Wednesday, July 28, 2010

July 27th
The Bullfighters*
US 1945. Twentieth Century Fox. 60m. bw

Stan poses as a famous matador in Mexico where he and Ollie are in hiding from a vengeful ex-convict.
The last of L&H's features at Fox, and one of their better ones (which isn't saying much); a strung together plot with occasionally well sustained slapstick, echoing some of their earlier work.

Written by: Scott Darling.
Producer: William Girard.
Director: Mal St. Clair.
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Ralph Sanford, Richard Lane, Carol Andrews, Margo Woode, Diosa Costello.
Photography: Norbert Brodine.
Music: David Buttolph.

Preceded by:
Baby Herman & Roger Rabbit in
Tummy Trouble**
(US 1989. Walt Disney/Amblin. 7m.; Imaginative tribute to the short cartoons of Tex Avery and the like, a useful "mini" version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.; d: Rob Minkoff; voices of Charles Fleischer, Lou Hersch, Kathleen Turner.)

Friday, July 23, 2010

July 22nd
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman** (12A)
Electric Palace, Harwich

GB 1950. Romulus/Dorkay. 122m.

Off the Spanish island of Esperanza, a mysterious lone yachtsman turns out to be the legendary Flying Dutchman, condemned to eternally sail the seas until he finds the woman who will die for him.
Whimsical romance with a dream-like atmosphere that successfully mixes fantasy with reality, although some of these images seem to go on forever. An oddity for British cinema but an intriguing one.

Written and Directed by: Albert Lewin.
Producers: Albert Lewin, Joe Kauffman.
Starring: Ava Gardner, James Mason, Harold Warrender, Nigel Patrick, Sheila Sim, Mario Cabre, Marius Goring, John Laurie.
Photography: Jack Cardiff.
Music: Allan Rawsthorne.
Production Design: John Bryan.

Monday, July 19, 2010

July 18th
Inception* (12A)
Notting Hill Coronet

A member of the thought police tries to plant an idea in someone's head, but is constantly haunted by subconscious memories of his dead wife.
Hard to follow psychological blockbuster, of dreams within dreams (five of them) of variable imagination, but the relentless soundtrack drives most logical thought out of people's heads - appropriately.

d: Christopher Nolan
s: Leonardo Di Caprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Lukas Haas, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Caine

Friday, July 16, 2010

July 16th
Love Field**
US 1991. Orion. 104m.

A Texas housewife obsesses with traveling to Washington to attend the President Kennedy's funeral, with the aid of a black single father who is forced to go on the run.
Compulsive thriller drama with excellent period detail, a skillful encompassing of the various emotions and prejudices of the time. Shamefully overlooked in Britain with a straight-to-video release, perhaps because the subject of interracial romance is still a touchy one.

Written by: Don Roos.
Producers: Midge Sanford, Sarah Pillsbury.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan.
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Haysbert, Stephanie McFadden, Brian Kerwin, Louise Latham.
Photography: Ralf Bode.
Music: Bill Payne, Jerry Goldsmith.

Preceded by:
Cosmic Zoom***
(Canada 1968. 8m.; A journey into inner and outer space, from the furthest reaches of the known galaxy down to the atom.; p: Robert Verrall, Joseph Koenig; drawings: Eva Szasz; m: Pierre F. Brault.)

Friday, July 09, 2010

July 8th
Please Turn Over*
GB 1959. Anglo Amalgamated. 87m. bw

A suburban family is shocked to realise that their daughter's scandalous novel is an exaggerated version of themselves.
Mostly over-the-top farce with an energetic cast and some bright flourishes.

Written by: Norman Hudis, based on the play "Book of the Month" by Basil Thomas.
Producer: Peter Rogers.
Director: Gerald Thomas.
Starring: Ted Ray, Jean Kent, Julia Lockwood, Leslie Phillips, June Jago, Lionel Jeffries, Joan Sims, Dilys Laye, Tim Seely, Charles Hawtrey.
Photography: Ted Scaife.
Music: Bruce Montgomery.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Jul 1st
The Millionairess*
GB 1960. Twentieth Century Fox/Dimitri de Grunewald. 90m. Cinemascope

A haughty heiress falls for a humble Indian doctor.
Lavish British comedy with glamorous international participation, which lacks the spark to set it alight despite spirited star playing. The spin-off hit song "Goodness Gracious Me" got through the basic plot much more succinctly and wittily.

Written by: Wolf Mankowitz, Ricardo Aragno, from the play by George Bernard Shaw.
Producer: Pierre Rouve.
Director: Anthony Asquith.
Starring: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim, Dennis Price, Vittorio de Sica, Gary Raymond, Noel Purcell, Alfie Bass, Graham Stark, Virginia Vernon.
Music: Georges Van Parys.
Production Design: Paul Sherriff.
Costume: Pierre Balmain.

Preceded by:
Service to Southend*
(GB 1957. British Tranport Films/Data Films.10m. bw; Electrification replaces the old steam line from Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria.; d: Leslie Shepard.)