Sultry brunnette Pamela Tiffin was one of the early Sixties most promising and popular starlets of the day. After receiving acclaim and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances in Summer and Smoke and One, Two, Three in 1961 she went on to star in such popular, though fluffy, films as Come Fly with Me, For Those Who Think Young, and The Pleasure Seekers. In 1965, she held her own opposite Paul Newman and an all-star cast in the hard-boiled detective drama Harper playing a spoiled, unhappy heiress whose father has gone missing. It was at this point when she dyed her hair blonde and went off to work in Italy making only sporadic returns to Hollywood before retiring in 1975. Below is a brief overview of, arguably, her three top Italian movies.

Oggi, domani, dopodomani (1965)

A three-part 1965 comedy reduced to two parts when released in the U.S. in 1968 as Kiss the Other Sheik. In the funiest sequence (La moglie bionda), Tiffin (in a role meant for Sue Lyon) is the sexy flighty wife of businessman Marcello Mastroianni who arranges to sell her to a shiek for his harem. But his wife is not as dumb as he thinks. The witty tagline read: His Vice Was Selling His Wife…Until the Vice Went Versa

Tiffin said in my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema:

When Carlo Ponti offered me this film, it was with the stipulation that I go blonde.  In Hollywood, they always asked me to be blonde and I always said no because in the Mid-West nice girls didn’t dye their hair.  So in Italy they bleached only the front of it because I said the back is mine–brunette.  I was surprised that I enjoyed being a blonde so much that I promptly dyed all of my hair.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uq4VVKC0jg

Giornata nera, per l’Ariete/The Fifth Cord (1971)

A spine tingling atmospheric giallo starring Franco Nero as a alcoholic journalist investigating a string of serial killings that always take place on a Tuesday. When people he knows begin to get diced, he becomes the prime suspect. Pamela, in a supporing role, is his free-spirited girlfriend who maybe the killer’s next target. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and scored by Ennio Morricone.

Tiffin said:

This film holds up to this day because of the impressive cinematography by Vittorio Storaro who captured the real Europe and not theEuropeof tourists.  During production, I noticed that Storaro lit our scenes the way Richard Avedon did during my modeling days.  When I commented on this he froze and then said, ‘Tu sei molte intelligente!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uxiX-pWVpY

Los Amigos/Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears (1973)

Set during the time of upheaval in Texas, the film starred Anthony Quinn as a deaf mercenary and Franco Nero as is his partner Johnny Ears.  When an ex-general attempts to install himself as dictator, the Texas president Sam Houston calls in Deaf Smith for help.  Tiffin played a whore with a heart of gold, who falls in love with Nero. 

Tiffin said:

I love westerns because I love nature and that kind of folklore.  Anthony Quinn is larger than life and is attractive in a primordial kind of way.  He was very easy to work with.  Franco Nero is very tall, very handsome, and very decent.  He had the impact in Europe that Paul Newman had in America.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EifMgwhE8WU

 

 

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!  (1965)

Starlets: Tura Satana, Lori Williams, Haji, Sue Bernard

Continuing with my Top 10 Starlet Movies of the Sixties is Russ Meyer’s cult classic and in my opinion one of the best films of the decade, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!  Another movie about three girls’ adventures, but this is no Come Fly with Me or The Pleasure Seekers. These three go-go dancing sex kittens scratch as they go on a wild drag racing, cat-fighting, killing spree while trying to find hidden loot deep in the desert. The movie was ahead of its time and possibly made audiences especially men squirm in their seats as the buxom trio physically and verbally abused the males in the movie. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwe3Ikngwyk

Gloriously filmed in black-and-white, Faster, Pussycat opens with voice-over narration describing “a new breed of superwomen emerging out of the ruthlessness of our times” and then quickly dissolves to dancers Varla (Tura Satana), Rosie (Haji), and Billie (Lori Williams) shaking their scantily clad bodies to the Bostweeds’ title song at a seedy go-go club. The intense male customers grotesquely yell encouragement, “Go baby, go!  Faster! Harder!”  Varla, clad all in black with her ample cleavage on display, is the tough-talking, man-hating leader, Haji her fiery Latin lover, and Billie a blonde bombshell with an independent streak and a tart tongue. The girls then hit the highway in their revved up hot rods and drive to the desert.  During the course of the movie they catfight amongst themselves; race their hot rods; watch as Varla breaks the neck of a teenage drag racer and takes his terrified girlfriend (Sue Bernard) hostage; discover from a gas station attendant that a dim-witted muscleman’s (Dennis Busch) cripple daddy (Stuart Lancaster) is hiding a fortune on his rundown ranch; and hatch a plan to rob him unaware of a second seemingly normal son. As the film rolls to a rollicking end, the body count piles up.

Memorable lines:

 “Here Rosie baby, I got it all nice and wet for ya.” –Billie trying to entice Rosie to join her for a swim

“Alright, you wash… now I’m gonna spin-a-dry you!” –Rosie’s threat to the bathing Billie

“Can’t be my agent—he couldn’t afford the gas!  My desert fan club!  They went thataway partner…” –Billie while eyeing a strange car approaching them  

“Just your job, squirrel—fill it up!” –Varla to gas station attendant, who asks what he can do for her

“You won’t find it down there,Columbus!” –Varla to same gas station attendant leering at her cleavage while talking about seeingAmerica

“Oh, you’re cute… like a velvet glove cast in iron. And like the gas chamber—a real fun gal!” –Billie to Varla

“Those two make the Mafia look like Brownies.” –Billie to Linda about Varla and Rosie

“Look, me, Jane—you, Tarzan.  Now why don’t you drop that tree you’re holding and let’s grab a vine and swing a little?” –Billie trying to seduce weight-lifting Vegetable

Recalling the shoot, Lori Williams comments in my book Drive-in Dream Girls:

“I, in the meantime, had no clue who Russ Meyer was. I just thought this was an interview for a regular movie.  I didn’t know he made films like Lorna and Mudhoney before this.  Even though this film had no swearing, no nudity—I have a backless scene but my front is completely covered—it was still considered really exploitative.  I thought, ‘Oh God, what type of picture is this?’  I was also taken aback regarding the violence in the film.  But little did I know it was going to be the best thing for me.”

“I was scared to death of Tura who is a phenomenal woman and had an amazing life.  But she really was a tough chick.  She argued with Meyer constantly.  When I saw Russ—who is hard to take on—back down a few times from her I thought, ‘Whoa, this lady is not to be tangled with.’  At one point, she didn’t want to do a scene a certain way.  She slammed her hand against some railroad equipment and broke her hand.  This was enough to frighten anybody.  Off camera, I kind of hid a lot with Sue Bernard.  I felt I was out of my realm around Tura and if I made her mad she’d whip me.  But she was very nice to me and I never had any problem with her I think because I kept my distance.”

“Haji was sweet and very quiet.  She just wanted to be exotic all the time and would always say she was from another galaxy.  She was almost esoteric.  Sue Bernard was nice but she had a stage mother from hell with her.  Stuart Lancaster was a doll and he would work with me to try to teach me things about acting.  He was a phenomenal man.  Dennis Busch was sweet and kind, but you couldn’t have more than a two-sentence conversation with him.” 

 

 

 

One of my favorite TV series as a kid was the British-produced adventure series The Persuaders! (1971-72) starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis as two mismatched international playboys forced by a judge after their arrest to try to try to solve crimes the police cannot throughout Europe. I liked the pairing of the actors, the bevy of Sixties international starlets who guest-starred (Susan George, Suzanna Leigh, Suzy Kendall, etc.), the gorgeous scenery, and a wonderful musical score by John Barry. Unfortunately, the series could not find much of an audience during its first run opposite Mission: Impossible and was cancelled after one season.

Click the below link to read a review of the show now out on Blu-Ray:

 

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/6202-ADRIAN-SMITH-REVIEWS-THE-PERSUADERS-UK-BLU-RAY-RELEASE.html#extended

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99QQIXez4M

Re-posting another lost blog entry.

Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

Starlets: Annette Funicello, Deborah Walley, Donna Loren, Linda Evans, Marta Kristen, Donna Michelle, Bobbi Shaw, Salli Sachse, Patti Chandler, Mary Hughes, Luree Holmes, Alberta Nelson, Myrna Ross

Continuing with my Top 10 Starlet Movies in the immortal words of Eric Von Zipper, Beach Blanket Bingo is “nifty.”  It is the best, the zaniest, the quirkiest, and most fondly remembered of the Frankie and Annette epics.  Admittedly, the story centering around Dee Dee proving to Frankie that girls can sky dive as well as boys while she fights her jealousy of Frankie’s raven-haired instructress (Deborah Walley), Bonehead falling in love with a mermaid, and a beautiful singer kidnapped by Von Zipper’s biker gang is far-fetched.  But it contains some very funny lines mostly delivered by Don Rickles as Big Drop and Paul Lynde as an acid-tongued press agent whose verbal sparring with Avalon is one of the movie’s highlights.  Lots of colorful beach scenes are intermingled with stock sky diving shots.  All your AIP favorite stars are here, the songs are bouncy and light, an array of guest comics provide some of the series’ funniest moments, and a bevy of beautiful blondes (including Linda Evans of Dynasty  and Marta Kristen of Lost in Space fame) enhance the action.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDesGtp-JII

