CineSavant reaches back to a U.K. disc released in 2014, because the subject is (what else) a semi-obscure science fiction effort. Favorite John Neville stars as a scientist opposite newcomer Gabriella Licudi, a beauty who may be an invader from outer space. This is the one with the teardrops that burn; not having seen it since 1966 or so, evaluating a ‘new’ Blu was an imperative. The main takeaway is that it’s awfully small-scale and the fantastic content is almost entirely confined to dialogue. But the performances are exemplary and actress Jean Marsh is terrific.
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
- 12/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Deserting a festival’s official competition for a thematic retrospective can feel somewhat awkward, especially at an extravaganza so rich in new voices as the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr). Yet the decision proved most fruitful with “The Spying Thing,” a sidebar Iffr devoted to “espionage as a way of filming and the camera as a spying weapon.” A 21-strong lineup offered timeless classics as well as some of the world cinema's latest offerings (László Nemes’ Sunset and Yoon Jong-bin’s The Spy Gone North). Yet “The Spying Thing” started—according to Gustavo Beck, who co-curated it alongside Gerwin Tamsma—with the second of Mariano Llinás’ monumental 3-part, 14-hour epic La Flor. I shall not attempt to dwell into Llinás’ opus magnum—Ross McDonnell already did an egregious job for the Notebook reviewing it at its Locarno premiere last August. Suffice it to say that La Flor’s second chapter...
- 2/25/2019
- MUBI
Paul Childs Aug 18, 2017
We take another look back at the public information films put out by the Central Office Of Information...
I’m sat writing this on the balcony of my apartment overlooking the majestic Salford Quays. It’s a lovely afternoon and the sun is beating down as families, all dressed in their finest summer attire, chomp on ice-cream while enjoying a relaxing canal side stroll.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 5 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 4 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7: episode 3 questions answered
Down on the other side of the canal basin is a group of boys, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old (plus a few much younger ones), dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. They’re goading each other on to leap from the bridge into the dark waters below. One by one they take the plunge, all the while laughing and whooping.
We take another look back at the public information films put out by the Central Office Of Information...
I’m sat writing this on the balcony of my apartment overlooking the majestic Salford Quays. It’s a lovely afternoon and the sun is beating down as families, all dressed in their finest summer attire, chomp on ice-cream while enjoying a relaxing canal side stroll.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 5 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 4 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7: episode 3 questions answered
Down on the other side of the canal basin is a group of boys, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old (plus a few much younger ones), dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. They’re goading each other on to leap from the bridge into the dark waters below. One by one they take the plunge, all the while laughing and whooping.
- 8/15/2017
- Den of Geek
Producer of award-winning documentaries and short films
The producer Anne Balfour-Fraser, who has died aged 92, oversaw the making of some 100 short films between the mid-1950s and mid-80s. Very varied, their common thread was an artistic, humanitarian sensibility and a sensitive cultivation of directing, camera and editing talent. Among those who at some point worked at her premises in Brewer Street, London, were Kevin Brownlow, John Krish, Mamoun Hassan, Peter K Smith, the German theatre director Peter Zadek and the eminent producer of Polanski and others, Timothy Burrill.
She was born in Woking, Surrey, into an illustrious family. Her grandfather was the Conservative politician Gerald Balfour, who succeeded as Earl of Balfour on the death of his brother Arthur, the Conservative prime minister; her grandmother Lady Betty (nee Bulwer-Lytton) was a leading moderate suffragist; and her great-aunt was the more militant suffragist Lady Constance Lytton, who was imprisoned several times.
The producer Anne Balfour-Fraser, who has died aged 92, oversaw the making of some 100 short films between the mid-1950s and mid-80s. Very varied, their common thread was an artistic, humanitarian sensibility and a sensitive cultivation of directing, camera and editing talent. Among those who at some point worked at her premises in Brewer Street, London, were Kevin Brownlow, John Krish, Mamoun Hassan, Peter K Smith, the German theatre director Peter Zadek and the eminent producer of Polanski and others, Timothy Burrill.
She was born in Woking, Surrey, into an illustrious family. Her grandfather was the Conservative politician Gerald Balfour, who succeeded as Earl of Balfour on the death of his brother Arthur, the Conservative prime minister; her grandmother Lady Betty (nee Bulwer-Lytton) was a leading moderate suffragist; and her great-aunt was the more militant suffragist Lady Constance Lytton, who was imprisoned several times.
