Behind the Scenes With My Favorite Actors: Isabelle Adjani in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

Joseph W. Sarno: R.I.P.

I was extremely saddened to hear yesterday about the passing of Joseph W. Sarno, one of American Independent film's most distinctive and visionary filmmakers. Sarno's long and varied career as a writer and director produced some of the most memorable films of the sixties and seventies and more than a few of my personal favorites. Oddly enough, I have been thinking about Sarno (seen to the right with one of his most remarkable discoveries, Marie Forsa) quite abit lately due to the DVD re-release of two of his most extraordinary films, Abigail Lesley is Back in Town and Laura's Toys. In fact, just recently, I graced Moon in the Gutter with a template I made from Abigail Lesley is Back in Town, a haunting film featuring Sarno favorite Jamie Gillis who sadly also recently passed away.
Sarno had a long and, by all accounts, good life but he never got the respect he deserved from many critics and film fans who routinely passed over his work as just sexploitation. Sarno was a fiercely intelligent filmmaker who approached eroticism in an adult manner quite unlike any other filmmaker, and his best films seem more and more resonate with each passing year. I am planning on doing something special for Joe Sarno here at Moon in the Gutter in the upcoming weeks but, for now, I just wanted to wish my best to his surviving friends, colleagues and family. For more on his career and passing, please read this report from Tim Lucas' Video Watchblog.

Images From My All Time Favorite Films: Michael Schultz's Cooley High (1975)

By the way, does anyone know whatever happened to Cynthia Davis???

Behind the Scenes With My Favorite Actors: Warren Beatty in Bonnie And Clyde (1967)

"You know what you done there? You told my story, you told my whole story right there, right there. One time, I told you I was gonna make you somebody. That's what you done for me. You made me somebody they're gonna remember."

Candice Rialson in The Girl in the Late, Late Show (1974)

This past week I came one-step closer to completing my Candice Rialson collection when I acquired the quite rare television film The Girl in the Late-Late Show. This 1974 Gary Nelson directed film starring Don Murray, and featuring guest appearances by everyone from Yvonne De Carlo to Cameron Mitchell, was one of Candice's earliest appearances and it appeared around the same time that Pets was in the theaters. Candice appears only briefly in the telefilm, and has just a few lines of dialogue, but I wanted to present some stills I captured from it for other fans. For more my past looks at the career of unforgettable Candice Rialson, please visit here.