To celebrate the release of The Wind in the Willows available on DVD from 13th May, we have a 2 DVDs to give away!
The story of Mole, Ratty and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets into trouble.
The Wind in the Willows is brought to the TV screen by the award-winning animation team Cosgrove Hall Films, bringing to life the charming adventures of our four intrepid animal friends of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad in a truly magical experience for all the family. Featuring over 24 hours of the best of British animation, this box set is the definitive Wind in the Willows collection bringing together all four series of The Wind in the Willows, as well as the fifth season, also known as Oh, Mr Toad.
Cosgrove Hall Films made the animated film of The Wind in the Willows in...
The story of Mole, Ratty and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets into trouble.
The Wind in the Willows is brought to the TV screen by the award-winning animation team Cosgrove Hall Films, bringing to life the charming adventures of our four intrepid animal friends of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad in a truly magical experience for all the family. Featuring over 24 hours of the best of British animation, this box set is the definitive Wind in the Willows collection bringing together all four series of The Wind in the Willows, as well as the fifth season, also known as Oh, Mr Toad.
Cosgrove Hall Films made the animated film of The Wind in the Willows in...
- 5/3/2024
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The BBC is celebrating the art of the literary adaptation by screening a variety of classics on BBC Four. More details here.
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Be sure to lock your doors when you get home this Halloween, for a sinister, unearthly presence willing be walking the streets this All Hallow’s Eve.
We don’t mean actual ghosts, obviously, we’re talking about all those precocious costumed youths in shoddily applied face paint having the audacity to knock on your door demanding some of the multipack of snack-size sweets you got from Tesco on the way home from work. Bought them for trick-or-treaters? Pffft. Those Haribo were all for you, and you know it.
So embrace the darkness (and the sugar), draw the curtains, and shut out the world ready to scare yourself silly with these classic British TV ghost stories.
Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968)
A classic in the ghost story genre, this deeply atmospheric and unnerving production is Jonathan Miller’s adaptation of the 1904 M. R. James tale “Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come to You,...
We don’t mean actual ghosts, obviously, we’re talking about all those precocious costumed youths in shoddily applied face paint having the audacity to knock on your door demanding some of the multipack of snack-size sweets you got from Tesco on the way home from work. Bought them for trick-or-treaters? Pffft. Those Haribo were all for you, and you know it.
So embrace the darkness (and the sugar), draw the curtains, and shut out the world ready to scare yourself silly with these classic British TV ghost stories.
Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968)
A classic in the ghost story genre, this deeply atmospheric and unnerving production is Jonathan Miller’s adaptation of the 1904 M. R. James tale “Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come to You,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Lauravickersgreen
- Den of Geek
Harry Lime in "The Third Man" is one of cinema's greatest villains and certainly not the kind of person you'd want to spend much time with in real life. He's a sociopathic black marketeer whose cynical line in diluted penicillin causes untold suffering and death to his many child victims. Yet, played with typical charm and devilment by Orson Welles, he is simply irresistible. Even on repeat viewing with full knowledge of his heinous activities, it's impossible not to be captivated by him from the moment he first appears in a doorway with an incorrigible smirk spread across that big moon of a face.
Lime is onscreen for less than 10 minutes but he may be Welles' greatest performance as an actor, tapping into the elusive enigma of the multi-faceted artist and self-proclaimed charlatan. After leaving the U.S. for self-imposed exile in Europe in 1947, he took the role for money,...
Lime is onscreen for less than 10 minutes but he may be Welles' greatest performance as an actor, tapping into the elusive enigma of the multi-faceted artist and self-proclaimed charlatan. After leaving the U.S. for self-imposed exile in Europe in 1947, he took the role for money,...
- 2/12/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
With 1975's "Barry Lyndon," Stanley Kubrick took the constraints of the novelistic period piece and tore them apart. This adaptation of William Makepace Thackeray's novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" follows the rules of the so-called costume drama, the repression and restrained manners, and turns them into something else. The movie is chaotic and bitterly ironic, establishing and exploring two of Kubrick's most compelling characters over the course of its three hours.
Just before its making, Kubrick had previously explored the far reaches of space with "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the chilling causes and effects of violence with "A Clockwork Orange." Watching his movies gives the impression of a vast openness, not just in the compositions but in the staging of the characters and the viewer's flexibility of interpretation. His movies were massive and unpredictable simultaneously, inventing whole new worlds and visual languages out of nowhere. In search of something new,...
Just before its making, Kubrick had previously explored the far reaches of space with "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the chilling causes and effects of violence with "A Clockwork Orange." Watching his movies gives the impression of a vast openness, not just in the compositions but in the staging of the characters and the viewer's flexibility of interpretation. His movies were massive and unpredictable simultaneously, inventing whole new worlds and visual languages out of nowhere. In search of something new,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Anthony Crislip
- Slash Film
Like a too-generous parent on Christmas morning, “Spirited” keeps doling out the shiny presents long after the recipients are sated. But if there’s a genre that begs to be maximalist, it’s a musical comedy with its roots in Charles Dickens; it’s not so much whether or not you like what “Spirited” has to offer but how much of it you can take in one sitting.
The whole “one sitting” concept may be an outdated one, since this is a film that’s going to live its life (and its Christmases Yet to Come) on Apple TV+, where there’s always a pause button. But viewers who can see “Spirited” projected on the big screen absolutely should, if only to fully appreciate the splashy (sometimes in a literal sense) choreography from Chloe Arnold, one of the film’s true MVPs.
Not that the marquee names are slacking — the...
The whole “one sitting” concept may be an outdated one, since this is a film that’s going to live its life (and its Christmases Yet to Come) on Apple TV+, where there’s always a pause button. But viewers who can see “Spirited” projected on the big screen absolutely should, if only to fully appreciate the splashy (sometimes in a literal sense) choreography from Chloe Arnold, one of the film’s true MVPs.
Not that the marquee names are slacking — the...
- 11/17/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Hello, everyone! We have a brand new assortment of horror and sci-fi headed home this week, and there are plenty of offerings that should undoubtedly make for great additions to your Halloween season viewing plans. Universal is showing some love to a trio of classics, as it is set to release John Carpenter’s The Thing as well as Rear Window and Vertigo from Alfred Hitchcock all on 4K Ultra HD today. Kino Lorber has put together new Blu-ray presentations for both The Tomb of Ligeia and Theatre of Blood, and if you’re looking to catch up with some newer horror, both Great White and Slaxx arrive today courtesy of Rlje Films.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
- 9/7/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
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“Clouds… Dark… Snow”
By Raymond Benson
This Ealing Studios thriller was a total surprise to this viewer. It’s always a joy to discover a picture from yesteryear that one hasn’t seen, and The Night My Number Came Up happens to be a solid, riveting piece of work.
The movie is based on a real incident experienced by British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard, and it was adapted to the screen by R. C. Sheriff. Competently directed by Leslie Norman, Number is a taut aeronautical near-disaster flick about a small Royal Air Force plane that carries thirteen people (eight passengers and five crew) from Hong Kong to Tokyo on a harrowing journey.
One could say that the movie has much in common with an episode of The Twilight Zone due to a somewhat supernatural slant. One day at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport,...
“Clouds… Dark… Snow”
By Raymond Benson
This Ealing Studios thriller was a total surprise to this viewer. It’s always a joy to discover a picture from yesteryear that one hasn’t seen, and The Night My Number Came Up happens to be a solid, riveting piece of work.
