Still shot from FLASHBACKS

The author(Art Hansl) with Ursula Andress in a still from ANYONE CAN PLAY from his autobiography, FLASHBACKS.

FLASHBACKS is available thru Amazon, Barnes & Noble and, starting in Nov, most e-readers -- Kindle Sony, Kobo, I-Pad

More books, stills and film clips at his web site arthansl.com and Art Hansl books.

Beware of the enemy within!

"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."- Will Durant

If you were around during the Vietnam war, you'll remember how we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We won a significant victory during the Tet offensive which routed the North Vietnamese army after a bitter Battle... but Walter Cronkite claimed the opposite saying we could

not win the Vietnam war and the left-leaning press took its cue from him. We also had active traitors who were never punished (think Hanoi Jane, pictured here in enemy uniform).

Right now we are in the grip of a government that undermines our military, a commander in chief who rejects advice from his most experienced officers, who apologizes for America at every turn. We can get rid of many of his stooges on Nov. 2. That is called a good beginning, but it will take time and dedication to return to the pride and principles that made this country unique.

SUNSTROKE

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.

Available now at Kindle, Kobe and Sony e-readers as well as through Amazon, Barnes&Noble..

FLASHBACKS

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.

  "What are we going to do?" Ellen wailed.

  " Just say any goddamn thing and make out until this pendejo cuts the scene."

  So we babbled a bunch of nonsense, kissed a few times and let them work it out at the dubbing studio.

  Not all that strange to me. Back in Italy when an actor lost his lines, he would just call out numbers .."Uno, due, tre.." and leave the studio to patch in the dialogue.

For more books, film clips check my web site at http://arthansl.com/. 

FLASHBACKS

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.

An example: Toward the end of the film a mad woman shoots the villain, who is about to run me through -- four times, non-stop, with an eighteenth century flintlock pistol.

  "Juan," I pointed out, "that's a muzzle-loader. You have to put in the gunpowder and ball, then tamp it down with a rod and seal it before you can fire."

   "So? "

   "What I mean is she can't it shoot it four times like that.Unless you want to spend about five minutes watching her re-load after every shot while Claudio (the villain) stands there waiting."

    He shook his head. "One shot isn't dramatic enough. We cut after each shot and re-load off camera. Haven't you ever heard of artistic license?"

     I had a bright idea. "We could turn this into a hell of a comedy." I was serious.

     Juan stalked off and didn't speak to me for the rest of the day.

From FLASHBACKS, Art Hansl's autobiography. Available thru Barnes&Noble, Amazon and soon e-readers Kindle, I-Pad, Kobo, Sony. Check web site at arthansl.com

ALL FOR THE MONEY

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.

But others want the money, too, and murder escalates until love turns to distrust. And distrust

 to the inevitable conclusion.

All FOR THE MONEY is now available on Kindle as well as in book format.

Check the author's web site at arthansl.com for more books, movie stills and more..

FLASHBACKS (back cover)

A montage of moments from Art Hansl's autobiography, FLASHBACKS. A favorite is the shot of President Reagan holding one of his earlier books, A CALL FROM L.A., now out of print. However, FLASHBACKS, SUNSTROKE (both now on Kindle), and FREEZE-FRAME are available thru Amazon and Barnes&Noble and will soon be on all e-readers. ALL FOR THE MONEY is currently on Kindle.

Check web site arthansl.com to see books, stills, film clips

FLASHBACKS (autobiography by Art Hansl)

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.

The shot was set up before dawn when the high-ceilinged, semi-Gothic  station was deserted, the cameras perched on ledges adorned with gargoyles.  When the crowd started gathering to board trains,no one bothered to look up. "Where," I wondered aloud to the director," are the extras?"

"Right here," he smiled. "I do not use extras; I want to see real emotion as you fight your way through the crowd."

Jesus! "But in America they'd mob me, try to help the cops!!"

"This is Yugoslavia. These people are sheep." He made  a wide gesture toward his camera crew and gave me a shove.
I charged through the crowd bumping into indignant people, the cops in hot pursuit, and almost made it. Then some giant loomed up in front of me and I bounced off him and went down. Someone punched me in the gut; someone else sat on me head. I got a kick or two in the ribs. All this before the cops hauled the crowd off me. I got a chipped tooth and a bruised cheekbone and the same cops had to hold me back from the director. He backed away, hands up. "Don't worry, Arturo. Nothing a little make-up can't cover!"

     FLASHBACKS is available thru Barnes&Noble and Amazon. Soon to be on Kindle, Sony, I-PAD, Kobo. Check arthansl.com for books.

FLASHBACKS

Just  a second or so before getting a couple of ribs cracked by an amateur stuntman in the market (souk) of beautiful downtown Marrakesh. "Mission Apocalypse" was my first starring role in in an Italian James Bond ripoff. Morocco was fascinating; we even saw a slave caravan by the side of the two-lane blacktop between Casabalanca and Marrakesh. The picture took us behind the Iron Curtain and to Switzerland as well as principal shooting in Rome.There were many strange episodes in this classic B picture still to be told.

               From FLASHBACKS by Art Hansl
            Availabe thru Barnes&Noble, Amazon and soon on e-readers -- Kindle, I-Pad, Sony, Kobo.
             Check out the author's web site at arthansl.com for more books, film clips, stills..

FLASHBACKS

"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..."

             BARNABY CONRAD                                                          

Author of Name-Dropping, Matador, and so many others!

Available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble and most e-readers
                                                                   

A LOOK AT THE DARK SIDE

Art Hansl's two "Noir" thrillers, SUNSTROKE and FREEZE-FRAME are now on Apple and Kindle, and soon to be on all e-readers as well as in print at Barnes& Noble and Amazon. Most of Hansl's characters are not usually professional thieves or killers. Their dark sides are brought out by the pressures and temptations many of us experience. It his how they react that to these elements that leads to their destruction or -occasionally- their redemption.

Check my web site arthansl.com for more books, film clips, and more

ALL FOR THE MONEY

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?

Now available at Kindle as well as Amazon and Barnes& Noble.

For more books check my web site -- arthansl.com.