Ian Fleming is perhaps best known for being the creator of James Bond and the series of novels that center the character, but he's also the mind behind the 1964 children's novel "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car," which was subsequently turned into the beloved, Academy Award-nominated fantasy movie musical and later, a stage musical. The story focuses on the Potts family, namely, siblings Jeremy and Jemima, who desperately try to set up their widowed inventor father Caractacus with a beautiful woman named Truly Scrumptious. And people had the audacity to make fun of the character names in "The Hunger Games" series? Tsk. Tsk. During a day at the beach, Caractacus tells the children a fantastical tale about the villainous Baron Bomburst, the tyrant ruler of the land of Vulgaria, and his attempts to steal their magical family car, the titular Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a whimsical story through and through,...
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a whimsical story through and through,...
- 4/6/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Anthony Asquith’s unusual look at wartime espionage garnered good notices in 1958, perhaps from reviewers rebelling against the trend toward ruthless screen violence. Star Paul Massie is fine as an emotionally-stricken Allied assassin who balks at carrying out his mission; the acting support from Irene Worth and Leslie French is superb. Screenwriter Paul Dehn was an ace at sharp, no-nonsense thrillers, but this story is soft around the edges — it seems to be explaining non-chivalric warfare to your sweet old grandmother. Which reminds us, Lillian Gish has a small role, too.
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
- 9/17/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
At the intersection of big-star international dealmaking, the 70mm epic, and the humble sword ‘n’ shield actioner, this comic book viking saga stacks one absurd, borderline bad taste action scene on top of another. It’s an irresistible mash-up of earlier successes, well directed visually by Jack Cardiff. Richard Widmark at forty must play the Viking action hero, Russ Tamblyn at thirty is still a physical dervish, and Sidney Poitier takes on the strangest casting of his career. Plus, low sexist comedy from a platoon of hearty Brit thesps!
The Long Ships
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 137
1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date June 29, 2022 / Available from Viavision / Aus 34.95
Starring: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Oskar Homolka, Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Beba Loncar, Clifford Evans, Gordon Jackson, Colin Blakely, Paul Stassino, Leonard Rossiter, Jeanne Moody, Julie Samuel.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Production Designer: Vlastimir Gavrik, Zoran Zorcic
Art Director: Bill Constable...
The Long Ships
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 137
1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date June 29, 2022 / Available from Viavision / Aus 34.95
Starring: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Oskar Homolka, Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Beba Loncar, Clifford Evans, Gordon Jackson, Colin Blakely, Paul Stassino, Leonard Rossiter, Jeanne Moody, Julie Samuel.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Production Designer: Vlastimir Gavrik, Zoran Zorcic
Art Director: Bill Constable...
- 8/6/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Rereleased as a curtain-raiser for a sequel, Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins and co continue to exert their grip over the national imagination
There can’t be many classic British family movies which feature Russian anti-tsarist writers exiled in Yorkshire. The Railway Children from 1970 is now re-released, as a curtain-raiser to a forthcoming sequel, The Railway Children Return, which will be set 40 years on and features Jenny Agutter playing a grownup version of her original character.
The original is robustly and adroitly directed by Lionel Jeffries, who also adapted the Edith Nesbit novel and it continues to exert its grip on our collective teatime imagination, due to its unworldly sweetness and gentleness and its forthright sense of decency – especially, maybe, that final scene where the children’s wrongly imprisoned father emerges from the steam on the railway platform, a moment as dramatic and mysterious as Omar Sharif galloping through the heat-haze in Lawrence of Arabia,...
There can’t be many classic British family movies which feature Russian anti-tsarist writers exiled in Yorkshire. The Railway Children from 1970 is now re-released, as a curtain-raiser to a forthcoming sequel, The Railway Children Return, which will be set 40 years on and features Jenny Agutter playing a grownup version of her original character.
The original is robustly and adroitly directed by Lionel Jeffries, who also adapted the Edith Nesbit novel and it continues to exert its grip on our collective teatime imagination, due to its unworldly sweetness and gentleness and its forthright sense of decency – especially, maybe, that final scene where the children’s wrongly imprisoned father emerges from the steam on the railway platform, a moment as dramatic and mysterious as Omar Sharif galloping through the heat-haze in Lawrence of Arabia,...
- 6/29/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Alfred Hitchcock puts Jane Wyman in harm’s way, as she tries to rescue her unworthy boyfriend Richard Todd from a murder charge. Is Jane proving her love, or are both of them being manipulated by a scheming actress, Marlene Dietrich? This is the movie in which Hitch inflicts a ‘frump complex’ on Ms. Wyman — she looks demoralized whenever she shares the screen with Dietrich. It’s also the movie that ponders the cinematic concept of ‘The Lying Flashback,’ which made perfect sense to Hitchcock but frustrated his audience. Also starring Michael Wilding, Alastair Sim and a cherry-picked list of English acting royalty.
Stage Fright
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date January 25, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, Miles Malleson, Joyce Grenfell, André Morell, Patricia Hitchcock, Alfie Bass, Irene Handl. Lionel Jeffries.
Cinematography:...
Stage Fright
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date January 25, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, Miles Malleson, Joyce Grenfell, André Morell, Patricia Hitchcock, Alfie Bass, Irene Handl. Lionel Jeffries.
Cinematography:...
- 1/29/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Variety can reveal the first look poster and trailer of the long awaited sequel to all-time British kids’ classic film “The Railway Children” from Studiocanal.
Studiocanal is launching global sales on the film at the virtual AFM (Nov. 1-5).
Based on a celebrated novel by E. Nesbit, the original 1970 film follows three children, who, after the enforced absence of their father, move with their mother to Yorkshire where they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
Picking up nearly forty years after the events of the original film, “The Railway Children Return” follows a new group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during WWII, where they encounter a young soldier, who like them, is far away from home.
BAFTA and Emmy winning Jenny Agutter resumes her role as Roberta from the original “The Railway Children” and is joined by BAFTA winning Sheridan Smith (“Cilla”), Oscar nominee...
Studiocanal is launching global sales on the film at the virtual AFM (Nov. 1-5).
Based on a celebrated novel by E. Nesbit, the original 1970 film follows three children, who, after the enforced absence of their father, move with their mother to Yorkshire where they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
Picking up nearly forty years after the events of the original film, “The Railway Children Return” follows a new group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during WWII, where they encounter a young soldier, who like them, is far away from home.
BAFTA and Emmy winning Jenny Agutter resumes her role as Roberta from the original “The Railway Children” and is joined by BAFTA winning Sheridan Smith (“Cilla”), Oscar nominee...
- 10/27/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Cast revealed for sequel, directed by Morgan Matthews.
A sequel to UK family classic The Railway Children is set to begin shooting for Studiocanal, with Jenny Agutter reprising her role from the 1970 film.
UK filmmaker Morgan Matthews is directing The Railway Children Return, which will begin filming on location in Yorkshire in the UK from May 10. A UK release date has been set for April 1, 2022.
Agutter is returning to play her original character; Tom Courtenay and Sheridan Smith have joined the cast alongside a new generation of ‘railway children’.
Written by Danny Brocklehurst, known for writing UK TV drama such as Brassic and The Stranger,...
A sequel to UK family classic The Railway Children is set to begin shooting for Studiocanal, with Jenny Agutter reprising her role from the 1970 film.
UK filmmaker Morgan Matthews is directing The Railway Children Return, which will begin filming on location in Yorkshire in the UK from May 10. A UK release date has been set for April 1, 2022.
