short-lived ‘Cinema’ magazine 10 years earlier, it chronicled the highs and lows of almost a quarter of a century’s worth of British sex films, from 1957’s Nudist Paradise to 1981’s last gasp, Emmanuelle in Soho.

Now, to those with a passion for British exploitation cinema the name David McGillivray will be a familiar one. A former writer for, among others, the BFI’s lamentably deceased ‘Monthly Film Bulletin’, he would go on to pen scripts for such cinematic schlockers as House of Whipcord, Satan’s Slave and Schizo, several of which also found him lurking on-screen in some minor capacity. Associated in the main with the ilk of those aforementioned terrors, David’s single foray into the arena of the 1970s sex film was the amusingly monikered comedy I’m Not Feeling Myself Tonight, a frothy brew awash with familiar thespian talent of the era. [Oh, yes, it should be mentioned that a plethora of household names populated these critically dismissed but publicly embraced oddities. From Bernard Lee and Arthur Askey to Irene Handl and Jon Pertwee, from Brian Murphy and Barry Evans to Windsor Davies and Richard O’Sullivan, dozens of ‘respectable’ actors shelved their pride to participate in these movies. But then in the clime of widespread unemployment that plagued the industry back then – and is regrettably still rife – work was work and beggars couldn’t afford to be choosers.]

BY FRED BLOSSER

Frederick Knott's suspense play "Wait Until Dark" premiered on Broadway on Feb. 2, 1966.  Lee Remick played Susy Hendrix, a young blind woman who becomes the target of a manipulative scheme orchestrated by a sinisterly glib psychopath, Harry Roat Jr. from Scarsdale. Robert Duvall, in his Broadway debut, had the pivotal supporting role of Roat. A movie version opened on Oct. 26, 1967, starring Audrey Hepburn (in an Oscar-nominated performance) as Susy and Alan Arkin as Roat, produced by Mel Ferrer (Hepburn's husband at the time), directed by Terence Young, and scored by Henry Mancini. A predecessor of today's popular, trickily plotted suspense movies like "Gone Gir" (2014) and "The Girl on the Train" (2016), the film was a commercial and critical success, ranking number sixteen in box-office returns for the year. Movies adapted from plays often feel stage-bound, but "Wait Until Dark" avoids those constraints, thanks in no small part to Young's fine pacing, sharp eye for detail, and sure grasp of character.

Bosley Crowther's October 27, 1967, film review in the New York Times noted that the Radio City Music Hall screening of "Wait Until Dark" included a stage show with a ballet troupe, performing dogs, and the Rockettes. Fifty years later, going out to a movie, you're lucky to get a good seat and decently lit projection for the price of admission. Any live entertainment comes courtesy of the patrons behind you who can't put away their smartphones for two hours.

Knott's play was confined to one interior set, Susy's cramped Greenwich Village apartment, which makes it a perennial favorite for little-theater and high-school drama productions on limited budgets. The movie adds a new opening scene in which Sus's husband Sam (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), a freelance photographer, meets an attractive young woman, Lisa, as they board a flight from Montreal. When they land at JFK, Lisa hands Sam a child's doll and asks him to hold on to it for her temporarily. She says it's a present for the child of a friend, she just learned that the friend and the little girl will be meeting her at the airport, and she doesn't want to spoil the surprise; she'll call and come by for it later. Unknown to the obliging Sam, it's a phony story: Lisa is a drug mule, and narcotics are hidden inside the doll.

Lisa had planned to double-cross her accomplice Roat and split the money from the drug shipment with Mike (Richard Crenna) and Carlino (Jack Weston), her partners in past criminal schemes. Roat murders Lisa and enlists Mike and Carlino to help him find the doll in Susy and Sam's apartment. He lures Sam away with a call promising a big photo assignment. In his absence, Mike poses as an old Army friend of Sam's, and Carlino impersonates a detective investigating Lisa's murder. In a bad guy/good guy ploy, the phony Detective Sgt. Carlino insinuates that he suspects Sam of Lisa's murder. Mike intervenes, offering his support to Susy to gain her trust. To further disorient Susy, Roat poses as two men who appear to lend credence to the con.Harry Roat Sr., an an aggressive old man, barges into the apartment, noisily claiming to be in search of evidence that Lisa, his daughter-in-law, carried on a clandestine affair with Sam. Later, mild-mannered Harry Roat Jr. knocks on the door and apologizes for his father's outburst. It's a nice gimmick for Alan Arkin, who gets to impersonate three characters with different costumes and personalities. For audiences who watched the Broadway production, it might also have provided an effective "Aha" moment when they realized that there was only one Roat, not three. But it's no surprise for the movie audience, since close-up camera angles make it clear immediately that the other two are also Arkin in heavy make-up.

The new Blu-ray release of "Wait Until Dark" from the Warner Archive Collection presents the movie in a 1080p print for high-def TV. It's a definite improvement in richness from previous TV and home-video prints. The tailor-made audience is likely to be those older viewers who saw the film on the big screen in 1967, who may wonder if the movie's "gotcha"climax still holds up. Suffice to say without spoiling the scene for new viewers by going into details, it does. The film's stage origins are obvious in the dialogue-driven plot set-up and in the constrained setting of one cramped apartment. The measured exposition may be a hurdle for younger viewers used to a faster pace and visual shorthand, but the concentration of character interplay in a closed space isn't necessarily a problem, even for Millennials who have been conditioned to expect ADHD editing and splashy FX in movies. It imposes a sense of claustrophobia that subtly forces the audience to share Susy's mounting fear of being hemmed in and trapped.

In "Take a Look in the Dark", an eight-minute special feature ported over to the Blu-ray from a 2003 Warner Home Video DVD release, Alan Arkin notes that the psychotic Roat, with his granny-frame sunglasses and urban-hipster patter, was a break from the usual sneering, buttoned-down movie and TV villains of the time. "By and large, the public had not been exposed to that kind of person", he recalls. "But they began to have people like that live next to them, or see them in the newspapers or on TV." Ironically, if Roat was unsettling to 1967 audiences, he and his flick knife may seem insufficiently scary for younger viewers today, in the endless wake of movies and TV shows about flamboyantly demented murderers since "The Silence of the Lambs" (1990) -- not to mention the perpetrators of real-life mass murders that, numbingly, we seem to see every night on CNN, network, and local news.

By Hank Reineke

I wasn’t expecting Citizen Kane, really I wasn’t. When the top-billed actor in your already quirky production is the Edward D. Wood regular the Amazing Criswell, the failed psychic… Well, you know what to expect on some gut level. The Amazing Criswell, admittedly an already very minor celebrity psychic in his day, achieved certain notoriety for his ridiculous and wildly inaccurate predictions. Following his turn in Wood’s seminal cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and the (very) belatedly released Night of The Ghouls (shot in 1959 but only released in 1984), the pale, blue-eyed, bleached blond Criswell is outfitted in Count Dracula-like garb for Orgy of the Dead (1965). This is, as one might expect, a classic Criswell performance; it’s both refreshing and strangely comforting to listen to him put all his dramatic inflection and stresses on the wrong words, accentuating the coordinating conjunctions rather than the nouns of nearly every sentence.

In Orgy of the Dead, directed by A.C. Stephen from a threadbare “script” written by the revered Mr. Wood, the not always Amazing Criswell portrays the “Emperor of the Night.” The Emperor is holding court at an eerie cemetery… or as eerie a graveyard as one can set-dress on a shoe-string budget and an indoor soundstage. The Emperor is soon joined by his “Empress” (Fawn Silver), a Vampira- meets- Elvira character with Sapphic tendencies who sports a layer of blue make-up that covers the entirety of her body. Well, all of her body except for the deep crease between her two ample breasts. I suppose the production’s make-up artist was too shy to apply and “go deep.”

If this spooky scenario seems promising in a “so-bad-it’s-good sort-of-way,” there’s disappointment ahead. Despite its fog-bound horror film trappings, Orgy of the Dead is not remotely a horror film at all. In fact, the only genuine horror to be found on screen is in the ineptitude demonstrated by this the ensemble of actors, actresses, and, um, exotic dancers. There is no real narrative here; the film is merely a ninety-minute long topless peep-show revue with Halloween trimmings. Before the film sputters to a merciful finale, we’ve been made to witness no fewer than ten interpretative topless dance routines, all mind-numbing and pretty much non-erotic in their presentation. It’s all freeform and non-stop bumping and grinding and jiggling in panties and G-strings and bad costumes. Take my word on this; it’s not as good as it might sound.

Orgy of the Dead is the celluloid equivalent of those 1960’s nudie magazines that featured buxom, cheesecake cuties on their covers. The sort of “men’s magazines” that were prudently stashed in the top-tier racks of tobacco shops and stationary stores as to not offend the readers of Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens. The parade of beauties and near-beauties tapped to ply their trade before a leering camera are not former members of the Martha Graham Dance Company. More probably, they took the night off from their regular gig performing at a local topless gin mill or adult-themed nightclub. Or maybe they were making some quick afternoon dough by strutting their stuff on this grass mat and fog shrouded set.

The dancers try their damndest to play to the camera, but it’s all sort of sad. Almost all of the cast share one common trait, and not a good one: blank and expressionless eyes. Everyone seems to be looking past the rolling cameras into some far-off beyond that only they can see, sadly detached from their own performances-in-progress. I imagine this type of personal disengagement was honed on stage during their nightclub exhibitions, perhaps as some sort of protective emotional cocoon.

It’s almost a relief when, some twenty-five minutes or so into a parade of not-particularly-well-executed interpretative dance routines, that a muse seeking mystery novelist named Bob (William Bates) and best gal Shirley (Pat Barrington) are kidnapped by a Mummy and a Wolfman, dragging the bewildered pair from the bushes. One might expect things to become a bit livelier with this turn of events but, sadly, it is not to be. These two masked monsters (referenced as “The Keepers of the Damned”) simply strap the couple to a pair of stakes in the cemetery, a punishment for their eavesdropping on the unholy ceremony in progress. Forcing this bewildered couple to bear witness to this seemingly endless string of interpretative dance routines can certainly be considered cruel and unusual punishment. They should have invoked the Geneva Convention.

Sync- sound recording is kept to the barest minimum, confined only to the wince-inducing exchanges of dialogue between Bob and Shirley and the self-proclaimed Emperor of Empress of the Night. I cannot reasonably include the occasional and wretched banter between the Wolfman and Mummy as sound synch as both characters are wearing masks and presumably dubbed throughout.

Even for the most unapologetic Edward. D. Wood devotee, this endless parade of non-erotic topless dance routines becomes increasingly tiring, the burlesque showcase more tedious than titillating. Even the Vampira meets Elvira –like “Empress of the Night” character eventually dismisses the parade of nudie dance routines as “infinitesimal bits of fluff,” and for once I’m in total agreement. The film starts off promisingly in the classic Wood Jr. fashion with two bad actors tripping over their tongues as they attempt to deliver halting sobriquets of Wood’s God-awful dialogue. But it’s all downhill from there.

BY HANK REINEKE

Among devotees of horror and mystery-adventure films, director Jesús “Jess” Franco remains a divisive character.  His earliest, more traditionally constructed films - say The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) and The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) - are usually held in some level of regard amongst traditionalists, while more adventuresome moviegoers wax rhapsodic over his later perplexing, exploitative and occasionally pornographic art film exercises. Franco’s The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) and The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) are more conventional exemplars of traditional movie-making, not as challenging to audiences as some of his more experimental post 1972 work. Both films are now available on a double-feature special edition Blu-ray from Blue Underground.

The five Fu Manchu films produced by Harry Alan Towers from 1965 through 1970 are occasionally referenced – and perhaps dismissed - as weak James Bond pastiches, but such description is misleading and unsatisfying. The Fu Manchu films as conceived by Towers and Co. are akin to cinematic comic strips for adults – the two final strips admittedly marketed to a more leering segment of mature audiences. Jess Franco was something of a Johnny-Come-Lately to the series, perhaps a budget-minded choice of director. The first two films (The Face of Fu Manchu (1965) and The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966) were helmed by Australian Don Sharp, the series’ third entry, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1968) directed by Brit Jeremy Summers. For what would prove to be the final two entries of the franchise, the producers went to the continent to seek out an alternate director.

Jess Franco admitted to being surprised at having been asked to direct the series’ fourth and fifth entries. In many respects the eccentric Spaniard was worthy of Tower’s consideration as he shared the producer’s lifelong enchantment with the comic-strip sensibilities of such popular dime store caliber-novelists as Sax Rohmer and Edgar Wallace. But while he manages to bring some sense of old world British Empire derring-do to the screen, his two Fu Manchu films - with their attendant misfires and lurid nude sequences – stand apart from the first three films in the series and remain resolutely Franco in construction.

How so? Well, the bevy of beautiful, half-naked women hanging sorrowfully in bondage chains is a continually present and reoccurring Jess Franco fantasy. Christopher Lee’s co-star, Tsai Chin, recalls the distinguished British actor’s discomfort parading in his Fu Manchu wardrobe past a gaggle of chained, half-naked actresses. The epitome of gentlemanly British behavior, Lee was visibly distressed by such staging. In Chin’s estimation, while the cultured and mannered Lee was most determinedly a renaissance man, he was certainly “not a womanizer.”

Chin, the Chinese-born British actress then best known internationally for her small role as agent “Ling” in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, would have had some insight in this matter. She returns in The Blood of Fu Manchu for her fourth outing as Lin Tang, the sadistic, malevolent daughter of the mad villain. As in the series’ previous entries, Chin portrays Tang as completely dispassionate, commanding her minions to torture and humiliate innocents and enemies alike with merciless Oriental fervor.

