Reviews

Although rather strangely described as a comedy, this is mainly a melodrama, albeit with the occasional amusing incident. Brenda Blethyn plays a self absorbed woman who imagines she is helping people while actually causing chaos in their lives. Warren Clarke is her long suffering husband. There is a lot of shouting, and quite a lot of broken glass. The best character is the baby, who remains cheerful and smiling despite being surrounded by mostly disagreeable adults. The ending is very odd, with no resolution of any kind, possibly a second series was envisaged? If so, can't say I greatly regret that it never happened.

A weird melodrama about an American girl (Carol Lynley) who has just arrived in London and whose small daughter Bunny goes missing from her nursery school. Nobody at the school remembers seeing Bunny, and people begin to question whether she actually exists. Laurence Olivier is the rather lackadaisical detective who investigates Bunny's disappearance, and Noel Coward is Lynley's creepy landlord. The film builds to a wildly over the top and frankly unbelievable climax. If Laurence Olivier had been a halfway competent detective the whole thing could have been wrapped up an hour earlier, and I wish it had been.

A strange, melancholy story of Sherlock Holmes's old age. He is living in the country with his grumpy housekeeper and her young son. Not a great deal happens, and unless you are very interested in bees there isn't much to see here. I was hoping for something a bit more interesting, but instead it's just bees, bees,, bees, all the way. I managed to stay awake until the end, but only just.

A charming film based on two lesser known Grimms fairy tales - The Seven Ravens, and The Six Swans. A young girl called Bohdanka (Martha Issova) has grown up believing she is an only child, then discovers that she had seven brothers who were accidentally turned into ravens by her mother. Bohdanka sets out to find her brothers and free them from the spell they are under. Martha Issova is delightful as the spirited heroine, Prince Bartolomej (Lukas Prikazsky) is more interesting than the usual fairy tale prince, the ravens are remarkably lifelike, and the fairy tale atmosphere is beautifully captured in this enchanting film.

Kay Francis is a divorcee who happens to overhear her ex husband's new wife (Genevieve Tobin) plotting an assignation with her would be lover (George Brent). Francis hatches an elaborate plot to lure Tobin and Brent to her holiday home, and then expose them to her ex, so that she can get him back. However, things start to go wrong, not least because Francis begins to be attracted to Brent, and he to her. and the plot becomes even more confused by a couple of jewel thieves, until just about everyone is pretending to be someone else, in fact it reminds me a bit of a PG.Wodehouse novel, which generally contain several imposters. It is all quite hilarious.

Edna May Oliver is on the jury at the trial of a woman accused of murdering her husband. the woman insists it was an accident, but all the evidence seems to be against her. Edna May Oliver is the only juror who believes her innocent, and sets out to talk the other jurors round to her point of view. It is a very similar plot to the more famous Twelve Angry Men, except that it is a comedy and played mainly for laughs. If you like Edna May Oliver you will enjoy this, she is centre stage throughout the film and is as always a delight.

Quite an amusing story set in the world of advertising. Deborah (Adrienne Cori) and Charles (Thorley Walters) both work for the same advertising firm and are soon to be married. But the firm is old fashioned, and does not employ married women, it seems Deborah will be fired when they marry. But the firm changes its policy so Deborah can stay on. Predictably this leads to some problems, with both trying to keep up with office and housework, not to mention Charles getting jealous when Deborah seems to be having more success, and Deborah getting jealous when a glamorous blonde at work seems to have her eye on Charles. I found it all quite entertaining,

Marion Davies is Marge, a secretary who has trouble with unwelcome advances from her bosses. One day she hears of a job working for a publisher who only hires plain secretaries. So Marge gets a makeover and is plain enough to get the job. The lady publisher who employs her doesn't want her male writers distracted by pretty secretaries. So Marge is sent to work for writer Freddy Matthews (Robert Montgomery) and keep his mind on his job. Naturally this leads to a lot of complications. Marion Davies is very funny as Marge, and so is Patsy Kelly as Marge's down-to-earth friend Sadie. Robert Montgomery is delightful as always. I love this film, it's so funny, a pity it's not better known.

Jean Arthur is happily married to her second husband, Melvyn Douglas, when she finds out to her shock that her first husband, Fred Macmurray, thought drowned, is actually still alive. When MacMurray returns, both husband start competing for Arthur's attention, and she finds she likes it, having felt somewhat neglected before. She is in no hurry to make up her mind. Very funny comedy, with great performances from everyone, including a marvellous Harry Davenport as Arthur's bemused father. I thought this much funnier than the similar His Favorite Wife, which came out the same year and is better known.

