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Courtesy of StudioCanal

by James Cameron-wilson

Few films in the Swinging Sixties were as much a part of their time as John Schlesinger’s Darling. Chronologically positioned between Godard’s Breathless and Antonioni’s Blow Up, it is a microcosm of the tail end of an empire that was enjoying its last twitch of cultural significance. The Darling of the title is the extremely beautiful, self-absorbed and cosseted Diana Scott played by the It girl of the day, Julie Christie, the face of Ideal Woman magazine. And she would seem, indeed, to be the Ideal Woman, beloved of cads, intellectuals and royalty. The thumbnail premise is attributed to three men, the scenarist Frederic Raphael, the director John Schlesinger and the producer Joseph Janni, and it is Raphael who has provided the sparkling dialogue. Essentially it’s a satire of Britain in the mid-1960s, with Julie Christie the Carnaby Street...

The 1960s gave us cinema classics that everyone knows, but what about the hidden gems? While 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Graduate get all the attention, countless underrated masterpieces from this revolutionary decade tackled themes that feel surprisingly current.

From political paranoia to technological anxiety, these films were way ahead of their time, addressing issues that wouldn’t become mainstream talking points until decades later. Many were box office failures or met with confusion, yet today they feel almost prophetic in their insight.

Let’s dive into twenty forgotten treasures that deserve a spot on your watchlist, movies that somehow predicted the world we’re living in today.

1. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Laurence Harvey and Leslie Parrish in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) | Credits: United Artists

Talk about a movie that hits different in 2025. John Frankenheimer‘s paranoid thriller about political brainwashing and conspiracy feels like it was ripped from today’s headlines.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Academy Award-winning classic Darling, we’re giving one lucky winner the chance to own the stunning new 4K restoration of this iconic film.

Starring screen legends Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Harvey, Darling remains a sharp, stylish portrait of 1960s fame, fashion, and fractured love.

Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of cinema history in glorious 4K!

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This competition is open to UK residents only

The competition will close 30th June 2025 at 23.59 GMT The winner(s) will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered Prizes may vary from the description only when absolutely necessary The prizes are not transferable To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will not be stored once the competition has ended and the winners have been chosen and prizes sent out.

The...

“Darling”, the 1965 drama feature, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey, has been restored in 4K for a 60th anniversary release, screening May 30, 2025 in theaters:

“…’Diana Scott’ is an ambitious young model who moves from bed to bed to take advantage of whatever each moment can offer her.

“Three men in her life, willingly or involuntarily help her on her way to the top: a TV interviewer and honest man striving to tell illusion from reality; an advertising executive, totally cynical about manipulating society's values; and a magazine photographer battening parasitically on glossy society.

“A fourth man, one she ultimately marries, makes her a prisoner of the jet-set world she always wanted…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

“Darling”, the 1965 drama feature, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey, has been restored in 4K for a 60th anniversary release, screening May 30, 2025 in theaters:

“…’Diana Scott’ is an ambitious young model who moves from bed to bed to take advantage of whatever each moment can offer her.

“Three men in her life, willingly or involuntarily help her on her way to the top: a TV interviewer and honest man striving to tell illusion from reality; an advertising executive, totally cynical about manipulating society's values; and a magazine photographer battening parasitically on glossy society.

“A fourth man, one she ultimately marries, makes her a prisoner of the jet-set world she always wanted…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Ted Kotcheff, the unheralded Canadian moviemaker who moved gracefully among genres to direct such notable films as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s, has died. He was 94.

Kotcheff, who went on to spend 13 seasons as an executive producer on the gritty Dick Wolf series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, died Thursday, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), starring Richard Dreyfuss as a young hustler, is widely considered to be among the finest Canadian films ever made, and Kotcheff also directed a feature very high of the list of the best movies to come out of Australia — the harrowing thriller Wake in Fright (1971).

The Toronto native, who started his admired 60-year career directing for live television, also helmed the social satire Fun With Dick and Jane (1977), starring George Segal and Jane Fonda; the Nick Nolte-Mac Davis dark pro football drama...

"I'm not gonna be a prisoner any longer!" Studiocanal UK has revealed a new trailer for Darling, a classic sex drama from 1965 that is fully restored and being re-released for its 60th anniversary. Hitting theaters again in the UK this May but not in the US. Diana Scott has grown up to accept the undeniable fact that her beauty gives her the power to unlock doors forever closed to the mere ordinary. When she meets Robert, a TV reporter, Diana immediately dumps her husband. His unconventional marriage cannot compete with the strength of his feelings for her. A succession of liaisons follow culminating in marriage to an Italian Prince. But though now an international jet-set celebrity, she is still alone, unable to find the real affection she craves, a prisoner of the world she has conquered. Starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Harvey. Darling was scanned in 4K 16-bit by Filmfinity UK,...

Americans love their folk heroes and historical figures that seem larger than life and generate interest and veneration. In the 19th century, as the country was expanding its borders at the behest of manifest destiny, many were fascinated by Davy Crockett. Crockett, a frontiersman from Tennessee who not only had his own mythology attributed to him in his lifetime but also was elected to Congress, still captures the imagination today. Not surprisingly, Crockett has been brought to life in several movies, and in 1960, John Wayne, one of the screen’s biggest legends, portrayed the folk hero in The Alamo.

The Alamo, a film that not only featured John Wayne in the lead role, was also produced and directed by the actor. The Alamo is entertaining for its action, scale, and scope, but it was also rife with historical inaccuracies. The saga of the last stand at The Alamo ultimately serves...

Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley’s panned action thriller has free streaming in its cross hairs. Loosely based on an incredible true story, 2005’s Domino finds Knightley taking the lead as a former model, who decides to ditch the catwalk in favor of bounty hunting.

Directed by the late, great Tony Scott, Domino is based partly on the life of Domino Harvey, the daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who did indeed leave fashion modeling behind to become a Los Angeles bounty hunter. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Mickey Rourke, Édgar Ramírez, Delroy Lindo, Mena Suvari, Mo'Nique, Lucy Liu, and Christopher Walken alongside Knightley, Domino is set to land on the free streaming platform Tubi from March 1, and you can check out the official synopsis below.

RelatedNetflix Reveals First Look at Keira Knightley & Guy Pearce in New Thriller

During a busy day for Netflix, the...

Here are ten movie moms you would not want as your parent.Mega'Psycho' – Norma Bates Movieclips/YouTube

Norma Bates got into son Norman's (Anthony Perkins) head so deeply that she lived in his psyche long after Norman killed her and mummified her body to be with her forever.

'The Graduate' – Mrs. Robinson Mega

Anne Bancroft's portrayal of Mrs. Robinson seducing Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) was so great that the name has become synonymous with older women preying on younger men.

'Mommie Dearest' – Joan Crawford Mega

Faye Dunaway was scarier than any movie monster playing Crawford, who allegedly terrified adopted daughter Christina and screamed, “No wire hangers!”

'Carrie' – Margaret White Mega

Piper Laurie's unstable religious fanatic mother put Carrie (Sissy Spacek) through h--- — and ended up going there when Carrie unleashed her supernatural powers and killed her!

'I, Tonya' – Lavona Golden Mega

Tonya Harding...

[Editor’s note: For this article, The Hollywood Reporter only looked at the shortest and longest screen times in the lead acting categories. Best supporting actor and actress were not included.]

Longest Screen Times Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind (1939)

Movie Length 3 hrs 58 mins

Time Onscreen 2 hrs 23 mins

Percent of Run Time 60 Percent

Vivien Leigh holds the record for the longest performance to win an Oscar, though the work took a deep physical and mental toll on her. The film itself is also the longest to win best picture. At the 12th Academy Awards, Victor Fleming’s Gone With the Wind also won best supporting actress for Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African American to win an Oscar. Leigh was nominated alongside Bette Davis (Dark Victory), Irene Dunne (Love Affair), Greta Garbo (Ninotchka) and Greer Garson (Goodbye, Mr. Chips).

Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur (1959)

Movie Length 3 hrs 32 mins

Time Onscreen 2 hrs 1 min

Percent of Run Time 57.1 Percent...

John Wayne has been, and continues to be, one of the main icons in American Western cinema, with plenty of fist fights and action in his films. Known for his commanding and authoritative presence, he maintained a larger-than-life persona that included playing many characters related to law enforcement, war, and the frontier environment that he made his own for so many years. His penchant for playing good guys who took on the biggest and baddest challenges led to many scenes of action and violence and none so memorable as his iconic fistfights throughout his storied filmography that defined John Wayne's career.

His most memorable brawls highlight and elevate the narratives being told with his unmatched physicality and intensity during the scenes. The final scene of The Quiet Man is celebrated as one of the best fist fights in all of cinema, a raucous and, at times, comical fight that perfectly ends the film.

With the elections less than two months away and the highly anticipated debate between former President Donald Trump and current vice president Kamala Harris on Sept 10, it’s time to revisit classic political movies. TCM is currently presenting a nine-week series “Making Change: The Most Significant Political Films of All Time.” Political films run the gamut from thrillers, to dramas (“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”), to the historical, to satirical comedies.

Speaking of satires, Preston Sturges received his one and only Oscar for his screenplay for 1940’s “The Great McGinty,” his smart, funny comedy about a hobo (Brian Donlevy) who rises to governor only to lose it all. Sturges had originally written a piece “The Story of Man” in 1933 with Spencer Tracy in mind. Tracy had just starred in 1933’s “The Power and the Glory,” which marked Sturges’ first film script. He attempted to sell it to Universal which also turned the story down; so,...

Studiocanal is delighted to announce the release of a brand-new 4K restoration of the British comedy classic, Three Men in a Boat, that will be available to own on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from August 19. To celebrate we have a 2 4K Blu-Rays to give away!

Directed by Ken Annakin (Monte Carlo or Bust, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines), Three Men In A Boat stars Laurence Harvey (Women of Twilight, Room at The Top), David Tomlinson (Mary Poppins, The Love Bug) and Jimmy Edwards (The Bed Sitting Room, Innocents in Paris) as three Edwardian men-about-town want to get away from it all and decide to take a boating holiday on the Thames.

Harris (Jimmy Edwards), J (David Tomlinson), and George (Laurence Harvey) decide to take a holiday boating up the Thames to Oxford. George is happy to spend time away from his desk at the bank, Harris is glad to get away from Mrs.

To celebrate the release of Room at the Top, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from 11th March, we are giving away Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!

Based on the best-selling novel by John Braine, Room At The Top is Jack Clayton’s debut feature and is one of the earliest examples of the ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ that helped pave the way for the incoming ‘British New Wave’ of film-makers. Featuring the first open reference to sex as well as the earliest depiction of adultery in a British film, it was a controversial film for the era and was initially refused a certificate by the censors before eventually securing an “X” certificate.

Starring Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears and Donald Wolfit, the film went on to become a major box-office success and opened the floodgates for more adult orientated movies.

The film also gained widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for six Academy Awards,...

A rerelease of the John Braine novel adaptation is no masterpiece but sits alongside films such as Lucky Jim and Billy Liar in its depiction of class conflict and young male frustration

“Joe … be gentle with me … ” It’s easy to imagine this demure invitation to premarital sex getting some ribald hooting in British cinemas in 1959. Jack Clayton’s multi-Oscar-winning film was adapted by Neil Paterson from John Braine’s moody, zeitgeisty bestseller, and it’s rereleased now with the traditional trigger warning about offensive and outdated attitudes. Now, that could mean pretty much everything about this film – but without doubt it is specifically aimed at Hermione Baddeley praising the hero’s manliness and grimacing: “Too many pansies about these days … ”

Room at the Top gave us Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton, the smouldering, ambitious young working-class Yorkshireman with a chip on his shoulder and a burning desire to get on,...

To mark the release of Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics’ 4k restorations of three comedies directed by Muriel Box available in the UK from 14 August, we have Blu-Ray box sets to give away to 2 lucky winners.

Studiocanal are pleased to announce their Vintage Classics release of brand new 4k restorations of three comedies directed by Muriel Box, one of Britain’s earliest trailblazing female directors who remains to date the most prolific UK female director in history. Muriel Box’s The Passionate Stranger, The Truth About Women and Rattle Of A Simple Man will be available in the UK on DVD and, for the first time in the UK, on Blu-ray and Digital from 14 August.

The Passionate Stranger (1957) centres around happily married house-wife Judith Wynter (Margaret Leighton) who keeps the fact she is a best-selling author of steamy romance novels, a closely guarded secret. As her husband Roger (Ralph Richardson), recovers from a serious illness,...

Josephine Chaplin, actor and daughter of Charlie Chaplin, has died. She was 74.

Chaplin died on July 13 in Paris, according to an announcement from her family.

During her career, she starred in a number of foreign films. In 1972 she was featured in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s award-winning film “The Canterbury Tales” and Richard Balducci’s “L’odeur des fauves.” The same year, she also starred alongside Laurence Harvey in Menahem Golan’s 1972 drama “Escape to the Sun” about a group of people attempting to flee the Soviet Union.

In 1974, Chaplin starred as Martine Leduc in Georges Franju’s European crime-thriller “Shadowman” alongside Gayle Hunnicutt and Jacques Champreux. The film follows the Man Without a Face, a criminal attempting to find the elusive treasures of the Knights Templar. Chaplin then reprised her role as Martine in the subsequent French mini-series “The Man Without a Face,” an extended eight-episode version of Franju’s film.

Josephine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O’Neill, who was an accomplished actress in her own right, has died at 74, according to a report in Le Figaro, which cites her children Charly, Julien and Arthur. She died on July 13 in Paris.

Chaplin got her start as an actress in one of her father’s final films, Limelight (1952), as a child who appears in the opening scene. She was one of five of the director’s children featured in the somewhat-autobiographical project. She also appeared briefly in her father’s final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), with sisters Geraldine and Victoria.

Charlie Chaplin, Josephine (right) and Oona (left) at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival in 1971 (Getty Images)

Her first substantial role was for another iconic director, Pier Paolo Pasolini, in his 1972 take on The Canterbury Tales. Chaplin plays May, the adulterous wife of the elderly Sir January in “The Merchant’s Tale.