- 8/21/2016
- by Patrick Russell
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-maker acclaimed as one of Britain’s finest directors of documentaries
John Krish, who has died aged 92, was one of Britain’s finest documentary film-makers, with a long list of credits that stretched from the 1940s to the 80s and across a staggering variety of subjects. His career began in the Crown Film Unit during the second world war, where he assisted Harry Watt on the propaganda film Target for Tonight (1941) and Humphrey Jennings on Listen to Britain (1941) and Fires Were Started (1943).
After serving in the Royal Artillery, he was posted to the Army Film Unit and was one of the editors on The True Glory (1945), the film of the allied invasion of Europe. Invalided out of the army in 1944, he edited newsreels for the Office of War Information, the Us equivalent of the Ministry of Information.
Continue reading...
John Krish, who has died aged 92, was one of Britain’s finest documentary film-makers, with a long list of credits that stretched from the 1940s to the 80s and across a staggering variety of subjects. His career began in the Crown Film Unit during the second world war, where he assisted Harry Watt on the propaganda film Target for Tonight (1941) and Humphrey Jennings on Listen to Britain (1941) and Fires Were Started (1943).
After serving in the Royal Artillery, he was posted to the Army Film Unit and was one of the editors on The True Glory (1945), the film of the allied invasion of Europe. Invalided out of the army in 1944, he edited newsreels for the Office of War Information, the Us equivalent of the Ministry of Information.
Continue reading...
- 5/23/2016
- by Kevin Brownlow
- The Guardian - Film News
There's one ironclad rule for mad scientist movies: if you show a monstrous caged ape-creature in the first act, that ape-creature must absolutely break loose and wreak havoc before the end of Act III. Just ask George Zucco or John Carradine, they'll tell you. It makes no difference if the film is being made on Gower Gulch, or at Germany's prestigious UfA Studios. Alraune Region 2 Pal (Germany) DVD Arthaus 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Unnatural, Mandragore, Vengeance / Street Date July 6, 2007 / Available at Amazon.de / Eur 16,90 Starring Hildegard Knef, Erich von Stroheim, Karlheinz Böhm, Harry Meyen, Rolf Henniger, Harry Halm, Hans Cossy, Gardy Brombacher, Trude Hesterberg, Julia Koschka, Denise Vernac. Cinematography Friedl Behn-Grund Film Editor Doris Zeitman Costume Designer Herbert Pioberger Original Music Werner R. Heymann Written by Kurt Heuser from the novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers Produced by Günther Stapenhorst Directed by Arthur Maria Rabenault
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The British Film Institute (BFI) is to launch a major project dedicated to Gothic cinema, which includes more than 150 films and around 1,000 screenings throughout the UK.
Running from August until January 2014, the Gothic project include the longest ever season at BFI’s Southbank venue in London, UK wide theatrical and DVD releases, an education programme, a new BFI Gothic book, a range of partnerships, special guests and commentators including project ambassador Sir Christopher Frayling.
Heather Stewart, creative director at the BFI, said: “Gothic has never been more potent or popular, reflecting the turbulent times we are living in, our deepest fears and hidden passions.
“The British discovered sex in vivid Technicolor through Gothic. With a new generation gripped by the post modern Gothic world of Twilight’s ‘vegetarian’ vampires, Harry Potter’s spells and El James’s 50 Shades, its meaning has mutated yet again. It’s now time to look back into the deep dark beating heart of...
Running from August until January 2014, the Gothic project include the longest ever season at BFI’s Southbank venue in London, UK wide theatrical and DVD releases, an education programme, a new BFI Gothic book, a range of partnerships, special guests and commentators including project ambassador Sir Christopher Frayling.
Heather Stewart, creative director at the BFI, said: “Gothic has never been more potent or popular, reflecting the turbulent times we are living in, our deepest fears and hidden passions.
“The British discovered sex in vivid Technicolor through Gothic. With a new generation gripped by the post modern Gothic world of Twilight’s ‘vegetarian’ vampires, Harry Potter’s spells and El James’s 50 Shades, its meaning has mutated yet again. It’s now time to look back into the deep dark beating heart of...
