Veteran filmmakers Michael Relph and Basil Dearden try a hip ‘n’ flip costume comedy about an 1899 consortium that’s the equivalent of Murder Inc.: Killings for hire done with veddy proper civility and good taste. The charming Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg lead a notable cast — Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill — through mayhem-filled chases in several European capitals. Tossed off in tongue-in-cheek style, it’s shallow but cute, and if you like the stars it can be a lark. Its saving grace is the spirited Ms. Rigg.
The Assassination Bureau
Region-Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 86
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / The Assassination Bureau Limited / Street Date October 29, 2021 / Available from [Imprint] or Amazon /
Starring: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill, Kenneth Griffith, Vernon Dobtcheff, Annabella Incontrera, Jess Conrad, George Coulouris.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Art Director: Michael Relph
Film...
The Assassination Bureau
Region-Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 86
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / The Assassination Bureau Limited / Street Date October 29, 2021 / Available from [Imprint] or Amazon /
Starring: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Clive Revill, Kenneth Griffith, Vernon Dobtcheff, Annabella Incontrera, Jess Conrad, George Coulouris.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Art Director: Michael Relph
Film...
- 11/21/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Spies With Scruples”
By Raymond Benson
In comparing Masquerade (1965) with a recent review of Arabesque (1966) here at Cinema Retro, this time we have yet another mid-1960s “comedy-spy thriller,” a genre that was crowding the cinemas in those days because of the success of Double-o-You-Know-Who.
In contrast to Arabesque, this one is a British production, directed by the prolific and often brilliant Basil Dearden, and it utilizes London locations as well as spots in Spain. And yet, despite the thoroughly British DNA running through 95% of the movie, it stars American Cliff Robertson as the hero, David Fraser, a sort of CIA type who seems to approach all the danger around him with misplaced naivete and amused detachment.
The script marks the first appearance of the great William Goldman in a screen credit (co-writing with Michael Relph). It’s based on Vincent Canning’s novel,...
“Spies With Scruples”
By Raymond Benson
In comparing Masquerade (1965) with a recent review of Arabesque (1966) here at Cinema Retro, this time we have yet another mid-1960s “comedy-spy thriller,” a genre that was crowding the cinemas in those days because of the success of Double-o-You-Know-Who.
In contrast to Arabesque, this one is a British production, directed by the prolific and often brilliant Basil Dearden, and it utilizes London locations as well as spots in Spain. And yet, despite the thoroughly British DNA running through 95% of the movie, it stars American Cliff Robertson as the hero, David Fraser, a sort of CIA type who seems to approach all the danger around him with misplaced naivete and amused detachment.
The script marks the first appearance of the great William Goldman in a screen credit (co-writing with Michael Relph). It’s based on Vincent Canning’s novel,...
- 9/1/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It’s the granddaddy of British cop dramas of the modern era. The most popular English picture of 1950 introduced PC George Dixon, a warm-hearted constable who would become a staple on BBC TV for 21 years. T.E.B. Clarke’s screenplay of a murder manhunt is stocked with actors American fans know well — Dirk Bogarde, Bernard Lee — and some we should know better — Jack Warner, Robert Flemyng, Dora Bryan. The show was made by the top craftsmen of Ealing Studios, and its fast pace and Brit sensibility will definitely impress. And remember — the Bobbies on the beat don’t even carry guns.
The Blue Lamp
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date June 1, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee, Peggy Evans, Patric Doonan, Bruce Seton, Meredith Edwards, Dora Bryan, Gladys Henson, Tessie O’Shea, Betty Ann Davies, Jennifer Jayne, Sam Kydd,...
The Blue Lamp
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date June 1, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee, Peggy Evans, Patric Doonan, Bruce Seton, Meredith Edwards, Dora Bryan, Gladys Henson, Tessie O’Shea, Betty Ann Davies, Jennifer Jayne, Sam Kydd,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This strange picture goes forth in search of a genre, mainly because its theme — the destruction of the human personality — had previously seen light only in movies about brainwashing and alien possession. The Michael Relph and Basil Dearden team may not be as slick as The Archers, but they do peg this sober Isolation Chamber drama — even if we wonder if Dirk Bogarde will start talking like Paddy Chayefsky, and then shape-shift into an ape man. The real issue here is scientific ethics, of which Bogarde’s associates seem to have zero.
The Mind Benders
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date October 15, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant, Wendy Craig, Harold Goldblatt, Geoffrey Keen.
Cinematography: Denys N. Coop
Film Editor: John D. Guthridge
Original Music: Georges Auric
Written by James Kennaway
Produced by Michael Relph
Directed by Basil...
The Mind Benders
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date October 15, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant, Wendy Craig, Harold Goldblatt, Geoffrey Keen.
