One of the main contributors to the success of EUROPEAN TRASH CINEMA magazine was my good friend Robert Monell. He created the special edition of ETC devoted to Riccardo Freda, contributed lots of reviews and had a column titled TRASHMAN ON THE PROWL where he pontificated on all things EUROTRASH. Well, Robert has decided to revive his column for the newly revised ETC Blog and so I'm proud to present his interview with Eurotrash Icon Paul Muller!
INTERVIEW WITH PAUL MULLER by Robert Monell
I am reluctant to term the following an
"interview" in the conventional sense, but it was the best Paul
Muller and I could do considering circumstances of time, language and the gremlins
of international long distance telecommunication. First, I would like to thank
my dear friend, researcher and film historian par excellence Kit J Gavin, for
making this possible. I didn't think I'd be able to reach Mr Muller, but after
numerous calls to Francesco Cesari in
Venice , also a key player whom I gratefully thank, I was able to finally
contact my distinguished subject in Tivoli and conduct this interview.
PATIENT is the term which comes to mind first when
attempting to describe the character of Paul Muller, tempered by a distinct
Swiss formality which, in time, dissolves to reveal a very warm, kind human
being who has seen it all, been there and done that, but remains humble about
his own considerable gifts. There's a certain very low key frustration about
his career, a certain wistfulness and sadness which is very difficult to
describe in written words. Like his layered performances, he simultaneously and
subtly, very subtly, suggests all the burdens and possibilities of human
creativity in a world and business where extraordinary sensitivity can be a
stimulus or a curse...
Paul Muller (b.
1923 in Switzerland) has appeared
in well over 200 films since
1948 and still has an agent. He
has been in Hollywood mainstream productions, obscure European genre films, TV
dramas and has been a recognizable visage in Italian Cinefantastique from the seminal I VAMPIRI
( 1957 ) to the not so hot GATE OF HELL, the eminently forgettable
Umberto Lenzi satanic adventure from 1990
where he appears very briefly as a murderous monk stalking scientists in
a haunted cavern. Our conversation covered the films he made with Jess Franco
from 1968 to 1975 .
"Pronto!" The voice was both high pitched and full
of undefined emotion. Paul Muller speaks very loudly and clearly, immediately
shifting to English when told I can't speak Italian . I report our conversation
from the outset to give a feeling of the man himself and perhaps for
entertainment value, as it seemed that at times Paul Muller was interviewing
me:
PM: "Where are you from?"
RM: New York, well upstate New York.
PM: You have an American accent which is hard to understand.
RM: Yes, I've been told that. I'm sorry.
PM: No, don't be sorry. You'll have to speak slowly.
RM: I am writing a book about Jess Franco and wanted to
interview you about your work in his films.
PM: You are writing a script about me?
RM: A book about Jess Franco.
PM: Ah, yes, Jessie. How old is he?
RM: He's about
75 now.
PM: Ah, that's younger than me [laughs]. Is he still making
films.
RM: Yes, he just completed one.
PM: Does he still make them in the same way?
RM: Well, he still makes them quickly and inexpensively and
in his own way.
PM: I thought so. What do you want to know about the films I
made with him?
RM: Well, first of all, I'd like to say I'm an admirer of
your extensive acting career. You are a very impressive actor.
PM: I don't understand.
RM: Well, I meant you are very good in all the films I have
seen you in, but let me ask you about Jess Franco.
PM: What years do you want to know about? What exactly do
you want to know?
RM: About your feelings about him as a director and the
experiences you had while making these films.
PM: Jessie could have been a very good director. But he was
never prepared. I think if Jessie had taken time to prepare, to work on the
scripts he could have been a good director. But he never had the time or the
money. These films never, ever had a script. There were all just ideas he had.
He had plenty of ideas, but you need more than ideas. He had good ideas but
they were never developed properly. He never shot with a script and he was
trying to get the production money as they were being shot. He was very busy
and the films were lacking many things.
RM: So, there was never any finished script or secured
completion funds on ANY of the films of his you were in?
PM: No, never. That was the problem.
RM: Let's start at the beginning. I believe your first film
for him was VENUS IN FURS in 1968 ? Do
you remember that one?
At this point Mr Muller excuses himself and when he returns
appears to be reading something which he often consults during the conversation.
PM: No, I only remember the years and the titles Jess called
them by when we were shooting.
RM: That one was also called BLACK ANGEL or Paroxismus ... in Italy, I believe.
PM: No. I was in DE SADE
70 first then THE TRIAL OF THE
WITCHES and THE NIGHT HAS EYES then DRACULA and EUGENIE. Later, in Germany I
was in DR JEKYLL AND MRS HYDE and
AKASAVA .
RM: I'm trying to get a correct chronology and I appreciate
it that you have records. When was
VAMPYROS LESBOS shot? With Soledad
Miranda.
PM: I don't know that title. I made a film Jessie called
UNDER THE SIGN OF THE VAMPIRE with her in Germany and Spain and then
JULIETTE.
RM: Right, that's it. But lets go back.
PM: I'll try my best.
RM: Thanks. Now you don't seem to remember VENUS IN FURS
but....
PM: No, I remember DE SADE
70 in 1969
as the first with Maria Rohm ,
Jack Taylor and Christopher Lee.
RM: OK, good, that's got a different title now, EUGENIE...
HER JOURNEY... but was DE SADE 70 the shooting title?
PM: Yes, that was shot in Spain.These first films I made
with Jessie were shot partially in Madrid, then in Barcelona and someplace else
in Southern Spain.
RM: THE BLOODY JUDGE was shot partially in Portugal. Do you
remember that? And where, exactly, in Southern Spain?
PM: All I remember is in southern Spain.
RM: Do you recall the cast of DE SADE 70 : Christoper Lee or the lead, Marie Liljedahl ?
