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On Thursday 28 November 2024, BBC Four broadcasts Parkinson!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Parkinson” promises to be an exciting one, featuring a diverse lineup of guests. Michael Parkinson will welcome Sir Robert Helpmann, a renowned dancer and actor known for his contributions to the arts. His presence is sure to bring fascinating stories and insights from his illustrious career.

Joining Helpmann is Claire Bloom, a celebrated actress with a rich history in film and theater. Bloom’s experiences and thoughts on her craft will likely provide an engaging perspective for viewers. Her talent and charm have made her a beloved figure in the entertainment industry.

The episode will also feature the legendary Eartha Kitt, who is remembered not only for her singing but also for her acting and activism. Kitt’s unique voice and captivating personality are expected to add an unforgettable touch to the conversation.

With such a remarkable trio of guests,...

Ian Fleming is perhaps best known for being the creator of James Bond and the series of novels that center the character, but he's also the mind behind the 1964 children's novel "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car," which was subsequently turned into the beloved, Academy Award-nominated fantasy movie musical and later, a stage musical. The story focuses on the Potts family, namely, siblings Jeremy and Jemima, who desperately try to set up their widowed inventor father Caractacus with a beautiful woman named Truly Scrumptious. And people had the audacity to make fun of the character names in "The Hunger Games" series? Tsk. Tsk. During a day at the beach, Caractacus tells the children a fantastical tale about the villainous Baron Bomburst, the tyrant ruler of the land of Vulgaria, and his attempts to steal their magical family car, the titular Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a whimsical story through and through,...

Sir Bobby Charlton has sadly passed away.

The English soccer legend, who played for Manchester United and England died on Saturday (October 21) at the age of 86.

His family confirmed his death in a statement with BBC, noting Bobby “passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning.” BBC also reports that Bobby was diagnosed with dementia in 2020.

Keep reading to find out more…

Bobby‘s family wished to “pass on their thanks to everyone who has contributed to his care and for the many people who have loved and supported him.”

Bobby‘s family added that he died surrounded by loved ones, concluding their statement, “We would request that the family’s privacy be respected at this time.”

In his career, Bobby played for 17 years with the Manchester United soccer club, and he represented England in more than 100 wins, including their 1966 World Cup victory, for which he was awarded the Ballon d’Or.

The term ‘filmed opera’ in no way describes this phantasmagoria. Powell & Pressburger re-envisions the Offenbach work with dance sequences refracted through a cinematic prism. It’s high art made for the movies, without the condescenscion seen in Disney’s Fantasia. The stars are Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann. Powell perfects techniques from Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes to fuse music, theater, dance and cinema; Martin Scorsese calls it a ‘composed film.’ This full restoration reinstates footage not seen since the first previews in 1951.

The Tales of Hoffmann

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 317

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tchérina, Anne Ayars, Pamela Brown, Léonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Mogens Wieth, Robert Rounseville;

— And the voices of: Robert Rounseville, Monica Sinclair, Bruce Dargavel, Fisher Morgan, Rene Soames, Dorothy Bond, Grahame Clifford, Murry Dickie, Margherita Grandi, Owen Brannigan, Ann Ayars, Joan Alexander...

The only sales pitch needed is “The Red Shoes has been encoded in 4K.” Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 masterpiece conquered America as had no previous English film. This is one artsy dance show that captivates nearly everybody: audiences can be counted on to ooh and ahh the film’s dazzling hues, striking dance artistry and endless visual creativity. Cameraman Jack Cardiff took first position as the world master of Technicolor, and Moira Shearer’s dancing is recorded forever, celebrated as with no other ballet artist. Criterion’s 4K remaster includes all the extras of their 2010 restored Blu-ray.

The Red Shoes

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 44

1947 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 14, 2021 / 49.95

Starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Léonide Massine, Ludmilla Tchérina, Robert Helpmann, Albert Basserman.

Cinematography: Jack Cardiff

Production Design and Costumes: Hein Heckroth

Film Editor: Reginald Mills

Original Music: Brian Easdale

Written,...

Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of ’60s spy-dom. In West Berlin, George Segal’s Quiller struggles through a near- existential battle with Neo-Nazi swine more soulless than his own cold-fish handlers. Harold Pinter supplies the circular dialogue, Alec Guinness the charming insincerity and Max von Sydow a devilish menace. Quiller is mesmerized by the seductive ambiguity of lovely Senta Berger. Does she love Quiller? Or is love dead in this brave world of deceit and subterfuge?

The Quiller Memorandum

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger, George Sanders, Robert Helpmann, Robert Flemyng, Peter Carsten.

Cinematography: Erwin Hillier

Film Editor: Frederick Wilson

Original Music: John Barry

Written by Harold Pinter from the novel by Adam Hall

Produced by Ivan Foxwell

Directed by Michael Anderson

The ’60s spy movie craze was a copycat game.

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger officially become ‘The Archers’ for this sterling morale-propaganda picture lauding the help of the valiant Dutch resistance. It’s a joyful show of spirit, terrific casting (with a couple of surprises) and first-class English filmmaking.

One of Our Aircraft is Missing

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy /103 82 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Bernard Miles, Hugh Burden, Emrys Jones, Pamela Brown, Joyce Redman, Googie Withers, Hay Petrie, Arnold Marlé, Robert Helpmann, Peter Ustinov, Roland Culver, Robert Beatty, Michael Powell.

Cinematography Ronald Neame

Film Editor David Lean

Camera Crew Robert Krasker, Guy Green

Written by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Produced by The Archers

Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

There are still a few more key Powell-Pressburger ‘Archer’ films waiting for a quality disc release, Contraband and Gone to Earth for just two.

With the massive success of Carrie (1976), telekinesis was quickly added to horror filmmakers’ arsenal as a new weapon to terrify audiences. The immense power of the film left some reticent to tackle the subject for fear of falling short; however Brian DePalma stepped up to the plate with The Fury (1978), and that same year fledgling Australian filmmaker Richard Franklin made Patrick, a suspenseful, darkly humorous tale of a nurse and the psychokinetically disposed comatose patient that loves her.

Released on its native soil October 1st, 1978, Patrick was bought up for distribution by over 30 countries after a successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival, easily earning back its $400,000 Aud budget (half of which was chipped in by the Australian Film Commission). More good news followed as Patrick was well received by critics, and rightly so – it’s a tense little beaut with an emphasis on character and scattered shocks throughout.

The...

Special Mention: Gojira (Godzilla)

Written and directed by Ishirô Honda

Japan, 1954

Ishiro Honda’s grim, black-and-white post-Hiroshima nightmare stands the test of time. This allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb is quite simply a powerful statement about mankind’s insistence to continue to destroy everyone and everything the surrounds us. With just one shot (a single pan across the ruins of Tokyo), Honda manages to express the devastation that Godzilla represents. Since its debut, Godzilla has become a worldwide cultural icon, but very little is said about actor Takashi Shimura, who adds great depth as Dr. Yamane; his performance is stunning. Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya originally wanted to use classic stop-motion animation to portray Godzilla, but time and budget limitations forced him to dress actors up in monster suits. Despite this minor setback, Tsuburaya’s scale sets of Tokyo are crafted with such great attention to detail,...

Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...

By Mark Cerulli

The 1951 film The Tales of Hoffmann, the acclaimed British adaptation of the opera by Jaques Offenbach, was an early influence on major directors like Cecil B. DeMille, George Romero (who said it was “the movie that made me want to make movies”) and Martin Scorsese. They were drawn to co-directors, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger’s inventive camera work, vibrant color palette (each of the three acts has its own primary color) and smooth blending of film, dance and music. According to an interview found on Powell-Pressburger.org, Powell wanted to do a “composed film” – shot entirely to a pre-recorded music track, in this case, Offenbach’s opera. Not having to worry about sound meant he could remove the cumbersome padding that encased every Technicolor camera and really move it around production designer Hein Heckroth’s soaring sets. (Heckroth’s work on the film earned him two 1952 Oscar nominations.

