The biggest, most audacious James Bond movie during Sean Connery’s celebrated run as the British superspy is 1965’s Thunderball, a spectacular adaptation of the Ian Fleming novel of the same name. Thunderball sees the insidious terrorist syndicate Spectre steal two nuclear warheads from NATO and hold the world governments hostage for £100 million. After a run-in with Spectre operatives at a local clinic while recuperating from a recent mission, Bond suspects the warheads are hidden in the Bahamas and convinces M to investigate further. Upon arriving, Bond matches wits with high-ranking Spectre figure Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) and assassin Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi), romancing Largo’s girlfriend Domino (Claudine Auger) as he searches for the warheads.
Nearly 60 years after its initial release, Thunderball remains the highest-earning Bond film in North America after adjusting for inflation and is the second in the long-running series to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Nearly 60 years after its initial release, Thunderball remains the highest-earning Bond film in North America after adjusting for inflation and is the second in the long-running series to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
- 3/7/2024
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
The tough guys in Yves Boisset’s crime drama answer revenge with revenge, and Michel Bouquet’s rogue cop commits outrageous acts of lawlessness to nail his partner’s killer. The French censors were up at arms over Boisset’s slight to police honor, yet the subject isn’t corruption — everything is ‘honor and decency.’ A fine gallery of Gallic thugs fills out the cast; both they and the attitude toward law and order are a step beyond Jean-Pierre Melville, but not an improvement. With standout work from Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin and Bernard Fresson.
The Cop aka Un condé
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 6, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Michel Bouquet, Françoise Fabian, Gianni Garko, Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin, Anne Carrère, Bernard Fresson, Pierre Massimi, Roger Lumont.
Cinematography: Jean-Marc Ripert
Film Editor: Albert Jurgenson, Vincenzo Tomassi
Original Music:...
The Cop aka Un condé
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 6, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Michel Bouquet, Françoise Fabian, Gianni Garko, Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin, Anne Carrère, Bernard Fresson, Pierre Massimi, Roger Lumont.
Cinematography: Jean-Marc Ripert
Film Editor: Albert Jurgenson, Vincenzo Tomassi
Original Music:...
- 9/13/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Double your Diabolik and double your pleasure! … this Australian import chases a domestic disc onto the market after only a few months, but of course comes with irresistible new extras to tempt collectors and completists. Mario Bava’s funny, dynamic action thriller was the first feature to really capture the graphic art ‘feeling’ of comic panels — we wish he’d directed a whole series of Diabolik adventures. The evaluation section notes the small differences between this disc and the U.S. release from last April.
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
- 12/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Oh Joy, Oh Rapture! Mario Bava’s comic book thriller makes the jump to Blu-ray in fine shape, with knockout visuals and eye-popping color. John Philip Law, Marisa Mell, Terry-Thomas and the late Michel Piccoli are all irreplaceable in this one-of-a-kind show. Bava’s film translates action comic fantasy into cinematic terms, pictorial appeal and dynamism intact. The disc comes with a pair of excellent commentaries, featuring Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, Tim Lucas and John Philip Law himself.
Danger: Diabolik
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory
1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date May 19, 2020 / Available from Shout! Factory
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli,
Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava
We...
Danger: Diabolik
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory
1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date May 19, 2020 / Available from Shout! Factory
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli,
Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava
We...
- 5/23/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Auger in a publicity photo for "Thunderball".
By Lee Pfeiffer
French model-turned actress Claudine Auger has passed away at age 78. Auger was France's entry in the Miss World contest at age 17 in 1958. She later entered the movie profession and caught the eye of James Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman when they were casting the female lead for the fourth 007 blockbuster "Thunderball" starring Sean Connery in 1965. Auger wasn't their first choice, as Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie and Raquel Welch had been considered, but for different reasons, did not end up playing the pivotal role. In the film, Auger played Domino, the mistress of Spectre villain Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi. Domino seems content with the life of luxury afforded her by Largo but upon being seduced by James Bond, she courageously risks her life to help him thwart Spectre's nuclear threat to Miami Beach. Although Auger could speak fluent English,...
