Oct 29th
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde**
US 1920. Paramount Artcraft. 63m. bw. silent
A straightforward, economical and in some ways subtler version than most others (certainly in terms of the make-up) of the Robert Louis Stevenson tale, not quite as zestful as the later 1931 version with Fredric March, but certainly with unsettling moments, and notable for most of the main transformation scene taking place in front of camera, without use of trick photography.

Written by: Clara S. Beranger, from the play by Thomas Russell Sullivan, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Producer: Adolph Zukor.
Director: John S. Robertson.
Starring: John Barrymore, Nita Naldi, Martha Mansfield, Brandon Hurst, Charles Lane, Cecil Clovelly, J. Malcolm Dunn, Louis Wolheim.
Photography: Roy Overbaugh.

Music: Michael Murphy.

Oct 27th
3:10 to Yuma*** (15)
Electric Palace, Harwich

A US civil war veteran struggles to keep his cattle ranch together, and therefore volunteers to escort a notorious gunman onto a train to take him to justice, under the noses of his ruthless gang members.
Another revival of the ailing Western genre, perhaps the best since Unforgiven in 1990; a remake of a 1950s cult classic with some modern trimmings but all the cliches in place, including added romantic element for Russell Crowe, and some effective Saving Private Ryan-style violence for both the opening and closing action scenes. The resolution is good, but doesn't really make much sense.

d: James Mangold.
s: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Logan Lerman, Dallas Roberts

Oct 15th
Longford**
GB TVM 2006. Granada/Channel 4/HBO. 93m.

A former Labour Minister and member of the House of Lords begins a campaign for the release of Moors murderer Myra Hindley.
Interesting, sombre and extremely powerful real-life drama, more about the tests of loyalty for a very devout Roman Catholic than about the horrors of the Moors murders - which are covered with a modicum of restrained detail – and some intense performances.

Written by: Peter Morgan.
Producer: Helen Flint.
Director: Tom Hooper.
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Samantha Morton, Andy Serkis, Lindsay Duncan, Robert Pugh (as Harold Wilson), Kika Markham, Kate Miles, Anton Rodgers.
Photography: Danny Cohen.
Music: Rob Lane.
Make-up: Karen Hartley Thomas.

Oct 7th
Star!** US 1968. Twentieth Century Fox. 165m. Todd-AO

The rise to international fame of actress Gertrude Lawrence.
Slick and stylish musical showbiz biopic of a prima donna, coming across as more Julie Andrews than Gertie Lawrence. Not particularly penetrating in terms of its behind the scenes insights, and variable (though lavish) in its period details. Its lack of commercial success followed the 60s vogue away from such overblown musicals, and such a story as this could have been just as adequately told in half the length. But a good bet for star fans.

Written by: William Fairchild.
Producer: Saul Chaplin.
Director: Robert Wise.
Starring: Julie Andrews, Daniel Massey (as his godfather Noël Coward), Michael Craig, Richard Crenna, Robert Reed, John Collin, Alan Oppenheimer, Bruce Forsyth, Beryl Reid, Jenny Agutter.
Photography: Ernest Laszlo.
Musical Direction: Lennie Hayton.
Production Design: Boris Leven.
Costume: Donald Brooks.
Choreography: Michael Kidd.

Oct 4th
The Brave One** (18)
(Odeon Colchester)

A radio broadcaster survives a brutal mugging in which her fiancee is killed, and out of self-defence she turns vigilante.
After being the object of a vigilante's obsession in Scorsese's Taxi Driver in 1976, Jodie Foster is herself the one with the gun this time, in a slick, slightly contrived urban thriller, told with a generally intelligent and mature perspective on its subject, but also slightly pessimistic in its view of modern New York.

d: Neil Jordan
s: Jodie Foster, Terence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt, Mary Steenburgen