Perhaps even more hallucinatory than The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger’s tale of a poet regaling a tavern with tales of his impossible loves is a thing of pure, dreamlike strangeness

“Made in England” is how Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger finally stamped their unworldly, otherworldly Tales of Hoffmann from 1951, an adaptation of the Jacques Offenbach opera, which is now on rerelease. It actually negated English and British cinema’s reputation for stolid realism. This is a hothouse flower of pure orchidaceous strangeness, enclosed in the studio’s artificial universe, fusing cinema, opera and ballet. It is sensual, macabre, dreamlike and enigmatic: like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In his autobiography, Powell recalls talking to a United Artists executive after the New York premiere, who said to him, wonderingly: “Micky, I wish it were possible to make films like that … ” A revealing choice of words. It was as if...

Is the cultural conversation about to turn from Ben Affleck’s penis in Gone Girl to Steve Carell’s nose in Foxcatcher? Bennett Miller’s acclaimed drama opens in limited release this week, and Carrell’s prosthetic-enhanced performance has already been tipped for some Oscar glory. We’ll see about that, but the transformation is remarkable: It’s hard at first to even recognize the actor beneath all that makeup as John du Pont, the weirdo millionaire whose obsession with Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz (played by Channing Tatum) led to madness, drug abuse, and murder. It got us thinking … fake noses do often lead to acclaimed performances. They’ve certainly resulted in their share of Oscars — some deserved, some not so much. But what are the best ones? Here are our choices for the 15 best performances by fake noses on film.15. Robert Helpmann, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang To some, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...

Jaws from James Bond

One movie character who scared me as a child was Jaws, the shiny-toothed James Bond villain. Those silver teeth freaked me out, big time – I remember the early sequence from The Spy Who Loved Me was particularly chilling: Jaws lures a defenceless older man into a trap, and proceeds to bite into his neck, killing him. While we're shown no violence, the whole scene terrified me: the way Jaws walked slowly towards the man in a knowing, menacing way, and the idea of him simply biting the man to death (though at least he had the courtesy to stun the victim first).

Being bitten by Jaws isn't like being bitten by a vampire – he drinks no blood. Instead, he just seems to sink those artificial teeth into flesh and tear a hole big enough to cause fatal bleeding. Whenever I'd watch that scene, it made me deeply uncomfortable,...

10. Deliverance (1972)

Scene: Squeal Like a Piggy

Video: http://youtu.be/WqNMjZpSbnU

Word to the wise: just because someone plays a mighty fine banjo, it doesn’t mean he or any of his kin should be invited to your family picnic. Based on the James Dickey novel of the same name, Deliverance follows four businessmen as they decide to spend a weekend canoeing down a fictional river before it needs to be flooded. Lewis (Burt Reynolds) leads the crew as the most experienced, followed closely by Ed (Jon Voight). The two novices Bobby and Drew (Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox) also join them. So, in remote Georgia, the four men set out to take in the beauty of nature. Before setting off, they come across a group of mountain men, all of which appear to be inbred. Drew engages in a banjo duet with one of the teenagers, but he doesn’t...

Mark Hartley.s Patrick will get a theatrical release in the Us, handled jointly by Phase 4 Films and Uncork.d Entertainment. A spring 2014 launch is planned for the thriller starring Charles Dance, Rachel Griffiths and Sharni Vinson. Producer Antony Ginnane told If it.s too early to specify the number of screens. He explained the dual distribution arrangement on the grounds that Uncork.d Entertainment.s expertise is in releasing films on Premium Video-on-Demand and convention VoD while Phase 4 Films is well versed in other media. Patrick had its Us premiere last month at the 2013 Fantastic Fest. The deal was negotiated by Bankside Films. Stephen Kelliher with Phase 4.s Larry Greenberg and Katharyn Howe. Bankside pre-sold to a bunch of markets including Germany, Benelux, Argentina, Middle East, Peru and Switzerland. Phase 4.s recent releases include The Baytown Outlaws, which starred Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton, and Generation Um with Keanu Reeves.

The producers of horror/thriller feature Patrick and documentary In Bob We Trust are finalising Australian release plans after their well-received world premieres last Saturday at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Patrick, Mark Hartley.s re-imagining of Richard Franklin.s 1978 psychological thriller, will open in Australia in October. Producer Antony I. Ginnane said distributor Umbrella Entertainment is tossing up between October 17 and October 24.

.A skilfully made genre piece, Patrick is a very satisfying movie meal, well done with a garnish of dark humour,. opined Radio 3Aw.s Jim Schembri.

