The Obscure Double-Bill from United Artists

The Obscure Double-Bill from United Artists

Here’s a really interesting double bill feature presented by United Artists – and that’s pretty much where the similarities end. A Western and a World War II feature were always going to be a bit obscure, totally different genres – regardless of them both being great movies. 

The reason behind this pairing was probably due to Third film in the trilogy being released. 633 Squadron / For a Few Dollars More began its run around August 1968 – just a mater of weeks before The Good, the Bad and the Ugly got its release. It was a great way to get the second film out there once again so that potential audiences could follow the trilogy seamlessly. 

Below: A  regional  add for 633 Squadron / For a Few Dollars More at The Pilot, King’s Lynn

633 Squadron was originally released a fair while before the double bill, back in1964 in fact. Walter Grauman’s film starred Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British fighter-bomber squadron, was based on the 1956 novel of the same name by former Royal Air Force officer Frederick E. Smith, which itself drew on several real RAF operations. The film was produced by Cecil F. Ford for the second film of Mirisch Productions UK subsidiary Mirisch Films for United Artists. 633 Squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in colour and Panavision widescreen.

For a Few Dollars More was of course a Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters, and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. Klaus Kinski plays a supporting role as a secondary villain. The film was an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain. The film was released in the United States in 1967 and was marketed in the United States as the second instalment in the Dollars Trilogy, preceded by A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and followed by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

The pairing of the two films was popular enough to produce a quad poster. Perhaps United Artists had pinned the hopes on the new film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – and any additional promotion of the man with no name certainly wasn’t going to harm its chances. 

Below: The wonderful Quad poster release for the Double-Bill

Cannon from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly traced to Spanish museum

Cannon from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly traced to Spanish museum

Enthusiasts track down weapon used to fell fleeing Eli Wallach amid preparations for 60th anniversary of film’s release.

Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with the 1873 Manchester-made cannon.

Six decades after Clint Eastwood nonchalantly used a cigar to light its fuse and fell a fleeing Eli Wallach, the Manchester-made cannon that appeared in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly has been rediscovered in a museum in south-east Spain.

The artillery piece was tracked down by the Sad Hill Cultural Association, a group of volunteers dedicated to restoring the graveyard near Burgos, northern Spain, built for the climax of Sergio Leone’s seminal spaghetti western.

Below: Clint and Sergio on location with the Cannon

After coming across images of the cannon in a book on the film, the association set about trying to trace some of the weapons used in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the movie’s release later this year.

The 75mm cannon, made in Manchester by Whitworth in 1873, was one of the antique arms lent to Leone’s production team by the Spanish military. After filming it was returned to the army museum in Madrid. There it languished on outdoor display until 2010, when the museum and its collection were moved to Toledo.

A few months ago, Diego Montero, treasurer of the Sad Hill Cultural Association, visited the Toledo museum to look for the cannon. Further research led to the south-eastern Spanish city of Cartagena, where Montero discovered a group of retired soldiers had restored a 19th-century British cannon from the local military history museum.

Below: The cannon before restoration, in the military history museum in Cartagena, south-east Spain.

“A few days ago we wanted to check the photos from the book against a more detailed photo, so we wrote to the director of the Cartagena museum, and he sent us a closeup photo of the top of the cannon and of the piece’s number,” said Montero. The serial numbers matched. “The museum had no idea that they had the cannon that was used in the film. We told them that we were going to put out a press release because we knew that a lot of people would be interested – and they’d get loads of visits.”

The city council is certainly keen to use the cannon’s fame to draw more visitors. It posted on social media on Monday: “Did you know that one of cinema’s most famous cannons is in Cartagena and that you can visit it for free?”, with the post accompanied, inevitably, by Ennio Morricone’s genre-defining theme.

The museum’s director, Lt Col Ernesto Terry, said the cannon’s fame was already causing a stir. 

“We had no idea this was the cannon from the film,” he said. “It’s been crazy and I’ve been talking about it non-stop to the media and to people who have been ringing to ask me about it. It’s been madness and we’ve had a lot more visitors.”

While the Sad Hill Cultural Association would love to borrow the cannon and temporarily reinstall it in the Burgos landscape, where it last stood 60 years ago, its protected heritage status means that will not be in time for the anniversary.

“The bureaucratic procedures are very lengthy, and we don’t have time,” said Montero. “But we’ll definitely try to do something in the future. Maybe we can get hold of the piece and at least bring it to Burgos, because there’s a military museum there.”