By Lee Pfeiffer
French model-turned actress Claudine Auger has passed away at age 78. Auger was France's entry in the Miss World contest at age 17 in 1958. She later entered the movie profession and caught the eye of James Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman when they were casting the female lead for the fourth 007 blockbuster "Thunderball" starring Sean Connery in 1965. Auger wasn't their first choice, as Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie and Raquel Welch had been considered, but for different reasons, did not end up playing the pivotal role. In the film, Auger played Domino, the mistress of Spectre villain Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi. Domino seems content with the life of luxury afforded her by Largo but upon being seduced by James Bond, she courageously risks her life to help him thwart Spectre's nuclear threat to Miami Beach. Although Auger could speak fluent English,...
- 12/20/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
French actor Claudine Auger, who broke through internationally with her part opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond film “Thunderball,” has died. She was 78.
Auger’s talent agency Art Time announced the news and said she had died in Paris.
Auger started her acting career with a small part in the 1958 film “Christine,” in which she starred alongside Romy Schneider and Alain Delon. She then appeared in Jean Cocteau’s 1960 film “Testament Of Orpheus.”
She was the first French actress to be cast as a “Bond girl” in a movie with the dashing British spy, years ahead of Lea Seydoux, Sophie Marceau, Eva Green and Carole Bouquet. In 1965’s “Thunderball,” she played “Domino,” a femme fatale and mistress of Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) who falls in love with Bond and helps him bring down a criminal organization. She reportedly won the role over Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway and Julie Christie.
Auger’s talent agency Art Time announced the news and said she had died in Paris.
Auger started her acting career with a small part in the 1958 film “Christine,” in which she starred alongside Romy Schneider and Alain Delon. She then appeared in Jean Cocteau’s 1960 film “Testament Of Orpheus.”
She was the first French actress to be cast as a “Bond girl” in a movie with the dashing British spy, years ahead of Lea Seydoux, Sophie Marceau, Eva Green and Carole Bouquet. In 1965’s “Thunderball,” she played “Domino,” a femme fatale and mistress of Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) who falls in love with Bond and helps him bring down a criminal organization. She reportedly won the role over Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway and Julie Christie.
- 12/20/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
French actress Claudine Auger, noted for her role as Dominique “Domino” Derval in James Bond film Thunderball, has died at the age of 78.
The news was announced by her agency Time Art, which said she died in Paris on Thursday (December 20), as reported by numerous French press. No cause of death was disclosed.
Auger began her acting career in France when Jean Cocteau cast her in a small role in his 1960 pic Testament Of Orpheus. At the age of 18, she married the French filmmaker Pierre Gaspard-Huit, who was 43 at the time, and he cast her in several of his films including his 1958 film Christine in which she appeared alongside Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.
Her big break came when she landed the role of Domino in Thunderball, the fourth pic in the James Bond franchise in which she starred with Sean Connery, playing the mistress of arch villain Emilio Largo...
The news was announced by her agency Time Art, which said she died in Paris on Thursday (December 20), as reported by numerous French press. No cause of death was disclosed.
Auger began her acting career in France when Jean Cocteau cast her in a small role in his 1960 pic Testament Of Orpheus. At the age of 18, she married the French filmmaker Pierre Gaspard-Huit, who was 43 at the time, and he cast her in several of his films including his 1958 film Christine in which she appeared alongside Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.
Her big break came when she landed the role of Domino in Thunderball, the fourth pic in the James Bond franchise in which she starred with Sean Connery, playing the mistress of arch villain Emilio Largo...
- 12/20/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
This week’s horror and sci-fi Blu-ray and DVD titles are an eclectic bunch, led by a pair of cult classics—Fright and Straight on Till Morning—which were both directed by Peter Collinson. Arrow Video put together a special edition release for Who Saw Her Die?, which this writer is really looking forward to checking out in the coming weeks, and Unearthed Classics is resurrecting Nightwish on both formats as well.
In terms of new films, The Velocipastor arrives on Tuesday on both Blu and DVD, and for those of you who missed it in theaters, Dark Phoenix rises again on multiple formats, and Clownado touches down this week on DVD as well.
Other notable releases for September 17th include The Night Sitter, D-Railed, The Bloody Ape, Return of the Scarecrow, and The Films of Sarah Jacobson: Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore & I Was a Teenage Serial Killer from Agfa.
In terms of new films, The Velocipastor arrives on Tuesday on both Blu and DVD, and for those of you who missed it in theaters, Dark Phoenix rises again on multiple formats, and Clownado touches down this week on DVD as well.
Other notable releases for September 17th include The Night Sitter, D-Railed, The Bloody Ape, Return of the Scarecrow, and The Films of Sarah Jacobson: Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore & I Was a Teenage Serial Killer from Agfa.
