Friday, March 28, 2008

From Wild East Productions: Two Italian Westerns on DVD For The First Time in The US!


(French poster for Kill Them All And Come Back Alive.)


Wild East, a great source to find DVDs of European exploitation films, just released, for (I believe) the first time in the US, two little known "Spaghetti Westerns" (or if you prefer, "Italian Westerns") on DVD: Kill Them All and Come Back Alone and the really obscure 3 Bullets For Ringo.


(The opening credits, in Italian, of 1966's 3 Bullets For Ringo.



The color picture quality of both films is pretty good & the sound is fine. Kill Them All... (1968; released in the US in 1970) has TV's Rifleman Chuck Connors (1921-1992) leading a group of Confederate spies (think a more bloodthirsty A-Team) to rob a Union outpost during the Civil War. (They also kill a lot of the Union troops. but the shootings & explosions are so out-there -think the action sequences in the James Bond movies with guys bouncing into the air as stuff blows up- that you can't take it too seriously.) Connors is told by his commander (Frank Wolff, formerly a member of Roger Corman's unofficial acting company & who found International fame in European films, before killing himself in 1971 after his wife took their kids & went back to the US) that as soon as he's gotten the Union's gold, he (Connors) is to kill everybody in his unit & come back with the gold alone (hence the title; spoken 14 minutes into the film). Of course, things don't go according to plan... Kill Them All... has a energenic Connors performance (he actually seems to be enjoying himself, esp. in the stunt scenes) and some great action sequences, but don't expect historical accuracy. (Conners & Wolff did their own dubbing BTW.)

3 Bullets For Ringo (1966; released directly to US television as Three Graves For a Winchester) has Mickey Hartigay (you-know-who's father; he's dubbed by somebody else, apparently to make him sound more American, as Hartigay had a strong Hungerian accent) as Ringo Carson, a sheriff who's blinded during the Civil War while saving a kid from a fire. While he's recovering, his former friend Frank (American muscleman actor Gordon Mitchell, who, like Hartigay, found movie success overseas; he & Hartigay were real-life pals & friendly weight lifting championship rivals) takes over the town, terrorizing everyone, then kills Ringo's mother & kidnaps Ringo's wife to keep his former buddy in line. It's a little more closer to a Hollywood western (yes, Ringo gets better & saves his family & the town), but the usual European "spaghetti western" elements such as over-the-top villians (Mitchell laughs a lot, esp. when he's shooting something) and action sequences, make this fun to watch. Hartigay occasionally mugs at the camera but is pretty good. Also, unlike Kill Them All, there are actually female characters in the film (and pretty good-looking ones too!).

Here's a short trailer for Kill Them All And Come Back Alone from 1970. The sound & picture isn't great but you'll get the general impression.



And if you want to know more about Italian Westerns, go back to Wild East and also to
John Nudge's site to get the pasta.., err, story. (Sorry...)
-Ed

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Odds and Ends (Kirby, Etc.)



Jack Kirby , I could tell, even when I was a nine-year-old, had so much imagination that he could take the most mundane comic book -in this case, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen - and turn it into the coolest magazine ever. When Jimmy Olsen #133 (October cover date) came out in August, 1970, I was floored! After years of stories revolving around Jimmy turning into a wolfman, a sea monster or Elastic Lad (don't ask), or variations of plots that had Jimmy try to (or unwittingly try to) discover his pal Superman's real identity, Kirby comes along (doing his first work for DC since leaving Marvel Comics earlier that year)and lays waste to what came before! And I dug it!



(A typical pre-Kirby issue of Jimmy Olsen.)


(The Newsboy Legion in the 1940s.)

The plot was actually more delirlous than any previous issue. Jimmy, on assignment from "The Daily Planet" (and backed by the suspicious new publisher of the Planet, Morgan Edge, who has ties to the underworld), goes with the young sons of a legendary "kid gang", the Newsboy Legion (a strip Kirby & Joe Simon did for DC in the 40s) has to investigate strange goings-on in a place just outside of Metropolis called "the Wild Area", run by a group of cycle-riding hippies called the "Outsiders". There, Jimmy & the kids discover (with the aid of their "Whiz Wagon" -don't laugh!), that another secret society further up in the "Mountain of Judgement" are doing strange things.