In an interview with Tsai Chin years on and included here as a bonus feature, the informed actress admits to having had to repeatedly “search her conscience” to justify her participation in the Fu Manchu franchise. She was progressive enough to recognize that the Sax Rohmer novels were unapologetically racist in their construction. Rohmer’s Fu Manchu series, the first novel having been published in 1912, were written as blowback in the decade following the long simmering anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, anti-Christian, and decidedly anti-British Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901. But Chin was also keenly aware of racism in the modern film industry; there were, simply, few opportunities for “ethnic” actors to get work of anytime, so she soldiered on with the series despite her misgivings.

In truth, the actress was sadly given very little do. Chin believed, very accurately, that the character of Lin Tang - as written by one “Peter Welbeck” - was completely one dimensional. The actress was born a year following MGM’s own esteemed Boris Karloff/Myrna Loy vehicle, The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). In this pre-code film, the sultry Loy brashly teased Lin Tang as a seductress and nymphomaniac. It’s extremely baffling why – in the swinging sixties and with such nudity and bondage envelope-pushers as Franco and Towers steering the enterprise – Chin’s Lin Tang was so wasted, cast as little more than a remorseless, cruel bitch.

Christopher Lee wouldn’t suffer any moral quandaries as a Caucasian playing an Asian villain with exaggerated epicanthic folds – the responsibility of an actor, after all, is to effectively pretend and make an audience believe that he or she is someone they are not. Regardless, the lanky Lee would admit disappointment with the series as a whole. It was his opinion that, as had Hammer’s popular Dracula series, the Fu Manchu franchise ran out of steam very quickly, that the earliest film had been the finest and that the enterprise should have wrapped immediately following. It’s there, however, that the similarities end. Lee’s exasperation with the producing team at Hammer is well documented, but the actor - very interestingly - seemed to carry little animus for Harry Alan Towers.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Explosive Media, the German based boutique video label, has released the 1975 Charles Bronson crime thriller "Breakout" on Blu-ray. Bronson was riding high at the time, coming off the sensational success of "Death Wish". The film was originally supposed to star Kris Kristofferson under the direction of Michael Ritchie but those plans soon fell apart. Bronson took over the lead role with veteran director Tom Gries at the helm. The film finds Bronson well-cast as Nick Colton, a shady businessman/con man/grifter who operates a variety of small time business ventures on the Mexican border with his partner Hawk Hawkins (pre-kooky Randy Quaid.) Nick is living hand-to-mouth when he is approached by Ann Wagner (Jill Ireland) with a proposition to help her husband, Jay (Robert Duvall), escape from a Mexican prison where he has been sentenced after being framed for a murder. Time is of the essence because Jay is in declining health and may well be too weak to help effect his own escape. Colton and Hawk's first attempt to spring him ends disastrously and they barely escape back to America. Colton concocts an audacious plan for a second escape attempt that involves split-second timing. He will arrange for a helicopter to land in the courtyard of the prison and in the inevitable confusion, Jay is to make his way on board and presumably fly away to freedom. In order to pull off the caper, Nick enlists the help of a professional helicopter pilot as well as Myrna (Sheree North), a married ex-call girl who will be used to distract some of the guards when the copter lands inside the prison. When the pilot gets cold feet, Nick is forced to fly the chopper himself despite the fact that he only has minimum experience doing so. Another complication ensues when Jay is confined to the prison hospital and doubts he will be able to be in the courtyard at the precise moment Colton lands. 

"Breakout" was inspired by an incredible 1971 real life escape in which an American was indeed rescued by helicopter from a Mexican prison.  The screenplay has some other sub-plots that are poorly developed and quite confusing, but some of which are obviously related to the actual escape including some rumored involvement by the CIA. In the film,  Jay Wagner's frame-up takes place at the behest of his evil tycoon grandfather, Harris Wagner (John Huston) for reasons that never become clear. Apparently, Harris is concerned that Jay may inherit some control over the company Harris runs with an iron fist, though these plot points remain murky as does the involvement of some CIA characters.  Another potential plot device, which finds Nick and Ann obviously attracted to each other, also goes nowhere. The film has a rushed look to it and there are some unsatisfying aspects caused by the movie's rather abrupt ending. The movie studio, Columbia, apparently felt the film was a rather weak production and thus gambled on a massive ad campaign that probably cost more than the film's modest budget. Ads for "Breakout" were everywhere: in newspapers, on TV and on radio. Additionally, the film opened wide in 1,000 American theaters, which was a big number in 1975. The movie was dismissed by critics with Variety calling it a "cheap exploitation pic", and indeed the main poster artwork and graphics looked surprisingly amateurish considering this was a golden age for film poster designs. Nevertheless, Bronson's appeal seemed to override these negative factors. "Breakout" proved to be a major hit and helped cement his status as a top boxoffice attraction though his clout would gradually diminish henceforth. 

Like a lot of older movies, "Breakout" probably plays better today than it did at the time of its initial release. Bronson is in top form and gives an unusually energetic performance that allows him to stress his rarely-used talent for light comedy. The only other standout member of the cast is Sheree North, as the epitome of the sexy cougar. She's a fast-talking, tough cookie who parades about in sexy lingerie in an attempt to seduce Bronson. (Surprisingly, Bronson's character does not engage in any sexual action throughout the movie.) Robert Duvall is largely underutilized in a low-key role and performance that could have been credibly played by almost any other competent actor.  Huston's presence in the movie is disappointing, also. His role is confined to a few  scattered cameo appearances that probably don't last more than two minutes. Some other familiar faces include Paul Mantee, Alejandro Rey, Roy Jenson and the Mexican cinema's favorite bad guy, Emilio Fernandez. As for Bronson teaming for the umpteenth time with real life wife Jill Ireland, the gimmick was wearing thin. Some screen couples could team without wearing out their welcome. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made many films together but they were always playing entirely different characters in entirely different scenarios. Bronson and Ireland, despite being competent actors, were no Liz and Dick. It became clear that their films together were largely made possible by Bronson's clout with the studios. Although Ireland always gave credible performances, she never lit up the screen. After a while the sheer predictability of their on-screen teamings probably undermined Bronson's popularity because it constrained him from interacting with other actresses. It was a trap Clint Eastwood also fell into for a period of time when he cast Sondra Locke in the female lead in six of his movies over a period of only seven years. Despite these gripes, it must be said that director Tom Gries keeps the pace moving briskly and there isn't a dull moment. He also knows how to milk some genuine suspense out of the helicopter escape scene, which is exceptionally well photographed by the great cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Jerry Goldsmith also contributes a typically fine score. The movie was shot in a wide number of locations including California, Mexico, Spain and France, where the impressive edifice that serves as the prison is located. 

Scene stealer: Sheree North in posed cheesecake publicity photo for the film.

The Explosive Media Blu-ray looks terrific and contains the original trailer and an impressive stills gallery. The film is presented in either the English or German language versions.  The region-free Blu-ray can be ordered through Amazon Germany or through Amazon UK. 

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.

Mie Hama and Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice.

The New York Times has a rare interview with Japanese actress Mie Hama, one of the few female sex symbols of 1960s cinema to break through to international audiences thanks to her appearance opposite Sean Connery in the 1967 007 classic "You Only Live Twice". Like many actresses who found cult status through the Bond films, Hama wore the mantle of fame somewhat uneasily and retired from acting at an early age to lead a more conventional life. She is still well-known in Japan thanks to the many dozens of films she had appeared in but today she is also known as a popular advocate for self-help theories. Click here to read. 

Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti co-authored (with Louis Paul) the book "Femme Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973" for McFarland publishers. The book has just been issued in a softcover edition, revised and updated. Here is Tom Lisanti's story behind the creation of the book. 

It was a long time coming, fifteen years in fact, but McFarland and Company finally released a soft cover edition of the very popular and well-received Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Film & Television, 1962-1973 by Louis Paul and myself. The book profiles 107 dazzling women (Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Dahlia Lavi, Carol Lynley, Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate, among them) who worked in the swinging sixties spy genre on the big and small screens. Some include interviews with these sexy spy gals. This new edition contains some profile revisions and updates and a few new photos.

The idea for this book was all Louis Paul’s. We worked together at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and became friends. Louis is an expert on European spy movies, giallos, thrillers, etc. from the sixties and seventies. He had a side video business and produced a fanzine called Blood Times. I had been interviewing sixties actresses for magazine articles and culled them for a book that was called Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema. While I was finishing it up, Louis suggested we do a book on sixties spy girls. There were books on just the Bond Girls but we thought we'd go beyond that to also include actresses from the Matt Helm, Derek Flint, and Euro spy movies. And we also decided to include actresses who worked in TV spy shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, The Avengers, It Takes a Thief , etc. At the last minute I pulled quotes from some of my interviewees on their spy films/TV shows destined for my first book and saved for Film Fatales.

Robert Vaughn and Donna Michelle in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature film "One Spy Too Many" (1966).

We felt that the book would reach a nice size audience because spy films have remained so popular due to James Bond. It is 2017 and they still are making Bond movies. It seems never ending and moviegoers just love the escapism. The affection for the 1960s Bond movies extends to the copycat films (Matt Helm, Derek Flint, Harry Palmer, Diabolik, etc.) and TV shows of the day. They all employed handsome debonair leading men, adventure, romance, diabolical villains, picturesque scenery, and some of the most beautiful actresses from Hollywood and Europe. The spy girls in particular remained popular because this genre gave them different type characters to play. A number of the actresses are exceptional and in some cases their characters are more memorable than the hero. In the book the roles are broken down into four distinct types: the helpful spy/secret agent/operative; the innocent caught up in the chicanery; the bad girl-turned-good; and the unrepentant villainess/femme fatale/assassin. This is why fans love their spy girls because of the varied facets found in this genre.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Released as part of "The Hollywood Collection", an independent label, "Roger Moore: A Matter of Class"  is a very  illuminating 1995 show that originally aired on the American cable network A&E. Running less than an hour, the show nevertheless packs considerable content into its abbreviated running time.It also benefits greatly from the participants including Sir Roger himself (though years before he earned his knighthood.) Moore provides some very funny and occasionally very moving anecdotes about growing up in WWII London where he was a rather chubby, sickly child who often bore the brunt of other kid's bullying. As a defense mechanism he adopted a philosophy of making self-deprecating jokes on the theory that no one enjoys making fun of someone who makes fun of himself. It's been a tactic that has served him well to this day. Moore also discusses his middle-class upbringing, his overly-protective parents and the trauma of existing as a child in a city that was being bombed virtually every night. Moore was also subject to the mass deportation of British children from the cities to temporary foster homes in the British countryside when the war with Germany was gearing up to full-throttle stage. In the post-war years he did a brief stint in the army before using his skills as a cartoonist to get a job in the film industry. With his almost surrealistic good looks it didn't take long for him to catch the eye of producers and Moore found his real niche in front of the cameras. Moore led a charmed life almost from the day he decided to become an actor. Things just fell into place. Even setbacks such as a short-term contract with MGM that saw him cast in forgettable films ended up luring him back to England where he enjoyed enormous success in the long-running series "The Saint". A decade later his TV series with Tony Curtis "The Persuaders" proved to be a big hit in Europe but a flop in America, leading to the show's cancellation. Here again, Moore benefited from a seemingly negative development. When the show was taken off the air, Moore was a free agent and available to accept the role of James Bond. The rest, as they say, is history.

With Tony Curtis in "The Persuaders".

Aside from providing ample film clips from Moore's films the program also shows him touring hard-hit parts of the world in his role as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. For Moore this has been more than window dressing. He has worked tirelessly to raise funds for programs to help children in poverty and doubtless would like that to be the legacy he is most remembered for. The show boasts interesting insights from many of Moore's friends, family members and colleagues including his son Christian, Bond producer Michael G. Wilson, David Niven Jr, director Lewis Gilbert, Tony Curtis, Gregory Peck, actresses Maud Adams and Carroll Baker and, most poignantly, Michael Caine, who compares Moore's early years with his own hard scrabble life in East London and provides interesting insights into his friend's  psyche. Although the show's technical aspects betray its age (primitive graphics and titles), its a slick and polished production. The DVD includes an extensive photo gallery of Moore's life and career though the images lack any accompanying captions, which might leave those not familiar with the nuances of his films rather frustrated. There is also a photo gallery of the show's producers in the company with many other notable people in show business and some promos for other titles in the "Hollywood Collection".

"Roger Moore: A Matter of Class" very much reflects the man himself: it's easy-going, often very funny and always engaging.

(This DVD is region-free and will play on any international system).  

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE. 

Cinema Retro has received the following announcement from Bondstars.com in the UK:

"In 2003, the renowned American artist Jeff Marshall (known for his James Bond work) was commissioned to create a lithograph  for Daleon Enterprises (officially sanctioned by Hammer themselves) featuring several famous Hammer actresses - Ingrid Pitt, Caroline Munro, Valerie Leon and Martine Beswicke.

· The first 100 of these limited edition lithographs were signed and numbered by Jeff himself and have never been available to buy....until now.

· We have 006 - 100 for sale, unfortunately we cannot accommodate requests for specific numbers.

· The lithograph measures 20" x 30" and is printed on museum quality acid-free paper.

· The lithograph will be shipped rolled in a sturdy poster tube."

