Any WW2 action adventure involving the Norwegian resistance is Ok in my book, and this big-star saga about sabotage efforts to stop the Nazis’ atom research is a natural — much of what happens in the story is true. The show can boast marvelous locations and excellent action scenes but the script and characters aren’t very strong. Did Columbia curb epic director Anthony Mann’s greater ambitions, or did star Kirk Douglas interfere to enhance his leading character into a combo scientist, playboy and sure-shot action man? Also starring Ulla Jacobsson, Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave, and every over-fifty English name actor not nailed down.
The Heroes of Telemark
Blu-ray
Sony Home Entertainment
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date January 8, 2019
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave, David Weston, Roy Dotrice, Anton Diffring, Ralph Michael, Eric Porter, Karel Stepanek, George Murcell, Mervyn Johns, Barry Jones, Geoffrey Keen, Robert Ayres,...
The Heroes of Telemark
Blu-ray
Sony Home Entertainment
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date January 8, 2019
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave, David Weston, Roy Dotrice, Anton Diffring, Ralph Michael, Eric Porter, Karel Stepanek, George Murcell, Mervyn Johns, Barry Jones, Geoffrey Keen, Robert Ayres,...
- 9/11/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Why is David Lean’s stirring ode to British aviation so historically and technically bogus? Because at heart it’s a science fiction film! Ralph Richardson drives his test pilots and his own son to die on the altar of aviation R&d, in a tale focused firmly on futurism and the push to the stars. Nigel Patrick and Denholm Elliott struggle to measure up, while Ann Todd hugs her baby and resists. Watching this terrific production, you’d think the Queen had a monopoly on supersonic aviation.
The Sound Barrier
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 117 109 min. / Breaking the Sound Barrier / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin, Dinah Sheridan, Joseph Tomelty, Denholm Elliott.
Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Film Editor: Geoffrey Foot
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Aerial and second unit director: Anthony Squire
Written by Terence Rattigan
Produced and...
The Sound Barrier
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 117 109 min. / Breaking the Sound Barrier / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin, Dinah Sheridan, Joseph Tomelty, Denholm Elliott.
Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Film Editor: Geoffrey Foot
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Aerial and second unit director: Anthony Squire
Written by Terence Rattigan
Produced and...
- 4/14/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Some critics wondered if Alec Guinness and John Mills should have swapped roles for this adaptation of James Kennaway’s incisive novel about popularity vs. discipline in the command structure of a Scots army brigade. Ronald Neame’s direction is exemplary, showcasing the powerhouse performances yet avoiding theatrical flourishes. And the movie introduces Susannah York as well. Criterion’s 4K remaster greatly improves on their older DVD release.
Tunes of Glory
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 225
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 106 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 3, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Alec Guinness, John Mills, Dennis Price, Kay Walsh, John Fraser, Susannah York, Gordon Jackson, Duncan Macrae, Percy Herbert, Allan Cuthbertson.
Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Film Editor: Anne V. Coates
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by James Kennaway from his novel
Produced by Albert Fennell, Colin Lesslie
Directed by Ronald Neame
1960’s Tunes of Glory hasn’t persisted in revivals, and neither is it...
Tunes of Glory
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 225
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 106 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 3, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Alec Guinness, John Mills, Dennis Price, Kay Walsh, John Fraser, Susannah York, Gordon Jackson, Duncan Macrae, Percy Herbert, Allan Cuthbertson.
Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Film Editor: Anne V. Coates
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by James Kennaway from his novel
Produced by Albert Fennell, Colin Lesslie
Directed by Ronald Neame
1960’s Tunes of Glory hasn’t persisted in revivals, and neither is it...
- 1/18/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Top stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida earn their keep in Carol Reed’s powerful tale of ambition and excellence performing forty feet above a circus arena. The best circus movie ever is also among Reed’s most exciting, best directed movies, a solid show all around.
Trapeze
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado, Thomas Gomez, Sidney James, Johnny Puleo.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Costume Design: Veniero Colasanti
Editorial Supervisor: Bert Batt
Production Design: Rino Mondelli
Dialogue Coach: Harriet White Medin
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by James R. Webb & Liam O’Brien from a novel by Max Catto
Produced by James Hill, Harold Hecht, Burt Lancaster
Directed by Carol Reed
For a long time it seemed that Carol Reed had been canonized for The Third Man, Odd Man Out and...