Meanwhile, after having survived an attempt on his life (as Clark Kent) that was set up by Morgan Edge(!) -Clark had been asking too many questions about Jimmy's assignment- Superman , drawn by Kirby (and "fixed" by another artist to look like DC's Superman, not Kirby's; even after 38 years, I still feel cheated) takes off to the Wild Area -and after being told off by Jimmy (!!!) gets knocked out by a kryptonite-powered stun gun that one of the Outsiders just happens to have! When Superman recovers, he tries to warn Jimmy and the Newsboys away from investigating the Mountain, but the kids ignore him, and with the assistance of the Outsiders (Jimmy now having been made leader after taking out the previous chief in a typical Kirby-drawn brawl) prepare to investigate. Continued Next Issue!!!


(Jimmy takes command of the Outsiders!)

If I had more time, I'd go on about how this issue led to more wild plots (including a tie-in with Kirby's other books for DC at the time: The Forever People, The New Gods and Mister Miracle), such as "The DNAliens" (Kirby predicting cloning in 1970 and teaching fourth-grade me all about DNA in general), the return of the original (now grown) Newsboy Legion , the resurrection of the 1940s super hero The Guardian, "The Four-Armed Terror", Metropolis about to be destroyed in a nuclear blast, Don Rickles (with the famous tag line on the cover he'd appear in: "Don't Ask! Just Buy It!") and so much more! But Kirby, fed up by editorial interference ("Superman can't do that, he can't do this..."), left the book after issue 148 (April, 1972) and I never got that excited about Superman's pal again. Sigh.



(And if I had even more time, I'd mention that, while Kirby wasn't crazy about the Superman character himself, the artist/writer did manage to make Superman appear both heroic and human, often showing "The Man of Steel" wondering if a being like him with his powers and abilities would ever be accepted for himself , or if he'd ever find others like himself. Pretty heady stuff for a nine-year-old. Wonder if famous Superman fan Jerry Seinfeld ever saw these issues?)



Other stuff: I neglected to mention in my last post (03/17/08) that the comic "shop" Kirby and Joe Simon ran in the 40s and 50s employed (and mentored) a LOT of writers and artists, including future political cartoonist Jerry Robinson, Mort Meskin , Wally Wood and future co-creator of The Amazing Spider-Man himself, Steve Ditko . I'll be doing an entry on Ditko's Blue Beetle sometime in the near future.



And I just got the latest issues of Doc Savage (#15) and The Shadow (#16) from Anthony Tollin's Nostalgia Ventures! I'll be talking about those (especially Doc) soon. You can find out about them here .

Finally, here's another take on Jimmy Olsen #133. Pretty funny. -Ed

Monday, March 17, 2008

Kirby: King of Comics




(Jack Kirby circa 1982.)

Last week I picked up a copy of Mark Evainer's long-awaited Kirby: King of Comics (Abrams; 2008) , a loving and heartfelt appreciation of the comic book work of Jack Kirby (1917-1994), the artist/storyteller who created or co-created such enduring characters as Captain America , The Boy Commandos , Fighting American , the Fantastic Four , The Incredible Hulk , The Silver Surfer , The New Gods , Mister Miracle , Kamandi ("The Last Boy on Earth"), The Eternals and Captain Victory , to name just a few. Evainer chronicles the life of Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) as he made his way up and out of New York City's "Hell's Kitchen" , his attempts to break into the animation and newspaper comic strip fields (the latter including a brief stint on the original Blue Beetle in 1940)and his long association with writer/artist Joe Simon, which lasted from the late 30s to the mid 50s.



With Simon, Kirby ran a small "shop" that packaged original stories and art for various publishers in the fleding comic book field of the 1940s. They developed characters and books for Timely (later Marvel Comics Group), for whom they created Captain America (above); DC (Boy Commandos, revamped versions of Sandman and Manhunter) , Fawcett (the very first issue of Captain Marvel Adventures , seen below) and Harvey (The Boy Explorers; Stuntman, Captain 3-D; Boys' Ranch ) .






For other publishers, such as Prize, Crestwood and Charlton, Simon and Kirby (after returning home in 1945 from WWII), oversaw & created other books for other publishers such as Prize and Charlton, even helping to come up with the first Romance Comic, as well as horror and crime books.






Simon & Kirby even ran their own comic book company for awhile, publishing such books as Foxhole (Kirby's favorite of the period, as he had a lot of emotional issues regarding his service in Europe during World War II).

