The Secret Invasion (United Artists) (1964)

Suspense Master Gene Corman Produced ‘The Secret Invasion’ That master of suspense Gene Corman, who among other things is largely responsible for the screen villainies and horrors of Vincent Price, brings his most ambitious — and suspenseful production — to the screen in his United Artists release “The Secret Invasion,” in DeLuxe Color and Panavision opening och ak atstat at, the. 3:2) Theatre. An original by Screenwriter R. Wright Campbell, and __ starring Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes and Henry Silva, and introducing the new Italian “find” Mia Massini. The suspense in “The Secret Invasion” revolves around five desperate convicted criminals who are offered their freedom in return for a dangerous secret mission into Nazi-held territory in World War I. Their chances for success are not high and failure means a Nazi firing squad. But the men accept, knowing they have little to lose even if it is their own lives. There is no motivation of patriotism. All they want is their freedom. But Fate, as it so often does, takes a hand and turns all of these desperate men into patriots. It is all brought out in a typically Corman suspense-laden manner. The film was directed for the screen by Gene’s brother Roger. A graduate of Stanford University, Gene entered the entertainment field as an artists’ representative. Among his clients were Ray Milland, Fred MacMurray, Joan Crawford, Harry Belafonte and Anna Maria Alberghetti. But picture making—especially suspenseful picture making—intrigued him and he became a producer. His productions were released by such toppers in the industry as United Artists, 20th Century-Fox, Allied Artists and others. It wasn’t, however, until he “wedded” Vincent Price to the master-horror works of Edgar Allen Poe, that Corman really hit his stride. Horror end suspenseful as they were, however, it was pointed out that they all received first-class production with on-location shots instead of studio shooting whenever and wherever possible. Much of their success is ascribed to this, and this realism has become a Corman hallmark. This insistence upon authentic background, in fact, coupled with eye-filling scenery is what took Corman and his company to the ancient fortress city of Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia for most of the action in his “The Secret Invasion,” which concerns an attempt to solidify anti-Nazi opposition behind Nazi lines. This kind of insistence was also responsible for the high critical and audience acclaim his “The Intruders” won some seasons ago. Dubrovnik was also chosen by Corman because it was easy to find actual members of the Balkan underground there in quantity—men who actually solidified opposition against the Nazi intruder, and fought them. Most of these men still had the uniforms and arms they used in the real thing. And it is from the territory adjacent to Dubrovnik from which the beautiful feminine lead of “The Secret Invasion” comes. Miss Massini is described as a classic beauty. She has never been seen before in an American picture but her efforts in European productions have won her the coveted European Pula Award. The cast of “The Secret Invasion” also includes the redoubtable Enzo Fiermonte, ex-pugilist champ who gave up his ring career to marry Madeleine Astor of the famous Astor clan. A crack horseman and auto racer in addition to his fighting prowess, Fiermonte plays his 89th film role in “The Secret Invasion.” Granger Adds Dubrovnik To ‘On-The-Spot’ Locales Stalwart Stewart Granger adds the ancient and beautiful Balkan city of Dubrovnik to the long list of on-location places he visited in person in order to make motion pictures. Dubrovnik—under Nazi occupancy in World War IJ—is where the action takes place in the Corman Company presentation “The Secret Invasion,” in DeLuxe Color and Panavision, opening SPuthie ts te ee ee ee a Theatre, and Granger heads the large international cast of the opus. The cast he heads in the United Artists release, includes Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes and Henry Silva, and serves to introduce to American audiences the famed Yugoslavian beauty Mia Massini. The picture was directed Still DP-37 Mat IB Edd Byrnes, TV’s famed *‘Kookie”’ has an important role in the DeLuxe Color-Panavision film, ‘“‘The Secret Invasion,” released through United Artists. by Roger Corman from a R. Wright Campbell screenplay. Granger is a commando officer in “The Secret Invasion,” whose task it is to oversee an invasion by five desperate criminals to perform a secret and delicate mission which has as its goal the liberation of Dubrovnik. In return for this dangerous service, which calls for them to storm a fortress, they are to get full pardon for their crimes. The ancient, beetling fortress which frowns over the port of Dubrovnik is where it all takes place and since Producer Gene Corman insists upon the real thing whenever he can get it, to Dubrovnik went Granger, his “criminals,” camera crews, sound men, etc. In order to make the enormously