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Squashpants
Reviews
Perry Mason: The Case of the Melancholy Marksman (1962)
Much Ado
There is a lot made of the conjecture by Perry that the bullet that killed the wife had to have come from inside the high-rise apartment.
And the prosecution based its case against Perry's defendant on the assumption that he had killed his wife with a rifle from the top of a building adjacent to the high-rise.
As far as I could tell, there was a glass balcony door and floor-length picture windows on the exposed side of the apartment, and because a storm was in progress, surely these would all be closed.
A bullet coming from outside the apartment would have had to pass through one of those glassed-in apertures, and would have either shattered it or left a hole in it.
Yet, it seems the episode direction went to a lot of trouble to not film that side of the apartment after the moment in which the wife was discovered dead.
WTF?
Pagan Island (1961)
Hold On To Those Leis, Ladies!
I rented the DVD to get "Fiend of Dope Island", but "Pagan Island" turned out to be more fun.
The best part of the "action" is the plethora of lovely island girls running around topless but covered by numerous huge leis. I can hear Barry Mahon directing them "okay, girls, we don't wanna go too far here, so whenever you move, I want you to hold on to them leis, okay?".
And, darned if they don't.
And what a surprise -- Nani Maka is played by -- Nani Maka!!! What are the odds?
Too cute even if the acting is God awful.
La vendetta dei barbari (1960)
An Overlooked Peplum Gem...
The only user comment prior to mine (by Henrik Larsen)was the reason I became interested enough in this "sword and sandal" pic to obtain a copy.
I found the whipping scenes mildly interesting, just from the standpoint of how raw they seemed and how believable the cries of pain were.
But there is much more of interest, IMO, than these very mild S&M type scenes.
This is a peplum not about mythological strong men, but about the history of the Roman Empire at a key point in its prolonged fall.
The characters Galla Placidia (Daniella Rocca), Emperor Honorius, Consul Olympius, and the Visigoth chieftains Alarich and Ataulf are actually historically accurate (well, to the extent that they existed and more or less played something close to the roles they are given in this movie).
Don't misunderstand me: I am no historian but I have gleaned from Internet sites enough of the history purportedly portrayed in the movie to reasonably conclude that the screen writers did at least the basic homework.
To be sure, much of the story detail is hokum, but even that is very entertaining hokum. Nevertheless, you will be probably surprised to know that the emperor's sister did in fact marry the Visigoth leader Ataulf (boy, wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall in their bedroom?).
Everybody does a marvelous job in their characterizations -- even the dubbed dialog is quite good.
The actor portraying Honorius (Emperor of the West) plays it astonishingly fey and is delightfully scatterbrained in comparison to the really sharp and coldly calculating Galla Placidia. Daniella Rocca is certainly sexy, but I found her rather matronly (even in the very brief red hot Roman bikini she wears in her big dance number), especially compared to an absolute gorgeous and buxom Sabina (Evi Marandi), her servant girl (read 'slave'). It's no wonder that GP's boyfriend (the hunky Anthony Steel as the straight arrow Consul Olympius) eventually falls for Sabina when GP forces her to marry the general for political reasons.
On a different note, Mario Scaccia playing King Alarich looks like he walked off the set of a Monty Python sketch, looking as if any minute he might lay an egg. I crack up every time I see him for the first time in the movie. Ataulf is played by Robert Alda, and it is quite interesting to look at the man and realize he was Alan Alda's father.
The movie is full of sharp dialog and characters that you immediately like, hate, or feel sympathy for.
The dialog between Galla Placidia and Ataulf at the conclusion of the pic is just priceless.
There is a load of treasure in this rather obscure title. I unreservedly recommend it to anyone who loves good peplum.
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Tanna, Baby
Like most folks whose comments are here, I am a big fan of this movie and have watched it countless times. In my latest viewing binge, something has occurred to me that has never before. Eros' sidekick, Tanna (played by Joanna Lee), is pretty hot! Tell me I'm nuts, but check her out in her scenes, especially the ones at the end. That pouting little mouth, the cute little hairdo, the nicely filled tights and tunic. Tanna, why did I not see this before? And isn't her little panicfest at the end of the movie, as the flying saucers burns up and she tries to awaken Eros, just side-splitting?
Valley of the Dragons (1961)
Nope, no elastic in prehistoric times...
I cannot believe you guys! All this claptrap and no mention of Joan Staley's infamous underwater swimming scene?!?
I saw this movie when it was first released and I was barely pubescent at that time. The audience was quietly taking in the Verneian antics of our shanghaied duo, until one of the main characters (I forget which) runs off for a swim with the Joan Staley character (Deena).
OK, so Deena takes off her prehistoric sunsuit and lo and behold she is wearing a Stone-Age bikini! OK, nothing to get excited about --- pretty chaste even for 1961. No elastic in prehistoric times, though, so the top fits rather loosely.
So the couple jump in the lagoon and start playfully swimming and diving underwater. The decent underwater cinematography lingers on each of the characters as they cavort about.
It quickly becomes evident that Deena's bikini top is not going to hold her fairly ample anatomy securely in hiding from the voyeurs in the audience.
I will never forget the eruption of hoots and whistles from the darkened theater as the camera continued to follow Ms. Staley from such a point of view as to make it all too evident that Deena would have no trouble feeding any of her progeny, especially considering the equipment on display.
Granted, this sort of thing hardly rates the consideration of a PG rating today, but in 1961, it was dynamite. I was at a point in my development where the fuss being made by the male members of the audience only served to make me embarrassed and uncomfortable. The scene seemed to go on forever.
I was elated to be able to get recently a VHS copy of the movie (recorded, believe it or not, from a TV presentation), and waited breathlessly for the scene burned into my mind as a young lad.
And there it was in all its glory. And every bit as provocative as it was in that little Galveston, Texas theater back in '61.
One of the best bits of vintage, unexpected cinematic cheesecake I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Tanna, Baby
Like most folks whose comments are here, I am a big fan of this movie and have watched it countless times. In my latest viewing binge, something has occurred to me that has never before. Eros' sidekick, Tanna (played by Joanna Lee), is pretty hot! Tell me I'm nuts, but check her out in her scenes, especially the ones at the end. That pouting little mouth, the cute little hairdo, the nicely filled tights and tunic. Tanna, why did I not see this before? And isn't her little panicfest at the end of the movie, as the flying saucers burns up and she tries to awaken Eros, just side-splitting?