Showing posts with label MovieZyng. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MovieZyng. Show all posts

Friday, July 3, 2020

The Assassination Bureau (1969): Review by Kate Gabrielle




The Assassination Bureau (1969) is an energetic, suspenseful, and imaginative romp through an alternate version of turn-of-the-century Europe where the chair of a secretive murder-for-hire organization, Ivan Dragomiroff (Oliver Reed), teams up with feminist journalist Miss Winter (Diana Rigg) to prevent World War I. Sure, he might be partially to blame for the Archduke Ferdinand's accidental assassination by tossing him a bomb concealed inside of a large sausage, but his heart is in the right place!

This dark comedy begins with Miss Winter seeking out The Assassination Bureau to commission a hit on Ivan Dragomiroff himself! Miss Winter believes that his demise will put an end to the increasing number of senseless murders being committed, and her first assignment as a newly minted journalist will be to trail Dragomiroff and cover his ultimate end for the paper. Driven partially by amusement at the offer and a desire to reset the moral compass of his increasingly mercenary institution, Dragomiroff accepts Miss Winter's request, with one caveat. If he is able to kill the other members of the board - corrupt men willing to trade an indefinite number of human lives in exchange for more power or wealth - then The Assassination Bureau can remain intact with him as chair, and restore its original mission to only eliminate those who are really and truly deserving of death.

Bedecked in a series of outlandish disguises, the members of the board all begin drawing up dastardly and inventive ways to kill each other off. A match sparked in a gas-filled room, bombs in briefcases, bombs in headboards, the aforementioned bomb in the sausage, and a particularly surprising death by helium! As Dragomiroff traipses across Europe leaving fiery, smoking buildings in his wake, Miss Winter follows along to cover the story and - predictably, but nonetheless adorably - becomes increasingly worried about the safety of the man that she just paid twenty thousand pounds to kill!

Diana Rigg and Oliver Reed have great chemistry here - in one scene when they are still in the verbal sparring stage of the "mismatched romantic duo" trope a hotel porter mistakes them for a married couple, and you could easily see how he could make that mistake. Dragomiroff remarks "it seems we have a married look ... because you're after my blood, no doubt." Of course, she's not the only one after his blood! Dragomiroff's second in command, Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas) is so determined to see Miss Winter's hit carried out that he offers an additional ten thousand pound bonus to the person who does the deed. Savalas plays Lord Bostwick as a congenial villain, a man who delights in the game of death as much as the power he stands to gain from it. He is the perfect foil for Reed, who manages to portray an idealistic and upstanding hero with his characteristic devil-may-care flippancy.

The Assassination Bureau is as visually bright as the humor is dark - so many rich velvets, and so much attention to detail! In particular I was fascinated by a series of paintings lining the walls of the Bureau's conference room (a round room hidden behind beautiful curved bookcases) that depict famous assassinations throughout history, and a duo of beds in a brothel that are built to look like a swan and a peacock. Combining colorful, jaunty imagery with inset vintage newsreel footage, The Assassination Bureau puts a groovy 1960s twist on a fun turn of the century story.




The Assassination Bureau is available to purchase through the official



Kate Gabrielle is an illustrator and classic film fan. You can find her classic movie inspired artwork on her website, kategabrielle.com, and 10 years of film musings on her blog The Films in My Life.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Funeral in Berlin (1966)



Ex-con turned British spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is sent to Berlin on a mission. He must find Soviet intelligence officer in charge of the Berlin Wall, Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka) and make him defect from his position. Palmer is tasked to concoct an elaborate escape out of Berlin for Stok with the help of his contact Johnny Vulkan (Paul Hubschmid) and hires criminal mastermind Otto Kreutzmann (Gunter Meisner) to help him. In the meantime Palmer becomes enamored with the beautiful Samantha Steel (Eva Renzi), an Israeli spy sent to hunt down a former Nazi. This target holds the secret documents that reveal where jewels stolen during WWII are hidden. Things get really complicated for Palmer when he's double-crossed, important figures in the mission keep dying and the true identity of the Nazi is revealed.

Directed by Guy Hamilton, Funeral in Berlin (1966) is the second of the Harry Palmer spy films starring Michael Caine. He also appeared in The Ipcress File (1965) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967) and the character was revisited with two more films in the 1990s. Funeral in Berlin was shot on location at a time when crossing the Berlin Wall was met with a lot of red tape or was highly dangerous to do illegally. Funeral in Berlin is the least interesting of the three Harry Palmer films I've seen. Mostly due to a lack of character development and the numerous double-crossings make the plot difficult to follow. However, one could watch all three Harry Palmer films back to back and enjoy them immensely. Caine is so friggin' cool as Harry Palmer with his neatly pressed suits, combed back hair and thick rimmed eyeglasses.

