It was certainly wonderfully to have Johnny stop by Cinema Nocturna this morning, it was truly a wonderful chat and to see how much of a great time he was having! I would like to further the discussion on this very well known Euro-Cult actor who has a very impressive filmography behind him and still collecting with his latest film THE HIDEOUT directed by Pupi Avati soon to be released.
Unfortunately for me - especially being that I am a huge fan - I was unable to attend the chat due to work. I will however toss my two cents on Giovanni into this thread.
By far one of my absolute favorite performers in Italian cinema, Radice is one of those guys (a lot like Luciano Rossi for example) that you can't help but like in everything. He just brings that watchable enjoyment and quality fun factor to pretty much everything he pops up in. Whether playing it completely and memorably over-the-top, as in his role as Ricky in HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK (1979) or as coke snorting Mike in CANNIBAL FEROX (1981), or a little more subdued, such as the soft-spoken priest in PHANTOM OF DEATH (1987) or as the unfortunate Brett in STAGE FRIGHT (1987), Giovanni is always a pleasure to watch.
His new film with Avati sounds very interesting and has a nice cast to go along with Radice, including veterans Burt Young and Treat Williams.
Another Radice flick I've been interested to see is Lamberto Bava's BODY PUZZLE (1991). What's Giovanni like in that one?
I personally will always love Radice as the fantastic presence he truly is.
Very good actor! Loved seeing him in the surprisingly good OMEN remake. Hope to see him in many more films too as he deserves all the success he can get. He sure had to suffer through many memorable death scenes - I'd say he can rival Daniela Doria and Zora Kerova in that department.
As for the chat, any chance of a transcript being posted at some point? I for sure would love to read that and I'm sure there are many others who would too!
A transcript would be Very welcome, I second that Johan.
I'd love to know more about Giovanni's latest outing with Director Pupi Avati. The Hideout (2007) , sounds like a thrilling murder mystery & with Pupi Avati's record & style this is an intruiging & welcome forthcoming attraction.
It's incredible when you notice that Giovanni in his John Morghen days of Cannibals & Zombies was only around twenty five / twenty six years of age. Still a fit young fifty odd years fella with many a role left to play & with projects with luminaries such as Avati long may they keep coming his way. bb
Sadly, the chat program didn't have a transcript option. Johnny though expressed interest in stopping by the underbelly for another chat!
I look forward to that hopefully happening down the line, Steve. I was so disappointed to have been scheduled for work that day, but I do need the funds to continue purchasing the movies I love after all (oh yeah, and to pay bills
lol)
In regards to the remake of THE OMEN, Johan, I was set to pass this up entirely, but on your enthusiastic review of Giovanni's performance here, I will likely give it a shot and grab it as a rental for a peek.
THE HIDEOUT has me excited too. As well, according to an update of Giovanni's IMDB page, he's currently filming another project based out of the UK with director Darren Ward titled A DAY OF VIOLENCE (2008). The more Radice, the better as far as I'm concerned!
By the way, another personal favorite Giovanni recommendation from yours truly would be his role in Fabrizio De Angelis', DEADLY IMPACT (1984) (IMPATTO MORTALE). Very good fun, and Radice is the stand out here yet again.
One rather funny thing about Giovanni is that he is credited with having written the screenplay for Umberto Lenzi's jungle flick THE DAUGHTER OF THE JUNGLE (1982), an incredibly lousy (sorry Umberto) film starring the golden goddess herself, Sabrina Siani. I wonder if Giovanni knew when he wrote this that it would be directed by Lenzi, who I know he didn't like too well...
As for THE OMEN, I'm not too hot on Hollywood remakes but I happened to be in Oslo visiting some friends just when this was coming out, and two girl-friends dragged me with them to the cinema to see THE OMEN. Of course, they had never even heard of the original but enough about that. I found the remake to be much better than I expected. In addition to Giovanni doing a great job, I would also like to give some due credit to Mia Farrow, who was a really inspired choice for the role of Mrs. Baylock. Not just because of the ROSEMARY'S BABY connection but because she is a very sweet, gentle-looking lady. She looked like such a kind, loving woman that it made perfect sense that she would be hired as a nanny - unlike Billie Whitelaw, who looked creepy and sinister from the get go in the original. As such, I think Farrow is a more ideal Mrs. Baylock. The fact that she looks sweet and kind made her all the more creepy as the film progressed, and her great performance is a tremendous asset for the film imo.