Sep 25th

The Whales of August**                                     

(US 1987)
Alive Films/Circle Associates/Nelson Entertainment. 90m.

Two elderly widowed sisters live together on their Maine coastal retreat, reflecting on their past and with some concerns for the future.
This vein of material is hardly very new (On Golden Pond and Driving Miss Daisy are other examples), but there are darker edges to be found under the surface veneer of leisurely drama, and the veteran stars are a treat to behold like two vintage wines growing stronger with age.

Written by: David Berry, from his play.
Producers: Carolyn Pfeiffer, Mike Kaplan.
Director: Lindsay Anderson.
Starring: Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, Ann Sothern, Harry Carey Jnr, Frank Grimes, Mary Steenburgen.
Photography: Mike Fash.
Music: Alan Price.

Sep 22nd

Carry on Teacher                             

GB 1959. Anglo Amalgamated. 89m. bw

Pupils create mayhem at a comprehensive in order to prevent their popular headmaster from leaving.
Largely obvious and repetitive one-joke Carry On of the pupils pulling the rug from under the teachers, but allowing for some of the regulars to have their moments of charm.

Written by: Norman Hudis.
Producer: Peter Rogers.
Director: Gerald Thomas.
Starring: Ted Ray, Kenneth Connor, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Rosalind Knight, Cyril Chamberlain, Richard O'Sullivan, Carol White.
Photography: Reg Wyer.
Music: Bruce Montgomery.

Sep 20th 
Empire of the Ants                           
US 1977. American International/Cinema 77. 89m.

Atomic mutation creates giant ants who take over a remote Florida resort and terrorize its visitors.
Horrendous shocker with cheapjack effects, with the director putting his poor actors through greater horrors than anything the ants have to offer, with only a passing resemblance to H.G. Wells.

Written by: Jack Turley, based on the story by H.G. Wells.
Producer/Director/Special Effects: Bert I. Gordon.
Starring: Joan Collins, Robert Lansing, John David Carson, Albert Salmi, Jacqueline Scott, Robert Pine.
Photography: Reginald Morris.
Music: Dana Kaproff.

Film Colchester 19.9.2012

An informal gathering of local young filmmakers or those just interested in taking part, including some selected short films, both local and further afield, beginning with Feet* (GB 2010), a quirky, slightly stylised comedy about pairs of feet that swap over after a freak accident on the London Underground, followed by a well assembled spoof trailer for a horror film, with the not entirely suitable title of Felicity. Mark Mountford showed some of his experimental work with some fine use of music such as Steinbruckel over his Snowscape, taking advantage of the last winter's snow in Colchester.

To finish off the second half of the evening, whilst some of those gathered went away to make their own little bit of film fun, the evening closed with a viewing of some of their rushes, after two more shorts, Chuzos de Punta* (Cats and Dogs) (Spa 2010), another quirky, stylised comedy about rival weathermen, and then off to the pub (though not literally!) with The Anchor (GB 2011) starring Liam Bewley as a regular punter for 15 years whose ideas of success only seem confined to the bar stool.

Sep 17th     

One Million Years B.C.*                             

(GB 1966)
Hammer. 100m.

In prehistoric times, early Man struggles to survive with quarreling tribes, deadly dinosaurs and volcanoes.
Well sustained yarn with lots of commercial Hammer ingredients, including some atmospheric Dawn of Man sequences that pre-date 2001: A Space Odyssey (which was made at the same time but released later), combined with anachronistic but fun dinosaurs, battling over Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. The whole ridiculous premise is surprisingly powerful and enjoyably entertaining.

Written/Produced by: Michael Carreras.
Director: Don Chaffey.
Starring: John Richardson, Raquel Welch, Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick, Jean Wladon.
Photography: Wilkie Cooper.
Music: Mario Nascimbene.
Special Effects: Ray Harryhausen.
Prologue Design: Les Bowie.

+ filmed on the Canary Isles

Raquel Welch in the pose that sold one million tickets.

Sep 5th    

Blazing Saddles**                                     

US 1974. Warner Bros/Crossbow. 93m. Panavision

A black sheriff teams up with an ex-gunfighter to foil a crooked attorney and his posse.
Zany, scatological, typically crude Brooks spoof Western which still retains a lot of authentic nostalgia for the genre, also skilfully combined with the Blaxploitation vogue for the 70's, even managing to parody itself with a finale across the studio backlot where the heroes and the villain shoot it out at the cinema where the film is playing.

Written by: Norman Steinberg, Mel Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Uger.
Producer: Michael Herzberg.
Director: Mel Brooks.
Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Slim Pickens, Madeline Kahn (homaging Dietrich), Burton Gilliam, Alex Karras, David Huddleston, Claude Ennis Starrett Jnr, Mel Brooks, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, Count Basie.
Photography: Joseph Biroc.
Music: John Morris (title ballad sung by Frankie Lane).
Editing: John C. Howard, Danford B. Greene.

 

Preceded by:

Tom & Jerry in

Jerry's Cousin**

 (US 1951. 6m.; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

Men O'War Tent 25th Anniversary

Sep 1st
(Manifest Theatre)

Congratulations to the Colchester branch of the Laurel & Hardy appreciation society, who honoured the occasion of their quarter century since being founded in 1987 with a fairly representative bunch of L&H films, beginning with one of their best, Helpmates followed by Laurel and Hardy's Musical Moments*, a pleasant mini-collection of their pleasant song and dance numbers, including their Top Ten hit (in 1975), "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".

Towed in a Hole* (US 1932) finds the boys deciding to buy a boat to do their own fishing, with Ollie in unusually sadistic form in response to Stan's various mishaps. Some great moments, but the overall tone is just a little dark.

Finishing off the evening with the society's patron film - so named because of Colchester's connection with the military - Men O'War** (US 1929), where the boys are sailors on shore leave dating two winsome girls in the park (Hollenbeck Park in Los Angeles), and cause mayhem in the boating lake (the soda fountain sequence is one of their best), and Thicker Than Water, where Stan is once again the cause of marital strife for Ollie, in what was to be their final short film with an amusing an insightful last scene of the two boys playing each other when their blood transfusions get mixed up!