Showing posts with label Alexander Korda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexander Korda. Show all posts
Friday, July 03, 2009
The Epic That Never Was
An account of the making of the unfinished film I, Claudius (GB 1937). - GB 1965. D: Bill Duncalf. SC: Bill Duncalf; Op.: Charles Parnall, David Findlay, David Samuelson, Alan Featherstone, Robert Kauffman; ED: Brian Keene; Narrator: Dirk Bogarde; WITH: Robert Graves, Josef von Sternberg, Merle Oberon (Messalina), Flora Robson (Imperatrice Livia), Emlyn Williams (Caligola), Eileen Corbett (segretaria di edizione), John Armstrong (costumista). In the vintage footage only: Charles Laughton (Claudius); PC: Bill Duncalf per BCC (TV) 35mm. 71’. From: collezionista. - Presenta Janet Bergstrom, earphone translation in Italian, viewed at Cinema Lumière 2, Bologna, 3 July 2009. - A rare 35mm screening of the fine documentary. - I had seen it before on Finnish television in January 1978 ("Minä Claudius", suurelokuva jota ei ollutkaan). - Now, with having seen many Sternberg prints with a duped look, the great revelation was to see this print which looked like it's struck from the original negative. At least, with access to the original negative. - Janet Bergstrom stressed that Sternberg himself was the main editor of his films; this is confirmed in the statement of Eileen Corbett in this documentary. - Thus, the edited footage of I, Claudius is literally the director's cut. - And also the definition of light in the negative has been approved by Sternberg, himself an ASC cinematographer.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
To Be Or Not To Be
Ollako vai eikö olla / Att vara eller icke vara. USA © 1942 Romaine Film Corporation. Presenter: Alexander Korda. P+D: Ernst Lubitsch. SC: Edwin Justus Mayer – from a story by Melchior Lengyel [and Ernst Lubitsch]. DP: Rudolph Maté. AD: Vincent Korda. Interior decorations: Julia Heron. Miss Lombard's costumes: Irene. M: Werner R. Heymann. ED: Dorothy Spencer. CAST: Carole Lombard (Maria Tura), Jack Benny (Joseph Tura), Robert Stack (Ltn. Stanislav Sobinski), Felix Bressart (Greenberg), Lionel Atwill (Rawitch), Stanley Ridges (Prof. Siletsky), Sig Ruman (Col. Ehrhardt), Tom Dugan (Bronski), Charles Halton (producer Dobosch), George Lynn (actor-adjutant), Henry Victor (Capt. Schultz), Maude Eburne (Anna), Halliwell Hobbes (Gen. Armstrong), Miles Mander (Maj. Cunningham), James Finlayson (Scotch farmer). 99 min. A Cinémathèque Royale print with French / Flemish subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 26 Oct 2008. - A worn print with a dark duped fourth reel. - Quite a laugh success with the audience again, the comedy works very well. - The more I see this the more audacious I realize it is: a comedy made in 1942 with topics such as Hitler, the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, concentration camps... and there is nothing cynical in it. - It is a Resistance comedy which does not glorify its heroes nor demonize its villains. They / we are all dumb, frail, inconsistent, erring human beings, capable of good and evil to each other. - "What you are I won't eat". - Maria Tura wears her evening best for the scene where her character is due to the concentration camp. - "Three tons of dynamite in two minutes". - "Take me to 3000 meters". - Maria's reaction to Siletsky's kiss: "Heil Hitler!". - Joseph Tura impersonating Col Ehrhardt: "I'm running out of dialogue". - The real Ehrhardt is the only one who has seen Joseph on stage: "What he did to Shakespeare we are now doing to Poland". - The comedy starts at a high gear, and manages to climax five times during the last minutes.
Thursday, January 01, 1998
The Spy In Black
V-003434 / G / GB / 1939 / Powell, Michael / war / spy
Spy In Black, The / Kaksoisagentti. PC: Harefield Productions; Alexander Korda. EX: Alexander Korda. D: Michael Powell. SC: Emeric Pressburger - based on the novel by J. Storer Clouston. PD: Vincent Korda. M: Miklos Rosza. CAST: Conrad Veidt (Captain Hardt), Valerie Hobson (Joan the Schoolmistress / spy). B&w Academy. 79’ /25 fps/ = 82’ /24 fps/. DIST: Finnkino. A timecoded PAL VHS big screen projection in Helsinki, VET, Wednesday, 31 December 1997. *** The first collaboration of the dynamic duo Powell & Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda, who had been developing this project before either were called. This is the first Finnish release of the film, never seen in Finnish cinemas, television, or video distribution before. It was not banned during WWII, but would have had it been submitted to the Finnish Film Chamber. The story takes place in Scotland during WWI in 1917. Conrad Veidt the German submarine captain meets Valerie Hobson the British contraband. It would probably look great on film. A part of Finnkino’s great Alexander Korda package to be released on video, this belongs to their true discoveries.
