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"I always keep my word, I'll send him right where he told me to go ...HELL!"

August 2018

This Blog will be offering a colorful kaleidoscope of movie magic for cinema aficionados. Crispy peanuts, thin-skinned baloons and thrilling sensations on celluloid. See offbeat goodies and magic crumbs ...weekly! The Reality behind the Fantasy! - The Story behind the Spectacle! No inflated endlessly long stories, but short and crisp.  'This is Helmet time!' Photos beat content! Welcome to the manege of madness! - Have a pleasant trip!

Director Tom Gries ('100 Rifles') sparks up a thrilling adventure on a train ride through snowy mountains,  blessed with Western movie Stars, a powerful supporting cast and an experienced crew of experts. The filming on a train has its limits and difficulties, which is really no problem,  if you have the famous stuntman Yakima Canutt (1895–1986) on your side. Yak staged some rousing action scenes, gags and stunts. Even on small-scale stages, he makes great things possible! A 2nd Unit Action wizard and stuntman hero. The train ride was his last big job as second unit director and stunt coordinator at the end of a long and successful career. It seems that the 19th century locomotive would need some extra steam here and there, the pace could be faster,  but the menacing mood on the journey is perfect.  The snow, the colors, the costumes ...all cool!  A nice mystery Western Thriller. Although, the film has its biggest 'mystery' moment when ... the crazy red bathrobe stumbles into the picture! Glorious. Even the often dreaded old-school background projections look pretty good here. A little rarity, a crime play from the Wild West, based on the Alistair MacLean (1922–1987) page-turner 'Breakheart Pass'. Death rode the rails to Breakheart Pass. Available on blu-ray. 7-8/10

Kodachrome slide of the fine Cast and the Great Western Railway 2-8-0 Steam Locomotive No.75. The veteran Locomotive was used in several other motion pictures ('Cat Ballou'). In 'The Professionals' the locomotive was simply re-lettered and painted to become Nacionales De Mexico No.903. The railroad cars that got wrecked were not full-size models or miniatures. They were actual railroad cars, purchased used from the old Burlington Northern Railroad specifically for the purpose of  being destroyed in this film. The Idaho filming locations are stunning.  The railway ran alongside the Clearwater River and on into the lower regions of the Bitterroot Mountains. Other railway tracks ran across the Camas prairie, which was part of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Several Nez Perce Indians were hired to play a part in the movie (Indian attack on the train). The Action Scenes Yak staged on top of the train were all shot with a camera crane and not a Helicopter. The camera crane was brought from Los Angeles to the set in Idaho. They put it on a flatcar to shoot the scenes on and around the train.  For example the scenes with Bronson and Archie Moore hanging on the side of the train with one hand while they struggled and tried to kick each other loose. A well plotted fight with the doubles. Howard Curtis doubled Bronson, Tony Brubaker doubled Archie.

What a nice couple.  Charles Bronson (1921–2003) with his beautiful wife Jill Ireland (1936–1990). One of many films in which Charlie co-starred with his wife, Jill Ireland. In addition, Jill visited him regularly on movie sets worldwide. She came to Madrid, Spain to visit him on the Set of 'Villa Rides' and got a small role as a Girl in a restaurant. See more of Charlie here: 'Guns for San Sebastian'. And some more stuff on novelist Alistair MacLean: 'Guns of Navarone' and 'Force 10 from Navarone'.