PM: I don't know who Marie
Liljedahl is.
RM: She played the leading character, Eugenie.
PM: I don't remember her. I remember being there with the
cast who were all very nice, that's all. These films were made very quickly and
sometimes he would make two films at the same time. And later they were all
made in a row, one after another.
RM: I understand. What came next?
PM: Then there came THE NIGHT HAS EYES with Diana Lorys
and Jack Taylor.
RM: Good, you remember the exact casting. That's also known
as NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT. Diana Lorys
is very good in that one.
PM: I don't remember her at all. That was also shot very
quickly in Spain.
RM: How quickly.
PM: Maybe a week, maybe less. I don't remember much about
that one.
RM: THE BLOODY JUDGE and EL
CONDE DRACULA had more prominent
casts including Christopher Lee. Were they bigger budgeted?
PM: I remember
Soledad Miranda from DRACULA, THE
VAMPIRE.
RM: I wanted to ask you about her.
PM: She died in a car accident. She could have been a great
actress, a big star, if she had lived.
RM: Mr. Muller, which films do you remember the most about
and which actors?
PM: EUGENIE, made in
1970 with Miranda, then UNDER THE
SIGN OF THE VAMPIRE and DR JEKYLL AND MRS HYDE, also with her.
She was called Susan Korda in those films. Then, later I made AKASAVA
with her in Germany. Part of DR JEKYLL was also shot in Germany with
Horst Tappert . Earlier I made SEX
CHARADE with her and Jack Taylor.
RM: OK, let's go back to SEX CHARADE and EUGENIE. Were these
the first of the series of films you made with her in 1970 ?
PM: Yes, I think so. But these two were made almost at the
same time. I remember EUGENIE was a good film which could have been a very good
film if he had more time to prepare the script. This was shot all in Germany.
RM: In Berlin.
PM: Correct. Also shot very quickly. I remember Jessie was
writing all the lines on the set for the next scene as we were shooting. We
would take a half an hour break and then shoot the scene he had just written.
RM: Dialogue and blocking?
PM: Yes, everything was written just before it was
filmed.
RM: Talk about the day to day filming of EUGENIE. Was it all
hectic, as you have suggested.?
PM: Yes, we didn't have any preparation or any rehearsal
time. And no money for anything. It was all made up on the spot. As I said,
Jess was writing as he was shooting.. He would be dictating lines which we
would shoot shortly a half hour later. He was never sure about anything, never
sure about thematic things. He had very good ideas but never had the time to
work on them.
RM: Was EUGENIE filmed MOS? And what language did you speak
your lines in?
PM: EUGENIE was shot in English. Miranda and I were given
our lines by Jessie in English and we spoke them in English. They recorded our
dialogue in English.
RM: That surprises me. I thought it may have been filmed in
French.
PM: No, Jess spoke to me in French on the set. He spoke in
German, French, Italian on the set to the crew when giving directions. I spoke
to Jess in French and I spoke in Italian on the set to everyone else, but my
lines were always given and delivered in English.
RM: "Given" by whom?
PM: Jessie, he always gave the lines in English but other
directors to me in French.
RM: It sounds like the Tower of Babel? How did you communicate
with Soledada Miranda? Did she speak English or Italian?
PM: No, she spoke just Spanish. But I talked to here in
Italian, which she seemed to understand. There wasn't any trouble between us.
She just spoke her lines of dialogue in
English . She was good, as I said, and would have become a better
actress had she lived
RM: On the EUGENIE set, did she speak her lines
phonetically?
PM: Yes, she just repeated the way they sounded in English
if that's what you are asking.
RM: She's very good in that. What did you think of her
performance?
PM: She was very good, she was a very good actress in that,
not timid.
RM: Can you discuss her as a person? How was she offset?
PM: A nice person, a very good working partner. Very
friendly.
RM: Was VAMPYROS LESBOS
filmed right after EUGENIE.
PM: Yes, if you mean UNDER THE SIGN OF THE VAMPIRE . We shot that in Germany and Spain.
RM: And Istanbul.
PM: No, just Germany and Spain.
RM: There's a lot of scenes set and shot on location in
Istanbul.
PM: I haven't seen it and I didn't go there then. This and
DR JEKYLL were shot close together in Germany and Spain. Fred Williams was also
in DR JEKYLL and Howard Vernon.
RM: What do you remember about them?
PM: I just have it written down that they were there. I
don't remember them.
RM: DR JEKYLL also has a different title now, SHE KILLED IN
ECSTASY about a Doctor who is driven to suicide and how his wife avenges him.
PM: Yes, that was called DR JEKYLL on the set by Jessie.
You must understand I had forgotten about these films until
you called. Look, they all could have been good films! But I keep telling you
that he didn't take the time or didn't have the time to prepare or develop them
or film them. I really can't tell you anymore than that, but thank you for
asking about them.
RM: I wanted to ask you about the others.... You spoke of
JULIETTE...
PM: Yes, that was filmed by never released. I think it was
left unfinished at the time because of money problems. That's all I remember.
RM: You also made one with Christina Von Blanc
called A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD in English. Do you remember her or
that film.
PM: No, I don't remember her, I only remember making one
called THE NIGHT THE STARS CRIED in Spain after the ones with Soledad
Miranda. I don't recall anything about filming it, though. That's the
last one I remember. I apologize but I think I have given you what you wanted
to know and I'm sorry I didn't understand you at first. I wish I remembered
more, but these were made many decades ago.
Then Mr. Muller said "Goodbye", a final bow shaded
with that mysterious mixture of wistfulness, wisdom, sadness and humanity which
we all remember from his many cinema incarnations..
contact the author of this post @ monell579 @ hotmail .com
(C) Robert Monell 2015
