Sep 26th   
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines***  (U)
Sub-title: Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
(Pictureville Cinema, Bradford)

(GB 1965)
Twentieth Century Fox. 135m. Todd-AO

In 1910 a London newspaper owner launches an air race between London and Parris, with various nationalities taking part for better or worse.
Entertaining comedy adventure, a "fun" epic as opposed to the more traditionally sombre serious subjects for this kind of cinema, and as such highly commercial. Based loosely on Bleriot's flight across the Channel and other milestones in aviation, with several enjoyable comedy cameos, some excellent reconstructions (especially aircraft), and suitable music to capture the atmosphere of the whole thing.

Written by: Jack Davies, Ken Annakin,
Producer: Stan Marguilles.
Director: Ken Annakin.
Starring: James Fox, Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Irina Demick, Gert Frobe, Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes, Alberto Sordi, Zena Marshall, Karl Michael Vogler, Sam Wanamaker, Tony Hancock, Willie Rushton, Michael Trubshawe, Benny Hill, Yujiro Ishihara, Flora Robson, Fred Emney, Cicely Courtneidge, Red Skelton, James Robertson Justice (narrator).
Photography: Christopher Challis, Skeets Kelly.
Music: Ron  Goodwin.

 Titles: Ronald Searle.
Production Design: Tim Morahan.

100 Favourite Films: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Sep 25th   
Patton** (12)   
(Pictureville Cinema, Bradford)                        

(US 1969)
Twentieth Century Fox. 171m. Dimension 150

Adventures of a gruff US general who fought heroic campaigns in North Africa and Europe, and whose reputation became as fearsome off the battlefield as on it. Solidly crafted WWII biopic with a powerhouse performance at its centre (whose star later refused the Oscar awarded him), as much of a study in male ego as conveying some of the brutalities of war, taking the usual American slant on WWII and like its main character not realising the bigger picture outside of his own theatre of war. Written by: Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North. Producer Frank McCarthy. Director: Franklin Schaffner. Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates (as Montgomery), Edward Binns, Paul Stevens, James Edwards, Frank Latimore, Morgan Paull, Siegfried Rauch, Richard Meunch, Karl Michael Vogler (as Rommel), Tim Considine (as the soldier who gets slapped). Music: Jerry Goldsmith. Photography: Fred J. Koenekamp.

+ This is the complete text of Scott's typically eloquent opening prologue speech (taken almost verbatim from Patton's own words to D-Day troops in 1944):

"Be seated... Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country! Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans, traditionally, love to fight, all real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players, the toughest boxer. Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost, and laughed! That's why Americans have never lost, and will never lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful, to Americans.
Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights, as a team, this individuality stuff is a bunch of crap! The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality, for the Saturday Evening Post, don't know anything more about real battle, than they do about fornicating! Now we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know....my God actually pity those poor bastards we're going up against, by God I do! We're not just going to shoot the bastards, we're going to cut out their living guts, and use them to grease the treads of our tanks! We're going to MURDER those lousy Hun bastards, by the BUSHEL!

Now, some of you boys I know are wondering whether or not you will chicken-out under fire - don't worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. WADE into them! Spill THEIR blood! Shoot THEM in the belly! WHEN YOU PUT YOUR HAND INTO A BUNCH OF GOO, THAT A MOMENT BEFORE WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND'S FACE…you'll know what to do.

Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything Let the Hun that. We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding on anything. except the ENEMY! WE'RE GOING TO HOLD ON TO HIM BY THE NOSE, AND WE'RE GONNA KICK HIM IN THE ASS! WE’RE GONNA KICK THE HELL OUT OF HIM ALL THE TIME, AND WE’RE GOING TO GO THROUGH HIM LIKE CRAP THROUGH A GOOSE!!

Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now, when you're sitting round your fireside, with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you What did you do in the great World War Two?, you won't have to say…’Well, 1 shovelled shit in Louisiana’...!

Alright you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. Oh, and I would be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle, any time, and anywhere. That's all."

Sep 14th   
Circle of Friends**   
(GB/Ire/US 1995)  
Rank/Savoy/Castle Rock. 103m.

