I've only recently discovered Mareva Galanter. She's a French actress and singer. Mareva was born on February 4, 1979 in Papeete, Tahiti. She is a former beauty queen in French Polynesia, winning both the Miss World of Islands and Miss Tahiti beauty contests in 1998. She then went on to win Miss France in 1999. She has been in several movies, including 2006's The Pink Panther. Mareva released an album entitled Ukuyéyé in 2006, which will remind one of the 60's sounds of France Gall. The album and its videos definitely have a retro vibe. The videos actually have a Scopitone feel to them. I think they are ultra-cool. I thought I would post a couple of them here for your enjoyment.
Laura Antonelli is ready for bed. That's my kind of girl. ;-)
P.S. This is my 100th post up here! I wasn't sure when I started this blog whether there were would be others that would enjoy it or not. I'm so thankful for all the positive response that I've received since the beginning of this blog. I really appreciate all your support, encouragement, feedback, etc. It means the world to me.
I'd love to be taking a ski vacation this winter with Sharon Tate.
P.S. I hope you'll check out my latest post at Celluloid Slammer. It's a video clip of Sharon Tate strutting her sexy self for Dean Martin in The Wrecking Crew. Please check it out and leave me some comments there. Thanks.
One of my favorite films from Jess Franco is She Killed in Ecstasy. It starred the incredibly beautiful Soledad Miranda. The termination of a doctor's project causes him to commit suicide. His wife, played by Soledad, takes her revenge on those responsible for the termination. She seduces them and then kills them. I want to actually do a review of this film in the future. For the time being, however, I'm posting this DVD cover and clip from the film. I really love the trippy music in this clip.
I'm a huge fan of Viva Las Vegas. It's my favorite Elvis movie. One big reason is that I am so in love with Ann-Margret. Here's a really cool photo of these two together from the movie. I hope you like it. I can't get over how incredibly sexy Ann-Margret was here. Wow!
They sure don't get much sexier than the Germanic beauty Elke Sommer. What a hot babe! Plus she played in some of my favorite flicks of the 60's, such as A Shot in the Dark, Deadlier than the Male (which I recently posted about) & The Wrecking Crew (which I will eventually cover at The Dino Lounge). I hope you enjoy these pictures of this sex kitten.
Seriously though, Thunderball is one of my favorite Bond films. It not only stars my favorite 007, but also features Claudine Auger as Domino (one of my all-time favorite Bond girls).
I love the French erotic film Emmanuelle (1974) starring Sylvia Kristel. When I think of European erotic cinema of the 1970's, this is the first film that comes to mind. It's a beautiful and intoxicating film in my opinion. I'm not just saying that because of the nudity either. :-) Plus I really love the theme song by Pierre Bachelet. Sylvia Kristel might not have been the first woman to come to mind when someone thought of Emmanuelle, but she owns that role. This film dealt with the sexual awakening of Emmanuelle. Sylvia embodied the role so well.
P.S. I want to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you and your significant other will have a fun weekend no matter how you choose to celebrate. I had a girlfriend last year at this time, but I'm flying solo this year.
I'm a huge fan of Vincent Price. He's one of my favorite actors of all time. I totally dig his role as Dr. Goldfoot. He's my idol! I want my very own bikini machine. :-) Dr. Goldfoot & the Bikini Machine is definitely one cool and swingin' flick from the 60's.
I absolutely love this album cover. Most of my friends know that I'm a huge fan of spy movies. I love both the serious fare and the spy spoofs. I really dig the music that Hugo Montenegro did for many of these movies and tv shows. Come Spy With Me is a collection of some of those songs. The cover is out of sight. It so represents what I love about the spy genre. I hope you like it too.
One of my favorite movies from the 1960's is Deadler Than The Male. The spy spoof, released in 1967, stars Richard Johnson as Bulldog Drummond. I won't give anything away for those who haven't seen this film. Drummond's an insurance investigator trying to figure out what happened in the mysterious death of an oil executive. There is quite a lot of murder and intrigue on his mission. He discovers that beautiful female assassins (played by Elke Sommer and Sylvia Koscina) are employed by a madman (played by Nigel Green) who is trying to take over the oil industry. I'll leave it at that. One neat thing is that Elke Sommer and Nigel Green would go on to co-star in the Matt Helm spy spoof The Wrecking Crew in 1969. Besides the pictures I've posted here, I'm also including some clips. I hope you'll check them out. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.
