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 Dwayne Epstein

I have often been asked why did I choose to write a book about The Dirty Dozen. Well, the short answer is that it’s always been a favorite film, very popular, and no one has ever thought to do it before, to my knowledge. How it came about is a more involved answer concerning my current agent, Lee Sobel. After my previous agent, Michael Hamilburg passed away, I was left in free fall until Lee contacted me. I checked him out and decided to take him up on his offer of representation. In short order we came up with a new book idea, he goaded me into a proposal, and the next thing I knew, we got a publisher's offer!

Following my initial conversation with Lee Sobel, I began the research by rereading and notating the original novel, as well as Googling info on the internet before agreeing to create the proposal, all of which took place in January 2021 and continued until I turned in the manuscript nine months later. From that moment on I was researching and writing the book continuously, even though I had to maintain a day job to pay my bills. Thank God my girlfriend was willing to help out financially when my advance ran out. A freelance author’s lot is not an easy one.

(Author E.M. "Mick" Nathanson (center) visits the chateau set and poses with director Robert Aldrich (left) and actor Lee Marvin (right. Photo: Dwayne Epstein.)

Because of the extremely short timetable, the publisher gave me — the aforementioned nine months to research and write —I had to hit the ground running, very fast. Fortunately, I had a lot of unused research about the film from my biography of Lee Marvin that I could use which helped immensely. Also, a friend of mine, Beverly Gray, who also writes non-fiction about filmmaking, had recently written a book on the making of The Graduate (1967) entitled Seduced by Mrs. Robinson, which I was able to use as a sort of template. Even better than that, when I told Beverly what I was working on, she told me she had interviewed The Dirty Dozen’s original author, E. M. Nathanson, but it had never been published. In one of the most gracious acts of kindness I’ve ever experienced, she gave me the interview on a CD which proved invaluable to my research as Nathanson passed away in 2016. Can’t thank Beverly enough!

Most days began with me checking my sources, answering or sending out e-mail inquiries, and going over what I had written, and what was not yet written. Coffee was of course required, a local jazz station on the radio in the background and eventually playing the soundtrack to The Dirty Dozen as the day wore on. I was also wracked by the constant fear of not being able to finish in time but it was often allayed by the discovery of a new source of information. My favorite example was discovering the film’s producer, Ken Hyman, still alive at the age of 92 and sharp as a tack when it came to his memory of the film. Finding him was not easy but once I did, I like to joke, how come there aren’t any famous Jewish detectives?

(Photo: Barbara Troeller)

I quickly discovered that there are many facts and misinformation about the film and its production that are still circulating out there that I was most enthusiastic to correct with proven facts & stats or simply dispel out of hand. Where does one begin? The story of 12 convicts ordered to kill Nazis on a secret mission during WWII has always been thought of to be true. The inclusion of filmmaker Russ Meyer in the film’s genesis was also a revelation. What cast members, especially lead actor Lee Marvin, really thought of the film was great to disprove despite misinformation to the contrary. As I said, way too many amazing facts to narrow down to just one. Gotta read the book to find them all out! As a lifelong fan of the film, I was amazed at the number of differences between the novel and the film that was provided by such exclusive sources as producer Hyman, cast members Bob Phillips (Cpl. Morgan), Donald Sutherland (Vernon Pinkley), Dora Reisser (German Officer's Girl), Colin Maitland (Seth Sawyer), and more. I also spoke with the adult children of many of the film’s participants such as Valerie Walker, Lisa and Cheyney Ryan, Caine Carruthers, Michael Nathanson, and Christopher Marvin, among others. It also helps to have access to the Margaret Herrick Library at The Motion Picture Academy. Not to brag but my extensive personal library collection of motion picture history was also a key factor in discovering the film’s amazing history.

(Actor Lee Marvin (left) and producer Ken Hyman (right) practice the tick fighting skills explained by former Marine self-defense instructor Bob Phillips (center). Photo: Dwayne Epstein).

When I turned in the manuscript I was expecting to deal with a lot of edits or deletions from the editor assigned to the book. Much to my surprise, there were none at all. It was simply accepted and the proofs were sent to me for my approval. Pretty amazing. As my agent, Lee Sobel messaged me when he read the opening of the book: “I just read the opening of your book and it’s fantastic. I’m running around dealing with my kids so I’m not sure when I get to read more but that’s a sensational opening to the book. You did what all book openings of this kind should do in my opinion which is to whet the appetite for things to come and lay out your mission statement if you will. Bravo! It is nice and tight too, no wonder he didn’t do any editing.” The end result of such diligent hard work is now available online and in bookstores everywhere.

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By Hank Reineke

This Kino Lorber 4K Restoration Blu ray of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is likely as good as we’re going to get. Universal Studio’s official 1923 program heralded Hunchback as Hugo’s “Mighty Epic of a Mighty Epoch” and, truth be told, director Wallace Worsley’s film never delivers less than promised. It is, above all, a spectacle. In August of 1922 when announced Universal-Jewel was to begin lensing the film, newspapers reported it had been Lon Chaney’s “life’s ambition” to bring Hugo’s tale – and the story of the novel’s titular tortured soul Quasimodo - to the big screen.

Chaney’s Hunchback would not be the first cinematic adaptation of the famed 1831 novel. Esmeralda, a ten-minute long French adaptation was brought to the screen as early as in 1905. Albert Capellani’s 1911 French silent (Notre-Dame de Paris) would also precede the Universal version, but that film too was a modest production running a mere twenty-six minutes in length. The first feature length-effort was Fox’s romantic The Darling of Paris (1917) featuring silent-screen-siren Theda Bara. A British version of 1922 preceded Chaney’s by only a year – though, again, only as a short of some thirteen minutes. All but the 1911 version are now presumed lost.

If Universal was not the first to bring the epic to the screen, producer and studio co-founder Carl Laemmle promised a production unmatched in size and scope. Universal would front a budget of some $1,250,000, bringing in some 2800 artisans to work on the film’s massive sets. The centerpiece was to be the cathedral of Notre Dame, built practically to scale. Universal promised, “The cathedral at Notre Dame is an exact replica in every infinite detail of the cathedral as it looked in 1482, an extraordinary feat and an archeologic, historical and technical triumph.”

Such an ambitious project was going to require an ambitious production team. In October of 1922, gossips whispered the studio was “anxious to have D.W. Griffith direct” Hunchback. On the surface, Griffith would seem a natural choice. He had, after all, helmed such pictures as Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), both showcase spectacles of large scale and huge casts. In the end, Universal would announce, January 1923, that Worsley would direct – with assists by “ten assistant directors and twenty-eight field captains.” Worsley and Chaney already had a good working relationship: the two having already combined their talents on The Penalty, The Ace of Hearts and The Blind Bargain. This new collaboration would spend six months in pre-production and one year in filming.

Everything was crafted bigger-than-life. The make-up appliances for Quasimodo, the film’s monstrous bell-ringer, were painstakingly crafted by Chaney in a series of three-and-a-half hour sessions. The September 1923 issue of Pictures and Picturegoer magazine enthused Chaney had promised “something even more startling than usual in the way of make-up.” Alongside that of Erik, The Phantom of the Opera (1925), the twisted and feral Quasimodo remains the most iconic example of Chaney’s make-up artistry.

Biographer Michael F. Blake’s Lon Chaney: The Man Behind the Thousand Faces (Vestal Press, 1990) and A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney’s Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures (Vestal Press, 1995) remain the two most essential reference books on the man and his films, but they weren’t the first. There were earlier “serious” circulating books on the actor: Robert G. Anderson’s Faces, Forms Films: The Artistry of Lon Chaney (1971) came first, N.L. Ross’s Lon Chaney: Master Craftsman of Make Believe following more than a decade later. That said, Blake’s sister volumes remain the most reliable and error free sources of Chaney marginalia. Blake occasionally proffers stern judgements, some fair and some maybe not so, on preceding Chaney biographers, but all books mentioned above are worthwhile reads and contain excellent bibliographies.

Blake opens his 1995 study with the declaration “Lon Chaney was not a “horror actor.” Though this is essentially true, Blake – who contributes seven pages of booklet notes to this new Kino Blu – sighs the actor’s association with the horror genre is terribly overblown. He argues this mistaken union was due to the actor’s famous ghastly make-up creations. It’s doubtful the audience of eleven and twelve year-olds who sought out these cheap newsprint monster movie magazines of the 1950s and ‘60s had actually ever saw a Lon Chaney silent film. But the reproduced published stills would fire imaginations, giving Chaney Sr. instant cult status as a “horror film” icon. At the very least, I think it’s fair to say that the genre mags were instrumental in keeping Chaney’s legend alive at a time when few other outlets were interested.

It was that way for me at least. I’m not sure when I first learned the name “Lon Chaney.” But it was likely through photographs or an article in the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. I had become obsessed with Famous Monsters when chancing upon a used copy of their May 1967 issue at a school “white elephant” sale. The magazine sent me scouring the listings in TV Guide in search of the films I was first introduced to in the pages of “FM.” It was through Famous Monsters I was first introduced to silent films – many of which I find even today to be as fascinating as any talkie.

In trying to learn about silent films, I discovered Daniel Blum’s A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen (1974) at my local library. It was an oversize hardcover held in the reference section. Since I couldn’t bring it home to read at leisure, I spent hours in the library looking through the hundreds – maybe thousands of stills – reproduced therein. My knowledge of and interest in film history really began there. While combing through the pages for Chaney info (there wasn’t a lot, if I recall), I discovered Chaplin, Keaton, Pearl White, Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone Cops and hundreds of others.

It was around this time I also managed to catch Robert Youngson’s affectionate silent-era doc Days of Thrills and Laughter on television. As with Blum’s book, I don’t believe Chaney, again to my great disappointment, was even mentioned in the doc. Youngson’s emphasis was mostly on the slapstick comedy of Charlie Chaplin, “Fatty” Arbuckle,” Snub Pollard and Ben Turpin. Though a rare, brief clip of Boris Karloff in King of the Congo (1929) further fueled my interest in early cinema, Chaney – frustratingly – would remain a man of mystery.

Knowing what I know now, the notoriously private and reclusive actor – non-ceremoniously interred following his passing, age forty-seven, in a Glendale sepulcher – would have likely preferred it that way. At age nine I finally had the opportunity to catch Chaney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame on WNET-13, Manhattan’s PBS-TV affiliate. Hunchback was the last title to be featured on the network’s “The Silent Years” series (each segment introduced by Orson Welles) in September of 1971.

OK, I apologize. I have digressed. I will also confess it’s taken me quite some time to finally getting around to view this Kino issue of Hunchback. I was gifted a copy back in the autumn of 2021 but chose to put the Blu-ray aside – for the time being, anyway. I had already planned to attend a genuine film element screening of Hunchback at a local cinema that October, one complete with live organ accompaniment. That night, sadly, proved to be a projection booth disaster. The theater ran the last two reels in reverse so inter-titles appeared Cyrillic and completely unreadable. God bless Ben Model, the silent film historian/organist accompanying the program. He calmly and expertly navigated through this maelstrom with amazing poise and finesse, salvaging what would have been otherwise a completely disastrous evening.

There’s no point in discussing here the plot of Worsley’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s a more-or-less faithful rendering of the Hugo novel. This is a century old film, one I find as entertaining today as it was a hundred years ago. Yes, the acting often is – as was the order of the day – visually exaggerated and overly emotive, but the story remains a compelling one. The scenario really revolves around Esmeralda, the soft-hearted street dancer, and not the tragic Quasimodo. To his credit, Chaney – though top-billed – recognizes this and admirably serves as an essential member of the ensemble, not as the film’s principal player.

This Kino release has been cobbled together from the best existing prints available, so there are temperature and tinting changes from section to section. But it’s a beautiful 4K restoration and while surviving element damage is not totally absent, the film looks remarkable all things considered. This edition also features a lively and original musical score. This new soundtrack is composed and performed by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman, both Julliard-trained artists and the previous recipients of Grammy and Emmy Award nominations/victories.

Over this millennium, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has been re-made on any number of occasions. The best recalled of these are RKO’s 1939 version featuring Charles Laughton or the French-Italian 1956 version featuring Anthony Quinn and Gina Lollobrigida. Folks of my generation might better recall these two post-Chaney re-tellings, especially if they have little interest in silent cinema. Younger folks were likely first introduced to the tale via Disney’s 1996 animated musical adaptation – a film whose cartoon Quasimodo most resembled Laughton’s pitiful, less grotesque caricature. Having said that, Chaney’s Quasimodo, despite age, will forever remain the most iconic.

A few notes on this generous bonus materials supplied on this set. Included is a vintage, silent Life in Hollywood newsreel that features a birds-eye view of the massive Universal City lot, described on an inter-title card as “the strangest city in the world.” Once on soil, we watch as a procession of Universal’s silent-era stars and starlets’ parade out of a studio canteen. Most of these names are now sadly lost to the memory of all but a small cabal of film historians. The newsreel, running approximately eight and a half minutes in length features a small clip of Chaney – sans costume and make-up - demonstrating a bit of acrobatics on the exterior of the Notre Dame structure.

The set also features a thirteen-minute silent reel of “Mabel and Bill Dumphy’s Visit with Hazel and Lon.” This is sourced from 16mm footage shot during the couple’s visits with Chaney, his wife Hazel, and their wire-haired terrier Sandy, at rest during the family’s residencies in Soboba Hot Springs and Saratoga. The Soboba footage is primarily interesting in its moody capture of the former’s Riverside County hamlet’s Spanish mission-styled architecture and terraced landscapes. There’s not much Chaney in the Soboba footage, aside from Lon looking out pensively over the hillside, or playfully tugging at Sandy the dog’s tail in another.

The Saratoga footage documents additional glimpses of the Chaneys at home. We watch as Chaney and guests mill about a backyard garden, the reclusive actor letting down his guarded reserve. We watch as Lon playfully wrestles a giggling Hazel on the lawn or smoking and drinking with friends. The latter clip is of interest due to the recognizable presence of Lon’s son, Creighton (strategically “re-christened” Lon Chaney Jr. following his father’s passing), smiling as he too puffs away on a cigarette in the background. The set also features an audio-commentary track by Farran Smith Nehme, a film historian and critic whose work has appeared in such publications as Film Comment, The Wall Street Journal, Village Voice and New York Post. The set rounds off with a generous gallery/slideshow of publicity materials and production stills.

One hundred years following the date of its production, Worsley’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame admittedly puts the “retro” in Cinema Retro. But despite the film’s age, its heart still beats soundly. Anyone interested in film history should visit this film at least once in their lifetime, and this Kino Blu-ray might just be the best conduit for one to do just that.

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Retro-Active: From the Cinema Retro Archives

By Lee Pfeiffer

For those of us who are hopelessly addicted to spy movies of the 1960s, the Warner Archive provides a gift: the first DVD release of "The Scorpio Letters", one of the more obscure 007-inspired espionage films of the era. Produced by MGM, the movie was shown on American TV in early 1967 before enjoying a theatrical release in Europe. It seems the studio was trying to emulate the strategy that it was employing at the time for its phenomenally popular "Man From U.N.C.L.E." TV series. That show had proven to be such a hit with international audiences that MGM strung together two-part episodes and released them theatrically. (Three films were released in America but a total of eight were shown in international markets.) As "The Scorpio Letters" was produced with a theatrical run in mind, it has a bit more gloss than the average TV movie, which was then a genre in its infancy. Nevertheless, it still has all the earmarks of a production with a limited budget. Although set in London and France, you'd have to be pretty naive to believe any of the cast and crew ever got out of southern California. Grainy stock footage is used to simulate those locations and there is ample use of the very distinctive MGM back lot, which at times makes the film resemble an episode of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." What the movie does provide is some nice chemistry between its two lead actors, Alex Cord, who had recently acquitted himself quite well in the underrated 1966 big screen remake of John Ford's "Stagecoach" and Shirley Eaton, then still riding the wave of popularity she enjoyed as the iconic "golden girl" from the Bond blockbuster "Goldfinger". The two play rival spies in London, both working for different British intelligence agencies, though whether it is MI5 or MI6 is never made clear. 

The film is based on a novel by Victor Caning that had been adapted for the screen by the ironically named Adrian Spies, who had a long career working primarily in television. (Curiously, his one credited feature film was for the superb 1968 adventure "Dark of the Sun" (aka "The Mercenaries".) There is nothing remarkable about his work on "The Scorpio Letters". In fact, Spies provides a rather confusing plot. The film opens on a jarring note with a man taking a suicidal plunge from his apartment window in London. Turns out he was a British intelligence agent and the reasons for his suicide are of great interest to the higher ups in the spy business. Alex Cord plays Joe Christopher, an American ex-cop who now does work for one of the intelligence agencies run by Burr (the ever-reliable Laurence Naismith). Burr orders him to get to the bottom of the suicide case and in doing so, Joe gains access to the dead man's apartment just in time to encounter a mysterious man stealing a letter addressed to the dead agent. A foot chase ensues that ends with both men getting struck by a London double decker bus (yes, MGM had one of those laying around the back lot.) Still, Joe manages to steal back the letter the man had swiped and finds it is obviously a blackmail attempt made against the dead agent by a mystery person who goes by the name of Scorpio. From there the plot gets rather confusing and becomes one of those thrillers that is best enjoyed if you stop trying to figure out who is who and just sit back and enjoy the ride. Joe flirts with Phoebe Stewart (Shirley Eaton), who works in another intelligence agency. It appears her boss and Joe's boss are constantly trying to undermine each other in the attempt to solve major cases. Phoebe makes an attempt to seduce Joe, but he correctly suspects that she is trying to compromise him for information he knows about the case. Inevitably, a real romance blossoms but the love scenes are pretty mild, perhaps due to the fact that this film was made with a television broadcast in mind. (The plot invokes the old joke of having the would-be lovers get interrupted every time they attempt to get it on.)  

Joe gets a lead that takes him to Paris where he discovers that Scorpio is the man behind a shadowy spy network that uses agents employed as waiters in an upscale restaurant. I imagine the reason for this is explained somewhere along the line but it's just one more confusing element to the script. Joe infiltrates the spies/waiters gang in the hopes of finding out who Scorpio is. Meanwhile, in the film's best scene, he is exposed, captured and tortured. There is even a modicum of suspense as there appears to be no logical way he will get out of this particular death trap. Refreshingly, Joe is no 007. He makes miscalculations, gets bruised and beaten and often has to rely on the intervention of others to save him. (In the film's climax, finding himself outmanned and outgunned, he actually does the logical thing and asks someone to call the local police for help.) Ultimately, Scorpio is revealed to be one of those standard, aristocratic spy villains of Sixties cinema. In this case he is played by the very able Oscar Beregi Jr. If you don't know the name, you'll know his face, as he excelled in playing urbane bad guys in countless TV shows and feature films of the era. There are numerous kidnappings, shootouts, double crosses and red herrings and one bizarre sequence that is ostensibly set in a French ski resort in which the ski lift is inexplicably in operation even though it's summer. Additionally, the California mountains look as much like France as Jersey City does.

Despite all of the gripes, I enjoyed watching "The Scorpio Letters". It's an entertaining, fast-moving diversion, directed with unremarkable efficiency by Richard Thorpe (his second-to-last film). Cord makes for a very capable leading man, tossing off the requisite wisecracks even while undergoing torture. Eaton possesses the kind of old world glamour you rarely see on screen nowadays. Together, they make an otherwise mediocre movie play out better than it probably should. (A minor trivia note: this represents the first film score of composer Dave Grusin, who would go on to become an Oscar winner.)

The Warner Archive DVD transfer is very impressive and the film contains an original trailer, which presumably was used in non-U.S. markets.

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ViaVision's Imprint line will release a limited edition, region-free (1,500 units) Blu-ray boxed set commemorating director Walter Hill. Suggest you get your pre-orders in early, as Imprint limited edition sets usually sell out fast. This set will be released in July.

Here is the official announcement:

Walter Hill has been directing films for almost 50 years and has established himself a reputation of delivering thrilling, gritty, and highly stylized films.

This special edition set collects five films and one landmark miniseries from one of the most important and influential filmmakers of modern cinema.

• Hard Times (1975)
• The Driver (1978)
• The Long Riders (1980)
• Extreme Prejudice (1987)
• Johnny Handsome (1989)
• Broken Trail (2006)

Featuring performances from some of Hollywood’s greatest actors including Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Bruce Dern, Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman & Robert Duvall.

Limited Edition 8-Disc Hardbox. 1500 copies only.

Hard Times (1975) – Imprint Collection #164

In the middle of the Great Depression, Chaney (Charles Bronson, Death Wish) is just looking to catch a break. When he meets Speed (James Coburn, The Magnificent Seven), a promoter of bare-knuckle street fighting, Chaney thinks with his fighting skill and Speed’s savvy, he might have a chance. But Speed has his own problems, and what seemed like a sure thing is not as simple.

This gritty, compelling drama is the directorial debut of Walter Hill.

Starring Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland & Strother Martin.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• Special features TBC
• Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
• Audio English DTS-HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0
• Optional English subtitles

The Driver (1978) – Blu-ray & 4K – Imprint Collection #165

Ryan O’Neal plays the Driver, an ice-cool getaway “Wheel Man” for hire. Bruce Dern is the detective who becomes obsessed with catching him. The more O’Neal leaves tantalising clues at the crime scenes, the more Dern becomes a man possessed with catching his prey.

This cult neo-noir thriller is presented on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

Starring Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Joseph Walsh & Ronee Blakley.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

4K UHD Disc

• NEW 4K restoration by StudioCanal
• Walter Hill Masterclass – featurette
• Interview with Walter Hill
• Alternate Opening
• Original English Trailer
• Original German Trailer
• 13 Original Teasers

Blu-ray Disc

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• NEW Audio Commentary by film historian and critic Matthew Asprey Gear (2022)
• NEW Cut to the Chase – interview with actor Bruce Dern on The Driver (2022)
• NEW Teeth Bared – interview with actor Rudy Ramos on The Driver (2022)
• NEW Simplicity in Motion: Editing The Driver – interview with editor Robert K. Lambert (2022)
• Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles

The Long Riders (1981) – Imprint Collection #166

The Long Riders is Hill’s version of the story of the James-Younger gang. Held as heroes by many, and much celebrated for its attacks upon the railroad, the gang became the most famous band of outlaws in the country. They were eventually brought to ruin by the Pinkerton detective agency, losing many of their number in the ill-fated Northfield, Minnesota bank raid.

Four sets of real-life brothers – the Carradines, the Keachs, the Quaids and the Guests – star in this classic western.

Starring Keith Carradine, James Remar, Dennis Quaid, Stacy Keach, Robert Carradine & David Carradine.

Special Edition 2-Disc Set.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

Disc One

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• Audio Commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• NEW Audio Commentary by film historian Toby Roan
• Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles

Disc Two

• Interview with actors Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine
• Interview with actors Stacy Keach and James Keach
• Interview with actor Randy Quaid
• Interview with actor Nicholas Guest
• Interview with director Walter Hill
• Interview with composer Ry Cooder
• Interview with producer Tim Zinnemann
• Outlaw Brothers: The Making of The Long Riders – documentary
• The Northfield Minnesota Raid: Anatomy of a Scene – featurette
• Slow Motion: Walter Hill on Sam Peckinpah – featurette
• Theatrical Trailer

Extreme Prejudice (1987) – Imprint Collection #167

Extreme Prejudice stars Nick Nolte as tough, no-nonsense Texas ranger Jack Benteen, whose childhood friend Cash (Powers Boothe) is now a ruthless drugs baron on the other side of the border. Jack finds himself recruited by the CIA to eliminate Cash, who allegedly has secret government documents.

Starring Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Rip Torn, Maria Conchita Alonso & Michael Ironside.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• NEW Audio Commentary by film critic / author Walter Chaw
• NEW Audio Commentary by film historians Daniel Kremer and Nat Segaloff
• Audio commentary by film historians C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
• Interview with director Walter Hill (2010)
• Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with music historian John Takis
• The Major’s Agenda – interview with actor Michael Ironside
• The War Within – interview with actor Clancy Brown
• Capturing The Chaos – interview with director of photography Matthew F. Leonetti
• Theatrical Trailer
• Vintage Electronic Press Kit
• Photo Gallery
• Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HOH subtitles

Johnny Handsome (1989) – Imprint Collection #168

Severely-deformed petty criminal Johnny Handsome (Mickey Rourke) is double-crossed in a robbery and left to take the rap on his own. He is stabbed in jail and sent to hospital, where a prison doctor decides that plastic surgery and a fresh start will lead Johnny on the path to reform. However, when the handsome new Johnny emerges from prison, his potential fresh start in life is hampered by his desire to get even with the man who put him away.

Starring Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Morgan Freeman & Forest Whitaker.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• NEW Audio Commentary by film critic and author Walter Chaw (2022)
• NEW Audio commentary by film critics Daniel Kremer and Scout Tafoya (2022)
• NEW Interview with actor Peter Jason
• Codes to Live By: Walter Hill on Johnny Handsome – featurette
• Wordsmith – interview with writer Ken Friedman (2010)
• Eye of the Beholder – interview with makeup artist Michael Westmore (2010)
• Action Man – interview with stuntman Allan Graf (2010)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HOH subtitles

Broken Trail (2006) – Imprint Collection #169

Set in 1897, Print Ritter (Robert Duvall) and his estranged nephew Tom Harte (Haden Church) become the reluctant guardians of five abused and abandoned Chinese girls. Ritter and Harte’s attempts to care for the girls are complicated by their responsibility to deliver a herd of horses while avoiding a group of bitter rivals, intent on kidnapping the girls for their own purposes. Classic Western action takes centre stage in this dramatic miniseries!

This critically acclaimed miniseries is the winner of four Emmy Awards.

Starring Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church & Greta Scacchi.

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored 4K master
• Broken Trail: The Making of a Legendary Western – featurette
• Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
• Audio English DTS HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English subtitles

Any pre-order titles will be dispatched in the week leading up to its aforementioned release date. Special features and artwork are subject to change.

Click here to to order.  (Prices are in Australian dollars. Use currency converter to see value in your local currency.)

By Lee Pfeiffer

In reviewing "Fuzz" when it opened in 1972, Vincent Canby of the New York Times noted that the film looks more like a dress rehearsal than a finished movie and was obviously intended to appeal to viewers who had a limited attention span. In contrast, Roger Ebert said he was put off by the exploitive elements of the movie poster, but in the end called it a funny, quietly cheerful movie. I guess I land in the same ballpark as Ebert, although I'm not without criticism of the film, which was based on author Ed McBain's popular "87th Precinct" novels that explored the excitement and absurdities found in a modern, big city police department. The film has an impressive ensemble cast: Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch (reunited after co-starring in "100 Rifles"), Tom Skeritt, Jack Weston and Raquel Welch, who appears rather fleetingly despite her prominent billing. Oh, and the bad guy is played by Yuel Brynner, who appears rather late in the film in a limited number of scenes.

The film is primarily played for laughs and it's scattershot plot jumps around at a dizzying pace. The action takes place in the aforementioned 87th Precinct in Boston, a run-down venue located in a troubled part of the city. The plot focuses on a harried group of cynical detectives who report to their equally cynical, burned-out boss, Lt. Byrnes (Dan Frazer). The precinct is depicted as decrepit and as worn-out as its inhabitants. There's a lot of chaotic action going on throughout the day with various local miscreants and eccentrics clogging up the works, much to the frustration of the burned-out cops.  The plot sees seasoned veteran cops Steve Carella (Burt Reynolds), Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt) and Meyer Meyer (you read that right) (Jack Weston) trying to cope with the chaos- as well as the arrival of a strikingly beautiful policewoman who has been assigned to the precinct, Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch). Among the cases being investigated simultaneously are the identities of the creeps who have been setting local hobos on fire, a serial rapist, various petty crimes and a late-breaking, high-profile threat posed by an unknown man who phones in death threats aimed at local public officials.When the ransom he demands isn't paid, said officials are bumped off in a high profile manner despite intense efforts by the police to thwart the plots. The villain is known as The Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a sophisticated brute with the persona of a Bond villain, who employs a small team of loyal and very competent crooks to help him carry out the various assassinations.

Director Richard A. Colla employs the Altmanesque gimmick of having characters talk over each other in a Tower of Babel-like scenario, but in the context of a chaotic police department, the tactic works. The air of realism is accurate. During this era, my father was a cop in Jersey City, a stone's throw across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Like most urban areas during this era, it was a city beset by plenty of problems. Whenever I would see him at the precinct, I witnessed the kind of mutual ball-busting humor cops would engage in. I realized it was their way of coping with the pressures of the job and "Fuzz" captures this environment perfectly. The screenplay by Evan Hunter, who wrote the source novel under the nom de plume Ed McBain, is rather episodic and some plot lines are left to dwindle as the cops try to solve any number of on-going threats to the city. Raquel Welch's character is subjected to the predictable sexist comments, but, refreshingly she is spared any exploitation scenes (except for one fleeting moment) and acquits herself well as this valiant public servant. The whole messy scenario comes together in a very clever ending in which all of the unrelated characters end up converging on a local liquor store where the cops are holding a stakeout. The mayhem that ensues is both funny and exciting and ties some of the loose ends together. A comic highlight finds Reynolds and Weston dressed as nuns in a stakeout to capture the rapist.

The cast is first-rate. Reynolds is in top form and he gets fine support from Tom Skerritt, Jack Weston (particularly impressive), Dan Frazer and James McEachin. Don Gordon is among the bad guys, and as with any of his screen appearances, he's a welcome presence. Reynolds breaks the wise-cracking mode in a touching scene that shows him with his wife, a deaf mute played by Neile Adams. Yul Brynner adds his customary classy presence in his limited screen time.

