Luciana Paluzzi Movies
Actress Luciana Paluzzi was one of many voluptuous Italian brunettes groomed for international stardom in the wake of Gina Lollobrigida. Working both sides of the Atlantic in the '50s in such films as Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and Sea Fury (1958), Ms. Paluzzi was given a chance at American TV stardom in the role of Simone Genet on the 1959 espionage weekly Five Fingers. Little was required of Paluzzi other than looking gorgeous in low-cut evening gowns; while this kept Five Fingers alive in the fan magazines, it wasn't enough to sustain the series beyond 17 episodes. Her career in a slump in 1965, she accepted a villainess role in the James Bond epic Thunderball. She portrayed Fiona, one of the few women on this planet able to resist the charms of Mr. Bond; perhaps as punishment for this, Fiona is killed on the dance floor by her own companions, whereupon James deposits her body at a nearby table and says "Do you mind if my partner sits this one out? She's just dead." This fleeting association with a box-office blockbuster enabled Luciana Paluzzi to extend her European starring career well into the '70s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This violent blaxploitation film stars Jim Brown as the owner of a Los Angeles nightclub. When his brother, a Vietnam veteran, is murdered by gangsters, Brown gathers some of his brother's fellow veterans and an assortment of ex-convicts to get brutal revenge. Martin Landau, Luciana Paluzzi, and Jeannie Bell head the cast, along with genre regulars Bruce Glover, Bernie Casey, and Gary Conway. Director Robert Hartford-Davis is best known for horror films like Incense of the Damned and Corruption, while Brown went on to more successful genre fare in Slaughter and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Italian horror icon Riccardo Freda directs I Spit on Your Grave star Camille Keaton in this gory shocker concerning four hippies who seek shelter from a summer storm in a seemingly-abandoned villa, only to realize that they have stumbled into a satanic sacrifice. Frightened away by the gruesome orgy of violence, the hippies waste no time in beating a hasty retreat. Things quickly go from bad to worse, however, when the innocent peaceniks are subsequently accused of committing a massacre that eclipses that of even the Tate-LaBianca murders. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Camille Keaton
- 1970
In this mystery, a reporter looks into an Asian crime syndicate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Jesus Franco's campy women's prison film, though both stereotypical and rare to find in its original version, is worthwhile for genre devotees primarily due to an outstanding cast. Mercedes McCambridge is unintentionally hilarious as sadistic lesbian warden Thelma Diaz, spitting tacky dialogue with exuberant venom in a performance so overbearing that it verges on classic. The plot is standard for the genre, as three women (Maria Rohm, Elisa Montes, Luciana Paluzzi) are sentenced to an island prison off the Panamanian coast, only to encounter torture, rape, and lesbianism. When sympathetic Warden Caroll (Maria Schell) replaces Diaz, the prisoners assume that conditions will improve, but their agony only worsens until they decide to escape. Rosalba Neri co-stars, and Herbert Lom runs the corrupt men's prison nearby. 99 Mujeres was heavily censored in various prints, with versions running anywhere between 70 and 108 minutes. Edits running 84, 86, and 94 minutes are most commonly available. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Mercedes McCambridge, (more)
- 1968
Agent OSS 117 (John Gavin) is the American secret agent who battles an evil organization that carries out assassinations. He poses as a killer to infiltrate the organization led by the macabre Major (Curt Jurgens). He draws an assignment that sends him to the Middle East where his target is a United Nations envoy negotiating for peace. He must rescue the envoy and shatter the spy ring before the assassination takes place. With the help of the lovely Aicha (Margaret Lee), the duo battles against the diabolical plot that could plunge the region into further chaos. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gavin, Margaret Lee, (more)
- 1968
This shoestring-budget science fiction drama finds astronauts plagued by a mysterious green slime that clings to the men's backs, then turns into tentacled, red-eyed creatures that kill their victims. Jack Rankin (Robert Horton) is sent to a space station commanded by Vince Elliot (Richard Jaeckel). The two have a personality clash but soon must set aside their differences to destroy an asteroid, believed to be the source of the rapidly multiplying slime. The object is obliterated, but the mysterious slime remains. This feature is believed to be the first to combine United States and Japanese productions for a film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi, (more)
- 1968