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

There are so few good roles nowadays for older actresses that any film that defies this sorry practice is more than welcome no matter how modest its pleasures may be. "Wild Oats" is a recent comedy starring two Oscar winners: Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange and directed by Andy Tennant. It speaks volumes that the movie was barely released theatrically and to date has amassed a boxoffice gross of $22,000, indicating it played an abbreviated run in one theater probably to fulfill contractual requirements. It's a pity because "Wild Oats", which sometimes plays more like a saucy sitcom episode than a feature film, does offer a number of delightful elements, the most obvious being good roles for the two leading ladies. MacLaine plays Eva, a recently widowed elderly woman who is facing a bleak financial future. Her husband's life insurance policy is worth only $50,000 and she is already struggling with the costs of day-to-day living along with the inescapable frailties that come with age.  Her best friend Maddie (Jessica Lange), although younger, is facing dilemmas of her own. After enduring a loveless, sexless marriage for many years, her husband has just dumped her for his 25 year-old secretary. The two women commiserate with each other and appear to be consigned to a rather joyless view of their so-called "Golden Years". Then a quirk of fate changes everything. When the life insurance check arrives, Eva notices that it has been accidentally made out for $5 million instead of $50,000. At the urging of Maddie, the normally conservative Eva does something she once would have found unthinkable: she deposits the money in her bank account and then sets out to spend as much as she can so that she and Maddie can have one last big fling, the consequences be damned. They end up in a fabulous resort in the Canary Islands where they indulge in every type of pampering imaginable. They add to their winnings when they unexpectedly strike gold in the hotel casino and place the jackpot of $450,000 in cash a safe inside their suite. 

While living the high life and spending the insurance loot like drunken sailors, Eva and Maddie draw the attention of Chandler (Billy Connolly), a charming, erudite British man whose eccentricities appeal to them. He squires them about the island and before long reawakens Eva's dormant sexual desires. Similarly, Maddie has an encounter with a twenty-something hunk named Chip (Jay Hayden) who she quickly seduces and ends up almost crippling during some intense sexual encounters. The film's non-too-subtle message to its intended audience- older women- is that just because you collect a Social Security check doesn't mean that you can't be vivacious. The film's sub-title could well be "Revenge of the Cougars". It doesn't give much away to point out that Chandler turns out to be a con man who absconds with the ladies' casino winnings. This plot device is obvious from minute one. Meanwhile, an insurance investigator, Vespucci (Howard Hessman in fine form) tracks Eva to the island and tells her she must return the insurance money or go to jail. Eva, Maddie and Vespucci need to track down Chandler and get back the casino winnings in order to compensate for what they've already spent of the insurance funds. It's at this point that the film goes off coursewith the trio tracing Chandler to the villa of a much-feared local crime baron, Carlos (Santiago Segura), whose tough guy image is shattered when they discover he is actually a nerd who is perpetually hen-pecked by his young wife. The shtick involving Carlos brings a level of surrealism to the film. Such scenarios can sometimes work, as in the case of "The In-Laws", but here it plays out in an over-the-top fashion that undermines what had been until now a believable premise. Things get back on track in the final act in which the story provides a Hallmark-style, feel-good ending that nevertheless leaves a couple of holes in the plot. 

"Wild Oats" plays out like a glorified TV movie from the Lifetime cable channel, albeit with better production values and a more impressive cast. Its pleasures may be modest but there is great satisfaction in seeing two excellent actresses in strong, well-written roles and they deliver the goods. (It should be noted that Demi Moore is criminally wasted in an under-written role as Eva's daughter). Director Andy Tennant keeps the proceedings going at a brisk pace and allows for some poignant sequences that speak to the down side of the aging process. The movie is about the rejuvenation of body and soul and will hopefully get a second chance to find its audience through the DVD release from Anchor Bay. The transfer is great but the release is devoid of any extras. It's a pity because the cast appears to have had the time of their lives making this movie and it would have been great to have them discuss it on a commentary track. Although the movie is clearly geared to an older female audience, it's hard to imagine anyone who won't appreciate seeing MacLaine and Lange in top form. 

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THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Tippi Hedren was a model with no acting experience when director Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the female lead in his 1963 classic "The Birds". The announcement surprised the entertainment industry, given Hitchcock's penchant for casting well-known actresses in his films. He saw Hedren by chance in a TV commercial and immediately set his sights on the beautiful blonde. Hedren was recently divorced at the time and in need of a new career in order to care for her young daughter, future actress Melaine Griffith. In her just-published autobiography "Tippi: A Memoir", the 86 year-old actress says that Hitchcock manipulated her when she was vulnerable by signing her into an exclusive contract that gave him dictatorial power over her career. He promised he would cast her in high profile films that would establish her as a major star. However, her dreams were shattered when Hitchcock made overt sexual advances toward her that she spurned. In retribution, Hitchcock allegedly sought revenge by sabotaging her career after their second and last collaboration, the ill-fated "Marnie". For decades Hedren has only hinted at the specifics of what caused the deterioration of her relationship with Hitchcock but in the book she finally gives her side of the story. It is known that Hitchcock was depressed during the filming of "Marnie" and some critics attribute his lack of interest in the film to the sexual tension between him and Hedren. For more click here. 

UPDATE:  Since publication of Hedren's accusations there has been push-back from people who knew Hitchcock or have studied his career. These people have raised doubts about the veracity of Hedren's claims and point out some facts that seem to contradict the time table in which some of the events allegedy occurred. Click here to read. 

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By Sara Reineke

Upon receipt of Vinegar Syndrome’s new Blu-Ray edition of Mardi Rustam’s “Evils of the Night” (1985), I was reminded of a tired cliché drilled into my head as a child: Don’t judge a book by its cover. The cover art, designed by Terry Levine, a friend of Rustam’s, invokes the stereotypical “sex-crazed teens trapped in a world of terror” vibe that horror movies of the 1980s were notorious for. However, I held out hope as I prepared to view the disc but this hope was quickly lost when “Exploitation TV” appeared on my screen, followed by the silhouette of a busty woman. Despite this, I still thought: Could this be one of those “so bad they’re good” cult classics that fans love to revisit? After all, the film featured such well-known and respectable actors as John Carradine, Julie Newmar, and Tina Louise, as well as fan favorites Neville Brand and Aldo Ray. However, since these actors had only about fifteen minutes of screen time combined, we’re mostly left with a troupe of young actors and actresses whose inexperience is not only demonstrated on screen but also with their non-existent IMDB filmographies. Now, after seeing the film, I am relatively certain that Carradine, Newmar, and Louise, were very happy to be minimally involved in this mess passed off as a horror film.

The film’s plotting is unclear and slow moving, with the first half hour of the movie dedicated solely to embarrassingly non-erotic sex scenes included solely to titillate the young (and male) audience of the time (Within the first fifteen minutes, I had closed my laptop twice in pure disgust). Even if you can make it past the first half hour of pure soft-core pornography (actress Amber Lynn, who plays Joyce, was a fairly well-known star in many adult films), you’re still left with a story that is underdeveloped and/or pretty much defies logical explanation. It’s difficult to even identify the main character(s) well into the film, as the multiple story threads go nowhere. Which group of teenagers will prevail over the aliens and their minions, the grease monkey lackeys? More importantly, who cares? At the one hour mark, I had to reread the back of the disc’s case to remind myself what was going on, since none of the villains actually announced intentions for the kidnapped teens. Although it was the intention (I think) of the filmmaker to tell the story of vampire aliens requiring teen blood to remain youthful, we’re left only with excessive sex-scenes and hard-to-follow ludicrous “scientific” discussions between aliens. In an interview included as a bonus on the disc, Rustam says that he considered “Evils of the Night” as a horror remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951). He wishes.

I would say Rustam hit a triple with “Evils of the Night.” His film is combines bad writing, acting, and direction. However, according to the filmmaker at least, the movie did well financially and he himself was mostly happy with the finished product. (To be fair, “Evils of the Night” was the first film he’d directed). In an interview recorded eight years following the film’s release, Rustam said, “I believe it is still a good movie for its period. I might go see again this month.” I agree with Rustam that the film is a product of its time. Although I doubt a film such as this could possibly break into today’s market, its “ample nudity and moments of splattery gore” do mark it as a true horror film of the 1980s. However, unlike director Rustam, it’s doubtful I will revisit this film within the month— if ever again. 

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Many a director and/or star of hardcore porn movies has fantasized about establishing a career in mainstream cinema. Many have tried but few have achieved this goal. Among those who aspired to greater heights was Carlos Tobalina, who had established himself as one of the more innovative and stylish directors of porn flicks in the 1980s. Tobalina's micro-budget productions attempted to go beyond the low demands of the "raincoats-across-the-lap" crowd. Tobalina would attempt to present more fully fleshed-out story lines and occasionally succeeded in getting credible performances from his cast members. His films were relatively high budget at the time due to extensive location shoots. He was also an aspiring actor and would appear in small roles in his own films. By 1985, Tobalina felt the time was right to make his move into mainstream fare. The VHS revolution was now in full swing and suddenly consumers could watch porn in the privacy of their own homes without having to slip into a local X-rated theater in the hopes of not being recognized by friends and neighbors. Soon, porn movies would mostly be shot directly for the home video market, resulting in even lower production standards and films that could be shot in a matter of hours instead of days or weeks. The home video revolution would virtually ensure the death knell of grind house movie theaters that specialized in hardcore flicks. Perhaps Tabolina saw the writing on the wall when he went full throttle with his most ambitious project, a crime thriller titled "Flesh and Bullets". In reality, the movie had an earlier incarnation, "The Wife Contract". Both versions were unacknowledged remakes of Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Strangers on a Train" which presented the delicious concept of a man who encounters an eccentric fellow traveler in a private car on a commuter train. The two men in Hitchcock's film pass the time of day by debating whether a perfect crime could be committed. They agree that if the murderer had no prior connection to the victim, it could. The men both lay out a playful scenario in which they each name a person they would like the other man to kill in a morbid pact. One of the men clearly believes it was all a sick joke-until the person he named as his intended victim turns up dead and his "friend" from the train now expects him to commit murder as his part of the pact. Tobalina's film presents a different scenario based on the same concept. Roy (Glenn McKay) is a distraught man who is going through the strains of providing alimony and child support for his ex-wife Dolores (Cydney Hill) and their young daughter Gina (Gina Tobalina, you-know-who's real life daughter). Jeff (Mick Morrow) is also in dire straits trying to pay alimony to his ex, Gail (Susan Silvers). The two men have a chance meeting in a Las Vegas bar and form a pact to kill each other's spouse. Both of them have some experience with death. Roy has seen action in Vietnam and Jeff confides he once murdered two gay wrestlers who raped him (they are rather insensitively listed in the final credits as "Homo Wrestlers"!). To ensure that they each carry out their part of the pact, they agree that if either of them fails to do so, he will be marked for death by the other man. 

Mai Lin is among the adult film stars who make cameos in the film.

Tobalina had a fool-proof scenario on which to base his film...after all, Hitchcock had ironed out most of the kinks. The screenplay, also written by Tobalina, follows the efforts of Roy and Jeff to ingratiate themselves to the other man's wife. In doing so, they both unexpectedly fall in love with the woman they have promised to kill. Yet, if they don't carry out the murder, they will be marked for death themselves. Tabolina does the best he can with his limited resources but although he may have had more talent than the average porn director, the crudeness of his techniques and clunky production values make it clear that the movie was shot by an amateur. Tobalina tries to paper over this fact with a few distractions by casting some porn actresses in small legit roles in order to use their names in the promotional materials, but their core fans will be disappointed because this is one Tobalina production that has a bare minimum of sex and nudity. Tobalina also goes with the old misleading trick of getting some veteran actors involved in the film. Thus, we see "special performances" by Yvonne De Carlo, Cesar Romero, Aldo Ray and Cornel Wilde, mostly in blink-and-you'll miss them roles that were inserted to simply give the film a bit of Hollywood glam. (Cult actor Robert Z'Dar also appears). Tabolina also had to shoot some of the film on the fly as certain locations obviously required permits he couldn't or wouldn't obtain. There are also some miscued sound effects that prove to be distracting.  The performances range from laughably bad  to adequate, with even old pros Wilde and Ray looking like they were filmed in a first read through of the script. (Sadly, this proved to be Wilde's final film appearance. He looks suitably embarrassed and even had to suffer the indignity of having his name misspelled in the final credits!) Leading man Glenn McKay is very much of the beefy, hirsute hunks who were all the rage in the era of "Magnum P.I." His co-star Mick Morrow, however, suffers the distraction of having one of the most unbecoming hair styles ever seen on film, thus making him look like a cross between a Medieval page boy and Farrah Fawcett.  Not surprisingly, neither McKay or Morrow has any other on-screen appearance in their credits. The film is not without its enjoyable elements, however. The plot is consistently engrossing and you tend to give special dispensation to all involved for working with a tiny budget and low-end production values. Where Tabolina, the screenwriter, blows it is in the final sequence which could have been dramatically effective. However, he wimps out and goes the way of a happy ending that makes the viewer feel cheated. 

The Vinegar Syndrome release, which has salvaged the film from obscurity, is first rate. The transfer looks terrific and there is the welcome inclusion of Tobalina's original cut of the film, "The Wife Contract". Granted, they have had to resort to using a grainy Dutch VHS copy as the master, but the language is in English and it does provide an interesting look of how Tabolina drastically recut the movie for its final version. An original trailer, hosted by Cesar Romero and playing up the genuine stars,  is also included though if the film ever did manage to find some play dates in theaters, they must have been few and far between.  It's hard to recommend "Flesh and Bullets" as mainstream entertainment but, as a retro curiosity of a director's bold but failed attempt to break into the mainstream, it is certainly worth a look. 

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Rowan & Littlefield Publishing has released a major biography of film director Henry Hathaway. The book, by Harold N. Pomainville, is chock full of fascinating insights into a director who never quite got the acclaim he deserved. The volume will be of special interest to Western fans, given the extensive coverage afforded Hathaway's North to Alaska, 5 Card Stud, Nevada Smith, How the West Was Won, The Sons of Katie Elder, Circus World, Legend of the Lost and John Wayne's Oscar-winning classic, True Grit. Hathaway, like his contemporaries John Ford and Howard Hawks, could be a gruff, no-nonsense character who demanded perfectionism from his cast and crew. While the films he made never quite reached Fordian or Hawksian levels of acclaim, they have stood the test of time. Author Harold N. Pomainville has provided an exhaustive and highly readable account of a master filmmaker. - Lee Pfeiffer

Here is the official press release:

For the casual film fan, Henry Hathaway is not a household name. But in a career that spanned five decades, Hathaway directed an impressive number of films and guided many actors and actresses to some their most acclaimed performances. He also helped launch the Hollywood careers of numerous actors such as Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin, Karl Malden, and Charles Bronson. His work on Niagara established Marilyn Monroe as a major star. Hathaway also guided John Wayne to his Academy Award-winning performance in the original version of True Grit.

