Watched last night

[Rowdon]

It wasn't last night, but it's summer, and time moves differently. A mate of mine showed Norman Wisdom's On the Beat (1962) on his huge wall-size screen to an audience of three adults and three children aged 6, 10 and 12. Everybody loved every second. Excellent.

[screenglued]

Alex: A Life Fast Forward (BBC3) - an amazing programme about an extraordinary young man who crammed a lifetime into 22 years and 5 days.

That was shown here (Australia) a couple of years ago - a moving, uplifting portrait of a very determined young man - remarkable.

Last Night - Very Annie Mary - delightfully quirky comedy set in Wales with lots of stereotypical characters - loved it!

[Gerald Lovell]

The Resident (2010). The first of the "new" Hammer films, filmed in the USA, and the first third is quite effective and well directed. Sadly the whole thing veers off after that in a rather tasteless retread of the madman threatening the nice girl storyline. Christopher Lee appears briefly to maintain his connection with Hammer, but the end result is quite a disappointment. Some nudity from executive producer Hilary Swank or her body double.

[rose ellen]

I was looking forward to watching I`ll Never Forget whats `isname on the french import I brought from Amazon to replace my copy.The picture was a very good quality but the lip sync was so badly out that I gave up on it half way through which was dissapointing.

[Tigon Man]

The Double Man (1967)

Glum spy thriller with Yul Brynner as a bald angry CIA man investigating his sons death in the Austrian Tyrol.
Moira Lister, Britt Ekland and Clive Revill co star.

[Gerald Lovell]

Murder She Said (1961). The first, though I don't think the best, of the Miss Marple films. There seems to be a big jump in the logic of the plot towards the end when Miss M, seemingly baffled, suddenly knows who did what to whom and why. The film is still good entertainment though with a winning performance by Margaret Rutherford and a superb score by Ron Goodwin.

[Dame Starry]

That was shown here (Australia) a couple of years ago - a moving, uplifting portrait of a very determined young man - remarkable.

That isn't possible. It was filmed between last summer (2010) and February this year (2011) when he passed away 5 days after he got married.
You must have seen something similar.

[screenglued]

That isn't possible. It was filmed between last summer (2010) and February this year (2011) when he passed away 5 days after he got married.
You must have seen something similar.

Oops! must be thinking of something else, or perhaps not so long ago. The documentary I'm thinking of portrayed a student who undertook, with the enthusiastic support of his family and school, to rehearse and conduct a musical event (forget what it was), while having a medical problem that was soon to take his life.

[dpgmel]

Well I started to watched the recent British film Ironclad starring James Purefoy, Brian Cox and Derek Jacobi in a kind of Magnificent Seven set during the reign of King John.

Very poor and after about 49 minutes I gave up on it sad what some very talented actors will do for money......

[Dame Starry]

Oops! must be thinking of something else, or perhaps not so long ago. The documentary I'm thinking of portrayed a student who undertook, with the enthusiastic support of his family and school, to rehearse and conduct a musical event (forget what it was), while having a medical problem that was soon to take his life.

See: A Lifetime In Three Years

[Steve Crook]

We Joined the Navy (1962). Nice cast shame about the film as Lt. Cdr. Kenneth More tries to keep three Officer trainees Derek Fowlds (swot), Jeremy Lloyd (twit) and Dinsdale Landen (man of action) in line as they are seconded to a US Navy ship commanded by Admiral Lloyd Nolan. A host of welcome faces appear including Sid James, John Le Mesurier and Warren Mitchell. but even with the undoubted charm of star More this is heavy going thanks to a pretty feeble script.

The books are even better

John Winton (aka Lt Cmdr John Pratt) wrote a series of them, loosely and humorously based on his experiences of going through Brittania Royal Navy College, Dartmouth and then his experiences in the service. Starting with "We Joined the Navy" written in 1959 and then continuing through the 1960s & 70s. He tried a few later additions in the 1980s & 90s but they weren't as good (IMO).