The movie is based on a real incident experienced by British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard, and it was adapted to the screen by R. C. Sheriff. Competently directed by Leslie Norman, Number is a taut aeronautical near-disaster flick about a small Royal Air Force plane that carries thirteen people (eight passengers and five crew) from Hong Kong to Tokyo on a harrowing journey.
One could say that the movie has much in common with an episode of The Twilight Zone due to a somewhat supernatural slant. One day at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport,...
- 6/9/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Join Cinema St. Louis Executive Director Cliff Froehlich in their new collaboration with Shakespeare Festival St. Louis to present Shakespeare & Chill. Every Wednesday at 8pm Cliff will moderate 20-30 minute panel discussion of a Shakespeare-related movie conversations between Shakespeare aficionados and industry professionals. Stay tuned to the Cinema St. Louis Facebook page for updates on the event!
A discussion of the 1973 classic Vincent Price film Theatre Of Blood will take place between Cliff and Shakespeare and Vincent Price enthusiasts Chris Limber, Ben Ritchie, Kevin Townley, and We Are Movie Geeks own Tom Stockman Facebook on Wednesday May 13th at 8Pm. The discussion will post on the Cinema St. Louis and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Facebook pages.
In the early 1970’s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a...
A discussion of the 1973 classic Vincent Price film Theatre Of Blood will take place between Cliff and Shakespeare and Vincent Price enthusiasts Chris Limber, Ben Ritchie, Kevin Townley, and We Are Movie Geeks own Tom Stockman Facebook on Wednesday May 13th at 8Pm. The discussion will post on the Cinema St. Louis and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Facebook pages.
In the early 1970’s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a...
- 5/8/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Much of Ealing Studios’ core appeal begins right here, with T.E.B. Clarke’s astute look at the character of pragmatic, energetic Londoners, who in this fantasy face an outrageous situation with spirit, pluck, and a determination not to be cheated. What happens when a few square blocks of London discover that they’re no longer even part of the British Empire? A classic of wartime ‘adjustments,’ the ensemble comedy even begins with a Tex Avery- like ode to rationing.
Passport to Pimlico
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date December 20, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Sydney Tafler, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, John Slater, Jane Hylton, Raymond Huntley, Philip Stainton, Roy Carr, Nancy Gabrielle, Malcolm Knight, Roy Gladdish, Frederick Piper, Charles Hawtrey, Stuart Lindsell, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Gilbert Davis, Michael Hordern, Arthur Howard, Bill Shine, Harry Locke, Sam Kydd.
Cinematography: Lionel...
Passport to Pimlico
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date December 20, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Sydney Tafler, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, John Slater, Jane Hylton, Raymond Huntley, Philip Stainton, Roy Carr, Nancy Gabrielle, Malcolm Knight, Roy Gladdish, Frederick Piper, Charles Hawtrey, Stuart Lindsell, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Gilbert Davis, Michael Hordern, Arthur Howard, Bill Shine, Harry Locke, Sam Kydd.
Cinematography: Lionel...
- 12/31/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh
Blu ray
Disney Movie Club
1964/ 1:66 / 151 min.
Starring Patrick McGoohan, George Cole, Michael Hordern
Directed by James Neilson
One part Walt Disney, one part Patrick McGoohan – a bittersweet recipe if ever there was one. The notoriously brusque Irishman was immune to the crowd-pleasing sentimentality that shaped Disney’s empire yet he headlined two of that studio’s most appealing entertainments, The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. An esoteric feline fantasy and a blood and thunder adventure tale, the films couldn’t have been more unalike but McGoohan anchored them both, reveling in the contradictions of his own characters. In Thomasina he plays a veterinarian with little love for animals. In Scarecrow he’s a kindly minister who spends his evenings terrorizing the parish.
In 18th century England, a brutal age marked by despots and dissent, the Scarecrow haunts the tiny fishing port of Dymchurch.
Blu ray
Disney Movie Club
1964/ 1:66 / 151 min.
Starring Patrick McGoohan, George Cole, Michael Hordern
Directed by James Neilson
One part Walt Disney, one part Patrick McGoohan – a bittersweet recipe if ever there was one. The notoriously brusque Irishman was immune to the crowd-pleasing sentimentality that shaped Disney’s empire yet he headlined two of that studio’s most appealing entertainments, The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. An esoteric feline fantasy and a blood and thunder adventure tale, the films couldn’t have been more unalike but McGoohan anchored them both, reveling in the contradictions of his own characters. In Thomasina he plays a veterinarian with little love for animals. In Scarecrow he’s a kindly minister who spends his evenings terrorizing the parish.
In 18th century England, a brutal age marked by despots and dissent, the Scarecrow haunts the tiny fishing port of Dymchurch.
- 12/21/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
A movie for people who don’t normally like costume dramas about kings and queens, this adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s play is great entertainment from head to toe. Richard Burton gives one of his better late-career performances, and Geneviève Bujold is a dynamo in a tiny package. It’s an impressive portrait of male power run amuck.
Anne of the Thousand Days
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 146 min. / Street Date , 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle, John Colicos, Michael Hordern, Katharine Blake, Valerie Gearon, Michael Johnson, Peter Jeffrey.
Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Film Editor: Richard Mardon
Original Music: Georges Delerue
Written by Bridget Boland, John Hale, Richard Sokolove from the play by Maxwell Anderson
Produced by Hal Wallis
Directed by Charles Jarrott
Anybody still saying that the Production Code made movies better? One minor effect of Code Enforcement was...
Anne of the Thousand Days
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 146 min. / Street Date , 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle, John Colicos, Michael Hordern, Katharine Blake, Valerie Gearon, Michael Johnson, Peter Jeffrey.
Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Film Editor: Richard Mardon
Original Music: Georges Delerue
Written by Bridget Boland, John Hale, Richard Sokolove from the play by Maxwell Anderson
Produced by Hal Wallis
Directed by Charles Jarrott
Anybody still saying that the Production Code made movies better? One minor effect of Code Enforcement was...
- 12/29/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“The Beauty Of Irony”
By Raymond Benson
Leave it to The Criterion Collection to present a jaw-dropping, eye-popping Blu-ray release of Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 masterpiece that many critics have called one of the most beautiful films ever made. While the picture received many accolades upon its initial release, including Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay—and wins for Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, and Adapted Score—it was again one those Kubrick films that was controversial and misunderstood at first. It was not a financial success in the U.S., and yet today it’s considered one of the auteur’s greatest works.
After such titles as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, it may have seemed to be an odd choice for Kubrick to make a picture such as Barry Lyndon. One must look back to the period between 2001 and Clockwork to understand it. Kubrick...
By Raymond Benson
Leave it to The Criterion Collection to present a jaw-dropping, eye-popping Blu-ray release of Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 masterpiece that many critics have called one of the most beautiful films ever made. While the picture received many accolades upon its initial release, including Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay—and wins for Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes, and Adapted Score—it was again one those Kubrick films that was controversial and misunderstood at first. It was not a financial success in the U.S., and yet today it’s considered one of the auteur’s greatest works.
After such titles as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, it may have seemed to be an odd choice for Kubrick to make a picture such as Barry Lyndon. One must look back to the period between 2001 and Clockwork to understand it. Kubrick...
