Jon Finch plays Richard Ian Blaney in 'Frenzy'. He approaches the Nell of Old Drury, Catherine Street, Covent Garden.
20 April 2006
Stars of stage and screen # 11: Benita Hume
Reverse reads:
A series of 48, no 26
Benita Hume was born in 1906 and studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making her debutat the age of 17 at Drury Lane. She is well known on stage and screen on both sides of the Atlantic, having toured Canada in her big success, "Symphony in Two Flats", which had long runs in both London and New York. Recently filming in England, she played in "The Private Life of Henry VIII," "Don Juan," and "Jew Suss."
Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd. Virginia House. London and Belfast.
IMDB entry for Benita Hume, link.
Benita, it seems later than the above was published (I estimate 1934) was married to Ronald Colman. Picture of them together, link.
19 April 2006
Angie Dickinson
The post, by Tom Sutpen of If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger... that started it all, link.
Flickhead and Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule for more on Angie Dickinson today.
Dream Double Bill # 13 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Sisters'
This double bill is part of the Angie Dickinson blog-a-thon taking place today.
The observant amongst you will quickly realise that this isn’t an Angie Dickinson double bill but a Brian DePalma double bill. This wasn’t my intention, but looking out for Angie Dickinson films for today, the first of which I watched was ‘Dressed to Kill’ which I hadn’t seen. Shortly after there was a double bill of 'Carrie' and 'Sisters', the later I hadn’t seen.
It seemed to me that two of the key elements used by DePalma in ‘Sisters’ are also used again later in ‘Dressed to Kill’, namely the split screen and the more than passing influence of Hitchcock and that they’d work well as a double bill.
Some links:
The Making of 'Dressed to Kill', including some insight from Angie Dickinson herself, I like the quote "Let them think it's Tahiti, even it is Burbank" on the shower scene, link.
An interview with Brian DePalma from Filmaker's Newsletter, September 1973 , just after 'Sisters' was released, link.
Directed by Brian DePalma site, review of 'Dressed to Kill', link.
The observant amongst you will quickly realise that this isn’t an Angie Dickinson double bill but a Brian DePalma double bill. This wasn’t my intention, but looking out for Angie Dickinson films for today, the first of which I watched was ‘Dressed to Kill’ which I hadn’t seen. Shortly after there was a double bill of 'Carrie' and 'Sisters', the later I hadn’t seen.
It seemed to me that two of the key elements used by DePalma in ‘Sisters’ are also used again later in ‘Dressed to Kill’, namely the split screen and the more than passing influence of Hitchcock and that they’d work well as a double bill.
Some links:
The Making of 'Dressed to Kill', including some insight from Angie Dickinson herself, I like the quote "Let them think it's Tahiti, even it is Burbank" on the shower scene, link.
An interview with Brian DePalma from Filmaker's Newsletter, September 1973 , just after 'Sisters' was released, link.
Directed by Brian DePalma site, review of 'Dressed to Kill', link.
17 April 2006
Mizoguchi season at NFT
I think this programme is from the mid 1960's, although I'm not certain of this.
Camera Studies # 9: Jose Dalmaine
Reverse reads: In Firth Shephard's new muical comedy, "Running Riot" at the Prince's Theatre, London.
Stars of stage and screen # 10: Jeanne Stuart
Reverse reads:
A series of 48, no 15
Jeanne Stuart, born in 1908, made her debut on the New York Stage in "Nine Till Six." In London she scored a big success in John Van Druten's play "After All" followed by "It's a Girl" and "Roadhouse." Her film career started in 1931 with "Mischief" and her later films are "Leap Year" and "The Great Defender," which is Matheson Lang's new production. This famous actor's portrait is No.27 in this series, and Margaret Bannerman, also appearing in his new film is No. 38.
Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd. Virginia House. London and Belfast.
Jeanne Stuart seemed to have led a very interesting life insofar as she had a three year relationship with James Stewart and afterwards married into the Rothschild family. There seem to be very few images on the internet of Jeanne, I could find only one.
