7 - 13 OCTOBER 2023

Members are familiar with my love of ‘the beautiful game’ and, as I write, we have just won our first game of the season. Even though I lived in Wales for four years, and it has a huge support base here in the south-west, I have never been able to extend that love to rugby. Those of you that have might like to catch Made of Steel: Wheelchair Rugby’s Fiercest Rivalry which is the latest Storyville presentation Tuesday 10 October. Finally, I must say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Glynis Johns who is 100 on 5 October. She made her film debut aged just 15, so is one of our last links to cinema’s Golden Age.
LICORICE PIZZA (2021) Sunday 8 October 10.30pm-12.35am BBC 2    P          
This engaging comedy drama received very good reviews on release. It’s about a teenager who persuades an older friend to go out with him. Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim perform very well and director Paul Thomas Anderson adds some distinctive touches. 
LAND (2021) Wednesday 11 October 9.00-10.45pm Film Four    P       
The two performances in this quiet drama are possibly even better. Robin Wright (who also directs) leaves her urban lifestyle behind, but needs the help of a woodsman and hunter (Demián Bichir) to adjust to the outdoors. The locations are superb and it is a film worthy of your time. 
DON’T LOOK NOW (1973) Thursday 12 October 10.10-12midnight BBC 4           
Based on a Daphne du Maurier story, and directed superbly by Nicholas Roeg, this remains one of the great supernatural thrillers. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie make a great pairing as the traumatised parents and the film’s texture is detailed and rich – a shame that it was the one sex scene that seemed to attract a lot of the publicity. It is followed by a Scene by Scene interview with Donald Sutherland. 
THE BATTLE OF THE RAILS (1946) Friday 13 October 6.30-8.10pm TP (Channel 82)            
Wow – René Clément’s directorial debut is shown rarely on British television. Using actual personnel, it was made to introduce audiences to the sacrifices made by railway workers and the French Resistance. The subtitled dialogue is in French and German, but Hollywood star Charles Boyer was an uncredited narrator for the international release. It will be very interesting to compare it to John Frankenheimer’s large-scale The Train (1964) which starred Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield.