CINEMADROME - Public Forum Name - Recent viewings (or re-viewings)

CINEMADROME - Public Forum Name - Recent viewings (or re-viewings)THE DEATH RAY MIRROR OF DOCTOR MABUSE (1964): The last follow up to the series of films generated by the success of Fritz Lang's DIE TAUSEND AUGEN DER DR MABUSE (1960). A German-Italian-French coproduction (CF Jess Franco's LA VENGANZA DEL DR. MABUSE)...

Franco's lost opportunity: DOWNTOWN HEAT (CIUDAD BAJA) (1994)

Opinions among Jess Franco’s followers differ wildly when it comes to DOWNTOWN HEAT. Some place it among his worst films; others feel it’s his last “real” film before he became self-conscious; and for the rest, it’s hard to encounter any opinions at all, such is the obscurity surrounding it even within the narrow confines of Franco's fanbase.


What certainly makes it untypical for a start is its standalone status amidst the densely bunched minions of his filmography. One can easily group the man’s works into periods, as part of a “batch” made for a specific production company, but DOWNTOWN HEAT, made in 1990 but shown four years later, simply appears to lie unaccompanied right in the middle of a rare productive desert in Franco’s career. Moreover, although Fernando Vidal was still behind the proceedings, and Antonio Mayans was yet again performing production duties, Franco’s surroundings this time marked a radical change from what had long become the norm in his films.

In other words, the Madrid-based filmmaker, fond of shooting in Andalusia, Valencia and the Canary islands, had found himself back in Barcelona (or, more precisely, its surroundings) for the first time since the early seventies. The production team thus includes Iquino’s collaborator Antonio Liza and much of the cast is drawn from the Marta Flores acting agency –not only Víctor Israel and Craig Hill but also Jaime Mir Ferri as one of Hill’s unsavory partners and an uncredited Francisco Jarque as a bystander seen alongside Israel’s tramp character. Even the future star actor Sergi López turns up briefly in the opera house scene – as the tenor playing Cavaradossi in a performance of Tosca.


This new environment; the time he may have had to think things over since his last, comparatively distant film; plus a reasonable budget – all these factors may have stimulated Franco into reconsidering the character of his product. If the action scenes still seem rough (albeit more polished than usual in him at the time), the formal quality ostensibly suggests a greater patience at work. What is most striking, however, is that Franco managed to eschew the increasingly alienated and self-absorbed parallel world that had characterized practically his entire 80s output – an incestuous backdrop composed of references to other films and to his own work, with the same revamped plots and recurring character names. The action is still (perhaps wisely) set in an imaginary country (somewhere in Latin America); the Melissa name turns up again (and attached, in fact, to Lina Romay); but Franco here seems intent on presenting a world that is recognizably our own, even if he draws (more discreetly than on previous occasions) from a long film noir tradition. The overall approach could be termed one of stylized naturalism and, indeed, Franco does a very good job turning Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona into a metallic-looking noir setting with the harsh aesthetic beloved to the director from the early 80s onwards. I, for one, beg to differ with those who have compared Downtown Heat to a TV movie.


SPOILERS AHEAD
However, despite some good performances (mainly from Craig Hill and Philippe Lemaire), the results are uninvolving and poorly-paced. The story tells of a group of domestic cops, an American agent (Mike Connors) and a jazz musician who, on realizing that the country’s leading drug lord (Craig Hill) has become unassailable thanks to his connections, form a vigilante commando and set him a trap by kidnapping his daughter. At the end, once all has been resolved, the camera rests on the daughter, now weeping over her father’s death, as the credits roll. This innocent young woman, hitherto a marginal character or depicted as a tease, is given her due at the end, which would have had some poignancy if it had had a well-structured storyline to grow out of. SPOILERS END


As it is, the narrative moves in a meandering, unsteady manner. Franco might have gone in for a plotless film and one with an ensemble cast but instead, he bunglingly attempts a plot and a hierarchy of characters, as if he had not bothered to revise his script once finished. At first, it looks as if Ladoire’s cop will be the lead; then the musician takes over for a while (and is given a completely irrelevant romantic involvement with the Josephine Chaplin character); then it’s the commando as a whole. And it takes two thirds of the running time for the premise to become established.


Also detrimental to the film’s enjoyment is its English-language soundtrack. Barely seen theatrically in Spain, Downtown Heat aired inconspicuously on the same country's TV in a Spanish-dubbed version called La punta de las víboras; having not seen it, I can’t help thinking nevertheless that it is probably more coherent (in more ways than one) than its Anglophone counterpart even if the latter clearly represents the standard version. Several scenes, mainly indoors, were clearly recorded with direct sound, while others are post-synchronised. The results are variable: Victor Israel is inadequately dubbed by an American actor; Lina Romay, speaking in her own voice, is barely understandable; Óscar Ladoire (miscast for a start) plods through his English lines; and the delivery of a native English speaker (one Steve Parkman) is just plain boring.