Many of my friends know that I'm a big giallo fan. Giallo is the Italian word for yellow. It's used in the context of entertainment to refer to Italian suspense thrillers (loaded with blood/gore and sex/nudity) that were all the rage especially during the 1970's. My favorite actress in giallo films is Edwige Fenech. The Maltese-Sicilian actress is arguably considered the Queen of the Giallo. She's both beautiful and talented. Edwige played in some of the most well known and popular giallo films of this era. I wanted to cover one of those films The Case of the Bloody Iris in this post.
The Case of the Bloody Iris was released in 1972. It's also been called Erotic Blue and What Are Those Strange Drops Of Blood Doing On Jennifer's Body? (that's quite a mouthful of a title). It's a pretty standard film of the genre. It doesn't break any new ground. It really isn't innovative in any form or fashion. The cast of the film are a who's who of giallo regulars. If a person didn't know any better, they would think the film was directed by Sergio Martino. It reminds the viewer so much of the style and atmosphere that Martino brought to the giallo films he made. Plus Edwige Fenech starred in some films for Martino, such as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) and All the Colors of the Dark (1972). His brother, Luciano, was the producer of those films and the lover of Edwige. Luciano Martino was actually one of the producers of The Case of the Bloody Iris as well. Edwige's co-star in those films for Sergio Martino was usually George Hilton. He's her co-star in this film as well. They made a great looking couple and had wonderful chemistry together. I consider them the super couple of the giallo.
This film was directed by Anthony Ascott, the pseudonym of Giuliano Carnimeo. This is his only time directing a giallo. He's mostly known for making spaghetti westerns. George Hilton was a frequent star in his films, including Fistful of Lead (1970) and They Call Me Hallelujah (1971). Carnimeo also directed Edwige Fenech in other films like Secrets of a Call Girl and Holy God, Here Comes the Passatore! (starring George Hilton), both released in 1973. While Carnimeo might have been new to the genre, his stars and the producer weren't. The writer of the screenplay, Ernesto Gastaldi, also penned The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Case of the Scorpion's Tail (released in 1971 and starring George Hilton), All the Colors of the Dark, etc. Gastaldi had also written the screenplays for some of the westerns Carnimeo had helmed, including Sartana the Gravedigger (1969) and Run, Man, Run... Sartana's in Town (1971). Basically all of these people had worked with each other on many different films.
The film opens with the murder of a high class prostitute being slashed to death in the elevator of an exclusive apartment building. Her killer is dressed in black (hat, mask & long coat) and wearing tan gloves. Her body is found by three people, which are Mrs. Moss (Maria Tedeschi, who had played in 1970's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), Professor Isaacs (George Riguad - his credits include 1971's A Lizard in a Woman's Skin and 1972's All the Colors of the Dark) & Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait, who would play in 1973's Torso). They all act very casual about the grisly murder and go about their business like it's no big deal.
Edwige Fenech plays Jennifer Lansbury, a British model working in Italy. While doing a photo shoot for photographer Arthur (played by Oreste Lionello, who reminds me of a gay Woody Allen here), Jennifer thinks she has spotted her ex-husband. It is there that Jennifer first meets Andrea Barto (George Hilton). Andrea has come by to discuss with his childhood friend Arthur the possibiltiy of using Mizar in an ad campaign for his apartment building. He's an architect who owns the apartment building that the murder has happened in. Andrea plans to meet Mizar at the nightclub where she performs as an exotic dancer/wrestler. When Jennifer leaves the shoot, she finds an iris on the pavement. This is the symbol of the sex cult that she had been a part of with her then-husband Adam (Ben Carra). We see a trippy flashback sequence of the sex cult in action. Jennifer then finds herself face to face with Adam, who tries to force her into coming back into the fold with him.
Coming home from the nightclub she works as an exotic dancer/wrestler, Mizar finds herself the next victim of the masked killer. She is drowned in her own bath. The police investigation is led by Inspector Erici (Giampiero Albertini) and his associate Redi (Franco Agostini). To say these two are inept is putting it lightly. Erici is more interested in adding stamps to his stamp collection than anything else. He is more excited by finding a rare stamp on a letter belonging to one of the victims, than what was in the letter itself. His sidekick Redi is never able to go undercover because he's easily marked by everybody as a cop. The police investigation in and of itself in pretty weak in this film. It's almost more for comic relief than anything else.
