Tom Lisanti's - Sixties Cinema

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2010-04-07T09:16:00.001-04:00

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2010-04-05T07:43:00.002-04:00

BINGO, YOU'VE WON!

Someone commented on a previous Blog asking me who were the 3 beach girls dancing with Buster Keaton during the end credits of Beach Blanket Bingo. The tall blonde is the late Mary Hughes, Bobbi Shaw is the one in the fur bikini, and the short-haired sandy-blonde is Patti Chandler.

In the opening below, Patti is dancing with Jody McCrea and Mary shoves the ice cream cone into the face of Mike Nader.

2010-04-04T08:54:00.002-04:00

A HUNK OF BURNING LOVE

The really cool Newseum in Washington DC just launched on exhibition on the history of Elvis Presley as reported by the press. It covers his entire career. If the exhibition is anything like their previous ones it should be spectacular. I love everything Elvis so I'll be there in early October. Click here for more information.

2010-03-26T07:41:00.002-04:00

MAGNIFICENT MIMIEUX

TCM does it again. On Sunday March 28 at noon it is airing The Light in the Piazza (1962) starring Yvette Mimiuex as a young slightly disturbed girl on a Roman holiday with her mother Olivia de Havilland who tries to marry her off to handsome Italian George Hamilton but then gets the case of the guilts.

Below is a tribute to Yvette, once dubbed by a critic as "the poor man's Carol Lynley." Ouch!

2010-03-25T07:28:00.002-04:00

REV UP THOSE ENGINES...

Hots Rods to Hell is roaring onto your TV screen thanks to TCM on Friday night at 3:45AM EST. Sit back and watch hot rodders Mimsy Farmer, Paul Bertoya and Gene Kirkwood make life hell for traveling family Dana Andrews, Jeanne Crain and Laurie Mock and annoy Christopher Riordan in the process.

2010-03-23T08:10:00.002-04:00

THE WORLD OF NANCY KWAN

Another one of my favorite 60s starlets is Nancy Kwan who starred in The World of Susie Wong and Flower Drum Song among many others. She is in the news again regarding her journey back to Hong Kong recently. Click here to read more and click here to access her web site regarding the new documentary about her life.

2010-03-18T07:38:00.002-04:00

ALL HAIL LOIS NETTLETON!

Lois Nettleton was a very talented and busy actress during the 60s/70s/80s appearing mostly on TV. Never having that Hollywood glamour to make her a true starlet (except for her turn as one of 3 flight attendants along with Dolores Hart and Pamela Tiffin looking for love in Come Fly with Me) this worked to her advantage as she played a variety of roles throughout her career.

Click here to see a plethora of her TV guest spots, TV-movies, and features on YouTube compiled by a zealous fan. I am looking forward to watching Lois in an episode of Brackens' World and with Carol Lynley playing kidnapped nuns in made-for-TV movie Weekend of Terror.

2010-03-17T08:07:00.002-04:00

THIS IS A TALE OF OUR CASTAWAYS...

Well it took over 30 years but Sherwood Schwartz finally sold and Warner Bros. has greenlighted a big screen remake of Gilligan's Island. Now everybody is playing the casting guessing game even Dawn Wells, the original Maryann. But leave it to a jealous Dawn to once again stick it to Tina Louise with her choice of a recast Ginger. Click here to read. Get over it Dawn!

2010-03-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

SET THOSE DVRS; IT'S TIME FOR TINA

On Sunday night March 14, TCM is doing a Tina Louise tribute. First up at 8PM is Tina in her Golden Globe award winning movie debut as sexy farm nymph Griselda in God's Little Acre (1958) from the novel by Erskine Caldwell. This is followed by the Beach Party knockoff For Those Who Think Young (1964) starring James Darren and Pamela Tiffin standing in for Frankie and Annette with Tina as a sexy singing stripper who also moonlights as a math tutor.

When I asked Pamela about Tina, she exclaimed (in Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema), “Tina Louise was one of the most beautiful females I’ve ever seen in my life. Her beauty was unearthly and just a miracle of nature.”

For Those Who Think Young's director Leslie H. Martinson remarked (in Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies), "Strangely enough, I have a wonderful relationship with Tina Louise. Tina had her own way of working and was very smart but she could be considered a bit difficult at times. She had her own ideas but somehow we were on the same beat."

2010-03-12T07:43:00.002-05:00

IF ONLY THEY WOOD SOLVE IT

Lana Wood was in the news once again regarding the mysterious death of her sister Natalie Wood over 20 years ago. Click here to read the latest in the controversy.

2010-03-02T21:32:00.002-05:00

IT'S THE T.A.M.I. SHOW

WLIW21 is airing for the first time on TV the uncut 1964 rock and roll concert The T.A.M.I. Show, the second movie filmed in Electronovision from producer Bill Sargent. The movie was shot live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in front of a crowd of 5,000 screaming teenagers. T.A.M.I. stood for Teen-Age Music International a foundation known for granting music scholarships. Popular singing duo Jan and Dean who topped the charts in 1963 with their huge hit "Surf City" were tapped to host and they sneak in a few songs including “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” and “Sidewalk Surfin.”

