Wednesday, August 15, 2012

MOOM PITCHER REVIEW! SECRET OF THE SPHINX (Italy, 1964)

Another Shute-out, this time of a cheapo Italian-cum-Egyptian feature from the mid-sixties that has something to do with smuggling a huge gold shipment (out of Egypt and over to the Good Ol' U. S. of Wha?) which just happens to be hidden in a crate of archaeological gear. And if you still remember those ennui-filled hours being a bored youth watching "furrin films" on Sunday afternoon television boy will this one bring back the memories! Only problem is there ain't any LITTLE RASCALS shorts fillin' out the hour before the switch over to network sports, that's for sure!

Like many of these dubbed in zilch-fi features I gotta admit that my mind was wanderin' a bit, just like it was back in the seventies when I'd get so bored watchin' stuff like this to the point where I'd stare out the window thinkin' about what I would be doin' if it were only 1962 and thus gulcher would be more conduit to my existence. However, despite the bizarre introspection on my part I certainly got my entertainment value outta this quickie starring Amerigan expat Tony Russel as an agent on the hunt for the missing gold and Maria Perschy as the woman intent on getting the gold stashed into the crates and outta the country as soon as possible.

From there it's a good up and down boring to exciting escapade featuring the usual flubs, goofs and of course a good fight scene or two. Interesting characters also abound, best of all this femme member of the excavation team named Marta, a gal who at first looks like a typical bookworm with the norn rimmed glasses and pith helmet, but later on turns out to be really sexy once she lets her hair down and slips into a swimsuit. She was played by actress Eva Karan of whom I could find nada about anywhere online, so if you have any idea what happened to her please let me know. The only other big stars in the film just happen to be the early-sixties vintage Fiats (which are referred to as being "Swedish" vehicles!) that Russel et. al. drive, a rather snazzy design at that which looks surprisingly* like a specific Italian bodybuilder's idea for a Studebaker called the "Italia" that got nixed by the soon to deep-six auto maker for some strange reason or another! They seem to get just about as much screen time as some of the minor actors in this film making me wonder if there was a li'l plugola goin' on.

In all, a pleasant enuff run through that ain't earth shattering 'r anything like that, but if you have insomnia and this happens to be running three AM on your local UHF station well, it certainly is a lot better'n shopNBC or Rachel Maddow reruns!

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*after another look, maybe not!

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