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Mega film producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been trying to crack a sixth entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for years. A follow-up has been in the works ever since the last installment — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Bruckheimer has been talking about parallel installments with both new and old continuity, including a version with Margot Robbie, with conflicting reports on whether it is still a go. Bruckheimer is still giving updates about the developing sequel in his latest talk with ScreenRant.

While Bruckheimer has been vocally interested in involving Johnny Depp again, the Jack Sparrow star has gone through an image overhaul in recent years and there hasn’t been a definitive deal locked down yet. However, the producer says that even though Sparrow might not return, there will still be some familiar faces. Bruckheimer updates, “We’re working on a screenplay. Hopefully we...

“Great Expectations: British Postwar Cinema 1945-1960” is the theme of this year’s Locarno Film Festival Retrospective, unveiled on Monday. It follows the festival’s 2024 look back at Columbia Pictures at 100.

Described as “a tribute” to British cinema from that period promising to be “painting a rich and diverse picture of life in the postwar years as reflected in British popular cinema,” the retrospective will feature more than 40 films and is produced in partnership with the BFI National Archive and the Cinémathèque Suisse, with the support of StudioCanal and curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht.

“After the end of the Second World War — and as its overseas empire began to crumble — Britain embarked on the rocky road to national reconstruction and revival,” Locarno organizers said. “Featuring everything from beloved classics by legendary filmmakers like David Lean, Carol Reed, and Powell and Pressburger (themselves the subject of a major Locarno retrospective in 1982 and...

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is coming back to screens – like anyone would believe otherwise. While there are currently questions over whether it will be with Johnny Depp, Margot Robbie, or someone completely different at the helm, one original star would be more than happy to make a small appearance – and even has his own hilarious pitch as to how it could happen. While speaking exclusively to MovieWeb’s George Edelman while promoting his new movie The Rule of Jenny Pen, the legendary Geoffrey Rush addressed a possible swashbuckling return as ne'er-do-well pirate Barbossa. He said:

“I had a good time on that over a very long period. It was probably 12, 15 years or something, from beginning to end. But after the final chapter, I've died twice, and I didn't want an exhumation. I thought it would have been wrong having sacrificed his life for his own child, yeah, and I thought,...

In 2003, Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a movie that would reimagine pirates forever. Since then, these films have dominated the genre, and it's been very hard for other films to compete with its monumental success. As such, a lot of modern fans tend to associate pirates with what they've seen in these movies.

However, pirates are a unique part of history and have been discussed in a wealth of older films. From swashbuckling adventures to locating buried treasures, older pirate movies tend to attract viewers with their vintage charm. As such, some of the pirate movies were released long before Johnny Depp became Captain Jack Sparrow.

A Nobleman Seeks Revenge From Those Who Wronged Him The Executioner of the Seas

Even though he was sentenced to death, a swift and crafty nobleman named David Robinson manages to make a lucky escape. Now that he's on the run,...

Few names are more iconic than John Wayne, whose legendary status was solidified through countless acclaimed box-office successes. As perhaps the defining figure of Hollywood's Golden Age, Wayne’s work in Westerns and war movies made him a household name whose rugged charisma and heroic persona ensured his success from the silent era right through to the end of his career in 1979. With acclaimed collaborations with directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks, Wayne was one of the biggest box office draws from the 1940s through to the 1960s.

The best Wayne movies have truly stood the test of time, and much of his best work also hit it big at the box office. Whether a leading man, co-starring with legends like Maureen O’Hara, or as part of an ensemble cast, Wayne always stood out in every production he was a part of. While the box office takings of Wayne...

Treasure Island is being remade at Disney. Robert Louis Stevenson's beloved 1883 novel will be reimagined by an unexpected duo: Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, the filmmakers behind The Peanut Butter Falcon and the upcoming Los Frikis.

Nilson and Schwartz unveiled the Treasure Island reboot news during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to promote Los Frikis, the duo's based on true events drama about the audacity and resilience of kindred souls facing the challenges of Special Period Cuba in the 1990s. "We’re working on Treasure Island for Disney. It’s an Australian surfer version of Treasure Island, and if they [Disney] ever make it, it would be so fun," said Schwartz. "It has the vibes that we do, and there’s found family, brotherhood, drama and outsider energy." Added Nilson, "It has the patina of the 1970s surf world. It's all there."

Related 'This Is What You Deserve': Keira...