20th Century Fox chairman Darryl F. Zanuck and Director Robert Parrish ('Duffy', 'A Town Called Bastard') on set in  France for the World War II flick 'Up from the Beach', 1965. An unpolished little black-and-white war movie in great CinemaScope, which roughly continues where Zanuck's cult epic  'The Longest Day' ended. Director Robert Parrish recalled that Darryl F. Zanuck made the film to use unused footage from 'The Longest Day' with the film  then marketed as a sequel. Cliff Robertson claimed Zanuck wanted to make the film to showcase his girlfriend Irina Demick who had appeared in 'The Longest Day'.  Robertson called the film "Up From the Bitch".  Irina Demick, Red Buttons and Fernand Ledoux appeared in the original 'The Longest Day'. 'Up from the Beach'  is a grubby addition to the epic masterpiece, with perfectly selected filming locations in France  (Octeville, Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Val de Saire...) and a competently set decoration (Karl Baumgartner). Has this little bunker buster been released somewhere on DVD? I want my blu-ray! I want it now! 7/10

Darryl F. Zanuck (1902–1979) sitting in the chair of his mistress Irina Demick on the 'Up from the Beach' Set with his famous cigar. Irina Demick got her big break in films courtesy of an affair with the notorious womanizing mogul Zanuck,  who cast her as a member of the French Resistance in 'The Longest Day'.  He managed to get her into 'The Visit', 'Up from the Beach' and others. The excellent physical effects were handled by the German legend Karl Baumgartner (1922-2012),  respectfully named 'Charly-Bum-Bum' among special effects colleagues because of his special skills with pyrotechnics. Charly was a certified demolition expert, a blaster of a special kind and a true master of special movie pyrotechnic effects. He know very well how blasted houses must look.  So it is almost logical that he also took over the set decoration for 'Up from the Beach' ... for a 2nd nice check from the studio, of course. Charly Baumgartner did the 300 fires scene for 'Cleopatra', the bunker explosion in 'The Longest Day' and the perfectly staged  Air Raid on the German submarine bunker (La Rochelle) in Wolfgang Petersen's 'Das Boot'. He was the pyro and fire wizard on the Western movie 'Red Sun', did the special effects for 'Kelly’s Heroes', the great  Rolf Olsen thriller 'Blutiger Freitag', 'Inside Out', 'Firefox' and 'Enemy Mine', to name a few. Together with Daniel Braunschweig he did some groovy stuff for 'Up from the Beach'.  It hisses and bangs!

Irina Demick (1936-2004) has fun on the 'Up from the Beach' set in France. Enough of Irina, the star of the film is without question Cliff Robertson (1923–2011). Robertson became a fairly successful leading man through most of his career without ever becoming a major star. He did quite a bunch of cool movies of which you can find some in this cinema. The spirited thriller 'Masquerade' is shown on the main stage, while the war flick 'Midway' runs in the backyard blog.

As a true fan of this bumpy Sci-Fi thriller, based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton,  you are of course incredibly eager to see more low-light and blurry 'behind-the-scenes' transparencies. That's not a problem at all.  I always try to show you what you do not want to see! You will find the dark 'Sphere' story, freshened up with a bunch of new photos, here: Water Tank Toys.

Your comments are always welcome! Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Sometimes.

'Species' - Part 1. The Special Make-up Effects on 'Species' were realized by Steve Johnson's XFX garage.  They devised the life-size images of the beautiful female Alien and translated Giger's designs into reality. XFX built the physical model of SIL and all the prosthetic and animatronic gags required for the devilish Giger Alien.  An exciting and demanding job for Steve Johnson, which required many innovative techniques At the end H.R.Giger was none too thrilled of the finished movie, but loved the make-up effects that XFX had developed for the show. I think 'Species' is a pretty good B-Movie flick with first-rate effects work on all levels. Here is a nice make-up gag on the toilet. An Alien operation on the spine without anesthesia. Sil is scanning a Club for a healthy human mating partner.  Natasha Henstridge (Sil) with her blond hair ... a lioness on the prowl. She discovers a suitable boy, but another girl falls into his arms. Stupid mistake. Actress Caroline Barclay is the bunny who gets removed from the competition by Sil on the toilet. Sil's arm breaks through the tiled wall of the toilet cubicle and pulls out the spine of the poor bar bimbo. XFX art director Bill Corso and Kenny Meyers were responsible for the prosthetic appliances for this bloody operation.

