Dec 31st
The Vampire Lovers*
GB 1970. Hammer/American International. 91m.

Innocent young women (and some men) fall victim to a mysterious lady vampire.
About as bloodthirsty and camp (and mildly pornographic) as Hammer can get: an otherwise fairly straight adaptation of a famous pre-Dracula vampire tale, with most of the familiar Hammer ingredients, plus added lesbian overtones.

Written by: Tudor Gates, Harry Fine, Michael Styles, based on the story "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Producers: Harry Fine, Michael Style.
Director: Roy Ward Baker.
Starring: Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Douglas Wilmer, Dawn Addams, Pippa Steele, Jon Finch, Ferdy Mayne, Harvey Hall.
Photography: Moray Grant.
Music: Harry Robinson.

Dec 31st
The Day the Earth Stood Still* (12A)
Vue Romford

A biologist tries to persuade an alien visitor who is on a mission of preservation and destruction, that the human race is still worth saving.
Sombre and inevitably inferior remake, which has some interesting things to say and a surprisingly strong-willed performance from the expectantly wooden Keanu Reeves. But little to do with the content or style of the original 1951 film, which is as much a good thing as a bad thing.

d: Scott Derrickson.
s: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, James Hong

Dec 30th
Dangerous Moonlight**
GB 1941. RKO. 98m. bw

A Warsaw concert pianist joins the RAF, in spite of the best efforts from friends who want to preserve his talent.
Good, well measured war melodrama, with the Warsaw Concerto at its centre becoming more famous than the film, which is nonetheless well made and acted, and the propaganda message also fits in perfectly (and unobtrusively) with the tone of the story.

Written by: Terence Young, Brian Desmond Hurst, Rodney Ackland.
Producer: William Sistrom.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst.
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Sally Gray, Derrick de Marney, Cecil Parker, Percy Parsons, Kenneth Kent, Frederick Valk, Michael Rennie, Guy Middleton, John Laurie.
Photography: Georges Perinal, Ronald Neame.
Music: Richard Addinsell.

Dec 30th
Edward Scissorhands**
US 1990. Twentieth Century Fox. 105m.

A manufactured boy with scissors for hands tries to fit in with his gossipy neighbours, and falls in love with the daughter of the cosmetics lady who has taken him in.
Slightly contrived but highly imaginative modern fairy tale, with all this director's best elements. Dwelling for rather too long on its satire of the American Dream, but with some beautiful moments and a good ensemble cast.

Written by: Caroline Thompson, from a story by herself and Tim Burton.
Producers: Denise Di Novi, Tim Burton.
Director: Tim Burton.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Alan Arkin, Vincent Price, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker.
Photography: Stefan Czapsky.
Music: Danny Elfman.
Production Design: Bo Welch.
Special Make-up Effects: Stan Winston.

Preceded by:
The Homeless Flea*
(US 1940. 7m; p: Rudolf Ising.)

Preceded by:
Robert Benchley in
That Inferior Feeling**
(US 1939. MGM. 10m. bw; d: Basil Wrangell.)

Dec 28th
The Little Vampire**
Ger/Netherlands/US 2000. Cometstone/Aurora Media/Propaganda Films/Stonewood Communications. 95m.

A dysfunctional American child in Scotland befriends a family of vampires who are trying to break an ancient curse.
Amiable children's fantasy adventure, turning conventional horror wisdom on its head by having vampires as heroes and their hunters as villains, and plenty of Gothic special effects instead of scares. The cast throw themselves into it enthusiastically.

Written by: Larry Wilson, Karey Kirkpatrick, based on the books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg.
Producer: Richard Claus.
Director: Uli Edel.
Starring: Jonathan Lipnicki, Rollo Weeks, Richard E. Grant, Jim Carter, Alice Krige, Pamela Gidley, Tommy Hinkley, Anna Popplewell, Dean Cook, John Wood, Jake D'Arcy, Elizabeth Berrington.
Music: Nigel Clarke, Michael Csanyi-Wills.
Production Design: Joseph Nemec.
Costume: James Acheson.
Visual Effects: Bernd Angerer.

