Mara Corday Image Gallery

After a recent rewatch of THE BLACK SCORPION (1957) I became curious about why the lovely and talented model and actress retired from film. The most helpful clue came in realizing that she would occasionally turn up in movies years after she left the big screen - but only in Clint Eastwood films. Turns out Mara's old friend Clint was happy to help her out of an odd problem by having her work for him - even after she turned her back Hollywood. Here's a great little interview with Miss Corday that mostly focuses on her western appearances but also has some amazing behind the scenes celebrity details. 

Interview with Mara Corday

Fay Wray - Kong's Beauty

Gorgeous and incredibly talented. It's no wonder that big ape wanted her so much. 

Naschycast #60 - THE UNLIVING (2004)

Sharp-eyed or eared (?) listeners to the Naschycast will recognize THE UNLIVING as an alternate title for a film we've already covered on the show. Troy and I took a look at this Fred Olen Ray joint a few years ago under it's more evocative name TOMB OF THE WEREWOLF and you can still check out episode #30 for our original assessment. This time out we revisit this problematic entry on Paul Naschy's credits at the request of our new guest - David Zuzelo! David is an old friend from the early days of Euro-Trash horror online fandom and someone I should have included in the show much sooner than now. He's a horror comic writer and expert on the trashier side of cinema making him the perfect man to talk about this uncut sex-filled werewolf romp.

The three of us spend a lot of time on this film discussing it's flaws, it's points of interest and David brings some fascinating behind the scenes information to the table. Of course, as you might expect with Euro-Horror fans, we also branch off onto related subjects with a lengthy musing on Jess Franco and the more obscure films of Amando De Ossorio. David and I reminisce a bit about our first podcast experience together on Horror Rise From Spain and his upcoming work in horror comics. Troy and I wrap the show with a brief email from Our Man In The Field before we let you go.

POWERWOLF! 

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Diana Rigg - The Definition of 1960's Beauty

Because you can never have enough of her in your life! 

Joan Bennett - Hollywood Glamour

No matter what her hair color she was a Hollywood beauty! 

Football Cinema - ELEVEN MEN AND A GIRL (1930)

Get your mind out of the gutter. This is not a porn film! But it is a bit sexy thanks to Joan Bennett! And it seems to be better known under the title MAYBE IT'S LOVE but that is a much less accurate name for this slight little film. 

In ELEVEN MEN AND A GIRL (1930) Joan Bennett plays Nan, the daughter of the president of Upton University, an academically strong but athletically weak Midwestern College. After the 12th straight annual loss to their main football rival school the president is informed that if they lose next year he will lose his job as well. So, Nan and the one good football player on the Upton team come up with a scheme to recruit a team of winners from various colleges around the country. Nan travels from place to place during the summer flirting and romantically enticing eleven fantastic players to come to Upton football in the hopes of landing her love. As you might expect from a storyline of this type things don't go perfectly well and at a certain point all of the football players realize that they're carrying around the same signed picture of the same sweetheart.

Frustrated and peeved the team decides first take it out on her, but then she's able to sweet-talk them into accepting the situation and playing the big game for Upton anyway. Because this is a comedy rather than a drama, this all goes down easy for most of the men because she has actually fallen in love with the star of the group played by James Hall. As you might expect from a comedic plot line such as this in which the natural outcome would involve hideous violence the film plays fast and loose with just what these fellow's emotions would actually be. That there are no fistfights seems a little odd but what the heck. 

It's a  pretty silly kind of fun and things move fast enough that, as long as you enjoy early 30s Hollywood cinema, you'll get a kick out of it. Joe E. Brown is slightly obnoxious but generally amusing as the now outmatched former star football player for the college but the real star here is definitely Joan Bennett. Whether she's flirting with football players, posing in a body clinging wet dress or making fun of situations in the hopes of getting everyone to get along well with each other, she is an absolute delight in this movie. This being a pre-code film much time is given over to displaying the fact that Miss Bennett is absolutely gorgeous and never wearing a bra. There came a point about 20 minutes into the movie when I thought that perhaps they were going to give Miss Bennett's breasts co-starring credit!

For me though the real joy was the entire second half which plays out as a highlight reel for the big game that will decide whether Upton has to say goodbye to their school president. It's a great deal of fun to see football as it was played in the late 1920's and early 30's with very few pads and only occasional helmets being worn. The football is slightly larger in diameter than what we have today reminding me of a Rugby ball. Of course, the strategies are all the same and there is some great football excitement in this final act. I'm not going to pretend this is a great movie or even a very good one but clocking in at an hour and 12 minutes it's actually pretty fun if you enjoy cinema from this period of time. If not, steer clear. 

ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)

From the moment I saw the first trailer for ATOMIC BLONDE I knew I was going to see the film. First of all, I love Charlize Theron and will watch her in almost anything. She's beautiful, talented and completely captivating on screen and this would be far from the first film in which she had proved herself as an action hero. Hell - she was arguably the star of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD.

The preview trailer for ATOMIC BLONDE made it clear that the movie was going to be an action filled cross between John Wick (with whom this film shares a director) and the James Bond movies. As far as spy thrillers go this one is a throwback in more than one way. First of all, plot-wise it is very old school. Hell - the plot actually involves the recovery of microfilm and even in a movie set in 1989 that's a story point that perhaps was out-of-date by even 1985. But as with any good James Bond film the McGuffin is hardly the point. We are here for several reasons, none of which involve microfilm or paper documents or anything else that the hero may actually be hunting for. We're here to revel in dark characters, interesting situations and - above all - stylish, exciting action. Luckily this film succeeds on that count easily.

Theron plays Lorraine Brown, an MI6 operative who just has just returned from Berlin and as she is debrief by her handler Toby Jones and a mysterious CIA figure played by John Goodman she explains how she may or may not have succeeded in her most recent assignment. Since we've already seen how bruised and battered she is after this little German adventure we're already interested to see just how everything went down. Watching Theron as this world weary agent trying to stay on task amide multiple nefarious players with clashing agendas is incredibly entertaining for me. One of the things I love about espionage tales is seeing the harsh price paid by field agents who often have to trust their instincts as well as their training to survive deadly encounters. Shifting loyalties, questionable motives, bad choices and hidden desires can alter the calculus of a situation for the worse leaving only seconds to decide on the correct option. ATOMIC BLONDE takes the spy thriller back to the days of more carefully plotted, dark stories that refuse to spoon feed the audience the pieces that the main character is struggling to understand right along side of us. I found that refreshing and maybe it's enough of a throwback to raise eyebrows and interest in modern viewers.

There's been a lot of talk over the past few years about doing some interesting casting in the James Bond franchise with the idea of Idris Elba possibly taking the role. I doubt that will ever happen (no matter how much I'd love to see it) but I would say that this film is probably the starting point for a parallel female James Bond series. Theron is excellent in the lead, the supporting cast is fantastic and the period detail is phenomenal all the way down to the smart choices made in the soundtrack. I'm sure there is an actual score written for this film somewhere in the mix but all I can remember are the mood setting songs from the  1970's and 1980's that set everything in place and push the story forward in interesting ways. Much like this summer's  Edgar Wright film BABY DRIVER, ATOMIC BLONDE uses songs as an integral part of it's storytelling effort. They aren't just there to set the scene and to remind you of the time. They actually become an important part of the storytelling, showing you why and how characters are acting and thinking in the ways they are. ATOMIC BLONDE isn't the best movie I saw this summer but it was damn good and it's one that I know I will enjoy revisiting many times in the future. Fingers crossed for a sequel!

Sci-Fi Cheesecake!

Naughty Astronauts!