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Courtesy of StudioCanal

by James Cameron-wilson

An Inspector Calls, freshly minted with a pristine print of pin-sharp clarity, was originally written as a play by J.B. Priestley and remains a damning indictment of England’s hypocritical upper middle-classes. Set in 1912 in the north Midlands, the play premiered in 1945 in Moscow of all places, before coming to London a year later and to Broadway a year after that. I can’t tell you who was in the Russian version, but in the West End the titular character was taken by Sir Ralph Richardson, with Margaret Leighton, Harry Andrews and, in the Bryan Forbes part, none other than Alec Guinness. Imagine seeing that bunch on the London stage! I say the Bryan Forbes part, as it was he who had one of his best roles as Eric Birling in the 1954 film, running the gamut from embarrassing drunk to tipsy flirt to indignant...

Sim is superbly insinuating as the detective arriving with a few questions for the complacent residents of a grand Edwardian home

Jb Priestley’s drawing-room melodrama of Edwardian guilt and fear is rereleased for its 70th anniversary; it is an intricate clockwork mechanism ticking inexorably to the final reveal, with beautiful monochrome cinematography and thoroughbred character-actor faces looming out of the screen like a bad dream. It was adapted by Desmond Davis from Priestley’s stage play, directed by Guy Hamilton and unforgettably stars Alastair Sim as the implacable Inspector Poole, with his cool professional insolence, a needling, insinuating manner and sonorously droll voice; it is a performance to put alongside Sim’s Scrooge and his Professor Potter in School for Scoundrels.

It is 1912, and the inspector arrives unexpectedly at the sumptuous home of well-to-do magistrate and captain of industry Arthur Birling (Arthur Young), who is hosting a dinner party...

Studiocanal are proud to announce the release of a spectacular 4K restoration of the gripping mystery thriller An Inspector Calls (1954) for its 70th Anniversary this year, available on 4K Uhd, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from 7 October, so to celebrate we are giving away a 4K Uhd & Blu-Ray to a lucky winner!

Based on J.B. Priestley’s classic stage play, the film stars the incomparable Alastair Sim (A Christmas Carol), Arthur Young (The Lady with a Lamp), Jane Wenham (The Teckman Mystery), Olga Lindo (Sapphire), Brian Worth (Holiday Week) and Eileen More (The Green Man). The new restoration will be available for the first time on 4K Uhd plus 4K Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 7 October.

The Birling family are rich, pampered and complacent. It is 1912, and the shadow of the impending war has yet to fall across their lives. As they sit down to dinner one night, a knock at...

After strategically withholding Napoleon from the festival circuit, Ridley Scott went guerilla instead, launching his controversial military epic into cinemas like a carefully-thrown hand grenade. The tactic worked, overriding critical reviews that tore apart its history, its script and even its star, Joaquin Phoenix, to give Scott a $200 million worldwide gross. Overlooked in the fallout was a terrific performance by Rupert Everett as the Duke of Wellington, the stiff-upper-lip Brit who proves to be Napoleon’s nemesis at the Battle of Waterloo. Here, the laconic British actor reflects on the influences that fed into his portrayal of the Iron Duke.

Deadline: How did you get involved with the Napoleon project?

Rupert Everett: It just came up out of the blue. I love Ridley Scott, so I was thrilled to take part, really. I’m a fan of the Duke of Wellington too, so it was exciting.

Deadline: What was your take on Wellington?...

“Christmas is not about money,” says Pepper (Jillian Bell), the passive-aggressive Christmas store elf in “Candy Cane Lane.” “Except that it is.” She could almost be describing Christmas movies. From the start, they’ve paired a celebration of the Christmas spirit, in all its enveloping toastiness, with a theme of raw economic desperation. You can trace this right back to the original Christmas movie — “A Christmas Carol,” and by that I don’t even mean the assorted film versions (though I grew up with them and especially loved the 1951 version with Alastair Sim) but the Charles Dickens novella, published in 1843, which essentially invented the modern Christmas.

It was a tale built around money, and the fear of poverty as embodied in Bob Cratchit. A century later, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was essentially a remake of “A Christmas Carol,” albeit it with a small-town American mensch at the center and Scrooge...

