SPY RELEASES

Screen Archives Entertainment regularly solicits new releases and spotlights rare and interesting films and soundtracks. Spy Vibe reported last week that SAE has continued their efforts to track down and release rare Kriminal/Satanik scores- the newest remastering project was composed by Piero Umiliani! This week SAE have solicited a few projects that might appeal to Spy Vibers. 

Fans of maestro Ennio Morricone can look forward to the rare soundtrack to Slalom, an espionage film made during the spy boom of 1965, starring Vittorio Gassman and those spy-regulars, Adolfo Celi and Daniale Bianchi (were they in everything?). The CD was released on May 7th and does not appear to be a limited edition. 

From SAE: "SLALOM (aka SNOW JOB, aka EL OCTAVO HOMBRE), 1965, Luciano Salce movie director, a mix of spy and comedy, starring Vittorio Gassman, Beba Loncar, Adolfo Celi, Emma Danieli, Daniela Bianchi. Lucio Ridolfi (Gassman), along with his wife and a couple of friends, is going to Sestriere on Christmas holidays. In search of extramarital affaire, Lucio notices a beautiful and mysterious foreign girl that will cause him a series of strange adventures and involving him in an intricate international conspiracy against his will. During an excursion on the snow he is hit and kidnapped. When he comes back to his senses he finds himself on a plane to Cairo with a passport in the name of a foreign citizen, and beside him- a woman who claims to be his wife! Ricordi Records issued a 45 rpm single (SRL 10-397) with two tracks, Slalom and Sestriere, where all the creative talent of Ennio Morricone mixes with the fabulous choir of Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni, in their sparkling performance of the main themes. For this new stereo and mono album, the master tapes of the original session have been digitally restored, for a real blast from the past. The refined compositions of Maestro Morricone ranging from jazz to lounge atmospheres of mystery and suspense, with ethnic elements of Middle Eastern culture, typical of espionage and action movies." Screen image below from the Lucid Nightmare here.

If you have a taste for great pre-1960s thrillers, check out Cloak and Dagger (1946), a new hi-def print of a classic by the master himself, Fritz Lang (Metropolis, M, Spies, Man Hunt). From SAE: "From legendary director Fritz Lang (Metropolis) comes an engrossing spy thriller years ahead of its time. Gary Cooper (High Noon) is an American physicist, parachuted into war-torn Nazi Germany to obtain military secrets. But the deeper he probes, the deadlier his mission becomes… especially when his involvement with the beautiful and mysterious Lilli Palmer (Body and Soul) catapults him into an intense maelstrom of danger, betrayal and murder. Two of the film’s best features are the terrific black-and-white cinematography by Sol Polito (Sergeant York) and the rousing score by legendary composer Max Steiner (Gone with the Wind)." Cloak and Dagger was released on April 30th by Olive Films. Review here. Amazon link here. And for my old schoolmates who may be confused, the 1984 film Cloak and Dagger here. 

For some reason, SAE has also featured the 2011 Blu-ray edition of Orson Welles' thriller, The Stranger in their recent product blast. Although Welles himself never spoke highly of the film, it remains a beloved classic that is carried by the heavyweight talents of Orson Welles and Edward G. Robinson. The Stranger is an old favorite of mine! As far as I can tell, this Blu-ray edition is from Film Chest Media, who did minor restorations from a public domain 35mm print (review here). Spy Vibe's tribute to Orson Welles and The Shadow here. 

From SAE: An "ex-Nazi war criminal assumes a new identity and a new life in suburban America following World War II. But an agent from the U.N. s War Crimes Commission is on his tail, threatening to expose the lurid past and true identity he keeps secret. Orson Welles directs and stars as Charles Rankin, a professor residing in a quiet Connecticut town with his new American wife, Mary (Loretta Young). Rankin has held strong to his fascist ideals but left nary a shred of evidence, not even a photograph, to identify him as the notorious Franz Kindler. Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), the man determined to find him, has a plan. But when that plan disappears in the woods, Wilson is left with little hope of convincing the townspeople, or Kindler s naive new wife, who this stranger in their midst really is." 

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our fiendish villains archive, Man From UNCLE manga. new James Bond omnibus, Orson Welles the Shadow, rare Piero Umiliani Kriminal soundtrack, new Beatles Yellow Submarine game, James Bond audio book re-issues, Mid-Century Modern in Peanuts, Ralph Byrd Dick Tracy, The Saint, Op Art, Thomas Allen pulp art, The Shadow, Operation Kid Brother (MST3K), 1960s espionage writers, my review of SKYFALL, 007 at the Intnl Spy Museum, and more. Spy Vibe is now on Pinterest! Check out our image archives and follow us here.

Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here. 

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