[JoshuaKaitlyn]

1966: Part 3

Godzilla vs The Sea Monster - Hammer were doing it with Harryhausen's 'Stop Animation' (One Million Years B.C), while Toho were still using the tried and trusted 'Man in a rubber suit'. Featuring Mothra also, this picture pits Godzilla against a giant lobster called Ebirah. It has some charm to it although the comedy moments with the two titular monsters throwing boulders back and forth at each other has been used before in the franchise.

Ostre sledované vlaky (Closely Watched Trains) - Czechoslovakian 'New Wave'. A coming of age tale that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture (1967). Actually quite good, better than 1965's 'Obchod na korze (The Shop On Main Street)'.

The Brides of Fu Manchu - A couple of Christopher Lee movies next. In this one the oriental villian returns with a superweapon that he aims to use to destroy an important meeting. Its all so very 'Hammer-ish', not bad...if you can look past its flaws.

Dracula Prince of Darkness - The Count returns in this classic sequel to 1958's 'Dracula' however no Van Helsing...unless you 'count' (see what I did there?), the prologue.

Who's Afraid of Viginia Woolf - This is one of those pictures that is undoubtedly a classic and well deserved of all the awards it got...However for me this was just plain dull. The acting and dialogue is first rate I'll admit but its not a subject matter that that interests me. Its typical of the sort of film done in the 50's and 60's especially in the U.S. British cinema would call them 'kitchen sink' dramas and have Albert Finney reaching for a dirty glass from the sink but the American versions would have Liz Taylor reaching for a clean glass from the glass cabinet! Just too 'clean' and not enough grit!

A Man for all Seasons - Oscar and BAFTA winner. Historical drama about Thomas More. Has a whole host of British Stars including Yootha Joyce in a small role.

A Bullet for the General - Spaghetti western (?) set in the early part of the last century. Not too bad and stars Gian Maria Volonté who went up against Clint Eastwood in the two 'Dollars' movies.

Voyna i Mir - I was not looking forward to seeing this Russian subtitled 6h 43m epic from Sergei Bondarchuk. However it wasn't as much as a borefest as I feared it would be. Told in four parts this Russian 'War and Peace' does have some spectacular scenes, particulary the battles especially in the first and fourth parts. Although IMDB puts the release year as 1966 the four parts were released in the USSR over 66 and 67. In 1968 it went on to win the Academy award for best Foreign Picture.

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold - Tarzan returned after three years away but in the guise of Mike Henry who had replaced Jock Mahoney now considered to old to continue in the role in what Sy Weintraub had planned for the franchise. Weintraub wanted to transfer the jungle lord from the cinematic big screen to the much smaller one of TV. But whilst plans for the series were in development a few more cinema outings lay ahead. This one attempts to make Tarzan a more 'hipper' character, after a typical 60's flashy credit sequence we see Tarzan dressed in a suit arriving at a south American airport where he is picked by a chauffer who turns out to be a bad guy, (shades of James Bond in Dr No).

The Good the Bad and the Ugly - Leone's classic is right up there with the best Spaghetti westerns in cinema history. Morricone's score only adds to the film and is in itself iconic. "Blondie...you know what you are? Your a son of a ........"

The Bible: In The Beginning - The first part of a planned trilogy covering the entire old testament but the second and third parts were never made. An American / Italian production with a host stars including Richard Harris, Stephen Boyd, John Huston and George C Scott. Huston was also the director and elected to play the role of Noah after Alec Guiness became unavailable and Charlie Chaplin (!) turned it down. Its a bit overlong and although the earlier parts were ok I found myself getting bored when Scott's Abraham came along.