Surreal delirium in cinema! Gary Cooper and Ann Harding are a tragic romantic pair, but even when separated by space, time and the law they manage to live a full life together as virtual dream lovers. The odd art film out in Henry Hathaway’s career, this unabashed spiritualist fantasy was adopted by French surrealists as emblematic of their values. It’s beautifully filmed by cameraman Charles Lang, avoiding overdone expressionist effects… reality is a dream, folks, and this star-crossed pair makes dreams real by a simple force of will. Spiritual Nirvana or pretension? It’s crazy, but it connects with real life as we experience it — with our romantic memories and regrets.
Peter Ibbetson
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date August 10, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, Ida Lupino, John Halliday, Dickie Moore, Virginia Weidler, Douglass Dumbrille, Donald Meek, Leonid Kinskey,...
Peter Ibbetson
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date August 10, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, Ida Lupino, John Halliday, Dickie Moore, Virginia Weidler, Douglass Dumbrille, Donald Meek, Leonid Kinskey,...
- 8/31/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s expressive silent filmmaking at its best — Anthony Asquith vies with Alfred Hitchcock for direction in silent-era England. Elissa Landi and Brian Aherne meet in the Tube but become entangled in the jealous scheme of the jealous Cyril McLaglen. Restored just a few years back after being unavailable for generations, this is a beauty: the BFI gives it a full orchestral orchestra score, plus a second avant-garde ‘contextual audio’ track.
Underground
Blu-ray
Kino Classics / BFI
1928 / B&W / 1:33 silent ap. / 93 min. / Street Date April 23, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Elissa Landi, Brian Aherne, Cyril McLaglen, Norah Baring.
Cinematography: Stanley Rodwell
Art Direction: Ian Campbell-Gray
Written and Directed by Anthony Asquith
If one was asked to come up with the name of a ‘tame’ English director, the answer a while back might have been Anthony Asquith, a privileged toff whose post-grad lark was to spend a year in Hollywood, learning all...
Underground
Blu-ray
Kino Classics / BFI
1928 / B&W / 1:33 silent ap. / 93 min. / Street Date April 23, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Elissa Landi, Brian Aherne, Cyril McLaglen, Norah Baring.
Cinematography: Stanley Rodwell
Art Direction: Ian Campbell-Gray
Written and Directed by Anthony Asquith
If one was asked to come up with the name of a ‘tame’ English director, the answer a while back might have been Anthony Asquith, a privileged toff whose post-grad lark was to spend a year in Hollywood, learning all...
- 3/30/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
★★★★☆ In 1928, at the tender age of just 28 years, British director Anthony Asquith was already a driven and passionate filmmaker - exactly what he brought to his early silent, Underground (1928). This tale, whilst saturated in its own time, carries a modern note, as underground carriages bustle with nosey travellers leaning over each others shoulders to read their neighbour's newspaper, or young men eye up the ladies. Amidst the hustle of daily commutes we find a pair of lovebirds in the form of mild-mannered Bill (Brian Aherne) who works as an underground porter and shop worker Nell (Elissa Landi).
The pair's fledgling love is thrown into disarray by the brash Burt (Cyril McLaglen), who also has eyes for the working class blonde bombshell. Power station worker Burt, with his rough manners and penchant for drink, hatches a plan with former lover Kate (Norah Baring), that climaxes in a tremendous, Bond-style chase sequence.
The pair's fledgling love is thrown into disarray by the brash Burt (Cyril McLaglen), who also has eyes for the working class blonde bombshell. Power station worker Burt, with his rough manners and penchant for drink, hatches a plan with former lover Kate (Norah Baring), that climaxes in a tremendous, Bond-style chase sequence.
- 6/17/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Les Misérables | Gangster Squad | American Mary | What Richard Did | Midnight Son | Jiro Dreams Of Sushi | The Lookout | May I Kill U? | Underground
Les Misérables (12A)
(Tom Hooper, 2012, UK) Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne. 158 mins
The King's Speech director plus the globally adored musical: it's a match made in commercial heaven, a third-hand version of a 19th-century French saga, and the most epic celebrity karaoke session ever filmed. The fact that it's entirely sung, "live" on set, supposedly communicates more "emotion", but this is already oversaturated with so much melodramatic incident, the effect is numbing.
