Freebie Film Tip #2: The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians
Created | Updated Nov 2, 2015
Get out the popcorn. It's November.
Freebie Film Tip #2: The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians
Yes, the Romanians are here. But first, a bit of weirdness from yesterday's star, Hans Conried.
Today's Short Subject: Back in the 1960s, Hans Conried had a brilliant TV show that was way ahead of its time, though extremely old-fashioned. Fractured Flickers featured old silent films with new dialogue, provided by Conried. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ended up being about attempts to invent a new soft drink, and contained the deathless lines, 'Over the teeth, over the gums, look out stomach, here it comes…' You get the idea. Fractured Flickers also featured interviews with a variety of actors and writers, including Rod Serling. In this clip with Ursula Andress, the pair of them contact silent siren Theda Bara in the Great Beyond. It turns out she's none too happy about what Conried is doing to her films.
Today's Feature Film: And now that your sense of reality is loosened up, you're ready – okay, as ready as you'll ever be – for Profetul, aurul si ardelenii. (We still can't do those diacriticals, though I keep putting them on the wish list.) Do you remember spaghetti Westerns? This, friends, is a mamaliga Western.
The film is half in Romanian and half in English. Well, sort of. Rumour has it the 'English' dialogue was contributed by Fulbright scholars. In case you don't know, a Fulbright scholar was a graduate student from the US who got a year's stipend to study abroad. They were often helpful like this. You'll love the dialogue.
The story is about some Romanian brothers who immigrate to the US and end up in the Wild West, which they make even wilder. However, they are the most sensible people for miles around. And yes, it's shot in the Balkans, under a communist regime. Just suspend disbelief and enjoy. This film was the first of a very popular trilogy. I leave you to find the other two films on Youtube. Hint: they all have 'and the Transylvanians' in the title.
Haiduks (=outlaws), beware. Those Transylvanians can shoot! Even with a gun left over from the Turkish wars.