Agutter is returning to play her original character; Tom Courtenay and Sheridan Smith have joined the cast alongside a new generation of ‘railway children’.
Written by Danny Brocklehurst, known for writing UK TV drama such as Brassic and The Stranger,...
- 5/6/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
BAFTA-winning director Morgan Matthews (“X+Y”) will begin principal photography on May 10 on a sequel to the all-time British kids’ classic “The Railway Children.”
“The Railway Children Return” will shoot in locations around the U.K. from the original 1970 film, including Oakworth Station, Haworth and The Bronte Parsonage. The iconic Keighley & Worth Valley Railway from the original film will also feature.
BAFTA and Emmy-winning actor Jenny Agutter will resume her role from the original “Railway Children.” BAFTA-winning Sheridan Smith; Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Tom Courtenay; and a new generation of Railway Children will star alongside.
Based on a celebrated novel by E. Nesbit, the original film follows three children, who, after the enforced absence of their father, move with their mother to Yorkshire where they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
“The Railway Children Return” follows a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during WWII,...
“The Railway Children Return” will shoot in locations around the U.K. from the original 1970 film, including Oakworth Station, Haworth and The Bronte Parsonage. The iconic Keighley & Worth Valley Railway from the original film will also feature.
BAFTA and Emmy-winning actor Jenny Agutter will resume her role from the original “Railway Children.” BAFTA-winning Sheridan Smith; Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Tom Courtenay; and a new generation of Railway Children will star alongside.
Based on a celebrated novel by E. Nesbit, the original film follows three children, who, after the enforced absence of their father, move with their mother to Yorkshire where they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
“The Railway Children Return” follows a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during WWII,...
- 5/6/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Dated but good-humoured, this 1967 adaptation includes all the era’s popular elements, from villain Terry-Thomas to penny-farthings in haystacks
There’s an serious outbreak of top hats and mutton chops in this amiable adaptation of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, originally released in 1967, when the real world was gearing up for the Apollo moonshot a couple of years later. Produced by the prolific Harry Towers, it adopted the rambling wacky-races format that had proved enduringly popular throughout the 1950s and 60s; most recently with the 1965 hit Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, which it shamelessly capitalised on with its US title (Those Fantastic Flying Fools) as well as redeplying the ubiquitous Terry-Thomas, who played yet another moustache-twirling cad.
Rocket to the Moon is watchable in a bored-Sunday-afternoon sort of way: it’s about whether an international consortium, led by Burl Ives (as Phineas T Barnum) and Dennis Price,...
There’s an serious outbreak of top hats and mutton chops in this amiable adaptation of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, originally released in 1967, when the real world was gearing up for the Apollo moonshot a couple of years later. Produced by the prolific Harry Towers, it adopted the rambling wacky-races format that had proved enduringly popular throughout the 1950s and 60s; most recently with the 1965 hit Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, which it shamelessly capitalised on with its US title (Those Fantastic Flying Fools) as well as redeplying the ubiquitous Terry-Thomas, who played yet another moustache-twirling cad.
Rocket to the Moon is watchable in a bored-Sunday-afternoon sort of way: it’s about whether an international consortium, led by Burl Ives (as Phineas T Barnum) and Dennis Price,...
- 4/7/2021
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Normal 0 false false false En-gb X-none X-none
By Adrian Smith
Wynne Kinch (Jenny Agutter) was adopted. She had been raised by her mother, but at some stage prior to seven, still old enough to know about what was happening, she was put up for adoption and taken into a loving family with two considerably older brothers. Of the brothers, George (Bryan Marshall) is her favourite, and now, at the age of fourteen, Wynne's familial love is turning into lust and obsession. Denying that it is incest because she was adopted, Wynne feels completely justified in having these unrequited feelings towards her thirty-two year old brother.
The family live in a new high-rise block in Bracknell, Berkshire. Everything around her is either white or concrete, and all of it new, yet she still yearns to spend time in their old home: a large, crumbling farmhouse on the other side of the park.
By Adrian Smith
Wynne Kinch (Jenny Agutter) was adopted. She had been raised by her mother, but at some stage prior to seven, still old enough to know about what was happening, she was put up for adoption and taken into a loving family with two considerably older brothers. Of the brothers, George (Bryan Marshall) is her favourite, and now, at the age of fourteen, Wynne's familial love is turning into lust and obsession. Denying that it is incest because she was adopted, Wynne feels completely justified in having these unrequited feelings towards her thirty-two year old brother.
The family live in a new high-rise block in Bracknell, Berkshire. Everything around her is either white or concrete, and all of it new, yet she still yearns to spend time in their old home: a large, crumbling farmhouse on the other side of the park.
- 12/11/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
In a reaffirmation of its ambitions to hold an on-site event this year, France’s Lumière Festival, run by filmmaker and film historian Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes Festival head Thierry Frémaux, has formally announced dates for its 2020 edition
The Lumière Festival 2020 has also unveiled its first program highlights: Tributes to French screenwriter Michel Audiard and to Clarence Brown, maybe the least known of Hollywood Silent Era “name” directors.
Running Oct. 10-18, the 12th Lumière Festival will take place “in movie theaters and the environs of Lyon, the festival announced Thursday in a written statement.
It could hardly be otherwise. Steered by Tavernier and Frémaux, the president and director of Lyon’s Lumière Institute, the Lumière Festival punched 200,000 admissions in 2019, despite a robust focus on classic film restorations, re-issues and retrospectives.
Key to that has been the presence in cinema theaters and on the streets of Lyon of some of the...
The Lumière Festival 2020 has also unveiled its first program highlights: Tributes to French screenwriter Michel Audiard and to Clarence Brown, maybe the least known of Hollywood Silent Era “name” directors.
Running Oct. 10-18, the 12th Lumière Festival will take place “in movie theaters and the environs of Lyon, the festival announced Thursday in a written statement.
It could hardly be otherwise. Steered by Tavernier and Frémaux, the president and director of Lyon’s Lumière Institute, the Lumière Festival punched 200,000 admissions in 2019, despite a robust focus on classic film restorations, re-issues and retrospectives.
Key to that has been the presence in cinema theaters and on the streets of Lyon of some of the...
- 5/30/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Indicator delivers another in their long line of fan-friendly box sets with Hammer Volume Five – Death and Deceit (a subhead that could be applied to the majority of the studio’s output). This latest release would be for Hammer completists only were it not for the extras that shine a bright light on a few overlooked artists and their work.
Hammer Volume Five – Death and Deceit
Blu ray – Region B Only
Powerhouse Films/Indicator
1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 / 1.85:1, 2.35:1 / 75, 87, 83 and 81 min.
Starring Richard Basehart, Christopher Lee, Lionel Jeffries, Oliver Reed
Cinematography by Arthur Grant, Jack Asher, Reg Wyer
Directed by Michael Carreras, John Gilling
Michael Carreras’s Visa to Canton was a Cold War thriller photographed in Technicolor but released to U.S. theaters in black and white. To add insult to injury it was given a new and even more prosaic title: Passport to China – a fate this unassuming little Cold War thriller didn’t deserve.
Hammer Volume Five – Death and Deceit
Blu ray – Region B Only
Powerhouse Films/Indicator
1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 / 1.85:1, 2.35:1 / 75, 87, 83 and 81 min.
Starring Richard Basehart, Christopher Lee, Lionel Jeffries, Oliver Reed
Cinematography by Arthur Grant, Jack Asher, Reg Wyer
Directed by Michael Carreras, John Gilling
Michael Carreras’s Visa to Canton was a Cold War thriller photographed in Technicolor but released to U.S. theaters in black and white. To add insult to injury it was given a new and even more prosaic title: Passport to China – a fate this unassuming little Cold War thriller didn’t deserve.