Historian Angus Konstam has explained how the stereotypical pirate accent originated from Disney's 74-year-old classic adventure film, Treasure Island, and why the accent sounds the way it does. Pirates across most forms of media, from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies to video games like Sea of Thieves, often have particular accents now ingrained into their mythology. This includes using phrases like "Aye!" and "Argh!" alongside replacing words like "You" with "Ye" and other phonetic differences. However, the origins of the accent can't be traced back through pirate history, but instead through the films in which they're adventures were dramatized.

Speaking with Wired about the subject, Konstam revealed the origins of the typical pirate accent as being from Disney's 1950 movie Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton as Long John Silver. In the film, Newton emphasized his Somerset accent while portraying the pirate captain, leading to the typical accent of a pirate that has since been mythologized.

Although its series finale originally aired on Starz back in 2017, Black Sails is still regarded as one of the best pirate shows of all time. Filled with complex characters and high production values, the show avoids common pitfalls of the genre like overindulging in sex and violence. Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, the series serves as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island.

Black Sails tells the swashbuckling tale of Captain Flint and his crew as they fight for the survival of New Providence Island. Weaving real-life characters like Anne Bonny and Blackbeard into the fictional narrative gave a boost to the show's appeal. Fortunately, there is no shortage of great pirate shows for viewers who have finished Black Sails.

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is Fun for the Whole Family 2008-2010

Notable Cast Members:

Thurop van Orman as Flapjack Brian Doyle-Murray as Captain K'Nuckles...

For too long, fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean series have been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. And while that’s a pretty complicated matter, one thing is for sure: Captain Hector Barbossa is no more. Unless, of course, Disney finds a way to bring him back…But what about Johnny Depp? Barbossa himself, Geoffrey Rush, has taken the helm to comment on both and the future of Pirates.

Speaking with Collider, Geoffrey Rush said that even though Barbossa sacrificed himself in 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he returns if a sixth Pirates entry does in fact get made. “I did come up with a good idea, which is classically based. Hamlet’s father comes back as a ghost, and I just said, ‘I can come back…’” Considering the number of ghosts who show up,...

As Disney plans a reboot of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, there’s a big question – will Johnny Depp’s iconic Captain Jack Sparrow return? Geoffrey Rush, who played Captain Hector Barbossa, voiced skepticism in a recent interview.

Rush says whoever replaces Depp has huge shoes to fill. He compared Jack Sparrow’s impact to Robert Newton’s Long John Silver character, adding Depp’s performance left a huge cultural mark. Rush also shared how Depp drew from rock stars like Keith Richards to create Sparrow’s unique swagger.

The “Pirates” movies have made over $4.5 billion total since 2003. But the last one in 2017 didn’t do as well. Disney wants a new sixth film and a Margot Robbie spin-off too. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer even said he wants Depp involved if it was up to him.

But with Depp’s recent legal issues, his return is uncertain. Fans online are...

Depp's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow is irreplaceable, making the success of a Depp-less Pirates 6 uncertain. Rush believes Depp's brilliance in creating Jack Sparrow's character is unmatched and essential to the franchise. The Pirates of the Caribbean films have been a huge success, grossing over $4.5 billion, with Depp's portrayal being a critical favorite.

Johnny Depp's iconic Captain Jack Sparrow was central to the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, making a Depp-less sixth installment a risky proposition. While it remains unknown whether Depp (or any of the franchise's other key players) will return for the next movie, one thing is for sure: Depp's pirate boots will be hard to fill. Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush, who appeared in the franchise as Captain Hector Barbossa, questions the franchise's future if someone else were to tackle Jack Sparrow, because Depp is "irreplaceable."

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl...

Geoffrey Rush recognizes Johnny Depp as irreplaceable, comparing him to Robert Newton's iconic pirate portrayal. Depp has become a controversial figure following his public legal battles. Despite Depp's popularity, Disney might replace him to revitalize the franchise.

Longtime Pirates of the Caribbean star Geoffrey Rush reflects on the forthcoming reboot leaving out co-star Johnny Depp. Originally kicking off in 2003, the franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide across five separate installments. The franchise has featured numerous talented actors including Depp, Rush, and Kevin McNally who have been mainstays throughout the entire franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is in development, with few confirmed details at the time of writing.

In a conversation with Collider, Rush shares his thoughts on the possibility of Depp not returning for this reboot. The Academy Award winner claims Depp is irreplaceable, likening the famous actor to English legend Robert Newton, who famously portrayed Long John...

