‘WRITTEN ON THE WIND’ (1956) – a trashy soap opera.
WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956) I had the misfortune to again watch Written on the Wind recently, the first time I have done so since my grandparents took me to see the thing in 1958 at our local […]
Movies
‘NOTTING HILL’ (1999) – easy to watch and easy to fault.
NOTTING HILL (1999) The 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill was a huge success at the box-office, grossing a staggering $363.1 million […]
‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ (1970) – History recreated.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) was a joint enterprise between production film units from Japan and the United States. The picture was a genuine attempt to present the Japanese […]
‘THE CRUEL SEA’ (1953 – A British masterpiece.
For some reason or another I had never gotten around to watching, in its entirety, the British World War Two drama The Cruel Sea until just recently. I read the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat on which the picture […]
SNAPSHOTS Vol 2
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937) I have watched Captains Courageous only twice because, frankly, I cannot abide Spencer Tracy’s portrayal of the Portuguese fisherman Manuel. In fact, I only watched it the second time because of Freddie Bartholomew’s superb performance and to see Lionel Barrymore ‘box his ears’ better than anyone has ever done […]
The making of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962).
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is a remarkable movie for many reasons, not the least of which is that it runs for 227 minutes (the restored Roadshow print) without a single word being uttered by a female! No women, no romance and no love story. Most Hollywood experts would automatically […]
‘The Red Badge of Courage’ (1951) – John Huston’s ruined masterpiece.
The most extraordinary thing about Stephen Crane’s American classic novel The Red Badge of Courage is that it was written 30 years after the US Civil War had ended, and penned by a young man who, at that time, had never experienced war in his life. In fact, he […]
The ‘CARRY ON’ pictures Pt 3.
CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE (1970) Joan Sims and Frankie Howerd in Carry on up the Jungle By now the regulars in the cast were starting to have delusions of grandeur. Jim Dale turned down the role of the Jungle Boy because he felt the dialogue he was expected […]
The ‘CARRY ON’ Pictures Pt 2.
CARRY ON COWBOY (1965) Margaret Nolan in Carry on Cowboy Voluptuous Margaret Nolan makes the first of her six ‘Carry On’ films here playing Miss Jones. Not only was she beautiful, but she also showed a genuine flair for comedy. James Bond fans will recall her as Dink in […]
The ‘CARRY ON’ pictures – Pt 1.
There were 31 ‘Carry On’ pictures all told. The first, Carry on Sergeant, reared its substandard head in 1958 and made money. The last, Carry on Columbus, was screened in 1992. They were all low budget servings of British music hall humour consisting of sexist jokes, remarks and plots, […]