In Henry Hathaway: The Lives of a Hollywood Director, Harold N. Pomainville looks at the life and work of this Hollywood maverick. The author charts Hathaway’s career from his first low budget Western in the early 1930s through his last film in 1974. In between, he focuses his attention of the films that brought the director acclaim, including The Lives of Bengal Lancer (1935)—for which Hathaway received an Oscar nomination—noir thrillersThe House on 92nd Street and Kiss of Death, and his documentary-like production of Call Northside 777 with Jimmy Stewart.

In this book, the author captures Hathaway’s extroverted personality and keen intellect. He befriended some of the best known celebrities of his generation and was known for his loyalty, generosity, and integrity. He was also notorious in Hollywood for his powerful ego, explosive temper, and his dictatorial style on the set. Henry Hathaway: The Lives of a Hollywood Director is a must-read for anyone interested in the enduring work of this unheralded, but no-less-noteworthy, master of American cinema.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

 Impulse Pictures, which specializes in salvaging erotic feature films from the dustbins of our memories, has resuscitated "The Little Blue Box", a 1979 production that feature's a "Who's Who" of adult film stars from the era. Jennifer Welles, one of the most popular actresses of the genre during the 1970s and 1980s, has a dual role that actually requires an attempt at displaying some acting chops. She acquits herself fairly well but it becomes immediately apparent that she wasn't cast because someone felt she was the heiress to Katharine Hepburn. The story opens in the apartment of a young couple, John (John Leslie) and his wife Jen (Jennifer Welles). There is already some tension between them. Seems that the spark has gone out of their love life. John is consistently pre-occupied with his profession as a writer and spends all day pounding typewriter keys (although it's never made clear what, exactly, he is writing and for whom.) Jen, on the other hand, has been radicalized by her obsession with a "Women's Lib" group she participates in. She's become a humorless nag who views everything John does from the context of how it indicates he is insensitive to women. One day while Jen is at work, the doorbell rings and John finds himself face-to-face with Miss Azure (Welles in her dual screen role). She's vivacious and seductive so John immediately let's her in. Seems Miss Azure is peddling a remarkable blue electronics box that allows you to watch porn on your television. (This remarkable invention of the future is better known now as on demand streaming.) Nevertheless in an era when few households had VCRS, the idea of watching erotic movies at home was a welcome development for many people. However, before things can really get started, Jen returns home and tosses Miss Azure out of the apartment. Nevertheless, John invites her back the next day and Miss Azure shows him why the blue box is actually worth the $3,000 price tag: you don't just view standard porn films through it: you create your own. The box has ability to transport the owner into the TV set where he or she can live out their wildest fantasies. It doesn't take John long to write out a check and -Presto!- he and Miss Azure are now involved in a full-out orgy that includes Jen's girlfriend from upstairs (Leslie Bovee). Jen returns home at a seemingly inopportune time only to find the image of her hubby engaging in some down and dirty activities on the TV set. He fails to heed her warnings to stop and before she knows it, she is included in the orgy. As these things usually go, she finds the experience liberating and everyone gets into the groove.

"The Little Blue Box", unlike similar productions of the era, doesn't try to capitalize on location shooting. The entire film is set in the claustrophobic confines of an apartment. However, the movie does include some familiar names from the era in addition to John Leslie and Jennifer Welles. There are appearances by ubiquitous performers such as Leslie Bovee, Jamie Gillis, Sharon Mitchell and one of the first genuine "cougars", Gloria Leonard. Asian actress Ming Toy, who only made four adult feature films, makes a few memorable appearances. "The Little Blue Box" is one of the better efforts from the era largely because the "Twilight Zone"-like premise provides some genuinely amusing scenarios in addition to the erotic elements that are, indeed, erotic.

The Impulse release has been tidied up to a degree but still boasts enough of a rough look to bring back memories for anyone who indulged in these films during their original showings. There are no bonus features.

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BY TODD GARBARINI

I was first introduced to comic books in 1979 by my father’s cousin, Dan, who had an unusually large collection of them in his parent’s basement. I had already seen Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (1978) twice and loved it, completely enthralled with the big screen adventures of the Man of Steel as embodied by Christopher Reeve. I knew of Superman’s origins with DC Comics. Dan’s mother remarked, while he was in the basement of course, that she wished that he would “get rid of the comic books”. It’s a good thing he didn’t. Today, along with Jim Lee, Dan DiDio is the current Co-Publisher of DC Comics. In the years hence, I have followed my fair share of comic book characters, but never with the level of enthusiasm that is on display at the annual San Diego Comic Con or the New York Comic Con (for the uninitiated, here “con” is industry shorthand for “convention”, a gathering of fans who exalt with others over their favorite comic book characters and movies). The level of enthusiasm on display at these gatherings on opposite coasts, as well as the financial support they give to their favorite superheroes, are what keep the artists and writers employed.

Comix: Beyond the Comic Book Pages is the new 85-minute documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes not only at the cons, but also into the world of making comic books, and what it takes to prevail in a saturated market. It’s also a film about gratitude and appreciation. Many people give thanks to their relatives for buying them comic books; others thank the artists for their favorite characters; still others thank both the artists and publishers for their advice. Directed by Michael Valentine, the film is fittingly a valentine to the creators and the fans. Heavyweights in the comic book arena who appear are Stan Lee, the creator of Spiderman (he has an amusing story about that); Mike Richardson, the founder of Dark Horse Comics; Neal Adams; Frank Miller of Sin City and 300; Todd MacFarlane; John Romita, Jr.; and Renae Geerlings.

When I watch a documentary, I am eager to learn something new. The history of comic books is fascinating as they were deemed unfit for children, and there was a movement afoot to keep them out of the hands of the little ones. The making of a comic book is also discussed in-depth in a way that I had not heard before. There is a distinction made between the artist who draws with pencils and the inker who applies the colors. Very often the writers (who provide character development and dialog) and the artists never speak to one another!

Comix is accentuated by a spirited score by composer Michael Crane. The fans depicted in the film are all shapes and sizes and come from the far corners of the globe. A veritable melting pot of people encompassing all races and creeds who converge on these convention centers armed with backpacks, cameras, posters, photos, action figures, and just about anything else that you can think of to have autographed and the opportunity to meet their favorite artists, actors/actresses, and writers up close. What amazes me is the phenomenon of Cosplay (a contraction of “costume play”) wherein fans dress up to look exactly like the comic book characters they love. As a frequent convention goer for twenty-nine years, I have noticed a demonstrable surge in attendance of fans who partake in this role-playing lifestyle. The segments involving Cosplay made me realize something that I had not thought of before. These people don’t just dress up. They want to become their favorite characters for the duration of the convention. Their costumes are magnificent, often indistinguishable from the big-screen counterparts. As a child, Halloween gave me the opportunity to wear some truly awful and cheap-looking “costumes”. I was a Star Wars Stormtrooper and wore this costume with a picture on my chest of the Stormtrooper holding a gun! The Stormtroopers that fans dress us as at the conventions look like they stepped out of the actual movie. No comparison whatsoever.

The film is now available from Kino Lorber in a nicely illustrated 2-disc DVD set that comes with a mini comic book and a whole host of extras. On disc one is the documentary, as well as the following extra outtakes that equal roughly 70 additional minutes:

Anime and Manga (3:56)

The Art of Collaboration (10:17)

Comics and the Movies (8:07)

Hardest Things to Draw (3:43)

Influences (7:22)

Insights (4:14)

Making History (18:29)

More on Comic Book Conventions (6:13)

Outtakes (7:57)

Trailer (2:43)

Disc two consists of interviews with Frank Miller (64 minutes) and Stan Lee (58 minutes).

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The NoHo 7, the Playhouse 7, and the Royal in Los Angeles will all be showing a double feature of two of Doris Day’s best-known films on Monday, August 29, 2016.  At 7:00 pm The Man Who Knew Too Much, the classic 1956 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, will be screened as part of its 60^th anniversary. At 4:30 pm and again at 9:30 pm, 1961’s Lover Come Back, directed by Delbert Mann, will be screened as part of its 55^th anniversary.

From the press release:

Doris Day Double Feature

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

Click here to buy tickets to the 4:30PM Lover Come Back (includes admission to the 7PM The Man Who Knew Too Much).

Click here to buy tickets to the 7PM The Man Who Knew Too Much (includes admission to the 9:30PM Lover Come Back).

Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents a tribute to Doris Day, one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Day was the number one female box office star of the 20th century, but she was sometimes underrated as an actress. She excelled in musicals, comedy, and drama and during the 1950s and 60s she was one of the few actresses who regularly played working women. We offer a double feature of two of her most popular films, the 60th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and the 55th anniversary of Lover Come Back (1961). So you won’t miss any of the fun, the Doris Day double bill plays at three locations: the Royal in West L.A., Laemmle NoHo 7, and the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena on Monday, August 29.

We will have trivia contests with prizes at all three locations.

In ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much,’ one of Doris Day’s rare forays into the thriller genre, the actress introduced one of her most successful songs, the Oscar-winning hit, “Que Sera Sera.” But she also demonstrated her versatility in several harrowing and suspenseful dramatic scenes. She plays the wife of one of Hitchcock’s favorite actors, James Stewart. The movie was a box office bonanza for all parties. Hitchcock’s success during the 1940s allowed the director to employ bigger budgets and shoot on location for several of his Technicolor thrillers in the 1950s, including To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. For The Man Who Knew Too Much, a remake of his own 1934 film, Hitchcock traveled to Morocco and to London for some spectacular location scenes. In his famous series of interviews with the Master of Suspense, Francois Truffaut wrote, “In the construction as well as in the rigorous attention to detail, the remake is by far superior to the original.” The plot turns on kidnapping and assassination, all building to a concert scene in the Royal Albert Hall that climaxes memorably with the clash of a pair of cymbals.

‘Lover Come Back’ was the second comedy teaming of Doris Day with Rock Hudson, on the heels of their huge 1959 hit, Pillow Talk. Day and Hudson play rival advertising executives who vie for an account that doesn’t exist, dreamed up by Hudson to throw Day off the track, further complicated by their romantic entanglement. Screenwriters Stanley Shapiro (who won an Oscar for ‘Pillow Talk’) and Paul Henning concocted a witty scenario with deft sight gags, targeting the influence of Madison Avenue in the era, and their original screenplay was Oscar-nominated in 1961. Day, Hudson, and a winning supporting cast including Tony Randall, Edie Adams and Jack Kruschen are all at the top of their game, nimbly directed by Delbert Mann. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther raved about “…this springy and sprightly surprise, which is one of the brightest, most satiric comedies since ‘It Happened One Night.’ The Times also celebrated the box office smash as “the funniest picture of the year.”

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In 2003, the renowned American artist Jeff Marshall (known for his James Bond work) was commissioned to create a lithograph (officially sanctioned by Hammer themselves) featuring several famous Hammer actresses - Ingrid Pitt, Caroline Munro, Valerie Leon and Martine Beswick.

The first 100 of these limited edition lithographs were signed and numbered by Jeff himself and have never been available to buy....until now.

• We have 006 - 100 for sale, unfortunately we cannot accommodate requests for specific numbers.
• The lithograph measures 20" x 30" and is printed on museum quality acid-free paper.
• The lithograph will be shipped rolled in a sturdy poster tube.

For more info and to order, click here. 

BY TOM LISANTI 

My new book Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961-1974 (McFarland) was recently released and I keep getting asked the same question. Why a book on Pamela Tiffin? I expected this from non-Sixties cinema fans but have been getting asked by more fans and experts on the time period as well. So to answer why a book on Pamela Tiffin? She is one of that decade’s most beautiful and talented actresses who left an indelible impression on movie fans. For me, she is prettier than Raquel Welch; funnier than Jane Fonda; and more appealing than Ann-Margret. Yet, they all became superstars and Pamela did not. My book tries to explain why I think Pamela Tiffin, gifted with expert comedic ability, did not achieve mega stardom though she remains a cult Sixties pop icon to this day.

I first saw Pamela Tiffin in the colorful travelogue The Pleasure Seekers, which was broadcast on the ABC-TV 4:30 Movie sometime in the mid-Seventies. By then I was a huge Carol Lynley fan due to The Poseidon Adventure and would seek out her other movie appearances. I had heard of co-star Ann-Margret but was not familiar with the handsome brunette Pamela Tiffin, the third member of this romance-seeking trio. I recall not being impressed with Ann-Margret in the least, though I thought she did swell performing the title song. I do love Carol Lynley in this movie, but I found myself beguiled by Pamela. She took what was the typical sweet naïve ingénue role and made it funny, touching, and sexy. I was only thirteen years old or so at the time and even at that young age I knew Pamela had a certain something the other two actresses did not. Soon after, I began seeking Pamela’s movies out and the 4:30 Movie came through with For Those Who Think Young and The Lively Set. I was hooked and could not understand why she was not as a big of star as Ann-Margret or even Carol Lynley.

I began researching Pamela Tiffin’s career in my local Long Island library to discover that she practically disappeared from the silver screen after 1966 with a few Italian movies popping up thereafter. My determination to uncover all about Pamela Tiffin culminated when I interviewed her at her New York City home for a series of short magazine articles and a chapter in my first book in 1998. She was elegant and charming with that same whispery voice. We stayed in contact for a brief period, but then I stopped hearing from her, though my devotion to her never ceased.

