Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray (1962)iMDB Rating: 8.0 Date Released : 21 November 1962 Genre : Drama Stars : Hardy Krüger, Nicole Courcel, Patricia Gozzi, Daniel Ivernel. After killing a child on a routine bombing mission in Vietnam, Pierre suffers from delayed stress and partial amnesia. Returning to France, he lives like a vegetable until he meets a young girl who has been dumped by her father at a boarding school. Posing as her father, Pierre contrives to meet the girl every Sunday, to play with her and perhaps recover his memory. The innocent friendship is ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
After killing a child on a routine bombing mission in Vietnam, Pierre suffers from delayed stress and partial amnesia. Returning to France, he lives like a vegetable until he meets a young girl who has been dumped by her father at a boarding school. Posing as her father, Pierre contrives to meet the girl every Sunday, to play with her and perhaps recover his memory. The innocent friendship is misread by nearly everyone, even people who know Pierre well. A classic of old French art films.
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Review :
Still potent, 40 years later
A remarkable film with an astonishing capacity to touch your heart and open your mind. A refreshingly original story that doesn't lapse into exploiting potentially "adult" themes.
Hardy Kruger succeeds in taking you with his character into his child like view of the world (caused by shell shock in Indochine). Patricia Gozzi is a rare child actress whose performance is completely free of the usual self-conscious effort found in recent films. Entire cast is strong.
The black and white cinematography is amongst the best I've ever seen. The camera seems remarkably aware of textures and temperatures. Some images are reminiscent of Ansel Adams' silver gelatin prints. Don't miss any opportunity to see this rare gem of a film. The characters, stories and images will follow you for a long, long time. It will make you wish that Director Serge Bourguignon had a much longer filmography.
The Fall of Rome (1963)iMDB Rating: 5.3 Date Released : 18 July 1963 Genre : Drama Stars : Carl Möhner, Loredana Nusciak, Ida Galli, Andrea Aureli." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Caperucita y sus tres amigos (1961)iMDB Rating: 4.5 Date Released : 12 December 1964 Genre : Fantasy, Drama, Mystery Stars : María Gracia, Manuel 'Loco' Valdés, Santanón, Consuelo Guerrero de Luna Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A gypsy cures the wound that a snake inflicts on Caperucita. The Wolf, the Dog and the Skunk befriend a little girl, but incomprehension makes them go back to the wild life.
Accidente 703 (1962)iMDB Rating: 5.5 Date Released : 6 August 1962 Genre : Drama Stars : Nuria Torray, Carlos Estrada, Julia Gutiérrez Caba, José Luis López Vázquez." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
An interesting José María Forqué's film with very good actors.
"Hector" you drive with "Luisa", the road linking Madrid and Barcelona. When another car unexpectedly cross your path, your vehicle runs off the road and plunges into a tree. "Hector" dies and she is seriously injured. The other car was occupied by "Jorge" and "Paula", his lover. Several vehicles cross before the car accident and do not stop, each for a different reason. Among them is "Julio", a truck driver who does not stop on time to your destination, knowing that in that car accident was his girlfriend.
José María Forqué directed this interesting film, in which we will highlight two main actors: Carlos Estrada whose real name was Jorge Otero Logares Demetrio. He began his career playing theater in Argentina. In 1961 he moved to Spain where he did his most important role in "Aunt Tula" (1964) by Miguel Picazo. In the sixties he returned to Argentina where he continued working as an actor in both film and theater. Among other films starred in "Accident 703", "Song of Youth", "Plaza de Oriente", "double-edged Crime", "Lovers of Verona", "Lola dark mirror" ...
Julia Gutiérrez Caba began in films in 1960 with Juan Antonio Bardem in "At five in the afternoon." For this character won the Sant Jordi a year later. After playing, among other films, "Accident 703" (Performing Association Award in 1962), "The Great Family" and "Nothing ever happens", to name a few, focused on theatrical activity, temporarily away from celluloid, which return to "light wound" (1997), by José Luis Garci. With Garci also worked on "You're the one", for which he won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in 2000. In 2010 he participated in "Julia's Eyes" by Guillem Morales.
"Accident 703" is a coral film showing a day in the life of a number of characters that will be involved to a greater or lesser degree in the death of a man. It is a film with moralistic zeal but with some logic. It is one of the most attractive and unique films of Spanish cinema with tremendous force at visual and aesthetic value unlimited. It harmed only by the stroke of some unlikely characters.
It is a film of "thesis" as that term was understood at the time it was made. Several characters who pass by when a tragic car accident will star as many stories. The presiding outdated moral sense development vainly tries alleviated with an episode with more or less humor.
