Diabolikal Year Ender!

For the 1967 Mario Bava directed movie "Danger: Diabolik!" with John Phillip Law as Diabolik and Marisa Mell as Lady Eva Kant the promotional department of the production company took a lot of photographs of its stars. Many of these photo's were only taken for publication in newspapers, movie and fashion magazines and had little or nothing to do with the content of the movie. This is one of those pictures that shows Marisa Mell dressed as Eva Kant in a very high fashion outfit of that time! The picture comes from the archives of "United Press International", a press agency situated originally in Chicago (USA), now in New York City. Fashion in the 60's was daring and fun. This is a prime example of that attitude from that time. The photo has hardly been seen in more than 40 years!

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The Marisa Mell Blog now closes its 3rd calender year of blogging and will return in January 2011. I wish everybody of the many thousands who have kept coming back this past year again and again to read up on the life and work of Marisa Mell a "Merry X-mas" and a "Happy New Year".

La Voce del Western Italiano!

When you are a genuine fan of the Italian Western then you are certainly familiar with the excellent: Spagehettiwestern database - Il database del Western Italiano.

http://www.spaghettiwestern.altervista.org/western.htm

This site is a real treasure trove for everything connected to the Italian Western which is a huge undertaking knowing that during the height of this genre there were around 800 westerns made in Italy and Spain. So they have a lot of material to cover. Marisa Mell could not escape during her career this very popular movie genre in the 60's and 70's and made thus several spaghetti westerns.Now the people responsable behind the Italian Western Database have made a documentary about their beloved movies. It took a while to complete this film but the first part of the triology is at last available. Let's hear what they have to say about their work of love:
"Destinato ad influenzare per anni, e ancor oggi, tanti altri generi, il Western italiano non ha mai avuto una voce. La voce di una critica più ampia. Questo documentario vuole essere quella voce. Vuol essere un lungo plauso a un genere poco conosciuto, poco capito ma soprattutto troppo poco amato per quanto invece esso non abbia fatto per il Cinema non solo italiano ma anche estero. Il Western italiano ha avuto molto più di una storia, ha avuto una identità. E come tutte le identità la sua storia non è mai finita. In un appassionante viaggio tra la filmografia di svariato genere, il documentario mette in luce le contaminazioni che il Cinema Western ha saputo dare ad opere divenute poi di prestigio e ricoperte di premi. Un'influenza avvenuta sempre in silenzio. Quello stesso silenzio che tanto caratterizzava certi suoi tipici eroi dagli occhi di ghiaccio. I premi per molti di questi grandi film Western non sono però mai arrivati. La Voce del Western, con un velo di provocazione ma con tanto amore verso questo genere, intende raccontare di come a volte i premi dimentichino di dare merito alle fonti di tante ricchezze, solo perchè sono fonti silenziose. Dedicato agli amanti del genere ma pensato per chi quel genere non lo conosce, forse non lo ha neanche mai apprezzato, convinto che dietro i mantelli dei cowboy della produzione italiana ci fossero solo pistole e cavalcate. Questo viaggio vi mostrerà quant'altro c'era da scoprire. La follia, la distruzione, la vendetta, la pietà, la rinascita, l’amore e poi la vita del West che rendeva tutto più difficile e la violenza che sembrava essere l'unica risposta possibile. Il Cinema deve tanto alla sofferta onestà con la quale il Western sapeva parlare di temi così distanti mescolandoli, come del resto voleva la grande lezione della tragedia greca, in un’unica complessa trama che è l'uomo.La critica cinematografica per anni ha sottovalutato una lettura più approfondita di molti di questi film, ma soprattutto ha ignorato come molti registi da Tarantino a Jarmusch si siano ispirati a questi film. Ha ignorato come ogni regista italiano raccontava nei suoi western, il suo mondo, il suo viaggio,le sue passioni. Perchè il West, con quel deserto che anche la critica dimenticava, con i suoi spazi aridi per molti di questi grandi autori è stata una sfida e alcuni di essi proprio li, vi hanno lasciato le loro opere migliori."

The Voice of Thousands!

A few months ago, I had an entry about the life of one the best known female voice actresses in the Eurocult realm by the name of Carolyn de Fonseca. She was the English voice of almost all the known Eurocult actresses like Dagmar Lassander, Anita Ekberg, Rosalba Neri, Barbara Steele and... of course Marisa Mell in "La Belva col Mitra".