Josephine Chaplin, whose father was screen legend Charlie Chaplin, died July 13 in Paris, her family announced on Thursday. She was 74. A cause of death was not immediately given.

As a child, she appeared with her father in his 1952 film “Limelight” and 1967’s “A Countess From Hong Kong.” She went on to star in the 1972 films “L’odeur des fauves” with future partner Maurice Ronet, Menahem Golan’s “Escape to the Sun” opposite Laurence Harvey; and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s X-rated “The Canterbury Tales” as May, the adulterous wife of the elderly Sir January (Hugh Griffith).

Her later films include 1984’s “The Bay Boy” with Kiefer Sutherland and Liv Ullman. In 1998, she played Hadley Richardson to Stacy Keach’s Ernest Hemingway in the miniseries “Hemingway.”

For years she managed the Chaplin office in Paris and sponsored a statue of her father by sculptor Alan Ryan Hall as his Little Tramp character in Waterville,...

Josephine Chaplin, an actress and the sixth of 11 children fathered by screen legend Charlie Chaplin, died July 13 in Paris, her family announced. She was 74.

Chaplin starred with Laurence Harvey in Menahem Golan’s Escape to the Sun (1972), about a group of people attempting to leave the Soviet Union to escape antisemitism and political repression.

She also appeared with Vittorio De Sica and Maurice Ronet in L’odeur des fauves (1972), with Liv Ullmann and Kiefer Sutherland in Daniel Petrie’s The Bay Boy (1984), and with Klaus Kinski in a German-language version of Jack the Ripper (1976).

In 1988, she portrayed Hadley Richardson, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, in a miniseries that starred Stacy Keach.

Josephine Chaplin with Laurence Harvey in 1972’s Escape to the Sun.

Josephine Hannah Chaplin was born in Santa Monica on March 28, 1949, the third of eight children of Charlie Chaplin and his fourth wife, Oona O’Neill, the British actress...

As the granddaddy of the political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate offers a précis on what sets the genre apart from other suspense films. Thrillers are generally defined by absence, withholding details so as to prevent audiences from getting ahead of plots that lean on an element of surprise. Yet John Frankenheimer’s film subverts such trends at nearly every turn. It provides the clues to a crime before the crime is even committed, leaving the viewer to parcel out which details are related and relevant and building tension from the mounting realization that they all are.

The film’s structure is at once straightforward and subtly dissonant, as when the opening scene, of the ambush and capture of a U.S. Army platoon in Korea, jumps abruptly to the men, minus two comrades, returning home safe and sound days later. The seeming ease of their escape clashes with the totality of their defeat,...

To mark the release of Women of Twilight on 27th March, we’ve been given Blu-ray copies to give away to 2 winners.

Unmarried nightclub singer Vivianne Bruce (Rene Ray) finds herself alone and pregnant when her lover, Jerry Nolan (Laurence Harvey), is arrested for murder. Desperate for a place to live, she finds a room in a boarding-house run by “Nellie” Alistair (Freda Jackson). An outwardly upstanding woman who provides room-and-board for unmarried mothers Nellie is, in fact, ruthless with an ulterior motive…selling children for adoption.

Initially resentful of having to share a room with Chris Ralston (Lois Maxwell) and her young son, the women soon become friends when Chris intervenes on Vivanne's behalf in an argument with another boarder. Whilst caring for Chris' child when he falls ill, Vivienne turns to Nellie for help but is turned away. Events take a tragic turn and Vivanne confronts Nellie, determined...

Movies That Made Me veteran guest and screenwriter Dan Waters discusses his favorite year of cinema (1989) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Love At First Bite (1979)

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Heathers (1989)

Warlock (1989)

The Matrix (1999)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Jaws (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Nashville (1975)

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Field Of Dreams (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Sex Lies And Videotape (1989)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

All That Jazz (1979)

Hair (1979)

Alien (1979)

Fight Club (1999)

Office Space (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

American Pie (1999)

The Iron Giant (1999)

All About My Mother (1999)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Say Anything… (1989)

Miracle Mile (1989)

True Love (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Southside With You...

Stars: Dani Thompson, Laurence Harvey, Annabella Rich, Martin W Payne, Tony Mardon, Singh Lall, Rami Hilmi, Cy Henty, Andrea Sandell, Eve Oliver, Peter Tilley, Faith Elizabeth, Charlie Bond, Mike Butler, Allan Bryce | Directed by Alexander Churchyard, Mj Dixon, Sam Mason Bell, Tony Mardon, Max Davenport, Tom Lee Rutter, Michael Fausti, Andrew Elias, Geoff Harmer

An anthology of tales paying the ultimate homage to the 70/80s Video Nasty Tromaesque-era, from a team of some of the best writers/directors in the lower budget UK horror scene. A carefully curated selection of shorts all with varying degrees of depravity broken up by a wrap around story of the Video Dungeon, all delightfully introduced by Brit Scream Queen royalty Dani Thompson (putting in a number of roles throughout). Anthology movies do seem to be making somewhat of a comeback as of late and have a bit of a tendency of “trying too hard...

