Actor Ron Ely passed away not long ago. He was best known for playing Tarzan but in keeping with the theme of Balladeer’s Blog I’m taking a look at Ron’s Eurowesterns.
HALLELUJAH AND SARTANA … SONS OF GOD (1972) – Ron Ely played Hallelujah and Alberto Dell’Acqua was Sartana in this at best so-so Spaghetti Western.
For newbies to the more obscure level of Italo-Western heroes, Hallelujah (at left) was a gunslinging conman and gambler whose nickname came from his impersonations of clergymen as part of his grift.
Sartana, on the other hand, was a long-established Spaghetti Western figure who was portrayed by plenty of other actors during the 60s and 70s. Sartana was a pro bono vigilante when he wasn’t busy at card tables across the west.
Ron Ely’s Hallelujah was a combination of James Garner’s Bret Maverick depiction of a gunman-grifter with a heart of gold crossed with Terence Hill’s seriocomic gunslinger Trinity from his own trilogy of movies. Continue reading
CLEOPATRA (1917) – 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. It was inevitable that she would portray one of history’s most notorious women. Only part of this film has survived, and the story is a mix of various accounts of Cleopatra’s activities. 
I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957) – Herbert Strock’s follow-up to I Was a Teenage Werewolf always calls to mind the Movie Host shows of the past and the way they would often pair up those two Teen Monster flicks as a Double Feature the nearest Saturday night to Halloween. 
THE RESURRECTED MONSTER (1953) – Directed and co-written by the trailblazing Chano Urueta, this film is regarded as Mexico’s first sci-fi/ horror blend. A plastic surgeon named Dr. Hermann Ling (Jose Maria Linares-Rivas) has been driven mad by a lifetime of scorn over his grotesque, misshapen (yet hilarious) appearance. He has spent years working in isolation at a remote castle. 
Halloween Month continues as Balladeer’s Blog takes an anticipatory look at Terrifier 3, which hits theaters tomorrow, October 11th. Despite making his first appearance in 2008, Art – the blood-and-gore-soaked supernatural killer of the Terrifier franchise – still gets hailed as a “new” figure because general audiences were unaware of him until 2016. 
Maggie Smith (1934-2024) is no longer with us, unfortunately. To many fans, Smith embodied sophistication and withering wit. She and Sian Phillips were long among the elder stateswomen when it came to traditionally classy British actresses. 
DESTINATION INNER SPACE (1966) – In a true rarity Scott Brady got to be the less-than- hunky action lead in this film! THE Sheree North and The Green Hornet‘s Wende Wagner were along for the ride in this flick that plays like an episode from Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who era recast with Americans.
Here at Balladeer’s Blog people who can make me laugh are my favorite kind of people! YT reviewer Snarky Jay, as she calls herself, is entertaining, engaging and hilarious with her reviews. 
RED SUN (1971) – I had originally planned to review this international production during Frontierado Season of 2025, but French superstar Alain Delon’s recent death made me decide to post it now. Red Sun was a French-Italian co-production starring America’s Charles Bronson, France’s Alain Delon and Japan’s Toshiro Mifune in a Spaghetti Western. 
The train also carries a shipment of gold targeted by a gang of outlaws led by a charismatic but cruel man called Gauche (Alain Delon) and his longtime partner in crime Link Stuart (Charles Bronson). The bandits rob the gold as the train passes through the western deserts. Gauche displays his callous ruthlessness by not caring that he has to kill an innocent passenger while gunning down a man trying to play hero.
Balladeer's Blog 