Requests for everyone

[PeplumParadise]

Hi there all, a question;
Cos10000 wrote me a personal message, but I can't answer to him - if I try to fill him in as recipient, an annotation showes up: "Some users are don't allowed to receive private messages" - so he can write me one but can't receive an answer? Or I'M a doing something completely wrong (again)?

I also had a message from him, which was probably the same if it was about Turkish films. I also was unable to reply, but I think it's maybe because of some restriction placed on Cos's account by Emiliano, which could account for the message you get.

Anyway here is my reply for Cos

Personally I love Turkish films, but I don't know that topics for Turkish actors would find much enthusiasm on the forum unless it was identifying unknown background actors. The Turkish film industry was a fairly insular one without the crossover of actors you have between Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia and other European countries - I can only think of a couple of Italian co-productions. The actors you mention are all fairly well-known - I am very familiar with Reha Yurdakul, but he has over 350 films listed on IMDb, so making a topic for him would be months of work, watching films where there is no chance of finding new roles for other actors on the forum, and, unless the person making the topic is a Turkish speaker, they would be watching films with little idea of what was going on or what actors roles were - something I have learned the hard way making topics for Yugoslav actors.

There is already the very good website, SinemaTurk, dedicated to Turkish films and actors.
https://www.sinematurk.com

[van den bremt rudy]

A question, in the topic of Comanduchi, last entry for la Piovra 5 (1990, in the second picture, could the henchman on the right be Franco Ukmar ? (not so clearly seen)
Thank you !

[PeplumParadise]

A question, in the topic of Comanduchi, last entry for la Piovra 5 (1990, in the second picture, could the henchman on the right be Franco Ukmar ? (not so clearly seen)
Thank you !

Possibly, but it's really not clear enough to tell

[Stuntman Mike]

A question, in the topic of Comanduchi, last entry for la Piovra 5 (1990, in the second picture, could the henchman on the right be Franco Ukmar ? (not so clearly seen)
Thank you !

Specific shots for him

[Cinema Italiano]

A question, in the topic of Comanduchi, last entry for la Piovra 5 (1990, in the second picture, could the henchman on the right be Franco Ukmar ? (not so clearly seen)
Thank you !

Specific shots for him
IMG_9819.jpegIMG_9820.jpegIMG_9821.jpegIMG_9822.jpegIMG_9823.jpegIMG_9824.jpegIMG_9825.jpeg

It seems like Giovanni Ukmar to me but not Franco

[PeplumParadise]

A question, in the topic of Comanduchi, last entry for la Piovra 5 (1990, in the second picture, could the henchman on the right be Franco Ukmar ? (not so clearly seen)
Thank you !

Specific shots for him
IMG_9819.jpegIMG_9820.jpegIMG_9821.jpegIMG_9822.jpegIMG_9823.jpegIMG_9824.jpegIMG_9825.jpeg

It seems like Giovanni in some shots, others not so much, but I think it's probably him. Not Franco anyhow.

[PeplumParadise]

Does anybody know anything about James Riley? He was a black actor with a quite distinctive look, active in Italian films in the mid-late 60's, whose only credited role appears to have been as Tombalassa (Janine Hendy's husband) in La pecora nera (1968). On the strength of that film I have ID'd him in Le spie amano i fiori (1966 - topic on the way). I'm certain I've seen him in other films, but I don't remember what they were offhand - if I can find a third role for him then I can create a topic, so if anyone recognises him please let me know.

[Johan Melle]

Does anybody know anything about James Riley? He was a black actor with a quite distinctive look, active in Italian films in the mid-late 60's, whose only credited role appears to have been as Tombalassa (Janine Hendy's husband) in La pecora nera (1968). On the strength of that film I have ID'd him in Le spie amano i fiori (1966 - topic on the way). I'm certain I've seen him in other films, but I don't remember what they were offhand - if I can find a third role for him then I can create a topic, so if anyone recognises him please let me know.
La Pecora Nera film completi in italiano 2^parte2.jpgRILEY, JAMES.jpg

Yes, I know him! He's actually better known as Jay Flash Riley (although IMDb have him listed as Joe 'Flash' Riley). Dancer and actor who appeared on Broadway and in lots of music revues etc. There's some pretty good biographical details to be found for him here: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83t9nrv/

There was also an article in The Los Angeles Times (1 May 1977) called "Expatriates Say 'Ciao' to Rome" about various artists who have returned to the US after several years of living and working in Rome. Jay was one of the people featured in the article, in which he gives quite a bit of background information about himself and how he ended up in Rome. Here are scans from the article

In Italy, he also appeared (completely unrecognizable) under a ton of make-up in The She Beast / La sorella di Satana (1966) as the murderous witch, but it's him for sure (the producer Paul Maslansky identifies him in the DVD commentary track and tells some stories about how 'Flash' amused himself during lunch breaks by going around scaring people while still in full witch make-up).

