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2021 -
Part 4
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This Blog is 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.
Photos beat content!
Welcome to the manege of madness! - Have a pleasant trip!
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Emperor Alexander Burton.
Bare-chested in hot Spanish sun, Richard Burton, looking like a moody bull,
listens to Director Robert Rossen by cameras on location near Madrid.
The powerful epic from the 50s has lost none of its magic to this day.
The filming locations in the vicinity of Madrid are, among others, the
hilly prairie near Colmenar Viejo,
La Dehesa de
Navalvillar,and the small town of El
Molar.
You will find many more 'Alexander the Great' photos by strolling through the extensive blog content!
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Awesome, very unusual and apparently spontaneous 'Alexander the Great' press photo.
The Spanish photographer climbed a wobbly wooden ladder on the set for the shot.
It shows some of the supporting cast.
Including such well-known names as (from left to right): Virgilio Teixeira, Ruben Rojo and his
brother Gustavo Rojo.
All 3 were actors in various other genre films that were also shot in Spain.
Virgilio was in the colossal Sam Bronston epic 'Fall of the Roman
Empire' and in 'Return of the
Seven'.
Ruben and Gustavo Rojo together survived the Jose Luis Merino War movie peanut
'Monte
Cassino'
without permanent damage.
Ruben Rojo, like his brother, was an actor for different Spaghetti Western Shows.
Ruben played in the great 'Réquiem para el
Gringo'.
Gustavo was playing in 'El
Condor' and a few large-scale adventure productions, like the excellent
'Genghis
Khan'.
I 'meet' Gustavo every year at Christmas time, when I'm watching 'Durchs wilde Kurdistan' and
'Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen' for what feels like the hundredth time.
A cherished Christmas routine ... wonderfully relaxing.
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A previously unpublished and rare photo showing the filming of 'Kurdistan',
the Artur Brauner productions 'Durchs wilde Kurdistan' and 'Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen'.
Gustavo Rojo (1923-2017) relaxes on the set in the desert of
Tabernas (Almeria),
during a break in filming the popular Karl May Adventure.
Next to him is Director Roy Rowland (1910-1995).
Rowland directed many of the 2nd unit shots without getting any credit.
The director, who was very much appreciated by the actors and the crew, has worked several times in Spain.
Sitting in the back smiling and with a Script folder in her hands is the young Isabel Mulá
(Script and Continuity Dep.), at the very beginning of her long career as a 'Script and Continuity' supervisor.
She worked for quite a bunch of Spaghetti Western and other european Genre explosions,
such like the Umberto Lenzi war movie 'La legione dei
dannati'.
None of the crew or actors noticed that they were shooting 2 films at the same time.
Everyone on the set had a contract for just one film and was paid accordingly.
Well, producer Artur Brauner had a very promising idea.
Make 2 out of 1 and double the profit.
From the extensive material that was filmed for 'Kurdistan' (the spanish clapper board title),
he developed 'Durchs wilde Kurdistan' and 'Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen'.
The good old times of european cinema.
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I found a very nice filming location of 'Durchs wilde Kurdistan'
in the hills of the Rambla Lanujar,
near Tabernas in southern Spain.
Screenshot of a movie scene with Lex Barker and Ralf Wolter in comparison with my photo of 2005.
Some more photos you will find here: Sabata
Hill - Rambla Lanujar.
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| All
lines are busy, but you can contact us at any time by e-mail,
carrier pigeon or post. |
| (James
Garner in 'Marlowe'
- Kodak 2.25 transparency) |
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A very happy looking Rafaela Roque Sánchez, called FELA ROQUE, comes out of the main entrance of
the Samuel Bronston Studios in Madrid, 1965.
She has just signed her contract as an actress for the Hugo Fregonese Western 'Savage Pampas'.
1965 was a damn good year for “Miss Las Palmas” Fela Roque.
A film career seemed possible for the young girl and she took part in the Miss Spain election
in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1965.
The title "Miss Nacional" went to Fela.
"Miss Barcelona", Alicia Borrás, became the winner of the competition and got the title "Miss Spain 1965".
Not much more than that is known about Fela Roque, her career as an actress seems to have come to nothing.
What happened to her?
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When the film tycoon Samuel Bronston took over the 'Estudios de Chamartin' in the early 1960s,
the main entrance looked something like this.
