And God Said To Cain(E Dio disse a Caino)

Klaus Kinski played parts in a lot of spaghetti westerns, usually a slightly off kilter killer, hamming it up outrageously sometimes. He had some of the most bug-eyed expressions I’ve ever seen in these things.

This one is a little different. For the first time, at least that I’ve seen, Kinski is the wronged man, the main player, a man imprisoned for ten years for a crime he didn’t commit.

Director Antonio Margheriti was well known in Italy for his horror films and it shows in this one. He has all the tropes of a good horror film. The main sequence is set at night, a storm is brewing, wind blowing heavily(a tornado has been predicted), resulting in a lot of doors/windows slamming loudly, curtains flapping, a church bell constantly tolling. There’s even a priest playing spooky music on an organ.

Gary Hamilton(Kinski) is pardoned by the President after ten years for his service during the war and he’s returning home by stage. A young man in an army uniform is talking with a couple of women about visiting home during a break from West Point. When he mentions his name, Dick Acombar, Hamilton reacts and we know there is a connection. He tells the boy to mention his name, Gary Hamilton, and tell dad that he will come by to see him later tonight.

You know this is the man that framed him and Hamilton is out to exact revenge for that bit of betrayal.

The bulk of the story from that point is one long sequence during the storm, dark, with Hamilton stalking Acombar’s men. He’s presented as soon sort of spirit, first appearing as a silhouette on the horizon, then the horse galloping through town riderless.

Where did he go?

An unusual western. Kinski is very good at those over the top villains. But I noticed one thing watching this movie. Most face shots of the actor, sometimes full, sometimes just the eyes. he’s remarkably calm. Still, with those eyes, he presents a scary look, more so than a lot of more animated faces I’ve seen.

Worth a look.

The poster here is from the German release. I’ve even included the German Trailer:

2009 NFL Week 9: Ofer Week

Not a good week for my teams.

The Panthers played the Saints in New Orleans this week. hey started off very well, scoring on a 66 yard run second play of the game for a TD, then causing Brees to fumble on their first series. Recovering that, the Panthers were suddenly up 14-0.

To good to be true though. The Saints fought back, as I knew they would, in the second half, taking the lead late in the fourth, then scoring a defensive TD to lock it up.

Watching this game, I came away with one impression. Jake is still starting, but the coaching staff seems to have lost the faith. They played too conservatively at times when a quick strike could have done damage. It seems like they don’t feel Jake can deliver anymore. It may be true. That time comes to all athletes.

Make no mistake though. The Saints are one of the best teams in the league this year. They didn’t quit, but kept plugging away. Congrats, Charles.

And as for Hurricane Ida, stay safe folks. We’re thinking about you with fingers crossed.

The Falcons smacked down my ‘Skins 31-17. I think I’m going to agree with some sportscasters. The ‘Skins may not win another game this year.

Blood And Guns(Tepepa)

Tepepa is a 1968 spaghetti western that starred Tomas Milian as Jesus Maria Moran, aka Tepepa, as a revolutionary leader in the war just before WWI. The great Orson Welles appears here as Colonel Cascorro, a leader in the Mexican army, and John Steiner as Doctor Henry Price, an English physician.

Tepepa had fought hard in the revolution. He believed in his leader’s ideals. Medera says “The rich will be less rich and the poor less poor.”

The war has been won, but nothing has changed. The peons had been supposed to get a piece of land for their own. Tepepa and his men had turned their weapons in to begin working their own property. Then Colonel Cascorro returns from Europe to reclaim his ranch.

When the peons had protested, Cascorro returns with an army and slaughters everyone but Tepepa, arresting him for a show trial, then execution by firing squad. Must keep everything legal.

Meanwhile, a young doctor, Price, shows up in his motor vehicle, claiming he’s making a study of criminals and can spot one by the shape of his skull, the jawline, the forehead. When Cascorro refuses to delay the execution so he can study the “criminal”, the young man boldly drives his car between the firing squad and their target, Tepepa hopping aboard as they make their escape.

With the army in hot pursuit, Tepepa is shooting, Price is driving, and they are talking. Price freely admits he rescued him so that he could kill him. We don’t know why, but as the movie unfolds, we learn the reason.

Tepepa escapes, the car is destroyed, and Price is captured. Tepea in turn rescues him.

From that point, Tepepa sees no recourse but to start another revolution. His leader may have forgotten his ideals, but he hasn’t.

This was not the best spaghetti western I’ve seen, but certainly not the worst. It has a certain charm and the ending I didn’t see coming. At least in the form that it did.

Directed by Giuilio Petroni from a screenplay by Ivan Della Mia and Franco Solinas, the music score is by the always reliable Ennio Morricone.

Worth a look. Here’s the trailer:

Today’s Humor: UPS Pilots Vs UPS Mechanics

This came via email and is supposed to be true. You judge.

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a “gripe sheet”, which tells mechanics about problems that happened during the flight. The mechanics correct the problem, document their repairs on the form, and the pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews, despite their lack of a more formal higher education, lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots(marked with a P) and the solutions recorded by UPS mechanics(marked with an S).

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

P: Left inside tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside tire.

P: Test flight okay, but auto-land very rough.
S: Probably because auto-land is not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P; Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode has a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce the problem on the ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to a more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in off-mode.
S: IFF IS inoperative in off-mode.

P: Number three engine is missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft acting funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last:

P: Noise coming from under the instrument panel. Sounds like a midget beating on something with a hammer.
S: Took the hammer away from the midget.

