A Brief Vacation 1973 PG, 106 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Florinda Bolkan, Renato Salvatori, Daniel Quenaud, Jose Maria Prada, Adriana Asti, Teresa Gimpera, Anna Carena, Miranda Campa, Hugo Blanco, Angela Cardile
Clara (Florinda Bolkan) has her hands full trying to support her family–children, disabled husband, obnoxious brother-in-law, and senile mother–on the meager wages of a factory worker. Things take a turn for the better when she is diagnosed with tuberculosis and enters a sanatorium where her spirits and body are improved. Sadly, it's only a brief vacation before she must return to her former life.
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The Damned 1969 R, 150 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Luchino Visconti Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger, Renaud Verley, Umberto Orsini, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Albrecht Schoenhals, Charlotte Rampling, Florinda Bolkan
The wealthy Von Essenbeck family meets its demise when the Nazis come into power at the rise of Hitler's Third Reich.
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Don't Torture a Duckling 1972 N/R, 102 min. Genre: Foreign / Thriller
Director: Lucio Fulci Cast: Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Florinda Bolkan, Irene Papas, Marc Porel, Vito Passeri, Georges Wilson, Antonello Campodifiori, Andrea Aureli, Franco Balducci, Rosalia Maggio
After young boys are murdered in a quiet Sicilian town, various people are accused–including a magician (Florinda Bolkan) who practices voodoo and visitor Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet). Villagers take matters into their own hands, and Patrizia teams with newsman Andrea (Tomas Milian) to find out what's going on. Good, with some brutal scenes but not like the gory Fulci films to follow.
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Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion 1970 R, 112 min. Genre: Foreign / Thriller
Director: Elio Petri Cast: Gian Maria Volonte, Florinda Bolkan, Salvo Randone, Gianni Santuccio, Arturo Dominici, Orazio Orlando, Sergio Tramonti, Aldo Rendine, Massimo Foschi, Aleka Paizi
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this is the story of an Italian police inspector (Gian Maria Volonte) who murders his lover, plants evidence, and is sure police will not arrest him.
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The Last Valley 1971 PG, 125 min. Genre: Adventure
Director: James Clavell Cast: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Florinda Bolkan, Nigel Davenport, Per Oscarsson, Arthur O'Connell, Madeleine Hinde, Yorgo Voyagis, Miguel Alejandro, Christian Roberts, Brian Blessed, Ian Hogg
Set during the Thirty Years War, this story takes place in a peaceful, hidden valley whose inhabitants are visited by a former teacher, Vogel (Omar Sharif), and then by an army led by The Captain (Michael Caine). Both men are looking for a reprieve from the outside world. They winter over in the valley and then go on their way–leaving the valley and its inhabitants in peace.
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Love at the Top 1974 R, 105 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy aka: The French Way
Director: Michel Deville Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin, Florinda Bolkan, Henri Garcin, Georges Wilson, Michel Vitold, Jean-Francois Balmer, Dominique Constanza, Estella Blain, Mary Marquet
Meek bank clerk Nicolas (Jean-Louis Trintignant) becomes an overnight success–with women and wealth–when he agrees to take the advice of a struggling novelist (Jean-Pierre Cassel). A so-so comedy.
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The Master Touch 1972 PG, 97 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama aka: Un Uomo Da Rispettare
Director: Michele Lupo Cast: Kirk Douglas, Florinda Bolkan, Giuliano Gemma, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Bruno Corazzari, Vittorio Fanfoni, Wolfgang Preiss, Romano Puppo, John Bartha, Allen Stanley
Newly paroled safecracker Wallace (Kirk Douglas) joins up with a trapeze artist (Giuliano Gemma) in a plot to partake of $1 million through illegal means.
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Millions 1991 R, 115 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Carlo Vanzina Cast: Billy Zane, Carol Alt, Lauren Hutton, Alexandra Paul, Jean Sorel, Donald Pleasence, Catherine Hickland, Roberto Bisacco, John Stockwell, Ben Hammer, Michael Lombard, Florinda Bolkan
Maurizio (Billy Zane), one of the heirs to the family fortune, will stop at nothing to control that fortune. But, he must deal with others who also want control.
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Royal Flash 1975 PG, 98 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Lester Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Alan Bates, Florinda Bolkan, Oliver Reed, Britt Ekland, Lionel Jeffries, Tom Bell, Joss Ackland, Alastair Sim, Michael Hordern
Based on George McDonald Frazier's novel, this film is supposed to be a satire on the swashbuckling era of Victorian England but comes across as slapstick comedy.
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Schizoid 1971 R, 100 min. Genre: Foreign / Horror / Thriller aka: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Director: Lucio Fulci Cast: Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Silvia Monti, Alberto de Mendoza, George Rigaud, Penny Brown, Leo Genn, Mike Kennedy, Ely Galleani, Anita Strindberg, Franco Balducci
Carol (Florinda Bolkan), the daughter of an important English politician, has recurring nightmares of killing a neighbor libertine during all-night LSD orgies. When the neighbor is found dead, Carol is the prime suspect. Were those really dreams? This and many other questions are answered in one of Fulci's better films, which has many twists, turns, and red herrings.
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Some Girls 1988 R, 95 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Michael Hoffman Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Dempsey, Lila Kedrova, Florinda Bolkan, Sheila Kelley, Andre Gregory, Lance Edwards, Ashley Greenfield, Jean-Louis Millette, Sanna Vraa, Cedric Noel, John Cuthbert
Robert Redford was the executive producer of this unusual comedy about a young man, Michael (Patrick Dempsey), who spends Christmas vacation with the family of his girlfriend Gabby (Jennifer Connelly). As soon as they begin the vacation, Gabby breaks up with him, and separate bedrooms are provided. Michael is sad, but Gabby's sisters Irenka (Sheila Kelley) and Simone (Ashley Greenfield) are eager to fill in for Gabby. Meanwhile, Gabby's father (Andre Gregory) walks around in the nude, and her grandmother (Lila Kedrova) mistakes Michael for her deceased husband. A bizarre holiday, for sure.
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| 1. A Brief Vacation (1973)
2. The Damned (1969)
3. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)
4. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
5. The Last Valley (1971)
6. Love at the Top (1974) aka: The French Way
7. The Master Touch (1972) aka: Un Uomo Da Rispettare
8. Millions (1991)
9. Royal Flash (1975)
10. Schizoid (1971) aka: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
11. Some Girls (1988)
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