Monday 22 December 2014

Films on Freeview TV : Monday 22nd of December


White Christmas (1954 115min. ) [Ch4 11.50am &+1]

Musical starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. Old army buddies Phil Davis and Bob Wallace travel with the glamorous Haynes sisters to the Columbia Inn in Vermont. There, Phil and Bob are reunited with their old commanding officer, General Waverly, who is now struggling to keep the hotel going. The visitors decide there's only one answer - to put on a show.

There’s two really good thing on show here : Danny Kaye’s show stealing performance and the direction by Hollywood veteran Michael Curtiz (who also directed Casablanca). Bing gets to sing That Song and Vera-Ellen’s dancing is seriously impressive.

Red River (1948 127min.)( [5USA 12.10pm)
Conflict grows between a tough Texan rancher and his foster son during a long-distance cattle drive to Missouri. The older man's uncompromising methods and unyielding outlook lead his workers to mutiny - and finally pit father against son. Howard Hawks' Western, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru and Coleen Gray.

Not only one of the greatest Westerns ever to be made by Hollywood but also one of the classics of twentieth century mainstream US film making.
You have John Wayne’s best ever performance, Howard Hawks’ startling direction, Russell Harlan’s sumptuous photography, a mesmerising turn from a yong Montgomery Clift and a stirring Dimitri Tiomkin score.
A fantastic film that can be watched and enjoyed by those who don’t think they like westerns or John Wayne films and repays repeated watching by those who do. Superb.

The War Of The Worlds (1953 81min.) [Film4 12.50pm &+1]
Science-fiction adventure, starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. With their civilisation on the verge of extinction, the Martians scan the solar system and conclude that only the Earth is fit for colonisation. The human race faces its greatest challenge as a Martian invasion force is launched.

Terrific 1950s US sci-fi genre telling of the classic HG Wells story. Gene Barry is a confident, rugged leading man well used by skilled director Byron Haskin who also makes the very best of Gordon Jennings' well done special effects as well as getting believable performances from the cast and many extras, who have to react to the effects that they (obviously) can’t see.

The Railway Children (1970 104min.) [ITV 2.55pm &+1]
Classic period drama based on the novel by E Nesbit, starring Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren. When a government official is arrested on suspicion of treason, his wife and three children are forced to leave their London home and move to a small cottage in Yorkshire. While their mother fights for her husband's release, the children have marvellous adventures.

"Daddy! My Daddy!" blub

Cinderella (1950 74min.) [BBC1 4.00pm]
Freeview premiere
Classic animated romantic fantasy from Disney, based on the popular children's story by Charles Perrault. The beautiful Cinderella endures a life of hardship with her malicious stepmother. But when the downtrodden girl loses her shoe at a ball, Prince Charming is determined to find its owner.

Not in the first rank of Disney Golden Age films but the songs are good ( Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes) and younger viewers will get pleasure from seeing the familiar story told in a slightly different way thanks to the Disney additions of an evil cat and singing mice.

Guys And Dolls (1955 143min.) [BBC4 7.00pm]
Musical comedy based on Damon Runyon's short stories, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. Hustler Nathan Detroit searches for a new location for his dice game while being pursued by the police. When he finds a suitable garage, he makes a $1,000 bet with slick gambler Sky Masterson to raise the necessary finance. However, that means Sky must persuade a pious young missionary to go to Havana to have dinner, or else he loses the wager.

A spectacular success that could so easily have been a total disaster. Everything about the film is perfect – from the incorporation of Runyon’s heavily stylised speech patterns & use of slang in the original stories – through the casting of a non-singer and a non-dancer in roles that required them to sing and dance and the fantastic use that’s made of Jean Simmons .
There’s Stubby Kaye’s amusing comedy turn in the supporting cast, some wonderful Frank Loesser songs, great chorography from Michael Kidd and Joseph L Mankiewicz’s confident, assured, light touch direction.
A real treat.

The Tree Of Life (2010 133min.) [Ch4 1.55am &+1]
Drama from director Terrence Malick, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain. The origins of life on Earth provide a backdrop to a middle-aged man's musings about his upbringing in Waco, Texas, in the 1950s.
Critics and audiences had wildly different views of Malick’s ambitious fifth film.
For the record : I loved it.

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