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THE LAST VALLEY (1971) - Great film about the 30 years war in 1600's Europe and starring Michael Caine and Omar Sharif. A Teacher finds and ideal valley deep in the hills of Germany to escape the war, but a band of merceneries who just slaughtered a village in a nearby valley finds this picturesque place. The teacher played by Sharif talks the mercenery Captain played by Caine to stay the winter instead of pillaging the village valley. Very interesting story and worth seeking out.

(http://www.jamesclavell.net/images/Last_Valley_Front.jpg)

THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY (1968) - Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, and Rita Moreno star in this film about professional kidnappers. This picture is good. The film actually convinced me that a kidnapping could actually work with the exchange of money and all. I always thought the idea of a successful kidnapping while getting away with the money would be impossible. It never made sense, but this film changes that. Good film with some good stars.

(http://www.einsiders.com/reviews/videorisks/images/nightday-4.jpg)

THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION (1957) - This is a film about Spanish rebels during the occupation of Spain by Napoleons forces. Frank Sinatra plays the rebel leader and Cary Grant an English artillary officer sent to keep a very large cannon away from the French. Sophia Loren has the female lead who is going back and forth between Sinatra and Grant, but the real star of this film is this incredibly big Spanish cannon. It will leave a lasting impression on you as I remember seeing parts of this film when very young. The film has some flaws, but I'm glad to have seen the whole thing after all these years. Good film.

(http://www.carygrant.net/fotogallery/prideandpassion/tpatp-lobby2.jpg)

Enjoyed all 3 films.

These are some interesting films you have selected. By the way, where have you been?

Oh, how you doing Menard? My daughter had the computer all tied up for a few days with school work then we had some things to do this weekend, so couldn't get near the computer, but I did see 5 movies during the week.

I've been trying to make it through a few of the Sinister Cinema tapes; dozed off a couple of times. I have a few WIP flicks on order that by reputation are supposed to be even sleazier than ESCAPE FROM HELL. I will post reviews after I have received and viewed them.

Thanks, I've been wanting to get through this genre and would like to get some help with all the available and significant titles. I think I will be seeing THE BIRD CAGE next or maybe the one you mentioned ESCAPE FROM HELL. Saw the trailer for THE BIRD CAGE and it looked better than BIG DOLL HOUSE.

I only have five Marlon Brando films to find as I've seen the rest. Here are the ones I'm still haven't seen.

Candy (will see it probably next month)
The Nightcomers (heard this is a good one)
Countess of Hong Kong
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Bedtimes Stories

Seen Marlon Brando's other films. He could have done many more films. He should have done more B-Movies, but I know he hated the business, but I think he would have been great in B-Movies.

He certainly seemed to have a tendency to pick and choose his films. Probably a good idea that he steered away from a lot of B-movies, since he was quite recognizable as a character, he could have easily become pigeon holed into that type of movie; and he probably knew that. LAST TANGO IN PARIS got him notoriety for the willingness and capability to do an off-center role while still being a serious role and probably breathed more life into his career. THE CHASE was one of my favorites he did, but that is probably because the TV stations liked to show that one, so I got to see it more than once.

Some of my favorite Brando films are:

The Wild One
On The Waterfront
Streetcar Named Desire
Mutiny on the Bounty
Burn !
One Eyed Jacks
Missouri Breaks
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now
Zapata
Young Lions
The Men
The Island of Dr. Monreau (yep, i liked it, but not the CGI)

The rest of his films are also good, but not great, but the ones I didn't like were:

Don Juan DeMarco (Depp was good, but not Brando)
The Ugly American

These are the WIP flicks I have or have on order that I will be viewing soon:

CAGED HEAT
CAGED WOMEN (A.K.A. VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON)
HOTEL PARADISE (The other movie from which parts were used for SAVAGE ISLAND)
BABES BEHIND BARS (More Brazilian sleaze)

I am checking on availabilty of the movies as I consider reviewing them. I want to try to avoid reviewing something if it is not available somewhere.

I strangely enough liked the Burt Lancaster/Michael York THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. But it has been a long time since I have seen it, so maybe I might feel differently after a second viewing.

Off the subject; if you want to see sleaze, I posed a review for FANTOM KILER. Serious giallo sleaze but not porn (pushing it though).

A cruel observation: In THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION lobby card, Cary Grant looks a little like Richardo Montalban(sp) and Frank Sinatra looks like Sophia's ugly sister.

I like all three versions of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. The one from the 70's is a also an enjoyable one. ISLE OF LOST SOULS is a good one also.

The uniforms were terrible in THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION. The French didn't look French and Grants English outfit wasn't very good either. Sopia Loren is always good. It's worth seeing though as the cannon is impressive and the attack on the fortress are good.



Post Edited (01-17-05 09:29)

As long as they don't give Cary Grant a line like, " Baby..baby..baby.., I think you will find my cannon to be....impressive."

That was one of Sinatra's lines.........................Wait that wasn't in the movie Menard !

I always get some laughs out of "The pride and the passion" whenever it's on TV. Together with some fury as well. The characters are so stereotypically "spanish" that make me want to blind myself with red irons, but the fact that the writers manged to get all the geographical facts wrong is quite amusing. Let's say it this way: If you ever happen to cross Spain with a giant gun, there are quite a lot of shorter routes.

I'm sure you would know better Neville than us over in the U.S. with you being from Spain and all. The film has many flaws, but it almost becomes a kind of fantasy film about a giant cannon. That's all I can really say about it. The cannon convincibly big in this film.



Post Edited (01-21-05 16:19)

Maybe the cannon was searching for it's long lost family. Does anyone know who it's 'fodder' was? ( :

Good one Menard. All you need now is Abbott and Costello and the film would have made a great comedy.

In the movie, Abbott and Costello could have played foot-soldiers. It could then have been called 'The Pride and the Bunion'. Honestly, I wouldn't be 'lion' to you. ( :

After that brief intermission, back to the topic. I've seen two of the films. "The Last Valley" and "The Pride and the Passion." Probably liking the former better then the latter. Though, I don't know whether neither one is that good. As said, "The Last Valley" covers the 30 Years War, and "The Pride and the Passion" covers the Penisular Campaign. Both wars rarely covered in films, that is at least until the Sharpe series on television, which also covered the Penisular Campaign in some depth. Both have interesting (IMHO) literary antecedents. "The Last Valley" was written and directed by writer James Clavell, and "The Pride and the Passion" is based on a better novel by C. S. Forester. If that last name doesn't mean anything, then think the Horatio Hornblower naval series.

I have "The Last Valley", and tried to watch it two times and got bored around the one hour mark both times. Which really disappointed me because the cast and the setting intrigued me. Glad you liked it better than I did.

Of the Brando films you haven't seen, the only one I've seen all of is "Bedtime Story" costarring David Niven. I guees you know it was remade as "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. "Bedtime Story" is a mildly cute studio comedy from the 60s. I'd say it's a decent lazy Sunday afternoon film, but nothing special. I was surprised how little of the plot was changed in the remake.