- 9/17/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Giallos run hot and cold, but this one has plenty to recommend it — a serious outlook, a focus on elements other than gore, beautiful cinematography on terrific locations in Venice, and committed performances from Anita Strindberg, Adolfo Celi and an unusual choice, ex- 007 George Lazenby. Director Aldo Lado takes this one in a different direction than Giallo maestro Dario Argento — with a humanistic bent and a compelling performance by child actress Nicoletta Elmi. Plus a piercing music score by Ennio Morricone, sung by a children’s choir.
Who Saw Her Die?
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen Techniscope / 94 min. / Chi l’ha vista morire? / Street Date September 17, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: George Lazenby, Anita Strinderg, Nicoletta Elmi, Adolfo Celi, Dominique Boschero, José Quaglio, Alessandro Haber, Rosmarie Lindt.
Cinematography: Franco Di Giacomo
Film Editor: Angelo Curi
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Francesco Barilli, Massimo D’Avak in collaboration with Aldo Lado, Ruediger Von...
Who Saw Her Die?
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen Techniscope / 94 min. / Chi l’ha vista morire? / Street Date September 17, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: George Lazenby, Anita Strinderg, Nicoletta Elmi, Adolfo Celi, Dominique Boschero, José Quaglio, Alessandro Haber, Rosmarie Lindt.
Cinematography: Franco Di Giacomo
Film Editor: Angelo Curi
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Francesco Barilli, Massimo D’Avak in collaboration with Aldo Lado, Ruediger Von...
- 9/10/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Former Bond star George Lazenby headlines this classic giallo directed by Aldo Lado as compelling for its haunting atmosphere, twists and turns as for its parallels with another great Venetian horror/thriller Nicolas Roeg s Don t Look Now.
Sculptor Franco Serpieri (Lazenby) welcomes Roberta his young daughter from a failed marriage to Venice, unaware that a disturbed child-killer is stalking the city s canals. When Roberta s body is found floating face-down in the river, the lives of Franco and his estranged wife Elizabeth are ripped asunder. Desperate for vengeance, Franco turns detective in a bid to track down his daughter s killer, and in the process unearths shocking evidence of depravity and corruption which implicates some of the most respected figures in Venetian society.
Released at the height of the giallo boom, this gripping mystery thriller boasts some of the most iconic names associated with the genre on both sides of the camera.
Sculptor Franco Serpieri (Lazenby) welcomes Roberta his young daughter from a failed marriage to Venice, unaware that a disturbed child-killer is stalking the city s canals. When Roberta s body is found floating face-down in the river, the lives of Franco and his estranged wife Elizabeth are ripped asunder. Desperate for vengeance, Franco turns detective in a bid to track down his daughter s killer, and in the process unearths shocking evidence of depravity and corruption which implicates some of the most respected figures in Venetian society.
Released at the height of the giallo boom, this gripping mystery thriller boasts some of the most iconic names associated with the genre on both sides of the camera.
- 8/30/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Tim Greaves
The name Sergio Martino will strike a chord with anyone who has even a passing interest in Italian exploitation pictures of the 70s and 80s. Once seen, who can forget The Great Alligator or The Island of Fishmen – both of which are favourites of this writer in their showcasing of Barbara Bach at her most radiant – or premium Suzy Kendall giallo Torso, or for that matter once ‘video nasty’ and Ursula Andress headliner The Mountain of the Cannibal God? Marking Martino’s second giallo, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (o.t. La coda della scorpione), was released in 1971, sandwiched between a couple of his most highly regarded titles, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colours of the Dark. Scorpion’s Tail isn’t quite on a par with either of those, but it’s still a respectable entry in the sub-genre.
When...
The name Sergio Martino will strike a chord with anyone who has even a passing interest in Italian exploitation pictures of the 70s and 80s. Once seen, who can forget The Great Alligator or The Island of Fishmen – both of which are favourites of this writer in their showcasing of Barbara Bach at her most radiant – or premium Suzy Kendall giallo Torso, or for that matter once ‘video nasty’ and Ursula Andress headliner The Mountain of the Cannibal God? Marking Martino’s second giallo, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (o.t. La coda della scorpione), was released in 1971, sandwiched between a couple of his most highly regarded titles, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colours of the Dark. Scorpion’s Tail isn’t quite on a par with either of those, but it’s still a respectable entry in the sub-genre.