Links:
Wikipedia entry for Jeanne Stuart, link.
IMDB entry, link.
Obituary from The Sydney Morning Herald, reproduced from The Daily Telegraph, London link.
16 April 2006
Dream Double Bill # 12 'King of Kings' and 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew'
This week's double bill is timed to coincide with Easter Sunday. In my opinion two of the greatest films about Jesus; ‘King of Kings’ (1961) directed by Nicholas Ray and ‘The Gospel According to St. Matthew’ / ‘Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo’ (1964) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
According to Nicholas Ray’s biography; ‘An American Journey’ by Bernard Eisenshitz ‘King of Kings’ was originally to be titled ‘Son of Man’, and how they registered the title with the MPAA as Cecil B DeMille had not registered the title in the 1920’s when he made ‘The King of Kings’.
For me ‘King of Kings’ is a great epic and everything an epic should be. I enjoyed the voice over by Orson Welles (written by Ray Bradbury), the music and of course the imagery, particularly the scene where the crucifix is raised and the camera follows.
According to Nicholas Ray’s biography; ‘An American Journey’ by Bernard Eisenshitz ‘King of Kings’ was originally to be titled ‘Son of Man’, and how they registered the title with the MPAA as Cecil B DeMille had not registered the title in the 1920’s when he made ‘The King of Kings’.
For me ‘King of Kings’ is a great epic and everything an epic should be. I enjoyed the voice over by Orson Welles (written by Ray Bradbury), the music and of course the imagery, particularly the scene where the crucifix is raised and the camera follows.
15 April 2006
Jacques Rivette : A Cinema of Paradox
From last Thursday until 31st May the National Film Theatre has a Jacques Rivette retrospective, official link. The season kicked off with a new print of 'Paris nous appartient' (Paris belongs to us) from which this still is taken.
IMDB entry for Jacques Rivette.
Senses of Cinema article.
Stars of stage and screen # 9 : Enid Stamp-Taylor
Reverse reads:
A series of 48, no 13
Upon leaving school Enid Stamp-Taylor won a beauty competition and appeared in Andre Charlot's revenue. After only three months she was playing prominent parts in musical comedy and revue. Her stage successes include "Madame Pompadour", "R.S.V.P." and "Gay Love" (in the film version of which she is now playing). She has been filming for some years, and her other pictures include "Money on the Air" and "Virginia's Husband."
Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd. Virginia House. London and Belfast.
Enid Stamp-Taylor IMDB entry, link.
She worked with Alfred Hitchcock in 1927 for 'Easy Virtue' aside from 'The Wicked Lady' and 'The Lambeth Walk' the other films listed on IMDB are all new to me. This card dates this series at 1934 or thereabouts, the year "Gay Love" was released.
From the archive: Nico I'm Not Sayin' / The Last Mile
Originally released on Immediate Records in 1965 # IM003.
14 April 2006
11 April 2006
09 April 2006
Stars of stage and screen # 8 : Owen Nares
Reverse reads:
A series of 48, no 12
Born in 1888, Owen Nares has had an almost continuous West End stage career since 1908. His chief successes were in "The Calendar", "Cynara", "Pleasure Cruise" and "Sixteen" one of the most succesful plays of 1934. He made his film debut in 1934 with "Loose Ends", with Adrianne Allen, whose portrait is No. 44 in this series. He has since appeared in several British films, including "The Middle Watch", "Sunshine Susie" and "One Precious Year".
Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd. Virginia House. London and Belfast.
Owen Nares, IMDB link.
Photograph of Owen Nares by Bassano at National Portrait Gallery.
08 April 2006
Coming attraction: I am a Sex Addict
I guess this is what you'd call a viral or word of mouth marketing campaign for this independent film 'I am a Sex Addict' written, directed, co-produced and starring in an autobiographical role Caveh Zahedi. The film opened on April 5th in San Francisco and will be in New York on April 12th. No word yet on a European release date.
Actually the film, looks interesting as it's based on Zahedi's own experiences. Reading the notes from IFC Films who are releasing the film Zahedi went to Switzerland to try to work with Godard.
