Welcome to a new week. For a little while now, the quiet days have been Mondays and Tuesdays and, on occasion, a Wednesday. I suppose it shouldn’t be too surprising that there is a mid-week lull and, usually, I will find something to avoid a blank day with only a marginal relaxation of standards! Having said that, tastes vary, moods change and, from the outset, a key element has been to highlight modest films that wouldn’t normally draw your attention.

EASTER PARADE (1948) Saturday 14 November 3.15-4.55pm BBC 2
Also showing Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes). 
JOURNEY’S END (2017) Saturday 14 November 9.00-10.40pm BBC 2    P
First filmed by James Whale in 1930, RC Sheriff’s renowned play of an officer’s life in the trenches still resonates. Sam Claflin takes on the role originally played by Colin Clive.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) Sunday 15 November 12.10-2.15am BBC 2
We did pretty well with the Denzel Washington remake (2005-06 season, 71%), but the original is even better. Laurence Harvey is the brainwashed Korean War veteran, Frank Sinatra his superior officer and Angela Lansbury his not-so-sweet mother.
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1960) Sunday 15 November 12.10-2.00pm Ch 55    
Karel Reisz (The French Lieutenant’s Woman) directs one of the best of the British New Wave films; Albert Finney is the factory worker, Shirley Anne Field his girlfriend and Rachel Roberts the married woman he seduces. They are all superb (as is Hylda Baker in a telling supporting role).
DOCTOR AT SEA (1955) Sunday 15 November 6.00-8.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Dirk Bogarde wasn’t especially fond of his matinee idol years, but he was very good as Dr Simon Sparrow and the Doctor series was ever so popular. The bonus here is Brigitte Bardot just before she became a worldwide sensation. The film was at the Regent for an entire week from Monday October 3rd 1955 (“a wonderful entertainment” - the Sunday Chronicle) with The Great Adventure in support. 
TWO THOUSAND WOMEN (1944) Monday 16 November 3.05-4.55pm Film Four
In essence it’s a propaganda piece, but the writing and cast (including Phyllis Calvert and Flora Robson) lift it a notch or two. The imprisoned women try and help three RAF airmen to escape. 
SHOPLIFTERS (2018) Monday 16 November 11.10pm-1.30am Film Four
If you missed it with us last season (reaction: 79%), now is your chance to see why this unusual family created such a stir amongst the critics. 
THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947) Tuesday 17 November 7.20-8.45am Channel 41
Critical opinion is divided on Jean Renoir’s last Hollywood venture: poor concept and dialogue or a clever film noir where the triangle consists of femme fatale, blind husband and a coastguard suffering from PTS. 
GOODBYE, COLUMBUS (1969) Tuesday 17 November 10.pm-12.05am Talking Pictures (Ch 81)
This adaptation of Philip Roth’s comic novel (set in a 1950’s Jewish community in New York) introduced two engaging new stars in Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin. It had a post-The Graduate smartness and sexual openness that was still new in Hollywood pictures.  
HAPPY AS LAZZARO (2018) Wednesday 18 November 2.05-4.15am Channel 4    
Here we have an entertaining fantasy drama centred on a naive young Italian peasant with a good heart. It was a near miss for us, so you might like to give it a whirl.
SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL (2009) Wednesday 18 November 10.00-11.50pm BBC 4
Let’s dust off the rhythm sticks and complete a different kind of Wednesday with this biopic of Ian Dury. Andy Serkis is perfectly cast as the punk pioneer. 
THE DAY WILL DAWN (1942) Thursday 19 November 2.25-4.25pm Film Four
An interesting contemporary-to-events companion to The 12th Man: a journalist (Hugh Williams) works with the Norwegian Resistance (Deborah Kerr) to destroy a U-boat base. It’s effective, and moving at times, but don’t expect the nail-biting tension of last season!
EASTER PARADE (1948) Thursday 19 November 8.00-9.40pm BBC 4 
Film Club brings us another classic musical: a dancer (Fred Astaire) loses his regular partner (Ann Miller) so decides to make a chorus girl into a new star – who just happens to be Judy Garland. The songs are by Irving Berlin and the score won an Oscar. Originally, Gene Kelly was slated to play the lead; he broke an ankle and the rest, as they say, is history. 
THE MILLION POUND NOTE (1954) Friday 20 November 12.50-2.40pm Film Four
As part of a wager between two gamblers, Gregory Peck is given the note, but must avoid spending it for one month. Edwardian London is welcoming and it is particularly well-scripted by Jill Craigie, documentary film-maker and wife of Michael Foot. I can remember, vaguely, Stuart Damon doing a TVM version, although the records show that this was a 4-part BBC serial in 1968.
THE ARRIVAL (1996) Friday 20 November 9.00-11.15pm Channel 68  
This sci-fi thriller is really a B-movie with top-dressing in the form of some decent effects, but it’s not half-bad. Charlie Sheen is the astronomer who stumbles across an alien plot to change the world’s climate. The truth will out eventually, I suppose . . . .
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
RANDOM GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS
All the main distributors release films to DVD and Blu-ray. You might need to check that they will play on your machine (i.e. are Region 2 or Region B, as Region 1 or Region A – US and Canada – might not work in the UK). And remember, a DVD will play on both a DVD player and a Blu-ray player, but a Blu-ray disc won’t be read by a DVD player! There are some very good specialist labels: the BFI (who also have an online shop), Criterion, Eureka/Masters of Cinema and Vintage World Cinema to name just a few. Studio Canal and Renown put out lots of British classics and minor or ‘lost’ films. All of these labels almost always do restored new transfers from the best available materials often with really good extras. The only downside is that they tend to hold their price, but you might find a special offer or two. The bargain labels are useful if you want to catch a Gene Autry western (like me) or an obscure film that is in the public domain, but the transfers are usually of poor picture quality (print defects intact) and without extras. 
Here is a selection of films that have been reviewed in 2020, in quality magazines such as Sight & Sound, and that reflect, I hope, what we have been highlighting in the weekly listings (or random memories). Mostly, the focus is on the Blu-ray release; it is highly likely that they are also on DVD, but the DVD would not include the same range of extras. 
BLACK ANGEL (1946) ARROW BLU-RAY
This film noir from Universal is a real treasure: rare, top-notch cast and a director (Roy William Neill) who’d been sharpening his skills on the studio’s Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone. 
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a commentary that, apparently, is ‘to die for’!
CLOAK AND DAGGER (1946) MASTERS OF CINEMA BLU-RAY
We highlighted this Fritz Lang/Gary Cooper thriller in our listings. It’s a very good transfer.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: adaptations done for American radio networks.
CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1990) BFI BLU-RAY
Gérard Depardieu is superb in one of our early hits (1991-92 season, reaction: 91%). This is a top-of-the range 4K transfer.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a commentary track and interviews.
DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940) CRITERION BLU-RAY
On the surface, this is a RKO programmer with Maureen O’Hara and Lucille Ball both on fine form. However, think back to when we listed Beware, My Lovely starring Ida Lupino (also distributed by RKO) when I bemoaned the lack of women directors in Hollywood. Well, Dorothy Arzner directed this one and there is a welcome feminist tract at its heart.
A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE (1971) MASTERS OF CINEMA BLU-RAY
This was Sergio Leone’s final western with Rod Steiger and James Coburn.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: (of course) a commentary by spaghetti western expert Sir Christopher Frayling.
THE HALFWAY HOUSE (1944) STUDIO CANAL BLU-RAY
Here is a very unusual fantasy/wartime drama with Devon and Somerset passing for Wales!
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a commentary by British cinema expert Matthew Sweet.
HIROSHIMA (1953) ARROW BLU-RAY
A rare Japanese feature that became possible only after the American occupation had ended.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a 2011 documentary.
PICKUP ALLEY (1957) ARROW BLU-RAY
An ultra-rare British narcotics thriller made by Warwick Films with Victor Mature and Trevor Howard. John Gilling, who did some good work at Hammer, directs.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a video essay.
RAGTIME (1946) ARTE BLU-RAY & DVD
James Cagney’s last cinema release, directed by Milos Forman, is a very special treat: Arte is a French company, so the booklet and interviews are in French or have French subtitles. Alors, si tu veux essayer le français . . . . 
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a booklet and interviews. 
RAINING IN THE MOUNTAIN (1979) MASTERS OF CINEMA BLU-RAY & DVD
Restored by the Taiwan Film Institute, this is a comedy/adventure set in a Buddhist monastery. Reminder:  I must try and find my copy of Dragon Inn (1967) during lockdown.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a commentary and booklet.
SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971) BFI BLU-RAY
Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch are two sides of a bisexual love triangle.
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a commentary and a 1981 blood donor appeal by Ms Jackson and Ernie Wise!! 
TOTO LE HERO (1991) ARROW BLU-RAY
In the early 1990s, this was a popular option on the film society circuit, but we chose not to book it in Lyme. It is inventive, funny and worth catching up with now.  
EXTRAS INCLUDE: an essay booklet
TRAPPED (1949) FLICKER ALLEY REGION FREE BLU-RAY & DVD
I thought this was a cracking little thriller even on my poor ‘three forgotten films on one disc’ copy, so this sparkling new edition should be great! Made by the short-lived Eagle-Lion studio and coming in at a lean 78 minutes, Lloyd Bridges plays a counterfeiter used by Treasury agents to catch a bigger fish. Director Richard Fleischer is often underrated – he made, in my estimation, some 20 films that are well worth your time. 
EXTRAS INCLUDE: a booklet and two documentaries.

