Happy 70th Birthday Sergio Salvati

Sergio Salvati was born on June 16, 1934 in Rome, Italy. He is a cinematographer who is famous for his collaborations with Italian horror film director Lucio Fulci. Such films include “Seven Notes in Black” (1977), “Zombi 2” (1979) and “The Beyond” (1981). He has also worked with film producer Charles Band on several movies, for example, “Crawlspace” (1986), “Ghoulies II” (1987), “Puppet Master” (1989) and “Spellcaster” (1992). Salvati was also involved in the European western genre and was the cinematographer on “Four of the Apocalypse” (1974, “Silver Saddle” (1977) and the modern day western “Thunder Warrior” (1983). Today we wish him a happy 75th birthday.

RIP Allan King

Filmmaker Allan King Dies At 79

One of Canada's greatest filmmakers brilliantly told the stories of others. But now the story of his own life has ended, with the death of director Allan King at the age of 79. He was the man behind a long series of classic films, including the recent documentary "Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company" which was made at Toronto's Baycrest Geriatric Centre, TV shows like the award winning "Road To Avonlea," and "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," a continuation of the classic 70s cult TV show, and 1981's "Silence of the North." King was born in Vancouver in 1930, and never forgot his Canadian roots. His first major documentary, "Warrendale" in 1967, showed viewers the inside of an institution for emotionally disturbed children, while "A Married Couple," traced the end of a marriage. But King was proficient in every kind of cinema, except as his website notes "animation," and had a career that spanned four decades and inspired numerous retrospectives around the world. His 'cinema verite' style was an inspiration for others. But it was the flick "Who Has Seen The Wind," based on W.O. Mitchell's classic novel, that brought King some of his greatest fame. The 1976 film won the Grand Prix at the prestigious Paris International Film Festival and wound up being the highest grossing Canadian movie of that year. He won the Ontario Film Institute Award for Excellence in Canadian Cinema in 1998 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006. King leaves behind a wife, four children and five grandchildren, and it was his family who confirmed his passing on Monday. They have yet to reveal the exact cause of his death but King was diagnosed with a brain tumour in April. Alan King directed an episode of the television series "Bordertown" in 1989 and also the TV film "By the Way of the Stars" (1992), both European co-productions.

RIP Ivan Della Mea

Ivan Della Mea died Saturday night, June 14 at San Paolo in Milan the singer, poet and writer he was 69 years. The memorial service and last farewell is scheduled for 11 am Tuesday morning at the Circolo Arci Corvetto, where he was president. Born in Lucca on 16 October 1940, he soon moved to Milan where, along with Gianni Bosio, was among the founders of the New Italian songbook. Since 1990 he was director of Ernesto De Martino di Sesto Fiorentino.

Together with people like Joan Marini, Paolo Pietrangeli, Michele Straniero, Della Mea and Dischi del Sole, was a key member of Italian culture, he documented a time in which the accompanying music, where the youthful rebellions of the 1960s, and witnessed the close link between leftist politics and the struggles of our country. His real name was Louis and his activities took place almost entirely in Milan, where he had moved when he was very young and where he started to write songs, for Milly. His most famous song is ‘Cara Maglia’ (aka Dear Wife). His career as an author and activist was very crucial with the meeting of Gianni Bosio. Della Mea was a co-screenwriter with Franco Solinas of the Spaghett Western “Tepepa” (aka Blood and Guns) starring Tomas Milian and Orson Welles.

The Bad Man

Lopez, le bandit – French title
The Bad Man – U.S.A. title

A 1930 U.S.A., French co-production [Warner First National (Hollywood)]
Producer:
Director: John Daumery (Jean Daumery)
Story: based on the play “The Bad Man” by Porter Emerson Browne
Screenplay: Porter Emerson Browne, Howard Estabrook (Howard Bolles)
Dialogue: Jacques Deval
Cinematography: Frank Kesson [black & white]
Music:
Running time: 71 minutes

Cast:
Lopez – Geymond Vital
Lilliane - Jeanne Helbling
Angela - Suzy Vernon (Amelie Paris)
Robert - Gaston Glass
Morris – Rolla Norman (Edouard Norman)
Uncle - Daniel Mendaille
with; Raoul Paoli, André Chéron (André Duval), Rolla Norman

===================================================

El hombre malo – Spanish title
The Bad Man – U.S.A. title

A 1930 U.S.A., Spanish co-production [Warner First National (Hollywood)]
Producer: Henry Blanke
Director: Roberto E. Guzmán, William C. McGann
Story: based on the play “The Bad Man” by Porter Emerson Browne
Screenplay: Howard Estabrook (Howard Bolles), Baltasar Fernandez
Dialogue: Baltasar Fernández Cué
Cinematography: Frank Kesson [black & white]
Music:
Running time:

Cast:
Pancho Lopez - Antonio Moreno
Jake Taylor - Andrés de Segurola
cook - Delia Magaña (Gudelia Magaña)
Guillermo – Manuel Conesa
Luciano - Jose Dominguez
Bradley - Martin Garralaga (Norman Garralaga)
Morris - Roberto E. Guzmán
Alberto - Juan Torena
Angela - Conchita Ballesteros
Maria - Rosita Ballesteros
Pedro - Carlos Ramos
Dobbs - Carlos Villarias (Carlos Llano)
with; Daniel F. Rea


This 1930 American film also was filmed for French and Spanish release using French and Spanish actors and crew. Filming was done at the same time as the American film using some of the same footage and adding scenes with the Spanish and French leading actors. The story is about a Mexican bandit who helps a rancher, in danger of losing his land.

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.