THE FOURTH REICH (1990) – This film’s greatest obstacle to greater renown is its own title. Anyone coming across the title The Fourth Reich will quite reasonably assume it’s a B-movie about Nazi war criminals in hiding trying to resurrect their rightfully defeated cause.
If someone rents or buys it expecting an espionage thriller like The ODESSA File, The Holcroft Covenant or even The Boys from Brazil, they’ll be disappointed that it is instead a quality dramatic account of a NON-FICTIONAL, real-life attempt by Nazi agents to assassinate South African leader Jan Smuts in 1942.
This movie – produced in South Africa – was partially based on the non-fiction book For Volk and Fuhrer, so even THAT title wouldn’t truly convey the subject matter to anyone outside of people who are so into South African history that they would recognize those words in the context of a thwarted Nazi assassin.
Enough preamble. I started my review this way to hopefully catch the eyes of readers who WERE assuming this is just more warmed-over, regenerate Nazi fiction. Please don’t dismiss this powerful movie due to false assumptions.
THE FOURTH REICH deals with South African boxer Robey Leibbrandt, who participated in the 1936 Olympics where he met and shook the hand of Adolf Hitler. Leibbrandt was strangely impressed with Hitler and his philosophy of hatred, and after becoming South Africa’s Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1937 he returned to Germany in 1938.
Robey was studying at the Reich Academy of Gymnastics when World War Two broke out in September 1939, and volunteered to serve the Nazis militarily. After he completed his military training, his commanders felt Leibbrandt would be more effective as a Nazi agent in South Africa, promoting their cause and recruiting saboteurs.
Under the alias Walter Kempf, Robey was sent back to his native land as part of Operation Weissdorn, a plan to assassinate South African leader Jan Smuts for leading South Africa into World War Two as a British ally rather than remaining neutral like his opponents wanted. Continue reading
PLEASE DON’T TOUCH ME (Filmed in 1959, released in 1963) – Buy this for the Lash La Rue fan in your life, but mostly for the Ron and June Ormond fan in your life. For people outside of us lovers of Bad Movies I’ll point out that Ron and June Ormond were the famous husband and wife team of low-low-low budget filmmakers. 
Though Please Don’t Touch Me sounds like it would be a sexploitation flick, lurid assault film or Nudie Cutie, rest assured there’s nothing in this 67-minute oddity that your grandmother couldn’t handle. Well, maybe your mother, instead of grandma. 
*** NCAA DIVISION TWO – 1. PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS ### 2. FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS (defending national champions) ### 3. GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS ### 4. UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS ### 5. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS ### 
6. DELTA STATE STATESMEN ### 7. MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS ### 8. NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARCATS ### 9. INDIANA UNIVERSITY IN PENNSYLVANIA CRIMSON HAWKS ### 10. ARKANSAS TECH WONDERBOYS ### 
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #45 (February 1949) 
The latest look at a college whose sports teams have a nickname that is out of the ordinary. 
PETER PAN (1976) – This Hallmark/ ITV joint venture is not as good as the Mary Martin or Sandy Duncan versions or the original Disney animated movie, but its obscurity made it a “must review” item for Balladeer’s Blog. Dwight Hemion directed this telefilm with Andrew Birkin and American comedian Jack Burns (of Burns and Schreiber fame) adapting the screenplay. 
MIA FARROW, in her Rosemary’s Baby hairdo, portrays the title character with an accent on the little boy aspect of “the boy who wouldn’t grow up”. It’s interesting to watch her depict Peter’s cockiness as more like bravado to cover up how frightened he is. Not brilliant, but interesting. Her singing is okay.
THE FOOL KILLER (1918) – The 1918 one-shot publication called The Fool Killer collected written works by Dr Klarenc Wade Mak, poet, author and socialist political candidate for mayoral office in Kansas City, MO around 1918. Mak had also written Ekkoes (sic) from the Hart (sic) and Mental Dinamite (sic).
During the 1850s Fool Killer tales were fused with political satire and commentary as Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans launched 
*** 1. IOWA WESTERN COLLEGE REIVERS (defending national champions) ### 2. HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS ### 3. COFFEYVILLE COLLEGE RED RAVENS ### 4. NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE RANGERS ### 
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #20 (January 1975)
Born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati, OH on July 29th, 1885, Theda Bara was the first monumental “man-eating”, femme fatale sex symbol in American cinema. Theda chose – or was assigned – her screen name because it was an anagram for “Arab Death” but the supposed appeal of that has always eluded me. 
A FOOL THERE WAS (1915) – Theda Bara embodied “the Vamp” character as surely as Douglas Fairbanks would later embody the swashbuckler. In this film based on Rudyard Kipling’s 1876 poem The Vampire, Bara portrayed a metaphorical vampire whose erotic appeal drove men wild. 
This film had a Dialogue Board with Bara’s character saying “Kiss me, my fool” to her latest male victim, a line which was mistakenly quoted as “Kiss me, you fool” for decades. Because this movie was made before the 1930 Hays Code, Theda’s seductive and spiteful character was allowed to go unpunished for her actions in the storyline. 
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