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Reviews
Early Man (2018)
Oh dear, oh dear
It's a long time since I've walked out on a film in mid flow - and sadly this was one of them. I had no idea of the football theme (which didn't particularly interest me) but the humour wasn't clever and not a patch on the other Ardman features which were excellent. A shame Nick Park could get this so wrong when his TV shorts were brimming with superbly-observed animation.
Take Me High (1973)
Implausible story - but helped put Birmingham on the map
Back in the late 1960's, Birmingham's canal network was in sad decline - with more miles of canals than Venice, this undemanding story with tracks sung by Cliff had a reasonable story-line, but the REAL star is the City of Birmingham itself.
Since the film was made, the canal network has been given the respect it deserved and is now a working waterway, with new developments at Gas Street Basin (behind the 'Brumburger' shop) a testament to the regeneration. Since the 70's, Birmingham is probably unrecognisable, with many of the modern buildings shown already replaced.
The cast worked well, but it was often painful watching the Fox hunting scenes (now a banned activity) and seemingly added only to add some 'english quaintness' for non-native viewers.
Champions (1984)
For horse-lovers only...
I really tried to like this film - an excellent ensemble cast and technically well-shot, however the addition of the US scenes (credited as being shot in Kentucky) appeared to be stuck on simply to provide US 'appeal'. There appeared to be no sophistication of the plot - and it simply boils down to; Jocket gets cancer, his horse tears a ligament and may be put down. Therapy for both before eventual recovery, and both win the Grand National at Aintree. Even Edward Woodward didn't appear to be overstretching himself, and whether you could believe John Hurt as a successful jockey with his size of frame requires a massive leap of faith. It just hasn't stood the test of time, and it's re-release on DVD may gain a few extra viewers, but if there's a car to wash or dog to walk, your time may be better spent doing these task instead.
The Knowledge (1979)
All human life is there....
I was delighted to see this gem of a film available on DVD. Despite being a 'TV Movie' and shot on 16mm, it provided a wonderful insight into the different types of people who wanted to become a 'London cabbie', along with their foibles and family commitments. Even the most hapless of candidates, 'Titanic' with his uncommunicative wife, it was possible to see how Jack Rosenthal was able to craft an often funny and sometimes tragic snippet of London life into an entertaining 90 minutes.
Originally premiered as a vehicle for Mick Ford (pun intended), the quality of the acting from an ensemble cast including Michael Elphic, Nigel Hawthorne, Jonathan Lynn, Lesley Joseph and Maureen Lipman (Mrs Rosenthal) meant Mick may have had top billing, but he had to work hard in the face of such competing talents.
Even 15 years after its 1991 release, it is still as fresh as ever!
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done (1975)
A little gem that makes Gilber & Sullivan come alive
With the vogue for cartoons to be successful (Antz, Toy Story, Nemo etc), it is surprising that Dick Deadeye has largely disappeared without a trace. Based on the drawings of Gerlad Scarfe - which do take some time to get used to if unfamiliar with his style (he also did the opening titles of BBC's 'Yes Minister'), the stroy is simply cobbled together from a selection of Gilber & Sullivan operettas (Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore to name only three). The story is reasonably followable (for a cartoon), but there are many wonderful musical moments with updated (even 'Pop') treatments to well known G&S songs, plus a few new ones. 'The Moon & I' sung by Linda Lewis was even a minor hit in 1976, but this didn;t seem to help the film receive greater viewing audiences.
It did not receive a full UK distribution, but did play in selected 'art house' cinemas, then disappeared without a trace. As far as I am aware it has never released on video or DVD, but it would certainly be worthwhile for those who like pleasant comedy and G&S's music.
Local Hero (1983)
Film Locations
For those who cannot gen enough of the scenery - there has been confusion over where sections of the film were actually shot.
As mentioned earlier by a previous respondant, the 'Village' is indeed Pennan, on the north-east coast of Scotland (on the B9031) between the township of Banff, and the larger town of Frazerburgh.