- 3/17/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Powerhouse Indicator continues its series of exotic attractions from the house of Hammer with four more titles, three of which are front-rank winners. Once again, the company’s extras make all the difference. We’re’ given alternate versions, censor comparisons, and for one reel, an entire roll of outtakes and stage waits featuring Peter Cushing.
Hammer Volume Four Faces of Fear
Region Free Blu-ray
The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Taste of Fear, The Damned (These Are the Damned)
Powerhouse Indicator
1958-1962 / Color & B&w / 1:66, 2:35 widescreen / / Street Date November 25, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £42.99
Directed by Terence Fisher (2), Seth Holt, Joseph Losey
Powerhouse Indicator’s fourth collection of Hammer attractions shows no sign of compromise — three out of four titles here are superb tales of fright and science fiction. Thanks to the company policy of leaving no gravestone unturned, the exclusive special extras never stop.
Hammer Volume Four Faces of Fear
Region Free Blu-ray
The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Taste of Fear, The Damned (These Are the Damned)
Powerhouse Indicator
1958-1962 / Color & B&w / 1:66, 2:35 widescreen / / Street Date November 25, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £42.99
Directed by Terence Fisher (2), Seth Holt, Joseph Losey
Powerhouse Indicator’s fourth collection of Hammer attractions shows no sign of compromise — three out of four titles here are superb tales of fright and science fiction. Thanks to the company policy of leaving no gravestone unturned, the exclusive special extras never stop.
- 11/2/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including American Vandal, Elementary, The Sinner and American Horror Story: Apocalypse!
1 | Is Season 2 of American Vandal — which (spoiler alert?) features characters trying to preserve their secrets by obeying the menacing commands of an unseen adversary, who then disregards their obedience and exposes them anyway — just a longer version of Black Mirror‘s “Shut Up and Dance”? But with, you know, more poop?
2 | Could Killjoys have telegraphed Pip’s death (He’s found sex! Maybe love!
1 | Is Season 2 of American Vandal — which (spoiler alert?) features characters trying to preserve their secrets by obeying the menacing commands of an unseen adversary, who then disregards their obedience and exposes them anyway — just a longer version of Black Mirror‘s “Shut Up and Dance”? But with, you know, more poop?
2 | Could Killjoys have telegraphed Pip’s death (He’s found sex! Maybe love!
- 9/21/2018
- TVLine.com
[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “The Sinner” Season 2, Episode 5, “Part V.”]
Mosswood has never felt like the sanctuary that it’s purported to be, but “The Sinner” introduced its most disturbing revelations about the commune yet on Wednesday’s episode.
In flashbacks, Mosswood leader Lionel Jeffries (Brennan Brown), aka The Beacon, presented the concept of scapegoating to Vera Walker (Carrie Coon) in the form of a calf. By raising the calf lovingly, naming it, but then putting all of one’s negative emotions on it, a bond would be created. And then the Mosswood members would kill the calf, thereby symbolically eradicating those emotions in a supposedly healthy way. While sacrificing animals is already a troublesome subject, how the episode ends hints that something worse may lay ahead when the Beacon allows young Marin (Hannah Gross) to remain pregnant, despite previously banning members from having children.
“We’ll raise him, all of us together. The child will bind us,...
Mosswood has never felt like the sanctuary that it’s purported to be, but “The Sinner” introduced its most disturbing revelations about the commune yet on Wednesday’s episode.
In flashbacks, Mosswood leader Lionel Jeffries (Brennan Brown), aka The Beacon, presented the concept of scapegoating to Vera Walker (Carrie Coon) in the form of a calf. By raising the calf lovingly, naming it, but then putting all of one’s negative emotions on it, a bond would be created. And then the Mosswood members would kill the calf, thereby symbolically eradicating those emotions in a supposedly healthy way. While sacrificing animals is already a troublesome subject, how the episode ends hints that something worse may lay ahead when the Beacon allows young Marin (Hannah Gross) to remain pregnant, despite previously banning members from having children.
“We’ll raise him, all of us together. The child will bind us,...
- 8/30/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Indicator follows up The Wonderful Worlds of Ray Harryhausen, Volume One: 1955-1960 with, wait for it, Volume 2: 1961-1964, featuring three of Harryhausen’s most ambitious productions. Good news for fans, the UK company delivers another robust box set with beautiful transfers and an abundance of extras including newly produced interviews, a small treasure trove of promotional ephemera and a limited edition 80-page book with essays from Kim Newman and Tim Lucas. The set is region free, playable on Blu-ray devices worldwide.
The Wonderful Worlds of Ray Harryhausen, Volume 2: 1961-1964
Blu-ray – Region Free
Indicator/Powerhouse
Street Date November 13, 2017
Starring Herbert Lom, Joan Greenwood, Niall MacGinnis, Nigel Green, Lionel Jeffries, Edward Judd
Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper
Produced by Charles Schneer, Ray Harryhausen
Directed by Cy Endfield, Don Chaffey, Nathan Juran
Raging thunderstorms and a tempestuous score from Bernard Herrmann kick off 1961’s Mysterious Island as a water-logged crew of Union...
The Wonderful Worlds of Ray Harryhausen, Volume 2: 1961-1964
Blu-ray – Region Free
Indicator/Powerhouse
Street Date November 13, 2017
Starring Herbert Lom, Joan Greenwood, Niall MacGinnis, Nigel Green, Lionel Jeffries, Edward Judd
Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper
Produced by Charles Schneer, Ray Harryhausen
Directed by Cy Endfield, Don Chaffey, Nathan Juran
Raging thunderstorms and a tempestuous score from Bernard Herrmann kick off 1961’s Mysterious Island as a water-logged crew of Union...
- 11/25/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart, Ray Jackson, Ronald Hines, Sean Barrett, Roland Curram, Meredith Edwards, Michael Bates, Maxine Audley, Lionel Jeffries | Written by David Divine, W.P. Lipscomb | Directed by Leslie Norman
While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.
When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.
What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...
While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.
When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.
What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...
- 9/26/2017
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
An admiring nod to ’60s dream siren Daliah Lavi! American-International leaps into an epic Jules Verne comedy about a trip to the moon, a good-looking but slow and unfunny farce that must squeak by on the goodwill of its cast of comedians. Burl Ives is excellent casting as P.T. Barnum, promoting a Greatest Show Off the Earth.
Blast-Off
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1967 / Color/ 2:35 widescreen / 119 99, 95 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / Those Fantastic Flying Fools; Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon / available through Olive Films / 29.95
Starring: Burl Ives, Terry-Thomas, Gert Fröbe, Lionel Jeffries, Troy Donahue, Daliah Lavi, Dennis Price, Hermione Gingold, Jimmy Clitheroe, Graham Stark, Edward de Souza, Judy Cornwell, Allan Cuthbertson, Sinéd Cusack, Maurice Denham.
Cinematography: Reginald H. Wyer
Film Editor: Ann Chegwidden
Original Music: John Scott
Written by Dave Freeman, Peter Welbeck (Harry Allan Towers) inspired by the writings of Jules Verne
Produced by Harry Allan Towers
Directed by Don Sharp...
Blast-Off
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1967 / Color/ 2:35 widescreen / 119 99, 95 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / Those Fantastic Flying Fools; Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon / available through Olive Films / 29.95
Starring: Burl Ives, Terry-Thomas, Gert Fröbe, Lionel Jeffries, Troy Donahue, Daliah Lavi, Dennis Price, Hermione Gingold, Jimmy Clitheroe, Graham Stark, Edward de Souza, Judy Cornwell, Allan Cuthbertson, Sinéd Cusack, Maurice Denham.