Three Irish girls graduating to Dublin to study find love in various tempestuous ways.
Romanticised coming-of-age drama in 1950s Ireland, typically "sexed-up" by its screenwriter, but still retaining some of its Irish flavour and charm, with a star in the making role for its leading lady.

Written by: Andrew Davies, based on the novel by Maeve Binchy.
Producers: Arlene Sellers, Alex Winnitsky, Frank Price.
Director: Pat O'Connor.
Starring: Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine O'Rawe, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Aidan Lynch, Ciaran Hinds.
Photography: Kenneth McMillan.
Music: Michael Kamen.

Aug 20th   
The Life of Chuck** (15)   
(Curzon Colchester)

(US 2024)
FilmNation/Intrepid Pictures/Red Room. 111m. 

A 39-year old man is dying just as the universe is also starting to end; two generations earlier we begin to learn why...
Thoughtfully made and performed semi-allegorical sci-fi drama, which doesn't entirely satisfying some aspects of its double flashback structure, but with some good scenes and a strong cast who give the whole thing a suitable gravitas.

Written and Directed by: Mike Flanagan, from the story by Stephen King.
Producers: Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy.
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Annalise Basso, Taylor Gordon, Carl Lumbly, Nick Offerman (narrator).
Photography: Eben Bolter.
Music: John Andrew Grush, Taylor Newton Stewart.
  

Aug 5th
Holiday Camp*     
(GB 1947)
Rank/Gainsborough. 97m. bw

Experiences of assorted guests at a British post-war holiday camp, with a secret murderer among them.
The murder element is a minor addition to a generally pleasant but unremarkable semi-documentary melodrama, with the central family of the Huggetts going on to have their own film series. Quite a hit in its day, which is where it belongs, for its evocation of holiday resorts of the time (immortalised also in the TV comedy Hi-de-Hi!)

Written by: Peter Rogers, Muriel Box, Sydney Box, Mabel Constanduros, Denis Constanduros, Ted Willis, from a story by Geoffrey Winn.
Producer: Sydney Box.
Director: Ken Annakin.
Starring: Hazel Court, Flora Robson, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Dennis Price, Jimmy Hanley, Esma Cannon, Peter Hammond, Emrys Jones, Yvonne Owen, Jeanette Tregorthen, Susan Shaw, Charlie Chester, Patricia Roc, Esmond Knight.
Photography: Jack Cox.
Music: Bob Burby.
Musical Direction: Louis Levy.

+ filmed on location at the Butlin's holiday camp in Filey

Jul 26th    
Ran*** (15)   
(King Street Cinema, Ipswich)

(Jap/Fra 1985)
Nippon Herald/Greenwich Film Productions/Toho. 162m.

A 40th anniversary re-release of an 80s action thriller, but of the much more artistically crafted kind: Kurosawa's adaptation of King Lear with an aging Samurai warlord and his three feuding sons, although the women still very much have their say in a sometimes languid epic, but beautifully visual as expected of him and with some superb battle scenes to rival the best of the Shakespeare films.

Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide.
Producers: Katsumi Masato Hora, Serge Silberman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa.
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Mayasuki Yui, Peter (as the Fool).
Photography: Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda, Asakazu Nakai.
Music: Toru Takemitsu.

Roger Ebert review

RAN. The perfect visual metaphor for the King and his self-destructing kingdom.

Jul 25th   
A Room with a View***    
(GB 1985)  
Curzon/Goldcrest/Film Four/Merchant-Ivory. 117m.

A chaperoned girl on holiday in Florence encounters love.
The first major success of the Merchant-Ivory team, dismissed by some as perriod-obsessed and lacking a cutting edge, and admittedly a little self-consciously stylized in its acting and presentation, but a welcome breath of fresh air in a 1980s dominated by blockbusters and violent action thrillers, with its captivating blend of operatic music and classical painting-style imagery.

Written by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, from the novel by E.M. Forster.
Producer: Ismail Merchant.
Director: James Ivory.
Starring: Helena Bonha Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day Lewis, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Rosemary Leach, Patrick Godfrey, Fabia Drake, Joan Henley, Rupert Graves.
Photography: Tony Pierce Roberts.
Music: Richard Robbins, Puccini (solos sung by Kiri Te Kanawa).