Poor Caroline Barclay is getting a special massage. Alien acupuncture ... with long fingernails. The phony tiled wall has a 'breakthrough' spot, for the arm to go through. Seems they used a pyro charge to get the flying splinters of the tiles. A nice little effect. No mechanical or animatronic wonders here, the arm of Sil is a big glove. One of the XFX boys played Sil. Sil was mainly put on screen in 4 different ways: a woman in a suit, full-body animatronics, Boss Film's CGI and a  combination of animatronics & CGI.

Sil tears the spine out.  A bloody scene and very fast, just a second. Watch out, the scene rushes by quickly ... Caroline offers a good show. She throws herself back and forth as Sil rips important components out of her body.

XFX make-up artist Kenny Meyers (left) and Bill Corso (middle) apply the spinal column make-up on Caroline Barclay. Finishing touches just before the shooting of her splattering moment. Caroline, honey, you look a bit broken...

Filming of 'Species 2' - The male alien.  There is quite some excellent material available on the making of 'Species', a Giger book, Cinefex and so much more. But you will not find much on 'Species 2' and the thrilling prime effects that XFX conjured up for the weirdo trash. Come on, this is definitely somthin for the 'bad taste' fans here at moon-city-garbage.agency. No question, I'll stick something together.  Does this really have to be?  Yes!

We are back on Arrakis for another 'DUNE' story. To show the spice-mining process to Duke Leto and Paul Atreides, Doctor Kynes accompanies them on an Ornithopter flight  into the desert to see a huge Spice Harvester at work. This 'making of' slide shows the filming of the scene just before departure. Max von Sydow (Dr.Kynes), Jürgen Prochnow (Duke Leto) and Kyle MacLachlan (Paul) are ready to enter the Ornithopter,  parking in the background. Arrakis Set - Churubusco Studios, Mexico.

Full-size mock-up of an Atreides Ornithopter, especially built for this scene. All the in-flight scenes were realized with a fully detailed miniature built by Apogee. When Duke Leto and his entourage gets closer to the Spice Harvester, they spot a giant Sandworm heading for the Harvester. The Sandworm/Harvester scenes were obtained with great model work, but they also built a few excellent full-size  Set elements for the sequence. Enjoy some great photos here: Tip-Tank-Terror!

'Cleopatra' actor Roddy McDowall was sitting around in Rome waiting for work and called Producer Darryl F. Zanuck,  hoping he could give him something to do, some job.  He became so frustrated with the numerous delays during the 'Cleopatra' production, the movie that nearly bankrupted the Fox Studio,  he begged Zanuck for a part in his promising picture 'The Longest Day'. At the end Roddy McDowall and Richard Burton, another victim of Cleopatra, got cameo roles in the great war movie epic. McDowall played Pvt. Morris and Burton, pictured here on a german Lobby Card,  got a role as R.A.F. pilot (Flying Officer David Campbell).

Richard Burton with producer Darryl F. Zanuck on Set of 'The Longest Day' - R.A.F. officers' mess. Fighter pilot Dave (Burton) is drinking a beer here and recognized in frustration,  that he is the last pilot from his old squadron. All others are gone. At the End we see him again, shot down over Normandy. See more of this great masterpiece here: Phony rocks! There are many more entries hidden in the depths of the blog, have fun searching!

A groovy promo shot of the swinging 60s, a great time for movie buffs. 50 years ago, 1968, he emerged from the wizard kitchen of Mario Bava: 'DIABOLIK'! A stylish pop thriller with a jellylike center and a firm sugar coating. The photo shows Marisa Mell (Eva Kant) during a break in filming 'Diabolik', 1967. The Italian Make-Up legend Otello Fava always had a bottle of skin oil on hand to make Eva's body shine. A very nice idea ... See more of Eva Kant here: Body lotion. And you should try the best movie of Marisa Mell: 'Masquerade'.