Much too small for the great visionary and his 'Think Big' attitude.
Sam Bronston wanted, could and knew how to impress.
The entrance building has been massively increased! - You don't shoot colossal epics in a Dog house!
The whole Studio has been renewed, expanded and technically improved extensively.
For more informations, check out this: Estudios Samuel
Bronston.
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You want to end the year with a few cool beers,
but your supplier sinks his truck
loaded with alcohol in the river. Shit happens!
The plot of this little cheesy trash comedy looks like this or something
very close to it.
During WW2, Sgt. Dan O'Farrell's (Bob Hope) Pacific unit is demoralized when a Japanese submarine
torpedoes an American supply ship containing loads of beer cans. Ha
Ha.
Cult comedian Bob Hope (1903-2003) and Gina Lollobrigida filming a scene for
'The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell', summer 1967, Puerto Rico.
Bob plays his role with charm and enthusiasm, and Gina doesn't disappoint either.
The film wasn't very successful, failed at the box office, but it's good enough for a fun evening
if you have more than just homeopathic amounts of beer in the fridge.
Here and there this thing is really funny.
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The Kiss.
Director Frank Tashlin (1913-1972) filming the scene with cinematographer Alan Stensvold.
Stensvold lensed quite a lot of the later Bob Hope shows.
'Sgt. O'Farrell' was the last film for Director Tashlin.
The American cartoonist, writer, animator, and film director was specialized in broad satirical comedies.
He directed the immensely successful Doris Day comedy 'The Glass-Bottom Boat' and several cartoonish vehicles
for the dream team Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, Jayne Mansfield and Bob Hope.
Always with the intention of parodying all forms of popular culture. |
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Stand-up comedian Bob Hope and Gina Lollobrigida - Puerto Rico, 1967.
Bob Hope was known for his sharp-tongued jokes and good comedic timing.
Unfortunately, he can rarely exploit this potential in 'The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell'.
Bob has a comical little cameo appearance playing a round of golf through a tent in
'Spies like
us'.
A golf ball flies into the tent and Bob appears: "Ah.Mind if I play through".
He looks at Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, who pretended to be doctors, and says dryly:
"Ha. Glad I'm not sick".
Very funny.
The whole tent sequence with all the cameo appearances is pretty well done. |
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The good old Arri 35II in action on the beach in Puerto Rico.
The black cable which is plugged into the handle of the camera comes from the battery pack. |
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Gina Lollobrigida has a great charisma and joie de vivre and shows that in all her Shows,
in the big as well as in the small ones.
Gina always shines!
See her playing in a small-scale 'Spaghetti Western' here: 'Bad Man's
River'.
And in a Hollywood Epic on the side of Yul Brynner: 'Solomon and
Sheba'.
Gina watching a Bullfight in the huge arena of Madrid: Ole. |
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Here is a quick look into the coming year 2022, with many great upcoming 'Hollywood' projects ...
which are unfortunately, all too often, only completed very slowly.
I will do my very best and continue the 'behind-the-scenes' reports about the work of director J.Lee Thompson.
The photo (35mm slide) shows him on set of King Solomon's Mines in Zimbabwe, Africa.
A pretty cool and underrated little Adventure flick with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone,
carried by a rousing Jerry Goldsmith score. |
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There will be more reports on one of my favorites,
'Guns of
Navarone'.
The construction of the mighty 'Cannon' Set on the backlot of the Shepperton Studios.
But of course we are also intensively devoting ourselves to the little B-movie genre flicks again... |
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Forget about 'Hollywood', it's time for 'Buechlerwood' again!
Latex, slime and raspberry syrup - the imaginative world of John Carl Buechler and friends.
B-Movies on the verge of madness. |
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Rubber Creature King John Carl Buechler and his shaggy special make-up effects wizard
Mike Deak
on set of 'Cellar Dweller'.
Detailed reports on the lovingly made 80s creature horror flicks will crawl out of the dark
www.moon-city-garbage.agency tomb again in the new year. |
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Christmas. It rings at the door. Panic!
Who could it be? - The beloved family .... aaaaarrrrggghhh !!!
You can lead the dromedary to the water, but you know it will pee in.
Cheers! - All the best, stay healthy! |
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www.moon-city-garbage.agency |
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