Jun 25th
The Spirit of '45*                

(GB 2012)            

Reminiscences interspersed with archive footage of the rise of the welfare state and the nationalisation of industry in Britain after Labour's general election triumph in 1945.
Loach rams home most of his Socialist viewpoints with a sledgehammer, using selected interviewees without too many from any other perspective, and the film jumps forward to the Thatcherite 1980s whilst omitting the union strikes of the 70s, and various other elements that might harm his case, but in between is an evocative depiction of a time when Britain actually cared for all its people.

Producers: Rebecca O'Brien, Kate Ogborn, Lisa Marie Russo.
Director: Ken Loach.
Music: George Fenton.
Editing: Jonathan Morris.

Jun 17th
Little Lord Fauntleroy**              

(GB TVM 1980)

A Brooklyn street kid is in the inheritor of the Dorincourt estate, and gradually melts the heart of the crusty Earl.
Efficiently produced and quite movingly performed television version of a children's classic, with Guinness fleshing out his blustering aristocrat from Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Written by: Blanche Hanalis, from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Producers: Norman Rosemont, William Hill.
Director: Jack Gold.
Starring: Alec Guinness, Ricky Schroder, Connie Booth, Eric Porter, Colin Blakely, Rolf Saxon, Rachel Kempson, Ballard Berkeley, Carmel McSharry, Patsy Rowlands, Patrick Stewart.
Photography: Arthur Ibbetson.
Music: Allyn Ferguson.
Production Design: Herbert Westbrook.

Jun 12th
Heaven Can Wait**                

(US 1943)

Twentieth Century Fox. 112m.

Upon his death an elderly playboy reports his love for pretty girls to Hell, which is where he assumes he belongs.
Lubitsch skirts round the sex with sly delight, in several wittily performed scenes and some lovely turn of the 20th century settings, and also some quite convincing elderly make-up.

Written by: Samson Raphaelson, based on the play "Birthday" by Lazlo Bus-Fakete.
Producer/Director: Ernst Lubitsch.
Starring: Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Charles Coburn, Laird Cregar (as Satan), Spring Byington, Louis Calhern, Marjorie Main, Eugene Pallette, Allen Joslyn, Signe Hasso.
Photography: Edward Cronjager.
Music: Alfred Newman.
Art Direction: James Basevi, Leland Fuller.


Preceded by:
Scrubber
(GB 2012. Label Pictures. 21m.; A young mother wanders through the fields into the woods looking for sex.; w, d: Romola Garai; s: Amanda Hale, Honor Kneafsey, Michelle Duncan.)

 

HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943). Interesting to compare the ageing of Don Ameche with the real thing 40 years later.

Jun 5th
Privates on Parade*                                    
(GB 1982)

Experiences of a travelling concert party detachment who are sent precariously into the Malayian jungle as a covert operation to supply arms.
Semi-It Ain't Half Hot Mum set in the tense post-war period, uncertain of its overall tone whether to be camp entertainment or musical satire.

Written by: Peter Nichols, from his play.
Producer: Simon Relph.
Director: Michael Blakemore.
Starring: John Cleese, Denis Quilley, Michael Elphick, Nicola Pagett, Joe Melia, Simon Jones, Patrick Pearson, John Standing.
Photography: Ian Wilson
Music: Denis King.

Preceded by:
Friend Request Pending**
(GB 2011.12m.; Social networking for the senior crowd in a similar endearing vein to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Quartet, etc.; w, p: Chris Croucher; d: Chris Foggin; s: Judi Dench, Penny Ryder, Philip Jackson, Tom Hiddleston.)

Jun 1st 
The Reluctant Fundamentalist** (15)   
(Ipswich Film Theatre)

(US/GB/Qatar 2012)

A young Muslim high-flyer in New York finds his life changing against him and turns fundamentalist.
Challenging and absorbing cross-culture drama, ultimately comparing the ruthlessness of Wall Street with the ruthlessness of Al Qaeda, although the key turning point in the drama (September 11th) where the central character partly admires the atrocity, is treated in a slightly glib manner, making the rest of the film interesting rather than involving, but with good performances, treating an important subject with compassion and reasonable objectivity.

Written by: William Wheeler, Ami Boghani, Mohsin Hamid, from his novel.
Producers: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Ami Boghani, Anadil Hossin, Robin Sweet.
Director: Mira Nair.
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Martin Donovan, Haluk Bilginer.
Photography: Declan Quinn.
Music: Michael Andrews.