Danger: Diabolik

Perversione!

At the beginning of the 1970's, Marisa Mell was at the peak of her movie career in Italy and around the world, especially in Latino countries and the French speaking region of Europe and Canada. In a span of only several years during that period, she made around twenty movies, as a leading actress, or more than often in a supporting role, which the Italian movie industry called "con la participatione di Marisa Mell". Most of those movies are now long forgotten but some of them have reached cult status, especially the movies she made for the Spanish movie production company "Emaus". Those movies were "Pena de Muerte", "Infamia" and "La Encadenada".  La Encadenada, also known in English as "Diary of an Erotic Murderess", sigh, is regarded by a lot of Marisa Mell fans as part of her top three best movies, next to "Danger: Diabolik!" by Mario Bava and "Una Sull'Altra" by Lucio Fulci. The Italian coproducer "Metheus Films" gave the movie the Italian title "Perversione" for a first time screening during the month of May 1975. To promote this movie the Italians created some of the best lobby cards or "fotobusti" ever made for a Marisa Mell movie. Almost all of these lobby cards have Marisa Mell  in a very prominent position from a movie scene, together with a little frame with another scene of the movie. Sadly the movie was not a box office success but, as said, luckily during the passing years became a cult favorite!

Glasses on Kant

During the production of the Mario Bava directed movie "Danger: Diabolik!" in 1967, Marisa Mell had some free time between takes which she used well given the amount of behind the scene pictures of her as Lady Eva Kant and co-star John Phillip Law as Diabolik. Set photographer was then already very famous photographer Emilio Lari who in later years would become even more famous as set photographer on movies like The Godfather trilogy or Raging Bull or Once Upon a Time in America. In this set of pictures Marisa Mell shows the latest fashion in sun glasses in her outfit from a scene of the movie where she is in disguise as a prostitute! 

A Letter from our Man in Rio!

Hi Mirko, 

I am from Brasil and live in Rio de Janeiro. Since I was a 5 year old kid, I wanted to work on films. Not in front of the cameras, but behind them. So I became a director and screenwriter mostly working on Brazilian TV. Due to my fascination with film I became also a historian of Brazilian and world film history, giving classes on those subjects too. Cinema is and will always be my life. Finally I also became a writer. In 2007 I published biography of the Italian-Brazilian actor Anthony Steffen. Now I'm considering to publish it in English. For your interest Anthony Steffen didn't have much to say about Marisa Mell, only that she was very professional, sort of distant and girlfriend of one of the film producers, the polemic Pier Luigi Torri. 

My job as a director and screenwriter is based on references of all that I see and feel around me. The first Marisa Mell movie I've seen was “Danger: Diabolik!”. I was enchanted with Mario Bava’s mis-en-scène. An accomplished director must have a good cast to work with and the magical way Marisa Mell is shown in “Danger: Diabolik!” stuck forever in my mind. Then I wanted to see all her movies. Italian popular cinema from the 60's to 80's is also a predilection, any Marisa Mell film I grabed was a delight, no matter how good or bad it was. At that time you had really to work hard to find her films on VHS and I own a lot of those damned and delicious Greek tapes. 

Personally I look at Marisa Mell from several points of views. As an admirer, as someone hornly in love with a woman who has several ups and downs, as a film craftsman who would have loved to have worked with her and, above all, someone curious about her character and personality in an era with excesses, boldness and experimentalism. 

The images I got from her are usually adapted to my work. Every script I write there's a character named Marisa. If I ever have a daughter, I hope the mother will agree her name will be “Marisa”, I always liked the name “Marisa”... Every girlfriend I had, I took home to see “Danger: Diabolik!”. Our realtonship would depend on her opinions about it. Gladly, they all liked it. 

