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The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.
SEPTEMBER 2016
This Blog will be offering a colorful kaleidoscope of movie magic for cinema aficionados.
Crispy peanuts, colorful baloons and thrilling sensations on celluloid.
See offbeat goodies and magic crumbs ...weekly!
Photos beat content!
'Is Paris burning?' (1966) is a big-scale war movie directed by the French Director René Clément.
The epic film boasts an impressive international ensemble cast of screen legends and familar faces.
Famous American, French, ...and German Players. Unfortunately many cameos of great actors fizzle without effect.
The film is a mishmash of great scenes, scenes with tiring dialogues and a general lack of suspense.
The dialogue, often dubbed in heavily accented English, makes it sometimes hard to follow the Actors, which come and go.
The German Players on the show are my favorites. 
Gert Fröbe is a great General Dietrich von Choltitz. 
Wolfgang Preiss, Karl-Otto Alberty, Hannes Messemer ...and the fabulous Günter Meisner as insane SS officer. Refreshing!
With few exceptions, many actors remain pale. Orson Welles is the mighty voluminous phenomenon of the movie. 
Here is 'making of' shot...
The french Star Jean-Louis Trintignant (as Captain Serge) betrayed young French Resistance fighters to the Gestapo.
The boys are thrown from the back of a truck and machine-gunned (photo).
The Special Effects were handled by Robert MacDonald ('Gremlins') and Paul Pollard ('The Great Escape').
Later both worked together again on 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
For this scene here, the Sp/Fx crew shot with real machine guns (blank fire) in the background to get the best sound effects.
The close-ups of the German soldiers firing the machine guns in this scene were filmed seperately.
Director René Clément (1913-1996) is preparing a scene at the 'Quai du Marché neuf' in Paris for 'Is Paris burning?'. 
He was one of the leading French directors of the post-World War II era. 
Cléments 'The Damned' ('Les maudits', 1947) is an excellent monochrome Submarine thriller of claustrophobic suspense.
His later hit 'Is Paris burning?' is not in all parts convincing, but still worth seeing!
Movie Scene - 'Quai du Marché neuf', Paris.
The stylish monochrome (Panavision) cinematography of Marcel Grignon (1914-1990) is a big plus of the movie and 
brought him an Academy Award Nomination.
Grignon is known for his work with Louis de Funes ('Fantomas',...) and the 'OSS 117' series.
He was the Cinematographer of many interesting Genre movies, for example the war movie 'Taxi for Tobruk' or 
the great little thriller 'Les étrangers'.
René Clément is filming 'Is Paris burning?' on location in Paris, 1966.
'Is Paris burning?' is an above average film with lucid moments and great cinematography.
Recently I got a call from an old friend letting me know that the magazine he worked for dissolves their archive 
of paper photos and slides. 
Several 100.000 photos ...have made me curious. A large selection, small prices. What a rare opportunity.
Rummaging in archives is great fun and a rare chance for me to get material for affordable prices. 
The collectors market (ebay, conventions,..) is very often overpriced violently.
This archive had a tremendous amount of binders, one for every actor/actress.
But the Society Mag had obviously only interest in portrait shots and similar photos, as 95% of the folders 
were full of 'beaming faces', therefore my prey was small.
I could save a couple of interesting slides and transparencies ...and got them for a donation in the coffee fund! 
Here is a 35mm Slide I found in a 'Pierce Brosnan' folder - The lonesome chair of James Bond.
It's a rare shot on set in the 'Fuhlsbüttel' Airport in Hamburg (Germany) for the James Bond movie 'Tomorrow never dies', 1997.
The arrival of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) in Hamburg was shot in the Airport.
Really good Bond material is usually far out of my price range. There are just too many collectors! 
A single time I was lucky and got a full to the brim BOND folder for 'GoldenEye', with excellent 'making of' and 
'behind the scenes' slides and photos, for an absolutely tiny price.
A few of my 'GoldenEye' slides you can find here: 'GoldenEye - Model Unit'.
Your comments are always welcome!
Carlo Rambaldi (1925–2012) working on a clay miniature of his crowning achievement 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'.
Rambaldi entered the film industry in the ‘60s as a prop man working on italian and international trash flicks 
such as Mario Bavas 'Terrore nello spazio' (models).
