Quote of the Day: An Innocent Question
When Robert Siodmak returned to Germany after his very successful stint in Hollywood during and after the war, he scored some more successes, but also had a share of problematic pictures. In 1968 he took on his last project, a two-part epic called KAMPF UM ROM, a toga-filled epic “in Ultrascope and Eastmancolor, with actors from ten different nations and a ‘colossal’ budget of ten million Deutschemarks.”
It was not a happy shoot.
Interviewed by a journalist, Siodmak was asked the standard press-pack question, “Why did you choose to make this project?”
Reply: “That’s a question I ask myself every morning.”
Quotes from the magisterial study Robert Siodmak, by Deborah Lazaroff Alpi.
shadowplay 
September 29, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Amidst Siodmak’s credits: Uncle Harry, The Spiral Staircase, The Suspect, Phantom Lady and The File on Thelma Jordan stand out along with those previously noted here.
September 29, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Cobra Lady and The Dark Mirror make a fascinating “evil twin” double feature. Bobra Lady IS the evil twin of The Dark Mirror. With Thelma Jordan as the third film in that trilogy, since Stanwyck describes her character as dual, part good and part bad.
And speaking of the Cobra Queen, I’m happy to have just acquired the Montez madness that is Queen of Atlantis, and the DeCarlo equivalent, Slave Girl.
September 29, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Jack Smiht was alsmost as fond of Yvonne as he was of Maria.
September 29, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Here’s Yvonne singing the song she inspired.
September 29, 2008 at 10:04 pm
My, that’s a grand voice.
My own musical efforts, in which I attempted to outdo Sondheim’s internal rhymes in number if not in quality, will come under the spotlight tomorrow…
September 29, 2008 at 10:59 pm
As long as you’re talking about rhymes …
http://people-vs-drchilledair.blogspot.com/2006/01/love-is-fress-of-nature.html
(One of the appropriate things to remember, here, is that this was posted after “Brokeback” had come to the theaters but *before* the DVD had been released.
(All thanks to Landfill Productions for the help they’ve given me over the years …)
September 30, 2008 at 9:37 am
Link didn’t work!
Now it’s fixed.