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Posted: |
Jul 18, 2024 - 5:55 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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I know this isn't the place to discuss music but was curious what you thought of Barry's score. This was likely recorded after Goldfinger, perhaps just after The Ipcress File (ca. March 1965). I'm thinking this was an extremely low budget production but, being so different from the Bond films, Ipcress, The Knack, Mister Moses, films that afforded him the services of good-size orchestras, he probably was enticed by the challenge of scoring a production with only a handful of instruments (from what I've read he had, at the most, ten players for this).
I'll always mention a score in my reviews.  I've only heard the opening cue, which is beautiful in its depressing desolation. It's especially good when heard alongside the visuals.
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Posted: |
Jul 18, 2024 - 7:02 AM
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By: |
Broughtfan
(Member)
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I know this isn't the place to discuss music but was curious what you thought of Barry's score. This was likely recorded after Goldfinger, perhaps just after The Ipcress File (ca. March 1965). I'm thinking this was an extremely low budget production but, being so different from the Bond films, Ipcress, The Knack, Mister Moses, films that afforded him the services of good-size orchestras, he probably was enticed by the challenge of scoring a production with only a handful of instruments (from what I've read he had, at the most, ten players for this).
I'll always mention a score in my reviews. I've only heard the opening cue, which is beautiful in its depressing desolation. It's especially good when heard alongside the visuals.
The whole film is a bit of a downer, albeit, a well-acted one as the focus is on the four leads. Could have easily been a stage production. Watching this, you realize on the other side of the Thames is Swinging London with The Beatles, the mod fashions and exclusive clubs (such as The Pickwick Club) and art galleries (John Barry's London). On one side there is color and high times, on the other, gray reality and routine (as exemplified by the river patrolmen/morgue technicians).
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Posted: |
Jul 18, 2024 - 9:24 AM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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... which shows the characters shutting off the lights at the police station because it was closing for the evening! Do English criminals have strict hours of operation? I don't think so, but the police apparently do!
In Jun 19 we had a short break holiday in Bournemouth (for non-UK readers: a highly regarded south coast resort) and on the first evening, shortly after 5:30pm, when walking down by the entrance to the pier I picked up a new-ish smartphone, initially thinking someone was going to challenge me: had I stolen it, etc. Other than bars and restaurants we saw nowhere open (even the nearby tourist office had closed). Long story ... abbreviated: I called the police but was put through to a handler who struggled to advise and when I asked if I could take it to the local Police Station he said that would be wonderful. We found it to be a few minutes' walk away, well inland from the coast, but on approaching the station was stopped by a young police officer (actually a trainee) who asked what was our intention ... and replied that the Police Station had now closed for the evening and could I return in the morning to hand the mobile (cell) phone in.
So, yes, here in the UK criminals have limited operating hours since the Police close-up shop at 6:00pm !
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Posted: |
Jul 18, 2024 - 9:36 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Cathy Come Home (1966)
Plot: "A wedding. Happy and promising. A young couple, new to the ways of life. The joys of parenthood: A dream comes true. Then the first incident in a long, spiraling chain of events, and down they go. No job, no money. Moving from house to house, each smaller than the last."
Directed by Kenneth (Ken) Loach.
Written by Jeremy Sandford, Ken Loach.
Starring: Carol White; Roy Brooks.
Filmed in Hammersmith, London and Liverpool Street Station, Broadgate, London (final scene).
An episode of The Wednesday Play.
Unremittingly bleak, Cathy Come Home is gripping, disturbing stuff. Is it also manipulative as hell? You bet it is, but the direction, editing, cinematography, and pseudo-documentary style with lots of footage of people who are either not actors at all, or if they are, are the best actors ever all contribute to make this a powerful viewing experience. Lots of food for thought, with the primary thought being, "This could happen to almost anyone."
Such was immersion in this film, that I failed to notice Geoffrey Palmer and Lennard Pearce in brief roles. Cathy Come Home is among the most depressing films I've ever seen.