These days it seems like Christmas and horror go together like hot cocoa and candy canes sharpened to a deadly point, but in the long history of film, this is a relatively recent development. Of course there are a few exceptions, but before 1972, it was a rarity to enjoy a vicious Christmas at the local theater. As to why horror was not set at Christmas for so long is an interesting question. Perhaps it was considered off limits to use what many consider a sacred holiday for such dark purposes. But then, holidays of any kind, including Halloween, were rarely seen in horror films before the seventies. In those days, studios would often roll out their theatrical releases over long periods of time, and limiting the reliable market fulfilled by horror films to the small window of the holiday season was likely a risk they were unwilling to take. In the golden age of Hollywood,...

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens was embraced by the British public from the moment it first dropped in 1843; it was an instant bestseller and the work has never been out of print since (via ThoughtCo). Almost 60 years later, the festive tale took a leap to the new-fangled medium of cinema with "Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost" in 1901. That title hinted at a vision of Film Adaptations Yet to Come; Scrooge was the star of the show and would become a juicy role for dozens of famous actors over the next 120 years.

Since Daniel Smith donned Scrooge's nightcap in that pioneering first adaptation, George C. Scott, Albert Finney, Reginald Owen, Patrick Stewart, and Henry Winkler have all given their distinctive take on the role, while Alastair Sim remains many people's definitive version of the character. Bill Murray put a modern spin on the tale in "Scrooged," while in animation we've had Mr. Magoo,...

December is not quite here yet, but for some of us, it’s already beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Thanksgiving is over, and the grimness of Black Friday too. So with the passing of those uniquely American traditions, the biggest holiday event for millions of film lovers is on the horizon. And some want to start celebrating now.

For that reason, we’ve collected the below streaming guide of holiday favorites, old and new, so you know exactly where to find your favorite Christmas movies this year. We’ve generally based this on where they’re available to watch without an additional surcharge on top of a subscription. In other words, we’re leaving off that most of these movies will be available to rent on demand for a fee from Amazon, Apple, or your other preferred video on demand platform. We also have based this list on American streaming service libraries.

To mark the release of Innocents in Paris, out now, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Innocents In Paris features a motley collection of British tourists on a wild and wonderful weekend in Paris, with each character finding that the city welcomes them and changes their lives in different ways.

An English diplomat (Alastair Sim) is on a working trip to obtain an agreement with his Russian counterpart; a Royal Marine bandsman (Ronald Shiner) has a night out on the tiles after winning a pool of the French currency held by all the Marines in his band; a young woman (Claire Bloom) is wined and dined by an older Parisian man (Claude Dauphin) who gives her a tour of Paris; an amateur artist (Margaret Rutherford) searches out fellow painters on the Left Bank and in the Louvre; a hearty Englishman (Jimmy Edwards) spends the entire weekend...

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“HITCH, The Unreliable NARRATORâ€.

By Raymond Benson

The decade of the 1950s is generally considered to be director Alfred Hitchcock’s most glorious period, stocked with some of his acknowledged masterpieces of cinema. Those ten years didn’t begin so promisingly, though.

In the late 1940s, Hitchcock had finally broken away from the smothering contract he had under producer David O. Selznick, and he had set out with a partner to form his own production company, Transatlantic. The company made two box office losers—Rope, and Under Capricorn. Transatlantic bombed, but Hitchcock continued to work with Warner Brothers, the studio that had distributed these two titles.

Stage Fright was made at Elstree Studios in England and employed an all British crew and cast except for the two female leads, Jane Wyman (under contract at Warners) and veteran star Marlene Dietrich. The male...

Alfred Hitchcock puts Jane Wyman in harm’s way, as she tries to rescue her unworthy boyfriend Richard Todd from a murder charge. Is Jane proving her love, or are both of them being manipulated by a scheming actress, Marlene Dietrich? This is the movie in which Hitch inflicts a ‘frump complex’ on Ms. Wyman — she looks demoralized whenever she shares the screen with Dietrich. It’s also the movie that ponders the cinematic concept of ‘The Lying Flashback,’ which made perfect sense to Hitchcock but frustrated his audience. Also starring Michael Wilding, Alastair Sim and a cherry-picked list of English acting royalty.

Stage Fright

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date January 25, 2022 / 21.99

Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, Miles Malleson, Joyce Grenfell, André Morell, Patricia Hitchcock, Alfie Bass, Irene Handl. Lionel Jeffries.

Cinematography:...

Festive movies have never been more popular – and there’s nothing like a classic. Here are some to enjoy now, from Scrooged to Paddington to You’ve Got Mail

The original Ebenezer is, of course, Alastair Sim. Ideally, I like to watch this on an old videotape with the early 1980s BBC logo and announcer before the film starts. Every Christmas, we would watch Mr Sim transform from a hard, cold, pastry-faced man into a very huggable uncle. Just thinking about it makes my eyes well. I sit down with my kids to watch Scrooge as often as I can get away with it, and I’m always moved by this wonderful film.