Periodically, some of the channel numbers change and this happened again Wednesday 4 November. It shouldn’t be a problem, as a message usually comes on screen asking you to retune your television. Less than 24 hours after Talking Pictures TV showed Hell Drivers, media outlets were posting the news that Sir Sean Connery had passed away after a long illness – another sad loss for film fans.

PATHS OF GLORY (1957) Saturday 7 November 1.00-2.25am BBC 2
1916. Following a failed attempt to capture a German position known as “the Ant Hill”, three French soldiers are selected to be tried for cowardice – pour encourager les autres and to absolve the generals of any malfeasance. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) defends them to the best of his ability at their court-martial, but a verdict of ‘not guilty’ isn’t part of the plan. This was only Stanley Kubrick’s third feature, but his mastery of mood, camera and the highly-contrasted settings of chateau and trenches is astonishing. Such was the impact of its anti-military stance it was banned from US bases, by France until 1974, and was withdrawn from the Berlin Film Festival. 
ON THE TOWN (1949) Saturday 7 November 2.40-4.15pm BBC 2
Also showing Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes). 
PERFECT 10 (2020) Saturday 7 November 10.00-11.20pm BBC 2    P
The BBC premières continue with a quite impressive directorial debut from Eva Riley. Leigh (Frankie Box) is a teenage gymnast, struggling with bereavement, who finds some dubious support from an unknown half-brother.  
I WAS MONTY’S DOUBLE (1958) Sunday 8 November 2.50-4.30pm BBC 2
Based on true events, this is the very watchable story of a minor actor, ME Clifton James, who bore a remarkable resemblance to General Montgomery, and whose impersonation of him helped conceal Allied war plans from the Germans. 
THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD (2018) Sunday 8 November 10.45pm-12.20am BBC 2    
If you missed it in the cinema two years ago, do watch it. Director Peter Jackson colourised, with painstaking care, footage from the First World War. It is fresh, vibrant, very moving and a remarkable tribute to the Fallen. 
EL DORADO (1966) Monday 9 November 11.00am-1.45pm Film Four
Howard Hawks reworked Rio Bravo – this time with Robert Mitchum (as the drunken deputy) and James Caan co-starring with John Wayne. It isn’t quite as good, but to borrow the Duke’s phrase from Rio Bravo, you “wouldn’t want to live on the difference”. 
THE LAST STAND (2013) Monday 9 November 9.00-11.10pm Film Four
Film four is running an Arnold Schwarzenegger season this week; here’s he’s the sheriff of a small town that modernisation has passed by who battles a drugs cartel. It’s predictable in the extreme, but quite well done – and there’s not a lot on this evening! 
RETREAT, HELL! (1952) Tuesday 10 November 3.00-4.50pm Film Four
I wrote about cult director Joseph H Lewis a while back; his assignment here is a chronicle of the Marine withdrawal from Changjiin Reservoir during the Korean War. It’s a decent example of what he could do on a low budget. Frank Lovejoy is, as usual, a competent lead and there is a role for a young Russ Tamblyn, here billed as Rusty. 
THE COCKLESHELL HEROES (1955) Tuesday 10 November 5.05-7.10pm Channel 41
José Ferrer directs and stars as Major Geoffrey Stringer who led British Marines on a daring raid of the Bordeaux docks. There’s a nice balance between the training and the raid itself and lots of familiar faces – rather like having some old friends round to reminiscence over tea. 
THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES (1936) Wednesday 11 November 11.35am-1.20pm Ch 41    
One of two gentle films today – here, Roland Young tries to use his powers to create a better and more peaceful society. Despite the then topicality of the government’s appeasement policy, it underperformed compared to other Alexander Korda productions. Nevertheless, all his films are worth seeking out and this is a rare opportunity – it must be at least 30 years since I last saw this one. Perhaps George Fotheringay has worked one last miracle! 
HAND IN HAND (1960) Wednesday 11 November 6.55-8.30pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This is Philip Leacock’s lovely little film that I referenced a while ago. Two children, a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy, become friends and through them we learn about tolerance and acceptance. Recommended by Eleanor Roosevelt, remember! 
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) Thursday 12 November 11.30am-1.15pm Channel 41
The crime drama that made the careers of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. He’s a hitman seeking revenge and she’s the obligatory chanteuse (and promoter of the peek-a-boo hairstyle). It was adapted from Graham Greene’s A Gun for Sale. 
ON THE TOWN (1949) Thursday 12 November 8.00-9.35pm BBC 4 
Another of the great Hollywood musicals has three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) on a 24-hour pass in New York. The songs (including “New York, New York”) are wonderful, the dancing (the three are joined by Ann Miller AND Vera-Allen) is energetic, but the real key to its success, is that they left the MGM backlot and filmed in the city itself. 
BLANCHE FURY (1948) Friday 13 November 12.40-2.30pm Film Four
Fury was one of the last of the ripping-yarn melodramas so popular in the 1940s and by now filmed in colour. Stewart Granger is the estate manager and there is a governess (of course), entitlement issues and censor-permitted passion. 
A SIMPLE FAILURE (2018) Friday 13 November 10.45pm-12.35am BBC 1   P
Single mother Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) becomes friends with PR director Emily (Blake Lively) and investigates when she disappears. So there is some crime, some mystery and some comedy; it doesn’t work all the time, but it’s diverting enough and good to watch some of the new generation of talent.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
DAYS OF THE WEEK
In October, I went through a year’s calendar to see if I could come up with enough films (and names) linked to each month. John Marriage suggested I do the same with days of the week, so here goes:

1. You might not remember it, but we showed a film called Mondays in the Sun in our 2005-06 season (154 slips returned, reaction 66%). Stormy Monday (1987) was a film noir set in Newcastle with Sean Bean and Sting; it marked the full debut of Mike Figgis as a director. 
2. Tuesday Weld was quite a popular actress in the 1960s and 1970s. If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) starred Suzanne Pleshette; their careers shared similar trajectories. 
3. The surfing drama Big Wednesday (1978) attracted a reasonable audience and it gave William Katt the opportunity to work with his real-life mum, Barbara Hale (Della Street in the Perry Mason TV series). Wednesday Morning was the working title for Cahill United States Marshal (1973). Jackie Coogan had a supporting role in it; he is better known as Uncle Fester in the TV series The Addams Family. Gomez’s daughter in the series was called Wednesday and she was played by Lisa Loring. 
4. Lt. Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) was the martinet who came to take command of Fort Apache (1948) and his daughter Philadelphia came with him; she was played by Shirley Temple. In the film, she falls in love with Second Lt. Michael O’Rourke (John Agar). An easy piece of acting, we might think, as they were married for real at the time, but as they divorced in 1949, who knows? Do you remember the British TV series Mrs Thursday (1966) starring Kathleen Harrison (1892-1995)? 
5. The horror film Friday the 13th (1980) was successful enough to warrant seven sequels although I find the 1933 film Friday the 13th more interesting. His Girl Friday (1940) is one of the great comedies. Man Friday (1975) attempted to redress the balance and take the spotlight off Mr Crusoe. Sgt Joe Friday (“we just want the facts, ma’am”) was the main character in the TV series Dragnet and was played by Jack Webb. It was such a hit there was a feature film in 1954 and a comeback series in the late 1960s. The original still holds up.
6. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) is a brilliant film that catapulted Albert Finney to the top of his profession. Violent Saturday (1955) is a tight little thriller about a bank hold up with Victor Mature and Stephen McNally. When Saturday Comes (1995) gave Sean Bean an opportunity to indulge his love of football.
7. Sunday in the Country (1984) won Bertrand Tavernier Best Director at Cannes; in 1960, Never on Sunday had won Melina Mercouri Best Actress. Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944) is self-explanatory and was something that wartime audiences warmed to. Black Sunday (1977) had terrorists plotting to blow up the Super Bowl and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) had Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch acting up a storm.

Small comfort in these trying times, perhaps, but one positive has been the greater number of films new to Freeview that are being shown more regularly. There are nine premières this week (four on the BBC and five on other channels). I have included four of them in the list below (marked P). Hopefully, it isn’t only because savings have been made in other areas (a number of major sporting events having been postponed) and more will be shown in the coming weeks. Many of them are ‘small’ films that would have had a very limited release, so it is pleasing to see them reach – potentially – a wider audience more quickly. 
AN APOLOGY: In the notes for Beware, My Lovely last week I should have written Ida Lupino ‘merely’ co-stars, not ‘also’ co-stars. (The director was Harry Horner and this was probably the best of the few films he directed.) I am also having a recurring nightmare that “old men should stop wars” should have been attributed to Nathan Brittles, not Pony-That-Walks, the week before. I shall check this and let you know!

