Carlotta: Cobra Woman (Siodmak, 1944)

[Matt]

It's been posted in a couple of other threads on the forum, but it definitely deserves its own:

COBRA WOMAN!!! (Amazon.fr link)

It's also available in a Siodmak box that includes The Killers and Phantom Lady.



All together now: "Geef me dat cobra chool! Eeet ees rightfully mine!

[Lino]

I'm waiting for Universal to release it in their new Cinema Classics Collection.

Maybe we should change this thread to "Maria Montez on DVD" because I went surfing and found that Cobra Woman is readily available in Spain and not only that but Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is also out on DVD from Korea. Amazon.com is selling it.

[Tom Peeping]

I bought the Siodmak 3 films-boxset for 44.99 at Fnac. It is good deal considering each title is sold between at 21.99 (Cobra Woman / Phantom Lady) or 24.99 (The Killers). But with the boxset, you don't get the wonderful artwork that graces the individual disc of Cobra Woman.

Just watched Cobra Woman. The Carlotta R2 DVD looks very good. Not perfect, but very good. The Technicolor could have been a little stronger and the image a little crisper to make the pleasure complete. A few white dots here and there, nothing much. Good sound. Removable French subs.

MM's Cobra Dance of Death made my day. Exhilarating entertainement. I wonder what it must be like to see it among a responsive audience in a packed theater. Siodmak should have gone over the top and linger longer on Maria Montez pointing at the camera (that is, at the audience) with a grin during the sacrificial dance. It would have been just perfect.

3 caps here.

[HerrSchreck]

3 caps here.

Loved that Snoop Dog DOGGY STYLE "girls gone wild" video ad that your link delivered to my screen. Wouldn't you just be thrilled to unexpectedly see your girlfriend in the trailer for this?

Truth be told, I actually kinda like the persona/lifestyle that Doggy has erected (deliberate choice of words) for himself. This dude is no poseur-- he is a legitimate walking b-film of the exploitation genre and it extends deep into his personal life. He is determined to turn his whole life-- and it's atmosphere-- into a piece of low rent entertainment, complete with 1973 16mm film grain and washed out colors and desperate runaways of the bus station pay toilet variety needing cash bad. What most amazes me is how he avoids drug posession charges pressed on behalf of the Angry White Middle American Republican Establishment, whose daughters he is having a most excellent time with. My ex girlfriend used to work at the "diamond check-in" section of NYC's Waldorf, and she said whenever Snoop would come in he & his entourage would cover the whole hotel in a Kind Breeze.. halls, rooms, stairways, elevators, and those Tuned In would say it is like this wherever he goes. Virtually any appearance by the Man is uh thusly punctuated.

I'm actually glad that these kind of orchestrated raids, which are simple substitutes for mmore direct forms of the Establishment Angry Fist, seem to have gone the way of the albatross. The Canadian Hendrix Junk Bust, and the Rolling Stones/Marianne Faithful raid being only the most notworthy of the trumped up, and sinister.. in implication, conspiracy, and orchestration.

Back on topic, the caps look fair enough, though my eyes detect some pretty obvious fringing in the last cap.. but the caps are so small it's difficult to tell.

What I'm most innarested in of course is PHANTOM LADY. It was only recently that I learned that the LADY herself was played by the same actress (Fay Helm) who played Jenny Williams, who was Bela Lugosi's werewolf's victim in Universal's THE WOLF MAN. Having seen both LADY & WOLF a zillion times, I never made the connection. It was only after updating all my VHS's of FRANK VS WOLFMAN/WOLFMAN/WEREWOLF LONDON last month via the Legacy collection box, that I listened to Tom Weaver's commentary (this guy does give good commentary after all; good on BEDLAM, and wonderful with Gordon on DEVIL DOLL) which pointed out Helm's appearance in the two films. Helm's Andrews Sisters-style coiffure in WOLF MAN, along with her sharp lipless features, always put a grin on my face.

Waiting for the caps Dave! Though something tells me this'll be hitting R1 pretty soon. Equally pressing is the WTF is going on w SHANGHAI EXPRESS????

[Lino]

I don't know exactly where to put this but I seem to remember Stan Czarnecki associating Cobra Woman with Yma Sumac on another thread so here it is.

I went imdb'ing and found to my surprise that Sumac made not one but two movies for Paramount in the 50's. The first one was called The Secret of the Incas and apparently was the main inspiration for the Indiana Jones series of movies, or so they say in the boards.

Being Paramount, it's obviously still not out on DVD (the fact that The Conformist is out at all is a real miracle) but as luck would have it, it's playing on portuguese cable next month and I'm planning to record it, of course.

Anyone here seen it? David?

[Lino]

Ok, thanks. I'll tape it, anyway. Sumac appearing in it is reason enough for me.

[Lino]

I will, don't worry, baby.

Let me know what the print is like! Some of these older Paramount Technicolor titles used to look terrific

Well, the print could have certainly looked better and now that I've seen it, I think that it's somewhat comparable to those transfers you can find over at the Esther Williams boxset: Laserdisc quality.

Still, it didn't look terrible but was not certainly properly restored yet. And I was right, Yma Sumac was the only thing I enjoyed the most about the movie. She was mesmerizing and had a terrific screen presence. And THAT VOICE!

Speaking of which, watch a clip of her most famous vocal acrobatic ever at Youtube, Chuncho and marvel and bow in admiration at that final, unearthly double-trill she is able to pull off from that most gifted of throats in the history of singers.

[Lino]

Her last outing had been - I think - Yma does disco or something equally ludicrous from the 70s

That was more in the vein of Yma goes Rock, actually! It was called Miracles and apparently it's a winner from what I've been reading. Haven't listened to it, though.

She's still alive (84 and counting!) and is being treated in her native Peru as the Queen she always was. Accolades, awards and recognition is her daily-life right now. She deserves it. Truly.

Anyways, back to Maria Montez!

Cobra Woman Trailer

[rockysds]

German blu-ray getting released October 4th.