Who doesn't love John Wayne? The tough-talking cowboy dominated the silver screen for decades, captivating audiences with his endless charisma and dynamic swagger. Growing up, I saw many of the Duke's films — my mom loved him — but only later discovered some of his greatest adventures, including "The Searchers." All told, Wayne appeared in over 250 films, earned three Academy Award nominations, and took home an Oscar for Best Actor ("True Grit"). One need only glance at his resume to notice a handful of classic films: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "Sands of Iwo Jima," "The Quiet Man," "Rio Bravo," "The Shootist," and "Stagecoach," among many, many others.

Each of these films comes with a plethora of memorable scenes. Be it a line of colorful dialogue, a well-executed action sequence, or a simple character beat in which Wayne shows off his effortless charm, there are plenty of unforgettable Duke moments to choose from,...

Everybody seems to love Harry Styles. The 28-year-old British heartthrob ,who initially scored huge success as a member of the boy band One Direction before going solo six years ago, won a Grammy last year for best pop solo performance for “Watermelon Sugar.” And he’s up for a total of six this year for his hit single “As It Was” and album “Harry’s House.” And it’s hard not to miss footage of his energetic concerts filled with screaming women of all ages on TikTok.

Though there were two One Direction concert films, Styles has shied away from rock and rolling on the silver screen rather appearing as a World War II soldier in Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed 2017 “Dunkirk” and starring in two high-profile films this fall: Olivia Wilde’s “Stepford Wives”-style thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” and the romantic drama “My Policeman.” In the later, he gives...

When Guillermo del Toro walks out of the darkness to introduce his “Cabinet of Curiosities,” he’s also walking directly out of the year 1969.

The eight-episode horror anthology has been in Netflix’s top 10 since its release Oct. 25. Each beautifully crafted episode begins with creator and host del Toro pulling an objet d’art from his elaborate cabinet to introduce the tale and its director, as well as a chess-piece-sized carving of each director.

In a tweet, del Toro explained some of the inspiration of his Cabinet: “First night: EC vibes,” he wrote, referring to the massively influential EC horror comics of the ‘50s such as Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. “Second night: unsettling and ‘now’, Third night: period/pulp classics and Final night: voices that, in my estimation, are clear and loud in the symphony of our genre.”

But del Toro goes much deeper in his introduction to the upcoming,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "The Manchurian Candidate"

Where You Can Stream It: The Roku Channel

The Pitch: "Raymond Shaw is the bravest, kindest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."

The recent death of Angela Lansbury and the 60th anniversary of "The Manchurian Candidate" this week have put the film back on the radar just in time for the U.S. midterm elections in early November. When "The Manchurian Candidate" first hit theaters in 1962, it was not far removed from the Second Red Scare, and the Cold War was still in full swing. The movie spoke to mid-20th-century fears like the specter of McCarthyism yet it was also remarkably prescient about the future of politics.

In "The Manchurian Candidate,...

Perfectly cast down to the smallest roles, director John Frankenheimer’s stunning satirical thriller was part of his remarkable run of quality hits during the 1960s. Oddly, this one was not a box office success and its classic status only kicked in when it was reissued in 1988, after being pulled from distribution following the Kennedy assassination. Laurence Harvey, as an army grunt programmed into a killing machine by Chinese communists, never found another part that played so well to his icy persona and Angela Lansbury, only three years his senior, is unforgettable as his monstrous mother. One of JFK’s favorite movies. The misguided 2004 remake turns it into a science fiction movie!

The post The Manchurian Candidate appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

She was impossibly versatile. She was improbably modest. She was irrepressibly energetic. She was, in every way, one helluva dame. In fact, Angela Brigid Lansbury was literally a Dame, made so in 2014 by the late Queen Elizabeth II whom she followed into death just 33 days after Her Royal Highness got there. However, we didn’t love Lansbury because of what she achieved but due to who she was: a woman of the people who, from all reports, was nearly as excited to meet her fans as they were to share a special moment with her.

While Lansbury famously never took home an Emmy Award, becoming one of its all-time longest-running snubs by going 0 for 18, she won just about everything else, including the hearts of the world as one of the greatest performers and humans of the past century.

SEEAngela Lansbury appreciation: 12 best films, ranked [Photos]

Here are 10 reasons why we loved Angela Lansbury so much.