- 10/28/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Stanley Kubrick’s contribution to great cinema of the 1970s offers his vision of what an epic should be. Transported by images that recall great paintings of the period, and Kubrick’s new approaches to low-light cinematography, we witness a rogue’s progress through troubled times. And even Ryan O’Neal is good!
Barry Lyndon
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 897
1975 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 185 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 17, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Steven Berkoff, Gay Hamilton, Marie Kean, Diana Körner, Murray Melvin, Frank Middlemass, André Morell, Arthur O’Sullivan, Godfrey Quigley, Leonard Rossiter, Philip Stone, Leon Vitali Leon Vitali, Wolf Kahler, Ferdy Mayne, George Sewell, Michael Hordern (narrator).
Cinematography: John Alcott
Editor: Tony Lawson
Production design: Ken Adam
Conductor & Musical Adaptor: Leonard Rosenman
Written by Stanley Kubrick from the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
Produced and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The...
Barry Lyndon
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 897
1975 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 185 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 17, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Steven Berkoff, Gay Hamilton, Marie Kean, Diana Körner, Murray Melvin, Frank Middlemass, André Morell, Arthur O’Sullivan, Godfrey Quigley, Leonard Rossiter, Philip Stone, Leon Vitali Leon Vitali, Wolf Kahler, Ferdy Mayne, George Sewell, Michael Hordern (narrator).
Cinematography: John Alcott
Editor: Tony Lawson
Production design: Ken Adam
Conductor & Musical Adaptor: Leonard Rosenman
Written by Stanley Kubrick from the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
Produced and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The...
- 10/3/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A forgotten oddity from the early 1970s is Jacques Demy’s English language mounting of The Pied Piper, a rather bleak but mostly unequivocal version of the famed Grimm Bros. fairy tale about a titular piper who infamously lured the children of Hamelin to their assumed deaths after being rebuffed by the townsfolk when he similarly rid the town of plague carrying rats.
Set in the 1300s of northern Germany, this UK production blends bits of Robert Browning’s famed poem of the legend into the film, but the end result is unusually straightforward and unfussy, considering Demy’s predilection for inventive, colorful musicals, such as the classic confections The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. The stunt casting of Donovan as the piper generates a certain amount of interest, although he’s whittled down to a supporting character amongst a cast of master character actors like Donald Pleasence, John Hurt, Peter Vaughan, and child star Jack Wild.
Notably, The Pied Piper is one of the few Demy films not to be built around a strong, beautiful female lead, which may also explain why there’s no center point in the film. Cathryn Harrison (daughter of Rex, who starred in Louis Malle’s Black Moon) and a gone-to-seed Diana Dors (though not featured as memorably as her swarthy turn in Skolimowski’s Deep End) are the tiny flecks of feminine representation. It was also not Demy’s first English language production, as he’d made a sequel to his New Wave entry Lola (1961) with 1969’s Los Angeles set Model Shop. So what compelled him to make this departure, which premiered in-between two of his most whimsical Catherine Deneuve titles (Donkey Skin; A Slightly Pregnant Man) is perhaps the film’s greatest mystery.
Cultural familiarity with the material tends to work against our expectations. At best, Donovan is a mere supporting accent, popping up to supply mellow, anachronistic music at odd moments before the dramatic catalyst involving his ability to conjure rats with music arrives. Prior to his demeaning, Demy’s focus is mostly on the omnipotent and aggressive power of the corrupting church (Peter Vaughan’s Bishop) and Donald Pleasence’s greedy town leader, whose son (a sniveling John Hurt) is more intent on starting wars and making counterfeit gold to pay his gullible minions than stopping the encroaching plague. Taking the brunt of their violence is the Jewish alchemist, Melius (Michael Hordern), who is wise enough to know the rats have something to do with the spread of the disease. Demy uses his tragic demise to juxtapose the piper’s designs on the children.
While Hurt and Pleasance are entertaining as a toxic father and son, Demy seems estranged from anyone resembling a protagonist. Donovan is instantly forgettable, and the H.R. Pufnstuf and Oliver! child star Jack Wild gets upstaged by a wild mop of hair and a pronounced limp (which explains why he isn’t entranced along with the other children), and the film plays as if Donovan’s role might have been edited down in post. The script was the debut of screenwriters Andrew Birkin (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, 2006) and Mark Peploe (The Passenger, 1975; The Last Emperor, 1987) who would both go on to write a number of offbeat auteur entries.
Disc Review:
Kino Lorber releases this obscurity as part of their Studio Classics label, presented in 1.66:1. Picture and sound quality are serviceable, however, the title would have greatly benefitted from a restoration. Dp Peter Suschitzky’s frames rightly capture the period, including some awesomely creepy frescoes housing Pleasence and son, but the color sometimes seems faded or stripped from some sequences. Kino doesn’t include any extra features.
Final Thoughts:
More of a curio piece for fans of Demy, The Pied Piper mostly seems a missed opportunity of the creepy legend.
Film Review: ★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
The post The Pied Piper | Blu-ray Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
Set in the 1300s of northern Germany, this UK production blends bits of Robert Browning’s famed poem of the legend into the film, but the end result is unusually straightforward and unfussy, considering Demy’s predilection for inventive, colorful musicals, such as the classic confections The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. The stunt casting of Donovan as the piper generates a certain amount of interest, although he’s whittled down to a supporting character amongst a cast of master character actors like Donald Pleasence, John Hurt, Peter Vaughan, and child star Jack Wild.
Notably, The Pied Piper is one of the few Demy films not to be built around a strong, beautiful female lead, which may also explain why there’s no center point in the film. Cathryn Harrison (daughter of Rex, who starred in Louis Malle’s Black Moon) and a gone-to-seed Diana Dors (though not featured as memorably as her swarthy turn in Skolimowski’s Deep End) are the tiny flecks of feminine representation. It was also not Demy’s first English language production, as he’d made a sequel to his New Wave entry Lola (1961) with 1969’s Los Angeles set Model Shop. So what compelled him to make this departure, which premiered in-between two of his most whimsical Catherine Deneuve titles (Donkey Skin; A Slightly Pregnant Man) is perhaps the film’s greatest mystery.
Cultural familiarity with the material tends to work against our expectations. At best, Donovan is a mere supporting accent, popping up to supply mellow, anachronistic music at odd moments before the dramatic catalyst involving his ability to conjure rats with music arrives. Prior to his demeaning, Demy’s focus is mostly on the omnipotent and aggressive power of the corrupting church (Peter Vaughan’s Bishop) and Donald Pleasence’s greedy town leader, whose son (a sniveling John Hurt) is more intent on starting wars and making counterfeit gold to pay his gullible minions than stopping the encroaching plague. Taking the brunt of their violence is the Jewish alchemist, Melius (Michael Hordern), who is wise enough to know the rats have something to do with the spread of the disease. Demy uses his tragic demise to juxtapose the piper’s designs on the children.
While Hurt and Pleasance are entertaining as a toxic father and son, Demy seems estranged from anyone resembling a protagonist. Donovan is instantly forgettable, and the H.R. Pufnstuf and Oliver! child star Jack Wild gets upstaged by a wild mop of hair and a pronounced limp (which explains why he isn’t entranced along with the other children), and the film plays as if Donovan’s role might have been edited down in post. The script was the debut of screenwriters Andrew Birkin (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, 2006) and Mark Peploe (The Passenger, 1975; The Last Emperor, 1987) who would both go on to write a number of offbeat auteur entries.
