After twenty years honing his craft on ever-more precise filmic constructions, David Lean opened up his imagination for a story of loneliness and romance in Venice, Italy. A vacationing American woman searches for — she doesn’t know what. Katharine Hepburn reveals the vulnerable side of her personality, and the woman eventually leaves her fears behind. Lean creates the most compelling ‘relaxed vacation’ ever, yet every shot is as keenly envisioned as in any of his films. It’s an amazing ‘on location’ show that initially ran into trouble with U.S. censors — some thought it was morally incompatible with the Production Code, and shouldn’t be released here at all.
Summertime
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 22
1955 / Color / 1:37 Academy (1:66 widescreen?) / 100 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 12, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Darren McGavin, Jane Rose, Mari Aldon, Macdonald Parke, Gaetano Autiero, Jeremy Spenser, Isa Miranda, Virginia Simeon,...
Summertime
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 22
1955 / Color / 1:37 Academy (1:66 widescreen?) / 100 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 12, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Darren McGavin, Jane Rose, Mari Aldon, Macdonald Parke, Gaetano Autiero, Jeremy Spenser, Isa Miranda, Virginia Simeon,...
- 7/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Why is David Lean’s stirring ode to British aviation so historically and technically bogus? Because at heart it’s a science fiction film! Ralph Richardson drives his test pilots and his own son to die on the altar of aviation R&d, in a tale focused firmly on futurism and the push to the stars. Nigel Patrick and Denholm Elliott struggle to measure up, while Ann Todd hugs her baby and resists. Watching this terrific production, you’d think the Queen had a monopoly on supersonic aviation.
The Sound Barrier
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 117 109 min. / Breaking the Sound Barrier / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin, Dinah Sheridan, Joseph Tomelty, Denholm Elliott.
Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Film Editor: Geoffrey Foot
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Aerial and second unit director: Anthony Squire
Written by Terence Rattigan
Produced and...
The Sound Barrier
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 117 109 min. / Breaking the Sound Barrier / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin, Dinah Sheridan, Joseph Tomelty, Denholm Elliott.
Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Film Editor: Geoffrey Foot
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Aerial and second unit director: Anthony Squire
Written by Terence Rattigan
Produced and...
- 4/14/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Nicholas Ray’s final film was an honorable attempt to combine complex political and social issues while straining to satisfy mainstream audiences’ appetite for traditional epics. That strain got to Ray – he collapsed midway and was replaced by Andrew Marton and Guy Green. The 1963 film was a disappointment at the box office with contemporary screenings few and far between – leaving Jack Hildyard’s spectacular Technirama photography to the dust bin of history.
The post 55 Days at Peking appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post 55 Days at Peking appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 4/29/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Amicus Collection
Blu-ray
Severin
1972, ’73, ’74/ 1:85 / 88 Min., 91 Min., 93 Min. / January 16, 2018
Starring Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Calvin Lockhart
Cinematography by Denys Coop, Jack Hildyard
Written by Robert Bloch
Music by Douglas Gamley,
Produced by Milton Subotsky, Max Rosenberg
Directed by Roy Ward Baker, Paul Annett
Released in 1956, Rock, Rock, Rock was a bantamweight jukebox musical bolstered by the presence of three indelible signifiers of 50’s pop culture, rabble-rousing DJ Alan Freed, Hollywood’s perennial Lolita Tuesday Weld and guitar slinging provocateur Chuck Berry. Produced by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, the movie’s success inspired the New York-born duo to pack up shop and move to England where they founded Amicus Productions.
Hedging their bets, the fledgling company followed in the footsteps of both Aip and Hammer, putting one foot in teensploitation and the other into a line of shockers with a supernatural bent. To their credit their initial...
Blu-ray
Severin
1972, ’73, ’74/ 1:85 / 88 Min., 91 Min., 93 Min. / January 16, 2018
Starring Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Calvin Lockhart
Cinematography by Denys Coop, Jack Hildyard
Written by Robert Bloch
Music by Douglas Gamley,
Produced by Milton Subotsky, Max Rosenberg
Directed by Roy Ward Baker, Paul Annett
Released in 1956, Rock, Rock, Rock was a bantamweight jukebox musical bolstered by the presence of three indelible signifiers of 50’s pop culture, rabble-rousing DJ Alan Freed, Hollywood’s perennial Lolita Tuesday Weld and guitar slinging provocateur Chuck Berry. Produced by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, the movie’s success inspired the New York-born duo to pack up shop and move to England where they founded Amicus Productions.
