WHAT’S ON FREEVIEW 18-24 April

 On we go to week 2 – thank you for your kind comments. Incidentally, I haven’t included Sony Action (Channel 40) and Sony Classics (Channel 50). The former shows the same films frequently (but there are some good ones!); in the case of the latter, not all areas receive the signal.
 
18 – 24 APRIL 2020
THE SENSE OF AN ENDING (2017) Saturday 18 April 9.15-11pm BBC 2
The freeview première for this adaptation of Julian Barnes’s Booker-winning novel. Jim Broadbent heads the cast and it is directed by Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox scored 85% 2015-2016 season).
THE CONVERSATION (1974) Saturday 18 April 11pm-12.50am BBC 2
Brilliant psychological thriller, directed by Francis Ford Coppola; Gene Hackman is a surveillance expert who thinks that a young couple is about to be murdered. Harrison Ford has a small role.
THE SOUND BARRIER (1952) Saturday 18 April 12.50-3.10pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
As in ‘the breaking of’ . . . this has a very good performance from Ralph Richardson, but is not as familiar to most people as David Lean’s great epics.
THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965) Saturday 18 April 8.45-11.00pm Channel 81
Richard Burton is in great form as a jaded Cold War spy; adapted from John le Carré’s novel.
COWBOY (1958) Sunday 19 April 5.10-7.05pm Paramount (Channel 31)
Enjoyable western that stars Glenn Ford as the trail boss and Jack Lemmon as the tenderfoot who joins the drive. Followed by the all-time classic HIGH NOON (1952). DOUBLE BILL OF THE WEEK!
THE COURT JESTER (1956) Sunday 19 April 12.35-2.40pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Danny Kaye’s finest hour is a brilliant comedy. And don’t forget: the pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle.
NEXT OF KIN (1942) Monday 20 April 8.50-11am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This is a very good wartime propaganda drama in which Mervyn Johns is a Nazi infiltrator looking to take advantage of any careless talk.
TREMORS (1990) Tuesday 21 April 9.00-10.55pm Channel 70
This was the best creature feature seen in years. It has a great use of locations, good pacing, acting and effects, as giant worms menace a small desert town. The Radio Times 5 star rating is justified!
THE ROAD (2009) Tuesday 21 April 9.00-11.15pm Channel 32
Absorbing, very effective (but very bleak), adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel.
 
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955) Wednesday 22 April 3.00-4.50pm Film Four
It’s time to wallow in a lush Technicolor romance between a widow (Jane Wyman) and her gardener (Rock Hudson). We showed the update, Far from Heaven, in 2003 (73%).
HEAVEN KNOWS, MR ALLISON (1957) Thursday 23 April 11.00am-1.15pm Film Four
John Huston’s superb two-hander, starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr as a marine and a nun who are trapped on a Japanese-held island.
CABARET (1972) Thursday 23 April 10.pm-12.30am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Well known for sure, but it is just so good! What makes the film such a rewarding watch is that its historical detail is just as impressive as the acting and the songs. 
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964) Friday 24 April 11.00am-1.15pm Film Four
Stop sniggering – you’re confusing this film with the same year’s Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! It is a very clever reworking of a classic novel – and rather good. SLEEPER OF THE WEEK
GET OUT (2017) Friday 24 April 9.00-1105pm Film Four
Suburban satire, racial drama, thriller, horror film – take your pick, or conclude that it is all of them. One of the biggest hits (critically and commercially) of its year.
FINALLY this week, it’s worth checking out BBC i player from time to time. Currently, for example, there is Ghost Stories, a very nice resurrection of the classic portmanteau horror films of the early 1970s such as The House That Dripped Blood and Tales From the Crypt. This one stars Martin Freeman.