Marlene Warfield, the New York actress known for her feisty turns as the prostitute ex-girlfriend of James Earl Jones’ boxer in The Great White Hope on Broadway and the big screen and as a young revolutionary in Network, has died. She was 83.
Warfield died April 6 of lung cancer at a hospital in Los Angeles, her sister, Chequita Warfield, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Warfield also recurred as Maude’s third and last regular housekeeper, the Jamaica-born Victoria Butterfield, on the sixth and final season (1977-78) of the famed Norman Lear-created CBS sitcom that starred Bea Arthur.
After appearing in the East Village at St. Mark’s Playhouse in French dramatist Jean Genet’s The Blacks — where she understudied for Cicely Tyson and also worked alongside the likes of Jones, Godfrey Cambridge and Maya Angelou — Warfield made it to Broadway in October 1968 when she was cast as Clara in The Great White Hope,...
Warfield died April 6 of lung cancer at a hospital in Los Angeles, her sister, Chequita Warfield, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Warfield also recurred as Maude’s third and last regular housekeeper, the Jamaica-born Victoria Butterfield, on the sixth and final season (1977-78) of the famed Norman Lear-created CBS sitcom that starred Bea Arthur.
After appearing in the East Village at St. Mark’s Playhouse in French dramatist Jean Genet’s The Blacks — where she understudied for Cicely Tyson and also worked alongside the likes of Jones, Godfrey Cambridge and Maya Angelou — Warfield made it to Broadway in October 1968 when she was cast as Clara in The Great White Hope,...
- 26/07/2025
- par Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Disney legend Richard M. Sherman passed away at 95, leaving behind a remarkable musical legacy. The Sherman Brothers wrote iconic Disney songs, such as those from Mary Poppins. Many tributes have been paid to the legacy of the Sherman brothers, including Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Legendary Disney songwriter Richard M. Sherman, one half of the Sherman Brothers, has died at the age of 95. Sherman and his brother, the late Robert B. Sherman, formed one of the most formidable musical teams in the history of Disney movies, writing many of the studios best known songs from their animated movies, including the Oscar-winning tracks from Mary Poppins.
Sherman died on Saturday, May 25, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverley Hills from age-related illness.
Richard and Robert Sherman had a songwriting career that spanned 65 years, and became one of the reasons so many Disney movies were taken to the hearts of audiences across the world.
Legendary Disney songwriter Richard M. Sherman, one half of the Sherman Brothers, has died at the age of 95. Sherman and his brother, the late Robert B. Sherman, formed one of the most formidable musical teams in the history of Disney movies, writing many of the studios best known songs from their animated movies, including the Oscar-winning tracks from Mary Poppins.
Sherman died on Saturday, May 25, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverley Hills from age-related illness.
Richard and Robert Sherman had a songwriting career that spanned 65 years, and became one of the reasons so many Disney movies were taken to the hearts of audiences across the world.
- 26/05/2024
- par Anthony Lund
- MovieWeb
Pageantry. Screw ups. Touching tributes. Private beefs made public. There are plenty of reasons to watch the Oscars. But they all amount to partaking in, witnessing, movie history in its many forms — the high art, the gossip, the record-breaking moments when an arthouse director becomes a household name.
However, there are a lot of ways to set a record. There are big moments like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tying the record with 11 trophies or Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite becoming the first film not in English (or silent) to win Best Picture. And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break. Give me records like Walter Brennan winning three Best Supporting Actor awards because, as a former extra, he was popular with the Union of Film Extras, who were allowed to vote. At least, the story goes, they were allowed...
However, there are a lot of ways to set a record. There are big moments like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tying the record with 11 trophies or Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite becoming the first film not in English (or silent) to win Best Picture. And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break. Give me records like Walter Brennan winning three Best Supporting Actor awards because, as a former extra, he was popular with the Union of Film Extras, who were allowed to vote. At least, the story goes, they were allowed...
- 10/03/2024
- par John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
To celebrate the release of Room at the Top, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from 11th March, we are giving away Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!
Based on the best-selling novel by John Braine, Room At The Top is Jack Clayton’s debut feature and is one of the earliest examples of the ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ that helped pave the way for the incoming ‘British New Wave’ of film-makers. Featuring the first open reference to sex as well as the earliest depiction of adultery in a British film, it was a controversial film for the era and was initially refused a certificate by the censors before eventually securing an “X” certificate.
Starring Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears and Donald Wolfit, the film went on to become a major box-office success and opened the floodgates for more adult orientated movies.
The film also gained widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for six Academy Awards,...
Based on the best-selling novel by John Braine, Room At The Top is Jack Clayton’s debut feature and is one of the earliest examples of the ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ that helped pave the way for the incoming ‘British New Wave’ of film-makers. Featuring the first open reference to sex as well as the earliest depiction of adultery in a British film, it was a controversial film for the era and was initially refused a certificate by the censors before eventually securing an “X” certificate.
Starring Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears and Donald Wolfit, the film went on to become a major box-office success and opened the floodgates for more adult orientated movies.
The film also gained widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for six Academy Awards,...
- 09/03/2024
- par Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A rerelease of the John Braine novel adaptation is no masterpiece but sits alongside films such as Lucky Jim and Billy Liar in its depiction of class conflict and young male frustration
“Joe … be gentle with me … ” It’s easy to imagine this demure invitation to premarital sex getting some ribald hooting in British cinemas in 1959. Jack Clayton’s multi-Oscar-winning film was adapted by Neil Paterson from John Braine’s moody, zeitgeisty bestseller, and it’s rereleased now with the traditional trigger warning about offensive and outdated attitudes. Now, that could mean pretty much everything about this film – but without doubt it is specifically aimed at Hermione Baddeley praising the hero’s manliness and grimacing: “Too many pansies about these days … ”
Room at the Top gave us Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton, the smouldering, ambitious young working-class Yorkshireman with a chip on his shoulder and a burning desire to get on,...
“Joe … be gentle with me … ” It’s easy to imagine this demure invitation to premarital sex getting some ribald hooting in British cinemas in 1959. Jack Clayton’s multi-Oscar-winning film was adapted by Neil Paterson from John Braine’s moody, zeitgeisty bestseller, and it’s rereleased now with the traditional trigger warning about offensive and outdated attitudes. Now, that could mean pretty much everything about this film – but without doubt it is specifically aimed at Hermione Baddeley praising the hero’s manliness and grimacing: “Too many pansies about these days … ”
Room at the Top gave us Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton, the smouldering, ambitious young working-class Yorkshireman with a chip on his shoulder and a burning desire to get on,...
