New DVD Release

Karl May – Die Spur führt zum Silbersee (1989)
Released by Icestorm (Berlin)
Format: PAL
Running time 81 minutes
Languages: German
Release date: June 15, 2009

Flag Day 2009

Stranger

Stranger
(Bootleg Theater, 90 seats, $25 top)
By TERRY MORGAN "Variety"

A Bootleg Theater presentation of a play in two acts by Eva Anderson and Keythe Farley. Directed by Farley.

The Padre - Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Miranda - Ann Closs-Farley
Lucinda - Molly O'Neill
Lagarto - Michael Dunn
The Stranger - Cameron Dye

Stranger," a Spaghetti Western with songs, has the visceral kick and grungy, lived-in feel of a Sergio Leone classic. It would be easy to parody the genre, but co-writers Eva Anderson and Keythe Farley play it straight and manage to pull it off with a story that's genuinely surprising and compelling. The world premiere production at the Bootleg Theater rocks, from Farley's inspired direction to Anthony Bollas' appropriately thunderous music to skilled actors who tear into their roles with violent gusto.

In 1847 in the small Nevada town of San Lorenzo, the evil Lagarto (Michael Dunn) and his men have killed the sheriff and kidnapped his daughter Lucinda (Molly O'Neill), and they're gradually grinding the town into the dust. Local saloon owner Miranda (Ann Closs-Farley) and the Padre (Joe Hernandez-Kolski) try to persuade the townspeople to fight back, but it's futile. One day, however, the Stranger (Cameron Dye), a quiet man with lethal gun-slinging skills, wanders into town. When Lagarto attacks the town to find Lucinda's hidden inheritance, the haunted Stranger decides to rejoin the living and defend the people of San Lorenzo.

Dunn plays the over-the-top Lagarto with enthusiastic vigor; he's an amiable villain highly amused with his deeds. Dunn also cracks a whip pretty well. Closs-Farley seems to be channeling some cross between Barbara Stanwyck and Mae West as the hard-bitten Miranda, and she's wryly effective in the role. O'Neill brings a feral intensity to Lucinda that ups the dramatic stakes of the play, and her final moments in the show are satisfyingly iconic. Hernandez-Kolski is tough, convincingly intelligent and memorably charismatic in the complicated role of the Padre. Dye plays the Stranger, a man who deals death but wants only to die himself, with a shell-shocked weariness; the actor's low-key recounting of the Stranger's tragic past is a dramatic highlight. Finally, the members of the five-person ensemble who round out the cast are excellent in multiple roles.

Farley's direction excels in the bloody business of the genre, from a nifty hat being shot off a villain's head bit to any number of sanguinary knifings, but he also succeeds in the quiet moments. Anderson and Farley's writing is funny ("All God's children are welcome -- why are you here?") and ultimately moving, and their plot is as twisty and vicious as an angry rattlesnake.

Bollas' music is appropriately evocative of Ennio Morricone's film scores, both in bravado and in subtlety, and the band is superb. They were, however, also so loud that few of the lyrics could be made out in the opening song. Closs-Farley's costumes are richly detailed, and Victor Warren's fight choreography is exciting and brutally efficient. Francois-Pierre Couture's painted wooden slat backdrop set of a town in permanent shadow combines wonderfully with Dan Weingarten's dramatic lighting and Rebecca Kessin's dense sound design to vividly create the dry and dusty setting.

Sets, Francois-Pierre Couture; costumes, Ann Closs-Farley; lighting, Dan Weingarten; sound, Rebecca Kessin; original music, Anthony Bollas; production stage manager, Rachel Kahn. Opened, reviewed June 6, 2009; runs through July 4. Running time: 1 HOUR, 50 MIN. Ensemble: Richard Azurdia, Wallis Herst, Travis Michael Holder, Dylan Kenin, David Natale.

Happy 70th Birthday Marta May

Born Maria Jesús Mayor Ávila on June 14, 1939 in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, she studied classical dance and Spanish guitar and then became a stage actress in 1956 before making her film debut in 1957. She would then go to alternate between films and television. Marta married producer, director José María Forn. Marta was active in the film industry until the early 1990s. Marta made five Euro-westerns, sometimes using the aliases Martha Hyier, Martha May and Mary May. Her most memorable role was as Elena, Audie Murphy’s girl, in “The Texican” (1966). Today we celebrate Marta May’s 70th birthday.

