I’d always wanted to see La Strada Dei Giganti. It is the first film reviewed in Western All’Italina Volume Three. The Rev posted a still from it earlier in this thread. It is from 1960 and is not really a Spaghetti but, as is pointed out in WAI 3, it has many elements that make it a “proto-Spaghetti”.
I’d checked a lot of websites that sell DVDRs and NOBODY had it. Then, one day I was persuing the Something Weird Video site and noticed the cover art on one of their selections and it looked vaguely familiar. Then I realized THIS IS IT!!! They call it Valley of the Doomed.
It’s pretty sad that I could get so excited about this but it made my YEAR!
It’s a pretty run-of-the-mill movie but really fun nevertheless.
Chelo is a fair skinned redhead in this (Scherp’s sister?).
She does an erotic dance (standard fare for her historical/mythological films) and has a short bathtub scene. I prefer her as a dusky brunette but I wouldn’t kick her out the tub for eating quackers.
A few Spaghetti stalwarts in this one too: Daniel Vargas and Benito Stefanelli. ;D http://www.somethingweird.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=19562&substring=valley+of+the+doomed
Romaine is back … and look who’s talking - sorry: back - too
Actually I have a sister, she’s a redhead and she’s called Wilma
And yes, Fred’s Wilma was a redhead too, and my sister looks like her (or better: she used to look like her, unlike that Wilma she has grown a little older)
Benito Stefanelli in this? Actor or maestro d’armi, master of arms (and in that case: what kind of arm? Left, right or middle?)
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:22, topic:1208”]Romaine is back … and look who’s talking - sorry: back - too
Actually I have a sister, she’s a redhead and she’s called Wilma
And yes, Fred’s Wilma was a redhead too, and my sister looks like her (or better: she used to look like her, unlike that Wilma she has grown a little older)
Benito Stefanelli in this? Actor or maestro d’armi, master of arms (and in that case: what kind of arm? Left, right or middle?)[/quote]
Benito has a small part as one of the railroad workers. If I remember correctly he is the fellow who is (supposed to be) guarding a train when chief bad guy and saboteur Daniel Vargas causes it to become a “runaway”. Unfortunately, most of the credits are cut off from the Something Weird DVDR so I can’t say if he was master at arms. Also Nello Pazzafini has a role as one of the bouncers in the saloon owned by Chelo.
Courtesy of RF I watched Valley of the Doomed (La Strada Dei Giganti) last night and, like RF, was only interested because of little Miss Alonso. I must say the film as a whole is pretty dire but when Chelo hits the screen she is downright explosive. In particular, the dance scene (see Rev’s picture above) where she is wearing only a body stocking and some kind of gold bikini effort shows off all her talents to their very best advantage. The bathtub scene is also of note although something of a tease but unfortunately from there on in Chelo falls in love and becomes all wussified. What a waste! Still, while it lasted her H-Bomb approach was well worth the time spent on the rest of the picture.
The film as a whole is a bit odd. Certainly not a western as it is set in mid 19th century europe around the building of a railway in the alps of northern Italy. But the railroad camp could easily be mistaken for a western town and Miss Alonso’s establishmnet is clearly a saloon complete with bat wing doors and everything. Anyway, who cares. This one was all about Chelo and she was terrific. If only for a short while.
