Showing posts with label 1968. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1968. Show all posts

Streaming Zur Sache, Schätzchen Online

Zur Sache, Schätzchen (1968)Zur Sache, Schätzchen (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.9
Date Released : 4 January 1968
Genre : Comedy
Stars : Werner Enke, Uschi Glas, Henry van Lyck, Rainer Basedow. A free-wheeling comedy, Zur Sache Schaetzchen chronicles a day in the life of Martin, a witty yet lazy songwriter who'd rather not get out of bed. During the opening sequence, Martin watches a break-in on the other side of the street. In the morning, his friend Henry forces him to report it to the police, yet Martin gets bored with the cops and flees. The two of them spent the rest of the day ..." />
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A free-wheeling comedy, Zur Sache Schaetzchen chronicles a day in the life of Martin, a witty yet lazy songwriter who'd rather not get out of bed. During the opening sequence, Martin watches a break-in on the other side of the street. In the morning, his friend Henry forces him to report it to the police, yet Martin gets bored with the cops and flees. The two of them spent the rest of the day escaping the law, in the Munich zoo and a public bath, were Martin meets Barbara. Block, the record company executive, needs Martin's new song lyrics right away, and Martin, who continually cranks out mad random remarks, comes up with a ridiculous sailor song. In the end, Martin's playful- ness collides with the authority the police represents. The movie is certainly not plot based; it draws its superior humor from one-liners and the hilarious, carefree insanity of its protagonist.

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Review :

A Movie That Simply Won't Age (Unlike Uschi Glas)

To contradict an earlier user comment, this movie is to me pretty much the opposite of "tedious avant-garde". I mean it's avant-garde in the good sense -- innovative but without foot-stepping some dogma that has been decreed by the Cahiers du cinéma -- and it certainly isn't tedious. Spils and Enke (the director and the male hero of the movie, who made this movie as a real-life couple) have done an exceptional, almost documentarian, job of capturing the mood of the times by condensing it into several outstanding characters.

If you have become used to the established Hollywood version of "The Sixties", where it's the Fifties in one scene, and then, bang!, the Sixties, cue "Turn! Turn! Turn!" from The Byrds and roll out the flowery shirts and nappy hairdos, then you're in for a surprise. It's the revolution, all right, but our heroes wear long-sleeved buttoned shirts, properly combed hair, the Vietnam war seems to be a hundred years in the offing, and the banjo-whistely soundtrack would have made Jimi Hendrix run for his tour bus.

Munich-Schwabing, where most of this movie was shot, had been Germany's political hotbed for some years, and in 1967 "the action" had just moved on to other cities. You can smell a whiff of the eternal Bavarian revolutionary credo in the air: "A bissl was geht allerwei!" -- which may be instantly congenial but is, unfortunately, completely untranslatable.

By the way, my favorite scenes are when the different characters enter the elevator and meet its inhabitant, an obscure studenty character who apparently lives there, and spends his time reading, writing, drinking coffee and smoking. Slightly embarrassed and nervous glances are exchanged, no explanation is ever given.

Días de viejo color (1968)Días de viejo color (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.0
Date Released : 27 April 1968
Genre : Drama, Romance, Musical
Stars : Cristina Galbó, Andrés Resino, Gonzalo Cañas, José Manuel Gorospe." />
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Size : 870 MB

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Review :

filmed in Torremolinos; possibly the end of an epoch

I'm in agreement with this way of making films, trying to focus on a few simple things: the simplicity of the essence is always very close to the beauty. This movie has the "face" very clean, just told you the facts directly, without pretending to sell you a vacuum cleaner. It's very true, you can touch with your hand the beautiful hair of Cristina Galbó too, or swimming the Mediterraneo with them. Some script ideas are as good as originals.

This movie is quite, because the big error of most actual filmmakers it's to relate a lot of tales in a very fast way in order to avoid the public to get bored, when the key is one another. Pedro Olea with this opera prima got some beauty feelings without the typical manipulation of professionals. The camera don't be at a loss between all that beautiful sea and sun and it could capture an instant. Possibly the end of an epoch.

