Thursday, January 26, 2012

Now Playing: JAN. 26, 1962

Something unusual in Toledo OH: The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone opening under an alternate, more exploitative title -- though the print ad hedges the bet by identifying the source.



An alternate title is often a sign that a film has already flopped but the studio's trying again. I can remember it being done on TV simply so viewers wouldn't recognize the Movie of the Week as an infamous dud. Never saw Roman Spring so I can't guess what happened with it. By the way, that "funniest of color cartoons" is a Bugs Bunny short with Yosemite Sam as a viking that suffered censorship for, you guessed it, violence!

Down in Miami, Roger Vadim's jazz-fueled 1959 modernization of a much-filmed 18th century novel opens in two theaters.



Americans may recall the rival English language versions, both of which reverted to the period of the novel, that appeared in the late 1980s. They may remember Vadim as the future director of Barbarella. Or they may not: all that was long ago.

A different kind of foreign film opens in Reading PA, probably in a different kind of theater.



This is Sergio Leone's stab at the sword-and-sandal genre, and while cowboy actor Rory Calhoun is a hopeless lead, Leone definitely demonstrates a precocious eye for spectacle. Here are a few hints in a trailer uploaded by maloyko (via TCM).



It may be big, but it's still only one movie. At a Charleston drive-in, you'd get three.



What do we have here? First, via mirkodamian:



Second,-- check it out auf deutsch from godzilla2664:


Third,from the director of Doctor Blood's Coffin -- but there's no trailer available. Awwww....

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