GREEN FINGERS (1947) Saturday 31 October 12.40-2.15pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Not many dramas feature an osteopath as the hero – especially one that used to be a fisherman! Robert Beatty does well and locations include Whitby and Scarborough if you have holidayed there.
THE BAND WAGON (1953) Saturday 31 October 2.30-4.15pm BBC 2
Also showing Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes). 
MAKE UP (2019) Saturday 31 October 9.45-11.10pm BBC 2    P
We’re off to the seaside again (St Ives, this time) in the company of Ruth who is meeting her boyfriend, prior to starting a new job in an off-season caravan park . . . . 
OUR LITTLE SISTER (2015) Sunday 1 November 1.00-3.00am BBC 2
It’s a shame subtitled films are often relegated to ungodly hours. This is an earlier award-winner from the director of Shoplifters in which, at their father’s funeral, three sisters discover they have a half sister. 
NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959) Sunday 1 November 3.25-5.05pm Channel 31
This is a modest western, directed by Jack Arnold, with an unusual twist. Audie Murphy, in one of his best performances, is the gun-for-hire who rides into town. He’s been hired to kill someone – but no-one knows who has been targeted. Two more Audie Murphy films follow.
FEAR STRIKES OUT (1957) Sunday 1 November 10.00pm-12.05am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)   
The film tells the story of baseball player Jim Piersall who struggled against mental illness. Forget the baseball – it’s a superb character study of a sensitive son and a domineering father. Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden are exceptional and it’s hats off again to Talking Pictures TV. 
HAPPY END (2017) Sunday 1 November 10.20pm-12.05am BBC 4    P
Michael Haneke (Hidden, 2006-07 season, 65% and those chickens) is the director, so we know that it will be a different kind of French drama and that the crises that beset a well-to-do family will not be the usual ones. 
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947) Monday 2 November 9.35-11.20am Channel 40
Anything involving Orson Welles was always an event; here he directs and co-stars with Rita Hayworth as two sides of a romantic triangle. It’s very stylish; just don’t expect simple plotting! The climactic scene in the hall of mirrors has become a cinema legend. The yacht you see actually belonged to Errol Flynn and he was on board but unseen.
THE CHILDREN ACT (2017) Monday 2 November 9.00-10.45pm BBC 2    P
Not without its dramatic flaws, but you’ll find it a rewarding watch nevertheless. Emma Thompson is the judge asked to deliver a verdict in a case where a teenager, who is also a Jehovah’s Witness, has refused a blood transfusion. 
THE DETECTIVE (1954) Tuesday 3 November 9.35- 11.20am Channel 40
Don’t be fooled – I reckon this is the American print and title of Father Brown. As well as Alec Guinness in the title role, Peter Finch is excellent as the villain, Flambeau, and you can compare notes with the BBC series that is proving to be very popular. 
MUTINY (1952) Tuesday 3 November 4.20-6.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Do you remember the scene in Trumbo, where the screenwriter’s only way to get a job was with the bargain-basement King Brothers? Well, here’s one of their films, set during the War of 1812. It’s not ever so good, but does have Angela Lansbury and direction by Edward Dmytryk.
MY PURE LAND (2017) Wednesday 4 November 2.10-3.50am Channel 4    P
This was interesting enough to catch my eye a couple of years ago, but it got away from us. It’s a sort of Urdu western, where a young woman has to defend the family farm. 
NOTES ON BLINDNESS (2016) Wednesday 4 November 11.30pm-12.50am BBC 4
After John Hull, a professor of religion, went blind in 1980, he began to record on tape his thoughts and feelings. It makes for an absorbing documentary that is highly regarded. 
BUILD MY GALLOWS HIGH (1947) Thursday 5 November 9.10-11.05am Channel 41
Gallows sits comfortably in the Top Five film noir. All the ingredients are here: a corkscrew plot, a cynical private eye (Robert Mitchum), a gangster (Kirk Douglas) and his mistress/femme fatale (Jane Greer) who seduces . . . well, you know the routine. The US title was Out of the Past. 
THE BAND WAGON (1953) Thursday 5 November 8.00-10.00pm BBC 4 
If asked to name the greatest Hollywood musical, most of us would start with Top Hat, Singin’ in the Rain or Gigi (the winner of 9 Oscars in 1958). However, aficionados would say that The Band Wagon is up there with the best. The plot is thin (a dancer is attempting a comeback), but Fred Astaire partners Cyd Charisse, Vincent Minnelli directs and the legendary Michael Kidd works with Oliver Smith on the choreography. It is also wittily scripted and looks sumptuous; all-in-all, then, it is another jewel in the MGM crown. 
HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS (1960) Friday 6 November 5.55-8.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
I can’t remember when this was last on. Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn (reteaming after The Black Orchid) play the manager and leading lady of a theatrical troupe out west. Director George Cukor wanted a romantic comedy with vivid characterisations and, by and large, he succeeded.
THE HOMESMAN (2014) Friday 6 November 11.30pm-1.25am BBC 1
Certainly not a romantic comedy – Tommy Lee Jones writes, directs and stars as a tough westerner accompanying Hilary Swank and three other women across the plains to Iowa. With 77%, it was appreciated by members more than Birdman in our 2015-16 season. 
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
SOME FILM GIMMICKS
When writing last week’s notes, I was reminded of the film industry’s occasional penchant for luring patrons by ‘enhancing’ our cinema-going experience. The biggest gimmick is, of course, 3D – first in the 1950s, then with a brief resurgence in the 1980s and then, most successfully, with the advent of digital projection about 10 years ago. (Two projectors are no longer a requirement with the process so there are fewer problems.) In the mid-1970s, first with Earthquake and then with Rollercoaster, Universal treated us to Sensurround: vibrations that were felt by the audience. In the previous decade, Michael Todd Jnr tried “Smell-o-vision” but it only lasted for one film (Scent of Mystery, in 1960) and Chamber of Horrors (1966) had both a “Horror Horn” and a “Fear Flasher”. I recall also that our very own Regent made a judicious use of extra speakers at the back of the auditorium, when showing The Silence of the Lambs!
Undoubtedly though, as you are now aware if you watched 13 Ghosts last Sunday, the King of the Gimmicks was William Castle (1914-1977). Emergo made use of a 12-foot plastic skeleton suspended above the audience; for Macabre (1958) he insured audiences with Lloyds in case they died of fright; for The Tingler (1959) he had selected seats wired to deliver a mild electric shock! 