The advent of Congressional crackdowns on the comics publishers in the mid-50s (when comics were blamed for kids committing crimes and standing up against parental & social authority) resulted in many comic companies shutting down. Simon & Kirby, now without clients or employers,ended their professional partnership (although they stayed friends) and Kirby, a child of the Depression who had a wife & family to feed (and feared being unable to provide for them), sought out work elsewhere.



After briefly finding work at DC again (where he created Challengers of the Unknown and revamped Green Arrow), a horrible lawsuit over the "Sky Masters" comic strip with one of DC's editors led Kirby to be blackballed at the company in 1958. A brief reunion with Simon on Archie Comics' The Fly eventually led Kirby to Marvel Comics in the late 50s, where he toiled on the company's horror & western comics.

But in 1961, with writer/editor Stan Lee , Kirby began a new era in comics: the larger-than -life superheroes who, like the readers, had problems that weren't always solved overnight.



Beginning with the first issue of Fantastic Four (cover dated November, 1961), Lee & Kirby started a whole new line of characters (pictured below) that revolutionized the field. Comics suddently weren't for kids anymore, as readers young & old identified with the Marvel characters developed by Lee & Kirby. (The books became especially popular on college campuses.)












Though the books became popular, Kirby felt ignored and marginalized by Marvel's owners and left the company in 1970 to work at DC (which lifted their "no-hire" policy toward him; by this time Kirby also wasn't happy with Stan Lee getting all the creative credit for their work together.) As artist AND writer/editor, he developed the "Fourth World" series of interlocking titles (The Forever People ; The New Gods; Mister Miracle), tying them in with regular DC continunity (via Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen), but sales were low & the books were cancelled (except Olsen, which Kirby had already left).


(Jimmy Olsen as only Kirby could do him.)








Five years later Kirby returns to Marvel, only to be crushed and denigrated by younger colleagues as "Jack the Hack" (in part due to deteriorating eyesight, though Kirby didn't dare tell anyone about that at the time). Despite the hostile atmosphere, Kirby does exciting (if short-lived) work on Captain America, The Black Panther and a new creation, The Eternals. An eventual switch to Saturday Morning Animation in 1978 (where Kirby actually got Health Benefits for the first time in 40 years from an employer!) and freelance work for DC and smaller publishers rounded out his professional life until his death.


(The Eternals #1 from 1976. Now, over 30 years later, I finally appreciate the appeal of this series.)

Overall, despite reading how horrible Kirby was treated by his various employers (DC, at least, tried & succeeded in getting Kirby some merchandising profits from toys & cartoons based on his New Gods characters in the mid-80s), Kirby: King of Comics is a Kirby lover's treasure trove. There's so much here (yes, there are reproductions of covers & original penciled art) that one reading alone isn't enough. Recommended!



-Ed

Friday, March 14, 2008

Pull My Daisy

Here's a clip I was tempted to show staffers at the library to promote David Amram's upcoming appearance there, but I decided it was a little too far out. The clip is from the 1959 short film Pull My Daisy , which Mr. Amram did the music to, and which was written by Jack Kerouac , with help from Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso . (The latter two also appear in the film.) For some reason, the video has Italian subtitles.



Boy, would I like to see how the film turned out. -Ed

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

"So You're The Famous Simon Templar"


(Roger Moore as Simon Templar, AKA The Saint, the action/adventure rogue/hero created by Leslie Charteris.)


(I am indebted to Burl Barer's essential tome The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Television and Film 1928-1992 (McFarland, 1992) for assisting me in the writing & researching of this posting.)


(Leslie Charteris.)


It's kind of embarassing to admit it, being a librarian who preaches to the choir about the virtues of reading, but I became a fan of Leslie Charteris'(1907-1993) Saint character thanks to the long-running 1962-69 British TV series starring (and later co-produced by) Roger Moore . The series (originally in black and white, then for its last 45 episodes, in color) was based on the short stories & novels about the exploits of one Simon Templar, a modern-day "Robin Hood", who'd steal from the wicked (gangsters, corrupt business & political leaders) and give to those less well off...with a small percentage taken for himself. Introduced by author-creator Leslie Charteris in the 1928 novel Meet The Tiger , Templar comes off as an enthusiastic, slightly foppish, dandy who's good with his fists and knows how to use a gun and knife. As Charteris got older, Templar started maturing in outlook, as well as actual age. By the time of 1964's Vendetta For The Saint ,
the last novel in the series credited to Charteris (ghost-written by Harry Harrison, author of the science fiction classic Make Room, Make Room and The Stainless Steel Rat , though according to Saint scholar Burl Barer, Charteris did extensive rewriting on it), Templar, feeling his advancing years, prefers to avoid getting in a fight with an armed gangster (though when the chips are down, ol' Simon can still throw a punch). Prior to this novel, Charteris had, since 1948, written only short stories featuring the character, allowing him to develop the plots more fully without stretching them out.





