Here I go again on an obscure movie jag. Last night This-TV, channel 111 on Cablevision in NYC, ran
A Professional Gun (1968), a spaghetti western starring the ubiquitous Franco Nero, still going strong all these years later. The film does not take itself seriously. It is light-hearted even when the players are gleefully killing scores of adversaries. The soundtrack features the whistling prevalent in the oaters shot in Europe, and had me chuckling aloud. It is rated a surprising 7.1 of ten at IMDb. It was directed by Sergio Corbucci, who did the original
Django (1966), also starring Nero, who appeared in Quentin Tarantino's recent take on the character. Corbucci directed more than 50 films, many of which he also wrote. The most interesting aspect of the flick, billed under its U.S. title,
The Mercenary, is the supporting cast. Jack Palance, flashing his trademark weird smile, is the main villain, Curly. I had a devil of a time figuring out who plays the young revolutionary. The name
Toma popped into my head. I later realized that was not his name but the character the actor played in 23 episodes of a 1973-74 cop series. Finally it came to me - Tony Musante, who is still working, having participated in a short recently. The most interesting member of the cast is Giovanna Ralli, who I mistook for Luciana Paluzzi, the bodacious assassin in
Thunderball (1965), the fourth film in the James Bond series. Ralli’s career began all the way back in 1942, when she was seven, in
La Maestrina, her character billed as
La Bambina. She too is still working, lately in Italian TV. Here is a pic from her youth:
It was quite a day at the floating book shop. It looked like it was going to be a flop when late in the session Jeff, former exchange employee, pulled up to the curb in his SUV and told me how much he is enjoying
Exchanges. "I can't put it down." Then Ol' Smokey, who I hadn't seen in weeks, showed. "How you doin'?" I asked. Typically, he replied: "Why - you care?" He was carrying a bag of groceries St. Mark's had donated to him. He left 90% of the canned goods behind on the sidewalk. I turned away, laughing, and there was my most faithful customer, Marie, who I also hadn't see in a while. Her cat, Simba, needed veterinary attention. She is the equivalent of 80 in feline years. She's fine for now. Marie said she loves
Close to the Edge, which she is three-quarters of the way through. Minutes after she left, another of my favorites appeared, Laura, a young Romanian trying to make it into med school. It was great to see her beaming, and not overwhelmed for a change. She gave me a big hug before leaving. I was standing in what remained of the sunlight on the corner of East 13th when Crazy Joe pulled his car into a spot across the street. He'd gotten two minutes on Dennis Miller's radio talk show this morning. Miller called him a racist. Joe says he is not and won't back down from calling blacks to task. All I know is he's been good to me. He purchased
Killing, even though he reads non-fiction almost exclusively. Thank you, sir, and thanks also to the woman who bought three books in Russian.
Vic's 4th Novel:
http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh Vic's 3rd Novel:
http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3 Vic's Website:
http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/ Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle):
http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb Vic's 2nd Novel:
http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6 Vic's 1st Novel:
http://tiny.cc/94t5h Vic's Screenplay on Kindle:
http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3 Vic’s Short Story on Kindle:
http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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