Hedging their bets, the fledgling company followed in the footsteps of both Aip and Hammer, putting one foot in teensploitation and the other into a line of shockers with a supernatural bent. To their credit their initial...
- 1/30/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. David Lean's Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952) is playing October 14 - November 13, 2017 on Mubi in the United States.John (J.R.) Ridgefield is a man possessed. The wealthy and influential aircraft industrialist is consumed by his desire to manufacture a plane capable of penetrating the inscrutable sound barrier. This supersonic obsession is a blessing and a curse for the Ridgefield family, providing their ample fortune and triggering largely latent rifts in their ancestral relations. It’s an opposition at the heart and soul of David Lean’s 1952 film The Sound Barrier, a post-war endorsement of British ingenuity and determination, and an emotional, blazing depiction of sacrifice and scientific achievement. The opening of The Sound Barrier (also known as Sound Barrier and Breaking the Sound Barrier), spotlights Philip Peel (John Justin), one of the film’s principal test pilots. In just under two minutes,...
- 10/18/2017
- MUBI
This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
- 2/6/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
How could England have won the war without him? Horatio Smith sneaks about in Nazi Germany, liberating concentration camp inmates right under the noses of the Gestapo. Leslie Howard directed and stars in this wartime escapist spy thriller, as a witty professor too passive to be suspected as the mystery spy.
‘Pimpernel’ Smith
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1941 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 121 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, Mary Morris, Allan Jeayes, Peter Gawthorne, Hugh McDermott, David Tomlinson, Raymond Huntley, Sebastian Cabot, Irene Handl, Ronald Howard, Michael Rennie.
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Camera Operators Guy Green, Jack Hildyard
Film Editor Douglas Myers
Original Music John Greenwood
Written by Anatole de Grunwald, Roland Pertwee, A.G. Macdonell, Wolfgang Wilhelm based on a character by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Produced by Leslie Howard, Harold Huth
Directed by Leslie Howard
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I like movies...
‘Pimpernel’ Smith
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1941 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 121 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, Mary Morris, Allan Jeayes, Peter Gawthorne, Hugh McDermott, David Tomlinson, Raymond Huntley, Sebastian Cabot, Irene Handl, Ronald Howard, Michael Rennie.
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Camera Operators Guy Green, Jack Hildyard
Film Editor Douglas Myers
Original Music John Greenwood
Written by Anatole de Grunwald, Roland Pertwee, A.G. Macdonell, Wolfgang Wilhelm based on a character by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Produced by Leslie Howard, Harold Huth
Directed by Leslie Howard
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I like movies...
- 12/30/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
That scarlet woman Ingrid is back from exile, and hypocritical Hollywood is not complaining -- Anatole Litvak and Arthur Laurents make an intriguing romantic-psychological mystery of a bogus Romanoff Duchess who surfaces in 1928 Paris to claim the crown fortune. Good roles for Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes as well. It's a strange intersection of scandal, history and swindlers that may have found the real item... and maybe not. Anastasia Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Ship Date March 15, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff, Martita Hunt, Felix Aylmer, Sacha Pitoeff, Ivan Desny, Natalie Schafer, Karel Stepanek Cinematography Jack Hildyard Art Direction Andrej Andrejew, Bill Andrews Film Editor Bert Bates Original Music Alfred Newman Written by Arthur Laurents from a play by Marcelle Maurette Produced by Buddy Adler Directed by Anatole Litvak
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The cleverly written and...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The cleverly written and...
- 3/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"The Shawshank Redemption," "Fargo," "Kundun," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "No Country for Old Men," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "The Reader," "True Grit," "Skyfall," "Prisoners." Surely one of those films won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, right? Nope. Roger Deakins has 11 Oscar nominations but, to date, has not been granted access to the Dolby Theater stage (or the Kodak Theater…or the Shrine Auditorium…he's a veteran of multiple Oscar venues at this point). Could that change with Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken?" Possibly. Deakins pushed himself quite a bit on the film and played with a few aesthetic ideas he hadn't really dabbled in before. It's only the second time he's worked in the war genre (after 2005's "Jarhead"), but he paints Jolie's canvas with striking hues of contrast. For a film that could be a formidable prestige Oscar player,...