When...
- 8/7/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
This 1976 police thriller was gore-happy director Ruggero Deodato’s only foray into the genre but he leaves his fingerprints all over this brutal tale of a special squad of undercover cops given free reign in their strong armed tactics. It was familiar territory for both leading man Marc Porel (The Sicilian Clan) and co-star Adolfo Celi, the eye-patch wearing supervillain of 1965’s Thunderball.
- 12/15/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Stop the presses: International finance is designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. And that’s a bad thing. If either of these pronouncements comes as any surprise to you, then you’re the prime audience for “The Confessions,” an international thriller that has nothing new to say about either subject, but treats both of them as earth-shattering revelations. This is one of those stiff, polyglot, all-star affairs that resembles a 1960s international co-production where stars like Adolfo Celi and Mai Britt appeared in boxes along the bottom of the poster. Here we have a story set at the.
- 7/6/2017
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
This Story Has Been Updated.
By Lee Pfeiffer
Molly Peters, who began her career as a nude "glamour girl" model before starting a short-lived film career, has passed away at age 78. She had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer according to her husband but it was a stroke to which she succumbed. Peters' voluptuous appearance made her one of the more popular of the provocative models who posed for men's magazines in the 1960s. She posed for England's legendary photographer of nudes, Harrison Marks. She landed the only memorable role of her career in the 1965 James Bond blockbuster "Thunderball". In the film, Bond (Sean Connery) was sent to the Shrublands health spa to recuperate from some wear-and-tear. Here he encounters nurse Pat (Peters), a sexy blonde who conveniently is assigned to look after Bond's needs. Within short order Bond has her naked in a steam room. In another scene, Bond...
By Lee Pfeiffer
Molly Peters, who began her career as a nude "glamour girl" model before starting a short-lived film career, has passed away at age 78. She had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer according to her husband but it was a stroke to which she succumbed. Peters' voluptuous appearance made her one of the more popular of the provocative models who posed for men's magazines in the 1960s. She posed for England's legendary photographer of nudes, Harrison Marks. She landed the only memorable role of her career in the 1965 James Bond blockbuster "Thunderball". In the film, Bond (Sean Connery) was sent to the Shrublands health spa to recuperate from some wear-and-tear. Here he encounters nurse Pat (Peters), a sexy blonde who conveniently is assigned to look after Bond's needs. Within short order Bond has her naked in a steam room. In another scene, Bond...
- 5/30/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ten strangers. One hotel. One item on the agenda: murder. Tensions escalate as the body count rises in Peter Collinson's And Then There Were None, a 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians that's coming out on Blu-ray with a new HD master from Scorpion Releasing, Variety Films, and Kino Video in 2017.
From Scorpion Releasing: "Scorpion Releasing, in conjunction with Variety Films, coming in 2017, from a brand new 2016 HD master, Peter Collinson's Ten Little Indians (aka And There Were None) starring Oliver Reed, Richard Attenborough, Herbert Lom, Elke Sommers, Maria Rohm, Stephane Audran, Charles Aznavour, Gert Frobe, Adolfo Celi and Orson Welles. It will be released on DVD and BluRay, and sold at retailers via Kino."
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "A group is invited, under false pretenses, to an isolated hotel in the Iranian desert. After dinner, a cassette tape accuses them all of crimes that they have gotten away with.
From Scorpion Releasing: "Scorpion Releasing, in conjunction with Variety Films, coming in 2017, from a brand new 2016 HD master, Peter Collinson's Ten Little Indians (aka And There Were None) starring Oliver Reed, Richard Attenborough, Herbert Lom, Elke Sommers, Maria Rohm, Stephane Audran, Charles Aznavour, Gert Frobe, Adolfo Celi and Orson Welles. It will be released on DVD and BluRay, and sold at retailers via Kino."
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "A group is invited, under false pretenses, to an isolated hotel in the Iranian desert. After dinner, a cassette tape accuses them all of crimes that they have gotten away with.