Pamela Tiffin once described her entrée into Hollywood “as a kind of Cinderella story.” And it truly was. A model and cover girl, she was discovered while on vacation having lunch at the Paramount Studios commissary. She won critical raves for her performances in her first two films Summer and Smoke (1961) and the Billy Wilder comedy One, Two, Three (1961) giving a wonderfully amusing performance as an addled-brain Southern belle who sneaks into East Berlin and marries a Communist to the chagrin of her guardian in Germany. Everyone from James Cagney to Billy Wilder to Jose Ferrer praised her acting ability, especially her forte with comedy.

BY TIM GREAVES

Two early 1970s Italian Gothic chillers from director Emilio Miraglia have been released in the UK in a dual Blu-ray/DVD box set. Bearing the tantalising umbrella title "Killer Dames", it could equally be looked upon as a Marina Malfatti set, since the actress occupies a prominent role in both of the films contained therein.

A prolific assistant director throughout the first half of the 60s, Emilio Miraglia's fourth spin in the director's chair following a trio of crime thrillers was also his first foray into terror terrain. 1971's The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave (o.t. La Notte Che Evelyn Usci Della Tomba) concerns English aristocrat Lord Cunningham (Anthony Steffan), a man devastated by the passing of his titian-haired wife Evelyn, who he suspected was being unfaithful. Struggling to overcome his grief over her death and rage at her perceived infidelity, Cunningham lures attractive redheaded women to his castle residence on the outskirts of London where he first seduces then tortures them in a dungeon kitted out with S&M gear. Cunningham's doctor (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) convinces him that remarriage is the only way to stem his unravelling sanity, whereafter he meets and falls for the beautiful Gladys (Marina Malfatti). They wed and at first it appears that the doctor's advice was sound. But then the slayings begin...

The screenplay, which Miraglia co-wrote with Fabio Pittorru and Massimo Felsatti, is an intoxicating blend of Gothic mystery and stylish giallo, top-heavy with the staple ingredients of the latter – copious nudity and sadistic killing. In one particularly nasty sequence a victim is thrown into an animal enclosure where the canidae residents rip out her intestines. Director of photography Gastone di Giovanni brings plenty of visual lustre to the show and Bruno Nicolai provides a dreamy cocktail lounge score. Although the pace slackens a tad here and there and the sadomasochistic facet affords it an unnecessarily sleazy vibe, in summation it’s a compelling enough little number which keeps one engaged and guessing up until the last reel – bristling with unpredictable double and triple crosses – and its slightly abrupt conclusion. Steffan makes for a solid leading man, slipping back and forth between cultured sophistication and sweaty paranoia, whilst Malfatti is delightful as the beleaguered heroine.

Miraglia's next film (and Evelyn's bedmate in this set, surely not coincidentally also featuring a key character by that name) was the following year's The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972, o.t. La Dama Uccide Sette Volte, a.k.a. The Lady in Red Kills Seven Times - its onscreen title here).

In the wake of their grandfather's murder by a masked figure cloaked in crimson, two sisters (Barbara Bouchet and Marina Malfatti) inherit his castle abode. But the murders continue, believed by some to be perpetrated by the mythical ‘Red Queen’ who, family legend has it, returns every 100 years to claim seven lives. Could that possibly be the case? Or is there something more insidious going on?

It has to be said that some aspects of Red Queen are a little clichéd (it's one of those films where, when a character utters those guaranteed-death-sentence words "I know who the killer is" you just know they’ll get bumped off five minutes later without having had time to spill the beans) and the otherwise creepy titular killer is slightly undermined by a cartoonish burst of manic laughter accompanying each murder. Nevertheless, in this writer's opinion it's the better film of the pair, slicker paced with a superior narrative that builds to a more satisfying climax, and boasts more imaginative death sequences than its predecessor (one memorably grisly impaling is staged atop a spiked fence). Oh, and it also showcases an early Sybil Danning performance, the Miraglia/Pittorru script ensuring the actress has barely a single scene in which she isn't required to shed her clothing. The director maintains a fine level of ‘who's-doin'-it?’ intrigue that, as with Evelyn, keeps the audience in suspense until the final reveal (though seasoned giallo buffs will have little difficulty seeing through the veritable shoal of red herrings), and there are plenty of standout moments; a stylish nightmare sequence which culminates with Barbara Bouchet strapped to a torture rack will certainly pique the prurient proclivities of her fans. Bruno Nicolai serves up an infectiously chirrupy score (you'll be humming it long after the end credits have rolled) and Alberto Spagnoli's beautiful cinematography ensures that there’s always something on screen to admire, whether it be the atmospheric Gothicism of the castle interiors or the striking décor in the (then) modern apartments.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

London may have been the epicenter of the sexual revolution in the mid-1960s but that still didn't make it easy to see adult entertainment on the screen. The dreaded Office of the Censor wielded Draconian power as the guardians of British morality. Hence, the only place you could see anything remotely erotic on film was through 8mm "loops", short films that ran only minutes.  The closest mainstream cinemas got to playing films with nudity was through pretentious "documentaries" that exposed the sordid side of London's nightlife or life in a nudist colony. In reality, these denouncements of promiscuous sex existed strictly to capitalize on promiscuous sex and everyone knew it. Pete Walker was an enterprising young entrepreneur who tried to fill the gap for sex-starved Britons by shooting hastily-arranged, no-budget black and white exploitation films that lasted only minutes. Walker had started in the even more staid early part of the decade by hiring well-endowed, free-spirited young woman to "star" in his modest productions. There was no shortage of talent, as Briton did have a booming market in glamour magazines that featured nude models and starlets. Walker would shoot the silent B&W films on 8mm before graduating to 16mm. The final product would be sold in local book shops for extravagant prices. Walker and the store made tidy profits and the consumer could feast his eyes on some bare female flesh. Everyone was a winner.

 In 1969 Walker decided to do something far more ambitious by creating a film with an actual story line and populated by people who could really act. The result was "For Men Only" (AKA "Hot Girls For Men Only"), a ribald comedy that ran a scant 43 minutes but had production values that looked like "Gone With the Wind" compared to his earlier efforts. David Kernan (who played Pvt. Hitch in "Zulu" a few years before) plays Freddie Horn, a young man engaged to marry Rosalie (Andrea Allen). However, she demands that he quit his job as fashion editor for a prominent journal because he is generally assigned to interview beautiful young models who wear barely-there new clothing lines. She's right to be jealous, as Freddie has been living quite the life, indulging in the "fringe benefits" of being around so many willing young women. Reluctantly, he applies for a job as a writer for a bland magazine that will ensure he has no exposure to the fairer sex. He is summoned from London to the countryside to meet his prospective new employer, Miles Fanthorpe (Derek Aylward). He meets Fanthorpe at a local church where he is giving a stern lecture on morality and the decay of society, which he attributes to permissive sex and increasing tolerance of homosexuality. The small crowd responds enthusiastically to his conservative, fire-and-brimstone rant. Freddie is understandably depressed at the prospect of working for such a man but the first clue that not all is as it seems occurs when Fanthorpe gives him a lift back to his manor house- in an Aston Martin DB5. Once at the house, Fanthorpe comes clean. His uses his reputation as a conservative prude to mask his real personality which is that of a sex-obsessed rogue. Fanthorpe then introduces Freddie to his staff, which consists of busty young women of loose morals who spend the entire day romping around in bikinis or sunning themselves while topless. Freddie is understandably delighted to accept the job of writing for one of Fanthorpe's publications that deals with nude models. Within minutes, he is immersed in a virtual orgy- and he understandably forgets a vitally important social engagement for that evening. Seems he has to accompany Rosalie and her parents to a black tie dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The parents can't stand Freddie as it is and have warned Rosalie that he is addicted to skirt chasing. When Freddie doesn't turn up for dinner, Rosalie sets out to trace his whereabouts and ends up at the country manner where she sees the real scenario. Naturally, through happenstance even her prudish parents show up along with a local parson, resulting in a chaotic scene that culminates with a bevy of bikini girls being stuffed into the DB5 for a fast getaway. (Not even 007 enjoyed that privilege.) Although one could term the film as a "sexploitation" title, that doesn't do it justice. "For Men Only" is actually quite amusing and features some very fine comedic performances. The sexual content is quite mild but there is something  erotic about seeing these lovely young actresses cavort about while scantily clad. It's like Matt Helm on steroids. 

The other feature, "School for Sex", also features Derek Aylward in essentially the same kind of role he played in "For Men Only". Here he is an upper-crust type named Giles Wingate who inherited a manor house and a fortune and blew through it all by marrying a series of opportunistic golddiggers.  To pay off his debts, he engages in some dubious financial tactics that end up with him being criminally prosecuted. He's spared a jail sentence and put on probation but still needs to find a way to pay for his lavish lifestyle as well as the salary for his elderly, intensely loyal butler. He comes up with an inspired idea. Since he was snookered by so many lovely young women, he decides to open a "School for Sex" on his premises. The idea is to charge beautiful young women a hefty fee for instructing them how to seduce wealthy men and ensure their financial well-being. In order to carry out the plan, he needs some female assistance. He hires the Duchess of Burwash, a widowed hot-to-trot middle-aged cougar played by Rose Alba, who main claim to fame was her short but memorable appearance as the SPECTRE "widow" who gets socked by James Bond in the opening of "Thunderball". She's a boozy opportunist but she delivers the goods in terms of instructing her students how to seduce naive men. Before long, there are more students than Wingate can accommodate. Rich families are sending their daughters for instruction, thinking they will be attending a finishing school for sophisticated young women. Instead, they will run around naked and engage in sex techniques. The film comes to an ironic conclusion as Wingate becomes a victim of his own success. "School for Sex" is described by Pete Walker as the worst movie he ever made. He blames himself for not getting a professional screenwriter and trying to keep costs down by writing the script himself. Although not as polished as "For Men Only", it still has its amusing moments and there is plenty of eye candy in the form of the lovely young ladies. The performances of Aywayrd and Alba are also very funny.  The film is a bit more daring than "For Men Only"  in that it does include topless sequences and a glimpse or two of full nudity.

Kino Lorber has released both films as a Blu-ray double feature edition. Both remastered prints look excellent and the special features in the package are most welcome. Pete Walker provides a new filmed interview and gives some interesting insights into the world of sexploitation films in England during the 1960s. There are also numerous Walker "loops", the early B&W silent nudie flicks as well as a trailer for "School for Sex" and alternate footage from the film featuring full nudity that was shot for the Japanese market. 

In summary, it's a delightful trip down Mammary Lane for anyone who appreciates the low-brow pleasures of such "naughty" entertainment.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Some actresses' performances can be much admired while others you virtually devour. I devour any performance by Bette Davis, who often elevated even middling films to something akin to high art. Such a case is evident in her cult classic Dead Ringer, a 1964 thriller that allowed Davis to give a tour de force performance in a dual role. The film itself has a hokey concept, that of two estranged identical twin sisters who are reunited with deadly consequences. Yet, Davis' former leading man and Now, Voyager co-star Paul Henreid directs this otherwise minor screen effort with great style, affording Davis one of her best late career performances. As Edith, Davis is seen as a down-and-out owner of a skid row bar who is facing financial ruin. She is reunited with her rich sister Margaret at the funeral of Margaret's husband. The two have not been on speaking terms ever since the self-absorbed Margaret stole Edith's rich lover and seduced him into marrying her. Invited to Margaret's mansion, the sister's bitter rivalry gains new momentum. Edith ultimately concocts an audacious scheme whereby she will murder Margaret and then switch identities with her, in the process masking the slaying as a suicide. As absurd as the premise may sound, director Henreid and Davis bring enough gravitas and tension to these scenes that the plot plays out quite credibly. Predictably, Edith - now posing as Margaret- encounters a minefield of challenging situations. Although she looks and sounds exactly like her deceased sister, the two women had vastly different personalities and habits. Part of the fun is watching Edith having to constantly improvise to escape exposure by suspicious housekeepers, servants and old friends of Margaret. The boiling point comes when she is "reunited" with Tony (Peter Lawford), an ambitious social climber who had been Margaret's lover and boy toy. Tony is anxious to resume their love affair. Edith/Margaret is clearly delighted to inherit her sister's handsome lover, but soon realizes that she can only bluff so far before being found out. Adding to her woes is the investigation led by her own former boyfriend, a police detective (Karl Malden) who is the antithesis of Tony: he sincerely loved Edith and wanted to marry her. The irony, of course, is that his investigation of the suicide has him in constant contact with Edith, though he believes he is dealing with Margaret.

Dead Ringer is consistently entertaining throughout and the glorious black and white cinematography and Andre Previn's Bernard Herrmann-like score only add to the pleasure of watching this quaint thriller unfold. The performances are all excellent but no one can hope to match the site of Bette Davis slapping around Bette Davis. The Warner Home Video Blu-ray release of the film features a new featurette about the making of the movie and interview with film historian Boz Hadleigh, who also provides a commentary track along with Charles Busch. Hadleigh provides some great anecdotes about the film and gives the movie and its participants the respect they deserve. There is also a vintage production short about the mansion house where much of the movie was shot. It's quite interesting to see rare behind the scenes footage of Henreid at work with cast and crew.

The movie is a grand showcase for one of Hollywood's most legendary actresses- and the Blu-ray presents Ms. Davis at her very best.

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Nancy in her studio today.

Former actress Nancy Wait gained notoriety and a loyal following due to her big screen debut in the 1972 British sex farce "Au Pair Girls". She later returned from London, where she had studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and concentrated on building a new career as a painter and writer. Her memoir "The Nancy Who Drew" has received praise since its initial publication in 2011. Cinema Retro contributing writer Brian Davidson caught up with Ms. Wait for this exclusive interview that ties in with Brian's tribute to "Au Pair Girls" in the latest issue of Cinema Retro (#34). Visit Nancy's official blog/web site by clicking here. 