Well, I'm exageratting a little bit. I do have some other actresses I like such as Sylva Koscina, Karin Schubert, Anita Strindberg, Marilu Tolo, Agosina Belli, and a lot more. But Marisa Mell has something special that fascinates me. Too bad she made some not so good options in her life, but don't we all do? She and all the actresses I mentioned are from a bygone era. Audiences and audiovisual storytelling have changed, call it progress, decadence, whatsoever. What I see in Marisa Mell’s acting and life serves me very well to give instructions to an actress or actor, cinematographer, screenwriter, producer, everyone involved in the moviemaking process. And the cinema just loves Marisa Mell. She knows how to dialogue with it, to behave and convey emotions. You do believe in her, be it in “Mahogany”, “Quest of the Mighty Sword” or “Objectif: 500 million”. 

I don't have a favorite movie of Marisa Mell. “Danger: Diabolik!), “Una Sul Altra” (where she had a great director, she was just perfect), in “La Encadenada” she is great, so is she in “Lebensborn”, “Historia de una Traicion” is another one I love, and, of course, “La Belva Col Mitra”. Do I have to choose just one? Well, just like all top film lists changes according to your mood, I will stay with “La Belva Col Mitra” tonight. It's a film I can watch anytime and I'm always pleased. The action is good and crude, very Peckinpah, and Mell and Berger’s chemistry is awesome. It's a good thriller that would never be made today, Berger is just like Stroheim, the man you love to hate. 

Well, that's Marisa Mell for me. If life was a Angelo Frontoni photo, I wouldn't have any doubt who would be in it. 

All the best from Brazil! 

Daniel 

Hello Daniel, 

Thank you for your great letter telling us your fascination with Marisa Mell. I love the Brazilian Marisa Mell movie posters which I had never seen before. The poster for "Les Libertines" is really great. Marisa Mell was truely a star in your home country because she is very prominent on every poster luring people into the movie with her beauty. Oh boy, your girl friends were in for a real surprise having to see "Danger: Diabolik!" before being able to date you! ROFL! Luckily they all liked it or maybe they had no choice then to like it to be able to be with you! Nevertheless it is a great  why to get to know someone! Mmmmm, maybe I should start doing that from now on for my own dates! Your favorite Marisa Mell movie at the moment is not a choice that you hear very often! Mostly it is the classics like "Danger: Diabolik!" or " Una Sul Altra" but seldom "La Belva Col Mitra" due to the violence especially the rape of the Marisa Mell character, which made the movie very notorious! 

Take care,

Mirko

New "Mario Bava"-book by Spanish writer Carlos Aguilar

A new phantastic book about the great Italian filmmaker "Mario Bava" was published this March 2013 in Spain, by the author Carlos Aguilar. The book forms part of the publisher Catedra’s Cineastas collection. Carlos Aguilar is a Madrid based author, who writes both novels and cinematographic essays, among which some of the most successful of the series have been on Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone, Jesús Franco and Giuliano Gemma, as sole author, and those about John Phillip Law, and Eugenio Martin, written with his wife, teacher and writer Anita Haas. This is the first book ever on Mario Bava published in Spanish by Aguilar, contains around 330 pages and 60 photos. It describes the career of the great Italian filmmaker, combining objective information with subjection evaluation. It also includes a detailed filmography as well as an extensive bibliography on both Bava, and others who worked with him, in front of and behind the camera. Among them is, of course, the one and only Marisa Mell and the film Diabolik forming an important part of the work (no less than 15 pages!). A must-have book on this genius of Italian cinema, who knew how to reconfigure the parameters of fantasy and horror genre, adding a unique macabre sensuality and an enveloping, baroque atmosphere, and creating two such contrasting currents as Italian Gothic and Giallo.

This book on one of the greatest directors ever costs 13 euros and can be found on Amazon, or get a signed copy from the author at: carlosaguilargutierrez@gmail.com. Highly recommended!

DIABOLIK-La Serie! - Trailer

 

A few weeks ago I was pleased to announce that a new Diabolik television series was in the making and that a trailer was being made for the television markets around the world to invest in and/or buy the series! And here it is! AMAZING! 