'The Peacemaker' was the first offering of the new Studio DreamWorks SKG, founded by three 'heavyweights' in the film industry,  Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Such a debut enjoys special attention, and any tiny, minor mistake could become a serious problem. Especially the Visual Effects work on 'Peacemaker', helmed by Pacific Title Digital and Pacific Data Images, is a great success. Most effects are installed very harmoniously, unnoticeable and almost completely invisible. Wow! Of course there is something to moan here and there, but on the whole you can almost hardly do more right! Very impressive! And that was back in 1996, even years later many CGI nerds overpaced their effects work and were everything, but not invisible. The Physical Effects, the Stunt work, Costumes, the Players (George Clooney, Nicole Kidman,...) all on a top level. Directing Queen Mimi Leder and veteran Cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann orchestrated a powerful, fast paced thriller with a  cool rhythm and a good feeling for authenticity. Unconventional and quite realistic! More than 20 years after its release, the film is still pretty dynamic and entertaining. Time to look back on the making of 'The Peacemaker'. Here is a good pic of the filming in Slovakia, at the portal of the 'Cremosniansky' tunnel,  between Cremosne on the west side and Harmanec on the east side. In Macedonia Mimi Leder and Dietrich Lohmann filmed the stunning scenes when the helicopters track the terrorists  which try to escape over a mountain bridge spanning a deep ravine. A perfect rumba of physical effects and CGI, which of course we take a closer look at:  'Kelly, a guy got away with a bomb'. But always hold tight well!

Tunnel #14, the 'Cremosniansky' tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in Slovakia with a length of 4697 m.

On Set of 'Barabbas' - the beautiful epic of the 60's with a masterful performance of Anthony Quinn. Here we see Anthony Quinn and his girlfriend Jolanda Addolori in the Arena of Verona, 1961. The two married in 1966. Quinn is making photos of the impressing Set built in the Arena and the two enjoyed to watch the filming of some gladiator scenes. It was an exciting event for all Actors and Crew members to watch the thrilling filming in the Arena,  when they had the time to (day off). Production Designer Mario Chiari and his staff were responsible for the breathtaking Arena Set. Learn more about the Arena and the intense preparations for the gladiator scenes here: Chariot driver's license.

Director Richard Fleischer and Cinematographer Aldo Tonti (1910–1988) in the Arena of Verona.  The two are discussing about the best camera positions and lighting concept, to get the most moving pictures. They all did a wonderful job, a spectacular movie. (Photo found in the book: 'Barabbas - The Story of a Motion Picture')

Arena of Verona, 1961. Cinematographer Aldo Tonti, Anthony Quinn and Producer Dino de Laurentiis talk about design concepts (Sets, Scenes, Costumes). The Italian camera legend Aldo Tonti (1910–1988) can give important hints. Depending on the lighting, costumes/sets/... can look completely different, achieve a completely different effect. The very experienced Cinematographer Tonti was the camera magician for famous Directors like Federico Fellini or Nicholas Ray. He was behind the lens for a bunch of small Genre Hits, beloved by many fans.  Among his wild flicks are 'Città violenta', 'The Deserter', 'The Amazons' and 'Tough Guys', all in the 70s! His last movie before retirement was 'Ashanti' (1979), again for Director Richard Fleischer.

This summer we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the filming of 'The Secret of Santa Vittoria', which started in the summer of 1968. The splendid, spirited story deserves a special treatment. I updated my 'behind-the-scenes' story with a bunch of rare and never published before photos and colorful lobby cards. You have to visit: Anticoli Corrado - The power of 'on location' filming! Director Stanley Kramer said of this film in his autobiography "A Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World: A Life in Hollywood":  "I envisioned the picture as a celebration of principle and resistance as, led by their bibulous and colorful mayor,  Anthony Quinn, the townspeople refuse to knuckle under to their oppressors.  I wanted the story to represent one town's indomitable spirit".

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