Courtesy of Studiocanal
by James Cameron-wilson
Two of the most famous characters Audrey Hepburn ever played were Eliza Dolittle and Maid Marion. In StudioCanal’s new 4K restoration home entertainment release of The Lavender Hill Mob, Audrey Hepburn shares her first film with Stanley Holloway, who played Eliza’s father in My Fair Lady, and Robert Shaw, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin & Marion. Not that Audrey Hepburn actually shares the screen in The Lavender Hill Mob with either Stanley Holloway or Robert Shaw, but she does get the film off to a bright start with a nuzzle with Alec Guinness The Lavender Hill Mob arrived in the middle of the golden era of the Ealing Comedy cycle, two years after Kind Hearts and Coronets and just four years before The Ladykillers. And it remains a pure joy. Unlike heist movies of the future, it manages to be...
by James Cameron-wilson
Two of the most famous characters Audrey Hepburn ever played were Eliza Dolittle and Maid Marion. In StudioCanal’s new 4K restoration home entertainment release of The Lavender Hill Mob, Audrey Hepburn shares her first film with Stanley Holloway, who played Eliza’s father in My Fair Lady, and Robert Shaw, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin & Marion. Not that Audrey Hepburn actually shares the screen in The Lavender Hill Mob with either Stanley Holloway or Robert Shaw, but she does get the film off to a bright start with a nuzzle with Alec Guinness The Lavender Hill Mob arrived in the middle of the golden era of the Ealing Comedy cycle, two years after Kind Hearts and Coronets and just four years before The Ladykillers. And it remains a pure joy. Unlike heist movies of the future, it manages to be...
- 5/1/2024
- by James Cameron-Wilson
- Film Review Daily
Val Guest’s cinema quest for his own semi-docu style pays off in this fine, intelligent police investigation into a gruesome dismemberment murder. U.K. favorite Jack Warner is the main detective, Guest’s actress wife Yolande Donlan is a ‘person of interest,’ and the illusion of reality is enhanced by real locations in Greenwich, Brighton, Lewes and points between. It’s an excellent legwork murder mystery, with good atmosphere and colorful characterizations — within the dry ‘serious business’ format, of course.
Jigsaw
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
1962 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 108 97 min. / Street Date April 5, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Warner, Ronald Lewis, Yolande Donlan, Michael Goodliffe, John Le Mesurier, Moira Redmond, Christine Bocca, Brian Oulton, Ray Barrett, Norman Chappell, John Barron, Joan Newell, Geoffrey Bayldon, Julie Samuel.
Cinematography: Arthur Grant
Art Director: Geoffrey Tozer
Film Editor: Bill Lenny
From the novel Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh
Produced,...
Jigsaw
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
1962 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 108 97 min. / Street Date April 5, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Warner, Ronald Lewis, Yolande Donlan, Michael Goodliffe, John Le Mesurier, Moira Redmond, Christine Bocca, Brian Oulton, Ray Barrett, Norman Chappell, John Barron, Joan Newell, Geoffrey Bayldon, Julie Samuel.
Cinematography: Arthur Grant
Art Director: Geoffrey Tozer
Film Editor: Bill Lenny
From the novel Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh
Produced,...
- 4/23/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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
In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to writer Nick Triplow about his new book Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir, which is out now from No Exit Press: https://www.noexit.co.uk/index1.php?imprint=1&isbn=&ebookid=1689
The story of Ted Lewis carries historical and cultural resonances for our own troubled times. Get Carter are two words to bring a smile of fond recollection to all British film lovers of a certain age. The cinema classic was based on a book called Jack’s Return Home, and many commentators agree contemporary British crime writing began with that novel. The influence of both book and film is strong to this day, reflected in the work of David Peace, Jake Arnott and a host of contemporary crime & noir authors. But what of the man who wrote this seminal work? Ted Lewis is...
