An array of stars portray warm-hearted Londoners in comedy pivoting around a young boy who is a sunny ancestor to Kes
Carol Reed’s 1955 film is a rich slice of gentle, sentimental comedy, adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel. It’s a little bit broad and not in the class of The Third Man or The Fallen Idol, but forthright and heartfelt, and boasting a veritable aristocracy of British character acting talent.
In the bustling world of Petticoat Lane in London’s East End, then the traditional home of the Jewish community, a shy little boy called Joe mopes and daydreams around the place; he’s played by Jonathan Ashmore, with the rather non-East-End stage-school child actor voice that was common in those days. (Ashmore left showbusiness after this one screen appearance and grew up to be a distinguished scientist.) His cheerful but careworn mum Joanna (Celia Johnson) is sadly missing her husband,...
Carol Reed’s 1955 film is a rich slice of gentle, sentimental comedy, adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel. It’s a little bit broad and not in the class of The Third Man or The Fallen Idol, but forthright and heartfelt, and boasting a veritable aristocracy of British character acting talent.
In the bustling world of Petticoat Lane in London’s East End, then the traditional home of the Jewish community, a shy little boy called Joe mopes and daydreams around the place; he’s played by Jonathan Ashmore, with the rather non-East-End stage-school child actor voice that was common in those days. (Ashmore left showbusiness after this one screen appearance and grew up to be a distinguished scientist.) His cheerful but careworn mum Joanna (Celia Johnson) is sadly missing her husband,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Showbiz in Soho is artificial, gaudy and vulgar, but Laurence Harvey’s slick promoter-con man thinks he can cheat at the pop music game. Cliff Richard is his new discovery, a teen crooner who digs the bongo drums. Wolf Mankowitz’s portrait of talent, glitz, and double-dealing in music and TV showbiz also stars Sylvia Syms as a Soho stripper and Yolande Donlan as a singing star trying to make a comeback. The disc contains director Val Guest’s uncut original version.
Expresso Bongo
Blu-ray
Cohen / Kino Lorber
1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 111 106 min. / Street Date January 18, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Cliff Richard, Meier Tzelniker, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Eric Pohlmann, Gilbert Harding, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Beckwith, Avis Bunnage, Sally Geeson, Kenneth Griffith, Burt Kwouk, Wilfrid Lawson, Patricia Lewis, Barry Lowe, Martin Miller, Susan Hampshire, Peter Myers, Lisa Peake, The Shadows.
Cinematography: John Wilcox
Art Director:...
Expresso Bongo
Blu-ray
Cohen / Kino Lorber
1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 111 106 min. / Street Date January 18, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Cliff Richard, Meier Tzelniker, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Eric Pohlmann, Gilbert Harding, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Beckwith, Avis Bunnage, Sally Geeson, Kenneth Griffith, Burt Kwouk, Wilfrid Lawson, Patricia Lewis, Barry Lowe, Martin Miller, Susan Hampshire, Peter Myers, Lisa Peake, The Shadows.
Cinematography: John Wilcox
Art Director:...
- 3/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
By Hank Reineke
Val Guest’s The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) is one of the better science-fiction films to come out of the Cold War decades of the 1950’s and 1960s. While it’s no metaphorical masterpiece as Don Siegel’s more celebrated Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the screenplay for this British production was co-penned by Guest and the novelist/playwright/screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz. The two would collaborate on other projects as well, but it’s the thoughtful, literate script co-written for The Day the Earth Caught Fire that would justifiably garner them the award for the Best British Screenplay from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This superb new Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is absolutely beautiful, having been digitally re-mastered from a print held in the National Archive of British Film Institute in association with StudioCanal.
Partly inspired...
By Hank Reineke
Val Guest’s The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) is one of the better science-fiction films to come out of the Cold War decades of the 1950’s and 1960s. While it’s no metaphorical masterpiece as Don Siegel’s more celebrated Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the screenplay for this British production was co-penned by Guest and the novelist/playwright/screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz. The two would collaborate on other projects as well, but it’s the thoughtful, literate script co-written for The Day the Earth Caught Fire that would justifiably garner them the award for the Best British Screenplay from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This superb new Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is absolutely beautiful, having been digitally re-mastered from a print held in the National Archive of British Film Institute in association with StudioCanal.