Bring Me the Vampire (1963)iMDB Rating: 4.1 Date Released : 14 June 1963 Genre : Horror, Comedy, Mystery Stars : María Eugenia San Martín, Carlos Riquelme, Héctor Godoy, Ramón Bugarini Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A group of would-be beneficiaries gather for the reading of a will, and discover that they must spend the night in a spooky castle to gain their inheritance. A spooky housekeeper and a man who seems to be a vampire are just two of the obstacles that might deter them.
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Review :
3/10 **/5 ~ Vintage Mexican Vampire opus with spooky atmosphere but poor comedy.
Échenme al Vampiro (1963) (Bring Me the Vampire) is an unfunny "spooky comedy" set in an Old Dark House and reminiscent of The Cat and the Canary and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None.
The film is contemporary to, but no match for, the classics of the Mexican vampire cinema (notably Fernando Mendez's El Vampiro/The Vampire (1957) and El Ataud del Vampiro/The Vampire's Coffin, and Alfonso Corona Blake's amazing Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiras/Samson vs. the Vampire Women) which are rich in shadowy atmosphere carefully modeled on the Hollywood Gothic films of the 1930's and 1940's. Students of international mid-century genre films might enjoy the pleasantly spooky visuals.
The low-budget film is one of dozens of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction films imported to U.S. television and kiddie-matinées by American entrepreneur K. Gordon Murray with unintentionally humorous dubbing done at the infamous Soundlab Studios in Florida (where people must have been literally dragged off the street to do the readings).
Usted puede ser un asesino (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.0 Date Released : 20 May 1961 Genre : Comedy Stars : Alberto Closas, Amparo Soler Leal, José Luis López Vázquez, Julia Gutiérrez Caba." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Twenty Plus Two (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.1 Date Released : 13 August 1961 Genre : Mystery Stars : David Janssen, Jeanne Crain, Dina Merrill, Agnes Moorehead." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A lawyer begins a search for a woman who went missing as a teen ten years before. He is also forced at gunpoint to take on a search for the missing brother of "the king of the confidence men." He interviews colorful characters, knocks on doors, has flashbacks to his own life, and it all comes together at the end.
The plot is intriguing. It is complicated enough to demand your full attention, but not so complicated to be hard to follow. The jazz score has been done many times before and since. It goes well with the movie, but it is inappropriately intrusive here and there.
All in all, a nice, neat job. My one complaint is that costar, Jeanne Crain, has little to do here. The costar should have been Dina Merril. I am not so much concerned about billing, I am just a devoted fan of Jeanne Crain
The Sinister Urge (1960)iMDB Rating: 2.3 Date Released : 8 December 1960 Genre : Crime, Drama, Thriller Stars : Kenne Duncan, Duke Moore, Jean Fontaine, Carl Anthony Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Someone is killing young women in the park. Police suspect it's related to the smut picture racket, and begin leaning on Gloria Henderson, a smut front woman for the "mob." Her right arm man continues to procure young women with stars in their eyes to submit to their heinous celluloid activities, and if the women try blackmail, they call in a specialist to take care of the problem.
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Review :
High Camp From Ed Wood Jr
Don't fall into the evil world of pornography!
This movie is classic Wood. For some reason, I have a hard time seeing it as being made in 1961, however.
It's great going through, looking for how many errors due to budget constraints there are, continuity errors, all the usual. Add to this the stiff acting and memorized lines, and you're all set. I enjoyed this movie, and see new stupid errors in it every time I watch it, it can supply you with hours of entertainment.
Don't expect Ben Hur, but if you enjoy Ed Wood, or haven't seen anything else by him but want a classic example of his work, this is one you'll want to see.
Die Schatten werden länger (1961)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 11 August 1961 Genre : Drama Stars : Hansjörg Felmy, Luise Ullrich, Barbara Rütting, Fred Tanner." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
It is not clear whether this was meant as a melodrama or as a Problemfilm that concerns itself with difficult adolescent girls. In the end it is neither: it ends like a trash thriller, while exploitation is constantly in the background. Vajda's direction is only competent and does not do anything to make an already so-so script work. The film could have been dismissed were it not that there is Luise Ulrich, German star since the 30's is in the cast.
