Rebecca (no 17) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(USA 1940 133m) DVD1/2
The perfect symmetry of those walls
p  David O.Selznick  d  Alfred Hitchcock  w  Robert Sherwood, Joan Harrison  novel  Daphne du Maurier  ph  George Barnes  ed  Hal C.Kern  m  Franz Waxman  art  Lyle Wheeler  cos  uncredited (probably Walter Plunkett or Irene)
Joan Fontaine (Mrs de Winter), Laurence Olivier (George Fortescue Maximilian “Maxim” de [...]

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Musings on In the Mood for Love

 
by Tony d’Ambra
memories night rain on cobble stones
we sheltered under eaves
of lost time and aching solitude   slowed motion
our paths crossed
we dare not touch
rehearsing heartbreak and leave-taking   stairs
a hallway with no turning
condemned to relive a love
ever unconsumated
always alone   a red billowing curtain belies our passion
an empty hotel room
2046
there is no future
no past
only an [...]

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Oliver Twist (no 18) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(UK 1948 116m) DVD1/2
What right have you to butcher me?
p  Ronald Neame, Anthony Havelock-Allen  d  David Lean  w  David Lean, Stanley Haynes  novel  Charles Dickens  ph  Guy Green  ed  Jack Harris  m  Arnold Bax  art  John Bryan  cos  Margaret Furse
Alec Guinness (Fagin), Robert Newton (Bill Sikes), Kay Walsh (Nancy), Anthony Newley (The Artful [...]

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Revolutionary Road ****½

 
by Allan Fish
(USA 2008 119m) DVD1/2
Where we keep the euphemism
p  Bobby Cohen, Larry Hart, Scott Rudin, Sam Mendes  d  Sam Mendes  w  Justine Haythe  novel  Richard Yates  ph  Roger Deakins  ed  Tariq Anwar  m  Thomas Newman  art  Kristi Zea  cos  Albert Wolsky
Leonardo DiCaprio (Frank Wheeler), Kate Winslet (April Wheeler), David Harbour (Shep Campbell), Kathryn Khan [...]

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Casablanca (no 19) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(USA 1942 102m) DVD1/2
We’ll always have Paris
p  Hal B.Wallis  d  Michael Curtiz  w  Julius J.Epstein, Philip G.Epstein, Howard Koch  play  “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” by Murray Burnett, Joan Alison  ph  Arthur Edeson  ed  Owen Marks  montage  Don Siegel  m  Max Steiner  song  “As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld  art  Carl Jules Weyl  [...]

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Listen to Britain (no 20) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(UK 1942 19m) DVD1/2
The pulse of a nation
p  Ian Dalrymple  d  Humphrey Jennings  w  Stewart McAllister, Humphrey Jennings  ph  H.E.Fowle  ed  Humphrey Jennings
Humphrey Jennings’ output at the Crown Film Unit during the war has long been the subject of critical eulogy, the sort of independent vision that draws both awe and wonder.  Listen [...]

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Kind Hearts and Coronets (No. 21) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(UK 1949 106m) DVD1/2
 How happy could I be with either, were t’other, dear charmer, away
p  Michael Balcon, Michael Relph  d  Robert Hamer  w  Robert Hamer, John Dighton  novel  “Israel Rank” by Roy Horniman  ph  Douglas Slocombe  ed  Peter Tanner  md  Ernest Irving  m  “Il Mio Tesoro” from “Don Giovanni” & various small pieces [...]

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My Darling Clementine (no 22) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(USA 1946/1994 104m) DVD1/2
I sure do like that name
p  Samuel G.Engel  d  John Ford  w  Samuel G.Engel, Winston Miller  book  “Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal” by Stuart N.Lake  ph  Joe P.MacDonald  ed  Dorothy Spencer  md  Alfred Newman  m  Cyril Mockridge  art  James Basevi, Lyle Wheeler, Thomas Little  cos  René Hubert
Henry Fonda (Wyatt Earp), Victor [...]

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Mr Deeds Meets Slumdog: Who wants to be a millionaire?

by Tony d’Ambra  
I often wonder how it feels to be at home in your country of  birth.  As a child of  immigrant parents, and though an Australian by birth, I have never been confident that I ever will.  There is a discontinuity,  and  bridging it is as unlikely as me flying to the moon.  It is [...]

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A Matter of Life and Death (no 23) *****

 
by Allan Fish
(UK 1946 104m) DVD2
Aka. Stairway to Heaven
It’s heaven, isn’t it?
p/w  Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger  d  Michael Powell  ph  Jack Cardiff  ed  Reginald Mills  m  Allan Gray  art  Alfred Junge, Hein Heckroth, Arthur Lawson  cos  Hein Heckroth  spc  Douglas Woolsley, Henry Harris 
David Niven (Squ.Ldr.Peter David Carter), Kim Hunter (June), Roger Livesey (Dr Frank Reeves), [...]

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