Even the small touches with minor characters hit hard, like the grandad's reaction when he knows the family is going to send him to a home for old people; it's especially disturbing when they ignore him even after asking him questions.
Carol White (Cathy) is completely natural and believable in this, so much that I'm sure she was typecast because of how realistic her performance is. Ray Brooks (Reg) is also good. His character is so sympathetic that you (almost) don't resent him when he makes a certain decision late in the film.
Very little music outside of a couple of period pop songs ("500 Miles"; "Stand By Me"), but a proper score would not suit this film at all.
Only the caravan torching scene didn't ring true to me, but that's easily forgiven because of the high quality of everything else.
9 out of 10
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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2024 - 10:34 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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A Kind of Loving (1962)
Plot: After his girlfriend's pregnancy forces him to marry her, a young man must adjust to his new life and contend with his domineering mother-in-law.
Directed by John Schlesinger.
Written by Willis Hall, Keith Waterhouse, Stan Barstow.
Cinematography by Denys N. Coop.
Starring: Alan Bates, June Ritchie, Thora Hird.
Filmed in Preston, Lancashire; Bolton, Greater Manchester; Radcliffe, Greater Manchester.
The film is nothing like what the above poster advertises!
Despite most of the characters being cyphers, the strength of the film is in being aboe to empathize with and imagine oneself in their position. Thora Hird as "Mrs. Rothwell" is the most well-defined character, and despite her hard, sometimes annoying nature, her point of view is realistic, as she is protective of her daughter Ingrid (June Ritchie). I know June Ritchie only from her appearance in an episode of The Persuaders!; she is excellent here.
Alan Bates (Vic Brown) looks older (he was around 28) than his character's age, but I'll split the difference and accept him as being 24. Ritchie's character is said to be 19 (the actress was about 24).
James Bolam is here (again), this time playing "Jeff", one of Bates' loutish work colleagues. Bolam's best scene is at the Bolton Wanderers-Sheffield United football match (filmed at Burnden Park) when he is soundly rejected by a girl he tries to pick up.
Leonard Rossiter ("Whymper") also appears, and although his role is brief, he makes the most of it with a few subtle comedic moments.
Look quickly for Last of the Summer Wine alumni Joe Gladwin (amusing as a sharp-tongued bus conductor) and Kathy Staff (as Bates' neighbor). And of course, Thora Hird.
Music by Ron Grainer. His score has two cues that I enjoyed very much: the honeymoon scene (filmed at a desolate, off-season Promenade, St Anne's on Sea, Fylde, Lancashire) and the end credits music. Sparse music scores serve these films best and that's what Grainer does here.
In reading some reviews, many have stated that A Kind of Loving captures its time and place, as well as the prevailing mentality and culture of the time. There is an immersive quality to this movie that I find incredibly appealing.
A real gem of a film. The cast all deliver pitch-perfect performances. The direction and cinematography are wonderful. There are some beautifully-dreary shots of cold, wet cityscapes, foreboding rail stations, and some flashy downtown areas---all are lovely to behold.
A Kind of Loving has nearly every "Kitchen Sink" trope (dreary town, crying babies, a pub singalong). Who knows? This may inspire me to do a "Kitchen Sink Realism Bingo"!
The ending is hopeful---but only slightly...
9 out of 10
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Most were set in the grim north.
Yes, more rain.
South and south coast = much more sun.
Nobody had yet done a grim n murky tale in Bournemouth. Lol
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Posted: |
Jul 20, 2024 - 11:41 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Sparrows Can't Sing (1963)
Plot: After 2 years at sea, Charlie comes home to find his house demolished, wife Maggie gone, living with married Bert and their toddler. Charlie leaves a trail of mayhem as he tries to sort things out.
Starring James Booth, Barbara Windsor, Roy Kinnear.
Directed by Joan Littlewood.
Written by Stephen Lewis, Joan Littlewood.