BAD KIDS OF THE WEST

Kid il monello del West – Italian title
Kid el travieso del oeste - Argentinian title
Vestens Skræk - Danish title
Kid het tereur von het Westen – Dutch title
Kid Westerns Skrack – Finnish title
Kid-Lannen Kauhu – Finnish title
Little Kid und seine kesse Bande – German title
Mikroi diavoloi... o tromos tou West – German title
Los pequeños coyotes de Kid O'Hara – Spanish title
Western Kid – Swedish title
Westerns skräck – Swedish title
Kid, Terror of the West – English title
Bad Kids of the West – English title

A 1973 Italian production [Ramofilm (Rome)]
Producer: Roberto Amoroso
Director: Tony Good/Serrando Gonzales (Tonino Ricci)
Story: Roberto Amoroso
Screenplay: Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Roberto Amoroso
Cinematography: Silvio Fraschetti [Technicolor, Panoramico]
Music: Enrico Simonetti
Song: “La banda del west” sung by Renata Cortiglioni
Running time: 90 minutes

Cast:
Kid Terror - Andrea Balestri
Sciantosa - Cristiana
Wilson - Franco Ressel (Domenico Orobana)
McKenzie - Attilio Dottesio
sheriff - Fortunato Arena
midget - Salvatore Furnari
boy - Flavio Colombaioni
Wilson henchman - Nestore Cavaricci
townsman - Sicto Brunetti
with: Walter Battistelli, Carlo Carloni, Mirko Ellis (Mirko Korcinsky), Maurizio Fiori, Barbara Fiorini, Clara Park, Gaetano Scala, R. Gallozzi (Roberto Gallozzi), Ray O’Connor (Remo Capitani), Rinaldo Ballanti, Claudio Cinquepalmi, Giancarlo Jabes (Jean-Claude Jabes), Giuseppe Monte, Alberto Allegrezza, Carla Mancini, F. Migliosi (Fabio Migliosi), Pippo Tuminelli (Giuseppe Tuminelli), Mario Donatone, I. Pizzoferrato (Isabella Pizzoferrato), Bruno Corbucci, Fabio Muscara, Rosa Toros (Rosita Torosh)


This is a Spaghetti Western rip-off of Bugsy Malone. A kid with a wild imagination overhears the plan of a gang of bandits who intend to hold up a bank. He decides to beat them to it and with a gang of other kids robs the bank. When the outlaws try to get the money he sets a trap for the outlaws with the local sheriff.

Happy 80th Birthday Victor Israel

Born José María Soler Vilanova in Barcelona, Barcelona Catalonia, Spain on June 13, 1929, he is one of the most prolific of all Spanish character actors yet often overlooked and underrated in Spanish films. He began acting in the early 1960s and his short, dumpy, pudgy face with thinning hair, crooked teeth and eyes like Jack Elam made for unforgettable characters. He was one of those actors you recognized immediately but didn’t know his name. He usually played timid cowards, padres, working class types and meek victims. His most famous part was never seen by most Americans until the restored version of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was released here in the mid-2000s. He was the sergeant Lee Van Cleef encountered at the Confederate hospital while trying to find the whereabouts of Bill Carson. Perfect for Horror films Victor has made quite a few including “The House that Screamed” (1969), “Graveyard of Horror” (1971) and “Horror Express” (1972). Victor now appears only occasionally in films and TV shows. Today we celebrate his 80th birthday.

Happy 80th Birthday Alberto De Martino

Born Alberto Martino De Martino in Rome, Italy on June 12, 1929, his father was Romolo De Martino a makeup artist in the Italian cinema of the 1930s and 40s. Alberto entered film as a child actor. After college he continued his film career as a film editor before landing his first directorial debut with 1961’s “The Invincible Gladiator”. He continued to make Horror films, crime thrillers, sword and sandal films and Spaghetti Westerns. As a film director and screenwriter he directed over 28 films. He also wrote screenplays for over two dozen films. Sometimes he used pseudonyms as Martin Herbert, Herbert Martin, Albert Martin Probably his best westerns were “$100,000 for Ringo” (1965) starring Richard Harrison and “Django Shoots First” (1966) starring Glenn Saxson. Alberto retired from the film industry in the mid-1980s. Today we celebrate his 80th birthday.