- 12/3/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Here's another installment featuring Joe Dante's reviews from his stint as a critic for Film Bulletin circa 1969-1974. Our thanks to Video Watchdog and Tim Lucas for his editorial embellishments!
Which one is the werewolf? Finding the answer makes a neat gimmick, smart promotion of which should make this otherwise tame British import a strong contender in ballyhoo markets. Rating: PG.
This British horror mystery has a good audience‑participation gimmick going for it: a "Werewolf Break," during which the story stops to allow viewers to shout out the name of whichever suspicious character they think is the werewolf that's been wiping out other cast members. Reminiscent of the sort of surefire gimmickry that William Castle specialized in during the early '60s, this bit is being shrewdly promoted by the always showmanship‑minded Cinerama Releasing, and should boost The Beast Must Die to good grosses in fast saturation playoff.
Which one is the werewolf? Finding the answer makes a neat gimmick, smart promotion of which should make this otherwise tame British import a strong contender in ballyhoo markets. Rating: PG.
This British horror mystery has a good audience‑participation gimmick going for it: a "Werewolf Break," during which the story stops to allow viewers to shout out the name of whichever suspicious character they think is the werewolf that's been wiping out other cast members. Reminiscent of the sort of surefire gimmickry that William Castle specialized in during the early '60s, this bit is being shrewdly promoted by the always showmanship‑minded Cinerama Releasing, and should boost The Beast Must Die to good grosses in fast saturation playoff.
- 9/2/2014
- by Joe Dante
- Trailers from Hell
This week's Hit Me With Your Best Shot episode is devoted to the film adaptation of Tennessee William's Suddenly Last Summer (1959) in which a brain surgeon (Montgomery Clift) whose hospital is in dire need of cash is enlisted by a filthy rich woman (Katharine Hepburn) to perform a lobotomy on her niece (Elizabeth Taylor) because that niece keeps telling lies about her dead gay son. Got that? That's just the kick-off to the crazy.
This sensationalistic film, which was the third and final onscreen pairing of bosom buddies and immortal stars Taylor and Clift, was nominated for three Oscars: Two Best Actress nominations and Art Direction.
Suddenly Last Summer (1959)
Cinematography by Jack Hildyard
Shots are displayed in their rough chronological order. Click on the shot to read the corresponding article.
11 Shots Selected By 12 Participants...
This sensationalistic film, which was the third and final onscreen pairing of bosom buddies and immortal stars Taylor and Clift, was nominated for three Oscars: Two Best Actress nominations and Art Direction.
Suddenly Last Summer (1959)
Cinematography by Jack Hildyard
Shots are displayed in their rough chronological order. Click on the shot to read the corresponding article.
11 Shots Selected By 12 Participants...
- 8/13/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
This is an episode of Hit Me With Your Best Shot
"Suddenly... last summer" is spoken so often in Suddenly Last Summer (1959), Joseph L Mankiewicz & Gore Vidal's adaptation of Tennessee Williams play, that it starts to take on a kind of trancy grandeur. The actresses retreat inward, psychologically, in the thrall of their own theatricality, the overheated jungles of art direction around them, and surely their good fortune to be playing Tennessee Williams characters.
my favorite scene in the film
To a minor degree the repetition of "suddenly...last summer" is not unlike the effect of Rita whispering "Mulholland Drive" like an incantation in Mulholland Dr. The comparison seems apt since both films are batshit crazy sexually charged nightmares in which a beautiful brunette has selective amnesia issues. But let's not drift away to 2001. We stay in 1959. And two beautiful brunettes is exactly what I want to talk about...
"Suddenly... last summer" is spoken so often in Suddenly Last Summer (1959), Joseph L Mankiewicz & Gore Vidal's adaptation of Tennessee Williams play, that it starts to take on a kind of trancy grandeur. The actresses retreat inward, psychologically, in the thrall of their own theatricality, the overheated jungles of art direction around them, and surely their good fortune to be playing Tennessee Williams characters.
my favorite scene in the film
To a minor degree the repetition of "suddenly...last summer" is not unlike the effect of Rita whispering "Mulholland Drive" like an incantation in Mulholland Dr. The comparison seems apt since both films are batshit crazy sexually charged nightmares in which a beautiful brunette has selective amnesia issues. But let's not drift away to 2001. We stay in 1959. And two beautiful brunettes is exactly what I want to talk about...
- 8/12/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
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