The Guardian.s Luke Buckmaster sparked to a .high-powered genre film that works fiendishly hard to satisfy its target demographic of squealers, thrill seekers and horror buffs. They won.t leave disappointed..

The film, which got an Ma rating last week, stars Sharni Vinson as Kathy, a nurse who takes a job at a private hospital for the clinically comatose in...

Mark Hartley's remake of the Ozploitation classic remains faithful to the original in spirit, but makes some bold changes

The 1978 Ozploitation horror flick, Patrick, had an irresistible plot about a psychopathic but comatose patient who becomes obsessed with a pretty nurse and takes over a sinister hospital using telekinesis. It's not hard to see why it has come up for the remake treatment.

Re-doing classic films is rarely a good idea – indeed it's often disastrous – but as Steven Soderbergh demonstrated with Ocean's Eleven, remaking flawed movies can be productive, especially when the source material is a neat concept that somehow failed in the translation.

Richard Franklin and Everett De Roche's original Patrick is one of the more widely celebrated of the gleefully disreputable genre movies that Australia produced in the 1970s and '80s – although seen in the harsh light of today it looks more of an ingenious...

Mark Hartley's remake of the Ozploitation classic remains faithful to the original in spirit, but makes some bold changes

The 1978 Ozploitation horror flick, Patrick, had an irresistible plot about a psychopathic but comatose patient who becomes obsessed with a pretty nurse and takes over a sinister hospital using telekinesis. It's not hard to see why it has come up for the remake treatment.

Re-doing classic films is rarely a good idea – indeed it's often disastrous – but as Steven Soderbergh demonstrated with Ocean's Eleven, remaking flawed movies can be productive, especially when the source material is a neat concept that somehow failed in the translation.

Richard Franklin and Everett De Roche's original Patrick is one of the more widely celebrated of the gleefully disreputable genre movies that Australia produced in the 1970s and '80s – although seen in the harsh light of today it looks more of an ingenious...

Nicolas Winding Refn is the latest in a long line of directors to find inspiration among plastic dolls

Only God Forgives 2013

For years, Kristin Scott Thomas has been trashing her brittle English upper-classness in French films, but anglophone audiences who still think of her as posh Fiona from Four Weddings and a Funeral might get a shock when they see her in Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-violent revenge parable. Sample dialogue: "And how many cocks can you 'entertain' with that cute little cum-dumpster of yours?"

Her Crystal is an abrasive, chain-smoking, bottle-blonde Messalina tottering around in fuck-me shoes and too much eye makeup, wielding Virginia Slims as though they were deadly weapons. She's the Barbie from hell, as if Paris Hilton had suddenly lived 20 more years and had a personality transplant from Lucy Liu in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Just as the hotel chain heiress apparently modelled her own makeover on Mattel's fashion doll,...

Some 20 minutes of Patrick, director Mark Hartley.s re-imagining of Richard Franklin.s 1978 Australian psychological thriller, was screened for Us and international distributors at the Cannes Film Market.

Producer Antony I. Ginnane was pleased with the feedback and is hoping the film will be selected for the Toronto International Film Festival in October, which he believes would be the launch pad for a raft of sales.

In Cannes the international sales agent Bankside Films sold the pic, which stars Charles Dance, Sharni Vinson and Rachel Griffiths, to distributors in Turkey and the Middle East. Patrick will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July and will open in cinemas in October via Umbrella Entertainment.

Ginnane produced the original, which starred Robert Helpmann, Susan Penhaligon and Robert Thompson. It was a breakthrough for the producer as it was snapped up by theatrical distributors worldwide. It made a ton of money...

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

124: (Tie) Inside (À l’intérieur)

Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

Written by Alexandre Bustillo

2007, France

Four months after the death of her husband, a pregnant woman is tormented by a strange woman who invades her home with the intent on killing her and taking her unborn baby. This movie is not recommended for women on the brink of motherhood. Inside is one of the most vicious and...

Ian Turpie has passed away at the age of 68. The Australian singer, actor, radio and TV star, who was best known for his role as presenter of The New Price is Right, died on Sunday (March 11) after a year-long battle with cancer. A statement from the Turpie family published by Aap read: "He adored his family, friends, co-workers and fans over the past 50+ years. He was so grateful for the many well-wishes he received from so many." Turpie started his showbiz career at the age of ten when he worked as a child actor in radio alongside Sir Robert Helpmann and June Bronhill. He later appeared in Bandstand, (more)...

Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush plans to use his Australian of the Year award to encourage more people to watch local theatre productions and films.

Prime minister Julia Gillard presented Rush with the prestigious award yesterday in recognition of his 40-year contribution to the industry, as well as his support for.young actors and remaining grounded in the local community.

Screen industry veteran Peter Fenton, who.was chief mixer on more than 150 films, was also awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to the Australian film industry as a sound engineer.

Rush, the third actor to receive the award after Robert Helpmann and Paul Hogan, later told reporters: .An empty theatre or an empty cinema, metaphorically, is not a great place for a culture to be in and I want to try and encourage more people to take a punt and go and see what.s made in this country.

Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush plans to use his Australian of the Year award to encourage more people to watch local theatre productions and films. Prime minister Julia Gillard presented Rush with the prestigious award yesterday in recognition of his 40-year contribution to the industry, as well as his support for.young actors and remaining grounded in the local community. Screen industry veteran Peter Fenton, who.was chief mixer on more than 150 films, was also awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to the Australian film industry as a sound engineer. Rush, the third actor to receive the award after Robert Helpmann and Paul Hogan, later told reporters: .An empty theatre or an empty cinema, metaphorically, is not a great place for a culture...

Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush plans to use his Australian of the Year award to encourage more people to watch local theatre productions and films. Prime minister Julia Gillard presented Rush with the prestigious award yesterday in recognition of his 40-year contribution to the industry, as well as his support for.young actors and remaining grounded in the local community. Screen industry veteran Peter Fenton, who.was chief mixer on more than 150 films, was also awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to the Australian film industry as a sound engineer. Rush, the third actor to receive the award after Robert Helpmann and Paul Hogan, later told reporters: .An empty theatre or an empty cinema, metaphorically, is not a great place for a culture...

Just for the hell of it, and in the spirit of the Halloween season I came up with a list of 10 movie characters who I think are the most creepiest characters ever created in film. The list I've put together is in no particular order, but go through tell me what you think, and let me know if there are there any characters that you think should be added to it?

Kane - Julian Beck - Poltergeist II

I was actually just wanting Poltergeist II and it was seeing this character that actually gave me the idea of putting together this list. This guy is just scary as hell! The guy had a unique gift of scaring the shit out of people while walking down the street. 

Willy Wonka - Gene Wilder - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

You just can't deny that Willy Wonka isn't scary as hell...

Australia may not have an overabundance of horror films but they’ve managed to produce some quality genre pictures. The recent success of the acclaimed documentary Not Quite Hollywood has shed light on a much overlooked aspect of Aussie genre filmmaking, from lowbrow slashers to twisted thrillers and gross-out horror comedies. Back in the 70′s a number of prominent filmmakers began to develop a film movement that would eventually see the successes of such films as Mad Max and The Last Wave. It was during this time that Australian cinema as a whole experienced resurgence due to increased governmental funding and eventually gave way to what international film critics termed the “Australian New Wave” or the “Golden Age of Australian cinema”.

New Zealand hasn’t produced many horror films over the years, but those it has given birth to are remarkably strong entries. In fact one of the biggest filmmakers...

The Exorcist, Nightmare On Elm Street, The Shining, The Thing, Halloween and The Evil Dead.

Some of the scariest films ever made……

Yet none of these films are as terrifying as Watership Down – also known as the Hampshire Bunny Massacre.

As part of our 31 Days Of Horror celebration of all things macabre, we take a look at some of the most frightening and shocking moments in family friendly movies.

Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (1975-1983)

Shocking Moment: A Farewell to Arms

Despite all being rated U, the original Star Wars trilogy features plenty of violent scenes – most of which involving the frequent dismemberment of hands or arms.

During the battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke’s hand is lopped off at the wrist by a well placed lightsabre swipe. It’s clearly a painful moment for Luke…...

Actually, it’s a still we don’t love– but we do love the movie!