Trapeze
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado, Thomas Gomez, Sidney James, Johnny Puleo.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Costume Design: Veniero Colasanti
Editorial Supervisor: Bert Batt
Production Design: Rino Mondelli
Dialogue Coach: Harriet White Medin
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by James R. Webb & Liam O’Brien from a novel by Max Catto
Produced by James Hill, Harold Hecht, Burt Lancaster
Directed by Carol Reed
For a long time it seemed that Carol Reed had been canonized for The Third Man, Odd Man Out and...
- 8/18/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. David Lean's Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952) is playing October 14 - November 13, 2017 on Mubi in the United States.John (J.R.) Ridgefield is a man possessed. The wealthy and influential aircraft industrialist is consumed by his desire to manufacture a plane capable of penetrating the inscrutable sound barrier. This supersonic obsession is a blessing and a curse for the Ridgefield family, providing their ample fortune and triggering largely latent rifts in their ancestral relations. It’s an opposition at the heart and soul of David Lean’s 1952 film The Sound Barrier, a post-war endorsement of British ingenuity and determination, and an emotional, blazing depiction of sacrifice and scientific achievement. The opening of The Sound Barrier (also known as Sound Barrier and Breaking the Sound Barrier), spotlights Philip Peel (John Justin), one of the film’s principal test pilots. In just under two minutes,...
- 10/18/2017
- MUBI
Sean Wilson Mar 16, 2017
From Total Recall and RoboCop through to Turkish Delight and Flesh+Blood, we look at the musical scores of Paul Verhoeven films...
The Netherlands' arch-provocateur and filmmaker extraordinaire Paul Verhoeven is back in cinemas right now with Elle. A characteristically confrontational and provocative thriller, it spins a rape-revenge storyline into a mordantly funny, blackly comic and off-kilter odyssey, and has garnered an Oscar nomination for extraordinary lead Isabelle Huppert in the process.
See related The Maze Runner 3: Dylan O’Brien seriously injured on set Maze Runner 3 release now delayed, Dylan O’Brien still not back
It's exactly what we've come to expect from a veteran director who's done it all, having made jaws drop in both Europe and Hollywood - but beneath Verhoeven's love of excess and shock tactics lurks real artistry, and nowhere is this more evident than in the remarkable run of film scores...
From Total Recall and RoboCop through to Turkish Delight and Flesh+Blood, we look at the musical scores of Paul Verhoeven films...
The Netherlands' arch-provocateur and filmmaker extraordinaire Paul Verhoeven is back in cinemas right now with Elle. A characteristically confrontational and provocative thriller, it spins a rape-revenge storyline into a mordantly funny, blackly comic and off-kilter odyssey, and has garnered an Oscar nomination for extraordinary lead Isabelle Huppert in the process.
See related The Maze Runner 3: Dylan O’Brien seriously injured on set Maze Runner 3 release now delayed, Dylan O’Brien still not back
It's exactly what we've come to expect from a veteran director who's done it all, having made jaws drop in both Europe and Hollywood - but beneath Verhoeven's love of excess and shock tactics lurks real artistry, and nowhere is this more evident than in the remarkable run of film scores...
- 2/9/2017
- Den of Geek
No Highway in the Sky
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 99 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring : James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott, Niall MacGinnis, Kenneth More, Ronald Squire, Elizabeth Allan, Jill Clifford, Felix Aylmer, Dora Bryan, Maurice Denham, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Bessie Love, Karel Stepanek.
Cinematography: Georges Périnal
Film Editor: Manuel del Campo
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by: R.C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, Alec Coppel from the novel by Nevil Shute
Produced by: Louis D. Lighton
Directed by Henry Koster
A few years back, whenever a desired title came up on list for a Fox, Columbia or Warners’ Mod (made-on-demand) DVD, my first reaction was disappointment: we really want to see our favorites released in the better disc format, Blu-ray. But things have changed. As Mod announcements thin out, we have seen an explosion of library titles remastered in HD.
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 99 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring : James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott, Niall MacGinnis, Kenneth More, Ronald Squire, Elizabeth Allan, Jill Clifford, Felix Aylmer, Dora Bryan, Maurice Denham, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Bessie Love, Karel Stepanek.