The eclectic array of rock acts assembled to perform come from the music worlds of R&B, Motown, surf music, the British invasion, garage rock, and girl groups. The concert opens with Chuck Berry and Liverpool rockers Gerry and the Pacemakers. They take turns performing and the crowd goes wild when Berry sings “Sweet Little Sixteen” and the Pacemakers match him with their hit “How Do You Do It?” They are followed on stage by Lesley Gore who sings some of her most popular tunes including “You Don’t Own Me” and then the #1 girl group at the time, The Supremes. Close-ups of Diana Ross singing “Baby Love” and “Where Did Our Love Go” are truly something to behold. They are followed by the British band Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, garage band The Barbarians, the Beach Boys (who rock on “Surfin’ U.S.A." and “I Get Around” amongst other songs), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye.

The fabulous James Brown & the Famous Flames is the second to last act to perform and they tear the house down with three songs including “Please Please Please." The closing act is the incomparable Rolling Stones who had not yet hit big in the U.S. Even still they drive the audience into a near frenzy singing such songs as “Time Is on My Side” and “It’s All Right” closing the show on a high note.

2010-02-26T07:10:00.002-05:00

GO-GO ON THE RADIO

During the sixties one of the most popular go-go girls on TV was Lada Edmund, Jr. who shimmied and gyrated on Hullabaloo. She went on to co-star in such films as For Those Who Think Young with James Darren and Pamela Tiffin and Out of It with Jon Voight. Click here to hear a recent internet radio interview with her.

2010-02-24T07:34:00.002-05:00

Van Williams Speaks

Click here to read a wonderful interview by Michael Barnum with sixties actor Van Williams most famous for playing The Green Hornet on TV. To me, he was one of the most handsome young actors of the decade and it is mind-boggling why he never became a leading man in movies.

He comments on working with a number of starlets including Fantasy Femme Diane McBain (pictured below with Van and Troy Donahue from Surfside 6 TV series) and Drive-in Dream Girl Wende Wagner.

2010-02-22T06:54:00.002-05:00

THIS FARMER PAINTS

Click here to access cult 60s actress Mimsy Farmer's new web site showcasing her art work and watch YouTube clip at bottom as she trips out on acid in Riot on Sunset Strip (1967).

This fragile-looking blonde began her career as the ingenue on television and on the big screen in Spencer’s Mountain (1963) and Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965). She found more success playing a string of bad girls and misunderstood youths in such exploitation film classics as Hot Rods to Hell (1967), Devil’s Angels (1967), and The Wild Racers (1968). Farmer reached her pinnacle with More (1969), her first foreign film, which warned of the excesses of the counterculture as she played an American hippie who draws an innocent German (Klaus Grunberg) into the world of heroin and LSD on an island off of Spain.

She later relocated to Italy and worked steadily until the late eighties. She appeared in Dario Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), among many other European horror films.

2010-02-19T07:32:00.003-05:00

MUSIC TO LOUNGE BY

In 1966, sultry Pamela Tiffin fled an unhappy marriage and Hollywood to work in Italy where she appeared in almost 15 films only 3 of which made it to the shores of the U.S. Below are three songs performed by Piero Umiliani (whom I never heard of before) from L'Archangelo a 1969 crime caper starring Pamela and Vittorio Gassman. Such a cool sound. Where can I buy the CD soundtrack!?!

2010-02-17T07:20:00.001-05:00

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

Click here to read an interesting article on the recent Hollywood Show (the quarterly celebrity autograph fest) that just wrapped in Burbank.

2010-02-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

BE MY BELATED VALENTINE

Celeste Yarnall looking lovelier than ever at this weekend's Hollywood Show in Burbank, California.

2010-02-13T09:32:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL LYNLEY!

There's got to be a morning after.

2010-02-12T07:14:00.003-05:00

PANTIES WHAT ELSE DO I NEED WHEN I CAN'T SWIM, NOT A STROKE

My Facebook friend David from Down Under created this image featuring my two favorite characters Carol Lynley as Nonnie and Stella Stevens as Linda Rogo from my all-time favorite movie, The Poseidon Adventure. I love it!

2010-02-11T07:33:00.002-05:00

DOUBLE THE FUN

Before Tina Louise spoiled her movie career by moving to Italy in 1960, she was a highly sought after actress as evidenced by her performances in The Trap with Richard Widmark and The Hangman with Robert Taylor all now available via Amazon-on-Demand.

In the meantime, enjoy the tribute to Tina below:

2010-02-10T07:34:00.001-05:00

YOU GO GIRL!

Click here to read an interview Lana Wood gave the Daily Mirror where she doesn't hold back in regards to Robert Wagner and the death of her sister Natalie Wood.

2010-02-03T07:23:00.002-05:00

FIRE SALE!

I am now selling autographed copies of the remaining books I wrote that I still have in my apartment. Priced at a discounted $25 plus shipping payable through PayPal. Click here to see what is available.

2010-01-31T22:15:00.002-05:00

GAIL GERBER READING CANCELLED

Gail Gerber's reading from Trippin' with Terry Southern scheduled for Monday Feb. 1 at the Von Bar in New York City has been cancelled and may be re-scheduled in the near future.

2010-01-29T07:46:00.002-05:00

CRAVING A HAPPY ENDING

No, not a Friendly's sundae but the 1969 film The Happy Ending that features Tina Louise in a supporting role unhappily married to Dick Shawn airing tonight at 12:45 a.m. on TCM. Directed by Richard Brooks, it stars Jean Simmons (Best Actress nominee) as a wife who walks out on her family to start life anew.

2010-01-28T08:06:00.000-05:00

GO DOWNTOWN!

Gail Gerber will be doing a reading from her memoir Trippin' with Terry Southern, co-written by me, on Monday Feb. 1, 7pm, at the Von Bar on Bleecker Street just off of Bowery. Her friend Darius James, a really cool dude and excellent writer is also on the bill.