Lydia Goya Movies
Film auteur Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and stars in this re-working of Rocky to fit an old-fashioned Hollywood formula, depicting three brothers from New York's Hell's Kitchen of the 1940s who want to claw their way out of poverty. Lee Canalito is the muscle-brained iceman Victor, and Armand Assante is the embittered, crippled war veteran Lenny. But the smooth-talking con man brother Cosmo (Sylvester Stallone), sees beef-cake Victor's fists as their ticket out of the slums. Cosmo, ever the manipulator, convinces the dull-witted Victor to participate in a series of bone-crunching wrestling matches as Kid Salami. Cosmo and Lenny exploit Victor's brute strength to grab the fast money on the wrestling circuit. But their climb to success is halted when the local gangster Stitch (Kevin Conway) puts up his malicious and dangerous wrestler Frankie the Thumper (Terry Funk) to fight against Kid Salami in a 22-round meat-pounder. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Conway, (more)
After writing, directing, and starring in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, Gene Wilder added the producer's hat to his three-headed beast in The World's Greatest Lover. Wilder plays Rudy Valentine, a Milwaukee baker who enters a talent search in the Hollywood of the 1920s, initiated by movie studio mogul Zitz (Dom DeLuise), to find a new Rudolph Valentino. He travels to Hollywood with his wife Annie (Carol Kane) in hopes of taking a screen test, but Annie falls in love with the real Valentino. Jealous of the Latin Lover, Rudy disguises himself as a sheik in an attempt to look like Valentino. Rudy then invites Annie to a rendezvous at the studio, where he tries to seduce his own wife. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Carol Kane, (more)
- 1967
Two law-abiding citizens pose as ne'er-do-wells on choppers in this Sixties biker flick. The Hellcats are an outlaw motorcycle gang who spend their days swilling beer, looking for kicks and supporting their nomadic lifestyle by acting as drug mules for a small but powerful crime syndicate. An undercover cop was on the verge of infiltrating the Hellcats when the mobsters found him out and had him murdered; the late detective's fiancée Linda (Dee Duffy) meets his brother, former Army sergeant Monte (Ross Hagen), and they decide to pick up where he left off by posing as bikers and joining the gang to ferret out the killers. Monte and Linda soon discover that while the men do most of the carousing in the Hellcats, it's the biker mamas who do most of the work in transporting heroin, and Linda forms a dangerous alliance with Shelia (Sharyn Kinzie), the brains of the drug-running outfit to maintain her cover. Meanwhile, Monte finds Shelia is falling for his moody charm, despite Linda's clear disapproval. Del "Sonny" West, a member of Elvis Presley's "Memphis Mafia," appears in the supporting cast as a biker named Snake. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ross Hagen, Dee Duffy, (more)
- 1959
A man risks his life to save a woman he doesn't know in this action adventure yarn. Samson (David DaLie) is an American hunter on a safari in Guatemala. While tracking game, Samson encounters a strange ceremony in which a young woman named Morena (Angelica Morales) is to be sacrificed at the bidding of her father to appease the gods following a vicious animal attack. Morena is able to escape, and Samson gives chase, hoping to rescue her before the tribesmen can capture her and complete the ritual. Very loosely based on his own experiences, Virgin Sacrifice was the first feature film for actor and hunter David DaLie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Maracaibo was actor Cornel Wilde's second directorial effort. Wilde casts himself as troubleshooting oil man Vic Scott, who has arrived in Venezuela to help put out a fire at an offshore well. It's a ticklish situation: if Scott fails, not only will he die in the blaze, but all of Maracaibo will likely be destroyed. When he isn't risking his life, Scott romantically pursues ice-princess journalist Laura Kingsley (played by Jean Wallace, at the time Mrs. Cornel Wilde). Joe E. Ross of Car 54 Where are You fame provides a few welcome laughs as a Brooklynese oil rigger. Filmed partially on location, Maracaibo was based on a novel by Stirling Silliphant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, (more)