Downtown Heat is certainly not a satisfying film, but it probably looked at the time as the possible harbinger of better work from Franco than had been the norm of late, as if the director, breaking the inertia, had decided to revitalize his product by looking all the way back to his past - not to the seventies or his spell with Harry Alan Towers but indeed to his initial black-and-white period. If with Downtown Heat he was pointing in the right direction, however unsuccessfully, it’s all the more depressing that what really lay in store was Killer Barbys and the spate of One-Shot productions, not to mention the controversial version of Welles's Don Quixote.

Text by Nzoog Wahlrfhehen

RARE DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN VHS

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fitm%2FDRACULA-PRISONER-FRANKENSTEIN-JESS-FRANCO-MARY-FRANCIS-JPN-NTSC-MEGA-RARE-%2F350500117444%3Fpt%3DVHS%26hash%3Ditem519b6f5bc4&h=eAQGcaQIfAQELZNz-DWl7fCMjoaHf1b8iuILJnZ6Nw62ZAQ

Add to Watch list

This rare Japanese VHS is the only video version I know of, on any format, which is anywhere near correctly framed at 2.35:1 OAR. The US IMAGE and SPANISH DIVISA DVDs are closer to 1.85:1 and cut off before the end of the end music. This also has richer color quality. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DIANA LORYS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DIANA LORYS!

A fine underrated actress who made memorable appearances in Jess Franco's GRITOS EN LA NOCHE (1961), RESIDENCIA PARA ESPIAS (1967), THE BLOODY JUDGE (1970) and, my favorite of her performances,  NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT (1970). She was also very good in the Paul Naschy vehicle THE BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL (1973) and made an impression in any movie in which she appeared.  She always projected a dignified sensuality and inner fire in her roles. 

CINEMADROME - EXPANDED CINEMA - Jean Luc Godard's SOCIALISME (2010)

CINEMADROME - EXPANDED CINEMA - Jean Luc Godard's SOCIALISME (2010)/ DON QUIJOTE

A low definition image from Orson Welles' DON QUIJOTE project which appears in Jean-Luc Godard's most recent abstract collage, FILM SOCIALISME. Or is it an image from Jess Franco's ORSON WELLES' DON QUIXOTE (1992)? The controversial compilation was roasted alive by most Welles scholars but I find some value in it and I'll be deconstructing it here at some point in the future.

CINEMADROME - FILM SCORES/COMPOSERS FORUM - Any favourite horror film composers?

CINEMADROME - FILM SCORES/COMPOSERS FORUM - Any favourite horror film composers?

Any favorite film scores for Eurohorror, including Jess Franco films? Franco, of course, composes film scores. I'm still looking for the version of OBSCENE DESIRE (1978) with his score. I have an Italian version which has a replacement score. I think his score is on the Spanish only version.

TRIPTYCH: LINA ROMAY ON THE BEACH by Mick Cantone

"Triptych: Lina Romay on the Beach"

painted in 2006/07

acrylic on canvas

triptych: left and right panels 20" x 24"; center panel

here is the link to my facebook page: www.facebook.com/mickcantone

In these striking canvases Mick Cantone captures the unique Jess Franco aesthetic of his best period in these studies of the iconic Lina Romay.

TAKE THE DARE! [www.ebay.ca](But, what is it?)

A Jess Franco poster I hadn't seen before. 
But what film is it promoting?!

BEFORE OCT 1, 2011.

Zoom Enlarge Sell one like this CHAINS AND BLACK LEATHER poster JESS FRANCO/LINA ROMAY Item condition: -- Time left: 9d 17h (Oct 01, 201114:59:19 EDT) Price: US $99.99 Approximately C $99.20 Buy It NowBuy It Now Add to Watch list Shipping: US $10.00 USPS First Class Mail International See discounts   |  See all details Delivery: Varies for items shipped from an international location  Seller ships within 3 days after receiving cleared payment . Returns: 7 day money back, buyer pays return shipping |Read details Coverage: Pay with  and your full purchase price is

From Albert Zugsmith to Jess Franco

Thanks to Robert Guest for assisting me in finally catching up with Albert Zugsmith's legendary 1962 fever dream, CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER. This delirious mixture of slave girls in peril tropes, B movie surrealism, Tong war action and Allied Artists eroticism is presided over by a black clad Vincent Price as a relative of Thomas De Quincey, who wrote the book upon which this is supposedly based. I haven't read it but I did note that Robert Eisen is listed one of the editors. The name rang a bell and I realized that Eisen aka Robert S. Eisen is also credited as "Post Production Supervisor" of two Jess Franco-Harry Alan Towers productions, ISLAND OF DESPAIR aka 99 WOMEN (1969) and VENUS IN FURS (1970). Both films have some interesting similarities of the Zugsmith movie, especially the extended nightmare format of VENUS IN FURS, which like CONFESSIONS... features a befuddled protagonist (James Darren) wandering around in slow motion through a fragmented scenario. 

Both 99 WOMEN and VENUS IN FURS appeared in America in versions fashioned for the culture of their time, the narration in VENUS is especially of its era and is charmingly dated. The director speaks of his reservations about the final cut in the Blue Underground VENUS IN FURS DVD interview with him included as an extras. It would be interesting to know Eisen's exact contribution.

Eisen also is credited as editor on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE BIG COMBO, two of my favorite 1950s genre pieces, along with many other interesting films. 

An interesting double bill!

LA COMTESSE PERVERSE & PLAISIR A TROIS RESTORED!

www.thelatarniaforums.yuku.com
LA COMTESSE PERVERSE & PLAISIR A TROIS restored at last!!! 
[Go to The Franco Lounge for further details]

Thanks to Alain Petit for posting on The Franco Lounge at THE LATARNIA FORUMS the wonderful and long awaited news that LA COMTESSE PERVERSE and PLAISIR A TROIS, two of Jess Franco's most visually striking films, have been restored for their original negative materials. These tart black comedies were made back to back in 1973. LA COMTESSE ... has the distinction of being the first French cannibal film and PLAISIR... is one of the director's better adaptations of Sade. Both films are composed in a Cubist aesthetic reflected in the architecture of Ricardo Bofill (note the castle in the cap below) and the use of extreme wide-angle lenses.

The restoration was made by Stephane Derderian under the guidance of Alain, the noted film historian (THE MANACOA FILES), Jess Franco actor (THE MIDNIGHT PARTY, TENDER FLESH) and screenwriter. Alain wrote the script for PLAISIR... and was there as Franco was editing both films so he made sure these are the original versions as the director intended. They are presented in their OAR of 1.33:1. 

I'm reposting Alain's original post below from THE FRANCO LOUNGE to help spread the good news. Thanks to Stephane, Alain and all involved as well as THE LATARNIA FORUMS for continuing to be a go-to place for Jess Franco news. I'll be adding some caps posted by Frederick Durand asap.

Hopefully these will be picked up by a reliable DVD company who can give them superior presentations with language options and All Region capability. I also hope that Alain, Jess and Lina Romay, who is featured in both films, can be gathered together to do a commentary track.

Rader Zaroff (Howard Vernon) signals that it's dinner time on Cannibal Island!

Buyers must get in touch with: LILIOM AUDIOVISUEL 187 Rue belliard 75018 Paris  France liliom.audiovisuel@orange.fr phone: 33 (0) 1 42 28 50 84

ALFRED BAILLOU Image Gallery

Noted the diminutive, magical, joyous presence of the late, great Alfred Baillou (PLAISIR A TROIS; LES CHATOUILLEUSES) appearance as one of the tableaux figures in the Raoul Ruiz masterful meditation on representation and Art Criticism, THE HYPOTHESIS OF A STOLEN PAINTING (1978). Termed an "intellectual thriller" this experimental 63 minute film was shot by the great Sacha Vierney (Belle De Jour) in exquisite, evanescent Black & White. Based on a novel by Pierre Klossowski, who also cowrote the script.

There are a number of interesting parallels and connections between the careers of the recently deceased Ruiz and Jess Franco which I'll be examining here and on www.cinemadrome.yuku.com on the Raoul Ruiz thread theres.http://www.cinemadrome.yuku.com/

Templar tableau in THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE STOLEN PAINTING

Alfred Baillou

Baillou was in over 40 films and his career from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Franco's 80s actors: DANIEL KATZ

It was through Carmen Carrión, his partner at the time, that this Argentinean actor gained access to Franco’s cinema. If not much of an actor, at least he looked good, what with his gaunt face, long jaw, high forehead and green eyes – occasionally and perhaps significantly seen in tight close-up.



Katz’s placement in Franco’s casts was changeable, ranging from minor roles to prominent supporting ones, especially villains, for whom his appearance seemed particularly suited. On the odd occasion, as in Mil sexos tiene la noche (1984), he would be entrusted with the male lead, apparently on account of Antonio Mayans’s inability at the moment to leave Madrid and accompany Franco to the director’s favoured Andalusian or Canarian locations. It makes sense, in this respect, that he should sometimes be dubbed by Mayans.

Katz remained with Franco for long, sometimes performing other duties than that of performer. In the 1989 La bahía esmeralda, he is billed as actor (in which capacity I have not been able to recognise him there) and also credited with the wardrobe; some time later, in 1994, he acted in Downtown Heat (1994), as well as being placed in charge of the art direction.

