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Reviews
Das Geheimnis der chinesischen Nelke (1964)
cheesy Sixties' fun, Edgar Wallace style
Sure this entertaining little flick never wrote movie history and won't ever do. On a camp and exploitation level however it scores very fine. Forget about the story, it's the bearded 'dangerous secret formula' stuff, spiced with plenty of 'mysterious' cases of murder and a row of usual suspects and red herrings. Like all flicks of the infamous German "Edgar Wallace" circle (this one being an entry based upon a pulp novel by Louis Weinert-Wilton) it provides cheap thrills in a usually foggy London Town, featuring clichés such as the smart knows-it-all Scotland Yard inspector (sure with bowler hat, pipe & umbrella), the even smarter and more dynamic private eye or secret agent, the mysterious night club by the Thames or in a dark Piccadilly sidestreet. Right here's where you find the center of all evil proceedings, the "Chinese Carnation" inn, run by a wicked but sexy eurasian lady. She is introduced with a cheesecake shot of her high-heeled legs, lying on her divan, seductively scored with an itchy hammond organ sound. That hammond sound will accompany us and provide relentless cheesiness throughout the whole movie. But don't get it wrong: this is tacky fun and highly entertaining, mainly due to the unique pairing of the three great icons of Euro exploitation cinema of the 1960s: Brad Harris, Klaus Kinski and Horst Frank. Recommended - if only for fans.
Badmen of Tombstone (1949)
A Powerhouse of a B-Western
Surprisingly well done b/w oater, with great, often noir-ish cinematography by the masterful Russell Harlan. Director Kurt Neumann tightly stuffs the 75 minutes with flawless action. Not a single frame wasted. There are rich clichés and standard situations, for sure, but only the ones we love with classic westerns. And there's a bit of a surprise ending, clearly not what you would call a "Happy End". Character actors Sullivan and Crawford are very intriguing and add some deeper psychological aspects to the outlaw story of friendship, jealousy and betrayal. Both are stone gunslingers without compassion, characters based on the McLoury-Clanton gang of Tombstone. The real brutality and senseless killings of the Old West is installed during the first 5 minutes of the movie by Sullivan: a gun-happy murderer who shoots a gambler to death because he cheated him out of a horse months earlier. Definitely underrated and worth a closer look.