From time to time, I do ponder over why a particular film seems not to have that sprinkling of magic dust. A case in point would be The Black Orchid (1959) shown last Sunday by Talking Pictures TV. It’s not a bad film, but despite having Sophia Loren (who won Best Actress at Venice for her work here), Anthony Quinn (always interesting), Ina Balin and direction from Martin Ritt (Hud, 1963), it just doesn’t work to the level you would hope for. In this instance, the script is weak, the music sometimes very odd (more suited to a science-fiction film) and the Little Italy/tenement milieu isn’t entirely convincing. Do I regret watching it? Absolutely not: on balance, there were enough pleasures to be had including a nice ending that tied up all the loose ends. 

A STAR IS BORN (1954) Saturday 24 October 1.10-4.00pm BBC 2
Also Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes) and followed today by a Talking Pictures on musicals.
UNEASY TERMS (1948) Saturday 24 October 7.50-9.40pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Here’s another of those not-in-the-film guides, courtesy of TP. Michael Rennie is a private detective (quite unusual in British films) trying to solve the murder of Colonel Stenhurst in his country home. 
APOSTASY (2017) Saturday 24 October 10.00-11.30pm BBC 2 
The BBC’s Film of the Week. I wouldn’t go that far myself – except to draw attention to a worthy, low-key British project, which it is. It takes us into the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Oldham and the family problems that ensue when one daughter becomes pregnant. We thought it was a little too ‘one note’ - dour even – for us to programme, but, to be fair, most reviews were very positive and so it is an excellent opportunity to see for yourselves. 
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014) Sunday 25 October 12.30-1.55am BST BBC 2
This is a great way to celebrate Halloween! You are, perhaps, familiar with the subsequent TV series: a family of Kiwi vampires argue about domestic chores, whilst sucking the blood from the occasional virgin. It strikes a lovely balance between the hip, the hysterical and respect for genre conventions.
13 GHOSTS (1959) Sunday 25 October 6.55-8.30pm Channel 70
Without the benefit of schlock producer-director William Castle’s “Illusion-O”, we cannot guarantee how many ghosts will be visible! Never mind, this story of a nice American family that is bequeathed a haunted house (with treasure) should still be entertaining enough.  
LOVING (2016) Sunday 25 October 10.00pm-11.55pm BBC 2  
Loving is based on the true story of a Virginia construction worker whose girlfriend becomes pregnant. In 1958, this would be problem enough, but his girlfriend is also black. Joel Edgerton has built quite a CV since Animal Kingdom (2011-12 season, 72%) and Ruth Negga is equally moving. 
LAW AND DISORDER (1958) Monday 26 October 4.25-6.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This comedy is minor fare compared to the same director and writer’s The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), but it’s worth taking time out (with cake of course). Michael Redgrave is very good as the petty crook trying to explain away his life of crime. 
A QUIET PLACE (2018) Monday 26 October 9.00-10.45pm Film Four
I was keen to book it two seasons ago, but we were still smarting after the failure of The Babadook! To stalk their human prey, alien invaders are totally reliant on sound. It is imaginative, really well-acted and, at times, almost unbearably tense.
HONDO (1953) Tuesday 27 October 12.50-2.30pm Film Four
“There never was a man like Hondo!” screamed the publicity. John Wayne is the cavalry scout looking to protect an Oscar-nominated Geraldine Page (her deglamourised ‘heroine’ was very unusual in a 1950s Hollywood western) and her son. Originally filmed in 3D, so feel free to duck! 
THE GREAT GATSBY (1974) Tuesday 27 October 10.00pm-12.50am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
All the major versions (1949, 1974, 2013) are pretty much on a par – interesting, good period detail, charismatic leads (here it’s Robert Redford and Mia Farrow), but not outstanding. The one to see would be the 1926 original, but, alas, only the trailer survives.
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (1965) Wednesday 28 October 4.25-7.15pm Channel 40
An aeroplane crashes in the desert after going off course; the only possible escape is for the survivors to build another one from the wreckage. James Stewart heads an excellent cast and, as an ex-member of the Army Air Corps, must have relished the opportunity to be on board!
BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952) Wednesday 28 October 10.00-11.35pm TP (Channel 81)
We all knew how few women directors there used to be (and still are), but Ida Lupino flew the flag more than capably. Here, she also co-stars with the always impressive Robert Ryan. It’s not unusual to hire a handyman before Christmas; unfortunately, this one is psychotic.... 
COVER GIRL (1944) Thursday 29 October 9.05-11.15am Channel 40
Columbia couldn’t quite match MGM’s finest but this musical is still top-notch: a Jerome Kern score, Rita Hayworth providing the glamour and Phil Silvers the comedy, and Gene Kelly given free rein to create some innovative, brilliant dance sequences. 
A STAR IS BORN (1954) Thursday 29 October 8.00-10.45pm BBC 4 
Each generation seems to have its own A Star is Born that is embraced lovingly by the public. I’m quite fond of the Barbara Streisand/Kris Kristofferson edition (1976), am on record as saying that Lady Gaga’s is overrated and would side with film critic Andrew Collins in saying that the 1937 film is my favourite, if not quite the best. (Although Frederic March is the best Norman Maine and there is some scintillating dialogue, in part courtesy of Dorothy Parker.) There is absolutely no doubt, however, that the 1954 version is the one that enjoys mythical status. This is down to director George Cukor coaxing one last great performance from one of the cultural icons of the 20th century, namely Judy Garland. (Here performing ‘The Man That Got Away’, ‘Born in a Trunk’ and investing so much of her real self.) James Mason had excellent reviews too – “easily the finest performance of his career” said the Daily Telegraph – but Miss Garland owns the entire film. The Oscar, though, went to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl – a travesty best summed up by Groucho Marx, who declared it to be “the biggest robbery since Brink’s”. Incidentally, no-one talks about – and few have probably seen – the very first version What Price Hollywood? which was also directed by George Cukor. 
HELL DRIVERS (1957) Friday 30 October 5.50-8.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
In essence, a British riff on The Wages of Fear (1953): haulage drivers work at dangerous speeds for an unscrupulous manager (William Hartnell). With Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan as Red, the ruthless ‘king of the yard’, Herbert Lom and Sean Connery, it is electrifying. The director, Cy Endfield, and Stanley Baker later went on to make Zulu (1963). 
TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016) Friday 30 October 11.20pm-1.40am Film Four 
Let’s conclude the week with this outrageous, tremendously gripping South Korean horror film. Escaping from zombies in a park is tricky enough, but on a train....
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
It has just been announced that Gal Gadot - the Israeli actor who played the title role in the hugely successful Wonder Woman (2017) -  has signed up to make a new film about Cleopatra. (Paramount Studios has won the bidding rights.) This will be the latest of several versions over the years. The most famous is the 1963 epic (and, at 243 minutes, it remains the longest) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The view has long been held that it almost led to the demise of 20th Century-Fox. With US rentals of $26 million, it topped the box office charts; the problem was it had cost $44 million. Thankfully for the studio, The Longest Day was doing splendidly and was to have a worldwide gross of $100 million. Some of the Cleopatra sets were put to further use – cannily – for Carry on Cleo, one of the best of the series. (Who can forget the line: “Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!”?) Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra (1934) has a good performance from Claudette Colbert, but Warren William (later The Lone Wolf) makes a poor Julius Caesar. Vivien Leigh was the star of Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), but it didn’t do justice to George Bernard Shaw’s play and, as a rule, is only praised for its use of Technicolor. It does pop up on Talking Pictures TV if you want to catch it. Also not a classic was Cleopatra’s Daughter (1961) with Debra Paget, one of many sword-and-sandal epics being made in Italy at that time. The rarest Cleopatra dates from 1917 and was played by legendary vamp – and probably the first manufactured star – Theda Bara. This is now a lost film (a few minutes survive) and would be a tremendous find. Happily, the 1912 Cleopatra with Helen Gardner (who also produced) is still extant. 