Disc Review:
Kino Lorber releases this obscurity as part of their Studio Classics label, presented in 1.66:1. Picture and sound quality are serviceable, however, the title would have greatly benefitted from a restoration. Dp Peter Suschitzky’s frames rightly capture the period, including some awesomely creepy frescoes housing Pleasence and son, but the color sometimes seems faded or stripped from some sequences. Kino doesn’t include any extra features.
Final Thoughts:
More of a curio piece for fans of Demy, The Pied Piper mostly seems a missed opportunity of the creepy legend.
Film Review: ★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
The post The Pied Piper | Blu-ray Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
- 5/3/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Gem Wheeler Dec 21, 2016
We celebrate the work of M.R. James, whose eerie ghost stories were made into a festive tradition by the BBC...
A shadow lurking just beyond the edge of the vision. Dusty manuscripts bearing fragments of ancient testimony, conflicting and confounding. The sickening touch of a decayed hand, grasping at us from the darkness. The imagery of the ghost story may differ between cultures, but the sense of creeping dread left by the most effective tales remains universal.
See related Jonathan Creek review: The Clue Of The Savant's Thumb Alan Davies interview: Jonathan Creek, Qi, "Creek Geeks" & more... Rik Mayall interview: Jonathan Creek, Bottom, Hooligan's Island, & more... Sheridan Smith interview: Jonathan Creek & more... David Renwick interview: Jonathan Creek, One Foot In The Grave, & more...
One name stands out in the grim roster of English purveyors of the form: Montague Rhodes James, an eminent medievalist with a sideline in...
We celebrate the work of M.R. James, whose eerie ghost stories were made into a festive tradition by the BBC...
A shadow lurking just beyond the edge of the vision. Dusty manuscripts bearing fragments of ancient testimony, conflicting and confounding. The sickening touch of a decayed hand, grasping at us from the darkness. The imagery of the ghost story may differ between cultures, but the sense of creeping dread left by the most effective tales remains universal.
See related Jonathan Creek review: The Clue Of The Savant's Thumb Alan Davies interview: Jonathan Creek, Qi, "Creek Geeks" & more... Rik Mayall interview: Jonathan Creek, Bottom, Hooligan's Island, & more... Sheridan Smith interview: Jonathan Creek & more... David Renwick interview: Jonathan Creek, One Foot In The Grave, & more...
One name stands out in the grim roster of English purveyors of the form: Montague Rhodes James, an eminent medievalist with a sideline in...
- 12/20/2016
- Den of Geek
The director’s 18th-century epic is legendary for the hardships imposed upon its cast, with 150 takes for a single shot not uncommon. But, four decades on, the film’s stars remain united in praise of this beautiful, slow-burning masterpiece
In between the stark futurism of A Clockwork Orange and the floodlit horror of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick made an 18th-century picaresque costume drama that was far less widely loved than either of those films but infinitely more devastating. Barry Lyndon follows the adventures of an opportunistic Irish nitwit, Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal), as he clambers inelegantly up the social ladder in search of a title and a fortune. Those who disliked the picture on its release in 1975 cited the pace, which even a snail might consider a tad slow. Defenders, such as Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard (“cinema to marvel at”) and Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times...
In between the stark futurism of A Clockwork Orange and the floodlit horror of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick made an 18th-century picaresque costume drama that was far less widely loved than either of those films but infinitely more devastating. Barry Lyndon follows the adventures of an opportunistic Irish nitwit, Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal), as he clambers inelegantly up the social ladder in search of a title and a fortune. Those who disliked the picture on its release in 1975 cited the pace, which even a snail might consider a tad slow. Defenders, such as Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard (“cinema to marvel at”) and Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times...
- 7/14/2016
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Tired of stupid sword 'n' sandal costume pictures? Robert Rossen's all-star bio-epic of the charter founder of the Masons is a superior analysis of political ambition and the ruthless application of power. Yeah, he's wearing a blond wig, but Richard Burton captures the force of Alexander without camping up Asia Minor. Alexander the Great Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 136 min. / Ship Date March 15, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux, Barry Jones, Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Peter Cushing. Cinematography Robert Krasker Art Direction Andrej Andrejew Film Editor Ralph Kemplen Original Music Mario Nascimbene Produced by Gordon Griffith, Robert Rossen Written and Directed by Robert Rossen
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Critical opinions aren't supposed to flip-flop with every screening of a film, but I have to admit that my appreciation of Robert Rossen's 1956 epic Alexander the Great...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Critical opinions aren't supposed to flip-flop with every screening of a film, but I have to admit that my appreciation of Robert Rossen's 1956 epic Alexander the Great...
- 4/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love was reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown back in May of 2011 (for summary of all the Vincentennial activities go Here). One of the guests of honor at Vincentennial was Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price. Because of their close relationship and her access to his unpublished memoirs and letters, Victoria Price was able to provide a remarkably vivid account of her father’s public and private life in her essential book, Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography, originally published in 1999. .In 2011, her biography of her father was out of print. but now it’s been re-issued and Victoria will be in St. Louis this weekend (October 9th – 10th) for three special events. In addition to the biography, she will also be signing...
- 10/6/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Do you still say my Shylock was inadequate?”
Theatre Of Blood starring St. Louis native Vincent Price will be screened Saturday October 10th, as part of Movies for Foodies, a regular film series put on by the chefs at Tenacious Eats. The event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. In attendance will be special guest Victoria Price, author of Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography.
Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece Theatre Of Blood with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm.
Theatre Of Blood starring St. Louis native Vincent Price will be screened Saturday October 10th, as part of Movies for Foodies, a regular film series put on by the chefs at Tenacious Eats. The event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. In attendance will be special guest Victoria Price, author of Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography.
Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece Theatre Of Blood with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm.
- 9/10/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
New Line Cinema/Lucasfilm/Universal Pictures/MGM
As far as the cinema scene is concerned, The Lord of the Rings trilogy essentially put the fantasy genre back on the map. After years and years of uninspired, awkward fantasy pictures filled with tired cliches and naff renderings of mystical lands, strange creatures and magic that just plainly didn’t gel, New Zealand director Peter Jackson made fantasy cool again with his outright epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most famous series of novels.
Jackson’s approach was, essentially, to bring Tolkien’s books to life as something akin to a more realistic, hack and slash-styled action movie franchise; less “fantastical” and a whole lot grittier (with a violent edge to match). This turned out to be something of an overall masterstroke, of course – people were blown away when the first flick, The Fellowship of the Ring, hit theatres back in 2001 – the...
As far as the cinema scene is concerned, The Lord of the Rings trilogy essentially put the fantasy genre back on the map. After years and years of uninspired, awkward fantasy pictures filled with tired cliches and naff renderings of mystical lands, strange creatures and magic that just plainly didn’t gel, New Zealand director Peter Jackson made fantasy cool again with his outright epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most famous series of novels.
Jackson’s approach was, essentially, to bring Tolkien’s books to life as something akin to a more realistic, hack and slash-styled action movie franchise; less “fantastical” and a whole lot grittier (with a violent edge to match). This turned out to be something of an overall masterstroke, of course – people were blown away when the first flick, The Fellowship of the Ring, hit theatres back in 2001 – the...
- 9/2/2015
- by Sam Hill
- Obsessed with Film
'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...