Cinematography by Desmond Dickinson and Max Greene (Mutz Greenbaum).
Filmed in London: Stepney; Limehouse; Cowley Gardens, (Oyster Row) Shadwell.
Barbara Windsor (Maggie) wiggles her way through this cockney kitchen sink comedy and is the true star of this breezy little film with an ensemble cast of many familiar faces. The comedy prevails throughout, although the film never lets the viewer forget the darker undercurrent about Maggie's "lifestyle choices", and the fact that she's taken up with one or more men, and had a baby with one of them during the two years her husband Charlie (James Booth) has been out to sea. (Charlie's no angel, either).
The ensemble cast includes Victor Spinetti, Brian Murphy, Yootha Joyce---more than a decade before George and Mildred, though they share no scenes together. Stephen Lewis (who co-scripted), Griffith Davies (whose voice sounds identical to Nicholas Lyndhurst's), George Sewell, the fetching Barbara Ferris
The entire cast shows up in the free-for-all finale where there is a massive punch up (as opposed to a piss up). The ending feels sudden, but the film is so entertaining that I didn't mind; I truly enjoyed the "hang out time" spent with these characters. The setting feels like an actual community, which is in large part to the ensemble cast's excellent chemistry.
The weather is bright and sunny, and the film makes a point to show off the wonderful weather they were having during filming. There is one brief, perfunctory scene of a rainy street.
The crumbling Victorian-era buildings contrasted with the modernist towers is blatantly shown in the opening scene, as Charlie's house has been demolished in his absence; the new tower blocks in their place look like (even uglier) sores on the landscape than the buildings they've replaced. The tower block also includes a commissar-like official, who is a recurring, bureaucratic irritant. Some of the girls make jokes about the imposing tower blocks, like how the council places the old people on the top floors to kill them off in order to save having to pay the old timers their pensions.
Queenie Watts plays a barmaid. She warbles a tune. I'd never heard of her, thinking she was a 1930s-era vocalist because she looked about 60; turns out she was 40 when Sparrows Can't Sing was made!
Sparrows Can't Sing's subject matter must have been quite saucy for mainstream American audiences. This begs the question: Did it receive a general US release?
The rare film with a female director; Joan Littlewood did a splendid job.
The film rates a 6.2 (529 votes) on the IMDb. I'm surprised at the low rating. I suppose many don't think a "rough" comedy with the plot being about a woman deciding whether to live with her husband or remain with her boyfriend (the father of her child).
8 out of 10
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Jim
This is a bit off the wall, - and certainly not in the genre - but nevertheless keep an eye out for jungle war drama The Long and the Short and the Tall. Was written by Leeds born writer Willis Hall, who also wrote Billy Liar and the screenplays for Whistle Down the Wind and A Kind of Loving.
The aggression between the soldiers in the group is severe from the start , partly down to the dialogue but also because star Richard Todd despised Co stars Richard Harris and Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris despised Laurence Harvey and Richard Todd and Laurence Harvey despised Richard Todd and Richard Harris lol.
It reeks of the same grimness and edgy bickering that's rife in the other kitchen sink dramas.
" Why don't you shut your trap, you stupid Scots git"
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" Why don't you shut your trap, you stupid Scots git"
The even got 'Scots' right. All him anything but he hated being called 'Scotch' -- 'That's fkn whisky!'
** good film BTW.
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Before anyone thinks I'm off my trolley suggesting this, yes, I agree, it's not a true kitchen sink drama per se, but it's a war drama cut from the same cloth, kinda. The constant aggression between the patrol is off the graph.
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Posted: |
Jul 22, 2024 - 8:43 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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In honor of Terence Stamp's 86th birthday...
Poor Cow (1967)
Plot: When her mentally and physically abusive husband, Tom, is sent to jail, Joy is left on her own to take care of their son, Johnny. After experiencing failed relationships, Joy must decide if she will stay with Tom for the sake of Johnny.
Starring Carol White; Terence Stamp; John Bindon; Kate Williams; Queenie Watts.