What few people know is that she was married to probably the biggest male voice actor in the history of the Eurocult movie business: Ted Rusoff. In the November-December 2010 issue of Video Watchdog # 159, John Charles has an in-depth interview with this voice giant about his life and career during the past 40 years as the voice of actors in more than a 1000 movies (!). The article has several exclusive photo's of him together with his late wife Caroline de Fonseca. Fans of Marisa Mell might remember his voice of a priest in the giallo "Sette Orchidee Macchiate di Rosso" from 1971 directed by Umberto Lenzi. After reading the article you know the in's and out's of (Eurocult) voice dubbing and it's history. Highly recommended.

Komödien, so bitter wie das Leben! Mario Monicelli (1915-2010)

Casanova '70

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Virtuose der Revolution: Mario Monicelli, einer der großen Regisseure der italienischen Nachkriegszeit, ist im Alter von 95 Jahren verstorben. Von schwerer Krankheit gezeichnet, beging er Selbstmord in einem Krankenhaus in Rom. Eine Handvoll kleiner Diebe und Herumtreiber will ein Pfandleihhaus in Rom überfallen. Um in den Raum mit dem Safe zu gelangen, verschaffen sie sich Zutritt zur angrenzenden Wohnung zweier alter Damen, deren venezianische Hausangestellte mit Peppe (Vittorio Gassman), dem Herzensbrecher der Gruppe, ein Techtelmechtel hat. Doch der Coup, zum dem Tiberio (Marcello Mastroianni) mit eingegipstem Arm erscheint, geht schief. Statt durch die Mauer zum Safezimmer brechen die Gauner nur durch die Zwischenwand zur Küche, in der das Hausmädchen einen Topf mit Kichererbsenpasta vorbereitet hat. Statt an den Reichtümern des Leihhauses laben sie sich an der Pasta, bevor der Morgen graut und das Idyll beendet. Ein Wecker, die einzig greifbare Beute des Raubzugs, schrillt ausgerechnet in dem Moment los, als Peppe und sein Kumpel Capannelle von zwei misstrauischen Carabinieri ins Auge gefasst werden. „I soliti ignoti“, der Film, der diese Geschichte erzählt - auf Deutsch hieß er „Diebe haben's schwer“ - war der Überraschungserfolg des Jahres 1958 und ein Wendepunkt des italienischen Kinos. Er bewies, dass man die soziale Wirklichkeit der Nachkriegszeit auch mit komödiantischen Mitteln zeigen konnte - und dass Filmkomödien keine lebensfernen Schwänke sein mussten, sondern der erschlaffenden Bewegung des Neorealismus neuen ästhetischen Schwung geben konnten. Er verhalf seinen bis dahin nur mäßig bekannten Hauptdarstellern Vittorio Gassman und Marcello Mastroianni zu internationalem Ruhm. Und er sicherte seinem Regisseur, der zuvor hauptsächlich als routinierter Handwerker von Farcen und Melodramen hervorgetreten war, einen Platz unter den Meistern des italienischen Kinos: Mario Monicelli. Sophia Loren und Luigi Proietti in Monicellis „Mortadella” von 1971

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Für Monicelli, 1915 als Sohn eines Theaterkritikers im toskanischen Viareggio geboren, war die Commedia all'italiana ein Geschenk des Schicksals und eine Last zugleich. Sie entsprach seinem zwiespältigen, aus Sarkasmus und Resignation gemischten Verhältnis zur Gegenwart seines Landes, aber sie setzte seinen künstlerischen Ambitionen auch enge Grenzen. In „La grande guerra“ („Man nannte es den großen Krieg“), seinem nächsten Projekt nach den „Soliti ignoti“, trieb er das Wechselspiel aus Komik und Tragik so weit, dass es die Form fast sprengte; auch deshalb ist die Geschichte zweier Überlebenskünstler (gespielt von Alberto Sordi und Vittorio Gassman) auf den Schlachtfeldern des Ersten Weltkriegs vermutlich sein bester Film.

Claudia Cardinale in der Episode: „Gespielin Armenia oder: Zimmer frei mit Musikbox” von 1966

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Monicellis Versuch, mit „I compagni“ („Die Peitsche im Genick“) eine politische Parabel über Solidarität und Klassenkampf zu erzählen, wurde dagegen vom Publikum abgelehnt. Mit „L'armata Brancaleone“ und „La ragazzo con la pistola“ kehrte er deshalb Ende der sechziger Jahre zu den Stoffen zurück, die man von ihm erwartete: lebenspralle, mit Sprachwitz gesättigte Alltagsgrotesken, die aus den Versatzstücken anderer Kinogenres - hier der Mittelalter-, dort der Mafiafilm - szenische Funken schlugen.