- 06/03/2024
- par Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The age rating for the 1964 “Mary Poppins” has been increased in the U.K. due to “discriminatory language.”
On Friday, the British Board of Film Classification upped the Disney movie’s cinema rating from U, meaning it contained “no material likely to offend or harm,” to PG for “discriminatory language.”
In a statement to Variety, a BBFC spokesperson said that the film “includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots’. While ‘Mary Poppins’ has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U. We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language.”
The word is a racially insensitive term for the Khoekhoe, an indigenous group in South Africa. The BBFC further explained that the word is used in the film by Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen), including when referring to the chimney sweeps whose faces are covered in soot.
On Friday, the British Board of Film Classification upped the Disney movie’s cinema rating from U, meaning it contained “no material likely to offend or harm,” to PG for “discriminatory language.”
In a statement to Variety, a BBFC spokesperson said that the film “includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots’. While ‘Mary Poppins’ has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U. We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language.”
The word is a racially insensitive term for the Khoekhoe, an indigenous group in South Africa. The BBFC further explained that the word is used in the film by Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen), including when referring to the chimney sweeps whose faces are covered in soot.
- 26/02/2024
- par Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy Awards have been around for almost a century, with such a wide variety of performances and performers that have either won or been nominated for these prestigious awards. There's an ever-growing list of impressive Oscar winners and nominees that are unique among their peers. These include a Best Supporting Actress who was only ten years old, performers that won an Oscar and a Tony for the same role, and even an actor that won two Oscars for one role! However, one thing that these exceptional Academy Award nominees and winners have in common is that they are given ample screen time in order to display their phenomenal acting skills. But does that mean if you're relegated to a limited role you will never receive the recognition your performance deserves? Well, one memorable Oscar nominee put that idea to rest — Hermione Baddeley.
- 27/06/2023
- par Emmanuel Ronquillo
- Collider.com
Everybody wants to be a cat, but not a ton of people want to direct cats. Count Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson in that rarefied latter group, because the Oscar winner behind “Summer of Soul” is making his narrative debut with a remake of the Disney animated feature “The Aristocats,” IndieWire has confirmed.
An individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire that the film will be a “live-action hybrid reimagining” of the original film, a 1970 animated feature directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. In addition to directing, Questlove will oversee the music for the film. The script was penned by Will Gluck, director of the 2014 “Annie” and “Peter Rabbit,” and Keith Bunin, writer of the 2020 Pixar film “Onward.”
The project makes sense for Questlove in a way because the film’s most memorable moment is a jazz sequence, set to the song “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” — Quentin Tarantino claims the...
An individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire that the film will be a “live-action hybrid reimagining” of the original film, a 1970 animated feature directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. In addition to directing, Questlove will oversee the music for the film. The script was penned by Will Gluck, director of the 2014 “Annie” and “Peter Rabbit,” and Keith Bunin, writer of the 2020 Pixar film “Onward.”
The project makes sense for Questlove in a way because the film’s most memorable moment is a jazz sequence, set to the song “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” — Quentin Tarantino claims the...
- 27/03/2023
- par Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
All those British crime films once deemed undesirable for the National Image are beginning to get the attention they deserve. This story of a single day in a working class section of London has plenty of criminal activity but blends it in with the everyday crimes of desperation and boredom. The Sandigate girls are flirting with trouble but Googie Withers’ Rose Sandigate has gone much further: she’s hiding an escaped fugitive who was once her lover in the vain hope of recapturing her lost youth. Director Robert Hamer examines a dozen distinctive characters on the edge of respectability, in one of the most original ‘Brit noirs’ we’ve seen to date.
It Always Rains on Sunday
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Street Date November 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Googie Withers, John McCallum, Jack Warner, Edward Chapman, Susan Shaw, Patricia Plunkett, Nigel Stock, David Lines, Sydney Tafler,...
It Always Rains on Sunday
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Street Date November 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Googie Withers, John McCallum, Jack Warner, Edward Chapman, Susan Shaw, Patricia Plunkett, Nigel Stock, David Lines, Sydney Tafler,...
- 10/12/2022
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Showbiz in Soho is artificial, gaudy and vulgar, but Laurence Harvey’s slick promoter-con man thinks he can cheat at the pop music game. Cliff Richard is his new discovery, a teen crooner who digs the bongo drums. Wolf Mankowitz’s portrait of talent, glitz, and double-dealing in music and TV showbiz also stars Sylvia Syms as a Soho stripper and Yolande Donlan as a singing star trying to make a comeback. The disc contains director Val Guest’s uncut original version.
Expresso Bongo
Blu-ray
Cohen / Kino Lorber
1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 111 106 min. / Street Date January 18, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Cliff Richard, Meier Tzelniker, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Eric Pohlmann, Gilbert Harding, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Beckwith, Avis Bunnage, Sally Geeson, Kenneth Griffith, Burt Kwouk, Wilfrid Lawson, Patricia Lewis, Barry Lowe, Martin Miller, Susan Hampshire, Peter Myers, Lisa Peake, The Shadows.
Cinematography: John Wilcox
Art Director:...
Expresso Bongo
Blu-ray
Cohen / Kino Lorber
1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 111 106 min. / Street Date January 18, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Cliff Richard, Meier Tzelniker, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Eric Pohlmann, Gilbert Harding, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Beckwith, Avis Bunnage, Sally Geeson, Kenneth Griffith, Burt Kwouk, Wilfrid Lawson, Patricia Lewis, Barry Lowe, Martin Miller, Susan Hampshire, Peter Myers, Lisa Peake, The Shadows.
Cinematography: John Wilcox
Art Director:...
- 05/03/2022
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A live-action adaptation of the classic animated film “The Aristocats” is in early development at Disney, Variety has confirmed.
“Peter Rabbit” director Will Gluck and “Onward” writer Keith Bunin are set to pen the script, with Gluck also producing via his Olive Bridge Entertainment banner.
The original 1970 film follows a family of aristocratic cats — mother Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie and Toulouse — living a luxurious life in Paris. But when their owner’s butler finds out that the cats are set to receive a massive fortune, he kidnaps them and abandons them in an unfamiliar land — the country. The aristocats then must befriend an alley cat, named Thomas O’Malley, to help them get home before the butler steals what is rightfully theirs.
Directed by core Disney animator Wolfgang Reitherman, the original voice cast included Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and Roddy Maude-Roxby.
“Peter Rabbit” director Will Gluck and “Onward” writer Keith Bunin are set to pen the script, with Gluck also producing via his Olive Bridge Entertainment banner.
The original 1970 film follows a family of aristocratic cats — mother Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie and Toulouse — living a luxurious life in Paris. But when their owner’s butler finds out that the cats are set to receive a massive fortune, he kidnaps them and abandons them in an unfamiliar land — the country. The aristocats then must befriend an alley cat, named Thomas O’Malley, to help them get home before the butler steals what is rightfully theirs.
Directed by core Disney animator Wolfgang Reitherman, the original voice cast included Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and Roddy Maude-Roxby.
- 21/01/2022
- par Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
While it is rare for a long performance to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, a fair amount of them have. The average screen time for winners in the category is 28 minutes and five seconds, with over one third of them surpassing 30 minutes. Here is a look at the 10 longest winners of all time. (And here’s the list of the 10 shortest winning performances for Best Supporting Actress.)
10. Katina Paxinou (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”)
43 minutes, 41 seconds (26.46% of the film)
The Greek theatre actress made history in 1944 with her debut film role as anti-fascist guerrilla fighter Pilar. She triumphed at the first ever Golden Globes ceremony and set a new record for longest performance to win in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar category, which she went on to hold for eight years.
9. Kim Hunter (“A Streetcar Named Desire”)
44 minutes, 52 seconds (35.97% of the film)
While Hunter’s role as abused wife...
10. Katina Paxinou (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”)
43 minutes, 41 seconds (26.46% of the film)
The Greek theatre actress made history in 1944 with her debut film role as anti-fascist guerrilla fighter Pilar. She triumphed at the first ever Golden Globes ceremony and set a new record for longest performance to win in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar category, which she went on to hold for eight years.
9. Kim Hunter (“A Streetcar Named Desire”)
44 minutes, 52 seconds (35.97% of the film)
While Hunter’s role as abused wife...
- 24/12/2020
- par Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Graham Greene’s tense crime tale is as important as his classic The Third Man but nowhere near as well known. Down Brighton way the race-track boys have sharp ways of solving disputes and terrorizing the common folk — think ‘straight razor.’ Richard Attenborough’s breakthrough film is also a showcase for Hermoine Baddelely and a marvelous newcomer that every horror fan loves even if they don’t know her name, Carol Marsh. Kino’s disc has a Tim Lucas commentary; this review balances thoughts about mercy and damnation, with an extra insight about a piece of ‘stick candy’ unfamiliar to us Yanks.
Brighton Rock
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Street Date May 5, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Carol Marsh, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell, Harcourt Williams, Wylie Watson, Nigel Stock, Virginia Winter, Reginald Purdell, George Carney, Charles Goldner, Alan Wheatley.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman
Camera operator:...
Brighton Rock
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Street Date May 5, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Carol Marsh, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell, Harcourt Williams, Wylie Watson, Nigel Stock, Virginia Winter, Reginald Purdell, George Carney, Charles Goldner, Alan Wheatley.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman
Camera operator:...
- 09/05/2020
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Staring down his prey with sunken eyes and a sinister smile, Alastair Sim was the fiend Charles Addams never got around to drawing. Sim was a quick-change artist who didn’t need makeup to transform from a grasping monster into your favorite uncle – it’s why he remains the greatest interpreter of Ebenezer Scrooge. Whether playing a cold-blooded assassin in The Green Man or a kindly army chaplain in Folly to be Wise he understood as well as anyone why the masks of tragedy and comedy are intertwined.
Sim is one of those figures who’s been consigned to the history books for decades. But by releasing a Blu ray set of the great man’s comedies in 2020, Film Movement Classics, like Scrooge, hasn’t lost their senses – they’ve come to them.
Alastair Sim’s School for Laughter
Blu ray
Film Movement Classics
1954, ’60, ’51, ’47 / 1.67:1, 1.37:1 / 86, 97, 93, 82 min.
Starring Alastair Sim,...
Sim is one of those figures who’s been consigned to the history books for decades. But by releasing a Blu ray set of the great man’s comedies in 2020, Film Movement Classics, like Scrooge, hasn’t lost their senses – they’ve come to them.
Alastair Sim’s School for Laughter
Blu ray
Film Movement Classics
1954, ’60, ’51, ’47 / 1.67:1, 1.37:1 / 86, 97, 93, 82 min.
Starring Alastair Sim,...
- 25/04/2020
- par Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
One of the first ‘kitchen sink realist’ films of the British New Wave is also one of the best English films ever — believable, absorbing, and emotionally moving. The adaptation of John Braine’s novel launched Laurence Harvey as a major star, and English films were suddenly touted as being just as adult as their continental counterparts. It attracted a bushel of awards, especially for the luminous Simone Signoret. Unlike the average Angry Young Man, Joe Lampton’s struggle feels universal — bad things happen when ambition seeks a way through the class ceiling, ‘to get to the money,’ as says Donald Wolfit’s character.
Room at the Top
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date January 14, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston, Hermione Baddeley, Allan Cuthbertson, Raymond Huntley, John Westbrook, Richard Pasco, Ian Hendry, April Olrich,...
Room at the Top
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date January 14, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston, Hermione Baddeley, Allan Cuthbertson, Raymond Huntley, John Westbrook, Richard Pasco, Ian Hendry, April Olrich,...
- 28/01/2020
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
He’s mean, he’s nasty, he carries a razor and he’s dating your sister! Cosh Boy was front & center in 1953 debates about ‘what’s wrong with the British cinema.’ It holds up well, if not as PC social comment, then as solid exploitation fare, with our verminous hero putting the moves on tough-but-vulnerable local girl Joan Collins. The entire cast will want to stand in line to get revenge against Roy Walsh, the punk who steals from his own mum and lets his criminal gang do the dirty work. Take it from me, he’s a dirty rat.
The Slasher (Cosh Boy)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 75 min. / Street Date January 7, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95
Starring: James Kenney, Joan Collins, Betty Ann Davies, Robert Ayres, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Gingold, Nancy Roberts, Laurence Naismith, Ian Whittaker, Stanley Escane, Michael McKeag, Sean Lynch, Johnny Briggs, Nosher Powell.
The Slasher (Cosh Boy)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 75 min. / Street Date January 7, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95
Starring: James Kenney, Joan Collins, Betty Ann Davies, Robert Ayres, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Gingold, Nancy Roberts, Laurence Naismith, Ian Whittaker, Stanley Escane, Michael McKeag, Sean Lynch, Johnny Briggs, Nosher Powell.
- 04/01/2020
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Much of Ealing Studios’ core appeal begins right here, with T.E.B. Clarke’s astute look at the character of pragmatic, energetic Londoners, who in this fantasy face an outrageous situation with spirit, pluck, and a determination not to be cheated. What happens when a few square blocks of London discover that they’re no longer even part of the British Empire? A classic of wartime ‘adjustments,’ the ensemble comedy even begins with a Tex Avery- like ode to rationing.
Passport to Pimlico
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date December 20, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Sydney Tafler, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, John Slater, Jane Hylton, Raymond Huntley, Philip Stainton, Roy Carr, Nancy Gabrielle, Malcolm Knight, Roy Gladdish, Frederick Piper, Charles Hawtrey, Stuart Lindsell, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Gilbert Davis, Michael Hordern, Arthur Howard, Bill Shine, Harry Locke, Sam Kydd.
Cinematography: Lionel...
Passport to Pimlico
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date December 20, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Sydney Tafler, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, John Slater, Jane Hylton, Raymond Huntley, Philip Stainton, Roy Carr, Nancy Gabrielle, Malcolm Knight, Roy Gladdish, Frederick Piper, Charles Hawtrey, Stuart Lindsell, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Gilbert Davis, Michael Hordern, Arthur Howard, Bill Shine, Harry Locke, Sam Kydd.
Cinematography: Lionel...
- 31/12/2019
- par Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
On the eve of the 90th Academy Awards, we celebrate the unlikeliest red-carpet-walkers, including Robert Towne’s dog, several people who don’t actually exist and … Jean-Paul Sartre
10. Hermione Baddeley: best supporting actress nominee, Room at the Top
It took just over two minutes of screen time for Baddeley to nab a nomination for her work in Jack Clayton’s 1959 drama. The current holder of the title for smallest amount of screen time resulting in an actual prize is Beatrice Straight, who won in the same category in 1977 for a performance in Network totalling just under six minutes.
10. Hermione Baddeley: best supporting actress nominee, Room at the Top
It took just over two minutes of screen time for Baddeley to nab a nomination for her work in Jack Clayton’s 1959 drama. The current holder of the title for smallest amount of screen time resulting in an actual prize is Beatrice Straight, who won in the same category in 1977 for a performance in Network totalling just under six minutes.
- 01/03/2018
- par Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
by Nathaniel R
"Bad Ape" is still one of the best movie characters of 2017. He comes courtesy of the ambitious War for the Planet of the Apes, various visual effects technicians, and Steve Zahn who brilliantly embodies him. On the actor's 50th birthday a quick list of our 5 favorite Zahn performances over the years. He's one of Hollywood's most reliable (and most adorable) character actors and still has never really gotten his due.
01 "Sammy Gray" in Reality Bites
02 "Glenn Michaels" in Out of Sight
03 "Lenny Hase" in That Thing You Do!
04 "Bad Ape" in War for the Planet of the Apes
05 "Fuller" in Joy Ride
P.S. Also celebrating birthdays today: actors Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Butler, Xiaoming Huang, Frances Conroy, Chris Noth, Joe Mantegna, and Shawn Yue, cinematographer Conrad W Hall, and director Gary Marshall; And though they are departed they are not forgotten: author Robert Louis Stevenson, and actors Hermione Baddeley,...
"Bad Ape" is still one of the best movie characters of 2017. He comes courtesy of the ambitious War for the Planet of the Apes, various visual effects technicians, and Steve Zahn who brilliantly embodies him. On the actor's 50th birthday a quick list of our 5 favorite Zahn performances over the years. He's one of Hollywood's most reliable (and most adorable) character actors and still has never really gotten his due.
01 "Sammy Gray" in Reality Bites
02 "Glenn Michaels" in Out of Sight
03 "Lenny Hase" in That Thing You Do!
04 "Bad Ape" in War for the Planet of the Apes
05 "Fuller" in Joy Ride
P.S. Also celebrating birthdays today: actors Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Butler, Xiaoming Huang, Frances Conroy, Chris Noth, Joe Mantegna, and Shawn Yue, cinematographer Conrad W Hall, and director Gary Marshall; And though they are departed they are not forgotten: author Robert Louis Stevenson, and actors Hermione Baddeley,...
- 13/11/2017
- par NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
'Boom!' movie with Elizabeth Taylor: Critically panned box office disaster featuring memorable headwear. 'Boom!' movie: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton critical & box office bomb reappraised as 'cult classic' fare If you've never seen Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's 1968 vanity production Boom!, don't feel singled out. Boom! bombed at the box office almost as soon as it blasted on the screen. Since then, however, it has been rediscovered. Directed by Joseph Losey from a screenplay by Tennessee Williams (based on his play The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore), Boom! is a good example of a movie depicting art imitating life imitating art; one that deserves to be described in detail. Sexually repressed temper tantrums and bronchial attacks By then a two-time Academy Award winner, Elizabeth Taylor (Butterfield 8, 1960; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966) plays Flora “Sissy” Goforth, a middle-aged, sexually repressed American (inspired by and written...
- 09/03/2017
- par Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
‘Manchester by the Sea’ (Courtesy: Amazon Studios)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
A fourth chance at an Oscar is right around the corner for Michelle Williams — despite how little screen time the actress racked up in Manchester by the Sea. Should the stars align, Williams will score a best supporting actress nomination at the 2017 ceremony. After you hear just how little of the film featured the 36-year-old, it might shock you — but let us just assure you that this isn’t a new accomplishment.