- 12/27/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Look out! Here come two A.I.P. horror pix from the soggy end of the Poe cycle: the first features Jason Robards, an impressive cast and a disorganized storyline. The second is an almost-good Lovecraft horror with interesting performances from Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee. Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Dunwich Horror Blu-ray Color Scream Factory Street Date March 29, 2016 / 26.99
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Scream Factory's new double feature disc finishes off two different American-International horror series. The first picture is the last fright film made for the company by the directing and writing team of Gordon Hessler and Christopher Wicking. It's no gem, but it's a lot more interesting on a second viewing. The second is the company's final try to make that old joker H.P. Lovecraft into a filmic horror icon, like Edgar Allan Poe. It has a lot going for it, but also its own set of problems.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Scream Factory's new double feature disc finishes off two different American-International horror series. The first picture is the last fright film made for the company by the directing and writing team of Gordon Hessler and Christopher Wicking. It's no gem, but it's a lot more interesting on a second viewing. The second is the company's final try to make that old joker H.P. Lovecraft into a filmic horror icon, like Edgar Allan Poe. It has a lot going for it, but also its own set of problems.
- 3/8/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'And Then There Were None' movie with Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, June Duprez, Louis Hayward and Roland Young. 'And Then There Were None' movie remake to be directed by Oscar nominee Morten Tyldum One of the best-known Agatha Christie novels, And Then There Were None will be getting another big-screen transfer. 20th Century Fox has acquired the movie rights to the literary suspense thriller first published in the U.K. (as Ten Little Niggers) in 1939. Morten Tyldum, this year's Best Director Academy Award nominee for The Imitation Game, is reportedly set to direct. The source for this story is Deadline.com, which adds that Tyldum himself “helped hone the pitch” for the acquisition while Eric Heisserer (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010, The Thing 2011) will handle the screenplay adaptation. And Then There Were None is supposed to have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, thus holding the...
- 9/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Still the best-selling novelist of all time with over two billion books sold (beaten only by the Bible and Shakespeare), Dame Agatha Christie's singularly most famous mystery is set to get another film adaptation.
"The Imitation Game" director Morten Tyldum has been hired to helm a new film version of "And Then There Were None" which 20th Century Fox has just acquired the feature film rights to.
Eric Heisserer ("The Thing," "Final Destination 5") has been hired to pen the script for the new version which Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Hilary Strong will produce. The new one which reportedly boasts a "take that got the Christie estate excited."
The story follows ten strangers who are invited to an isolated island for a dinner party at the behest of a mysterious host. It's soon revealed they have been cut off from the mainland, and one of the...
"The Imitation Game" director Morten Tyldum has been hired to helm a new film version of "And Then There Were None" which 20th Century Fox has just acquired the feature film rights to.
Eric Heisserer ("The Thing," "Final Destination 5") has been hired to pen the script for the new version which Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Hilary Strong will produce. The new one which reportedly boasts a "take that got the Christie estate excited."
The story follows ten strangers who are invited to an isolated island for a dinner party at the behest of a mysterious host. It's soon revealed they have been cut off from the mainland, and one of the...
- 9/25/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Director Philippe De Broca (King of Hearts) directed this spy spoof at the apex of Bondmania in 1964 and transformed easy-going art-house favorite Jean-Paul Belmondo into a box office mega-star. Featuring a fast-paced globe-trotting chase for an Amazonian statue, That Man From Rio is more Indiana Jones than James Bond but French audiences didn’t care, making it the 5th highest earner at theaters that year. Co-starring the ethereal Françoise Dorléac and sporting an actual Bond villain, Adolfo Celi, the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Watch it here.
- 7/13/2015
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Director Philippe De Broca (King of Hearts) directed this spy spoof at the apex of Bondmania in 1964 and transformed easy-going art-house favorite Jean-Paul Belmondo into a box office mega-star. Featuring a fast-paced globe-trotting chase for an Amazonian statue, That Man From Rio is more Indiana Jones than James Bond but French audiences didn’t care, making it the 5th highest earner at theaters that year. Co-starring the ethereal Françoise Dorléac and sporting an actual Bond villain, Adolfo Celi, the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
- 7/13/2015
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Voice actor Robert Rietti has died, aged 92.
Rietti was known for lending his voice to James Bond villains when filmmakers wanted to re-record lines.
According to The Times, Rietti died on April 3.
Among the villains he dubbed were Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) in 1965's Thunderball and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (John Hollis) in 1981's For Your Eyes Only.
"In nearly every Bond picture, there's been a foreign villain, and in almost every case, they've used my voice," Rietti once said.
Throughout his career, he also voiced characters in The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Barbarella (1968), Frenzy (1972), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Trail of the Pink Panther (1982).
