1961

Today I've been through the Monthly Film Bulletin index for 1961 to catalogue all the international films reviewed in that year. This is the most complete record I have found to work out what was distributed. The MFB were very thorough and reviewed virtually every film released every month, and they also include production and (most importantly for me) the distributor.

In 1961 there were one hundred and forty-eight international films distributed and seen by British audiences. Sixty-two of these are some form of co-production, the most common being France and Italy. The variety of countries that had films shown here is quite astonishing. It is no surprise to find Italy and France, but also in cinemas were films from Pakistan, Kenya, East Germany, Brazil and many more. Twenty-two different countries in total.

There are some hilarious titles in there, such as The Cow and I (La Vache et le prisonnier), a France/ W. Germany co-production, or the exciting Death Comes From Outer Space (La Morte viene dallo spazio), an Italian/ French co-production, and possibly Italy's first science fiction film.

Amongst the films of 1961 are a few that were distributed by Compton Films, including Assassins in the Sun (Assassinos), from Brazil, and The Captive (Vacances en enfer) from France.

There are no prizes for guessing why the Italian I Piaceri del sabato notte, which translates as "the pleasures of Saturday night", was retitled Call Girls of Rome by Gala Film Distributors. This kind of import was something of a speciality for Gala, and I expect to see their name crop up frequently amongst the sexploitation titles.

These are scans of press books that I found amongst the vast collection at the Cinema Museum. I need to go back there some time soon.

Isabel Sarli

One of Compton's discoveries in the mid-1960s was the Argentinian actress Isabel Sarli. Working with her husband, film director Armando Bo, she rapidly became a star thanks to her "give it to me big boy" eyes and her propensity to shed clothes whenever possible. It is surprising given the strict Catholic sensibility of her home country, but these were qualities that Compton were certainly keen to exploit here in the UK. Below is an example of typical Compton marketing; self-promotion as news.

Tony Tenser always claimed to have dubbed Brigitte Bardot "sex kitten" when he marketed And God Created Woman (1956) for Miracle Films. He was at it again here, with Sarli becoming "The Goddess" in yet another tempting offering.

Sadly the movies themselves are difficult to see now, at least with English subtitles. Isabel Sarli is still alive, and someone recently made a Spanish language documentary about her. She is more-or-less forgotten over here now, a footnote in international cinema, but she was certainly a hit in the 1960s. Tony Klinger, an employee of Compton, remembers meeting her when she visited the UK to help promote her films. She was as stunning in real life as the pictures from this press release suggest.

Amidst the relics of the Compton archive I found a packet of materials on Isabel Sarli, including press cuttings from Argentina and a showman campaign created by Steve Prentoulis Films of New York, so she clearly made some sort of impact in the States.

Im not sure whether Isabel Sarli will figure large in my PhD, but she is another example of the diversity of choice in British cinemas in the 1960s.

Literature Review

I thought it may be of interest to someone out there if I posted my bibliography on here. This is not meant to be the definitive word on the topic under investigation, but I hope it's fairly thorough.


Bibliography

Barker, M. and Brooks, K. 1998, Knowing Audiences: Judge Dredd: Its Fans, Friends and Foes, Luton, University of Luton Press

Bayman, L. and Rigoletto, S. eds. 2013, Popular Italian Cinema, 2013, Chippenham, Palgrave Macmillan

Benzel, T. 2012, Muchas Gracias Seňor Lobo: Paul Naschy Memorabilia, Birkenfeld, Kessler & Benzel GbR

Bergfelder, T. 2005, International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s, Oxford, Berghan Books

Branaghan, S. edited by Chibnall, S. 2006, British Film Posters: An Illustrated History, Cambridge, BFI/ Cambridge University Press

Chapman, J., Glancy, M. and Harper, S. 2007, The New Film History: Sources, Methods, Approaches, 2007, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan

Chibnall, S. and McFarlane, B. 2009, The British 'B' Film, Camberley, BFI/ Palgrave Macmillan

Chibnall, S. 2013, 'Rome, Open for British Production: The Lost World of 'Britalian' films, 1946-1954', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 33:2, 234-269

Creepy Images [journal] available through: www.creepy-images.com 

Davies, R. R. 2011, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill: The Graphic Art and Forgotten Spy Films of Cold War Europe, St Albans, Picture and Sound Ltd

Devraj, R. Duncan, P. ed. 2010, The Art of Bollywood, Hong Kong, Taschen

Dougall, A. consultant ed. Gassner, D. 2012, James Bond: 50 Years of Movie Posters, London, Dorling Kindersley

Dyer, G. 1982, Advertising as Communication, London, Routledge

Eley, G. 2005, A Crooked Line: From Cultural History to The History of Society, London, The University of Michigan Press

Garret S. Balazs, A. ed. 1996, Hollywood Handbook, New York, Universe Publishing

Grant, K. 2011, Any Gun Can Play: The Essential Guide to Euro-Westerns, Godalming, FAB Press

