Clash of the Titans (1981)

Clash of the Titans marks the end of an era, and a grand swansong for stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. In an age where computer controlled effects were becoming the standard, Harryhausen was still one of the few who could orchestrate an entire scene of multiple figure models into expressive believable action.

The story strings together several classic Greek myths and monsters in an episodic adventure starring Perseus (Harry Hamlin), a sheltered son of Zeus who finds himself abruptly put onto the path of destiny, aided by a magic sword, shield, and helmet. The plot is little more than a device to take the hero from one monster to the next, generally in the form of “impossible” tasks that require death-defying confrontations and a few whacks from the magic sword to eventually save and win the Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker).

It’s quaint effects were already passé, but audiences loved the film and it did very well at the box office. Harryhausen’s reverent interpretations of fantasy creatures was a refreshing antidote to the laser blasts and space capades of the late ’70s. As if to complete its paean to the classics, Mount Olympus is populated with a stellar cast of mature actors as the scheming gods and goddesses: Laurence Olivier is magnificent as Zeus, Ursula Andress a lovely Aphrodite, Maggie Smith as vengeful Thetis, Claire Bloom as cuckolded Hera….

A surprising number of MILFs are on display. In fact the film features so many attractive older women that Judi Bowker as the headstrong princess seems underage and inconsequential. Many reviewers have commented on her Barbie-like performance, and she submits to a brief but gratuitous nude bathing scene as she’s scrubbed for the Kraken’s dinner…, but give the actress credit for somehow retaining an air of regal dignity as she’s draped in a scratchy polyester disco dress and chained to a rock as the town watches her sacrificed to a monster from the sea.

Ursula Andress: hearts

February 4, 2007

filed under Ursula Andress valentine.

Ursula Andress in Casino Royale (1967)

What’s New Pussycat?

January 20, 2007

filed under Art Nouveau, Paris, retrocinema Ursula Andress.

What’s New Pussycat? (1965)

Michael James (Peter O’Toole) has got it rough. Beautiful women throw themselves at him, and despite being engaged he doesn’t have the strength to say no. His therapist Fritz Fassbender (Peter Sellers in his funniest role ever) isn’t helping, in fact he’s started following Michael hoping for leftovers! Another so-called friend (Woody Allen, who based the script on the hectic love life of Warren Beatty) is hoping Michael will fail so he can have a chance with the’s adorable broken hearted fiancée (Romy Schneider).

There’s no shortage of lovely women! Paula Prentiss is a crazy stripper who writes political poetry and overdoses on pills each time Micheal tries to end their affair. Harder to resist is the sublime Capuccine, a sophisticated sex-addict from Fassbender’s group therapy. By the time nymphomaniac Ursula Andress parachutes directly into Micheal’s car the laughs are coming so fast your face hurts.

Like Casino Royale two years later, there isn’t much plot (or maybe there’s too much plot), and rapid fire comedy flies from all corners. A swinging score by Burt Bacharach sets off a series of exquisite Parisian art nouveau locations, climaxing at an off-season chateau where all players converge in an out of kilter farce of escalating chase scenes. Throw in a transvestite, a Valkyrie, a terrorist, a jealous husband, and Michael’s future in-laws racing across the French countryside in stolen gocarts.