SPLeo Reviews

Father Brown: The Labyrinth of the Minotaur (2017) Season 5, Episode 2

Fine episode and touching denouement

[8/10 · 19 November 2023]

The last two minutes of this made me surprisingly emotional. It's a fine episode with an intriguing story, although I am not convinced that the motive for the murder is strong enough.

Nevertheless, the high point comes right at the end, long after the story threads have been tied together.

I won't spoil it for people who have not seen it, but provided you have got to know the characters you will understand why this pulls at the heartstrings. Even better, it does it without drifting into cheap sentiment.

Someone should have commissioned a series with these two. It would have been a ratings winner.

Father Brown: The Daughters of Jerusalem (2014) Season 2, Episode 6

One of the best

[9/10 · 18 October 2023]

This is one of the best episodes of Series Two, and it kicks off in fine style with the pre-titles teaser; one of the funniest in the entire run, when the locum priest's film on education in Africa for the benefit of the Kembleford Women's Institute turns out to be a saucy under-the-counter movie involving a sturdy farm worker, a young woman in stockings and suspenders and several bales of hay.

Once again, Nancy Carroll and Sorcha Cusack play this shock beautifully The teaser was also notable for a somewhat daring line for daytime TV. The title of the cookery talk? "Going Gay Without Meat". Ahem.

Father Brown (2013– )

Two exceptional actresses

[8/10 · 11 October 2023]

For me, this is one of the best episodes in Series One, despite the aggregated reviews.

It all comes down to the scenes between Sorcha Cusack and Nancy Carroll (Mrs McCarthy and Lady Felicia), which show what exceptional actresses they are. Every nuance, all the subtext, the compassion and angst are conveyed in looks and the briefest of lines.

I was so mesmerised by them that I replayed all four scenes a couple of times. They improved on every viewing.

They were given these lines by writers Rachel Flowerday and Tahsin Guner. The four of them created possibly the finest exchanges in Series One, and perhaps even across all 11 series so far.

The Last Journey (1935)

Astonishingly good for its budget and era

[8/10 · 10 July 2022]

I caught this on Talking Pictures TV in the UK and was blown away by how good this low-budget thriller (£27,000 reportedly) turned out to be.

Yes, there's some ham acting typical of the era, and railway buffs quibble that safety devices on trains even then would have stopped the plot in its tracks, but the humour stands up well in the 21st century and I'll watch anything that features Godfrey Tearle.

The crowning glory, though, was the pace of the editing as the denouement approached. I was leaning forward in my seat, totally involved and gripped.

Hats off, then, to editor Lister Laurance. The astonishing thing is that he was only 23 when he cut this film.

Recommended.

Carry on Emmannuelle (1978)

This just makes me feel sad

[1/10 · 25 June 2022]

I watched this to complete the Carry On series. It just made me feel sad. Carry On fans had come to view the gang with affection, so it hurt to see actors of the calibre of Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Peter Butterworth and Jack Douglas appearing in this unfunny schoolboy smut. It was just depressing.

My esteem for Barbara Windsor soared when I learned that she had refused to take part. Joan Sims was right to say she was just embarrassed and wished she had not done it.

Thriller: Cry Terror (1975) Season 6, Episode 5

Two magnificent performances

[8/10 · 6 May 2022]

Watch this for two magnificent performances. As other reviewers have said, Dudley Sutton excels at menace and this is one of his best.

The standout for me, however, is John Bailey as struck-off and alcoholic Doctor Kemp. He conveys despair, fear, nervousness, alcoholism and weariness to perfection.

It's not just his lines. Watch the eyes, the tics, the hesitation, the reactions, the faux-surprise ... and the shakes. John Bailey gives a masterclass in how to inhabit a character.

Thriller: If It's a Man - Hang Up! (1975) Season 5, Episode 1

Plot twists galore

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

This is worth watching for all the plot twists that tumble over you in the last few minutes.

There is a clever red herring at around the 10-minute mark, when we hear the telephone voice of the mystery criminal. We recognise which character it is at once because the actor became famous subsequently, which made his distinctive voice so obvious.

But has the director asked this actor to record the speech to direct our attention mischievously away from the real villain?

Thriller: A Killer in Every Corner (1974) Season 4, Episode 5

Two surprises

[7/10 · 20 April 2022]

Two things stand out in this episode.

1. A stunning straight performance, well against type, by Max Wall. He conveys every emotion in a deeply conflicted character: vulnerability, narcissism and danger. This episode is worth watching for him alone.

2. The shakiest sets ever seen in a non-comedy production. The banisters and walls wobble constantly.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Two-pace movie

[3 October 2011]

I can understand why people have difficulties with this movie: it has dual-pacing. There are sequences in which important plot points are covered and gone in less than five seconds (what happens to Control, the vital knock on Smiley's door etc), which means that if you're not paying attention, you lose your grip on the story and are unlikely to retrieve it. But then there are long, languid scenes which convey the dreary essence of day-to-day espionage. These are the sequences which, I suspect, lead some in the audience to think that the movie itself is slow and boring. Keeping track of the blink-and-its-gone stuff and coping with the long, soporific stretches mean that Tinker, Tailor demands a lot of work from the audience to get the best out of it. Not everyone is prepared to work that hard, I guess. Should they have to? Your call. One major relief is that it isn't a film filled with explosions and car chases, tailored to the tastes of 14-year-old boys, who generally can't tell the difference between a good movie and an empty movie.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Stanwyck or Scott?

[5/10 · 17 November 2005]

I'm surprised by the frequent praise for the acting of Lizabeth Scott in this movie. All I see is flaring nostrils and rolling eyes that wouldn't have been out of place in one of the hammier silents. Perhaps that's not surprising since this was only her second movie. She went on to do much better work in the 1950s.

To see a real movie actress at work, look, instead, at Barbara Stanwyck in the scene in which she confronts Sam and Toni in their hotel bedroom. Watch how Stanwyck times and delivers her lines; her body language; the subtext of complete disdain. Those lines could have been played several ways, but Stanwyck pitches them note-perfect. Now, that's class.