She was a cartoon teacup. She was Elizabeth Taylor's adoring sister in National Velvet. She was Cabot Cove's treasured murder solver. Legendary actress Angela Lansbury, who died on October 11 just shy of her 97th birthday, was a beloved movie, television, and stage presence for over seven decades. From Gaslight to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, audiences felt like they were in the presence of a good friend whenever she appeared on-screen. But in 1962, Lansbury shocked movie goers with her maniacal, icy, and diabolical turn as the world's worst mother in writer-director John Frankenheimer's masterpiece, The Manchurian Candidate. In her Oscar nominated performance as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin, the ruthlessly ambitious wife of a U.S. Senator (James Gregory) and mother of Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), a former Korean War prisoner struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Lansbury became one of the most frightening and detestable mother figures in the history of cinema.

If Frank Sinatra had his way, Angela Lansbury would never have given her finest film performance. For the role of Eleanor Iselin, a dead-hearted Communist agent plotting a series of assassinations that will result in the ascension of her alcoholic, McCarthyite husband to the White House, the Chairman of the Board favored Lucille Ball. In conversation with Alec Baldwin at the 2016 TCM Film Festival's screening of "The Manchurian Candidate," the actor confessed a bit of curiosity for this alternate bit of casting. "I mean, that could've been fascinating. You wouldn't have believed that she could be this devil incarnate."

For 1962 audiences, when "The Manchurian Candidate" was initially released, it would've been staggering to see the beloved First Lady of comedy play a cunning matriarch who has the barely suppressed hots for her brainwashed, trained-killer son Raymond Shaw (Lawrence Harvey). But, trust me, when the film was re-released in 1988, it was...

One of the world’s most popular and enduring actresses died today, and tributes to Dame Angela Lansbury are raining down like a closing-night curtain call. Here is just a sampling that spans the worlds of film, television and theater:

Related: Angela Lansbury Film, Television and Broadway Career In Photos Gallery

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher:

“I was fortunate to have seen Dame Lansbury twice on Broadway, and she was even more captivating on stage as she was on television and film. What an amazing presence. She was an inspiration both on and off stage, and I was personally a huge fan. Thank God she lived a good, long life as we were all blessed to bask in her light. I’m grateful that her body of work lives on to inspire generations to come. I will miss you terribly, Angela, you were one in a mil!”

Related: Hollywood...

What role you remember first when you think of Angela Lansbury speaks to how old you are — with an extraordinary career spanning more than 80 years, Lansbury brought indelible performances to generations of filmgoers, stage fans, and TV watchers.

Perhaps your go-to is Jessica Fletcher, the TV sleuth she played from 1984-1996. Or maybe you get a shiver of delight thinking of her Broadway turns as the madcap Mame Dennis of “Mame” or the duplicitous Mrs. Lovett of “Sweeney Todd.” Some fans embrace her as the loving mother-turned-teapot in the animated “Beauty and the Beast” while others get a cold sweat recalling her ruthless mommy in the original “The Manchurian Candidate.”

There are no wrong answers here; for most of the 20th century and a decent chunk of the 21st, Angela Lansbury did it all — drama, comedy, musical, stage, screen, warm, terrifying — and she did it brilliantly.

Born in London in...

Actress Angela Lansbury, whose 75-year career encompassed triumphs on the big screen, in musical theater and on television, died at her Los Angeles home on Tuesday, her family announced in a statement obtained by Variety. She was 96 — five days shy of her 97th birthday.

Nominated for three Oscars, she won seven Tony Awards and holds the record for Emmy actress nods with 12 for her role on “Murder, She Wrote.”

As honored as she was in film and on stage, Lansbury achieved her greatest popularity on the small screen. In 1984 she stepped into a role originally offered to Jean Stapleton: the flinty crime-solving mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote.” The show became appointment TV for its fans on Sunday nights, and ran for 12 highly rated seasons. The actress captured four Golden Globe Awards for her turn. Between 1997 and 2003, she reprised the role in four telepics.

Discovered while...

Angela Lansbury, the London-born actress whose career spanned eight decades and included hits in film (“The Manchurian Candidate”), TV and theater (“Mame” and “Sweeney Todd”), has died at age 96.

Her family announced her death, saying she died early Tuesday morning “peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles.”

A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined for Lansbury, who would have turned 97 on Sunday.

One of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Lansbury first rose to fame as an MGM player who nabbed Academy Award nominations for her first films roles, in 1944’s “Gaslight” and 1945’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

Also Read:

Angela Lansbury’s 10 Best Film and TV Roles, From ‘Gaslight’ to ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Photos)

In 1962, she earned another Oscar nomination for “The Manchurian Candidate” playing the scheming mother of a war hero — played by an actor,...

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Angela Lansbury, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote, has died. She was 96.

Lansbury, who received an Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for each and every season of Murder, She Wrote — yet never won — died in her sleep at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. She was five days shy of her birthday.

Lansbury went 0-for-18 in career Emmy noms but did get some love from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who gave her an honorary Oscar in 2013 for her career as “an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema’s most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors.”

