Pre-Wolfman Lon

 

 (imdb)

A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT-1935-Jack Wilson (Lon Chaney Jr.) is in Singapore planning on arresting thief Johnny Fly (Manuel Lopez) with the help of local guy Wu Ting (Phillip Ahn). He meets old friend Edith (Shelia Terry) and her Uncle Joe (John Ince), who subsequently becomes a victim of Fly and is robbed. Fortunately, the robbers don't get his most valuable ruby, so Wilson and Inspector Green (Richard Cramer) expect Fly to strike again. Wu Ting goes undercover as a peddler but is killed by Butch Curtain (also played by Chaney), one eyed henchman to Fly and his moll, Mora (Zara Tazil). Fly finally gets the ruby by kidnapping Edith. Of course, Mora is jealous of her. Meanwhile, Jack arrests Butch and impersonates him. After a lot of static talk and some fights, good triumphs over evil. 

This musty low budget Astor production has some too dark scenes and bad acting but Chaney is good taking a page out of dad's playbook playing the dual role. It seems this wasn't released until 1943 when Lon had hit the big time. It's one of his 6 movies appearances in 1935.

 Co-Star Richard Cramer made over 200 movie appearances (he's in the WC Fields short A FATAL GLASS OF BEER) but may be more to familiar to some having menaced Laurel & Hardy in several films. John Ince, brother of the ill-fated Thomas, was a director during the silent era. Female lead Shelia Terry left the motion pictures by 1938. She committed suicide in 1957. Director Fred C. Newmeyer (also an actor) made SAFETY LAST! with Harold Lloyd and “Our Gang” shorts.

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US Actors in South American

 

KILLER FISH-1979-In this Italian production filmed in Buenos Aires with North American actors jewel thieves headed by Lasky (Lee Majors) and Kate (Karen Black) steal some valuable gems and wreck most of the facility getting them. They hide the loot underwater in a reservoir. The mastermind behind the heist Diller (James Franciscus) fills the reservoir with piranha. 

Meanwhile Lasky pursues model Gabrielle (Margaux Heminway), while her fat photographer (Roy Brocksmith),manager (Marisa Berensen) and pilot (Gary Collins) hang around. After some of the robbers are killed trying to retrieve the cache, Kate scuba dives for it and she and Diller get the booty. When they get caught in a rainstorm they are picked up by a yacht owned by the model and her entourage. 

The storm washes the piranha into the nearby lake. Diller betrays them all and it's Longstreet vs. The Six Million Dollar Man in the finale battle of the US TV stars in this drawn out little drama directed by Anthony Dawson (aka Antonio Margheriti) (CASTLE OF BLOOD). 

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International

I BASTARDI-(THE BASTARD)-1968-In New Mexico, Jason (Giuliano Gemma) and Adam (Klaus Kinski) are jewel thieves brothers. When the milk drinking Jason won't give up the jewels he stole Adam has him beaten up and tricks him into revealing where the stash is. It also turns out Jason's girlfriend Karen (Margret Lee) is Adam's lover. Adam has Jason's shooting hand maimed and leaves him to wander in the desert where he's taken in by ranch owner Barbara (Claudine Auger) who teaches him to write with his other hand. They become lovers but all the while Jason is plotting his revenge. After they rob an armored car Jason visits his weird alcoholic mother (Rita Hayworth). He goes for revenge but there's an earthquake. While Karen is killed, Adam survives, rescued by his baby brother who then shoots Adam to death. Jason is in turn shot (soundlessly) by his mother. 

This Italian German France co-production directed by Duccio Tessari isn't very good but any movie with Klaus Kinski playing the son of Rita Hayworth is all right with me. Joan Crawford was originally suppose to play the Hayworth role but dropped out over complaints about the script.

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Superboy on TV (almost)

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY-1961-This was a TV pilot produced by SUPERMAN producer Whitney Ellsworth. The simple plot involves a trio of thugs who plan to rob a movie theater in Smallville. Fred, the doorman (Ross Elliot) has a son Jimmy who's kind of ashamed of his old man's occupation. For some reason to promote their new movie the theater manager has 200,000 dollars in uncut diamonds on display. One bad guy (Richard Reeves) causes a ruckus out in Bronson canyon to distract the police from their real target. 

While Superboy talks by radio to the chief of police, the other two use knockout gas on the police guards and make off with the diamonds. Superboy arrests Reeves just as he gets the word the theater has been robbed. Fortunately Fred is also a crack artist and he draws portraits of the two robbers. Superboy uses his super pressure on some coal to create new diamonds for the display and uses his super hearing as a “lie detector” to listen to Reeves' heart rate. They use Fred as “bait” to trap the robbers but it kind of backfires and Superboy instead makes the fleeing crooks crash their car. For Fred's courageous work, Jimmy wins a scholarship and his father wins Jimmy's respect.

There are interviews with the 4 different actress auditioning for Lana and then screen tests and an interview with the lead actor John Rockwell (in his costume)

This has been available as a bootleg for years and is on Youtube.

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