Directed by Kenneth (Ken) Loach.
Written by Nell Dunn, Ken Loach.
Cinematography by Brian Probyn.
Music by Donovan.
Filmed in London: Fulham; Hayes; Hammersmith; Bognor, Regis, West Sussex (seaside), and Wales.
She sure can pick ‘em! Terence Stamp’s “Dave Fuller” is the best of the lot, and even he’s a violent career criminal!
Carol White’s Joy character is a survivor and is no man’s fool. Carol White was perfect for these kitchen sink roles; it’s a pity she didn’t have the kind of career that her contemporary Julie Christie had. Joy only attaches herself to different me to satisfy her “different” moods and so that she won’t be alone in the world; Joy is selfish and superficial except when it comes to her young son, Little Jonny.
Little Jonny, Joy’s son, has got to be one of cinema’s most charming children! Best of all, he’s quiet.
Terence Stamp (Dave) has only about 15 minutes of screen time, but he gives a sympathetic performance; he’s probably one of the two likable adult characters in the film (the other being Beryl, Joy's pub workmate). The scene where Carol chucks the soup at him is the funniest and perhaps the most effective improvised moment in the film. Joy’s laughter is legitimate, and Dave must really love her because he doesn’t demonstrate the slightest hint of anger at her.
Stamp memorably performs Donovan's song Colours. This has to be one of the first instances of a character performing a work by the film's composer that wasn't specifically composed for the film!
John Bindon (Tom) is brilliant. He has a timeless quality about him, and he is also Ken Loach’s philosophical mouthpiece. Tom, after his release from prison, has a matter-of-fact monologue during his reunion with Joy about the “real” criminals in British society. Tom knows how the world works. From the little I’ve read about Bindon, he seemed like a real piece of work! Worse than Al Lettieri, even! Bindon is a powerhouse, and his forceful performance is accomplished without a hint of overacting. In fact, the entire cast play everything low key, and it serves the film well.
Kate Williams, who plays Joy’s barmaid workmate Beryl, makes the most of her screen time; I liked the cheekiness and world-wise nature of her character. Shame about her bouffant hairstyle, though. For the life of me I will never comprehend how that horrific hairstyle hung on for 15 years (from the start of the ‘60s until around 1973).
Cinematographer Brian Probyn makes even the most miserable London slum look…I wouldn’t say beautiful, but every shot is incredibly striking, colorful, and vivid, especially during the seaside sequence when Joy is writing to Dave, and Loach’s camera films various people taking in the sights and sounds. This is the most naturalistic, “you are there” scene in the whole film.
The blur of the Swinging ‘60s swirls in this film, whether it is in the radio source music or the songs by Donovan.
Look fast for TV stalwart George Tovey as one of several lecherous, late-middle-age "fashion photographers" whose teeth sweat as the men ogle Joy and Beryl.
“Even if it’s only for six months that might be six months of happiness and anyway it’s six months of life got through.”
~One of the chapter cards of Joy’s thoughts. “It’s six months of life got through.” That is something that resonated deeply with me, but it’s an incredibly bleak outlook: Life as something to be gotten out of the way. Joy finds her “joy” wherever she finds it, but it’s really all for nothing. Ken Loach must be the most (philosophically) depressed man of all time.
Joy is impervious to whatever life throws at her. Is this, yet another take on what used to be carrying on with the proverbial stiff upper lip.
8 out of 10.
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Posted: |
Jul 26, 2024 - 9:46 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Look Back in Anger (1959)
Plot: A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
Starring: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Mary Ure, Edith Evans, Gary Raymond, Donald Pleasance.
Directed by Tony Richardson.
Written by John Osborne, Nigel Kneale.
Cinematography by Oswald Morris.
Music by Chris Barber (uncredited).
Filmed in Romford, Essex; Holloway, London.