Partly inspired...
- 8/8/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
What’s the best Ecological Thriller of all time? Finally available in a good Region A disc is Val Guest and Wolf Mankowitz’s thrilling, realistic account of our world turned topsy-turvy, and perhaps plunging into a fiery oblivion. The violent shifts of climate and weather patterns echo today’s global warming chaos. Newspapermen Edward Judd and Leo McKern track down a frightening government secret; Janet Munro is the confidential clerk that leaks the truth. One of the top all-time British Science Fiction films is also a great newspaper story about the importance of a free press. Extras include a new Richard Harland Smith commentary.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date July 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen, Pamela Green, Robin Hawdon.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman...
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date July 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen, Pamela Green, Robin Hawdon.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman...
- 7/11/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What’s the best Ecological Thriller of all time? Finally available in a good Region A disc is Val Guest and Wolf Mankowitz’s thrilling, realistic account of a world turned topsy-turvy, and perhaps plunging into a fiery oblivion. The violent climate/weather pattern shifts predict today’s global warming chaos. Newspapermen Edward Judd and Leo McKern track down a frightening government secret; Janet Munro is the confidential clerk that leaks the truth. One of the top all-time British Science Fiction films is also a great newspaper story about the importance of a free press. Extras include a new Richard Harland Smith commentary.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date July 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen, Pamela Green, Robin Hawdon.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman
Art...
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date July 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen, Pamela Green, Robin Hawdon.
Cinematography: Harry Waxman
Art...
- 7/9/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Global warming in 1961! Is it a newspaper picture, or a disaster picture, or a political picture, or…well, it’s all of these and more. Former journalists Val Guest and Wolf Mankowitz bring a bracingly realistic slant to their persuasive end-of-the-world scenario through the use of real Fleet Street newspapermen, including non-actor Arthur Christiansen, editor of The Daily Express. Tossed off as an exploitation picture in the Us, it’s one of the great unsung science fiction pictures, and a must-see.
The post The Day the Earth Caught Fire appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post The Day the Earth Caught Fire appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 7/17/2019
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
The Nightcomers
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1971 / 1:85:1 / 96 Min.
Starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham
Written by Michael Hastings
Cinematography by Robert Paynter
Directed by Michael Winner
Between 1944 and 1992 Jack Clayton directed just nine movies but they included some of the most elegant yet clear-eyed films to come out of post-war Britain – from the hard-knock realism of Room at the Top to the broken-marriage reverie of The Pumpkin Eater. A man of letters as well as cinema, his relatively brief career was spent collaborating with writers like Wolf Mankowitz, Harold Pinter and Truman Capote.
Born in London, Michael Winner showed a talent for free-wheeling and mildly racy movies like The Girl-Getters and I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘isname – cheeky entertainments that helped define the myth of sexy swinging London for stateside audiences.
It was in the early 70s that Winner began to traffic in distinctly American product like Chato’s...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1971 / 1:85:1 / 96 Min.
Starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham
Written by Michael Hastings
Cinematography by Robert Paynter
Directed by Michael Winner
Between 1944 and 1992 Jack Clayton directed just nine movies but they included some of the most elegant yet clear-eyed films to come out of post-war Britain – from the hard-knock realism of Room at the Top to the broken-marriage reverie of The Pumpkin Eater. A man of letters as well as cinema, his relatively brief career was spent collaborating with writers like Wolf Mankowitz, Harold Pinter and Truman Capote.
Born in London, Michael Winner showed a talent for free-wheeling and mildly racy movies like The Girl-Getters and I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘isname – cheeky entertainments that helped define the myth of sexy swinging London for stateside audiences.
It was in the early 70s that Winner began to traffic in distinctly American product like Chato’s...
- 5/4/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
It’s Hammer Time again, folks! I’ve covered witches and vampires and demons (insert your Oz joke here), but now we’re going to look within the inner recesses of the soul, where the wicked resides in each of us. Some need a little pick-me-up to bring out that worst however, and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) finds evil not only in the lab but around every shadowed corner.