The story of Ted Lewis carries historical and cultural resonances for our own troubled times. Get Carter are two words to bring a smile of fond recollection to all British film lovers of a certain age. The cinema classic was based on a book called Jack’s Return Home, and many commentators agree contemporary British crime writing began with that novel. The influence of both book and film is strong to this day, reflected in the work of David Peace, Jake Arnott and a host of contemporary crime & noir authors. But what of the man who wrote this seminal work? Ted Lewis is...
- 7/13/2021
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
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
During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
- 2/8/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
I’d never heard of this gem of a British production; now it goes on my list of highly recommended titles. A dock area on the Thames is ‘the pool,’ and the sailors that disembark from the cargo ships are susceptible to the temptations of black market trade. A single eventful weekend traces the fates of a half-dozen young people, the women that like the sailors, and the sailor that gets mixed up in a deadly serious crime. Director Basil Dearden’s excellent cast is mostly unfamiliar to us Yanks, but we get really tied up in their problems. This picture should be much better known. It’s the first English movie to depict an interracial romance, and it does so without sensationalism or special pleading. The best new extra is an interview with actor Earl Cameron, who at 103 years of age has his act (and his memories) totally together.
- 5/16/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Author: Paul Risker
While much of the significance of Basil Dearden’s The Blue Lamp derives from its status as the first of the British Police films, in as much as it is entrenched in film history, it is also entrenched within British social history. Its identity is therefore a dual one, its cinematic and social roots that are intertwined reaching deep into the past.
Scripted by ex-Policeman T.E.B Clarke that lends the film a sense of authenticity the film captures a snapshot of the post-war angst of the destabilisation of the family and the rise of the young delinquent that saw an increase in violent crime. Together these two factors conspired to create a film that not only contributed a new genre to British cinema, but also reflected on the woes of post-war London. Sixty-six years on from its release, this social self-reflexivity of the society it...
While much of the significance of Basil Dearden’s The Blue Lamp derives from its status as the first of the British Police films, in as much as it is entrenched in film history, it is also entrenched within British social history. Its identity is therefore a dual one, its cinematic and social roots that are intertwined reaching deep into the past.
Scripted by ex-Policeman T.E.B Clarke that lends the film a sense of authenticity the film captures a snapshot of the post-war angst of the destabilisation of the family and the rise of the young delinquent that saw an increase in violent crime. Together these two factors conspired to create a film that not only contributed a new genre to British cinema, but also reflected on the woes of post-war London. Sixty-six years on from its release, this social self-reflexivity of the society it...
- 12/16/2016
- by Paul Risker
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
One of the most notorious police films of all time, The Blue Lamp has been restored in 2K for a new Blu-Ray, DVD and VOD release, available to own from 12 December and boasting brand new extra features. To celebrate, we have 3 copies of the film on Blu-Ray to give some lucky winners courtesy […]
The post Win The Blue Lamp on 2K Blu-Ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Win The Blue Lamp on 2K Blu-Ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 12/9/2016
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
As a champion of emerging film-makers, Relph’s passion was crucial to the growth of independent British cinema and helped transform Bafta’s profile
I was shocked when I heard that Simon Relph had died unexpectedly at the weekend. He was a colossal influence on many of us breaking through in the British film industry in the 1980s and 90s. He was also a terrific man who supported young writers, directors and producers throughout his career. I first met Simon when I was buying films for my distribution company Palace; having just finished making The Company of Wolves I had ambitions to produce more films. Simon was a big bear of a man with a huge ornamental chain around his neck and a booming voice to match: old-fashioned and posh but with a twinkling eye, like a benign lord mayor from the free state of Pimlico. (It’s entirely typical...
I was shocked when I heard that Simon Relph had died unexpectedly at the weekend. He was a colossal influence on many of us breaking through in the British film industry in the 1980s and 90s. He was also a terrific man who supported young writers, directors and producers throughout his career. I first met Simon when I was buying films for my distribution company Palace; having just finished making The Company of Wolves I had ambitions to produce more films. Simon was a big bear of a man with a huge ornamental chain around his neck and a booming voice to match: old-fashioned and posh but with a twinkling eye, like a benign lord mayor from the free state of Pimlico. (It’s entirely typical...