- 6/27/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
(John Krish, 1959-77; BFI, 15)
John Krish entered the cinema as a teenager early in the second world war, working for the Crown Film Unit (on Harry Watt's Target for Tonight and Humphrey Jennings's Listen to Britain) and the Army Film Unit (as an editor on Carol Reed and Garson Kanin's The True Glory), before joining British Transport Films. It was with the latter group that he made his classic The Elephant Will Never Forget (1953), a beautiful movie about London's last tram journey. It was shown in a much acclaimed quartet of his pictures that travelled the country in 2010, and was included, along with his infinitely moving I Think They Call Him John (1964), in Shadows of Progress, the BFI's four-disc survey of postwar British documentary.
Now, in Krish's 90th year, the BFI help clinch his reputation as one of Britain's most distinctive and distinguished documentarians with a compilation of his work,...
John Krish entered the cinema as a teenager early in the second world war, working for the Crown Film Unit (on Harry Watt's Target for Tonight and Humphrey Jennings's Listen to Britain) and the Army Film Unit (as an editor on Carol Reed and Garson Kanin's The True Glory), before joining British Transport Films. It was with the latter group that he made his classic The Elephant Will Never Forget (1953), a beautiful movie about London's last tram journey. It was shown in a much acclaimed quartet of his pictures that travelled the country in 2010, and was included, along with his infinitely moving I Think They Call Him John (1964), in Shadows of Progress, the BFI's four-disc survey of postwar British documentary.
Now, in Krish's 90th year, the BFI help clinch his reputation as one of Britain's most distinctive and distinguished documentarians with a compilation of his work,...
- 4/27/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Sadie Frost, Gary Kemp, Phil Collins – they all started out in movies from the Children's Film Foundation
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
- 6/16/2012
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
Whether they were dealing with drownings, poisonings or child abduction, British public information films never held back. Jude Rogers finds out why they're still haunting the imaginations of today's directors
One afternoon in 1973, Terry Sue-Patt got on a bus with some friends from a community theatre and travelled to a river on the outskirts of London. Here, the 10-year-old would unwittingly star in one of the scariest public information films of all time. "We all thought it was a lovely day out," he remembers. "We were just told to jump up and down near the water, play with sticks, mess about. When I saw the finished film, and saw a man in a black cape standing behind us, I had quite a different reaction."
Forty years after their heyday, British public information films continue to haunt the memories of those who saw them – and those who appeared in them. In 90 short seconds of Lonely Water,...
One afternoon in 1973, Terry Sue-Patt got on a bus with some friends from a community theatre and travelled to a river on the outskirts of London. Here, the 10-year-old would unwittingly star in one of the scariest public information films of all time. "We all thought it was a lovely day out," he remembers. "We were just told to jump up and down near the water, play with sticks, mess about. When I saw the finished film, and saw a man in a black cape standing behind us, I had quite a different reaction."
Forty years after their heyday, British public information films continue to haunt the memories of those who saw them – and those who appeared in them. In 90 short seconds of Lonely Water,...
- 11/26/2010
- by Jude Rogers
- The Guardian - Film News
The BFI is currently staging a major season at the BFI Southbank of postwar British documentaries, and to accompany it there's an extended run of this compilation of four films by one of our finest documentarists, John Krish, who started out as an editor (he had credits on Harry Watt's Target for Tonight and Humphrey Jennings's Listen to Britain). The first is the classic The Elephant Will Never Forget (1953) a lively, nostalgia-rich record of the last week of the last London tram. The others, each set on a single day in the early 1960s, deal with a seaside outing by Birmingham schoolkids to Weston-super-Mare, an afternoon in a secondary modern school, and an elderly widower spending a day alone in a London high-rise flat. Seeing them is like opening a series of time capsules. The best three are on the four-disc set of 32 films, Shadows of Progress: Documentary...
- 11/14/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
We Are What We Are (15)
(Jorge Michel Grau, 2010, Mexico) Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato. 90 mins
Vampires are so last season, so bring on the cannibals! Why get a shake when you can have a whole Happy Meal? The cannibal lifestyle is by no means glamourised here, but if there is a revival, this could be its Let The Right One In - a downbeat, realist horror in which a father's death forces his flesh-eating family to fend for themselves. We're in for nasty gore and a grimy wallow in Mexico's underclass, but despite a frustrating lack of detail, the setting is ripe for socio-political metaphors and inappropriate comedy.
brilliantlove (18)
(Ashley Horner, 2009, UK) 97 mins
You can tell by that lower-case title how envolope-pushingly edgy this wants to be. And sure enough there's strong sex and hipster protagonists named Manchester and Noon. At heart, though, it's a natural, unashamed...
