Tony Rome & Lady in Cement (Fox) (TWILIGHT TIME BLU RAY)

Tony Rome & Lady in Cement (Fox) (BLU RAY) original release Nov 10,1967 and November 20,1968 respectively. Blu Ray. Region Free. August 16,2016. Twilight Time. (color) Rated M (now PG). 203 MINUTES. $29.95. Limited to 3,000 print run.

http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/tony-rome-lady-in-cement/

I must admit that I am not a person who is blown away by Frank Sinatra. I know it is nearly blasphemous for anyone who lives next to Hoboken, NJ (Ol’ Blue Eyes birthplace) to admit this. There was always something about him that I just found off putting.

However, as I have gotten older, I am discovering what an amazing natural actor. His performance in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (U.A., October 24,1962) is superb, and he holds his own in this classic political thriller. Sinatra also shows strong acting chops and his own strong persona works in his favor in these two Tony Rome stories, as well as the unrelated THE DETECTIVE (20th Century Fox, May 28,1968), not included in this release. The three films were released previously in nice but frill free DVDs from Fox.

Sinatra had a certain no-nonsense style and weariness when he played detectives, ending with THE FIRST DEADLY SIN (Filmways, October 3,1980), which was also his final starring role in a film. He turned down the role of Dirty Harry due to fibromatosis crippling his hand. It’s interesting to think of how he might have played the part. Another bit of trivia: thee was a sequel written to THE DETECTIVE written by its author Richard Thorp in 1979. It was called NOTHING LASTS FOREVER (W.W. Norton & Co.,1979). Sinatra turned down the idea of the sequel when it was broached to him. It was finally made in 1988 as a film starring Bruce Willis (who had an uncredited bit in THE FIRST DEADLY SIN) called DIE HARD (Fox, July 20,1988).

• Now TWILIGHT TIME has given TONY ROME and LADY IN CEMENT a marvelous 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 single disc Blu Ray release.
•
• Tony Rome is an ex Miami cop who has seen it all. He now spends as much time as he can on his boat, making money by doing private detective work. His ex-partner Ralph (Robert J. Wilke,an actor who was best known for appearing in westerns, having appeared in films since 1936.He was one of the outlaws from HIGH NOON ( U.A. July 24,1952)) asks Rome to escort a young woman, Diana Pines (Sue Lyons ,the original LOLITA(MGM,June 13,1962) home after she was left passed out in a hotel room.

Her father, Rudolph Kostleman (Simon Oakland, best known as Vincenzo, the boss of Kolchak from T.V.’s THE NIGHT STALKER (ABC, January11,1972) is a powerful rich man who is worried about his daughter. She has been acting strangely of late, and he hires Rome to find out why. Diana and her stepmom Rita (Gena Rowlands, soon to win a well-deserved Oscar nom for her star turn in A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Cine-Source, November 18,1974) also hire Rome to fins a missing piece of jewelry.

Rome ends up getting beaten up, a murder takes place, and Rita is almost killed as well. Can Rome solve the case, and perhaps end up with the lovely Ann Archer (Jill St. John, who had appeared previously with Sinatra in the comedy COME BLOW YOUR HORN (Paramount, June 5,1963))?

TONY ROME was based upon the novel MIAMI MAYHEM by Marvin H Albert (New York: Pocket Books, 1960.). Screenwriter Richard L. Breen (Oscar winner for his screenplay for the 1953 TITANIC (Fox, April 11,1953)) did a faithful adaptation of the story, with all its little twists and turns.

Director Gordon Douglas was a former child actor who could jump genres with a straightforward no nonsense style (THEM, WB, June 19,1954; STAGECOACH, Fox, June 15,1966; SKULLDUGGERY, Universal, March 6,1970). Obviously, he and Sinatra got along, as he directed TONY ROME, LADY IN CEMENT, as well as THE DETECTIVE.

