Mel Ferrer passed away on tuesday at the age of 90. Over the course of a career spanning half a century he racked up numerous credits in film and television as an actor, director and producer. Aside from his work he is perhaps best known for being married to Audrey Hepburn from 1955-1968. However, I’ll remember him best for his role in Umberto Lenzi’s NIGHTMARE CITY as General Murchison. Ferrer was a familiar face to fans of Italian horror. He worked with Lenzi more than once, as well as Sergio Martino. There’s a tradition in Italian horror of casting older American actors who’ve usually seen better days. It put food on their table while also lending a bit of class & respectability to the films. It’s also painfully obvious in its intent. Take for instance Henry Fonda’s role in TENTACLES: He gets a “special appearance” credit for the most phoned in performance I’ve ever seen. His screen time adds up to about seven minutes total. His character is never seen outside of his house, or interacting with any principal characters. I mean he literally phones it in; if it wasn’t from the 70’s I’d expect to see him wearing a bluetooth. I can understand why Fonda would take the role, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why John Huston agreed to star in the film. Did he have a crack habit? That subject deserves more research. This was supposed to be an obituary for the late great Mel Ferrer: he will be missed.