Feb 24th   
L'Atalante**                   

(Fra 1934)                            

A bride marries a canal boat captain and unwisely spends her honeymoon on the barge together with its colourful first mate and cabin boy.
Seemingly with whatever point to make about the roughness of life represented on a canal barge, this quirky drama from the director of Zero de Conduit brought about the ultimate demise of the then controversial (but since much revered) Jean Vigo, with some heavily butchered scenes compressing this still engaging film into an economical 85 minutes, with some magical moments.

Written by: Jean Vigo, Albert Riera.
Producer: Jacques-Louis Nounez.
Director: Jean Vigo.
Starring: Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Daste, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre.
Photography: Boris Kaufman.
Music: Maurice Jaubert.

Feb 18th   
Johnny Got His Gun*     

(US 1971)                  

A disfigured American soldier in WWI is too badly mutilated for his superiors to allow him into the outside world.
Gloomy anti-war tirade from a noted novel (probably America's variation on All Quiet on the Western Front), but here coming across as rather claustrophobic tragedy, with the author lacking a little objectivity in adapting the material himself, but nonetheless occasionally picturesque and with a powerful ending.

Written and Directed by: Dalton Trumbo, from his novel.
Producer: Bruce Campbell.
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Kathy Fields, Jason Robards, Charles McGraw, Marsha Hunt, Donald Sutherland (as Jesus Christ), Diane Varsi.
Photography: Jules Brenner.
Music: Jerry Fielding.

Preceded by:
Taking Down the Spanish Flag
(US 1898. Vitagraph. 40secs. bw. silent; The first "propaganda" war film, a statement of America's victory in the Spanish wars of that time.; d: J. Stewart Blackton.)

Feb 15th   
Trumbo** (15)  
(Picturehouse Central, London)

(US 2015)

Communist screenwriter Dalton Trumbo goes to prison for contempt of Congress and struggles to make a living with the support of his family thereafter until his name is brought out into the open as the writer of Spartacus.
Quite creditable biopic with some good resemblances to the famous Hollywood names, although sluggish in phases but compelling for most of it, with the central performance carrying it through.

Written by: John McNamara, from the book by Bruce Cook.
Producers: Michael London, Janice Williams, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson, Nimitt Mankad, John McNamara, Kevin Kelly Brown.
Director: Jay Roach.
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren (as Hedda Hopper), David James Elliott (as John Wayne), Dean O'Gorman (as Kirk Douglas), Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, Michael Stuhlbarg (as Edward G. Robinson), John Goodman, Roger Bart, Christian Berkel (as Otto Preminger).
Photography: Jim Denault.
Music: Theodore Shapiro.

+ see also Exodus and Johnny Got His Gun (above)

Feb 10th   
Niagara**   

(US 1952)                            

Honeymooners arrive at Niagara Falls to find that a voluptuous blonde is plotting to kill her neurotic husband, but the scheme backfires.
Uneven melodrama with a tragic edge, showcasing Marilyn in her first major vehicle, with a studio that didn't really know how to utilise her properly, other than emphasising her obvious physical assets - her role actually amounts to not much more than her previous decorative cameos. Quite suspenseful however, and well photographed, although with a surprisingly boring climax, given the setting.

Written by: Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, Richard Breen.
Producer: Charles Brackett.
Director: Henry Hathaway.
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Max Showalter, Denis O'Dea, Richard Allan.
Photography: Joe McDonald.
Music: Sol Kaplan.

Preceded by:
Niagara
(Fra. 1897. 1m. bw. silent; One of the first filmed records of the famous landmark, on a visit by the Lumieres.; aka: Niagara Falls)