Released by Columbia Pictures in the U.K. in late October, with an A.I.P. rollout stateside the following spring, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll was not a moneymaker for Hammer and the reviews were mixed at best; no doubt in response (at least on the part of audiences) to the more muted approach to the material, and quite removed from the ribald textures that usually came from the Hammer stable at the time. Regardless, it remains...
Released by Columbia Pictures in the U.K. in late October, with an A.I.P. rollout stateside the following spring, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll was not a moneymaker for Hammer and the reviews were mixed at best; no doubt in response (at least on the part of audiences) to the more muted approach to the material, and quite removed from the ribald textures that usually came from the Hammer stable at the time. Regardless, it remains...
- 12/8/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Back in 2012, our staff decided to group together and come up with a list of the best films in the 007, James Bond franchise. With Spectre rolling out this weekend, we decided to republish the article. Let us know which is your favourite, and be sure to check out our review of Spectre here.
#1: From Russia With Love
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood
1963, UK
50 years later, and with twenty three “official” entries, From Russia With Love represents the very best of the Bond franchise. Skyfall is the closest to be considered, at best – almost equal to what was achieved in ’64 – but From Russia With Love is still unparalleled. Although it is the second in the series, and although it feels like no Bond film that followed, it is the film that solidifies all the Bond elements into a formula – a template that carries on,...
#1: From Russia With Love
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood
1963, UK
50 years later, and with twenty three “official” entries, From Russia With Love represents the very best of the Bond franchise. Skyfall is the closest to be considered, at best – almost equal to what was achieved in ’64 – but From Russia With Love is still unparalleled. Although it is the second in the series, and although it feels like no Bond film that followed, it is the film that solidifies all the Bond elements into a formula – a template that carries on,...
- 11/6/2015
- by Ricky da Conceição
- SoundOnSight
Casino Royale
Directed by John Huston, Val Guest and co.
Written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law and co.
U.S.A., 1967
With the mad success of the James Bond films as produced by partners Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and (Canadian) Harry Saltzman, which had run from 1962’s Dr. No to 1965 Thunderball, it was only natural for the Hollywood system to create a great number of other spy genre pictures. After all, like it or not, copycats make for good business, oftentimes regardless of the quality of the films themselves. Without the shadow of a doubt, the most curious imitator of them all, one that has earned, for both right and wrong reasons, a cult status throughout the decades, was the brainchild of producer Charles K. Feldman. Determined to cash in on the 007 craze, Feldman did not just make a copycat of Bond, he tried to make a Bond film, albeit one...
Directed by John Huston, Val Guest and co.
Written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law and co.
U.S.A., 1967
With the mad success of the James Bond films as produced by partners Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and (Canadian) Harry Saltzman, which had run from 1962’s Dr. No to 1965 Thunderball, it was only natural for the Hollywood system to create a great number of other spy genre pictures. After all, like it or not, copycats make for good business, oftentimes regardless of the quality of the films themselves. Without the shadow of a doubt, the most curious imitator of them all, one that has earned, for both right and wrong reasons, a cult status throughout the decades, was the brainchild of producer Charles K. Feldman. Determined to cash in on the 007 craze, Feldman did not just make a copycat of Bond, he tried to make a Bond film, albeit one...
- 11/5/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Dr. No
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood
1962, UK
Author, Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape of spy-action cinema forever with the release of Dr. No.
Dr. No was the first James Bond novel turned into a film, though it was the sixth novel in the book series The film was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz (who went uncredited by request, fearing the film would bomb), Johanna Harwood (the first and only women screenwriter of the franchise), Berkeley Mather, and long time contributor Richard Maibaum. Arguably Dr. No is one of the closest cinematic interpretations of any Bond novel in tone and plot. The changes they made were mostly cosmetic save for some minor...
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood
1962, UK
Author, Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape of spy-action cinema forever with the release of Dr. No.
Dr. No was the first James Bond novel turned into a film, though it was the sixth novel in the book series The film was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz (who went uncredited by request, fearing the film would bomb), Johanna Harwood (the first and only women screenwriter of the franchise), Berkeley Mather, and long time contributor Richard Maibaum. Arguably Dr. No is one of the closest cinematic interpretations of any Bond novel in tone and plot. The changes they made were mostly cosmetic save for some minor...
