Orion’s Belt (1985) Norwegian Cold War

Much like last month’s Ground Zero took a real life story and mixed it with a batch of fiction to amp up the drama.

Orion’s Belt is based on factual happenings in the Svalbard regions of Norway where the games of Cold War were being played out between Russia, America and the UK. Real brinkmanship shenanigans, with Norway, and their scandinavian friends, sat right in the middle like the stars in Orion’s Belt.

The story is an adaptation from a 1977 Nordic crime thriller novel written by Jon Michelet. It’s adventure starts with a three Norwegian salty sea dogs, wheeler and dealer fisherman who are always looking for a way to make a few krone. This involves doing a dodgy little insurance scam with a bulldozer. With orders to dump the machinery into the sea to claim the insurance money by pretending they are hit by a storm losing the bulldozer overboard. Then they decide to sell it, doubling their money.

This leads them to ship further out in the Norwegian Sea where they hit a real storm forcing them to go ashore on a small island to find supplies. Now this is where it all goes tits up, when they find a large cable running across the land into a cave system. With money signs flashing around their eyes with the thought of selling the wire cable as scrap they follow it’s path till they hit their problem. It’s a manned secret Russian listening post……..

And these Russians aren’t too happy to have their secret listening base discovered! Coming after them on helicopters as the guys make their frantic escape, all hell breaks loose.

Tagline – What can one man do against the most lethal army on Earth?… Live to tell the truth!

The three fishermen are Tom Jansen (Helge Jordal), Lars (Sverre Anker Ousdal) and Sverre (Hans Ola Sørlie). Oh and how can I forget! Skipper the sea dog. Can they survive the Russian army and evade capture? Can they outrun the helicopter on their trusty boat? Can this incident be covered up before Cold War tensions get too high?

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, which when the action pieces hit the screen, you will be on the edge of your seat. It thrilling and exciting and the Svalbard settings are absolutely fantastic. Definitely one for your “watch list” notepad. Or have you seen it? What did you think?

Fascinating Fact –  This film was filmed twice in dual-language by two different directors, Ola Solum and Tristan DeVere Cole. Solum filmed in Norwegian and then after each scene Cole resumed the same scenes but this time the actors spoke English. I was expecting a dubbed version when I sat down to watch it. For a few minutes I was convinced it was some of the best dubbing ever lol.

Further Reading

Orion’s Belt (1985) Wiki Info

Cold War Sites Of Norway

What’s Been Watched This Month – May 2017

I do like a list, even a late list! Here’s what has been watched in May 2017.

Twins Peaks return has dominated this month’s television schedule. So good to have Agent Cooper back, well of sorts. Sure his cherry pie loving days will be back in full effect soon.

Other television shows on the watch list have been American Gods and my absolute favorite Better Call Saul.

23 films this month and a total of 122 since the start of the blog in January.

Vigilante (1983) – Wolfman Rating 7 – IMDB Rating 6.6
Fred Williamson and Robert Forster smash up bad guys. Wolfie write up here

Beach Red (1967) – Wolfman Rating 8.5 – IMDB Rating 6.4
Cornel Wilde drops another directed, produced and starred in film to follow up his The Naked Prey…. Wolfie write up here

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – Wolfman Rating 9 – IMDB Rating 8.1
Great to be whisked off into the galaxy with the gang Star-lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket again. Not as brilliant as the first but still I had well too fun and I probably enjoyed it more than the whole family hehe.

Shock Corridor (1963) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 7.5
Damn I was transfixed with the reporter’s journey through the nut house. Another top class Samuel Fuller film. Wolfie write up here

After Hours (1985) – Wolfman Rating 7.5 – IMDB Rating 7.7
I so remember this one on the video rental shelves but weirdly never seen it. How could I take so long to see to a Martin Scorsese film? It was great fun surreal film.