Reynolds and Welch could not have been pleased with the marketing campaign for the movie: a Mad magazine-style ad that capitalized on Reynold's recent centerfold in Cosmopolitan and had Welch depicted in a bikini, although she appears in no such attire and is demurely dressed in the film. (Her character disappears mid-way through the movie and inexplicably doesn't show up again.) Nevertheless, Reynolds would finally rise to major boxoffice status later in the year with his superb performance in "Deliverance" and Welch would graduate to intelligently-written roles that proved she was more than a pretty face.

"Fuzz" is an imperfect movie but it's a lot of fun. Recommended.

(The film is currently showing on Screenpix, which is available by subscription through Amazon Prime, Roku and Apple TV.)

To order the Blu-ray, click here.

By Lee Pfeiffer

"The Pink Jungle" is a Universal production from 1968 and it looks it, with plenty of backlot sets doubling for authentic foreign settings. The studio always clutched the purse strings rather tightly when producing mid-range fare such as this, but it doesn't mean these films were devoid of value. This particular production was based on a 1965 action adventure novel titled "Swamp Water" by Allan Williams, which is regarded as a straight-forward thriller. The film adaptation with a script by Charles Williams eschews the thrills in favor of laughs. The film opens in one of those conveniently unnamed-but-undesirable South American countries where we find James Garner arriving in a one-horse town. He's fashion photographer Ben Morris who is there to do a quick shoot before returning to the States. The subject of his fashion spread soon arrives: supermodel Alison Duguesne (Eva Renzi), and she's more than a bit put off by the primitive environment. Things go downhill from there. They find they are stranded when the only local helicopter is stolen. They are introduced to the local corrupt police chief, Colonel Celaya (Fabrizio Mioni), who is looking to squeeze them for any bribes he can get. Then there is Raul Ortega (Michael Ansara), a local shady character in his own right. I won't bother with detailing how all of these characters affect the story, as we're not outlining "Citizen Kane" here. Suffice it to say that both Ben and Alison find themselves on defense all the time among this stew of swindlers and killers. Things kick into high gear when they meet Sammy Reiderbeit (George Kennedy), a South African with an American accent (!). He's a volatile nut case who embroils them in a seemingly madcap scheme to find a hidden diamond mine. He has access to a map that supposedly outlines where it is located but it requires an arduous and dangerous journey to reach the area- and there are all sorts of villains on their trail trying to obtain the map at any cost. 

"The Pink Jungle" is played strictly for laughs with Garner playing a typical Garner role: a man of action who can dispense punches and quips with equal skill. Kennedy plays a typical Kennedy role: a loud, crude boisterous type who is more brawn than brains. They form one of those uneasy partnerships to set off to find the gold only to encounter another disreputable character, McCune (Nigel Green) who joins the team even though no one trusts him. The first section of the film is shot entirely on the Universal backlot, though the art directors- Al Ybarra and and Alexander Golitzen- do succeed in making the seedy buildings seem convincing. Things only open up when the characters hit the mountains and desert (entirely filmed in California and Nevada). It's clear that Universal designed this movie for quick playoff. I'm not even certain it ever played as a main feature, as I recall as a kid seeing it as the bottom half of a double-bill with "Lady in Cement". Writing in his memoirs many years later, Garner dismissed the film thusly: "I made this thing for the money and I'm lucky it didn't wreck my career". That seems a bit harsh. If one approaches the film with modest expectations, they might be rewarded with some modest pleasures. Garner is always fun to watch and Eva Renzi, fresh from her success in "Funeral in Berlin",  makes an appealing leading lady whose flirtatious relationship with Ben remains chaste, probably because they spend most of their time dodging assassination attempts. George Kennedy dominates every scene he's in as the cigar-chomping, erratic, yet likable madman who is obsessed with finding the diamond mine. Nigel Green's appearance mid-film adds some intrigue and he's fun to watch.  Director Delbert Mann, like his cast members, would not have put this film near the top of his credentials. (He had directed the Oscar winner, "Marty"). However, his workmanlike direction here keeps the pace lively and the action flowing. Oh, and the ending does provide a bit of a surprise revelation.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray presents the film in a reasonably good transfer. The only bonus extra is the original trailer (which plays up George Kennedy's recent Oscar win for "Cool Hand Luke") and a gallery of other trailers for KL action movie releases.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Way back in 1971 when I was in high school, there seemed to be a tidal wave of soft-core porn flicks, mostly imported from Europe and dubbed rather crudely into English. I never sought to spend the paltry contents of my wallet on these tame sex movies movies because I lived directly across the river from Times Square and that offered my friends and I the real forbidden fruit in sleazy, grind house movie theaters. Age was no barrier as long as you were willing to pay the then tidy sum of $5. However, the softcore Euro imports did find enthusiastic audiences in places where there weren't many alternatives to finding cinematic "adult entertainment". The films were generally rated "X" but were pretty tame, stressing humor to overcome objections from local killjoys who thought the idea of seeing some naked people on screen would condemn their entire community to eternal damnation. One of the most profitable of these films was the 1969 release, "The Stewardesses", which was so tame that it could be shown on Disney+ today. Nevertheless, these films afforded women to get a few cheap thrills without having to suffer the stigma of being seen entering a theater showing hardcore fare. Thus, plenty of couples enjoyed the opportunity to share in date nights that somewhat pushed the envelope in terms of general standards. The films were generally bestowed with memorable titles, which is why I remember the newspaper ads for "Dagmar's Hot Pants" and similar fare such as "The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried". The good news is that some of these films have been lovingly presented on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber, in collaboration with Code Red. When a screener arrived of "Dagmar's Hot Pants", I took an immediate interest, remembering hot pants as one of those short-lived fashion trends of the 1970s. For those readers who were not around way back then, the gimmick with hot pants was a simple one: they were very short and very tight and left little to the imagination. Although my high school had a very liberal dress code (jeans and T shirts were the norm), I do recall one of my female classmates pushing the envelope by wearing hot pants to class. That was a bridge too far and she was summarily sent home to change into something less offensive, much to the consternation of her male classmates. At least hot pants were provocative and sensible, as opposed to the male fashions of the era such as the leisure suit and safari jacket, the latter of which was a dress/casual abomination that looked as though it was designed to allow a man to hunt elephants in the morning and then attend a swank cocktail party in the evening without changing attire.

I looked forward to viewing "Dagmar's Hot Pants" simply to see an abundance of this long-forgotten fashion trend glorified on screen. Alas, I was snookered, as was anyone back in the day who paid to see the film. You see, there are no hot pants in "Dagmar's Hot Pants". They are neither shown nor discussed. It was simply a case of a shamelessly deceptive marketing campaign to capitalize on a recent fashion trend. Oh, well.The film itself presents lovely Diana Kjaer in the title role, playing a fabulously successful young woman who has emerged as one of Copenhagen's most in-demand hookers. Dagmar's daily schedule of meeting with clients from around the globe is frantic and she sometimes has to call on the services of fellow prostitutes to assist her in meeting some of the more unusual demands of her customers. The film takes a humorous view of all this, as we see Dagmar patiently keeping a straight face while interacting with oddball clients ranging from two goofy Japanese businessmen who want an orgy to horny local businessmen of some esteem, including a doctor who pays Dagmar to initiate his teenage son in the ways of the world. The only "normal" client Dagmar services is a member of Copenagen's Vice Squad, who ensures she doesn't get busted in return for sexual favors. One of her adoring clients is a gruff, but rich American businessman played by Robert Strauss...yes, that Robert Strauss who had earned an Oscar nomination for Billy Wilder's "Stalag 13". It's a bit uncomfortable seeing the sixty-something actor engaging in a sexual dalliance with Dagmar but presumably the lure of a quick paycheck and a trip to Copenhagen made for an offer Strauss couldn't refuse. If Robert Strauss has always figured into your fantasies, then your ship has come in. Throughout the story, Dagmar is keeping a big secret as she arranges to leave her lucrative business for a top secret venture. "That's it!", I thought- she's going into the hot pants manufacturing business, but alas, the answer is somewhat more mundane and disappointing. There are a couple of minor efforts to introduce some dramatic scenes into the slapstick. Dagmar lends her desperate brother money so that his girlfriend can get an abortion. There is also a tense scene with her quasi-pimp, a scary fellow who threatens her if she doesn't obey his wishes. In this sense, the film differs from similar movies of this type by at least acknowledging that the life of a call girl isn't all fun and games. 

As is usual with these films, there are some interludes showing the star walking through the lovely streets of Copenhagen in an obvious attempt to add an exotic appeal to the production. Diana Kjaer manages to keep her clothes on occasionally but for the most part she is seen showering or chatting on the phone sans any cumbersome garments. I must say the dubbing in this film is a bit better than most and Code Red and Kino Lorber have provided a good looking transfer from a 2K master. You have to admire companies that take such efforts to preserve and present even minor films such as this.

The only bonus extra is an English language trailer that continues the sin of false advertising by saying "Dagmar's Hot Pants" is the name the title character has given to her prostitution network. In fact, there is never any mention of Dagmar's Hot Pants anywhere in the film. However, if these tame sex comedies from the distant past appeal to you, this is one of the better in this genre. I now hopefully await a Blu-ray release of "The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried"!.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Lewis Gilbert's 1964 film The 7th Dawn is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. Longtime readers will remember that Gilbert discussed the movie in an exclusive interview with Matthew Field in Cinema Retro issue #18. The movie had previously only been available in the U.S. as a burn-to-order MGM DVD. This is a thoroughly engrossing, adult drama with an unusual setting and story background. The movie begins on the final day of WWII and centers on three disparate friends: an American named Ferris (William Holden), a French woman, Dhana (Capucine) and a Malayan, Ng (Tetsuro Tamba) who have led guerilla forces against the Japanese occupation in Malaya. The three close friends are jubilant in victory, after having suffered from fighting in the jungle for extended periods. At the end of the war, Ng goes off to Moscow to pursue communist political training. The apolitical Ferris stays behind, with Malayasia now under British occupation. He thrives as a local rubber plantation owner, and Dhana is his lover, despite her frustration with Ferris' womanizing. The story advances to 1953, with Malayans now impatient for independence from England, which is easing toward granting their demands, but at a snail's pace. Ng returns to Malaya to try to instigate communist-inspired violent uprisings. To his sympathizers, he is a freedom fighter. To the British, he is a terrorist and the most wanted man in the nation.

Ferris is shaken from his cynical desire to remain removed from the political situation when Dhana is framed and charged by the British for assisting the terrorists. She has a choice: lead the authorities to Ng's hideout in the jungle or be sentenced to death. Dhana, who has always been as attracted to Ng as she has to Ferris, refuses to give him up. Ferris is faced with the ultimate dilemma: betray his best friend by capturing him and turning him into the British, or face the prospect of his lover being executed. Adding to the complications is the presence of Candace (Susannah York), the comely young daughter of the British governor who is also in love with Ferris and who concocts a scheme that might save Dhana, despite the fact that it places her own life in danger.

The 7th Dawn is a superb movie on every level, although it was not particularly successful on its initial release. Unlike most of the simplistic, special-effects driven action films of today, this movie deals with basic human dilemmas such as the meaning of friendships and the price of loyalties. The four leads are outstanding and Holden, in particular, gives one of the most impressive performances of his career. York and Capucine give touching performances, as well, and Tamba (who would go on to star as 'Tiger' Tanaka in Lewis Gilbert's 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice) is particularly impressive as a man who is torn between political ideology and his affection for his friends. The political drama is played out in an engrossing manner, as one witnesses the bumbling, if sincere attempts by the British bureaucrats to try to win the hearts and minds of the locals through tragically misguided methods. The film builds to a harrowing conclusion as Ferris and Candace venture into the jungle in an attempt to capture Ng before the death sentence can be carried out against Dhana. The last half hour of the movie is especially riveting and packed with suspense and Gilbert's direction is truly impressive. The film benefits from the lush landscapes photographed by Freddie Young and a beautiful musical score by Riz Ortolani.

Put this one on your "must see" list.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray boasts an impressive transfer, though bonus materials are relegated to a trailer gallery. It would have been a good idea to include a commentary track, but considering the Blu-ray is a big step up from the previous DVD release, we won't complain. 

Click here to order from Amazon.

The Australian video company Imprint has released "The Gidget Film Collection". Here are the details:

The original beach party movie ‘Gidget’ plus three sequels on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide!

Gidget (1959)

The original surfer girl/beach bum movie, adapted from the novel by Frederick Kohner, Gidget (1959) stars Sandra Dee as determined little Frances Lawrence, who falls in love both with surfing and with the characters who populate the local Southern California beach hangout. Of particular interest are the young Moondoggie (James Darren) and the more mature Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), a Korean War vet who is the idol of every surfer on the coast for his life of apparently unfettered freedom.

Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)

In this sequel to the hit 1959 film “Gidget,” Francie “Gidget” Lawrence (Deborah Walley) is once again involved with her boyfriend, Jeff “Moondoggie” Matthews (James Darren). However, they have a lovers’ spat, and Gidget goes to sulk in Hawaii with her parents. In the islands, she meets TV dancer Eddie Horner (Michael Callan). Seeing how miserable she’s become, Gidget’s wise dad (Carl Reiner) sends for Moondoggie, and the couple reunite just as Gidget gets romantic with Eddie.

Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)

Gidget, in Rome for a holiday, misinterprets attention she receives from a famous journalist. Discovering he is “chaperoning” her at Dad’s request she resumes interest in her boyfriend. Based upon characters created by Frederick Kohner.

Gidget Gets Married (1972)

Newly married Gidget makes waves in her husband’s company by taking a stand against the social caste system.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• “Gidget Gets Married” – the 1972 Television Movie
• “Gidget” Theatrical Trailer

Keep in mind that prices are quoted in Australian dollars. Use a currency converter to see what the price is in your national currency.

By Hank Reineke

Following the “monstrous” success of Universal’s Frankenstein, Boris Karloff no longer had to cast about Hollywood looking for employment. Between 1932 and 1942, the actor would appear in more than forty feature films for nearly every major and minor Hollywood studio: Universal, of course: but also Fox, United Artists, Paramount, MGM, RKO Radio, Warner Bros., Monogram and Columbia. Prior to Frankenstein, Karloff had appeared in several gangster/prison pictures for Columbia Pictures as a menacing presence. It was a gift that brought attention.

Though it was Universal’s Frankenstein (1931) that would make Karloff a box-office star in his own right, the actor would go on to make two other films for Columbia in the 1930s (The Black Room and The Man They Could Not Hang). Though Columbia studio boss Harry Cohn didn’t care much for horror pictures, Karloff’s on-screen villainy was a hot commercial property ripe for exploitation. So Columbia cast him – in a dual role as bothers Anton and Gregor De Berghman’s – in Roy William Neill’s big-budget historical melodrama The Black Room Mystery (the title later shortened to The Black Room). It’s interesting that the two-page spread Columbia took out in the trades didn’t play up the film’s “horror” angle. Only that the film would star “Boris Karloff: The Man They Love to Hate in a powerful mystery romance.”

Columbia’s The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) followed, the first of a five-picture deal Karloff would strike with the studio. Between 1939 and 1942 the actor embarked on a series of Columbia films that fans describe as the actor’s “mad scientist” pictures. All five of these melodramas/horror-sci-fi pics, as well as The Black Room, are included on Mill Creek’s new Blu- ray package Thrillers from the Vault. Two additional horror/sci-fi efforts from Columbia (Return of the Vampire and Five) round out this generous – if curious - set. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

In many respects the first four of Karloff’s mad scientist films closely resemble one another in construction. They’re formula films. In each Karloff portrays a scientist/doctor working on a formula or experiment that will benefit all mankind. But in each instance the science goes wrong - which causes Karloff to do the same. In fairness, his murderous turn-of-heart is usually due to the interventions of disbelievers. The premise of all these “mad scientist” films can be summarized in a line Karloff delivers in The Man They Could Not Hang. Having vanquished nearly all of those he holds responsible for his murder conviction, he snarls bitterly, “Every gift that science has given them has been twisted into a thing of hate and greed!”

In Nick Grinde’s The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), Karloff plays Dr. Henryk Savaard, a noble scientist who plans to test his newfangled mechanical heart pump on a young and trusting medical associate (Stanley Brown). To conduct this experiment, the young man must be first put into a state of clinical death prior to reification. But due to the alarm of his hysterical nurse – the fiancé of the test subject, to boot – the authorities are alerted. Upon their hurried arrival at Savaard’s laboratory, they do not allow the pleading scientists the chance to revive the corpse of the test subject.

Savaard is tried for murder and executed on the gallows. But the scientist’s devoted assistant Lang (Byron Foulger) collects his body from the prison morgue, applies the mechanical heart procedure on Savaard’s corpse, and resurrects Savaard. But Dr. Savaard is no longer a benevolent scientist. The actions set off by the “treacherous” nurse has left him mercilessly unhinged. He’s now interested only on exacting revenge on the twelve jurors and prosecution team who found him guilty of murder.

In Grinde’s The Man with Nine Lives (1940), Karloff plays Dr. Leon Kravaal, a scientist whose cancer research leads him to believe that freezing those afflicted – temporarily in a secretive, subterranean glacial chamber - helps retard or cure the disease. But the authorities – pressed by a gaggle of wary villagers - wrongly suspect Kravaal is up to no good. They travel out to his secretive island with the intent of hauling Kravaal to prison.

With the life of his frozen patient in jeopardy due to this unwelcome incursion, Kravaal releases a gas, rendering everyone – including himself – unconscious in the frozen chamber. The film flashes forward a decade on when a trio of scientists decide to investigate Kravaal’s mysterious disappearance. Upon finding both the doctor and his interlopers perfectly preserved in ice, all are thawed out. But Kravaal, now crazed with revenge, uses his new lease on life to continue his experiments on his imprisoned and unwilling subjects.

Grinde’s back again for Before I Hang (1940). In this one Karloff plays Dr. John Garth, an elderly, mild-mannered scientist in search of a serum that will retard the aging process. He’s not successful in his first effort, compelling him to perform a “mercy killing” on a patient whose life was nothing but a “sleepless, tortured nightmare.” For this act he’s convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. While awaiting execution, the warden (unreasonably) allows Garth to continue with his experiments under the supervision of a prison doctor Dr. Howard (Edward Van Sloane). Reworking the formula, Garth has the bad idea of mixing the blood of recently executed fellow inmate – who happened to be a three-time convicted murderer – into the serum.

Garth chooses to be the willing guinea pig himself – he’s about to be executed anyway, so has nothing to lose – and injects the serum into his own bloodstream. This time the age reversal works – but with a caveat. Though Garth begins to transform into his younger self, his veins now carry the “contaminated” blood of a murderer. Unable to fend off evil impulses, Garth strangles Dr. Howard. But prison authorities mistakenly pin Howard’s murder on another inmate and Garth – injured in a frantic melee with that inmate - is ultimately pardoned. But the tainted blood he carries compels him to seek out fresh victims outside of prison walls.

Things go no better for Karloff’s Dr. Julian Blair in Edward Dmytryk’s The Devil Commands (1941). Despondent over his wife’s death in an automobile accident, Blair is convinced brainwaves of the deceased live on following a body’s expiry - and such waves can be recorded electrically on a graph. Though most of his colleagues scoff at his theory, Blair is determined to continue his work in a remote cliff side cottage near the sea. To this end he has built an elaborate – and decidedly eerie – laboratory: one brimming with electrical gimmickry, wires and steel-plated robotic helmets. Such experimentation might have been sanctioned had Blair not robbed local graves in search of test subjects. Needless to say things, as ever, do not turn out well for anyone involved.

The sixth and final Karloff Columbia effort in this set is Lew Lander’s The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942). This is a more lighthearted affair, a black comedy that’s, regrettably, only occasionally comedic. The film, a co-feature with Peter Lorre, is mostly a poor cousin to a more recent and successful enterprise. The Boogie Man Will Get You is mostly an ill-conceived knock-off of Karloff’s popularity as the murderous Jonathon Brewster in the Broadway stage production of Arsenic and Old Lace.

There is a key difference. While the Broadway play and Lander’s film attempt to mix laughs with menace, the former does so to perfection, the latter… not so much. As this is a WWII era-film, Karloff’s Professor Billings and Lorre’s Dr. Lorencz work to create a race of super-humans to assist the Allied war effort. It’s best to be a fan of mug boxer-turned-character-actor “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom if one truly expects to mine sixty-six minutes of reasonable entertainment.

The seventh and eighth films of this Thrillers from the Vault set are the only two not featuring Karloff. Lander’s The Return of the Vampire (1942) features Bela Lugosi’s caped return as Count Dracula… well, more or less. In the film his character is actually referred to as Armand Tesla, but Lugosi plays his part mostly as he had the more fabled Count of Tod Browning’s Universal classic of 1931. While there’s no Dwight Frye to attend to his sinister beckoning’s, this film’s “Renfield” styled servant is Andreas Orby (Matt Willis), a talking werewolf.

As with The Boogie Man Will Get You, this film too situates a favorite horror actor in a modern WWII setting. The vampire Tesla is resurrected in the film’s earliest scenes as his graveyard internment is disturbed by a German air-raid bombing over London. This is, most welcomingly, the first time The Return of the Vampire has been issued in the U.S. on Blu-ray. The title was previously issued by Columbia/Tri-Star on a DVD release of 2002.

The set’s eighth and final film Five (1951) is the odd man out here, a thoughtful if dystopian film, courtesy of writer-director-producer Arch Oboler of Lights Out radio fame. A nuclear bomb blast has wiped out all of the world’s population, save for five souls who wander and ponder moralities, politics and the future’s gloomy future prospects. It might have been best to include Five on Mill Creek’s sister set to this Thriller release, Sci-Fi from the Vault.

In truth, my first reaction when scanning this set’s packaging was wonderment why a 1950’s film such as Five was included in this set of 1940s horror-mystery programmers? There are several 1940’s pictures from the Columbia vault that would have better fit this Thriller set thematically and chronologically: Will Jason’s Soul of the Monster (1944) and Henry Levin’s Cry of the Werewolf (1944), for starters. The former title was issued as a Columbia Classics made-on-demand DVD in 2011. To my knowledge, the only official release of the latter was on a Goodtime VHS tape – issued way back in 1989 – it’s well past due for a digital re-freshening.

So what’s the verdict? The films look great for their age, with minor speckling and scratches here and there, but nothing too distracting. It’s a mixed bag if we’re to contrast this Mill Creek U.S. issue with Eureka’s UK handsome Blu-ray set Karloff at Columbia. If you’re a US fan without a multi-region Blu ray player than the Mill Creek set should more than satisfy. There are more than a handful of worthy extras on the Mill Creek set. The primary bonus is the forty-minute long doc Madness and Mayhem: Columbia Horror in the ‘30s and ‘40s which features historian C. Courtney Joyner discussing the studio’s involvement in the horror trade.

Five of the eight films on the Mill Creek feature audio commentaries: Dr. Steve Haberman (The Black Room), C. Courtney Joyner and Heath Holland (The Man They Could Not Hang), Tom Weaver (The Devil Commands and Five), the Monster Party Podcast group (The Boogie Man Will Get You) and Larry Blamire (Five.) And, of course, the Mill Creek set gives you the added bonus of two extra features. On the downside, the four Mill Creek discs share space on two spindles – on my copy the discs frequently dislodge. This will surely not make fussier collectors happy.

If you are a particularly devoted fan with region-free Blu-ray capabilities, Eureka’s Karloff at Columbia (a limited edition of 3000 copies) might still be considered for your collection as the six films featured on that set comes with fresh commentaries separate of those found on this Mill Creek set. The Eureka release also contains an informative booklet featuring the musings of author Stephen Jacobs (Boris Karloff: More than a Monster), film critic Jon Towlson and film scholar and University lecturer Craig Ian Mann. Eureka also includes audio of four Inner Sanctum radio broadcast programs (1945-1952), all featuring Karloff. So, as Karloff the sinister might say, it’s upon you to “choose your poison.”

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By Hank Reineke

The Asphyx Will Rip You Apart… The Asphyx Will Invade Your Mind… The Asphyx Will Destroy Your Soul… If It Were In Your Power… Would You Sacrifice Your Wife… Your Children For Immortality?

The answers to the questions posed above by the advertising campaign for Peter Newbrook’s The Asphyx (1972) was a resounding “yes.” As the gifted but obsessed psychic-research scientist Hugo Cunningham, celebrated British actor Robert Stephens puts everyone in his family through the proverbial ringer by film’s end. Such single-minded research on his part is not accomplished without a measure of personal guilt, mind you. But as a curious man of science – and one obsessed with paranormal exploration - Cunningham pushes forward determinedly with increasingly morbid experimentations.

Such “experiments” include the exhuming of his dead son for some post-mortem testing, the photographing of a condemned man at a public hanging, a self-administered electrocution, putting his daughter’s head through a guillotine pillory and even willfully torturing a tubercular pauper. Hey, the last guy, a poorhouse resident, had only forty-eight hours to live anyway… so he was fair game.

Like Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein, Cunningham is a man driven by obsession. Appearing before members of the Psychic Research Society, the scientist presents to colleagues a series of slides depicting a trio of unfortunates photographed at the precise moment of their deaths. Each photograph has a “smudge” present, a sort of phantasmagorical protoplasmic image hovering nearby. It’s Cunningham’s theory that the image is an Asphyx, a creature of Greek mythology. The Asphyx is a visual manifestation of one’s tortured “soul the moment it departs the body.” It’s the scientists’ belief that if one could pre-emptively isolate and imprison the Asphyx prior to expiration, that person might carry on as an immortal. This appears to be Cunningham’s endgame interest.

Though adopted son Giles (Robert Powell) is wary of his father’s dark experiments (“This isn’t science!” he warns), he begrudgingly becomes one-half of Cunningham’s research team – to disastrous results as one might expect. Since Cunningham, to his credit I guess, puts his own life on the line in pursuit of science and immortality, it seems only fair to him that members of the family do the same - and without complaint. Which certainly makes the case that, on some occasions, father doesn’t know best.

Cameras began rolling on the The Asphyx on Monday, February 7, 1972, at Surrey, England’s Shepperton Studios. Shooting wrapped a mere five weeks following first photography. The film was to be helmed by first time director Peter Newbrook, a former cameraman and cinematographer who boasted a filmography dating back to the early 1940s. The film certainly looks great, even if the pacing of Newbrook’s direction is somewhat suspect. The Academy Award-winning Cinematographer Freddie Young (B.S.C.) - of Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, The Battle of Britain and You Only Live Twice fame - would use the newish Todd-AO 35mm anamorphic system to great effect. In many respects, Newbrook’s The Asphyx is of similar construct to such British parlour-horror films being churned out by Hammer and Amicus in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

The question now was whether or not a Victorian-era set horror picture would make any money in 1972? The horror biz was already moving away from stately, moody gothic films to more exploitative blood-splattered fare. Nevertheless, upon the film’s completion, it was announced The Asphyx was to be distributed in the British market by Scotia-Barber. On week later, Variety reported that Martin Grasgreen, President of Paragon Pictures, had managed a deal with Glendale Film Productions (London) to handle distribution of The Asphyx in both the U.S. and Canada. In early winter of 1972, Paragon already had a number of exploitative horror-thrillers in release, including Blood Suckers, Blood Thirst and Death by Invitation.

In August of 1972 the Independent Film Journal announced that The Asphyx, described as a “science-fiction suspense thriller,” would be released the following month, the first of twenty-two films that Paragon had waiting in the queue. Box Office promised the film would be the recipient of “an extensive national advertising and promotion campaign,” with “key theater” roll-outs in Dallas, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

Upon its September release, Variety noted The Asphyx was – welcomingly - bucking the recent trend of blood and gore horrors: Newbrook had intentionally delivered a more “cerebral” or “thinking man’s horror film.” Acknowledging the film was well cast and beautifully photographed, the trade review did rue that Brian Comport’s verbiage-laden screenplay was slow going and riddled with historical improbabilities. Other critics noted Robert Stephen’s mad scientist was one seemingly gifted with precognitive invention.

It was true. As The Asphyx is set in the year 1875, scientist Cunningham had somehow managed to prefigure such mechanical appliances as the first motion picture camera (not actually developed until 1888) and an electric chair (not developed into the early 1880s). To the credit of Box Office, the trade paper cautiously suggested that, “Selling the film as a monster movie would not be to its advantage: a more intelligent approach to sci-fi fans is indicated.” I imagine “less-intelligent” monster movie fans might have shifted restlessly in their seats back in ’72, awaiting even the mildest of jump-scares.

The Asphyx was the fourth and final of writer Brian Comport’s screenplays to be produced. His first screenwriting effort, Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (Cinerama Releasing Corp., 1970), was an out-and-out freaky and grisly exploitation film. Technically speaking, Girly wasn’t a completely original invention of Comport’s. The original story was loosely based on the stage play Happy Family (aka All Fall Down) by the novelist and BBC radio playwright Maisie Mosco. His second screen credit was a co-authorship with director Pete Walker on Man of Violence (later re-titled The Sex Racketeers). That film was a convoluted and overly talky international-gold smuggling-racketeer-caper-thriller with a pronounced sixties swagger.

In one of those local-lad-makes-good-type newspaper items, journalist Anthony Cardew of the Surrey Mirror and County Post, shared an hour with Comport, then basking in the success of his industry breakthrough with Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly. “I was offered a script which a producer wanted lived up,” the writer told Cardew. “He wanted a bit more action or something. I took the script apart and rewrote it completely. I added new characters, took some out and changed the thing entirely. I wrote it in note form, just suggesting the way I thought it should go.”

The producer was pleased with Comport’s revised scenario and formally commissioned him to draft a new screenplay, in the scripters own words, “from the beginning, according to my own ideas.” With the film in production, Comport was also approached by a representative from London’s Sphere books to turn his screenplay into a novelization, a six-week effort bringing in a bit of extra cash.