- 11/1/2015
- by Ricky da Conceição
- SoundOnSight
Richard Burton's diaries only sparkle occasionally, most notably when he's demolishing one of his illustrious contemporaries
Richard Burton died in August 1984 at the age of 58, shortly before the premiere of Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which he gave his best performance for more than a decade as Orwell's totalitarian apparatchik O'Brien. His diaries cover some 44 years, from his early second world war schooldays in south Wales to the spring of 1983. In May that year he appeared on Broadway in a poorly received production of Coward's Private Lives with his ex-wife Elizabeth Taylor, and on 3 July he married his fourth wife in a Las Vegas hotel. A hefty brick-sized book, it brings to mind the telegram Warner Brothers boss Jack L Warner sent to the director Mervyn LeRoy, who'd inquired whether he'd got around to reading Hervey Allen's blockbuster Anthony Adverse. "Read it?" Warner replied. "I can't even lift it."
The...
Richard Burton died in August 1984 at the age of 58, shortly before the premiere of Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which he gave his best performance for more than a decade as Orwell's totalitarian apparatchik O'Brien. His diaries cover some 44 years, from his early second world war schooldays in south Wales to the spring of 1983. In May that year he appeared on Broadway in a poorly received production of Coward's Private Lives with his ex-wife Elizabeth Taylor, and on 3 July he married his fourth wife in a Las Vegas hotel. A hefty brick-sized book, it brings to mind the telegram Warner Brothers boss Jack L Warner sent to the director Mervyn LeRoy, who'd inquired whether he'd got around to reading Hervey Allen's blockbuster Anthony Adverse. "Read it?" Warner replied. "I can't even lift it."
The...
- 12/16/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Concluding a very successful James bond marathon, comes our list of the very best 007 films, as chosen by the Sound On Sight staff. In just 30 days, we managed to publish over 40 articles and reviews, making it our most successful monthly movie club to date. I’d like to once again thank everyone who participated and furthermore, thank everyone who voted for having good taste. I cannot argue with the final results. These are indeed the best Bond films. Enjoy!
#1: From Russia With Love
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood
1963, UK
50 years later, and with twenty three “official” entries, From Russia With Love represents the very best of the Bond franchise. Skyfall is the closest to be considered, at best – almost equal to what was achieved in ’64 – but From Russia With Love is still unparalleled. Although it is the second in the series, and although...
#1: From Russia With Love
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood
1963, UK
50 years later, and with twenty three “official” entries, From Russia With Love represents the very best of the Bond franchise. Skyfall is the closest to be considered, at best – almost equal to what was achieved in ’64 – but From Russia With Love is still unparalleled. Although it is the second in the series, and although...
- 12/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Simon Callow on the booze, the money, the life with Liz …
One Sunday evening, in the winter of 1981-82, there was a celebration, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, of the original radio production of Under Milk Wood. Various participants in that famous broadcast, including Richard Burton, the original narrator, were to read the play under the direction of its producer, Reggie Smith. The theatre was packed, with a largely Welsh audience.
Burton seemed to be enjoying himself, but it was not easy to hear him. He was glued to the book, seemingly in private communion with it. After the interval, the reading resumed. It was evident that Burton had liberally refreshed himself. Now he was not just inaudible but incoherent, with a tendency to slump. The reading lurched to its conclusion, after which the cast repaired to the Garrick Club for a celebratory supper. On the appearance of the first course,...
One Sunday evening, in the winter of 1981-82, there was a celebration, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, of the original radio production of Under Milk Wood. Various participants in that famous broadcast, including Richard Burton, the original narrator, were to read the play under the direction of its producer, Reggie Smith. The theatre was packed, with a largely Welsh audience.
Burton seemed to be enjoying himself, but it was not easy to hear him. He was glued to the book, seemingly in private communion with it. After the interval, the reading resumed. It was evident that Burton had liberally refreshed himself. Now he was not just inaudible but incoherent, with a tendency to slump. The reading lurched to its conclusion, after which the cast repaired to the Garrick Club for a celebratory supper. On the appearance of the first course,...
- 11/29/2012
- by Simon Callow
- The Guardian - Film News
Casino Royale
Directed by John Huston, Val Guest and co.
Written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law and co.