Extras for this feature include an audio commentary by film historians Lee Pfeiffer, Scarlet friend Paul Scrabo and Anthony Latino. The three keep up a fact filled dialogue about the film as well as director Gordon Douglas (who had directed Sinatra in the comedy ROBIN & THE 7 HOODS (WB, June 24,1964) as well as Sinatra’s film career. They drop little tidbits as that Sinatra was performing at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach at night, and that they used it as a location during the day. That hotel still exists, but it seems many of the other locales are gone.

The original sound track is available to hear on an isolated music and sound effects track. Composer Billy May had worked with Sinatra since his album, COME FLY WITH ME (January 6,1958, Capitol Records), and the soundtrack has that reflects that brassy sound. Daughter Nancy Sinatra sings the title song.

The original Theatrical Trailer is also an extra.

Sadly, some of the behind the scenes documentaries shot at the time are not added as extras, perhaps due to legal reasons or poor source material. They are available to see on YOUTUBE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-AS1OT-aQA with Shecky Greene, who plays Catleg in the film, is a behind the scene look at filming. Shecky was a comic who played a lot of club circuits.

Also, a brief b&w silent sequence exists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr8RoJYxCxw

By the way, future LAND OF THE GIANTS (Fox,1968-1970) star Deanna Lund, who appears on the poster, was so embarrassed by her role that she asked for her name to be removed from the credits.

TONY ROME was successful enough for the studio to make a sequel a year later.

LADY IN CEMENT was based upon Marvin H Albert’s second Tony Rome novel (LADY IN CEMENT, Robert Hale, London, 1961. hard cover) was adapted for the screen by Albert and Jack Guss (this seems to be his only theatrical screenplay, working mostly on television shows like DANIEL BOONE (1964-1970, Arcola/NBC. Arcola was one of the producers of the Tony Rome films, so that may be how he connected to the project. Indeed 70 minutes into LADY IN CEMENT, you see DANIEL BOONE playing on a hotel T.V. set.).

Sadly, this film is a big drop in quality from the previous film. While sexism was more to the forefront of the detective films of the period, LADY IN CEMENT seems to revel in it as well as strong homophobia. The film manages to be sleazier yet less interesting than the first film.

In this one, Rome(Sinatra) and a police man friend go diving from Rome’s boat looking for treasure. What Rome finds is a dead nude blonde woman (Christine Todd, of whom this seems to be her only film appearance) underwater, her feet encased in cement.

He alerts the authorities and think his involvement is done. However, a big ex con Waldo Gronsky (Dan Blocker, best known as “Hoss” for T.V.’ s BONANZA (NBC FILMS,1959-1972)*) wants to hire Rome to find Sandra Lomax, who happens to be the dead woman .Gronsky is a likeable lug, and the plot at times echoes FAREWELL MY LOVELY by Raymond Chandler (Alfred A. Knopf ,1940). Indeed, Blocker is one of the best things in the film, and makes the film worth watching until the end.

Also in the film is tough guy Richard Conte (returning from TONY ROME as Police Lt. Dave Santini),Richard Deacon (known from T.V.’s DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, Sheldon Leonard Productions,1961-66)as a pervy artist, singer actress Lanie Kazan as a stripper who ends up dead after talking to Rome , and the main reason people remember this film, Raquel Welch. Welch was now an international sex symbol, due to her appearances in FANTASTIC VOYAGE and ONE MILLION YEARS BC (both Fox,1966). Here, she is given little to do but look beautiful, which she does.

The soundtrack by Hugo Montenegro (best known for scoring such shows as THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY(Paramount,1970-74), to put it mildly, is grating and repetitive of the level of elevator music ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ywuJh19U5w) and distracts from the action rather than moving it along.

The film just kind of lurches along until the ending with the actors trying gamely to make something of it. The budget was estimated to be about $3,500,000(a bit more than the previous film) and had mixed reviews and middling box office. Due to that, a third Tony Rome novel MY KIND OF GAME (New York, N.Y.: Dell, 1962) remains unfilmed.

The only extra for LADY is the original theatrical trailer.