Charteris' early stories & books met moderate success in the UK and didn't really take off in the US until the 1935 publication of The Saint In New York. RKO optioned the film rights and began producing a series of movies with Louis Hayward & George Sanders as Templar from 1938-1941. But the studio didn't cotton to a protagonist who flouted the law & got away with it. In the books, Templar wasn't above committing murder to see justice done and he hardly ever worked with the sanction of law enforcement agencies. Templar often played cat-and-mouse games with Scotland Yard's Inspector Teal and NYPD detective Inspector Fenwick. And though he had a kind-of-steady girlfriend in the Patricia Holm character, Simon wasn't above playing around.



Hollywood felt otherwise and pretty much neutered the character into a lovable rascal who'd always work within the law. Charteris complained so much that RKO stopped making Saint films and optioned the rights to a similar charcter, "The Falcon". The Saint meanwhile continued to appear in comic strips and books, new short stories and a long running radio series that included a young Vincent Price as Templar.




After a one shot film in 1954 with Hayward (The Saint's Girl Friday), Charteris resisted all attempts to adapt The Saint on film or television. Producers Robert S.Baker & Monty Berman , with backing from Sir Lew Grade's ITC production company (based in England, where the series was filmed), struck a deal to produce an hour-long series based on Charteris' books & short stories.



Casting Roger Moore as Templar was a stroke of genius on Baker & Berman's part. Moore managed to combine his natural witty charm and comedic skill with a sense of steely eyed presence that embodied perfectly the world-weary, slightly cynical Saint of the later novels (though Charteris at first thought the then-36-year-old Moore too young for the role, he quickly grew to like the actor's take on Templar).


(Roger Moore as The Saint with frequent series regular Ivor Dean as (sometimes) friendly nemesis Inspector Claud Eustace Teal from Scotland Yard.)

Every episode would open with Simon's take on a certain topic, such as fashion, politics or the Arts. (In the black & white episodes, Roger Moore would speak directly to the audience. In the color ones, he'd do a voice-over instead.) Somehow the topic would be related with that episode's plot. Every week, Simon would either be in London or in a foreign country (played by the studio backlot in England). And of course somebody would go up to him and say a variation of the line "So, you're the famous (or infamous) Simon Templar!" Cue the appearance of a halo over Moore's head and the opening credits & theme music would roll, as you can see here.


(Leslie Charteris and Roger Moore in the 1960s. Yes, they got along.)

The show was an international success and ran in syndication in the US until 1967, when NBC picked up the (now shot in color) series. By then the producers had exhausted the Charteris lode and produced new plots, many of which were a variation of the "pretty daughter of a missing scientist/business magnate/world leader needs Simon's help" type. Only John Kruse's scripts ("The Fiction Makers", "The Death Game", plus a terrific updated 1963 adaptation of Charteris' 1938 novel Prelude For War, filmed as "The Saint Plays With Fire", and the two part adaptation of Vendetta For The Saint) had any real fresh spin.



After the series ended, Charteris continued producing new Saint novels & novellas by other writers, often adapting the TV scripts themselves (especially John Kruse's). The last Saint books were set in the 40s & 50s to offset concerns about the character's aging. 1983's Salvage For The Saint was the last adventure written about Simon Templar until Burl Barer's Capture The Saint (published & distributed by The Saint Club ) in 1997. A short lived 1978-79 series Return Of The Saint with Ian Ogilvy as Templar followed. There was a 1987 pilot film, loosely based on The Saint in New York , with Tom Selleck-lookalike Andrew Clarke for CBS and a slightly longer syndicated series of TV films (1989-90) starring Simon Dutton as The Saint. And of course, there was the horrible 1997 feature film with Val Kilmer .






Dan Bodenheimer's Saintly Bible , has, for over 15 years, kept Saint fans up-to-date with the latest incarnations of Simon Templar. The recent news that James Purefoy of HBO's Rome has been cast may stir new interest in a character that, as somebody once said, brings out the fourteen-year-old in all of us.



And though the books are currently out-of-print, I still, when I find a copy, read them. (I too like the later Charteris short story collections from 1948-63.) They're just a lot of (well-written) fun! -Ed