On 'Barbarella' Rambaldi worked together with Gérard Cogan, an expert for cable-controlled mechanical toys and props.
He co-created the wicked mechanical dolls that smack Jane Fonda to life using the kind of cable-controlled 
mechanical devices that became his trademark.
The skillfull and imaginative Italian mechanical effects virtuoso brought animatronics to modern Science Fiction and 
fantasy cinema with his phenomenal creations for 'Close Encounters of the third kind', 'E.T.', 'Alien', 
'Conan the Destroyer' and 'Dune'.
Rambaldi was the first FX artist in film history who had to prove in a court of law that his work was not real.
In a scene of the hallucinogenic thriller 'A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin', directed by the notorious Lucio Fulci, 
Florinda Bolkan opens the door to a room filled with dogs that are apparently being experimented on. 
The dogs are cut open with their hearts and guts still pulsating. 
The scene was so graphic and realistic that several crew members were forced to testify in court to disprove 
the accusation that real dogs were used in the film. 
Carlo Rambaldi saved Fulci from a two-year prison sentence by presenting the fake dog props in court to a seemingly 
unconvinced judiciary.
Steven Spielberg was very impressed of Rambaldi's cable-controlled and articulated toys and called him in Rome 
to design the 'extraterrestrial' for his upcomming Science Fiction film 'CE3K'.
Carlo started to work, in his shop in Rome, on a full-size clay sculptor of the 'extraterrestrial' nicknamed 'Puck'.
Carlo Rambaldi working on the animatronic head of 'Puck', 1977 (!!!).
The skull was made out of fiberglass and foam rubber parts (inside). 
For facial expressions (smiling) and the movement of the large blue eyes Rambaldi installed special mechanisms.
The polyrethane skin of 'Puck' was supported by an inner skeleton of aluminium and thin steel.
Rambaldi installed several mechanical gadgets for arm and hand movements.
The mechanical E.T.'Puck' was fully controlled via very thin and flexible cables. 
Seven operators were needed to bring 'Puck' to extraterrestrial life.
'Puck' even has little white teeth and can open his mouth (cable-controlled). A fantastic creation!
Carlo Rambaldi won a Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1977 for 'King Kong' and 
two more Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects. 
In 1980 for the mechanical head-effects in 'Alien' and in 1983 for his most famous character, 
'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'. 
The Italian mechanical effects pioneer Carlo Rambaldi died on August 10, 2012.
If you want to delve deeper into the making of the Science Fiction classic 'CE3K', I recommend the 
very comprehensive book of Ray Morton. Highly interesting, rich, informative and fun to read. Good Job!
(The photos of 'Pucks' animatronic head, 35mm Kodachrome slides, are courtesy of the moon-city-garbage archive)
Still of the week - On Set with 'The Devil's Brigade', 1967.
William Holden (1918-1981) looks so greatly pissed-off on this marvelous shot...!
Okay, the outfit of his wife Brenda Marshall is a bit odd, some kind of camouflage battle dress for housewives.
Holden has this 'Baby, do me a favor, please ride back home' face ...ha..ha.
'The Devil's Brigade' is an excellent War movie directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (1920–2014).
The role in which William Holden took the most pride was as an environmentalist and co-founder of 
the Mount Kenya Game Ranch. 
When he visited Kenya in the 60s he fell in love with the country, its people and its nature and specially the wildlife.
The Mount Kenya Game Ranch was built for the purpose of breeding and preserving endangered species.
In 1982 the William Holden Wildlife Foundation was formed in his honour, with the purpose to work and assist in Kenya 
with the wildlife education of its youth.
Stefanie Powers is the President of the Foundation. 
Check out the website: 
http://www.whwf.org
Director Jonathan Kaplan is a TV Show arranger and thats what we got here, a simple little TV western staged without 
bite, vitality and adequate visual style.
Only the wonderful girls, playing with verve and fun, kept me alive.
Drew Barrymore a sunshine, the actresses wonderful, but all the rest of the cheesecake is damn dry and plain.
A harmless, cozy little adventure Western with a weak plot.
Each episode of 'Bonanza' offers more than that.
'Bad Girls' is fine for a television afternoon, but much too little for the big screen.