Cinematography: Denys N. Coop
Film Editor: John D. Guthridge
Original Music: Georges Auric
Written by James Kennaway
Produced by Michael Relph
Directed by Basil...
- 9/24/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Hank Reineke
Basil Dearden’s intriguing The Man Who Haunted Himself is a feature-length remake of a thirty-minute televised episode of Alfred Hitchcock’s Presents. That episode - from the 1955 program’s first season - had the distinction of having been directed by the maestro of suspense himself. It was one of only a handful of dramas in the series that Hitchcock chose to helm. The episode was based on Anthony Armstrong’s short story (later novelized) “The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham” (Methuen & Co. Ltd., UK, 1957). The book was later published that very same year in the U.S. as part of Doubleday & Co.’s fabled “Crime Club” series.
Armstrong’s psychological thriller had been originally published in the November 1940 issue of Esquire magazine. The short story was later re-sold and re-published in June 1955 as part of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine… which is likely where Hitchcock became acquainted with it.
Basil Dearden’s intriguing The Man Who Haunted Himself is a feature-length remake of a thirty-minute televised episode of Alfred Hitchcock’s Presents. That episode - from the 1955 program’s first season - had the distinction of having been directed by the maestro of suspense himself. It was one of only a handful of dramas in the series that Hitchcock chose to helm. The episode was based on Anthony Armstrong’s short story (later novelized) “The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham” (Methuen & Co. Ltd., UK, 1957). The book was later published that very same year in the U.S. as part of Doubleday & Co.’s fabled “Crime Club” series.
Armstrong’s psychological thriller had been originally published in the November 1940 issue of Esquire magazine. The short story was later re-sold and re-published in June 1955 as part of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine… which is likely where Hitchcock became acquainted with it.
- 7/12/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
William Goldman, who won Oscars for his original screenplay for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and his adaptation of “All the President’s Men,” died on Friday in his Manhattan home, according to the the Washington Post. He was 87.
His daughter Jenny Goldman cited complications from colon cancer and pneumonia as the cause of his death.
“Butch Cassidy,” a revisionist Western that helped popularize the buddy movie, announced Goldman as a screenwriter able to balance big laughs with a sense of adventure, while “All the President’s Men” cemented his status as a deft writer of suspense. The two are considered to be among the finest screenplays ever written and exemplify Goldman’s range and versatility.
In a 2015 interview with Signature, Goldman was asked about his ability to bounce from genre to genre.
“You cross your fingers and never stop,” he said. “Praying is also good.”
Goldman, who frequently transferred his novels,...
His daughter Jenny Goldman cited complications from colon cancer and pneumonia as the cause of his death.
“Butch Cassidy,” a revisionist Western that helped popularize the buddy movie, announced Goldman as a screenwriter able to balance big laughs with a sense of adventure, while “All the President’s Men” cemented his status as a deft writer of suspense. The two are considered to be among the finest screenplays ever written and exemplify Goldman’s range and versatility.
In a 2015 interview with Signature, Goldman was asked about his ability to bounce from genre to genre.
“You cross your fingers and never stop,” he said. “Praying is also good.”
Goldman, who frequently transferred his novels,...
- 11/16/2018
- by Richard Natale and Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
UK film industry veteran was the founding CEO of British Screen and chairman of BAFTA; his credits included Comrades [pictured].
Respected UK producer and film industry figure Simon Relph has died at age 76.
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), of which Relph was a former chairman, announced it was saddened to hear of his death.
We are deeply saddened to learn that filmmaker and former Chair of BAFTA Simon Relph has passed away pic.twitter.com/jNkg2XuUku
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) October 31, 2016
Relph was born into cinema. He was the son of the prolific art designer, producer and writer Michael Relph, best known for his long-time collaboration with UK director Basil Dearden, and grandson of the celebrated English actor George Relph, a star of the stage and big screen.
At the time of his birth in 1940, his father was an art director at Ealing Studios, an activity which would eventually expand into producing and some 30 credits including...
Respected UK producer and film industry figure Simon Relph has died at age 76.
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), of which Relph was a former chairman, announced it was saddened to hear of his death.
We are deeply saddened to learn that filmmaker and former Chair of BAFTA Simon Relph has passed away pic.twitter.com/jNkg2XuUku
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) October 31, 2016
Relph was born into cinema. He was the son of the prolific art designer, producer and writer Michael Relph, best known for his long-time collaboration with UK director Basil Dearden, and grandson of the celebrated English actor George Relph, a star of the stage and big screen.
At the time of his birth in 1940, his father was an art director at Ealing Studios, an activity which would eventually expand into producing and some 30 credits including...
