Author Archive: Retro

A Mexican boy without young neighbors to play with, befriends a diverse group of desert animals.

Narrated by Paul Tripp. Produced in Germany.

Unlike previous adaptations of the Johanna Spyri children’s classic, this 1952 English-language version of {#Heidi} was lensed on location in Switzerland. Elsbeth Sigmund plays the title character, who endures all sorts of hardships and setbacks before finding happiness in the form of her ex-curmudgeon grandfather (top-billed Heinrich Gretler). Isa Gunther co-stars as the crippled girl whom Heidi befriends; with her twin sister, Guenther had previously starred in the successful German farce Two Times Lotte(1950), which served as the inspiration for the 1961 Disney film The Parent Trap. Thanks to the built-in popularity of the Spyri original, Heidi managed good international booking even before it was finished. The film was the fourth effort by Praesens Productions, which had previously struck box-office gold with Four in a Jeep(1951). It was directed by Italy’s Luigi Comencini, a specialist in films featuring wise-beyond-their-years children.

A Greek soldier leads the fight against an invading Persian army.

Evil killer is strung up for his crimes, but a doctor steals the body, injecting brain tissue from the killer into his own brain to test a theory.

Small group of soldiers band together against an evil Duke. English Dubbed. Dir. Siro Marcellini

Argolis, son of Hercules, rescues young men and women held in slavery by the crule Sorceress Queen of Dem, the subterranean city. In the spectacular climax, a sea of molten lava destroys Dem and its evil inhabitants.