The story of the earlier part of Queen Victoria's reign, and her marriage to Prince Albert. it is fairly entertaining, though Jenna Coleman is not at all my idea of Victoria, she was a much warmer, more impulsive, more passionate character than the rather cold and reserved Coleman portrays her. Some other things are very odd, Prince Albert's brother Ernest for example did not spend all his time hanging around the English court as he seems to do in this series, nor did he have any plans to marry an English duchess - he married a German princess in 1842. The timeline is all over the place - Lehzen for instance left England in 1841, before the Queen and Albert went to Scotland or France. The Repeal of the Corn Laws occurred in 1846, three years after Drummond was shot (in the back). And it is absurd to suggest that anyone was threatened with dismissal over the boy Jones - his adventures in Buckingham Palace were hardly a secret, they were in all the papers, and he was offered an engagement on the music halls talking about his experiences. But it's all quite fun so long as you don't take it seriously as history.

A mildly entertaining modern reworking of the Captain marvel comic book character. Captain Marvel is a girl for some reason, and the film is a bit slow to get going, the beginning part is rather boring. But once the action moves to earth in the 1990s, it becomes fairly enjoyable, with some humorous moments, and 90s nostalgia for those who think of the 90s as a long time ago (to me it seems like yesterday). The best character is the cat, who gives a great performance. Marvel's detective sidekick is good too. I have seen much worse superhero films.

Claudette Colbert is a chorus girl stranded in Paris without money. She is befriended by taxi driver Don Ameche, who is clearly attracted to her and offers her help, but then she manages to gatecrash a posh party, masquerading as a Hungarian baroness. Here she meets a wealthy gentleman (John Barrymore) who enlists her aid to help him break up the budding romance of his wife (Mary Astor) with a gigolo, which naturally leads to complications. John Barrymore is absolutely hilarious as the conniving husband, he and Colbert have some very funny comic scenes together. Don Ameche is very funny too. This is a delightful and charming film.

Delightful comedy in which Kay Francis is a divorcee who devises a cunning plot to get her ex husband back from his new wife (Genevive Tobin) whom she overhears planning a rendezvous with another man (George Brent). Things get very complicated and several people end up pretending to be someone else, including a couple of jewel thieves. With all the complications, imposters etc, this film reminds me a bit of a story by P.G. Wodehouse, his books were always rich with imposters, and he had more than one jewel thieving couple. He could have written this entertaining tale, it even has a formidable elderly aunt (Helen Lowell). Great fun.

Delightfully absurd comedy in which Betsy Drake plays Patsy Douglas, a secretary working for an advertising agency. Their most important account is Baxter's Babyfoods, and since Patsy has noticed that women carrying babies get given seats on the subway, one night she steals the discarded doll that has been used in the advertising display, in order to get a seat on her way home. It just happens that Cyrus Baxter (Edmund Gwenn) owner of Baxter's Babyfoods, is travelling on the same train. This leads to unforeseen complications, and Patsy finds herself having to play the role of single parent to her 'baby'. Then thing start to get really complicated. The whole thing is very silly but great fun.

Delightfully absurd comedy in which Joan Blondell is the long suffering secretary to a bestselling author (Warren William) who is being pursued by his ex girlfriend (Genevieve Tobin) who is convinced she is the model for the heroines of his books. To add to the confusion, her sister and brother-in-law turn up, determined to avert a scandal, and her hapless husband also gets dragged into the perplexing situation. It is all very funny with Warren William particularly amusing as the egotistical but charming author. A treat for anyone who enjoys screwball comedy.

A rather melancholy account of Shakespeare's declining years in Stratford, though there are a few more cheerful moments to lighten the gloom. Shakespeare comes home to stay after having been mostly absent in London for the past twenty years, still brooding over the death of his son Hamnet, and is given a moderate welcome by his wife Anne (the ever reliable Judi Dench) and his two daughters. There are some amusing references to the 'second best bed' (which Shakespeare famously left his wife in his will) and a rather unlikely plot about some poetry which may or may not have been written by the long dead Hamnet. Meanwhile his daughters have their own problems. It is all a bit sad and slow, but with some pleasant touches that make it worth watching.

I thought the actresses who.played Mary and Elizabeth were both excellent, and as far as historical accuracy went, it could have been a lot worse. Of course, there is a fictitous meeting between the two queens, but no filmmaker who has tackled this subject has ever been able to resist that. I did wonder why everyone was dressed in black all the time, a bit more colour would have been nice. Also it was a pity that Mary's own words at her execution were not used, her dry comment to the executioners that she had never before had such grooms of the chamber to make her ready is better than anything a scriptwrier could think up. Nor do we see anything of Elizabeth's agonising over whether or not to sign the warrant for Mary's execution, nor her total meltdown afterwards. I thought the actor playing John Knox was particularly good, it was only when the credits rolled at the end that I realised it ws David Tennant. I blame the beard.