Cinematography: Georges Périnal
Film Editor: Manuel del Campo
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by: R.C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, Alec Coppel from the novel by Nevil Shute
Produced by: Louis D. Lighton
Directed by Henry Koster
A few years back, whenever a desired title came up on list for a Fox, Columbia or Warners’ Mod (made-on-demand) DVD, my first reaction was disappointment: we really want to see our favorites released in the better disc format, Blu-ray. But things have changed. As Mod announcements thin out, we have seen an explosion of library titles remastered in HD.
- 1/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Spectacular full-scale derailment from the 1931 version of The Ghost Train (and also the 1941 version).
Arnold Ridley is fondly remembered in the UK as one of the stars of seventies sitcom Dad’s Army, about an incompetent and mainly superannuated group of volunteer soldiers in the WWII home guard, a show which made Ridley a national star at age 72 (it continued until he was 81). His sweetly doddering persona made a brilliant foil to the petulant Arthur Lowe, the dithering John Le Mesurier and gloomy Scot John Laurie.
One day, shooting on location in a graveyard, one of Ridley’s younger co-stars mused, “Hardly worth your leaving, is it, Arnold?” A rather harsh bit of humor: if you find it too mean, take comfort in the fact that the young thesp predeceased Ridley by some years, owing to liver failure. What larks!
But looong before Dad’s Army, Arnold Ridley found...
Arnold Ridley is fondly remembered in the UK as one of the stars of seventies sitcom Dad’s Army, about an incompetent and mainly superannuated group of volunteer soldiers in the WWII home guard, a show which made Ridley a national star at age 72 (it continued until he was 81). His sweetly doddering persona made a brilliant foil to the petulant Arthur Lowe, the dithering John Le Mesurier and gloomy Scot John Laurie.
One day, shooting on location in a graveyard, one of Ridley’s younger co-stars mused, “Hardly worth your leaving, is it, Arnold?” A rather harsh bit of humor: if you find it too mean, take comfort in the fact that the young thesp predeceased Ridley by some years, owing to liver failure. What larks!
But looong before Dad’s Army, Arnold Ridley found...
- 9/9/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Anybody who has ever been to a high school reunion (and I’ve been to my share) will tell you that the calendar and the clock can be incredibly cruel (particularly when combined with the long-term effects of gravity, but let’s not go there).
Time punishes creative works as well. Some work grows dated, stale, stiff. Time and the evolving form of the given art leaves a once vibrant and exciting work behind looking dead and obsolete.
More cruel, perhaps, is work that is simply…forgotten. Not for any good reason. Good as it was, maybe it was simply not successful enough to lodge very deeply in the popular consciousness; working well enough in its day, but soon lost among the ever-growing detritus of a lot of other pieces of yesterday.
Movie music is particularly vulnerable to the cruelties of time. Outside of the form’s devotees, it rarely...
Time punishes creative works as well. Some work grows dated, stale, stiff. Time and the evolving form of the given art leaves a once vibrant and exciting work behind looking dead and obsolete.
More cruel, perhaps, is work that is simply…forgotten. Not for any good reason. Good as it was, maybe it was simply not successful enough to lodge very deeply in the popular consciousness; working well enough in its day, but soon lost among the ever-growing detritus of a lot of other pieces of yesterday.
Movie music is particularly vulnerable to the cruelties of time. Outside of the form’s devotees, it rarely...
- 1/14/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
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...
- 4/7/2011
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- The Guardian - Film News
What do you think of while you listen to classical music? Do you have an education in music, and think of the composer's strategies, or the conductor's interpretation? Do you, in short, think in words at all? I never do, and I suppose that would make me incompetent as a music critic. I fall into a reverie state.
With some music, my thoughts simply drift, and I daydream. I'll be surprised where I end up. The music has untethered logic and freed me to go in places chosen by the music itself by obscure means. Other times, with music that is very, very familiar, I will find myself drifting into the music itself, without conscious thought at all.
Consider Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I've heard it so many times for so many years that it creates its own self-contained reality. I haven't the slightest idea what it is "saying." It proceeds implacably,...
With some music, my thoughts simply drift, and I daydream. I'll be surprised where I end up. The music has untethered logic and freed me to go in places chosen by the music itself by obscure means. Other times, with music that is very, very familiar, I will find myself drifting into the music itself, without conscious thought at all.
Consider Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I've heard it so many times for so many years that it creates its own self-contained reality. I haven't the slightest idea what it is "saying." It proceeds implacably,...
- 3/18/2011
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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