The London-born Lansbury, then 19, received a best supporting actress...

Henry Silva, an actor with a striking look who often played villains and had credits in hundreds of films including “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” died of natural causes Wednesday at the Motion Picture Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif., his son Scott confirmed. He was 95.

One of Silva’s most memorable roles came in John Frankenheimer’s classic thriller “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962), in which he played Chunjin, the Korean houseboy for Laurence Harvey’s Raymond Shaw — and an agent for the Communists — who engages in a thrilling, well-choreographed martial arts battle with Frank Sinatra’s Major Bennett Marco in Shaw’s New York apartment.

Silva appeared in a number of other movies with Sinatra, including the original, Rat Pack-populated “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960) with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., where he was one of the 11 thieves, and 1962 Western “Sergeants 3.”

His death was...

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Monty Norman, the British composer who wrote the propulsive theme for the James Bond films, died Monday after a short illness, according to a post on his official website. He was 94.

Producer Cubby Broccoli, who had worked with Norman by backing the stage musical Belle, about murderer Hawley Crippen, asked the composer to come up with the score for the first Bond film, Dr. No (1962), after he and Harry Saltzman had acquired the rights to Ian Fleming’s spy.

The deal was sealed when the producers offered to fly Norman and his then-wife, actress-singer Diana Coupland, to Jamaica, where the movie was being filmed, all expenses paid. “Well, that was the clincher for me!” Norman said in a story posted on his website. “I thought, even if Dr. No turns out to be a stinker, at least we’d have sun, sea and sand to show for it!

A courageous episode in the life of frogman Lionel "Buster" Crabb is brought to the screen in The Silent Enemy, which dramatises, with a bit of poetic licence, a real-life raid. The film begins as bomb disposal expert Crabb (Laurence Harvey) is sent to Gibraltar to aid efforts to thwart Italian frogmen who are blowing up ships in the dock. Quickly deciding to join the tiny team of British frogmen despite having no experience at all, we can quicly see that he Seaman Knowles (Michael Craig) and Seaman Fraser (Nigel Stock) are plucky, under-manned and ill-equipped, in short, all the classic ingredients for this sort of war film.

It's not long before the trio, along with a few others, find themselves being trained up by Chief Petty Officer Thorpe (Sid James playing it dead straight), while plotting a secret foray to neutral Spain in a bid to find out how those.

To mark the release of the newly restored version of The Silent Enemy on 11th April, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

In 1941, the Italians have created a new form of warfare – Frogmen – an intrepid band of men who travel astride small torpedo-type vessels, and attach explosive charges to the hulls of enemy ships, below their waterline.

The young Naval Lieutenant, ‘Buster’ Crabb (Laurence Harvey), an expert in mine and bomb disposal, is sent to Gibraltar to try and combat this new threat. Never having dived before, he sets to work to master the technique of underwater operations, and soon he and his team are able to locate many of the frogmen’s charges and render them harmless. But with an invasion of North Africa imminent, time is not on the allies’ side.

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The big-scale Cinerama fantasy once thought unrecoverable is back — a terrific restoration brings us George Pal’s ode to fairy tales, filmed on Bavarian locations with an international cast. Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm are the brothers that compiled the famed tales of princesses, witches, magic spells and fiery dragons. Their idealized biography is interspersed with three full fairy tale stories, about a magic cloak of invisibility, a cobbler’s helpful elves, and a pair of fearless dragon slayers. The show has dancing, beautiful locations, a sequence with Puppetoons and a terrific animated dragon. Featured stars are Claire Bloom, Walter Slezak, Barbara Eden, Oscar Homolka, Martita Hunt, Yvette Mimieux, Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus, Terry-Thomas and Buddy Hackett; a long-form docu goes into fascinating detail explaining how Dave Strohmaier and Tom March accomplished the mind-boggling restoration.

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1962 / Color / 2:89 widescreen [Smilebox] widescreen / 140 135 min.

Showbiz in Soho is artificial, gaudy and vulgar, but Laurence Harvey’s slick promoter-con man thinks he can cheat at the pop music game. Cliff Richard is his new discovery, a teen crooner who digs the bongo drums. Wolf Mankowitz’s portrait of talent, glitz, and double-dealing in music and TV showbiz also stars Sylvia Syms as a Soho stripper and Yolande Donlan as a singing star trying to make a comeback. The disc contains director Val Guest’s uncut original version.

Expresso Bongo

Blu-ray

Cohen / Kino Lorber

1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 111 106 min. / Street Date January 18, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Cliff Richard, Meier Tzelniker, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Eric Pohlmann, Gilbert Harding, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Beckwith, Avis Bunnage, Sally Geeson, Kenneth Griffith, Burt Kwouk, Wilfrid Lawson, Patricia Lewis, Barry Lowe, Martin Miller, Susan Hampshire, Peter Myers, Lisa Peake, The Shadows.

Cinematography: John Wilcox

Art Director:...

“Once upon a time, there were two brothers…”

The classic film The Wonderful World Of Brothers Grimm (1962) will debut as a Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray on March 29 from the Warner Archive Collection. This release features Restored 1080p HD Masters from 6K composite scan of original Cinerama 3-panel Camera Negatives

The classic film The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm will debut as a Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray on March 29 from the Warner Archive Collection. Restored in 4K (3840 x 2160) master files from 6K files of original Cinerama Camera Negatives, with the most advanced technology available used by Cinerama Restorationists David Strohmaier and Tom H. March, to eliminate the “join lines” that plagued traditional release prints, and early video format releases. The Cinerama 7-channel sound has also been restored for a new 5.1 mix that brings a spectacular sonic experience to match the amazing Cinerama imagery.

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm...

The stars of the excellent new comedy doc Joy Ride discuss some of their favorite two handers with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Graduate (1967) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Cocoon (1985)

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)

Police Academy 3: Back In Training (1986)

Crooklyn (1994)

Call Me Lucky (2015)

Shakes The Clown (1991)

A History Of Violence (2005)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Artists And Models (1955) – Tfh’s global trailer search

Joy Ride (2021)

Joy Ride (2001)

Stay (2005)

Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006)

Capturing The Friedmans (2003)

Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

Sleepless In Seattle (1993)

The Producers (1967) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)

Delicate Delinquent (1957)

Keyholes Are For Peeping (1972)

The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Charlie...

A sizzling neo-noir that should have boosted Dennis Hopper into feature bankability goes a tad slack — my guess is that Hopper’s fine directing instincts got blurred in the editing process. Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly and others are well cast in Charles Williams’ hardboiled sex ‘n’ crime yarn, and the temperature indeed rises when Johnson gets near his co-stars. The narrative momentum breaks down somewhat, yet the great-looking show remains a favorite, atmospheric and oversexed.

The Hot Spot

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date May 4, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, William Sadler, Charles Martin Smith, Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin, Jack Nance, Virgil Frye.

Cinematography: Ueli Steiger

Film Editor: Wende Phifer Mate

Original Music: Jack Nitzsche

Written by Nona Tyson, Charles Williams from the 1952 book Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams

Produced by Paul Lewis

Directed by Dennis...

Sophia Loren is generating red-hot Oscar buzz for her performance in Netflix’s Italian-language drama “The Life Ahead.” The screen legend has earned some of the best reviews of her seven-decade career for her heartbreaking performance as a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor who takes care of children of streetwalkers.

Loren made Oscar history 59 years ago when she became the first performer to receive an Academy Award for a foreign-language film. She took home Best Actress for Vittorio DeSica’s harrowing World War II drama “Two Women,” which was also in Italian. Loren, who also starred with Charlton Heston that year in the lavish epic “El Cid,” had very strong competition when the Oscar nominations were announced in the winter of 1962.

Natalie Wood, who had received a Supporting Actress nomination as a teenager for 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” gave an extraordinary performance as a sensitive teenager living in Kansas...

Even though the Best Actress Oscar has been given out since the first Academy Awards ceremony, there is no clear way of determining whether shorter or longer performances are more likely to win. An even mix of both have prevailed over the past 92 years, performances that have won Best Actress hold more overall lead acting records than those that have won Best Actor. Here is a look at the 10 shortest winners in the category. (And here is the equivalent list for Best Actor.)

10. Katharine Hepburn (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”)

43 minutes, 26 seconds (40.20% of the film)

Over three decades after her first nomination resulted in a win, Hepburn finally won a second Best Actress Oscar for her role as Christina Drayton, a mother whose liberal views are challenged when her daughter announces her intention to marry a Black man. She would go on to finish her career with four wins in...

Devo’s Gerald Casale joins us for a discussion of the movies that made Devo!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Truth About De-Evolution (1976)

Island Of Lost Souls (1932)

Akran (1969)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Fail Safe (1964)

Valley Of The Dolls (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

The President’s Analyst (1967)

The Atomic Cafe (1982)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Village Of The Damned (1960)

Children Of The Damned (1964)

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Parallax View (1974)

Soylent Green (1973)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Rocky (1976)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

Whisky Galore! (1949)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

Network (1976)

JFK (1991)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Lost Highway (1997)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Expresso Bongo (1959)

Gremlins (1984)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Other Notable Items

Paul McCartney

Slash

Willie Nelson

Devo

Elliot Roberts

Lorne Michaels

Saturday Night Live TV series (1975- )

Michael O’Donoghue

The Muppets

Neil Young

Walter Williams

Mr. Bill

Richard Myers

George Kuchar

Mike Kuchar

John F.