Most of the earlier ones featured "The Artful Bodger" (Lt Cmdr Badger, played by Kenneth More in the film) as the cadets' training officer.

They were essential reading for anyone considering a career in the Royal Navy, as I was for some time.

Winton also wrote a lot of non-fiction books about events and people in the history of the Navy

Steve

[Windthrop]

Sir John Mills Moving Memories - finally got down to watching this nostalgia fest after promising myself for years. Verdict - the sort of thing you should watch when in an indulgent mood with a good glass of wine. The best bits in a way were not the amazing 16mm colour star-studded home movies (though they were fascinating in their own way) but the analysis of screen acting by Dickie Attenborough and Mills himself.

Give it a go on a rainy afternoon after Sunday lunch - you might enjoy it.

[smudge]

Amongst the very varied stuff watched in the past few days (Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang ; Crooks In Cloisters - and many more) I watched a bunch of old, deliberately saved, TV Ads, continuities and other bits. There's nothing like it for making you think how time has concertina'd upon itself for you in recent years.

Particularly of interest to compare prices/interest rates from 20+ years ago and to note how many (what were then) well-known brands have disappeared or changed in so (relatively) short a space of time. Simultaneously trivial, ephemeral and fascinating...

Smudge

[Sgt Sunshine]

Another of the riveting films from Director Ingmar Bergman "Persona" (1966) part of the Film4 season....
Slow paced & strange starring Bibi Andersson & Liv Ullmann. I am now quite fascinated by this director...



8.5/10
Cheers
Sgt S

[cassidy]

Sorted through some old videos that I'd taped years ago and found some beauties. Kicked off last night with "The Long Arm" (1956) with Jack Hawkins and some decent regulars including Sydney Tafler, Geoffrey Keen, Sam Kydd, and even Nicholas Parsons playing a PC. Hawkins plays a world weary Superintendant on the trail of a master safecracker. I believe this was the last Ealing film actually made at Ealing Studios. Followed this on the same tape with a tribute to Peter Sellers of which I did'nt get the first 15 minutes or so and started watching "It's Great to be Young" before slumber overtook me.

[screenglued]

Also a Jack Hawkins film - The League of Gentlemen (1960) - wonderful - seen it many times and never tire of it.

[Elaine]

Hobsons Choice. I forgot what a funny, feel good film this is. John Mills shines in it, and I must add, so do the rest of the cast. What a little gem.

[Sgt Sunshine]

Hobsons Choice. I forgot what a funny, feel good film this is. John Mills shines in it, and I must add, so do the rest of the cast. What a little gem.

I've read somewhere that Hobsons Choice was John's favourite film........and one of mine too
Cheers
Sgt S

[CaptainWaggett]

I watched John Harlow's 1950's b movie Delayed Action, Robert Ayres falls into the clutches of master criminals Alan Wheatley and Bruce Seton and is persuaded to forfeit his life in exchange for ready cash.

A pretty prepostrous plot is saved by Mr Wheatley's suave performance ( although it's never explained where his illgotten gains have come from ).

I'd recommend it to b movie fans and I know there's a lot of you out there in Britmvie land

Thanks to a kindly forum member I was able to watch this last night. Top notch (though slightly preposterous ) viewing and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks queer cinema started with Victim . As so often with these films, the only fly in the ointment is the woodenness of the US b-lister shoehorned in to get free thesping classes from some fine character actors.

[Harbottle]

Thanks to a kindly forum member I was able to watch this last night. Top notch (though slightly preposterous ) viewing and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks queer cinema started with Victim . As so often with these films, the only fly in the ointment is the woodenness of the US b-lister shoehorned in to get free thesping classes from some fine character actors.

Yet another viewer thanks to a kindly Britmovian, I must agree this was quite a decent watch at under an hour although bonkers obviously. It must be said that Robert Ayres was one of the poorer B imports, but nasty Bruce Seton and Machiavellian Alan Wheatley more than made up for it. I'm not convinced that Alan and Bruce were going to run off together though, but maybe their cattiness was just an act.