David Cottis

Woman talking angrily on her phone, as she walks through Hendon: 'I said knee-length. Knee. Length. Do you even know what that means?'

I don't know anyone who'd consider Ayn Rand a 'classic'

... although, to be fair, they are portrayed sympathetically. Like a lot of Disney films of this era, it stars actors who were big in the States, but never meant anything over here - Dean Jones, Joe E. Ross, and sadly Buddy Hackett, who I would probably have found annoying even back in 1969. (4/4)

The car racing plot, introduced about halfway through, is by far the least interesting part of the story - up till that point it's a love triangle, with Herbie as a sort of Puck-like disruptor. Some rather - ahem - of-its-time ethnic humour about a Chinese family... (3/4)

Watching it now, a couple of things surprise me: the number of references to hippie culture (including, I suppose, the title), and the prevalence of sexual and scatological jokes (Herbie is constantly squirting oil over David Tomlinson, like a badly house-trained puppy taking a leak). (2/4)

The Love Bug (1968) ⭐ 6.5 | Comedy, Family, Sport 1h 48m | G

It was a real status symbol in my infants' school to have seen this film when it was released in 1969 (this was in the days when we got US blockbusters a year later, in worn-out prints), so I'm glad finally to have joined the cool kids, over half a century later. (1/4) www.imdb.com/title/tt0064...

Maybe the best tribute would be to consider what made it that way, and try to preserve, and improve on, that. (2/2)

The number of great ones that we've lost recently (R.I.P. Diane Keaton) makes me think that maybe the real wonder is not that so many are dying, but that so many lived, and in particular lived in that extraordinarily fertile period that was the half-century or so after WW2. (1/2)

A fantastic Performance Reviews section in 43.1, with pieces from @terribourus.bsky.social, @davidcottis.bsky.social, @joestephenson.bsky.social, Justin B. Hopkins, Suzy Lawrence, Scott Shepherd, Katie O'Hare, @hanhbuiwrites.bsky.social, @emmakatwood.bsky.social, Olivia Soileau, and Laurie Maguire.

I've got a review in the current issue of Shakespeare Bulletin: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55715

George C. Scott and Kirk Douglas acquit themselves well among a mostly British cast. Great location shooting in London and the countryside. Surprisingly affectionate towards the English aristocracy - it must be one of the last Hollywood films in which foxhunting in portrayed positively. (3/3)

... except it was revealed later that most of them probably don't, and Mitchum, the only one who actually shows up, has a terrible cockney accent. It's a shame, as underneath the gimmick, there's a dark little idea about the long-term effects of the war on those who fought it. (2/3)

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) ⭐ 6.8 | Mystery, Thriller 1h 38m | Approved

One of those films that probably more people have read about than actually seen: John Huston's UK-set noir with the weird gimmick that a set of US stars (Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster) play cameos in heavy disguise... (1/3) www.imdb.com/title/tt0057...

Two students, overheard walking past me in a corridor:

First: I'm not good at any sport.
Second: (in the tone of someone trumping an ace) Yeah, I'm no good at anything.

I always do the intro to I'm a Moody Guy by Shane Fenton

@secondmentions.bsky.social 'this garish gourd'

Also one of the founders of the ESC - Shylock, Volpone, Prospero, and a glorious George Melly-suited Falstaff

R.I.P. John Woodvine - an RSC stalwart when I was a teenager, during that company's imperial period; Banquo to McKellen's Macbeth, Falstaff in Merry Wives, Ralph Nickleby. Less of a film career, but he was perfect in An American Werewolf in London. The definition of an actor with authority.

The best section has pianist Johnny B. Great, whoever he may be, doing a storming version of 'I Had a Hammer'. The US release had a completely different title and framing plot. One of the songs is credited to 'Mercy Hump', a mildly risque in-joke, later used by Anthony Newley. (2/2)

Just for You (1964) ⭐ 5.5 | Musical 1h 3m

Not really a film, more a video show, with Sam Costa lying in bed watching mimed performances by various second division '60s singers and bands. Freddie and the Dreamers top the bill, with Freddie Garrity dressed as a court jester, which seems about right. (1/2) www.imdb.com/title/tt0060...

London vignette: a teenager on a Lime bike, in the classic uniform of black jeans, hoodie, and scarf, cycles round and stops in front of me. He holds up his hand for a high-five, which I give him. I hear a couple of young people behind me cheering. I think I might have just won somebody a bet.

In the stage adaptation, this was then applied back to Lind, which may have influenced the authors of 'Barnum' to create a story about P.T. Barnum's (fictional) affair with Jenny Lind, which was then carried over into 'The Greatest Showman'. What a wonderful world. (2/2)

So, let's see if I've got this right... 'Hans Christian Andersen' took Andersen's (real-life) infatuation with Jenny Lind, hybridised it with 'The Red Shoes' (which is itself a hetting-up of the Diaghilev/Nijinsky relationship) to produce a story about a (fictional) ballerina. (1/2)

That website's quite the rabbit hole, btw.

Hmm.. interesting that they made Jenny Lind into his lost love. Presumably this is a few years before 'Barnum' did the same thing (with the difference being that in Andersen's case, it may actually have been true).

I assume you know the story about Singin' in the Rain...

Yeah, I remember that, and wondered how it would work - there are only eight songs, and they're mostly in the first half. I'm guessing someone had to augment the score - from what I've heard of Tommy, i doubt that he would put up with a dancer stealing half of his show.

The great Basil Wolverton

... marking the screen debut of the French ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire (of 'Where Do You Go To , My Lovely?' fame). The template is clearly 'The Red Shoes' - a love story structured round an Andersen story (here, 'The Little Mermaid', with Andersen as the mermaid) ending with a ballet version. (3/3)

Watching it now, I'm struck my a few things: the brilliance of Frank Loesser's songs, the odd darkness of the central love triangle (Andersen is more of a stalker/voyeur than a lover), and especially how dance-heavy it is - almost the entire second half is taken up with ballet routines... (2/3)