Cinematography: Reginald H. Wyer
Film Editor: Ann Chegwidden
Original Music: John Scott
Written by Dave Freeman, Peter Welbeck (Harry Allan Towers) inspired by the writings of Jules Verne
Produced by Harry Allan Towers
Directed by Don Sharp...
- 6/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Giving the Brothers Grimm tale Hansel and Gretel a facelift is Curtis Harrington’s Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971), which will be released on Blu-ray / DVD on August 16th courtesy of Kino Lorber.
From Kino Lorber: “Coming August 16th on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New 2016 HD Master!
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
• Audio Commentary with Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Scholar Nathaniel Bell
• Trailers”
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): “This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920’s. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. One Christmas, her eye falls upon a little girl...
From Kino Lorber: “Coming August 16th on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New 2016 HD Master!
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
• Audio Commentary with Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Scholar Nathaniel Bell
• Trailers”
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): “This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920’s. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. One Christmas, her eye falls upon a little girl...
- 5/13/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Family Films in Global Cinema: The World Beyond Disney
Edited by Noel Brown and Bruce Babington (Published by I.B. Taurus, £62), 272 Pages, Hardcover, Isbn: 9781784530082
By Tim Greaves
Comprising a well-researched and eminently readable series of essays from around a dozen contributing writers, “Family Films in Global Cinema” delivers just what its title promises. Rather than focussing on a particular era or subgenre, editors Noel Brown and Bruce Babington have cast their net far wider; titles spanning many decades and from all corners of the globe are afforded textual equality with some of the more readily acknowledged classics. Fancy reading refreshing opinions on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or A Nightmare Before Christmas (the latter rejected by Disney, who must still be kicking themselves today)? They’re here, nestled alongside plenty of titles of which this reviewer was largely unaware. Of particular interest was a chapter devoted to the anime...
Edited by Noel Brown and Bruce Babington (Published by I.B. Taurus, £62), 272 Pages, Hardcover, Isbn: 9781784530082
By Tim Greaves
Comprising a well-researched and eminently readable series of essays from around a dozen contributing writers, “Family Films in Global Cinema” delivers just what its title promises. Rather than focussing on a particular era or subgenre, editors Noel Brown and Bruce Babington have cast their net far wider; titles spanning many decades and from all corners of the globe are afforded textual equality with some of the more readily acknowledged classics. Fancy reading refreshing opinions on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or A Nightmare Before Christmas (the latter rejected by Disney, who must still be kicking themselves today)? They’re here, nestled alongside plenty of titles of which this reviewer was largely unaware. Of particular interest was a chapter devoted to the anime...
- 10/11/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Lee Pfeiffer
Although he was regarded as a comedy genius, the sad truth is that Peter Sellers was more often than not misused in big screen comedies. After making it big on British TV and in feature films in the late 1950s, Sellers became an international sensation with his acclaimed work in big studio feature films such as "Lolita", "Dr. Strangelove", "The World of Henry Orient" and the first entries in the "Pink Panther" series. Through the mid-Sixties, he did impressive work in films like "After the Fox", "The Wrong Box" and "What's New Pussycat?" If the films weren't classics, at least they presented some of Sellers' off-the-wall ability to deliver innovative characters and comedic situations. By the late Sixties, however, his own personal demons began to get the better of him. Sellers was the epitome of the classic clown: laughing on the outside but crying on the inside.
Although he was regarded as a comedy genius, the sad truth is that Peter Sellers was more often than not misused in big screen comedies. After making it big on British TV and in feature films in the late 1950s, Sellers became an international sensation with his acclaimed work in big studio feature films such as "Lolita", "Dr. Strangelove", "The World of Henry Orient" and the first entries in the "Pink Panther" series. Through the mid-Sixties, he did impressive work in films like "After the Fox", "The Wrong Box" and "What's New Pussycat?" If the films weren't classics, at least they presented some of Sellers' off-the-wall ability to deliver innovative characters and comedic situations. By the late Sixties, however, his own personal demons began to get the better of him. Sellers was the epitome of the classic clown: laughing on the outside but crying on the inside.
- 3/8/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
(This review pertains to the UK Region 2 DVD release).
By Tim Greaves
Normal 0 false false false En-Us X-none X-none
I first encountered Lionel Jeffries’ 1973 melodrama Baxter! during the summer of 1978 on what I believe to be its one and only British television airing by the BBC. Its conspicuous absence on video in the UK – and, until 2014, DVD – meant that, for me, some 36 years elapsed between viewings. A small, and in many respects not particularly memorable film, it nevertheless stayed with me over the intervening years for, I think, two reasons. The first was its unexpectedly dark nature, which completely caught me off guard given the family friendly nature of the director’s previous films, The Railway Children and The Amazing Mr Blunden; best remembered for his myriad of on-screen performances, Baxter! was in fact the third of only five projects which positioned Jeffries on the other side of the camera.
By Tim Greaves
Normal 0 false false false En-Us X-none X-none
I first encountered Lionel Jeffries’ 1973 melodrama Baxter! during the summer of 1978 on what I believe to be its one and only British television airing by the BBC. Its conspicuous absence on video in the UK – and, until 2014, DVD – meant that, for me, some 36 years elapsed between viewings. A small, and in many respects not particularly memorable film, it nevertheless stayed with me over the intervening years for, I think, two reasons. The first was its unexpectedly dark nature, which completely caught me off guard given the family friendly nature of the director’s previous films, The Railway Children and The Amazing Mr Blunden; best remembered for his myriad of on-screen performances, Baxter! was in fact the third of only five projects which positioned Jeffries on the other side of the camera.
- 9/30/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
From Squirrel Girl to Doorman, we look at Marvel and DC's more unusual comic properties...
Odd List
Recently on this site, we scoped out the 13 hottest DC properties vying for Warner Brothers’ nine movie slots announced this April. What we didn’t discuss though, was the hordes of ruddy awful comic book properties lurking in the DC and Marvel vaults. In these deepest, darkest corners are characters we’ve tried to forget, and stories we pray never make it to the big screen.
Sadly, however many lengthy features you write, and whatever logic you apply, you can never accurately second guess what studios will do next. For example, who would’ve thought a few years ago that we’d have a recognisable, popular, live-action Green Arrow on TV before The Flash or Wonder Woman had made it to the screen?
So, to prepare ourselves for the worst, we delved into...
Odd List
Recently on this site, we scoped out the 13 hottest DC properties vying for Warner Brothers’ nine movie slots announced this April. What we didn’t discuss though, was the hordes of ruddy awful comic book properties lurking in the DC and Marvel vaults. In these deepest, darkest corners are characters we’ve tried to forget, and stories we pray never make it to the big screen.
Sadly, however many lengthy features you write, and whatever logic you apply, you can never accurately second guess what studios will do next. For example, who would’ve thought a few years ago that we’d have a recognisable, popular, live-action Green Arrow on TV before The Flash or Wonder Woman had made it to the screen?
So, to prepare ourselves for the worst, we delved into...
- 5/8/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Over the years there have been many attempts to update treasured movies. Whether it’s the sacrilegious colourisation of nevergreen classics such as It’s a Wonderful Life or the (more interesting) bookending of revered films with sequels and prequels there’s nothing quite as enticing to an eager studio as a well-known and well-loved classic.