It was filmed in Torremolinos at the "Costa del Sol", now it's an acquaintance tourist centre of high development, and the magic of that "old color" has been lost, but it will be always alive in this movie thanks to the work of an illuminate young team.

By the way, I got the DVD at a news stand, it comes with a paper.

Streaming OSS 117 - Double Agent Online

OSS 117 - Double Agent (1968)OSS 117 - Double Agent (1968)iMDB Rating: 5.0
Date Released : 28 July 1968
Genre : Action, Drama
Stars : John Gavin, Margaret Lee, Curd Jürgens, Luciana Paluzzi
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Size : 700 MB

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The American Secret Service sends their best agent, OSS 117, to investigate a number of political murders that the police was not able to prevent. Desguised as a ruthless killer, 'William Chandler', OSS 117 will penetrate the terrorist organization just when it is preparing the murder of Heindrich Van Dyck, the UN delegate to the Middle-East peace process. OSS 117 will use a fake killing of Van Dyck, and substitute corpses, trying to dupe the criminal master mind, Dr. Saadi. Only, the Major is too clever, abducts Aicha, and OSS 117 must fight both for his life (as he must take a daily antidote for a drug he was injected with), Aicha's endangered life, and passing the information of the whereabouts of the terrorists headquarters to the Army before it's too late... Too much for OSS 117?

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Review :

Above-average spy thriller

This is one of the later entries in the Eurospy, and more specifically in the OSS 117, cycle, and it's probably one of the better ones as well. The two main reasons for that are: 1) The cast. John Gavin is one of the most capable "pseudo-Bonds" of the era, with a good comic flair; you can see why he actually came very close to being the REAL Bond once, in 1971, before Sean Connery changed his mind and came back for "Diamonds Are Forever", Margaret Lee is playfully attractive, Curt Jurgens makes a suitable villain (just like he would a decade later in "The Spy Who Loved Me"), Robert Hossein plays another soft-spoken evil doctor (just like he did in "OSS 117: Panic In Bangkok"), and even the luscious Luciana Paluzzi of "Thunderball" fame is around, though only for about 10 minutes and then she vanishes. 2) Unlike many Eurospy films, this one is not driven by fight scenes at every opportunity. There are some fights, to be sure, and they're pretty good, but most of the time the film is just trying to tell a story. Admittedly the climactic fall of the criminal "Organization" should have been more spectacular - maybe the producers ran out of budget by that point? **1/2 out of 4.

Hang 'Em High (1968)Hang 'Em High (1968)iMDB Rating: 7.0
Date Released : 3 August 1968
Genre : Crime, Thriller, Western
Stars : Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Ed Begley
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Size : 870 MB

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A band of vigilantes catch Jed Cooper and, incorrectly believing him guilty of cattle rustling and murder, hang him and leave him for dead. But he doesn't die. He returns to his former profession of lawman to hunt down his lynchers and bring them to justice.

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Review :

Excellent Eastwood Western. By far the most underrated of his films.

Clint Eastwood's most underrated film, Hang 'Em High is a throughly enjoyable movie. It has the feel of a John Wayne western, as opposed to the spaghetti western formula in which Eastwood with Sergio Leone combined so magnificently with each other in the Dollars trilogy.

Eastwood gives a very worthy performance as Marshall Jed Cooper. The central dilemma of having to operate within the law in conflict with his own personal view of justice is executed very well by Eastwood. On the whole, Eastwood's performance is certainly a strong point of the film and a great performance in its own right.

The storyline itself is relatively well structured with interesting elements relating to the law and the justice system. However, a rather pointless, rushed and half baked romantic subplot by Inger Stevens (who is sadly woefully out of her acting league alongside Eastwood) adds nothing to the story and becomes rather annoying on repeat viewings.

