Rear Window is one of Hitchcock’s greatest movies, indeed one of the greatest movies ever. Hitchcock ingeniously makes full use of the single location set to explore one of his favourite themes: voyeurism. James Stewart plays a photographer with a broken leg, driven to distraction by boredom cooped up in his apartment, who amuses himself…
The Wild Geese
In 1978, when it was released, a movie where white mercenaries kill a bunch of black soldiers and (almost) rescue a black resistance leader was nothing more than a cracking adventure. Now, its ‘white saviour’ theme is rather uncomfortable, notwithstanding some token attempts in the script to address racism head-on. (The movie also invited controversy…
Barbarella
I honestly do not know what to make of Barbarella. I only have vague memories of having seen it once on TV and I recall it was very campy, silly and not particularly funny. Yet it has a status now as something of an influential cult classic, so maybe I was just too young to…
Peplums
Here are some examples of a peculiar sub-genre. “Peplums” are a term for low-budget Italian-made ‘sword and sandal’ historical epics. The peak “peplum” period was the 60s, when hundreds of such movies featuring Biblical stories and/or Greco-Roman mythical heroes were made. These attempted to copy the success of Hollywood epics such as Ben Hur or…
Touch Of Evil
1958’s Touch of Evil is one of the greatest Film Noirs of all time. It also contains one of the most famous long take tracking shots in history, courtesy of the great Orson Welles. Star Charlton Heston brought Welles onboard to both direct and star as the villain of the piece – a bloated, corrupt…
3.10 to Yuma
Now here is a rarity – a French grande poster from 1957 for the original version of 3.10 to Yuma. I honestly cannot remember if I have ever seen this movie (starring Glenn Ford). I have, however, read the (very) short story it is based on – by ‘hardboiled’ writer Elmore Leonard, no less, and…
For Your Eyes Only
For me, For Your Eyes Only got the Bond franchise back on track for a short while, after the ludicrous, played for laughs, Moonraker – which shot Bond into space! This is a deliberately much more grounded and sober affair, and despite Roger Moore showing his age, I consider it the best of his later…
Thunderbolt And Lightfoot
Thunderbolt And Lightfoot is one of the great ‘buddy’ movies of the 70s. The idea of a mis-matched ‘bromance’ comedy-thriller is certainly nothing new, but there was a slew of these type of films released around the same year (Freebie And The Bean, Scarecrow). Subsequent movies in the genre include Midnight Run, 48 Hours, Lethal…
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a land-mark horror movie. It was the first horror movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. (It lost out to The Sting, but won the Best Adapted Screenplay award). Plus, its success ushered in a slew of big budget supernatural horror movies from major Hollywood studios (notably The Omen and…
The Battle Of Algiers
Here is a rather striking poster for a film I must admit I have never seen. The Battle Of Algiers is supposedly a land-mark movie in cinema-verite. It covers events in the Algerian war between rebels in North Africa and the French government. The movie was shot on location in 1966, largely with non-professional actors…