Probabilità zero (1969)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 1 November 1975 Genre : Action, Drama, War Stars : Henry Silva, Luigi Casellato, Riccardo Salvino, Ezio Sancrotti." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Another Better-Than-Average Spaghetti Euro War Thriller
Maurizio Lucidi's PROBABILITY: ZERO has a lot of things going for it. "Mistar Ice" Henry Silva -- who did not age between 1969 and 1989, apparently -- leads a misfit commando squad on what somewhat predictably becomes a suicide mission behind German lines to infiltrate & destroy an impregnable Nazi fortress using a recycled torpedo. Gritty commando raids, some brutal small-unit battle scenes, convincing scuba combat footage and a grim overtone of doom for those involved make this one somewhat less of a cartoon Spaghetti Western with tanks and more of a "conventional" war movie: The subject is treated with a kind of seriousness that fans of war movies in general will find quite satisfactory.
The movie's plot also touches on most of the traditional Spaghetti War formula topics in a manner that Ernesto Gastaldi would have been proud of: We get the obligatory Commando Raid Against All Odds theme, a Devil May Care Squad Leader a bit too dedicated to his mission to the point where his motivations become ambiguous, the Seemingly Washed-Up Team Members he puts his faith in who must overcome personal demons to prove effective at their assignments, the Mata Hari-Like Femme Fatale who must use her beauty & body to help defeat the enemy, the Heroic Sacrifice Scene where one of the team members has to make a decision between his own life and the completion of the mission, the Impregnable Fortress Objective with it's allied victory stultifying WMD that needs to be neutralized lest the Nazis win, the War is Hell Sequence where the arbitrary cruelty of war is brought home to the viewer, the Ruthless Commander Intermission where an otherwise sympathetic officer is forced to kill against his wishes to ensure the safety of others, the Good Guys Dressed Up In Nazi Uniforms Flourish, which always look a bit too good on them (even Captain Kirk fell victim to that plot device at one point), and a fittingly somber & downbeat ending to emphasize that this was only one episode in a war that cost millions on both sides their lives; The mission may be over but the battle continues, and War Is Hell.
PROBABILITY ZERO's production standards are surprisingly high, with weapons, locations and sets all having a feel of authenticity to them. Doubtlessly filmed in Spain & Italy, the movie covers some familiar ground to those who have seen their share of Spaghetti Westerns or other Euro War potboilers: One valley in particular is recognizable as being the same one used in THE GRAND DUEL and TEPAPA to name just two which come to mind sitting here typing. The acting is universally competent, with an ensemble cast all hitting the right notes rather than one or two standout stars stealing the show. Henry Silva's rather sinister air of duality is well suited to his role as a commando leader who must keep his attention focused on their mission rather than the team's well being, and his final exit scene is actually quite fitting. Kind of puts a lump in your throat, and who wants a war movie with a happy ending? War Is Hell, after all.
The music by veteran genre composer Carlo Rustichelli moderates between stirring odes to the film's martial themes and more pensive, thoughtful organ sections fitting of the more bleak aspects of the costs of war. And Dario Argento's screenplay is also appropriately convoluted, with double crosses, hatred rivalries between comrades, somewhat scintillating exploitation, and the kind of romanticized droll posturing dialog that one might expect from an Italian Spaghetti B-movie actioner. Some decent talent and a bit more money than usual was sunk into this project, including above average title design during the opening credits. Such may not seem like that big of a deal but usually these potboilers went about the low-cost, no frills route, and it is revealing of the film's attempt at prestige to see a title sequence that brings to mind those of Sergio Leone.
All in all this would be another good starting point for traditional war movie buffs in looking at the Italian Euro War boom from 1967 - 1970 or so. Only about 50 to 75 examples of the form were made and most of them were content to be entertainments rather than statements about the conflict, the men/women who fought it, and the price they paid to defeat the scourge of Fascism. Here is one that does, and like some of the better examples -- SALT IN THE WOUND, THE WAR DEVILS, A PLACE IN HELL, DESERT COMMANDOS -- has stood the test of time well enough to be evaluated on it's own terms rather than as just an extension of a fad.
Martin u oblacima (1961)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 25 March 1961 Genre : Comedy Stars : Boris Dvornik, Ljubica Jovic, Joza Seb, Antun Nalis. Martin and his girlfriend Zorica are two students who live as subtenants in separate flats. Since that situation has devastating effect on their love life, they yearn after the place of their own. When Martin's landlords go to the hollidays, it seems that their prayers, at least temporarily, had been listened to. However, the idilla is very short one, because other people also want to use the ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Martin and his girlfriend Zorica are two students who live as subtenants in separate flats. Since that situation has devastating effect on their love life, they yearn after the place of their own. When Martin's landlords go to the hollidays, it seems that their prayers, at least temporarily, had been listened to. However, the idilla is very short one, because other people also want to use the situation.