Rietti was known for lending his voice to James Bond villains when filmmakers wanted to re-record lines.
According to The Times, Rietti died on April 3.
Among the villains he dubbed were Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) in 1965's Thunderball and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (John Hollis) in 1981's For Your Eyes Only.
"In nearly every Bond picture, there's been a foreign villain, and in almost every case, they've used my voice," Rietti once said.
Throughout his career, he also voiced characters in The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Barbarella (1968), Frenzy (1972), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Trail of the Pink Panther (1982).
- 4/20/2015
- Digital Spy
The Late George Apley
"If I am remembered at all, it will be as the swine who rewrote Scott Fitzgerald," said Joseph L. Mankiewicz on numerous occasions, and though he does rate a mention in any Fitzgerald bio for his work revising Fitzgerald's screenplay of Three Comrades, he is also getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival. Apart from including his several acknowledged classics, this also shines a light on some of the less celebrated movies in the distinguished Hollywood auteur's body of work.
In particular, The Late George Apley (1947) and Escape (1948) are seldom-screened dramas with suave English leading men, Ronald Colman and Mankiewicz favorite Rex Harrison, both supported by the delightful Peggy Cummins.
The Late George Apley supplements the emotion with a good portion of the wit Mankiewicz was so famous for. I spoke briefly on the telephone to co-star Cummins, best known...
"If I am remembered at all, it will be as the swine who rewrote Scott Fitzgerald," said Joseph L. Mankiewicz on numerous occasions, and though he does rate a mention in any Fitzgerald bio for his work revising Fitzgerald's screenplay of Three Comrades, he is also getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival. Apart from including his several acknowledged classics, this also shines a light on some of the less celebrated movies in the distinguished Hollywood auteur's body of work.
In particular, The Late George Apley (1947) and Escape (1948) are seldom-screened dramas with suave English leading men, Ronald Colman and Mankiewicz favorite Rex Harrison, both supported by the delightful Peggy Cummins.
The Late George Apley supplements the emotion with a good portion of the wit Mankiewicz was so famous for. I spoke briefly on the telephone to co-star Cummins, best known...
- 10/9/2014
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...
- 7/25/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The racing is superb as is Daniel Brühl's performance but the film is undermined by clunky dialogue and fundamental untruths
It was Jackie Stewart who gave the old Nürburgring a nickname: the Green Hell. He hated the 14-mile circuit in the Eifel mountains. But that wasn't good enough for Peter Morgan. When the writer of Frost/Nixon and The Queen came to create his screenplay for Rush, the new film about the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, a more dramatic introduction was needed for the location of Lauda's terrible crash in 1976.
"In Formula One," a TV commentator announces in the film, setting the scene for the near-fatal weekend, "it is known as the Graveyard."
Well, no, it isn't. And it wasn't, even in 1976. Yes, five drivers died there during grand prix meetings. A terrible toll, of course. But at Monza, to take just one example, the equivalent...
It was Jackie Stewart who gave the old Nürburgring a nickname: the Green Hell. He hated the 14-mile circuit in the Eifel mountains. But that wasn't good enough for Peter Morgan. When the writer of Frost/Nixon and The Queen came to create his screenplay for Rush, the new film about the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, a more dramatic introduction was needed for the location of Lauda's terrible crash in 1976.
"In Formula One," a TV commentator announces in the film, setting the scene for the near-fatal weekend, "it is known as the Graveyard."
Well, no, it isn't. And it wasn't, even in 1976. Yes, five drivers died there during grand prix meetings. A terrible toll, of course. But at Monza, to take just one example, the equivalent...
- 9/6/2013
- by Richard Williams
- The Guardian - Film News
Spy movie fan Luca Pietramala posted this on his Facebook page recently. It's a toy industry trade magazine advertisement for a 1966 line of spy-related rubber hand puppets. The David McCallum/Illya puppet was produced along with the Sean Connery figure in a suit and the Harold Sakata/Oddjob figure. However, the Adolfo Celi as Largo and Connery scuba puppets never got beyond the prototype stage. The nagging question for the last half-century has been: when are they going to release a Robert Vaughn/Napoleon Solo puppet? We're starting to lose hope! ...
- 6/20/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
"Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She's just dead."