Disappointing!
Director Jonathan Kaplan on Set with the lovely Drew Barrymore. 
Maybe the TV work has made him toothless, but he directed the pretty groovy 'Truck Turner' in the 70s!
What has happened there?
Drew Barrymore and Andie MacDowell talking with Director Jonathan Kaplan.
The entertainment value of this film is quite low.
Even with a Gatling Gun, these 'Beauty Girls' are never running wild. 
Squeezed into a boring 'concept'.
After all, a bit of fun. 
Robert Loggia (1930–2015) practices for some close-ups. The boys wiggle the ladder to simulate horse movements.
Director Gianfranco Parolini had his best years in the late 60s and early 70s with a few quite cool crime flicks 
(Tony Kendall/Brad Harris) and his ingenious 'Sabata' western films.
His Spaghetti Western 'God's Gun' (1976) has a promising cast and capable Makers in the back.
The Art Director of the popular 'Sabata' series, Claudio De Santis, was also responsible for the look of 'God's Gun'.
But a few nice Sets can not hide that we are at the bottom of the Spaghetti boiler, between the burnt noodles.
The overall package of God's Gun is frumpy, uninspired and boring. 
Dumb dialogs and what a horrible editing.
See the helpless Lee van Cleef in an inappropriate double-role. Holy shit! 
He is much better in the (heavily underrated) 'Bad Man's River' and this is another burnt noodle.
If you want to see him leading in a good one, I recommend 'El Condor'.
Sybil Danning looks pretty. Richard Boone looks annoyed.
Jack Palance has this strong tendency to overact, but that's Jack! 
I would miss somthing if he is not grinning permanently during a western movie.
Leif Garrett is a pesky mosquitoe.
Switch off!
Big Jack, small movie.
A subterranean contribution to the genre. 
'The Tall Women' (1966) is an unusual Spaghetti Western with an all-female cast, produced and directed by Sidney Pink.
An entrepeneur of the early days of Spaghetti Western productions in Spain ('Finger on the Trigger').
I have the highest respect for the independent Film maker and his sometimes strange view of things. 
"The Tall Women was a big picture in every sense of the word, and it required a major effort to impart that size onto the screen.
Its cast would do justice to many multimillion dollar projects, and its battle scenes with hundreds of Extras and horses were 
major projects in and of themselves" (Sidney Pink: So you want to make Movies).
Without the influence of Tequila you will soon realize, that 'The Tall Women' is a small picture in every sense of the word.
The mentioned battle scenes are poorly staged. 
Sidney Pink's Land Rover is clearly visible, dead bodies move, ... this is not the 'truly fine picture' or 'a classic that could 
stand on its own for the future', like Sidney Pink glorified the movie in his fantastic overexcited book. 
How could Pink get the well-known Oscar winning actress Anne Baxter (photo) for this little and low budgeted Western?
Pink: "No one had ever attempted an all-female Western with a major actress taking a role that had always been reserved 
for John Wayne or Gary Cooper." 
What? The power of imagination!
The terrific book of Sidney Pink, noted for producing early cheapo spaghetti westerns and low-budget science-fiction films
('The Angry Red Planet', 'Reptilicus'), is a fantastic Story about independent film making.
Of course, Sergio Leone called the great master Pink to ask him for help.
Sidney declined the offer to produce the first Leone Spaghetti and decided to manage several cheesy movies directed by 
the hardly gifted José María Elorrieta???
The charming book is chock full of colorful stories and insights. 
Highly interesting statements about the production of 'The Tall Women' and actress Anne Baxter.
The film itself is only lower mediocrity, but in close connection with the book, you have a wonderful piece of art.
Trigger finger acrobatics from Anne Baxter, 1966.
Inside 'Fort Lafayette', an ultra-cheap Fort Set built around and old Cortijo near Ciempozuelos (Madrid).
Anne Baxter twirls her six shooters like a veteran, May 1966.
On Set near Ciempozuelos (Madrid), 1966.
Anne Baxter relaxes in her chair. 
Actress Adriana Ambesi enjoys an amazingly varied lunch. There it is, the feeling of beeing part of a big production, finally.
Adriana played in a few more and much better Spaghetti Western, but only got a Bocadillo for lunch there.

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