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Review :
Killing dialogue
This is definitely a classic movie with exceptional dialogue (and acting is also on the old-croatian-school level). One can never forget 3 scenes: 1) Man1:Are we smoking? Man2: American? Man1: Box. , 2) Man1: Club soda for me. Man2: Club soda for me, also. , 3) Dancing and hugging in an empty building.
Legge di guerra (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.4 Date Released : 9 May 1961 Genre : War, Drama Stars : Mel Ferrer, Magali Noël, Peter van Eyck, Jean Desailly." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Konga (1961)iMDB Rating: 3.7 Date Released : 1 March 1961 Genre : Horror, Sci-Fi Stars : Michael Gough, Margo Johns, Jess Conrad, Claire Gordon. Dr.Decker comes back from Africa after a year, presumed dead. During that year, he came across a way of growing plants and animals to an enormous size. He brings back a baby chimpanzee to test out his theory. As he has many enemies at home, he decides to use his chimp, 'Konga' to 'get rid of them'. Then Konga grows to gigantic proportions and reaks havoc all over the city of London!!" /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Dr.Decker comes back from Africa after a year, presumed dead. During that year, he came across a way of growing plants and animals to an enormous size. He brings back a baby chimpanzee to test out his theory. As he has many enemies at home, he decides to use his chimp, 'Konga' to 'get rid of them'. Then Konga grows to gigantic proportions and reaks havoc all over the city of London!!
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Review :
A Guilty Pleasure!
This film is incredible in many ways. It has an outlandish story about a scientist who returns from Africa having been presumed lost who has found a botanical secret to growth in humans and other animals through injections of serums made from seedlings brought back from the jungle which he injects into a small chimp he also brings back from Africa that he uses as his primate guinea pig which after several injections(and murders of people standing in the scientist's way) grows to epic proportions and brings an end to his creator's dreams. Whew! It has one of the cruelest, unsympathetic protagonists in film, played with aplomb and panache by an overlooked Michael Gough. This man is on cruise control along his evil highway to glory and sexual satisfaction, at one point shooting his house cat at close range rather than have it possibly ruining his scientific discovery. Gough is incredible and his performance is worth a look at the film alone. The other actors are credible and the guy in the ape suit is believable till the last act. Wait till you see this King-Kong sized ape holding Gough and his assistant. When he throws the assistant to the ground, you can tell it is nothing more than a doll! Camp...camp and more camp!
The George Raft Story (1961)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 22 November 1961 Genre : Biography, Drama Stars : Ray Danton, Jayne Mansfield, Julie London, Barrie Chase. Dancer George Raft (Ray Danton) finds himself involved with the criminal underworld. After a conflict with gangster boss Frank Donatella (Joe de Santis), he is exiled to Hollywoood, where he wins a role in the film "Scarface" and becomes famous. He lives with actress Lisa Lang (Jayne Mansfield) in a huge villa, but when his mother dies, he deserts her. His career slides downhill until he is ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Dancer George Raft (Ray Danton) finds himself involved with the criminal underworld. After a conflict with gangster boss Frank Donatella (Joe de Santis), he is exiled to Hollywoood, where he wins a role in the film "Scarface" and becomes famous. He lives with actress Lisa Lang (Jayne Mansfield) in a huge villa, but when his mother dies, he deserts her. His career slides downhill until he is offered a part in "Some Like it Hot" and becomes famous again.
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Review :
Very Loosely Based
I doubt that George Raft will ever get his real story out there now that he's been gone since 1980. That he grew up in the gangster culture of the teens and Roaring Twenties in New York is certainly the case and the film reveals that he never drank. Probably a good thing for his liver that he did not indulge in the bathtub liquor during Prohibition. Maybe why he lived 87 years, the last 20 or so in some dire straits.
But after losing everything he made in Hollywood and after getting with barely a change of clothes from revolutionary Havana in 1959 this man needed a stake. So he sold the story of his life to B studio Allied Artists and the result was The George Raft Story.
Unfortunately too many people were still alive and names were changed to protect some not very innocent. Owney Madden, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano from the gangster world, Norma Shearer, Betty Grable, Virginia Pine, Marlene Dietrich from Hollywood.
Most of all there was George Raft's wife Grayce Mulrooney. He might have married any or all of those women whom he was linked to at times, but he married Ms. Mulrooney back in the Twenties and as she was a Catholic she would not grant him a divorce. She died in 1971 and she's most important factor missing from this film.
Frank Gorshin plays the part of another man very much alive, Mack Gray. Check his credits on this site, you'll find a lot of him in Raft films, but others as well. Gray was Raft's retainer from New York days and he was a mysterious individual. His nickname was Killer and no one ever knew how much truth there was in that nickname.