Problems arise however when technological and social advances become obstacles to those filmmakers insistent on sticking as closely as possibly to the beloved original. Mobile phones, for example, would save hundreds of those previously in peril, CCTV and Gps tracking would have made a mockery of many a murder mystery; and Google Earth comes to the rescue of those lost in any number of haunted woods.
We’ve taken a look at some classic films and what an update might mean. Let’s begin with a beloved film -
Casablanca
Set in the heaving...
Problems arise however when technological and social advances become obstacles to those filmmakers insistent on sticking as closely as possibly to the beloved original. Mobile phones, for example, would save hundreds of those previously in peril, CCTV and Gps tracking would have made a mockery of many a murder mystery; and Google Earth comes to the rescue of those lost in any number of haunted woods.
We’ve taken a look at some classic films and what an update might mean. Let’s begin with a beloved film -
Casablanca
Set in the heaving...
- 3/12/2014
- by Michael Walsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Prolific comedy actor who worked with Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan and Hattie Jacques
The stony-faced, beaky comedy actor Graham Stark, who has died aged 91, is best remembered for his appearances alongside Peter Sellers, notably in the Pink Panther movies. His familiar face and voice, on television and radio, were part of the essential furniture in the sitting room of our popular culture for more than half a century. A stalwart in the national postwar comedy boom led by Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery, Eric Sykes and Benny Hill, he worked with them all in a sort of unofficial supporting repertory company that also included Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler, Patricia Hayes and Arthur Mullard. He was also a man of surprising and various parts: child actor, trained dancer, film-maker, occasional writer, and dedicated and critically acclaimed photographer.
Like Gypsy Rose Lee, he had a resourceful and determined...
The stony-faced, beaky comedy actor Graham Stark, who has died aged 91, is best remembered for his appearances alongside Peter Sellers, notably in the Pink Panther movies. His familiar face and voice, on television and radio, were part of the essential furniture in the sitting room of our popular culture for more than half a century. A stalwart in the national postwar comedy boom led by Sellers, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery, Eric Sykes and Benny Hill, he worked with them all in a sort of unofficial supporting repertory company that also included Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler, Patricia Hayes and Arthur Mullard. He was also a man of surprising and various parts: child actor, trained dancer, film-maker, occasional writer, and dedicated and critically acclaimed photographer.
Like Gypsy Rose Lee, he had a resourceful and determined...
- 11/1/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Shirley Jones Movies: Innocent virgins and sex workers galore (photo: Shirley Jones and Burt Lancaster in ‘Elmer Gantry’) (See previous post: “Shirley Jones: From Book to Movies.”) I haven’t watched The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), a comedy Western directed by Gene Kelly, and starring 62-year-old James Stewart as a cowpoke who inherits an establishment that turns out to be a popular house of prostitution. Henry Fonda plays Stewart’s partner. And I’m sure Shirley Jones, as one of the sex workers, looks lovely in the film. Hopefully, director Kelly gave this likable, talented actress the chance to do more than just stand around looking pretty. But then again … For all purposes, The Cheyenne Social Club ended Shirley Jones’ film stardom; that same year she turned to TV and The Partridge Family. Jones would return to films only nine years later, as one of several stars (among them Michael Caine,...
- 8/28/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has received its first ever complaint for The Railway Children.
One viewer complained that the 1970 movie starring Call the Midwife's Jenny Agutter may lead to children playing near railway tracks, reports BBC News.
"The correspondent was concerned that children may be encouraged to play on railway tracks as a result of seeing the film," the BBFC's annual report stated.
Directed by Lionel Jeffries, the classic film also starred Bernard Cribbins, Dinah Sheridan and Sally Thomsett.
Published today (July 11), the report ruled that it was "very unlikely" that The Railway Children would encourage "such dangerous activity".
"The Railway Children is set in the Edwardian period and trains and access to railway property are very different today," the censor said.
"The film also demonstrates the potential harm to children if proper care is not taken."
Senior examiner Craig Lapper added that while the film holds a U rating,...
One viewer complained that the 1970 movie starring Call the Midwife's Jenny Agutter may lead to children playing near railway tracks, reports BBC News.
"The correspondent was concerned that children may be encouraged to play on railway tracks as a result of seeing the film," the BBFC's annual report stated.
Directed by Lionel Jeffries, the classic film also starred Bernard Cribbins, Dinah Sheridan and Sally Thomsett.
Published today (July 11), the report ruled that it was "very unlikely" that The Railway Children would encourage "such dangerous activity".
"The Railway Children is set in the Edwardian period and trains and access to railway property are very different today," the censor said.
"The film also demonstrates the potential harm to children if proper care is not taken."
Senior examiner Craig Lapper added that while the film holds a U rating,...
- 7/11/2013
- Digital Spy
Creative force in the British film industry whose work included The Stepford Wives and Whistle Down the Wind
The director, actor and writer Bryan Forbes, who has died aged 86, was one of the most creative forces in the British film industry of the 1960s, and the Hollywood films he directed included the original version of The Stepford Wives (1974). In later life he turned to the writing of books, both fiction and memoirs.
The turning point for him in cinema was the formation of the independent company Beaver Films with his friend Richard Attenborough in 1958. For the screenplay of their first production, The Angry Silence (1960), Forbes received an Oscar nomination and a Bafta award. Attenborough played a factory worker shunned and persecuted for not joining a strike. His colleagues are shown as being manipulated by skulking professional agitators and to some it seemed more like a political statement than a human...
The director, actor and writer Bryan Forbes, who has died aged 86, was one of the most creative forces in the British film industry of the 1960s, and the Hollywood films he directed included the original version of The Stepford Wives (1974). In later life he turned to the writing of books, both fiction and memoirs.
The turning point for him in cinema was the formation of the independent company Beaver Films with his friend Richard Attenborough in 1958. For the screenplay of their first production, The Angry Silence (1960), Forbes received an Oscar nomination and a Bafta award. Attenborough played a factory worker shunned and persecuted for not joining a strike. His colleagues are shown as being manipulated by skulking professional agitators and to some it seemed more like a political statement than a human...
- 5/9/2013
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
Actors Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett recall bunking off to a Leeds nightclub and being banned from driving during the making of the classic 1970 children's film
Jenny Agutter, actor
I was reluctant to accept the role of Roberta because I'd played her two years earlier in a BBC series, and had since left school. I'd filmed Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, so it felt like going backwards. But the director Lionel Jeffries was such an exuberant personality, you couldn't say no.
He was also a fine actor and, whether deliberately or subconsciously, assumed the role of an Edwardian father figure while filming. If a take went well, he'd give us half a crown – I wondered how far he thought that would go down the pub. Once, Sally [Thomsett, who played Phyllis] and I slipped out, and when we got back he was waiting, pointing at his watch and saying he hoped we would be fit for filming the next morning.
Jenny Agutter, actor
I was reluctant to accept the role of Roberta because I'd played her two years earlier in a BBC series, and had since left school. I'd filmed Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, so it felt like going backwards. But the director Lionel Jeffries was such an exuberant personality, you couldn't say no.
He was also a fine actor and, whether deliberately or subconsciously, assumed the role of an Edwardian father figure while filming. If a take went well, he'd give us half a crown – I wondered how far he thought that would go down the pub. Once, Sally [Thomsett, who played Phyllis] and I slipped out, and when we got back he was waiting, pointing at his watch and saying he hoped we would be fit for filming the next morning.