Many film critics found Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly – later retitled simply as Girly –aggressively unpleasant in its lurid, sexually suggestive subject matter - and decidedly distasteful in its depiction of depravity and violence. One critic would unflatteringly suggest Comport as a leading “candidate for sickest mind of the year award.” Another nonplussed reviewer thought the film as “Theater of the absurd… absurdly vicious.”

Scolding reviews aside, Comport’s star seemed to be on the rise. In October of 1970, only shortly following the release of Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly, production had already started on Robert Hartford-Davis’ thriller Beware My Brethren (Cinerama Releasing Corp., 1972) also from a Comport script. Things then cooled for an interim but, following a year or so of film-work drought, Comport was back with The Asphyx.

Though Comport’s script – adapted from a story provided by Christina and Laurence Beers – would appropriate more than a few elements from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Independent Film Journal interestingly suggested The Asphyx was of similar construct to William Castle’s B-movie classic The Tingler (1959): “There too a visible spirit of sorts popped up; but that one was of fear rather than death.” Though some wondered why a classically-trained actor of Robert Stephens’s caliber would agree to appear in a film clearly beneath his station, the former board-trotter of the Royal National Theatre thought The Asphyx “rather good.” He told journalist Neville Nisse of Staffordshire’s Evening Sentinel, “I really enjoyed making it because I liked the script and the people involved.”

The Asphyx performed reasonably well at the box office – not boffo perhaps, but reasonably well. So much so that in January of 1973, Paragon announced they were going to enter into a co-production deal with Glendale for two additional features. Paragon would, of course, retain all U.S. distribution rights, but would now also share in a generous slice of a film’s international profit. When U.S. box office receipts measurably dipped following the film’s initial run, The Asphyx was often paired on the secondary market with other indie horrors: Night of the Living Dead, Son of Blob and Blood Suckers among them.

(Variety trade advertisement)

In Australia, The Asphyx was given the more compelling title Spirit of the Dead, the adverts teasing an audience confrontation with “The Horror That Lurks Halfway Between Heaven and Hell!” The campaign posters for Spirit of the Dead featured accompanying artwork promising a more ghoulish monster than the film would deliver. The Asphyx would also enjoy a sustained life in the United Kingdom. Exploitatively re-titled The Horror of Death on its re-release, the film would play in cinemas throughout the 1970s. It was often incongruously paired on multi-bills with such chop-socky fare as Kung Fu Virgins and The Angry Dragon.

This 2023 Kino Lorber Studio Classics edition of The Asphyx replaces the Kino/Redemption Films co-issue of 2012. The only really new “Special Features” offered is the commentary track provided by film historians Kim Newman and Stephen Jones and six trailers promoting other Kino Product. This new edition is also packaged in a protective slipcase that mimics the artwork of the case insert. Both the 86 minute U.K. theatrical cut and 99 minute U.S. expanded cut are made available to view. But, as the package warns, the “reconstruction of the extended version blends HD footage mastered from the 35mm negative with SD footage mastered from the U.S. release print.” The changes in visual quality are very significant as forewarned.

For the record, I watched the extended version. Though the inclusion of an additional thirteen minutes is welcome, these extra fragments are of no great interest. In fact, it’s possible the added running time further slows down a film already in desperate need of judicious editing. Newbrook’s direction is competent, but Comport’s screenplay is weighed down by too many sermons: the film’s main characters continually perseverate on the moral misguiding’s of Cunningham’s tampering with spiritual and life-and-death issues. Such hand-wringing tires after a while. Having said all this, The Asphyx is an interesting film, if far from a forgotten classic. While aficionados of British horror should certainly add the title to their watch list, it might be best to screen the film with muted expectation.

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By Fred Blosser

Scores of modestly budgeted, black-and-white Noir movies about gangsters, cops, private eyes, and murderous love affairs were produced in France in the 1950s, but only a few crossed the Atlantic in dubbed prints. Some were dumped in second-run movie houses, where they were often labeled and advertised “for adults only,” emphasising their sexual content (tame now but steamy back then, when TV routinely depicted married couples in separate beds). I discussed one such Noir, released in France in 1959 as “Du Rififi Chez Les Femmes” and in the U.S. in 1962 as “Riff Raff Girls,” HERE. In the later ‘60s, others were bundled with other foreign B-movies for broadcast on local television stations, hardly a prestigious showcase either. Coming off the midnight shift, a bleary-eyed factory worker might see the end of an Eddie Constantine movie with mediocre dubbing in a late-nite time slot, just before the station signed off for the night. With a mug that looked like a bad night on the town, Eddie was even more popular than Humphrey Bogart in the France of the Charles De Gaulle era, but his tough-guy pictures as wisecracking, two-fisted FBI agent Lemmy Caution hardly made a ripple here. To the extent Constantine and Caution are remembered in the U.S. at all, it’s because Eddie reprised the role in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Alphaville” (1965). But “Alphaville,” although wonderful, was a New Wave absurdist parody and not part of the original series.

Only with the advent of home video and social media since the 1990s have films like “Touchez Pas au Grisbi” (1954), “Bob Le Flambeur” (1956), “Any Number Can Win” (1963), and “Le Circle Rouge” (1970) been rescued from obscurity, packaged with care, and re-evaluated by a modern, more receptive audience. With many more pictures of this type yet to be rediscovered and restored, the release of “French Noir Collection” on Blu-ray is a step in the right direction. The Kino Lorber Studio Classics set includes three dramas that will be new to all but the most tenacious fans of the genre.

In “Speaking of Murder” (1957), Louis Bertain (Jean Gabin) seems to be a stolid, middle-aged Parisian whose garage caters to high-end customers. The appearance is deceiving. Louis, an ambitious high roller, needs more money than the garage earns. He makes it as the leader of a four-man theft ring, targeting deliveries of cash and securities at banks. The robberies are grab-and-run jobs, based on insider tips about delivery schedules, and carefully planned with the exacting attention to detail that fans expect from stories like this about heists. Louis and his partners Fredo, Pepito, and Raymond have been together for more than ten years, but fractures have begun to appear. The volatile Pepito (Lino Ventura) distrusts Fredo, who developed a bad case of the shakes on their last job. Worse, Pepito also has suspicious eyes on Louis’ younger brother, Pierre (Marcel Bozzuffi), a petty offender vulnerable to police pressure. For good measure, Louis is determined to retire after the next job, and we know how that usually turns out in gangster pictures. With a sliced-to-the-bone plot and almost documentarian black-and-white cinematography on the streets of Paris, the film is as good as the genre gets, even if it is saddled with a lacklustre title, apparently tacked on for release in English-speaking markets back in the day. “Speaking of Murder’ would lead you to expect a sedate episode of “Columbo” or “Murder, She Wrote,” not a hardboiled heist drama like this one. The original French title, “Le Rouge Est Mis,” or “The Red Is On” (referring to the light that comes on outside Louis’ garage when the gang meets there) isn’t any more compelling in direct translation. If Marcel Bozzuffi looks familiar, you probably remember his later role in a much more famous crime drama. In “The French Connection” (1971), the prolific French actor played Pierre Nicoli or “Frog Two,” the sniper who flees from Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle in William Friedkin’s iconic car and train chase.

The other two films in the Kino Lorber set follow the pattern of James M. Cain’s “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Double Indemnity,” in which murder results when one spouse cheats on another with an extramarital lover. In “Back to the Wall” (original title, “Le Dos au Mur,” 1958), Jacques (Gerard Oury), a wealthy construction tycoon, discovers that his wife Gloria (Jeanne Moreau) has resumed an old affair with Yves, a small-time actor. The vengeful millionaire assumes a false identity to blackmail the lovers and humiliate his errant wife. He doesn’t need the blackmail payments; he just wants to see her squirm. It isn’t a spoiler to note that Yves is murdered in the course of the scheme, since the film opens with Jacques disposing of his body. We presume that the millionaire was the murderer, but if so, how does that square with his extortion game, once it begins to unfold in a long back story we follow through Jacques’ eyes? In “Witness in the City” (“Un Témoin Dans La Ville,” 1959), another millionaire, Pierre, kills his mistress Jeanne by throwing her off a moving train. In turn, Jeanne’s husband Ancelin (Lino Ventura again—the Roy Scheider of French crime pictures) murders Pierre after the millionaire is acquitted in court for Jeanne’s death. Ancelin thinks he’s committed the perfect crime when he makes Pierre’s death scene look like a suicide instead of a murder, but as someone tells him, “No crime is perfect.” Ancelin becomes desperate when a cab driver sees him outside Pierre’s house, just before the dead man’s body is found. Since the driver was a witness, Ancelin decides he has to get rid of him too. The film reaches for the tension of an Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang picture as Ancelin stalks the cabby, but doesn’t quite succeed; but then, nobody ever quite matched Hitchcock or Lang. Still, both it and “Back to the Wall” will be welcomed by suspense fans in search of obscure works in the genre, and both benefit from glistening nighttime scenes in actual Parisian locations. Nostalgists will enjoy the wet streets and neon at actual locations, the Midcentury interiors, trenchcoats—plenty of trenchcoats—and classic product placements in all three films. When was the last time, if ever, you saw an Esso sign?

The three movies, licensed from Gaumont Films, are presented in sharp, restored prints, with French voice tracks and crisp English subtitles. One of the two discs in the set contains “Speaking of Murder” alone, and the second contains the other two films. Trailers for “Speaking of Murder” and “Back to the Wall” are included. The Blu-ray can be ordered HERE.

Now, when can we see a Lemmy Caution Collection of comparable quality?

Fred Blosser is the author of "Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti Western Heroes". Click here to order from Amazon)

By  Lee Pfeiffer

"Alvarez Kelly" is a 1966 Civil War adventure that blends in considerable elements of the traditional Western, primarily its emphasis on a cattle drive. William Holden plays the title role of a Mexican national of Mexican-Irish heritage. He's also a hard-nosed businessman who has recently overseen the arduous move of a herd of 2500 cattle from Mexico to Virginia, where he fulfills a contract with Union forces to provide the herd as a source of food for General Grant's troops who have encircled the Confederate capital of Richmond. For his efforts, Kelly is paid the princely sum of $50,000 through his Army liaison, Major Albert Stedman  (Patrick O'Neal), who takes an instant dislike to Kelly. He accurately views him as a financial opportunist who is completely apolitical in terms of the issues associated with the war. Kelly tells Stedman that he would just as easily have sold the herd to the Confederates but their currency is declining in value along with their odds of winning the conflict. Stedman's men park the herd at the stately home of local belle Charity Warwick (Victoria Shaw), who is not happy about Union forces using her land. Still, she uses her good looks and flirtatious tactics to charm both Kelly and Stedman- though both men don't realize that she is feeding any relevant information she obtains to Col. Tom Rossiter (an eye-patching wearing Richard Widmark), a local officer in the Confederate army. Rossiter has been assigned a difficult mission: to help relieve the starving and blockaded citizens of Richmond by stealing the herd and finding a way to get it to the city, despite the overwhelming numbers of Union troops in the area.

Rossiter and a handful of men succeed in kidnapping Kelly and bringing him to the War Department in Richmond where he is asked to provide assistance in enacting the audacious plan to steal the herd. If he agrees to do so, he will get $100,000- though it will be paid in Confederate money, an offer that Kelly can refuse. Rossiter places him in jail and has to finally shoot off one of his fingers to elicit reluctant cooperation from Kelly, whose first job is to train Rossiter's cavalrymen to be effective trail drivers. Kelly finds a way to exact revenge on Rossiter by seducing his girlfriend, Liz Pickering (Janice Rule), a once-wealthy woman who has seen her fortunes and lifestyle diminish as Grant's forces tighten the noose on Richmond. In return for sleeping with Kelly, he pays a Scottish riverboat merchant to take her away from the city without Rossiter's knowledge. This plot point becomes pivotal toward the end of the movie. The film shifts into high gear with the realization of the cattle raid, which Kelly and Rossiter orchestrate successfully. The problem is getting the herd into Richmond, which will require a seemingly impossible cattle drive through a notoriously dangerous swamp and across a rickety bridge- all the while with Major Stedman and his men in hot pursuit.

I had originally seen the film as a kid when it was first released but had no lingering memories of it. Having discovered it on Screenpix, I thought I'd give it try. I almost gave up when I heard the title song, which is played over the opening credits. It's the very definition of "cornball" to the point of being almost laughable. Only my belief that any movie featuring William Holden is worth watching convinced me to hang in there. I'm glad I did because "Alvarez Kelly" is quite a good, off-beat film. The teaming of Holden and Widmark is very effective. Holden was once again playing the type of character that was becoming his trademark, namely, a likable rogue with great courage but seemingly no moral principals. Holden was 48 years-old at the time but looked older, probably due to his well-known penchant for heavy drinking. Thus, the concept of presenting him as a Civil War era Matt Helm or Derek Flint, with gorgeous and willing women being easily beguiled by him seemed a bit of a stretch at this point in his career. Still, he gives a marvelous performance, as does Widmark, who could be problematic and somewhat hammy if not under the proper direction. Fortunately, veteran director Edward Dmytryk is up to the task. The film gains momentum as it moves along and climaxes with a terrific, ambitious action scene that incorporates a major battle and a thrilling cattle stampede.

The production was a troubled one, however. The script by Franklin Coen was deemed to be unsatisfactory and uncredited rewrites were done by Elliott Arnold and Daniel Taradash. There were also delays in filming caused by weather and illness. When the film was released, it was met with mixed reviews, though Holden and Widmark received good notices.

I should point out what some film fans have observed: "Alvarez Kelly" has much in common with John Ford's 1959 production of "The Horse Soldiers" in which Holden co-starred with John Wayne. Namely:

• Both movies were inspired by daring raids conducted in the South during the Civil War. "Alvarez Kelly" is based on what is known as "The Beefsteak Raid" of 1864 in which Confederate raiders successfully stole about 2500 cattle from Union forces and provided them as food for starving Richmond.The raid was so daring that it won reluctant praise from its execution from none other than President Lincoln.
  
• Both movies feature a beautiful blonde southern belle whose property is utilized by Union officers, who she charms even as she spies for the South.
• Both movies were shot in Louisiana.
• Both movies feature a climactic battle at a bridge which has been mined to prevent pursuing forces from catching them.
  
• Both films feature William Holden in a tense relationship with an army officer who both come to respect each other at the film's conclusion.
  

"Alvarez Kelly" isn't a great film but it's a good one. It deserved a better fate in 1966 but, through streaming and home video, hopefully more people can appreciate its merits today.

The Sony DVD from many years ago is the only home video release to date in the U.S.A. The picture quality is good but the film really deserves an upgrade to Blu-ray. However, the only Blu-ray editions have been released outside of the U.S. The only bonus features are fact files about the stars and director and the original trailer along with bonus trailers for "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Silverado".

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By Hank Reineke

Attack of the 50ft. Woman is by no measure the finest science-fiction film to emerge from 1950’s Hollywood. It may, however, be one of the most iconic. I suspect the film’s notoriety is partly due to Reynold Brown’s eye-catching one-sheet poster design: a grimacing, gargantuan deep-cleavaged Allison Hayes hovering over a city highway picking off random automobiles. That nothing like this actually happens in the movie is mostly forgivable. If we were to judge any film by its true delivery-of-on-screen mayhem against the false promises of its imaginative publicity campaign, a lot of press agents would be serving time.

Having said that, Brown’s artwork is an inseparable component of the film’s status among fans of Silver Age sci-fi. The poster design has been both parodied and mimicked, plastered on coffee mugs, jewelry, wristwatches, puzzles, t-shirts, model kits, fridge magnets and book covers. Reynold’s empowering image has even seen adoption as a feminist-rallying call-to-arms. Which is a pretty amazing feat for a film dashed off in little more than a week’s time, with less than stellar optical effects and at a budget of some $88,000.

Attack of the 50ft. Woman was directed by Nathan Juran who is credited on this particular film - for no reason I could source or conjure - as “Nathan Hertz.” It’s not as if Juran was a fallen helmsman of high-budget studio “prestige” pictures. He wasn’t a director reflexively protective of a former glory, someone defensive that his once glittering career had somehow descended into directing 50s sci-fi fodder. Juran’s first directorial assignment was, in fact, for Universal’s The Black Castle (1953) a mostly glossed-over gothic B-film featuring Richard Greene and Boris Karloff. From 1953 on, Juran subsequently bounced between directing low-budget feature films and studiously working on early television.

But by 1957 Juran had become semi-typecast as a successful auteur of low-budget sci-fi films, his streak beginning with 1957’s The Deadly Mantis. Over the course of the next several years (1957-1964), Juran directed a number of features and television episodes, many of which could be categorized as falling under the umbrella of sci-fi and fantasy. These would include such offerings as 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and, perhaps most famously, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).

The screenwriter of Attack of the 50ft. Woman was Mark Hanna. Hanna had already displayed a modicum of insight in his crafting of bigger-than-life-size monster movies. The writer had collaborated the previous year with producer/director Bert I. Gordon on A.I.P.’s The Amazing Colossal Man. There’s little arguing that Allied Artist’s decision to back Attack of the 50ft. Woman was simply an opportunity to coat-tail Gordon’s recent string of successful “giant monster” pics. There had been plenty of them, some having already seen issue, others in the can being rush-readied for release: King Dinosaur (1955), Beginning of the End (1957), The Cyclops (1957), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Attack of the Puppet People (1958), War of the Colossal Beast (1958) and The Spider (1958).

Jacques R. Marquette and Bernard Woolner’s production of Attack of the 50 ft. Woman would start on Wednesday, January 8, 1958, under the working title of The Astounding Giant Woman. It wasn’t a great title, but Allied Artist’s had been bandied a pair of alternates, both of which were also subsequently rejected: The Mammoth Female Monster and The Colossal Female Monster. The film was still being touted in the trades as The Astounding Giant Woman through March of 1958. In April of 1958 the film was finally and permanently re-titled Attack of the 50ft. Woman.

Actress Yvette Vickers, who plays sultry sex-kitten Honey Parker in the film, recalls the entire picture was shot in eight days, with no one under the illusion they were making cinematic history. Allied Artists were interested in quick returns on their investments. By January’s end of 1958, no fewer than ten of their projects were reported as being “in various stages of editing,” including Attack of the 50ft. Woman and Howard W. Koch’s Frankenstein 1970. It was also during the last week of January that Ronald Stein was brought onboard to compose the film’s engaging and jazzy soundtrack.

One intriguing aspect of Attack of the 50ft. Woman is that the film’s sci-fi elements would often play second fiddle to the script’s domestic drama. Allison Hays plays Nancy Archer, a wealthy but alcoholic socialite whose marriage is in shambles. The cruel ways of her unfaithful and conniving husband, Harry (William Hudson) has already driven her to a sanatorium. While his wife is away (unsuccessfully) convalescing from her binge-drinking and mental frailties, Harry has taken up with the “red-headed wench” Honey Parker (Vickers). Harry and Honey spend an inordinate amount of time at Tony’s Bar and Grill, drinking, listening to jazz, dancing, and plotting a comfortable future together - a future to be financed by Nancy’ loss of stewardship of the family fortune due to her faltering mental health capacities.

This scenario on paper, of course, appears very film-noir in construction. But Hanna’s script upends the film’s love triangle aspect almost from the very beginning. There have been worldwide news broadcasts describing a “strange red fireball in the sky” hurtling towards earth. Driving back on Route 66 to her tony home upon release from the sanatorium, Nancy unluckily encounters an alien craft somewhere in a remote section of the Californian desert. No saucer-shaped spacecraft, this particular vehicle arrives as a 30-foot high sphere resembling a weather balloon. As if suffering from “mental exhaustion and alcoholism” was not enough, Nancy now finds herself in the clutches of giant hand with hairy knuckles.

Unfortunately, this alien contact has left Nancy with blue-green traces of radiation on her throat which brings about the onset of “giantism.” Though doctors are summoned to try to figure out why the poor and delirious Nancy is increasing in size at an alarming rate, husband Harry and mistress Honey care not one whit, still duplicitously scheming at Tony’s bar and grill. But the two of them – as well as the local sheriff and police department – will soon find themselves no match for a lady scorned: a wrathful woman who now stands 5o ft. tall, is wrapped in an over-sized white bed sheet and appears angry as Hell.

The earliest press screenings for Attack of the 50ft. Woman were held in Los Angeles on May 8, 1958. The film was screened with Roger Corman’s War of the Satellites, a second sci-fi feature that was to be paired with Woman on national release. In the view of the Variety critic, both genre offerings were “on weak side.” The trade cited Mark Hanna’s “corny dialogue” and Hertz’s “routine” direction on Woman as the film’s primary deficiencies, dismissing the film as “a minor offering for the scifi trade where demands aren’t too great.”

Well, maybe I’ve simply just sat through too many Silver Age sci-fi films to be objective, but I didn’t find Hanna’s script necessarily corny – but I did find the screenplay absent of likable characters worth caring about. Although I am a fan of Attack of the 50ft. Woman, I can understand the sulking review given the film upon release by critic Margaret Harford of the Los Angeles Mirror: “Attack of the 50ft. Woman has so few idealists on hand that the survival rate is lamentably low.” She goes on to describe the three romantic-triangle leads as “unregenerative types” possessing souls not worthy of salvation. The unrelenting unwholesomeness of the aforementioned trio ultimately inspires, “a wholesale blood bath that amounts to an extra dividend for scare-traders on the horror market.”

While Attack of the 50ft. Woman would not be the last sci-fi/horror flick in which Hayes would be cast, the actress happily moved over to dramatic work on television. She was enjoying the variety of roles such new castings offered. It wasn’t surprising. Shortly following the release of Attack of the 50ft. Woman, one journalist met with Hayes for a brief interview. The gossip writer thought Hayes “a fugitive from ‘Monster’ pictures,” a talented actress looking to take an extended break from such desultory features. The actress had, in fact, racked up a score of horror credits in recent years, appearing in a quartet of exploitation pictures in 1957 alone: The Undead, The Zombies of Mora Tau, The Unearthly, and The Disembodied. In 1958 this former 50 ft. giant was looking for roles more befitting a woman of her stature.

Shortly following her work on Woman, the saucy Yvette Vickers was cast in the feature The Saga of Hemp Brown and an episode of TV’s Dragnet. In the years 1958-1961 most of Vickers’ casting was on various television dramas, though a few feature film roles were mixed in as well. She would also, more infamously, appear as a “bottoms up” “Playmate of the Month” centerfold in the July 1959 issue of Playboy magazine, the photo spread courtesy of Russ Meyer. Of course, I’m just noting the above for the historical record, not to suggest anyone should rush off to eBay to source a back copy. But if you’re looking to add something new to your collection…

This region-free Warner Bros. Archive Collection issue of Attack of the 50ft. Woman is presented in 1080p High Definition 16x9 with an aspect 1.85:1 and in DTS-HD Master mono audio. As is often the case with these Warner Bros. Archive Blu releases, there’s not an abundance of special features offered outside of the film’s trailer and a commentary track. The latter item is particularly special, if not unfamiliar to serious collectors.

The commentary track on this new Blu release has been ported over from Warner’s DVD box set of 2007, Cult Camp Classics, Viol. 1: Sci-Fi Thrillers. On the bright side, the commentaries of film historian Tom Weaver and actress Vickers are certainly worthy of preservation on this second digital go round, the film’s first appearance in HD. Both Weaver, likely the finest author-commentator of vintage Hollywood sci-fi and horror, and Vickers – present on set back in 1958 - offer wonderfully playful and often prescient insights and memories on the making of the film. Vickers’s contributions are now made all more special in 2023 as the actress/pin-up girl with the great sense of humor has since passed.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Before Burt Reynolds became a bankable leading man with the release of "Deliverance" in 1972, he toiled for years through mostly "B" movies, some of which were designed to be secondary films in double features. A rare exception was "100 Rifles", which afforded him a prominent role opposite Jim Brown and Raquel Welch. However, films such as "Navajo Joe", "Sam Whiskey", "Operation C.I.A.", "Shark" and "Skullduggery" may have kept him employed but only as a leading man in minor features. After reaching superstar status, Reynolds would look back on these films with self-deprecating humor. He needn't have. These minor features were generally highly enjoyable and efficiently made. They also allowed him to hone his skills as an actor rather than just another tough guy. The best of this lot of films was "Impasse", a 1969 production that I've only caught up with recently. The plot finds Reynolds well-cast as Pat Morrison, a hunky, lovable rogue who is in the Philippines to enact an audacious heist on the island of Corregidor. For historical context, it was at Corregidor that U.S. forces and their Filippino allies put up a historic and stubborn resistance against overwhelming numbers of Japanese troops in early 1942. Although the island ultimately fell to the Japanese, the starving and weary American and Filipino forces had put what the Japanese felt would be a quick victory far behind schedule. Before the battle began, American forces had moved a substantial amount of gold from Manila banks to Corregidor, where it was stored in the elaborate system of tunnels under the gun batteries. (Presumably, the Japanese took possession of this gold after seizing the island.) In the film, the hidden gold is a big secret and its location has never been found. Morrison rounds up some of the former U.S. and Filipino soldiers who were brought blindfolded to a certain location during the war and instructed to hide a large stash of gold bricks behind a wall and seal it up. He's betting that if they are able to revisit the caverns, they will be able to piece together the approximate location of the gold, which is estimated to weight 6,000 pounds. The disparate group is being advised by a sickly WWII veteran, Trev Jones (Clarke Gordon), who has a strategy for getting everyone into the tunnels despite the fact that the island still maintains a military garrison. 

Morrison's team also consists of Draco (Rodolfo Acosta), a hard-drinking, violent Apache who is inspired to take part in the caper because he wants to return to Manila and track down a woman he had been obsessed with during the war; Hansen (Lyle Betteger), a similarly hot-tempered man with racist tendencies toward Draco and Jesus (Vic Diaz), native Filipino who played a key role in secreting the gold. To add a bit of spice to the testosterone-laden scenario, Anne Francis pops up as Bobby Jones, Trev's daughter, who is a tennis ace participating in a tournament in Manila. Naturally, she meets Morrison and the sparks fly. Morrison is also involved with his married mistress Mariko (Miko Mayama), and the relationship will pose a serious problem later in the film. Complications ensue when Trev is kidnapped by local crime boss Wombat (Jeff Corey), which adds a subplot in which Morrison has to rescue him. This results in Morrison taking on one of Wombat's paid killers in an incredibly complex and exciting chase scene. It begins in a packed cockfight stadium, leads to moving vehicles and an extended foot chase in a high rise apartment. It's quite incredible to watch and the scene is superbly staged by director Richard Benedict, who impresses throughout the film by getting the most from his eclectic cast members. The only flaw in the casting is Vic Diaz as Jesus. He gives a fine performance but he is far too young to have been in the battle for Corregidor. In fact, he was born in 1932, which means he was ten years-old at the time.The always-addictive Anne Francis displays good chemistry with Reynolds and although there are no steamy love scenes depicted, there is a very funny vulgar quip tied in with the couple entering an elevator. Reynolds is in top form throughout and the film benefits from his experience as a stunt man, as he performs most of the hard stuff himself. The caper itself is believably scripted by John C. Higgins right down to the mishaps and unexpected events and Mars B. Rasca's cinematography does justice to the Philippine locations.

"Impasse" has been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber in a very fine transfer. The only bonus extras are the original trailer and a generous and fun gallery of other Reynolds trailers for films released by KL. The film is also currently streaming on Screenpix.

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By Doug Oswald

Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford and Edward Fox lead “Force 10 from Navarone,” available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. Based on the 1968 Alistair MacLean novel of the same name, it was initially announced a movie was to follow. After the huge success of “The Guns of Navarone,” a sequel was a no-brainer. The classic “The Guns of Navarone” is among the greatest adventure movies ever made and serves as the template for every “Men on an Impossible Mission” movie that followed. There were other similar movies that preceded it, but MacLean nailed the formula with a mix of action, adventure, suspense with a dash of spy thriller tossed in for good measure. However, the sequel would wait nearly two decades until its release in 1978.

The plot of the sequel, like the previous movie, involves sabotage behind enemy lines with Mallory, Robert Shaw replacing Gregory Peck, Edward Fox covering for David Niven as Miller and joined by fresh-faced Harrison Ford as Barnsby, who is presumably the stand in for Anthony Quinn’s Andrea Stavrou. Ford leads Force 10 on a mission to Yugoslavia to meet up with local partisans in order to locate a traitor from Navarone. This being a movie based on an Alistair MacLean novel, the story also involves double crosses, blowing up a dam and uncovering a traitor.

As I alluded to earlier, the sequel was going to be made in 1967 with Carl Foreman, MacLean and the three leads from the previous film (Peck, Niven and Quinn) reprising their roles. MacLean completed a screenplay which he adapted into the novel, “Force 10 From Navarone” which was released in 1968. MacLean would do the same thing with “Where Eagles Dare” writing the screenplay and then adapting it as a novel before the movie. Readers of the novel “Force 10 From Navarone” will note this movie has little resemblance to the 1968 novel or the original screenplay written in 1967. This change and the long wait for the sequel probably contributed to a less-than-thrilling box office take.

“Force 10 from Navarone” isn’t a bad film, but it was misguided in the approach taken to bring it to the big screen. While the movie has aged rather well, in hindsight it would have been better had the filmmakers stuck with the original treatment including all the original characters. I remember seeing “Force 10 from Navarone” in the theater on its original release with great anticipation, and while it’s not quite up to the classic status of “The Guns of Navarone,” it was a pretty good effort. The movie opens with some of the climactic footage from “The Guns of Navarone” as a pre-credits scene, but it just reminds viewers of the missed opportunity if the movie would have been made back in 1967.