Among the women in this film that were involved with Raft are Jayne Mansfield, Julie London, and Barrie Chase. Jayne Mansfield is supposed to be Betty Grable, but a good thing she didn't use her real name or Grable would have sued.
Ray Danton played Raft and not badly, but he reminded me more of Joe Mantegna playing George Raft in the Warren Beatty classic Bugsy. As for Ben Siegel as much as could be told was in this film. The relationship is far more clearly delineated in Beatty's film.
Another 20 years we might have gotten the unvarnished version of George Raft's life. This one is real loosely based and George needed the money.
The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.1 Date Released : 5 May 1961 Genre : Action, Drama, Western Stars : Jim Davis, Merry Anders, Mark Allen, Addison Richards. The professional gambler Case Silverthorn wants to quit and retire to a small ranch in Marlpine he bought recently. On the way there he saves the Sheriff's life, who got into an ambush. However another man is dead - Will Donovan, from whom he bought the ranch! Neither the Sheriff nor Donovan's children know about the sale. So Case has to switch back to his former profession, while he tries to ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The professional gambler Case Silverthorn wants to quit and retire to a small ranch in Marlpine he bought recently. On the way there he saves the Sheriff's life, who got into an ambush. However another man is dead - Will Donovan, from whom he bought the ranch! Neither the Sheriff nor Donovan's children know about the sale. So Case has to switch back to his former profession, while he tries to clarify the situation. He comes across a group of cattle thieves.
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Review :
Jim Davis once again makes a fine lead in The Gambler Wore a Gun
In the year after Jim Davis made Noose for a Gunman for director Edward L. Cahn, he would also make this one for the same man. Once again, his character's name is Case, this time a gambler named Case Silverthorne who discovers a hanged man and a left-for-dead marshal named Dex Harwood (Mark Allen) who he saves. It seems that Case is claiming a deed for a ranch sold to him by a Will Donovan-the same man found on the hanging noose. Only no one knows about that deed certainly not Will's adult children, Jud and Sharon (Don Dorrell and Merry Anders). I'll stop there and just say this was another very good western Davis made as the lead who brought all his experience of previously playing both good and bad guys in support to the fore for his tough-but-honest portrayal here. Oh, and like the previous one, there's also a leading lady-in this case Ms. Anders-who helps in the climatic shooting that provides a great surprise considering women were rarely involved on such scenes in these old-fashioned oaters. So on that note, I recommend The Gambler Wore a Gun. P.S. I noticed that one of the characters was mentioning a ranch at a town called Southfork (or maybe it was Suffork, who knows considering some of the accents). How ironic since Davis would eventually portray Jock Ewing on the original "Dallas" which partly took place at the Southfork ranch!
An improvisational film depicting life in a boys' reform school.
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Review :
Good film about troubles youth
This is a very good film reminiscent of Truffaut's 400 BLOWS and Bunuel's LOS OLVIDADOS. The cast is made up of actual juvenile delinquents and the authenticity shows. The kids have no trouble playing themselves. Unfortunately the video that makes the rounds in the U.S. is very bad quality, suffering from the dreaded white subtitles lost in white background phenomena. It might be worth waiting for a film festival or revival screening. Takemitsu's score isn't as distinctive as his better known works, but it's still nice. A very light score representing care free youthfulness.
The Fascist (1961)iMDB Rating: 7.4 Date Released : 17 June 1965 Genre : Comedy Stars : Ugo Tognazzi, Georges Wilson, Gianrico Tedeschi, Elsa Vazzoler. 1944. Primo Arcovazzi a fanatic member of Brigate Nere (fascist organization) is in charge to bring an opponent to the regime, Prof. George Wilson, from Abruzzo to Roma. He accepted the mandate because of his wish to be upgraded to "Federale". They travel by a sidecar trough the disastrous Italy, near to the final collapse, under bombings and in agony. Nevertheless the bad situation, they manage ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
1944. Primo Arcovazzi a fanatic member of Brigate Nere (fascist organization) is in charge to bring an opponent to the regime, Prof. George Wilson, from Abruzzo to Roma. He accepted the mandate because of his wish to be upgraded to "Federale". They travel by a sidecar trough the disastrous Italy, near to the final collapse, under bombings and in agony. Nevertheless the bad situation, they manage to build up a kind of friendship. Primo, even if the signals of final destruction are near, doesn't lose his trust in the regime. The end is near.
Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray (1962)iMDB Rating: 8.0
