Movie Ad of the Week: RUN RUN, JOE! (1974)

This widescreen Carlo Ponti production, filmed mostly on and around the island of Ischia as JOE AND MARGHERITO, was originally set to star Franco Nero and Peter Fonda in the respective titular roles, but when the chase comedy went before the Todd-AO lenses in late summer 1973, Keith Carradine had replaced Nero and Tom Skerritt was in the Fonda part. The pseudo Cinerama world premiere was held on April 11, 1974 ("Nothing in this Carlo Ponti presentation either requires or exploits the wrap-round presentation" sniffed Russell Davies of the Observer) at the Casino Theater in London, the same venue where the world premiere of a real three-strip Cinerama film, HOW THE WEST WAS WON, was held a dozen years earlier. By the time this two-hour-long Giuseppe Colizzi joint reached the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on August 28, 1974 the title had been changed to RUN RUN, JOE! Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas wrote, "The only thing that sets [it] apart from all the other mindless celebrations of violence and destruction is that it was shot in Cinerama." The film made only $7,500 at the Dome and was pulled from U.S. release.

The first issue of Wet Paint in 25 years is now available!

Hey everyone! All this week I'm going to be posting about some of the recent projects that have been keeping me busy lately, beginning with the exciting news that Jeff Smith's great fanzine Wet Paint has returned from a 25 year hiatus. That's the new issue on the left in the above photo -- 52 pages with full-color covers by Jeff and Steve Bissette, along with the following cool contents...

Sister Tempest: A Study in Strange by JE Smith

Cine-Soupcon - Weirdfilm Reviews by Stephen R. Bissette

Interview with Screenwriter Gary Crutcher by Chris Poggiali

Exterminating Angel: The First Post-Modern Horror Film? by Greg Goodsell

EXIT - Indie Film Review by JES

Interview with Mel Welles by Dennis Fischer

Split/Vision: Death Game vs. Knock Knock by Tim Ferrante and Scott Voisin

Sam Sherman Book Excerpt presented by Tim Ferrante

Three Times Comes The Grim Reaper by Robert Freese

MovieMania: Random Reviews

Paul Milligan Mini-Portfolio

Secrets of the 4:30 Movie by Tim Ferrante

Vintage Interview with M. Emmett Walsh by Kris Gilpin

The Strange Fate of Luigi Collo by Robert Freese

Oh! What a Night: Meeting Dario Argento & Daria Nicolodi by Tim Ferrante

Previously unpublished artwork by Allen K!

PLUS, the first 99 copies will come with a value-added bonus, a full-color signed print by Jeff, celebrating a classic monster movie.

Order it HERE!

Oh, and that issue on the right in the above photo? That's the last Wet Paint I wrote for, published 30 years ago (May/June/July 1991)!

Movie Ad of the Week: "Godzilla's Saturday Morning Monster Movies" (1977)

Hey kids! Check this out: The Terrace 1 & 2 in Burlington, NC ran a 10-week Godzilla monster movie fest in the fall of 1977, beginning with GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER. "Everyone loves Godzilla, so don't miss any of the action," the ad advises. Admission was only 50 cents for each show, or $2.00 for a "season pass" to all 10 screenings -- and at those prices, management must've figured no one's going to get too upset when they realize Godzilla's only in four of the movies being shown.

Movie Ad of the Week: MEAN AND BLACK (1975) and MEAN AND BLACK (1979)

MEAN AND BLACK was a title used in 1975 for an action track re-release of GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING, the third 'Ginger' adventure starring Cheri Caffaro. Above and below: Tampa, FL - May 1, 1975.

In this case the title referred to Caffaro's co-star, actor and former pro football player Timothy Brown, but four years later...

...the handle was used again for a re-release of the 1967 spaghetti western LOLA COLT, starring Lola Falana, which had already toured drive-ins and action theaters as BLACK TIGRESS in 1976. Above is a lurid ad from its Shreveport, Louisiana opening on June 1, 1979.

An AGFA print of LOLA COLT sporting the MEAN AND BLACK title was shown at the Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers as part of their monthly Temple of Schlock series on February 28, 2016.

Movie Ads of the Week: SAMURAI SPY (1965-1999)

Masahiro Shinoda's IBUN SARUTOBI SASUKE (1965), currently showing on the Criterion Channel and still available from the Criterion Collection in their Rebel Samurai DVD box set as SAMURAI SPY, first played the U.S. at the Kabuki Theatre in Los Angeles on October 18, 1965. Four months later...

...on February 23, 1966 it arrived at the Nippon Theatre in Honolulu under the title SARUTOBI THE SECRET AGENT.

Under the SAMURAI SPY title, it played the Park Theatre in Fresno, CA during the weekend of June 30-July 2, 1972.

As the first half of a Shinoda double bill, it closed the second month-long Films of Japan festival at the Nuart in August-September 1972.

UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive programmed it as part of a Shinoda film fest in March 1973.

The Kokusai Theatre (formerly the Toho Theatre) in San Francisco ran it in July '73

Under the title SASUKE AGAINST THE WIND it played the Bijou (the former Toho Cinema) in New York on September 5, 1973.

It returned to New York on June 5-6, 1974 as part of the landmark ten-week Cinema East festival at the Regency Theatre.

Here it is paired with Masaki Kobayashi's HARAKIRI at the Park Square Moviehouse in Boston in February 1977...

...and at the Cento Cedar Cinema in San Francisco in September of that year, with Kurosawa's THE HIDDEN FORTRESS as part of the Samurai Festival V.

Back in Boston in December '78, this time at the Coolidge Corner with Kurosawa's IKIRU.

Again with THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, this time at the New Loft in Tucson, AZ in February 1981.

As part of a Shinoda double bill with ASSASSINATION at the Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville, VA in January '82.

As part of a samurai film fest at the Robson Square Center in Vancouver in August 1982.

The Rialto in South Pasadena screened it with SAMURAI REBELLION as part of their "Movies in Cinemascope" series in September 1987.

On a Shinoda double bill with PALE FLOWER, this time at The Screen in Santa Fe, NM in August 1999.