The story of the marriage of Colette and her first husband Wily is lovingly told in this beautiful film. Keira Knightley is perfect as Colette, and so is Dominic West as Wily, with all the supporting cast first rate as well. Colette was a country girl transposed to the world of literary Paris, who found her own talent as a writer, and began writing for Wily. Her first novel, Claudine at School, published under her husband's name, was a sensation. Considered very risqué at the time (it would appear quite tame nowadays) it led to sequels and a whole range of products - Claudine sweets, soap, cigarettes etc. And Colette eventually became restive about her husband getting the credit for her books, and wanted recognition of her own. Only one small flaw in this charming film - Colette's hair isn't nearly long enough. In real life it was down to her ankles. Possibly the wig department was running out of money?

A little girl called Bess Throgmorton while visiting London encounters the ghost of Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom she is distantly related. He is tired of hanging around the Tower of London after four hundred years, so persuades her to let him return with her to her home, a farm in Devon, near to where he spent his childhood. Naturally complications arise from having a ghost around the house, and then there are the financial problems her parents are having, struggling to keep the farm going. But perhaps Sir Walter can help with that? This is a very enjoyable dramatization of Dick King-Smith's book, with Ronald Pickup very good as Sir Walter, and Prunella Scales both funny and touching as Bess's houseproud Aunt Ellie. Fun for anyone who enjoys light comic fantasy.

An excellent dramatization of Leon Garfield's book about an 18th century pickpocket. Smith robs an elderly gentleman, and minutes later the gentleman is murdered. Smith realizes that the murderers are looking for the document that he just filched from the old gentleman. He knows the document must be valuable - but unfortunately he can't read. Neither can his two sisters, who make a living altering clothes from hanged felons, though one helpfully suggests that a word that 'looks like a nest of maggots' is 'felonious'. So Smith is on the lookout for someone who can read his document, while trying to evade the people who want to get their hands on it. This is a thrilling story with some wonderful characters - Smith's two sisters are particularly amusing, and there is an entertaining performance from Windsor Davies as the singing jailer of Newgate prison. 18th century London is convincingly evoked. Great fun for anyone who enjoys historical adventure stories with good characters and plenty of humour.

The mishaps of a family from New York buying a house in Connecticut, and finding it needs to be rebuilt. This film always reminds me of James Thurber's reference to " Blandings syndrome - the idea that anything that goes wrong around a house is funny." The Blandings keep changing their minds about what they want the house to be like, additions etc, then complain when it costs more money. Why wouldn't it? There are funny moments in this film (the scene with the painters is my favourite), but some of it I just find annoying rather than funny, so many problems they have could have been easily avoided if they used even a little intelligence. And why is Melvyn Douglas hanging around all the time? i find the ending a bit questionable as well, does the right person get the credit? Altogether, although amusing enough in its way, this isn't a film I find particularly enjoyable, a lot of it is heavy going, and the joke of everything being more expensive, taking longer, etc, wears thin pretty quickly.

Beautiful Rosemary Barton , wife of wealthy George Barton, dies by poison at a dinner party, and as one of the guests is a government minister who was having an affair with Rosemary, Colonel Geoffrey Reece (Oliver Ford Davies) and his wife Dr Catherine Kendall (Pauline Collins) are called on to solve the mystery. Although some of the characters are very different from the ones in the book, the basic plot remains the same, as does the identity of the murderer. The detectives, Reece and Kendall, have replaced the novel's Colonel Race (contrary to what another reviewer seems to think, Sparkling Cyanide is not a Poirot novel) but I didn't mind that as I found their characters very entertaining, rather reminiscent of the elderly Tommy and Tuppence, especially as their children are, like Tommy and Tuppence's offspring, unaware of the exciting activities of their parents. I would have liked to see them in some more adventures. I suppose it's too late now for a spin off series.

This is not the best known of Cliff Richard's films, but personally I like it very much. Cliff plays an ambitious young businessman helping a girl who lives on a narrow-boat to start her own restaurant. Deborah Watling is charming as the young chef, and George Cole and Hugh Griffith provide strong comic support, with Anthony Andrews suitably suave as Cliff's rival. The songs are good, especially the title song Take Me High. The most striking thing about the film though is the Birmingham location, i don't think there are many films set in Birmingham, and I imagine very few musicals, possibly this film is unique in that respect. Birmingham is not the most picturesque of cities, but this film shows it in quite an attractive light, especially the canal scenes. Altogether this is a charming film.