Guest reviewer Lee Broughton tackles Tonino Valerii’s Spaghetti Western-cum-political conspiracy thriller. By brazenly transposing key aspects of John F. Kennedy’s assassination onto the assassination of James A. Garfield in 1881, Valerii gives both western and conspiracy film fans much food for thought. A career best performance by Giuliano Gemma, repurposed sets from Once Upon a Time in the West and great turns by a plethora of Sergio Leone’s regular supporting actors bring a sense of gravitas to this intriguing show.
A Bullet for the President
Region Free Blu-ray
Wild East
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 112 min. / Il prezzo del potere, The Price of Power / Street Date November 25, 2019 / 18.45
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Warren Vanders, Van Johnson, Maria Cuadra, Ray Saunders, Fernando Rey, Antonio Casas, Benito Stefanelli, Jose Suarez, Jose Calvo, Manuel Zarzo, Michael Harvey, Norma Jordan, Angel Alvarez.
Cinematography: Stelvio Massi
Film Editor: Franco Fraticelli
Original Music: Luis Bacalov
Production Designer: Carlo Leva...
A Bullet for the President
Region Free Blu-ray
Wild East
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 112 min. / Il prezzo del potere, The Price of Power / Street Date November 25, 2019 / 18.45
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Warren Vanders, Van Johnson, Maria Cuadra, Ray Saunders, Fernando Rey, Antonio Casas, Benito Stefanelli, Jose Suarez, Jose Calvo, Manuel Zarzo, Michael Harvey, Norma Jordan, Angel Alvarez.
Cinematography: Stelvio Massi
Film Editor: Franco Fraticelli
Original Music: Luis Bacalov
Production Designer: Carlo Leva...
- 7/18/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Fred Blosser
I saw many, many Italian-made sword-and-toga movies as a kid in the early 1960s at the Kayton, my neighborhood movie house, where they usually played on mismatched double-bills with B-Westerns, British “Carry On” comedies, low-budget noir dramas, and fourth-run Elvis movies. Many of these Italian epics were simplistic and formulaic, as if the producers figured that people had come to see spectacle, sex, and sword-fights, and never mind anything else. Regardless, more ambitious productions occasionally surfaced with slightly more dramatic substance and marginally higher production values. One such entry was “The Colossus of Rhodes” (1961), Sergio Leone’s first acknowledged directorial credit preceding his breakthrough success with “A Fistful of Dollars” in 1964. The Warner Archive Collection has released the 1961 movie on Blu-ray with audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling, Leone’s biographer and longtime critical champion.
The script co-written by Leone has plenty of plot -- almost too much,...
I saw many, many Italian-made sword-and-toga movies as a kid in the early 1960s at the Kayton, my neighborhood movie house, where they usually played on mismatched double-bills with B-Westerns, British “Carry On” comedies, low-budget noir dramas, and fourth-run Elvis movies. Many of these Italian epics were simplistic and formulaic, as if the producers figured that people had come to see spectacle, sex, and sword-fights, and never mind anything else. Regardless, more ambitious productions occasionally surfaced with slightly more dramatic substance and marginally higher production values. One such entry was “The Colossus of Rhodes” (1961), Sergio Leone’s first acknowledged directorial credit preceding his breakthrough success with “A Fistful of Dollars” in 1964. The Warner Archive Collection has released the 1961 movie on Blu-ray with audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling, Leone’s biographer and longtime critical champion.
The script co-written by Leone has plenty of plot -- almost too much,...
- 5/7/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Writer-director Sergio Sollima gives us one of the best 'political' Italo westerns from the pre- May '68 era... with two top stars in great form, Gian Maria Volontè and Tomas Milian. This two-disc German import has both the long and short versions of the movie in HD, with full language options for each. Face to Face (Faccia a faccia; Von Angesicht zu Angesicht) Region A+B Blu-ray Explosive Media (Alive) 1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 93, 112 min. / Street Date April 29, 2016 / available at Amazon.de / E 21,93 Starring Gian Maria Volontè, Tomas Milian, William Berger, Jolanda Modio, Gianni Rizzo, Carole André Ángel del Pozo, Aldo Sambrell, Antonio Casas, Lidia Alfonsi, John Karlsen, Gastone Moschin, G&eacutge;rard Tichy. Cinematography Raphael Pacheco Film Editor Eugenio Alabiso Original Music Ennio Morricone Art Direction and sets Carlo Simi Written by Sergio Donati, Sergio Sollima Produced by Arturo González, Alberto Grimaldi <Directed by Sergio Sollima
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Wow,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Wow,...
- 10/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Let's give a cheer for the lowly sword 'n' sandal epic. This persecution and torture spectacle also takes in the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The impressively mounted Italian-Spanish production stars Rhonda Fleming, Fernando Rey, Wandisa Guida, and as the slimy villain, none other than Serge Gainsbourg. Revolt of the Slaves MGM Limited Edition Collection 1960 / Color / 2:35 enhanced widescreen (Totalscope) / 103 min. / La rivolta degli schiavi / Street Date February 16, 2016 / available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 19.98 Starring Rhonda Fleming, Lang Jeffries, Darío Moreno, Ettore Manni, Wandisa Guida, Gino Cervi, Fernando Rey, Serge Gainsbourg, José Nieto, Benno Hoffmann, Rainer Penkert, Antonio Casas, Vanoye Aikens, Dolores Francine, Burt Nelson, Julio Peña . Cinematography Cecilio Paniagua Film Editor Eraldo Da Roma Original Music Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Written by Stefano Strucchi, Duccio Tessari, Daniel Mainwearing from the novel 'Fabiola' by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman Produced by Paolo Moffa Directed by Nunzio Malasomma
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Make all...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Make all...
- 3/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – At the dark heart of Luis Buñuel’s Oscar-nominated 1970 classic, “Tristana,” is a character so spectacularly hypocritical and richly fascinating that he upstages everyone including the titular heroine. As played by the great Fernando Rey, ignoble nobleman Don Lope is a self-professed libertine bound by traditional values. He passionately believes in the virtues of freedom, but only on his terms.
Lope may insist that his beloved Tristana (Catherine Deneuve, never lovelier nor icier) is free to leave his murky mansion whenever she pleases, but she knows all too well that’s not the case. After taking on the role of the parentless 19-year-old’s guardian, Lope quickly falls for the wide-eyed woman, alternately treating her as his daughter and wife. Rey is both comically ludicrous and deeply pitiful as he attempts to claim the heart of a woman who can’t stand the sight of him.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Taken out of its historical context,...
Lope may insist that his beloved Tristana (Catherine Deneuve, never lovelier nor icier) is free to leave his murky mansion whenever she pleases, but she knows all too well that’s not the case. After taking on the role of the parentless 19-year-old’s guardian, Lope quickly falls for the wide-eyed woman, alternately treating her as his daughter and wife. Rey is both comically ludicrous and deeply pitiful as he attempts to claim the heart of a woman who can’t stand the sight of him.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Taken out of its historical context,...
- 3/26/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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