- 5/6/2013
- by Anna Tims
- The Guardian - Film News
Actors Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett recall bunking off to a Leeds nightclub and being banned from driving during the making of the classic 1970 children's film
I was reluctant to accept the role of Roberta because I'd played her two years earlier in a BBC series, and had since left school. I'd filmed Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, so it felt like going backwards. But the director Lionel Jeffries was such an exuberant personality, you couldn't say no.
Continue reading...
I was reluctant to accept the role of Roberta because I'd played her two years earlier in a BBC series, and had since left school. I'd filmed Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, so it felt like going backwards. But the director Lionel Jeffries was such an exuberant personality, you couldn't say no.
Continue reading...
- 5/6/2013
- by Interviews by Anna Tims
- The Guardian - Film News
We know the greats; movies like Metropolis (1927), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Star Wars (1977).
And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).
In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.
During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.
By the early 1960s,...
And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).
In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.
During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.
By the early 1960s,...
- 3/17/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Trolling through Joe Dante's Trailers From Hell site, we came across this: the original trailer for the marvelous 1964 sci-fi flick First Men in the Moon starring Edward Judd and Lionel Jeffries as Victorian era astronauts, with effects by Ray Harryhausen. John Landis provides the suitably enthusiastic commentary on the trailer. Click here to view
Click here to order special edition DVD from Amazon for less than $5!
- 2/5/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ty Jeffries, son of actor Lionel Jeffries, tells Maureen Paton how he never revealed his sexuality to his father while he was alive. So what would Lionel have thought of his new drag act?
The look is Dusty Springfield with a towering blond beehive and seven pairs of false eyelashes stuck to the upper lids. The music pays witty homage to Noël Coward and other showbusiness greats in the lyrics and the spirit of 70s cabaret in its yearning torch-song melodies. Miss Hope Springs, a 6ft 2in "ex-Las Vegas showgirl", is the retro-glam, vaudevillian alter ego created by the pianist Ty Jeffries in order to sing his own compositions in theatres and clubs around the country. Although he comes from a performing background, with the occasional foray into drag over the last decade, he never did anything quite as flamboyant and fully realised as his ambitious trilogy of Miss Hope Springs...
The look is Dusty Springfield with a towering blond beehive and seven pairs of false eyelashes stuck to the upper lids. The music pays witty homage to Noël Coward and other showbusiness greats in the lyrics and the spirit of 70s cabaret in its yearning torch-song melodies. Miss Hope Springs, a 6ft 2in "ex-Las Vegas showgirl", is the retro-glam, vaudevillian alter ego created by the pianist Ty Jeffries in order to sing his own compositions in theatres and clubs around the country. Although he comes from a performing background, with the occasional foray into drag over the last decade, he never did anything quite as flamboyant and fully realised as his ambitious trilogy of Miss Hope Springs...
- 1/28/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
World DVD Premieres Written and Directed by John Gilling Out to own individually on DVD January 16th, 2012 "The Scarlet Blade" Starring Lionel Jeffries, Oliver Reed and Jack Hedley "The Scarlet Blade" is a historical adventure set during the English Civil War from the famous Hammer Film Productions. An unlikely romance blossoms between two people from opposing camps . one from the Roundheads, the other from the Cavaliers. Colonel Judd (Lionel Jeffries: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), a villainous anti-royalist loyal to Cromwell, is bewildered by his daughter Clare's (June Thorburn: Tom Thumb) Royalist sympathies. Judd's right-hand man Captain Sylvester (Oliver Reed: The Three Musketeers) is an enforcer for Cromwell's parliamentarians and also June's boyfriend. Much to the...
- 1/25/2012
- www.ohmygore.com/
Released on DVD for the first time ever this week, The Scarlet Blade and The Brigand of Kandahar come from director John Gilling and the famous Hammer Film Productions and both star the legendary Oliver Reed. And we have a copy of each to give away to you, our readers, courtesy of StudioCanal.
The Scarlet Blade is a historical adventure set during the English Civil War. Oliver Reed is in devilish form as a Roundhead soldier who kidnaps the King on the orders of his tyrannical Colonel (Lionel Jeffries). It’s down to a local group of loyal soldiers to rescue him, led by Royalist cavalier, known as The Scarlet Blade.
In The Brigand Of Kandahar, Oliver Reed continues his villainous streak in another Hammer historical adventure. The setting is the Indian desert, where the British army faces scorching temperatures and savage warrior, Reed playing Eli Khan, leader of some...
The Scarlet Blade is a historical adventure set during the English Civil War. Oliver Reed is in devilish form as a Roundhead soldier who kidnaps the King on the orders of his tyrannical Colonel (Lionel Jeffries). It’s down to a local group of loyal soldiers to rescue him, led by Royalist cavalier, known as The Scarlet Blade.
In The Brigand Of Kandahar, Oliver Reed continues his villainous streak in another Hammer historical adventure. The setting is the Indian desert, where the British army faces scorching temperatures and savage warrior, Reed playing Eli Khan, leader of some...
- 1/20/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
★★☆☆☆ One of Hammer's lesser-known historical adventures, The Scarlet Blade (1964) proves, if nothing else, that the studio were far better when they stuck to the horror genre. Starring Lionel Jeffries as a power-mad Roundhead and Hammer's resident heartthrob Oliver Reed as his scheming right-hand man, this tale of Cromwellian England was hardly cutting edge even by Hammer's oft-dubious standards.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 1/17/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
The Scarlet Blade
Writer/Director: John Gilling
A zombie-like performance from Jack Hedley is the only hint that The Scarlet Blade originates from the legendary Hammer Film Productions. Released on DVD for the first time, this English Civil War adventure is notable mainly for the presence of Oliver Reed, who brings a much-needed air of menace to the proceedings.
We’re all familiar with the stirring adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel during the Reign of Terror. But the premise of The Scarlet Blade (originally released in the Us as The Crimson Blade) is that Edward Beverley (Hedley) was engaged in similar acts of derring-do more than 100 years earlier. He’s the son of a stalwart Royalist family that has been harbouring the fugitive King Charles I and guiding his followers to safety. When the story begins in 1648, Roundheads led by Colonel Judd (Lionel Jeffries) have just commandeered Beverly Manor. Edward...
Writer/Director: John Gilling
A zombie-like performance from Jack Hedley is the only hint that The Scarlet Blade originates from the legendary Hammer Film Productions. Released on DVD for the first time, this English Civil War adventure is notable mainly for the presence of Oliver Reed, who brings a much-needed air of menace to the proceedings.
We’re all familiar with the stirring adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel during the Reign of Terror. But the premise of The Scarlet Blade (originally released in the Us as The Crimson Blade) is that Edward Beverley (Hedley) was engaged in similar acts of derring-do more than 100 years earlier. He’s the son of a stalwart Royalist family that has been harbouring the fugitive King Charles I and guiding his followers to safety. When the story begins in 1648, Roundheads led by Colonel Judd (Lionel Jeffries) have just commandeered Beverly Manor. Edward...
- 1/9/2012
- by Susannah
- SoundOnSight
To mark the release of The Scarlet Blade on DVD for the first time on 16th January, Studio Canal have given us three copies of this Hammer classic movie to give away on DVD. The film stars Lionel Jeffries, Oliver Reed and Jack Hedley and is directed by John Gilling.
The Scarlet Blade is a historical adventure set during the English Civil War from the famous Hammer Film Productions.
