Jill Giraldi Movies

Director James Ivory has disowned this Hollywood drama, inspired by the Fatty Arbuckle/Virginia Rappe case and based on a satirical poem by Joseph Moncure March, which was heavily cut by American International Pictures from two hours to 90 minutes. The story concerns Jolly Grimm (James Coco), whose career as a famous silent film comic is coming to an end with the advent of talking pictures. He plans a last hurrah by making one more silent film and invites a collection of Hollywood big shots to his mansion in hopes of convincing one of them to distribute the picture. His mistress, Queenie (Raquel Welch), encourages him, but it quickly becomes apparent the film is a bomb. As Jolly Grimm keeps drinking, his mood becomes less jolly and more grim, particularly when movie star Dale (Perry King) starts getting quite familiar with Queenie. Meanwhile, young starlet Nadine (Annette Ferra), after finding her sister in bed with a guest, seeks out Jolly for solace. When Jolly tries to comfort her by kissing her full on the mouth, a drunken party guest, thinking Jolly is trying to seduce the girl, begins to beat Jolly senseless. Dale halts the fracas, but when Jolly doesn't thank Dale properly for saving him from a shellacking, Dale retreats with Queenie to the boudoir. Jolly, already keyed up to a dangerous level, awaits their emergence from the bedroom with a gun in his hand. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This second film adaptation of Richard Matheson's science-fiction novel I Am Legend (the first version being The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price) unfolds in a post-apocalyptic 1976. Charlton Heston is Robert Neville, the sole recipient of a serum that enabled him to survive an onslaught of germ warfare between Russia and China - which seemingly rendered him the last (normal) human alive. Neville lives in a garish, antique-strewn L.A. penthouse. During the day, he roams through the vacant city. At night, he fends off a bloodthirsty horde of mutant scavengers garbed in Spanish inquisition robes and sunglasses, led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a former television newscaster in his good ol' pre-mutant days. Matthias and his half-human vampires want to kill Neville. Neville's last man on earth status is shattered when he comes across a group of young people, presided over by the sexy and cynical Lisa (Rosalind Cash). Neville begins to form an interest in her, as the two try to keep Matthias and his minions at bay. The Omega Man was filmed in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoons, an area that consists almost exclusively of office buildings, and therefore was suitably vacant at the the time of production. In 2007, Matheson's novel received yet another incarnation - this one with Will Smith in the Heston role. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide