settima

@settima@zirk.us

Street of Dreams – Musical Mirror Maze [Tiny Tim's Street of Dreams] (Martin Sharp, 1988)

Dec

4

Street of Dreams - Musical Mirror Maze (1988)

Tiny Tim performing in front of the Luna Park's fantastic entrance gate (via). DPs: Russell Boyd, Geoff Burton, Tom Cowan, Michael Edols, David Sanderson & Simon Smith.

A theme park*, or in this case, amusement park.

“Just take it from me I'm just as free as any daughter I do what I like Just what I like and how I love it

I'm right here to stay when I'm old and gray I'll be right in my prime Living in the sunlight, loving in the moonlight Having a wonderful time”

– Tiny Tim, Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight (Al Sherman & Al Lewis, 1930), from God Bless Tiny Tim (1968)

Tiny Tim is a personal hero of mine. A decade after his mainstream TV debut, Tiny's career had taken a tumble but he still was – God bless him – Tiny Tim, and he performed a two-hour-and-seventeen-minute singing marathon at Luna Park Sydney. Just months after that, tragedy hit the park's Ghost Train ride. A fire, arson as it was determined decades later, killed seven. Fellow Tiny-aficionado and OZ artist Don Lane saw a connection between these two events and spend years cutting and editing the musical marathon, nude drunken interview and disaster footage, and Tiny wandering around a mirror maze into a narrative.

 

Lane passed in 2013 and, in respect of his family's wishes, Street of Dreams remains unfinished.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)

Dec

3

L'ange et la femme (1977)

Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.

A caregiver*

 

A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

Vulcano [Volcano] (William Dieterle, 1950)

Dec

2

sisters

Vulcano (1950)

Sisters Maria (Geraldine Brooks) and Maddalena (Anna Magnani) Natoli. Lobbycard for the US market. DP: Arturo Gallea.

Sisters, for one of the OPs' sister's birthday.

 

Expelled prostitute Maddalena returns to her home island Vulcano (Salina in disguise) and moves in with her sister Maria. A handsome fisherman becomes first Maria's, then Maddalena's catch.

 

A revenge film à la lettre, but not as you may think. Anna Magnani was cast as the lead for her lover Rossellini's Stromboli (Terra di Dio) (1950), and – after him having set eyes on Ingrid Bergman – was ditched in the latter's favour. While Rossellini fawned over the blonde, Magnani shot “her” film on a neighbouring volcanic island, blowing her former beau's efforts out of the water.

Noir et blanc (Claire Devers, 1986)

Dec

1

World AIDS Day

Noir et blanc (1986)

Dominique (Jacques Martial) and Antoine (Francis Frappat) in the treatment room (via). DPs: Daniel Desbois, Christopher Doyle, Alain Lasfargues & Jean-Paul Rosa da Costa.

World AIDS Day: conquering fear.

“J’ai mal, mais la douleur me rassure. Son souvenir me donne du plaisir.”

Surma hinda küsi surnutelt [Ask the Dead About the Price of Death] (Kaljo Kiisk, 1977)

Dec

1

1924

Surma hinda küsi surnutelt (1977)

A woman wearing a crochet skull cap and an ominous look on her face. DP: Jüri Sillart.

 

宇宙人東京に現わる [Uchūjin Tōkyō ni arawaru / Warning from Space] (Kōji Shima, 1956)

Nov

30

1955

宇宙人東京に現わる (1956)

The News Herald reports (with the wrong type of headers): “Supreme Headquarters Of The World Council” “Suspend All Activities In Launching Artificial Satellites Until Notice”. DP: Kimio Watanabe.

“A scientist is not like a politician who can answer every question.”

– Japanese Bar' Ucyū-ken' Madam Ohana

Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält [Mark of the Devil] (Michael Armstrong + Adrian Hoven, 1970)

Nov

28

cheese

Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970)

A young, pretty Udo Kier seated at a dinner table. There are various fruits on a platter and Udo's eating cheese. His outfit suggests the 18th century. DP: Ernst W. Kalinke.

“I accuse you of having trampled on the cross, of having ridden to the Sabbath, of throwing the Holy Cross of our Saviour into manure so that the skies grew dark, and the rain fell upon the earth!”

– Albino

Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)

Nov

28

Belle (1973)

Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.

Un comisar acuză [A Police Inspector Calls] (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1974)

Nov

26

1940

Un comisar acuză (1974)

DP: Alexandru David.

Takes place on the night of November 26-27, 1940.

“Mister Moldovan, this is not for the first time that a criminal case is entrusted to you. It is precisely your political objectivity that made us choose you.”

– Alexandru Dincă

La polizia ringrazia [Execution Squad / The Law Enforcers] (Steno, 1972)

Nov

23

La polizia ringrazia (1972)

Sandra (Mariangela Melato) and Francesco Bettarini (Franco Fabrizi). DP: Riccardo Pallottini.