Daniele Vargas Movies
- 1979
This Italian anthology uses the standard sex comedy format but lacks the subtle social commentary present in its predecessors. In the "Saturday" episode, a modest accountant is sent by his boss to entertain a visiting Japanese engineer who turns out to be a pretty woman (Edwige Fenech). In the "Sunday" episode, a truck driver (Michele Placido) has to help his suicidal neighbor (Barbara Bouchet) by posing as her husband when her Sicilian parents come visiting. In the "Friday" episode, a variety show owner (Adriano Celentano) tries to get back his star dancer who decided to marry a notorious gangster. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
In this Italian sex comedy, a wealthy, widowed count has a heart attack and must have bed rest and no stress to recover. His avaricious relatives would rather see him dead. Knowing that he is a lusty fellow unable to resist a woman's charms, they hire a bombshell of a sexy nurse to meet his every need and cause a fatal coronary. Things don't go as planned when the nurse falls in love with her patient. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1974
In turn-of-the-century Sicily, aristocratic scions Adriana (Sophia Loren) and Cesar (Richard Burton) have loved one another for years, but Adriana accedes to the wishes of Cesar's father and marries his foolish younger brother Antonio (Ian Bannen). When Antonio dies, much to the relief of everyone, it looks as though the coast is now clear for Cesar to marry Adriana after a suitable mourning period. Alas, she has a fatal illness and it is not to be. This romantic melodrama is chiefly distinguished by the fact that it is the last film directed by the legendary Vittorio de Sica, who died shortly afterward. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1973
- PG
Stephen Boyd spent the latter stages of his career in foreign actioners, of which Those Dirty Dogs is a prime example. Boyd plays a soldier of fortune, hired to stem the activities of Mexican revolutionaries. He is aided and abetted by bounty hunter Gianni Garko, who like Boyd is no more trustworthy than he has to be. A blood-splattered gunfight climaxes this outing. Those Dirty Dogs wasn't exactly art, but it paid its way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Pam Grier and Margaret Markov reteamed a year after Black Mama, White Mama for this similarly crowd-pleasing exploitation effort. They play Roman slaves who eventually rebel against their male oppressors. Mixing elements from the Italian peplum and the Filipino women's prison movies, The Arena also adds some po-faced feminist theory while still managing to exploit its scantily-clad stars. Italian film regulars Lucretia Love and Rosalba Neri look strangely out of place in a movie filmed in their own country, but fans of drive-in movies should be pleased. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1972
Filmed in Greece and Italy, Cool Million was the pilot film for a shortlived 1972 TV series which ran as a recurring feature of the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie. James Farentino stars as private eye Jefferson Keays, who takes cases only on the proviso that he is to be paid $1 million if he solves the mystery. Keays' current assignment is to locate the heiress to a $50 million fortune. With several candidates to choose from, the detective must use his million-dollar nose to sniff on the worthy one--and to find out if she's responsible for the peculiar death of her wealthy father. Cool Million was released to syndication under the title Mask of Marcella. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1971
A daring swordsman is commissioned by King Ferdinand to help free Spain from its oppressors. The fighter dons a black mask, and Zorro is born. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Released in Europe as Histoires Extraordinaires and Tre Passi Nel Delirio, this is a portmanteau picture, comprised of three supernatural playlets based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Metzengerstein," directed by Roger Vadim, stars the director's then-wife Jane Fonda as a medieval woman prone to acts of vengeance. Her brother Peter Fonda is somewhat perversely cast as her cousin, for whom she holds incestuous yearnings. When he gives her the cold shoulder, she spitefully sets fire to his stable of horses. He is himself killed in the blaze, but it seems that he has been reincarnated as a horse. In "William Wilson," directed by Louis Malle, a sadistic Austrian officer (Alain Delon) commits various S&M misdeeds upon a variety of victims, including a woman (Brigitte Bardot) with whom he plays cards. The officer himself comes to grief when he finds that the Church will not allow him to say an act of contrition. And "Never Bet Your Head," directed by Federico Fellini, updates the Poe original by casting Terence Stamp as a self-indulgent movie star. Driving drunk one evening, the actor literally bets his head that he can escape a potentially fatal accident. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Terence Stamp, (more)
- 1968
This western finds Manuel (Robert Hossein) visiting his friends only to discover the husband has been murdered in a feud between two rival families. He promises the widow he will kidnap the daughter of the other family to avenge the killing. Manuel manages to apprehend the girl, and the widow has the girl raped. She offers the young woman back to her family in exchange for a decent burial for her murdered husband. The family of the kidnapped girl rides into town for the inevitable showdown in this violent story of murder and revenge. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Hossein, Michele Mercier, (more)
- 1967
In this gory sequel to the spaghetti western Stranger in Town, a mysterious stranger masquerades as a postal inspector and rides out to round up a ring of thieves who are racing across the West in a stage coach made of gold. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Anthony, Dan Vadis, (more)
- 1967
Fifteen "monsters of modern Rome" are presented in this Italian episodic drama. Each of these "monsters" is highly misanthropic and nasty. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1966
In this mystery, a gang of drug smugglers kidnap the ex-girlfriend of a journalist. The journalist begins looking for her. When the woman is found dead, the journalist gets some help and eventually justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