Sangre en mis zapatos (1983)

La tumba de los muertos vivientes (1983)

El tesoro de la diosa blanca (1983)

Historia sexual de O (1984)

Mil sexos tiene la noche (1984)

Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil (1988)

Downtown Heat (1994)

On only one occasion, Katz took leave of his association with Franco. He can be seen as the sinister gardener in José Ramón Larraz’s Rest in Pieces (1987)

Daniel Katz in Larraz’s Rest in Pieces

Text by Nzoog Wahrlfhehen

Franco's Spanish voices: MATILDE CONESA

The beginning of yet another new series! Now, I know you guys have mostly heard Franco movies dubbed into English, but recent DVD releases in the Anglophone world, regardless of region, either contain a Spanish option or, whenever an English-language soundtrack was unavailable, just the Spanish soundtrack, duly subtitled. In other words, many of you have been exposed to the vocal efforts of vintage Spanish dubbing actors.


Now, some background explanation may be necessary for the present series. Until quite recently, Spanish films, like their Italian counterpart, have been shot MOS (without sound) and then had a soundtrack added later on in a sound studio – indeed, only in the mid-eighties did the use of direct sound start to attain a certain regularity until evolving towards its dominance in the present day, when it has finally become the rule rather than the exception. Back in the days of post-synched Spanish soundtracks, the performers heard were sometimes the same as those seen onscreen, sometimes not. There were various reasons for two actors being used for the same role: the onscreen player not knowing Spanish or speaking the language with an accent; the actor in question having limited vocal skills; a lack of ease with the dubbing process (which even afflicted experienced stage performers); just plain unavailability… Only the latter would explain that even some career dubbers, whenever given visual roles, would find themselves with somebody else’s voice in the final film.


Jess Franco’s Spanish films were almost invariably sound recorded in Madrid: some rare exceptions include Lucky, el intrépido and The Castle of Fu Manchu, both given sound in Barcelona. Among the sound studios employed for Franco’s films we find Magna, Roma, Cinearte, Exa, more rarely Sincronía or Sago-Exa, but most commonly, especially with the passing years, the now-defunct Arcofón.


And now to the artiste of this entry, the still-active Matilde Conesa Valls, born in Madrid on 13 April 1928.A leading radio actress from 1947, she took up dubbing in 1951 and became identified, by dint of her deep voice, with strong, domineering actresses, most notably Bette Davis, but also Lauren Bacall and Anne Bancroft, not to mention Jane Wyman in the TV series Falcon Crest, Stella Stevens in Flamingo Road and Nancy Marchand’s Livia Soprano in The Sopranos. It seems inevitable that, in the context of Franco movies, she should voice prison governors in WIP flicks. Outside Franco, she also supplied the voice of the mother in Miguel Madrid’s Necrophagus (1971) and that of Paul Naschy’s formidable wife in The Devil’s Possessed. What follows is a gallery, probably incomplete, of her Franco roles.



Rosanna Yanni in Kiss Me, Monster (1969)



Rosanna Yanni in Two Undercover Angels (1969)



Mercedes McCambridge in 99 Women (1969)



Beni Cardoso in La venganza del doctor Mabuse (1972)



Rosa Palomares in Devil’s Island Lovers (1972)



Yelena Samarina in Night of the Skull (1973)



France Nicolas in El sádico de Notre Dame (1979)



Ajita Wilson in Sadomania (1981)


Sample of Matilde Conesa’s voice, dubbing Rosanna Yanni in Kiss Me, Monster:
http://www.4shared.com/audio/uiDUGHXn/besame-yanni.html?

Sample of Matilde Conesa’s voice, dubbing Rosa Palomares in Devil’s Island Lovers:
http://www.4shared.com/audio/P0qgJINE/amantesdiablo-conesa.html?

Other, non-Franco vocal roles essayed by Ms. Conesa for Spanish soundtracks include that of Jeannine Mestre in Grau’s No profanar el sueño de los muertos, Miriam Karlin's Catwoman in A Clockwork Orange, Maria Pia Conte in Merino’s Orgía de los muertos, María Kosty in Night of the Seagulls, Shelley Winters in Tentacles, the medium in Fulci’s Paura nella città dei morti viventi, Mary Freudstein at the end of the same director’s House by the Cemetery, Louise Fletcher in Flowers in the Attic and the character of Mrs. Fortune in Piquer Simón’s Slugs. In addition, she has often been heard in TV redubs of old films: Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar, Jacqueline Pierreux in Black Sabbath, Maria Ouspenskaya in Universal horror movies, Margaret Rutherford in Blithe Spirit…


A very young Matilde Conesa (right), with Rafael Rivelles and Julia Lajos in Rafael Gil’s version of Don Quijote de la Mancha (1947).

Link to a partial list of Conesa’s films as a voice actress:
http://www.eldoblaje.com/datos/FichaActorDoblaje.asp?id=240

Text by Nzoog Wahrlfhehen