For this perplexing British production Peter Sellers fronts a solid cast in a numbingly literal tale of seven men buried alive in a wartime warehouse of supplies and foodstuffs — and who are forced to stay there for years, praying for rescue. Stories of this kind usually come with a heavy moral or dramatic pyrotechnics, but after the opening barrage that drives the men underground, the balance of the film is a slow march toward the inevitable. The supply of candles lasts for an entire two years . . . and then runs out. Excellent extras cover the production in detail, and a 1945 documentary about the Channel Islands is an unexpected delight.
The Blockhouse
Region Free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. (both versions) / Street Date January 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Peter Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp, Per Oscarsson, Peter Vaughan, Nicholas Jones, Leon Lissek, John Levene, Alfred Lynch.
Cinematography: Keith Goddard
Art Directors: Low Austin,...
The Blockhouse
Region Free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. (both versions) / Street Date January 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Peter Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp, Per Oscarsson, Peter Vaughan, Nicholas Jones, Leon Lissek, John Levene, Alfred Lynch.
Cinematography: Keith Goddard
Art Directors: Low Austin,...
- 1/18/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Horses as life-size puppets? The wrong soldier executed? Michael Morpurgo has had to challenge his own preconceptions when seeing his books adapted for stage or screen. But with Spielberg's War Horse film forthcoming and The Rainbow Bear a ballet, he's getting used to good surprises
To me it's all storytelling. After centuries of stories dominated by the written word, we may sometimes forget that, for many generations before, the telling of stories was almost entirely an oral tradition, with a little help from travelling players and singers and bands. These storytellers adapted, reinvented and recreated all the time, to reflect changing times and tastes.
As a maker of stories, originally written for the readers of books, I am always alert to the possibilities of finding new and inventive ways of telling them, of bringing them to a wider audience. To begin with, I never imagined anyone would think of adapting...
To me it's all storytelling. After centuries of stories dominated by the written word, we may sometimes forget that, for many generations before, the telling of stories was almost entirely an oral tradition, with a little help from travelling players and singers and bands. These storytellers adapted, reinvented and recreated all the time, to reflect changing times and tastes.
As a maker of stories, originally written for the readers of books, I am always alert to the possibilities of finding new and inventive ways of telling them, of bringing them to a wider audience. To begin with, I never imagined anyone would think of adapting...
- 8/20/2010
- by Michael Morpurgo
- The Guardian - Film News
London -- Film producer Simon Channing Williams, the longtime producing partner of Mike Leigh, has died of cancer. He was 63.
Williams died at home with his family in Cornwall on Saturday.
Channing Williams began his career at the BBC, where he worked with Leigh, Stephen Frears, James MacTaggart, Mike Newell and Michael Apted, among others.
He went on to produce 11 films with Leigh, founding Thin Man Films in 1988. Titles included "Topsy-Turvy," an Oscar winner for best makeup and costume design, Palme d'Or winner "Secrets and Lies" and the Oscar-nominated "Vera Drake."
Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" marked the duo's final production before Channing Williams' death.
Channing Williams produced several other films outside his relationship with Leigh, including Tony Palmer's "Puccini," Clive Rees' "When the Whales Came" and Tim Sullivan's "Jack and Sarah."
In 2000, he formed independent production company Potboiler Prods. with Gail Egan. Together they produced seven feature films including Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardener.
Williams died at home with his family in Cornwall on Saturday.
Channing Williams began his career at the BBC, where he worked with Leigh, Stephen Frears, James MacTaggart, Mike Newell and Michael Apted, among others.
He went on to produce 11 films with Leigh, founding Thin Man Films in 1988. Titles included "Topsy-Turvy," an Oscar winner for best makeup and costume design, Palme d'Or winner "Secrets and Lies" and the Oscar-nominated "Vera Drake."
Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" marked the duo's final production before Channing Williams' death.
Channing Williams produced several other films outside his relationship with Leigh, including Tony Palmer's "Puccini," Clive Rees' "When the Whales Came" and Tim Sullivan's "Jack and Sarah."
In 2000, he formed independent production company Potboiler Prods. with Gail Egan. Together they produced seven feature films including Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardener.
- 4/14/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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