An unlikely romance blossoms between two people from opposing camps – one from the Roundheads, the other from the Cavaliers. Colonel Judd (Lionel Jeffries: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), a villainous anti-royalist loyal to Cromwell, is bewildered by his daughter Clare’s (June Thorburn: Tom Thumb) Royalist sympathies. Judd’s right-hand man Captain Sylvester (Oliver Reed: The Three Musketeers) is an enforcer for Cromwell’s parliamentarians and also June’s boyfriend. Much to the consternation of Judd and Sylvester, Clare falls for Edward...
The Scarlet Blade is a historical adventure set during the English Civil War from the famous Hammer Film Productions.
An unlikely romance blossoms between two people from opposing camps – one from the Roundheads, the other from the Cavaliers. Colonel Judd (Lionel Jeffries: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), a villainous anti-royalist loyal to Cromwell, is bewildered by his daughter Clare’s (June Thorburn: Tom Thumb) Royalist sympathies. Judd’s right-hand man Captain Sylvester (Oliver Reed: The Three Musketeers) is an enforcer for Cromwell’s parliamentarians and also June’s boyfriend. Much to the consternation of Judd and Sylvester, Clare falls for Edward...
- 1/6/2012
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Tremors? Nightbreed? Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat? 976-evil? Are all on the list this year. And though there were not huge horror wins in sound editing through screenplays, the Technical Awards never cease to bring out the horror veterans. Notably Tim Drnec who contributed to such VHS classics as Alien Seed, Destroyer, and Prison won for his work on “Spydercam 3D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.” An award also shared with Ben Britten Smith and Matt Davis who both also worked on Constantine.
But among all the winners, the Academy also honored some great loses in 2010. And though they mentioned some of our heroes, Dennis Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Dino de Laurentiis (King Kong), they did not mention Zelda Rubinstein or Corey Haim. But we will in this last section and the others lost to us last year.
So farewell fight fans and remember,...
But among all the winners, the Academy also honored some great loses in 2010. And though they mentioned some of our heroes, Dennis Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Dino de Laurentiis (King Kong), they did not mention Zelda Rubinstein or Corey Haim. But we will in this last section and the others lost to us last year.
So farewell fight fans and remember,...
- 3/13/2011
- by Heather Buckley
- DreadCentral.com
I asked this question last June and I thought it would be interesting to ask it again and see what kind of responses we’ll get from our readers.
So let’s say you’re a filmmaker who has raised a good-sized budget, and have final cut and total control, except you have to remake of a previous film, what film would you remake? I’ve asked that question myself, to friends and now to you readers out there.
There are so many films I could name, but I assume, like me, you would want to try your hand at redoing some guilty pleasure that just missed the mark. Not a great film by any means, but one that you enjoy and in your heart just know you could have done a better job.
My first choice would be the 1964 chintzy, not-quite-epic adventure movie The Long Ships with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark.
So let’s say you’re a filmmaker who has raised a good-sized budget, and have final cut and total control, except you have to remake of a previous film, what film would you remake? I’ve asked that question myself, to friends and now to you readers out there.
There are so many films I could name, but I assume, like me, you would want to try your hand at redoing some guilty pleasure that just missed the mark. Not a great film by any means, but one that you enjoy and in your heart just know you could have done a better job.
My first choice would be the 1964 chintzy, not-quite-epic adventure movie The Long Ships with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark.
- 3/5/2011
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
Thank you for visiting ScottFeinberg.com for live coverage of the 83rd Academy Awards! Keep refreshing your browser for all the latest stats/developments — new updates will push down older updates so that you won’t have to scroll down.
* * *
The show ends movingly — if somewhat randomly — with the Ps-22 Staten Island Chorus performing “Over the Rainbow” as all of the evening’s winners join them on-stage, with many singing along. Franco and Hathaway wind up bringing in the show only 10 minutes late (most years run way over), and although it was far from the funniest or most dramatic production, it wasn’t as bad as some are making it out to be (Roger Ebert just Tweeted that it was “the worst Oscarcast I’ve ever seen!”). Franco seemed like he didn’t want to be there (it must have been brutal trying to prepare for this only on the...
* * *
The show ends movingly — if somewhat randomly — with the Ps-22 Staten Island Chorus performing “Over the Rainbow” as all of the evening’s winners join them on-stage, with many singing along. Franco and Hathaway wind up bringing in the show only 10 minutes late (most years run way over), and although it was far from the funniest or most dramatic production, it wasn’t as bad as some are making it out to be (Roger Ebert just Tweeted that it was “the worst Oscarcast I’ve ever seen!”). Franco seemed like he didn’t want to be there (it must have been brutal trying to prepare for this only on the...
- 2/27/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Prolific writer who enjoyed her greatest success with the recycling Wombles
Elisabeth Beresford, who has died aged 84, enjoyed her greatest success with the creation of the Wombles. The family motto of the colourful underground creatures – "making good use of bad rubbish" – sprang from a concern of the writer's that chimed with the growing ecological awareness of the next four decades. Famously, the inspiration for the figures came on a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common, south-west London, during which her daughter, Kate, misnamed it Wombledon Common.
As elsewhere with Beresford's work, the point of departure was real – here, the place and the characters, largely drawn from uncles, grandparents, siblings and her children: Marcus, her son, genial and interested in food, inspired Orinoco; Kate inspired Bungo, a strong character in the books, though not in the films.
Their underground and above-ground adventures begin simply; in The Wombles (1968) the characters do little...
Elisabeth Beresford, who has died aged 84, enjoyed her greatest success with the creation of the Wombles. The family motto of the colourful underground creatures – "making good use of bad rubbish" – sprang from a concern of the writer's that chimed with the growing ecological awareness of the next four decades. Famously, the inspiration for the figures came on a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common, south-west London, during which her daughter, Kate, misnamed it Wombledon Common.
As elsewhere with Beresford's work, the point of departure was real – here, the place and the characters, largely drawn from uncles, grandparents, siblings and her children: Marcus, her son, genial and interested in food, inspired Orinoco; Kate inspired Bungo, a strong character in the books, though not in the films.
Their underground and above-ground adventures begin simply; in The Wombles (1968) the characters do little...
- 12/27/2010
- by Julia Eccleshare
- The Guardian - Film News
Mark Gatiss is perhaps best known for his work with comedy sketch show The League Of Gentlemen.
He has written episodes for, and appeared in, Doctor Who and played Mycroft in the BBC's Sherlock series, which he co-created with Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat.
Mark was also in the BBC's 2005 live remake of The Quatermass Experiment, during rehearsals for which David Tennant was offered the role of Doctor Who.
The 44-year-old recently presented A History Of Horror on BBC Four as well as adapting Hg Wells' sci-fi novel The First Men In The Moon, in which he starred as Edwardian scientist Professor Cavor.
Cavor's invention of a substance ('Cavorite') which can deflect gravity enables him and colleague Arnold Bedford to travel to the moon.
There they find a breathable atmosphere and creatures they call Selenites as they become involved in events that will eventually make the moon as inhospitable as it is today.
He has written episodes for, and appeared in, Doctor Who and played Mycroft in the BBC's Sherlock series, which he co-created with Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat.
Mark was also in the BBC's 2005 live remake of The Quatermass Experiment, during rehearsals for which David Tennant was offered the role of Doctor Who.
The 44-year-old recently presented A History Of Horror on BBC Four as well as adapting Hg Wells' sci-fi novel The First Men In The Moon, in which he starred as Edwardian scientist Professor Cavor.
Cavor's invention of a substance ('Cavorite') which can deflect gravity enables him and colleague Arnold Bedford to travel to the moon.
There they find a breathable atmosphere and creatures they call Selenites as they become involved in events that will eventually make the moon as inhospitable as it is today.
