Alive or Preferably Dead/ Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Wild East Productions presents another double feature highlighting specific Euro actors this time involving actor Giuliano Gemma aka Montgomery Wood and we also have a double dose of Director Duccio Tessari who together with Gemma gave fans the two Ringo films at the beginning of the Spaghetti Western genre. This time Gemma is presented by two light hearted farces which can only be appreciated if you have an acquired taste for Italian humor. Up first is 'ALIVE OR PREFERABLY DEAD'-1969 which is not a true Spaghetti Western and emerges as a period piece at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, in fact, the first ten minutes makes you feel like you are in a Victorian gaslight drama. It pairs Gemma with professional boxer of his time Nino Benvenuti as two brothers who stand to gain an inheritance if they can exist together for three months without bickering. Naturally, the usual brawls ensue and they decide to take up bank robbing? to become the most notorious bandits in the territory. The scene stealer is actress Sydne Rome who both brothers fall for. The camera work by Manuel Rojas and music score by Gianni Ferrio try to enhance the mood but the low brow schtick overplays its welcome. The same schtick is peppered all over the next entry 'KISS KISS BANG
BANG'-1966, a film which could have been an ahead of its time spoof of the Euro Spy genre with beautiful compositions by cinematographer Francisco Marin, a boppy music score by Ennio Morricone alumnus Bruno Nicolai and has filmmakers Fernando Di Leo and Luciano Ercoli in the credits but the inept shenanigans and sight gags become long in the tooth where you're actually expecting Don Adams of 'GET SMART' to appear next to Gemma. Saved from the gallows by the British Secret Service, Gemma is enlisted to stop the evil Mr. X from acquiring a secret formula. Unfortunately, the filmmakers throw every inept joke? at the viewers till you forget what type of film you are watching. Even the beautiful presence of Nieves Navarro who was the wife of Ercoli can't save the film. For trivia fans, the title 'KISS KISS BANG BANG' is the actual term that the Japanese used for the James Bond character and was also supposed to be the Main Title for Director Terence Young's movie 'THUNDERBALL'- 1966 composed by John Barry and actor Anthony Newley and sung by Shirley Bassey but was replaced with the title track we all know and love sung by Tom Jones. Both films are presented in the usually excellent manner by Wild East although 'ALIVE' seems to be window boxed but 'KISS KISS' is in 2.35 ratio. The real highlight of the set and which is the reason I gave it an extra star is an excellent interview with Euro actor Dave Van Husen. Taken at a film convention , it clocks in over 35 minutes and Mr. Van Husen has some incredible behind the scenes stories from his numerous genre outings including touching reminiscences of actors such as Lee Van Cleef and Klaus Kinski. I was impressed at how many film credits the man had, he also worked with Werner Herzog and Federico Fellini. Its worth the price of the package alone. Director Tessari and actor Gemma both touched many genres but these two supposed comedies do not represent them at their finest. The release emerges as a treat for Gemma fans only but Wild East should be commended for their presentation of the films, each including their own picture galleries and trailers. Well done, Wild East.