Cul-De-Sac (1966) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 7.2
Oh my I loved this film. Three very different and each superb in their own right performances. Just brilliant.  Wolfie write up here

Coffy (1973) – Wolfman Rating 8 – IMDB Rating 6.9
Pam Grier’s big bouncing boobies – Nuff said…  Wolfie write up here

Hard Times (1975) – Wolfman Rating 8.5 – IMDB Rating 7.4
Charles Bronson and Walter Hill – Nuff said!  Wolfie write up here

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) – Wolfman Rating 7 – IMDB Rating 7.2
Perfect fall in from the pub totally intoxicated film fun and frolics.  I saw this go up on the excellent blog cracked rear viewer and had to see it. Vincent Price is such a gem as always

The Passenger (1975) – Wolfman Rating 7.5 – IMDB Rating 7.6
This ticks all the right boxes of what I love in a film. Super performance from the always trusty Jack Nicholson.  But something just didn’t gel for me. I can’t put my finger on it! The settings and camera shots are incredible. Having been there it was wonderful to see architect Antoni Gaudi Casa Mila roof on film.  I really want to know why it didn’t hit me as good as I had expected? Actually the more I think about it the more I liked it. A grower.

The Exterminating Angel (1962) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 8.2
Seen some absolutely cracking movies this month and this piece of brilliance is way up the top of the list.  Wolfie write up here

Take the Money and Run (1969) – Wolfman Rating 9 – IMDB Rating 7.3
Marvelous goofball screwball slapstick and visual gags galore from Woody Allen.

The Lineup (1958) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 7.4
Thrill ride of a film noir crime drama starring Eli Wallach as a twisted up bad guy. Really enjoyed this.. Wolfie write up here

Nightfall (1956) – Wolfman Rating 9 – IMDB Rating 7.3
A superb film noir drama with another great performance from Aldo Ray. Wolfie write up here

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – Wolfman Rating 9 – IMDB Rating 8.1
My daughter and I are very big Wes Anderson fans but strangely hadn’t got round to this one yet. No idea why! Ralph Fiennes and his love of the GILF’s was hilarious. Another incredible film which I look forward to watching again very soon. Can’t wait for the Isle Of Dogs next year.

Hell Is for Heroes (1962) – Wolfman Rating 8 – IMDB Rating 7
Filling in Don Siegel movie blanks gets me to tick off this world war two movie with Steve McQueen, James Coburn, singer Bobby Darin and in a debut role comedian Bob Newhart. A most excellent film.

Ground Zero (1987) – Wolfman Rating 8.5 – IMDB Rating 6.6
Cold War horror in the Australian heat…..  Wolfie write up here

Mindhorn – Wolfman Rating 6.5 – IMDB Rating 6.4
The Mighty Boosh Julian Barratt and Horrible Histories Simon Farnaby write and star in this madcap comedy. The idea hits every right note for me but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

The Shootist (1976) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 7.7
The Shootist best line from John Wayne “make like that’s a nipple” then shoves a gun in a rustlers face. This was recommended by the excellent Mike’s Take On The Movies. What a swan song to out on. I need to do a post one day. Darn work gets in the way of all the fun!

The Steel Helmet (1951) – Wolfman Rating 9 – IMDB Rating 7.6
Cutest kid ever. Slowly working my way through Samuel Fuller’s movies and this one didn’t disappoint. Gene Evans as the gruff sergeant Zack was an excellent character.

Truck Turner (1974) – Wolfman Rating 8.5 – IMDB Rating 7
Isaac Hayes smashes and funks up the place. Wolfie write up here

The Killing (1956) – Wolfman Rating 10 – IMDB Rating 8
Stanley Kubrick directs this masterpiece film noir drama.

The Cassandra Crossing (1976) – Wolfman Rating 7 – IMDB Rating 6.4
This is what weekend matinee at home were made for, the 70’s disaster movie.

Any goodies you like the look of or have seen?

Eating my way through too much cherry pie and drinking damn fine cups of coffee whilst working my way through June’s film selections.

Till next time, keep cool, keep watching the screen. Be seeing you

The Thing (1982) Fathers Day AKA Freak The Kids Out Day

Been slowly introducing the classics to my two children and what better excuse is there than Father’s Day. Nothing beats family time, to me, than watching a movie I so loved as a teenager and hopefully passing on it’s “greatness” to another generation. Predator, Total Recall, Rambo, Aliens have all been unleashed on them but this time it’s John Carpenter’s The Thing and quite frankly this one is a freak show.

