May 31st   
Dracula Untold    

(US/Japan 2014)                      

In the the century Prince Vlad of Transylvania succumbs to the dark arts to save his people against the Turks.
CGI-laden action rather hurriedly edited together is the mainstay of this horror yarn, from a story far from untold, with some occasional suspenseful and decently characterised moments, but they are few and far between, and the film doesn't have the courage to make its hero turn into the Dracula he should be.

Written by: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless.
Producer: Michael De Luca.
Director: Gary Shore.
Starring: Luke Evans, Charles Dance, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Art Parkinson, William Houston, Paul Kaye.
Photography: John Schwartzman.
Music: Ramin Djawadi.

May 29th  
The Battle of the Century**          
(Park Hill Hotel Ballroom, Southend-on-Sea)            

(US 1927. 20m. bw. silent; A trainer tries to claim insurance on his inept boxing client, but instead they trigger a custard pie riot.
The missing snippets are stitched together in a (mostly) complete restoration of one of Laurel and Hardy's most notable silent films, with its custard pie climax that inspired many imitators (witness The Great Race and Bugsy Malone) now given proper context with the remaining reels - an invaluable find.; w: H.M. Walker; d: Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCarey; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Noah Young, Eugene Pallette, Charlie Hall, Anita Garvin, Lou Costello (as a young extra).)

Preceded by:
Them Thar Hills***
(US 1934. 20m. bw; Stan and Ollie go to the country to help cure Ollie's bad foot, but they travel to an area formerly held by bootleggers who dispose of some of the loot in the nearby well.; w: Stan Laurel; d: Charles Rogers; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch, Charlie Hall, Billy Gilbert.)

Scrappy in The Merry Mutineers*
(US 1936. Columbia. 7m.; Technicolor merry melodie of two boys' model boats with famous film stars of the period for crew - Charles Laughton, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, etc. Quirky as ever and enjoyable.; p: Charles Mintz.)

Tit for Tat**
(US 1934. 20m. bw; Stan and Ollie open a new electrical store, only to find an old adversary in the shop next door. Sequel to Them Thar Hills.; w: Stan Laurel; d: Charles Rogers; s: OLiver Hardy, Stan laurel, Charlie Hall, Mae Busch.)

+ screened as "Laurel and Hardy: Let Battle Commence" by the Saps at Sea tent for the Southend Film Festival, before a bumper audience

THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY. The much sought after lost footage of Eugene Pallette as an insurance salesman, from whom Ollie decides to try in injure Stan in order to claim the money, is still missing but remains in stills (above), whilst Mr. Pallette still briefly appears in the famous pie fight climax.

May 23rd  
The World Cup: A Captain's Tale*

(GB TVM 1982)

The true story in 1910 of how an obscure amateur team from West Auckland competed in and won the first organised World football tournament in Turin.
Engaging rags to riches (to rags again) story, a little gem of a sporting comedy drama with lots of good familiar faces, staying true to history, although lacking enough drama in its finale.

Written by: Neville Smith.
Producer: Laurie Greenwood.
Director: Tom Clegg.
Starring: Dennis Waterman, Andrew Keir, Richard Griffiths, Tim Healy, Nigel Hawthorne, David Bradley, Jeremy Bulloch, Derek Francis, Marjorie Bland.
Photography: Dave Dixon.
Music: Ian Lynn.

Preceded by:
Meshes of the Afternoon**

(US 1943. 14m. bw. silent; Noted avant garde short drama playing on repeated images in domestic Los Angeles, a far cry from conventional Hollywood material and a reminder that "artists" used to reside there also.; w,d,s: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid.)

May 17th
The Seven Year Itch**

(US 1955)

A fantasizing married man left on his own during the Manhattan heatwave is tempted by the girl upstairs.
Sexy looking (with its famous scene of Marilyn standing above a subway grating) but actually rather sweet and charming romantic comedy of manners, with its central character's fantasy sequences looking a little awkward when transferred from stage onto the literal medium of Cinemascope, but Marilyn has never looked lovelier, if a little distracting.