Richard Burton (Jimmy Porter) is a university graduate and jazz trumpet player (think Jack Klugman in his Twilight Zone episode) who now runs a sweets stall in an outside London marketplace. Porter is perpetually tightly wound, even screaming at the church bells across from his drab flat to stop ringing.
Porter rants to everyone over everything; he could very well be an FSMer who’s finally snapped because his BSX order hasn’t arrived (Spoiler: Nor will it). Porter wants “everything” and “nothing.” Jimmy’s love of jazz is described as “The one way we have of escaping from everything; a silly symphony for people who can’t bear the pain of being human beings any longer.”
There’s a nice sweeping pan over the rainy town at the film’s opening.
The flat where Porter lives is a template for the Kitchen Sink drama. Burton, despite looking ten years too old for his role, is the template of the “angry young man.” It’s easy to see the cultural influence this film–and especially the play before it–had on popular culture. TV’s Terry Collier (James Bolam) of Likely Lads fame is a watered-down Jimmy Porter. There are probably many more subsequent film and TV characters who took off running with the Angry Young Man trope which all started with Look Back in Anger.
Gary Raymond (Cliff Lewis), who lives with the Porters, looks like a lanky Alan Bates. Bates played Cliff Lewis in the stage production. I know Raymond best from an episode of The Persuaders! ("The Ozerov Inheritance"). He does a good job with the role of Cliff, providing sympathy to Alison and alongside Jimmy as a friend, bringing out the occasional instance of Jimmy’s softer side. This does not go unnoticed by Jimmy, and their farewell scene is also superbly performed.
Cliff and Jimmy often break into an annoying vaudeville-type shtick. It’s an outlet for Jimmy’s hostility, not that he needs one, since he displays some Stanley Kowlaski-styled threats and brutality against women.
Burton and Donald Pleasance (Hurst) have a superb onscreen dynamic. The hatred between the two characters is one of the best things about the film.
Mary Ure (Alison Porter) is Jimmy’s wife. She’s soft, sensual, and is quietly suffering under Jimmy’s endless verbal and physical abuse. Jimmy Porter is with the lovely Alison, *and* he gets to shag the gorgeous Helena Charles (Claire Bloom, who looks amazing); Jimmy should have been called “Jammy” Porter!
Burton and Edith Evans (Mrs. Tanner) are also wonderful together. She brings out the thoughtful, gentle side of Jimmy Porter. Their scene at the cemetery and subsequent farewell at the train station are brief but lovely character moments for them both.
Some of Burton’s dialogue is reminiscent of when he would guest on talk shows in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, pontificating about life and quoting Shakespeare or Dylan Thomas. Jimmy also says that it will be “pretty dreary living in the American Age…unless you’re American.”
Burton’s Jimmy Porter vacillates between outbursts of rage and contempt and deep melancholy and regret. He’s particularly insufferable in the scenes in their flat.
Some of Porter’s rants are humorous:
“The bloke who wrote that was never in a woman’s bedroom–not even his mother’s when she found out the truth about him.”
Either Porter’s reasons for being so angry weren’t articulated well, or I just blinked and missed them when they were expressed. Am I missing an historical context with this film?
Excellent cinematography and solid direction make Look Back in Anger a visual treat. The sound of the film creates an atmosphere that seeks to escape the film’s trapping’s as a stage play. Effects such as the endless tolling of the bells when Jimmy is “tearing someone a new one” adds to the tension.
No score, really. Jimmy plays Dixieland-style jazz in a smokey nightclub.
Is Look Back in Anger less about contemporaneous British society and more about John Osborne, the writer, and his personal feelings of helplessness? Is it because Jimmy Porter lives in a dump, regrets marrying his wife, and toils at a job he thinks is beneath him? Are the “context cues” visual and obvious and Jimmy’s vitriol the expression of what we see on screen? If “Yes” is the answer to any and all of these things, then I think other Kitchen Sink films do a far better job of making their case, so to speak.
Having said all that, I would still give Look Back in Anger another viewing sometime in the future, but for now:
6 out of 10
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