This site’s namesake, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, lists Williams as a frontrunner in the best supporting actress category this year alongside Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), and Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women). The Montana-born actress has already scored three Oscar nominations: in the best supporting actress category for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain as well as in the best actress category...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
A fourth chance at an Oscar is right around the corner for Michelle Williams — despite how little screen time the actress racked up in Manchester by the Sea. Should the stars align, Williams will score a best supporting actress nomination at the 2017 ceremony. After you hear just how little of the film featured the 36-year-old, it might shock you — but let us just assure you that this isn’t a new accomplishment.
This site’s namesake, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, lists Williams as a frontrunner in the best supporting actress category this year alongside Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), and Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women). The Montana-born actress has already scored three Oscar nominations: in the best supporting actress category for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain as well as in the best actress category...
- 02/01/2017
- par Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
On Saturday evening in Galeta, Calif., legendary actress Jane Fonda was awarded with the 10th Annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the 31st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The 77-year-old actress has won two best actress Oscars in her decades-long career, but has not received a nomination in 28 years. This year, however, she has been generating major Oscar buzz for a supporting actress nomination after a short, but very strong, performance in director Paolo Sorrentino‘s Youth, in which she plays an aging movie star.
Fonda’s role in the film is hardly more than a cameo, with her screen time barely exceeding five minutes, and yet that could be enough for her to earn a best supporting actress nomination. Limited screen time does not necessarily bar an actress from the Oscars, and a few performances that are even shorter than Fonda...
Managing Editor
On Saturday evening in Galeta, Calif., legendary actress Jane Fonda was awarded with the 10th Annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the 31st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The 77-year-old actress has won two best actress Oscars in her decades-long career, but has not received a nomination in 28 years. This year, however, she has been generating major Oscar buzz for a supporting actress nomination after a short, but very strong, performance in director Paolo Sorrentino‘s Youth, in which she plays an aging movie star.
Fonda’s role in the film is hardly more than a cameo, with her screen time barely exceeding five minutes, and yet that could be enough for her to earn a best supporting actress nomination. Limited screen time does not necessarily bar an actress from the Oscars, and a few performances that are even shorter than Fonda...
- 05/10/2015
- par Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
Walt Disney Pictures is teaming up with filmmaker Rob Marshall to develop a sequel to the studio's beloved 1964 classic Mary Poppins. Variety confirms that the story will be set 20 years after the film, using plot lines from author P.L. Travers' eight literary sequels, including the first follow-up Mary Poppins Comes Back. No specifics were given for the story, except that this sequel will follow the title character's furthering adventures with the Banks family.
The original Mary Poppins starred Julie Andrews as the title character, alongside Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw. Author P.L. Travers wrote eight Mary Poppins books, but it isn't known if this theatrical follow-up will be adapted from a specific story within those books, or if it will be an amalgam of those stories. P.L. Travers' literary sequels include Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935), Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943), Mary Poppins...
The original Mary Poppins starred Julie Andrews as the title character, alongside Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw. Author P.L. Travers wrote eight Mary Poppins books, but it isn't known if this theatrical follow-up will be adapted from a specific story within those books, or if it will be an amalgam of those stories. P.L. Travers' literary sequels include Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935), Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943), Mary Poppins...
- 14/09/2015
- par MovieWeb
- MovieWeb
Debbie Reynolds ca. early 1950s. Debbie Reynolds movies: Oscar nominee for 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown,' sweetness and light in phony 'The Singing Nun' Debbie Reynolds is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 23, '15. An MGM contract player from 1950 to 1959, Reynolds' movies can be seen just about every week on TCM. The only premiere on Debbie Reynolds Day is Jerry Paris' lively marital comedy How Sweet It Is (1968), costarring James Garner. This evening, TCM is showing Divorce American Style, The Catered Affair, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and The Singing Nun. 'Divorce American Style,' 'The Catered Affair' Directed by the recently deceased Bud Yorkin, Divorce American Style (1967) is notable for its cast – Reynolds, Dick Van Dyke, Jean Simmons, Jason Robards, Van Johnson, Lee Grant – and for the fact that it earned Norman Lear (screenplay) and Robert Kaufman (story) a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination.
- 24/08/2015
- par Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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...
- 19/06/2015
- par Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘Gilda,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’: 2013 National Film Registry movies (photo: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’) See previous post: “‘Mary Poppins’ in National Film Registry: Good Timing for Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks.’” Billy Woodberry’s UCLA thesis film Bless Their Little Hearts (1984). Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness (1969). The Film Group’s Cicero March (1966), about a Civil Rights march in an all-white Chicago suburb. Norbert A. Myles’ Daughter of Dawn (1920), with Hunting Horse, Oscar Yellow Wolf, Esther Labarre. Bill Morrison’s Decasia (2002), featuring decomposing archival footage. Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (1926), with Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis. Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956), with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Robby the Robot. Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. John and Faith Hubley’s Oscar-winning animated short The Hole (1962). Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Best Actor Oscar winner Maximilian Schell,...
- 20/12/2013
- par Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jean Kent: British film star and ‘Last of the Gainsborough Girls’ dead at 92 (photo: actress Jean Kent in ‘Madonna of the Seven Moons’) News outlets and tabloids — little difference these days — have been milking every little drop from the unexpected and violent death of The Fast and the Furious franchise actor Paul Walker, and his friend and business partner Roger Rodas this past Saturday, November 30, 2013. Unfortunately — and unsurprisingly — apart from a handful of British publications, the death of another film performer on that same day went mostly underreported. If you’re not "in" at this very moment, you may as well have never existed. Jean Kent, best known for her roles as scheming villainesses in British films of the 1940s and Gainsborough Pictures’ last surviving top star, died on November 30 at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, England. The previous day, she had suffered a fall at her...
- 04/12/2013
- par Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Dirk Bogarde: ‘Victim’ star took no prisoners in his letters to Dilys Powell Letters exchanged between film critic Dilys Powell and actor Dirk Bogarde — one of the most popular and respected British performers of the twentieth century, and the star of seminal movies such as Victim, The Servant, Darling, and Death in Venice — reveals that Bogarde was considerably more caustic and opinionated in his letters than in his (quite bland) autobiographies. (Photo: Dirk Bogarde ca. 1970.) As found in Dirk Bogarde’s letters acquired a few years ago by the British Library, among the victims of the Victim star (sorry) were Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (Julia), a "ninny" who was “so utterly beastly to [Steaming director Joseph Losey] that he finally threw his script at her face”; and veteran stage and screen actor — and Academy Award winner — John Gielgud (Arthur), who couldn’t "understand half of Shakespeare" despite being renowned for his stage roles in Macbeth,...
