Thursday, January 30, 2014

BLOG NO. 500!
Jan 28th
The Spanish Main**    

(US 1945)                                  

A wronged Dutch migrant avenges his Spanish oppressor on the high seas by stealing the heart of his fiancee.
Entertaining pirate adventure with some quirky moments, relying as much on character as on swashbuckling.

Written by: George Worthing Yates, Herman Mankiewicz, from a story by Aeneas Mackenzie.
Producers: Frank Borzage, Stephen Ames.
Director: Frank Borzage.
Starring: Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak,Binnie Barnes, John Emery, Barton MacLane, J.M. Kerrigan, Fritz Leiber, Nancy Gates, Jack LaRue, Mike Mazurki, Curt Bois.
Photography: George Barnes.
Music: Hanns Eisler.
THE SPANISH MAIN. The ever feisty Maureen O'Hara and Paul Henreid (in half Errol Flynn, half Victor Laszlo mode) size each other up.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Jan 17th
Robin Hood**       

(US 1922)                      

The Earl of Huntingdon defies Richard the Lionheart's crusade to fight the tyranny of Prince John.
It has dated in many respects now (and was never anything more than a self-made Fairbanks vehicle in the first place), but as a super-production of the 20s the sets and the scale of the enterprise constantly take the eye, with Fairbanks at the height of his stardom and influence.

Written and Produced by: Douglas Fairbanks.
Director: Allan Dwan.
Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Enid Bennett, Wallace Beery (as Richard), Sam de Grasse, Alan Hale (in the role he reprised 16 years later), Paul Dickey, William Lowery, Billie Bennett.
Photography: Arthur Edeson.
Art Direction: Wilfrid Buckland, Irvin J. Martin.
Costume: Mitchell Leisen.

Preceded by:
Mickey Mouse in
Steamboat Willie**
(US 1928. Walt Disney. 7m. bw; The adventures of a cheeky little mouse on board a steamboat, in a near-plotless but pleasant musical cartoon short from the early Sound days. As the Disney name grew in stature so did this character's profile. d: Ub Iwerks; m: Wilfrid Jackson, Bert Lewis.)

ROBIN HOOD (1922). The epic castle keep set which Warners emulated in 1938

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Jan 13th
Some Will, Some Won't*     

(GB 1969)          

A mischievous practical joker dies, and gives his unworthy relatives a challenge to do things totally out of character before they can inherit his estate.
Routine but well cast remake of Laughter in Paradise, although the story was thin enough to be told just the once.

Written by: Lew Schwarz, from the screenplay by Michael Pertwee, Jack Davies.
Producer: Giulio Zampi.
Director: Duncan Wood.
Starring: Michael Hordern, Leslie Phillips, Thora Hird, Ronnie Corbett, Wilfrid Brambell, Dennis Price, Barbara Murray, Eleanor Summerfield, James Robertson Justice, John Nettleton, Sheila Staefel, Arthur Lowe, Arthur Howlett.
Photography: Harry Waxman.
Music: Howard Blake.



Friday, January 10, 2014

Jan 10th
From Dusk Till Dawn*                

(US 1995)

Two destructive crooks kidnap a lapsed preacher and his children, but then rendez-vous at a Mexican nestling ground for vampires.
Heady romp of violence, sex and typical Tarantino, which turns into gory horror fantasy in its latter half, and oversteps the mark on nearly every count, but not without some passing moments of wit amidst the mayhem.

Written by: Quentin Tarantino, from a story by Robert Kurtzman.
Producers: Gianni Nunari, Meir Taper.
Director: Robert Rodriguez.
Starring: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Marc Lawrence, John Saxon.
Photography: Guillermo Navarro.
Music: Graeme Revell.
Production Design: Cecelia Montiel.



Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Jan 8th
Love Story*                         

(US 1970)

Two students meet, fall in love and get married, but tragedy is just around the corner...
A paperback-thin bestseller which became a box office sensation (a sign of more sentimental hits to come in the 70s), a Romeo and Juliet weepie for modern times which tries to be gritty and unsentimental, despite the fact that the latter is in-built.

Written by: Erich Segal.
Producer: David Golden.
Director: Arthur Hiller.
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Ali MacGraw, Ray Milland, John Marley, Katharine Balfour, Walker Daniels, Tommy Lee Jones.
Photography: Dick Kratina.
Music: Frances Lai.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Jan 4th
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom** (12A)
(Cineworld Haymarket)


(GB/South Africa 2013)

The story of Nelson Mandela's years as a lawyer leading up to his long imprisonment under the Apartheid regime before his eventual release and subsequent reconciliation of the South African nation.
Honourable biopic trying to cram 95 years of a famous man's life into only 146 minutes, and therefore some scenes (particularly the early ones) seem to pass by too quickly. Excellent central performances, but the background characters are barely sketched (and totally one-dimensional for most of the whites), meaning that the human drama works better than the history.

Written by: William Nicholson, from the book by Nelson Mandela.
Producer: Anant Singh.
Director: Justin Chadwick.
Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Tony Kgoroge, Gys de Villiers (as de Klerk), Robert Hobbs.
Photography: Lol Crawley.
Music: Alex Heffes.

+ Nelson Mandela died the same day as the film's London premiere: 5th December 2013