There are plans in motion for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to resurface with an all-new feature film, but there's one big problem Disney will need to overcome. Johnny Depp, who has become synonymous with the Captain Jack Sparrow character, is not likely to return for the next movie.

In five Pirates of the Caribbean films, Depp brought his iconic role to life. The actor's relationship with Disney took a turn when he was accused of domestic violence by ex-wife Amber Heard, and Depp later testified in court that he was fired from playing Jack Sparrow from any more movies as a result. Depp has since proven his innocence in the eyes of many fans by coming out victorious in a defamation trial against Heard, and there has long been a campaign for him to be given back his Pirates of the Caribbean role for the next film.

Related...

Social media is always posting clips of belligerent airline passengers having meltdowns even getting into fisticuffs with flight attendants and fellow travelers. But today’s outbursts look positively tame to compared to the ill-behavior of the passengers and even the crew on a plane bound to San Francisco from Honolulu in “The High and the Mighty,” which opened in L.A. on May 27, 1954. The film went into general release in July. They drink, they cry, they fight and even restrain a passenger who has a gun.Meanwhile, the young pilot nearly loses it, the veteran pilot is haunted with memories of a crash, the navigator is a nervous wreck. Smoking, even by the crew, is allowed.

Directed by William A. Wellman, who helmed another airplane classic 1927’s Oscar-winner “Wings,” adapted by Ernest Gann from his best seller and produced by star John Wayne and his partner Robert Fellows, “The High and the Mighty...

Pirate historian Rebecca Simon criticizes Disney's Treasure Island for being largely responsible for the creation of the stereotypical pirate accent, which is not how real pirates spoke. Simon also takes issue with the film's depiction of pirates searching for buried treasure, which is not true to life. Treasure Island marks Disney's first ever live-action movie, and it paved the way for other live-action hits in the decades that followed.

Disney's Treasure Island earns a low accuracy score from a pirate history expert. Released in 1950, Treasure Island is an adaptation of the 1883 book by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film, which was directed by Byron Haskin, chronicles the adventures of Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) and Captain Long John Silver (Robert Newton) as they quest after buried treasure. Treasure Island was a successful first foray into pirate-themed entertainment for Disney, but not nearly as successful as their later Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Powerhouse Indicator’s first foray into the Universal library yields six noir thrillers, all crime-related and all different: the list introduces us to scheming businessmen, venal confidence crooks, black-market racketeers, a femme fatale, a gangster deportee and baby stealers. The B&w features are enriched with some of the best actors of the postwar years, and the titles themselves are a litany of vice and sin: The Web, Larceny, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Abandoned, Deported and Naked Alibi.

Universal Noir #1

Region B Blu-ray

The Web, Larceny, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Abandoned, Deported, Naked Alibi

Powerhouse Indicator

1948-1954 / B&w / Street Date November 14, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99

Starring: Ella Raines, Edmond O’Brien, Vincent Price, William Bendix; John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, Shelly Winters, Dorothy Hart; Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton; Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr; Marta Toren, Jeff Chandler, Marina Berti, Richard Rober; Sterling Hayden,...

Lovers of vintage English crime thrillers will have a lot to chew over with this pair of escapist gangster pix, one pre-war and one post-. In each an innocent young couple suffers a run-in with a criminal gang. John Mills and Richard Attenborough are the ‘fresh’ new talent on display. The leading lady of Dancing with Crime is Sheila Sim, playing opposite her husband Attenborough. The co-feature The Green Cockatoo sports credits for William Cameron Menzies and Miklós Rózsa.

Dancing with Crime + The Green Cockatoo

Blu-ray

Cohen Film Collection / Kino Lorber

1937 & 1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 82 + 64 min. / Street Date January 25, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Richard Attenborough, Sheila Sim, Barry Jones; John Mills, René Ray, Robert Newton.

Original Music: Benjamin Frankel, Miklós Rózsa

Directed by John Paddy Carstairs; William Cameron Menzies

The Blu-ray era has given home video devotees great opportunities to catch up with ‘exotic’ genre films from abroad. American TV...

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“Lurid Love And Noir”

By Raymond Benson

Film historian Jeremy Arnold, who provides the excellent audio commentary as a supplement for the terrific Blu-ray release of Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, says the movie’s title is remarkably “lurid.” The Production Code people obviously had a problem with the title and tried to get it changed, but an appeal from up and coming star Burt Lancaster, whose newly formed production company (co-founded with Harold Hecht) made the picture, resulted in the “lurid” title staying in place.

The film does not live up to the implied sensationalism. While we do get a dark, at times brutal, and cynical piece of film noir, we also get an atypical love story at the picture’s heart.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, from 1948, is based on a novel by Gerald Butler, and was adapted by...

Robert Egger‘s “The Lighthouse,” which screened as part of the BFI London Film Festival, was hailed by the critics. This black-and-white picture is an intense psychological study of two men — Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe — working as lighthouse keepers in the 1890s. Eggers, who wrote and directed the 2015 thriller “The Witch,” pulled double duty on this film as well, with his brother, Max Eggers, as co-writer. The film, which debuted in Cannes, will be released stateside by A24 on Oct. 18.

Owen Gleiberman (Variety) observes that the film “is made with extraordinary skill and says that “both actors are sensational (and they work together like one).” However, he notes “in terms of sheer showboating power it’s Dafoe’s movie.” As he explains, “Dafoe plays Thomas Wake, the aging ‘wickie,’ as a knowing piece of kitsch — a crusty, bearded, limping old seaman with his pipe held upside-down and a brogue marinated in gin.

Universal Pictures is developing a new “Treasure Island” movie, an action-adventure inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel. Dean DeBlois will direct.

Evan Spiliotopoulos will write the script, collaborating with DeBlois on the story.

Robert Louis Stevenson first wrote “Treasure Island” back in 1881. The novel is set in the days of sailing ships and pirates and tells of the adventures of Jim Hawkins and his search for the buried treasure of an evil pirate, Captain Flint. The Robert Louis Stevenson adventure story has frequently been adapted for both the big and small screen over the years, perhaps most famously by Disney in 1950, with Robert Newton portraying a snarling Long John Silver. But the time could be ripe for a more modern take on the enduring novel.

Also Read: Evan Spiliotopoulos Tapped to Write 'GI Joe' for Paramount and AllSpark

Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman of Mandeville Films will produce alongside DeBlois.

Exclusive: Deadline has learned that Universal Pictures and Mandeville Films are bringing a new feature adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel Treasure Island to the big screen with two-time Oscar nominated How to Train Your Dragon filmmaker Dean DeBlois directing.

Beauty and the Beast scribe Evan Spiliotopoulos will write the script, collaborating with DeBlois on the story. Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman of Mandeville Films will produce via their Universal deal alongside DeBlois. It was recently announced that Paramount/Hasbro’s Micronauts would rep DeBlois’ first live-action feature directorial. With that pic dated for June 4, 2021, the thinking is that Micronauts will likely go first given that Treasure Island is in early development.

Treasure Island tells the story of young Jim Hawkins who is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for Pirate Captain Long John Silver as they seek a buried pirate treasure. The three notable...

“A Pint Of British Noir”

By Raymond Benson

Film noir wasn’t just relegated to American Hollywood films of the forties and fifties. It was something of an international movement, albeit an unconscious one, for it wasn’t until the late fifties that some critics in France looked back at the past two decades of crime pictures and proclaimed, “Oui! Film noir!”

Britain was doing it, too. Carol Reed’s 1947 Ira-thriller-that-isn’t-an-ira-thriller Odd Man Out is one of the best examples of the style. Robert Krasker’s black and white cinematography pulls in all the essential film noir elements—German expressionism, high contrasts between dark and light, and tons of shadows. Other noir trappings are present, such as stormy weather, night scenes, exterior locations, bars, shabby tenements, a lot of smoking, and a crime. And, for a movie to be “pure noir,” there must not be a happy ending. Odd...

For his follow-up to The Witch, Robert Eggers launches a salty story of two men trapped in a turret. Think Steptoe and Son at sea and in hell

Robert Eggers’s gripping nightmare shows two lighthouse-keepers in 19th-century Maine going melancholy mad together: a toxic marriage, a dance of death. It is explosively scary and captivatingly beautiful in cinematographer Jarin Blaschke’s fierce monochrome, like a daguerreotype of fear. And the performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson have a sledgehammer punch – Pattinson, in particular, just gets better and better.

There is rare excitement in seeing these two actors butt heads and trade difficult, complex period dialogue with such mastery and flair. And the screenplay by Robert and Max Eggers is a delicious and often outrageous homage to maritime speech and sea-dog lore, saltier than an underwater sodium chloride factory. Their script is barnacled with resemblances to Coleridge, Shakespeare, Melville...