- 23/09/2013
- par Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
On December 13, Disney is releasing Saving Mr. Banks in theaters, the story of how Walt Disney convinced author P.L. Travers to make Mary Poppins. Fans can also revisit the original classic with the Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Blu-ray, debuting on December 10. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has released the trailer for this fully-restored classic starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, available on Blu-ray for the first time ever. We don't have any details on pricing or special features, so stay tuned for more information.
Mary Poppins was released August 27th, 1964 and stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Reta Shaw, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber. The film is directed by Robert Stevenson.
Mary Poppins was released August 27th, 1964 and stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Reta Shaw, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber. The film is directed by Robert Stevenson.
- 15/08/2013
- par MovieWeb
- MovieWeb
Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
- 07/11/2012
- par Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Before The Princess and the Frog dazzled a generation of Justin Bieber- and Miley Cyrus-loving kids with New Orleans jazz, Disney’s The Aristocats introduced kids of the 1970s to jazz of the circa 1910 French variety.
Tuesday Disney released The Aristocats on Blu-ray, and to commemorate the release, EW chatted with Richard Sherman, who wrote some of the film’s music along with his late brother, Robert Sherman. (In the photo below, that’s Richard on the left, Robert on the right.) The duo composed two songs for the 1970 film about a collection of musically gifted cats: the...
Tuesday Disney released The Aristocats on Blu-ray, and to commemorate the release, EW chatted with Richard Sherman, who wrote some of the film’s music along with his late brother, Robert Sherman. (In the photo below, that’s Richard on the left, Robert on the right.) The duo composed two songs for the 1970 film about a collection of musically gifted cats: the...
- 21/08/2012
- par Emily Rome
- EW - Inside Movies
Mary Poppins
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
I think it’s a bit dangerous to call movies classics; that title can be a heavy crown for any film to wear, whether it’s your favorite or one you’ve never heard of before. Sometimes, we consider movies classics because our parents or our siblings or our friends loved them first, and we just followed along with them. Sometimes, we consider movies classics as soon as we walk out of the theater, blown away at what we’ve just seen. And sometimes we’re told that movies are classics, not because we’ve seen them, but because film buffs and critics have deemed it that way. No matter what makes a movie a classic, I’m unable to separate that movie from its status when I watch it,...
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
I think it’s a bit dangerous to call movies classics; that title can be a heavy crown for any film to wear, whether it’s your favorite or one you’ve never heard of before. Sometimes, we consider movies classics because our parents or our siblings or our friends loved them first, and we just followed along with them. Sometimes, we consider movies classics as soon as we walk out of the theater, blown away at what we’ve just seen. And sometimes we’re told that movies are classics, not because we’ve seen them, but because film buffs and critics have deemed it that way. No matter what makes a movie a classic, I’m unable to separate that movie from its status when I watch it,...
- 04/02/2012
- par Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
On the newest episode of The Night Crew podcast, hosts Thom Carnell (Fangoria, Dread Central) and Sean “The Butcher” Smithson (Fangoria, Twitch) discuss some of the latest films they've been watching, Andrew Mack returns with the Twitch News of the Week, and Phillip Nutman, aka “The World's Most Unlikely Cowboy”, rides in to show some love for The Professionals.
And in an exclusive interview Hollywood expert and devout "Monster Kid" author David Del Valle stops by to talk about his new book, Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign, dish up memories, and toss some divine dirt around about his time spent in the presence of some of the greats of moviedom.
In Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign, David Del Valle (writer, curator, collector, and Hollywood historian) takes you on a first-person tour of the man-made Shangri La beneath the Hollywood sign, ultimately descending into the smog-shrouded netherworld of Lost Horizons.
And in an exclusive interview Hollywood expert and devout "Monster Kid" author David Del Valle stops by to talk about his new book, Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign, dish up memories, and toss some divine dirt around about his time spent in the presence of some of the greats of moviedom.
In Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign, David Del Valle (writer, curator, collector, and Hollywood historian) takes you on a first-person tour of the man-made Shangri La beneath the Hollywood sign, ultimately descending into the smog-shrouded netherworld of Lost Horizons.
- 13/05/2011
- par Carnell
- DreadCentral.com
After seeing the 2007 remake, one of the stars of the original St Trinian's films decided to track down her fellow schoolgirls – and now they're getting together for a special screening
Annabelle Heath is a church steward from Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. "I had to torture Jill Evans. That's me turning the mangle," she boasts proudly. She is talking about events long ago, when she played "Maudie the bookie" in 1954's The Belles of St Trinian's. "I was only about 11. I wasn't one of the ones with stockings and suspender belts." Heath – who appeared on screen under the name Annabelle Covey – describes her costume with just a touch of regret in her voice.
Fifty-seven years on, Heath has assembled a small army of St Trinian's old girls (her torture victim Jill Evans among them) to attend a special screening of the film at the Barbican next week. No, they won't be...
Annabelle Heath is a church steward from Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. "I had to torture Jill Evans. That's me turning the mangle," she boasts proudly. She is talking about events long ago, when she played "Maudie the bookie" in 1954's The Belles of St Trinian's. "I was only about 11. I wasn't one of the ones with stockings and suspender belts." Heath – who appeared on screen under the name Annabelle Covey – describes her costume with just a touch of regret in her voice.
Fifty-seven years on, Heath has assembled a small army of St Trinian's old girls (her torture victim Jill Evans among them) to attend a special screening of the film at the Barbican next week. No, they won't be...
- 07/04/2011
- par Geoffrey Macnab
- The Guardian - Film News
The British gangster genre is not one which I have ever afforded much time. Whilst Hollywood has led the way in regards to gangster movies with classics such as The Godfather Trilogy, Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), the UK has conjured up Guy Ritchie - a director of such dire ineptitude as to have single-handedly destroyed the genre by steeping his films in a world of pantomime villains and wholly insufferable "cockney geezers".
On watching John Boulton’s original Brighton Rock (1947), the level of the genre’s decline was made even more apparent. The film follows Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough), a young gangster running a protection racket at a race course in Brighton.
After he and his gang have a rival mobster murdered to look like a suicide, a local woman named Ida (Hermione Baddeley) becomes suspicious and sets out to discover the truth behind the man's death. On meeting a young...
