Oct 31st   
The Shadow of the Cat*     
(GB 1961)
Universal-International/BHP. 79m. bw

An old lady is murdered for her inheritance, but is witnessed by her pet cat, who takes revenge on the would-be inheritors. Curious but characteristic Hammer thriller under another name: the plot developments are obviously enough stated, but also well conveyed in style and mood.

w: George Baxt
p: Sam Penington
d: John Gilling
s: Andre Morell, Barbara Shelley, Freda Jackson, Conrad Phillips, William Lucas, Richard Warner, Vanda Godsell, Alan Wheatley, Andrew Crawford, Catherine Lacey
ph: Arthur Grant
m: Mikis Theodorakis

Oct 18th  
Coastal Command*   
(GB 1942)   
Ministry of Information. 72m. bw

The plight of a Fleet Air Arm craft patrolling the convoy approaches from the Atlantic, encountering U-Boats and a German cruiser ship. Elementary documentary filmed drama with non-actor servicemen in the main roles, distinguished nowadays mainly for its sore (featured in honour of Vaughan-Williams' 150th birthday.)

p: Ian Dalrymple
d: J.B. Holmes
ph: Teddy Catford, Fred Gamage, Jonah Jones
m: Ralph Vaughan-Williams
ed: Michael Gordon

Oct 9th  
Sunday Bloody Sunday**   
(GB 1971)  
United Artists/Vectia. 110m.

A bisexual young artist has parallel love affairs with a Jewish doctor and a divorced woman.
Following on from the success of Midnight Cowboy(qv), Schlesinger now lifts the lid on middle class London, in an authentically accurate depiction of the drab early 1970s (and some dodgy period flashbacks). Notable mainly for its honest and unsensational depiction of a gay love affair - a subject close to the director's heart; as a result some of the other characters don't get too much of a focus, but very much a film ahead of its time.

Written by: Penelope Gilliatt (and David Sherwin, John Schlesinger).
Producer: Joseph Janni.
Director: John Schlesinger.
Starring: Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft, Maurice Denham, Tony Britton, Vivian Pickles, Frank Windsor, Jon Finch, Bessie Love, June Brown, Richard Pearson.
Photography: Billy Williams.
Music: Ron Greesin, Mozart, and others.

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY. Glenda Jackson was the 'name' star of the time, also in love with Murray Head, as is Peter Finch. This still shows suitably where the film's real sympathies lie. 

Oct 8th
South** (U)
sub-title: Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
(Electric Palace, Harwich)

aka: Endurance; In the Grip of Polar Ice

(GB 1919)
80m. bw. silent

A BFI restoration of the extraordinary well captured film record of Shackleton's epic escape from the Antarctic after his ship and crew were stranded in the ice in 1915 - where the film itself was only saved that was sufficient for the surviving explorers to travel with. Also a notable early example of the nature documentary field, with the animals frequently stealing the show.

Photography: Frank Hurley.

SOUTH (1919). Frank Hurley's camera meticulously covers every aspect of the 1914 Shackleton expedition, including Endurance's dramatic sinking - with the wreck itself remarkably rediscovered under the ice in March 2022

Oct 6th  
Patterns**  
(US 1956)   
United Artists. 84m. bw

An executive moves to a New York corporation and befriends a colleague whom he realises he has been hired to replace.
Compelling boardroom melodrama, more forceful and direct than it would probably be in reality, with the writer allowing the actors plenty of reign for venting their feelings.

Written by: Rod Serling, from his TV play.
Producers: Michael Myerberg, Jed Harris.
Director: Fielder Cook.
Starring: Van Heflin, Ed Begley, Everett Sloane, Beatrice Straight, Elizabeth Wilson, Ronnie Welsh, Edward Binns.
Photography: Boris Kaufman.
Music: none.