IMDB link.
Official site, trailer etc.
The director and stars video blog, link.
The distributor has three signed copies of the film poster to give away, but this promo is open only to North America. If you are interested please email me and I will pass your information on for them to send you the poster.
06 April 2006
From the archive : Tom Courtney sings Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter and other songs from the ATV production 'The Lads'
Trevor Peacock link on IMDB.
The TV show 'The Lads' which I've never heard of, is not listed on Tom Courtenay's IMDB entry, link.
I did, once try to watch the film 'Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter' much to my suprise the Mrs. Brown of the title turned out to be a greyhound, quite suprising when I'd been looking at this EP sleeve from 1963. Link.
27 March 2006
Abel Ferrara : Not Guilty
What do we learn about the director, his style and how he works, his background, his influences, the film making process and about him in general in this documentary from French film maker?
My initial reaction to viewing this documentary from 2003 made by Rafi Pitts was we don’t learn very much at all from watching ‘Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty’ but on second viewing there are pointers, signposts to what Ferrara is like as a film maker from what he is like in this documentary:
- Ferrara plays piano and guitar. If there is an instrument around, he might just pick it up and burst into song, maybe one he has written about inner city life.
- He is admired by those around him for his ability to perform many task at once, hold a cell phone, look at a script.
- He talks a lot, maybe even all the time. During periods of rest, when the film shows him lying on a bed or a sofa, Ferrara continues to talk albeit at a slower pace. I am left wondering if he sleeps at all for pro-longed period.
- He’s a nightbird, after filming a music video for Abenaa we see him make it out onto the New York streets at 07.00, he seems very comfortable late at night and early morning throughout the film.
- He’s something of a raconteur, always a story, always something to say, quick witted. If asked he may even talk about the film making process, the budget, the set up for a car chase in ‘King of New York’, how the actors said their lines in ‘New Rose Hotel’ and the locations in the meat packing district and how they were used in ‘Bad Lieutenant’. He tells us how Sean Penn apologised after the producers didn’t want Ferrara to make the US segment on ‘11’09’01 – September 11’.
- Maybe because of his appearance but more likely because of his nature the guitar shop assistant threw him out first time he visited.
- For the most part his preferred mode of transport is taxi, if the film is any indication of real life he lives half of his time in taxis. We also see him strolling through the streets looking for this place or that place.
‘Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty’ does not use voice over narration, interviews with other film makers or peers, multiple clips from films (although clips of ‘Bad Lieutenant’ and ‘New Rose Hotel’ are briefly shown) interviews with critics or even interviews in general are not used as such. Pitts simply follows Ferrara over a period that I estimate to be a couple of days and we learn what happens during those days only. What we do see of the film maker is a brief audition, first at an apartment, later continued it seems at a restaurant and toward the end of the film a rehearsal, it’s not much but for me at least it gives me a sense of who he is.
IMDB link for 'Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty'.
Footnote. I didn’t have images to use but if I had I would have run a dream double bill - Ferrara’s ‘The Addiction’ with George A. Romero’s ‘Martin: The Vampire’ as two of the more interesting modern day vampire films.
For more on Ferrara go to Girish's post and list, link.
My initial reaction to viewing this documentary from 2003 made by Rafi Pitts was we don’t learn very much at all from watching ‘Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty’ but on second viewing there are pointers, signposts to what Ferrara is like as a film maker from what he is like in this documentary:
- Ferrara plays piano and guitar. If there is an instrument around, he might just pick it up and burst into song, maybe one he has written about inner city life.
- He is admired by those around him for his ability to perform many task at once, hold a cell phone, look at a script.
- He talks a lot, maybe even all the time. During periods of rest, when the film shows him lying on a bed or a sofa, Ferrara continues to talk albeit at a slower pace. I am left wondering if he sleeps at all for pro-longed period.
- He’s a nightbird, after filming a music video for Abenaa we see him make it out onto the New York streets at 07.00, he seems very comfortable late at night and early morning throughout the film.