The film adds great production value with location shooting in Yugoslavia and the bevy of great supporting players. The movie was directed by James Bond veteran veteran Guy Hamilton and boasts a bit of a 007 past and future cast and crew reunion. Shaw, as I’m sure readers recall, was Red Grant in “From Russia with Love.” The film also includes “The Spy Who Loved Me” alumni Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel as partisans, and Edward Fox, who would play “M” in “Never Say Never Again.” The movie also features Carl Weathers as Weaver, an American soldier who joins the Force 10 team, Franco Nero as the leader of the partisans, Philip Latham as Jenson (replacing James Robertson Justice), and Alan Badel as Petrovich. Sharp-eyed viewers will catch Wolf Kahler and Michael Byrne as Nazis a few years prior to appearing again as Nazis in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” respectively. “Star Wars” fans should also watch for several actors who appeared in one or more of the original trilogy films, and of course Harrison Ford was Han Solo and Indiana Jones. There’s a great party game here ala, “Spot the connections to Bond, Star Wars and Indiana Jones.”

The movie clocks in at 126 minutes and looks and sounds terrific on this Blu-ray release by Kino Lorber. The music by Ron Goodwin is good, if a bit too jolly at times. The extras include an outstanding audio commentary by Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin as well as the trailers for this and other Alistair MacLean releases. There is also reversible sleeve artwork. I highly recommend this Blu-ray release.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Upon arriving for the matinee performance of the new production of "Disney's Hercules: The Mythical Musical Adventure" presented in conjunction with Disney Theatrical Productions at the esteemed Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, it occurred to me that I had not been immersed in the adventures of the mythological hero since I was in grade school in the early 1960s when theaters were showing those Italian "sword and sandal" films that were imported into the U.S. I came to the obvious conclusion that I didn't represent the intended demographic for the show, which does not include people who are old enough to remember when Steve Reeves was a boxoffice sensation. The intended demographic-young people-were on hand despite this being a school day. There was an abundance of local high school students there on field trips. It may seem that Disney's musical productions might be skewed to pre-teens but the producers are generally shrewd enough to include plenty of pop culture references and jokes that would appeal to everyone. It's a delicate balance. Overload the sophisticated jokes and kids will be bewildered. Overdo the tween elements and mom and dad are looking at their watches by the time the intermission arrives. The new musical is based upon Disney's animated big screen release from 1997, importing some of the more prominent songs by Alan Menken while providing some new ones for this production. Lyrics are by David Zippel. The book for this presentation is by Robert Horn & Kwame Kewei-Armah. A version of the show had been presented in 2019 at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, which this reviewer did not see. However, it appears that the current version at the Paper Mill is substantially different.

The reed-thin plot finds Hercules the offspring of the god Zeus (Dennis Stowe) and goddess Hera (Kristen-Faith Oei), who send the infant to earth where is adopted and raised by Despina (Kathryn Allison), who comes to realize that the boy possesses superhuman strength. (Shades of Kal-El!). As a young man (Bradley Gibson), Hercules is the model of the all-around good citizen. He's kind and helpful to all, keeping evidence of his great strength subdued. By the time he goes into the world on his own, he's innocent and naive. Meanwhile, evil forces are at work through the plotting of Hades (Shuler Hensley), who intends to find a way to harness Hercules' powers to further his schemes. This comes about by manipulating the beautiful Meg (Isabelle McCalla), who foolishly had entered an agreement with Hades that resulted in her being under his complete control for eternity. He ensures that Hercules meets Meg, knowing he will not be able to resist falling in love with her. Hades then persuades her to have Hercules cede his powers for 24 hours in return for Meg being released from her binding agreement that has kept her enslaved. Of course, all sorts of unintended consequences befall the major characters, with Hades intending to use Hercules as a vehicle for widespread chaos and destruction. Guess who ends up winning? 

The show features plenty of impressive talent, including singing muses who appear periodically and perform in the manner of a Motown act. They are played by Anastacia McCleskey, Destinee Rea, Charity Angel Dawson, Tiffany Mann and Rashidra Scott and their appearances were met by great enthusiasm by the audience. The performances of the leading actors are engaging and energetic, with Isabelle McCalla spot-on as the leading lady. The most interesting roles, however, are the supporting characters. James Monroe Iglehart, a Tony Award winner for his role as Genie in the Disney Broadway production of "Aladdin", steals the show as Phil, a trainer for would-be heroes who takes the innocent Hercules under his wing and teaches him to harness his powers. Iglehart opens the second act with a solo number topped by an unexpected acrobatic feat that brought down the house. As in any "Star Wars" or James Bond movie, the juiciest role usually belongs to the villain, and that's true here, too, with Shuler Hensley's thundering voice commanding attention in his every appearance. Since this is a Disney production, cute, eccentric sidekicks are a must. In this case they are named Pain and Panic (played by Reggie De Leon and Jeff Blumenkrantz) and they have some of the best gags in the show. Alas, Bradley Gibson's Hercules is undone by some factors not within his control. Gibson makes for an appealing hero, but the role is underwritten. We hear a lot about his great strength, but it's rarely demonstrated in an impressive manner. Gibson has a physique that any male would envy but there is nothing larger-than-life about his appearance. He looks like a well-toned guy you might run into at your local L.A. Fitness center. Perhaps it's almost impossible to find someone who is both a Herculean muscleman and a talented and trained singer and dancer. Gibson's performance is admirable but he's held hostage to the limitations of how a stage production can present Hercules versus a filmed version.

Director Lear deBessonet keeps the action and laughs flowing smoothly and the pace never slackens. The choreography by Chase Brock and Tanisha Scott is especially impressive, as is the work of musical director and conductor Ted Arthur. As one might expect, the production values are first-rate and display evidence of the substantial budget that generally accompanies a production done in coordination with Disney. Kudos to Dane Laffrey, who oversaw the scenic design. As you might imagine, this Disney production features some dazzling set pieces. There are also giant puppets that feature prominently and amusingly, courtesy of James Ortiz and some terrific lighting effects by Jeff Croiter and special effects by Jeremy Chernick. Kudos also to Emilio Sosa for providing some suitably ornate costumes.

The show undoubtedly follows the formula of previous Disney stage productions.This includes not-so-subtle references to female empowerment, racial harmony (Hercules' parents are caucasian and Asian and he is Black) and the belief in the ability to overcome almost any obstacle and achieve success. Disney, like most aspects of American society, has become a lightning rod for political debate in recent years and there are plenty of people who find such material as preachy and "woke". If you're among them, this show will only reaffirm your criticisms. Conversely, if you view these aspects as positive and life-affirming, you'll find plenty to embrace here.  

Rumor has it that Disney is road-testing "Hercules" at the Paper Mill in anticipation of a Broadway run, as was the case with the wonderful production of "Newsies" some years ago. Based upon the rousing audience response to the show, it appears the strongman might exert a mighty pull at the boxoffice across the river on the Great White Way. If that wasn't enough, director Guy Ritchie is working with Disney to prepare a live-action return to the big screen for Hercules. If only Steve Reeves were still around to see the revival of interest in the character he popularized way back when.

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RETRO-ACTIVE: FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Tony Curtis, like most aspiring screen stars, slogged through bit parts in unmemorable films when he first broke into the industry in the late 1940s. By the mid-1950s, however, he was a major star, even if the films he top-lined were relatively undistinguished. With his boyish good looks and New York wise guy persona, Curtis excelled at playing charismatic rogues and, perhaps improbably for a guy born in the Bronx, cowboys, knights and other exotic men of action. But Curtis was more than just a pretty face and by the late 1950s he was getting challenging roles that allowed him to show off his dramatic acting skills. He was brilliant in "Sweet Smell of Success" and "The Defiant Ones" and gave one of the great comedic performances of all time in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot". By the late 1960s, however, his star power was fading. He still had enough clout to get the male leads in lightweight comedies like "Sex and the Single Girl" and "Don't Make Waves", but the bloom was off the rose. Ironically, he won fine reviews for his convincing performance in the 1968 film "The Boston Strangler", but most of the good roles would continue to elude him. Like many fading American stars, he turned toward European productions, starring in "Those Daring Young Men in the Jaunty Jalopies" and "You Can't Win 'Em All", the latter with fellow U.S. import Charles Bronson who found major stardom in Europe long before he became a big name in America. One of the least prestigious films that Curtis appeared was titled "On the Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...", a 1967 sex comedy filmed in Italy and which would not be released in the USA until 1969, when it had limited distribution. Perhaps because theater owners in the UK and USA had pity on the poor souls who had to stand on ladders and put film titles on theater marquees letter-by-letter, the English language version of the film was shortened to the more provocative "The Chastity Belt". Curtis wasn't the only English-speaking actor in the otherwise all-Italian production, as Hugh Griffith and John Richardson were co-starred.

The film opens with Curtis playing against type as Guerrando de Montone, a sniveling, cowardly and bumbling opportunist who finally is granted his wish to be made a knight. As his reward, he is entitled to claim a vast tract of land as his own. Guerrando is quick to abuse his power over the peasants, especially when he discovers that the local game warden and his voluptuous daughter, Boccadoro (Monica Vitti) live on his land. Although Boccadoro is initially attracted to him, Guerrando's misogynistic ways quickly alienate her. Guerrando informs her that he is her lord and master and will use her for sexual pleasure whenever he pleases. Most of the fun in the script, which was co-written by the esteemed Larry Gelbart, centers on the buxom beauty's strategies to avoid going to bed with Guerrando, who becomes increasingly frustrated. To solve the problem, he forces her to marry him but she delays the consummation of the marriage by invoking a rare, ancient ritual that commits them both to spending three days in constant prayer. When that obstacle is removed, Guerrando is ready to make his move only to find that he has been summoned to join the Crusades and leave Italy for a period of years. To ensure that Boccadoro remains chaste, he has her fitted with a chastity belt which causes her to swear vengeance. The film meanders through the couple's misadventures with Boccadoro intent on finding her husband and murdering him. She poses as a knight in armor and infiltrates his camp but both are kidnapped by an evil, horny sultan (Hugh Griffith) who forces Guerrando to convert to Islam while he makes plans to open the chastity belt and have his way with Boccadoro.The whole thing ends in a madcap chase with heroes and villains chasing each other about a castle.

Italian cinema-goers were very enamored of sex farces during this period. "The Chasity Belt" is one of the tamest, as there is no nudity and the most provocative aspects are plentiful shots of Ms. Vitti's ample bosom bouncing around during the many chase scenes. Like most films of the genre, there are plenty of moments of slapstick and narrow escapes. What impresses most about this modest production is director Pasquale Festa Campanile's light touch and the ability to move the action at such a rapid pace that you don't ponder how predictable it all is. While it's still a bit of a shock to see someone of Curtis's stature in this "B" level comedy, he is in good form and provides plenty of laughs by not even attempting to disguise his New Yawk accent. He is matched by the very likable Vitti and Hugh Griffith, who recycles his lovable rascal shtick from "Ben-Hur". What is stands out most are the rather spectacular locations. Most of the action is shot outdoors in ancient ruins and castles that add a good deal of atmosphere to the goings on.

"The Chasity Belt" is the kind of film that Curtis probably did very reluctantly. He would later try his hand in television co-starring with Roger Moore in the sensational action series "The Persuaders", but it lasted only 24 episodes. A later series, "McCoy" lasted only a single season. Curtis would still turn up in a few major films like "The Mirror Crack'd" and "The Last Tycoon" but only in supporting roles. Nevertheless, he remained enjoyable to watch and always gave his best effort. Perhaps for that reason, "The Chastity Belt" is a lot more worthwhile than you might imagine.

The Warner Archive DVD is generally very good with a few blotches and grainy frames, but one suspects there aren't too many archival prints of this long-forgotten film floating around out there. There are no bonus extras.

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Berghahn Books

Published May 2022

336 pages

26 illustrations

Hardback

ISBN 978-1-80073-486-9

RRP: £107.00

Review by Adrian Smith

1972 was a busy year for the vice squad of the Metropolitan Police. Having only seized 140,000 obscene items from London’s sex shops the previous year, this time they managed to grab over one million items, raiding sex shops, private cinemas and the occasional warehouse. Obscenity generally meant pornography, and this could take the guise of magazines, photos and films. This was the year when America saw the release of Deep Throat (Gerard Damiano), but there was no such porno chic revolution in the UK. Hardcore pornography was illegal and produced secretly on low budgets by daring, enterprising filmmakers whose work could land them in jail, much like the American stag film producers of the 1930s and 1940s. Britain had always been years behind, not only the States but Europe as well. The early 1970s saw a boom in the production of pornography across the Western world, with censorship laws either being relaxed or abolished in many countries, something which the lawmakers and moral guardians of the UK watched with great unease.

Despite its illegal status there was still money to be made, and in this new book from academic Benjamin Halligan we get some fascinating insight into the history of British pornography and its connection to politics and the campaigning against it of groups such as the Festival of Light. One filmmaker who seemed to have little regard for the laws was the Scottish entrepreneur John Lindsay, who was known for producing films frequently depicting schoolgirls or nuns. The films were made for European distribution, but also found British customers through mail order as well as being screened secretly in the sex cinemas of Soho.

As Halligan points out in this fascinating study, as with many aspects of British culture, the pornography of this time was often about class, with fantasies being played out from sophisticated erotica in country houses and gentlemen’s clubs to frustrated housewives and chambermaids encountering guests in their hotel rooms. Individual filmmakers developed an almost auteur status in the industry and became celebrities themselves, publishing autobiographies and documentaries on the sex film industry. It wasn’t all just hardcore of course, with Britain’s most famous sex film star Mary Millington moving away from hardcore to appear in softcore sex comedies such as Come Play With Me (George Harrison Marks, 1977), whose director was a true pioneer in British glamour film and photography, producing dozens of books, 8mm loops and feature films from the late 1950s.

Halligan has uncovered a new canon of British filmmakers who for the most part have been ignored in previous histories, who played an important role in this secretive, frequently controversial world. He has watched hundreds of these “joyless erotic films” which blurred into “one underlit and dingy tale of sexual frustration… across housing estates, rainy holiday resorts and chintzy hotels” as part of the research (being a historian is a tough job sometimes!) and as such is able to give us a great overview of the films, their directors and producers (generally those in front of the camera are uncredited and anonymous so it is very difficult to identify who they might be). He explores the difficulty the British government had in defining precisely what obscenity and pornography were, which helped to create the grey areas that allowed those involved to flourish despite the risks.

The book is divided into three sections, exploring the notion of “The Permissive Society” and the campaigners both for and against pornography and immoral behaviour, the hardcore films of John Lindsay, George Harrison Marks and Russell Gay, and the softcore (and therefore more commercially acceptable) worlds of Derek Ford and David Hamilton Grant. As a coda, he explores the post-Thatcherite notions of hardcore pornography, focusing on films set on council estates, which again brings us back to class. In British film, as pointed out in the introduction here, everything is really about class.

For anyone interested in this occasionally murky aspect of British film industry, this is an essential addition to a library which should also include the work of Simon Sheridan and David McGillivray. As has been pointed out before, don’t let that high price for the hardback put you off: this is an academic publication, which means that a more affordable paperback should be along soon. If you can’t wait that long, simply request a copy of Hotbeds of Licentiousness from your local library. Perhaps they can supply it in a plain brown wrapper.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Screenpix is currently streaming the hard-to-find (in America, at least) 1957 version of "Robbery Under Arms", based on the famous novel by Rolf Boldrewood. Written in the late 19th century, the book inspired some early film versions in 1907, 1911 and 1920. The Australian tale was later remade in 1985. The 1957 film is set in 1865 and was filmed in remote areas of Flinders Range and Wilpena Pound in South Australia. The tale follows the exploits of the charismatic, but notorious outlaw known as Captain Starlight (Peter Finch), whose band of henchmen include brothers Dick and Jim Marston (Ronald Lewis and David McCallum), as well as their crusty father Ben (Laurence Naismith). They've just rustled a thousand head of cattle and sell them quickly before the pursuing police can catch them. However, with their new-found riches the men become reckless and begin spending lavishly. Dick and Jim, delighted to be freed of their hardscrabble struggle to survive in the unforgiving Outback, decide to take a cruise to Melbourne. On board they meet teenage sisters Kate and Jean Swanson (Maureen Swanson and Jill Ireland) who are traveling with their elderly aunt. Sparks fly, especially when they find out the girls also reside in an area accessible to where they live. Kate is especially captivated and she and Dick promise to reunite. The men are as good as their word and  promise to give up a life of crime, especially when they learn that Captain Starlight had been arrested as a consequence of his drawing attention to his sudden wealth. However, Starlight bribes his captors. He is freed and tracks down his former gang members and forces them to participate in a stagecoach robbery that nets everyone a good deal of loot. Jim and Dick are now wanted men and hide in the hills in gold-mining country. These use the stolen funds to finance their own operation and find success with it.

The script takes an improbable turn when Dick and Jim unexpectedly encounter Kate and Jean, who they had to spurn when they went into hiding. Both young women are now saloon girls in the raucous boom town. Jim and Jean ultimately marry and it isn't long after that they learn a baby is on the way. Dick, however, doesn't prove to be as reliable as Jim. He meets a local girl he falls for and betrays Jean's trust in him. When Starling and his gang turn up in town and execute a bank robbery that goes terribly wrong, the authorities are in hot pursuit, but also come across Jim, who is accused of being complicit in the murder of an innocent bystander despite the fact he wasn't present at the scene. The climax of the film finds Dick reuniting with Starlight and his remaining gang members as it becomes apparent to them that their only way to survive is to engage the police in a gunfight- even as Jim faces the prospect of being hanged. .The shootout in the final scenes is well-handled and exciting.

The film is very much identical to an American Western with the exception of seeing the odd kangaroo and the fact that the native people are from Aborigine tribes. Jack Lee provides the excellent direction, although he later called the film a disappointment because the script wasn't up to par and that he felt it was too slow and talky. I beg to differ. I found the film to be thoroughly engrossing and benefiting from the impressive cinematography of Harry Waxman. The opening titles claim it is "A British Film" and indeed it is, at least technically. The producers were British, as were most of the cast members and interiors were shot at Pinewood Studios near London. However, this isn't a cheapjack production that incorporates a few minutes of second unit photography to represent Australia. The country's own film industry had yet to really blossom so any films made there during this period are of special interest. The performances as all excellent with David McCallum especially impressive as the more mature and sensitive of the Martson brothers. (He developed a real life romance with Jill Ireland and the two would marry shortly thereafter.) The Screenpix source material is okay but is a bit soft to do justice to the fine camerawork. The film has only been released in the USA on a public domain video label, as far as I can tell. Here's hoping a Blu-ray might appear in the future.

(Screenpix is available for $2.99 extra a month for subscribers to Amazon Prime, Roku and Apple TV.)

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"Jerome Miller Lives!"

By John M. Whalen

In 1975 film director Sam Peckinpah was at loose ends. His last film, “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,” while an artistic triumph of a certain kind, was a box office failure. He had a script for a movie called “The Insurance Company,” but couldn’t get any backing for it. When United Artists offered him a chance to direct a movie based on Robert Rostand’s novel, “Monkey in the Middle,” he took it. The book was a thriller about security expert Mike Locken, hired to protect an African diplomat traveling through London. He takes the job because one of three elite assassins hired to kill the diplomat was a former colleague who had shot him up on his last job and left him for dead. The new assignment was a way to get revenge.

Peckinpah saw some elements in the story that he felt he could work with. But when UA offered the Mike Locken role to James Caan, he said he didn’t want to work in Europe, where he’d been working the last several years. He’d do it, if they changed the location to the U.S. Marc Norman rewrote the script that Reginald Rose had written based on the novel, but UA and Peckinpah hated it. Top notch screenwriter, Oscar winner Stirling Silliphant (“In the Heat of the Night”) was hired to do a new script. Silliphant, only married a year to Tiana, his 33-years younger Vietnamese actress wife, said he’d do the script but only if they agreed to put her in the picture as Locken’s love interest. Peckinpah tested her and gave the part.

Tiana and Silliphant were both former students of Bruce Lee and Silliphant had always had an interest in Asian culture and philosophy. So he set the story in San Francisco, using Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge and other locations, and brought aboard kung fu and martial arts experts like the legendary Tai Chi master Kuo Lien Ying to play some of the background characters. He created a fictitious security agency named ComTeg, and changed the character of the African diplomat to a Taiwanese politician named Chung (Mako), who was traveling with his daughter Tommy (Tiana). Robert Duvall was brought on board to play George Hansen, Locken’s best buddy, who in the movie’s first act, succumbed to a better offer from the opposition on a previous assignment, and shot Locken in the knee and elbow, “retiring” him from active service. The first 40 minutes of “The Killer Elite” consists mostly of Hansen’s betrayal and Locken’s rehabilitation, rendered in excruciating detail. He learns to use a metal elbow brace and wooden cane as martial arts weapons.

Locken’s bosses at ComTeg, Cap Collis (Arthur Hill), and Lawrence Weybourne (Gig Young), tell him he has to retire with disability. “Let’s face it,” Collis says. “That knee of yours will never be anything but a wet noodle.” When the CIA contracts ComTeg to provide security for Chung and his daughter while they’re in the U.S., they’re not interested until they learn that Hansen is heading up a team to eliminate Chung. Collis and Weybourne offer Locken his old job back—the chance for revenge that Mike has been waiting for.

Locken gets in touch with two members of his old team for two or three days of work. “I don’t think anyone could handle more of what we got.” He meets up with Jerome Miller (Bo Hopkins) on a hillside overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, where he’s practicing his skeet shooting, which is probably not something that happens there every day. Miller tells him he doesn’t think his company would hire him. “They’ve got me classified as a psycho.” Locken tells him: “You’re not a psycho, Jerome. You’re the patron poet of the manic depressives.” A typical Silliphant line.

Next up is Mac (Burt Young), his old driver, who now runs a garage, where he just happens to have a bullet proof taxi available that would be just perfect for the job Locken has in mind. Mac’s wife calls Locken Mr. Davis. When Locken asks why, Mac says: “When you’re around, she calls everybody Mr. Davis.” They don’t know it, but while everybody’s getting reacquainted, a mechanic has attached a bomb to the exhaust manifold.

The trio drive to San Francisco’s Chinatown to pick up Chung and his daughter. Naturally there’s a gun battle with Hansen and another gunman perched on the roof of the building across the street from the place where Chung is staying. They manage to shoot their way out, but Mac hears something rattling under the taxi. It’s bomb disposal time. They pull over on an overpass and get some assistance from a dim-witted motorcycle cop— another scene that is as unrealistic and impossible as the scene with Jerome skeet shooting out in the open by the Golden Gate Bridge.

At this point you begin to suspect there’s something weird going on. This is not your typical action thriller being played out here. As the story moves on absurdity piles on absurdity, all of which culminates in an unlikely battle between assassins equipped with automatic weapons and a team of ghost-like ninjas armed with swords, aboard the deck of an abandoned battleship, part of the Navy’s Mothball Fleet anchored in Suisan Bay. Got all that?

Critic Pauline Kael in a 1976 review for The New Yorker described Peckinpah’s career as a constant battle with studio bosses who consistently tried to take the movies he made away from him, demanding changes more in line with their thinking rather than his. As a result he kept making movies that are more about that battle than any melodramatic plot that may be involved. “There’s no way to make sense of what has been going on in Peckinpah’s recent films,” she wrote, “if one looks only at their surface stories. Whether consciously or, as I think, part unconsciously, he’s been destroying the surface content.” According to Kael, “He’s crowing in The Killer Elite, saying, ‘No matter what you do to me, look at the way I can make a movie.’”

She attributes most of the film’s weirdness to Peckinpah, but it might also be instructive to look at the career of screenwriter Stirling Silliphant for some clues about the subtext both he and Peckinpah present in The Killer Elite. Like Peckinpah, Silliphant started out working in television. Peckinpah wrote episodes of “Gunsmoke,” and created “The Rifleman” and “The Westerner” series. Silliphant wrote for just about every TV series on the air in the mid-fifties, eventually writing 70 hour-long episodes of the classic Route 66 series, before moving to the movies. He left television because of the same problem Peckinpah faced in filmmaking—loss of creative control. He went on to achieve great success in films but when he wrote the script for The Killer Elite, it was a year after having penned The Towering Inferno. It was a successful, well-written movie but he probably realized he had sold out his artistic independence when the hopped on the Irwin Allen Disaster Movie bandwagon, which he began with The Poseidon Adventure. It would be only a few years after “The Killer Elite” that he would nearly destroy his career turning out the script for Allen’s “The Swarm.”

For relief between projects, he would take Tiana aboard his yacht, the Tiana 2, and sail to exotic ports in the South Pacific. It’s no coincidence, I think, that “The Killer Elite” ends with Locken turning down a job offer and a promotion from his old boss Weybourne, and sails away on a sailboat with his pal Mac (Miller is killed in the gunfight on the Mothball Fleet). When Silliphant saw no future for him if he remained in what he publicly called “the eel pit” that was Hollywood he sold everything and moved to Thailand.

Peckinpah held similar sentiments about the Hollywood establishment. He said in a 1972 Playboy interview: “The woods are full of killers, all sizes, all colors. … A director has to deal with a whole world absolutely teeming with mediocrities, jackals, hangers-on, and just plain killers. The attrition is terrific. It can kill you. The saying is that they can kill you but not eat you. That’s nonsense. I’ve had them eating on me while I was still walking around.” I think he identified with Silliphant’s image of a hero sailing away from it all if he could.

Imprint’s two-disc box set is a must have for any Peckinpah fan or anyone who digs action thrillers, Silliphant, martial arts, or the poetry of manic depression. The first disc presents the “original” theatrical version in a 1080p high definition transfer from MGM that runs 2 hours and 3 minutes, and includes a ton of bonus features, most notable of which is a fabulous audio commentary by Peckinpah expert Mike Siegel. He provides some terrific revelations about the film and its production and shows a real appreciation of Peckinpah’s work. Siegel indicates that Sam, at Bo Hopkins’ suggestion, filmed an alternate “absurdist” ending in which Locken and Mac find Miller alive and well aboard the sailboat, after having been seen getting shot to pieces. In an interview with Siegel, Hopkins confirms that bit of info, and even shows some footage of the scene that was finally excised by the bosses at United Artists, who just didn’t get it. In a separate commentary ported over from a previous Twilight Time release, Garner Simmons and Paul Seydor, two film historians whom I lovingly refer to as the Peckinpah Peckerwoods, and the late Nick Redman, make the assertion that the complete film, with the Jerome Miller “resurrection” scene had one showing in Northern California and has never been seen again.

Well, I beg to differ with that statement. Fellow Cinema Retro reviewer Fred Blosser and I saw The Killer Elite the night it opened in December 19, 1975 at a local theater in northern Virginia. The scene in question was definitely included. Fred states that he has also seen it in the occasional TV broadcast of the film. So, despite statements made to the contrary, there probably is at least one copy of the unexpurgated “The Killer Elite” out there somewhere. JEROME MILLER LIVES!

Other extras included in the Imprint release include an alternate, shorter version of the film that mainly cuts scenes from Locken’s painful looking rehab; documentaries taken from Siegel’s The Passion and the Poetry Project on the works of Sam Peckinpah; interviews Siegel conducted with Bo Hopkins, Ernest Borgnine, LQ Jones and others. There is so much here to enjoy. The bad news is that Imprint has sold out of the 1500 copies it made. I obtained one the last two copies Grindhouse Video had left, but now they are sold out. Good luck trying to find a copy. Check your usual sources. (Note: as of this writing, there are still a few copies left at Amazon USA. Although it is listed as a Region 2 set, it is actually region-free. Click here to order. Good luck!)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The only commonal element among the films of director Nicolas Roeg is that there are no common elements. Roeg graduated from being one of the industry's most respected and innovative cinematographers to becoming an esteemed filmmaker in his own right. Among his disparate productions: the London crime film "Performance", the bizarre David Bowie starrer "The Man Who Fell to Earth", the cult favorite "Bad Timing" and his most accomplished film, the adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's supernatural novel "Don't Look Now", which ranks as one of the most atmospheric and terrifying movies ever made. By the early 1990s, however, Roeg's penchant for making avant garde films with limited boxoffice appeal- combined with his insistence on not compromising his artistic visions in the name of commerce- put him at odds with studio executives. His movies were largely appreciated by the art house cinema crowd but that didn't endear him to the studio bosses in the corner offices. One of Roeg's most bizarre, ambitious and expensive films was the little-seen and even less-remembered "Eureka", a 1983 production that was bedeviled by bad luck. First the basics: Roeg initially approached screenwriter Paul Mayersberg to adapt a book titled "Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes?" by Marshall Houts. Sir Harry Oakes may have faded into historical obscurity but in 1943 he was certainly one of the most famous men in the world- and had been for two decades. It all began when Oakes, an American by birth, went north into the wilds of Canada in his quest to prospect for gold. He doggedly pursued this ambition for fifteen years before stumbling upon what became the greatest discovery and claim for gold in North American history. Overnight Oakes became one of the richest men on earth. He later moved to the Bahamas where he lived comfortably on a large estate with his wife and daughter. Enamored by the British gentry he interacted with, Oakes changed his citizenship and became a subject of England. Big money buys impressive friends and Oakes was quite chummy with the Duke of Windsor, who had made a wee bit of a splash himself a few years earlier when he was known as King Edward VIII- yes, that King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in order to marry the love of his life. Edward was by then relegated to being the Governor-General of the Bahamas, some theorized to get him off the front pages. Between his scandalous  marriage and the fact that he was deemed an appeaser to Hitler in the lead up to the war with Germany, which was now raging, the Duke was not "Flavor of the Month" in his native England. Still, he and Harry Oakes hit it off rather well and before long Harry was knighted, ostensibly because of his sizable contributions to charity, but some theorized the Duke had pulled some strings on his behalf. Sir Harry's bliss was short-lived. In 1943, he was brutally murdered in his own bed. How brutal was the crime? Well, he was bludgeoned, tarred and feathered, burned alive and beheaded.  As you might imagine, the cause of death was not listed as suicide. Clearly, at least one person in his orbit was not very enamored of him and it was decided that the person who liked him least was his son-in-law, who Harry had virtually disowned. A sensational trial took place that resulted in breathless international coverage but the suspect was found to be not guilty on the basis of flimsy evidence. The sensational case remains technically unsolved to this day, though amateur sleuths still debate who the real culprit was and what his motive might have been. 