Funeral in Berlin is a Cold War spy thriller that is not as captivating as the other Harry Palmer films starring Michael Caine but still delivers enough intrigue to be worth a viewing. I read that Akim Tamiroff was supposed to play Colonel Stok and I can't help but think it would have been a better movie with him in it!




Funeral in Berlin (1966) is available on DVD from Paramount. You can purchase a copy at my MovieZyng store.

 Thank you to Allied Vaughn for sending me a copy of Funeral in Berlin (1966) for review.

Monday, December 31, 2018

Strange Bedfellows (1965)




"She knew what she wanted when she saw what she wanted."

Strange Bedfellows (1965) stars Rock Hudson as Carter Harrison, a strait-laced American executive living in London. One day he meets feisty activist/painter Toni Vincente (Gina Lollobrigida). The two have instant chemistry and just 24 hours later are married. But they are as different as two people can be. She's an outspoken bohemian with a temper. He's a professional who likes to maintain the status quo. The two separate and don't see each other for 7 years. When Carter is up for a major promotion, his company's PR agent, Richard Bramwell (Gig Young), works on cleaning up Carter's image. They have two weeks to get Carter back together with his estranged wife. However Toni is already engaged to fellow Bohemian activist Harry (Edward Judd). When the two meet again, planning a divorce, they rediscover their undeniable attraction. Their physical chemistry brings them together and their personalities pull them apart. Things begin to escalate as Harrison prepares for his boss' visit to London at the same time Toni is planning to protest against censorship at the American embassy. What results is an outrageous series of events complete with Lady Godiva riding into London on a horse.

This film reunites Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida after their romantic comedy Come September (1961). It's not nearly as good as their first collaboration but it does show what great chemistry and screen presence these two had. This movie is steaming hot. It puts the sex in sex comedy. There are two scenes in particular that are rife with sexual tension. In one the two meet with their lawyers about a divorce and cannot keep their eyes off each other. Toni tries to look away but can't help but steal glances and Carter boldly takes in every bit of Toni's figure while failing to light his cigarette. In another scene, Carter drops Toni off at her place and he makes this seductive walk in her direction and Toni can't help but be completely flustered. It's such a delight to see these '60s icons at their prime.

There is also a lot of gay subtext in this film. Rock Hudson frequently meets with Gig Young while in some state of undress. When Young's character Richard discusses Carter's state of affairs, he proclaims, "no more gay, married bachelor. It's got to be Carter Harrison, family man." There is a ridiculous scene in which Carter tries to communicate to Toni while she's in another cab via their two cab drivers and a radio dispatcher. Willful miscommunication has one cabbie telling another that Carter wants to have a baby with Harry Jones, Edward Judd's character. When the cabbie tells the radio dispatcher that the "husband has shown up" when Hudson enters Lollobrigida's cab, the dispatcher asks "his or hers?" And in another scene Toni invites protestors to stay at her place. Carter thinks he's going to bed with his wife Toni while the protestors sleep elsewhere. But while in bed he turns around to find that he's actually in bed with Harry.

Strange Bedfellows was a collaboration between filmmaking partners Norman Panama and Melvin Frank for their Panama and Frank Productions company. Panama and Frank met while studying at the University of Chicago and worked together for many years. Their collaboration resulted in such films as Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), White Christmas (1954), The Facts of Life (1960), and ended with The Road to Hong Kong (1962). Strange Bedfellows was an original idea by Panama and Frank and Frank went on to adapt the screenplay with writer Michael Pertwee. Frank also directed the film. It was shot on the Universal Studios lot (not in London alas!) and in Technicolor.

The costumes in Strange Bedfellows are to die for. Costume designer Jean Louis dressed Gina Lollobrigida in the most fun and colorful wardrobe. It was a bit too sophisticated a look for her character but made for great eye candy. Rock Hudson looks chic in his professional attire and I love Edward Judd's bohemian wardrobe.

As I mentioned before, Strange Bedfellows is not as good as Come September but worth watching to see Lollobrigida and Hudson together again. The part of an outspoken and feisty artist fits Gina Lollobrigida like a glove, even if her wardrobe doesn't always quite match. And Hudson is in his element as the suave bachelor. The beginning of the film is heavy on the narration which felt unnecessary. And the final 30 minutes of the film are one ridiculous scenario after another. The script tries to be too zany and had the writers pulled back a little bit it might have been more fun with a lot less of the craziness. I wish Judd's character Harry was more of a threat to Hudson's Carter. He seems more like a plot device than an important member of the love triangle. Not a perfect film but still fun if you enjoy zany '60s comedies.






Strange Bedfellows (1965) is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Studios. You can purchase a copy at my MovieZyng store.



Thank you to Allied Vaughn for sending me a copy of Strange Bedfellows (1965) for review.

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