Cait Hurley, trainee Alexander technique teacher and domiciliary carer, Mitcham...

As regular as Christmas clockwork, no sooner do the evenings begin to draw in and the firesides begin to warm the house with their soft glow, the seasonal TV and movie schedules come out. We all have our yuletide favourites – well-remembered classics from our childhood which sit alongside more recent festive fare – but one story reigns high above all else as the perfect Christmas tale.

Alastair Sim – putting the Og in ScroOGe back in ’51.

There have been many dozens of adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol over the years. Some set their scene in the traditional Victoriana of Dickens’ tale, others go farther afield, gender-swapping Scrooge or even anthropomorphise him as with the 1998 video classic – An All Dogs Christmas Carol. Anyone can be rich and redeemed! Those interested in becoming as wealthy as Mr. S can stop off at refuelcasino to try their hand at amassing their own well-stocked counting house.

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“A Comedy Of Errors”

By Raymond Benson

Alastair Sim was a national treasure in Great Britain, a comic actor who never failed to make one smile or outright guffaw. His Scrooge proved that he could also take a serious turn as well. This reviewer likens him to an early sort of John Cleese—an irreverent player who could do irony, surrealism, farce, wicked delight, and pure outrageousness within the confines of a somewhat realistic human being of a character.

As the star of The Green Man (1956), Sim plays an assassin named Harry Hawkins. Yes, that’s right, Alastair Sim is a mad bomber who takes it upon himself to get rid of the pompous blowhards in Britain, whether they be boring politicians or unctuous professors. He even has a Peter Lorre-like assistant, McKechnie (John Chandos), who is willing to obey Harry, even...

Just how many Christmas Carols do we need? The earliest that stands out in my memory was dear old Alastair Sim, first grumping, then mugging his way through the lines with which we have all become so familiar. Fast forward to the Seventies and we have a rather less than impressive musical version with Albert Finney in the lead role. The Eighties brought us Scrooged, Bill Murray’s sociopathic rendering of the story. This was followed not long after by The Muppets Christmas Carol, perhaps the finest version yet, with Michael Caine delivering one of my favourite Scrooges.

I was tempted, at this point, to remark that those productions aspiring to the status of serious film tend to reference the Christmas Carol in their titles, as George C Scott in 1984, the less serious to go with Scrooge. Except the Muppets opted for the former. So maybe not. At any rate,...

Special Bonus Episode – Author/filmmaker/Hitchcock Laurent Bouzereau expert discusses five Hitchcock movies he wishes got more love.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)

Rear Window (1954)

Psycho (1960)

Vertigo (1958)

The Birds (1963)

Matinee (1993)

Marnie (1964)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Rope (1948)

Dial M For Murder (1954)

Dr. No (1962)

Family Plot (1976)

Explorers (1985)

Body Double (1984)

Stage Fright (1950)

Scrooge (1951)

The Wrong Man (1956)

Citizen Kane (1941)

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

Suspicion (1941)

Torn Curtain (1966)

North By Northwest (1959)

Topaz (1969)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Young And Innocent (1937)

Waltzes from Vienna (1934)

Under Capricorn (1949)

Jamaica Inn (1939)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Other Notable Items

Laurent’s book Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind The Man (2004)

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Blu-ray collection (2020)

Thomas Narcejac

James Stewart

Laurent’s Five Came Back TV series (2014)

Kim Novak

Vera Miles

Grace Kelly

Tippi Hedren

Cary Grant

Alain Resnais

Ray Milland

Anthony Dawson

The Tower Theater in Philadelphia

Bruce Dern

Rod Taylor

Jessica Tandy

Craig Wasson

Suzanne Pleshette...

To mark the release of Laughter in Paradise on 29th June, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

The four remaining relatives of famed practical joker Henry Russell are brought together to hear his last will and testament, revealing a £50,000 inheritance for each of them, if they can complete a set task that is completely at odds with their character. The assignments are designed to reflect their greatest shortcomings and test their ability to adapt, and ultimately change for the better.

Law-abiding retired army officer Deniston (Alastair Sim) secretly writes scandalous novels, until he is given a week to get himself arrested for an actual crime and jailed for exactly 28 days. Haughty Agnes (Fay Compton) must find employment as a housekeeper in a middle-class home and retain her position for a month despite her disdain. Simon (Guy Middleton), a penniless womanising rogue, has to marry the first single woman he speaks to,...