- 10/31/2016
- ScreenDaily
By Adrian Smith
William Blood (Kenneth More) is a man with an incredible immune system and without worries. He spends most of his time working as a human guinea pig for government departments such as the Common Cold and Flu Research Agency. There he frustrates the men in white coats by stubbornly refusing to catch a cold. He never gets ill, and his secret is that he has no emotional attachments. “The minute you get into a relationship with a woman, your guard is down and the coughing will start!” News of this remarkable constitution gets to the scientists at N.A.A.R.S.T.I., the National Atomic Research Station and Technological Institute, who are preparing to send the first maned rocket to the moon. They have previously sent up dogs and monkeys, but owing to public complaints about cruelty to animals, they have decided it would be...
William Blood (Kenneth More) is a man with an incredible immune system and without worries. He spends most of his time working as a human guinea pig for government departments such as the Common Cold and Flu Research Agency. There he frustrates the men in white coats by stubbornly refusing to catch a cold. He never gets ill, and his secret is that he has no emotional attachments. “The minute you get into a relationship with a woman, your guard is down and the coughing will start!” News of this remarkable constitution gets to the scientists at N.A.A.R.S.T.I., the National Atomic Research Station and Technological Institute, who are preparing to send the first maned rocket to the moon. They have previously sent up dogs and monkeys, but owing to public complaints about cruelty to animals, they have decided it would be...
- 10/30/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ron Moody in 'Oliver!' movie. Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' actor nominated for an Oscar dead at 91 (Note: This Ron Moody article is currently being revised.) Two well-regarded, nonagenarian British performers have died in the last few days: 93-year-old Christopher Lee (June 7, '15), best known for his many portrayals of Dracula and assorted movie villains and weirdos, from the title role in The Mummy to Dr. Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 91-year-old Ron Moody (yesterday, June 11), among whose infrequent film appearances was the role of Fagin, the grotesque adult leader of a gang of boy petty thieves, in the 1968 Best Picture Academy Award-winning musical Oliver!, which also earned him a Best Actor nomination. Having been featured in nearly 200 movies and, most importantly, having had his mainstream appeal resurrected by way of the villainous Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies (and various associated merchandising,...
- 6/12/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Whistle Down The Wind director Bryan Forbes has died at age 86.
The filmmaker, whose films also included The Stepford Wives, National Velvet and The Slipper And The Rose, passed away yesterday after a long illness.
Forbes, born John Theobald Clarke, initially forged a career as an actor on the stage before earning supporting roles in films including An Inspector Calls and The League Of Gentlemen (for which he also wrote the screenplay). He founded Allied Film Makers with Jack Hawkins, director Basil Dearden, producer Michael Relph and Richard Attenborough in 1959.
“We weren’t going anywhere,” Forbes said, “So we started our own company.”
He switched to directing in 1961, to helm Whistle Down The Wind, starring Hayley Mills, taking over after the original director was forced to pull out.
Family friend Matthew D'Ancona said: "Bryan Forbes was a titan of cinema, known and loved by people around the world in the.
The filmmaker, whose films also included The Stepford Wives, National Velvet and The Slipper And The Rose, passed away yesterday after a long illness.
Forbes, born John Theobald Clarke, initially forged a career as an actor on the stage before earning supporting roles in films including An Inspector Calls and The League Of Gentlemen (for which he also wrote the screenplay). He founded Allied Film Makers with Jack Hawkins, director Basil Dearden, producer Michael Relph and Richard Attenborough in 1959.
“We weren’t going anywhere,” Forbes said, “So we started our own company.”
He switched to directing in 1961, to helm Whistle Down The Wind, starring Hayley Mills, taking over after the original director was forced to pull out.
Family friend Matthew D'Ancona said: "Bryan Forbes was a titan of cinema, known and loved by people around the world in the.
- 5/8/2013
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After World War Two, just as the Us was getting hot under the collar about imaginary left-wing plots to seduce the nation via hidden messages in the movies, by a remarkable coincidence British cinema was infiltrated by a genuine socialist conspiracy.
Late in the war, as victory began to seem graspable, people started thinking about what kind of United Kingdom they wanted to live in: Winston Churchill may have led the nation through the conflict, but now something different was required. Sir Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios, was part of a group of filmmakers and creative types working behind the scenes to prepare the ground for a Labour government and the introduction of socialist programmes like the National Health Service.
Humphrey Jennings' eloquently understated propaganda short A Diary for Timothy looks at a new-born baby and wonders what kind of world he'll grow up in: as critic Raymond Durgnat observed,...
Late in the war, as victory began to seem graspable, people started thinking about what kind of United Kingdom they wanted to live in: Winston Churchill may have led the nation through the conflict, but now something different was required. Sir Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios, was part of a group of filmmakers and creative types working behind the scenes to prepare the ground for a Labour government and the introduction of socialist programmes like the National Health Service.
Humphrey Jennings' eloquently understated propaganda short A Diary for Timothy looks at a new-born baby and wonders what kind of world he'll grow up in: as critic Raymond Durgnat observed,...
- 11/28/2012
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
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