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. 

Can you help to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you! 

ORSON WELLES TRIBUTE

Orson Welles was born on this day in 1915. A celebrated as a child prodigy by Life Magazine, Welles bluffed his way into early opportunities and let his uncanny talent carry him to stardom. Actor extraordinaire, writer, director, producer, and innovator, he quickly had his hands in many historic projects and worked with a long-term company of brilliant artists. Orson Welles is best known, of course, for his film Citizen Kaine (1941), which is still cited as the greatest American film ever made. Welles enjoyed great freedom and control on the project, a level of power that would elude him thereafter and cause years of frustration and financial insecurity. Any period of Orson Welles is fascinating and worth exploring. Spy Vibers will naturally enjoy his crime-related films, Lady From Shanghai (1947), Mr. Arkadin (1955), The Third Man (1949), Touch of Evil (1958), The Trial (1962), The Stranger (1946), and F is For Fake (1975). His Shakespeare is legendary. But fans Old Time Radio like me will always remember Orson Welles fondly as... The Shadow!

For me, Orson Welles' golden period is summed up by an old story that was often told about his radio career in the 1930s. There was a period when Welles had starring roles (and often leadership responsibilities) at major programs being produced at different radio stations. The common version of the tale is that he would rush from station to station in an ambulance so that he could get across town in time for each broadcast. He needed no rehearsals. He was just that good. I love the idea of Orson Welles wrapping something like War of the Worlds (October 1938), and then rushing through traffic, grabbing his script as he ran through the door, and stepping up to a microphone just in time to deliver his lines as pulp hero, The Shadow! 

Orson Welles was interviewed over many years by director Peter Bogdanovich. There were tapes available at one point, and the transcripts were published as This is Orson Welles. Welles was such a raconteur and brilliant mind that the book is truly exhilarating and inspiring. In the interviews, they discuss this famous story about his radio days:

OW: Soon I was doing so many [shows] that I didn't even rehearse. I'd come to a bad end in some tearjerker on the seventh floor of CBS and rush up to the ninth (they'd hold an elevator for me), where, just as the red light was going on, somebody'd hand me a script and whisper, "Chinese Mandarin, seventy-five years old," and off I'd go again. Some days I had to commute between the networks by ambulance...

PB: It was in those years that you did The Shadow.

OW: Lamont Cranston, that was me.

PB: You didn't write those things?

OW: My God, I didn't even know what was going to happen to me while I was in 'em. Not rehearsing- which was part of my deal with Blue Coal- the sponsor, made it so much more interesting. When I was thrown down the well or into some fiendish snake pit, I never knew how I'd get out. 

PB: You had nothing to do with that marvelous opening speech-

OW: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men...?" Well, I said it every week for years.

Orson Welles landed the role of The Shadow at the age of 22. He played the famous mystery hero from September 27th, 1937 to March, 1938. Other notable radio performances include Mercury Theater on the Air (1938-1940), Ceiling Unlimited (1942-1943), The Lives of Harry Lime (1951-1952/based on The Third Man), and The Black Museum (1952). You can learn all about The Shadow from Martin Grams here. 

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our fiendish villains archive, 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.

Want to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you!

ORSON WELLES: THE STRANGER ON BLU-RAY

In the months following the end of WWII, Orson Welles was hired to direct a film called The Stranger (1946). The story focuses on a War Crimes Commission investigator, Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), who is a Nazi hunter on the trail of Franz Kindler, mastermind of the Holocaust. Clues lead him to a small university town in the United States, where the last man who can identify Kindler turns up murdered! As the investigation continues, the shadow of suspicion begins to fall on professor Charles Rankin (Orson Welles).


The Stranger may not be remembered as one of Welles' top-shelf projects, but it's always been one of my favorites. It's also interesting as a reflection of its era. The film includes concentration camp footage, the first ever to be seen in a feature picture, and the story itself reveals a world trying to unravel and respond to the horrors of the war. Although many of Welles' sequences were cut by the studio, something that plagued his career as a creator, the final cut of the film remains a classic thriller. Readers might be interested to know that Welles, on principle, never liked to see real misery exploited for entertainment. But in this case, he felt that using the film to spread the truth about the Holocaust was an important opportunity not to be shied away from. The Stranger will be released in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on February 15th by Film Chest and Virgil Films & Entertainment (formerly Arts Alliance America). The print is said to be digitally restored from 35mm film assets, and fans are hoping that the movie will finally find the restoration it deserves after years on the public domain market. The Blu-ray is available for pre-order at $11.99 on Amazon here.


Orson Welles truly earned his reputation as a narrative genius. Spy Vibers would especially enjoy his work as an actor (and story contributor) in Carol Reed's The Third Man and his appearance in Casino Royale (1967). His must-see thrillers include The Lady From Shanghai, Touch of Evil, and Mr. Arkadin. Other classics include The Trial, Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and F is For Fake. There is much to explore in Orson Welles, including his prolific adaptations of Shakespeare. For more on Welles, see the inspiring and illuminating This is Orson Welles by Peter Bogdanovich.