Gangster Squad (15)
(Ruben Fleischer, 2013, Us) Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin. 113 mins
Brolin's under-the-radar police squad guns for Penn's La mobsters in this exuberantly violent, but disappointingly straightforward 1940s thriller, derived more from modern videogames than vintage film noirs. Action definitely speaks louder than words here.
American Mary (18)
(Jen & Sylvia Soska,...
Les Misérables (12A)
(Tom Hooper, 2012, UK) Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne. 158 mins
The King's Speech director plus the globally adored musical: it's a match made in commercial heaven, a third-hand version of a 19th-century French saga, and the most epic celebrity karaoke session ever filmed. The fact that it's entirely sung, "live" on set, supposedly communicates more "emotion", but this is already oversaturated with so much melodramatic incident, the effect is numbing.
Gangster Squad (15)
(Ruben Fleischer, 2013, Us) Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin. 113 mins
Brolin's under-the-radar police squad guns for Penn's La mobsters in this exuberantly violent, but disappointingly straightforward 1940s thriller, derived more from modern videogames than vintage film noirs. Action definitely speaks louder than words here.
American Mary (18)
(Jen & Sylvia Soska,...
- 1/12/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This restored silent from 1928 is terrific – and the exotic and futurist London locations are a treat
Anthony Asquith's 1928 black-and-white silent, Underground, restored three years ago with a great new score by Neil Brand, is now on general release, and it's terrific: an elegantly crafted melodrama with exotic and futurist London locations, and echoes of Lang and Hitchcock. Norah Baring is fascinating as the wronged woman, Kate, given to strange Ocd mannerisms and sightless staring: a performance to compare with Kathleen Byron in Powell's Black Narcissus. Two men fall in love with the same woman – demure shopworker Nell (Elissa Landi) – whom they see on the London Underground. Bill (Brian Aherne) is a decent chap who works on the Tube, but Bert (Cyril McLaglen) is a rougher, moodier sort, who is prepared to exploit his ex-girlfriend Kate in a plot to destroy Bill's chances. This love triangle evolves into a quadrangle,...
Anthony Asquith's 1928 black-and-white silent, Underground, restored three years ago with a great new score by Neil Brand, is now on general release, and it's terrific: an elegantly crafted melodrama with exotic and futurist London locations, and echoes of Lang and Hitchcock. Norah Baring is fascinating as the wronged woman, Kate, given to strange Ocd mannerisms and sightless staring: a performance to compare with Kathleen Byron in Powell's Black Narcissus. Two men fall in love with the same woman – demure shopworker Nell (Elissa Landi) – whom they see on the London Underground. Bill (Brian Aherne) is a decent chap who works on the Tube, but Bert (Cyril McLaglen) is a rougher, moodier sort, who is prepared to exploit his ex-girlfriend Kate in a plot to destroy Bill's chances. This love triangle evolves into a quadrangle,...
- 1/11/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Anthony Asquith's 1928 classic is a time capsule depiction of London's tube network, as well as a brilliant expressionist-influenced thriller
Reading this on mobile? Click here to watch video
Anthony Asquith's Underground (1928) is part thriller, part time capsule: a riveting film from one of the silent era's most ambitious British directors, and an intriguing portrait of 1920s London. In particular, the manners and motifs of the capital's tube system are seen just as they were 85 years ago. Re-released in cinemas this month to tie in with the 150th anniversary of the tube, Underground speaks not just to silent movie buffs but to the quiet public transport geek inside every commuting Londoner.
The underground in Underground is more than a metaphor for the repressed passions of four "ordinary workaday people", it is integral to the plot, and its shadowy locations set the film's tone. From their arrival in 1895, films about...
Reading this on mobile? Click here to watch video
Anthony Asquith's Underground (1928) is part thriller, part time capsule: a riveting film from one of the silent era's most ambitious British directors, and an intriguing portrait of 1920s London. In particular, the manners and motifs of the capital's tube system are seen just as they were 85 years ago. Re-released in cinemas this month to tie in with the 150th anniversary of the tube, Underground speaks not just to silent movie buffs but to the quiet public transport geek inside every commuting Londoner.
The underground in Underground is more than a metaphor for the repressed passions of four "ordinary workaday people", it is integral to the plot, and its shadowy locations set the film's tone. From their arrival in 1895, films about...
- 1/8/2013
- by Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
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