25 NOV – 1 DECEMBER 2023

At last – we have a film worthy of the name coming to the Radway! Following on from two preview shows, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon started what is likely to be a two-week run on Friday 24 November. This isn’t the first big-screen incarnation, of course. Abel Gance’s 5-hour masterpiece was released in 1927 and there had been two versions (much shorter!) as early as 1909.  Gance remade his own film in 1971; one year after Rod Steiger had played the emperor in Waterloo. The 1955 Napoleon consisted of a series of light-hearted vignettes (with a 3-hour running time) that had two actors playing him (Daniel Gélin and Raymond Pellegrin). And we mustn’t forget Marlon Brando’s slightly bored interpretation in Désirée (1954). There have also been several TV mini-series – you might remember that Ian Holm was very good in Napoleon and Love (1974). 
Trivia footnote: Napoleon Whiting played Silas the butler in 35 episodes of The Big Valley in the 1960s. 
3 FACES (2018) Saturday 25 November 10.40pm-12.20am BBC 4    P             
Starting a little later than normal, whilst BBC 4 concludes the rather good Australian 4-parter Scrublands, tonight’s subtitled offering is from Iran. A girl who is being frustrated in her efforts to become an actress contacts a director (played by this film’s director Jafar Panahi), who then travels to her village to meet her. Reality meets film meets art!
REAP THE WILD WIND (1942) Wednesday 29 November 12.45-3.10pm Legend (Ch 41)       
This seafaring adventure showcases to a T the best and worst of Cecil B. DeMille. It has a strong cast (Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston and Susan Hayward), bright Technicolor and some special effects that still impress. It also has risible dialogue (“I’ll bring you a rainbow fish for breakfast”) and a simplistic, Sunday school view of events. In terms of having queues at the box office, DeMille was the Spielberg of his day but, as a director, he wasn’t in the same league. 
JUST MERCY (2019) Wednesday 29 November 10.40pm-12.50am BBC 1    P            
Just Mercy boasts some fine actors (Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx) and, whilst the story is familiar (Jordan is a lawyer trying to save an innocent man on death row), it is well structured and holds the attention. In short, whilst not a classic, it is a good watch!  
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) Thursday 30 November 8.15-10.00pm BBC 4       
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943) 11.00pm-1.35am BBC 4
There are two bona fide classics this evening, however. Double Indemnity is just about the best film noir ever made – Barbara Stanwyck, in particular, gives a stunning performance. Colonel Blimp, filmed vividly in colour, is one of Powell and Pressburger’s finest films. Roger Livesey is wonderful and Deborah Kerr, who plays three roles, would soon be off to Hollywood on the strength of her work in this and Black Narcissus.