- 11/2/2016
- by Stephen Woolley
- The Guardian - Film News
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
To celebrate a brand new restoration of the 1951 Ealing classic Pool Of London on Blu-Ray, DVD & Est, Studiocanal are supplying 3 copies of the Blu-Ray to give away to some lucky winners. Directed by Basil Dearden (The Blue Lamp; Dead of Night) and starring Bonar Colleano (Dance Hall; The Man Inside) and legendary Earl Cameron Cbe (Sapphire; Thunderball), […]
The post Win Pool of London on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Win Pool of London on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 10/25/2016
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Most British crime films of the '40s and '50s have been slow crossing the pond, but Olive Films has a winner here, a gloss on Yank gangster pix from an earlier era. Just clear of prison, a tough criminal vows to punish the gang that abandoned him, and carries it out a ruthless revenge. But I think it was a mistake for him to involve that dance hall girl... Appointment with Crime Blu-ray Olive Films 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring William Hartnell, Herbert Lom, Joyce Howard, Robert Beatty, Raymond Lovell, Alan Wheatley. Cinematography Gerald Moss, James Wilson Film Editor Monica Kimick Original Music George Melachrino Produced by Louis H. Jackson Written and Directed by John Harlow
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Ask today's American film fan about old British crime films, and he'll probably not be able to...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Ask today's American film fan about old British crime films, and he'll probably not be able to...
- 6/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Long ago, in the glory days of Ealing Studios, when a young spiv played by Dirk Bogarde shot dead policeman PC Dixon (Jack Warner) in The Blue Lamp (1950), all the ordinary, decent criminals were horrified. They helped flush out the killer. Back in the 1950s, or at least in British films of that era, the police were regarded with veneration. They were bobbies on the beat – friendly, hard-working types who appeared to be incorruptible.
- 3/5/2015
- The Independent - Film
The definition of a slasher film varies depending on who you ask, but in general, it contains several specific traits that feed into the genre’s formula. Author Vera Dika rather strictly defines the sub-genre in her book Games of Terror by only including films made between 1978 and 1984. In other words, she saw it as a movement. When someone describes Brick, they don’t define it as a noir, but instead neo-noir . In other words, it’s a modern motion picture that prominently utilizes elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in those from the 1940s and 1950s. So does one consider Scream a slasher film or a neo-slasher, or simply put, a modern slasher?
Some consider Thirteen Women to be the earliest slasher – released all the way back in 1932. Personally I think that is rubbish. Thirteen Women is more like Desperate Housewives on sedatives.
Some consider Thirteen Women to be the earliest slasher – released all the way back in 1932. Personally I think that is rubbish. Thirteen Women is more like Desperate Housewives on sedatives.
- 10/29/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Stevie Nicks is many things: Goddess Of Rock, style icon, survivor, and today is her 64th Birthday. We could never hope to give her all of the proper respect she deserves, but here's a small tribute to her legacy of cryptic lyrics, ethereal stage presence, and shawls.
So many shawls ...
1. - "Landslide." The greatest song ever written. Timeless, and one of the most covered songs of all time, from The Dixie Chicks to anyone learning the guitar ... or performing drunken karaoke.
2. "Sisters Of The Moon" - Hands down the best track from Tusk, the chances that Stevie would write a song named "Sisters Of The Moon" were always pretty good.
3. "Gypsy" - One of the definitive Fleetwood Mac songs, and one of the greatest music videos ever made.
4.
5."Silver Spring" Such a beautiful song, it was originally supposed to be included on Rumours but was left off because there just...
So many shawls ...
1. - "Landslide." The greatest song ever written. Timeless, and one of the most covered songs of all time, from The Dixie Chicks to anyone learning the guitar ... or performing drunken karaoke.
2. "Sisters Of The Moon" - Hands down the best track from Tusk, the chances that Stevie would write a song named "Sisters Of The Moon" were always pretty good.