So I was very much looking forward to seeing and hearing their reactions when the special effects party is unleashed on screen. Oh how we laughed with shocked faces as the outrageous twisting of torsos and skeleton bones fused together whilst morphing into some of cinemas most ridiculous abominations and awesomely demented monster creations.

I’m sure they contemplated shouting out WTF and I wouldn’t of minded, it’s really the only way to describe the situations when first observed. This is proper special effects, none of this CGI rubbish, and jeepers man! did they go to town with their imaginations.

So what did they think and how was it rated out of 10?

Son Kofi (14 years old) said he thought it was a bit over the top but generally thought it was good especially liked badass Kurt Russell.  Liked the Antarctica setting and the UFO but I feel he thought it was a touch too crazy. He gave it 6.5/10

Daughter Nyah (16 years old) Laughed at the over the top effects. She has been brought up on the Alien franchise, so roughly knew what to expect. Said she got a little lost on the different characters but on the whole liked it but didn’t think it was as good as Alien. She gave it 7.5/10

Me, well it was probably my fourth time watching but I hadn’t seen it since the late 90’s. It had originally been sat on the shelves at the local video rental store during the mid 80’s when the cassette cover first caught my eye. Having recently watched Alien when it was first broadcast on TV in the UK around 1984. The thought of more “alien” sci-fi adventures had been excitedly nagging at me.

Still today science fiction is my favorite genre. So I was super excited to watch it again and it didn’t disappoint. Those cold arctic temperatures almost freeze you through the screen. Seeing Kurt Russell wearing those mismatched clothes, hat and snow blindness glasses whilst slamming back J&B Scotch Whiskey brought massive smiles to my face.

Out of the many brilliant scenes, I still have a weird fondness for the blood heat test. When the monster literally explodes right next to the poor guys tied to their chairs. It is still an almost laugh at the situation “Oh my fookin gawd” as you jump to the edge of your seat witnessing the pure horror of the insanity of it all. What a scene.

So along with a couple of bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce and some Beef Jerky, sitting down and watching The Thing made it a perfect day.

10/10

I’m sure the seeds have been sown for them to re-watch it in their adulthood. Fingers crossed.

Further Reading

The Thing From Another World (1951)

The Thing (1982) IMDB

Ten Seconds to Hell (1959) Bombastic Berlin Bomb Disposal Drama

Director Robert Aldrich teams up once again with Jack Palance. After enjoying their last outing together, the 1956 war film Attack, I was keen on seeing our Jack in another hero role. Off the back of Attack, IMDB recommended me the wonderfully titled 1959 film Ten Seconds To Hell. A story of six German ex-soldiers returning to Berlin to help clear and make safe the city from unexploded British and American bombs.

Jack Palance plays Eric Koertner, a man so chiseled he looks like the most handsome missing link there ever was. Reluctant leader of the band of six, Eric is the heart of the group. He is serious and professional, with attention to detail for safety and looking out for his work colleagues. He’s courageous and thoughtful but with an air of pure somber innocence to him, a modest guy.

Quite the opposite to party man and ladies man Karl Wirtz (Jeff Chandler) the alpha male of the group who likes to have a drink to unwind the dangers of the job in hand. These two big guys couldn’t be more poles apart from each other but both are experts in their work.

The other four are just keen to get the job done and hopefully live to spend their hard earnt cash. The problem being, are you going to live long enough to be able to spend it? So they all come up with a plan to pass their wages on to the rest of the group if one of them should unfortunately not make it.  A three month contract which binds them to the task.

Tagline – WATCH! This man sweat out the most suspense-torn seconds in screen history!

This is a very efficient film filled with all the drama of sweat, blood and tension you would expect in the painstaking task of diffusing massive unexploded bombs. Dripping foreheads, worried faces and strained muscles, as ropes are pulled and rubble strenuously removed to reveal the detonating fuse to safely disarm the bomb.

Throw in a bit of love interest rivalry from landlady, French minx Margot Hofer (Martine Carol) to add some extra tension to the working relationships and you get yourself an excellent post world war two drama. And another superb Palance performance.

Who will survive this dangerous and harrowing job till the end? Can all the explosives be removed to help rebuild Berlin? Can friendships and relationships survive under such hard stressful times? It’s well worth your time tracking this top-notch drama down for a viewing.

Like I said on the Attack post, if you have any other Jack Palance in hero mode film recommendations, then please let me know.