- 11/5/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
We’ll be celebrating the 5th year anniversary of Super-8 Movie Madness at The Way Out Club in St. Louis on Tuesday October 7th with an encore performance of our most popular show. It’s Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness in 3D, the show that we took on the road to promote Vincentennial back in 2011. We’ll be honoring the hometown horror hero by showing condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of several of Price’s greatest films on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. They are: Master Of The World, War-gods Of The Deep, Pit And The Pendulum, The Raven, Witchfinder General, Tim Burton’s Vincent, Two Vincent Price Trailer Reels, Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Mad Magician in 3D (We’ll have plenty of 3D Glasses for everyone)
The non-Price movies we’re showing October 7th are The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire...
The non-Price movies we’re showing October 7th are The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire...
- 10/1/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When EW visited the London shoot of Paddington last year, everyone seemed thrilled that King’s Speech Oscar winner Colin Firth was voicing the film’s titular, marmalade-loving bear. “What we liked about Colin is that he’s got a bearish voice, he’s got a sense of humor, and he presents the very best of British,” explained producer David Heyman (of Gravity and the Harry Potter series). “We wanted that.”
And then they didn’t. In June of this year, my colleague Anthony Breznican broke the news that Firth was leaving the project. Last month, it was announced that...
And then they didn’t. In June of this year, my colleague Anthony Breznican broke the news that Firth was leaving the project. Last month, it was announced that...
- 8/14/2014
- by Clark Collis
- EW - Inside Movies
Stars: Vincent Price, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Michael Hordern, Eric Sykes, Diana Rigg | Written by Anthony Greville-Bell | Directed by Douglas Hickox
For fans of classic horror the thought of being able to see Theatre of Blood on Blu-ray is special enough, but add to that it’s being given the Arrow Video treatment and the beautiful Steelbook version and this may potentially be their best release yet. Arrow Video didn’t stop there though, to add something even more special, they went all out and added a commentary track, from a group of horror fans known as The League of Gentleman. Just take my damn money and give me my damn disc.
There is something very British about having a psychopath killing his victims using the plays of Shakespeare. Vincent Price’s Edward Lionheart is in many ways the perfect role for him, and his obvious love for the character...
For fans of classic horror the thought of being able to see Theatre of Blood on Blu-ray is special enough, but add to that it’s being given the Arrow Video treatment and the beautiful Steelbook version and this may potentially be their best release yet. Arrow Video didn’t stop there though, to add something even more special, they went all out and added a commentary track, from a group of horror fans known as The League of Gentleman. Just take my damn money and give me my damn disc.
There is something very British about having a psychopath killing his victims using the plays of Shakespeare. Vincent Price’s Edward Lionheart is in many ways the perfect role for him, and his obvious love for the character...
- 5/18/2014
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
As beloved symbols of childhood go Paddington is one of the more understated. Yet the little bear from Peru has been a constant bedtime companion to my two little boys for a while now and the story of the curious bear will soon be arriving on a far broader platform when David Heyman’s film hits cinemas at the end of the year.
Colin Firth has been plucked to provide the voice of our favourite Peruvian and the mix of CGI and live action has come a long way since the days of Garfield. Yes – this isn’t the 2D flat-amation* of the 1980s TV episodes narrated by Michael Hordern but that’s for the best.
Along with Postman Pat and other childhood playthings Paddington’s big screen update is no surprise, what we’re looking for – and what is hinted at here in this trailer – is the unmistakable charm of the marmalade-loving bear.
Colin Firth has been plucked to provide the voice of our favourite Peruvian and the mix of CGI and live action has come a long way since the days of Garfield. Yes – this isn’t the 2D flat-amation* of the 1980s TV episodes narrated by Michael Hordern but that’s for the best.
Along with Postman Pat and other childhood playthings Paddington’s big screen update is no surprise, what we’re looking for – and what is hinted at here in this trailer – is the unmistakable charm of the marmalade-loving bear.
- 3/4/2014
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 67-year-old actor talks about being an angry old man, sugar addiction and the bane of his life, his talented young namesake
You think wisdom will come with age – it doesn't. Just confusion.
I've become more of a firebrand as I've got older. I want to right wrongs. I fall into the "angry old man" category. I wish I'd stop – it's so predictably boring.
I'm one of the lucky ones. I've pursued my passion all my life. I started out mopping the stage. Those kind of apprenticeships don't exist any more.
My dad feels kind of mythical to me, because I was eight when he died. I remember his great generosity of spirit, and because I never knew him as an adult, he never had the chance to disappoint me.
I didn't realise the power of nurture until I was going through my first divorce, in my 40s. I realised...
You think wisdom will come with age – it doesn't. Just confusion.
I've become more of a firebrand as I've got older. I want to right wrongs. I fall into the "angry old man" category. I wish I'd stop – it's so predictably boring.
I'm one of the lucky ones. I've pursued my passion all my life. I started out mopping the stage. Those kind of apprenticeships don't exist any more.
My dad feels kind of mythical to me, because I was eight when he died. I remember his great generosity of spirit, and because I never knew him as an adult, he never had the chance to disappoint me.
I didn't realise the power of nurture until I was going through my first divorce, in my 40s. I realised...
- 2/23/2014
- by Emma John
- The Guardian - Film News
Sarah Polley's family documentary is compelling, while Netflix has a treat for Paddington Bear nostalgists
Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell (Curzon Film World, 12) needed all the glowing reviews it deservedly got, presenting as it did a distinct marketing challenge. "Come and see a documentary about Sarah Polley's family" isn't the most alluring of invitations, however much you like the gifted Canadian actor-director. Meanwhile, what makes Sarah Polley's family special – or at least cinematically compelling – is hard to describe without giving the game away. Stories We Tell may arrive on DVD shorn of some mystery, a little like a rewrapped Christmas present, but it's no one-trick doc. If anything, home viewing enhances its one-on-one intimacy.
Like her fiction features Away from Her and Take This Waltz, it's an affecting domestic drama in which the stakes keep shifting. Beginning as a simple elegy for Polley's late mother Diane, it becomes,...
Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell (Curzon Film World, 12) needed all the glowing reviews it deservedly got, presenting as it did a distinct marketing challenge. "Come and see a documentary about Sarah Polley's family" isn't the most alluring of invitations, however much you like the gifted Canadian actor-director. Meanwhile, what makes Sarah Polley's family special – or at least cinematically compelling – is hard to describe without giving the game away. Stories We Tell may arrive on DVD shorn of some mystery, a little like a rewrapped Christmas present, but it's no one-trick doc. If anything, home viewing enhances its one-on-one intimacy.
Like her fiction features Away from Her and Take This Waltz, it's an affecting domestic drama in which the stakes keep shifting. Beginning as a simple elegy for Polley's late mother Diane, it becomes,...
- 9/21/2013
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent also to feature in film produced by Weinstein brothers and David Heyman and directed by Paul King
Colin Firth is to voice Paddington Bear in a film about the polite Peruvian discovered by the Brown family at the west London railway station.
The actor's latest film, The Railway Man, premiered at Toronto and saw him pootle round a variety of east coast lines, as well as help to construct the Burma railway during the second world war.
Paddington's big-screen debut will see him battle a taxidermist, voiced by Firth's Railway Man love interest, Nicole Kidman.
The character, created in 1958 by Michael Bond, was named after the west London railway station where he was discovered wearing his blue duffle coat, red sowester and a sign instructing the finder to "please look after this bear". The kindly Brown family endeavour to do just that,...
