Barbara Bouchet: Picture of the Week #16

With a lot of things on my plate I decided it's probably best not to put more on it than I can handle, so for the time being we'll be focusing on the Barbara Bouchet series and maybe a few other things, instead of branching out the Answer's Angel section as I previously was interested in doing.  In the Bouchet series we're on the cusp of breaking into the meaty roles with Barbara's first starring role coming up in our next review.  But before we get there I'm in the process of updating some of the side sections in the series, like the poster section, to catch up with where we're at in the films, as I know I'll never catch up if I let it get too far behind.  So for the time being I re-activating the Picture of the Week section, bringing you some deliciously rare photos of the lovely actress.

The picture for this week is a production photo from the last TV series appearance we reviewed a few weeks back from Tarzan.  A very hard to find TV series and not many photos seem to be floating around out there except a typical few.

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Barbara Bouchet: The Films

This page will serve as a cliff-note review for all the appearances made by Barbara Bouchet, with links to full reviews.

The Un-credited Roles

A Global Affair (1964) - 6/10

A Global Affair is a cute little comedy with a relatively amusing performance by Bob Hope and a slew of beautiful foreign actresses I'd for the most part never heard of. Full Review

 


What A Way To Go! (1964) - 5/10

What A Way To Go! is an interesting pairing of some of Hollywood's classic actors, and possibly worth a look for that reason. Full Review




Bedtime Story (1964) - 6/10

Bedtime Story is a decent little comedy that ended up spawning a more recognizable copy twenty-four years later. Full Review





Good Neighbor Sam (1964) - 7/10

Good Neighbor Sam is an entertainingly quirky little comedy, absolutely ridiculous but fun none the less. Full Review






Sex and the Single Girl (1964) - 6/10

Sex and the Single Girl isn't anything overly special and I'm sure it wasn't the high point of any of the A-list stars careers, but if you're a fan of Curtis or Wood it's worth a look, on its own it's a decent comedy but definitely could have been trimmed down a little. Full Review




John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965) - 4/10

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! is probably one of the most unorganized messes I've seen in a long time; it's amazing those behind this were able to get a cast of some relatively successful actors and actresses to participate... Full Review

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Tarzan - Season 2 Episode 22: Jungle Ransom (1968)

Saving the best for last.  That's probably a phrase the short lived 1960's television series Tarzan never had associated with it before.  As we come to the close of the short spurt of American television appearances made by the lovely Barbara Bouchet and begin the long journey into her Italian based career, Tarzan rounds out the mix with outstanding B-grade entertainment and familiar faces.  Ironically making it the high point of entertainment in this brief section of Barbara Bouchet's career.

Jungle Ransom pits Tarzan against famed South American outlaw Velasquez (Fernando Lamas), who attacks a small village, only to quickly be captured by Tarzan who plans to turn him over to the authorities.  But a young woman by the name of Angela Fraser (Barbara Bouchet) has a different plan.  She runs into Tarzan and Velasquez boarding a local ferry and decides to hitch a ride.  As it turns out Velasquez's gang is holding her husband ransom.  Angela foils Tarzan's attempt at bringing Velasquez in by crashing the boat and taking pot shots at the criminal with a long barrel rifle.  When Tarzan finally manages to calm her down, he's explained the situation and agrees to help her rescue her husband.  But this all may be a trap!

Tarzan wins out as the best of Barbara Bouchet's TV appearances on pure campy entertainment value alone.  It's not well written, acted or produced, but the cast of characters, guest stars (which also included Ted Cassidy, best known as Lurch on The Addams Family), and over-the-top action makes this episode easily one of the better ones to sit through out of Barbara's prior appearances.  The Tarzan series also happens to be the hardest of Bouchet's TV appearances to find, as being a rather short lived 1960's series the demand for it's revival on DVD doesn't seem to be very high, so some internet searching is needed to find any of the episodes, which are usually very poor faded quality.  In the end, this was a good way to close the final introductory chapter into the upcoming extensive career of Barbara Bouchet, when we meet again it will be her first entry into leading lady cult stardom!

8/10

Bonus Bouchet:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

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Domain Change

Due to some corporate fat heads, who claim to have a trademark on the phrase "common sense" when it comes to movie related websites I've cancelled my dot com domain address and reverted back to my blogspot address.  With the growing rarity that I'm able to sit down and update this blog there didn't seem to be any "common sense" (can I even say that...) in attempting to fight these cyber bully's, and/or continue to pay a yearly fee for any domain name.

I now understand why a growing number of American's are fed up with greedy corporations, who have nothing better to do than throw their weight around, because they can.  Supposedly the use of my domain was "confusing" to their clientele, they couldn't tell my crappy blog from their professional website.  I've had that domain for 3 plus years, why now?  Are they hurting that bad financially and think it's because of me?  I don't know what to say to that, their visitors must be incredibly stupid, or my blog was so successful sitting here with nothing going on that I diverted a lot of traffic away from them! Either way what does that say about them that they have to come pick on little old me?

So for a while a lot of the links on this blog are not going to point to a non-existent address, and at this point I don't know when I'll get around to fixing them.  Anyhow chalk up another one for the greedy corporate fools with more money and time than they know what to do with that they have to go around bullying people who in all reality are not affecting them one bit. Read More

Marisa Mell Photo Memoir - Entry 008 - Music Career

It's been a while since our last look at some relatively scarce Marisa Mell photos.  But my recent acquisition of Marisa's lone vinyl EP sent me back looking through my collection to discover a couple more interesting pieces.  

Test shot for vinyl cover.

In the late 1970's Marisa Mell's film career was coming to a slow down, she was pretty much broke and ended up accepting to do just about anything to make a buck, which included posing in some pretty sleazy magazines.  One of the better things she was given to try her hand at was a music career.  A producer by the name of Ralph Siegel, offered her an opportunity which he hoped, based on her prior popularity, would lead to something big, it never did.

Marisa leaving a restaurant with EP in hand, probably a launch party.

Marisa posing for photos with vinyl cover in hand.

Much like a Marisa Mell poster sparked my interest in vintage Italian film posters, Marisa Mell strikes once again and has fueled my interest into vinyl records.  I originally planned to use the EP as a display piece, but my curiosity got the better of me and I went out and bought a turntable, only to be pleasantly surprised that vinyl indeed sounds better than cd!  While her EP is nothing to call home about, it was a treat to hear Marisa's voice (it's sometimes hard to tell if she's being dubbed in some of her English films) and even more of a treat to learn both songs were in English!  Out of the two tracks Slave of Love is my favorite, and actually quite catchy.  When time permits, I'll attempt a recording of both tracks (as my turntable has a usb connection for recording to MP3) and upload them for you all to check out. Until then the above three pics give a glimpse into Marisa Mell's extremely brief career as a singer.  If you're a Mell fan and own some vinyl, it's worth finding a copy for a few dollars to add to your collection.  Until next time... Read More