Jun 10th     
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof*      
(US 1958)
MGM/Avon. 108m.    

Smouldering family tensions in a Deep South plantation where the dying owner is wanting to pass the inheritance over to his alcoholic and sexually repressed son.  
A daring but nonetheless slightly toned down adaptation of a play typical of its author's distinctive Southern drawl, with the principals all acting as if they were in different films. 

Written by: Richard Brooks, James Poe, from the play by Tennessee Williams.
Producer: Laurence Weingarten.
Director: Richard Brooks.
Starring: Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor.
Photography: William Daniels.
Music: Charles Wolcott.

Preceded by:
Look at Life: Putting on an Act*      
(Gb 1965. 10m. Amateur theatre at various local societies around Britain.; narr: Tim Turner.)

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Not exactly subtle, and with acting very theatrical, but it became a commercial hit. The poster of Elizabeth Taylor probably helped.

May 30th    
The Mandalorian and Grogu*  (12A)         
(Vue Colchester)    

(US 2026)                                          
Walt Disney/Lucasfilm/Fairview. 132. IMAX

In the post Star Wars-era New Republic, a hired bounty hunter and his diminutive friend help hunt down remaining Imperial factions and also assist a reforming son of Jabba the Hutt.
Passable film spin-off of the first live action TV series to live outside the parameters of the original saga. A little tedious for its repetitive preference for action over mysticism or romance, but agreeable enough on its own terms, as a sci-fi James Bond-style Clint Eastwood lone avenger thriller, set in a galaxy not particularly far, far away.

Written by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor.
Producers: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce.
Director: Jon Favreau.
Starring: Pedro Pascal (and some busy stuntmen), Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, Jonny Coyne; voices of Steve Blum, Martin Scorsese, Shirley Henderson, Anthony Daniels.
Photography: David Klein.
Music: Ludwig Goranson.

May 16th   
Fever Pitch**     
(GB 1996)       
Film Four/Channel 4 Films. 102m.

A London schoolteacher finds his love life and his beloved football team are following a similar course that season.
The author's own confessions of an Arsenal fan, dressed up as sporting romantic comedy where the romantic interest and most of the other supporting characters are essentially ciphers for the central character's male psyche. Very little of an outside voice is heard, but the film has some funny moments of recognition for those familiar with the milieu and the time.

Written by: Nick Hornby, from his novel.
Producer: Amanda Posey.
Director: David Evans.
Starring: Colin Firth, Ruth Gemmell, Mark Strong, Neil Pearson, Lorraine Ashbourne, Holly Aird, Ken Stott, Stephen Rea, Annette Ekblom.
Photography: Chris Seager.
Music: Bob Hewerdine, Neil McColl.

+ American remake in 2005, with a baseball instead of soccer obsessive

Preceded by:   
Tom and Jerry in  
Saturday Evening Puss**      
(US 1950. 6m.l w, d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

May 12th  
The Kid Brother***   
(US 1927)      
Paramount. 84m. bw. silent    

The weakling of three lumberjack brothers makes good when combating the strongman in a local touring theatre that has stolen his father's funds. 
Standard but innovative Lloyd vehicle, not quite as convincing as a story as previous efforts, but with touching moments, a full-blooded chase climax, and some strong production at the twilight of the silent era.

Written by: Howard J. Green.
Producer: Harold Lloyd.
Director: Ted Wilde.
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Walter James, Olin Francis, Leo Willis, Eddie Boland, Constantine Romanoff.
Photography: Walter Lundin.

Music Composer/Conductor: Carl Davis.

+ parts of the film were also directed by Lewis Milestone

May 2nd   
North by Northwest***    
(Prince Charles Cinema, London)

(US 1959)    
MGM. 136m. Vistavision

An advertising executive mistaken for a spy is implicated in a manhunt across America, and then sets out to find the real "George Kaplan".
Wonderful comedy thriller with just about the right mixture of everything. Any implausibilities in the plor are smoothed over by Hitchcock's skillful set pieces, and some delightfully farcical ones at that, sustained by a marvelously droll central performance. 

Written by: Ernest Lehman.
Producer/Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau, Leo G. Carroll, Jessie Royce Landis, Adam Williams, Josephine Hutchinson, Nora Marlowe, Phillip Ober.
Music: Bernard Herrmann.
Photography:Robert Burks.
Titles: Saul Bass.



100 Favourite Films: North by Northwest

Apr 12th   
True Confessions**    
(US 1981)
United Artists. 108m. 

A Los Angeles vice squad detective uncovers a series of brutal murders that implicate his Catholic priest brother.
Sensitively handled in its ecclesiastical element, and beautifully photographed in the manner of The Godfather (including two of its main actors), though as a murder plot containing the usual bouts of sex, violence and profanity that are supposedly good box office (based on the Black Dahlia murder case in the 1940s). A belated Easter tribute to the late Robert Duvall.

Written by: Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, from his novel. 
Producers: Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler.
Director: Ulu Grosbard.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning, Burgess Meredith, Cyril Cusack, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Flanders, Dan Hedaya, Rose Gregario, Jeannette Nolan.
Photography: Owen Roizman.
Music: Georges Delerue.

Apr 11th  
The Magic Faraway Tree*  (U)      
(Century Clacton)        

(GB/US 2026)                       
Elysian/Ashland Hill Media. 110m. ws

A young father takes his dysfunctional family to their new woodland home where the children investigate a mysterious tree leading them to magical adventures.
Modernization of Enid Blyton's stories where the adults are more moving and engaging than the children, with the transition from fantasy to reality a little overstylised in design and performance (with a belated brief villain), and lacking the whimsy of the original.

Written by: Simon Farnaby.
Producers: Pippa Harris, Nicholas Brown, Danny Perkins, Jane Hooks.
Director: Ben Gregor.
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Billie Gadson, Phoenix Laroche, Nicola Coughlan, Nonso Anozie, Mark Heap, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Jennifer Saunders, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Farnaby.
Photography: Zac Nicholson.
Music: Isabella Summers.