Frankie, looking especially cute here, delivers one of his best performances but poor Annette who proved she could act in Muscle Beach Party really has nothing much to do, as her character seems resigned to the fact that her boyfriend has a roving eye.  Jody McCrea finally gets to stretch his acting muscle and his scenes with the charming Marta Kristen as a mermaid are touching and bittersweet.  Linda Evans is darling as the naïve Sugar Kane and stands out whenever she dons a bikini.  It is these two hot blondes along with Playboy Playmate Donna Michelle as Animal and the rest of the bikini-clad beach girls that make Beach Blanket Bingo a winner with girl watchers and fans of Sixties starlets. 

Besides the girls, another big plus for Beach Blanket Bingo is the music score.  The songs are some of the best from the series beginning with the title song—the grandest opening number of all the beach-party movies.  The up tempo tune is sung in such a light and bouncy manner by Frankie and Annette that you can’t but help want to jump to your feet and dance along.  They also do well with their second duet, the popular “I Think, You Think.”  Pretty Donna Loren turns up early to expertly belt out the heart wrenching “It Only Hurts When I Cry.”  Check out when cute beach boy Mike Nader feeds a long weiner to surfer Johnny Fain who takes the whole thing. Hmmmmm. Jackie Ward delivers the Linda Evans lip-synced songs in fine style but it is The Hondells who standout with “The Cycle Set.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ZRvb8LJsk

Despite its minor flaws, Beach Blanket Bingo is the apex of the beach movie genre.  However, little did anyone know at the time that this would be the last beach pairing of Frankie and Annette and that the films to follow would go straight downhill.

Trivia:

Nancy Sinatra was originally signed to play the singing sensation Sugar Cane, who gets kidnapped by Eric Von Zipper and his biker crew. Soon after, her brother, Frank Sinatra, Jr., was really kidnapped by some friends of singers Jan and Dean. Feeling the role hit too close to home, she withdrew and was replaced by Linda Evans. Problem was she couldn’t sing so Jackie Ward, who had a Top 20 hit with “Wonderful Summer,” dubbed her singing voice.

Evans was next cast in the female lead in the independent beach movie, A Swingin’ Summer. This time it was her turn to withdraw after she won the role of Audra in the TV series The Big Valley. Supporting actress Quinn O’Hara was then bumped up to lead with Mary Mitchel taking Quinn’s original part.

Notable quotes (from my books Drive-in Dream Girls and Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies):

“You can’t do better than romancing on screen Marta Kristen and Linda Evans!  When I first saw Marta I thought, ‘That’s a girl I could fall in love with.’  But she was married at the time so that idea was shot down. We’d drive over together to the location and practice lines in the car. I only had contact with Linda Evans on the set. I would have liked to been more familiar with her and the other girls but I stayed away.” – Jody McCrea

“I remember when Linda Evans had her first kissing scene with Frankie Avalon. You could not help but notice the spark. Even with ‘Lights!  Camera!  Action!’ something goes on in all of us that you just can’t stop.” – Ed Garner

“William Asher handpicked a lot of the girls to be in the beach movies. He favored girls like Salli Sachse and Linda Opie because they had the best figures. I definitely understood that.  Since I was tall—5’7”—he was always telling me to stand in the back. In a lot of the scenes you had to be really upbeat and because I wasn’t very outgoing it was difficult for me. The only time he ever complimented me was when we did the scene in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini where the girls were on top of the guys’ shoulders and we had to knock each other off. I really had a great time doing that. I was part of the last two couples standing. Asher said to me, ‘Well, that was great! You finally came alive.’ It was a backhanded compliment. Except for that scene, I was never able to put on the show he wanted.

“Annette also had problems working with William Asher. She voiced her displeasure to me about him and I remember telling my father that she didn’t like Asher very much.  But that was about it. Asher may have given Annette a hard time because he didn’t want her for the films. I think he and Sam Arkoff wanted Sandra Dee or someone of her ilk. When my father hired Annette, Asher was not so supportive. Though Annette didn’t like him, being a professional, she never said she wouldn’t work with him or request another director.  She is not that kind of person.” – Luree Holmes