The writer's Life 8/25 - Sniff

Last night Movies!, 113 on Cablevision in NYC, ran Take a Hard Ride (1975), the second teaming of Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. It was not nearly as successful as Three the Hard Way (1974). It is a western about greed, heavily influenced by the spaghetti epics of Clint Eastwood. It is not a good film but watchable because of its cast and constant action. Dana Andrews, Lee Van Cleef, Barry Sullivan and Catherine Spaak are along for the ride. Only one aspect annoyed me, the continual picking off of villains by revolver from seemingly hundreds of yards away. Would it have been so hard to have the actors use rifles for all those shots? Granted, it's not serious work, but come on! Brown, 79, as good a RB as there ever was, has amassed 54 credits since walking away from football at the height of his career in 1965. Williamson, 77, dubbed the Hammer for his hard hits as a DB with the Raiders and Chiefs, has more than twice as many, 124. Surprisingly, Jim Kelly, the International Middleweight Karate Champion of 1974, has only 16. He passed away in 2013 at 67. The film was directed by Anthony M. Dawson, the pseudonym of Antonio Margherita, a Roman who was at the helm of 57 movies, and wrote the screenplay for 26. An Italian-American, Eric Bercovici, co-wrote the screenplay with Jerry Ludwig. Both were very active, mostly in TV. Bercovici did 43 screenplays plus those for multiple episodes of TV series. Ludwig has 31 screenwriting credits and 39 as an editor, mostly on the small screen. While none of the works of these three behind-the-scenes artists is particularly notable, they had significant careers and entertained millions. That’s nothing to sniff at.

I've come down with a summer cold: scratchy throat, runny nose, post nasal drip, fatigue and something new -- tearing. The floating book shop wasn't much fun today, especially since I had to lug the crates about 70 yards. And there were no sales to serve as a balm. My thanks to the old timer who donated four hardcovers in fine condition on UFOs, and whoever left a chick lit novel at Waj's gyro truck. The session did have a significant highlight, a visit from former work buddy Joey Elvis, who was returning from a four-hour wait at Coney Island Hospital to have a couple of nodules in his neck checked out. At the moment they are very small, but he's going for a follow up at a specialist, which is wise. There is a possibility he may have thyroid cancer, but says he's not concerned, as it is the most treatable form of that dreaded illness. Having recently inherited a lot of money upon the death of his dad, he has retired. Somehow he escaped the notorious "Death Tax" and, since he's not working, is eligible to apply for Medicaid. God bless America.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/