(Jorge Michel Grau, 2010, Mexico) Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato. 90 mins
Vampires are so last season, so bring on the cannibals! Why get a shake when you can have a whole Happy Meal? The cannibal lifestyle is by no means glamourised here, but if there is a revival, this could be its Let The Right One In - a downbeat, realist horror in which a father's death forces his flesh-eating family to fend for themselves. We're in for nasty gore and a grimy wallow in Mexico's underclass, but despite a frustrating lack of detail, the setting is ripe for socio-political metaphors and inappropriate comedy.
brilliantlove (18)
(Ashley Horner, 2009, UK) 97 mins
You can tell by that lower-case title how envolope-pushingly edgy this wants to be. And sure enough there's strong sex and hipster protagonists named Manchester and Noon. At heart, though, it's a natural, unashamed...
- 11/13/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
These monochrome slices of 50s and 60s life make for a fascinating, if faintly necrophiliac, experience, says Peter Bradshaw
The British Film Institute has re-released this quartet of short films from the 50s and early 60s about British public life by the documentarist John Krish. They are heartstopping social-realist monochrome visions of the way we lived then, and immersing yourself in these beautifully photographed and sparely narrated films is a fascinating, if faintly necrophiliac experience. Britain looked pinched, starved, a little depressed — more than ready for the Beatles' first LP. The Elephant Will Never Forget (1953) is an elegiac farewell to the London trams; They Took Us to the Sea (1961) is a record of an Nspcc-sponsored day out to the seaside at Weston-Super-Mare for deprived Birmingham kids, labelled on the train like wartime evacuees. Our School (1962) showed the gloriously robust classroom style of teachers at a Hertfordshire secondary modern: a subject...
The British Film Institute has re-released this quartet of short films from the 50s and early 60s about British public life by the documentarist John Krish. They are heartstopping social-realist monochrome visions of the way we lived then, and immersing yourself in these beautifully photographed and sparely narrated films is a fascinating, if faintly necrophiliac experience. Britain looked pinched, starved, a little depressed — more than ready for the Beatles' first LP. The Elephant Will Never Forget (1953) is an elegiac farewell to the London trams; They Took Us to the Sea (1961) is a record of an Nspcc-sponsored day out to the seaside at Weston-Super-Mare for deprived Birmingham kids, labelled on the train like wartime evacuees. Our School (1962) showed the gloriously robust classroom style of teachers at a Hertfordshire secondary modern: a subject...
- 11/11/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Due Date (15)
(Todd Phillips, 2010, Us) Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Danny McBride, Juliette Lewis. 95 mins
Last year's The Hangover was an unexpected, unpredictable delight, but Phillips's follow-up is the exact opposite. Where The Hangover ran around in crazy loops, this travels down a long, straight, well-travelled road where you can see the obstacles and contrivances coming up a mile off. A shame since our odd couple are potentially great – Downey Jr the uptight straight man with a baby on the way; Galifianakis another memorable borderline-sociopath – and there are some laughs. But for every decent joke, there's an unfunny gross-out gag, a "surprise" twist or an unlikely escapade. It feels more like desperation rather than inspiration.
Another Year (12A)
(Mike Leigh, 2010, UK) Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville. 130 mins
Dependable as ever, kindly Uncle Mike returns with another harvest from the allotment. This one tracks a happy...
(Todd Phillips, 2010, Us) Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Danny McBride, Juliette Lewis. 95 mins
Last year's The Hangover was an unexpected, unpredictable delight, but Phillips's follow-up is the exact opposite. Where The Hangover ran around in crazy loops, this travels down a long, straight, well-travelled road where you can see the obstacles and contrivances coming up a mile off. A shame since our odd couple are potentially great – Downey Jr the uptight straight man with a baby on the way; Galifianakis another memorable borderline-sociopath – and there are some laughs. But for every decent joke, there's an unfunny gross-out gag, a "surprise" twist or an unlikely escapade. It feels more like desperation rather than inspiration.
Another Year (12A)
(Mike Leigh, 2010, UK) Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville. 130 mins
Dependable as ever, kindly Uncle Mike returns with another harvest from the allotment. This one tracks a happy...
- 11/6/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
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