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“Ealing Goes Scottish”

By Raymond Benson

The famous British studio, Ealing, made many kinds of pictures and became a major force in the U.K.’s film industry, especially after producer Michael Balcon took it over. While the studio had already made a few comedies, for some reason in the late 1940s it started producing more of them. The natures of these comedies shifted and became more intelligent, dry, and focused on underdog characters who valiantly attempt to overcome a series of obstacles. Sometimes the protagonists are successful—and sometimes not. Along the way, though, a series of misadventures occur. They range from “amusing” to “riotously funny.” It all worked, and the Ealing Comedies became a sub-genre unto themselves, especially when they starred the likes of Alec Guinness, Alastair Sim, or Stanley Holloway.

The year 1949 is generally considered the beginning of the run,...

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“An Alastair Sim Quartet”

By Raymond Benson

Alastair George Bell Sim, popularly known as Alastair Sim, was one of those great British actors famous for his remarkable facial features, physical presence, and vocal delivery. Primarily a renowned stage performer from the 1930s to the 1970s, Sim also made several films—mostly comedies, because he could do “irony” as well as, say, Alec Guinness. Sim is perhaps best-known for his definitive Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, but his work portraying acerbic and sarcastic characters in other pictures in the late 40s and through the 50s, is outstanding.

The impressive Film Movement label has released this 4-disk package that highlights a quartet of notable Alastair Sim appearances in what are deemed to be among the best post-war “very British” comedies. This was a time when Ealing Studios, for example, was making its mark in the genre.

Staring down his prey with sunken eyes and a sinister smile, Alastair Sim was the fiend Charles Addams never got around to drawing. Sim was a quick-change artist who didn’t need makeup to transform from a grasping monster into your favorite uncle – it’s why he remains the greatest interpreter of Ebenezer Scrooge. Whether playing a cold-blooded assassin in The Green Man or a kindly army chaplain in Folly to be Wise he understood as well as anyone why the masks of tragedy and comedy are intertwined.

Sim is one of those figures who’s been consigned to the history books for decades. But by releasing a Blu ray set of the great man’s comedies in 2020, Film Movement Classics, like Scrooge, hasn’t lost their senses – they’ve come to them.

Alastair Sim’s School for Laughter

Blu ray

Film Movement Classics

1954, ’60, ’51, ’47 / 1.67:1, 1.37:1 / 86, 97, 93, 82 min.

Starring Alastair Sim,...

To mark the release of The Green Man on 18th May, we’ve been given 2 copies to give on Blu-ray.

Alastair Sim plays Hawkins, a timid watchmaker with a part time job – he is also a professional assassin who bumps off the people we love to hate. But when the philandering MP Sir Gregory Upshott (Raymond Huntley) is the intended target, vacuum cleaner salesman William Blake (George Cole) and Hawkins’ new neighbour Ann Vincent (Jill Adams) repeatedly get in the way. As the time of the assassination draws ever closer and Hawkins tracks his victim to a dilapidated seaside hotel called the Green Man, the laughs and the tension steadily rise to a brilliant climax.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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Open to UK residents only The competition will close 18th May 2020 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at...

The British actor reflects on a year in which he was ‘everywhere’, from gritty TV drama The Virtues to Martin Scorsese’s starry gangster epic

Merseyside-born Stephen Graham, 46, discovered acting aged eight, before joining Liverpool’s Everyman youth theatre in his teens. His breakthrough role was his Bafta-nominated performance as skinhead Combo in Shane Meadows’s This Is England. His film credits include Snatch, Gangs of New York and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He also played Al Capone in HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. This year, he’s starred in The Virtues, Line of Duty, Rocketman and The Irishman. He now plays Jacob Marley in the BBC’s new adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Was A Christmas Carol a story that already meant something to you?

I watched the film with my nanna when I was 10 – the black-and-white one with Alastair Sim as Scrooge – and remember thinking what a brilliant,...

In 2018, Charles Dickens’ classic novella “A Christmas Carol” turns 175, but its utility as a springboard for movie and TV adaptations shows no signs of slowing down. It’s a classic story of regret and redemption, and its lead character Ebenezer Scrooge offers an arc from misery and cruelty to love and kindness that’s catnip for any actor or actress. (I watched a sleighful of Scrooges for my book “Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas” and am doing you the service of keeping the Barbie and “All Dogs Go to Heaven” versions off this list.)

Here’s a look at 20 performers who have put their own unique spin on “Bah! Humbug!”

