I heard some bad news on a forum and it's been reported here that Roberta Collins has passed away. That's tremendously sad news for any fan of 70s fun on film. She had great roles in some really fantastic movies from the Corman/Jack Hill/Demme camp and who else (no fair using Pam Grier) can claim such a holy trinity of captive female roles as she did in Big Doll House, Caged Heat and Women In Cages?! Not many, I can assure you, and especially not many with such wholesome blonde looks. It made her a natural choice to play Matilda The Hun in the Corman produced, Paul Bartel directed masterpiece, Death Race 2000.
Here she is in a still from Death Race with The Love Boat's Gopher, Fred Grandy, as navigator.
And here's the trailer for the magnificent Big Doll House. Truly one of the all time best films in any genre! She plays the very sexually frustrated inmate in that one and I think that may even be her having a scrap in the mud with Pam Grier. Hello! Look at her help put that other girl's head in the toilet!
I know the other two gentlemen are so very busy with upcoming events in the Toronto International film world so I feel sorta free to post whatever I feel like without any strong punishment. I hope they have a successful run and come back fully revived. And I hope they enjoy the girls.
John Frankenheimer was one of the great black & white directors - in fact, I took his advice from an interview with him I saw once and checked out some of his cheesy eighties pulp like 52 Pick-Up with Roy Scheider and Dead Bang with Don Johnson but I turned the colour off on my TV; he said they were much better viewed in monochrome and yes, they are. He was also the master of the DVD director's commentary track. Too bad he never recorded one for Black Sunday...
Very disturbing trailer for The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The most depressing movie ever made - Seconds (1966)
Cinerama-hyping TV trailer for the bloated Grand Prix (with Françoise Hardy!) (1966)
Am I the only one who prefers French Connection II (1975) to the original?
Anatomical diagram of “Flaming Monster Gamera” from An Anatomical Guide to Monsters 1967/1997. Original concept and text: Shoji Otomo. Illustrator: Shogo Endo Publisher: Asahi Sonorama (original and facsimile editions).
It's been over a year since Friedman was discussed and that's a shame.
Here's the man himself, opening the vaults and cracking wise. I can't imagine they come any cooler than David Friedman. What a life of fun that guy has had and what a legacy! Oh, and he does mention 'A Sweet Sickness' which is somewhere in the archives.
I wish I could display the Space Thing poster he has there but it's eluded me and continues to spiral into the upper stratosphere of price as well. But I certainly have a decent share of his product.