Spy In Black, The / Kaksoisagentti. PC: Harefield Productions; Alexander Korda. EX: Alexander Korda. D: Michael Powell. SC: Emeric Pressburger - based on the novel by J. Storer Clouston. PD: Vincent Korda. M: Miklos Rosza. CAST: Conrad Veidt (Captain Hardt), Valerie Hobson (Joan the Schoolmistress / spy). B&w Academy. 79’ /25 fps/ = 82’ /24 fps/. DIST: Finnkino. A timecoded PAL VHS big screen projection in Helsinki, VET, Wednesday, 31 December 1997. *** The first collaboration of the dynamic duo Powell & Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda, who had been developing this project before either were called. This is the first Finnish release of the film, never seen in Finnish cinemas, television, or video distribution before. It was not banned during WWII, but would have had it been submitted to the Finnish Film Chamber. The story takes place in Scotland during WWI in 1917. Conrad Veidt the German submarine captain meets Valerie Hobson the British contraband. It would probably look great on film. A part of Finnkino’s great Alexander Korda package to be released on video, this belongs to their true discoveries.
Monday, October 27, 1997
The Four Feathers
028019 / 12 / GB / 1939 / Korda, Zoltan / / war
Four Feathers, The / Neljä sulkaa. PC: London Film Productions. P: Alexander Korda. D: Zoltan Korda. PD: Vincent Korda. CAST: John Clements (Harry Faversham), Ralph Richardson (Capt. John Durrance), Jack Allen (Ltn. Willoughby), Donald Gray (Peter Burroughs). 114’. MPAA Production Code Seal of Approval 2457. Viewed as a VHS PAL video cassette big screen projection in Helsinki, VET, Monday 27 October 1997. **** Good old-fashioned war adventure on loyalty and honour in the African territories of the British Empire. Breathtaking photography by Georges Perinal, Osmond Borradaile, and Jack Cardiff. A lean, dynamic screenplay by R.C. Sherriff, Lajos Biro, and Arthur Wimperis. A producer’s dream, its Rolls Royce parts seamlessly fitted together in the factory of Alexander Korda.
Four Feathers, The / Neljä sulkaa. PC: London Film Productions. P: Alexander Korda. D: Zoltan Korda. PD: Vincent Korda. CAST: John Clements (Harry Faversham), Ralph Richardson (Capt. John Durrance), Jack Allen (Ltn. Willoughby), Donald Gray (Peter Burroughs). 114’. MPAA Production Code Seal of Approval 2457. Viewed as a VHS PAL video cassette big screen projection in Helsinki, VET, Monday 27 October 1997. **** Good old-fashioned war adventure on loyalty and honour in the African territories of the British Empire. Breathtaking photography by Georges Perinal, Osmond Borradaile, and Jack Cardiff. A lean, dynamic screenplay by R.C. Sherriff, Lajos Biro, and Arthur Wimperis. A producer’s dream, its Rolls Royce parts seamlessly fitted together in the factory of Alexander Korda.
Tuesday, October 07, 1997
The Last Days of Dolwyn
/ / GB / 1949 / Williams, Emlyn / drama
Last Days of Dolwyn, The. PC: London Films. A British Lion release. EX: Alexander Korda. P: Anatole de Grunwald. D+SC: Emlyn Williams. DP: Otto Heller. CAST: Edith Evans, Emlyn Williams, Richard Burton. 94’. B&w. English and Welsh gaelic dialogue. BBFC rating: U. Print: National Film and Television Archive. Presented by: Peter Stead. Viewed at SEA, Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 7 October 1997. ** The landmark film of Welsh cinema presents three legendary Welsh performers of three different generations - Edith Evans as the indomitable old lady, Emlyn Williams as the blackguard who wants to drown the village, and Richard Burton in his film debut as a young lover in the midst of the pastoral idyll. He is tongue-tied literally, since his mother tongue is gaelic, and he has to express his feelings in English, in the language of his sweetheart. These three actors carry the film, and Otto Heller knows where to put the camera. Weaknesses include: the factitious plot, the painted sceneries, the cardboard backgrounds, the weak pulse of the narrative, and worst of all, the lack of cinematic rhythm. Though several scenes, especially those with Edith Evans, are great, the film becomes boring. Freud would be intrigued by the final scene where Richard Burton sticks to his mother’s hand, neglecting his sweetheart’s.
Last Days of Dolwyn, The. PC: London Films. A British Lion release. EX: Alexander Korda. P: Anatole de Grunwald. D+SC: Emlyn Williams. DP: Otto Heller. CAST: Edith Evans, Emlyn Williams, Richard Burton. 94’. B&w. English and Welsh gaelic dialogue. BBFC rating: U. Print: National Film and Television Archive. Presented by: Peter Stead. Viewed at SEA, Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 7 October 1997. ** The landmark film of Welsh cinema presents three legendary Welsh performers of three different generations - Edith Evans as the indomitable old lady, Emlyn Williams as the blackguard who wants to drown the village, and Richard Burton in his film debut as a young lover in the midst of the pastoral idyll. He is tongue-tied literally, since his mother tongue is gaelic, and he has to express his feelings in English, in the language of his sweetheart. These three actors carry the film, and Otto Heller knows where to put the camera. Weaknesses include: the factitious plot, the painted sceneries, the cardboard backgrounds, the weak pulse of the narrative, and worst of all, the lack of cinematic rhythm. Though several scenes, especially those with Edith Evans, are great, the film becomes boring. Freud would be intrigued by the final scene where Richard Burton sticks to his mother’s hand, neglecting his sweetheart’s.
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