Written by: Billy Wilder, George Axelrod, from his play.
Producers: Charles K. Feldman, Billy Wilder.
Director: Billy Wilder.
Starring: Tom Ewell, Marilyn Monroe, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Robert Strauss, Oscar Homolka, Kathleen Freeman, Carolyn Jones.
Photography: Milton Krasner.
Music: Alfred Newman.
Titles: Saul Bass.

May 16th
The Humanoid    

(Ita 1979)                    

The forces of the evil Lord Graal attack Metropolis (aka. Earth) in the far future with the assistance of a 7-foot giant caught in between the two sides.
Cheap, cheeky and sometimes nasty rip-off of Star Wars, where you can gleefully spot the imitations, and making extra use of the pugilistic villain from the James Bond films. No artistic masterpiece, but never pretending to be one either, and quite sustainable for its running time.

Written by: Adriano Bolzoni, Aldo Lado.
Producer: Giorgio Venturini.
Director: George B. Lewis (Aldo Lado).
Starring: Richard Kiel, Corinne Clery, Arthur Kennedy, Barbara Bach, Ivan Rassimov, Leonard Mann, Marco Yeh, Massimo Serato.
Photography: Silvano Ippoliti.
Music: Ennio Morricone.
Special Effects: Antonio Margheriti.

May 13th
I am Not Your Negro** (12A)
(Ipswich Film Theatre)          

(US/Fra/Bel/Swi 2016)

Documentary telling of James Baldwin's unfinished book "Remember This House" about racism in America as well as his tribute to Medgar Evans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, set to images which sometimes distract, including a lengthy selection of old Hollywood films (as a reminder of just how racist Hollywood can be.) The film overall lacks a positive tone - or, as usual, any outside voice - and only fleetingly mentions America's first black President, but still engages strongly, staying true to its author's word with many themes that still resonate today.

Producers: Remi Gellety, Hebert Peck, Raoul Peck.
Director: Raoul Peck.
Voice of: Samuel L. Jackson, plus archive of James Baldwin, and others.
Photography: Henry Adebonojo, Bill Ross, Turner Ross.
Music: Alexei Aigui.
Editing: Alexandra Strauss.

May 11th
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* (12A)
(Odeon Colchester)

(US/GB 2016)

A Hogwarts zoologist travels to New York where beasts are breaking out from the parallel witching world into the big city.
Special effects rule the roost above characterisation for most of this two hour-plus precursor to Harry Potter, making it one for fans mainly, despite some expert re-creation of 1920s New York.

w: J.K. Rowling
p: David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram
d: David Yates
s: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogle, Alison Sudol, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Johnny Depp
m: James Newton Howard
ph: Philippe Rousselot
pd: Stuart Craig

Men O'War Tent - Members' Selection

May 6th
Manifest Theatre, Manningtree

The Colchester branch of the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society continue on their merry way, still staunchly and enjoyably projecting old gems on 16mm film prints - even if the print of One Good Turn is starting to show some signs of wear and tear. 

The five short films:
Should Married Men Go Home?** (qv)

Dirty Work***
(US 1933. 20m. bw; Two incompetent chimney sweeps set to work at the house of a mad scientist who has discovered the formula for rejuvenation.; w: H.M. Walker; d: Lloyd French; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Lucien Littlefield, Sam Adams, Jiggs.)

DIRTY WORK. Ollie overdoses on the rejuvenation formula and regresses back to the time of 'Cheetah'.

Night Owls** (qv)

Helpmates*** (qv)

One Good Turn** (qv)

May 2nd  
Zorba the Greek**  

(GB/Greece 1964)                      

A half-Greek Englishman comes to Crete to inherit a disused mine, and comes under the influence of the eccentric, life-loving Zorba.
Long-winded but at times powerful melodrama, always energetically performed and providing good tourist trade for its depiction of Greek culture and its music, despite the slightly gritty black-and-white look and feel.

Written, Produced and Directed by: Michael Cacoyannis, from the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis.
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Lila Kedrova, Irene Papas, Sotiis Moustakas, George P. Cosmatos.
Photography: Walter Lassally.
Music: Mikis Theodorakis.

Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in
Cat Napping**
(US 1951. 6m,; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p Fred Quimby.)