Tony Staveacre writes: Colin Welland had started to add screenwriting to his distinguished acting credits when we invited him to be one of the judges for our BBC2 playwriting competition in 1972, alongside Keith Dewhurst and John Hopkins. The undisputed winner was a harbour-master’s wife from Sunderland, Denise Robertson, and this first play launched a great broadcasting career for her. Her play – The Soda Water Fountain – was recorded and shown on BBC2, after which we were to broadcast a judges’ discussion. This prompted Colin to launch into a tirade about the production that he’d just seen, and a complaint that the play had been woefully miscast, with not a single authentic Tyneside voice to be heard.
He had a point. The leading role was played by Jessie Matthews. Also, the play had been recorded in a BBC studio, when it should have been filmed on the real north-east locations where it was set,...
He had a point. The leading role was played by Jessie Matthews. Also, the play had been recorded in a BBC studio, when it should have been filmed on the real north-east locations where it was set,...
- 11/9/2015
- by Tony Staveacre and Paul Spray
- The Guardian - Film News
Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...
- 11/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...
- 7/25/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 1923 film Love, Life and Laughter stars Betty Balfour.
The BFI is has revealed the discovery by Eye, the Dutch Film Museum, of a lost masterpiece of British silent cinema, George Pearson’s Love, Life and Laughter (1923), starring Betty Balfour.
Balfour, also known as Britain’s “Queen of Happiness”, was the most successful British actress of the 1920s, known also as the country’s answer to Mary Pickford. It is one of the most wanted on the BFI’s list of 75 films published to mark the BFI National Archive’s 75th anniversary in 2010. Only one other complete film by director Geroge Pearson survives.
The film was recently discovered in the archives of Eye, while being catalogued following its arrival at the archive in November 2012. The print is part of a collection of film cans that belonged to a local cinema in the small town of Hattem, near Zwolle.
Cinema Theater De Vries had only been active for three...
The BFI is has revealed the discovery by Eye, the Dutch Film Museum, of a lost masterpiece of British silent cinema, George Pearson’s Love, Life and Laughter (1923), starring Betty Balfour.
Balfour, also known as Britain’s “Queen of Happiness”, was the most successful British actress of the 1920s, known also as the country’s answer to Mary Pickford. It is one of the most wanted on the BFI’s list of 75 films published to mark the BFI National Archive’s 75th anniversary in 2010. Only one other complete film by director Geroge Pearson survives.
The film was recently discovered in the archives of Eye, while being catalogued following its arrival at the archive in November 2012. The print is part of a collection of film cans that belonged to a local cinema in the small town of Hattem, near Zwolle.
Cinema Theater De Vries had only been active for three...
- 4/3/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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