Brian Davidson: Christa in ‘Au Pair Girls’ is an introvert coaxed into wearing sexy clothes which imply confidence and an extrovert personality. I understand that you took up acting initially to help overcome shyness. Were you therefore attracted to the role because you saw something of yourself in Christa?

Nancy Wait:  Absolutely. I remember when I was 14, in my first year at the High School of Performing Arts here in New York and my acting teacher took me aside one day and told me I should wear red. I have brown eyes and brown hair and used to like wearing the colour brown. And this teacher who I thought was very glamorous and sophisticated told me I was too mousy. She said ‘’You need to wear red to bring you out!’’ It made an impression. The change I went through over the next few years was also the change most teenagers go through on the way to becoming their own person, and I started to enjoy calling attention to myself with makeup and various hats and certainly more colourful clothes.

But however much I changed myself outwardly, inside I remained the same shy girl. They say that an introvert and an extrovert are two sides of the same coin and you will often find an extremely shy person behind the most extrovert actor. In fact, that’s the very reason many of us are drawn to the profession- the chance to be someone other than our shy, introverted selves. Though my basic nature has always been shy and modest, moving to London and going to RADA was a chance to be really brave- though it was nothing compared to the courage I needed to play Christa in the film. And you’re right, I don’t think I could have even imagined doing the role if she hadn’t been shy at first. Luckily the scenes were shot in sequence, so while I got my feet wet I could play her shyness first, the part of her character that was closest to me in spirit. My confidence was up by the middle of the shoot, when Christa breaks out. So it all worked out very well from that standpoint!

B.D. In order to help pay for your tuition at RADA, I believe you worked as a Bunny Girl at London’s famous Playboy Club, a form of role-playing which I’m sure appealed to the actress within you. How did your transition from Bunny to film actress come about?

N.W. I was working at the Playboy Club during term breaks to earn the fees for school, and in a way the film and being a Bunny had nothing to do with each other and yet they had everything to do with each other. For instance, I don’t think I ever dreamed I would be the kind of person who would be brave enough to take her clothes off for a film. And yet I had already stepped out of my previous comfort zone by taking the job as a Bunny. And what I first thought was tremendously daring- parading around in the Bunny costume- after a few weeks became just par for the course. So there was that but also the fact that I was just a glorified cocktail waitress who had to wear distressingly high heels and be on her feet for an 8-hour shift. So when I was offered the film and realised I could earn the fees for school in a week instead of a month playing one of the leads in a film directed by Val Guest- me, who had never been close to a professional job before- I didn’t have to think too long about it.

There was also that thing when something comes to you, falls in your lap as it were, completely out of left field and you can’t believe it’s happening to you. Because I wasn’t looking for an acting job-it was too soon and I still had a couple of terms to go at RADA. But my boyfriend had an agent, and this agent said it was never too soon for me to get my headshots out there and, without my knowing, he was putting me up for parts. I’ll never forget that afternoon when I was working at the Club and got a call from this agent who told me I was up for a lead in a film and he said ‘’ Oh, and they love that you’re a Bunny!’’ Meanwhile, little did I know that my unlikely transformation from a shy, modest student into a Bunny was only a precursor for the far more public transformation that Christa would go through …

Self portrait, 1980.

B.D. Unlike your already established co-stars Gabrielle Drake, Astrid Frank and Me Me Lay, you had never acted in a feature film before yet the part of Christa is surely the most challenging of the four girls’ roles from an acting point of view. Did you find Val Guest sufficiently supportive under the circumstances?

N.W. I wouldn’t really have known if the part of Christa was the most challenging as I didn’t see the others’ scenes until much later after the film was out. And even if I had seen them, my part was challenging enough! On the other hand, acting is acting whatever the mode, stage or screen, and the only important thing is to remember your lines and ‘’don’t trip over the furniture’’ as Noel Coward famously said. And Val Guest was enormously considerate to a newby like me. My first day on the set, he had me sit next to him while they filmed a scene with Gabrielle Drake and Richard O’Sullivan- the one in the barn with all the bundles of hay- and like the seasoned professionals they were, these two made film acting look easy. So that was a bit of luck! I suppose another bit of luck was my first scene with Lyn Yeldham who played Carole, the daughter of the home where I was an au pair. Lyn already had professional experience in front of the cameras yet she was far more nervous than I was and kept flubbing her lines. Though I felt bad for her, it gave me a boost. There was someone on the set who was less sure of herself than I was!

But honestly, if Val hadn’t been so kind and patient and understanding I don’t think I would have been able to do half the things he asked of me. You have to trust your director and Val made that easy with the way he made it seem we had all the time in the world. You never would have known we were on such a tight schedule. I’ve no doubt he was the same with the other actresses but he let me know all the time that he thought I was doing a wonderful job. It’s the sort of thing that goes a long way in getting a good performance out of someone.

BY DARREN ALLISON

(This review pertains to a region 2 UK release). 

Mark Robson’s Valley of the Dolls (1967) became something of commercial success, despite being generally panned by the critics. Following the murder of Sharon Tate, the film was re-released in 1969 and once again proved to be a success with audiences. In December 1969, filming began on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), a film that was intended as a direct sequel to Robson’s movie. Jacqueline Susann, the original author of Valley of the Dolls had been approached to write a screenplay, but declined the offer. Instead, director Russ Meyer and film critic Roger Ebert, took on and completed the task in just six weeks. Ebert described it as ‘a satire of Hollywood conventions’ while Meyer leant more towards ‘a serious melodrama, a rock musical […]and a moralistic expose of the nightmarish world of Show Business’.

This film is set around a female band, The Kelly Affair featuring Kelly MacNamara (Dolly Read), Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers), and Petronella "Pet" Danforth (Marcia McBroom). Along with their manager (and Kelly’s boyfriend) Harris Allsworth (David Gurian) the group set off to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis), who is heiress to a family fortune.

Kelly and her band arrive and are greeted fondly by Susan who informs her that she will be left a portion of her inheritance. However, Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod) a financial adviser to Susan, attempts to discredit the band as general degenerates in order to embezzle the money for himself. Aunt Susan meanwhile introduces Kelly and the band to a connected producer Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John LaZar). At one of his flamboyant parties, Z-Man wastes little time in persuading the band to perform, the result of which is a huge success. Z-Man becomes the group’s manager and changes their name to The Carrie Nations which ignites the fuse and causes a series of clashes with Harris.

All of these elements nicely combine to set up a classic and well-rounded piece of melodrama. Add to the mix a healthy dash of seduction, drugs, alcohol, one-night stands, a lesbian affair, an abortion and a delicious little twist or two and you’ll discover there’s more than enough meat on the bone for a fulfilling and thoroughly magical couple of hours.

Arrow have put together a really thoughtful and beautifully presented limited (3000 copies) edition containing two of Russ Meyer’s key Hollywood films. The Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is quite wonderful. The vibrancy of the film’s colour palette shines through in practically every scene and is only emphasised by the lush surroundings of the late Sixties hippy culture. Skin tones (and there’s a lot of it on show) look fresh, but perfectly natural and free of any forced enhancement. The film retains that comic book colour freshness that one could perhaps align with in any classic episode of TVs Batman. Yes, it very hip and very cool. Arrow has also provided an array of supplementary delights especially in terms of audio options. Aside from the film’s original uncompressed mono track, there is an engrossing commentary track by co-screenwriter and film critic, the late Roger Ebert. Ebert’s commentary is a wonderful listen, a man who knew his stuff and was of course an element of the film’s DNA. Whist the commentary was initially featured on Fox’s DVD release of 2006; it’s a real treat to have it included here on the Blu-ray. Also featured is a second audio commentary, courtesy of cast members including Erica Gavin, John LaZar, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page and Dolly Read. Again, this commentary also appeared previously on the Fox DVD, and while it is rather less streamlined than Ebert’s specifics, it does offer an entirely different perspective. The two commentaries ultimately complement each other rather well. On top of the two commentaries is a further music and effects track, which I believe marks a first for this title on any home cinema format. It’s a very welcome track, considering the popularity of music and for consumers who might not have the soundtrack among their collections.

At this point it is perhaps best to shift focus towards Arrow’s second disc in this set, and the film The Seven Minutes (1971). This Russ Meyer directed film was made directly after Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and was his last mainstream production for Twentieth-Century Fox. The film consists mainly of his stable of regular actors and actresses, but look out, too, for appearances by Yvonne De Carlo and a very young Tom Selleck. Overall, the film was considered as a rare commercial failure for Meyer, but it’s very welcome here as a bonus disc. Sadly, it is only included in standard DVD format.

Returning to Arrow’s other bonus material; there is an optional introduction by Z-Man himself, John LaZa. Much more entertaining is: Above, beneath and beyond the Valley: The Making of a Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy, which is a fascinating retrospective documentary (30 minutes). Look On Up at the Bottom, with composer Stu Phillips and three members of the Carrie Nations discussing the film’s music. It’s a nice little featurette which manages to cram a lot into its relatively short time (11 minutes). The Best of Beyond features favourite moments from the film selected by cast and crew members (12 minutes). Sex, Drugs, Music & Murder: Signs of the time, baby takes a look at the late 1960s social culture that spawned Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (8 minutes). Casey & Roxanne: The Love Scene is a nice short featuring both participants Erica Gavin and Cynthia Myers who discuss the film’s lesbian scene (5 minutes). There is also a very nice collection of screen tests for Michael Blodgett, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page and Marcia McBroom, all of which are presented in relatively nice condition (8 minutes). Also included is a selection of trailers, one of which is based on a behind-the-scenes photo shoot with Meyer taking the publicity photos and provides a great ‘sneak peek’ privilege. Finally there is a high definition photo gallery which consists of approximately 125 images.

Arrow’s packaging is of their usual (and exceptional) high standard. Inside contains an informative and nicely illustrated 42 page booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Kat Ellinger. I was also very happy to see Arrow’s regular reversible sleeve format containing two original pieces of ‘Beyond’ film art, rather than an optional piece of ‘new’ art. It’s an option that will arguably please the purists among film collectors.

It was fabulous to revisit what is perhaps Meyer’s most polished piece of work. Yes, there’s no denying it, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is trashy, dirty and totally unscrupulous… and exactly why I find it so lip-smacking good. Everything considered, it’s probably the best piece of exploitation ever committed to film. So miss this wonderful cult classic at your peril…

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Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous and incomprehensible, the final words of legendary actors and actresses provide some fascinating and thought-provoking moments. Among those cited here: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Laurence Olivier, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe and Groucho Marx.  Click here to read. 

BY TODD GARBARINI

I have been a fan of the Italian giallo subgenre for 30 years since my initiation into it was precipitated by my first viewing of Creepers (1985), the severely cut version of Dario Argento’s Phenomena, my personal favorite film of his. Subsequent viewings of films by both Mr. Argento and his mentor, Mario Bava, as well as Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, Luigi Cozzi, and Michele Soavi solidified a love for the putrid and the fantastic, and anyone who has seen these movies knows how delightfully entertaining they are: off-kilter camera angles, ludicrous dialogue, and what writer Todd French referred to as “a maddening narrative looseness” are present in these films in a way that they are absent in other genres. There is just nothing like an Italian giallo film. With all of the mock horror films that have been made going back to 1981’s Student Bodies and the later, more contemporary and successful Scary Movie parodies, it was only a matter of time before someone took on the giallo. Quite honestly I am surprised that it took as long as it did.

Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks, who looks a lot like Franco Nero in 1977’s Hitch-Hike and also co-wrote and co-directed the film) is a film editor who actually cuts movies on celluloid. Once a great editor who worked with top-level directors, he suffered a tragic accident which cost him four fingers and has been relegated to cutting movies with wooden substitutes that look like they might be sound-designed by Jack Terry (John Travolta) in Brian De Palma’s Blow Out (1981). In fact, The Editor, which was shot in the summer of 2013, starts out much the same way that Blow Out does, with a movie-within-a-movie concerning a stripper who is accosted on her way home from work (a nod to 1982’s Tenebre when Ania Pieroni is attacked by a vagrant). There is a lot of blood as you can well imagine, and when the action moves to the editor, we see a sad and decrepit man whose young, attractive female assistant has the hots for him for some reason. His wife is a former actress who is beyond her prime and takes out her frustration on him. If all of this sounds depressing, it’s not, as the film is actually quite humorous in that it’s a send-up of giallo films. If you are a fan of these movies to the same extent that I am, you will recognize the obvious tips of the hat (or strokes of the blade) to Mr. Argento’s Inferno (1980) and Mr. Fulci’s New York Ripper (1981). There are also myriad instances of silly dubbing (another staple of giallo), gratuitous nudity, and the sound of the actors and actresses voices coming off as too theatrical and forced. This is all deliberate as a tongue-in-cheek salute to these movies that we love so much.

Now, unfortunately for Rey, someone is killing people off all around him. Naturally he is the prime suspect, and a rookie detective (played by Matthew Kennedy, who looks like Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film – do you see a pattern here?) is after him almost every second just trying to pin the crimes on him. And what would a giallo send-up be without Udo Kier?

There is a conscious effort on the part of the filmmakers to pay homage to the cinematography of this once great, bygone era. The movie-within-the-movie possesses a color palette that would do Luciano Tovoli and Romano Albani proud as it harkens back to 1977’s Suspiria and 1980’s Inferno respectively. The film is beautiful to look at in every respect. Even the poster art is gorgeous! It comes with a reversible cover and I prefer the image on the inside which just screams “the 80’s”.

There are an abundance of extras in this collection, and I appreciate the fact that Shout! Factory has done a DVD/Blu-ray combo on this title. I highly recommend The Editor for those with a love for these films. The extras are:

Making Movies Used to Be Fun (51:03) is a funny and entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Editor and reveals that most of the people in front of the camera are also some of the people behind the camera.  Conor Sweeney, like the aforementioned Brooks and Kennedy, contributed to the script.