On watching John Boulton’s original Brighton Rock (1947), the level of the genre’s decline was made even more apparent. The film follows Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough), a young gangster running a protection racket at a race course in Brighton.
After he and his gang have a rival mobster murdered to look like a suicide, a local woman named Ida (Hermione Baddeley) becomes suspicious and sets out to discover the truth behind the man's death. On meeting a young...
- 01/03/2011
- par Daniel Green
- CineVue
In the last line of our pan of the Brighton Rock remake, we advised that instead of paying to see it you should “save your money and buy the forthcoming Blu-ray transfer of the original instead”. And now that the exciting release of the John Boulting directed adaptation of Graham Greene’s murder thriller is but just 7 days away, we have teamed up with Optimum Releasing to give away 3 copies of the Blu-ray.
Brighton Rock stars Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park, Elizabeth) in perhaps his most iconic onscreen role as Pinkie: a small time hoodlum running a protection racket at a Brighton racecourse. Following the murder of a visiting journalist, Pinkie becomes involved with Rose (Carol Marsh) a café waitress and potentially dangerous witness. Marrying her seems to ensure her silence, but events escalate and eventually lead to Pinky’s undoing and a thrilling and memorable climax.
Also...
Brighton Rock stars Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park, Elizabeth) in perhaps his most iconic onscreen role as Pinkie: a small time hoodlum running a protection racket at a Brighton racecourse. Following the murder of a visiting journalist, Pinkie becomes involved with Rose (Carol Marsh) a café waitress and potentially dangerous witness. Marrying her seems to ensure her silence, but events escalate and eventually lead to Pinky’s undoing and a thrilling and memorable climax.
Also...
- 21/02/2011
- par Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Optimum Releasing have given us three copies of their remastered 1947 version of Brighton Rock to give away. The movie is released on both DVD and Blu-ray on 28th February and stars Richard Attenborough, Hermoine Baddeley, Carol Marsh, William Hartnell & Wylie Watson.
Brighton Rock stars Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park, Elizabeth) in perhaps his most iconic onscreen role as Pinkie: a small time hoodlum running a protection racket at a Brighton racecourse. Following the murder of a visiting journalist, Pinkie becomes involved with Rose (Carol Marsh) a café waitress and potentially dangerous witness. Marrying her seems to ensure her silence, but events escalate and eventually lead to Pinky’s undoing and a thrilling and memorable climax.
Also starring Hermoine Baddeley and William Hartnell (the first Dr Who), the film was adapted for the screen by Greene himself – who famously changed his own ending.
DVD & Blu-ray Extras: Interview with Rowan Joffe...
Brighton Rock stars Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park, Elizabeth) in perhaps his most iconic onscreen role as Pinkie: a small time hoodlum running a protection racket at a Brighton racecourse. Following the murder of a visiting journalist, Pinkie becomes involved with Rose (Carol Marsh) a café waitress and potentially dangerous witness. Marrying her seems to ensure her silence, but events escalate and eventually lead to Pinky’s undoing and a thrilling and memorable climax.
Also starring Hermoine Baddeley and William Hartnell (the first Dr Who), the film was adapted for the screen by Greene himself – who famously changed his own ending.
DVD & Blu-ray Extras: Interview with Rowan Joffe...
- 20/02/2011
- par David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Michael checks out the new take on Brighton Rock. Where did it go wrong, he wonders...?
Here's a pull quote for you: Brighton Rock left me stunned. More so than any other film at the back end of 2010, it caused my jaw to drop. And I don't mean that in the positive sense.
Adapted from Graham Greene's source novel, and lagging 60-odd years behind the first film version, co-written by the author himself and starring Richard Attenborough, William Hartnell and Hermione Baddeley, this new take is the directorial debut of writer, Rowan Joffé. The result is one of those mind-bending, flabbergasting disasters that come along far too rarely.
Brighton Rock couldn't be based on a more melodramatic plot, as Pinkie (Sam Riley), a young, ambitious gangster, decides to marry Rose (Andrea Riseborough), a local waitress who happens to be a material witness to one of his murders. In order to keep her silent,...
Here's a pull quote for you: Brighton Rock left me stunned. More so than any other film at the back end of 2010, it caused my jaw to drop. And I don't mean that in the positive sense.
Adapted from Graham Greene's source novel, and lagging 60-odd years behind the first film version, co-written by the author himself and starring Richard Attenborough, William Hartnell and Hermione Baddeley, this new take is the directorial debut of writer, Rowan Joffé. The result is one of those mind-bending, flabbergasting disasters that come along far too rarely.
Brighton Rock couldn't be based on a more melodramatic plot, as Pinkie (Sam Riley), a young, ambitious gangster, decides to marry Rose (Andrea Riseborough), a local waitress who happens to be a material witness to one of his murders. In order to keep her silent,...
- 02/02/2011
- Den of Geek
Let’s go back to when Britain had its own cinema and see who some of our homegrown stars were then. If we dissolve back to 1960, we find a plethora of movie stars - enough to guarantee full houses in all the West End, and regional theatres, in the country. Here are just some of them: Margaret Rutherford, Joyce Grenfell, John Mills, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Virginia McKenna, Denholm Elliott, Fenella Fielding, Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Diana Dors, Terry Thomas, Richard Burton, Dirk Bogarde, Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier, Joan Greenwood, Hermione Baddeley, Moira Lister, Oliver Reed, Dennis Price, Michael Hordern, Robert Shaw, Michael Redgrave, Robert Morley, Laurence Harvey, Paul Scofield, Richard Harris, Tom Courtenay, Leslie-Anne Down, George Formby, Peter Ustinov, Peter Finch, Harry Andrews, Maxine Audley, Nigel Stock, Eric Porter, Noel Coward, Dinsdale Landen, Bernard Cribbins, Patrick Wymark, Shirley-Anne Field, and Moira Redmond…...
- 23/12/2010
- par Jonathan Gems
- Pure Movies
With all due respect to the actresses in the running for this year’s best supporting actress Oscar, the 2010 field is far from the deepest field in the history of the category. Nobody is — or, frankly, should be — a sure thing at this point, which inherently means that everybody still has a shot. For this reason, I’d like to discuss a name that’s been on my mind a lot lately: Rooney Mara, the 25-year-old actress who gives a brilliant performance as Erica Albright — a B.U. student whose decision to dump her Harvard boyfriend Mark Zuckerberg indirectly leads him to create Facebook — in the critical and commercial hit/best picture Oscar frontrunner “The Social Network.”