3. "Gypsy" - One of the definitive Fleetwood Mac songs, and one of the greatest music videos ever made.
4.
5."Silver Spring" Such a beautiful song, it was originally supposed to be included on Rumours but was left off because there just...
- 5/26/2012
- by snicks
- The Backlot
A couple of months ago I wrote about the British artist Edward Bawden and his posters for Ealing Studios. The other day I stumbled upon this evocative and quite unusual poster for the 1947 Ealing noir It Always Rains on Sunday. Though I know the film I’d never seen the poster before and it started me looking into the story of its artist, one James Boswell. Like Bawden, Boswell not only did a handful of posters for Ealing but he also was stationed in Iraq during World War Two and produced a significant body of work from his time there. Whereas Bawden was an official war artist, however, Boswell, because of his famously left-wing sympathies and anti-war philosophy, was not. In fact, a book of his Iraq and other wartime paintings is called James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist.
Born in New Zealand in 1906, Boswell came to Britain to study painting...
Born in New Zealand in 1906, Boswell came to Britain to study painting...
- 1/28/2012
- MUBI
UK films in the 1950s and 60s led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy
In these troubled times, when the phone-hacking scandal has heaped ignominy on the police, it is worth pointing out that British cinema has led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy. In fact, so complete was the turnaround in the two decades between The Blue Lamp, in 1950, and The Offence, from 1972, it almost constitutes a social history in its own right.
Made partly to alleviate a recruitment crisis, and partly to acknowledge a wave of teen delinquency just after the war, The Blue Lamp was the first British film made with the full co-operation of the Metropolitan police. The Met lent the makers their stations, their patrol cars and even their own officers to play small roles. The plot – a neurotic young spiv, played by Dirk Bogarde,...
In these troubled times, when the phone-hacking scandal has heaped ignominy on the police, it is worth pointing out that British cinema has led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy. In fact, so complete was the turnaround in the two decades between The Blue Lamp, in 1950, and The Offence, from 1972, it almost constitutes a social history in its own right.
Made partly to alleviate a recruitment crisis, and partly to acknowledge a wave of teen delinquency just after the war, The Blue Lamp was the first British film made with the full co-operation of the Metropolitan police. The Met lent the makers their stations, their patrol cars and even their own officers to play small roles. The plot – a neurotic young spiv, played by Dirk Bogarde,...
- 8/11/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
To celebrate the DVD release of The Halfway House available on DVD now, Optimum Home Entertainment have given us three copies of the movie to give away on DVD. The movie was directed by Basil Dearden and stars Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns and Sally Ann Howes.
2011 sees the centenary of the birth of Ealing stalwart Basil Dearden, who directed more Ealing films than any of his peers – 18 – including The Blue Lamp, Saraband for Dead Lovers and The Halfway House. He was also the director of the ground-breaking Victim, starring Dirk Bogarde.
The Halfway House is an enjoyable mystery tale of a group of strangers driven to take shelter at a remote Welsh Inn during a storm. Each has a personal problem to hide, but they are soon brought together by unsettling events perhaps precipitated by their hosts, the enigmatic innkeepers. Starring Mervyn Johns and real-life daughter Glynis, The Halfway House...
2011 sees the centenary of the birth of Ealing stalwart Basil Dearden, who directed more Ealing films than any of his peers – 18 – including The Blue Lamp, Saraband for Dead Lovers and The Halfway House. He was also the director of the ground-breaking Victim, starring Dirk Bogarde.
The Halfway House is an enjoyable mystery tale of a group of strangers driven to take shelter at a remote Welsh Inn during a storm. Each has a personal problem to hide, but they are soon brought together by unsettling events perhaps precipitated by their hosts, the enigmatic innkeepers. Starring Mervyn Johns and real-life daughter Glynis, The Halfway House...
- 6/24/2011
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
How switched on are you when it comes to cinema's leading lights and darkest shades?