The link above mentions him doing dubbing work in Italy, something which I've had confirmed by both Rodd Dana and Roger Browne when I asked them black dubbers.

Rodd Dana described him as: "an interesting and very funny, bright and charismatic gentleman by the odd name of Flash Riley. A delightful fellow from New York. Didn’t do a lot, but when he was in the sala, I remember it was a party of jokes and ha-ha’s that would go on for hours. An absolute ‘wild-man’. Mel Welles used to call him the ‘Madder than the Hatter Flash-er-oony’!

And Roger Browne said of him: "Another was Jay Riley, dancer and entertainer. Jay was loved by all! When he entered a room, everyone started laughing and clapping. He told of once that he was dancing across the stage when his G-string broke. Brought down the house. I backed one of his revues and actually got my money back! He was also in one of my films, shot in Switzerland."

The film shot in Switzerland that Roger Browne refers to must indeed be Le spie amano i fiori, though from what I remember, the two of them also appeared together in Superseven chiama Cairo (1965). From memory, 'Flash' also appears in Peggio per me... meglio per te (1967) and Moses the Lawgiver (1974). And I have the TV episodes of Good Times, Sanford and Son and Taxi that he appears in if you need pictures from them.

[PeplumParadise]

Does anybody know anything about James Riley? He was a black actor with a quite distinctive look, active in Italian films in the mid-late 60's, whose only credited role appears to have been as Tombalassa (Janine Hendy's husband) in La pecora nera (1968). On the strength of that film I have ID'd him in Le spie amano i fiori (1966 - topic on the way). I'm certain I've seen him in other films, but I don't remember what they were offhand - if I can find a third role for him then I can create a topic, so if anyone recognises him please let me know.
La Pecora Nera film completi in italiano 2^parte2.jpgRILEY, JAMES.jpg

Yes, I know him! He's actually better known as Jay Flash Riley (although IMDb have him listed as Joe 'Flash' Riley). Dancer and actor who appeared on Broadway and in lots of music revues etc. There's some pretty good biographical details to be found for him here: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83t9nrv/

There was also an article in The Los Angeles Times (1 May 1977) called "Expatriates Say 'Ciao' to Rome" about various artists who have returned to the US after several years of living and working in Rome. Jay was one of the people featured in the article, in which he gives quite a bit of background information about himself and how he ended up in Rome. Here are scans from the article
Jay Flash Riley Article1.jpg
Jay Flash Riley Article2.jpg


In Italy, he also appeared (completely unrecognizable) under a ton of make-up in The She Beast / La sorella di Satana (1966) as the murderous witch, but it's him for sure (the producer Paul Maslansky identifies him in the DVD commentary track and tells some stories about how 'Flash' amused himself during lunch breaks by going around scaring people while still in full witch make-up).

The link above mentions him doing dubbing work in Italy, something which I've had confirmed by both Rodd Dana and Roger Browne when I asked them black dubbers.

Rodd Dana described him as: "an interesting and very funny, bright and charismatic gentleman by the odd name of Flash Riley. A delightful fellow from New York. Didn’t do a lot, but when he was in the sala, I remember it was a party of jokes and ha-ha’s that would go on for hours. An absolute ‘wild-man’. Mel Welles used to call him the ‘Madder than the Hatter Flash-er-oony’!

And Roger Browne said of him: "Another was Jay Riley, dancer and entertainer. Jay was loved by all! When he entered a room, everyone started laughing and clapping. He told of once that he was dancing across the stage when his G-string broke. Brought down the house. I backed one of his revues and actually got my money back! He was also in one of my films, shot in Switzerland."

The film shot in Switzerland that Roger Browne refers to must indeed be Le spie amano i fiori, though from what I remember, the two of them also appeared together in Superseven chiama Cairo (1965). From memory, 'Flash' also appears in Peggio per me... meglio per te (1967) and Moses the Lawgiver (1974). And I have the TV episodes of Good Times, Sanford and Son and Taxi that he appears in if you need pictures from them.

Wonderful, thank you, so I guess the Jay 'Flash' Riley name would be the one to use then. With a rather small filmography I should be able to get a topic together in time to coincide with the film topic tomorrow (I always try to get one or two small new actor topics or db topics off the back of film topics). If I can't find the titles you mentioned I'll leave spaces to fill as usual. Other than establishing location shots I believe Le spie amano i fiori was shot entirely in Italy, it's rather a cheap-looking production.

[PeplumParadise]

Does anyone know what involvement Italy may have had in the production of Midnight Express (1978)? The only countries listed on IMDb as locations are Malta, Greece and Turkey while the only production countries listed are the USA and Britain, but since you have Paolo Bonacelli, Franco Diogene and Gigi Ballista in the cast then there must surely have been some kind of Italian involvement.