I was pleased to include Sky Arts in the listing last week, for the first time. It is also a good place to go to for programmes on actors and directors. Based on those I have seen so far, you don’t learn a great deal beyond the superficial, but the ‘talking heads’ are knowledgeable and many actors are covered. The BBC’s Reggie Yates in Hollywood documentary was both timely and very good – wherever he goes in the world, the results are invariably impressive, if rarely film related. The BBC’s Talking Pictures series, made up of archive interviews sometimes going back 60 years and narrated by Sylvia Syms, can also be illuminating – but don’t take everything you hear as gospel!

SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS (1947) Saturday 17 October 1.55-3.30pm TP (Channel 81)
Well, bless my soul – it’s Roy Rogers and Trigger (but no Dale Evans, here replaced by Jane Frazee)! The plot is slim – a dastardly gang is killing game out of season – but there are several points of interest. The main villain is a woman (refreshingly, not completely unknown in B-westerns of this period) and action specialist William Witney, handed the director’s chores to toughen up Roy’s image, gives the enterprise some vigour. (Also showing Tuesday 7.55am.) 
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM (1976) Saturday 17 October 8.00-10.10pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Director Franklin J. Schaffner and star George C. Scott (both from Patton, 1970) reteamed to film Hemingway’s posthumous novel about a grizzled sculptor/fisherman in the Bahamas. It flags in the final third, but Scott is excellent and this is a rare showing. 
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) Sunday 18 October 12.10-1.55am BBC 2
Winner of five Oscars, this superb drama about a white sheriff and a black detective working a case in the Deep South remains highly relevant. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are magnificent; I should imagine the scene in which Poitier slaps a white patriarch stunned audiences – where it was shown.
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949) Sunday 18 October 2.35-4.15pm BBC 2
Also Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes) and followed today by a Talking Pictures special.
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) Sunday 18 October 5.20-6.50pm Channel 70
An inspiration for The Shape of Water (and for a great Dave Edmunds song), Creature still entertains and fascinates. AND it’s double bill time again! Hammer’s The Abominable Snowman (1957), with Forrest Tucker and Peter Cushing, follows at 6.50pm. Despite some use of studio sets, it is still atmospheric and rather watchable – and had a fair number of positive reviews on release.
DETROIT (2017) Sunday 18 October 10.00pm-12.15am BBC 2
Set during the city’s summer riots of 1967, this is a very fine film courtesy of director Kathryn Bigelow, writer/producer Mark Boal (they worked together on The Hurt Locker) and a cast led by John Boyega. It grips, it horrifies and I’d like to say that it beggars belief that it’s true, except that – sadly – it doesn’t. Indeed, fifty years on, and here we are again.  
THE MAN UPSTAIRS (1958) Monday 19 October 7.45-9.30am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This is quite a curio, but worth a look. Richard Attenborough is ‘losing it’ upstairs, whilst the police attempt to negotiate with him from downstairs. It’s really an indirect remake of the 1939 French classic Le Jour Se Lève (1992-93 season, 74%). The Long Night (1947) was a more literal remake.
FENCES (2016) Monday 19 October 9.00-11.45pm Film Four
Denzel Washington, one of the best of the current generation of American actors, directs and stars as the head of a 1950s working-class family. It’s good enough to have been made in the mid-50s.
THE FIVE PENNIES (1959) Tuesday 20 October 6.40-9.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
As last week, there are two contrasting musicals the same evening; this is the traditional biopic. Danny Kaye plays jazz cornettist Red Nichols and there is some magical work by Louis Armstrong. 
BEEN SO LONG (2018) Tuesday 20 October 9.00-11.05pm Film Four
Very different to the above, we have an adaptation of a Young Vic stage production that centres on a single mum (Michaela Coel, one of our most exciting new talents). It could be summed up as a musical/fantasy/urban drama with attitude! 
CONE OF SILENCE (1960) Wednesday 21 October 9.10-11.00am Channel 40
This is a film that definitely falls into the ‘little seen but rewarding’ category. A plane has crashed in India and Michael Craig, Peter Cushing, Bernard Lee and others hope to find out how and why. 
THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1966) Wednesday 21 October 10.00pm-12.10am TP (Channel 81)
Taken from John Le Carré’s Call for the Dead, James Mason is the controller convinced that a diplomat’s death wasn’t suicide. The British press was fulsome in its praise.
BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962) Thursday 22 October 10.10am-1.15pm Channel 40
I was hugely impressed when I first saw this biography of lifer Robert Stroud, who became an expert on birdlife, and my memories remain fond ones. Burt Lancaster heads a formidable cast.
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949) Thursday 22 October 8.00-9.40pm BBC 4 
Film Club is giving us a third western in a row – oh, joy! The elderly Captain Nathan Brittles is due to retire and his final mission looks doomed to failure. There are many who think that this is John Wayne’s finest performance (it’s certainly in his top five) and the Ford Stock Company gives splendid support. It’s the middle one of John Ford’s loose cavalry trilogy and the only one in colour – and Winton C. Hoch’s award-winning work here is fantastic. A commonly-held view is that the three films are an idealised tribute to the US cavalry; however, I would proffer the view that they are as much a tribute to the army of 1946 as to the one of 1876. The director had served in World War II and wanted more than “a cold page in the history books to mark their passing”. And of the three, Ribbon is the only one that could be described as a pacifist western. (Pony-That-Walks says “old men should stop wars” – and he should know, actor Chief Big Tree was 84 at the time and lived to be 102.) I think, too, that Ford was astute enough to realise that the baton was being passed to a younger generation, but he was doing it with the warning – in the film and in real life – that “young men do not listen” (Pony-That-Walks again). And perhaps he realised also that, very shortly, this would happen in his own fiefdom, Hollywood. 
THE CAPTIVE CITY (1952) Friday 23 October 9.15-11.10am Channel 40
These modest, interesting films directed by Robert Wise (West Side Story) keep popping up. This one stars John Forsythe (later in Dynasty on TV) as a newspaper editor who uncovers a Mafia takeover. Cinematographer Lee Garmes was a favourite of Marlene Dietrich. 
BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES (2018) Friday 23 October 10.20-11.45pm BBC 4 
An essential watch for jazz lovers: it’s a look behind-the-scenes at the legendary record label, with contributions from key musicians and staff. 
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES - A FILM CALENDAR
Last week, when running through the films we have listed so far, I noticed that three of the titles contain months of the year. This has been quite a popular option over the years (or so it seems), but how easy would it be, I wondered, to think of a calendar for the full 12 months? 