successful “King Solomon’s Mines” some years ago, Granger had to make one of the longest safaris ever undertaken for the production of a motion picture, right into the heart of the African jungle. Since then, and before his trip to Dubrovnik, film roles have carried Granger to every continent in the world. His two most famous ones, aside from the King Solomon picture, were to India for “Bhowani Junction” and deep into South America for “Green Fire.” Which is a long way to go for the boy who wanted to be a doctor and actually attended the noted Epsom College in Britain to achieve the ambition. However, somewhere along the line he enrolled at the Weber Douglas School of Dramatic Art, and he became an actor instead. He made his film debut in 1939 in “So This Is London,” after a successful career in repertoire. He has appeared in countless pictures since, interrupting the career which began in 1939 only to join England’s famous Black Watch Regiment during World War II. Still DP-28 Opening ees ae at the _ Mat 3A Secret invaders in Nazi-held Yugoslavia during World War Il, appear at a fortress gate in this scene from the Corman Company’s DeLuxe Color-Panavision presentation “The Secret Invasion,” Theatre under United Artists release. Cast includes Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Edd Byrnes, Henry: Silva, Mickey Rooney and Mia Massini. TV's ‘Kookie’ Byrnes Plays Important Role in ‘Invasion’ “The Kook” is back! But he’s not combing his hair. He’s a forger—an internationally famous one—in the Corman Companys DeLuxe Color-Panavision presentation“The Secret Invasion,” opening = atuthe we Seen Theatre under the United Artists banner. Meaning, of course, Edd Byrnes who combed his hair so realistically in the original TV “77 Sunset Strip” series that his character name “Kookie” was _ practically added to the language. As Simon Fell, convicted forger, Byrnes is one of the five criminals recruited in the picture to execute a daring incursion into Nazi-held territory, in return for which they are all to get their freedom — if they succeed. The alternative is death before a firing squad. The other criminals in the picture are Mickey Rooney as a dynamiter-safe cracker; Henry Silva as the convicted and condemned Durrell; Raf Vallone as a “mastermind” capable of conceiving and executing crime on the grand scale, and William Campbell as a master impersonator and art thief. Stewart Granger is also in the cast which includes the new Italian find Mia Massini. Edd’s first theatrical job was as an Indian in the Joe E. Brown Buick Circus Hour. He also did some minor work with the Jean Louis Barrault Company at the Ziegfield Theatre, and carried a spear in a theatrical production of “Hamlet.’ A number of television appearances followed and finally he was cast as “Kookie” in the Sunset Strip opus. The “gimmick” about this characterization was in the way he combed his hair and Byrnes did it so well that he became an instantaneous hit. So much so, that after his engagements with that series an entirely new one, based upon the “Kook” character was especially written for him. It, too, was an enormous hit and won him recognition from Hollywood. He has since appeared in a number of outstanding screen attractions. Despite the tearful protests of thousands of teen-age fans, Byrnes was married to actress Asa Maynor in a formal Beverly Hills wedding. As popular in Europe as he is in America, the honeymooning couple was overwhelmed by fans in every city they visited. Edd, a six-footer, is an avid sports car fan and expert gymnast. Henry Silva Plays Toughest Role in The Secret Invasion’ Henry Silva, famous for his killer roles in films and TV, plays the toughest killer of his career in the Corman Company presentation “The Secret Invasion,” in DeLuxe Color and Panavision, opening atuthe sess see eke Theatre as a United Artists release. As “Durrell,” under sentence of death and awaiting execution in Alcatraz for murder, Silva plays a convict who, with four others, are offered freedom in return for a secret invasion of Nazi-held Yugoslavia. All five accept and there follows one of the most hair-raising and suspenseful exploits in picture history, according to the producers. Among other things, Silva is escorted through the deserted but dangerous mountain passes of Yugoslavia by a beautiful partisan girl played by the new Italian import Mia Massini, whose first American picture this is. The other criminals in the plot are played by Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes and William Campbell. Stewart Granger plays the army officer who conceives the daring plot and puts it in motion. A product of New York’s tough west side, Silva worked as longshoreman, errand boy, factory hand and finally, as a soda jerk in a place frequented by Broadway’s younger actors. He liked these people and, as something of a lark, joined up at a dramatics school. This led to a tryout with the Group Theatre, which in turn led to summer stock, and Silva was an actor! Famed Director Delbert Mann saw him and gave him some TV bit parts. From there he went on to stage appearances and finally, in 1957, to Hollywood. He has played “cool” characters almost exclusively since, gaining considable notice for his gangster roles in “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Sergeants 3,” “The Manchurian Candidate” and as the title star of “Johnny Cool.” Silva was directed in “The Secret Invasion” by Roger Corman, one of the screen’s best-known masters of suspense. The story is an original by R. Wright Campbell and its music is by the noted Hollywood Bowl figure Hugo Friedhofer. Mia Massini Debuts Gorgeous Mia Massini, holder of a Pula Award, and star of several major European productions, makes her debut in American films in the Corman Company presentation, “The Secret Invasion,” in DeLuxe Color and Panavision, opening ___ SEW) at The Se beter. The United Artists release also boasts of Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes and Henry Silva in its impressive cast, assembled by Producer Gene Corman and directed by his brother Roger from a R. Wright Campbell story. One Time Fighter Enzo Fiermonte Now an Actor (Sports Page) Enzo Fiermonte, who gave up a promising career in the ring to marry an Astor heiress, is now a motion picture actor of considerable stature just in case you were curious. He’s to be seen currently in the Corman Company presentation “The Secret Invasion,” DeLuxe Color-Panavision United Artists release openimg 250 5 at the As a middleweight contender some 30-odd years ago, the handsome Enzo was making quite a rep for himself when Dan Cupid stepped in and knocked him out. He has since done well as an automobile racer and horseman besides appearing in motion pictures, some 89 of which carry his name in their credits. Heading the cast of “The Secret Invasion,” in which Enzo plays the role of a captured Italian General in World War II, are Stewart Granger, Henry Silva, Edd Byrnes, Mickey Rooney and Raf Vallone. Brother Act There are two brother teams connected with the Corman Company presentation “The Secret Invasion,” DeLuxe Color Panavision actionpacker opening —. at the Baledgee wry ees Theatre. The United Artists release was produced by Gene Corman and directed by his brother Roger. It was written by R. Wright Campbell, and player William Campbell, his brother, has a vital part in it. Massini Makes American Debut in Secret Invasion’ As the beautiful, young Yugoslavian girl who spends a night in the mountains with a condemned killer “paroled” to take part in a secret invasion to break the Nazi hold on her country, Europe’s famous Mia Massini, who makes her American screen debut in “The Secret Invasion,” is no stranger to the role. She is a Yugoslavian by birth. The birthplace is not far from the frowning fortress at Dubrovnik where the action in the film takes place, and her father was a partisan fighter in the battle which resulted in the liberation of Yugoslavia, around which the action of “The Secret Invasion” centers. “The Secret Invasion,” a Corman Company presentation in DeLuxe Color and Panavision, opens. Ate heise tere eee Theatre. Henry Silva is cast as the killer , and Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes and Raf Vallone are also cast as criminals who are “paroled” to effect the liberation. Their reward is to be unconditional pardon for their crimes, Stewart Granger heads the cast as an army officer. Mia entered pictures at the tender age of 17, appearing in a production called “The Poem.” This won her the crucial role in the Italian-made “The Strange Girl,” which made her a star of the first magnitude in short order. She had been studying for a career as an architect when she was accidentally discovered for her first role. Her discovery for “The Secret Invasion,” however, was no accident. Producer Gene Corman had gone to Europe to seek just the right girl for the role of the partisan and he interviewed and photographed literally thousands of beauties. But when it was all over he knew he had found the right one in Mia Massini. That’s why she’s in the picture and at the threshold of a new career as an international favorite. “The Secret Invasion” was directed by Roger Corman from an original story by R. Wright Campbell. Fine Arts Note Over a million dollars worth of authentic old masters is a “prop” for a scene in the Corman Company presentation “The Secret Invasion,” in DeLuxe Color and Pan. avision, opening. Be ie eo Theatre. Titian, Giorgone, Botticelli, Cellini and Fragonard are among the masters whose work adorn the walls of a Nazi commandant and_ they were borrowed from the Belgrade Museum. Authentic prisoner-of-war garb, World War II style, also came from that city’s famed War Museum to costume the partisans and their adversaries in this original by R. Wright Campbell and directed by Roger Corman. Still DP-2 Mat 2A Stewart Granger plays a British officer who is called upon to head a group of ex-criminals in a daring raid against a Nazi stronghold. “The Secret Invasion,” in Panavision and Color by DeLuxe Opens) =! sa Mere yy at the Artists release. peat Theatre through United PAGE 9