Seymour Hicks, “Scrooge” (1935): There were a few silent versions, but this was the screen’s first talking Scrooge, in a version that’s early-talkie through and through, from the technical limitations to the big, theatrical performances, Hicks’ included.

Academic institutions are often said to be the making of us. Whether it is the rough and tumble of Grange Hill, the magic of Hogwarts, the threat of Oates Military Academy in Bill & Ted or to ponder on the Theory of everything with the promise of an Oxford Summer School, school life is ripe for the dramatic narrative. Many writers and directors have plundered the chaos and camaraderie of their school days for inspiration and, as most of us have our own early years’ education to compare, they will remain a popular choice for filmmakers.

To register our interest in this subject we aim to take a tour of some of the finest cinematic campuses. Though we’ll be holding our fists airward in solidarity with the American high schools of Ferris Bueller, The Breakfast Club, Ridgemont High and so on, we aim to take a look at those closer to home.

Our latest deep-dive into recent books on cinema is heavy on 2017 follow-ups. But there’s also a unique look at late Godard, a romp through holiday horror, and a visually inventive stroll through 101 memorable movies. Let’s march on, starting with every cinephile’s buddy, Guillermo del Toro.

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times by Gina McIntyre (Insight Editions)

Guillermo del Toro’s fairy tale romance The Shape of Water was heralded by some as one of 2017’s finest (I’m in that camp) or as 2017’s The Artist (boo). Wherever one stands in this debate, its aesthetic beauty is undeniable. In other words, Shape is more than deserving of the Insight Editions treatment. The book is a gorgeous concoction, filled with del Toro’s endearing sketches, effects tests, film stills, and, best of all, accompanying text that is smart and...

If you thought you’d seen the last of Roobla’s alphabetical rundowns with our Halloween effort, think again. With Christmas drawing ever closer, we couldn’t let the big one pass without the A-Z film treatment, so here we go…

A is for Alastair Sim. His performance in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol still remains the definitive portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge.

B is for Bruce Willis. You can even get Die Hard festive jumpers now – ho-ho-ho.

C is for Channel 5. This lot love to start early with the Yuletide flicks; in fact I’m sure I saw one during August Bank Holiday.

D is for Disney. From Snow White to Frozen, they’ve made family entertainment into an art form, especially at this time of year..

E is for elves. Played by Dudley Moore and Will Ferrell amongst others, they’ve served Santa well over the years.

He’s got debts, writer’s block, and a child on the way; a new film tells how Charles Dickens beat the odds to write everyone’s favourite Christmas story. Its star Dan Stevens reveals how he brought the writer to life

In the pecking order of Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol is second only to the baby Jesus. Even if you’ve never read it, or had it read to you, you know about that flinty-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemption during one long dark night of the soul.

Bill Murray, Albert Finney, Michael Caine and Alastair Sim have all played Scrooge in one of the endless film remakes and reboots there have been over the years. Now comes the story behind the story, The Man Who Invented Christmas: a heavily fictionalised biopic with Dan Stevens playing Charles Dickens, bashing out A Christmas Carol in six weeks...

I can’t even begin to recount the endless number of film, TV and stage projects that have tried to bring Charles Dickens’ immortal yuletide classic A Christmas Carol to life. From Alastair Sim’s textbook portrayal to the likes of Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, Albert Finney, the Muppets and even Mr. Magoo, you might think you’ve seen it all, but now along comes a complete original and a breath of fresh air to the saga of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past…...

As Les Standiford’s book would tell it, Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) found himself in somewhat of a creative rut after a lengthy and expensive tour of America post-Oliver Twist. He had published three flops since buying a new London home in need of wholesale remodeling and began watching his pocketbook dwindle along with his confidence. It was as though the autumn of 1843 presented him a make or break moment wherein he wasn’t certain he would ever write again. And then inspiration struck with the voice of a new maid (Anna Murphy’s Tara) telling the children Irish ghost stories before bed. This idea of Christmas Eve providing a doorway of sorts to the spiritual world planted itself in Dickens’ mind. Soon after Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer) was born.

The last thing anyone needs in 2017 is another adaptation of A Christmas Carol — especially since none have ever come...

Dan Stevens loves Christmas. Not in the way that everybody who Christmases loves Christmas, no, he is a Christmas tree up, hang the lights after Halloween kind of Christmas guy. "We enjoy it very much in our house. I have three kids now, so that's three times the fun," he says of daughters Willow, 7, and Eden, 1, and son Aubrey, 5, with his wife, jazz singer Susie Hariet. "It's a lot of board games, classic movies. We always screen The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve. For us, it's a special time of year."