If you’ve seen it? What did you think?

Auf wiedersehen – Wolfenstein

Attack (1956) Badass Chiseled Cheeked Curly Costa

Jack Palance is one of those actors that I know so well. His voice is so recognisable and that unique face of his seems to have played nothing but bad guys. He is probably best known to a certain generation for playing old badass rancher Curly Washburn  alongside Billy Crystal in the 1991 comedy adventure classic City Slickers.  But he’s popped up in a string of 80’s films which included Batman, Hawk The Slayer and Tango & Cash, to name a few, usually doing his panto villain role.

Now I know he had a massive career in cinema right from the 40’s playing all manner of cowboy, crime boss, soldier and even a saucy “R” rated film called Black Snake Woman but I’m honest to say I haven’t seen many.

So what a pleasure it was to stumble upon director Robert Aldrich’s 1956 World War Two drama Attack. What a film it was and Jack got to play a hero, Lieutenant Joe Costa. A wiry battleworn, lean and tough, no nonsense hands on fighting machine with a strong code of honour. Unfortunately for our Joe Costa he is under the command of the inept Captain Erskine Cooney (Eddie Albert) a coward with no honour or morals. Which sadly our Joe finds out when the Captain fails to support his troop as they try a daring assault on a German pill box. Resulting in the unnecessary loss of good soldiers in his platoon.

Tagline –“Not every gun is pointed at the enemy!”

After letting the Captain know his disgust for him, Joe is shut down by the Captains friend and superior Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett (Lee Marvin). Luckily he has an ally in his buddy Lt. Harold Woodruff (William Smithers) but sadly his hands are tied.

With what looks like the start of the Battle Of The Bulge Lieutenant Joe Costa is sent off with his company to lead a reconnaissance mission to see if the Germans are holed up in a small town. Not wishing to lose his good men again with the thought of no support from the Captain and the rest of the company, Joe Costa demands a promise that he will be backed up. Getting to use the fantastic line of……

Lt. Joe Costa – “I swear, I swear by all that’s holy, I’ll come back. I’ll come back and take this grenade and shove it down your throat and pull the pin!”

Surely it wouldn’t happen again? Can our hero keep his troops safe through this attack? Can the incompetent superior officers be brought to justice? Will Joe Costa really have to blow the Captain’s head clean off with a grenade? You gotta tune in to find out.

Jack Palance is just absolutely perfect in everyway as the efficient, charismatic, chiseled hero with that wonderful commanding voice. It’s an excellent film and I’m now gonna be searching the archives for more of his performances. Next up is the amazing titled Ten Seconds to Hell which incidentally is also directed by Robert Aldrich.

Can you recommend me some of his films? I see he’s done some film noir style dramas too. Let me know please.

Thanks for reading. Keep it cool, keep watching films. Mikey The Wolfman

Beach Red (1967) It’s Not Just A War Movie!

After being so impressed with director and star Cornel Wilde in magnificent form with his chase movie The Naked Prey I had been excitingly awaiting his 1967 follow up Beach Red. This time he stars as a Captain MacDonald, a leader of a US marine unit sent in to fight the might of the Japanese who have a stronghold on a small island in the Pacific during World War 2.

Cornel takes the pacifist anti-war film approach and includes a very everyday man feel to it. You get introduced to the soldiers whilst they are circling around the rough sea onboard their landing craft ready to go into hell as they ready themselves for the beach attack.

It isn’t long before they are given the orders to attack the beach and what transpires is pretty horrific and quite the set piece. For the time, I can imagine this mass beach invasion to have looked very impressive, which it still does. I read and could see clear inspiration to the brutal realism on the D-Day landing sequence in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. It might not have the money and the effects but it’s certainly effective.

What sets this film aside from more gung-ho war films of the time is it’s approach to show a different side to the horrors. Imagery and narration is used in a surreal way to show the morbid reality of war, a cockroach under a boot, a butterfly caught in a spider’s web and the knowledge that most of the insects and plants are out to get you.

We hear little excerpts from each of the marines as inner monologues and daydreams, their fears, worries and feelings for loved ones or even just for everyday chores. Captain MacDonald mutters to himself that he must buy some new glasses when he gets home.