Back in 2002 Ikea launched the 60-second ad Lamp as part of its Unböring campaign. Directed by Spike Jonze, Lamp opens with a little red lamp sitting by the sofa. A melancholy piano piece hangs in the air. A woman unplugs the lamp, hoists it over her shoulder, and dumps it on the pavement in the pouring rain. Time passes, and shots of the lonely lamp are cut with others taken from its perspective, peering through the window at its former owner cosying up beside a brand new Ikea model. Then, from nowhere, a man walks into shot and says, "Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you crazy. It has no feelings, and the new one is much better."
Maybe we crazy. Brick loves lamp, after all, and he killed a guy with a trident.
Back in 2002 Ikea launched the 60-second ad Lamp as part of its Unböring campaign. Directed by Spike Jonze, Lamp opens with a little red lamp sitting by the sofa. A melancholy piano piece hangs in the air. A woman unplugs the lamp, hoists it over her shoulder, and dumps it on the pavement in the pouring rain. Time passes, and shots of the lonely lamp are cut with others taken from its perspective, peering through the window at its former owner cosying up beside a brand new Ikea model. Then, from nowhere, a man walks into shot and says, "Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you crazy. It has no feelings, and the new one is much better."
Maybe we crazy. Brick loves lamp, after all, and he killed a guy with a trident.
- 6/1/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
How did Dirk Bogarde get from Doctor in the House to The Night Porter? With a wilful desire to destroy his matinee idol status. And the signs were there for all to see in his early work
The Odeon, Leicester Square, 1960. The red-carpet premiere of a film that will change the story of British film and British society. The lights are killed, the crowd falls silent. The roar of industrial machinery thrums from the speakers. And over the noise comes the voice of the hero, a Brylcreemed lathe-operator with greasy overalls and insolent good looks. "Don't let the bastards grind you down," says Dirk Bogarde, and with those words, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and its star give instant definition to the new decade.
In some fairly proximate parallel universe, this is how the 1960s might have begun. It could have happened here, too, if the owner of Pinewood studios...
The Odeon, Leicester Square, 1960. The red-carpet premiere of a film that will change the story of British film and British society. The lights are killed, the crowd falls silent. The roar of industrial machinery thrums from the speakers. And over the noise comes the voice of the hero, a Brylcreemed lathe-operator with greasy overalls and insolent good looks. "Don't let the bastards grind you down," says Dirk Bogarde, and with those words, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and its star give instant definition to the new decade.
In some fairly proximate parallel universe, this is how the 1960s might have begun. It could have happened here, too, if the owner of Pinewood studios...
- 3/25/2011
- by Matthew Sweet
- The Guardian - Film News
‘Sator’ From The Tailor and Cutter forum takes a look at the superior costume design of Edwardian set British classic, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a delicious Ealing black comedy starring Dennis Price as Louis Mazzini, distant heir to a dukedom, but with eight members of the D’Ascoyne family standing in his way. He vows to avenge the premature death of his beloved mother who dies in poverty after being ostracised by her family for marrying below her station, after eloping with an Italian opera singer. Mazzini sets out to murder his way to the Dukedom of Chalfont, with each of his victims played to hilarious effect by Alec Guinness – even Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne.
This is a splendid film in its own right, shot in a sumptuous black and white. However, what interests us today is the extraordinary care taken in recreating Edwardian dress.
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a delicious Ealing black comedy starring Dennis Price as Louis Mazzini, distant heir to a dukedom, but with eight members of the D’Ascoyne family standing in his way. He vows to avenge the premature death of his beloved mother who dies in poverty after being ostracised by her family for marrying below her station, after eloping with an Italian opera singer. Mazzini sets out to murder his way to the Dukedom of Chalfont, with each of his victims played to hilarious effect by Alec Guinness – even Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne.
This is a splendid film in its own right, shot in a sumptuous black and white. However, what interests us today is the extraordinary care taken in recreating Edwardian dress.
- 9/29/2010
- by Contributor
- Clothes on Film
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.