As always there are spoilers ahead!

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Apologies in advance for my butchering of Italian pronunciation during this episode.

Although we mentioned in the Planet of the Vampires episode the copycat nature of Italian cinema in the 1960s, The 10th Victim by Elio Petri does not fit that mould. The film has a definite style that may offer commentary on Italian film, comics and culture but looks to set a new mould for films coming out of Italy. Cultural change in Europe and America in the 1960s came in many different flavours and with different driving forces. My excellent guests help to unravel the cultural context of this stylish cult classic.

Stephen Gundle is a Professor of Film and Television at the University of Warwick. He has a special interest in Italian cultural history.

Leon Hunt is a retired Senior Lecturer of Screen Studies at Brunel University with a special interest in Italian Genre Cinema.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction.

01:17 Collectively written script

04:02 Italy in the 1960s

05:19 Marcello Mastroianni Commedia all'Italiana and global fame

09:33 Echoes of La Dolce Vita

15:02 Style over substance?

17:03 Gender roles

20:38 The violence of man

23:28 The gun bra, design and pop art

26:17 Comic book culture in Italy

32:46 Religion and belief systems

36:55 Changing Italian culture: American influence, economic growth and celebrity worship

45:52 Legacy

51:07 Recommendations for the listener

Recommendations:

Danger Diabolik (1968) directed by Mario Bava

Modesty Blaise (1966) directed by Jospeh Losey

La Dolce Vita (1960) directed by Federico Fellini

NEXT EPISODE!

You have two weeks to find and watch Seconds (1966) by John Frankenheimer as we finally head into 1966! The film is available to rent or buy on Apple TV in the UK, and for free on Kanopy in the US. You can check the JustWatch website for details of where it's available in your region. (Waves frantically at new global listeners!)

As always there are spoilers ahead!

You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.

If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm

Despite a failed pilot Star Trek made it to TV in 1966. Creator, Gene Roddenberry's vision of a future that was beyond the contemporary struggles of civil rights and racism and global Cold War tensions but very much aligned with the style of the 1960s. As a diverse crew faced alien planets and tackled ethical questions audience numbers dwindled and cancellation loomed. The show was finally axed in 1969 but a growing fanbase aided by syndication meant what could have been a small part of TV history actually became a huge phenomena.

My amazing Trekkie guests discuss the origins of my favourite franchise.

Julian Chambliss is a scholar and a professor at Michigan State University. He has taught Star Trek as part of his Media Race and Culture classes.

Carey Millsap-Spears is a professor of communications/literature at Moraine Valley Community College. She has written extensively about Star Trek including the 2023 book Star Trek Discovery and the Female Gothic.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:36 Gene Roddenberry's pitch and the pilot episode

04:29 A new kind of frontier

08:34 The fans

11:06 Woke and the 1960s

17:26 The gothic in Star Trek

20:39 Captain Kirk as Casanova?

26:09 That kiss and Uhura

30:42 Utopia!

36:47 Propaganda

39:24 The Alien others

44:08 Technology, NASA and Nichelle Nichols

47:29 The Next Generation

51:52 Why do we love Star Trek?

54:32 Recommendations

Recommendations

The Centre Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek (2021)

StarTrek II: The Wrath of Khan

NEXT EPISODE!

You have two weeks to find and watch The 10th Victim (1965) by Elio Petri. Another Italian film (like last episode's Planet of the Vampires) but a very different feel. Although coupld contend with Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik (1968) for the most 60s film ever made! The film is available to rent online in many places. You can check the JustWatch website for details of what it's available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead!

You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.

If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm

Planet of the Vampires was directed by Mario Bava and released in 1965. American International Pictures had made money with Italian films such as Black Sunday (1960) but would often need to oversee many changes to make the films suitable for an American audience. Their solution was to provide a script and co-produce a film so they could control the content.

The film had a small budget of around $200,000 and although it definitely has its fair share of Schlock, Bava had a reputation for doing a lot on a small budget.

My guests unravel why Mario Bava's reputation and love for this film continue to grow.

Scott Higgins is Professor of Film at Wesleyan University as well as being the Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives.

Russ Hunter is an Assistant Professor in Film & Television Studies at Northumbria University. He has a special interest in Italian genre cinema.

Scott says Eugenio Bava (Mario's Father) invented the Schüfftan process before Eugen Schüfftan after whom it was named. You can read more about this here: https://dcairns.wordpress.com/tag/schufftan-process/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:46 AIP involvement

04:14 Italian cinema in 1965

09:01 Dubbing

14:31 Names changes and US appeal

17:28 Mario Bava

21:51 Scott's love for this film

27:12 Bava and Barry

29:22 Special Effects and the Schüfftan process

33:39 Production and Set Design

35:21 Style over coherence

38:33 The alien

41:35 Influences and origins

43:40 Vampires in name

44:20 Legacy

49:06 Recommendations

Recommendations:

The Green Slime (1968) by Kinji Fukasaku

Tu Vuo' Fa' L'americano by Renato Carosone

Danger: Diabolik (1968) by Mario Bava

Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas

NEXT EPISODE:

As we approach 1966 on the podcast it is time to talk about my favourite franchise which will be 60 years old this September! A little detour into the beginnings of Star Trek in two week's time.