Dec 27th
The Hellfire Club*
GB 1960. Regal/New World. 93m. Dyaliscope

A travelling carnival performer fights for his rightful claim to an inheritance from the notorious leader of the Hellfire Club, Lord Netherden.
Lurid historical adventure disguised by a misleading horror title, from producers noted for ripping-off Hammer (see also Blood of the Vampire), helped along by performances.

Written by: Leon Griffiths, Jimmy Sangster.
Producers/Directors/Photography: Robert S. Baker.
Starring: Keith Michell, Adrienne Corri, Peter Cushing, Peter Arne, Kai Fischer, Bill Owen, David Lodge, Francis Matthews, Miles Malleson, Andrew Faulds, Martin Stephens.
Music: Clifton Parker.

Dec 24th
Love Actually**
GB 2003. Universal/Studio Canal/Working Title/DNA Films. 135m. Panavision

Various love stories leading up to Christmas Eve.
Multi-faceted, largely sentimental romantic comedy compendium, with romances ranging from the amusing and the powerful to the improbable, and cleverly skipping between each of them at quite an agreeable pace, with borrowings from Four Weddings and a Funeral, and an excellent all-star cast.

Written and Directed by: Richard Curtis.
Producers: Duncan Kenworthy, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner.
Starring (in no particular order): Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Laura Linney, Kris Marshall, Billy Bob Thornton, Claudia Schiffer, Rowan Atkinson, Denise Richards, and others.
Photography: Michael Coulter.
Music: Craig Armstrong.
Production Design: Jim Clay.

Dec 22nd
Changeling* (15)
Odeon Colchester

In 1920s Los Angeles a single mother loses her only son, but the corrupt police force recover an impostor.
Grim weepie with good period detail, as much concerned with exposing immoral policing as the plight of its central character (who hardly breaks her mascara in spite of all the horrors heaped upon her), starting off in fairly downbeat fashion and rarely letting up from then on, with at least a mercifully happy conclusion. Powerful, interesting entertainment, for those able to take the difficult subject and the overlength.

d: Clint Eastwood
s: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly, Jeffrey Donovan, Colm Feore, Eddie Alderson, Gattlin Griffith

DOUBLE BILL! The Philadelphia Story & High Society

Dec 17th
The Philadelphia Story***
US 1940. MGM. 112m. bw

A reclusive socialite about to remarry is tempted away by the arrival of her first husband and a humdrum but passionate gossip magazine journalist.
After a decade of being branded "box office poison", Katharine Hepburn struck gold with this carefully tailoured vehicle (adapted from her own stage success) alongside two eligible but very different leading men; Stewart steals most of the attention, although with Cary Grant around the ultimate outcome is rarely in doubt. Good, sparky entertainment, made with top talent.

Written by: Donald Ogden Stewart, Waldo Salt, from the play by Philip Barry.
Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Director: George Cukor.
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, John Halliday, May Nash, Virginia Weidler, Henry Daniell.
Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg.
Music: Franz Waxman.

High Society**
US 1956. MGM. 106m. Vistavision

Enjoyable and lavish but also surprisingly sloppy musical remake, where the plot of the original sits uncomfortably with some of the numbers, and Crosby and Sinatra are miscast in each other's roles. The singers are generally more memorable than their songs.

Written by: John Patrick.
Producer: Sol C. Siegel.
Director: Charles Walters.
Starring: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Armstrong and his band, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer, Margalo Gilmore.
Photography: Paul C. Vogel.
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter.
Musical Direction: Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin.
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters.

Dec 11th
Ladies in Lavender**
GB 2004. Scala/Baker Street/UK Film Council/Take Partnerships. 104m.

