Monday, April 29, 2013

Apr 28th
Carry on Sergeant

(GB 1958)           

Anglo Amalgamated. 83m. bw

A retiring drill sergeant enters into a wager that his inept bunch of National Service recruits  will become champion platoon.
Fairly routine and slightly tired service comedy with some good incidental cameos. From this relatively mundane of beginnings sprang the Carry On series which in time took on a very different (and often vulgar) form, but with elements and now familiar comic faces who flourished as the series progressed.

Written by: Norman Hudis, John Antrobus, based on the play "The Bull Boys" by R.F. Delderfield.
Producer: Peter Rogers.
Director: Gerald Thomas.
Starring: Bob Monkhouse, William Hartnell, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton,  Dora Bryan, Etic Barker, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams, Gerald Campion, Hattie Jacques, Bill Owen.
Photography: Peter Hennessy.
Music: Bruce Montgomery.

+ subsequent entries in the series: Carry on Nurse, Carry on Teacher, Carry on Constable,  Carry on Regardless, Carry on Cruising, Carry on Cabby, Carry on Jack, Carry on Spying,  Carry on Cleo, Carry on Cowboy, Carry on Screaming, Don't Lose Your Head, Follow That Camel,  Carry on Doctor, Carry on Up the Khyber, Carry on Camping, Carry on Again Doctor, Carry on Up the Jungle, Carry on Loving, Carry on Henry, Carry on at Your Convenience, Carry on Matron, Carry on Abroad, Carry on Girls, Carry on Dick [Turpin],  Carry on Behind, Carry on England, Carry on Emmanuelle, Carry on Columbus.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Apr 18th
Champions**                        

(GB 1983)

Embassy/Ladbroke Entertainment/United British Artists. 115m.

Steeplechaser Bob Champion recovers from cancer surgery to win the 1981 Grand National.
Powerful although not entirely involving dramatisation of topical events (including the winning horse himself, Aldaniti), with the ultimate outcome apparent from the beginning, which makes the finale not as exhilarating as it should be. Interestingly, Bob Champion makes himself the least sympathetic character of the film, but there are compensations to be found elsewhere in the supporting roles.

Written by: Evan Jones, based on the book by Bob Champion, Jonathan Powell.
Producer: Peter Shaw.
Director: John Irvin.
Starring: John Hurt, Edward Woodward, Jan Francis, Ben Johnson, Kirstie Alley, Peter Barkworth, Alison Steadman, Ann Bell, Michael Byrne, Judy Parfitt.
Photography: Ronnie Taylor.
Music: Carl Davis.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Apr 9th
Caesar Must Die** (12A)                             
(Ipswich Film Theatre)

(Ita 2011) bw/colour

A production of Julius Caesar at Rebbibia prison in Rome as performed by real-life inmates, with the walls of the prison serving as a semi-cinematic setting for the rehearsals and some of prisoners closely identifying with their characters.
Fairly basic to begin with, but becoming more compelling as rehearsals blend into performance and some of the prisoners' own personal grudges come through in their characters, Shakespeare's themes of tyranny and freedom ironically potent in an institution where none of the inhabitants are free.

Written and Directed by: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani.
Producer: Grazia Volpi.
Starring: Cosimo Rega (Cassius), Salvatore Striano (Brutus), Giovanni Arcuri (Caesar), Antonio Frasca (Marc Antony), Fabio Cavalli (director), Francesco Carusane (Soothsayer), and others.
Photography: Simone Zampagni.
Music: Giuliano Taviana, Carmelo Travia.
Editing: Roberto Perpignani.


+ Cosima Rega : "Ever since I discovered art this cell has become a prison."


Sunday, April 07, 2013

Apr 5th
Sodom and Gomorrah** 
aka: The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah

(Ita/Fra/US 1962)

Lot leads the Hebrews out of the decadent cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as they crumble, but at the cost of his own wife who looks back.
Elaborated and patched-together European effort, but surprisingly accessible and never plodding, with a sense of florid style instead of De Mille's campness.

Written by: Hugo Butler, Geirgio Prosperi, Ernesto Gastaldi.
Producer: Goffredo Lombardo.
Director: Robert Aldrich.
Starring: Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli, Anouk Aimee, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podesta, Rik Battaglia, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Scilla Gabel.
Photography: Silvano Ippoliti, Mario Montuori, Cyril Knowles, Alfio Contini.
Music: Miklos Rozsa.
Production Design: Ken Adam.
2nd Unit Direction: Oscar Rudolph, Sergio Leone.
Special Effects: Serse Urbisaglia, Lee Zavitz, Wally Veevers.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Apr 2nd
The Missionary*                         

(GB 1982)

A returning missionary from Africa is given the task of reforming prostitutes in East London - to the extent of becoming physically involved in the work.
Somewhat fractured as a story but well captured in period style and atmosphere, allowing for some Pythonesque eccentric cameos, in a sort of classier rendering of an episode of Ripping Yarns.


Written by: Michael Palin.
Producers: Michael Palin, Neville C. Thompson.
Director: Richard Loncraine.
Starring:  Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Trevor Howard, Denholm Elliott, Phoebe Nicholls, Michael Hordern, Graham Crowden, David Suchet, Roland Culver, Timothy Spall.
Photography: Peter Hannan.
Music: Mike Moran.


Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Mar 28th
And Now for Something Completely Different**                                 

(GB 1971) 

Columbia/Kettledrum/Monty Python. 88m.

Surreally linked compendium of some of Monty Python’s most famous sketches, some of them overstretched in taste and humour, with some occasional novel twists added for this film version, in what is otherwise a token but valuable film record of some very familiar and sometimes very funny off-the-wall TV sketches.

Written by and starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin; with Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth.
Producers: Victor Lownes, Patricia Casey.
Director: Ian McNaughton.
Photography: David Muir.
Animation: Terry Gilliam.