1. The Two Faces of January (listed), Captain January (1936, Shirley Temple) and the main character in Legend of the Lost (1957) was called Joe January. So far, so good!
2. Oh dear, February is tricky. I was about to fall back on Valentine’s Day (2010) when I remembered Summer in February(2013). It was filmed in Cornwall, but wasn’t quite good enough to book for LRFS or Silver Screen, as I recall. 
3. George Clooney’s The Ides of March (2011) was booked for Silver Screen. Colonel March of Scotland Yard, starring Boris Karloff, was one of the first series shown on ITV in 1955 and three episodes were stitched together for a cinema release. There is also March or Die (1977) with Gene Hackman, and Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland (1934) was later re-titled March of the Wooden Soldiers! 
4. There had to be an April Fool’s Day (1986) – in this case, a slasher movie. The Girl From U.N.C.L.E (the 1966 TV series) was called April Dancer and was played by Stefanie Powers. Towards the end of his life, John Ford wanted to make a Revolutionary War film called April Morning, but couldn’t get it financed. Later, it was made for TV with Tommy Lee Jones. 
5. Seven Days in May (1964) was an excellent conspiracy thriller with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas; hopefully, it won’t become topical. 
6. Hot Enough for June (1964) was a spy spoof with Dirk Bogarde.  June Laverick played the title role in The Son of Robin Hood (1959). (Yes, she did!)
7. Cold in July was a 2014 thriller and writer/director Miranda July’s new film Kajillionaire enjoyed good reviews last Friday. Quatorze Juillet was a 1933 René Clair film.
8. Not surprisingly, the Meryl Streep film August, Osage County had a run at the Regent and there was a good 1964 documentary, The Guns of August, about the First World War. Also, I think there was a minor film called A Cold Wind in August (1961?).
9. We showed The Last September (1999) in our 2000-01 season (reaction, 74%). Come September was a 1961 comedy with Rock Hudson and One Day in September (1999) was an Oscar-winning documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics. 
10. The October Man (listed) was a good 1947 thriller with John Mills. October (1928) is a propaganda classic directed by Sergei Eisenstein and A Day in October is a good World War II drama set in Denmark. 
11. The November Man (listed) is the action thriller with Pierce Brosnan.
12. December 7th is a documentary about Pearl Harbor, released in 1943, which John Ford made in collaboration with Gregg Toland. It was an Oscar winner and there are two versions: a feature length one (still extant) and a short version running about 30 minutes. I think there was also a popular 1950s American TV series called December Bride. 

It was announced last weekend that Cineworld are to close, temporarily, all their cinemas in the UK and US. With Covid-19 restrictions set to continue for some time it is understandable and, it would seem, a second postponement of the new James Bond film (to April 2021) was the final decider. On to the Monday morning, Radio 5, and a young presenter is musing on how strange it is that people should want to gather in a dark place and watch what is, effectively, ‘a very big TV screen’. Eegah!! [1963, one of the worst films ever made] So, where do we start . . . 

