I went through an emotional roller coaster yesterday during and after seeing this old classic with Anthony Quinn in the lead role. I was reading an anthology of articles on India when I got quite engrossed in one particular essay on Santhara. The writer mentioned two films with scenes of attempted suicides and though it was not an attempt at suicide, he mentioned the scene in The Secret Of Santa Vittoria where a totally drunk Quinn climbs up a water tank and is unable to come down.
I had seen the film early in 1970 under very romantic conditions with my then new bride to celebrate our moving into our own proper home for the first time after our marriage. The scene that the writer mentioned, did not ring a bell though the scene in the Indian film did.
I just casually investigated to see if I could locate the scene in youtube and lo and behold I found that I could see the whole film on it! I cancelled every other plan I had for the evening and saw the whole film again after almost half a century! And I fell for Anthony Quinn all over again. Every time I see him he had that impact on me. The other one that I now intend seeing again soon is Zorba The Greek.
Quinn’s name in the film is Bombolini and that triggered off memories of a restaurant called Bombelli’s in what was then Bombay where too I had been on a number of occasions on romantic trysts and I tried to find something about that and discovered a number of articles about the now dead and gone restaurant from writers who were as nostalgic as I am.
What would I do without such technology that takes me back to almost fifty years?
Yes, modern technology is wonderful. My favorite Quinn movie is The Shoes of the Fisherman. Thinking of it warms my heart .
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I liked Quinn’s performance in that movie too but the story with the combination of Roman Catholicism and Communism, somehow did not impress me.
I saw Zorba the Greek so many, many years ago! He always played such a zesty, vibrant man! It’s true, you can find almost anything on YouTube!
Old is gold what? And that would of course mean going back to Lust for life with another favourite actor of mine, Kirk Douglas.
Quinn was great -but oddly enough not someone I would watch a movie for just because he was in it
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Apart from Quinn, there was also the nostalgia element in it for me to want to see it.
i liked a rather obscure little movie in which quinn played aristotle onassis.
i admired quinn in films but especially liked him in real life. his painting… and his appetite to just LIVE!
i too love the fact that the world today brings it all to our fingertips. whether old or new.
how wonderful really.
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Ah, The Greek Tycoon with Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset in the lead roles. Yes, what a movie though it did not become quite as popular as say Zorba The Greek! I never stop being amazed at how technology has changed our world. I had gone to a friend’s place for lunch and some chit chat earlier today at their place which is about three kilometers away from the nearest taxi stand. My hostess simply called up Uber and in five minutes I had a cab at their doorstep!
yep, the Internet provides us with so many memories, and of course other forms of communication…
And a lot of other conveniences as well!
Yes, Quinn is good. But I liked Rosa the most in this movie.
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Yes, a very powerful portrayal indeed.