The tremendous box office success of Skyfall reinvigorated the James Bond franchise after the lackluster performance of the previous film in the series, Quantum of Solace, but tonight's Double-0 MovieMovie is still far and away the most financially successful of the franchise, when adjusted for ticket price inflation. It was also a critical favorite at the time of its release and earned an Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 1966 Academy Awards.
Thunderball finds 007 (Sean Connery) on a quest to recover two nuclear weapons stolen by the global terrorist organization Spectre — last seen in From Russia with Love — who threaten to blow up a major city in the U.S. or the U.K. unless Nato pays a ransom of £100 million in diamonds. Bond's investigation leads him to the Bahamas and the underwater fortress of Spectre's Number Two,...
The tremendous box office success of Skyfall reinvigorated the James Bond franchise after the lackluster performance of the previous film in the series, Quantum of Solace, but tonight's Double-0 MovieMovie is still far and away the most financially successful of the franchise, when adjusted for ticket price inflation. It was also a critical favorite at the time of its release and earned an Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 1966 Academy Awards.
Thunderball finds 007 (Sean Connery) on a quest to recover two nuclear weapons stolen by the global terrorist organization Spectre — last seen in From Russia with Love — who threaten to blow up a major city in the U.S. or the U.K. unless Nato pays a ransom of £100 million in diamonds. Bond's investigation leads him to the Bahamas and the underwater fortress of Spectre's Number Two,...
- 2/10/2013
- by BrentJS Sprecher
- Reelzchannel.com
For the next 22 weeks, MTV Movies Blog will be running what we call the Bond-a-Thond. Every Wednesday we're taking a look back at a single (official) Bond film, giving you the vitals and seeing how it holds up, right up until the release of "Skyfall" on November 9. Feel free to watch along with us and share your thoughts or just kick back and enjoy the Bond.
Thunderball (1965)
Title Meaning: Thunderball is the name given to the operation organized to recapture the stolen atomic bombs.
Plot: After taking "Goldfinger" off, evil international organization Spectre returns to hold two stolen atomic bombs for ransom. MI6 assembles all of the 00 agents to help retrieve them, but only James Bond is clever enough to track them to Nassau.
Bond: Sean Connery
Villain: Emilio Largo aka Number 2, Blofeld's second-in-command and the orchestrator of the ransom plot, played by Adolfo Celi, and Fiona Volpe, Spectre agent and murdering seductress,...
Thunderball (1965)
Title Meaning: Thunderball is the name given to the operation organized to recapture the stolen atomic bombs.
Plot: After taking "Goldfinger" off, evil international organization Spectre returns to hold two stolen atomic bombs for ransom. MI6 assembles all of the 00 agents to help retrieve them, but only James Bond is clever enough to track them to Nassau.
Bond: Sean Connery
Villain: Emilio Largo aka Number 2, Blofeld's second-in-command and the orchestrator of the ransom plot, played by Adolfo Celi, and Fiona Volpe, Spectre agent and murdering seductress,...
- 7/5/2012
- by Kevin P. Sullivan
- MTV Movies Blog
I haven't read Yan Martel's Booker Prize-winning novel so I don't really have any perspective from which to judge this first picture from Ang Lee's Life of Pi, which was adapted from the story of the same name. In the image you see Suraj Sharma as the titular character, Piscine Molitor Patel, a well-to-do zookeeper's son who leads a rich life acquiring a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. However, political changes in India cause the Patel family to choose to move to Canada where Pi ultimately finds himself adrift in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and, as the picture makes quite clear, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The rest of the story chronicles Pi's 227-day voyage across the Pacific, and the powerful story of faith...
- 4/25/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
James Bond 007 Declassified File #4: "Thunderball" This series will trace the cinema history of James Bond, while also examining Ian Fleming's original novels as source material and examining how faithful (or not) the films have been to his work. Directed by Terence Young Screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins and Jack Whittingham Story by Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming Produced by Kevin McClory and Stanley Sopel Characters / Cast James Bond / Sean Connery Domino Derval / Claudine Auger Largo / Adolfo Celi Fiona / Luciana Paluzzi Felix Leiter / Rik Van Nutter Count Lippe /...