Colin Firth is to voice Paddington Bear in a film about the polite Peruvian discovered by the Brown family at the west London railway station.
The actor's latest film, The Railway Man, premiered at Toronto and saw him pootle round a variety of east coast lines, as well as help to construct the Burma railway during the second world war.
Paddington's big-screen debut will see him battle a taxidermist, voiced by Firth's Railway Man love interest, Nicole Kidman.
The character, created in 1958 by Michael Bond, was named after the west London railway station where he was discovered wearing his blue duffle coat, red sowester and a sign instructing the finder to "please look after this bear". The kindly Brown family endeavour to do just that,...
- 9/16/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
From a candlelight reading of Mr James's ghost stories in a chapel, to visits to the locations of classic films and TV dramas, I've been on a journey to the darker side of East Anglia
"Remember to wrap up warm!" says Robert Lloyd Parry, before my trip to see his performance of the Mr James stories Count Magnus and Number 13 at Cambridge's Leper Chapel. I take it for nothing more than a pleasantry – the same thing you'd say to any acquaintance venturing out on a snowy January evening – but it turns out he really means it. The Leper Chapel, which is about as portentously magical as any building situated a couple of hundred yards from a branch of B&Q could be, is 900 years old, with toweringly high ceilings and no heating. Outside, the temperature is -1C and dropping fast. Inside, it smells like the damp from every damp...
"Remember to wrap up warm!" says Robert Lloyd Parry, before my trip to see his performance of the Mr James stories Count Magnus and Number 13 at Cambridge's Leper Chapel. I take it for nothing more than a pleasantry – the same thing you'd say to any acquaintance venturing out on a snowy January evening – but it turns out he really means it. The Leper Chapel, which is about as portentously magical as any building situated a couple of hundred yards from a branch of B&Q could be, is 900 years old, with toweringly high ceilings and no heating. Outside, the temperature is -1C and dropping fast. Inside, it smells like the damp from every damp...
- 2/5/2013
- by Tom Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Odd List Robert Keeling Dec 20, 2012
We delve back into more than a century of A Christmas Carol movies to find the best and worst adaptations of Dickens' festive tale...
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the classic story of a time travelling pensioner who sees dead people, is a festive fairytale which has itself become part of Christmas folklore. In terms of favourite Christmas tales, Rudolph and Frosty may wrap up the children's vote, but for most people, it's Dickens’ seminal work which would get the nod.
The story was written by Dickens in order to tackle the relatively new issue of urban poverty, and in particular the growing underclass of impoverished townsfolk produced by the Industrial Revolution. With the rapid shift away from conventional farming and trade practices, and with the rise in new technological advancements, many people were suddenly without work and without the necessary skills to find a job.
We delve back into more than a century of A Christmas Carol movies to find the best and worst adaptations of Dickens' festive tale...
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the classic story of a time travelling pensioner who sees dead people, is a festive fairytale which has itself become part of Christmas folklore. In terms of favourite Christmas tales, Rudolph and Frosty may wrap up the children's vote, but for most people, it's Dickens’ seminal work which would get the nod.
The story was written by Dickens in order to tackle the relatively new issue of urban poverty, and in particular the growing underclass of impoverished townsfolk produced by the Industrial Revolution. With the rapid shift away from conventional farming and trade practices, and with the rise in new technological advancements, many people were suddenly without work and without the necessary skills to find a job.
- 12/19/2012
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Director of British comedy films in the tradition of saucy seaside postcards
During the 1970s, British cinema produced dozens of sex comedies, of which the director Bob Kellett, who has died aged 84, was something of a master. Kellett's films superseded the Carry On series, whose innuendo had become smuttier and less funny, and predated the more vulgar Confessions movies. They were in the tradition of Donald McGill's saucy seaside postcards, which George Orwell had extolled as being "symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia, a harmless rebellion against virtue".
Kellett, who was born in Lancaster, went to Bedford school, where he was captain of the rowing team. After school, he had various jobs, including growing and selling orchids, selling encyclopedias, and writing for an advertising agency, before entering the film industry in the early 50s. After working on several features as script editor for the producer Ian Dalrymple at Pinewood Studios,...
During the 1970s, British cinema produced dozens of sex comedies, of which the director Bob Kellett, who has died aged 84, was something of a master. Kellett's films superseded the Carry On series, whose innuendo had become smuttier and less funny, and predated the more vulgar Confessions movies. They were in the tradition of Donald McGill's saucy seaside postcards, which George Orwell had extolled as being "symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia, a harmless rebellion against virtue".
Kellett, who was born in Lancaster, went to Bedford school, where he was captain of the rowing team. After school, he had various jobs, including growing and selling orchids, selling encyclopedias, and writing for an advertising agency, before entering the film industry in the early 50s. After working on several features as script editor for the producer Ian Dalrymple at Pinewood Studios,...
- 12/4/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
David Nicholls, author of the hit novel One Day, has always loved Dickens's novel. As the film version is about to be released, he reveals how he set about his adaptation
Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life. For some people it's Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, but for me it is Great Expectations. I first read it at 14 or so and, apart from some infatuations with Orwell, Fitzgerald, Salinger and Hardy, it has remained my favourite novel ever since. By some miracle, a story written in the mid-1850s had captured much of how I felt in a small provincial town at the end of the 1970s.
Yet if I saw myself in the book, it wasn't a particularly flattering portrait. It's clear why a young reader might aspire to be Elizabeth Bennet, but who would want to be Pip Pirrip?...
Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life. For some people it's Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, but for me it is Great Expectations. I first read it at 14 or so and, apart from some infatuations with Orwell, Fitzgerald, Salinger and Hardy, it has remained my favourite novel ever since. By some miracle, a story written in the mid-1850s had captured much of how I felt in a small provincial town at the end of the 1970s.
Yet if I saw myself in the book, it wasn't a particularly flattering portrait. It's clear why a young reader might aspire to be Elizabeth Bennet, but who would want to be Pip Pirrip?...
- 11/17/2012
- by David Nicholls
- The Guardian - Film News
Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
- 11/7/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Ghost Stories: Volumes 1&2
If being scared out of your wits is what Christmas is all about for you, then blame the BBC. For most of the 1970s, and again in the 2000s, a tiny portion of the licence fee went to creating a series of short films based on the ghostly writings of the great Mr James. These were broadcast in the small hours of the festive season and made their mark not just because they weren't joining in with the more traditional fun, but because they were among the best things British television has ever produced.
The series started off in an unconventional manner, with Jonathan Miller directing a classic version of James's Whistle And I'll Come To You. Miller's film laid the template for all that followed: shot on location on film, cast one well-respected, not too famous actor – in this case Sir Michael Hordern – then heat...
If being scared out of your wits is what Christmas is all about for you, then blame the BBC. For most of the 1970s, and again in the 2000s, a tiny portion of the licence fee went to creating a series of short films based on the ghostly writings of the great Mr James. These were broadcast in the small hours of the festive season and made their mark not just because they weren't joining in with the more traditional fun, but because they were among the best things British television has ever produced.
The series started off in an unconventional manner, with Jonathan Miller directing a classic version of James's Whistle And I'll Come To You. Miller's film laid the template for all that followed: shot on location on film, cast one well-respected, not too famous actor – in this case Sir Michael Hordern – then heat...