Do you want to know more about the behind the scene production of this exciting new series? All the info and some stunning production pictures can be found Diabolik-Behind the scene!

At the moment nothing is known about the actors that are going to play the different parts of Diabolik, Lady Eva Kant or Inspector Ginko!

Can't wait to see the complete series!

"Are they going to replace me?" (Danger: Diabolik!)

Every year like the monster of Loch Ness an announcement is made that the Italian cult comic "Diabolik" is going to hit the big or small screen. Each time sadly enough that attempt ends in the gutter never to be heard of ever again! This time it is the Italian production company Sky Cinema that is trying to bring the dark hero to the small screen. There is a series of 13 episodes planned, each with a running time of 50 minutes without commercials so in the end it will be, depending on the television station, a 60 minutes or more show. The main cast of protagonists will be Diabolik, Lady Eva Kant, Inspector Ginko and (my auntie) Countess Altea di Vallenberg. Nothing is known about the actors playing the parts but some names are being mentioned as Diabolik like Gabriel Garko, Allesio Boni, Luca Argentero, Raul Bova, Allesandro Gassman or Danieli Liotti. All these men are very hot actors in Italy for the moment and have a huge female (and gay male) following. A trailer is in production to be shown at the major world television fairs to attract money from movie and television producers and to sell the concept to major television stations around the world in the different television markets. Production should start in the spring of 2013 with a first broadcast around autumn of the same year or spring of the year after when production stumbles on trouble! Scripts are being surpervised by Mario Gomboli, leading man of Astoria publishing house, the owners of the Diabolik trademark. So the question remains who will they select as the new Lady Eva Kant after Marisa Mell?

"Deep Deep Down" by Italian Surf Academy

If have said several times in the past and I say it again: it always amazes me when a movie made more than 40 years ago still touches people in their hearts! And "Danger: Diabolik!" is one of such movies! Although still not very well known by the general public the fashionable incrowd and cult movie addicts know the movie, its director and stars very well. And the music by Maestro Ennio Morricone is the icing on the cake! So this entry is again a rendition of the cult classic Ennio Morricone theme song from said movie called "Deep Deep Down". This time it is the group "Italian Surf Academy" with Marco Cappelli, electric guitar, Luca Lo Bianco, bass guitar, Francesco Cusa , drums and Gaia Mattiuzzi, vocals that is inspired. Sadly the female singer is not always voice steady but is nevertheless applauded for trying to cover this song!

"Stiletto"

Everyone working in the movie business can confirm that movie making is a very tricky business! It is often a wonder that movies finally do reach the silver screen after all the hassle the producers went through to make them in the end! So much depends on intern and extern factors in the movie making process. In every actor or actress filmography there are dozens of movies which are linked to a certain star where in the end he or she did not appear in because the movie never got made, fee negotations fell through or was replaced in the end by another often more bankable star. That is a law of movie making that every star in the end has to face  if they like it or not! So has Marisa Mell in her career. Everybody following the career of Marisa Mell knows that she replaced the French actress Catherine Deneuve in the movie "Danger: Diabolik!" as Lady Eva Kant the loyal partner of Diabolik during the early shooting process of the movie. Catherine Deneuve and John Phillip Law as Diabolik did not had any chemistery as a couple on and off screen when their characters interacted. According to insiders it was dull beyond belief and would not have worked on screen. Out went Miss Deneuve, enter Marisa Mell. She and John Phillip Law hit it off from the beginning, sparks were flying and sex appeal was oozing of the silver screen the moment they met. Who doesn't remember now the cult famous revolving dollar bed scene in the movie where Diabolik and Eva are making love! But it did not always turn out that well for Marisa Mell. She also had to endure some projects that never got made, was recast in the end or were made at a later time when she was not available anymore for several reasons. One of those project that she was linked to is a movie called "Stiletto".