Though long embraced by parents as family-friendly safe zones, Disney’s live action films were just as often called out for their squeaky clean posturing and regressive world views.

Fair enough – but as Noah Cross growled, “Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough” – and a good number of those mild-mannered entertainments, while not exactly ready for the arthouse, are at least worthy of a second look.

Disney Movie Club has released some of those Baby Boomer perennials in sterling Blu ray transfers – unfortunately available to club members only. Here’s part one in a rundown of the more tantalizing items.

Treasure Island, Davy Crockett,

Old Yeller, Pollyanna

Blu ray

Disney Movie Club

1950, ‘55, ‘56, ‘57, ‘60 / 1. 33:1, 1.85:1 / 96, 93, 81, 83, 134 Min.

Starring Robert Newton, Dorothy McGuire, Hayley Mills, Fess Parker

Cinematography by Freddie Young, Charles P. Boyle, Russell Harlan

Directed by Byron Haskin, Robert Stevenson, David Swift

Treasure Island – 1950

Thanks...

Michael Anderson, the British director who was nominated for an Academy Award for his direction on “Around the World in 80 Days,” died in Vancouver Wednesday. He was 98.

Anderson’s career began in the ’40s as an assistant director before he joined the Royal Signal Corps during the war. After Anderson was discharged, he signed a contract with Associated British Picture Corporation, for whom he directed five films.

The third film, 1955’s “The Dam Busters,” starring Richard Todd, which was the biggest film of the year for Britain at the box office. The film will be presented at the Royal Albert Hall in London and simulcast into 400 theatres throughout the UK on May 17 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Royal Air Force’s most daring operation of World War II.

Anderson was asked to direct “Around the World in 80 Days” after the original director John Farrow had a falling out with producer Mike Todd.

Director Michael Anderson, who was Oscar-nominated for his role in the epic film Around The World in 80 Days and later was behind the cameras for the sci-fi classic Logan’s Run, has died. He was 98 and passed away Wednesday in Vancouver of unspecified causes.

Anderson had a long film career, directing such war movies as The Dam Busters, The Yangtse Incident, Operation Crossbow, and also such staples as The Wreck of the Mary Deare, The Quiller Memorandum, Chase a Crooked Shadow, and The Shoes of the Fisherman.

But the defining film of his career was Around the World In 80 Days, a three-hour film based on the Jules Verne adventure novel. The film was as much about logistics as it was the narrative, setting records for camera set-ups, sets, costumes, participants and locations.

The storyline has Phileas Fogg (David Niven) and his valet, Passepartout (Cantinflas), as they try to win...

Another summer movie season and another Pirates of the Caribbean movie. What? You didn’t know there was yet another in the franchise that wore out its welcome a long time ago? Yes, Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales came and went awfully fast this summer, never a good sign. It played in St. Petersburg for about a week and then vanished. Did anybody see it? I didn’t and I’ve seen a lot of movies this summer. In a summer of Wonder Woman and Dunkirk, as well as Baby Driver, Logan Lucky and Detroit it would be very easy for another Pirates of the Caribbean movie to get lost in the shuffle.

So let’s talk about a real pirate movie, from 1952 Blackbeard the Pirate, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, and Keith Andes. Newton is to pirate movies...

By Tim Greaves

Not the most beloved entry in Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic oeuvre – by either audiences in general or the director himself – 1939's Jamaica Inn (based on a Daphne du Maurier novel first published three years earlier) is nevertheless a serviceable enough piece of drama, which perhaps finds its most ideal place nowadays as an undemanding rainy Sunday afternoon programmer.

Following the death of her mother, Mary Yellen (Maureen O'Hara) travels from Ireland to England intending to take up residence with her relatives at their Cornish hostelry the Jamaica Inn. After an unexpected detour, which on face value proves beneficial when she makes the acquaintance of local squire and magistrate Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton), Mary arrives at her destination to find her browbeaten Aunt Patience (Maria Ney) living in fear of a tyrannical husband, the brutish Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks). It also transpires that the Inn is the...

