A version of this story about Judi Dench first appeared in the Down to the Wire issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Dame Judi Dench and and Sir Kenneth Branagh’s twelfth collaboration since they met in 1987 was a auspicious one: Playing her longtime friend’s grandmother in his autobiographical coming-of-age drama “Belfast” earned Dench her eighth Oscar nomination.
“It is good, always, to know somebody so well that you have a kind of shorthand with them, which I have with Ken because we’ve worked together for such a long time,” Dench told TheWrap. “But this was a very personal story to him and we all, I think, felt a tremendous responsibility to him to get it right. And I hope that’s what we did.”
Dench’s career, of course, was thriving for decades before she and Branagh crossed paths. She spent years in the London theater beginning in the 1950s,...
Dame Judi Dench and and Sir Kenneth Branagh’s twelfth collaboration since they met in 1987 was a auspicious one: Playing her longtime friend’s grandmother in his autobiographical coming-of-age drama “Belfast” earned Dench her eighth Oscar nomination.
“It is good, always, to know somebody so well that you have a kind of shorthand with them, which I have with Ken because we’ve worked together for such a long time,” Dench told TheWrap. “But this was a very personal story to him and we all, I think, felt a tremendous responsibility to him to get it right. And I hope that’s what we did.”
Dench’s career, of course, was thriving for decades before she and Branagh crossed paths. She spent years in the London theater beginning in the 1950s,...
- 3/15/2022
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Nobody did better with horror franchises than Wes Craven, who reinvigorated the genre in this relentlessly bloody thriller. Its self-referential gimmick should have been exploited decades before: what if the teenagers in movies were like real teenagers that watch horror movies. . . and that must rely on their movie knowledge when confronted with R-rated carnage? 25 years later the show holds up well, at least until the final revelations. Kevin Williamson’s screenplay and Mark Irwin’s camerawork make Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Rose McGowan the most attractive and intelligent horror scream queens since Peggy Cummins tried to kick some sense into Dana Andrews.
Scream 4K
4K Ultra HD + Digital
Paramount/Miramax
1996 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 111 min. / 25th Anniversary Edition / Street Date October 19, 2021 / Available from Amazon
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, W. Earl Brown, Joseph Whipp, Lawrence Hecht,...
Scream 4K
4K Ultra HD + Digital
Paramount/Miramax
1996 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 111 min. / 25th Anniversary Edition / Street Date October 19, 2021 / Available from Amazon
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, W. Earl Brown, Joseph Whipp, Lawrence Hecht,...
- 11/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A top horror title gets the Powerhouse Indicator treatment just in time for Halloween — it’s not a domestic release but it plays in our Region A players. You can shuffle the alternate versions like a deck of cards: one basic movie, but six separate encodings: by length, title sequence and aspect ratio. Plus fascinating extras and a killer versions comparison feature.
Night of the Demon / Curse of the Demon
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1957 / B&W / 1:66 + 1:75 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date October 22, 2018 / available from Amazon UK / £47,42
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the story Casting the Runes by M. R. James
Produced by Frank Bevis, Hal E. Chester
Directed by Jacques Tourneur...
Night of the Demon / Curse of the Demon
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1957 / B&W / 1:66 + 1:75 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date October 22, 2018 / available from Amazon UK / £47,42
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the story Casting the Runes by M. R. James
Produced by Frank Bevis, Hal E. Chester
Directed by Jacques Tourneur...
- 10/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Warner Archive comes through with a film noir gem that still has the power to make one’s skin crawl, as a pair of circus sharpshooters go on the lam, using their skills to pull off cheap robberies. The clammy feeling of being cut off from society, having no place to go, is expressed in near-existential terms. Peggy Cummins’ cheap tease Annie Laurie Starr promises John Dall’s Bart Tare eternal love, but what good are promises from a psycho?
Gun Crazy
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date , 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Rusty Tamblyn, Morris Carnovsky.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Harry Gerstad
Production Designer: Gordon Wiles
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Dalton Trumbo and MacKinlay Kantor from his short story
Produced by Frank King, Maurice King
Directed by...