Hook Lab Interview (7:11) sits with Norman Orenstein and Trevor Tuminski in a comedic look at their musical contribution to the film.

Brett Parson Poster Video (5:35) chronicles the agony that the poster artist endured trying to create the film’s poster. Oh, the humanity!

Astron-6 Film Festival Introduction (1:57) is an annoying piece better left unviewed.

A collection of several scenes cut from the film.

Full-length audio commentary with Adam Brooks, Connor Sweeney and Matt Kennedy. I would advise you to watch the film first as this contains many spoilers. It is also a lot of fun to listen to.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

The 1969 comedy The Maltese Bippy has been released on DVD by the Warner Archive. What is a bippy? If you're of a certain age and grew up in the 1960s, you need not ask. A bippy was an undefined thing that nevertheless, it was insinuated, had a rather naughty or distasteful element to it. The phrase was coined by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin on their hit TV series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. The show is rarely discussed today but there is no underestimating its impact on American popular culture when it premiered in January of 1968, replacing The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which had been canceled after three and a half seasons. The premise of the show capitalized on the youth movement and sexual revolution that characterized the era. There was no structure to the show, which largely consisted of rapid fire one-liners and short comedy sketches that often pushed the limits of network censorship. Rowan and Martin had been a popular comedy team that had nonetheless not reached the top rungs of their profession. That would change with the premiere of the show. Their shtick was not unlike those of other comedy duos: Dan Rowan was the sophisticated straight man and Dick Martin was the naive, goofy partner who got most of the laughs. The two men were improbable hosts for what became TV's hippest "must see" comedy show. Not only were they middle-aged, but they adhered to the then popular tradition of hosting their show while clad in tuxedos. Nevertheless, Rowan and Martin introduced envelope-pushing humor that became a sensation. The Smother Brothers had tried the same thing on CBS and got canceled for their efforts largely because they were so sarcastic about LBS's Vietnam War policies. But Rowan and Martin skewered all of the politicians and even included some of them on the show as part of its tradition of showcasing unlikely people spouting one-liners. Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels may have had a hit record titled "Sock It To Me, Baby", but it was Laugh-in that immortalized the phrase. In fact, it played a role in the 1968 presidential election. Richard Nixon, back from the political graveyard, was the Republican nominee for president, squaring off against the Democratic nominee Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The Democratic convention in Chicago had been a disaster, marred by riots and police brutality. Nixon had based his campaign on a calm, law-and-order message that resonated with middle class, white voters. However, he was notoriously lacking in humor or personalty. When his advisers convinced him to make a five second cameo on Laugh-In in which he phrased "Sock it to me" as a question, voters saw a side of Nixon they didn't know existed. Whether he ever knew the relevance of the show or not, his poll numbers started to rise and he eeked out a narrow victory over the surging Humphrey in the November elections. Other phrases popularized on the show included "Here comes da judge!", "Veerrry interesting" and "You bet your sweet bippy", which was routinely used as a retort to almost any question posed to Dick Martin.  The show's impact over its five year run included making household names of then unknown actresses Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin. Seemingly all the major stars wanted to film cameos for the show. These included such eclectic talents as Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Henny Youngman and John Wayne. The show also made a short-term superstar of eccentric crooner Tiny Tim. 

In 1969, MGM signed Rowan and Martin to a feature film, The Maltese Bippy.  This was not their first time on the big screen. In 1958 they appeared in a forgettable comedy, Once Upon a Horse. The Bippy movie did not replicate their success on television and vanished rather quickly, though it has developed a cult following over the decades. The Maltese Bippy begins amusingly enough with footage from a sword and sandal movie that then morphs into Rowan and Martin doing their standard stand-up routine! You have to give the writers credit for at least thinking outside the box.  The film proper begins with partners Sam Smith (Rowan) and Ernest Gray (Martin) trying to eek out a living by convincing a busty, 18 year old airhead to appear in a sexlpoitation film with Ernest as the leading man. The amusing sequence finds them filming this "epic" in the confines of a small office with incredibly shoddy pull down paintings serving as scenery. The office is raided and they are evicted for non-payment of rent. Back at Ernest's Victorian era house, his only remaining financial asset, the pair snipe at each other as they try to come up with some other method of making a living. From this point, the story goes into very bizarre directions. It would be pointless to try to connect all the disparate plot angles. Suffice it to say that over the course of the remaining running time, we are introduced to a series of eccentric supporting characters. These include Robin (Carol Lynley), a young college girl who is boarding at the house. Ernest has the hots for her but her innocent nature may be a ruse and she appears to have an ulterior motive for her presence in the house. This could be rumors that the place holds an ancient treasure that is the motivation for less scrupulous characters to pay visits to Sam and Ernest. These include Mischa Ravenswood (Fritz Weaver), a menacing Romanian nobleman who is always in the company of his mentally deranged sister Carlotta (Julie Newmar). They seem to be after the treasure that the household is said to contain. Added to the mix is another wacky boarder, Axel (Leon Askin of Hogan's Heroes). Then there is Ernest's long-suffering housekeeper Molly (Mildred Natwick) who may not be what she seems. An unrelated subplot has the victim of a vicious murder discovered near Ernest's house. It appears the dead man may have been killed by an unknown animal and this results in extended sequences and gags in which Ernest begins to believe that he is actually a werewolf! 

The film lumbers along under the direction of veteran Norman Panama but every now and then a genuinely funny gag comes along that makes you laugh in spite of  yourself. The film's greatest asset is the spirited performances and the film provides a treasure trove of goofy characters for well-established actors to have fun with. (It's great to see Fritz Weaver in a rare comedy role.) Ironically, the movie mostly comes alive in the final act in which virtually the entire cast kills themselves off. It's a bizarre but funny premise and is well-executed. Despite its flaws, The Maltese Bippy is an enjoyable romp.

The failure of The Maltese Bippy at the boxoffice ensured that Rowan and Martin never appeared on the big screen again. Dick Martin, who had already established himself as a successful supporting actor and comedy director, had a thriving career until his death in 2008. Dan Rowan retired in the early 1980s partly due to health problems. He passed away in 1987 at age 65.  Is it safe to say that Rowan and Martin's legacy as major influences on American comedy in the 1960s is secure? You bet your sweet bippy. 

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Burton and Taylor met on the set of Cleopatra...and the sparks flew on screen and off.

The Huffington Post digs back into the past to unearth some of the more vivid sex scandals involving well known actors and actresses. We're not sure that Barry Williams going on a date with his "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson deserves inclusion, but undoubtedly Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman and Errol Flynn do. Click here to relive some not-so-glamorous moments in show business history. 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The Warner Archive has released the 1964 Bob Hope comedy "A Global Affair". On the surface, it's standard Hope fare from this era but there are some interesting, if bizarre, aspects to the production. Most notably, the film was done with the cooperation of the United Nations and plays at times like a promotional feature for the perpetually beleaguered institution. Hope plays Frank Larrimore, a swinging New York City bachelor who works for the U.N. He is also a passionate advocate for children and has been unsuccessfully trying to get the U.N. to adopt a program that will grant certain basic international rights to minors. When an unseen mother leaves her baby at the U.N. before a holiday weekend, the Undersecretary General (Nehemiah Persoff) orders Larrimore to act as the child's guardian for a few days. This results in certain predictable gags as Larrimore fumbles his way through the daily basics of caring for the kid. He totes her around in a pet carrier, powders her with sugar and uses kitchen towels as diapers. When word leaks out about the U.N.'s "orphan", every country makes demands that the child be brought up as a citizen of that nation. The debate escalates to an international story and Larrimore finds himself saddled with the tyke for an extended period. He is given the unenviable task of judging which nation would be best-suited for the adoption. To help him cope with the pressure, he is assigned another U.N. employee, Lisette (Michele Mercier), a lovely French girl who immediately locks horns with Larrimore about his inabilities and his hedonistic lifestyle. This is exacerbated by the frequent presence of his upstairs neighbor Randy (Robert Sterling in the kind of role usually played by Tony Randall or Gig Young), who uses the baby as a lure to bring gorgeous single women to Larrimore's apartment for wild parties. As you might imagine, Larrimore and Lisette gradually fall in love even as they seek out the right parentage for the baby. Things get complicated when female representatives of various nations attempt to seduce him in order to influence his decision. For a swinging bachelor, Larrimore seems curiously immune to feminine charms. He deftly avoids one seduction attempt after another and even calls the police to remove one such lovely, a bustier-clad Yvette (Elga Andersen) from his bed. In terms of his love life, Larrimore seems less  into the world of Hugh Hefner than the domain of the Boys in the Band, given the lengths he goes to in avoiding intimacy with women. This includes cougar Yvonne De Carlo, who smokes up the screen with an impressive Flamenco dance number. Ultimately, the movie breezes to a conclusion that is telegraphed in the first five minutes of the story.  

The film plays out in predictable style and, like most Hope vehicles, keeps a brisk pace this time under the direction of veteran helmer Jack Arnold. It took four writers (including Charles Lederer and Arthur Marx)  to develop this sitcom-like script that relies entirely on Hope's standard shtick. Fortunately, he's up to the task. Hope's genius is that he knew his limitations and never went beyond them. He played essentially the same character in every movie he made and his ability to toss off a wisecrack was rivaled only by Groucho Marx. (When queried by a U.N. delegate about what he knows about Turkey, he quips "I know the white meat is tender!").   The film provides some mildly amusing scenarios, some concerning Larrimore's fussy landlord played by the inimitable John McGiver.  The equally impressive character actress Reta Shaw has a brief bit and Barbara Bouchet has a small role as well. There are some unintentional laughs whenever Larrimore is required to remind the audience of all the good works the U.N. does for the world, which was obviously a quid pro quo for being allowed to film on the premises. This dialogue has all the natural flow of someone in a hostage video. There are also some dated jokes involving U Thant, Soviet gulags and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  (There is even a cameo by Adlai Stevenson!) 

 In al, "A Global Affair" is much ado about nothing- but the irresistible lure of Bob Hope and the sheer number of glamorous young actresses make this black and white production a pleasant way to spend 84 minutes.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

It's easy to look back on the Blaxploitation film craze of the 1970s as a short-lived period that spawned some cinematic guilty pleasures. However, time has been kind to the genre and if retro movie buffs view some of the films that emerged during this era they will undoubtedly find more artistry at work than was originally realized. Case in point: "Truck Turner", a 1974 action flick released at the height of the Blaxploitation phenomenon. I had never seen the film prior to its release on the new Blu-ray special edition from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. It's a violent, brutal film filled with ugly characters and "heroes" who deserve that moniker only because they aren't quite as abhorrent as the cutthroat antagonists they face. Yet, there is something special about "Truck Turner". Amid the carnage and frequent, extended action sequences, there is real talent at work here. Most of it belongs to Jonathan Kaplan, the director who had recently emerged as yet another promising protege of Roger Corman. In fact, Kaplan had just recently completed filming another Blaxploitation film, "The Slams" with Jim Brown, before being drafted into "Truck Turner". The idea of a white, Jewish guy directing a Blaxploitation film may seem weird today but at the time, most of the creative forces behind these movies were white guys, an indication of just how few opportunities existed in Hollywood for black filmmakers in the 1970s. The movies were also largely financed by white studio executives who benefited the most financially. Yet, it cannot be denied that the genre went a long way in opening doors for a lot of talented black actors and musicians, who often provided the scores for the films. Until the release of "Shaft" in 1971 (which was directed by a black filmmaker, Gordon Parks), most of the action roles for black characters seemed to be hanging on the durable shoulders of Sidney Poitier, Jim Brown, Harry Belafonte and the great character actor Woody Strode. Suddenly, there were a great number of opportunities for black actors and actresses to display their talents on screen. The vehicles in which they toiled were often low-budget potboilers, but it did increase their visibility and name recognition. More importantly, black action characters became commonplace henceforth. 

"Truck Turner" has emerged as a genuine cult movie in the decades since its initial release. The movie's oddball appeal begins with the casting of the titular character, who is played by legendary soul musician Isaac Hayes in his screen debut. While Laurence Olivier probably never lost sleep over Hayes's decision to enter the movie business, his casting was a stroke of genius on the part of the executives at American International Pictures, which specialized in exploitation films for the grindhouse and drive-in audiences. Hayes had recently won the Academy Award for his funky "Theme From 'Shaft'" and had an imposing and super-cool physical presence. He also  proved to be a natural in front of the camera. His emotional range was limited but he exuded an arrogance and self-confidence that the role required. Turner is a skip tracer/bounty hunter employed by a bail bond agency in the slum area of Los Angeles. A stunning opening shot finds literally dozens of such agency dotting the urban landscape- an indication of how out of control crime was in the city during this period. Turner and his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks) agree to take on an assignment to track down a local notorious pimp and crime kingpin named 'Gator' Johnson (Paul Harris), who has skipped bail, thus leaving the agency's owner Nate Dinwiddle (Sam Laws) on the hook for the money. Turner and Jerry pursue 'Gator' in one of those requisite high octane car chases that were seemingly mandatory in 70s action movies. This one is quite spectacular and features some dazzling stunt driving. 'Gator' is ultimately killed by Turner and this leads to the main plot, which concerns his lover, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols). She was 'Gator's  partner in a lucrative prostitution business. The two pimped out beautiful young women who they keep as virtual prisoners on a large estate. Dorinda is the Captain Bligh of madams, routinely abusing her stable of girls and demeaning them at every opportunity. She is enraged by Turner's slaying of 'Gator' and offers a bounty for his murder: half of her stake in the prostitution ring. The offer draws more than a few professional assassins to her doorstep, all of whom promise they can kill Turner. However, the only one who seems to have the ability to do so is Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto), a soft-spoken but vicious crime boss who would like nothing more than to make easy money from a major pimping operation. With a small army of assassins, he sets out to make good on his promise to kill Turner. 