William Cameron Menzies. William Cameron Menzies movies on TCM: Murderous Joan Fontaine, deadly Nazi Communists Best known as an art director/production designer, William Cameron Menzies was a jack-of-all-trades. It seems like the only things Menzies didn't do was act and tap dance in front of the camera. He designed and/or wrote, directed, produced, etc., dozens of films – titles ranged from The Thief of Bagdad to Invaders from Mars – from the late 1910s all the way to the mid-1950s. Among Menzies' most notable efforts as an art director/production designer are: Ernst Lubitsch's first Hollywood movie, the Mary Pickford star vehicle Rosita (1923). Herbert Brenon's British-set father-son drama Sorrell and Son (1927). David O. Selznick's mammoth production of Gone with the Wind, which earned Menzies an Honorary Oscar. The Sam Wood movies Our Town (1940), Kings Row (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). H.C. Potter's Mr. Lucky...

or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015

This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.

What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...

“Make Way For Pengallan!”

By Raymond Benson

The general consensus among critics and fans alike is that Jamaica Inn, the last British film Alfred Hitchcock made before moving to America to work in Hollywood, is not one of the director’s best. It isn’t. It definitely belongs in the lower echelon of his canon. However, there is still much to savor in the picture, and the new Blu-ray restoration by the Cohen Film Collection is a worthwhile medium with which to revisit this odd action-adventure thriller.

Based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier (the first of three works by the author that Hitchcock adapted), Jamaica Inn is a story of pirates operating out of an English coastal village in the early 1800s, thus making it one of Hitch’s few period dramas. Charles Laughton was a co-producer on the film as well as the star, and accounts of...

'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...

Maureen O'Hara: Queen of Technicolor. Maureen O'Hara movies: TCM tribute Veteran actress and Honorary Oscar recipient Maureen O'Hara, who died at age 95 on Oct. 24, '15, in Boise, Idaho, will be remembered by Turner Classic Movies with a 24-hour film tribute on Friday, Nov. 20. At one point known as “The Queen of Technicolor” – alongside “Eastern” star Maria Montez – the red-headed O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons on Aug. 17, 1920, in Ranelagh, County Dublin) was featured in more than 50 movies from 1938 to 1971 – in addition to one brief 1991 comeback (Chris Columbus' Only the Lonely). Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne Setting any hint of modesty aside, Maureen O'Hara wrote in her 2004 autobiography (with John Nicoletti), 'Tis Herself, that “I was the only leading lady big enough and tough enough for John Wayne.” Wayne, for his part, once said (as quoted in 'Tis Herself): There's only one woman who has been my friend over the...

In a novel effort to stress that film noir wasn’t a film movement specifically an output solely produced for American audiences, Kino Lorber releases a five disc set of obscure noir examples released in the UK. Spanning a near ten year period from 1943 to 1952, the titles displayed here do seem to chart a progression in tone, at least resulting in parallels with American counterparts. Though a couple of the selections here aren’t very noteworthy, either as artifacts of British noir or items worthy of reappraisal, it does contain items of considerable interest, including rare titles from forgotten or underrated auteurs like Ronald Neame, Roy Ward Baker, and Ralph Thomas.

They Met in the Dark

The earliest title in this collection is a 1943 title from Karel Lamac, They Met in the Dark, a pseudo-comedy noir that barely meets the criteria. Based on a novel by Anthony Gilbert (whose novel...

Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...

'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' review: Mostly an enjoyable romp (Oscar Movie Series) Pirate movies were a Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-'20s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-to-late '50s (Moonfleet, The Buccaneer), when the genre, by then mostly relegated to B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the '80s and '90s turned out to be critical and commercial bombs (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn't bode well for the Walt Disney Company's $140 million-budgeted film "adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. But Neptune's mood has apparently improved with the arrival of the new century. He smiled – grinned would be a more appropriate word – on the Gore Verbinski-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,...

Jamaica Inn

Written by Sidney Gilliat and Joan Harrison

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

UK, 1939

With 23 feature films to his credit, by 1939, Alfred Hitchcock was the most famous director in England. And with his celebrity and his reputation for quality motion pictures, he had attained a degree of creative control unmatched in the British film industry at the time. When it comes to Jamaica Inn, for more than three decades the last film he would fully shoot in his native land, this reputation and this independence would be thoroughly tested. Available now on a stunning new Blu-ray from Cohen Film Collection, which greatly improves the murky visuals and distorted sound marring all previous home video versions, Jamaica Inn had the renowned Charles Laughton as supervising star and producer. Predictably, he and Hitchcock did not always see eye to eye as they jockeyed for authority on set. The result is a contentious...