Egan loves his beans.

Also, which is refreshing, is the portrayal of the Japanese soldiers. You see visions of their past lives, like a rice farmer who has been taken away from his wife and young family as he fondly remembers back to his former life.

Capt MacDonald flashes back to his last encounters with his wife and family whilst Private Egan (Burr DeBenning) recalls his past lady friend hook ups, which leads to a great scene with him drunk as a skunk messing around with a gorgeous leggy lass twice his size. Played by “Tall Girl” Linda Albertano at 6’4″ and damn sexy too.

Total bad ass Sergeant Honeywell played by Rip Torn gets to fire off the films best line.

“”I’m gonna bayonet ’em, break their arms, so they don’t give me no more trouble! That’s what we’re here for… To kill… The rest is all crap!””

Captain MacDonald gets a good one in too as he tell redneck Private Egan who can’t stop eating tins of beans.

“I’ll put you in for a new medal, Egan…… for abdominal fortitude”

Some of the dialogue and acting is a little rough round the edges but it’s heart is very much in the right place. Well worth tracking it if you haven’t seen it, or if you have, what did you think?

Here’s the trailer which is really awesome. It edits pretty much everything in under 3 minutes. I suggest you watch the film first if you gonna see it soon but if you can’t wait, go for it.

Telefon (1977) – The Russian Manchurian Candidates

Donald is gonna think I’m stalking him! This is the third film in a row with the versatile, dependable Mr Pleasence and this time it was purely by chance as I didn’t know he was in it. What a great surprise.  Cul-De-Sac was first then Ground Zero.

Was ticking this one off the list mainly because of Charles Bronson and second being that it’s a Don Siegel movie I knew about but wondered if I had actually seen it. I hadn’t and I can report that it’s a fine piece of 70’s drama.

Russian saboteurs within the United States had been placed as sleeper cells at strategic positions around America during the height of the Cold War. Without really knowing it they were hypnotised to go on a suicide mission by a command signal setting them off like the Manchurian Candidate. This message is sent by telephone and consists of a phrase from a poem by Robert Frost called ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’.

Tagline – They’ll do anything to stop Telefon. The operation that can trigger 51 human time bombs.

Suddenly they are set off one by one blowing stuff up left right and centre. One minute casually fixing a car as a mechanic the next minute you’re plowing through barriers to decommissioned army barracks and blowing up the building. And they just keep coming, hitting targets all over the place. What’s scary is the fact that theres 51 sleepers ready to be activated!

Who could be doing this? really there can only be one person so dastardly, so ruthless, that it has to be Donald Pleasence playing a disgruntled rogue KGB agent called Nicolai Dalchimsky who has acquired a little black book filled with all the agents addresses and most importantly to him, their phone numbers.

Tagline – Your next phone call may be your last!

Who can stop this madman who could actually start world war 3? Well step up Mr Charles Bronson as Russian Major Grigori Borzov, an experienced officer within the KGB with photographic memory superpower. He gets to memorise a copy of the black book before he is sent to the USA to track down and stop Nicolai.

What name does this Russian super agent go by?  “Gary“! Gary meets up with a sassy CIA agent Barbara played by Lee Remick and she is greeted with the line.

“For an American agent you’re not entirely repulsive!”

There’s lots of great banter and sly spy work chemistry between Gary and Barbara as they try to figure each other out whilst tracking down Nicolai Dalchimsky. Can these two agents work together to bring down this rogue agent on a destructive path trying to start a world war? You have to get this on the watch list to find out if you haven’t seen it already.

On a side note – Criminally under used in a wonderful little part, is Tyne Daly from Cagney and Lacey fame playing a super brained boffin, CIA computer expert called Dorothy Putterman. Would liked to see more of her used. She was never better than Kate Moore in The Enforcer annoying Harry Callahan.

Ground Zero (1987) – Cold War In The Outback

One way to write a good screenplay is to use historical facts for your plot and then jazz it up with some fiction. Ground Zero really doesn’t need “jazzing up” as the original source material is horrific in it’s own right but with a tweak here and there this 80’s Australian film casts a thrilling story. It also scores big points for a collection of amazing imagery which give the outback set pieces a science fiction movie feel.