Their Christmas Eve screening may soon become a double feature, as the actor's new movie, The Man Who Invented Christmas, out Nov. 22, makes a fitting follow-up to Kermit the Frog's starring role as Bob Cratchit, with The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens. In it, Stevens plays Dickens as he sets out to write a Christmas book on a six-week deadline and dreams up his unexpectedly...

Dan Stevens loves Christmas. Not in the way that everybody who Christmases loves Christmas, no, he is a Christmas tree up, hang the lights after Halloween kind of Christmas guy. "We enjoy it very much in our house. I have three kids now, so that's three times the fun," he says of daughters Willow, 7, and Eden, 1, and son Aubrey, 5, with his wife, jazz singer Susie Hariet. "It's a lot of board games, classic movies. We always screen The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve. For us, it's a special time of year."

Their Christmas Eve screening may soon become a double feature, as the actor's new movie, The Man Who Invented Christmas, out Nov. 22, makes a fitting follow-up to Kermit the Frog's starring role as Bob Cratchit, with The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens. In it, Stevens plays Dickens as he sets out to write a Christmas book on a six-week deadline and dreams up his unexpectedly...

Turner Classic Movies' 2017 Gay Pride film series comes to a close this evening and tomorrow morning, Thursday–Friday, June 29–30, with the presentation of seven movies, hosted by TV interviewer Dave Karger and author William J. Mann, whose books include Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines and Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. Among tonight's movies' Lgbt connections: Edward Albee, Tony Richardson, Evelyn Waugh, Tab Hunter, John Gielgud, Roddy McDowall, Linda Hunt, Harvey Fierstein, Rudolf Nureyev, Christopher Isherwood, Joel Grey, and Tommy Kirk. Update: Coincidentally, TCM's final 2017 Gay Pride celebration turned out to be held the evening before a couple of international events – and one non-event – demonstrated that despite noticeable progress in the last three decades, gay rights, even in the so-called “West,” still have a long way to go. In Texas, the state's – all-Republican – Supreme Court decided that married gays should be treated as separate and unequal. In...

By Todd Garbarini

The Royal Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 45th anniversary DVD screening of Peter Medak’s 1972 film The Ruling Class. The 154-minute film, which stars Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe, Caroline Seymour, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, and Peter O'Toole, will be screened on DVD on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

Please Note: At press time, director Peter Medak is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

From the press release:

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

The Ruling Class (1972)

45th Anniversary Screening

Tuesday, April 25, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre

Followed by Q & A with Director Peter Medak

Presented on DVD

This biting black comedy, in the tradition of such British classics as Kind Hearts and Coronets, focuses on a fierce battle for succession within an aristocratic family. Peter O’Toole plays a...

Author: Cai Ross

Christmastime is here. Presumably you already have chestnuts roasting on an open fire, a turkey and some mistletoe, and your first screaming argument about who’s cooking for who and where. ’Tis the season for such timeless traditions, and along with a collective craving for manifestly ill-judged food combinations and a moratorium on our disapproval of comedy knitwear, classic Christmas movies are now a vital part of the great yuletide experience.

But what precisely is a classic Christmas movie? Timeless vintage offerings like Holiday Inn and Miracle on 34th Street are stuffed from titles to credits with all things Christmassy, yet you’ll also find films like Casablanca and The Great Escape on many festive film lists, which have nothing more to do with Christmas than Cannibal Holocaust.

Even the single greatest ‘Christmas Movie’ of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life has a pretty tenuous connection with the Holiday Season,...

Every generation gets their version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and some of those versions are a little better than others. Sometimes, you get lucky and get to grow up with the wonderful 1951 version starring Alastair Sim or the surprisingly great A Muppet Christmas Carol. Others are cursed to live with 1970’s atrocious Scrooge […]

The post Bennett Miller and Tom Stoppard Want to Sing ‘A Christmas Carol’ appeared first on /Film.

Stage and screen adaptations of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol have become as traditional as the goose. From Alastair Sim to the Muppets, Michael Newton chooses his favourite Scrooges – past, present and future

Though the forthcoming BBC series, Dickensian, may alter this, it’s a fair bet that if you dropped into conversation that an acquaintance was “a perfect Pecksniff” or that someone had “a touch of Mrs Gamp” about them, you’d be met by a blank stare. If you described someone as “a bit of a Scrooge”, on the other hand, almost everyone would catch your drift. While some Dickens characters are more or less forgotten, others remain part of the national consciousness. Growing up in the English-speaking world, it’s hard to avoid encountering Scrooge, his name was so well chosen for a miser, a glorious melting together of “scrape” and “ooze”. Over the years, Jim Carrey,...