Cohen Media Group beautifully restores Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 title Jamaica Inn. A title worthy of reconsideration, considered by many to be an inferior work from the master of suspense, even from the director himself, it’s a definite gem, particularly for fans of Charles Laughton. The actor, whose production company basically commandeered the production, gives a swarthy, deliciously overwrought performance. It’s a standout in a career already filled with such distinction. The film also serves as the film debut of the beautiful Maureen O’Hara, here playing a glorified damsel in distress.

The narrative is relatively simple, set around 1800 as young Irish lass Mary (O’Hara) makes a surprise visit to the Cornish coast to visit her Aunt Patience (Marie Ney) following the death of her mother. Patience lives with Mary’s uncle Joss (Leslie Banks, who vies with Laughton for greatest scene chewer), a man that provides the...

Odd Man Out

Written by F.L. Green and R.C. Sherriff

Directed by Carol Reed

UK, 1947

Directed by Carol Reed and presented by the legendary J. Arthur Rank, both of whom were at the height of their careers with still more great films to come, Odd Man Out is one of the pinnacle achievements in post-war British cinema. And with James Mason in the lead, a major British star at the time, the film had everything going for it: superb direction, a solid screenplay, terrific performances, and stunning cinematography by Robert Krasker. The final result was named best film of the year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was chosen as one of the ten best films of 1947 by the National Board of Review. Certainly, Odd Man Out was widely seen and well regarded in its time. But now, with a newly released Criterion Blu-ray of the picture,...

Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...

Cary Grant films on TCM: Gender-bending 'I Was a Male War Bride' (photo: Cary Grant not gay at all in 'I Was a Male War Bride') More Cary Grant films will be shown tonight, as Turner Classic Movies continues with its Star of the Month presentations. On TCM right now is the World War II action-drama Destination Tokyo (1943), in which Grant finds himself aboard a U.S. submarine, alongside John Garfield, Dane Clark, Robert Hutton, and Tom Tully, among others. The directorial debut of screenwriter Delmer Daves (The Petrified Forest, Love Affair) -- who, in the following decade, would direct a series of classy Westerns, e.g., 3:10 to Yuma, The Hanging Tree -- Destination Tokyo is pure flag-waving propaganda, plodding its way through the dangerous waters of Hollywood war-movie stereotypes and speechifying banalities. The film's key point of interest, in fact, is Grant himself -- not because he's any good,...

Best British movies of all time? (Image: a young Michael Caine in 'Get Carter') Ten years ago, Get Carter, starring Michael Caine as a dangerous-looking London gangster (see photo above), was selected as the United Kingdom's very best movie of all time according to 25 British film critics polled by Total Film magazine. To say that Mike Hodges' 1971 thriller was a surprising choice would be an understatement. I mean, not a David Lean epic or an early Alfred Hitchcock thriller? What a difference ten years make. On Total Film's 2014 list, published last May, Get Carter was no. 44 among the magazine's Top 50 best British movies of all time. How could that be? Well, first of all, people would be very naive if they took such lists seriously, whether we're talking Total Film, the British Film Institute, or, to keep things British, Sight & Sound magazine. Second, whereas Total Film's 2004 list was the result of a 25-critic consensus,...

The Hidden Room (aka Obsession)

Written by Alec Coppel

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

U.S.A., 1949

On a quiet London night British upper class housewife Storm Riodan (Sally Gray) and secret American ex-pat lover Bill Kronin (Phil Brown) return the former’s lavish flat for a night of passion. Unbeknownst to them Storm’s husband, the brilliant if extremely sensitive Dr. Clive Riodan (Robert Newton) lingers behind the curtains, listening to their every word. He eventually makes his presence known, catching both completely off guard in the process. So intense is the doctor’s jealousy that he threatens to murder dear Bill point blank with a firearm. When Storm retires to her quarters out of embarrassment, the doctor forces Bill to accompany him outside when the film cuts to…a scene few days later as Clive Riodan attends to a patient in his private office. His wife is convinced his...

Feature Alex Westthorp 9 Apr 2014 - 07:00

In the next part of his series, Alex talks us through the film careers of the second and fourth Doctors, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker...

Read Alex's retrospective on the film careers of William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee, here.

Like their fellow Time Lord actors, William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker also shared certain genres of film. Both appeared, before and after their time as the Doctor, in horror movies and both worked on Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films.

Patrick George Troughton was born in Mill Hill, London on March 25th 1920. He made his film debut aged 28 in the 1948 B-Movie The Escape. Troughton's was a very minor role. Among the better known cast was William Hartnell, though even Hartnell's role was small and the two didn't share any scenes together. From the late Forties, Troughton found more success on the small screen,...