However, special mention must go to both Pat Hingle and Ed Begley who both give some excellent performances, perhaps even superior to Eastwood himself.

Hang 'Em High is a great Eastwood western, provided you don't expect something magical like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly or Unforgiven. Entertaining and more complex than you would expect but sadly, greatly underestimated. Every Eastwood fan should at least give it a chance.

Overall I give it a solid and well deserved 8/10. Be sure to get a copy of this hidden gem.

Watch Gion matsuri Online

Gion matsuri (1968)Gion matsuri (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.9
Date Released : 12 February 1969
Genre : Drama
Stars : Kinnosuke Nakamura, Toshirô Mifune, Shima Iwashita, Yûnosuke Itô. Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration." />
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Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration.

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Im Schloß der blutigen Begierde (1968)Im Schloß der blutigen Begierde (1968)iMDB Rating: 4.7
Date Released : 26 July 1968
Genre : Horror
Stars : Janine Reynaud, Howard Vernon, Michel Lemoine, Elvira Berndorff. In an ancient castle, a mad scientist is trying to revive his dead daughter by an operation, but there are certain body parts he needs that he can't get. His problem is solved when a group of drunken party-goers stumble into his castle." />
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In an ancient castle, a mad scientist is trying to revive his dead daughter by an operation, but there are certain body parts he needs that he can't get. His problem is solved when a group of drunken party-goers stumble into his castle.

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Review :

Hilariously Inept German Gothic Sleaze

The sleaze-loving Austrian director Adrian Hoven is probably best remembered for writing, producing and co-directing the notorious Exploitation gem "Hexen Bis Aufs Blut Gequält" aka. "Mark of the Devil" (1970) and its vastly inferior sequel "Hexen Geschändet Und Zu Tode Gequält" ("Mark of the Devil 2", 1973). This earlier Gothic Horror/Exploitation effort, "Im Schloss Der Blutigen Begierde" (aka. "Castle of Bloody Lust"/"Castle of the Creeping Flesh") does not share the notoriety of Hoven's Hexploitation films, but is enjoyable in a very different way. "Im Schloss Der Blutigen Begierde" must be one of the cheesiest, inept and unintentionally funny Trash-Horror films I have ever seen, and I am a very regular consumer of low-budget cult flicks.

This very bizarre little flick starts at an orgiastic party hosted by the arrogant and malicious Baron Brack (Michel Lemoine). After taking a ride, fate then leads the Baron, as well as five of his guests including the sexy sisters Vera (Janine Reynaud) and Elena Lagarange (Elvira Berndorff) to the castle of the very sinister Count Saxon (cult-star Howard Vernon)...

The film, which has an utterly confused and incomplete storyline, features some of the most inept and hilarious lines of dialogue. Howard Vernon's character, for example, shows guests around his castle and tells stories about his ancestry, only to proclaim thereafter that his beloved daughter "died half an hour ago". Other than Howard Vernon all acting performances are hilariously inept. Howard Vernon was a great cult-actor, who blessed many of the films (great and awful alike) of Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco; he had a great, incredibly sinister screen-presence. However, in this film he is hardly given anything to do but grimace and talk nonsense. Michel Lemoine has very weird eyes, but his performance is abysmal, as are all the others. Janine Reynaud (known for Jess Franco's earlier works) and Elvira Berndorff are very nice to look at, however, and they regularly have their breasts exposed. The cast also includes Vladimir Medar, who is best known in German-speaking countries for participating in many of the cheesy Karl May-adaptations.

The film has somewhat of a pioneer-quality, as it is very sleazy and very gory for a pre-1970 film. We see breasts in every other scene, there are orgies and rapes, and some very graphic gore during surgery. On the side, the film features one of the most popular 60s Eurohorror themes, the 'mad scientist kills women in order to restore the life of one woman' story, which had formerly been the topic of such masterpieces as Georges Franju's "Les Yeux Sans Visage" ("Eyes Without a Face", 1960), Giorgio Ferroni's "Il Mulino Dalle Donne Di Pietro" ("Mill of the Stone Women", 1960) or Jess Franco's "Gritos En La Noche" ("The Awful Dr. Orloff", 1962). Vernon's role here has some similarities to that of the eponymous Dr. Orloff in Franco's film, only that Franco's film was great, and this one is a hilariously inept mess. The setting and photography are actually quite nice, but the inept dialogue and ridiculous story destroy any chance of a creepy atmosphere or genuine scares. It gets somewhat eerie towards the end, but by then the foregoing ridiculousness is dominating the film's mood. The only comparable film I can think of is Massimo Pupillo's "Il Boia Scarlatto" ("The Crimson Executioner", 1965), which offered an equal amount of unintentional hilarity.

Overall, "Im Schloss Der Blutigen Begierde" may be the most inept European Gothic Horror film I have ever seen, but it also is highly entertaining. Along with the Italian Giallo, European Gothic Horror films are probably the most stylish, elegant and fascinating sub-genre Horror has ever brought forth, and there are plenty of masterpieces to see in the field, especially films from Italy (e. g. everything by Mario Bava, Antonio Margheriti, Riccardo Freda, etc.). If you want to see a good (but disturbing) film by Adrian Hoven, check out "Mark of the Devil". "Im Schloss Der Blutigen Begierde" is undeniably total crap. However, it's inept charm is irresistible for Cult-Horror fans with a sense of humor. This film is unintentionally hilarious from start to finish; it may be an awful excuse for a film, but I cannot remember when I was more entertained.

Streaming Corazón salvaje (1968) Online

Corazón salvaje (1968)Corazón salvaje (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.2
Date Released : 22 August 1968
Genre : Drama, Adventure, Romance
Stars : Julio Alemán, Angélica María, Manuel Gil, Beatriz Baz." />
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Size : 700 MB

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Review :

enjoyable. Follows the books very closely, as compared to tv series

Julio Aleman gives his own personal touch to the character of Juan. Angelica Maria was perfect for the Monica role. Plot follows very closely the story as written by Caridad Bravo Adams, up until almost the end of the second book. Movie is only an hour and a half long so it cannot cover the complexities of book 3. Understandably. Good enjoyable movie, whether you have read the books or seen the tv series or not.

Corona de lágrimas (1968)Corona de lágrimas (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.5
Date Released : 25 July 1968
Genre : Drama, Family
Stars : Marga López, Enrique Lizalde, Daniela Rosen, Carlos Cortés." />
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Size : 700 MB

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Mister Zehn Prozent - Miezen und Moneten (1968)Mister Zehn Prozent - Miezen und Moneten (1968)iMDB Rating: 5.1
Date Released : 15 April 1968
Genre : Thriller, Action, Comedy, Crime
Stars : George Martin, Ingrid Schoeller, Karin Field, Paolo Carlini
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Format : MKV
Size : 700 MB

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The hero steals the haul from the thieves, gives it back to the police but charges 10% for that.

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Review :

This Psychopath is not for horror fans

Psychopath, as this video was titled, begins with thieves who steal the contents of a safe, then are attacked by James Bond as they are leaving. Well, actually a dummy head of Sean Connery. All the shots of him have his face away from the screen. Later, it's revealed it was a mask. The man with the mask is Siegpress, who charges the police or insurance companies a percentage of the value of the stolen items he steals in order to return them.

I thought this was a horror movie because of the title, the presence of Klaus Kinski, and the fact that it was labeled as a horror movie by the video store. It's more of a crime thriller with some comedy in it. As such, I really wasn't interested and kept nodding off and eventually forward scanned through the rest.

It does have some very colorful set design and some very 1960s soundtrack music. At the end there were trailers by the video distributor for this movie as well as Banana Monster AKA Schlock (1973), White Slave AKA Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia (1985), and I think Primal Fear.

Killer Without a Face (1968)Killer Without a Face (1968)iMDB Rating: 4.1
Date Released : 20 July 1968
Genre : Horror, Mystery
Stars : Giuliano Raffaelli, Lawrence Tierney, Luigi Batzella, Anita Tedesco." />
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Size : 870 MB

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Review :

Tepid Italian proto-giallo/mystery.

When it comes to rare and forgotten gialli I want to see them all.So my next choice was "Assassino Senza Volto" aka "The Killer Without a Face".A series of murders happen in an old Italian castle.The unknown killer dispatches his victims by shooting them to death with a pistol.Barbara,the unhinged owner is the chief suspect.But not everything is quite as it seems...The film is set in the Balsorano Castle and is shot in expressionistic black-and-white.The action is pretty dull,albeit there are some mildly suspenseful stalking scenes.There are also a few interesting visuals on display here and there but on the whole "The Killer Without a Face" is far too slow moving to be of interest to most genre fans.5 out of 10.

Watch Up the Junction Online

Up the Junction (1968)Up the Junction (1968)iMDB Rating: 7.2
Date Released : 13 March 1968
Genre : Drama
Stars : Suzy Kendall, Dennis Waterman, Maureen Lipman, Adrienne Posta. Movie version of the BBC TV play that first addresses some of the major social issues of the day. A girl from a rich family in Chelsea is bored and decides to go "slumming" in depressed Battersea. She gets a flat and starts working in a factory and makes some friends there. One of her friends is pregnant but abortion is illegal ..." />
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Movie version of the BBC TV play that first addresses some of the major social issues of the day. A girl from a rich family in Chelsea is bored and decides to go "slumming" in depressed Battersea. She gets a flat and starts working in a factory and makes some friends there. One of her friends is pregnant but abortion is illegal ...

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Review :

An accurate snapshot of down-at-heel 60's London

As someone who was born and brought up in Battersea in the 60's and 70's I can certainly attest that the tone of the film is spot-on.

Battersea was then a very working-class and rather depressed district, despite counting the very wealthy areas of Westminster and Chelsea as near neighbors. Today the difference is barely noticeable; then it hit one in the face.

Given the politics of the day, when unions were strong, the Communist Party of Great Britain still had a respectable face, and protests against the Vietnam War were taking place, the idea of a well-off young woman moving to south London to 'see things for herself' is not odd at all. Nowadays of course, it's the done thing to move to run down areas in the hope of seeing property prices rise.....

The film should be appreciated for what it is, a well-acted, involving and accurate snapshot of a less glamorous place and time in "Swinging 60's" London. About as good as you'll get without a time machine.

Marie pour mémoire (1968)Marie pour mémoire (1968)iMDB Rating: 7.1
Date Released : 1 April 1968
Stars : Zouzou, Didier Léon, Nicole Laguigner, Maurice Garrel
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Size : 870 MB

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Parallel lives of two couples destined to suicide, one, and unhappiness, the other.

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Streaming Volver a vivir (1968) Online

Volver a vivir (1968)Volver a vivir (1968)iMDB Rating: 5.8
Date Released : 12 February 1968
Genre : Comedy, Drama, Sport
Stars : Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui, Alberto de Mendoza, Ángel Lombarte, Lea Massari. A former soccer player is morally and mentally destroied by the death of his wife. But when he gets the chance to train a team he regains his life by making victories and also finding another love." />
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A former soccer player is morally and mentally destroied by the death of his wife. But when he gets the chance to train a team he regains his life by making victories and also finding another love.

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Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.5
Date Released : 5 July 1968
Genre : Western, Action
Stars : Terence Hill, Horst Frank, George Eastman, José Torres. A mysterious gunfighter named Django is employed by a local crooked political boss as a hangman to execute innocent locals framed by the boss, who wants their land. What the boss doesn't know is that Django isn't hanging the men at all, just making it look like he is, and using the men he saves from the gallows to build up his own "gang" in order to take revenge on the boss, who, with Django's ..." />
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A mysterious gunfighter named Django is employed by a local crooked political boss as a hangman to execute innocent locals framed by the boss, who wants their land. What the boss doesn't know is that Django isn't hanging the men at all, just making it look like he is, and using the men he saves from the gallows to build up his own "gang" in order to take revenge on the boss, who, with Django's former best friend, caused the death of his wife years before.

