GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS: CLOTHING NOT OPTIONAL

I have to admit up front that I’ve never been a fan of director Jess Franco aka Jesús Franco Manera. I understand that he has a huge fan following who flocked to his movies when they were released and who collect his films on first VHS and now disc willing to pluck down big bucks to own everything the man ever directed (which is quite a bit since IMDB lists him as having directed over 204 films). For some reason I have yet to find a movie I’ve been exposed to of his that would inspire me to join the ranks of those fans. But different strokes for different folks, right?

With GOLDEN TEMPLE OF AMAZONS Franco does what he does best which if find an attractive woman to star in his film and have her wear as little as possible. This time around the story involves a pair of missionaries who are killed by a tribe of scantily clad blonde warriors leaving behind their young daughter Liana Simpson (Analia Ivars) to fend for herself. Fifteen years later a friend of the family arrives with his group in search of a treasure in gold the girl’s father had found. She agrees to help the group and get revenge against those who killed her parents.

It turns out the warrior women are led by a maniacal priest, Uruck the Temple Guardian (William Berger). He seems more interested in pleasuring himself with whoever he finds than actually worrying about protecting the gold. His right hand woman is an eyepatch wearing warrior who is jealous of our heroine and sets out to kill her if possible. More scantily clad women, more fights to the death and a raucous battle for the gold follow before the end credits roll.

 Let me say once more I know there are fans of Franco out there who love every piece of film he shot, every story he told and every movie he was able to get produced. And they can be entertaining enough when accepted for what they are which is quickly shot and guaranteed to make a buck on the exploitation film circuit. But if you’re looking for deep stories or high quality acting then a Franco film is not where you should be looking.

The movie has a haze to it even in this pristine version brought to us by the folks at MVD who have done their best to make it look great. But even that can’t make the movie any better than it is. On the other hand if what you’re looking for is a glimpse of bare breasts then this movie is right up your alley. It’s one of those films that pre-teens would stay up late to glimpse on Cinemax back in the day eager for their first look at a bare breast.

As part of their MVD Classics series the movie IS a classic in that all movies that have been made deserve to be treated fondly and with affection for those who seek them out and who want to find them in the best version possible. With that in mind they’ve done a good job for fans of Franco. If you’re one of them then by all means pick this one up. The same goes if you’re curious to find out what the fans of Franco enjoy so much. It also would be a good pick up for fans of the old T&A drive in fare from the glory days of the 70s and 80s. 

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THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE: A DIFFERENT GIALLO

When it comes to giallo films Arrow Video should be praised for making so many available for the first time in blu-ray format. Not only that, they’ve gone the extra mile to insure that these films are being restored to offer them with the cleanest sharpest picture possible, many not seen that way since they were originally shown on the big screen.

Now they’ve released a different sort of giallo. The movie was still made by an Italian director and stars Italians but the setting is far from Italy. It takes place in New South Wales in Australia. The movie is based on an unsolved actual case that took place there.

Unlike most giallo films this one has two co-existing stories being told at the same time. The first involves the discovery of a body on the beach, burned beyond recognition in the ruins of an abandoned car there. Retired police investigator Thompson (Ray Milland) is brought in to aid in the investigation but the main officer in charge disagrees with him at every turn. Using what he considers his superior skills he thinks the murderer is a sex deviant. Of course Thompson disagrees.

As this story unfolds we also see the story of freewheeling Glenda Blythe (Dalila Di Lazzaro). Glenda is having an affair with married Professor Henry Douglas (Mel Ferrer). At the same time she’s sleeping with Roy Connor (Howard Ross) and his friend Antonio Attolini (Michele Placido). She marries Antonio but at the same time continues her various affairs. When she becomes pregnant she’s not sure who the father is and must decide what she plans to do.

Both of these stories eventually come together and we realize (if you hadn’t already) that the body that was found is indeed Glenda’s. Now the question is who was it that killed her. The list of suspects is plentiful with the three men she was sleeping with, the wife of the professor or perhaps the woman who showed an interest in her at one point in the film.

Having grown to love he giallo genre over while watching the releases from Arrow I found this one wasn’t quite as enjoyable. It wasn’t due to the two story structure going on here but the story itself seemed to drag most of the time. The clues weren’t near available enough to help the viewer solve the case on their own yet at the same time the identity of the killer felt far too easy to figure out.

The movie also seemed to deviate from the majority of giallo films by having fewer or the items associated with the genre. Gone are the black gloves and POV moments that fill the other movies in the genre. Instead this becomes a slowly paced police procedural for most of the film and a display of Di Lazzaro’s body the rest. I never found myself involved with the characters or felt any sympathy for them while watching.

This is not to say that Arrow hasn’t done their best to offer the film in the best way possible. I don’t think they’re capable of a bad release. They’re offering the film in a new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative. And as with all of their films they have an extensive amount of extras included. On hand are a new audio commentary track by Troy Howarth (author of SO DEADLY, SO PERVERSE: 50 YEARS OF ITALIAN GIALLO FILMS, a new video interview with author and critic Michael Mackenzie on the internationalism of giallo, a new video interview with act Howard Ross, a new video interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia, an archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani, an image gallery, the Italian theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with original or newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon and for the first pressing only a collectors booklet with new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

If you’re a fan if giallo films then by all means make a point of picking this one up. When you see the name Arrow Video and giallo in the same sentence you’re guaranteed to be watching the best quality product on the market. 

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TELEVISION’S LOST CLASSICS VOL. 1: FORGOTTEN DRAMAS

There was a time when television presented weekly dramas that were not episodic but self-contained stories that discussed topics of the day and played out like weekly Broadway plays, live on camera. Almost all were sponsored by various companies that ran their commercials only during the shows. It was called the golden age of television and in many ways it was exactly that. The shows put on were more concerned with actual drama than a weekly mix up of regular characters. Most of those shows are long gone and many were never recorded. Fortunately some remain intact and now VCI is releasing a few on disc.

TELEVISION LOST CLASSICS VOL. 1 features two such programs. Both feature John Cassavetes on two different shows. Know going in that these two shows were not filmed but captured on kinescopes, the recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. It won’t have the clarity of film and you can tell it was originally videotaped. It doesn’t affect the performances, writing or direction of the program though.

The first episode comes from The Elgin Hour, a watch company that sponsored the show. Entitled CRIME IN THE STREETS it tells the story of troubled teen Frankie Dane (Cassavetes) who leads a street gang in a poor neighborhood in New York. His single mother (Glenda Farrell) struggles to raise her Frankie and his younger brother Richie (Van Dyke Parks) right, but isn’t doing so well. Social worker Ben Wagner (Robert Preston) takes an interest in Cassavetes and when word reaches him that Frankie intends to kill someone one night, he makes a point of stepping in and attempting to save Frankie from a life of crime.

The piece was later adapted into a feature film and came out prior to the release of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, both films featuring similar stories of troubled youth and gang culture. This episode was directed by Sidney Lumet who went on to direct such films as 12 ANGRY MEN, FAIL-SAFE, SERPICO, NETWORK, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and DOG DAY AFTERNOON among others. It seems that a number of those included here went on to bigger and better things.

In the meantime the episode is entertaining and captures the city streets on an obvious soundstage, more play than feature. That they could accomplish a program like this live is an amazing thing and something that many in today’s shows would be hard pressed to equal.

The second program is from the series CLIMAX!, another anthology series. The episode shown here is NO RIGHT TO KILL and is loosely based on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Here Cassavetes plays writer McCloud. Impoverished and unsuccessful at getting published. In need of money he tries to pawn off the last valuable possession he owns to an uncaring pawn broker who ridicules him. When she does so, he kills her and takes the money he needs. Driven mad by guilt he deals with the fact that the police are looking for him and he still hasn’t achieved the success he sought.

The show is interesting but the weaker of the two shows included here. It has a nice supporting cast and was well written but the story moves at a much slower pace. The episode was directed by Buzz Kulik who directed tons of classic television programs including GUNSMOKE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and more as well as feature films like VILLA RIDES, SERGEANT RYKER and SHAMUS.

The historical aspects of programs like these make them fascinating to watch. It is also nice to have on hand to show younger people how programs once were before the invention of color, before film was used to record shows and to display the amount of expertise that went into these shows. They may not be of interests to the masses but for many these were the best times for television. They at least deserve a watch. 

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