LVC Year in Review - 2012

As the holidays approach this will be my last post for the year.  I though it would be appropriate to take a look back 2012, and what it has brought us in all things LVC!

Blu-rays!

A total of 5 blu-rays have been released this year-

• Grand Duel
• High Noon
• Octagon
• Big Gundown
• Day of Anger

 

 

What a great time to be a LVC fan, and be able to enjoy these movies in high definition!

Soundtracks!

We got expanded scores to Grand Duel and Big Gundown!

 

Primus!

We got a cool song about LVC, and a music video!

Blog!

Last but not least, this blog has been a huge success, and I want to thank everyone who reads and enjoys it.   There have been over 18,000 hits since coming online in May!

I want to thank everyone for a great year!  See you all in January.

LVC Forever!

 

Final Resting Place

Lee Van Cleef left us on December 16, 1989, and while we can no longer interact with him, we can make sure the legend lives on through his films, television work, and our LVC online communities.

If you do wish to pay Lee Van Cleef your respects he is buried at:

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Courts of Remembrance (Front lawn, right side middle), Serenity Section, Lot 156
Los Angeles,  California, USA

The above photo was taken in 2005 when I visited.

Bavaria Beer Commerical - LVC's Final Performance

Shot only a few weeks before his death, presented here is LVC's final performace (appropriately a gunslinger) for the Dutch company Bavaria Beer.



Here are some comments from people that worked on this commercial-

Director of Photography

I was the DP on this commercial. We shot it in Fiddletown Ca. in an original old west era bar. Getting a chance to meet Lee van Cleef is something I will never forget. Lee had cancer and died I believe about two weeks after we shot this. He was wonderful to everyone there that day. He was so fast on the draw that we had to slow him down. From the holster to the muzzle blast was only about 1 frame of film. He was using special loads like small buckshot to smash the bottles.

Art Director

I was the art director for this spot and I bet no one knows that Lee actually shot the bottles! Special effects couldn't get a squib to work on a traveling bottle so what they did was to open the blank cartridges and put six grains of sand in each bullet. When Marsh, the bartender was ducking, he was really ducking! They had to slow him down so they could see his draw on camera.

eBay Watch: Master Ninja Photo

From time to time I will post interesting items that I see on eBay that would be of interest to a LVC fan. These are not endorsements of the sellers, just merely my observations of interesting or rare items.

It's time to put a star at the top of the Christmas tree.  A Ninja Star!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Actor-Lee-Van-Cleef-in-TV-Ninja-Show-The-Master-Wire-Photo-/290823370084?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item43b66c7564

 

LVC is not in Crime Boss!!

"Do I look like Telly Savalas?"

Crime Boss is a movie released in the early/mid 1970's starring Telly Savalas.  At some point during it's theatrical run, it was paired with a LVC movie as a double feature. 

Since then it is often advertised as being a film starring Telly Savalas and Lee Van Cleef.  Don't be fooled!  Lee ain't in it!

Armed Response - Poster Gallery

Here is a look at a few posters from the 1986 feature, Armed Response.  This is arguably Lee's last decent role.  His crusty Burt Roth character is the highlight of the movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day of Anger Trailers

Presented here are 3 trailers for Day of Anger. Classic spaghetti western action, and a great trio of trailers. LVC in top form! 

"The weapon that's gonna kill me hasn't been invented yet"

The Many Video Covers of God's Gun

I believe the Golan-Globus epic, God's Gun is considered a public domain movie, which might explain why we constantly get the same shitty print, no matter how many releases there are out there.

Below are the many different video covers from God's Gun over the years.  You will notice that none of them feature an actual photo of LVC from the movie, although there are some very creative "photoshops" of Lee.

Behold... God's Gun...

LVC WTF?

A strange candid from Day of Anger...