And guess what after yesterday’s Cul-de-Sac this is the third film within in a month with the truly wonderful Donald Pleasence. The other film was the exceptional Wake In Fright.

Cameraman and film editor, Harvey Denton (Colin Friels) works for a news organisation in the city and freelances from his apartment. In his spare time he converts and edits old family video footage his father took in the 50’s. Also a cameraman, his father was a documentary film-maker working with the army during the secret testing of nuclear explosions in Maralinga in outback South Australia, which he then just vanished.

With the Royal Commission investigating the historical events with the excavation of a radioactive Vickers Valiant bomber which surprisingly contained the skeletal remains of what looks like a murder victim. Could this body be Harvey Dentons missing father? And why are different organisation interested in getting their hands on his family home movies? Motivated to find out what the blue blazes is going on he starts to investigate.

This leads to encounters with the head of the Royal Commission, Trebilcock (Jack Thompson) who is desperately looking for a lost reel of 35mm camera film. This links to a very eccentric old army veteran called Prosper Gaffney.  Who could that be played by you may ask? Hehe of course it’s Donald Pleasence.

Now Prosper Gaffney lives out in the outback right near to the quarantine zone at Maralinga. He is now wheelchair bound and relies on the help of his Aboriginal friend Charlie (Burnham Burnham) who is blind, so they both help each other in different ways. 

Does Prosper Gaffney know anything that can help Harvey Denton out on his quest? Can he find this film reel and give it to the right people to help bring justice to the Indigenous people of Maralinga who had their land, homes, family life and generations of health problems dropped on them from the British nuclear tests allowed through the Australian government.

Like I said at the top, this story has been enhanced but a lot is very true and just as horrific. As Britain raced to become one of the “nuclear” superpowers during the Cold War they needed somewhere to do their tests. Did they know the exact damage these appalling tests would cause, it’s had to say at the time but it now seems they did and they blamed it on the severe weather change.

Lots of the characters are loosely based on real people and if it is of interest then please read the links I have added at the bottom of this post to see the awful truth of the horrors of humanity.

It’s an excellent taunt fast paced action mystery film and what with two good performances from Colin Friels and Jack Thompson there’s also that whacked out psychedelic performance from Donald Pleasence who lights up his screen time. It has it’s problems but mainly it’s very enjoyable movie with it’s heart in the right place. Check it out. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

It’s on youtube in full at the moment if you fancied it. All the best… Mikey Wolfman

Further Reading Links

British nuclear tests at Maralinga
An article entitled 60’s years after the Maralinga bomb tests
Ground Zero (1987) Wiki
Ground Zero (1987) Oz Movies Site
Ground Zero (1987)

Cul-De-Sac (1966) Eggs, Mead and Pleasence in a Dress

Can you judge a film by it’s cover? Yeah course you can in this case! Flicking through a few movie titles on a search for something different I stumbled across the intriguing title of Cul-De-Sac. What grabbed me in was the minimalist artwork from the cover of The Criterion Collection release and then the hook, line and sinker, Donald Pleasence. Oh I do love a good Donald performance and this film highlights his quirky style to the fullest.

Then I saw the original poster artwork from Jan Lenica and that settled it, this film was going to be awesome no matter what and you know what dude, it’s absolutely fabulous. Two hours of just beautifully made tension, comedy, banter and wonder. All from three main characters and one real setting, a 15th century castle called Lindisfarne.

A quick glance at the plot summary.

“Two wounded gangsters on the run find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife in search of help, however, under the point of a gun nothing is what it seems…”

What aspired was a thoroughly absorbing film which I just could not keep my peepers off. Not what I was expecting from the synopsis and all the more fun because of it.

Donald Pleasence plays George an eccentric middle aged gentleman who has sold his business and purchased a castle as a retreat for himself and his young beautiful, saucy flirtatious French wife Teresa played by Francoise Dorleac. This castle is situated out on a causeway which gets surrounded by the tides making it an ideal secluded hideaway. Life is spent painting and making mead wine and eating eggs, hundreds of eggs. Teresa makes atomic strength vodka, plays records and entertains a few friends if you know what I mean!

