Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Animals in Movies Blogathon: Gorilla at Large (1954)

It’s an old rule in show business that you shouldn’t work with kids or animals – but that’s exactly what we are going to do right now, because this is

The Animals in Film Blogathon

Hosted by the blog In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood, this is a celebration of animal actors… or acting animals… anyway, non-human stars of the silver screen.

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Please refer to the Good Old Days website for a full list of the blogs taking part in the blogathon, and be sure to check out the wealth of famous and obscure movies they will be covering.

Then come back here, because here we will be dealing with a

Gorilla at Large

… a movie filled with super-charged suspense.

Continue reading →


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A gift of Mythical Creatures

I got a birthday present, yesterday.
A friend (author Alex Girola, of Plutonia Experiment) sent me a copy of Brenda Rosen’s The Mythical Creatures Bible.

mythical creatures

The book is a wonderful, compact, brick-like volume about… well, about Mythical Creatures. All of them, more or less. Sort of an almost-pocket guide to things of folklore and legend. It’s beautifully illustrated with both original artwork and reproductions of ancient images, and it features a global selection of beings.
I’ve only been able to browse it so far, but the entries are succinct but suggestive, and the book, apart from being absolute eye-candy, is also the sort of quick reference one might need while writing fiction.
As I said in the past, if novel writing requires cartloads of research, playing fast and loose when writing short stories is perfectly OK.
And books like these are a treasure trove of go-to information.

So, great gift.
Thank you Alex!


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Tits & Sand – Road to Morocco (1942)

15110-8709408519-5116511201-9548258739-large-400x570Morocco was never like this.
And frankly, who cares?

Road to Morocco (1942), directed by David Butler, is the third in the “Road to…” franchise (did they have franchises, back in 1942?1), and is probably the best of the lot.
The formula was quite simple – two happy-go-lucky Americans, an exotic locale, a beautiful woman, some flimsy reason for adventure.
And after all, exotic locales and beautiful women are usually reason enough for adventure – in fiction at least.
The formula worked for over twenty years and seven movies.

The team-up of straight guy Bing Crosby and funny guy Bob Hope did also work on the screen, and American audiences were getting acquainted with exotic places because of the war and, later, with the popularity of international tourism in the post-war years.
Dorothy Lamour adds the glamourous bit – and the three leads can sing, too! Continue reading →