Bobby Driscoll played young Jim Hawkins, a cabin boy who finds himself up against Long John Silver (Robert Newton) in the hunt for a cache of treasure. With the help of Squire Trelawney (Walter Fitzgerald), Dr Livesey (Dennis O'Dea) and Captain Smollett (Basil Sydney) plucky Jim sets sail on the creaky tub Hispaniola. The movie marked Disney's first completely live-action film and the first screen version of Treasure Island made in colour.

Miscasting in films has always been a problem. A producer hires an actor thinking that he or she is perfect for a movie role only to find the opposite is true. Other times a star is hired for his box office draw but ruins an otherwise good movie because he looks completely out of place.

There have been many humdinger miscastings. You only have to laugh at John Wayne’s Genghis Khan (with Mongol moustache and gun-belt) in The Conqueror (1956), giggle at Marlon Brando’s woeful upper class twang as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) and cringe at Dick Van Dyke’s misbegotten cockney accent in Mary Poppins (1964). But as hilarious as these miscastings are, producers at the time didn’t think the same way, until after the event. At least they add a bit of camp value to a mediocre or downright awful movie.

In rare cases,...

Alec Guinness: Before Obi-Wan Kenobi, there were the eight D’Ascoyne family members (photo: Alec Guiness, Dennis Price in ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’) (See previous post: “Alec Guinness Movies: Pre-Star Wars Career.”) TCM won’t be showing The Bridge on the River Kwai on Alec Guinness day, though obviously not because the cable network programmers believe that one four-hour David Lean epic per day should be enough. After all, prior to Lawrence of Arabia TCM will be presenting the three-and-a-half-hour-long Doctor Zhivago (1965), a great-looking but never-ending romantic drama in which Guinness — quite poorly — plays a Kgb official. He’s slightly less miscast as a mere Englishman — one much too young for the then 32-year-old actor — in Lean’s Great Expectations (1946), a movie that fully belongs to boy-loving (in a chaste, fatherly manner) fugitive Finlay Currie. And finally, make sure to watch Robert Hamer’s dark comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets...

Pedro Almodóvar I’m So Excited trailer, with Miguel Ángel Silvestre Pedro Almodóvar’s upcoming movie, I’m So Excited / Los amantes pasajeros (literally, "passing lovers" and/or "passenger lovers") has a new and full trailer. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news (for non-Spanish speakers): it’s in Spanish, without subtitles. (Please scroll down to check out the I’m So Excited trailer.) [Photo: Miguel Ángel Silvestre in Pedro Almodóvar's I'm So Excited.] But don’t feel bad if you don’t speak Spanish. After all, even Spanish speakers will likely have to pay close attention to the one-gazillion-words-a-minute dialogue — which would put James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Una Merkel, et al. to shame. I’m So Excited plot I’m So Excited is set on an airplane flying from Spain to Mexico City. If the trailer is any indication, the plane in question has many more staff members than passengers. Perhaps not such a bad thing, considering...

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 1st, 2012

This Saturday and Sunday (November 10th and 11th) will be Joe Dante Weekend at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater. It’s all part of Cinema St. Louis’ upcoming St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) where Dante will receive a lifetime achievement award from Cinema St. Louis. Directors who have previously been honored with a Sliff Lifetime Achievement Award include Paul Schrader, John Sayles, and Rob Nilsson. Joe Dante is the director of Piranha, The Howling, Gremlins, Innerspace, Matinee, and many more great films.

At 6:30pm on Saturday the 10th there will be a screening of Dante’s 2009 family friendly 3D horror film The Hole. This will be followed by an on-stage interview with Dante moderated by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas. Tim did a similar interview with director Roger Corman last year at the Hi-Pointe as part of Vincentennial, the Vincent Price...

Guy Ritchie may bring the same splashy touch to Long John Silver that he already applied to Sherlock Holmes.  The "Snatch" director is attached to "Treasure Island," a Warner Bros. spokesperson told TheWrap.  If the script by Alex Harakis comes to fruition, Ritchie would direct and produce the project. Lionel Wigram and Kevin McCormick are also attached as producers.  The Robert Louis Stevenson adventure story has frequently been adapted for both the big and small screen over the years, perhaps most famously by Disney in 1950, with Robert Newton portraying a snarling Long John...