The movie "Stiletto" was based on the 1960 novel written by author Harold Robbins, famous in the 60's for his beststeller books among many others  "The Carpetbeggars" and "The Adventurers". Many of those books were in later years turned into more or less successful movies. In "Stiletto" the story centers around an amoral young Italian aristocrat with a penchant for violence who owes his extravagant lifestyle to the favors of a mafia Kingpin. When asked to silence four witnesses due to testify against the Kingpin, the aristocrat is more than happy to comply in a most brutal manner. Only he did not figure on a special agent, one who helped build a mountain of evidence against the Kingpin, entering the scene into a lethal game of cat and mouse with him where loyalty, honor or debt are not any of the aristocrats motives but only the pleasure of killing.

In 1966 the movie based on this Robbins book was to be produced by Embassy Pictures Corporation, a production and distribution company owned by movie mogul Joseph E. Levine. The previous Harold Robbins production in 1964 "The Carpetbaggers" was a genuine box office hit in that year ending on the top spot earning 13.000.000 dollars in revenue. So maybe this movie could repeat the success of this movie! The movie was to be made in Rome, Italy at Cinecitta. Marisa Mell, fresh from her appearence next to Marcello Mastroianni, in the movie "Casanova 70", was cast as Illeana, a role later to be recast by Swedish born actress Britt Ekland. Production went full steam ahead and a lot of money was poured into it! Marisa Mell's wardrobe was made by the most famous fashion house in Italy: The Fontana Sisters! They were the most respected fashion designers at that time working with almost all the famous American and international movie stars starting with Elisabeth Taylor and ending with Princess Grace of Monaco. Their style shaped the fashion industry of that time so dressing up Marisa Mell for this movie as seen on the photo above was a big deal for her. It showed that she was on the right track slowly moving to the top the movie business in Europe and in the end Hollywood would not be far off! The movie stills of this movie were going to be taken by another film legend the photographer Emilio Lari. At that time he was a young photographer breaking into the movie business becoming famous in the same year photographing the movie stills for Barbarella with Jane Fonda! The movie was going to be directed by American director John Berry. John Berry is hardly recognized this day as a name in the movie business but during the 50's-60's he was very famous not for his directed movies but for being linked to the Communist Party witch hunt in America. John Berry could not stand it anymore and left America to live in France! For reasons unknown at the moment to me the production of the movie halted and came to a complete stop in the same year. In the end the movie was to made several years later in 1969 with a complete different cast and production crew. Marisa Mell was already at the top of her fame and was not connected any more to this movie! She was to expensive to be hired.

"Bitte zu Tisch"

 

On Sunday March 18th 1977 the Austrian state television ORF broadcasted a culinary programme called "Bitte zu Tisch" presented by the singer-actress-presenter Helga Papouschek. The aim of the programme was to invite guests from showbusiness and culture in general from the German speaking coutries in Europe to talk about their projects, present and past, while eating the meals that they had cooked previously in the studio kitchen. Being state television in 1977 the show was very, and I mean very, formal in its execution. Even the British could not have made a programme more upper stiff lipped than this programme. Starting from the old fashioned title card, even for that time, my god we are in the hip 70's, the producer used as back ground of a menu dating back to 1887 over the very formal talking presenter who hardly dared to move to the very formal cooking of the recipes! Gordon Ramsey or Jamie Oliver are decades away. If they used talking dummies nobody would have noticed it!

Luckily for Helga Papouschek this programme is only a blip on her resumé as a presenter. In later years after the year 2000 she became quite famous in her career as opera and operette singer in Vienna, Austria and the German speaking countries untill this day she is highly respected for her krafts. She has probably forgotten all about this show and that is fine, so would I if I had presented it like she had.

On this March 18th 1977 show Helga Papouschek had as guest next to Marisa Mell the German devil do all actor-singer-composer Freddy Quinn. Freddy Quinn has a career spanning almost 55 years and is still highly respected in Germany, although in recent years after the death of his beloved wife for more than 50 years he has semi-officially retired from show business in Hamburg, Germany.