Just look:

This rather fuzzy, poorly printed still is typical of the shabby treatment accorded (in the Us at least) to producer Josef Shaftel’s 1972 attempt to make the definitive Alice movie to mark the centeniary of Lewis Carroll’s completion of both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Although it premiered at Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater, none of the major studios were interested in picking it up and this Veddy British film went out play largely at kiddie matinees courtesy of American National Pictures, which specialized in “family” nature films. It’s been on Us tv but over the years has become increasingly obscure despite entering the public domain.

2001: A Space Odyssey d.p. Geoffrey Unsworth’s precise Todd Ao 35 compositions (with some brilliant use of the...

The "reimagining" of cult .70s film Patrick is set to be shot in Melbourne as early as next April, producer Antony I..Ginnane says. Ginnane says the film, to be directed by Not Quite Hollywood.s Mark Hartley,.will have a budget between $5-$10 million. The new film has been in the works for the past 3-4 years and is currently set to have a Halloween, 2013 release. Not mentioning names,.the veteran producer.says a couple of "significant actors" will reprise the roles of Robert Helpmann and Julia Blake. The outgoing Spaa president says he had been approached several times from Us writers and producers about a possible .retelling., however they didn.t come to fruition. .We had explored that a couple of...

Many film actors have become box office stars thanks to one character, but while Sean Connery and Christopher Lee managed to break away from 007 and Dracula, Anthony Perkins’ was forever overshadowed by his infamous alter ego Norman Bates. For some actors, one film role was enough to give them lasting cinema immortality; if it hadn’t been for their performances as the Wizard of Oz and Ming the Merciless, Frank Morgan and Charles Middleton would have been long forgotten.

The following ten actors achieved their cult status in the horror and fantasy genre on the strength of one film. Although these working actors appeared in a variety of movies, it is that particular character and their well received performance that has pushed any other notable film work into the background!

Max Schreck (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens – 1922)

Rafaela Ottiano (The Devil-Doll – 1936)

Margaret Hamilton (The Wizard of Oz – 1939)

Stanley Ridges (Black...

Ica, London

Akhe Engineering Theatre defies categorisation. Presented under the banner of the 2011 London International Mime festival, its latest piece, Gobo. Digital Glossary, offers an exploration of humanity's powerlessness in the face of the chaos of existence. At the centre of the performance is the elusive notion of Gobo, a concept definable only by its absence. Ironic references to heroism and the hero suggest that Gobo might be some kind of ordering principle, perhaps based on antique notions of virtue. A self-deluding dream that a Beckett character might cling to.

Or not, because this event resists all efforts at interpretation. The hour-long performance is almost entirely mute, except for the occasional brusque Russian imprecation, but there are cryptic references to "Judith from Catford" and "Susan from West Ham". Lasers zip across a stage littered with detritus, reflecting off spoons and illuminating a fish tank in which a Big Ears puppet is ritually drowned.

We decided to start our little research of immortal young lady Alice in Wonderland, that still, after exactly 145 years, has a power to inspire directors all over the world.

You all guess that the main reason for this certainly is the latest, Tim Burton’s new incarnation of this story.

But let’s start from a beginning. We were all young, we all liked fairy-tales (well, some of us still do), and enjoyed so many characters, we all had our special heroes. Then, what’s so magical about this story, when it still manages to stay on the top of the list?

Ok, we all know the facts, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is written by the English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who used a pseudonym Lewis Carroll. The story tells what happens to a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy world which is populated...

BFI Southbank to exhibit paintings and sketches of 'Freudian ballet' created for the film by Hein Heckroth

The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 masterpiece, is one of the most visually spectacular movies in British history, and an abiding inspiration for artists such as Martin Scorsese, who counts it among his favourite films.

Now, ahead of its re-release in a newly restored version, its colours returned to their original Technicolor vividness, visitors to BFI Southbank in London will have the chance to see some of the original artwork for the film, created by surrealist painter Hein Heckroth.

The Red Shoes, the story of a dancer's struggle to achieve greatness against the demands of "normal" life, has entranced balletomanes and cineastes in the 61 years since it was made.

The most ambitious aspect of the film is the extended ballet sequence at the heart of the story, in which The Red Shoes...