Yma Sumac Movies
- 1992
It is fairly uncommon for an untrained singer to have a vocal range of two octaves. Trained singers aspire to three octaves but sometimes fall short of that goal. It is practically unheard of to have at one's command a vocal register of four and one half octaves. Indeed, it is somewhat freakish, and musicians usually have no idea how to exploit such a phenomenon to its best advantage. The performer featured in this documentary, Yma Suma, came to the U.S. from Peru in the 1940s and enjoyed a brief popularity as an "incredible Inca princess." Not long after her U.S. career was launched, a slanderous rumor was launched that Yma was an American music student named Amy Camus, which effectively undermined her exotic appeal and ruined her career. Even so, her remarkable voice remained unchanged, and she enjoyed a revived popularity in the 1980s. Featuring clips from her performances in several films, and her '80s revival stage act, cuts from her records, and interviews with everyone except the singer herself (who declined to cooperate with this documentary), this film offers a good introduction to this truly strange and memorable career. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Frank Freeman Jr., son of the longtime head of Paramount Pictures, made his debut as producer with the opulent but empty Omar Khayyam. Cornel Wilde stars as the legendary Persian poet, here depicted as not only a philosopher but a scientist, politician and great lover. As the Persians gear up for war against the Byzantines, Omar occupies his time by romancing Sharain (Debra Paget), the favorite wife of the Shah (Raymond Massey). He also does his best to foil a plan by Hasani (Michael Rennie), leader of the Cult of Assassins, to murder the royal family. While many of the characters and events are based on fact, it is difficult to believe the story or the dialogue for more than ten minutes at a stretch. Singer Yma Sumac, then famous for her four-and-a-half octave vocal range, is somehow woven into the proceedings. When Omar Khayyam laid an egg at the box-office, a Hollywood wit, taking into consideration the Southern heritage of Frank Freeman Jr., assessed the results as "A loaf of bread, a bottle of coke and you-all." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Michael Rennie, (more)
- 1954
Before Indiana Jones there was Harry Steele (Charlton Heston), an idealistic archaeologist determined to return an ancient Incan mask to the society from which it came. A greedy con-artist (Robert Young) has other ideas, though, and the two men race to fund an expedition to find the treasure, which has reportedly been buried by Spanish conquistadores somewhere in Machu Picchu. The con-artist (Young) seduces a beautiful tourist in order to reach his goal, leaving Steele (Heston) to locate the site through more honorable means. Twenty-seven years before directors George Lucas and Steven Spielburg collaborated to create Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jerry Hopper directed Secret of the Incas. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Robert Young, (more)