Nicolas Roeg was understandably intrigued by this story and was delighted when screenwriter Paul Mayersberg had also read the book that Roeg wanted him adapt for the screen. He, too, had longed to make a film of it. With the two men in synch, they set out to make a linear retelling of the remarkable characters and events pertaining to Sir Harry's life. However, they realized that since several of the major players in his life were still alive, the production could be plagued by lawsuits. Thus, they decided to give fictitious names to the characters. This also liberated them in terms of using artistic license when desirable, as they were no longer attempting to present a purely factual study of Sir Harry's life and death. It also liberated Roeg by allowing him to bring more esoteric elements into the production. The central character was now named Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) and our first view of him is indeed striking: he in embroiled in a violent struggle with another man in the midst of a raging blizzard in the Canadian wilderness. An unidentified woman, presumably the other man's wife, pleads for the men to stop fighting and we learn that Jack, who has been enraged by something that is never explained, is splitting up his prospecting partnership with the other man. He eventually storms off into the intimidating landscape to continue to pursue his goal of finding a major strike. Ultimately he does just that by literally falling into a fortune when he slips through a crevice and finds himself in an underground cave that is literally raining gold dust. He rejoices in his triumph but his happiness is short-lived. He returns to the bordello where the love of his life, a local hooker and oracle (Helena Kallianiotes) is literally on her death bed and she dies in his arms. It's the first in a string of unfortunate incidents that will plague Jack's  life. The scene then abruptly switches to twenty years later when we find Jack comfortably residing in his Bahamian estate named, appropriately enough, Eureka. He's a hot-tempered man prone to violent outbursts. The only calming influence in his life is his twenty year-old beautiful daughter Tracy (Theresa Russell), who he clearly adores but who also brings him consternation because of her strong, independent ways. Tracy has married Claude Malliot Van Horn (Rutger Hauer), a handsome, charismatic European gigolo. Jack can immediately see through Claude's motives and calls him out for being an opportunist who is using Tracy to get access to the McCann fortune. The rift results in Tracy becoming estranged from Jack and her mother, Helen (Jane Lapotaire), a weak-willed woman who Jack treats as he would the hired help. A parallel subplot finds Jack being pressured by his friend and business associate Charles Perkins (Ed Lauter) to sell his beloved estate to a group of American gangsters headed by a man named Mayaofsky (Joe Pesci) and his second-in-command Aurello D'Amato (Mickey Rourke). Seems they want to expand their operations to the island Jack resides on and consider his land crucial to their plans. Typically, Jack not only rejects their offer but insults them in the process, leading to the gangsters deciding to take strong-arm tactics against him. In the film's most disturbing scene (and there are several), Jack is murdered in his bed by being bludgeoned, tortured with a blowtorch and (we learn later) beheaded. It's an incredibly gruesome sight to behold, as Roeg holds nothing back from the viewer except the decapitation. (We should be thankful for small favors). The balance of the film concerns the resulting murder trial, which mirrors the real life case in that Jack's son-in-law was arrested and charged with the crime. He had motive and opportunity- but so did many of his enemies including the gangsters. 

"Eureka" may have been an ambitious undertaking but it's also a highly unsatisfying one. The script provides us with a dearth of sympathetic characters. With the exception of Tracy (who is superbly played by Roeg's then-wife Theresa Russell, who made numerous other films with him), there isn't a single other character with any admirable traits. Hackman delivers a powerful performance as McCann but the character is sketchy. We all know money doesn't always buy happiness but we never get to the root cause of his dissatisfaction with life and everyone around him. The supporting cast is equally excellent with Rutger Hauer giving one of the best performances of his career as the vain, almost effeminate pretty boy whose charm makes Tracy blind to his vulgarities. These are demonstrated in a very haunting sequence in which Claude and two female companions secretly attend a voodoo ritual that becomes a pagan-like orgy which leaves everyone involved disgraced and emotionally scarred. Joe Pesci and Mickey Rourke are impressive as the gangsters, with Pesci uncharacteristically underplaying his role, while Ed Lauter does the same as Jack's wimpy friend Charlie. The main problem with "Eureka" is that Roeg values style over substance. The entire first section of the film involving Jack's quest for gold is compromised by Roeg dropping in metaphysical and supernatural aspects, implying that his seer girlfriend is somehow sending him psychic signals to find the gold even though this will inexplicably cost her her own life. Even when the story gets on more traditional footing in Jack's later years, Roeg still toys with the viewer by inserting artistic touches that are visually striking but which distract the audience and make things quite confusing to follow.  At times it's hard to figure out who is who and what everyone's relationships and motivations are. Roeg also can't resist making numerous analogies between the characters of Jack McCann and Charles Foster Kane, though the comparisons seem a bit obvious and heavy handed. Having said that, the movie looks beautiful and Alex Thomson's cinematography is top-notch, as is the lush musical score by Stanley Myers.  

If Jack McCann's fate seemed cursed, so did "Eureka" as a major film production. The movie was financed and was to be distributed by United Artists. However, during production the management team of the long-troubled studio changed and "Eureka" was treated as an orphan project that had been green lit by the previous regime. Not helping matters was the fact that a test screening proved to be very discouraging, with the audience overwhelmingly giving the quirky film a "thumbs down" verdict. UA sat on the movie for two years before giving it a very minor and abbreviated release, after which it fell into obscurity. Twilight Time has released the film as a special edition Blu-ray, limited to only 3,000 units- and kudos for them for doing so. Although the film is a misguided and unsatisfying enterprise, it still has enough impressive aspects to merit a look by any serious movie scholar. "Eureka" is an artistic failure in this writer's opinion but at least it's a fascinating one and certainly worth a look in order to draw your own conclusions.

The film is currently streaming on Screenpix, which is available through Amazon Prime, Roku, YouTube and Apple TV for $2.99 per month. 

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By Hank Reineke

In case you were wondering, the answer is “yes.” That is Christopher Lee’s visage featured on the slipcase of Kino Lorber’s Blu ray issue of Vernon Sewell’s The Blood Beast Terror. Now, ordinarily, displaying Sir Christopher’s image on a Gothic horror film release wouldn’t make for bad marketing. The problem is that Lee doesn’t actually appear in The Blood Beast Terror. The team at Kino curiously chose to use the poster art of Distribuzione Italiana Films Internazionali, the distributor readying the film for European release as the Mostro di Sangue.

The artwork procured by D.I.F.I. for The Blood Beast Terror was, at the very least, familiar: a reverse-image lifted from the Italian poster of 1958’s Horror of Dracula (Dracula il Vampiro). Kino is taking a fair battering on fan sites for their packaging of this 2022 issue. But let’s be fair. Kino’s decision to forego the original British poster art for the imagery of the Italian campaign might be a bit odd but not technically incorrect. Moviegoers in Italy had, in fact, been lured into visiting their local cinema with such eye-catching - if misleading - artwork.

Though Tigon’s The Blood Beast Terror has a core of supporters – perhaps defenders is a better term - I find the film a mild amusement at best. Which is a shame as I really want to like it. In a sense, it’s a film conceived from a time out of mind. Some critics suggest that’s exactly the film’s failing. Upon UK release in the early spring of 1968, stately Gothic horrors were seemingly growing stale amongst horror film fans. Critics argued a new era of more edgy, sadistic and blood-letting horrors was in the ascendant, old costume-drama gothics now too tame to frighten. While that’s not necessarily untrue, there’s no denying The Blood Beast Terror is of middling interest simply due to it not being terribly involving.

While it’s true goth-horror had lost some of its courtly appeal with a large sect of cinemagoers, the sub-genre was hardly dead. A case in point: upon original release The Blood Beast Terror was paired as the undercard to Michael Reeve’s brilliant Witchfinder General, a film set circa 1645. This too was a Tigon release of Tony Tenser’s, a Vincent Price vehicle far superior to The Blood Beast Terror on every conceivable level. I might be wrong, but I suspect if not for the presence of Peter Cushing in The Blood Beast Terror, Sewell’s more modest film would have far fewer champions than it enjoys today.

So what’s wrong with it? I admit to moments of melancholia when watching The Blood Beast Terror. For starters, it’s difficult to watch old pros Cushing and Robert Flemyng (known best to horror film fans as the titular necrophagic M.D. The Horrible Dr. Hichcock) try their best to rise above the mediocre material they’ve been given to work with. The film’s Director of Photography, Stanley Long, recalled Flemyng complaining “how shit the script was, how shit the effects were.” Even director Sewell wasn’t spared the castigations of an unhappy cast member. He recalled the famously gentlemanly Cushing mildly offering only a couple of days into the shoot, “Vernon, I think this is perhaps the worst film I have ever made.” Sadly, in a few years’ time there would be new challengers to Cushing’s lament. Such clunkers as Tendre Dracula (1974) and Blood Suckers (1971) would prove short term contenders to that particular title.

I won’t give away anything important about the film’s flimsy plot – just in case you’ve yet to see the film and still wish to after reading this review. I’ll just say the trail of mutilated bodies scattering the English countryside are – as ever – the result of bad science gone horribly wrong. In this case entomological science. As transformative feminine-insect monsters go, Wanda Ventham’s fetching “Clare” in The Blood Beast Terror is, IMHO, a far less interesting or menacing creature than Susan Cabot’s “Janice Starlin” in Roger Corman’s low-budget The Wasp Woman (1959). But, again, the fault here lies not with Ventham or Cushing or Flemyng, but with a script riddled with excessive verbiage and slow-moving, sluggish plotting.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

"Gun the Man Down" is yet another Poverty Row low-budget Western shot during an era in which seemingly every other feature film released was a horse opera. Supposedly shot in nine days, the film is primarily notable for being the big screen directing debut of Andrew V. McLaglen, who would go on to be a very respected director who specialized in Westerns and action films. The movie also marked the final feature film for James Arness before he took on the role of Marshall Matt Dillon in TV's long-running and iconic "Gunsmoke" series. After failing to achieve stardom on the big screen, Arness found fame and fortune in "Gunsmoke" when John Wayne recommended him for the part. Wayne had been championing Arness for years and provided him with roles in some of his films. Following "Gunsmoke"'s phenomenal run, Arness seemed content to stay with TV and had another successful series, "How the West Was Won".  John Wayne was one of the first actors to successfully launch his own production company, Batjac, which produced this film and Wayne's influence is felt in the project. Andrew V. McLaglen was the son of Wayne's good friend and occasional co-star Victor McLaglen. The screenplay was written by Burt Kennedy, who Wayne would later hire to direct several of his own films. The movie provided young Angie Dickinson with her first role of substance and she would reunite with Wayne years later on Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo". Speaking of which, another Wayne favorite, character actor Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez appears in both films. Also in the cast is Harry Carey Jr. , son of Wayne's idol and and personal friend, Harry Carey. The cinematography is by William Clothier, who would lens many of Wayne's later movies and the film was produced by Duke's brother, Robert Morrison. "Gun the Man Down" is very much a Wayne family affair. 

The film opens with three fleeing bank robbers: Rem Anderson (James Arness), Matt Rankin (Robert J. Wilke) and Ralph Farley (Don MeGowan), who arrive at their hide-a-way cabin with the law in hot pursuit. Rem has been seriously wounded and Rankin makes the decision to leave him behind. Rem's girl, Jan (Angie Dickinson), objects at first but Rankin convinces her to go with them in part because they have $40,000 in loot from the local bank. The law arrives at the cabin and arrests Rem. He is nursed back to health and is offered a deal for a light sentence if he helps track down his confederates. Rem refuses and does his time in prison. Upon release, he begins his mission vengeance and tracks Rankin, Ralph and Jan to a one-horse town where Rankin has used his ill-gotten gains to open a profitable saloon. Upon discovering Rem is in town, Rankin hires a notorious gunslinger, Billy Deal (Michael Emmet), to assassinate him. Jan has a tense reunion with Rem and seeks his forgiveness but her pleas fall on deaf ears. Rem emerges victorious over Billy Deal and Rankin, Ralph and Jan flee town with Rem in pursuit. Their final confrontation takes place in a remote canyon with tragic consequences.  

Given the film's meager production budget, "Gun the Man Down" is a surprisingly mature and engrossing Western with intelligent dialogue and interesting characters. (In addition to those mentioned, there is a fine performance by Emile Meyer as the town sheriff). Arness projects the kind of macho star power that Wayne had and Dickinson acquits herself very well as the stereotypical saloon girl with a heart of gold. The film, ably directed by McLaglen,  runs a scant 76 minutes and was obviously designed for a quick playoff and fast profit. It has largely been lost to time but the film is currently streaming on Screenpix, which is available through Amazon Prime, Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV for an additional monthly fee of $2.99 The movie is also available on Blu-ray through Olive Films.

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"RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES"

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Olive Films has released a Blu-ray edition of the little-remembered and rarely seen 1979 film "The Outsider", a powerful drama directed by Tony Luraschi , who seemingly had a bright career but who, instead seems to have fallen into obscurity.  This seems to be one of only two films he was ever credited with. The reasons for this remain unclear, given the fact that "The Outsider" is a powerful film that has retained its bite over the decades. One can only wonder why a work of such passion could not have inspired its director to continue to direct movies, although perhaps fate prevented him from doing so. (If any readers has any information to share about this, please let us know.)  The film is set in Northern Ireland during the height of "The Troubles", that seemingly endless period of time when nation was torn apart by state of virtual civil was. The IRA routinely battled British forces on the streets of major cities, turning urban centers into  war zones at times. There were also loyalist paramilitary groups that did not want independence for Northern Ireland and who wanted to stay loyal to the Crown. The end result was a series of bombings, gun battles and kidnappings that ultimately took thousands of lives and left the civilian population in grave danger. The Good Friday peace agreement, brokered by Prime Minister Tony Blair with enthusiastic backing of President Bill Clinton, finally brought about an end to most of the violence but this didn't take place until 1998 and until then, the bloody legacy of Irish fighting Irish forever seared the nation's history. 

In "The Outsider", Craig Wasson plays Michael Flaherty, a disillusioned Vietnam War veteran of Irish descent who grew up under the spell of his grandfather (Sterling Hayden), who continues to relate stories about his glory days serving in the IRA and carrying out dangerous missions against the British. Michael decides to make his grandfather proud by leaving the family home in Detroit to join up with the IRA. He manages to make the proper contacts and when he gets to Ireland, he is promptly met by members of an IRA group located in the Catholic dominated Republic of Ireland. Here his new comrades greet him politely but warily and with good reason: traitors are not uncommon in the movement and there is suspicion Michael might be a British plant. Finally convinced he is sincere, they move him from safe house to safe house, much to his frustration. Michael is eager to see action against the British but all he gets are delays. After griping that he feels he is wasting his time, the IRA commander sends him and another agent on a mission that requires them to cross the border into Northern Ireland,  the geographical area where most of the acts of violence are carried out in the quest to have both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland reunited as one country, independent of British rule. When Michael arrives in Belfast, he finds the city resembling a war zone with bombed-out buildings and an occupying force of machine gun-carrying British forces on seemingly every corner. While he awaits his orders for the mission, he meets and strikes up a romantic relationship with Siobahn (Patricia Quinn), a firebrand of a young woman who hates the British for killing her younger brother. Although she is not officially with the IRA, she is trusted by them and provides cover for their actions. As Michael impatiently awaits making himself useful, a cruel deception is under way. The local IRA commander has come to the conclusion that Michael could be more valuable dead than alive. He theorizes that if the IRA murders him and frames the British, the result will outrage Irish American sympathizers in the USA who would then increase their monetary donations to the group. Simultaneously, the local British commander (Geoffrey Palmer) has had Michael under surveillance and has also concluded that he could be quite valuable dead- especially if the blame could be placed on his IRA comrades. Meanwhile, Michael is oblivious to all this and is finally given orders to proceed on a mission- but it's one that is intended to be his last. The film ends with a shocking revelation relating to Michael's family that sets up an emotional last scene. 

"The Outsider" is a highly accomplished work and is superbly directed by the aforementioned Tony Luraschi. It's a pity that, for whatever reason, he never chose or perhaps had the opportunity to continue making films. The movie is also outstanding in terms of casting with even minor roles played so convincingly that at times you would be forgiven for thinking you were watching a documentary. The story does manage to deftly tip-toe through the tulips when it comes to passing judgment on the political implications of the events depicted. Both the British military and the IRA members are presented in an unflattering light. How you react to the film probably depends on your personal view of the politics involved. After all, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. If there is a criticism of the film, it's related to the script, which is unrelentingly downbeat. Surely even IRA members managed to have a laugh and a joke occasionally in a pub but in "The Outsider", everyone is downbeat, depressed and paranoid. Still, the Olive Films Blu-ray is most welcome and very highly recommended. There is only one disappointment: the presentation is bare bones.  With a film associated  with this much controversy, there should have been a commentary track with scholars who can discuss Ireland's infamous "Troubles" so that the script can be discussed in context. Highly Recommended.

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By Hank Reineke

I’m going to begin this review by cribbing a couple of sentences from my review of Blue Underground’s double-feature Blu-ray of The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu: Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels were wildly popular pulps but unapologetically racist in construction, reflective of many western attitudes of the day. His 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. OK, just needed to get that out of the way before moving on… but we’ll return to examine this subject a bit later.

I suppose it’s fitting the fireworks of the Boxer Rebellion serve as the starting point of Paramount’s The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929). The film flashes with scenes of Chinese fighters in Peking battling colonizing Brits (and other western allies) in dramatic style. To make the uprising more authentic in its stage dressing, the trades reported (March 16, 1929) the filmmakers were planning to comb LA’s Chinatown in search of as many as “500 oriental actors and extras.” They apparently fell short of this ambitious goal. Reporting four days later, the Los Angeles Evening Express derided, “Los Angeles’s Chinatown has fallen down on the job,” causing the studio to widen their search to “surrounding cities for reinforcements.”

It was only a few weeks earlier (March 3, 1929) that Paramount announced Rowland V. Lee was chosen to direct The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (the true title of Rohmer’s first novel featuring the fiendish villain). The film’s title was soon amended to the easier-to-market The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, with “rehearsals” set to commence immediately on the first week of March. Lee, who would go on to more famously direct such Universal features as Son of Frankenstein and Tower of London (both 1939), was short-listed having recently helmed two pictures for Paramount in 1929: Wolf of Wall Street and The Women Who Needed Killing. Even as the Boxer Rebellion battle scenes were being staged, it appears full casting for the film was still not finalized: several of film’s players were not brought on until mid-April 1929. The film was given a tight shooting schedule, one wag noting “all night sessions will be the order of things.”

There were other hurdles to surmount. Hollywood was still making its earliest steps in their exploration of sound-filmmaking. In April of 1929, the Los Angeles dailies made note of the challenges of writing for the screen in this new “sound era.” Filmmakers now needed to pointedly write and cast to address the vagaries of “foreign” speech patterns and regional dialects. This challenge fell particularly heavy on the screenwriters. “The dialogue voiced by Fu Manchu and the other Chinese characters had to be “couched in this peculiar, flowery oriental style,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “To once digress from it would have been to possibly ruin the effect of the entire production.”

There were other issues. There’s more than a bit of stilted over-acting present in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu: lots of theatrical over-emoting throughout, several actor’s - understandably - not yet conversant with the new realities of sound-recording. This is most obvious in the performance of actress Jean Arthur cast as the beleaguered Lia Eltham, the mink-lined imprisoned daughter of the man Fu Manchu holds responsible for the death of his wife and child. Arthur is a great actress – she enjoyed a long career lasting from the early 1920s through the mid-1960s – but her exaggerated silent-era gesturing and doleful sways present in this first Fu film are a noticeable throwback to days passed. I suppose Warner Oland’s Fu Manchu fares better than most as his character is of course, written as inscrutable: reserved, reticent, cunning and seemingly less susceptible to theatrical outbursts.

As the title character, Orland of course stands dead center of the ensuing mayhem. The actor, soon to command greater fame as the Chinese sleuth Charlie Chan in the Monogram series, was – famously (or perhaps infamously) - not of Asian descent. He was Swedish. Of course neither the previous of succeeding Fu Manchus were of Chinese heritage. Oland’s predecessor Harry Agar Lyons (in a series of silent-era shorts (1923-1924) was British as were two of Oland’s successors, Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. It’s fair to say Orland was the most convincing non-Asian actor to play the role. Having worked in silent films from 1912 through 1926, Oland’s “exotic” (by early Hollywood standards) appearance allowed him to play an assortment of characters of physical non-western heritage.

Oland wasn’t bothered with such typecasting. The amount of work offered was profitable and playing outside his own culture allowed him the chance to test his abilities. “I like to play the Chinese roles because most of them give me the opportunity to do some real acting,” he told the Scripps New Service. “In fact, I like all the roles that give me a chance for difficult characterizations. I believe character actors are the real backbone of most pictures. They are the ones who give the production its atmosphere. And, incidentally, the character actors are the ones who live the longest in the business.”

Obviously, one can’t look at these Fu Manchu movies in this 21^st Century without groaning at the stereotypes, the insensitive dialogue, and – of course - the casting of a non-Asian in the title role. To be fair, Caucasians are damned and thrown under the bus as well. “The white men are kind and generous,” Fu Manchu soothes his frightened daughter as he finds his home in the crossfire between British snipers and Boxer rebels. But his opinion soon changes when his wife and daughter find themselves collateral damage of Britain’s superior firepower. Now, with the “white men” having failed in their promise to protect his family and home, Fu has an awakening. “I’ve been blind,” Fu Manchu rages. “These whites are barbarians, devils, fiends!” Which sets him off to exact revenge on the offspring of the westerners he holds responsible.

That’s essentially the plot device of both films in this new set from Kino Lorber. The two film’s play out much as movie serials of the 1940s do. Lots of villainy, lots of episodic action, a distressed gal, and a heroic paramour (in this case, the handsome Neil Hamilton, “Commissioner Gordon” of TV’s Batman (1966). It’s not great art, but it was – in its time, no doubt – a suspenseful and fun thrill-ride. Paramount offered previews of The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu in late spring/early summer of ’29 at the Westlake Theatre. Initial critical reaction was muted: the earliest previews of the original cut ran the gamut from “overlong” to “somewhat sketchy.” Regardless, upon national release, the film did well enough that by late January of 1930, the trades announced both director Lee and Oland (and indeed the entire primary cast of the original) were to return for a rousing sequel The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu.

In his promotion of this second coming, Lee – again, tapped to direct - pointed out the sinister Fu Manchu was intriguing as he was no ordinary gangster. He was a super-villain, a worthy adversary to Inspector Nayland Smith (O.P. Heggie). Their rivalry and brinksmanship was much in the tradition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes vs. Moriarty. “Dangerous criminals make fascinating prey,” Lee contended. “Such a man is the fictitious Dr. Fu Manchu. His mentality, although diverted into wrong channels, is as keen as that of those who pursue him. He knows what to expect.”

Oland’s Fu is far more loquacious than inscrutable in this second film. There’s a lot of bantering dialogue and threats tossed. Perhaps too many. As one critic noted in his review of The Return of Fu Manchu, “Where is this oriental laconicism they talk about? Dr. Fu is one of the most garrulous individuals on record.” Though decrying the film’s excessive verbiage, the reviewer conceded the film did possess “the virtues of movement… events tumbling over each other in endless succession from start to finish.” Which sounds, more than a little, of what critics thought of the crazy but entertaining James Bond opus Moonraker a half-century later. Not great art, again. But great fun… for some.

I suspect the audience for this particular Fu Manchu set will be split somewhat evenly between aficionados of early sound-films and Cinema Study students examining Race and Ethnicity Depictions of Early Hollywood. There’s a lot to uncomfortableness to mine through here, no shortage of political and cultural tripwire hazards in this “woke” era. Are the Fu Manchu pulps and films racist? Well, of course they are. The question is whether or not the films are still viable. In his intriguing book Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, Professor Yunte Huang accepts that many will always view Oland’s Chan as a “Yellow Uncle Tom,” his impersonations akin to that of a blackface minstrel. But he also notes that upon Oland’s visit to Shanghai in 1933, local audiences celebrated the actor for “bringing to life the first positive [Chinese] character in American film.”

So it’s all complicated. As an amateur historian, I personally think artifacts of days ancient and not-so-ancient should be preserved for study and education. Such storytelling shines light on our past and the best (and worst) aspects of our world and ourselves. In terms of simple film-collecting, perhaps the appearance of these two rare-ish Fu Manchu films might pique the interest of fans of Oland’s far better known Charlie Chan series. In 2009 20^th Century Fox issued an essential five box DVD collection of the actor’s Chan oeuvre, so there’s evidently interest in Oland’s filmography even some ninety-years on.

It might be somewhat disappointing to those more knowledgeable collectors that Kino chose not to (or perhaps were unable?) to include the third and final film of the Oland Fu Manchu series on this set. In 1931 Paramount released The Daughter of Fu Manchu, the last (and, arguably, least) of the series, but one featuring Anna May Wong as the featured character. To my knowledge The Daughter of Fu Manchu has never been given a proper official release on home video, though copies of the film have long been found on the grey-market. (In 1984 the Video Marquee label issued a clamshell VHS edition of the film as part of their “Joe Franklin’s Collectibles” series – but I’m not certain this release had any official sanction). In any case, a two-disc Blu-ray set of this triumvirate would have surely satiated the desires of the sad Completists amongst us. I’m not complaining, mind you. While some might wish such dated fare be removed from circulation as not to offend anyone’s sensibilities, I’m grateful Kino Lorber continues to shine light on such obscure and mostly forgotten films from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

This Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray edition of The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu/The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu is presented here in 1920x1080p, dts sound and with an attractive slipcase cover. The film looks very good considering its age, though neither print is pristine: there are occasional flashes of white and black emulsion scratches present throughout, and some shots appear a bit soft. The set rounds off with several theatrical trailers of period films as well as welcome commentaries courtesy of novelist and critic Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog fame.

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STREAMING REVIEW: "THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA" (1969) STARRING ANTHONY QUINN (AMAZON PRIME)

DVD REVIEW: "THE LAST RUN" (1971) STARRING GEORGE C. SCOTT; WARNER ARCHIVE RELEASE

STREAMING REVIEW: "A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS" (2022) STARRING PETER BILLINGSLEY (HBOMAX)

STREAMING REVIEW: "THE ALAMO- THIRTEEN DAYS TO GLORY" (1987) STARRING JAMES ARNESS, BRIAN KEITH AND ALEC BALDWIN (AMAZON PRIME)

By  Lee Pfeiffer

When movie fans think about films related to the battle of the Alamo, the most obvious reference that comes to mind is John Wayne's epic 1960 production, "The Alamo". There are two others from the modern era of filmmaking that are largely forgotten to all but Alamo history buffs: the 1955 film "The Last Command" and the ill-fated, but underrated 2004 production, also titled simply "The Alamo". Less obvious is the 1987 NBC-TV presentation of "The Alamo- Thirteen Days to Glory" based on Lon Tinkle's book of the same name. Tinkle presented a historically accurate depiction of the legendary battle, at least in terms of what was accepted by historians at the time. However, facts about the battle continue to be fluid and hotly debated among historians. The TV production has not been widely seen since its initial airing. It was released on VHS tape and research has shown an obscure DVD release as part of a double feature with "High Noon II: The Return of Will Kane". However, the movie is now being streamed on Amazon Prime. Not having seen it since its broadcast in 1987, I felt it was time revisit the production, which was widely panned by fans who obsess over all things relating to the Alamo. Their main complaint was the casting of the pivotal roles of Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, who were played by popular TV stars James Arness and Brian Keith, both of whom were not only long-in-the-tooth but were sporting tusks. The role of Crockett was particularly a thankless one to play. Fess Parker had become an American phenomenon when he played the role in Walt Disney's telecasts. Disney only made a handful of episodes and even he was shocked when the show generated a massive fan movement and became the most successful film/TV tie-in  up to that time. Parker knew he was on to something so in the mid-1960s, free of Disney's edicts, he simply put on a new buckskin jacket and raccoon hat and starred in a hit TV series, "Daniel Boone". When John Wayne was negotiating with United Artists to produce and direct the big screen version of "The Alamo", he had to be forced to play Crockett as the studio's insistence. They wanted his name upfront to draw in his legions of fans. Wayne acquitted himself well enough, but the shadow of Parker loomed over his performance. The choice of Brian Keith was a bizarre one. He was 66-years old at the time and nothing about his appearance suggests the popular image of Crockett (he doesn't even wear the signature cap.) I'm second-to-none in my admiration of Keith's talents and recently praised his portrayal of Theodore Roosevelt in "The Wind and the Lion" on the forthcoming Imprint Blu-ray, but this was a rare case of his judgment in roles being off-course. Arness was also too old to play Bowie, but since the popular conception of the historic figure wasn't ingrained in modern society the way Crockett was, Arness's performance proved to be a bit more tolerable. The only agreement seemed to center on young up-and-coming Alec Baldwin, who delivers a fine and believable performance as Col. Travis, though it's a less interesting one than presented by Laurence Harvey in Wayne's film. Lorne Greene makes a very brief cameo as Sam Houston, showing frustration at his inability to raise an army in time to save the defenders of the Alamo. Greene is generally a commanding screen presence, but his role is so limited he can't make an emotional impact, as Richard Boone did in the role in the Wayne production.

In favor of the TV production, it was filmed on location in Brackettville, Texas, where the massive and convincing sets from Wayne's movie still stood. Behind the scenes, the film benefited from a seasoned pro in the director's chair, Burt Kennedy, an old hand at making good Westerns ("Support Your Local Sheriff", "The War Wagon"). I'm not an expert on the history of the battle, but it's been pointed out that the TV production gets certain things more accurately than the feature films but certain other factors are clearly the invention of the screenwriters. In attempt to appeal to younger viewers, the screenplay provides a completely superfluous subplot about a young Mexican girl in love with one of the Caucasian defenders of the Alamo. It's pretty dreadfully presented, with the young lovers looking like they'd be more suitable for "The Breakfast Club" gang than the besieged Texas mission. Faring a bit better are Kathleen York and Jon Lindstrom in the key roles of Captain Dickinson and his wife, who was one of the few inhabitants of the Alamo to survive. There are some familiar faces among the defenders, but most of them don't register strongly because their roles are under-written. (John Wayne's son Ethan has a minor role.) This version of the Alamo saga differs from Wayne's by presenting Santa Ana as a major character, whereas in the Wayne film he is only a minor presence. As played by Raul Julia, the legendary historic figure is presented as Snidley Whiplash-type, leering at young women and devoid of any human qualities. Julia brings some gusto to the role but a more nuanced characterization is called for. There is also the distracting presence of David Ogden Stiers as a Mexican army officer, which is justified by having him described as an adviser from the British army. If such individuals did exist, it's news to me but in any event, Stiers' presence seems more like a casting gimmick than an attempt to portray an obscure historical fact.

Original TV Guide advertisement.

 

Things are fairly turgid through much of the film but as the battle scenes finally arrive they are well-handled with impressive stuntwork on display. The problem is that the spectacular climax of Wayne's big-budget production looms over the relatively skimpy assets that director Burt Kennedy has as his disposal. The TV battle attempts to add some spectacle by cribbing battle footage from Wayne's film. Much of it is set to Peter Bernstein's serviceable score, though at various times during the production, he shamelessly copies the work of another Bernstein (Elmer), with similar music to that found in the latter's classic score from "The Magnificent Seven".

In summary, "The Alamo-Thirteen Days to Glory" is undeniably flawed, but it has enough positive aspects to merit viewing, if only for comparison to other films that depict the battle and the events leading up to it. The source material used by Amazon leaves a lot to be desired, but it's still a positive development to see the production get some exposure. It deserves a Blu-ray release with a commentary track by Alamo historians, who could decipher its truths and fabrications far better than this writer can.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, November 17. 2022

REVIEW: "REDS" (1981) STARRING WARREN BEATTY AND DIANE KEATON; PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO BLU-RAY

By Todd Garbarini

The summer of 1978 was one of the best summers that I can recall from childhood. My grandmother took my sister and I to see Heaven Can Wait, Warren Beatty's remake of 1941’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan. I immediately took to Mr. Beatty’s interpretation of Joe Pendleton, despite not being an avid fan of football. Two years later I was introduced to Jack Nicholson's work when, in July 1980, I saw a broadcast of Mike Nichols’ 1975 film The Fortune on ABC-TV in which he co-starred with Mr. Beatty, along with Stockard Channing. It was not a particularly memorable film, but I enjoyed both of them in their respective roles.

In the winter of 1981, Paramount Pictures released Reds, a three-and-one-quarter hour long drama that Mr. Beatty wrote, produced, and directed. I had seen the ads for the film and while traveling to and from New York City with my Boy Scout troop to broaden our horizons of the world of art by visiting the Museum of Modern Art. We spent a significant amount of time in New York's Pennsylvania train station awaiting our journey home, which was an education in and of itself. Aside from the cross-dressers and drug addicts, there was a video playback system positioned near the rear of the terminal. This advertising mechanism the name of which completely escapes me, was sponsored by Paramount Pictures. It ran movie trailers on ¾” U-matic videotape for several films released by the studio. One of them was Raiders of the Lost Ark, my favorite film of that year, and another one was Reds. I never had the opportunity to see Reds theatrically, and my parents correctly figured that the film would have gone way over my head. The prospect of sitting in a theater for nearly three-and-a-half hours did not sit well with them, understandably so. Movie theater seats in those days were simply not comfortable. I did not catch up with Reds until many years later, but the film has finally found its way restored on Blu-ray for its 40^th anniversary. I’m finally getting around to review it.

If there is anything that can be said about this film, Reds is about many things. It is a love story, it is an ambitious work, it is the brainchild of a man who managed to pull off an extraordinary feat of filmmaking, and it is arguably the last of the big-budgeted sprawling epics of the time, following Michael Cimino’s failed Heaven’s Gate from the previous year. While I am not completely understanding of the ideologies in the politics involved, I can safely say that Reds is probably not the sort of film that would be green-lit today, as the climate of filmmaking now is completely different than it was four decades ago.

Reds opened on Friday, December 4, 1981 nationwide, however the story it depicts begins sixty-six years earlier in 1915 when Louise Bryant, expertly portrayed by Diane Keaton who had already appeared in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) and played opposite Woody Allen in six films, meets fellow journalist John Reed (Warren Beatty) at a Portland, Oregon lecture. She interviews him in an hours-long session that compels her to leave her stuffy husband (Nicolas Coster) and move with Reed to Greenwich Village in New York City where she is introduced to anarchist and author Emma Goldman (Maureen Stapleton, who won an Oscar for her performance) and Eugene O’Neill (Jack Nicholson), the playwright.

Following a move to Provincetown, Massachusetts, Bryant and Reed find themselves involved in the local theater scene. Bryant has realized that her writing is what makes her truly happy, and her ideologies begin to align with Reed’s, who is now involved in labor strikes with the Communist Labor Party of America. These people are called “Reds,” hence the film’s title. While Reed is off covering the 1916 Democratic National Convention in Missouri, Bryant becomes romantically involved with O’Neill, the truth of which comes to Reed’s attention when he returns to Massachusetts and finds a letter O’Neill wrote Bryant inside the pages of a book. Despite this, he still loves Bryant and after marrying, they move to upstate New York. However, a fight ensues when evidence of his own affairs comes to light, which causes Bryant to take a position of war correspondent in Europe, a role that Reed also follows despite his doctor’s admonitions to slow down. The Russian Revolution commences, and Bryant and Reed are reunited.

Following an intermission (possibly the last major American film to feature one, not counting Serio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America in 1984), Reed publishes his famous Ten Days That Shook the World and becomes inebriated on the ideals perpetuated by the Revolution and does his best to introduce the United States to the political theory of Communism, the antithesis of the beliefs espoused by Grigory Zinoviev (Jerzy Kosinski) and the Bolsheviks. Unfortunately, the effects of typhus catch up with him following a prison stint in Finland. The film’s most celebrated sequence is Reed’s return to Moscow and his reunion with Bryant at a train station. His demise occurs shortly thereafter, while Bryant can only look on, helplessly.

The supporting cast is excellent and the transfer on this Blu-ray is beautiful. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro added this film to his Oscar collection following his win for his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979). He would later win again for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), although not having even been nominated for his stunning work on Signor Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970), Last Tango in Paris (1972) or Luna (1979) makes one scratch their head in disbelief.

Reds was a boxoffice bomb despite the fact that the film was nominated for Best Picture and Beatty was named Best Director. Beatty’s sentimental look at a man who espoused Communism was ill-timed for the beginning of the Reagan era.

There is a second Blu-ray added which consists of the same extras that accompanied the 25^th anniversary DVD edition:

Witness To Reds:

The Rising (SD, 6:29)

Comrades (SD, 13:30)

Testimonials (SD, 11:58)

The March (SD, 9:07)

Revolution, Part 1 (SD, 10:18)

Revolution, Part 2 (SD, 6:55)

Propaganda (SD, 9:11)

The story of the making of this film and Paramount Pictures’ (which was owned by Gulf and Western at the time) willingness to make it is a fascinating one. While the film looks beautiful, I would have loved a running commentary from the major performers giving their insights and memories of the making of the film. A missed opportunity to be sure, but the film alone is enough to warrant the purchase.

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DVD REVIEW: "BIKER TRIPLE FEATURE"- "THE REBEL ROUSERS", "THE WILD RIDE" AND "BIKER BABYLON" (LIBERTY HALL VIDEO)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The first major "biker movie" was the 1953 production of "The Wild One", which elevated Marlon Brando from being a hot Hollywood commodity to that of a pop culture icon. Posters of him in his leather jacket and biker's cap still adorn walls today. Given the success of the film, it's surprising that it took until 1966 for the biker film to emerge as a genre. That occurred with the release of Roger Corman's "The Wild Angels". The film- like all Corman productions- was shot on a modest budget but was efficiently made, starred a host of young talents and made a boatload of money (spawning two soundtrack albums in the process.) "The Wild Angels" begat "The Born Losers", which pitted Tom Laughlin's Billy Jack against savage bikers and that begat a host of other lower-grade biker flicks of varying merits. Of course, the genre would hit its peak with Dennis Hopper's 1969 pop culture classic "Easy Rider". At the bottom of the biker barrel was "The Rebel Rousers", a 1967 crudely-made production that was deemed unworthy of a theatrical release. The film did afford prominent roles to up-and-comers Bruce Dern, Harry Dean Stanton and Jack Nicholson and after the latter was vaulted to stardom with his Oscar-nominated turn in "Easy Rider", someone dusted off "The Rebel Rousers" and promoted it as a Nicholson flick. The film is the creation of Martin B. Cohen, who co-wrote the screenplay and kind of directed it. (Many of the scenes between the bikers appear to have been improvised.) 

The movie's top-billed star is Cameron Mitchell, who plays Paul Collier, a free-spirited type who arrives in a tiny desert town in search of his lover, Karen (Diane Ladd, the real-life wife of Bruce Dern and another member of "The Wild Angels" cast.) When he finally locates her in a motel, their reunion is less-than-sentimental. She explains that she learned she was pregnant with Paul's child and, fearing he would insist that she undergo an illegal abortion, she fled for parts unknown with little money and even fewer resources. (In reality, Ladd was pregnant with future Oscar winner Laura Dern.) Paul accepts the responsibility for her dilemma and insists on marrying her, but Karen declines on the basis that she fears Paul's life as a rolling stone type would only lead him to abandon her at some point. As the two debate their plans for the future, a secondary plot takes hold in which the Rebel Rousers biker gang rides into town and takes over the local saloon, wreaking havoc, accosting women and causing the town's sheriff (John 'Bud'Cardos) to courageously force them out of town. The gang obliges, but refuse to leave the immediate area, causing headaches for the locals and the sheriff. A chance encounter between Paul and Karen and gang members seems certain to lead to tragedy, as the bikers torment their victims. However, the leader of the gang, J.J. Weston (Dern) turns out to be an old high school acquaintance of Paul's. He "invites" them to join the gang for some festivities on a nearby beach, leaving them no alternative but to comply. Things get out of hand quickly, however, when Bunny (Nicholson), one of the most brutal members of the gang, decides he wants to force himself on Karen. Paul is beaten to a pulp but J.J., showing a smattering of human compassion, challenges Bunny to some motorcycle stunt games on the beach. If Bunny wins, he can claim Karen as his prize. If not, she goes free. The film lumbers to a clunky conclusion in which Paul fails to rally any of the cowardly townspeople to help him rescue Karen (shade of "High Noon"!) and it falls to a previously unseen character (Robert Dix) to unconvincingly take on the mantel of hero.   

The film is so sloppily constructed that even Martin Cohen would publicly disown it. The cinematography by the soon-to-be esteemed Laszlo Kovacs and Glen Smith is rather amateurish and there is little evidence of the future star power pertaining to its stars. Only Cameron Mitchell and Diane Ladd provide performances that resonate in any way. There is some minor suspense when the gang kidnap Paul and Karen but much screen time is taken up and padded out with Dern and Nicholson performing some boring biker competitions on the beach. "The Rebel Rousers" has been released on DVD by the indie label Liberty Hall. The print, as you might suspect, has not undergone any restoration efforts and is therefore mediocre, but that's a bit better than I suspected it would be.

The DVD is billed as a "Biker Triple Feature" because it contains two other wildly diverse bonus films. The first, "The Wild Ride", is a micro-budget 1960 production that runs only 61 minutes. It has nothing to do with bikers or biking but does feature Jack Nicholson in an early leading role. He plays the narcissistic and cruel leader of a group of high school students who have formed a cult of personality around him. He routinely insults and abuses them and drops one of his girlfriends, telling her "You're too old." Nicholson, was actually 23 years-old at the time, gives a rather one-note performance under the direction of Harvey Berman, who probably would have tried harder if he knew he had a future cinema icon in his film. The titular wild ride refers to an incident in which Nicholson's speeding car is pursued by a police officer on a motorcycle. The cop crashes and dies and Nicholson faces consequences for his actions. The movie is briskly paced and is entertaining but one can only wonder why Nicholson's character continues to receive unquestioned loyalty, given his rude, crude and cruel ways. On the other hand, we're living in a time in which rude, crude and cruel authoritarian figures are all the rage among vast numbers of the world population, so perhaps the scenario isn't irrational. The print quality is passable, if a bit grainy, though it has been restored by one Johnny Legend in 2009, as evidenced in the credits.

The second bonus feature is titled "Biker Babylon" (aka "It's a Revolution Mother!" (sic), a 1969 feature length documentary directed by Harry Kerwin and a team of fellow future filmmakers of "B" horror flicks. The film's opening credits say we'll see over 5,000 people attending an anti-Vietnam War peach march. Apparently, the team didn't watch their own footage, as the November, 1969 march attracted over a half-million people. The footage of the peace marchers is awkwardly and weirdly juxtaposed with separate segments that follow the exploits of a biker gang known as The Aliens over a particular weekend in which they play to the camera by engaging in outrageous behavior including having a Wesson Oil party that, as you might imagine, involves plenty of naked female flesh. We're told that the role of young women in the gang is to be owned by either a particular member or be regarded as common property for the men to have sex with on a whim. Things then move to a Florida Woodstock-like music festival where bikers and rock fans mingle without much to show for it. For whatever reason, the filmmakers don't show us the rock acts but instead just concentrate on thousands of hot, sweaty young people milling about in a muddy terrain.

The most interesting aspect of the set is this documentary, however, largely because it does crudely capture the anti-Vietnam War movement at its peak. It provides an interesting time capsule as everyday citizens  march with celebrity activists such as Dr. Spock and Dick Gregory, with Gregory demanding that the Nixon administration end the war. (Gregory refers to Vice-President Agnew as Washington D.C.'s version of "Rosemary's Baby". ) What is lacking is context. Nixon squeaked into the presidency in 1968, winning a razor-thin contest against Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey, largely on running a campaign that promised he had a "secret plan" to end the war that would only be revealed after he took office. The plan turned out to be an escalation of the conflict that would drift into Cambodia. His "law-and-order" administration saw Agnew resign in disgrace after being caught accepting bribes, a practice he had carried over from his tenure as governor of Maryland. Of course, Nixon himself would be caught having covered up for the Watergate break-in and he, too, would resign from office under threat of impeachment from prominent fellow Republicans. Dozens of members of his administration would would be convicted of or plead guilty to crimes. It would have been worth the effort for someone to provide a commentary track reviewing the documentary in a modern context and providing insights into historical events. Instead we get an unintentionally hilarious narrator who peppers his every sentence with perceived hippie jargon in an attempt to appear cool. Instead, he sounds like Jack Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday in one of those "Dragnet" episodes in which he lectures teens about drugs using their own lingo.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Tuesday, November 1. 2022

CINEMA RETRO COVERS "THE WHALE" AT THE MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL

Photo: Montclair Film.

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Brendan Fraser started as most actors do, trying to land supporting roles in high profile films. He landed the leading role in low-brow 1992 comedy "Encino Man" in which he played a caveman in the modern era. Over the next few years, he worked steadily- if unevenly- in a range of films that failed to score at the boxoffice. That changed in 1997 when he played the role of George of the Jungle, a big screen adaptation of a 1960s cartoon series. With his hunky good looks, athletic physique and ability to perform difficult stunts, Fraser was in demand when the film proved to be a hit. More successes followed with "The Mummy" and its sequel. Fraser excelled in playing genial, if fallible action heroes and romantic leads, but he also proved he had the talent to portray dramatic characters as well, as evidenced by his acclaimed performances in "Gods and Monsters" and "The Quiet American". He also won plaudits for his performance as Brick in a 2001 stage production of Tennessee Williams' classic "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Then things slowed down. A few modest hits aside, Fraser appeared mostly in forgettable films and in supporting roles in TV productions. A volatile divorce, medical consequences from the many stunts her performed earlier in his career and other personal challenges led to him virtually dropping out of sight a few years ago. Fans who had grown up on his work in the 1990s speculated that he might soon fit into the "Whatever happened to?" category. His much-anticipated role as a villain in the "Batgirl" feature film was a casualty of Warner Brothers' decision to cancel the unfinished film. But Fraser has had plenty to be happy about recently. He landed a major role in Martin Scorsese's currently-filming "Killers of the Flower Moon" and has recently generated Oscar buzz for his leading role in director Darren Aronofsky's dramatic film "The Whale", which premiered last month at the Venice Film Festival to a six-minute standing ovation.

I joined my fellow ink-stained wretches of the press for a screening of the film last Sunday at The Montclair Film Festival in New Jersey. Fraser was on hand to be interviewed by Stephen Colbert, who resides in Montclair and who, along with his wife Evelyn, have been major players in the creation of the film festival, which holds screenings in two local historic theaters, the one-time Cinerama showcase The Claridge and the Wellmont, a grand old venue where this event took place. The cavernous Wellmont had a packed house and the crowd was made up of true cinephiles, as evidenced by their rapt attention to the film and the interview that followed. Nobody was texting, talking or otherwise distracting from the proceedings, despite the fact that there were three bars on site dispensing plenty of adult beverages. This was my first time attending the festival and I was impressed by the atmosphere and choice of venues.

As for "The Whale", like many critics, I found myself with mixed feelings. The primary reason to see the film is because of Fraser's justifiably acclaimed performance. It has been noted that the actor is now more beefy than beefcake but don't confuse Fraser with Charlie, the character he plays in the film, who is a 600-pound man confined to his apartment. Fraser required a rather amazing prosthetic "fat suit" as well as some convincing CGI effects to convincingly play a person this morbidly obese. The film opens on a jarring note. Charlie is slouched in his couch masturbating to a gay porn video, and his aroused state almost causes his death. In fact, virtually every movement is a challenge for Charlie, a kindhearted man whose only regular connection to society is his job teaching an online college course in literature via Zoom. Because he is ashamed of his appearance, he tells his students that his camera is broken. He can see them, but they can't see him, which unintentionally allows him to create an air of mystery about his persona. Charlie is obsessed with Herman Melville's "Moby Dick", and the analogy between the great white whale and his own physical state is obvious. Charlie receives a visit from a young evangelist, Thomas (Ty Simpkins) who ostensibly is there to spread the word from the Good Book but who ends up assisting and befriending Charlie, while keeping a secret about his own background. Next in line to visit is Ellie (Sadie Sink), Charlie's estranged teenage daughter who lugs a pretty good number of plot devices in the door with her. Seems Charlie was once married but left Sadie and her mother when she was very young when he came out of the closet and lived with his lover, who is now deceased and whose memory leaves Charlie in a constant state of despair. This first plot contrivance doesn't hold up for the simple reason that Charlie and his wife and daughter all still live in the same town, so it seems unlikely they would have had no social interaction until now. Next up among the visitors is Liz (Hong Chau), a saucy, no-nonsense nurse who happens to be a personal friend of Charlie. In between looking after his endless medical needs, she lectures him about his health to little avail. Rounding out the parade of eccentric troubadours dropping in on this mini Grand Central Station is Charlie's ex-wife Mary (Samantha Morton), who discusses their mutual concerns about Ellie's rebellious nature and self-destructive tendencies, all of which are squarely blamed on Charlie's negligence toward her.

"The Whale" is based on Samuel D. Hunter's stage play and film looks very much like a filmed stage production. There are precious few exterior shots and the murky interior cinematography by Matthew Libatique, combined with Ron Simonsen's eerie score, results in the mood of a horror film being prevalent. Hunter's screenplay and Aronofsky's direction tip off all but the most gullible viewer that their emotions are being exploited in a naked and shameless manner. Nothing wrong with that. Chaplin did the same with the final scene of "City Lights", as the Little Tramp unveils his identity to his once-blind paramour in a scene that may be the most touching in screen history. But "The Whale" is loaded up with a lot of contrived crises. Charlie is a sympathetic figure throughout but Ellie is painted as the Cruella DeVil of the high school set, a  one-note character that you try in vain to find redeeming qualities in. She even charges her own father money in order to spend time with her. Director Aronofsky has Sadie Sink go for the rafters in terms of her cruelty but we know from minute one that at some point she'll fall for young Thomas in another improbable plot twist. The actors can't be faulted. They're just following orders. The only believable character aside from Charlie is Liz the nurse and Hong Chau registers strongly in the role. The most affecting scenes are those centering on Charlie as an individual, as we watch seemingly mundane actions such as attempting to stand up evolve into "Mission: Impossible"-like scenarios. It's painful to watch Fraser, but that's the point. Regardless of the film's flaws, his performance is flawless. "The Whale" isn't the first film to portray morbidly obese people in a sympathetic fashion. Director Anne Bancroft's 1979 film "Fatso" did so through a serio-comedic lens. "The Whale", however, provides precious few reasons to smile.   

Following the screening, Brendan Fraser and Stephen Colbert took to the stage to Fraser's latest standing ovation. He appeared genuinely moved and in discussion with Colbert, it became clear how grateful he is to have been cast as Charlie. The chat reinforced Fraser's image as a Mister Nice Guy and to Colbert's credit, he suppressed his comedic side and did nothing to overshadow Fraser in any way. The interview was enjoyable and insightful.  

"The Whale" is a flawed film but no so flawed that it can't be recommended for those who seek a moving, if manipulative drama, as well as the performance of a lifetime by Brendan Fraser.

The film will open on December 9.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Wednesday, October 26. 2022

STREAMING REVIEW: "THE HONEY POT" (1967) STARRING REX HARRISON, MAGGIE SMITH, CLIFF ROBERTSON, EDIE ADAMS, SUSAN HAYWARD AND CAPUCINE (Screenpix)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

When they say "They don't make 'em like that anymore" it could well be in reference to "The Honey Pot", a delightful 1967 concoction.The film is the kind of star-studded comedy/mystery that has recently made a comeback through the "Knives Out" movies. However, this film barely registers in the minds of most movie-goers and was not successful when it was first released. (The studio even reissued it under a new title, "It Comes Up Murder".) The project was cursed from the beginning. The original cinematographer, Gianni Di Venanzo, died before production was completed. When the film was released in select engagements, the running time was 150 minutes, which was deemed to be far too long for this modest enterprise that is confined largely to interiors. For general release, 18 minutes were cut, although some of those scenes still appeared in lobby cards advertising the movie. One well-known character actor, Herschel Bernardi, had his entire role eliminated. Additionally, the film's producer Charles K. Feldman was under a great deal of stress, as he was simultaneously overseeing production on his bloated, out-of-control spoof version of the James Bond novel "Casino Royale". Yet, what emerges somehow managed to end up being quite entertaining, thanks in no small part to the larger-than-life Rex Harrison having a field day playing an equally larger-than-life rich cad. Essentially, he's playing Henry Higgins from "My Fair Lady" once again- only this time with a more devious streak. Both characters are filthy rich. Both are erudite and sophisticated snobs who devise cruel games involving innocents in return for his own self-amusement. Harrison is a wicked but lovable character. You can't help cheering him on despite his lack of ethical convictions.

The film, written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, is cobbled together from Frederick Knotts' play "Mr. Fox of Venice" and Thomas Sterling's novel "The Evil of the Day" with a healthy dose of Ben Johnson's play "Volpone" tossed in. In fact the film opens with Harrison as the pretentiously-named Cecil Sheridan Fox enjoying a performance of "Volpone" at a magnificent Venetian theater. The camera pans back to show that this is a private performance for Fox alone. He stops the play before the finale, thanks the cast members for a spirited production and leaves the scene. Yes, he's that rich. We soon learn that he is using elements of "Volpone" to orchestrate an elaborate and expensive practical joke. The first step comes when he hires an unemployed American actor, William McFly (Cliff Robertson) to be his hired hand. He informs McFly that he must pose as Fox's long-time major domo in his elaborate mansion house, which is impressively located right on one of the canals. Fox explains to McFly that he has written to three former lovers and told them he is terminally ill. None of the women know that the others have been informed. He reasons that they will all make a bee-line directly to him, ostensibly to care for him, but in reality in hopes of inheriting his fortune. First on his list is Lone Star Crockett (Susan Hayward), who Fox wooed when she was a wild teenager. In the course of their affair, he put her on the road to a life of luxury and pleasure. Then there is Princess Dominique (Capucine), an exotic beauty who is in a troubled marriage and Merle McGill (Edie Adams), a famous but fading movie star. On the surface, all three of these women are independently wealthy and shouldn't need his fortune. But he suspects that, in reality, all are in some degree of financial distress and he wants to see if they will compete with each other to earn his favor. Sure enough, each of the ladies arrive at his home and are surprised to see they have two female competitors. Lone Star is now a cranky hypochondriac who requires constant pampering from her ever-present companion, a spinster named Sarah Watkins (Maggie Smith). Dominique tries to put on an air of self-assurance and Merle is a wise-cracking cynic. All of them individually express their sympathies to Fox and there is even the occasional attempt at seduction. Fox puts on a show that he is desperately ill and even sits in bed affixed to an oxygen tank. In private, however, he blasts classical music and dances around the room, delighted that his perceptions of human behavior are proving to be true. The plot takes several major swings in due course, however, when one of the women ends up dead, ostensibly from an overdose of sleeping pills. However, McFly and Sarah suspect murder is afoot. The film then becomes one of those time-honored drawing room mysteries with upper crust characters matching wits with the local inspector (Adolfo Celi, marvelous in a rare comedic role.) 

To describe the plot in any further detail would necessitate providing some spoilers. Suffice it to say there are plenty of red herrings and a complex plot that will demand your constant attention or you will be hopelessly lost.  

The performances are all first rate, though Capucine (never one who mastered the light touch that these sorts of comedies require) is a bit stiff. However, Hayward and Adams pick up the slack with very funny characterizations. The scene stealer among the women, however, is Maggie Smith, who is more streetwise than any of the others suspect. As for Harrison, he seems to be having a genuine ball, chewing the scenery and dispensing bon mots that are consistently amusing. The sequence in which he dances around his bed chamber is one for the ages. 

"The Honey Pot" deserved a better fate than it received when it was released theatrically. Hopefully it will get a more appreciative audience through streaming and a Kino Lorber Blu-ray that is available.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Saturday, October 22. 2022

Book Review: "Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli's Sexploits by Victoria Ruétalo"

University of California Press

Pages: 264

28 b&w illustrations

ISBN: 9780520380097

Paperback

RRP: £27

REVIEW BY ADRIAN SMITH

When the Argentine actress Isabel Sarli passed away in June 2019 the world lost one of the most beautiful, glamorous, and let’s be honest, sexy women in cinema. She was a superstar, a goddess, whose twenty-seven films from 1958 to 1984 with partner-director and frequent co-star Armando Bó caused scandal and outrage in their home country of Argentina, and yet outside of the Spanish-speaking world she is relatively unknown. Aside from some films making it to New York’s 42^nd Street grindhouses they did not make much of an impact, which is a great pity, so one hopes that this book, the first about Sarli to be published in English, will go some way towards improving the situation.

Isabel Sarli, nicknamed Coca, a former Miss Argentina who reached the semi-finals for Miss Universe in 1955, made her film debut swimming nude in Thunder Among the Leaves (1958), and immediately caused a sensation. The scene is often said to be the first glimpse of full-frontal nudity in Argentinian cinema. She immediately became a star and embarked on a remarkable partnership (and personal relationship) with its director Armando Bó. She was said to be the cleanest woman in cinema, as so many of the films featured her bathing or showering. She was also not averse to frolicking naked in snow, on sand or in the jungle. She was Insatiable (also the name of her last film with Bó in 1984). In what is probably their most famous film Fuego (1969), she trysts with her lover, her housemaid and even random workmen she picks up in the street, whilst in Fever (1972) she memorably pleasures herself whilst fantasising about horses copulating. With other film titles in their career like Tropical Lust (1964), Naked Temptation (1966) and Intimacies of a Prostitute (1972), it is no wonder she was a famous sexual icon whilst at the same time attracting a vast amount of censorship and distribution issues at home.

As Victoria Ruétalo makes clear in this excellent book, Sarli was not only in front of the camera; she was heavily involved in the production of the films. After all, it was her body that was frequently the selling point, so it only seems right that she had an element of power and control over what was going on. The book explores their filmography in relation to Argentinian politics, in particular in reference to the Perón era and its emphasis on the power of the working man. It is surely no coincidence that Sarli’s first nude swim saw her being watched by a local worker. Frequently Sarli’s sexuality was present in relation to the working class, juxtaposing leisure with the hard labour they had to perform. Sometimes, as in Meat (1968) where Sarli’s character is kidnapped by some of her fellow workforce in the meat-packing factory and gang-raped, the working man is the enemy. These films could be challenging as well as titillating.