A Polish boy is washed ashore off the coast of Cornwall and rescued by two elderly sisters, but some of the locals and a visiting Russian painter are also interested...
Sexagenarian period love story, looking dangerously like cosy TV drama, but quite well crafted and developed as a story, with some of the sub-plots sketched in quite well, and the stars give good value for money.

Written and Directed by: Charles Dance, from the short story by William J. Locke.
Producer: Nicolas Brown.
Starring: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel Bruhl, Natascha McElhone, Miriam Margolyes, David Warner, Clive Russell, Freddie Jones, Geoffrey Bayldon.
Photography: Peter Biziou.
Music: Nigel Moss.
Production Design: Caroline Amies.

Laurel & Hardy at Xmas

Dec 6th
Manifest Theatre, Manningtree

Another evening of the films organised by the "Men O'War" Tent of The Sons of the Desert L&H Appreciation Society, which followed a Christmas/winter theme, with a quiz half-way through where the organisers performed some Charades sketches dressed as familiar L&H characters. As to the films selected, it was definitely a case of saving the Best for First:

Big Business***
(US 1929. 20m. bw. silent; Christmas tree sellers pester an uncooperative customer, and then gradually proceed to destroy each others' property.; w: Leo McCarey, H.M. Walker; d: James Horne; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Tiny Sandford.)

Laughing Gravy***
(US 1931. 20m. bw; Stan and Ollie try to keep their pet dog away from the unscrupulous landlord.; w: H.M. Walker; d: James Horne; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlie Hall.)

Below Zero*
(US 1930. 20m. bw; Two hard-up street musicians discover a wallet lying in the street, which happens to belong to the policeman whom they invite for lunch.; w: H.M.Walker; d: James Parrott; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hard, Frank Holliday, Tiny Sandford, Charlie Hall.)

The Fixer-Uppers*
(US 1935. 20m. bw; Ollie tries to patch-up a neglected wife's marriage by pretending to have an affair - the husband naturally misunderstands.; d: Charles Rogers; s: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Mae Busch, Charles Middleton, Arthur Housman.)
+ there is no writer credit for this film, although the plot does bear strong similarities to a much earlier L&H silent, Slipping Wives in 1927.

Dec 5th
Mosquito Squadron
GB 1968. United Artists/Oakmont. 90m.

A squadron leader falls in love with his best friend's widow, then discovers he is alive within the enemy rocket base that they are ordered to bomb.
Boys' Own WWII drama with borrowings from The Dam Busters, 633 Squadron and Operation Crossbow (with stock footage), and some good action and romantic period details, but a plot straight out of the pages of Commando magazine.

Written by: Donald S. Sanford, Joyce Perry.
Producer: Lewis J. Rachmill.
Director: Boris Sagal.
Starring: David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, David Buck, Charles Gray, Dinsdale Landen, David Dundas, Nicky Henson, Bryan Marshall, Peter Copley, Vladek Sheybal, Robert Urquhart.
Photography: Paul Beeson.
Music: Frank Cordell.

Dec 2nd
The Ipcress File**
GB 1965. Rank/Steven/Lowndes. 109m. Techniscope

Heralding in December with this suitably chilly Cold War tale, about a womanising British surveillance officer who discovers that a network of brainwashing Communists is led by one of his own superiors.
Superficial espionage thriller in deliberately downbeat surroundings (somewhere between John Le Carre and James Bond) with much of the complex plot obscured by fashionable Sixties style. The defining image of the young Michael Caine, whose success in the role of "Harry Palmer" (anonymous in the original novel) led to further outings in a similar vein to this one.

Written by: Bill Conway, James Doran, from the novel by Len Deighton.
Producer: Harry Saltzman.
Director: Sidney J. Furie.
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd, Gordon Jackson, Frank Gatliff, Aubrey Richards.
Photography: Otto Heller.
Music: John Barry.
Production Design: Ken Adam.