- He’s something of a raconteur, always a story, always something to say, quick witted. If asked he may even talk about the film making process, the budget, the set up for a car chase in ‘King of New York’, how the actors said their lines in ‘New Rose Hotel’ and the locations in the meat packing district and how they were used in ‘Bad Lieutenant’. He tells us how Sean Penn apologised after the producers didn’t want Ferrara to make the US segment on ‘11’09’01 – September 11’.
- Maybe because of his appearance but more likely because of his nature the guitar shop assistant threw him out first time he visited.
- For the most part his preferred mode of transport is taxi, if the film is any indication of real life he lives half of his time in taxis. We also see him strolling through the streets looking for this place or that place.
‘Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty’ does not use voice over narration, interviews with other film makers or peers, multiple clips from films (although clips of ‘Bad Lieutenant’ and ‘New Rose Hotel’ are briefly shown) interviews with critics or even interviews in general are not used as such. Pitts simply follows Ferrara over a period that I estimate to be a couple of days and we learn what happens during those days only. What we do see of the film maker is a brief audition, first at an apartment, later continued it seems at a restaurant and toward the end of the film a rehearsal, it’s not much but for me at least it gives me a sense of who he is.
IMDB link for 'Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty'.
Footnote. I didn’t have images to use but if I had I would have run a dream double bill - Ferrara’s ‘The Addiction’ with George A. Romero’s ‘Martin: The Vampire’ as two of the more interesting modern day vampire films.
For more on Ferrara go to Girish's post and list, link.
26 March 2006
Camera Studies # 8: Isobel Hague
Reverse reads: 'Isobel Hague from the Paradise Club'.
Can anyone offer any further information on Isobel? Internet searches aren't really throwing up anything.
23 March 2006
Laurence Harvey
From the current issue of Sight and Sound which features an article on Harvey entitled 'A dandy in aspic'.
20 March 2006
Oleg Cassini
Oleg Cassini and Gene Tierney.
Today, I read that Oleg Cassini had recently passed away (March 17th). The obituary in The Daily Telegraph has a picture of of him and a seperate picture of Jackie Kennedy. Only this past weekend I was watching a documentary on Gene Tierney 'Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait' that had extensive interviews with Mr Cassini.
A very interesting fellow it seems. Here are some links for your persual:
The Daily Telegraph obituary, link.
Wikipedia entry, link.
The Oleg Cassini website, link.
19 March 2006
Krzysztof Kieslowski revisited at NFT in March
I still need to get a copy of 'Blind Chance' on DVD, what a great film that was, what a great director Kieslowski was.
Stars of stage and screen # 7 : Edna Best
Reverse reads:
A series of 48 , no 11.
Born in 1900, made her London debut in the evergreen "Charley's Aunt", since appearing in many famous plays, including "The Constant Nymph", "The High Road" and "Michael and Mary." In the last-named her popular husband, Herbert Marshall, played with her, and he has also appeared in her films, "The Faithful Heart" and "The Calendar." In "The Key" she was supported by Colin Clive, whose portrait is No. 28 in this series.
Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd. Virginia House. London and Belfast.
IMDB link for Edna Best. I've only seen her in 'Intermezzo' where she plays Leslie Howard's wife.
Similar, cigarette card portrait, link.
Dream Double Bill # 11 'That Obscure Object of Desire' and 'Lost Highway'
This week's double bill is on the theme of actresses and specifically how two directors and two films in particular to a certain extent 'play' with the viewer. First up is 'That Obscure Object of Desire' (1977) directed by Luis Bunuel in which the director uses two actresses to play the same roll. Followed by 'Lost Highway' (1997) directed by David Lynch in which the director uses the same actress to play two roles. Both films shared inspired casting and use of the actresses to excellent effect, further disorientating the viewer.
Wikipedia entry for 'That Obscure Object of Desire', link.
The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Lost Highway, link.
Wikipedia entry for 'That Obscure Object of Desire', link.
The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Lost Highway, link.
15 March 2006
06 March 2006
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