The Nightmare During Christmas: Doughtery’s Cutesy Morality Play on the Christmas Spirit

Exploring the adverse aspects of Christmas, one of the most cherished holidays around the globe, is nothing new in cinema. Irate Christians were nonplussed about Bob Clark’s 1974 serial killer flick Black Christmas and its 2006 remake, claiming it compromised the spirit of their cherished holiday. And there are all those nagging, sordid details about good ole St. Nick’s bad side, conscientiously whittled away throughout centuries of increasingly honed capitalistic tendencies as regards the holiday. Several recent films have resurrected ideas about Santa’s nastier habits and what he does to the children that are actually naughty, like Dutch filmmaker Dick Maas’ Saint (2010) or Jalmari Helander’s inspired Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) from Finland. Genre director Michael Doughtery makes a memorable entry in this growing subgenre with Krampus, a creative though utterly declawed venture which plays...

Ice Cube will be coming *straight outta* Dickensian London when the actor/rapper/producer will star as Ebeneezer Scrooge in an upcoming remake of "A Christmas Carol." According to Deadline, Cube will be playing the lead in Universal Pictures' new adaptation of the Dickensian classic, which will see the self-centered money maker as a real estate mogul. This latest version will be directed by Tim Story. A Christmas Carol has been brought to the big screen several times over the years, with Alastair Sim's turn in Scrooge regarded as one of the best. More unique versions include "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and "The Muppet Christmas Carol," while Bill...

George Cole, best known for his role of Arthur Daley in the series Minder, has died. He was 90. Agent Derek Webster said Cole passed away in the hospital after coming down with an illness. He was surrounded by his family at the time. Webster said in a statement obtained by E! News, "It is with deep regret that I have to announce the sad death of one of our most loved and respected actors. George Cole passed away yesterday at the Royal Berkshire Hospital after a short illness. His wife Penny and his son Toby were with him at his bedside." Adopted when he was just 10 days old, Cole grew up in London with comedy star Alastair Sim and wife Naomi. When he entered his teenage years, Cole appeared alongside his...

I love Christmas. It’s been my favorite time of the year as far back as I can remember – which, these days, may be last week. I think, in many ways, it was the run up to Christmas, also known as Advent, that I loved the most. It was the anticipation that made it special; what presents would we get, buying the present we would give, the Advent Wreath and the Advent Calendar. The day itself could be a bit of a let-down because it as never as good as the dream, the anticipation. How could it be? So long as it was a dream, it was perfect. The reality of something is always less than the dream of it.

While I was in grade school, each Christmas Eve I wound up at Midnight Mass (did I mention I was raised Roman Catholic?), singing in the Boy’s Choir. We...

'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...

Returning scribe Mark Gatiss compares Peter Capaldi to former Doctor Who stars...

Barely a day goes by when we don’t have some Doctor Who-based news currently, as hype for the show’s return really seems to building.

Recently, Mark Gatiss has been discussing Peter Capaldi’s Doctor with to-be-expected enthusiasm. “I’ve seen quite a bit of him and he’s absolutely fantastic” teased the series 8 episode 3 writer.

“Peter’s just got this amazing, fierce, funny, slightly alarming quality to him – he reminds me a lot of Alastair Sim, actually. You’re not quite sure where you stand with him; he’s very funny, but he’s got this glint in his eye and I think it’s a terrific run of episodes.”

Gatiss went on to compare Capaldi to some much-loved Doctors past, saying “he’s that sort of Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and even Christopher Eccleston...

Fox

"The Fault in Our Stars" writer John Green is the latest best-selling Ya author to have his novel adapted from page to screen, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Although not all of his peers have have been quite as lucky, the Ya community is filled with writers hoping their work -- which has been optioned, is in development, or is just a month or so away from hitting the big screen -- will manage to satisfy both existing fans of the book and moviegoers who've never heard of the book.

We caught up with several young adult authors at the annual Book Expo America, and found out which adaptations are their personal favorites, and the results range from childhood classics ("A Christmas Carol") to newer, trippier fare ("Adaptation"). Here are 11 Ya authors' picks for best adaptation.

1. Gayle Forman, author of "If I Stay" (in theaters Aug. 19)

That is a tough one,...