Below: Video of the restored Cannon as it is today

Our kind thanks to Kevin Wilkinson

PALE RIDER rare bus stop 1985 poster of Eastwood by C. Michael Dudash, sells for big money!

PALE RIDER rare bus stop 1985 poster of Eastwood by C. Michael Dudash, sells for big money!

An Original Vintage Unfolded Bus Stop Movie Poster (measures 48" x 70" [122 x 178 cm]) went through the roof this week in an auction. It attracted 24 bids and peaked at a staggering $ 2,700.00.

Description: Pale Rider, the classic 1985 Clint Eastwood cowboy western ("...and hell followed with him."; "This summer a stranger will ride into town..."; a very loose remake of Shane, with a mysterious "preacher" showing up in a small western town and protecting the inhabitants from bad guys) starring Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Christopher Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, Richard Kiel, Doug McGrath, and John Russell.

Overall Condition: good. There are two vertical tears in the top background area and one in the middle right background area, but they don't affect the image or printing. There is tiny paper loss in the upper left border. There are some pinholes in the borders and some creases and scuffs scattered in the poster. 

Think I’ll have to stick with my quad for now!  

WHERE EAGLES DARE at The Astor Theatre New York, March 12th, 1969.

WHERE EAGLES DARE at The Astor Theatre New York, March 12th, 1969.

The Astor Theatre, opened on September 21, 1906 with Annie Russell starring in a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It was built and operated by producers Wagenhais and Kemper, at the corner of Broadway and W. 45th Street, seated 1,600 patrons and was considered one of Broadway’s premier venues for decades among the top actors of the era who aspired to play its stage.

Located just next to the Hotel Astor, and later surrounded by theatres like the adjoining Victoria Theatre on Broadway, and on W. 45th Street, the Morosco Theatre, Bijou Theatre and the first Helen Hayes Theatre (which opened as the Folies-Bergere, but quickly became the Fulton Theatre). The Astor Theatre was designed by George W. Keister, who decorated its interior in simple-yet-elegant Greek Revival style.

Red, gold and ivory were the original predominant colours. Outside, the five-floor building, which also contained shops and offices, was a blend of Neo-Classical and Second Empire styles, including a bronze-domed tower at the entrance at Broadway and W. 45th Street.

In 1912, Sam Harris and George M. Cohan took over the Astor Theatre, continuing legitimate fare (except for a 1913 presentation of the hit motion picture “Quo Vadis”) until 1916, when the theatre was acquired by the Shubert Bros., who would run the Astor Theatre until the Depression.

During the times when there were no legitimate bookings, motion pictures were also screened. Starting in 1925, movies replaced live entertainment on a permanent basis at the Astor Theatre, and remained so for the remainder of its existence.

By the 1940’s, the Astor Theatre was the theatre that MGM premiered its big-screen Technicolor musicals and Epic movies including Where Eagles Dare, and remained so for over a decade. The New York premiere of Warner Bros. “East of Eden” starring James Dean was also held here on March 9, 1955.

In 1959, a radical modernization of the Astor Theatre to the plans of architect John J. McNamara resulted in a dramatically stark-looking interior, with all of its original decor torn out in Favor of expanded orchestra seating. Modernistic murals on its side walls and the removal of the boxes and its set of balconies, replaced by a smaller, single balcony.

The gilded proscenium arch was removed to make way for a huge curving wall-to-wall screen. The exterior was also greatly simplified and its original facade covered by a wall of marble, and given a rather plain, boxy marquee.

The Astor Theatre was closed 54 years ago last week on May 30th, 1972 with “Hannie Caulder”. Walter Reade Theatres said it was due to maintenance problems with the air conditioning, and not long afterwards, both it and its neighbours, the Victoria Theatre, the Helen Hayes Theatre, the Bijou Theatre and Morosco Theatre, were all earmarked for demolition to be replaced with an office tower. Plans were delayed, however, and as preservationists fought for nearly a decade to keep the theatre’s standing, the Astor Theatre’s old lobby was used for retail space.

In 1982, however, despite the valiant efforts of preservation organizations, the Astor Theatre and its four neighbours were razed to construct the Marriott Marquis New York Hotel, which contains its own legitimate theatre venue.

Photo Opportunity #74: A Rookie Rarity

Photo Opportunity #74: A Rookie Rarity 

Aside from our dedicated Rookie page, The Rookie is a film that doesn’t really get a lot of coverage here on the Archive. It was, and still is a film that often draws mixed opinions. I remember first seeing it at the cinema at the start of 1991 – That same year, the global landscape was marked by a rise in international terrorist incidents, and as such, a lot of actors and actresses remained grounded while promoting their latest project, many just didn’t fancy stepping onto a jet plane and travelling. This was the case with Clint too, the film was promoted and Clint pushed the film – usually via a satellite link up from L.A. 

It’s very much a typical buddy cop movie, with Clint playing the familiar grizzled, pissed off character of Nick Pulovski – a veteran cop and Charlie Sheen as the rookie cop David Ackerman. Together they are assigned to smashing an outfit stealing high end, luxury cars. The group are led by both Raul Julia as Erich Strom and Sônia Braga as his partner Liesl. 

The film is packed with some great action sequences, some impressive stunt work and a rather embarrassing rape scene which didn’t do the film any favours. Eastwood was also criticised for casting two Hispanic actors as German characters?  There are also some moments of enjoyable light relief, but overall, it is the script (especially Sheen’s lines) that let the film down. 

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. The Variety staff added to the general dismay with the film saying, "Overlong, sadistic and stale even by the conventions of the buddy pic genre, Clint Eastwood's The Rookie is actually Dirty Harry 5 1⁄2 since Eastwood's tough-as-nails cop Nick Pulovski could just as easily be named Harry Callahan." In fact, one does wonder if this was just another exchange film with Warner Bros, a trade off that gave Clint the green light to make the previous (and much more personal project) White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)?  

Clint followed up The Rookie with Unforgiven (1992), a film which came from the other end of the spectrum and would ironically cement Clint’s reputation as a master film director. How things can turn around in the movie business… 

Anyway, for the summer season I thought I’d post this fantastic shot of Clint from The Rookie. It was originally sourced from a 35mm transparency which was part of the Warner Bros publicity campaign, but it’s rarely seen these days. 

Celebrating Clint’s 96th Birthday

Celebrating Clint’s 96th Birthday

Aging is not merely the passage of time; it is a journey of accumulating knowledge, understanding, and perspective. Life experiences—both triumphs and challenges—shape our ability to make thoughtful decisions and offer guidance to others. Wisdom is a treasure that comes with reflection and learning, not automatically with age.

On behalf of all your fans around the world – Have a wonderful 96th Birthday Sir. 

The Clint Eastwood Archive

Rare Gator Creek Vinyl LP from 1970

Rare Gator Creek Vinyl LP from 1970

I was very lucky to spot this album for sale within the UK this week, I’ve been after it for a very long time, but they’re usually tucked away deep within the United States rather than in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The stars were perfectly aligned - not only was it the first pressing, but also the PRC Pressing (Philips Recording Company, Inc.) The LP of course is the self-titled album by Gator Creek - (in fact, it turned out to be their only album). The group had a pretty impressive line which included future High Plains Drifter composer Dee Barton, Gene Pello, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins (yes, that’s Kenny Loggins of Footloose fame), Michael Omartian, Mike Deasy and Ray Neapolitan.

I suppose it’s fair to consider that Clint first got to know Barton from this project which may have led to him scoring High Plains Drifter.

Above Gator Creek - Dee Barton is far left.

I should at this point explain why this album is so significant. The album includes a great little track called Dirty Boogie, which may not mean a lot to some fans - while others will instantly recognise it as the main theme to Play Misty for Me. 

With all my years of collecting Eastwood and his movie music, there has never been anything officially released from Play Misty for Me - which is a great shame, the soundtrack is sprinkled with some classic cuts (inc all those performances from the Monterey Jazz Festival footage), Roberta’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Misty (of course) and Dee Barton provided a pretty cool and creepy score. So, landing the main theme from Misty isn’t a bad thing at all. 

Anyway, well worth looking out for, especially if you can avoid having a copy sent over from its native America. 

Cat details: Mercury – SR-61311,Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, PRC Pressing U.S.A. 1970. 

Credits: Arranged By – Dee Barton

Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields

Baritone Saxophone – Allan Beutler

Bass – Ray Neapolitan

Drums – Gene Pello, Nick Ceroli

Flute – Allan Beutler

Guitar – Kenny Loggins, Larry Knechtel, Louie Shelton, Mike Deasy

Keyboards – Dee Barton

Percussion – Kathy Deasy

Performer – Allan Beutler, Dee Barton, Gene Pello, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins, Mike O'Martin*, Mike Deasy, Ray Neapolitan

Piano – John Banister, Mike "Smackwater" O'Martin*

Producer – Bob Todd, Dee Barton

Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Louie Gasca*

Vocals – Dee Barton, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins, Mike Deasy

This Record was specially made to be played loud.