- 8/17/2012
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Although Ealing Studios did not exclusively make comedies – actually, less than ten percent of their output was comic – it is the run of comedies from the late ’40s into the ’50s that the studio is best remembered for, and it’s not difficult to see why. Under the leadership of Michael Balcon, the legendary British producer who also founded Gainsborough Pictures, they produced incredibly sharp, witty and likeable comedies ranging from the whimsy of a film like Passport to Pimlico to the razor-sharp black comedy of Kind Hearts and Coronets, also released in 1949.
The movies were quintessentially British, and often got funnier as they got darker precisely because the characters had to uphold good British virtues while getting away with political upheaval (Passport to Pimlico), theft (The Lavender Hill Mob, one of their best) or murder (Kind Hearts and Coronets). This paradox is prevalent in Passport to Pimlico,...
Although Ealing Studios did not exclusively make comedies – actually, less than ten percent of their output was comic – it is the run of comedies from the late ’40s into the ’50s that the studio is best remembered for, and it’s not difficult to see why. Under the leadership of Michael Balcon, the legendary British producer who also founded Gainsborough Pictures, they produced incredibly sharp, witty and likeable comedies ranging from the whimsy of a film like Passport to Pimlico to the razor-sharp black comedy of Kind Hearts and Coronets, also released in 1949.
The movies were quintessentially British, and often got funnier as they got darker precisely because the characters had to uphold good British virtues while getting away with political upheaval (Passport to Pimlico), theft (The Lavender Hill Mob, one of their best) or murder (Kind Hearts and Coronets). This paradox is prevalent in Passport to Pimlico,...
- 6/12/2012
- by Adam Whyte
- Obsessed with Film
Paddington Bear is swapping darkest Peru for the bright lights of Hollywood after plans were announced to bring the character to the big screen.
Harry Potter producer David Heyman is behind the film, described as "a modern take" on Michael Bond's best-selling books which have sold more than 35 million copies.
He said: "Paddington Bear is a universally loved character, treasured for his optimism, his sense of fair play and his perfect manners, and of course for his unintentional talent for comic chaos.
"Michael Bond's books offer such wit and wonder, and I am so delighted at this chance to bring Paddington to the big screen."
The loveable, duffle coat-clad bear, famous for his love of marmalade sandwiches, is named after the London station at which he was found.
He was created by Bond and made his literary debut in 1958.
The first book, A Bear Called Paddington, told how...
Harry Potter producer David Heyman is behind the film, described as "a modern take" on Michael Bond's best-selling books which have sold more than 35 million copies.
He said: "Paddington Bear is a universally loved character, treasured for his optimism, his sense of fair play and his perfect manners, and of course for his unintentional talent for comic chaos.
"Michael Bond's books offer such wit and wonder, and I am so delighted at this chance to bring Paddington to the big screen."
The loveable, duffle coat-clad bear, famous for his love of marmalade sandwiches, is named after the London station at which he was found.
He was created by Bond and made his literary debut in 1958.
The first book, A Bear Called Paddington, told how...
- 5/10/2012
- by PA
- Huffington Post
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
- 4/10/2012
- by Chris McMillan
- Planet Fury
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
- 4/10/2012
- by Chris McMillan
- Planet Fury
The Box of Delights
N Conrad
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Over the years, the British TV networks have aired some amazing shows over the festive season. People will inevitably argue over the Christmas dinner table as to which of these shows are the best. In order to spare you all from such fierce debates we have decided to put together our list of the 10 best ever British TV Christmas shows.
1. The Snowman. As the debate about the best Christmas show rages on, it is ironic that the best ever British TV Christmas show is the one that contains absolutely no dialogue unless you count David Bowie’s cheesy intro scene. Raymond Briggs’ artwork and Aled Jones singing have ensured that this 80s cartoon will always remain at the top of this list.
2. The Box of Delights. Money was...
N Conrad
Click here to friend Best British TV on Facebook or here to follow us on Twitter.
Over the years, the British TV networks have aired some amazing shows over the festive season. People will inevitably argue over the Christmas dinner table as to which of these shows are the best. In order to spare you all from such fierce debates we have decided to put together our list of the 10 best ever British TV Christmas shows.
1. The Snowman. As the debate about the best Christmas show rages on, it is ironic that the best ever British TV Christmas show is the one that contains absolutely no dialogue unless you count David Bowie’s cheesy intro scene. Raymond Briggs’ artwork and Aled Jones singing have ensured that this 80s cartoon will always remain at the top of this list.
2. The Box of Delights. Money was...
- 12/19/2011
- by admin
25 Days Of Christmas: Television Specials and Holiday Films
Throughout the month of December, TV Editor Kate Kulzick and Film Editor Ricky D will review classic Christmas adaptions, posting a total of 13 each, one a day, until the 25th of December.
The catch: They will swap roles as Rick will take on reviews of classic television Christmas specials and Kate will take on classic Christmas movies. Today is day 1.
Day 1: Richard Williams’ A Christmas Carol (1971)
Directed by Richard Williams
Based on the short story by Charles Dickens
What’s it about?:
A Christmas Carol is an Academy Award-winning animated cartoon adaptation of Charles Dickens’ venerable 1843 novella, about an old bitter moneygrubber who is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Eve.
Originally produced as a 1971 television special, and broadcast on ABC, A Christmas Carol received so much critical acclaim, that it was subsequently released theatrically,...
Throughout the month of December, TV Editor Kate Kulzick and Film Editor Ricky D will review classic Christmas adaptions, posting a total of 13 each, one a day, until the 25th of December.
The catch: They will swap roles as Rick will take on reviews of classic television Christmas specials and Kate will take on classic Christmas movies. Today is day 1.
Day 1: Richard Williams’ A Christmas Carol (1971)
Directed by Richard Williams
Based on the short story by Charles Dickens
What’s it about?:
A Christmas Carol is an Academy Award-winning animated cartoon adaptation of Charles Dickens’ venerable 1843 novella, about an old bitter moneygrubber who is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Eve.
Originally produced as a 1971 television special, and broadcast on ABC, A Christmas Carol received so much critical acclaim, that it was subsequently released theatrically,...
- 12/2/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
I was looking forward to seeing Juggernaut on TCM not too long ago when I saw it show up on the classics channel’s schedule. Even in this cable/download/Netflix age of constant program recycling, the movie rarely shows up on TV, maybe because it had been such an instant and complete flop when released theatrically in 1974. Still, this UK-produced film has always been one of my pet favorites, a flick I have long felt died an undeserved death, and I was psyched at the chance to see it again.
In synopsis, I admit the movie doesn’t sound like much. Or perhaps I should say it sounds way too familiar. A nutcase has put seven bombs on an ocean liner and threatens to sink the ship unless he’s given a ransom of £500,000. The ship is far from land, no other vessels are close enough to render assistance,...
In synopsis, I admit the movie doesn’t sound like much. Or perhaps I should say it sounds way too familiar. A nutcase has put seven bombs on an ocean liner and threatens to sink the ship unless he’s given a ransom of £500,000. The ship is far from land, no other vessels are close enough to render assistance,...
- 11/28/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
When Mark Hall's death was announced, one of Britain's leading animation businesses put a message on Twitter: "Deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend Mark Hall. Our company would not be here without him." Hall neither founded that business nor took any part in it. But its directors learned their trade under his unique guidance and inspiration, and never forgot it.