And then there is of course the one and only Marisa Mell. People who knew Marisa Mell more privately told that she was a rather good cook and knew what she was doing in the kitchen. Guests enjoyed her food very much. The presenter mentions at the beginning of the show that a previous guest another famous Austrian actor Werner Pochath called a recipe "Scampis Marisa" which of course flattered Marisa Mell hearing this that a recipe was called after her.

The show meanders on from one guest to the other and back not very well structured but still very formal. Freddy Quinn is in his element almost kicking on the formality of the show, but Marisa Mell is at moments very uneasy and tries to fit in but hardly succeeds. Untill she gives up and starts adopting also the eating formality by being over polite at the table in trying to eat with chop sticks what has been cooked by Freddy Quinn a chinese dish called "Tan Guan", whatever that may mean! Never heard of it!

Then it is time for Marisa Mell to go to the kitchen and cook her recipe. It is called "Heidensterz" a recipe from the part of Germany called Schlesien or Austria called Steiermark. At the end of the entry you find the German version of this recipe. Please do not ask to translate this recipe into English! Hit it, Marisa!

And then it is back to the table babbling about the careers of both guests! Who could top the other in having the interesting show career: Freddy Quinn or Marisa Mell??? Let's hear what Marisa Mell has to say about that! 

We learn from Marisa Mell that she was in the muscial Mata Hari on Broadway for 6 months performing 8 times a week. It was a hell of job but Freddy Quinn said with a lot of knowledge that "she was now a Broadway star, the highest regard that an actress could achieve in the US". Unfortunately this was complete nonsenses from Marisa Mell  and Freddy Quinn because a) the show never did get to Broadway but was tanked in Washington DC after one performance being that bad and b) untill this day being an Oscar winner is still the heighest acclaim an actress can achieve, maybe equiled by a Tony Award for theatre performances! Luckily the internet did not exist at that time otherwise the presenter would have blown this away as a clear lie!

 

And then suddenly the show becomes really interesting for Marisa Mell completists. She tells the presenter that she loved making "Danger: Diabolik!", has never seen it since the première of the movie, and is one of her favorite movies to this date. The programme was taped around the 20th of February 1977 because Marsia Mell mentions that her latest movie "Casanova & C°" with Tony Curtis will have its world première in Vienna, Austria, on February 25th 1977, one day after her birthday! And for me unkown information untill now was the mention that Marisa Mell was planning on starting her next film in the summer of 1977 a movie with Anthony Quinn in Arabia, did she mean Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Filming would take almost up to a year. The project never came into existence for Marisa Mell. Anthony Quinn did make a movie in 1977 called "The Message" filmed in Arabia. How, and more importantly, if Marisa Mell was really connected to this movie, is unkown. Maybe she heard this through the grape vine in Rome that Anthony Quinn was going to shoot this movie and needed an excuse for the show to show that she was still in demand by producers to star in movies with other older Hollywood stars? Who knows??? Fact is that the career of Marisa Mell was already in decline in rappid tempo. Her next project would be the Helmut Berger starrer "La Belva col Mitra", famous now for her brutal rape scene and then there were some TV-projects. So no big Hollywood or other movie projects! Reality check for the once highly demanded star! What is also a dead give away that Marisa Mell was not very rich anymore is the way she dressed for this show in a plain red pullover and dark vest. Nothing glamours here or Italian high fashion that she once wore with great class at the beginning of the 70's, only 7 years previous but probably an eternity for Marisa Mell.

Marisa Mell lost in thought after the taping of the show: "God am I glad that this torture is over! If I forgot why I escaped to sunny cheerfull Rome, Italy, now I do remember why! Never ever again!"

/

As alway a big thank you to André Schneider for pointing out the existence of this programme with Marisa Mell. Thanks Buddy!