TWILIGHT TIME’s BLU RAY does a superb job with the two films. TONY ROME looks a bit sharper, with LADY IN CEMENT appearing a bit grainier. The sound is superb and hiss free. Once again, Twilight Time’s subtitles are clear and follow the action precisely.

Julie Kirgo once again provides nice info in a small enclosed booklet ,illustrated with some fine photos and posters .

Limited to only a 3,000 disc printings, I would recommend it mostly because of TONY ROME to fans of hard boiled detectives and Sinatra fans.

–Kevin G Shinnick

*Another in -joke, they have BONANZA ‘s opening playing on T.V. with Dan Blocker watching. Indeed, both films are full of in jokes.

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BLOOD BATH

BLOOD BATH (Arrow) Limited Edition 2 disc Blu Ray (b&w,1963-67) released May ,2016. $33.97
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-2-Disc-Limited-Special-Blu-ray/dp/B01BIEHMHA/189-2814066-0356520?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Arrow Video has become one of the premier companies for uncovering rare and unusual cult films and going the extra effort to not only to clean up the films for release, but tracking down the best possible elements worldwide, as well as a bevy of extras that boggles the mind. One suspects that the team at Arrow not only wishes to keep their wonderful company going, but are also film geeks extraordinaire themselves.

This is proven by their limited release edition of BLOOD BATH (AIP ,1966). BLOOD BATH is a fun little vampire film by way of A BUCKET OF BLOOD (Alta Vista/AIP,1959) along with imagery that harkens to THE THIRD MAN (London Films ,1949) as well as foreign locales that add to the production values.

(The Third Man ,Dutch Angles in a Viennese Street)

                                                                  (OPERATION TITIAN, the shadow knows)

 

It was therefore surprising that BLOOD BATH was in fact a Shapeshifter of a film, or at least, was just one variation of a total of four different edits and incarnations with reshoots and redubs. Patrick Magee goes from major character to minor while Sid Haig suddenly appears. Bill Campbell goes from looking for a lost art masterpiece to crazed madman to a vampire played by another uncredited performer who looks nothing like him.

All the existing variants (Jack Hill’s BLOOD BATH remains lost) are presented here in fine restorations.
The original OPERATION TITIAN (1963, aka Operacija Ticijan) was a Yugoslavian thriller that ran 95 minutes. Roger Corman, while scouting for new foreign films that he could redub and resell to the American market, was approached with a proposition, invest $20 grand and provide the American (or at least, English speaking leads), and Corman would have the U.S. rights the finished product. The idea of such a small investment for a finished film intrigued Corman, and so he provided two actors already in Europe and had worked with him on DEMENTIA 13 (Filmgroup,1963), William Campbell (perhaps today best known for his brilliant turn in the classic STAR TREK episode, “The Squire of Gothos” (Paramount/NBC ,1967). Irish actor Patrick Magee is best known by his turn in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (WB,1971) as the vengeful Mr. Alexander. The final film was considered unreleasable by Corman and so he set about trying to save his investment.

 

 

PORTRAIT IN TERROR – was the first variant. Stephanie Rothman shot some new footage, approximately 10 minutes, basically adding some violence (one murder is padded out by five minutes!) , the original musical score is replaced with music from LAST WOMAN ON EARTH (Filmgroup,1959) and DEMENTIA 13 (Filmgroup,1963). Still the main body of the film was trimmed and so the film still ran only a little under 82 minutes. It was sold in 1967 by AIP Television as part of a package and received no theatrical release.

BLOOD BATH – Corman still felt there was possibilities in his property, and so invested even more dollars into trying to make a film that would make him a return on investment. Jack Hill got to shoot a new film as long as he used at least 30 minutes of footage from OPERATION TITIAN. He had about 5 days for shooting the project. Actor Campbell was brought back at a higher salary to shoot what he was told was new footage but instead was shocked to discover the plot had turned him into a mad killer! Hill finished his cut but left to film another project instead.