The Spanish Thousand and One Nights brings a new slant to an old story. Several Arabian Nights legends are blended together into a single coherent continuity. Evidently certain that this sort of stuff was too hokey to take seriously, the producers handle the material with tongue firmly in cheek. Jeff Cooper plays the ingenuous hero Oman, while the villainy is in the capable hands of Raf Vallone. And, yes, there are plenty of undulating harem girls and veiled princesses; foremost among these is the dazzling Luciana Paluzzi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Cult director Massimo Dallamano made this surprisingly tedious thriller about a murder-for-hire plot. Lisa (Luciana Paluzzi) is the trampy wife of a jealous detective named Franz (John Mills), who has underworld connections from his job on the narcotics squad. Lisa's shady background and promiscuous habits drive Franz to a homicidal rage, so he hires a hitman (Robert Hoffmann) to murder her. As so often is the case in films about hired killers, the hitman falls in love with Lisa and helps her to double-cross Franz. Predictable and dull, this standard genre effort is below Dallamano's usual standards, and it features a dreadful musical score by Giovanni Fusco which only adds to the disappointment. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi, (more)
- 1967
In this spy thriller, Robert Vaughn, who then starring on TV's The Man from U.N.C.L.E., plays Bill Fenner, an ex-CIA agent who is called upon by his former boss, Frank Rosenfeld (Ed Asner), to investigate an apparent murder-suicide in Vienna. An American diplomat exploded a bomb at a peace conference, killing himself and all the attendees. Rosenfeld fired Fenner because his wife, Sandra Fane (Elke Sommer), was unmasked as a Communist. Now Rosenfeld tells Fenner that his wife may have been involved with Soviet agents behind the Vienna incident. Fenner eventually finds Sandra, who is hiding from the real bombing culprit, Robert Wahl (Karl Boehm). The story was based on a novel by Helen MacInnes. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1967
In this Italian melodrama, a soccer referee has more passion for the game than he does for his wife. The man's father doesn't help as he dislikes both the sport and his wife. The couple continues to drift apart and ends up having several affairs. They then attend the same soccer match and end up renewing their love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An old soldier, lying on his deathbed, whispers a clue to the location of a fortune in a Swiss bank, and it sets off an international mad dash to recover the $15 million. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1967
Novelist Jean De Bruce's "Bondish" secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bruce--alias O.S.S. 117--is portrayed by John Gavin in O.S.S. 117: Double Agent. De la Bruce disguises himself as a bank robber in order to get the goods on an international criminal organization. He learns that the criminals plan to spark a World crisis by killing an influential diplomat. Like his role model James Bond, O.S.S. 117 finds time to romance a beautiful girl, in this instance Margaret Lee. The "O.S.S. 117" series did well in Europe but failed to catch on in the US, perhaps because the leading role was played by a different actor in virtually every episode. The original French title for this film was Pas De Roses Pour O.S.S. 117. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The title character (Rod Taylor) is a drifting gunslinger, who enters a Southwestern fort and immediately becomes embroiled with its commander (John Mills). In the end, the wanderer helps the fort guard against attacks from Indians. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1965
This film is essentially the original pilot for the popular 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It was expanded to 92 minutes and shot in color for theatrical release. Robert Vaughn plays the master spy and adept action hero Napoleon Solo. He works for a shadowy supra-governmental enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. His partner is the suave Russian secret agent Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). In this pilot, a sinister organization called W.A.S.P. assassinates the president of an African republic and his assistants. Solo is enlisted to stop W.A.S.P.'s plans to take over the country and turn it into a dictatorship. The plot and action proceed at lightning speed against the backdrop of a brewing Cold War superpower confrontation. Through a series of mishaps, a housewife, Elaine May Donaldson (Pat Crowley) is dragged into the fight and helps Solo thwart the coup attempt. Also released as a film in 1966 was another expanded episode from the TV series, The Spy with My Face. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Luciana Paluzzi, (more)
Thunderball finds James Bond matching wits with the sinister espionage organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E, (which stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). This time, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. hijacks a NATO nuclear bomber, hiding the bombs under the ocean depths and threatening to detonate the weapons unless a ransom of 100,000,000 pounds is paid. The mastermind behind this scheme is international business executive Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), who maintains a pool full of sharks for the purpose of eliminating enemies and those henchmen who fail to come up to standard. Dispatched to the Bahamas, lucky Mr. Bond enjoys the attentions of three nubile ladies: Largo's mistress Domino Derval (Claudine Auger), British spy Paula Caplan (Martine Beswick, previously seen as a gypsy girl in the 1962 Bond epic From Russia With Love) and enemy agent Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, (more)
