Mexico was violent (but not as violent) back in the seventies. Maybe the kind of films we made down there had something to do with it. Here I find myself in Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, killing the great thespian, John Carradine, a Shakespearian actor as well a member of the filmic Hall of fame. When I got to know him a bit, I asked him what he was doing in a piece of crap like this.
Marla Monday was a superstar in Hollywood's golden era, worshipped by fans, adored by critics. And also a woman who would allow nothing to keep her from what she wanted, whether a partner of either sex in bed, a role another actress coveted, no matter whom she had to seduce, whom she had to destroy. She had as many enemies as film credits, but who would go so far as to slash her throat?
The author(Art Hansl) with Ursula Andress in a still from ANYONE CAN PLAY from his autobiography, FLASHBACKS.
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."- Will Durant
SUNSTROKE by Arthur (Art Hansl) is a fast, sexy thriller about a setup, a stickup and sweet revenge. It is a novel, but much derived from the nine years he spent in Mexico, a sunny land for shady people. First as a beach bum and then as an actor in the local film industry, a profession he followed in Italy as well as in America before turning to writing.
Lice! My leading lady has LICE! Just kidding -- but this scene from "Mansion of Madness" was entirely ad-libbed. Our director, in a burst of inspiration, spotted a wooded grove he thought would be perfect for a love scene. It wasn't on the sheet for the day and neither of us had looked at it since we got our scripts a couple of months back. We said so, but he insisted..jpg)
Mansion of Madness (still available on DVD under a variety of titles) is something of a cult film on the basis of being truly awful. An Edgar Allen Poe tale about the insane taking over the asylum, it could have had merit in the hands of another director. Juan Lopez Moctezuma, a good friend, was nevertheless the Ed Wood of Mexico.
What would you do? I mean if you went down to Mexico to see a bullfight and killed a crooked cop in self-defense -- then found three million dollars in his truck. Well Roger and Perrie took it, but there was a witness. They weren't killers by nature, but there was so much at stake! And the second time is so much easier.
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Even the poster is typical 60's pop art -- so bad it's almost good. This James Bond rip-off had it's hairy moments. In one, playing the secret agent, I had to run through a crowded railway station in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, to leap aboard the famous Orient Express with a pair of uniformed cops behind me blowing whistles and waving pistols..jpg)
There were many strange episodes in this classic B picture still to be told.
"Art Hansl's book, FLASHBACKS, is a delightful, sexy, humorous romp through his life and specifically the bizarre world of B films in '60's Italy, Mexico and beyond..."20001.jpg)
What would you do? Roger Stott, a faded tennis star who has just blown his job of keeping Hollywood celebrities from being themselves, meets Perrie Olsen, a stunning, uninhibited flight attenant, and takes her to the bullfights in Tijuana. They are assaulted by a Mexican cop delivering a cartel payoff to the Tijuana police. He has rape and murder in mind, but the tables are turned and Stott disposes of the body. Stott and Perrie find almost three million dollars in the cop's truck, but there's a witness to be dealt with. Permanently. What would you do?
FREEZE-FRAME by Arthur (Art) Hansl. Marla Monday was a superstar during Hollywood's golden era. Worshiped by fans, adored by critics. She was also a woman who would let nothing stop her from getting what she wanted, whether a partner of either sex in bed, or a role every other actress wanted -- no matter whom she had to seduce, whom she had to destroy. She had as many enemies as film credits.
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