QUEEN OF KATWE (2016) Saturday 10 October 1.15-3.15pm BBC 2
Katwe is the story of a young chess prodigy who, against all odds, earns the right to compete in an international tournament. Beautifully shot and a big success with members (2017-18 season, 88%).
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) Saturday 10 October 4.00-6.35pm Channel 31
Ford’s last masterpiece is the one where he famously re-examines and dissects the mythological west that he, more than any other director, had helped to create and invigorate. 
BLUEPRINT FOR ROBBERY (1961) Saturday 10 October 7.05-9.05pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This is a very modest production, virtually unknown, which is why I’m selecting it! It’s a heist drama starring two very familiar supporting players (J. Pat O’Malley and Robert Wilke) enjoying the extra responsibility; the director is Jerry Hopper, who gave us The Atomic City. 
RAGING BULL (1980) Saturday 10 October 11pm-1.20am ITV 1
Superbly shot and edited (in b/w), it tells the story of the rise and fall of boxer Jake La Motta. Often cited as the best film of the 80s – and one of the best ever – Robert de Niro won the Oscar for Best Actor, but Scorsese and the film itself lost out to Robert Redford and Ordinary People. 
RIO BRAVO (1959) Sunday 11 October 2.00-4.15pm BBC 2
Also Thursday evening, BBC 4 (see later notes) and preceded today by a Talking Pictures special.
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) Sunday 11 October 5.40-7.05pm Channel 70
The most influential horror movie ever made – and it remains one of the best. Boris Karloff, aided immeasurably by Jack Pierce’s make-up, is staggeringly good (pun intended). AND it’s double bill time! The Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney Jr in his signature role (Pierce again), follows at 7.05pm. 
THE GUARDIANS (2017) Sunday 11 October 10.30pm-12.40am BBC 4
When I first saw The Guardians, I thought it was one of the best films of the year, so was very sad that it didn’t secure enough member votes. The settings are realised perfectly and the characters are extremely well-drawn; every frame carries meaning and it makes a wonderful tribute to the French women who had to endure a different war, 1914-1918. 
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (1948) Monday 12 October 2.50-4.40pm Film Four
Long before the invention of mobile phones, a bedridden heiress (Barbara Stanwyck) makes a landline call and overhears her murder being planned. The tension mounts admirably. 
THE CONSTANT HUSBAND (1955) Monday 12 October 6.55-9.00pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
This is a less well-known Rex Harrison comedy in which he plays an amnesiac Casanova who appears to be married. Kay Kendall and Cecil Parker are good and the Technicolor is lovely.
THE RUNNING MAN (1963) Tuesday 13 October 9.10-11.15am Channel 40
In lesser hands, this story of a dogged insurance investigator on the trail of a conman, would be run-of-the-mill. However, director Carol Reed, cinematographer Robert Krasker (both worked on The Third Man), writer John Mortimer and actors Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick and Alan Bates lift it several notches. 
LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959) Tuesday 13 October 1.05-2.55pm Film Four
Sheriff Kirk Douglas is determined to leave town with the man who killed his wife; the complication is that he is the son of a friend (Anthony Quinn). John Sturges also made Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
THE SWIMMER (1968) Wednesday 14 October 9.10-11.05am Channel 40
A troubled businessman swims home using all the neighbourhood pools en route. It’s a metaphor for alienation and an incisive look at the rigidity of suburban mores; typically late ‘60s, but still fascinating – and Burt Lancaster is such a commanding presence it works, the odd confusion aside.
HARD TARGET (1993) Wednesday 14 October 9.00-11.00pm Channel 31
I wouldn’t normally suggest a Jean-Claude Van Damme film, but as it’s quite an exciting update of The Most Dangerous Game . . . Hong Kong action specialist John Woo, making his American debut, ensures that it is one of Van Damme’s three best films.  
TIGER BAY (1959) Thursday 15 October 2.40-4.50pm Film Four
Making her debut, aged 12, Hayley Mills is astonishingly assured as the girl who helps a sailor (Horst Buchholz), on the run for murder, elude Cardiff’s police force. J Lee Thompson deserves much credit.
RIO BRAVO (1959) Thursday 15 October 8.00-10.15pm BBC 4 
Growing up, I was hesitant as to how good Rio Bravo was – its construction seemed over-elaborate, mannered even, and the actors unusually relaxed. Later, I realised that these were strengths – Howard Hawks was inviting us to be a part of his group dynamic (a favourite theme), to be comfortable in their company and to enjoy the film’s many incidental pleasures. So, from its stunning Mac the Knife-style opening to its explosive ending, it’s Top Ten all the way. John Wayne is the sheriff, Dean Martin his drunken deputy (so keen was he to do it, he hired a plane after a Vegas show to go and do a screen test); Walter Brennan is as peerless as always, and Angie Dickinson an essential part of the mix. For all the participants, both before and behind the camera, it ranks with their very best work. 
SUMMER HOLIDAY (1962) Friday 16 October 8.00-9.50pm BBC 4
This Friday is Musical Day! Option 1: mix a drink, open that box of chocolates and sing along in celebration of Cliff Richard’s 80th birthday. Nostalgia alert – these were the days when you could board a double-decker bus without a face mask.
WHITE RIOT (2019) Friday 16 October 10.00-11.45pm Sky Arts (Channel 11)
Option 2: in cinemas only a month ago, this is a perceptive and fascinating documentary about how punk helped to create the Rock Against Racism movement. I’m certain we have members who will watch either film – or both!
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES - (NOT SO) RANDOM FILMS
After six months of writing about films that, hopefully, have been of interest, I have decided that it is a good time to look back. So, eschewing the great classics (such as Casablanca) that we all know and love, here is a selection of the modest productions; the ones where I take extra pleasure in saying, out of the 300 or so commented on so far, ‘so pleased that I included that one’. I have limited myself to 20 titles and not used film society bookings. In alphabetical order:

1. BAIT (for Gordon’s most enthusiastic email)
2. CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS (the revelation of the entire summer)
3. THE ENFORCER (Bogie at his best)
4. FLIGHT NURSE (Joan Leslie gives it her all – a real trooper’s performance)
5. FORBIDDEN (impressive, nightmarish British thriller)
6. THE GUNFIGHTER (really good, low-key western)
7. HEAVEN KNOWS, MR ALLISON (played to perfection by Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr)
8. HIGHLY DANGEROUS (sassy, knowing espionage thriller; Margaret Lockwood is splendid)
9. THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE (still hilarious)
10. MOONRISE (cinematography and atmosphere to die for)
11. MAN ON THE RUN (another, really good, unheralded British B – what this is for)
12. NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (how to unnerve you without $100 million dollars of effects)
13. PIMPERNEL SMITH (how to respect and update a classic; great fun as well)
14. THE PROFESSIONALS (a great adventure film)
15. ROBIN AND MARIAN ( if you are going to ‘re-imagine’ something, this is how)
16. SALT OF THE EARTH (they risked everything to make this – well done!)
17. THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (a delightful comedy in a cinema!!)
18. SNOWPIERCER (it IS still possible to make intelligent science-fiction)
19. THE SOUTHERNER (an exceptional little film from Jean Renoir)
20. THE TALL T (where a director/star combination make a modest western a classic)

SORRY TO HAVE MISSED OUT: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and UNEARTHLY STRANGER
GREAT SHORT FILM: THE BESPOKE OVERCOAT
TWO VERY GOOD DOCUMENTARIES: I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO and LEE MILLER: A LIFE AT THE FRONT LINE. (The latter was fascinating and instructional for me; I didn’t know her work.)
Interestingly, only five of the twenty were filmed in colour. If you missed them first time round, they will be on again – indeed, some of them have been already!