Hill’s cut was never released and is unavailable but we do have the version that Stephanie Rothman shot using 4 minutes from OPERATION TITIAN and 37 minutes from Hill’s. The original mad killer plot of Hill’s version was changed now to a vampire who looks nothing like Marshall. This is explained by having that he is possessed! Magee is nonexistent in the new film, save for one shot of him from the original film of him covered in wax. New characters were added, new footage, some with doubles and redubbing’s ensued and this is the version which we now know. This was released theatrically with QUEEN OF BLOOD (AIP ,1966). Corman must have been seething, as the movie had by this point probably more than films had shot himself completely. Still, he finally had a version that was released to U.S. theatres and later to television.

         (Who IS this uncredited actor who plays the Vampire?)
However, since in its current state, BLOOD BATH was deemed too short (under 70 minutes) for sale to television, so once again new footage along with outtakes from OPERATION TITIAN (restoring Magee somewhat to the storyline) added 15 minutes to the movies running time, along with a new title, TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE (AIP,1967). Strangely ,it was released as part of the same tv package as PORTRAIT IN TERROR, so in effect, tv stations were buying the same film twice!

The print and picture quality are superb throughout, especially given the movie(s) strange history. There is some speckling on OPERATION TITIAN, due to what appears to tape marks that could not be removed from the master print. Watching the films’ back to back is an interesting experience, one that left me wondering which film was I now viewing! However, it is also an exercise I recommend for any budding filmmakers that show how important editing is to a film.

 

Subtitles follow the dialogue fairly well, as well as noting key sound effects (piano plays)
Now if all this wasn’t worth getting this set, ARROW has added some wonderful extras.

First up is ‘The Trouble with Titian Revisited”, a brand new documentary on the muddled history of the film, running 81 minutes, or as long as most cuts of the film!! This brilliant piece, which I feel will be a leading contender for the Rondo Awards next year, is an expansion and video essay of the three-part examination by Tim Lucas from Video Watchdog issues 4,5, and 7. Indeed, it was that series of articles from which many of us first became aware that the film had undergone so many incarnations. Lucas himself narrates.

 

Next, Sid Haig speaks for under 5 minutes on his remembrances of the film, giving most of the credit to Jack Hill, plus how his beard changed length over the course of filming.

A 3-minute video interview with the Jack Hill recalls has the director recall his involvement with the project and how it changed.
Finally, there is a short still gallery which includes some interesting behind the scenes shots of shooting Jack Hill’s version as well as the QUEEN OF BLOOD / BLOOD BATH press book. The address given for AIP in NY ,165 W 46th Street, NY NY 10036 is now the home of ACTORS EQUITY, which is a bit ironic when you consider how often Corman and SAG (Screen Actors Guild) clashed.

Included is a reversible Blu Ray cover featuring original art by Dan Mumford ,with the other side using original lobby card art for BLOOD BATH .  There is also a reversible poster of both .

Also ,an informative collectible  booklet that provides nice information on stars Haig ,Magee & Campbell ,as well as a nice little piece concerning he films.

If you are interested at all in how films can be made remade and changed (currently the major motion picture SUICIDE SQUAD (WB,2016) is undergoing major reshoots months after it wrapped initially in an attempt to change the tone of the film), then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you buy this limited edition set.

–HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
-Kevin G Shinnick

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
•Limited Edition collection of the complete ‘Blood Bath’

•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of four versions of the film: Operation Titian, Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire

•Brand new 2K restorations of Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire from original film materials
•Brand new reconstruction of Operation Titian using original film materials and standard definition inserts

•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all four versions
•The Trouble with Titian Revisited – a brand new visual essay in which Tim Lucas returns to (and updates) his three-part Video Watchdog feature to examine the convoluted production history of Blood Bath and its multiple versions
•Bathing in Blood with Sid Haig – a new interview with the actor, recorded exclusively for this release
•Outtakes from Track of the Vampire, scanned from original film materials
•Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artworks
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford

•Limited edition booklet containing new writing on the film and its cast by Peter Stanfield, Anthony Nield, Vic Pratt and Cullen Gallagher