What comes to turn things upside down is the arrival of two men caught driving along the causeway by the incoming tides in a truly delightful filmed opening sequence. Injured and “driving” the car is Albie played by Jack MacGowran and looking out for him is his partner, the hulkish Richard played with such passion by Hart To Hart’s Max, the wonderful talent of Lionel Stander.

They are on the run from a job gone sour and stumble across this hideaway. Waiting to get picked up from their gangster employer they take over the castle until they get rescued. The beauty is Richard’s character, he catches you off guard as this brutish hulk with his gravelly voice and giant size but under that frame is an almost innocent sweet nature which he turns off and on, hot and cold.

If you haven’t seen it before I thoroughly recommend you tracking it down as it’s a real joy, the situations  and character building with the unconventional way the story develops and plays out is masterful. Directed by Roman Polanski and co written by himself and Gerard Brach. If you have seen it, what did you think?

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Sad Fact – After enjoying the alluring beauty and fun performance by Françoise Dorléac it was so sad to read she died in a car chase at the young age of 25. Her sister Catherine Deneuve went on to be a big star and I notice that the two sisters starred in a 1967 film together called The Young Girls Of Rochefort. It sounds like a fun film and be nice to see more Françoise Dorléac. Any recommendations, please let me know.

By the way that quirky jazz record Teresa puts on the turntable is by Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda who scores the soundtrack. Here is that record to play us out.

Love film, relax, eat, drink and be entertained by the art of film. Love Wolfie x

Truck Turner (1974) – Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile

Big black baldy bail bondsman bounty hunter Truck Turner busts heads in this gloriously fun 70’s smasher starring that Hot Buttered Soul Love Machine himself Isaac Hayes. Not only does he get to trash a whole array of pimps and dealers, he gets to take on the soundtrack duties, adding the funk grooves to the proceedings. Nothing sounds better than watching crazy clothed pimps and hoes and wrecking ball car chases accompanied to the sound of wah wah guitar, dirty basslines, horn stabs and funky as hell drum breaks.

Injured former professional footballer Mack “Truck” Turner and his partner and good friend Jerry (Alan Weeks) work for bondsman Fogarty (Dick Miller) who has a pimp on the books called Gator (Paul Harris) who has skipped bail. Truck meets up with an old retired pimp friend Duke (Scatman Crothers) who points Truck and Jerry in the right direction.

This leads to what I had been waiting for, the chase theme from the soundtrack called “Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile“. It’s a 9 minute track and I’ll tell you I wasn’t expecting most of it to be in the film as the boys chase Gator across town, through backstreets, highways and some real random sets, like running across a water processing plant into an underground factory. With all the smashing and tires burning and some grand theft auto you also get a mass brawl in a bar. It’s a real frenzied action packed scene filled with frills and spills with a heap of comedic leanings. It’s a joyful sequence.

Here’s the trailer.

Dorinda – “We call her Turnpike, cuz you gotta pay to get on and pay to get off!”

Another deep joy is in the form of a certain sexy communications officer from Star Trek Lieutenant commander Nyota Uhura otherwise known as Nichelle Nichols. She looks like she having a ball playing Gators main girl and madame to a whole harem of prostitutes called Dorinda. Pulling off an amazing selection of bonkers looking outfits whist she barks orders and harsh put downs to everyone she meets. Anyone who lusted after Uhuru in their teens get a few nice little side boob action shots here and there. But damn this girl is one scary mo-fo!

Now to add to all the madness going on, in enters big bad number one pimp Harvard Blue aka Mr Big aka Kananga from Live and Let Die the one and only, the formidable Yaphet Kotto. He stands in with a whole bunch of comical dressed other pimps and to add to Trucks woes they order a gang of cleaners in to cause mayhem, hitman called the insurance men.

Through all this crazy our Truck has his girl, the hot Annie (Annazette Chase) to look after when she is just released from jail and also her pet cat! Promoting a strange love making scene with a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the onlooking pussy cat.

Annie – “Wow you wanna give me beer and screw me!”
Truck – “Alright alright alright we’re stop and get something to eat first!”

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan who bought us a different truck smasher in the likes of White Line Fever but also another blaxploitation film called The Slams starring Jim Brown which I really wouldn’t mind seeing.

Fun Fact – I read that Isaac Hayes and his band played the entire score for director Jonathan Kaplan at Hayes’s home. I bet that was an amazing night of jams.