Forgotten Books: Have Gat-Will Travel – Richard S. Prather

HAVE GAT-WILL TRAVEL was published in 1957 and gathered together six short stories from the early fifties. This was Shell Scott at the beginning of his career, literally, in both the stories and the character’s profession. One story mentions early jobs and the fact that he’d been a PI for only a few years.

The Shell Scott series was the second bestselling PI of the fifties, after Mike Hammer of course. A different sort of character though. The books had a slightly humorous edge, some more so than others. He always had an eye for the ladies, and there were plenty of them, and these stories were the first time I ever heard them referred to as tomatoes. Here’s a typical way some of the women were described:

“She was closer to twenty-five and she looked a if she’d started life with a beautiful face that had grown easier to look at every year.
And the body. The body had tagged right along.”

In these stories, Shell investigates a variety of cases: the eighteen year old who had been raped and beaten to death, a writer friend doing an expose of the Communist party is murdered and the manuscript is missing, he takes a bookie for a client that has lost a lot of money in Mexico and suspects the horse races were fixed, he’s framed for murder during a poker game and has to dodge the police until he can clear his name, a cowboy movie star is found drunk and unconscious beside a woman’s body, and a client offers him $5,000 to find a blackmailer just before he’s shot between the eyes from the window over Shell’s shoulder.

Shell Scott was an early favorite of mine. What’s not to like? The books were full of scantily clad women who always seemed willing to give Shell their all, though there was really no sex. It was all implied. But the young male I was could fill in the details.

Make no mistake though. These stories were fun and engrossing. I came to them late in the series and have read a few of the earliest and a number near the end. There is a large chunk in the middle I hope to catch up on some day.

Who knows? I may actually read them all. That’s the intent anyway.

The Yanks Win!

The Yankees finished off the Phillies last night in a 7-3 win, highlighted by Hideki Matsui’s six RBIs, which tied the World Series record for one game held by Yankee Bobby Richardson in 1960. His batting average for the series was .615, third highest in history trailing only Mickey Hatcher(.750) and babe Ruth(.625).

The result: Series MVP, the first Japanese born player to take the honor. Well deserved too, I might add. He nearly hit the cycle, lacking only the triple to accomplish it, driving in two RBIs on each of the three hits.

500th Post

Well, here I am at post 500. Who would have thunk it a little over a year ago. As I’ve mentioned before, I had no thought of doing this back then and started Not The Baseball Pitcher on a spur of the moment whim.

I’ve enjoyed it and have made some internet friends along the way.

Hopefully, I’ll make it another 500. We’ll see.

The Hellbenders(I Crudeli)

Sergio Corbucci directed this 1967 spaghetti western starring Joseph Cotten as Colonel Jonas, an obsessive ex-Confederate officer who doesn’t recognize Lee’s surrender. He, along with his three sons and a couple of others, hijack a wagon load of worn currency headed for burning, slaughtering the entire thirty man Federal escort from ambush.

The plot concerns their efforts to get the money through the territory to their home in order to begin organizing a new Confederate army. Their problem is, because of their killing of the convoy, troops are scouring the area for them, posses are out, and a $10,000 bounty is out on their heads.

Jonas had planned ahead. The money is hidden in a coffin that ostensibly holds the body of his son-in-law, a Confederate officer killed in battle, that he, his three sons, and the widow(a drunken prostitute Jonas had hired) are returning to bury at home.

When the prostitute is killed trying to steal the money, they have a new problem. The pass Jonas has for the body is made out to the widow. he sends one son, Ben(Julian Mateos), to the nearest town to recruit a new woman. There he finds Claire(Norma Bengeli), a gambler, and through a bit of manipulation, causes a fight to break out and has to rescue her.

Having no choice, she agrees to help when she learns the real story. A relationship starts to build between the two, Ben being all that stands between her and his brothers. He’s more sensitive, a different mother, and the other two, Nat(Angel Aranda) and Jeff(Gino Pernice: he’s the one who had his ear sliced off in the earlier Django) are sadistic and lustful.

As they make their way across the territory, they run the gauntlet of Federal troops, posses, Mexican bandits, and Indians. Nat and Jeff don’t seem to be true believers and want to split the money. Ben stands between them and their father, remaining loyal despite his father’s bloodthirstiness in dealing with anyone who gets in his way.

I enjoyed this one. Though I guessed one point of the ending, part of it surprised me.

The score is by the always good Ennio Morricone. Definitely worth a look if you like Corbucci. He’s made some good westerns: Django, The Great Silence, The Mercenary, and Companeros.

Here’s Morricone’s theme song for the movie:

2009 World Series Game 5

Cliff Lee wasn’t quite as impressive last night as game one, but he still pitched a great game. He gave up a couple of hits and a run in the top of the first, but the Phillies came back with three in the bottom of the inning, the topper being Utley’s fourth home run of the series. Lee gave up a few more hits and a couple of walks before leaving in the eighth inning. He was eventually charged with five runs.

Utley got his fifth homer of the series to tie Reggie Jackson for the most, five, in the World Series. He still has one game, possibly two, to break that.

The Philles had a small problem in the ninth with runners on first and third with no outs, but got Jeter to hit into a double play that gave up the Yankees fifth run. But they closed out the game with a strike out of Teixeira after another Damon hit.

The Yankees lead the Series 3-2 with the next game Wednesday in New York. Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettite are set to pitch.

This Looks Interesting

The new James Cameron film already has controversy surrounding it. People are saying the plot is a direct steal from a Poul Anderson novella CALL ME JOE. If you remember, he was sued by Harlan Ellison involving The Terminator, such that all copies of tthat film now carry the line “Acknowledgment To The Works of Harlan Ellison.”

I’m not sure I have read the story. It has been a few years since I read any Anderson.

Nevertheless, this looks good.