Feb 27th
The Boston Strangler**   

(US 1968)                                                     

A difficult search across four police districts ensues for the notorious killer and rapist of 13 women in Boston and elsewhere.
Chillingly matter-of-fact crime drama done as a Jack the Ripper-style "who-is-it" (the actual killer doesn't appear until the last hour of the film), together with briefly fashionable multi-image photography that heightens some of the suspense and atmosphere, and also benefits from a few taboos that were once restrictive, but still tells its story (partly based on history) with documentary-like conviction and performances that mostly blend in.

Written by: Edward Anhalt, from the book by Gerold Frank.
Producers: James Cresson, Robert Fryer.
Director: Richard Fleischer.
Starring: Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis (as Albert DeSalvo), George Kennedy, Murray Hamilton, William Marshall, Hurd Hatfield, George Voskovec, Sally Kellerman.
Photography: Richard H. Kline

+ Alfred Newman is credited as composer, although there is no background theme music

Feb 14th  
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse**                   

(US 1920)                       

Brothers descended from the same Argentine family find themselves meeting several years later on opposite sides of the Western Front.
Grand and lavishly decorated epic melodrama (with slightly disappointing looking horsemen), notable for being the introduction to the world stage of Rudolph Valentino, whose comparatively small presence in the film catches the eye, even if his acting is as ever rather limited.

Written by: June Mathis, from the novel by Vicente Blasco-Ibanez.
Producer/Director: Rex Ingram.
Starring: Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry, Josef Swickard, Pomeroy Cannon, Alan Hale, Virginia Warwick, John St. Polis, Wallace Beery, Nigel De Brulier.
Photography: John F. Seitz.
Art Direction: Joseph Calder, Amos Myers.

Men O'War Tent - Tiny Sandford evening

Feb 10th
(Manifest Theatre)

A selection of perennial Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts, linked by supporting appearances by Tiny Sandford in each of them. Accompanied by a poignant toast and tribute to former Men O'War tent member Dani Barker, and with a lively audience to enjoy the show, even for a film as unpromising as The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case.

The Second Hundred Years**
(US 1927. 20m. bw; Two long term convicts unwittingly escape back into the same prison as VIP guests. w: H. M. Walker; d: Fred L. Guiol; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Tiny Sandford, Eugene Pallette, Dorothy Coburn,)

Below Zero* (qv)

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
(US 1930. 20m. bw; Ollie purses a fake inheritance of Stan's at a haunted house where everyone is mysteriously bumped off - the biggest mystery of this case being why Laurel and Hardy should do such stilted and creaky material (even then) without even a decent plot or resolution? ; w: H.M. Walker; d: James Parrott; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Fred Kelsey, Del Henderson, Frank Austin, Tiny Sandford.)

Come Clean**
(US 1931. 20m. bw; Stan and Ollie rescue a troublesome woman from suicide, and then have to hide her away from the wives.; w: H.M. Walker; d: James W. Horne; s: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Mae Busch, Gertrude Astor, Linda Loredo, Charlie Hall, Tiny Sandford.)

Feb 7th   
The Trollenberg Terror*

(GB 1958)                                                   

An alien lifeforce resides at the top of a Swiss mountain.
Thrifty but quite suspenseful British sci-fi, until the monsters start to show up and 50s monster movie cliches set in (the film was titled The Crawling Eye in America).

Written by: Jimmy Sangster, based on the TV series by Peter Key.
Producers: Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman.
Director: Quentin Lawrence.
Starring: Forrest Tucker, Janet Munro, Jennifer Jayne, Laurence Payne, Warren Mitchell, Andrew Faulds.
Photography: Monty Berman.
Music: Stanley Black.

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR. As far back as 1958, Warren Mitchell (centre) was playing eccentric older men, in the days long before Alf Garnett. Janet Munro is the telepathic heroine under the influence of the mysterious aliens outside the laboratory.

Feb 4th          
Darkest Hour** (PG) 
(Vue Romford)                                                 

(GB/US 2017)

In 1940 Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister in spite of the desperate situation in the war and his own unpopularity within his own Government.
Forceful and stylised biopic (a sequel of sorts to TV's The Gathering Storm), with the usual thematic diversions from history, but most of what is told is true and it lives or dies by is central star performance, a tour de force of characterisation and make-up.

Written by: Anthony McCarten.
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski.
Director: Joe Wright.
Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane (as Lord Halifax), Ronald Pickup, Ben Mendelsohn (as George VI), Samuel West,
Photography: Bruno Delbonnel.
Music: Dario Marianelli.
Make-up: Lucy Sibbick.

Feb 1st  
The Post*** (12A)
(Odeon Colchester)         

(US 2017)           

The establishment-oriented owner of The Washington Post and her chief editor risk the newspaper's future to publish the Pentagon papers detailing America's continued failed participation in the Vietnam War.                                       
Rivetingly played Spielberg political thriller, back to his best form since Schindler's List. Despite his characteristic sentimental touches and irritatingly frequent hand-held camera work, it stands up a worthy companion piece to All the President's Men(qv).

Written by: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer.
Producers: Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg, Kirstie Macosko Krieger.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Tracy Letts, Bruce Greenwood (as Robert McNamara), Bob Odendirk, Matthew Rhys, Sarah Paulson, Michael Stuhlbarg.
Photography: Janusz Kaminski.
Music: John Williams.
Production Design: Rick Carter.