Andrea offers a discount on an apartment to Jennifer and her model friend Marilyn Ricci (Paola Quattrini), a bimbo who makes quite a few inappropriate jokes in the film. Jennifer and Marilyn think they've scored the lucky break. It's not long before Jennifer discovers this is the apartment that belonged to the slain Mizar. She's deeply troubled by this fact and that another girl had also been murdered in the building. Marilyn seems to take it all lightly. Jennifer is frightened when she's awakened on the first night by the presence of a masked man in her bedroom. Marilyn tries to calm her down, telling her it was just a bad dream.
Jennifer soons find herself falling in love with Andrea. She continues to be stalked by Adam, who is angered when he discovers her with Andrea. He vows that no other man will possess her. She belongs only to him. He even confronts her and Andrea. Jennifer finds herself a major target of the masked killer. Is it her ex-husband Adam or someone else? The list of suspects is endless. Mrs Moss has been buying horror and crime comics. She's been hiding a secret from her neighbors. She has a deformed son that she keeps locked up. Could it be her or this son? There is also the reclusive Professor Isaacs, who plays his violin at all hours of the day and night. His daughter, Sheila, lives with him. She's a lesbian who likes to flirt with Jennifer. Could the killer be either of them? What about Andrea Barto? The police begin to focus on him as their prime suspect. He was the last person to see Mizar alive. That's a fact he had kept from them. Jennifer doesn't believe it could be him since he has an paralyzing phobia against blood. Could that be just an act? The police are very suspicious on him and that grows even more as the movie goes on. Jennifer must solve the puzzle herself before she becomes the next victim of this monster. So who else is murdered in this film? Is the killer Andrea or someone else? If you haven't seen this film, then I'm not about to spill the beans. You'll just have to see it yourself.
While this film won't be noted for its originality at all, I found it to be a very solid and entertaining giallo. It does all the giallo traditions quite well. The murders scenes have just the right mixture of suspense and tension. There's a nice amount of blood without it being gratitious. One of my favorite scenes in the film is a stabbling scene that happened in broad daylight. It's right out in public on a crowded street. We also get a chance to see some beautiful female flesh on display. We get a chance to see Edwige in little or no clothes quite often. The film is quite stylish whether it's the sets, clothes, etc. The film has a wonderful breezy and jazzy score by Bruno Nicolai. It's one of the highlights for me. I was humming the music for days after I watched it.
The Case of the Bloody Iris is really a worthwhile film to see due to its star. Edwige Fenech is not just eye candy in a 1970's Italian film. While she is gorgeous beyond belief (she looks as if she was carved out of marble by the gods themselves), she is also a fine actress. She plays her part well and the film rests on her shoulders quite nicely. If you've never seen a giallo film before, then this film is a fine introduction to that genre. Even if you've watched your share of giallos, I hope you'll give this film a shot if you've never seen it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I've done several posts here about Pam Grier. I've always gotten positive feedback on them. Recently I've been talking to some of my friends about Jackie Brown. I love that film. I know it gets mixed reaction from many fans of the films of Quentin Tarantino. I personally think it's an amazing film from start to finish. The acting, the music, etc. are all out of sight.
Jackie Brown, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, was released in 1997. It starred Pam Grier as the title character. Jackie's a middle aged flight attendant working for a second rate airline. That's the only job she can get in the industry due to a prior criminal charge. She's been smuggling money into the country for a weapons dealer played by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackie gets caught by the ATF. They want her to work for them to bring him down. She decides to play both sides off each other and get the money for herself with the help of a bail bondsman played by Robert Forster. The film also co-stars Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda & Michael Keaton. I can't rave enough about this movie. It was great to see Pam Grier in a starring role again. She really shines here. If you haven't seen this film, you owe it to yourself to see one of my favorite films of the 1990's.
Here are two clips. The first one is the movie trailer itself. The other is the opening credits (which I really love) for the film. Enjoy!
I guess I must be in a French mood. Yesterday it was Brigitte Bardot and today it is Catherine Deneuve. Even though I was not a big fan of The Hunger, I still fell under Catherine's spell when I saw that film for the first time. I've seen her in so many films over the years, everything from Belle de jour to Indochine to 8 Femmes. She, along with Bardot, represent to me the epitome of classic French beauty.
When I think of beautiful women of France of any era, Brigitte Bardot has got to be one of the top favorites. She really personifies what I find so beautiful, sexy, alluring, etc. about French women.
I mean no copyright infringement by the posting of pictures, videos, etc. on this blog. I do not in any way claim the rights of ownership to any of them. They totally remain the property of their respective owners. I have posted them purely for entertainment purposes only. All written content, unless otherwise noted as being quotes, has been written and copyrighted by me.
