SIDNEY POLLACK1934 - 2008
THE SLENDER THREAD, CASTLE KEEP, THE SCALPHUNTERS
THE YAKUZA, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
ABSENCE OF MALICE
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Monday, 26 May 2008
HE IS NOT DEAD, JUST SLEEPETH!
Yes, I know it's not his birthday until tomorrow but the party will go on all night at the House of Seven Gables!Vincent Price is one of my top half dozen favourite actors of all time - but of that top five he occupies a very special place. Of my favourites he is the only one I have actually met. More, because to a degree I got to know him. I have dined with him, visited his dressing room at The Queens Theatre in London and even been on a car journey with him. I was lucky enough to see Vincent on stage in a production of ARDELE and at his John Player Lecture at the National Film Theatre. I first met Vincent through my friend, the late Michael Reeves, who directed him in WITCHFINDER GENERAL and was later lucky enough to visit the sets or locations for THE OBLONG BOX, THE ABOMINABLE DR.PHIBES, THEATRE OF BLOOD, MADHOUSE, SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and CRY OF THE BANSHEE. I don't think I've heard anybody say a bad word about Vincent....probably because there isn't one to say. He was a very funny man to be with, a gracious host and a great actor. I feel privileged to have known him, even for what was a relatively, short period, but it was one of the great thrills of my life. Happy Birthday, Vincent!
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Please give the video a few moments to load.
Thursday, 22 May 2008
EMMA ZUNZ
Here is what will, hopefully, be a real treat for you - an entire movie (albeit a short one) directed by my friend Maxim Ford while studying at the Polish Film School many years ago. It is based on the short story, EMMA ZUNZ, by the great Argentinian writer Jose Luis Borges and although there are several other versions of the story on You Tube, this is by far the best. Enjoy!
Sunday, 18 May 2008
CRY OF THE CITY (1948)
Robert Siodmak has special place in my heart : he was the first director to scare the shit out of me. The scene was the Empire Cinema in Holloway, North London, and my mother had taken me to see Siodmak's THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE. I'm not sure how old I was but I was probably about five. I didn't really understand the film and was quite bored and then suddenly the screen was filled with the image of the killer's eye. This absolutely terrified me and I watched the rest of the movies through laced fingers, praying that this horror would all end soon...but I still had to get through the films climax which was one of the most frightening memories of my childhood. For years I joked with my mother that keeping me in that cinema was tantamou
nt to child abuse! Robert Siodmak was born in 1900 in Dresden of Polish parents and cut his cinematic teeth in Germany along with his friend Max Castle. He later worked in France before arriving in Hollywood in 1939 where he secured a contract with Universal. His first film of note was the 1943 SON OF DRACULA - an extremely atmospheric entry in the Universal horror series. This was followed by THE PHANTOM LADY which was the first of a remarkable series of film noir that he would make over the next few years : THE KILLERS, DARK MIRROR, CRY OF THE CITY, CRISS CROSS, THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN, CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY, UNCLE HARRY and DEPORTED. Add to these the high camp Maria Montez extravaganza COBRA WOMAN, and the psychological suspense of THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and we have one of the most interesting Hollywood directors of the Forties. Siodmak's remaining career is less interesting. He left Hollywood and returned to Europe where he made THE CRIMSON PIRATE and an interesting English noir starring Nadja Tiller called THE ROUGH AND THE SMOOTH (I saw this on television during the Sixties and remember it as being rather good) before going home to Germany. His films after then seem to be of little interest. He died in 1973. CRY OF THE CITY is an very good film noir starring Victor Mature and Richard Conte as childhood friends who have grown up on different sides of the law. Mature, who, plays the cop is the nominal star, fresh from his success in KISS OF DEATH, but it is Conte who really carries the film as the convicted killer on the run. Supporting cast is excellent with Shelley Winters outstanding as the girl who tries to help Conte (several missing scenes featuring Winters have been restored for British Film Institute DVD release), Fred Clark playing it straight as Mature's sidekick and Debra Paget in her film debut. A special mention must be made of the wonderful Hope Emerson as the sinister masseuse - which almost equals her classic portrayal of the sadistic prison wardress in John Cromwell's CAGED. Rating ***Saturday, 17 May 2008
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