Hall, S. and Neale, S. 2010, Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History, Michigan, Wayne State University Press

Hamilton, J. 2005, Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser, Godalming, FAB Press

Hanson, S. 2007, From Silent Screen to Multi-Screen: A History of Cinema Exhibition in Britain Since 1896, Manchester, Manchester University Press

Hantke, S. ed. 2004, Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear, Mississippi, University Press of Mississippi

Hawkins, J. 2000, Cutting Edge: Art Horror and the Avante-garde, Minnesota, The University of Minnesota Press

Hearn, M. 2010, The Art of Hammer, China, Titan Books

Hughes, H. 2004, Once Upon a Time in the Italian West, Padstow, I.B. Taurus

Hunter, I. Q. 2013, British Trash Cinema, Basingstoke, BFI/ Palgrave Macmillan

Jackson, N. 2012, 'Stained With the Blood of the Marketing Department', paper given at Cine Excess, London

Lamberti, E. ed. 2012, Behind the Scenes at the BBFC: Film Classification from the Silver Screen to the Digital Age, London, BFI/ Palgrave Macmillan

Murphy, R. ed. 1997, The British Cinema Book, 1st edition, London, BFI

Nava, M. 2007, Visceral Cosmopolitanism: Gender Culture and the Normalisation of Difference, 1st edition, London, Bloomsbury/ Berg Publishers

Nowell-Smith, G. and Ricci, S. eds. 1998, Hollywood and Europe: Economics, Culture and National Identity 1945-95 , London, BFI

Sarowitz, Sam, 2008, Translating Hollywood: The World of Movie Posters, New York, Mark Batty Publisher

Schaefer, E. 1999, "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!" A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959, Durham, Duke University Press

Shipka, D. 2011, Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980, North Carolina, McFarland

Smith, A. 2012, 'Cowboys and Cannibals: an interview with Ruggero Deodato', Diabolique, Issue no. 8, Jan/ Feb 2012

Spicer, A. and McKenna, A.T. 2013, The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry, 1960-1980, London, IB Taurus

Trevelyan, J. 1973, What the Censor Saw, Slough, Michael Joseph Ltd

Waller, G. A. 2002, Moviegoing in America, Oxford, Blackwell Publishers

The ongoing saga of the literature review

I have to get this finished by tomorrow. I'm already overdue, and it has to be done so I can have a viva. I'm drowning in books and words and none of it makes sense any more. I've become slightly more knowledgeable in the process, but it's killing me. I love reading, but the writing, not so much. This is not an attitude that is conducive to academia, but there you are.

I've particularly enjoyed becoming more acquainted with the Eurospy film, partly thanks to the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill archive.

Anyway, I've still got a few hundred words to go and I'm about to slam my head repeatedly against the desk. I'll be back when I'm done.

Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media

My interview with Tony Klinger went very well, and he told me some hilarious stories about his early career working for Compton International when he was only fifteen! When I was fifteen I was working on a farm. I guess it's not what you know...

The new issue of Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media is now online. I edit the reviews section, and I wrote something for it too, an article on Baba Yaga (1973). How I found the time to do this I don't know, but you can find it here.

I'm still desperately trying to finish my literature review. I keep finding more stuff to read, which doesn't help, including this new book on Italian Popular Cinema. I'll get it done eventually.

Michael Klinger

This week I will be interviewing Tony Klinger, son of legendary British producer and head of Compton Films Michael Klinger. I will be talking to him specifically about Compton's international acquisitions. Tony worked for his dad back in the sixties, so will hopefully be able to give me some great information for my case study on Compton.

A few years ago he donated what remained of Michael Klinger's archive to the University of West Anglia, where Dr Andrew Spicer has been doing some great work. He has interviewed loads of people who worked with Klinger and has put most of it up on their website, The Michael Klinger Papers. It is well worth a look if you're interested in British independent production. Not only did Klinger make movies with Compton, but he also went on to do films like Get Carter, Shout at the Devil and Gold, the latter two with Roger Moore.

I managed to get in touch with Tony through LinkedIn, which means I've finally found a use for it.

Robert Hartford-Davis and the birth of Brit-Exploitation

Today I've been reading Michael Ahmed's PhD thesis "Corrupted, Tormented and Damned: Reframing British Exploitation Cinema and the Films of Robert Hartford-Davis", and it really is excellent. I read it with some jealousy, if I'm honest. He draws on similar sources to my own study, particularly with his focus on Compton Films. Hartford-Davis directed The Yellow Teddy Bears (1963), which he states is considered to be the first British exploitation film, although of course it depends how you define exploitation. This is something that Michael Ahmed goes to great lengths to try and do. I haven't finished reading it yet as it's nearly 300 pages, but you can find it here on academia.edu and it's really worth doing.

One of Hartford-Davis' most infamous movies is the Peter Cushing shocker Corruption (1968), which after years of infamy and obscurity is finally getting a full uncut blu ray release this year, and I can't wait.