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Review :

Viva Django!

Of all the unofficial "Django"-sequels(40+), this is the one that sticks closest to the original. This time around, Django is portrayed by a pre-Trinity Terrence Hill. Hill does his best to copy the original performance by Franco Nero, and succeeds. Director Ferdinando Baldi co-wrote this with Franco Rossetti (who also co-wrote the Corbucci film), and the result is an extremely entertaining film, with plenty of action, and enjoyable performances. This is nowhere the really great spaghetti westerns such as "Keoma", "Bullet For The General", and the works of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, but fans of the genre will be more than pleased. The ending is the best bit, and was actually copied in the only official "Django"-sequel, "Django Strikes Again". Extremely hard to find, but well worth the search.

Dita Saxová (1968)Dita Saxová (1968)iMDB Rating: 7.4
Date Released : 23 February 1968
Genre : Drama
Stars : Krystyna Mikolajewska, Bohus Záhorský, Karel Höger, Martin Ruzek." />
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Size : 870 MB

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Thompson 1880 (1968)Thompson 1880 (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.1
Date Released : 13 October 1966
Genre : Adventure, Romance, Western
Stars : George Martin, Gia Sandri, José Bódalo, Gordon Mitchell." />
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Size : 870 MB

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Review :

When the going gets tough

A western made during the boom of such movies in Italy, but quite an unusual one. It's not about revenge or a bag of gold, it's about a kind of economic struggle. The villain Brady (Paul Muller) asks his men to always obey the law, because guns are not as effective. He tries to control a town by building a monopoly, thus controlling the prices on all kinds of goods. This becomes difficult when Ray (George Martin) comes to town. He is unarmed, but invents the first machine gun, which gave the movie its title. Sheila (Gia Sandri) expects Ray to help her build up her own shop with lower prices. In opposite to most genre heroes, Ray is not keen on using a gun at all. But when Brady is increasingly afraid of losing his profits, the going gets tough, naturally. Great roles for José Bódalo as the drunken judge who loves to quote Shakespeare, Gordon Mitchell as a gunman with crippled hands and Pedro Sanchez as one of the bad guys.

Streaming The Fiction Makers Online

The Fiction Makers (1968)The Fiction Makers (1968)iMDB Rating: 5.9
Date Released : 20 July 1970
Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Stars : Roger Moore, Sylvia Syms, Justine Lord, Kenneth J. Warren." />
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Size : 700 MB

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Review :

The Best Heist Movie Ever

Granted, I've never seen Rififi or Grand Slam, but this one-time TV two-parter of The Saint that was later given a theatrical release is to me, the best heist movie I've ever watched. Roger Moore stars, in his pre-Bond days, in a sendup of James Bond pictures, as Simon Templar, he is sent to protect the identity of a fictional Ian Fleming named Amos Klein, who prefers to remain anonymous to the public. It turns out that Mr. Klein is actually a girl, and she and Templar are kidnapped by a gang who take their identities from the baddies in Klein's book and Klein is asked to produce a real-life device to break into an actual fortress of a bank.

The comedy is hilarious, and the spoof of Bond works on so many levels: it's a Bond movie that spoofs Bond played by a James Bond. Roger Moore may only be able to play one thing, but he plays it wonderfully with effortless charm, Sylvia Syms is terrific as Klein, and Kenneth J. Warren outstanding as the Klein devotee/gang leader Warlock. This is a sadly lost piece of work and one of the most underrated movies in the world. And I never fail to laugh when Moore scolds Ken Warren for behaving "like a mentally deficient buffalo." 4 **** out of 4