An Inspector Calls, the 1954 classic in which Inspector Poole (Alastair Sim) quizzes an aristocratic family about their links to a suspected suicide, is being reissued to celebrate its 60th anniversary. In this clip, Poole begins to turn up the heat under the Birling family, exposing the selfish acts that resulted in the young woman's death. The An Inspector Calls reissue is available on DVD, Blu-ray & Est Continue reading...

Mark Gatiss has hinted that Peter Capaldi's Doctor has "madness in his eyes".

The new star of Doctor Who has "a sort of Alastair Sim quality", Gatiss said at last night's Arqiva BAFTA Television Awards 2014.

"He's a wonderful man and one of our best character actors," the writer said. "I knew immediately - from watching other things - there was going to be a certain level of twinkly Scottish intensity to him.

"There's madness in his eyes! He's just an amazing dramatic actor and a very funny actor - which is exactly what you want for the Doctor."

Gatiss is believed to be writing two episodes for Doctor Who's next series, with the first featuring guest stars Tom Riley and Ben Miller.

However, he refused to confirm rumours that his script is based on the Robin Hood myth, saying: "The pictures are all over the internet if you want to look!

★★★★☆Watching Guy Hamilton's An Inspector Calls (1954), which stars Alastair Sim, Arthur Young and Bryan Forbes, one is presented with a masterclass in tension and unease. This screen version of J.B. Priestly's classic play, released by StudioCanal to mark the film's 60th anniversary, focuses on the hidden secrets between the members of an upper-class Edwardian family and how they are laid bare during the course of one fateful evening. The Birlings are a rich and powerful family, of high standing in the local community. Unfortunately their carefully constructed façade of genteel breeding and moral superiority, begins to crumble under the relentless questioning of a mysterious inspector.

★★★★☆Some films could only have been made in England, during a certain era and with a particular cast. The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) - newly released by StudioCanal to mark its sixtieth anniversary - is one such film. Though its popularity led to a string of sequels throughout the 1950s and 60s - as well as an unfortunate revival in 2007 - it is the original film, directed by Frank Launder and starring Alistair Sim, George Cole and Joyce Grenfell, which remains the archetypal celluloid visualisation of artist Ronald Searle's comic creation. It's the new term at St. Trinian's - the girl's public school in the heart of England's home-counties, where anyone, other than the pupils themselves, fears to go.

BBC One has announced plans to adapt four classic 20th century novels.

Line of Duty's Jed Mercurio is to adapt a new version of Dh Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, while Adrian Hodges (The Musketeers) is working on a new version of LP Hartley's The Go-Between.

Aisling Walsh will direct a new version of Jb Priestley's An Inspector Calls, and Ben Vanstone will adapt Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie.

Lady Chatterley's Lover was censored in English for nearly 30 years since its original 1928 edition. It tells the story of an upper-class woman's affair with her gamekeeper. It was previously directed by Ken Russell as a BBC serial starring Joely Richardson and Sean Bean in 1993.

Jed Mercurio said: "Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel that constitutes a milestone of English literature. I'm immensely excited by this opportunity to dramatise its iconic themes in a fresh and original way.

Feature Aliya Whiteley 3 Apr 2014 - 07:22

Tend to think of Richard Attenborough as a kindly old man? Aliya digs into his early career to find some far nastier roles...

British cinema has always liked its angry young men: Richard Burton, Albert Finney, Laurence Harvey and others all played the 1950s and 60s social animal, raging against the class system and the staid attitudes of post-war Britain.

But they weren’t the first angry young man on the screen. Maybe that crown could be claimed by an unlikely actor – Richard Attenborough. Attenborough is best known now as a director and producer, for films such as Gandhi, Chaplin and Shadowlands. When he gets thought of as an actor, it’s often as a kindly old man with a white beard. Misguided, sometimes, as when he played John Hammond, the owner of Jurassic Park, but not downright nasty. A lot of his earlier...

Miscasting in films has always been a problem. A producer hires an actor thinking that he or she is perfect for a movie role only to find the opposite is true. Other times a star is hired for his box office draw but ruins an otherwise good movie because he looks completely out of place.

There have been many humdinger miscastings. You only have to laugh at John Wayne’s Genghis Khan (with Mongol moustache and gun-belt) in The Conqueror (1956), giggle at Marlon Brando’s woeful upper class twang as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) and cringe at Dick Van Dyke’s misbegotten cockney accent in Mary Poppins (1964). But as hilarious as these miscastings are, producers at the time didn’t think the same way, until after the event. At least they add a bit of camp value to a mediocre or downright awful movie.

In rare cases,...