/

If you like to cook the recipe that Marisa Mell made in this programme this is the German version of it:

Zubereitung für Heidensterz (Buchweizenmehlsterz)

Mann schüttet ½ Pfund Buchweizenmehl in 1 ½ l kochendes Salzwasser, deckt den Topf zu und läßt es etwa 10 Minuten an der Seite des Feuers kochen. Dann löst man das Mehl vom Rande des Kochtopfes ab und dreht den ganzen Mehlkloß mit dem Kochlöffel um, dass die Unterste nach oben kommt; nun lässt man es noch 10 Minuten kochen, gießt dann einen Teil des Wassers ab und zerrührt den großen Kloß zu Brocken, die man noch eine ¼ Stunde zugedeckt an einer heißen Stelle ziehen lässt.

Danach zerreißt man den Sterz mit einer großen Bratengabel, richtet ihn auf einer Schüssel bergartig an und gießt braue Butter oder gebratenen Speck kochend darüber. Es geht aber auch aus Weizenmehl oder Grieß, oder mit Pilz - oder Schwammsuppe.

"Mata Hari"-Dress Rehearsal (World Exclusive!)

Since the inception of the Marisa Mell Blog several entries have been dedicated to the musical "Mata Hari" from producer David Merrick, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Marisa Mell and "Bonaza"-star Pernell Roberts. Fresh from the success in movies like "Le Dolci Signore" or "Danger: Diabolik!" in the second half of the 60's the powers that be found it time to transfer Euro-beauty Marisa Mell from Italy to the USA in the wake of other Italian sirens like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Virna Lisi.... The fact that she was not Italian but Austrian did not matter. Her appearence was all Italian-like with thick auburn hair, big emerald green eyes and lush voluptious lips. What could you ask for more??? After several appearences in magazines like Vogue and McCall's introducing her to the American audience it was time to throw her into the deep end of the showbizz waters, ready or not! And ready she was not! Being trained as a theatre and movie actress she had no idea what it required to be a musical actress. Although there is a lot in common between the two disciplines its major requirement is that, next to being a stage presence, you need to be trained as a musical singer. Not a common singer of pop songs or classical pieces but in the specific technique of using your singing voice on stage while acting. So you need to master two disciplines. And Marisa Mell was no singer. That was a talent she had not! She could dance, sword fight, ride a horse,... but singing she could not! Compare the 1995 re-recording of the musical sung by professional musical singers with the 1967 bootleg recording then you know what I mean. So the whole adventure in the USA turned into a disaster for her. After a try-out in Washington, D.C., the whole show was canceled and never got to Broadway much to dispair of Marisa Mell. She had high hopes that this production of "Mata Hari" would be her ticket to the USA and showbizz. It did not! She came back one year later very disappointed and desperate. People close to her mention that in fact she never recovered from it and was scarred for life! Others clame that this gave her carreer a whole other direction and was the beginning of her downfall as an A-list actress, once starring opposite Marcello Mastroianni in "Casanova 70".
"Mata Hara" is only a footnote in the musical dictionaries mentioning the musical flop that it was. So there is not much material available on the memorabelia market. Luckily there is the bootleg recording of the production with the voices of the entire cast, including Marisa Mell, speaking her role as Mata Hari with a singing pitch! We are still waiting for original film footage of the production to appear. And now there are these pictures. In my knowledge they have never been published before in any magazine in the world since the days of the production. They show Marisa Mell during a dress rehearsel of the musical on stage. From today's point of view and even from the 60's point of view they are horrible. Marisa Mell had a very sexy slime figure in those days but by the looks of it the producers did everything to cover and distract from it. They are big, dark, depressive and formless cloths. Maybe they should have reflected the poverty of the character or the dispair from World War I. Even Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", starting out as Eliza Doolittle, the poor flower girl in Victorian London, had more beaufitul cloths than this. If these pictures give some kind of impression of the production quality than it is no wonder that, with everything else we know at the moment, this production was a faillure from the beginning. What is even more a mystery is that these cloths were drawn and made by Irene Sharaff, a 5-time Academy Award winner for productions like West Side Story, The King and I and... Cleopatra with Elisabeth Taylor. Maybe she had a headache the morning when she drew these cloths after a long night of partying and boozing in town? Who knows!