U.S.A., 1967
With the mad success of the James Bond films as produced by partners Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and (Canadian) Harry Saltzman, which had run from 1962’s Dr. No to 1965 Thunderball, it was only natural for the Hollywood system to create a great number of other spy genre pictures. After all, like it or not, copycats make for good business, oftentimes regardless of the quality of the films themselves. Without the shadow of a doubt, the most curious imitator of them all, one that has earned, for both right and wrong reasons, a cult status throughout the decades, was the brainchild of producer Charles K. Feldman. Determined to cash in on the 007 craze, Feldman did not just make a copycat of Bond, he tried to make a Bond film, albeit one...
Directed by John Huston, Val Guest and co.
Written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law and co.
U.S.A., 1967
With the mad success of the James Bond films as produced by partners Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and (Canadian) Harry Saltzman, which had run from 1962’s Dr. No to 1965 Thunderball, it was only natural for the Hollywood system to create a great number of other spy genre pictures. After all, like it or not, copycats make for good business, oftentimes regardless of the quality of the films themselves. Without the shadow of a doubt, the most curious imitator of them all, one that has earned, for both right and wrong reasons, a cult status throughout the decades, was the brainchild of producer Charles K. Feldman. Determined to cash in on the 007 craze, Feldman did not just make a copycat of Bond, he tried to make a Bond film, albeit one...
- 11/10/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
The gray rolling seas thundered through the forest of pilings under the piers, sometimes cresting enough to send a geyser of wind-whipped froth up onto the decking. Other places, it poured through the gaps the wind and tide had eaten through the dunes and poured into the beach town streets. It pulled boats large and small from their moorings in the lagoon marinas and piled them like a child’s toys up on the land. Some in apartment buildings would tell of the cars in the ground level garage floating against each other bathtub playthings. But there was nothing childlike in the way it took entire houses, made seaside villages look like an extension of the ocean and not the land.
For the day and a half I watched Hurricane Sandy pound my home state of New Jersey – which was all the time I had before I lost my cable...
For the day and a half I watched Hurricane Sandy pound my home state of New Jersey – which was all the time I had before I lost my cable...
- 11/2/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Dr. No
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood
1962, UK
Author Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape of spy-action cinema forever with the release of Dr. No.
Dr. No was the first James Bond novel turned into a film, though it was the sixth novel in the book series The film was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz (who went uncredited by request, fearing the film would bomb), Johanna Harwood (the first and only women screenwriter of the franchise), Berkeley Mather, and long time contributor Richard Maibaum. Arguably Dr. No is one of the closest cinematic interpretations of any Bond novel in tone and plot. The changes they made were mostly cosmetic save for some minor...
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood
1962, UK
Author Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape of spy-action cinema forever with the release of Dr. No.
Dr. No was the first James Bond novel turned into a film, though it was the sixth novel in the book series The film was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz (who went uncredited by request, fearing the film would bomb), Johanna Harwood (the first and only women screenwriter of the franchise), Berkeley Mather, and long time contributor Richard Maibaum. Arguably Dr. No is one of the closest cinematic interpretations of any Bond novel in tone and plot. The changes they made were mostly cosmetic save for some minor...
- 11/2/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The opening shot, viewed from inside the barrel of a gun. The silhouetted beauties of Maurice Binder's credit sequence. That Monty Norman instrumental theme, promising sex and danger in just four notes. The martinis. The game of chance that's really a game of nerves. The women, gorgeous and lethal. The patient Miss Moneypenny, who'd give as good as she gets if he ever gave her a chance. The supervillain, living in a luxurious, elaborate hidden lair. And the line of introduction: "Bond, James Bond." It's remarkable how many enduring elements of the James Bond film franchise were there from day one, built into the initial installment, "Dr. No," (released 50 years ago, on October 5, 1962). That's why, even if you've never seen "Dr. No," you feel like you know it. Even so, there's plenty you may not know about the landmark spy film, including the real-life spies who made it, how...
- 10/5/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Actor who made his name at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and appeared in the Beatles films, making firm friends with the Fab Four
Victor Spinetti, who has died of cancer aged 82, was an outrageously talented Welsh actor and raconteur who made his name with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and found fame and fortune as a friend and colleague of the Beatles, appearing in three of their five films, and with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967).
It was while he was giving his brilliantly articulated and hilarious "turn" as the gobbledegook-shouting drill sergeant in Oh, What a Lovely War! in the West End in 1963 – he won a Tony for the performance when the show went to Broadway – that the Beatles visited him backstage and invited him to appear in A Hard Day's Night (1964).
George Harrison later said that his mother would...
Victor Spinetti, who has died of cancer aged 82, was an outrageously talented Welsh actor and raconteur who made his name with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and found fame and fortune as a friend and colleague of the Beatles, appearing in three of their five films, and with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967).
It was while he was giving his brilliantly articulated and hilarious "turn" as the gobbledegook-shouting drill sergeant in Oh, What a Lovely War! in the West End in 1963 – he won a Tony for the performance when the show went to Broadway – that the Beatles visited him backstage and invited him to appear in A Hard Day's Night (1964).
George Harrison later said that his mother would...
- 6/20/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
[1] You might already know that 2006's Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, was the second attempt to make a feature film out of Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel -- the first being the widely panned 1966 spoof starring David Niven, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers and Ursula Andress. What you probably didn't know is that at one point during its development, the 1966 film was a serious treatment penned by "the Shakespeare of Hollywood," Ben Hecht. And by one account, Hecht's script could've been one of the best Bond movies ever made. Read more after the jump. A Casino Royale adaptation had been in the works as early as 1954, but it was in the early '60s that the project finally fell into Hecht's hands. Hecht was an acclaimed writer who'd worked (credited or uncredited) on movies like His Girl Friday, Gone with the Wind, the 1932 Scarface, and various Alfred Hitchcock...
- 3/10/2011
- by Angie Han
- Slash Film
When the first James Bond novel was published in the 1950s, there was no bigger threat in the world to the allies than communism. Naturally, because it was a series about a world-class British secret agent, it fit perfectly both into Ian Fleming's books and the film series that followed. But while Bond was subverting Soviet plans for world domination on the silver screen, there was a communist putting words into his mouth. BBC News reports that screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, who wrote the script for the 1966 Casino Royale and was part of the production for Dr. No, was suspected by MI5 to be a Marxist agent. According to the file on Mankowitz, his activities were monitored for more than a decade after an intercepted letter from known communist David Holbrook mentioned both him and his wife. A member of the Socialist Society at the University of Cambridge, a police...
- 8/26/2010
- cinemablend.com
A screenwriter behind Bond films including Dr. No and the original Casino Royale was investigated by Britain's real life secret service over allegations he was a Russian spy.
Wolf Mankowitz, who was involved in the making of the franchise's debut picture Dr. No and wrote the screenplay for 1966's unofficial 007 movie Casino Royale, came under suspicion from officers at MI5 in the 1940s after he married his wife Ann, a member of the Communist Party.
The secret service spent more than a decade monitoring him but didn't find any concrete evidence of illicit activities, according to documents released by the covert agency this week (beg23Aug10).
Mankowitz, who died in 1998, is also credited with introducing the franchise's legendary producer Cubby Broccoli to his longtime collaborator Harry Saltzman.
Wolf Mankowitz, who was involved in the making of the franchise's debut picture Dr. No and wrote the screenplay for 1966's unofficial 007 movie Casino Royale, came under suspicion from officers at MI5 in the 1940s after he married his wife Ann, a member of the Communist Party.
The secret service spent more than a decade monitoring him but didn't find any concrete evidence of illicit activities, according to documents released by the covert agency this week (beg23Aug10).
Mankowitz, who died in 1998, is also credited with introducing the franchise's legendary producer Cubby Broccoli to his longtime collaborator Harry Saltzman.
- 8/26/2010
- WENN
London, Aug 26 – Newly released Security Service files have shown that the MI5 had suspected the screenwriter of a James Bond film to be a communist agent.
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz, who wrote the screenplay for the unofficial Bond film ‘Casino Royale’ in 1967 and was also involved in the film ‘Dr No’, was according to the MI5 file monitored for more than a decade.
He was born in London’s East End, and attended Cambridge University where he joined the University’s Socialist Society and met his wife Ann, a Communist Party member.
MI5 first became interested in Mankowitz in.
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz, who wrote the screenplay for the unofficial Bond film ‘Casino Royale’ in 1967 and was also involved in the film ‘Dr No’, was according to the MI5 file monitored for more than a decade.
He was born in London’s East End, and attended Cambridge University where he joined the University’s Socialist Society and met his wife Ann, a Communist Party member.
MI5 first became interested in Mankowitz in.
- 8/26/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
Man behind early Bond films was seen 'security risk' and BBC warned against giving him staff job
Wolf Mankowitz, one of the men behind the early James Bond films, was suspected of being a communist agent, according to MI5 files released today.
Mankowitz, who died in 1998 aged 73, introduced the Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to one another. He was also involved in writing the script for Dr No and wrote the screenplay for the 1966 spoof Casino Royale.
He was one of the most successful British screenwriters of the 1950s with A Kid for Two Farthings and Expresso Bongo, a music industry satire starring Cliff Richard. The security service file released at the National Archives today shows that for more than a decade after the second world war, Mankowitz was in MI5's sights as a possible communist agent.
The file includes covert surveillance photographs of Mankowitz showing him...
Wolf Mankowitz, one of the men behind the early James Bond films, was suspected of being a communist agent, according to MI5 files released today.
Mankowitz, who died in 1998 aged 73, introduced the Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to one another. He was also involved in writing the script for Dr No and wrote the screenplay for the 1966 spoof Casino Royale.
He was one of the most successful British screenwriters of the 1950s with A Kid for Two Farthings and Expresso Bongo, a music industry satire starring Cliff Richard. The security service file released at the National Archives today shows that for more than a decade after the second world war, Mankowitz was in MI5's sights as a possible communist agent.
The file includes covert surveillance photographs of Mankowitz showing him...
- 8/25/2010
- by Alan Travis
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor best known for his role in The Sweeney
For decades a versatile figure in regional theatre, both behind and in front of the footlights, the actor Garfield Morgan, who has died aged 78, achieved national recognition as Frank Haskins in the mould-breaking action series The Sweeney (Thames, 1975-78), having spent years playing police officers on screen. He brought narrow eyes and a habitually rueful expression to the role of Haskins, who was continually beset by ulcers and colds and whose somewhat puritanical nature distanced him from his charges, played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Morgan was initially apprenticed to a dental mechanic. His professional debut was in July 1953, in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, as part of the Arena Theatre Company, for the city's sixth summer theatre festival. Also in the company was the future director Clifford Williams.
The following month, Morgan was a founder member of the Marlowe Players,...
For decades a versatile figure in regional theatre, both behind and in front of the footlights, the actor Garfield Morgan, who has died aged 78, achieved national recognition as Frank Haskins in the mould-breaking action series The Sweeney (Thames, 1975-78), having spent years playing police officers on screen. He brought narrow eyes and a habitually rueful expression to the role of Haskins, who was continually beset by ulcers and colds and whose somewhat puritanical nature distanced him from his charges, played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Morgan was initially apprenticed to a dental mechanic. His professional debut was in July 1953, in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, as part of the Arena Theatre Company, for the city's sixth summer theatre festival. Also in the company was the future director Clifford Williams.
The following month, Morgan was a founder member of the Marlowe Players,...
- 2/16/2010
- by Gavin Gaughan
- The Guardian - Film News
Global warming in 1961! Is it a newspaper picture, or a disaster picture, or a political picture, or...well, it's all of these and more. Former journalists Val Guest and Wolf Mankowitz bring a bracingly realistic slant to their persuasive end-of-the-world scenario through the use of real Fleet Street newspapermen, including non-actor Arthur Christiansen, editor of The Daily Express. Tossed off as an exploitation picture in the Us, it's one of the great unsung science fiction pictures, and a must-see.
- 4/22/2009
- Trailers from Hell
Science-fiction moviemaker Val Guest has lost his battle with prostate cancer in a Palm Desert, California hospital. He was 94. The British-born director and screenwriter is best known for his work on films like The Quatermass Xperiment and The Day The Earth Caught Fire, but he's also among the credited film-makers behind 1960s James Bond spoof Casino Royale. Guest and co-writer Wolf Mankowitz picked up a Best British Screenplay award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in 1962 for their work on The Day The Earth Caught Fire.
- 5/23/2006
- WENN
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