I am totally convinced that Mara would be generating serious awards buzz right about now if she, like all of the other people competing for a nomination, could have been in the United...
I am totally convinced that Mara would be generating serious awards buzz right about now if she, like all of the other people competing for a nomination, could have been in the United...
- 14/11/2010
- par Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
St. Trinian's
LONDON -- Remaking eccentric English comedies is seldom a good idea, especially the ones from Ealing Studios with all those wonderful character actors. But against all odds, the new version of St. Trinian's almost pulls it off.
Based on characters created by cartoonist Ronald Searle as a distraction during World War II, the original films from the 1950s and '60s starred the incomparable Alastair Sim as headmistress of a girls' school whose pupils turn to anarchy. It was all stocking tops and hockey sticks with the likes of Terry-Thomas, George Cole and Lionel Jeffries ogling the wild young beauties while Joyce Grenfell, Beryl Reid and Hermione Baddeley tried to maintain order.
Directors Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, who have tried their hands at Oscar Wilde, bring the St. Trinian's girls up to date with Rupert Everett, who apparently had the idea, taking the Sim role as Miss Fritton. It's like water off a duck's back even though no one could match the original actor's extraordinary comic gifts.
Everett's pretty good, though, playing off himself as the schoolmarm's conniving brother Carnaby and flirting outrageously with Colin Firth as Geoffrey Thwaites, the minister of education who is trying to close the joint down. The headmistress greets him carrying a small dog named Mr. Darcy.
Firth is in good form too, once again displaying his talent for physical comedy, as he becomes the victim of some aggressively silly pranks by the formidably inventive young ladies.
The semblance of plot follows Carnaby's daughter Annabelle (Talulah Riley) as she moves to St. Trinian's as part of her father's scheme to sell the school for the real estate. She quickly learns the outrageous rules and learns that the enterprising young women also manufacture specialty goods such as killer liquor and designer tampons for a local criminal named Flash Harry, played with assurance by hot British comedian Russell Brand.
When the education minister's plan to close the school meshes with Carnaby's desire to profit from its sale, Miss Fritton sets on a scheme to make enough money to carry on misbehaving in the school's tradition.
When a popular television quiz for schools is to be held at the National Gallery, they plot to enter the contest so they can steal a famous painting. Mischa Barton (The O.C.) and Stephen Fry have small cameos as the film turns into a reasonably entertaining caper film featuring lots of very appealing young women, which makes a pleasant change from the usual sweating heavies.
ST. TRINIAN'S
Entertainment Film Distributors (U.K.)
Ealing Studios, Fragile Films
Credits:
Directors: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson
Writers: Piers Ashworth, Nick Moorcroft, based on the Ronald Searle cartoons
Producers: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson
Executive producers: Rupert Everett, Nigel Green, James Spring
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Amanda McArthur
Music: Charlie Mole
Costume designers: Rebecca Hale, Penny Rose
Co-producer: Mark Hubbard
Editor: Alex Mackie
Cast:
Miss Fritton: Rupert Everett
Geoffrey Thwaites: Colin Firth
Beverly: Jodie Whittaker
Miss Dickinson: Lena Headey
Flash Harry: Russell Brand
Annabelle: Talulah Riley
Matron: Celia Imrie
Kelly: Gemma Arterton
Bursar: Toby Jones
JJ French: Mischa Barton
Quiz host: Stephen Fry
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Based on characters created by cartoonist Ronald Searle as a distraction during World War II, the original films from the 1950s and '60s starred the incomparable Alastair Sim as headmistress of a girls' school whose pupils turn to anarchy. It was all stocking tops and hockey sticks with the likes of Terry-Thomas, George Cole and Lionel Jeffries ogling the wild young beauties while Joyce Grenfell, Beryl Reid and Hermione Baddeley tried to maintain order.
Directors Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, who have tried their hands at Oscar Wilde, bring the St. Trinian's girls up to date with Rupert Everett, who apparently had the idea, taking the Sim role as Miss Fritton. It's like water off a duck's back even though no one could match the original actor's extraordinary comic gifts.
Everett's pretty good, though, playing off himself as the schoolmarm's conniving brother Carnaby and flirting outrageously with Colin Firth as Geoffrey Thwaites, the minister of education who is trying to close the joint down. The headmistress greets him carrying a small dog named Mr. Darcy.
Firth is in good form too, once again displaying his talent for physical comedy, as he becomes the victim of some aggressively silly pranks by the formidably inventive young ladies.
The semblance of plot follows Carnaby's daughter Annabelle (Talulah Riley) as she moves to St. Trinian's as part of her father's scheme to sell the school for the real estate. She quickly learns the outrageous rules and learns that the enterprising young women also manufacture specialty goods such as killer liquor and designer tampons for a local criminal named Flash Harry, played with assurance by hot British comedian Russell Brand.
When the education minister's plan to close the school meshes with Carnaby's desire to profit from its sale, Miss Fritton sets on a scheme to make enough money to carry on misbehaving in the school's tradition.
When a popular television quiz for schools is to be held at the National Gallery, they plot to enter the contest so they can steal a famous painting. Mischa Barton (The O.C.) and Stephen Fry have small cameos as the film turns into a reasonably entertaining caper film featuring lots of very appealing young women, which makes a pleasant change from the usual sweating heavies.
ST. TRINIAN'S
Entertainment Film Distributors (U.K.)
Ealing Studios, Fragile Films
Credits:
Directors: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson
Writers: Piers Ashworth, Nick Moorcroft, based on the Ronald Searle cartoons
Producers: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson
Executive producers: Rupert Everett, Nigel Green, James Spring
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Amanda McArthur
Music: Charlie Mole
Costume designers: Rebecca Hale, Penny Rose
Co-producer: Mark Hubbard
Editor: Alex Mackie
Cast:
Miss Fritton: Rupert Everett
Geoffrey Thwaites: Colin Firth
Beverly: Jodie Whittaker
Miss Dickinson: Lena Headey
Flash Harry: Russell Brand
Annabelle: Talulah Riley
Matron: Celia Imrie
Kelly: Gemma Arterton
Bursar: Toby Jones
JJ French: Mischa Barton
Quiz host: Stephen Fry
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 21/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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