/

The pictures come from the personal archieve of Marisa Mell thanks to Guido from Italy!

"Eva" by Justin Coffee.

Although Marisa Mell never had the status of Marilyn Monroe after her death, she is still around in the conciousness of fans around the world until this day. And that is amazing to me after almost 20 years since her passing. Other more famous actors and actresses than her are almost completely forgotten like Rock Hudson, Rex Harrison, Lana Turner..., you name them if you can remember them! So it is always nice to see some kind of rendition of Marisa Mell in any art form. Justin Coffee has made this beauftiful pop-art version of Marisa Mell called "Eva" in her role as "Eva Kant" from the movie "Danger: Diabolik!" Justin is a free-lance artist living in Pennsylvania (US) who loves to draw in a cartoonish style. He has a very beautiful blog called "Cream and Sugar" where you can see his amazing art work and the best is that you can purchase the pieces that you like.

http://creamandsugartheartofjustincoffee.blogspot.com/

The basis for the art work of Marisa Mell as "Eva" was taken from a publicity picture for the movie "Una Sull'Altra" shot a year later after "Danger: Diabolik!". The photographer was Angelo Frotoni.

Movie Marquees!

While in Paris (France) last week and the beginning of this week, I was walking one night along the Boulevard de Strassbourg. During this walk I was happy to see that some traditions have not (yet) died out in our present day society! What am I talking about? Well, along the Boulevard there is a nice little cosy theatre, as there are still many in Paris, but this one still had a big old style marquee on its front wall like in the old days with the name of the actress/cabaretière on it in bright big lights together with the name of the programme that she was bringing. In the last century, theatre and movie marquees were "the" way to announce a programme. Sadly, when a lot of theatres and cinemas were replaced by modern movieplexes and big concrete theatres these often beautiful crafted marquees disappeared to be replaced by dull displays.
So during my walk I wondered what it would be like to see a Marisa Mell film on a movie marquee during the end of the 60's and the beginning of the 70's when these were still around. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there excist no pictures of these movie marquees with a Marisa Mell movie on it but thanks to the magic of the internet I created these marquees to get a sense what they might have looked like in the past!

Haphazard Stuff: "Danger:Diabolik!"

For more great reviews of Superhero movies and excellent James Bond movie analyses with an in-depth view, please, visit his great website: http://haphazardstuff.com/

"Cinema Italiano" by Howard Hughes

Uncovering a treasure trove of Italian films from "The Leopard" to "Puma Man" Italian filmmakers have created some of the most magical and moving, violent and controversial films in world cinema. During its twentieth-century heyday, Italy's film industry was second only to Hollywood as a popular film factory, exporting cinematic dreams worldwide. With international finance and multinational stars, Italian filmmakers tackled myriad genres with equal gusto and in inimitable style. Cinema Italiano is the first book to discuss comprehensively both Italian 'popular' and 'arthouse' cinema of this golden age. Appraising over 400 movies, Cinema Italiano unearths the best of Italian cinema. Dario Argento's 'gialli' thrillers and Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns are explored alongside the best films of Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Chapters discuss the rise and fall of genres such as mythological epics, gothic horrors, science-fiction, spy films, WWII movies, costume adventures, zombie films, swashbucklers, political cinema, spaghetti westerns and 'poliziotteschi' crime films. The book also traces the directorial careers and key films of such luminaries as Mario Bava, Sergio Corbucci, Francesco Rosi, Lucio Fulci, Duccio Tessari, Enzo G. Castellari, Bernardo Bertolucci and Gillo Pontecorvo. An essential guide for DVD and video collectors and aficionados alike, it is illustrated throughout with rare stills and international posters from this revered era in world cinema. Films include: La dolce vita, Hercules Conquers Atlantis, The Leopard, The Horrible Secret of Dr Hichcock, Contempt, The Gospel According to St Matthew, Castle of Blood, Fists in the Pocket, Django, Battle of Algiers, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Blowup, Diabolik, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Conformist, They Call Me Trinity, Violent City, The Marseilles Connection, Illustrious Corpses, Suspiria, The Big Silence, The Mask of Satan, Maciste in Hell, Blood and Black Lace, Hercules Against the Moon Men, The Last Man on Earth, The Wild, Wild Planet, Special Mission Lady Chaplin, Django Kill!, Fellini Satyricon, Deep Red, Sons of Thunder, Tentacles, The Inglorious Bastards, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Puma Man, 1990: Bronx Warriors, 8½, Once Upon a Time in the West, L'Avventura, Black Sabbath, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Amarcord, Two Women, Planet of the Vampires, Death in Venice, Starcrash, Salvatore Giuliano, Hercules Unchained, Kill, Baby...Kill!

