Apr 16th   
Back to Black* (15)   
(Strand Arts Centre, Belfast)          

(GB 2024)    
Studio Canal/Monumental. 122m.

Young English jazz/blues singer Amy Winehouse emulates her musical family and becomes a star, at the cost of her own stormy love life and use of drugs.
Entertaining combination of hagiography and the high life, emphasising generally the more positive aspects of a relatively recent career (Winehouse died in 2011 at the age of only 27) for the sake of fans and family, and the music - of all kinds - is well assembled and performed.

Written by: Matt Greenhalgh.
Producers: Alison Owen, Debra Hayward, Nicky Kentish-Barnes.
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Starring: Marisa Abela, Jack O'Connell, Eddie Marsan, Lesley Manville, Juliet Cowen, Sam Buchanan, Spike Fearn.
Music: Polly Morgan.
Music: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis.
Music Producer: Giles Martin.
Editing: Martin Walsh, Laurence Johnson.

Apr 9th   
The Scapegoat**      
(GB 1958)                  
MGM/Du Maurier-Guinness. 92m. bw

An aimless wanderer in France is encountered by his ne'r do well aristocratic double, who takes advantage of the situation.
Illustriously cast but apparently a troubled production, well acted but not entirely satisfying on the surface, with Ms. Davis relegated to cutaways in a small role that would have better suited Margaret Rutherford.

Written by: Robert Hamer, Gore Vidal, from the novel by Daphne Du Maurier.
Producer: Michael Balcon.
Director: Robert Hamer.
Starring: Alec Guinness, Bette Davis, Nicole Maurey, Irene Worth, Annette Bartlett, Pamela Brown, Geoffrey Keen, Noel Howlett, Peter Bull, Alan Webb, Eddie Byrne, Peter Sallis.
Photography: Paul Beeson.
Music: Bronislau Kaper (a late addition).

Preceded by:
Galaxy of Stars*
(US 1936. MGM. bw; 3 minute segment of an MGM promo to European audience, with the famous duo dubbed into French in the surviving footage.; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson.)

Mar 29th  
Barabbas*      
(US/Ita 1961)       
Columbia/Dino De Laurentiis. 137m. Technirama

The criminal spared at the trial of Jesus spends the rest of his life conflicted by the event.
Laboured Biblical drama seen from the sidelines, trying to exceed Ben-Hur with more thoughtful overtones, but lacking the spectacle of a chariot race, although the Coliseum is impressively recreated, but routinely filmed.

Written by: Christopher Fry, based on the novel by Par Lagerkvist.
Producer: Dino De Laurentiis.
Director: Richard Fleischer.
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Silvano Mangano, Vittorio Gassman, Arthur Kennedy (as Pilate), Harry Andrews (as Peter), Jack Palance, Katy Jurado, Valentina Cortesa, Norman Wooland, Ernest Borgnine, Douglas Fowley.
Photography: Aldo Tonti.
Music: Mario Nascimbene.
Art Direction: Mario Chiari.

BARABBAS (1961). The crucifixion scene, filmed in Italy to coincide with a Solar eclipse. Whether Work of God or not, the corona shines in a cross shape directly over the central cross.

                        

Mar 26th   
The Battle of Algiers**       
(Ita/Algeria 1966)     
Casbah/Igor. 120m. bw

Semi-documentary style depiction of the revolution by Algerian FRN rebels and the subsequent retribution by the colonial French.
Serving, sadly, as a blueprint for future terrorist conflicts (such as Iraq and the present one in Gaza) and also a timely piece during America's war in Vietnam, this vividly filmed and often harrowing piece of neo-realism takes no sides commendably, although not surprisingly any French participation as such is entirely voluntary.

Written by: Franco Solinas, Gillo Pontecorvo.
Producers: Antonio Musu, Saadi Yacef. 
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo.
Starring: Braham haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef, Samia Kerbush, Mohamed Ben Kassen.
Photography: Marcello Gatti.
Music: Ennio Morricone, Gillo Pontecorvo.
Editing: Mario Morra, Mario Serandrei.

Mar 18th   
The Count of Monte Cristo***   
(US 1934)       
Reliance. 114m. bw

A sailor is framed for assisting an ally of Napoleon's and is left for dead in prison, but escapes to discover a fortune, and claims his revenge.
Romanticised but also visually memorable adventure with some bleak frankness in its prison scenes as well as a heavily spiritual influence. Its star's only venture into Hollywood, but a good one

Written by: Philip Dunne, Rowland V. Lee, Dan Tothero, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
Producer: Edward Small.
Director: Rowland V. Lee.
Starring: Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer, Raymond Walburn, O.P. Heggie, Douglas Walton, Irene Hervey, Georgia Caine, Lawrence Grant, Holmes Herbert.
Photography: J. Peverell Marley.
Music: Alfred Newman.

Mar 15th  
Morning Glory*    
(US 2010)                                      
Paramount/Bad Robot/Goldcrest. 107m. Panavision

An enthusiastic young TV director tries to revive a struggling New York breakfast show by hiring a distinguished newsreader as curmudgeonly co-host.
The satirical madness of Network translated in gentler romantic comedy terms, with some predictably sentimental and other times frantically energetic moments (with vague elements of Preston Sturges), with an Alice in Wonderland-like central figure running around, and supporting stars who are underused but give the film some conviction.

Written by: Aline Brosh McKenna.
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk.
Director: Roger Michell.
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, John Pankow, Matt Molloy, 50 Cent. 
Photography: Alwin H. Kuchler.
Music: David Arnold.
Editing: Dan Farrell, Nick Moore, Steven Weisberg.

Mar 7th  
The Thief of Bagdad**  
(US 1924)
126m. bw. silent

An agile thief wins the hand of the Caliph's daughter as well as defending the city from a Mongol invasion.
Lavish Fairbanks fantasy in which much of the interest and imagination is to be found in the latter half of the film.

Written by: Achmed Abdullah, Lotta Woods, Douglas Fairbanks.
Producer: Douglas Fairbanks.
Director: Raoul Walsh.
Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Julianne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Sojin Kaniyama, Charles Belcher, Anna May Wong, Brandon Hurst, Noble Johnson.
Photography: Arthur Edeson.
Production Design: William Cameron Menzies.

Music Composer/Conductor: Carl Davis.

Preceded by:
The New Cardinal*
(Czech 2024. 10m.; Identical twin brothers, one a priest and the other a strip club owner, come to terms with each other's role in life.; w, d: Matej Stepan; s: Scott Sophos, Diana Dulinkova. ph: Ales Svoboda.)

THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924). In many ways the Tom Cruise of his day (and more), Douglas Fairbanks was able to command huge sets and special effects for his specially tailored star action vehicles.