Ruétalo also looks at the problems inherent in trying to research a subject when archives have been destroyed. There was so much government censorship within Argentina, but sadly the records were disposed of, and the historian is left trying to find crumbs that still reveal something about what happened. Thankfully the book is able to present us with what she was able to locate. Their impact on the Spanish-speaking world is also assessed. Not only did Sarli and Bó shoot their films around South America, making the most of the spectacular locations on offer, but they were also seen in many countries as well as Argentina. In Feugo they even managed a short trip to shoot scenes in New York, adding further local appeal for those grindhouse audiences.

Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli's Sexploits is an essential read for anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating piece of World Cinema history and the fabulous icon that was Isabel Sarli.

This reviewer recorded an interview with Victoria Ruétalo for the podcast Second Features, which can be found here: https://play.acast.com/s/second-features/fuego-1969-with-guest-victoria-ruetalo

You can purchase the book in all the regular places, including here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520380097/violated-frames

Posted by Cinema Retro in Adrian Smith on Thursday, October 20. 2022

STREAMING REVIEW: "A TATTERED WEB" (1971) STARRING LLOYD BRIDGES AND FRANK CONVERSE (AMAZON PRIME)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

"A Tattered Web" is yet another 1970s American made-for-TV movie that has found new life on Amazon Prime's streaming service. The 70s were a golden age of TV movies, then a relatively innovative concept. Popular actors and talented writers and directors would bring to the small screen countless productions, many of which have long been forgotten. However, that doesn't diminish their worth. "A Tattered Web" is an engrossing crime thriller that I either forgot existed or never knew it did. In any event, it's a compelling and unconventional crime flick. Lloyd Bridges plays Sgt. Ed Stagg, a 25 year veteran of the L.A. Police Department. Stagg has a reputation as a top-notch detective and he's by-the-book in every respect. At home, however, his life is a lot messier. Stagg's wife abandoned him and their young daughter Tina (Sallie Shockley) who he has raised to adulthood on his own. She's now married to Steve Butler (Frank Converse) a hunky blue collar worker in the oil industry. Trouble is they are living in Stagg's house and the situation is tense. Butler resents Stagg's authoritarian rules and things get worse when Stagg discovers that Steve has been having an affair with goodtime girl Louise Campbell (Anne Helm). Stagg has played the role of overprotective father to Tina since her mother left them. In doing so, he has also gone overboard, treating her as a child who can't cope with bad news or pressures. When Steve refuses to agree to Stagg's demands that he end the affair, Stagg takes it on himself to pay Louise a visit at her apartment.Things go badly. Louise isn't bothered by the fact she is endangering another woman's marriage and she seems quite content to continue to play the role of mistress to Steve. The argument becomes physical and Stagg pushes her, with Louise striking her head on a piece of furniture and dying from her wound. Stunned and frightened, Stagg does his best to remove any traces of his being in the apartment. 

The next day, the LAPD receives news that a cleaning woman has found Louise's body. Ironically, Stagg and his partner, Sgt. Joe Marcus (Murray Hamilton) are assigned to the case. Stagg does his best to appear unaware of the circumstances of Louise's death but neighbors report she had been seeing a man regularly in her apartment. An artist's sketch makes the front pages and Marcus is all-too-aware the sketch is identical to Steve. Adding to Stagg's worries is the realization that he neglected to dispose of a drinking glass at Louise's apartment that has his fingers prints on it. Stagg finds himself trying to put out quite a few fires, all the while keeping Tina in the dark about the events. With the police closing in on Steve as a suspect, Stagg finds the opportunity to get him off the hook. A local alcoholic hobo (Broderick Crawford) has already confessed to murdering someone and has been sentenced to the death penalty. Stagg begins trying to convince him to confess to Louise's murder, as well. Stagg justifies the deception by rationalizing that if the drunk is going to die for one murder, what difference does it make if he also admits to another homicide?

Lloyd Bridges is exceptionally good as the man trying to juggle many different levels of this crisis simultaneously. He's not a villain in the traditional sense, but he is covering up his own responsibility for manslaughter and trying to frame another man for the death. The supporting cast is first-rate, with Frank Converse a standout as the much-put-upon son-in-law who becomes the prime suspect in the murder. Murray Hamilton is also very good as Stagg's partner who becomes increasingly suspicious that Stagg is covering up a crime.  Broderick Crawford is truly impressive and he makes the most of his couple of brief scenes as the alcoholic whose memory is so bad that Stagg might convince him he committed a murder he is innocent of. As with most TV movies of the era, the tight 74-minute running time ensures the story moves quickly and there isn't any extraneous dialogue. "A Tattered Web" is an above average crime thriller. 

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Wednesday, September 28. 2022

STREAMING REVIEW: "COTTON COMES TO HARLEM" (1970) STARRING GODFREY CAMBRIDGE AND RAYMOND ST. JACQUES (AMAZON PRIME)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

The first African-American to direct a major film for a majorHollywood studio was Gordon Parks, whose feature film debut "The Learning Tree" was released in 1969. Parks may have shattered the glass ceiling but there wasn't a tidal wave of opportunities that immediately opened for other minority filmmakers, in part because there were so few with any formal training in the art. One beneficiary of Parks' achievement was Ossie Davis, who was internationally respected as a well-rounded artist. He was a triple threat: actor, director and writer but his directing skills had been relegated to the stage. In 1970 Davis co-wrote the screenplay for and directed "Cotton Comes to Harlem", a major production for United Artists. The film was based on a novel by African-American writer Chester Himes and proved to be pivotal in ushering in what became known as the Blaxploitation genre. In reality, it's debatable whether "Cotton" really is a Blaxploitation film. While most of the major roles are played by black actors, the term "Blaxploitation" has largely come to symbolize the kinds of goofy, low-budget films that are fondly remembered as guilty pleasures. However, "Cotton"- like Gordon Parks's "Shaft" films that would follow-  boasts first class production values and top talent both in front of and behind the cameras. Regardless, the movie had sufficient impact at the boxoffice to inspire a seemingly endless barrage of Black-oriented American films that were all the rage from the early to mid-1970s. The Blaxploitation fever burned briefly but shone brightly and opened many doors for minority actors. 

The film was shot when New York City was in the midst of a precipitous decline in terms of quality of life. Crime was soaring, the infrastructure was aging and the city itself would be on the verge of bankruptcy a few years later. Harlem was among the hardest hit areas in terms of the economy. The once dazzling jewel of a neighborhood had boasted popular nightclubs, theaters and restaurants that attracted affluent white patrons. By the mid-to-late 1960s, however, that had changed radically. Street crimes, organized gangs and the drug culture spread rapidly, making Harlem a very dangerous place to be. It was foreboding enough if you were black but it was considered a "Forbidden Zone" for most white people, who spent their money elsewhere, thus exacerbating the decline of the neighborhoods. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" serves as an interesting time capsule of what life was like in the area, having been shot during this period of decline. Director Davis was considered royalty in Harlem. Despite his success in show business, he and his equally acclaimed wife, actress Ruby Dee, never "went Hollywood". They stayed in the community and worked hard to improve the environment. Thus, Davis was perfectly suited to capture the action on the streets in a manner that played authentically on screen. Similarly, he had a real feel for the local population. As with any major urban area, Harlem undoubtedly had its share of amusing eccentrics and Davis populates the movie with plenty of such characters. 

The film opens with a major rally held by Rev. Deke O'Malley (Calvin Lockhart), a local guy who made good and who is idolized by the population of Harlem. O'Malley is a smooth-talking, charismatic con man in the mode of the notorious Reverend Ike who uses religion as a facade to rip off gullible followers. This time, O'Malley has launched a "Back to Africa" campaign for which he is soliciting funds. It's based on the absurd premise that he will be able to finance disgruntled Harlem residents back to the land of their ancestry. The hard-working, semi-impoverished locals end up donating $87,000 in cash but the rally is interrupted by a daring daytime robbery. An armored car filled with masked men armed with heavy weaponry descend upon the goings-on, loot the cash box and take off. They are pursued by two street-wise local cops, "Grave Digger" Jones (Godfrey Cambridge)  and his partner "Coffin" Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques). Davis provides an exciting and colorful car chase through the streets of Harlem, as the cops fail to snag the robbers. They also discover that O'Malley has gone missing, leading them to believe that he orchestrated the heist himself so he could keep the proceeds raised at the rally. The plot becomes rather convoluted, as Jones and Johnson learn that a bale of cotton has arrived in Harlem and its somehow connected to the crime. They assume that the stolen money has been stashed in said cotton bale, which quickly changes hands among the most unsavory characters in the community. Getting in on the action is a white mob boss and his goons who are also trying to recover the cotton bale. The cotton itself is resented in Harlem because of its historical links to slavery and by the end of the film, the bale ends up in a stage show at the famed Apollo Theater where it is used as a prop in a bizarre production that involves historical observations about the black experience intermingled with a striptease act! Through it all, Jones and Johnson doggedly chase any number of people through the streets, engage in shoot-outs and car chases and come in and out of contact with Rev. O'Malley, who professes his innocence about being involved in the robbery. The Rev isn't so innocent when it comes to other unscrupulous activities such as chronically cheating on his long-suffering girlfriend Iris (Judy Pace) and manipulating other women in a variety of ways. 

The most delightful aspect of the film is the showcasing of some very diverse talents of the era. Godfrey Cambridge (who made it big as a stand-up comic) and Raymond St. Jacques enjoy considerable on-screen chemistry even if the script deprives them of the kind of witty dialogue that would have enhanced their scenes together. They make wisecracks all the time and harass some less-than-savory characters but the screenplay never truly capitalizes on Cambridge's comedic potential. The film's most impressive performance comes from Calvin Lockhart, who perfectly captures the traits of phony, larger-than-life "preachers". He's all flashy good looks, gaudy outfits and narcissistic behavior. Lockhart seems to be having a ball playing this character and the screen ignites every time he appears. There are some nice turns by other good character actors including pre-"Sanford and Son" Redd Foxx, who figures in the film's amusing "sting-in-the-tail" ending, John Anderson as the exasperated white captain of a Harlem police station that is constantly on the verge of being besieged by local activists, Lou Jacobi as a junk dealer, Cleavon Little as a local eccentric, J.D. Canon as a mob hit man and Dick Sabol as a goofy white cop who suffers humiliation from virtually everyone (which is sort of a payback for the decades in which black characters were routinely used as comic foils).  The film has a surprisingly contemporary feel about it, save for a few garish fashions from the 1970s. It's also rather nostalgic to hear genuine soul music peppered through the soundtrack in this pre-rap era. Happily, life has not imitated art in the years since the film was released. Harlem has been undergoing the kind of Renaissance that would have seemed unimaginable in 1970. The old glory has come back strong and the center of the neighorhood, 125th Street, is vibrant and thriving once again. These societal perspectives make watching "Cotton Comes to Harlem" enjoyable on an entirely different level than simply an amusing crime comedy.

(The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.)

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, September 22. 2022

REVIEW: "KILL A DRAGON" (1967) STARRING JACK PALANCE AND FERNANDO LAMAS; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY

BY LEE PFEIFFER

"Kill a Dragon", a 1967 action-adventure production from United Artists, is the perfect example of kind of film I've praised many times before. Namely, it's a low-budget flick designed for a fast playoff (perhaps as the second feature on double bills) and a modest profit. Often, as in this case, they were marketed with terrific movie posters that often promised more sex and violence than the films delivered. Studios thrived on such mid-range fare which inevitably employed actors in leading roles who would generally be playing supporting parts in more prestigious productions. They still enjoyed enough respect and name recognition to market the films successfully internationally. "Kill a Dragon" is based in an around Hong Kong and stars Jack Palance as Rick Masters (now there's a cinematic name for a hero), who is an American jack-of-all-trades who enjoys a laid-back lifestyle with his mistress, nightclub "hostess", Alizia Gur (who memorably squared off against Martine Beswick in the gypsy catfight in "From Russia with Love".) In the umpteenth Hollywood attempt to crib from the scripts of "Seven Samurai"/"The Magnificent Seven", Masters, who specializes in maritime salvage operations, is approached by peasants from an impoverished village. They inform him that recently a ship was grounded on their island and the crew deserted it because of its cargo: a gigantic load of highly volatile nitroglycerine. The peasants offer Masters a 50/50 split of the profits if he can smuggle the goods into Hong Kong and sell it on the black market. There is a catch, however. The nitro shipment is the property of Nico Patrai (Fernando Lamas), a local crime kingpin who warns the peasants to turn over the goods or have their village destroyed. Masters accepts the assignment and contacts his frequent collaborators: Vigo (Aldo Ray), who is now relegated to hosting bus excursions for tourists, Jimmy (Hans Lee), a local aspiring boxer and martial arts expert and his British manager, Ian (Don Knight). They are outnumbered and outgunned so they must use their instincts to outwit Patrai.

"Kill a Dragon" is the kind of goofy action flick that never takes itself very seriously. It opens with what is possibly the worst title song in the history of film and presents  Latin heartthrob Fernando Lamas as a Hong Kong crime lord without a word of explanation as to how he managed to arrange this. The film is laden with Bond-style quips and the fight scenes are pretty limp under the direction of Michael Moore. (Obviously, not that Michael Moore.) But there is a great deal of fun to be found in the film. The Hong Kong locations adds an exotic element and cinematographer Emmanuel L. Rojas makes the most of it, capturing the hustle and bustle of the city center and the serenity of the surrounding areas very effectively. Palance gives a low-key performance (for him, at least) and minimizes his tendencies to ham it up. Lamas is a villain in the Bondian style and its a pleasure to see him and Palance in the requisite scenes in which they banter with witticisms and civility even though they have marked each other for death. An unusual and pleasurable aspect of the movie is that all of the Asian characters are played by Asian actors, a rarity in 1967 and they are presented in a dignified manner.

I don't want to overstate the merits of "Kill a Dragon", as it's the epitome of a "B" movie and nothing more. However, if one approaches it with those expectations, you may well find it as enjoyable as I did.

Kino Lorber has released the film on Blu-ray, a significant upgrade to MGM's previous burn-to-order DVD. Quality is very good and the original trailer is included along with a gallery of other action films from KL.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Saturday, September 17. 2022

REVIEW: “LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL” (1959); STARRING KIRK DOUGLAS AND ANTHONY QUINN; DIRECTED BY JOHN STURGES; BLU-RAY EDITION FROM PARAMOUNT PRESENTS

BY FRED BLOSSER

John Sturges’ “Last Train from Gun Hill” was released in 1959 as one of several high-profile Westerns of its era, designed to lure audiences away from their television sets and back to their neighborhood movie theatres. Against TV’s advantage of free programming that you could enjoy from the leisure of your easy chair, films like “Last Train from Gun Hill,” “Warlock,” “The Horse Soldiers,” and “The Hanging Tree” countered with A-list stars, widescreen CinemaScope and VistaVision, Technicolor, and sweeping outdoor locations. The studios wagered, correctly, that viewers would welcome a change from the predictable characters, cheap backlot sets, and drab black-and-white photography of “Gunsmoke,” “Wagon Train,” and “Cheyenne.” The approach was successful, sporadically continuing through the next decade with expensive epics like “How the West Was Won” (1962), “Custer of the West” (1967), and “MacKenna’s Gold” (1968) before it collapsed from dwindling returns, scaled-back studio budgets, and changing popular tastes at the end of the 1960s.

As Sturges’ movie opens, two loutish cowboys chase down, rape, and murder a young Indian woman. Although the rape and murder occur offscreen, the lead-up is viscerally terrifying. In a bizarrely poor choice of words, Bosley Crowther’s review in the New York Times referred to the murderers as “scallywags.” At least in my lexicon, scallywags are mischievous kids who make prank phone calls, not perpetrators of a horrendous sexual assault. When the pair flee in panic after realizing what they’ve done, they inadvertently leave behind a horse and saddle. The murdered woman’s husband is Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas), the marshal of the nearby town of Pawley, who immediately identifies the letters “CB” branded on the saddle. They’re the initials of Craig Belden (Anthony Quinn), a powerful rancher who controls Gun Hill, a community further down the railroad line. One of the murderers was Belden’s hired hand Lee (played by Brian Hutton, later the director of “Where Eagles Dare” and “Kelly’s Heroes”), and the other was Belden’s son Rick (Earl Holliman). When Morgan arrives in Gun Hill with arrest warrants, Belden first tries to convince him to go easy by reminding him that he and Craig were once good friends. After that doesn’t work, he resorts to intimidation. The cowardly local marshal refuses to help Morgan, unashamedly admitting that he fears the boss man’s wrath more than he respects the rule of law. (I’ll leave it to you to decide if you see a similarity to recent political controversies.) The other townspeople are chilly if not hostile, and when Morgan finally subdues Rick and handcuffs him in a hotel room, waiting for the arrival of the train back to Pawley, Belden surrounds the building with his army of hired guns.

The only person sympathetic to Morgan is Belden’s battered girlfriend Linda (Carolyn Jones). Even she believes the determined marshal faces overwhelming odds:

“You remind me of Jimmy, a fella I used to know,” she remarks. “Stubborn as a mule.”

“Next time you see Jimmy, say hello,” Morgan answers dryly. “We seem to have a lot in common.”

“More than you know. He’s dead.”

“Last Train from Gun Hill” originated with a story treatment by writer Les Crutchfield, expanded by James W. Poe with an uncredited assist from Dalton Trumbo, whom Douglas brought in to sharpen the dialogue. The exchanges between the characters, like the one quoted above, crackle with Trumbo’s signature style. Crutchfield contributed scripts regularly to “Gunsmoke,” and “Last Train from Gun Hill” unfolds like a traditional episode of the long-running series, dressed up with a little more complexity, a rape-murder that would never have passed network censorship, and a striking climactic scene that also would have run afoul of the censors. Standing up, Morgan drives a wagon slowly down main street to meet the arriving train. Rick stands beside him, handcuffed, with the muzzle of Morgan’s borrowed shotgun pressed up under his chin to keep Belden and his gunmen at bay.  When Dell Comics adapted the movie as a comic book at the time of the film’s release, it chose that scene as the cover photograph. As far as I know, the graphic come-on of imminent shotgun mayhem didn’t raise the ire of parents, educators, child psychologists, or media pundits in that distant year of 1959. Back then, of course, pervasive gun violence wasn’t the social catastrophe that it is today. In 2022, the comic book would surely raise a firestorm of controversy on social media and cable news.

“Last Train from Gun Hill” falls just short of a true classic, since the plot mostly relies on ingredients that we’ve seen many times before in other Westerns—the incorruptible lawman, the overbearing cattle baron, his bullying but weak-willed son, the old friends now at cross-purposes, the unfriendly town, the tense wait for a train—but Douglas, Quinn, and supporting actors Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brian Hutton, and Brad Dexter are at the top of their form, and Sturges’ no-nonsense direction keeps the action moving at a tense pace. The Blu-ray edition of the film from Paramount Pictures’ specialty label, “Paramount Presents,” contains a sharp, remastered transfer, an appreciative video feature with Leonard Maltin, and theatrical trailers. Even though “Last Train from Gun Hill” ran frequently on local TV channels in the 1970s and ‘80s, its visual quality there was seriously compromised by the broadcast format. Worse, endless commercial breaks disrupted Sturges’ masterful mood of mounting tension. Revisiting the production in its original, intended form, we may better appreciate its merits as classic Hollywood professionalism at its finest. Highly recommended.

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Fred Blosser is the author of "Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti Western Heroes". Click here to order from Amazon)

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Saturday, September 10. 2022

DVD REVIEW: "HELLO, BOOKSTORE" (2022); DIRECTED BY A.B. ZAX (KINO LORBER/GREENWICH VIDEO)

By Giacomo Selloni

“Hello, Bookstore” chronicles the heart-warming story of how the community of Lenox, Massachusetts rallied around their local bookshop to save it from bankruptcy during COVID-19. Viewers are treated to an amazing storyteller, Matthew Tannenbaum, owner of The Bookstore since 1976. It's not your typical documentary. There's no narrative here. It is not linear. What we are treated to is a raconteur of the first level musing about his life and raison d'être, The Bookstore on Housatonic Street. The film is best described as being stream of consciousness musings attached to a metronome of time.

Director A.B.Zax, the sole cameraman of the film, started filming in the fall of 2019. "It was an amazing journey, starting in fall 2019 and early winter, 2020. Then COVID hit, and I came back from L.A., where we were living at the time. I was upset at first, this isn’t The Bookstore I want to show, it wasn’t that magical world anymore. Once I accepted that this is the time we had to do this, what an interesting microcosm to explore, these shifts in our communities, this humble little bookstore. We stayed and bought a small house in West Stockbridge," Zax (who is married to a high school friend of Tannenbaum's daughter, Shawnee) said.

Tannenbaum has owned this shop since 1976. He's hosted many a book reading there and raised a glass with his customers at the in-store/next door wine bar Get Lit. 

Matt Tannenbaum behind his Get Lit wine bar.

(Photo: Heather Bellow.)

He's been in debt since he signed the papers and borrowed money to buy the store 46 years ago. But he's been doing what he loves ever since: “I’m just that guy who likes to do what I do, to sit upfront, do the work, and handle books. The film captures me doing that,” he said in a post-film interview.

In April of 2020, while the shop would not let browsers in, books were sold either curbside, asked for through the front door or via the internet. Customers would read off their credit card numbers and books from inside were placed on a stool right outside the front door.We meet many regular customers during the course of the film as well as his two daughters, the previously mentioned Shawnee and Sophie, who gave birth to a child during the filming. Matt has a great rapport with his customers and a never-ending font of stories. In his early days in Manhattan he worked at the famous Gotham Book Mart. He eventually wrote a short (36 page) memoir: My Years at The Gotham Book Mart with Frances Steloff, Proprietor. The idea for the documentary came to Zax when he asked Tannenbaum if he planned to write more stories and Tannenbaum said he didn't. Thus, it was decided to film the stories as they were related by him to the camera. And occasional customer.

In August of 2020 he was selling in one week less than what he would sell in a day. Bills mounted up. In desperation he started a Go-Fund me page hoping to raise $60,000 to save the store. He reached it in 23 hours. Eventually, it topped out at $120,000.The Bookstore, a fixture in Lenox for well over four decades, got its start in Stockbridge, “in the living room of a small rented house behind an alley that housed a then little-known café that later came to be known as Alice’s Restaurant.”

In a photograph taken in the mid-1990s, Matt Tannenbaum with Alice Brock of Alice’s Restaurant and Arlo Guthrie. Brock had just illustrated Arlo’s new book, Mooses Come Walking.

The move to Lenox took place sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. And the baton pass from the previous owner, David Silverstein, to Matt Tannenbaum took place on April Fool’s Day, 1976. Due to the community's generosity, The Bookstore still operates to this day. “Hello, Bookstore” is available on DVD from Kino Lorber/Greenwich Video (Click here to order from Amazon). It can also be rented for streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple. For those interested, the film's website has a video of Neil Gaiman's introduction to the movie that was shown while running at Manhattan's Film Forum. https://www.hello-bookstore.com/

For further reading you may be interested in reading these newspaper articles:

https://theberkshireedge.com/matt-tannenbaums-bookstore-lenox-40-years-serving-writers-readers/

https://theberkshireedge.com/business-monday-the-bookstore-in-lenox/

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/matthew-tannenbaum-hello-bookstore-film-lenox/article_d4f29782-c4cf-11ec-9ebd-779f12000d16.html

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, September 8. 2022

"AREA 5150": MARK CERULLI'S UPDATE ON THE MAKING OF AN INDIE HORROR FLICK

Writer/Producer Mark Cerulli with the homicidal “Ruby Rose” (Matthew Lucero). (Photo copyright Mark Cerulli).

(Cinema Retro's Mark Cerulli provides an update on his initial report that took readers inside the making of an indie horror film.)

By Mark Cerulli

My first Cinema Retro report was just after we had wrapped our first shoot for Area 5150, a sci-fi/horror comedy I co-wrote with director Sean Haitz. It was 6  days filled with warmth, laughter and moments of terror in the high desert outside Palm Springs, California. But we got it done, movie in the can, premiere on the horizon, right?

Not so fast.

Haitz, an intense storyteller (who also fronts a rock band), wanted to do a “Cold Opening” to the film, launching the audience right into the action. He had a vision of a terrified young woman, babbling in a foreign language, running down a deserted highway, trying to get away from… something. Several weeks later, damn if Sean didn’t have Kati Rausch, a young Finnish actress, running down an empty highway in a bloody hospital gown at 7 AM on a Sunday. She gets recaptured – ‘natch - and then we meet our villain, Dr. Izar (an amazing character actor named Jed Rowen) in a prison cell that would have done Hannibal Lecter proud.

Director Sean Haitz lining up a shot in Morongo Valley, CA. (Photo copyright Sean Haitz.)

A few months later Sean landed Felissa Rose – the “it girl” of Sleepaway Camp, now a well-known genre star with over 100 credits including Victor Crowley, Terrifier 2 and the upcoming Dark Circles. We had her for only one day, so Sean and I pounded out some scenes where she played a crazy desert rat mom with two feral kids – local desert residents who brought a menagerie with them including a tarantula, snakes and scorpions! (In a very un-Bondian manner, this writer declined the opportunity to have the tarantula crawl up his arm.) Felissa went all out and delivered an outstanding performance, getting applause from the sleep-deprived crew.

“No thanks, kid.” writer/producer Mark Cerulli with a cast member and her pet Tarantula. (Photo copyright Mark Cerulli).

That’s a wrap, right? Well… we realized the film needed more. In came a brilliant young producer named Ryan James who had us write some character-building scenes and stayed on for the duration. The entire cast was brought back for a new shoot in March ’22. Like the previous year, we made use of every last minute of daylight, especially during the fabled “Golden Hour” which seemed to go by in minutes. Once again, we shot scenes in an abandoned crack house – now even MORE vandalized than on our previous shoot. Somehow, we managed to get our new scenes shot both in the desert and in a soundstage in LA that had very realistic standing sets which we used for the interiors of Area 51.

Jed Rowen on our “Interrogation Room” set with actress Kati Rausch. The haze is due to artificial smoke which looks great on camera! (Photo ©Mark Cerulli.)

There is still more to do – a few more scenes (possibly with an iconic genre actor) and Sean has an epic attack on Area 51 by our lead mutant, Ruby Rose in mind. There’s also hiring a skilled editor and funding the maze of post-production – mixing, scoring, color correcting, etc. But we’re getting there…

For more on Area 5150 or to get involved on the film, click here.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Mark Cerulli on Tuesday, September 6. 2022

REVIEW: MICHAEL MANN'S "THIEF" (1981) STARRING JAMES CAAN, THE CRITERION DUAL FORMAT RELEASE

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Criterion has released a dual format Blu-ray/DVD edition of director Michael Mann's 1981 crime thriller Thief starring James Caan. It's a highly impressive film on many levels, especially when one considers this was Mann's big screen feature debut. He had previously directed the acclaimed 1979 TV movie The Jericho Mile, which was set in Folsom Prison. Mann was inspired by his interaction with the world of convicts and wrote the screenplay for Thief, which is credited as being based on author Frank Hohimer's novel The Home Invaders, but he maintains virtually none of the source material ended up on screen. The story centers on Frank (James Caan), a bitter man with a troubled past. As a child he was raised in state-run homes before being sent to jail for a petty crime. Inside prison, he committed violent acts in order to defend himself but this only resulted in lengthier jail terms. By the time he has been released, he has spent half of his life behind bars.

While in jail, Frank befriended Okla (Willie Nelson), a older man and master thief who is doing a life sentence. He becomes Frank's mentor and father figure and teaches him the tools of the trade. When Frank is finally released, he becomes a master at his craft, which is pulling off seemingly impossible heists of cash and diamonds. Before long, he has become a legend in his field. As a cover, Frank runs a major used car dealership and a small bar. However, he realizes that his luck will certainly run out at some point and he is determined to retire after making a few more high end scores. He works with a small team consisting of two confederates (James Belushi, Willam LaValley) who are also pros in gaining access to seemingly impenetrable vaults. The headstrong Frank wants to also settle down and raise a family. He makes an awkward introduction to Jessie (Tuesday Weld), an equally head strong, down-on-her luck character who nevertheless becomes smitten by him and ends up marrying him. The couple face frustration, however, when their attempts to adopt a baby are thwarted by Frank's criminal record. Frank is ultimately approached by Leo (Robert Prosky), a local crime lord who entices him to stop working independently and pull off a high profile heist for a fortune in diamonds. Frank rejects the offer but eventually he relents, though he is reluctant to work with a new partner. Leo has managed to break through Frank's cynicism by showering him with praise the benefits of his influence, which include arranging for Frank  and Jessie to illegally adopt the baby they want so desperately. The lure of being able to retire after this one huge score leads Frank to go against his better judgment and he agrees to work for Leo on this one big job. The diamonds are located in a vault so secure that it would seem to be better suited for Fort Knox.  In order to break in, Frank and his team must use highly sophisticated drills and other equipment that would rival the top gear used by any branch of the military. On the verge of realizing his greatest score, however, things go terribly wrong on any number of levels. Frank, seeing his world crumble around him, goes on a violent rampage of destruction and self-destruction.