In his long professional life, Mark had two consistent passions. One was for filming stories by great children's writers, in ways which would respect and amplify the original work. The other was for teaching the craft and technique of animated film. The company he founded with Brian Cosgrove was born in the 1960s, when UK animation was a failing cottage industry and even Disney was in the doldrums. So they daringly built their team of film-makers from scratch, bringing new young recruits out of art colleges...
In his long professional life, Mark had two consistent passions. One was for filming stories by great children's writers, in ways which would respect and amplify the original work. The other was for teaching the craft and technique of animated film. The company he founded with Brian Cosgrove was born in the 1960s, when UK animation was a failing cottage industry and even Disney was in the doldrums. So they daringly built their team of film-makers from scratch, bringing new young recruits out of art colleges...
- 11/20/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Theatre Of Blood will play at the Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Festival in a 35mm print at 2:30pm on Saturday, May 21st at the Hi-Pointe Theatre. Ticket information can be found Here
In the early 1907′s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a film with a similar plot structure. In fact, many fright film fans consider Theatre Of Blood an unofficial finale in a Phibes trilogy. Produced by United Artists rather then American International Blood differed from the Phibes film in that it was set in modern times and boasted one of the most prestigious casts that Price ever worked with. Price portrays Edward Lionheart , a stage actor thought to be dead , who returns to murder the critics that denied him a thespian award. Many of...
In the early 1907′s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a film with a similar plot structure. In fact, many fright film fans consider Theatre Of Blood an unofficial finale in a Phibes trilogy. Produced by United Artists rather then American International Blood differed from the Phibes film in that it was set in modern times and boasted one of the most prestigious casts that Price ever worked with. Price portrays Edward Lionheart , a stage actor thought to be dead , who returns to murder the critics that denied him a thespian award. Many of...
- 5/21/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love is now reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown. Price was not only a notable St. Louisan but one of the 20th century.s most remarkable men. To do full justice to the range of his accomplishments, Vincentennial features not only a 10-day film festival but also a pair of exhibits, a stage production, two publications, and illuminating discussions by Price experts and film historians. We decided to do a special edition of Top Ten Tuesday here at We Are Movie Geeks in honor of the many great films that Vincent Price starred in, and after we had assembled the list we realized that all ten of these films will be showing at the...
Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love is now reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown. Price was not only a notable St. Louisan but one of the 20th century.s most remarkable men. To do full justice to the range of his accomplishments, Vincentennial features not only a 10-day film festival but also a pair of exhibits, a stage production, two publications, and illuminating discussions by Price experts and film historians. We decided to do a special edition of Top Ten Tuesday here at We Are Movie Geeks in honor of the many great films that Vincent Price starred in, and after we had assembled the list we realized that all ten of these films will be showing at the...
- 5/10/2011
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
'I had Ricky in mind for this role from the inception of the project,' says director behind new take on Kenneth Grahame's classic
Ricky Gervais is to voice the character of Mole in a new live-action/animatronic version of The Wind in the Willows. Directed by Ray Griggs, whose previous credits include a superhero comedy called Super Capers and a documentary titled I Want Your Money (both unreleased in the UK), the latest adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's pastoral classic will be penned by Bill Marsilii, who wrote time-travelling crime-solving Denzel Washington vehicle Deja Vu.
"It's a natural fit to have an iconic British actor star in an iconic British tale," Griggs said. "I had Ricky in mind for this role from the inception of this project." Mole is the peaceable home-lover whose boredom with his spring cleaning triggers an adventure with Badger, Ratty and Toad. Other casting has yet to be announced.
Ricky Gervais is to voice the character of Mole in a new live-action/animatronic version of The Wind in the Willows. Directed by Ray Griggs, whose previous credits include a superhero comedy called Super Capers and a documentary titled I Want Your Money (both unreleased in the UK), the latest adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's pastoral classic will be penned by Bill Marsilii, who wrote time-travelling crime-solving Denzel Washington vehicle Deja Vu.
"It's a natural fit to have an iconic British actor star in an iconic British tale," Griggs said. "I had Ricky in mind for this role from the inception of this project." Mole is the peaceable home-lover whose boredom with his spring cleaning triggers an adventure with Badger, Ratty and Toad. Other casting has yet to be announced.
- 1/7/2011
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Let’s go back to when Britain had its own cinema and see who some of our homegrown stars were then. If we dissolve back to 1960, we find a plethora of movie stars - enough to guarantee full houses in all the West End, and regional theatres, in the country. Here are just some of them: Margaret Rutherford, Joyce Grenfell, John Mills, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Virginia McKenna, Denholm Elliott, Fenella Fielding, Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Diana Dors, Terry Thomas, Richard Burton, Dirk Bogarde, Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier, Joan Greenwood, Hermione Baddeley, Moira Lister, Oliver Reed, Dennis Price, Michael Hordern, Robert Shaw, Michael Redgrave, Robert Morley, Laurence Harvey, Paul Scofield, Richard Harris, Tom Courtenay, Leslie-Anne Down, George Formby, Peter Ustinov, Peter Finch, Harry Andrews, Maxine Audley, Nigel Stock, Eric Porter, Noel Coward, Dinsdale Landen, Bernard Cribbins, Patrick Wymark, Shirley-Anne Field, and Moira Redmond…...
- 12/23/2010
- by Jonathan Gems
- Pure Movies
A hoard of lost TV dramas – starring the likes of Sean Connery, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi – have resurfaced. What do they say about TV then and now?
We have become used to the idea of major TV dramas being imported from America: series such as The Wire, The Sopranos and The West Wing. But a stash of programmes heading for Britain this month have a more complicated history. These are not strictly imports; rather, they are being returned to their country of origin.
The 65 plays – starring actors such as Sean Connery, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi – were transmitted by the BBC and ITV between 1957 and 1969, but were only seen once. Subsequently, if they were asked after by historians or biographers, they were found to be missing, presumed wiped, a frequent fate in a period when the preservation of TV programmes was an expensive business. However, during a recent stock-taking...
We have become used to the idea of major TV dramas being imported from America: series such as The Wire, The Sopranos and The West Wing. But a stash of programmes heading for Britain this month have a more complicated history. These are not strictly imports; rather, they are being returned to their country of origin.
The 65 plays – starring actors such as Sean Connery, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi – were transmitted by the BBC and ITV between 1957 and 1969, but were only seen once. Subsequently, if they were asked after by historians or biographers, they were found to be missing, presumed wiped, a frequent fate in a period when the preservation of TV programmes was an expensive business. However, during a recent stock-taking...
- 11/4/2010
- by Mark Lawson
- The Guardian - Film News
William Shatner should be yelling that last name, but that would be a different genre. Omar Sharif stars as the Mongol conqueror in this biopic that has some politically incorrect casting. However, it.s not that bad but it.s still not that good considering the films that Sharif was in beforehand. Temujin (Omar Sharif) lived most of his adult life in a wooden yoke. In his youth he was captured by Merkit chieftain Jamuga (Stephen Boyd) after seeing the warlord murder his father. The elder Geen (Michael Hordern) warned Jamuga that it was prophesized that anyone who killed Temujin would be cursed, so Jamuga captured him and held him in the yoke and he has grown to adulthood in...
- 11/3/2010
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Actor with great stage presence who found his metier in comic and satirical roles
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
- 10/22/2010
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
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