- 1965
Just before he became an even greater movie star, Nino Manfredi starred in a number of less well-known films. Among his best efforts from the end of this period is this film, where he plays four different kinds of male scoundrels in a series of smaller stories, all written and directed by Lina Wertmuller. In the first, he plays a small businessman whose enterprise is on the rocks; luckily, his wife is a (skillful) kleptomaniac, and he takes advantage of that fact. In the next episode, he's a carnival knife-thrower who has been planning for years to "miss" and "accidentally kill his female assistant. The third episode finds him playing a professor who uses his position to enjoy more than his share of young female companionship. In the final episode, he is a country yokel with a knack for complaining about the smallest things -- even when nothing is happening. Witty dialogue and sight gags enliven this episodic starring vehicle. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Manfredi, Luciana Paluzzi, (more)
- 1964
The Beach Party Gang meets a coterie of muscle-men who try to take over their spot on the beach in Muscle Beach Party. Surfing sensations Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) have their security threatened when Flex Martian (Rock Stevens) and a collection of well-oiled weight-lifters invade their turf. While tensions heat up on the beach, wealthy contessa Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) arranges for her business manager S.Z. Matts (Buddy Hackett) to entice Flex into becoming the latest in her long line of boyfriends. Julie's feelings change when she meets Frankie, who, honored by Julie's amorous attentions, returns her affections, causing a rift not only between Dee Dee and himself, but a further collapse in relations between the surfers and the body-builders, which is assuaged only by the music of Dick Dale and the Del Tones and Little Stevie Wonder. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1963
The "vice and virtue" of the title of this wartime drama directed by Roger Vadim are exemplified in the personae of two very attractive women: Juliette (Annie Girardot) and Justine (Catherine Deneuve). Juliette is a collaborator and Justine supports the resistance movement, yet when her husband is arrested on her wedding day, she goes to Juliette to ask for help. That simple plan is nixed by a series of unfortunate circumstances that send Justine to a brothel for German soldiers and make Juliette the mistress of a brutal Nazi officer. The symbolism in this tale harks back to two stories by the Marquis de Sade, one titled "Juliette" and the other, "Justine." Vadim seems to have been caught between creating symbolic characters versus creating believable women since as the story unfolds, Juliette is not exactly vice incarnate, nor is Justine a model of pristine virtue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Robert Hossein, (more)
- 1962
The Cartwrights take a hand in matters when bandits reportedly steal the $100,000 dowry intended for the wedding of Michele Dubois (Luciana Paluzzi), the daughter of self-proclaimed land baron Alexander Dubois (Steven Geray). While the Cartwright sons stand guard over the injured DuBois during his recuperation at the Ponderosa, Ben begins to wonder why the same outlaws repeatedly manage to track down DuBois and his money. Meanwhile, bride-to-be Michele deftly wraps Joe, Hoss, and Adam around her little finger. Lee Bergere costars as Ricardo Fernandez. First shown on April 29, 1962, "The Dowry" was written by Robert Vincent Wright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1962
Directed by Edward Dmytryk, The Reluctant Saint is based on the life of Saint Joseph of Cupertino. When young Giuseppe Diesa (Maximilian Schell) is sent to work at a monastery circa 17th century Italy -- his parents believed he was mentally challenged -- he surprises a local bishop by his incredible relationship with the monastery's animals. Believing this merits a traditional religious education, he is taken in and taught to pray, with miraculous results. His spiritual energy apparently allows him to levitate, which impressed many, and terrified others. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Ricardo Montalban, (more)
If anything, this star-studded sequel is even sillier than the original, adding to its problems by completely recasting all the roles, combining several of them into existing characters. Carol Lynley is the heroine this time, and she leaves Peyton Place for New York to write a book about the hypocrisy of her hometown. The book causes lots of trouble back home, getting Mike (Robert Sterling) fired as principal, angering Lynley's mother (Eleanor Parker), and stirring such horrible memories in Selena (Tuesday Weld) that she brains her new boyfriend with a fireplace poker, thinking he is her dead rapist stepfather. The film really belongs to Mary Astor, in a hilarious turn as a smotheringly possessive mother. She tries to come between her son and his new bride (Luciana Paluzzi) in some unintentionally hilarious scenes, causing Paluzzi to fling herself down a ski slope in an attempt at a self-induced miscarriage. Overwrought and overblown, the film is still a treat for fans of campy "suburban sin" melodramas. Look for Bob Crane as an unctuous talk show sidekick. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, (more)
