A compelling portrait of a man who can never escape his past.
Category: film
‘The Tourist’ meets ‘Summertime’
One way of watching The Tourist is to think of it as being inspired by David Lean’s understated film Summertime. But not literally. Obviously.
We’re going to live for ever, maybe
Fame lives and dies on a handful of big songs. But it captures a moment when New York’s fortunes were turning up.
Whooping it up for the boys
Apollo 13: so wasteful, so frugal, so male.
Putting on the style
Top Hat was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ most successful film together. The dance sequences are outstanding, and it never takes itself too seriously.
Farewell my lovely, from page to screen
Chandler’s novel is vague about the plot. Scriptwriters have to work hard to make the story work on screen.
Angels on earth
The Bishop’s Wife is a fine Christmas film that deserves to be better known. It’s enough to make you believe in angels.
Strangers and trains
Brief Encounter works as a film, despite its British restraint, because it tells a story about what happens when heart is separated from home.
The Spy in Black
The screenwriter Emeric Pressburger was hired by Alexander Korda to fix The Spy in Black. It was the first time he worked with Michael Powell.
Doing it for some doll
The film musical Guys and Dolls is about honour among gamblers and hustlers. That’s why it’s shot in a stylised way in the studio.