Yesterday I received an Italian magazine I won on eBay in the mail. It's called
Nuovo cinema europeo, was published from the mid 70s onwards and is absolutely fantastic!
The issue I have covers April-May 1977 and has text in both Italian, English, German and French, and features everything from announced projects, shooting details, casting news and publicity ads for various Italian films from that time.
It's really interesting to see that often the titles and the cast members attached to various projects listed here differs from the finished films. For example, it's reported that Mauro Bolognini's latest film, LA SIGNORA DEGLI ORRORI has just been cast and started shooting. The cast listed is Shelley Winters, Max Von Sydow, Renato Pozzetto, Alberto Lionello, Adriana Asti, Milena Vukotic and Ornella Muti. Of course, this is the film that was finally released in October that year as GRAN BOLLITO. However, Ornella Muti is not in the finished film but Laura Antonelli is. Presumably, Antonelli took over Muti's role. Pretty interesting. Same with the announced shooting of Franz Josef Gottlieb's THE JOY OF FLYING, which cites Olivia Pascal, Gianni Garko and Cinzia Monreale as cast members. Pascal and Garko both appear in the finished film, whereas Monreale must have been replaced at some point.
Also, some of the films that are announced as being in production were apparantly never finished - at least never released. One of the most interesting projects mentioned here is IL MAGO E LA SVASTICA (The Magician and the Swastika), which Pier Carpi started directing right after making RING OF DARKNESS in early 1977. The film is described as being about a "still-secret act of espionage during World War II. Though a fantastic story, it promises to be meticulous with regard to historical facts and to the analysis of the protagonist's psychic powers. The cast includes Max Von Sydow, John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Valentina Cortese and Paola Tedesco. Produced by Gas Film." Wow! Sounds really cool! Notice how all of the cast members except Von Sydow had just been in RING OF DARKNESS. I really wonder what happened to this film! If was unfinished or if was actually completed but never released.
However, the coolest things in this magazine are the publicity ads that are trying to sell various films at the Cannes film festival. The best ad is one for NINE GUESTS FOR A CRIME, whose English export title it turns out is actually THE WAY TO HELL:
So this proves there really is an English-dubbed version of this film. It was offered for sale at Cannes but it would seem as if no one bothered to pick it up as the English dub has never surfaced on VHS (it may have been shown theatrically in some countries, though... I don't know).
There's lots of other interesting stuff in here too. Haven't actually gotten the chance to fully look at it all yet but it's really awesome stuff! I need more of these magazines!!!