Marisa Mell und Marcello Mastroianni in Casanova '70 von 1965
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Sein zweiter großer Kinoerfolg gelang Monicelli dann 1975 mit „Amici miei“ („Ein irres Klassentreffen“), einem sarkastischen Gruppen- und Generationenporträt, das erkennbar an den berühmten Vorgänger von 1975 angelehnt war. Als er die Geschichte sieben Jahre später weitererzählte, war die hohe Zeit der italienischen Filmkomödien schon wieder vorbei; „Amici miei atto II“ („Meine Freunde“) wirkte wie ein Abgesang. Sein Land, hat Monicelli in einem seiner letzten Interviews gesagt, brauche eine Revolution, nur so könne es zu sich selbst zurückfinden. Als Regisseur ist er dieser Revolution auf virtuose Weise aus dem Weg gegangen. Am Montag hat sich Mario Monicelli, der wegen Prostatakrebs in einem römischen Krankenhaus behandelt wurde, aus einem Fenster in den Tod gestürzt. Er wurde fünfundneunzig Jahre alt. (c) FAZ-Andreas Kilb

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Thanks to André Schneider for sending me this information!

The Films of Suso Cecchi D’Amico

On July 31st 2010, one of Italy's greatest screenwriters Suso Cecchi D’Amico died at the age of 96! To fans of Marisa Mell, she is best known as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1965 Mario Moncelli directed movie "Casanova '70" with Marcello Mastroianni as leading man Andrea Rossi-Colombotti and Marisa Mell as Thelma. In honor of this great lady of Italian movie making the Film Society of Lincoln Centre in New York is showing this week from November 26th untill December 1st 2010 several of her majestic movies like among others "Rocco and his brothers" with a superb Alain Delon, "White Nights" with the always reliable Maria Schell and Jean Marais or "Conversation Piece" with Marisa Mell friend Helmut Berger, all movies directed by Lucino Visconti.

Richard Peña, director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, talked to David Savage of Cinema Retro about this talented screenwriter:

Cinema Retro: A tribute organized around a screenwriter is fairly rare. Why did you choose this specific screenwriter for a tribute?

Richard Pena: Perhaps, but Suso was an extraordinarily special screenwriter. Having recently done a lot of work on Italian cinema, I was startled to see how often her name figured in the credits of so many masterworks. She was an extraordinary talent, and her passing is a loss for all who love film.

CR: Do you think her career was overshadowed by her collaboration with such auteurist names in Italian cinema, such as Visconti, Monicelli, et al? It seems as though a woman would have a hard time holding her own against such huge egos?

RP: My sense is that this had as much to do with the contemporary lionization of film directors as it did plain old sexism. From what I've heard about her, she held her own with the boys.

CR: Can you identify a common thread or characteristic style that belongs to Cecchi d’Amico’s dialogue or characterizations?

RP: With over 100 screenplays to her credit, that becomes difficult; moreover, I've seen at best 50% of them. I think she often likes to focus on a character who takes a decisive action and then study the consequences of that action on those around him/her.

CR: Do you consider her an innovator in screenwriting?

RP: I'm not the best person to answer that question. I think she had a good sense of when to let the action play out on its own rhythms--to under-script, as opposed to an overly determined writing style.

CR: Can you trace any effect she had on any one American screenwriter in particular?

RP: A certain group of American filmmakers have tried to capture the spirit or even adapt "Big Deal on Madonna Street. Whit Stillman would be someone who I'm sure really admires Suso's work.

CR: Do you know how much control she exerted over her own screenplays in terms of the liberties the directors were allowed to take, i.e., was she territorial about her dialogue?

RP: I'm frankly not sure about that, but why hire Suso Cecchi D'Amico if you don't want her work?

CR: Aspiring screenwriters will come to this program, hopefully. What are you hoping they take away?

RP: I hope they sense how carefully structured her screenplays were. There's always a good sense of architecture to her screenplays, even when they leave lots of space for the director.

CR: If you had to choose one film in the line-up that is a definite don’t miss, what would your choice be? Why?

RP: I would say Violent Summer, as it's really an amazingly great film and not that well known. A chance for people to discover not only Suso's work, but that of Valerio Zurlini, a wonderful yet little-known filmmaker as well.