Like most action movies of this genre, the plot points are predictable. As with Charles Bronson's character in the "Death Wish" films, virtually every person who befriends Turner comes to great misfortune. This kind of predictable emotional manipulation is par for the course when you're watching 70s crime films and doesn't overshadow the fact that there is a great deal of style evident in "Truck Turner". The dialogue is saucy and witty. For example, Dorinda describes one of her "girls" as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" because "she's finger-lickin' good!" and another as "Turnpike" because "you have to pay to get on and pay to get off." If you think that's politically incorrect, consider that every other line of dialogue has somebody calling somebody else a nigger. Then there's the character of Truck Turner, who - like his fellow  cinematic tough ass crime fighters of the era ranging from Dirty Harry to 'Popeye' Doyle to John Wayne's McQ- seems oblivious to the fact that he is endangering an abundance of innocent people in his obsession to get the bad guys. Turner engages in carjacking and threatens the lives of people who he feels aren't cooperating fast enough. He also has a sensitive side, though, as we see in his scenes with the love of his life, Annie (Annazette Chase). She's recently completed a jail term and only wants to settle down with Turner to live a quiet, normal lifestyle. Good luck. When the contract is put out on Turner, she becomes a potential victim and is terrorized by Harvard Blue and his gang. The film concludes with some terrific action sequences, the best of which has Hayes and Kotto going mano-a-mano inside the corridors of a hospital. They chase and spray bullets at each other amid terrified patients in wheelchairs and on gurneys and in one scene, carry the shoot out into an operating room with doctors in the midst of  working on a patient! The finale, which centers on Kotto's last scene in the movie, is shot with such style that it almost approaches being  (dare I use the term?) poetic. The supporting cast is first rate with Alan Weeks scoring strongly as Robin to Turner's Batman. Annazette Chase is excellent as the ever-patient object of Turner's desire and, of course, Kotto is terrific, as usual, managing to steal scenes in his own unique, low-key way. The most enjoyable performance comes from Nichelle Nichols, who is 180 degrees from her "Star Trek" role. As the ultimate villainess, she seems to be having a blast insulting and threatening everyone in her line of vision. Her final confrontation with Turner makes for a memorable screen moment, to say the least.  

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is up to the company's usual high standards in all respects. Old Truck never looked better on screen and there are some welcome bonus materials. Director Kaplan provides a witty and highly informative audio commentary, relating how American International was more interested in the soundtrack album they would be able to market than the film itself. (Hayes provides the impressive score for the film, including some "Shaft"-like themes.). He also said that he was originally drawn to the project because he was told the film would star either Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine or Robert Mitchum! Nevertheless, he speaks with great affection for Hayes and his colleagues and points out various character actors his used in the film including the ubiquitous Dick Miller, James Millhollin, Scatman Crothers and even Matthew Beard, who played "Stymie" in the Our Gang comedies.  Another welcome bonus is director Joe Dante,obviously an admirer of the film, in discussion at a 2008 screening of "Truck Turner" at the New Beverly Cinema in L.A. He's joined by director Kaplan and stuntman Bob Minor. The reaction of the audience indicates this film enjoys a loyal following. There is also a segment from Dante's popular "Trailers From Hell" web site that features director Ernest Dickerson introducing and narrating the original trailer for the film. The trailer is also included in the Blu-ray, as well as a double feature radio spot ad for "Truck Turner" and Pam Grier as "Foxy Brown". In all, an irresistible release for all retro movie lovers. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

We've often written about the shameful conceit of movie studios that used to cast caucasian actors in leading roles pertaining to ethnic minorities. Sure, it was fine to have actual minority actors playing supporting roles (often for comic effect) but the most important characters were generally always portrayed by white actors or actresses (remember Rex Harrison as The King of Siam???). Sadly, this blatant policy of racial prejudice often extended to films that were sympathetic to the very races they were portraying. Case in point: Geronimo, a 1962 Western that purports to tell the story of the legendary Apache leader who stood virtually alone against the U.S. government, even after most of his tribe was browbeaten into surrendering. The logic at United Artists at the time was that there was no actor more appropriate to play a famous Native American other than Chuck Connors, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed poster boy for the Aryan race. Connors was riding high at the time as the star of the popular TV series The Rifleman, and he certainly possessed an imposing physique as well as more-than-adequate acting abilities. However, even with contact lenses and a black Morticia Addams wig, there is no doubt he was completely miscast as Geronimo. This was also the case with fellow cast members Kamala Devi, a gorgeous flash-in-the-pan actress who worked on several projects with Connors before fading into oblivion and Ross Martin (!), the fine actor primarily known for playing Artemus Gordon in the Wild, Wild West TV series. Not only are all these folks woefully wrong for their roles, the characters talk in modern vernacular that makes you think they must be part of the obscure Apache tribe from Bayonne,  New Jersey.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The popular John Wayne flick "McLintock!" has had a long, tortured history in terms of its video releases. The film fell out of copyright for a while in the 1980s and 1990s, resulting in any number of cheapo VHS and DVD editions being sold in "dollar stores". Recently Olive Films released a Blu-ray edition of the film, sans any  special features. Shortly thereafter, Paramount released a Blu-ray of a previously issued "Authentic Collector's Edition"  DVD that is loaded with fascinating extras. The film represented the first time Wayne had been directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, son of his old John Ford stock company buddy Victor McLaglen. Both Wayne and Andrew's careers owed their very existence to Ford and they learned well from the master in terms of how to make comedy/action films that would have broad appeal. "McLintock!" is basically the best John Ford film that Ford never directed. It has all the elements of a traditional Ford production: a battle of the sexes between a strong-willed leading man and an equally strong-willed leading lady; eccentric characters played by eccentric character actors; a snappy musical score and at least one big brawl played out in a humorous manner (in this case, the famous group fight scene in a mud pit). 

"McLintock!" reunited Wayne with his favorite leading lady Maureen O'Hara, who had co-starred with him in Ford's "The Quiet Man", "Rio Grande" and "The Wings of Eagles".  (They teamed for the final time in 1971 for "Big Jake".) O'Hara was one of the few actresses who could stand up to Wayne in terms of screen presence. Here, they play the familiar roles of an estranged couple. Wayne is George Washington McLintock (known by one and all as "G.W."), a cattle baron so successful that the town he lives in bares his name. He is separated from his fiery-tempered wife Katherine (O'Hara), who returns to town unexpectedly to try to convince McLintock to allow their teenage daughter Becky (Stefanie Powers) to live with her in the big city. That's pretty much the entire plot. Before long, G.W. and Katherine are battling like boxers going the full fifteen rounds. The film is an obvious western-based adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", which means that although Katherine is allowed to be seen initially as a strong, independent woman, in the end she is pacified by her husband and becomes a compliant Stepford-like wife.  In a finale guaranteed to cause Hilary Clinton agitta, G.W. subjects Katherine to the humiliation of being spanked in public in front of a cheering crowd. Anyone who has progressed from a Neanderthal state will find this element of the film a bit cringe-inducing, but if viewed within the context of its era, it is undeniably amusing. In between the shouting and the spanking, G.W. and Katherine alternate between insulting each other like a frontier version of Ralph and Alice Kramden and making goo-goo eyes at each other. There's no doubt that the film will have a storybook ending and the corn quotient is fairly high. Nevertheless, "McLintock!" is such rollicking good fun that its charms are almost impossible to resist. Much of the film's charm comes from its sheer exuberance in portraying amusing people in amusing situations. There is no gravitas on display and the closest we get to some meaningful drama is when G.W.and Katherine stare longingly into each other's eyes after a period of estrangement, indicating that, despite their fiery tempers and constant arguments, these are two people who are not only madly in love but also quite lustful toward each other. Director McLaglen keeps the action flowing in true Fordian style and it's safe to say there isn't a dull moment. A lot of people get punched and some guns get fired, but no one really gets hurt. All of the shenanigans are set to composer Frank De Vol's lively and catchy score. The film was in theaters the same week that President Kennedy was assassinated. Perhaps the presence of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in a feel-good movie like this provided some solace to a grieving nation. In any event, "McLintock!" proved to be one of the Duke's biggest boxoffice hits. It also had a long, successful run on television in the pre-cable/home video era. Over the years, it was shown on prime time by all three major networks and enjoyed big ratings each time. 

Original trade magazine ad.

The Paramount Blu-ray  carries over the extras from the DVD release and is the definitive home video version of the film. Extras include:

• Audio commentary that is jam-packed with vintage interviews with the film's producer, Michael Wayne; director Andrew V. McLaglen, film historians Leonard Maltin and Frank Thompson and cast members Michael Pate and Stefanie Powers. 
• A "making of" documentary is broken down into three sections. One provides some interesting insights into Michael Wayne's decision to devote the years after his father's death to raising money for the cancer foundation that bares the Duke's name. Another featurette spotlights Maureen O'Hara and Stefanie Powers and the third delves into shooting the famous mud pit fight.
• Another featurette shows veteran stuntmen Tom Morga and Wayne Bauer demonstrating how to throw punches convincingly.
• An odd but entertaining mini-documentary about the corsets women wore back in the 19th century. Today, we would call the procedure for getting into one of these contraptions "torture".
• Photo gallery
• Original trailer

The quality of the transfer is simply terrific. "McLintock!" never looked so good. 

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By Todd Garbarini

Richard Ciupka’s Curtains (1983) is a personal favorite horror film of mine. I own a 35mm print of this film, and I’ve seen it projected three times in the last 15 years. The image looks very similar to the VHS Vestron Video release which I first rented nearly 30 years ago: it is dark, murky and difficult to see all of the important details. Fortunately, all of this has changed thanks to the fine folks at Synapse Films who have correctly presented the film in the proper aspect ratio and re-mastered the image beyond anything that we have seen thus far. Curtains, never released in any other home video format (except for several DVDs duped from that old VHS release), is now finally available on DVD and Blu-ray, and the result is spectacular.

Samantha Eggar and John Vernon star as actress and director team Samantha Sherwood and Jonathan Stryker attempting to bring the story of a mental patient, Audra, to the screen. When Sherwood has herself “committed” to an actual mental hospital to research the role, Stryker leaves her there with plans to make the film with a different actress and engineers a casting call at his estate without Sherwood’s knowledge. Curtains fails to give more than just a hint as to his motivation for doing this (sleeping with two of the actresses he auditions seems to be one reason), but it does set up some truly creepy set pieces, the best and most memorable of which include a large, sad-eyed doll on a rain-swept road, a masked killer wielding a sickle on a skating rink, and a (somewhat prolonged) chase through corridors inside of a theatrical warehouse which calls to mind the backstage milieu in Michele Soavi’s Stage Fright (1987). The logistics of the murders make little sense, but then this is a thriller, so it’s wise not to think too much about it and enjoy it for what it is.

The film’s strengths lie in the casting, the music, and the cinematography. Eggar and Vernon are terrific, and Lynne Griffin, an actress we see far too little of these days (she’s the suffocation victim in the original Black Christmas), is hilarious as a comedienne vying for the role. Linda Thorson is great as Brooke Parsons, an elegant actress who discovers Lesleh Donaldson’s head in a toilet!

Composer Paul Zaza has created a brilliant score for this film. The “sting” that punctuates the film’s opening title sequence as the word Curtains is cut across the screen can also be found in Prom Night, a film that Zaza scored before Curtains. I’ve often wondered if this score was originally composed for Prom Night and then rejected. It’s a score worthy of a soundtrack album and it deserves to get a release from Intrada, Varese Sarabande, Buysoundtrax.com, or Kritzerland.

I’m a sucker for Canadian horror films that take place in the snow (The Brood (1979) and Ghostkeeper (1981) come to mind), and Curtains is my favorite, hands-down. One of the strangest and eeriest movies I’ve seen, the film has always gotten a bum rap. Far from a perfect film, the production had a lot of rumored problems from the word go and it seems that at this point in time the movie is more notorious for what it was originally intended to be rather than what it in fact is. Filming began in November 1980 and continued for months afterwards. The original director, Richard Ciupka, hand-picked by the producer due to his previous and well-regarded last-minute takeover of 1982’s Melanie, had his name removed from the film due to the fact that much of it was not what he himself had filmed. The ending was changed, as were several key plot points, and what results is something of a convoluted narrative that possesses an air of creepiness throughout.

The extras on the Blu-ray are plentiful. In addition to the sterling and brightly colorful transfer, there is a 35-minute documentary called The Ultimate Nightmare: the Making of Curtains by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures. Key players in the film take part in being interviewed as do those who worked behind the scenes, particularly composer Zaza admitting his embarrassment at having his name on the credits and wishing that he had been fired during the film’s production, which is unfortunate given that his music does for Curtains what John Williams did for Jaws (1975). There is also a 15-minute documentary made at the time of shooting simply called Ciupka (pronounced CHOOP-ka) and it features some behind-the-scenes footage on the set of Curtains.

There is also a feature-length audio commentary moderated by Edwin Samuelson with actresses Lesley Donaldson and Lynne Griffin and they are quite amusing to listen to. Audio interviews with the late producer (courtesy of the Terror Trap), actress Samantha Eggar (courtesy of yours truly), and the theatrical trailer round out the extras.

Much has been written about the scenes that had been shot for Curtains which ended up on the cutting room floor. Up until August 2009 these scenes existed but, amazingly, the decision was made at that time to destroy them. Why the footage sat in a vault for 26 years and was subsequently tossed in the era of DVD and Blu-rays is an incident that is not only unfathomable to me but it raises the question of who ordered the footage dumped. It doesn’t matter at this point, but I am grateful that the original source materials survived so that we all can see Curtains the way it was intended. Although I have been a fan of the film for 28 years, I feel as though I am really seeing it for the first time.

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