Giallo Radio - Music with a bloody edge!

The internet is this day and age flooded as everyone knows with millions of sites tackling as much subjects which are of little or no intrest to you. But once in a while you stumble on a site that keeps you glued for many hours to your computer screen and when the site produces also some of the best music ever composed by music maestro's like Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, Claudio Simonetti, Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani and many others than you can not believe your luck! That happened to me several months ago discovering the site with music of one of my most favorite film genre's: the Giallo. The site is called "Giallo Radio", hosted by a wonderful man named Mark Hammon.

Marisa Mell Blogspot (MMB): How did you came to be such a soundtrack fanatic?

Mark Hammon (MH): I am first and formost a film fan followed by a soundtrack fanatic. I have been listening to soundtracks since my father turned me on to them in the 60's. My first soundtrack purchase was from the war movie "Patton" in 1970. My favorite films/scores are for horror films.

MMB: Are you now as an adult professionelly involved with movies or soundtracks?

HM: I work for a U.S. soundtrack company as a contractor. I started out as a customer and over the years, built a website, maintained it and now I am as much of the company as the employees.

MMB: Were you from the beginning familiar with the Eurocult movies and the wonderful music that it has produced during the height in the 60's and 70's?

MH: In the 80's-90's I discovered VideoWatchDog. I learned about the whole European Horror genre. I learned of Argento, Fulci, Franco, Rollins... I had a Laser Disc player and rented and purchased foreign horror films and noticed the music always seemed to be good in the films, but when I purchased the CDs it seemed like it wasn't horror music. With the likes of Argento I learned about the 'thrillers' (not knowing the term "Giallo"). I liked how the music, plots and characters worked together. I am amazed that people don't recognize "Basic Instinct" as an American "Giallo" film. MBB: What is the composition of your home theatre?

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MH: I own an all region DVD-player, certified "THX Surround" sound set up (Boston Acoustics, Pioneer - 700 Watts of intense surround). I just got rid of my HD 65" Mistubishi Rear Projection and now have a 55" Sony HD LCD. I tend to watch at least 10 movies a week.MMB: What do you think about Marisa Mell and her career?

MH: I think Marisa Mell is a beautiful actress, but I don't have a lot of movies with her in them.

MMB: I noticed that the "Giallo Radio" site is not updated regularely but sporadic?

MH: As for my "Giallo Radio" site I had such big inspirations but just don't have the time to do much with it. I have a family, two jobs and want to spend my time watching movies instead of updating my website.

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MMB: Thanks Mark for the interview!

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Giallo Radio has several scores of Marisa Mell's giallo's to discover by you!

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You can find the "Giallo Radio" website at http://www.gialloradio.com/index.html

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You can find the "VideoWatchDog" magazine at

http://www.videowatchdog.com/home/home.html