- 4/24/2012
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Update: I've already realized I forgot to add Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly and John Hillcoat's The Wettest County to this list. That would make 27. I haven't yet gotten around to cleaning up "The Contenders" section of the site just yet and while some may argue it's too early to look toward the 2013 Oscars considering we just closed the book on the 2012 Oscar ceremony I have to kindly disagree. If for no other reason, looking at films that might be vying for Best Picture next year we get to sort through a bunch of films that may end up being considered the year's best. What's wrong with that? Granted, as is often the case when looking this far into the future, several of these films may end up being duds. Some may not actually hit theaters in 2012 (though most do have established release dates) and others just might...
- 3/5/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As James Bond prepares for his 23rd official outing in Skyfall and to mark the 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time I have been tasked to take a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic characters in film history.
Ian Fleming died just one month before the release of the third James Bond film, Goldfinger in August 1964. Even though both Dr. No and From Russia With Love had been successful and well received it was not until Goldfinger that James Bond truly became a worldwide phenomenon and it is a tragedy that Fleming never lived to see the full impact his creation had on popular culture.
The story of the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball, is a complicated one that pre-dates the formation of Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
Ian Fleming died just one month before the release of the third James Bond film, Goldfinger in August 1964. Even though both Dr. No and From Russia With Love had been successful and well received it was not until Goldfinger that James Bond truly became a worldwide phenomenon and it is a tragedy that Fleming never lived to see the full impact his creation had on popular culture.
The story of the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball, is a complicated one that pre-dates the formation of Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
- 12/31/2011
- by Chris Wright
- Obsessed with Film
When it came to saving the world, bedding the babes, breaking Q’s gadgets, James Bond was the man, even if his tongue-in cheek adventures are a long way from the very real spy world of John le Carre and Harry Palmer.
Although Eon productions owned the movie rights to the Ian Fleming novels, it hasn’t stopped film-makers from making a couple of unofficial Bond flicks as well as several interesting variations on the character. So here are some of the parodies, pastiches, parallels and strange oddities that make up this alternative world of 007!
Our Man Flint (1966): Hollywood was now getting in on the Bond act with the Matt Helm movie series (1966-69) and TV’s The Man from U. N. C. L. E. (1964-68). But this effort is the ultimate of sixties cool with James Coburn in fine charismatic form as brilliant super-agent Derek Flint. Armed with...
Although Eon productions owned the movie rights to the Ian Fleming novels, it hasn’t stopped film-makers from making a couple of unofficial Bond flicks as well as several interesting variations on the character. So here are some of the parodies, pastiches, parallels and strange oddities that make up this alternative world of 007!
Our Man Flint (1966): Hollywood was now getting in on the Bond act with the Matt Helm movie series (1966-69) and TV’s The Man from U. N. C. L. E. (1964-68). But this effort is the ultimate of sixties cool with James Coburn in fine charismatic form as brilliant super-agent Derek Flint. Armed with...
- 7/4/2011
- Shadowlocked
“Danger: Diabolik is an absolute pulp masterpiece.”
Danger: Diabolik
Directed by Mario Bava
Italy / France – 1968
This super-stylish live-action adaptation of the popular (and still ongoing) 1960 Italian comic book., created by Milan sisters Angela & Luciana Giussani, is easily the best of the spate of ’60s European comic-strip/superhero movies (e.g., Fantomas). Unfortunately, it suffered from bad timing, released among the campy but similar movies Batman and Barbarella. Yet despite being a box office flop, Danger: Diabolik eventually found a cult following, and is considered by many (including this reviewer) to be one of the best live-action comic book movies ever made – a hidden gem of the genre.
What makes this silly B movie caper film interesting is its lack of all traditional values of good and evil, giving us instead a more interestingly ambiguous mix. The “rob from the rich, but never give back” approach of the titular character, Diabolik...
Danger: Diabolik
Directed by Mario Bava
Italy / France – 1968
This super-stylish live-action adaptation of the popular (and still ongoing) 1960 Italian comic book., created by Milan sisters Angela & Luciana Giussani, is easily the best of the spate of ’60s European comic-strip/superhero movies (e.g., Fantomas). Unfortunately, it suffered from bad timing, released among the campy but similar movies Batman and Barbarella. Yet despite being a box office flop, Danger: Diabolik eventually found a cult following, and is considered by many (including this reviewer) to be one of the best live-action comic book movies ever made – a hidden gem of the genre.
What makes this silly B movie caper film interesting is its lack of all traditional values of good and evil, giving us instead a more interestingly ambiguous mix. The “rob from the rich, but never give back” approach of the titular character, Diabolik...
- 1/18/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
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