Thief is a highly stylized movie that moves at a rapid clip and features one of James Caan's strongest performances. The problem, however, is that the character of Frank is so obnoxious, he is difficult to relate to. Peckinpah, Scorsese and Coppola always had a knack for making disreputable characters seem appealing, but Frank is nasty, arrogant and self-centered. This is certainly realistic, given the bitter feelings he has toward society, but the viewer never warms to him in any meaningful way. He is only sympathetic because the people he deals with are so much worse. Nevertheless, Thief is a crackling good yarn that boasts some fine performances especially by Tuesday Weld and character actor Robert Prosky, who is brilliant in a scene-stealing role. Willie Nelson's screen time is very limited but he makes effective use of his two scenes. The film features superb cinematography by Donald E. Thorin, who made his debut here as Director of Cinematography. His night sequences on the rain-slicked streets of Chicago evoke visions of neon-lit nightmare. The film features an electronic score by Tangerine Dream, the band that provided the memorable music for Willliam Friedkin's Sorcerer. Strangely, their score for that films holds up well but their work in Thief comes across as a bit monotonous and dated. The film's ultra-violent conclusion is exciting but rather cliched with Frank turning into yet another pissed- off screen hero who decides to take down all of his enemies in an orgy of shootouts and destruction. (I know it sounds petty but I can never accept such sequences when they are set in urban neighborhoods in which no one ever seems to call the police even as houses explode and machine gun fire is sprayed all over the place.). The film excels, however, in the break-in sequences which are superbly directed and feature camerawork that make the crime scene look like an attraction from Disney World, with fireworks-like sparks filling the air. 

The Criterion Blu-ray transfer is superb on every level.  Extras, which are carried over to the DVD, include a commentary track by Michael Mann and James Caan that was recorded in 1995. There are also fresh video interviews with both men that are rather candid. (Caan, who has worked consistently through his career, modestly says "I was rather popular at one time" in reference to his work on the film. Mann says he is still debating in his mind whether he regrets using Tangerine Dream's score.) There is also an interview with Johannes Schmoelling of the band, who discusses working with Mann to create the score. An original trailer is included as is a nicely illustrated booklet with an informative essay by film critic Nick James. 

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Criterion Corner-DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on Monday, September 5. 2022

REVIEW: HERZOG'S "NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE" (1979) ON BLU-RAY FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

By Lee Pfeiffer 

The year 1979 was a good one for vampires, cinematically speaking. John Badham's version of "Dracula" premiered starring Frank Langella in the film version of his Broadway hit, George Hamilton had a surprise success with the spoof "Love At First Bite" and German director Werner Herzog unveiled his remake of the classic German silent horror movie "Nosferatu: The Vampyre". The original version by director F.W. Murnau is still regarded by many as the greatest horror movie ever made. Indeed, the mere sight of the film's star Max Schreck (who was as eerie in real life as he was on screen) is enough to give you nightmares. Herzog's version was not only the best of the vampire films released in 1979, it is a fitting homage to the Murnau classic. Working with a relatively extravagant budget, Herzog produced a film that is eerie and unsettling. He refrains from going for quick shocks, relying instead on the overall unnerving atmosphere that resonates throughout the production. Perhaps the most iconic aspect of the film is Klaus Kinski's remarkable resemblance to the character played in the original by Schreck, who embodied what is perhaps the most unnerving movie monster of all time.  Kinski's appearance mirrors that of Schreck but the actor brings his own persona to the role.

The film, based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, opens with Jonathan Harker  (Bruno Ganz) leading an idyllic life with his beautiful young wife Lucy (Isabelle Adjani). His boss, Renfield (Roland Topor), induces him to make an arduous journey to Transylvania to visit the eccentric but rich Count Dracula, who has expressed interest in buying a house in Harker's town. Harker is enthused about the mission because of the financial rewards but Lucy has a premonition that the journey will have disastrous consequences. She pleads with him not to go but to no avail. Harker sets off over mountain roads that lead through deep forests. The nearer he gets to the Count's castle the more unnerved the local peasants are. They blatantly warn him to turn back, citing eerie disappearances and deaths associated with Dracula. Harker dismisses their concerns as the superstitions of unsophisticated people. However, upon arrival at Dracula's castle he immediately has second thoughts. The Count is a corpse-like, sinewy figure with almost impossibly long fingernails who talks in a whispery voice that is more menacing than comforting. In the cold dank castle, Dracula serves Harker a meal then becomes obsessed with sucking the blood from a small cut Harker has suffered from a kitchen knife. The Count assures him that's all just a homespun way of treating the wound. Harker, increasingly unnerved, realizes he has made a mistake in visiting the castle but it's too late to escape. Dracula notices a locket with Lucy's photograph in it and makes inquiries about her, much to Harker's distress. In the morning, Harker awakens to find he has been imprisoned in the castle- and worse, he has been the victim of a vampire. Having arranged the sale of the house to Dracula, he realizes he is in a race against time to return to his village before the Count arrives there. He is desperately ill, however, and fails in his quest. Meanwhile, Dracula has stowed away inside a coffin on board a cargo ship headed towards the town of his destination. Along the way, crew members begin to die mysteriously. By the time the vessel arrives in port, it is a ghost ship, devoid of any human life with only the captain's log hinting at the horror he has witnessed. Accompanying Dracula on board the ship were thousands of rats who now run amok in the town, spreading the plague. Harker is returned to Lucy by some kindly peasants, but he is very ill and in a zombie-like condition. Lucy is then threatened by the appearance of Dracula in her own bedroom and she realizes that the town is being victimized by a vampire, though no one believes her. As the plague takes its toll on the citizenry, the town falls into chaos- and Lucy becomes determined to kill Dracula even if she must do so by herself.

Herzog, who also wrote the screenplay, has fashioned a film that oozes menace to the extent that even before the appearance of Dracula, the movie has a sense of foreboding. It is a rather cold and emotionless film, more visually interesting than moving. Herzog seems to intentionally present his protagonists in a dispassionate manner. He provides cursory details of their lives but seems to be far more interested in making almost every frame a work of art. To a great degree he succeeded. There are images in Nosferatu that will haunt the viewer, but there's no getting around the fact that there isn't anyone the audience can truly relate to. Neither Harker or Lucy are ever seen as anything more than one dimensional characters. The silly eccentric Renfield is largely wasted in the latter part of the story. He does become a servant of Dracula but this plot device is disposed of rather quickly. Prof. Van Helsing (Walter Ladengast), who is generally presented as the hero in Dracula films, is shown here to be a half-senile old fool who realizes too late that a vampire may be running amok. Herzog provides plenty of memorable moments, among which are scenes of the town's rapid decay into death and disaster because of the plague.  As Lucy walks through the town square, she witnesses doomed people acting out their final fantasies, whether it is indulging in a last sumptuous feast, dancing wildly or illogically stealing furniture from vacant stores. Composer Popul Vuh provides an appropriately eerie score throughout.  

Herzog's Nosferatu is a poetic experience in many ways. It's leisurely pace and low-key tone make it one of the more unusual horror films you'll ever see. However, it can be deemed a success by virtue of the fact that he and Kinski brought relevancy to this remake of what many people believe is the greatest German film ever made.

The excellent Shout! Factory Blu-ray features both the German and English language versions of the film and  a commentary track by Herzog, whose soothing, rather monotonous tone becomes somewhat mesmerizing. He provides interesting insights into the making of the film and this is complimented by the inclusion of a vintage "making of" production short that shows fascinating footage of Herzog and Kinski during production, including Kinski's rather arduous daily makeup sessions. Also included is a photo gallery showing great behind the scenes shots of Herzog at work. There are also a selection of superbly designed original trailers that truly convey the menace of the titular character.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, September 1. 2022

DVD REVIEW: "THE ROUNDERS" STARRING HENRY FONDA AND GLENN FORD

BY LEE PEIFFER

"The Rounders", the contemporary 1965 Western comedy, is available on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive. The film is primarily notable for the teaming of Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda, two estimable Hollywood stars who could be relied upon to play convincingly in both dark, somber dramas and frolicking comedies. "The Rounders" was directed and written by Burt Kennedy, who adapted a novel from by Max Evans. Kennedy was a veteran of big studio productions who worked his way from screenwriter to director. If he never made any indisputable classics, it can be said that he made a good many films that were top-notch entertainment. Among them: "Support Your Local Sheriff", "The War Wagon", "Hannie Caulder" and "The Train Robbers". While Westerns were Kennedy's specialty, he did have a prestigious achievement with his screenplay for Clint Eastwood's woefully under-praised 1990 film "White Hunter, Black Heart". It's not an insult to state that most of Kennedy's directorial efforts could be considered lightweight. They were not concerned with social issues and generally had a Hawksian emphasis on heroes who engaged in good-natured bantering ("The War Wagon" is the best example of this.) Those elements are in full display in "The Rounders" but the film never rises above the status of resembling an extended episode of a TV sitcom from the era. That isn't meant as a knock, considering how many good TV sitcoms were on the airwaves in 1965, but there is a rather lazy element to the production and one would suspect that an old pro like Kennedy probably knocked off the script over a long lunch. 

The film, set in contemporary Arizona, finds Ford and Fonda playing Ben Jones and "Howdy" Lewis (his real name is Marion, but he's too ashamed to admit it, which is a nice inside joke aimed at Fonda's old pal John Wayne, whose real name was Marion Morrison.) The two are middle-aged wranglers  who make ends meet by "breaking" and taming wild horses. It's a rough-and-tumble profession that inevitably results in them being tossed around like rag dolls as they ride atop bucking broncos. However, Ben and "Howdy" are still the best in their profession, although their meager wages have left them with no tangible assets beyond a beaten-up pickup truck. Local land baron Jim Ed Love (Chill Wills) hires them to spend the winter in a dilapidated cabin in the mountains in order to round up stray horses and keep them safe until spring. The assignment means enduring harsh weather and complete isolation, but the pair need the money so they accept. Since Fonda and Ford are the stars, there's no chance of this evolving into a "Brokeback Mountain" scenario and the two spend time gazing at a poster that depicts a ridiculously sanitized hula girl, a symbol of Ben's long-time dream of moving to a tropical island. Much of the script centers on their trials and tribulations in attempting to break a particularly rebellious roan horse that defies conforming to their commands. It gets personal with Ben, who decides that at the end of winter, he will buy the horse from Love for the simple pleasure of taking him to a soap factory. The two men survive the winter and head off (with roan horse in tow) to the big rodeo, a stop they make every year in order to supplement their income by winning bucking bronco riding contests. Along they way they have a chance encounter with two sisters who happen to be exotic dancers (Sue Ane Langdon and Hope Holiday). They are amiable bubbleheads but after the men have been in the mountains sans female companionship for many months, they can't resist attempting to woo them. The family-friendly  screenplay is quite timid when it comes to depicting adult sexual behavior. Ben and "Howdy" are understandably enticed by the vivacious sisters but they seem satiated by inducing them to join them in a moonlight skinny-dipping session, which is interrupted by a police raid. The climax finds the two partners attempting to use the unbreakable roan horse as a gimmick to lure local wranglers and riders to bet money they can best him. There's a bit of a con in their scheme, but as one might suspect, their plans go awry and they don't benefit from any ill-gotten gains. As you might also suspect, the roan horse earns Ben's respect and never makes it to that dreaded soap factory. 

That's pretty much the entire plot of "The Rounders", which is lightweight enough to resemble a celluloid wisp of smoke. If it's never boring, it's also never very engaging, as we keep expecting the script to provide some kind of creative or engaging plot device that never arrives. Still, it has its pleasures and Fonda and Ford exude real chemistry that elevates the proceedings substantially. There is also the wonder of the magnificent Arizona locations, a jaunty musical score by Jeff Alexander and a marvelous cast of reliable and familiar character actors that, in addition to the incomparable Chill Wills, includes Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver and Denver Pyle. 

When the film was released, even MGM felt the production was rather lacking in commercial appeal. Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris, who gave the film some faint praise, justifiably took issue with the fact that the studio had buried "The Rounders" by placing it at the bottom of a double-feature with a forgettable teeny bopper musical, "Get Yourself a College Girl".  He said it must have been depressing for all involved to have a film headlining Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda play second fiddle to a movie that starred Mary Ann Mobley and Nancy Sinatra. He also praised Burt Kennedy, acknowledging that his often estimable contributions to the film business were generally overlooked. Unexpectedly, however, "The Rounders" proved to be a hit in its own right. It drew devoted fans in rural areas and on the drive-in circuit and ended up overshadowing the top-of-the-bill feature. It would even later be made into a television series starring Patrick Wayne, Ron Hayes and Chill Wills, reprising his role from the film. 

The Warner Archive Blu-ray does justice to Paul Vogel's impressive cinematography by providing a truly impressive and all-around gorgeous Blu-ray transfer. The release also includes the original trailer.  

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Sunday, August 28. 2022

STREAMING REVIEW: "AFTER THE FOX" (1966) STARRING PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND AND VICTOR MATURE (AMAZON PRIME)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

By 1966, playwright Neil Simon was already the toast of Broadway and had several hit shows running simultaneously. Simon was eager to expand his talents into screenwriting and had envisioned creating a spoof of some of the more pretentious European art house movies. Before long, a diverse number of impressive talents were involved with the project, now titled "After the Fox". It would be an Italian crime caper and would star Peter Sellers. As Sellers had the most clout, he reached out to esteemed Italian director Vittorio De Sica and convinced him to direct. De Sica, however, insisted that in order to capture the true feel of Italy, an Italian screenwriter- Cesare Zavattini- needed to collaborate on the screenplay with Simon. That was the first obstacle, as neither man could speak the other's language and they had to rely on translators to communicate. This was a true challenge when writing a comedy because jokes and gags that worked in English didn't play out in Italian and vice-versa. Then Sellers insisted that his wife, Britt Ekland, should play the pivotal role of his character's younger sister. By all accounts, the blonde-haired Nordic Ekland was hardly suited for the role, especially since there were so many Italian actresses with name recognition who would have been more appropriate. Things deteriorated once filming began. De Sica and Sellers didn't get along and Sellers wanted the famed director fired.  Sellers was producing the film with his partner John Bryan, who insisted that you don't fire a director of De Sica's stature. Thus, the shared dream of Sellers and Bryan producing future movies never happened, a result of the hard feelings on the set. As if these didn't represent enough challenges, Sellers's well-documented psychological problems, phobias and mood swings often resulted in major domestic rows between him and his future ex-wife Ekland.

The film opens in the desert outside of Cairo, where a shipment of gold bars is hijacked as part of a plan devised by criminal mastermind Okra (Akim Tamiroff). The caper succeeds but he now has to find a way to smuggle the imposing number of bars safely into Europe. For this, he approaches the esteemed Italian thief and con man, Aldo Vanucci (Peter Sellers), who is currently imprisoned. It becomes clear, however, that Vanucci can make good on his promise to leave the prison any time he wants to, as he's treated as a celebrity and enjoys most of the perks of the outside world. True to his word, Vanucci escapes with the help of his two klutzy henchmen and sets about plotting an audacious plan to smuggle the gold into Italy- right under the noses of the police detectives who are searching for him. He adopts the guise of a fictitious Italian director, who he convinces the locals is the nation's most esteemed filmmaker, and sets up a faux movie production titled "The Gold of Cairo", ostensibly a film that will exploit the recent high profile theft. In reality, the phony film production will allow Vanucci and his team to openly smuggle the real gold into Italy because everyone assumes the gold bars are simply props. Vanucci must also contend with looking out for his 16 year-old sister, Gina (Britt Ekland), who is obsessed with movies and film stars to the extent that she adorns her bedroom walls with posters of Marlon Brando, William Holden, Sean Connery and even a "Pink Panther" poster that mentions star Peter Sellers. Vanucci is obsessed with ensuring Gina maintains her virginity and to keep her safe from an endless stream of gigolos. To keep her nearby, he casts her as the female lead in the movie. To give his scheme more credibility, he also convinces aging American heartthrob Tony Powell (Victor Mature) to play the male lead, thus causing a media sensation. He appeals to the local's weakness for celebrity culture by fawning over them and casting the local police chief in the film. When production gets under way, neither Vanucci or his henchmen even know how to handle the cameras.

 "After the Fox" was a critical and commercial disappointment when first released but like so many other cinematic failures, it has built an appreciative following over the decades. It's a film that eluded me all those years until I recently discovered it is streaming on Amazon Prime. Although the madcap pace of the movie gets a bit out of hand during the finale, I found it to be inspired lunacy. Peter Sellers may have been  a nightmare to work with (he would soon be fired from "Casino Royale" in mid-production), but at his best he is a comic genius- and here he is at his best. The script is far better than the language logistics might have indicated and it provides a deft satire of the film industry, as well as a social commentary on celebrity worship and the desire for fame. Even De Sica is in on the joke, appearing as himself directing a ludicrous biblical spectacle with pyramids existing in the shadows of some apartment complexes. There are some marvelous supporting turns by everyone involved and the dubbing of the Italian cast into English is expertly done. Victor Mature, never known for his comedic abilities, was lured out of retirement for this film and he's sensational. Playing a hunky, idiotic screen idol, he manages to even upstage Sellers in the laughs department. Martin Balsam is also very amusing as his exasperated manager. Even the opening credits (remember what opening credits are?) turn about to be amusing with a Pink Panther-like theme designed by the great Maurice Binder, accompanied by the Hollies and Peter Sellers providing the infectious title song created by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The talent even extended to the film poster design by the legendary Frank Frazetta.

"After the Fox" isn't a comic masterpiece but it is genuinely funny and deserved a far better fate back in 1966. Still, it's never too late to gain appreciation for an underrated gem.

Posted by Cinema Retro in Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News on Thursday, August 18. 2022

BOOK REVIEW: "LET'S GO STAG! A HISTORY OF PORNOGRAPHIC FILM FROM THE INVENTION OF CINEMA TO 1970" BY DAN ERDMAN (BLOOMSBURY)

Bloomsbury

Global Exploitation Cinemas imprint

Published December 2021

222 pages

10 bw images

ISBN: 9781501333019

Hardback

RRP: £86 (a more reasonably-priced paperback will be available soon)

Review by Adrian Smith

In a world where every possible sexual proclivity and desire can be sated at the click of a mouse button, the idea of pornography only being available at an illicit party in a hired hall, where the gathered men watch black and white amateur footage projected onto a wall whilst half-expecting to be raided by local law enforcement, seems difficult to imagine. Yet according to this fascinating study by historian Dan Erdman, this was indeed the situation for decades, from the early days of cinema through to the 1950s when home projector ownership finally meant that people could receive illegal pornography through the mail and watch it in the privacy of their own homes. As things began to change in the 1960s, individual film-viewing booths became available, where for a dime a customer could get access to a few minutes of hardcore pornography. Ultimately by the 1970s hardcore went mainstream and husbands and wives could go to the cinema together for screenings of Deep Throat or Behind the Green Door and the stag film fell out of fashion.

But just what is a stag film, I hear you cry innocently? Erdman, drawing on his own research as well as the writing of others, explains that they were short films, often made by amateurs and usually shot on 8mm or 16mm film, in which hardcore sex acts took place, they were anonymously made and presented, and undated. One would have no idea whether the film you were watching was made last year or thirty years ago. They were effectively “orphaned films”, in that no records were kept, and no information was provided about who was in the films, who directed and produced them, and who was even making all the prints. They were screened at private parties, or “smokers” as they were sometimes described, which would often be accompanied by live performances, but those in attendance were constantly in fear of a police bust. As home projection became more commercially available thousands of copies of stag films criss-crossed America in the postal service, with enterprising distributors using carefully compiled mailing lists and anonymous return addresses to target customers whilst avoiding both the police and the FBI.

Here, in this US-focused book, Dan Erdman attempts to chart the origins of the stag film, its growth in popularity, the people behind the production and distribution, and the many legal attempts to shut it all down. Given that the production, distribution and screening of these short pornographic films was illegal, and the films were generally considered ephemeral with no historical or cultural value, it’s no surprise to learn that the people involved in this underground world were not really keeping records or even copies of the films. The Kinsey Institute appears to be the main archive currently available for seeing copies of stag films but given that even if a film did have credits the names would inevitably be fake, the job of trying to piece together a history is a difficult one.

It is a surprise to discover that the other main archive is the FBI, who kept thousands of seized films and attempted to keep records of names, dates, and places, but sadly, again given that the films had no perceived historical value, the films were all destroyed long ago to save archival space. Luckily the written records remain, and through drawing on these records, alongside the Kinsey Institute, the President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (funded in the late 1960s in an attempt to provide legislation, which ultimately concluded that the constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech trumped charges of obscenity and paved the way for porn’s golden age), private archives and newspaper reports, Erdman has managed to piece together what is surely the definitive history of this elusive subject. He also provides an excellent case study in how one can attempt to write a history of a subject when access to both primary and secondary sources is severely limited, and as such it should be compulsory reading for any serious historian researching in the margins of popular culture.

This book gives fascinating and non-judgemental insight into the secret world of the twentieth century American male (the audience was always male) and may also provide some nostalgia for a simpler time before pornography became a global billion-dollar business, and modern mainstream culture became increasingly pornified.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Adrian Smith on Sunday, August 7. 2022

INTERVIEW WITH DANA POLAN, AUTHOR OF "DREAMS OF FLIGHT: 'THE GREAT ESCAPE' IN AMERICAN FILM AND CULTURE'"

Author and film historian Dana Polan has recently written a book titled Dreams of Flight: ‘The Great Escape’ in American Film and Culture that analyzes director John Sturges’ WWII classic. Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer conducted this interview with Polan regarding his book.

Q: Tell us about your book overall:

Dana Polan: Combining unique archival research, close analysis, and first-person accounts by viewers, Dreams of Flight traces multiple histories around the 1963 POW classic The Great Escape: production history of the film itself but also the history of the original event (an actual breakout in 1944 that led to the successful escape of three men, recapture of seventy-three with fifty of those summarily executed on Hitler’s orders), as well as the trajectory of POW Paul Brickhill’s written account as it evolved into the bestselling page-turner book The Great Escape. I also chronicle my own viewing history of the film, starting as a Sixties adolescent, along with accounts by other viewers who also saw the film around then and found that its blend of the buoyant and the downbeat stayed with them over the years. I had long wanted to revisit the film, ever since first seeing and being so strongly impacted by it. I feel so lucky to have been given the chance to engage with the film in a book-length study that could go into much detail about the film and its reception history.

Q: When and where did you first see the film?

DP: I wish I could be more precise about the exact date but I started researching and writing the book during Covid quarantine and that limited a wee bit of my research. I know I saw it at my town’s one drive-in and it was likely about 1965 since that is when we moved to the area. If so, I would have been 13 years old or so, and it would have been a re-release. I’d have loved to track down microfilm copies of the local newspaper to see the dates the film was playing and also to determine if it was on a double-bill or not. The Great Escape is a long film but our drive-in generally showed two films and I imagine would only have had one presentation per night of the double-bill. Although The Great Escape was not road-showed in its original release in 1963 — no symphonic overture over a static opening title, no intermission, and so on — I persist in thinking there was a break half-way through so viewers could be encouraged to go to the concession stand. In fact, the film has a logical place for a pause just at the halfway mark — when the first character we care about gets killed and the hitherto individualist Hilts (Steve McQueen) declares his commitment to the collective cause of escape. There’s a consequential fade-out and then fade-in as the POWs resolutely return to their cause. If indeed the drive-in showed The Great Escape on a double-bill, that would have made for a long evening, and the intermission might have been essential for concession-stand sales.

An amusing anecdotal detail: I was away for the weekend when the film opened at the drive-in and my mom and stepdad went without me on Saturday evening to see it. I had desperately been wanting to see it as, as I’ll explain in a moment, it seemed to promise exactly that sort of action entertainment I loved as a kid. When I got home by Sunday, I was so distraught that they hadn’t waited that my stepdad ended up having to take me that evening and sat through this long epic a second time in two days. He dozed off here or there while I was enthralled by every moment of the film even as I ultimately found it very disturbing.

Q: What impressed you most about it?

DP: Like, I imagine, many young American boys of the time, I went to the film for the gungho promise of its canonic poster, “The great adventure, the great entertainment, the great escape.” Instead, I was blown away by a narrative that seemed to me to be a deflation of adventure — a transformation of rousing entertainment into something questioning and quite bleak.

The Great Escape’s downbeat turn from a fun romp into fatalism left a lasting impression on me. As I write in Dreams of Flight, this unexpected narrative turn was a theme I began to notice in other films of that historical moment — one that is telling of American culture in the 1960s.

I have always imagined that my experience of movies is not mine alone but is likely representative of my demographic currents (gungho adolescent boy, in this case) and may be shared strongly by others in the same demographic. At the time, as I say, I was a pre-teen American boy who especially liked “manly” action cinema and expected from the trailers and that iconic poster that The Great Escape fit that mold. I know from other fan accounts that I tracked down for the book that I was not alone in feeling something disturbing and consequential was going on instead — in the film and in the times themselves. In my research for Dreams of Flight, I reached out to other viewers who first saw The Great Escape in the 1960s and found many had comparable reactions.

(Photo: Courtesy of the author.)

Q: Where does it stand in relation to Sturges' other films?

DP: John Sturges made over 40 films in a career that started with B-movies with a graduation to A-films in the 1950s, some of which combined strong narrative drive with a degree of artistic ambition — on the one hand, an entrapment drama like Bad Day at Black Rock (Sturges’s one nomination for Best Director) where thematic resonance (the topic of racial prejudice) is overlaid with taut suspense and moments of explosive action; on the other hand, the pretention of literary adaptation with, for example, the barebones Hemingwayesque allegory of The Old Man and the Sea. Even though he was thought of most as a manly man’s director, Sturges even did so-called women’s films, melodramas of love and emotional turmoil, such as A Girl Named Tamiko or By Love Possessed. But his forte was films of masculine fortitude and he found apt embodiment, literally so, for the trials and travails of men under pressure in a visual fascination with strong, sometimes stocky guys filmed as upright or coiled up bundles of vitality just itching to burst out. For example, the first time we see James Garner in The Great Escape (as Hendley, the forger), he’s filmed, perhaps curiously, from a distance that not only cuts off his feet but his neck and head as well so that the emphasis is on his torso, taut and tough as he confronts the fact of incarceration. Throughout the film, there are long pauses to paint a pent-up male energy that then passes over into scenes of vibrant action. I suggest in my book that The Great Escape not merely divides into three parts — planning of the escape, enactment of the escape, the outcome (as noted, a generally bleak one with most of the men rounded up and summarily executed) — but finds an overall distinct visual style for each of these: from coiled up men constrained by the fences that surround the camp and by the very confinement of the barracks they are walled up in, to the open expanses of seeming freedom beyond the camp, and back again to the camp for those POWs who are rounded up but escape execution (with the last shots showing even greater confinement for Hilts, who once again merits his moniker, “The Cooler King”).

For me, The Great Escape shows Sturges at the pinnacle of his dramatic form, although some fans prefer the tighter professionalism of The Magnificent Seven. Later Sturges films have their moments but the pauses get longer (and more talky as in the very sodden The Satan Bug) and the professionalism turns into long scenes of planning for action that actually defer that action (for example, the slowly unfolding Marooned and the overblown Ice Station Zebra which keeps delaying a violent confrontation that actually never comes for symphonically scored scenes of the submarine crashing through the ice and men pushing buttons and yelling orders). I find perfection to the pacing of The Great Escape: men talk out their plans at length but the suspense never lets up and, as I argue in the book, Sturges films dialogue scenes in a variety of forms (classic shot/reverse shot, wide-screen confrontation between men, long takes with a moving camera, and so on) that keep everything moving forward in thrilling fashion.

Continue reading "INTERVIEW WITH DANA POLAN, AUTHOR OF "DREAMS OF FLIGHT: 'THE GREAT ESCAPE' IN AMERICAN FILM AND CULTURE'""

Posted by Cinema Retro in Interviews on Wednesday, August 3. 2022

REVIEW: “GIRL ON A CHAIN GANG” (1966) STARRING WILLIAM WATSON, JULIE ANGE AND R.K. CHARLES; THE FILM DETECTIVE BLU-RAY

BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA

In the world of exploitation cinema, the name Jerry Gross is very well known. Gross owned and ran Cinemation Industries, a film studio/distribution company based in New York. Cinemation produced and/or distributed many movies like the teenage pregnancy film Teenage Mother (1967), the Swedish made sexploitation films Inga and Fanny Hill (both 1968), the revolutionary “Blaxploitation” classic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), the horror film I Drink Your Blood (1971) and the popular animated adult feature 1972’s Fritz the Cat. Just to name a few. After the company went bankrupt in the mid-70s, Jerry started the Jerry Gross Organization which continued the tradition, releasing shocking fare such as 1978’s controversial I Spit on Your Grave and the horror classic Zombie (1979). Recently, Gross’s first feature film, Girl on a Chain Gang, was released on Blu-ray.

Written, produced and directed by Gross, Girl on a Chain Gang, which was based on a story by Don Olsen, concerns three young civil rights activists who drive through a small Southern town and are wrongly arrested by the hateful and corrupt local police. Once they are brought to the station, the three young friends—two men and a woman—are put through the most humiliating and terrifying night of their lives.

Originally titled Bayou, Girl on a Chain Gang, which was made for a paltry $31,000 and shot in Long Island, New York, is a surprisingly (considering the budget) well-made, but, in some spots, disturbing film to watch. Based on actual events, the film deals with the hate and racism that existed in the mid to late 1960s (and unfortunately still exists today). The film also contains a talented cast (especially William Watson as the evil sheriff) and a memorable musical score by Steve Karmen.

Girl on a Chain Gang has been released on a region free Blu-ray by The Film Detective and is presented in its original 1:37:1 aspect ratio. The beautiful-looking transfer boasts sharp, crystal clear black and white images (which shows off George Zimmermann’s lovely cinematography) and the disc not only contains an informative audio commentary by Jennifer Churchill, author of Movies are Magic, but also an interesting featurette about writer/producer/director Jerry Gross, a wonderful booklet which contains an essay on the film by Something Weird Video’s Lisa Petrucci, and a reproduction of the “Certificate of Jury Service” which Jerry Gross gave out to audience members in 1966.

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Posted by Cinema Retro in Ernie Magnotta on Sunday, July 10. 2022

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