Yet like many other of his contemporaries or successors – Frederick Forsyth, Desmond Bagley, Jack Higgins, Alistair Maclean, et al – with whom his works usually adorned bookshelves in houses of avid readers in the late 20th century, Nevil Shute has gradually faded away from public memory and interest.
An accomplished aeronautical engineer and pilot, who began writing novels as a hobby, Shute was much in demand for most of the 20th century, with his two-dozen-odd engrossing and eminently readable books with compelling plot lines – straddling various genres from romance to redemption, religion to reincarnation, and cross-cultural relations to a post-apocalyptic scenario, and sometimes, some supernormal elements – but not enough to stretch credulity.
Exotic and unconventional settings – spanning from South Pacific islands to dense Canadian forests to the Australian outback, themes revisited without getting repetitive, and sometimes, a framing device of a narrator – who introduces the main story but otherwise does not...
An accomplished aeronautical engineer and pilot, who began writing novels as a hobby, Shute was much in demand for most of the 20th century, with his two-dozen-odd engrossing and eminently readable books with compelling plot lines – straddling various genres from romance to redemption, religion to reincarnation, and cross-cultural relations to a post-apocalyptic scenario, and sometimes, some supernormal elements – but not enough to stretch credulity.
Exotic and unconventional settings – spanning from South Pacific islands to dense Canadian forests to the Australian outback, themes revisited without getting repetitive, and sometimes, a framing device of a narrator – who introduces the main story but otherwise does not...
- 6/18/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Forgotten amid Robert Aldrich’s more critic-friendly movies is this superb suspense picture, an against-all-odds thriller that pits an old-school pilot against a push-button young engineer with his own kind of male arrogance. Can a dozen oil workers and random passengers ‘invent’ their way out of an almost certain death trap? It’s a late-career triumph for James Stewart, at the head of a sterling ensemble cast. I review a UK disc in the hope of encouraging a new restoration.
The Flight of the Phoenix
Region B Blu-ray
(will not play in domestic U.S. players)
Masters of Cinema / Eureka Entertainment
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 12, 2016 / £12.95
Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Stunt Pilot: Paul Mantz
Art Direction: William Glasgow...
The Flight of the Phoenix
Region B Blu-ray
(will not play in domestic U.S. players)
Masters of Cinema / Eureka Entertainment
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 12, 2016 / £12.95
Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Stunt Pilot: Paul Mantz
Art Direction: William Glasgow...
- 9/22/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Chamber of Horrors
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date March 21, 2017
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Leslie Banks.
Cinematography: Alex Bryce, Ernest Palmer
Film Editor: Ted Richards
Written by Gilbert Gunn, Norman Lee
Produced by John Argyle
Directed by Norman Lee
Near the turn of the century a struggling war correspondent named Edgar Wallace began churning out detective stories for British monthlies like Detective Story Magazine to help make the rent. Creative to a fault, his preposterously prolific output (exacerbated by ongoing gambling debts) soon earned him a legion of fans along with a pointedly ambiguous sobriquet, “The Man Who Wrote Too Much.”
A reader new to Wallace’s work could be excused for thinking the busy writer was making it up as he went along… because that’s pretty much what he did. He dictated his narratives, unedited, into a dictaphone for transcription by his secretary where they would then...
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date March 21, 2017
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Leslie Banks.
Cinematography: Alex Bryce, Ernest Palmer
Film Editor: Ted Richards
Written by Gilbert Gunn, Norman Lee
Produced by John Argyle
Directed by Norman Lee
Near the turn of the century a struggling war correspondent named Edgar Wallace began churning out detective stories for British monthlies like Detective Story Magazine to help make the rent. Creative to a fault, his preposterously prolific output (exacerbated by ongoing gambling debts) soon earned him a legion of fans along with a pointedly ambiguous sobriquet, “The Man Who Wrote Too Much.”
A reader new to Wallace’s work could be excused for thinking the busy writer was making it up as he went along… because that’s pretty much what he did. He dictated his narratives, unedited, into a dictaphone for transcription by his secretary where they would then...
- 4/17/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
No Highway in the Sky: Lester’s Inane Exploitation of Compounded Grief
Director Elliott Lester takes a hard left into slipshod terrain with his latest feature, Aftermath, a tale of two grief-stricken fathers dealing with emotional fallout after a mid-air plane crash claims the lives of hundreds due to manual error.
Continue reading...
Director Elliott Lester takes a hard left into slipshod terrain with his latest feature, Aftermath, a tale of two grief-stricken fathers dealing with emotional fallout after a mid-air plane crash claims the lives of hundreds due to manual error.
Continue reading...
- 4/6/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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
or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
- 12/15/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Brilliant photographer whose portraits were loved by international film stars
Cornel Lucas, who has died aged 92, was the doyen of still photography in the British film industry. Although his pictures were not destined for cinema screens, his artistry and technique were much respected by his film cameramen colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic.
During the 1940s, working at Denham Studios, in Buckinghamshire, Cornel became well known for his brilliant portraiture and as the master of a huge 12in x 10in plate camera, which gave a large negative area, capable of delivering unmatched image quality. When international superstars came to work on British productions, they were invariably photographed by Cornel to create the publicity stills.
When the film No Highway in the Sky was being made in 1948, a special session was arranged with Marlene Dietrich, resulting in a series of iconic photos. The success of the Dietrich work led to...
Cornel Lucas, who has died aged 92, was the doyen of still photography in the British film industry. Although his pictures were not destined for cinema screens, his artistry and technique were much respected by his film cameramen colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic.
During the 1940s, working at Denham Studios, in Buckinghamshire, Cornel became well known for his brilliant portraiture and as the master of a huge 12in x 10in plate camera, which gave a large negative area, capable of delivering unmatched image quality. When international superstars came to work on British productions, they were invariably photographed by Cornel to create the publicity stills.
When the film No Highway in the Sky was being made in 1948, a special session was arranged with Marlene Dietrich, resulting in a series of iconic photos. The success of the Dietrich work led to...
- 11/21/2012
- by Sydney Samuelson
- The Guardian - Film News
Lee Remick, Eve Arden, James Stewart in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder James Stewart on TCM: The Stratton Story, No Highway In The Sky Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Last Gangster (1937) When a notorious gangster gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him. Dir: Edward Ludwig. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner. Bw-81 mins. 7:30 Am The Shopworn Angel (1938) A showgirl gives up life in the fast lane for a young soldier on his way to fight World War I. Dir: H. C. Potter. Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Walter Pidgeon. Bw-85 mins. 9:00 Am Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption. Dir: Frank Capra. Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains. Bw-130 mins. 11:15 Am Wife Vs. Secretary (1936) A secretary becomes so valuable to her boss that it jeopardizes his marriage.
- 8/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
James Stewart remains one of the most beloved film actors in Hollywood history. Well, at least in the United States, where Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington are considered the apex of studio-era filmmaking. Stewart's shy, naive, wholesome, aw-shucksy boy-next-door (later man-next-door) manner continues to endear him to millions whose idea of shyness, naiveté, wholesomeness, and boy-next-doorishness has nothing to do with mine. In fact, I wonder if anyone anywhere, whether in the United States or elsewhere, has ever lived next door to a "boy" who acted, sounded, romanced, and punched — lest we confuse shyness with softness — like Stewart. I'm glad I haven't. Today, Turner Classic Movies has been presenting several James Stewart movies as part of its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. Right now, TCM is showing John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), considered by many the director's best post-The Searchers effort.
- 8/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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