Aug 29th  
Civilization*                  

(US 1916)                              

In a fictionalised European state, a submarine commander is persuaded by his fiancee not to use it to destroy a passenger liner, and then at his death bed is imbued with the spirit of Christ to convince the nation's leader to end warfare.
Audacious pacifist epic with some grand production values, on a par with Intolerance made that same year but lacking Griffith's complexity, its one essential, doubtlessly honourable moral (but alas, ineffective), rammed home constantly with any questioning of it.

Written by: C. Gardner Sullivan.
Producer: Thomas H. Ince.
Directors: Thomas H. Ince, Reginald Barker, Raymond B. West.
Starring: Howard C. Hickman, Herschel Mayall, George Fisher (as Christ), Enid Markey, J. Frank Burke.
Photography: Irvin Willat, Joseph August, Clyde de Vinna.

Music:Victor L. Schertzinger.

Aug 26th  
Aladdin**    

(US 1992)                          

Aladdin fulfills his destiny to rub the lamp and overcome an evil Caliph.
Manically energetic Disney animated pantomime with lively if cloying musical numbers, the centrepiece being Robin Williams's delirious rendition of the Genie; taking a lot of its inspiration from Thief of Bagdad, although with considerably less subtlety.

Written by: Ron Clements, John Musker, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio.
Producers: John Musker, Ron Clements, Donald W. Ernst.
Directors: John Musker, Ron Clements.
Voices of: Robin Williams, Scott Weinger, Jonathan Freeman, Linda Larkin, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale.
Music/Lyrics: Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice.

Aug 23rd     
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words** (U)      
(National Film Theatre)

(Swe 2015)

...or, more accurately, in her own home movies (Bergman was introduced to cameras by her father from the age of 3), in some touching moving 8mm snippets interspersed with occasionally illuminating letters and diaries (including occasional reference to her movies with one enjoyable brief segment featuring Hitchcock), reiterating its message, at slightly extended length, that Ms. Bergman loved her family the most.

Producer: Stina Gardell.
Director: Stig Bjorkman.
Featuring: Pia Lindstrom, Isabella Rossellini, Roberto Rossellini (Jnr.), Fiorella Mariani, Ingrid Rossellini, Sigourney Weaver, Liv Ullman; voice of Alicia Vikander.
Photography: Malin Korkeasala.
Music: Michael Nyman.

Aug 17th
One Body Too Many*    

(US 1944)                                    

An insurance salesman stumbles into a plot to kill the richest inheritor of a will from any one of a family of shady suspects.
Emulatory Cat and the Canary comedy horror with plenty of creaks, but an interesting cast and a droll central performance.

Written by: Winston Miller, Maxwell Shane.
Producers: William H. Pine, William C. Thomas.
Director: Frank McDonald.
Starring: Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi, Dorothy Granger, Lyle Talbot, Lucien Littlefield, Douglas Fowley, Bernard Nedell, Fay Helm, Blanche Yorka, William Edmunds.
Photography: Fred Jackman Jnr.
Music: Alexander Laszlo.

Aug 8th 
Carmen*   

(US 1915)    

Cigarette factory gypsy girl Carmen seduces an officer to aid her smuggler friends, but there are tragic consequences.
Early De Mille epic, compacting the popular opera into something quite scenic and accessible, although with his characteristic flair for melodrama, and rather dated now, but a big hit for its time.

Written by: William C. de Mille, based on the novel by Prosper Merimee.
Producer/Director: Cecil B. de Mille.
Starring: Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Pedro de Cordoba, Horace B. Carpenter, William Elmer.
Photography: Alvin Wyckoff.

Music: Georges Bizet (originally arranged by Hugo Riesenfeld).

Preceded by:
Max Speaks English**
(L'anglais tel que Max le Parle)
(Fra 1914. 10m. bw. silent; w, d: Max Linder; s: Max Linder, Cecile Guyon.)

MAX SPEAKS ENGLISH (1914). The pre-war charms of Max Linder, one of the first genuine comedy stars who largely influenced Chaplin, who was soon to overtake him. The surprisingly effective English looking girl he is trying to communicate with is Cecile Guyon.