Apr 27th  
The Monster Club   
(GB 1980)                 
ITC/Chips/Sword and Sorcery. 97m.         

A horror writer is invited to an underground disco club of horrors where he is related tales of other monsters and their victims who meet grisly ends.
Cut price and none-too-subtle horror comic compendium occasionally with atmospheric moments, and interminable modern musical interludes that were presumably intended to widen the audience.

Written by: Edward Abraham, Valerie Abraham, based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.
Producer: Milton Subotsky.
Director: Roy Ward Baker.
Starring: Vincent Price, John Carradine; Barbara Kellerman, James Laurenson, Simon Ward; Anthony Steel, Britt Ekland, Richard Johnson, Donald Pleasence; Stuart Whitman, Patrick Magee, Lesley Dunlop.
Photography: Peter Jessop.
Music: Douglas Gamley, John Georgiadis, Alan Hawkshaw.

+ Price’s closing speech proposing humans as members of the Monster Club:

“In the past 60 years ‘humes’ have exterminated over 150 million of their own kind. No effort has been spared to reach this astronomical figure, and the methods they have used must demand our unstinted admiration. You know, ‘humes’ began with some very serious disadvantages, but these they overcame with wonderful ingenuity. Not having a fang, or a claw, or even a whistle worth talking about, they invented guns and tanks and bombs and aeroplanes and extermination camps and poisoned gas and daggers and swords and bayonets and booby traps and atomic bombs and flying missiles, submarines! Warships! Aircraft carriers – and,  motor cars. They have even perfected a process, whereby, they can spread a lethal disease on any part of this planet! Not to say anything about nuclear power. Oh, during their short history, you know, ‘humes’ have subjected other ‘humes’ to death by: burning, hanging, decapitation, strangulation, electrocution, shooting, drowning, crushing, racking, disembowelling - and other methods far, far too revolting for the delicate stomachs of this august assembly.”

Preceded by:
A Contradiction*
(GB 2013.4m.; A separated husband remembers an incident with his wife in stored memories from different perspectives.; w: Edward Robinson, Phil Hurst, Steven Dorrington; d: Steven Dorrington; s: Tim Freeman, Nicola Goodchild, Phil Young; for Alma Films/Sci-London 48 Hour Challenge.)

Apr 24th  
The Sound Barrier***  
(GB 1952)       
London Films/British Lion. 118m. bw

An aircraft designer risks the lives of his family and colleagues in his quest to break the sound barrier.
Well written and acted airborne character drama just on the fringes of sci-fi, just as its director was also on the tip of bigger things to come.

Written by: Terence Rattigan.
Producers: Norman Spencer, David Lean.
Director: David Lean.
Starring: Ralph Richardson, Nigel Patrick, Ann Todd, John Justin, Dinah Sheridan, Denholm Elliott, Joseph Tomelty, Ralph Michael.
Photography: Jack Hildyard, (aerial photography by John Wilcox, Jo Jago, Peter Newbrook).
Music: Malcolm Arnold.

Apr 21st  
The Intelligence Men*    
(GB 1965)           
Rank. 104m.

A coffee bar owner is mistaken for a double agent in a plot to assassinate a Russian ballerina.
Variable spy spoof geared to two much loved TV comics. They have their bright moments in their own style, but generally deserved better material than this. Successful enough to be followed by That Riviera Touch, The Magnificent Two (and the all but forgotten Night Train to Murder), this first film was sadly as good as it got for Morecambe and Wise, as far as movies were concerned.

Written by: Dick Hills, Sid Green.
Producer: Hugh Stewart.
Director: Robert Asher.
Starring: Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, William Franklyn, April Olrich, Gloria Paul, Francis Matthews, Terence Alexander, Richard Vernon, Warren Mitchell, David Lodge.
Photography: Jack Asher.
Music: Philip Green.

Apr 18th  
Anchors Aweigh**          
(US 1944)
MGM. 143m.

Two decorated sailors on shore leave help a girl to make a her big break as a concert singer.
Before Kelly and Sinatra docked at New York for the more vibrant On the Town, first came Los Angeles with this 2-hour plus confection, overextended and only really coming to life in its musical scenes, which include a notable dance routine with Jerry Mouse (originally intended to be Mickey but Disney wouldn't release the rights.)

Written by: Isobel Lennart, Natalie Marcin.
Producer: Joe Pasternak.
Director: George Sidney.
Starring: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Jose Iturbi, Dean Stockwell, Pamela Britton, Billy Gilbert, Edgar Kennedy.
Photography: Charles P. Boyle.
Musical Direction: George Stoll.

Apr 12th  
The King of Kings***    
(US 1927)       
Pathe Exchange. 155m. bw/Technicolor sequences

The adult life of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection.
Easter time comes round again with this quite thoughtfully crafted and only occasionally indulgent De Mille epic, one of his best at adapting the Bible (slavishly quoting chapter and verse in every caption), with intelligent performances in an increasingly sophisticated silent era, before sound was about to remove the subtlety. Lots of Griffith influence too (he allegedly directed part of the crucifixion scene), although the film shows up how inconsistent the New Testament is as a story.
   
Written by: Jeanie Macpherson.
Producer/Director: Cecil B. de Mille.
Starring: H.B. Warner, Joseph Schildkraut (as Judas), Jacqueline Lyon (as Mary Magdalene), Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrance, Rudolph Shildkraut, Victor Varconi, William Boyd, Ivor Montagu.
Photography: J. Peverel Morley, F.J. Westerberg.
Production Design: Anton Grot, Edward C. Jewell, Julian Harrison, Dan Sayre Groesback.

Apr 8th   
The Fury** 
(US 1978)   
Twentieth Century Fox. 118m.

An ex-CIA agent goes on the run in search of his son who is being used by the government for his dangerous psychic powers.
Outrageous psychic thriller with all the force and imagination of its paperback fantasy origins, back to Carrie material for De Palma, with some Hitchcockian suspense, creating a sort of modern horror fable. The plot and characters usually take second place to the visuals.

Written by: John Farris, from his novel.
Producer: Frank Yablans.
Director: Brian De Palma.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens, Fiona Lewis, Dennis Franz, Daryl Hannah.
Photography: Richard  H. Kline.
Music: John Williams.
Editing: Paul Hirsch.
Make-up: William Tuttle, Rick Baker.

Apr 1st 
A Night in Casablanca***       
(US 1946)                       
United Artists. 84m. bw

A crooked hotel manager takes over at a secret enclave of Nazis trying to recover their stolen loot.
Underrated later entry in the Marx canon where neither they or their material are on top form, but still effectively zany and tense thriller spoof, with characteristic Marx interludes.

Written by: Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee, and others.
Producer: David L. Loew.
Director: Archie Mayo.
Starring: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Lisette Vera, Charles Drake, Lois Collier, Sig Rumann, Dan Seymour.
Photography:James Van Trees.
Music: Werner Janssen (songs by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Werner Janssen).

+ Groucho to Harpo (in a moment of furtive danger): "I don't want to hear a word out of you."

A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA. The Marx Brothers break the bank at the casino (in a film made ironically to help Chico with his gambling debts), with certain sly references to Casablanca, such as Groucho's Bogart-style white tuxedo and bow tie.