With Peter Sellers as star, Neil Simon as screenwriter, and Vittorio DeSica as director, how could After the Fox miss? Miss it did, however--though the film, patchy and inconsistent though it might be, definitely has its moments. Sellers plays an Italian master thief who can't seem to stay out of jail. His latest scheme involves moving $3 million worth of stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Rome. To cover his tracks, Sellers pretends to be a "nouvelle vague" movie director, filming a crime picture. Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time, plays his movie-struck sister. The film is effortlessly stolen by Victor Mature, who is unbearably funny as a vainglorious hasbeen Hollywood star. Director DeSica shows up in the film as "himself"-at least until all his camera equipment is stolen by Sellers and his partner-in-crime Akim Tamiroff. Never as hilarious as it should have been, After the Fox nonetheless manages a few isolated belly laughs. Outside of Mature's performance, our favorite bit in the film is the final gag: "Ze wrong man has escaped!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1966
This late-'60s spy spoof also borrows a page from late-'50s Alfred Hitchcock, with its everyday man becoming embroiled in the violent and baffling world of international espionage. When American businessman William Beddoes (James Garner) is traveling in Lisbon, he's mistaken for an English spy who's thought to possess a cache of industrial diamonds. Soon he is pursued by Aurora-Celeste da Costa (Melina Mercouri), Steve-Antonio (Tony Franciosa), and a host of other colorful troublemakers, all chasing him for something he doesn't have. Note Bert Kaempfert's music, introducing "Strangers In The Night". ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Garner, Melina Mercouri, (more)
- 1966
Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang is not a dramatization of Pauline Kael's similarly titled collection of movie reviews. It is instead one of the glut of European-produced spy films which flooded the 1960s marketplace in the wake of the James Bond craze. This Spanish-made effort stars Giuliano Gemma and George Martin as secret agents involved with the blocking of selling secrets to the Enemy. The good guys are in the British Secret Service, the bad guys are those unidentified Slavic-accented types indigenous to films of this nature. Nothing new here, but Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang, directed by action-flick perennial Duccio Tessari, did manage to get good bookings thanks to the Bond-generated fascination with gimmick-and-gadget-laden espionage agents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1965
Director Mino Guerrini uses four stories about various encounters in his 1965 romantic comedy Up And Down. Included are "A Question Of Principle, "A Wife In August," "The Dream," and "Once In A Lifetime." The feature is well-photographed but lacks substance. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniele Vargas, Lando Buzzanca, (more)
- 1964
With a forced marriage imminent, the daughter of the late emperor is thankfully saved by Hercules. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Steel
- 1962
This is an Italian-French period costume piece retelling the Zorro legend, convincingly set in 1600s Spain. Pierre Brice (Winnetou) stars as Don Diego, who makes daring masked raids on his tyrannical stepfather's troops and incites the locals to stage an uprising. Brice was also in Zorro contra Maciste (released in America as Samson and the Slave Queen) for director Umberto Lenzi around the same time. Lenzi directed films of every genre for decades, but is best known for the gory horror films Cannibal Ferox and Mangiati Vivi, as well as violent crime thrillers like Milano Odia: La Polizia non Puo Sparare. Daniele Vargas co-stars with Helene Chanel, Aldo Bufi Landi, and Massimo Serato. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Brice, Helene Chanel, (more)
- 1962
In this WW II drama, a captain attempts to navigate his Italian submarine through enemy waters. He is stalked by a British commander assigned to destroy the sub. The Italian captain somehow succeeds in getting into neutral waters and is granted permission to stay there a fortnight. The British commander also stays in Tangiers so he can monitor the Italian. During their stay, the two agree not to fight and gradually come to respect each other. Meanwhile an intelligence officer, tries to upset the careful balance between the men. He uses the Italian's lover to get him to make a move. It works, and the Italian accuses his girl of spying and leaves the safety of port. The British commander follows and ends up losing his ship to the Italian's torpedoes. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1962
Roger Browne was the latest entry in the Steve Reeves/Gordon Scott beefsteaks--er, sweepstakes--in 1962's Revenge of the Gladiators. Utilizing standing Cinecitta sets and well-worn costumes, the film has the husky Browne rescuing a princess from marauding barbarians. The damsel in distress is played by sword 'n' sandal "regular" Scilla Gabel. The director is Michel Lupo, he of the "Shout 'action', close your eyes and hope for the best" school of filmmaking. If you don't like the action highlights, you'll get a thrill out of watching the actors flap their mouths in a Babel of foreign languages while the English soundtrack tries to keep pace. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roger Browne, Scilla Gabel, (more)
- 1962
This 153-minute Biblical epic about salt and sin is directed by Robert Aldrich and has enough dynamic interactions between its chief protagonists to sustain interest in-between climactic scenes. Stewart Granger is Lot, the Hebrew leader who takes his people to camp in the Valley of Jordan only to find that they are caught between the Helamites on the one hand, and the wicked Queen Bera (Anouk Aimee) on the other. She rules over the twin cesspools of Sodom and Gomorrah and is beleaguered by a crafty brother who wants the scepter she now wields. The Queen makes a pact with Lot that he can stay with the Hebrews in the valley as long as he defends it -- she wants to use him and the Hebrews as a first line of defense against the Helamites. To seal the pact, she gives Lot her best slave Ildith (Pier Angeli) to be his wife. Adventures and excitement prevails as Lot and the Hebrews brave one challenge after the other -- until Lot realizes that his people are being corrupted by the environment of Sodom and Gomorrah and eventually receives a Divine vision and knows he has to lead the Hebrews away from here. Special effects are impressive and take much of the impact away from the fate of Ildith, as she turns one last time to look back at the crumbling cities. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Anna Maria Pier Angeli, (more)
- 1961
In this high-seas adventure set in the 15th century, a dashing hero is released from prison and assigned to save the governor of Rhodes' kidnapped daughter from a wicked pirate. Instead, the parolee joins the pirates, but when they catch him staring at the girl, they beat him senseless and leave him to die. They then leave to sell the girl to a white slaver. Fortunately, the hero remembers right from wrong, enlists the aid of local fishermen, and saves the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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