- 11/10/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
When I was offered to review one of my all-time favourite movies from my youth, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I jumped at the chance. The movie has been completely remastered and is released today on Blu ray. Me and my sister must have watched this movie 100 times and never got bored of it. How can a car that flies get boring?!
Chitty Chity Bang Bangs stars Dick Van Dyke, Lionel Jeffries, Adrian Hall and Hether Ripley in a film adaption of Ian Fleming’s book. The film was adapted for the sc reen by Roald Dahl and is directed by Ken Hughes and also stars Sally Ann Howes, and James Robert Justice.
Synopsis: Award-winning Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Night at the Museum) stars as eccentric widowed inventor Caractacus Potts in this magical tale set in early twentieth century England. Caractacus is poor but happy, living with his...
Chitty Chity Bang Bangs stars Dick Van Dyke, Lionel Jeffries, Adrian Hall and Hether Ripley in a film adaption of Ian Fleming’s book. The film was adapted for the sc reen by Roald Dahl and is directed by Ken Hughes and also stars Sally Ann Howes, and James Robert Justice.
Synopsis: Award-winning Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Night at the Museum) stars as eccentric widowed inventor Caractacus Potts in this magical tale set in early twentieth century England. Caractacus is poor but happy, living with his...
- 10/18/2010
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Having had the TV hit of the summer with Sherlock, Mark Gatiss is now bringing cult horror to the masses – and putting Edwardians on the moon. Stuart Jeffries meets a shooting star
'When I was a boy," says Mark Gatiss, "I wanted to be a whiskery man in a white coat saying, 'Look, it's a pterodactyl!'" He elaborates, mentioning one of his film heroes, who died earlier this year: "I wanted to be Lionel Jeffries in an Edwardian-set family fantasy film."
Gatiss, now 43, has his wish. He's playing Edwardian inventor Joseph Cavor in his own defiantly kidultish adaptation of Hg Wells's 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon. Cavor is white-coated, facially hirsute and occasionally ditsy. Just before they set off for the moon, fellow astronaut Arnold Bedford inquires: "I say, Cavor, we will be able to get back, won't we?"
"I don't see why not," says Cavor vaguely.
'When I was a boy," says Mark Gatiss, "I wanted to be a whiskery man in a white coat saying, 'Look, it's a pterodactyl!'" He elaborates, mentioning one of his film heroes, who died earlier this year: "I wanted to be Lionel Jeffries in an Edwardian-set family fantasy film."
Gatiss, now 43, has his wish. He's playing Edwardian inventor Joseph Cavor in his own defiantly kidultish adaptation of Hg Wells's 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon. Cavor is white-coated, facially hirsute and occasionally ditsy. Just before they set off for the moon, fellow astronaut Arnold Bedford inquires: "I say, Cavor, we will be able to get back, won't we?"
"I don't see why not," says Cavor vaguely.
- 10/11/2010
- by Stuart Jeffries
- The Guardian - Film News
Sky Movies HD have got quite a good season coming up called ‘Movies You Never Got Around To Watching But Always Wanted To See’ and this sort of thing is perfect for people who aren’t sure what movies they should watch.
Their week of films starts Monday 11th Oct – Sunday 17th Oct and includes classic and groundbreaking movies like Jurassic Park, Jaws, Cool Hand Luke and Dead Poets Society.
Have a look at the list below including the date and time it will air and I’ve given trailers for each movie, when it’s on TV and some of my favourite clips for some of the movies too.
———————————–
Mon 11th 5.45pm Dead Poets Society
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Welker White, Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles
Synopsis: Set in an exclusive boys preparatory school in 1959, a newly appointed English teacher uses unconventional techniques to inspire his students in classic poetry.
Their week of films starts Monday 11th Oct – Sunday 17th Oct and includes classic and groundbreaking movies like Jurassic Park, Jaws, Cool Hand Luke and Dead Poets Society.
Have a look at the list below including the date and time it will air and I’ve given trailers for each movie, when it’s on TV and some of my favourite clips for some of the movies too.
———————————–
Mon 11th 5.45pm Dead Poets Society
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Welker White, Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles
Synopsis: Set in an exclusive boys preparatory school in 1959, a newly appointed English teacher uses unconventional techniques to inspire his students in classic poetry.
- 9/29/2010
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The only thing to kick the Monday morning blues right in the face is here, the latest episode of the Mouth Off podcast hits the internet.
Up for discussion this week is the Harald Zwart’s remake of the classic (?) 80s film The Karate Kid, this time starring Jaden Smith and the Jackie Chan. Bleeding Cool’s Movie Man Brendon Connelly, Craig Skinner and I take off the rose tints and stare deeply into the abyss of the latest remake to hit our screens.
Craig returns triumphant from Montreal to bring us all the news from Fantasia Fest and we also look ahead to FrightFest, so plenty to pleasure you aurally this week, as well as our resident Ripped from the Crypt section which this week takes as a theme films which mix animation with live action.
Click here to subscribe or listen to the Mouth Off feed in iTunes,...
Up for discussion this week is the Harald Zwart’s remake of the classic (?) 80s film The Karate Kid, this time starring Jaden Smith and the Jackie Chan. Bleeding Cool’s Movie Man Brendon Connelly, Craig Skinner and I take off the rose tints and stare deeply into the abyss of the latest remake to hit our screens.
Craig returns triumphant from Montreal to bring us all the news from Fantasia Fest and we also look ahead to FrightFest, so plenty to pleasure you aurally this week, as well as our resident Ripped from the Crypt section which this week takes as a theme films which mix animation with live action.
Click here to subscribe or listen to the Mouth Off feed in iTunes,...
- 8/2/2010
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Since I’ve been on roll lately (stuff to keep writing about just keeps popping up), and my item from yesterday asking about the first film you ever saw has inspired me to ask this question, which is like the “first movie” article; something I’m surprised we haven’t already asked on S & A.
So let’s say you’re a filmmaker who has raised a good-sized budget, and has final cut and total control, except you have to remake of a previous film, what film would you remake? I’ve asked that question myself, to friends and now to you readers out there. There are so many films I could name, but, I assume, like me, you would want to try your hand at redoing some guilty pleasure that just misses the mark. Not a great film by any means, but one that you enjoy and in your...
So let’s say you’re a filmmaker who has raised a good-sized budget, and has final cut and total control, except you have to remake of a previous film, what film would you remake? I’ve asked that question myself, to friends and now to you readers out there. There are so many films I could name, but, I assume, like me, you would want to try your hand at redoing some guilty pleasure that just misses the mark. Not a great film by any means, but one that you enjoy and in your...
- 6/30/2010
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
You may have seen my blu ray review that I wrote earlier today and be excited to see the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Railway Children on DVD or Blu Ray this Monday, 3rd May. Well, why not save your pennies and enter our competition to win a copy on blu ray right here?!
We’ve been given five copies to give away in lovely high definition courtesy of the wonderful guys at Optimum Releasing who are distributing the movie. The Railway Children is a classic tale made in 1970 starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan, Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren, Bernard Cribbins and is directed by Lionel Jeffries.
To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the movie all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below.
Who wrote the original novel, ‘The Railway Children’?
The small print:
This competition is open to the UK only.
We’ve been given five copies to give away in lovely high definition courtesy of the wonderful guys at Optimum Releasing who are distributing the movie. The Railway Children is a classic tale made in 1970 starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan, Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren, Bernard Cribbins and is directed by Lionel Jeffries.
To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the movie all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below.
Who wrote the original novel, ‘The Railway Children’?
The small print:
This competition is open to the UK only.
- 4/29/2010
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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