j-b-w-1 Reviews

The Bespoke Overcoat (1955)

Available on UK DVD

[4 September 2008]

Those who have written eloquently of their love for this picture may by now have found it.

If they have not, they should know that it is available as a splendid extra on the BFI DVD of Jack Clayton's The Innocents. Worth going multi-region if not in Region-2!

Both films look very good and The Bespoke Overcoat seems to have gained a few minutes since its original release: it does not begin with the deathbed scene described by a previous poster but with a pre-title sequence in a graveyard.

I hope this is helpful.

Separate Tables (1958)

Waiting for Basil

[10 September 2007]

As rich and nutty as a fruit-cake, Separate Tables is almost too colourful. Virtually every scene brings a powerhouse performance, even if the range of styles on view in this residential hotel is a lot wider than in any average movie.

Any summary makes it sound grey and dull but Rattigan was quietly subversive and in its way, the ending is as revolutionary as 'If.' The Spoiler being that Brits at separate tables actually start to talk to each other!

Planned as a vehicle for Vivien Leigh, who pulled out when husband Olivier chose not to direct it, the picture was well-received nevertheless and nominated for seven Oscars, two of which it won: Hiller, who deserved hers and Niven, who quite frankly did not.

Burt and Rita smoulder away in a different key altogether but that matters less and less. We get one of his classic still moments in the darkened bedroom. No one does still like Burt!

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one to notice the delightful May Hallett as the eccentric horse-loving spinster. She's best remembered for Black Narcissus these days but this is just as splendid a piece of scene-stealing in a supporting rôle.

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Fawlty Towers! This was clearly the model for the residents' list at that more comedic establishment: the name of Sybil is here, even if the part changed rather a lot. The trans-Atlantic element was however preserved and the Major never unmasked or caught doing anything untoward in the Odeon! In its well-made way, Separate Tables is fully entertaining in itself; to rename it Waiting for Basil would be more than a little rude.

It certainly won't please the kiddies but this is a film for grown-ups to catch up on.

Fresh Hare (1942)

Blurred Things

[30 July 2007]

The much-discussed black-face ending is a non-sequitur, by its nature completely gratuitous. It is blurred out in a recent Digiview Public Domain version and an R - for Restricted? - appears in a box at the top left of the screen.

Other versions are available without the censorship. Or used to be.

Of its time and not a good gag but such meddling does not reflect well on the company. All it says to me is that these PD racketeers just want to market their wares to kiddies.

I'd cite this title as fairly strong evidence that Bugs is a gay character. Maybe someone with a bad conscience will censor the kissing, the sexualized power-games and the give-away silhouette in the snow. But who is the lady in this relationship? We are left guessing.

Gypsy Girl (1966)

Can be found on VHS

[5 July 2007]

This film was at least briefly available on VHS in the UK. A firm called Strand Magnetics, based in Wimborne, Dorset brought it out in a cardboard case under the brand Look Movies. It appears to have been properly licensed from Rank.

There is no video certificate noticed on the bbfc website but the tape carries the post-1985 PG rating.

Worth looking out for at your local car-boot, where it is likely to be snapped up by sci-fi fans: the style of lettering and cover-picture suggest that genre!

I am not interested in supplying copies and post this for information only.

Themroc (1973)

Testing the power of Themroc

[3 June 2007]

Themroc has been dumped on the market in the North West of England. The Warner Brothers VHS tape has appeared in dozens of copies in bargain outlets. So have Buñuel's Tristana and Visconti's Senso, come to that, but their transformative power may be less potent.

We still await reports that pound-store customers are roasting cops and sniffing tear-gas for kicks. As for humping their sisters, we never suspected anything less of them.

Warners promise English subtitles, which would have been de trop. Collectors of unusual aspect-ratios may care to note it is cited as 1.53:1

It's a romantic tale, though. The modern Themroc would be a short, stopped by a high- powered bullet about half an hour in.