The major disappointment for many visitors is that the Telephone Box used in the film was brought in especially for the filming - this can be easily spotted wherever it is shown on the film as it has simply been 'placed' on the ground, rather than 'sunk' into the surrounding ground. There IS a similiar box located elsewhere within the village, but it is not the prop used in the film.
Anyone wishing to visit the delightful beach may get tired walking from the village to the shore - it is not (as the film implies) just past the headland. When the villagers head off to the shore, they're actually travelling 180 miles, to a section of coast near a different village (Morar) on the West coast of Scotland (on the A830) nearest town is Fort William, and better known for being the location of the UK's highest mountain peak, Ben Nevis.
Morar, and the white sands are extremely beautiful, and when the weather is fine, the distant islands 'twinkle' in the sea.
Finally, only three locations were used in the USA, the driving sequence with Reigert driving into the office, the street scene where Happer (Lancaster) arrives by car at the Knox HQ building, and the final scene with Reigert in his flat, looking out on the skyline.
Happer's office interior, the stairs and the planetarium were all built from scratch inside an industrial unit (small empty factory) on the norther outskirts of Fort William. The Texan vista was a panoramic scene blown up and lit to give the appearance of a US location. The reason?
Lancaster's schedule. There is a story (not confirmed by anyone) that Lancaster was happy to work on the film, but was only prepared to devote a few days for filming, whilst he got on with the serious business of playing Golf. The scene outside the Knox HQ was the only section showing Happer on US soil, everything else what shot in Scotland, and crafted to fit round his schedule.
The church, located on a small grassy headland not far from the beach (where the locals held their meeting to negotiate their financial deals with the oil company) was build by the film company for the shoot - it was a complete face, held up by scaffolding, and there were problems of high winds blowing sections of it away. This explains why there were to recognised paths to the door of the church - it had just been popped onto a grassy field. Once filing of these scenes had been completed, the church was taken down.
Finally, the scene with the water tank, where coastal erosion and environmental impact tests were undertaken, was alluded in the script to be 'in Inverness'. It was, in fact, Glasgow, Scotland's industrial capital.
Comfort and Joy (1984)
From the cutting room floor
At a recent (February 2001) showing of this film in the home city in which it was made (Glasgow, Scotland). Bill Patterson spoke to the audience about the film, and explained that a scene was removed from the film before it went into distribution that, in his view, pulled the disparate strands of the film together. Its absence meant that the film had two plots that never connected - his lack of love life due to 'Maddie' walking out on him, and the solution to the warring Ice Cream owners.
The missing scene - intended to be placed before the final radio studio shots of Dicky Bird explaining to listeners that it was only he that was in the radio station at Christmas - featured the girl from the Ice Cream van (Clare Grogan) discussing whether they should enter into a partnership themselves for the unique confection (Hot Ice Cream). The absence certainly simplified the storyline, but left Dicky love-less. Whether Dicky or the girl entered into the relationship was never revealed but the potential for them to 'get it together' made you wish it did.
Les bicyclettes de Belsize (1968)
Cinema short, as long as it needs to be.
In the days when there was a main film, and a 'B' picture to fill the space, cinemas wanted to squeeze in more showings, so out went the 90 minute 'B' features and in the '60's came the 'short'. Les Bicyclettes was one of those, yet after 30 years it still evokes warm memories of a simple story, hardly any dialogue, and beautiful music.
As a short, it'll never make it to DVD release, but if it appears on TV, take the time out to watch it - calling it chewing gum for the eyes is not a disservice, but it is strange after all this time I can't remember what the main film was I saw with it! The short does invariably appear on broadcast TV as a filler, however these occasions have becoming less as the use of channel 'fillers' give way to network promotions.
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
It would be a sin...
It was the title that put me off seeing this, but what a surprise - OK all politicians aren't like this (are they?) but the tongue-in-cheek delivery from Murphy was nicely placed and it could have been so over-the-top... right up until the last scene before the final credits rolled..
If you like genuine comedy, you won't be disappointed.