Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[struth]

King of Thieves, 2018. The film based on the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary of 2015, and film stars Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Charlie Cox, Jim Broadbent, Paul Whitehouse and Ray Winstone.

[walpurgis]

King of Thieves, 2018

Good movie. All the clapped out old 'usual suspects'!

[Macca]

Got to admire them doing a blag like that at their age. Shame they forgot, or didn't realise, that CCTV is ubiquitous nowadays.

[struth]

The Green Man, 1956. Stars Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas and Jill Adams.







The New York Times TV section noted "Weekend at a horrible little country hotel, same name, and one of the funniest British films ever".
The Radio Times wrote "If you ever doubted that Alastair Sim was the finest British screen comedian of the sound era, then here's the proof of his immense talent. As the assassin with the mournful smile, he gives a performance of rare genius that more than makes amends for the longueurs in Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat's script".
Allmovie opined "If The Green Man finally falls a little short of being classic, it's only because the mechanics of the plot get a bit wearying at times; otherwise, it's a charmingly subversive little treat", while Time Out called it "A splendid black comedy."

[struth]

Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train from 1951.

Farley Granger, Robert Walker and Ruth Roman star.

Got my legs up and can't reach pc [emoji23]

[struth]

Hitch again with Jimmy Stewart in Rope, 1948. Also stars John Dall and Farley Granger(again).


With Rope, Hitchcock threw out the rule book and left a new blueprint for future filmmakers. The film provided so many industry firsts that Hollywood began to fundamentally question the entire process of making movies. Rope is an astonishing feat of cinematic engineering – a pivotal piece of work that demonstrated Hitchcock’s meticulous pursuit of authenticity and his ability to redefine an entire art form.






Recent reviews and criticism of Rope have noticed a homosexual subtext between the characters Brandon and Phillip, even though homosexuality was a highly controversial theme for the 1940s. John Dall, who played Brandon, is believed to have been gay, as were co-star Farley Granger and screenwriter Arthur Laurents. The play on which the film was based explicitly portrays Brandon and Phillip in a homosexual relationship.
Hitchcock shot long unbroken takes lasting up to 10 minutes (the length of a film camera magazine) involving carefully choreographed camera and actor movement, though most shots in the film wound up being shorter. Every other segment ends by panning against or tracking into an object—a man's jacket blocking the entire screen, or the back of a piece of furniture, for example. In this way, Hitchcock effectively masked half the cuts in the film.

[Barry]

Good movie. All the clapped out old 'usual suspects'!

Agreed - but an enjoyable movie nonetheless.

[struth]

Witness for the Prosecution, 1957. Directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester.





At the end of the film, as the credits roll, a voice-over announces:

The management of this theater suggests that, for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture, you will not divulge to anyone the secret of the ending of Witness for the Prosecution.

This was in keeping with the advertising campaign for the film: one of the posters for the film said: "You'll talk about it! - but please don't tell the ending!"

The effort to keep the ending a secret extended to the cast. Billy Wilder did not give the actors the final ten pages of the script until it was time to shoot those scenes. The secrecy reportedly cost Marlene Dietrich an Academy Award, as United Artists didn't want to call attention to the fact that Dietrich was practically unrecognizable as the Cockney woman who hands over the incriminating letters to the defence.

[struth]

Another classic now, this time directed by Robert Hamer. Kind Hearts and Coronets, 1949. Starring Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness, who plays 9 roles...






The film was produced at the same time as two other Ealing comedies, Passport to Pimlico and Whisky Galore!; all three were released into UK cinemas over two months.[10][n 1] The film's title was taken from the 1842 poem "Lady Clara Vere de Vere" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The full couplet reads

Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.

While filming the scene Hamer asked Guinness if he could hold his pose—a salute, facing the camera while the water rose around him—so that the water went over his head; Hamer wanted to show the admiral's cap floating on the surface. Guinness agreed, telling Hamer that as he practised yoga, he could hold his breath for four minutes. Guinness was attached to the deck by wires to keep him steady and the shot was taken; when Hamer called "cut", the crew began packing up and forgot to release Guinness until four minutes after the scene ended.

[Barry]

An superb film, with a wonderfully delicious denouement!