Gun Crazy
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date , 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Rusty Tamblyn, Morris Carnovsky.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Harry Gerstad
Production Designer: Gordon Wiles
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Dalton Trumbo and MacKinlay Kantor from his short story
Produced by Frank King, Maurice King
Directed by...
- 5/15/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hollywood film actor who starred in the now-revered 1950 B-movie Gun Crazy, a forerunner of Bonnie and Clyde
The British actor Peggy Cummins, who has died aged 92, was discovered by the Hollywood mogul Darryl F Zanuck when she was a teenager and almost immediately given the lead in his big film of the age, Forever Amber, based on the historical romance by Kathleen Winsor. In 1946 she began filming the part of Amber St Clare, a young beauty making her way in 17th-century England, shooting opposite Vincent Price as Almsbury. Hundreds of stills were shot of her in period costume. But then the director was sacked, filming started all over again – and Cummins was replaced (as was Price).
A career that had promised so much for Cummins was reduced to small parts in big films and big parts in small pictures. Among these, her best known performance was in Gun Crazy (1950), directed by Joseph H Lewis,...
The British actor Peggy Cummins, who has died aged 92, was discovered by the Hollywood mogul Darryl F Zanuck when she was a teenager and almost immediately given the lead in his big film of the age, Forever Amber, based on the historical romance by Kathleen Winsor. In 1946 she began filming the part of Amber St Clare, a young beauty making her way in 17th-century England, shooting opposite Vincent Price as Almsbury. Hundreds of stills were shot of her in period costume. But then the director was sacked, filming started all over again – and Cummins was replaced (as was Price).
A career that had promised so much for Cummins was reduced to small parts in big films and big parts in small pictures. Among these, her best known performance was in Gun Crazy (1950), directed by Joseph H Lewis,...
- 1/9/2018
- by Michael Freedland
- The Guardian - Film News
Peggy Cummins, one of Hollywood’s most unforgettable film noire molls for her role in 1950’s Gun Crazy, died following a stroke in London Friday. She was 92. Her death was confirmed to the Associated Press by her friend Dee Kirkwood. Cummins, born in Wales and an actress since childhood, had appeared in a string of modestly budgeted films (1943’s Old Mother Riley Detective, 1949’s If This Be Sin) when she was cast as the seductress carny Annie Laurie Starr in director…...
- 1/3/2018
- Deadline
If you’ve never seen Jacques Tourneur’s 1957 classic flick Curse of the Demon (aka Night of the Demon), then you need to right that wrong immediately as it is Required viewing for horror fans. That being said, we’re sad to report that its star, Peggy Cummins, has passed on at age 92. The news came […]
The post Rest in Peace – Peggy Cummins appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Rest in Peace – Peggy Cummins appeared first on Dread Central.
- 1/2/2018
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
Irish actor Cummins never quite conquered Hollywood but she made her mark in the 1950 film noir classic, as well as cult horror Night of the Demon
Irish actor Peggy Cummins, who left her mark as the brazen femme fatale in the film noir Gun Crazy, has died aged 92, having suffered a stroke. She died in a London hospital on 29 December, surrounded by family, her friend Dee Kirkwood told the Hollywood Reporter.
Cummins, who was born in Prestatyn, Wales, began acting as a child, having been spotted at a tram stop in Dublin by a theatre owner. She made her debut on the London stage aged 13. After a stint in British cinema, in 1945 she went to Hollywood, where Darryl F Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, cast her as the lead in Otto Preminger’s Forever Amber. “Fox made a big splash for me when I came over. I weighed 98 pounds and had an 18-inch waist,...
Irish actor Peggy Cummins, who left her mark as the brazen femme fatale in the film noir Gun Crazy, has died aged 92, having suffered a stroke. She died in a London hospital on 29 December, surrounded by family, her friend Dee Kirkwood told the Hollywood Reporter.
Cummins, who was born in Prestatyn, Wales, began acting as a child, having been spotted at a tram stop in Dublin by a theatre owner. She made her debut on the London stage aged 13. After a stint in British cinema, in 1945 she went to Hollywood, where Darryl F Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, cast her as the lead in Otto Preminger’s Forever Amber. “Fox made a big splash for me when I came over. I weighed 98 pounds and had an 18-inch waist,...
- 1/2/2018
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Meet the lusty Amber St. Clare, a 17th century social climber determined to sleep her way to respectability. Gorgeous Linda Darnell gets her biggest role in a lavishly appointed period epic; Otto Preminger hated the assignment but his direction and Darryl Zanuck’s production are excellent. And it has one of the all-time great Hollywood movie scores, by David Raksin.
Forever Amber
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 138 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, John Russell, Jane Ball, Robert Coote, Leo G. Carroll, Natalie Draper, Margaret Wycherly, Norma Varden.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Visual Effects: Fred Sersen
Original Music: David Raksin
Written by Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Kathleen Winsor
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by Otto Preminger
Three years ago,...
Forever Amber
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 138 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, John Russell, Jane Ball, Robert Coote, Leo G. Carroll, Natalie Draper, Margaret Wycherly, Norma Varden.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Visual Effects: Fred Sersen
Original Music: David Raksin
Written by Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Kathleen Winsor
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by Otto Preminger
Three years ago,...
- 12/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Peggy Cummins, the petite blond actress who played the carnival sharpshooter turned murderous bank robber in the sexually charged 1950 film noir classic Gun Crazy, has died. She was 92.
Cummins suffered a stroke and died Friday in a London hospital surrounded by her family, her longtime friend Dee Kirkwood, a fellow trustee of Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Irish actress also starred in the Western Green Grass of Wyoming (1948) with Charles Coburn and in Jacques Tourneur's British horror classic Curse of the Demon (1957) opposite Dana Andrews.
Cummins came to America in 1945...
Cummins suffered a stroke and died Friday in a London hospital surrounded by her family, her longtime friend Dee Kirkwood, a fellow trustee of Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Irish actress also starred in the Western Green Grass of Wyoming (1948) with Charles Coburn and in Jacques Tourneur's British horror classic Curse of the Demon (1957) opposite Dana Andrews.
Cummins came to America in 1945...
- 7/26/2017
- by Mike Barnes ,Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This French disc release of the Jacques Tourneur classic gets everything right — including both versions in picture perfect transfers. Devil debunker Dana Andrews locks horns with Niall MacGinnis, a necromancer “who has decoded the Old Book” and can summon a fire & brimstone monster from Hell, no election fraud necessary. Even fans that hate ghost stories love this one — it’s a truly creepy, intelligent highlight of the horror genre.
Night of the Demon
Region A + B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
Wild Side (Fr)
1957 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Street Date November 27, 2013 / Curse of the Demon, Rendez-vous avec la peur / Available from Amazon UK or Foreign Exchange Blu-ray
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the...
Night of the Demon
Region A + B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
Wild Side (Fr)
1957 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Street Date November 27, 2013 / Curse of the Demon, Rendez-vous avec la peur / Available from Amazon UK or Foreign Exchange Blu-ray
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the...
- 5/20/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
My favorite thing about taking these weekly trips to the Drive-In is my own selfish thirst for discovery. I need to patch up the holes of missing films on my personal movie screen; there is still so much to see, and sometimes the holes are so big that they obscure the view. Every once in a while though, a film comes along that not only mends the tears in the fabric but strengthens the whole. Such is the case with Night of the Demon (1957), Jacques Tourneur’s masterpiece of shadowy menace and dread, and a new personal favorite.
Released in its native U.K. in December and then stateside in July of ’58 under the new title Curse of the Demon (where 13 minutes were trimmed from an already lean 95 minute running time), this Columbia Pictures production was fraught with anguish before it even appeared to audiences, most famously producer Hal E. Chester...
Released in its native U.K. in December and then stateside in July of ’58 under the new title Curse of the Demon (where 13 minutes were trimmed from an already lean 95 minute running time), this Columbia Pictures production was fraught with anguish before it even appeared to audiences, most famously producer Hal E. Chester...
- 4/15/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Read More: Lost Disney Animated Film From 1928 Discovered In BFI National Archive For her 90th birthday, British actress Peggy Cummins was able to see herself star in Leslie Hiscott's "Welcome Mr. Washington" for the first time in over five decades. The war-time starlet was discovered and brought to Hollywood by 20th Century Fox studio head Daryl Zanuck immediately after releasing the now rediscovered feature. Rather fitting, the once lost film has also resurfaced in time for the 75th anniversary of the BFI National Archive. Unfortunately for classic cinema enthusiasts, the full-length version no longer exists, but a new re-released version, cut by the BFI in tandem with Paramount Studios, can now be enjoyed. Peggy Cummins said of the discovery, "I am absolutely delighted to be able to see this early film of mine again. It was at a key stage in my career and it was very important to me.
- 1/14/2016
- by Elle Leonsis
- Indiewire
Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.
- 3/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Late George Apley
"If I am remembered at all, it will be as the swine who rewrote Scott Fitzgerald," said Joseph L. Mankiewicz on numerous occasions, and though he does rate a mention in any Fitzgerald bio for his work revising Fitzgerald's screenplay of Three Comrades, he is also getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival. Apart from including his several acknowledged classics, this also shines a light on some of the less celebrated movies in the distinguished Hollywood auteur's body of work.
In particular, The Late George Apley (1947) and Escape (1948) are seldom-screened dramas with suave English leading men, Ronald Colman and Mankiewicz favorite Rex Harrison, both supported by the delightful Peggy Cummins.
The Late George Apley supplements the emotion with a good portion of the wit Mankiewicz was so famous for. I spoke briefly on the telephone to co-star Cummins, best known...
"If I am remembered at all, it will be as the swine who rewrote Scott Fitzgerald," said Joseph L. Mankiewicz on numerous occasions, and though he does rate a mention in any Fitzgerald bio for his work revising Fitzgerald's screenplay of Three Comrades, he is also getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival. Apart from including his several acknowledged classics, this also shines a light on some of the less celebrated movies in the distinguished Hollywood auteur's body of work.
In particular, The Late George Apley (1947) and Escape (1948) are seldom-screened dramas with suave English leading men, Ronald Colman and Mankiewicz favorite Rex Harrison, both supported by the delightful Peggy Cummins.
The Late George Apley supplements the emotion with a good portion of the wit Mankiewicz was so famous for. I spoke briefly on the telephone to co-star Cummins, best known...
- 10/9/2014
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
‘Doctor Who’ actor Bill Kerr, also featured in Peter Weir’s ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘The Year of Living Dangerously,’ dead at 92 (photo: Bill Kerr and Patrick Troughton in ‘Doctor Who’) Australian actor Bill Kerr, best known internationally for a guest spot in the 1960s TV series Doctor Who, and for his supporting roles in the Peter Weir movies Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously, died on August 28 (or 29, according to some sources), 2014, while watching the TV show Seinfeld at his home in Perth, West Australia. Kerr, whose exact cause of death is unclear, was 92. Born William Kerr on June 10, 1922, in Capetown, South Africa, to Australian vaudevillian parents touring the country, Bill Kerr grew up in Australia, where he became a popular television, stage, and film personality. His show business career began at an early age. “My mother took about 10 weeks off to have me, and when she returned to the...
- 8/29/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘Montezuma’: Steven Spielberg next movie (or at least a Spielberg movie some time in the future)? Will Steven Spielberg next tackle the life and times of Aztec king Montezuma, from a screenplay by none other than former Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo? If so, that won’t be the first time that Spielberg has adapted a Trumbo screenplay (more on that below). Anyhow, following Lincoln, which earned Spielberg his seventh Best Director Academy Award nomination, the Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan filmmaker has had his name attached to — and then detached from — a couple of projects. First, there was Drew Goddard’s adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson’s novel Robopocalypse, which isn’t a RoboCop spin-off but a sci-fier about a smart robot who reaches the (perfectly logical) conclusion that the only way to save the planet is to get rid of human beings. Robopocalypse,...
- 1/6/2014
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
In her new book Rachel Cooke re-examines the 1950s through 10 women who pioneered in their careers. In this extract she tells the stories of sisters-in-law Muriel and Betty Box, two prominent women in the British film industry
Until recently, anyone who wanted to see the film To Dorothy a Son had to lock themselves deep in the bowels of the British Film Institute off Tottenham Court Road, London, and watch it on an old Steenbeck editing machine. A little-known comedy from 1954, To Dorothy is no one's idea of a classic. It has an infuriating star in Shelley Winters, a creaky screenplay by Peter Rogers (later the producer of the Carry On series) and a set that looks as if it is on loan from a local amateur dramatics society.
We are in the home of Tony (John Gregson) and his baby-faced wife, Dorothy (Peggy Cummins). Dorothy is heavily pregnant, and confined to bed.
Until recently, anyone who wanted to see the film To Dorothy a Son had to lock themselves deep in the bowels of the British Film Institute off Tottenham Court Road, London, and watch it on an old Steenbeck editing machine. A little-known comedy from 1954, To Dorothy is no one's idea of a classic. It has an infuriating star in Shelley Winters, a creaky screenplay by Peter Rogers (later the producer of the Carry On series) and a set that looks as if it is on loan from a local amateur dramatics society.
We are in the home of Tony (John Gregson) and his baby-faced wife, Dorothy (Peggy Cummins). Dorothy is heavily pregnant, and confined to bed.
- 10/5/2013
- by Rachel Cooke
- The Guardian - Film News
If a network is going to trace the history of film, Turner Classic Movies is the most appropriate one.
It's about to reaffirm that, as it nears its 20th anniversary, with a series -- and series of movies -- that will run for most of the rest of the year. The initiative is built around "The Story of Film: An Odyssey," a 15-part documentary to be offered in weekly chapters Mondays starting Sept. 2.
Director-writer-narrator Mark Cousins' retrospective goes decade by decade through movie history, starting in the era of 1902's "A Trip to the Moon" and going up to such recent (in TCM terms) releases as 2000's "Gladiator." Besides being excerpted in the documentary, many of those features will be shown in full on Mondays and Tuesdays, introduced by TCM staple Robert Osborne.
"It does give a basic history of film," Osborne tells Zap2it of the documentary, "and...
It's about to reaffirm that, as it nears its 20th anniversary, with a series -- and series of movies -- that will run for most of the rest of the year. The initiative is built around "The Story of Film: An Odyssey," a 15-part documentary to be offered in weekly chapters Mondays starting Sept. 2.
Director-writer-narrator Mark Cousins' retrospective goes decade by decade through movie history, starting in the era of 1902's "A Trip to the Moon" and going up to such recent (in TCM terms) releases as 2000's "Gladiator." Besides being excerpted in the documentary, many of those features will be shown in full on Mondays and Tuesdays, introduced by TCM staple Robert Osborne.
"It does give a basic history of film," Osborne tells Zap2it of the documentary, "and...
The British Film Institute (BFI) is to launch a major project dedicated to Gothic cinema, which includes more than 150 films and around 1,000 screenings throughout the UK.
Running from August until January 2014, the Gothic project include the longest ever season at BFI’s Southbank venue in London, UK wide theatrical and DVD releases, an education programme, a new BFI Gothic book, a range of partnerships, special guests and commentators including project ambassador Sir Christopher Frayling.
Heather Stewart, creative director at the BFI, said: “Gothic has never been more potent or popular, reflecting the turbulent times we are living in, our deepest fears and hidden passions.
“The British discovered sex in vivid Technicolor through Gothic. With a new generation gripped by the post modern Gothic world of Twilight’s ‘vegetarian’ vampires, Harry Potter’s spells and El James’s 50 Shades, its meaning has mutated yet again. It’s now time to look back into the deep dark beating heart of...
Running from August until January 2014, the Gothic project include the longest ever season at BFI’s Southbank venue in London, UK wide theatrical and DVD releases, an education programme, a new BFI Gothic book, a range of partnerships, special guests and commentators including project ambassador Sir Christopher Frayling.
Heather Stewart, creative director at the BFI, said: “Gothic has never been more potent or popular, reflecting the turbulent times we are living in, our deepest fears and hidden passions.
“The British discovered sex in vivid Technicolor through Gothic. With a new generation gripped by the post modern Gothic world of Twilight’s ‘vegetarian’ vampires, Harry Potter’s spells and El James’s 50 Shades, its meaning has mutated yet again. It’s now time to look back into the deep dark beating heart of...
- 6/27/2013
- by [email protected] (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Steve Jobs film is apparently "embarrassing," "Fruitvale" doesn't have a release date yet and, with the recent will-they-or-won't-they intrigue surrounding the release of "The Canyons," our movie-going hearts just can't take it anymore.
Thankfully, there's the San Francisco Film Noir Festival, Noir City.
Starting Friday night, the Castro Theatre will host its annual ode to noir. And with 27 films, they're bringing all the suspense, intrigue and betrayal you can handle.
The theatre will kick off the festival will a special guests appearance from noir star Peggy Cummins who will introduce her 1950 film "Gun Crazy," and then stick around for a post-show interview. After that, it's a week and a half of all-day noir. (Eat your heart out, Sundance.)
Still can't get enough? Hit the Noir City Nightclub next weekend and "party like it's 1949."
Check out a few of the noir films that will be featured at the festival in...
Thankfully, there's the San Francisco Film Noir Festival, Noir City.
Starting Friday night, the Castro Theatre will host its annual ode to noir. And with 27 films, they're bringing all the suspense, intrigue and betrayal you can handle.
The theatre will kick off the festival will a special guests appearance from noir star Peggy Cummins who will introduce her 1950 film "Gun Crazy," and then stick around for a post-show interview. After that, it's a week and a half of all-day noir. (Eat your heart out, Sundance.)
Still can't get enough? Hit the Noir City Nightclub next weekend and "party like it's 1949."
Check out a few of the noir films that will be featured at the festival in...
- 1/26/2013
- by Robin Wilkey
- Huffington Post
Gun Crazy (also known as Deadly is the Female)
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Written by MacKinlay Kantor, Dalton Trumbo and co.
U.S.A., 1950
An argument can be made that almost every movie made is, in some fashion or another, about obsession. Individuals are always obsessing over some things, namely their top interests. However stimulating and healthy some might be, several others carry the potential to be downright vile. The 1950, Joseph H. Lewis directed Gun Crazy, as the title suggests, is very clearly about an obsession, unsubtly so in fact. Loving guns might, might, make one a police officer, or a guard, or a marine, or any field in which guns are, let us say, put to good use, sort of. Being so fascinated with fire arms is a double-edged sword, mind you. The tool’s predominant utility is to kill, after all. With such dire consequences linked with the weapon,...
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Written by MacKinlay Kantor, Dalton Trumbo and co.
U.S.A., 1950
An argument can be made that almost every movie made is, in some fashion or another, about obsession. Individuals are always obsessing over some things, namely their top interests. However stimulating and healthy some might be, several others carry the potential to be downright vile. The 1950, Joseph H. Lewis directed Gun Crazy, as the title suggests, is very clearly about an obsession, unsubtly so in fact. Loving guns might, might, make one a police officer, or a guard, or a marine, or any field in which guns are, let us say, put to good use, sort of. Being so fascinated with fire arms is a double-edged sword, mind you. The tool’s predominant utility is to kill, after all. With such dire consequences linked with the weapon,...
- 11/23/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
To play the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, one has to be familiar with what scares people. When MTV News sat down with Anthony Hopkins and the cast of the "Hitchcock," we asked them to share their scariest movie moments.
Hopkins, in particular, had a vivid memory of that exact moment. "There's a funny old movie, 1946. I was a young kid. It was called 'Moss Rose' with Victor Mature, Ethel Barrymore, and Peggy Cummins, and I'll never forget it in my life," he said.
Hopkins went on to describe one specific scene that he will always remember. "Peggy Cummins is the heroine, and she's wandering, going through the house, and she goes into this room and she's calling for her future sister-in-law," he said. "I'll always remember. She says, 'Audrey?' There's a fire flickering in the room. It cuts to Peggy Cummins' face, and she screams,...
Hopkins, in particular, had a vivid memory of that exact moment. "There's a funny old movie, 1946. I was a young kid. It was called 'Moss Rose' with Victor Mature, Ethel Barrymore, and Peggy Cummins, and I'll never forget it in my life," he said.
Hopkins went on to describe one specific scene that he will always remember. "Peggy Cummins is the heroine, and she's wandering, going through the house, and she goes into this room and she's calling for her future sister-in-law," he said. "I'll always remember. She says, 'Audrey?' There's a fire flickering in the room. It cuts to Peggy Cummins' face, and she screams,...
- 11/20/2012
- by Kevin P. Sullivan
- MTV Movies Blog
Director Don Siegel’s low-budget 1957 crime drama Baby Face Nelson is a fast -paced portrait of a cold-blooded, trigger-happy sociopath with a memorable mad-dog performance by Mickey Rooney in the title role and is a film that deserves to be rediscovered.
Baby Face Nelson (real name Lester Gillis) was a petty thief who gained much celebrity (and a spot on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list) when he joined John Dillinger’s gang in 1933. Baby Face Nelson opens with Nelson being approached to kill a union boss. He refuses, is framed for the murder anyway, sent to jail, escapes, and gets bloody revenge on the men who framed him. His loyal girlfriend Sue is with him when he robs a pharmacy and Nelson is shot. Sue drives him to a country hospital run by a crooked underworld doctor. It’s here that Nelson meets Dillinger and joins his crew. The...
Baby Face Nelson (real name Lester Gillis) was a petty thief who gained much celebrity (and a spot on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list) when he joined John Dillinger’s gang in 1933. Baby Face Nelson opens with Nelson being approached to kill a union boss. He refuses, is framed for the murder anyway, sent to jail, escapes, and gets bloody revenge on the men who framed him. His loyal girlfriend Sue is with him when he robs a pharmacy and Nelson is shot. Sue drives him to a country hospital run by a crooked underworld doctor. It’s here that Nelson meets Dillinger and joins his crew. The...
- 7/24/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Debbie Reynolds and "Baby Peggy" Diana Serra Cary will be attending the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival, scheduled to take place in Hollywood from April 12-15. Film noir actresses Peggy Cummins, Rhonda Fleming and Marsha Hunt will also be on hand. This year's TCM Festival (which costs a pretty penny to attend) presents the North American premiere of a 75th anniversary restoration of Renoir's 1937 war drama "Grand Illusion," as well as a screening of the Douglas Fairbanks silent film, "The Thief of Bagdad," accompanied live by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. The festival will kick off with a gala (and world...
- 2/1/2012
- Thompson on Hollywood
Passes Now on Sale Now for Four-Day Festival,
Coming to Hollywood April 12-15, 2012
Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Debbie Reynolds and “Baby Peggy” Diana Serra Cary, along with film noir leading ladies Peggy Cummins, Rhonda Fleming and Marsha Hunt are the latest stars scheduled to appear at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival.
Also announced today, the festival will feature the North American premiere of a new 75th anniversary restoration of Jean Renoir’s powerful Pow drama Grand Illusion (1937), widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. And the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will provide a live musical accompaniment for a screening of the silent Douglas Fairbanks fantasy-adventure The Thief of Bagdad (1924).
Minnelli and Grey are slated to join TCM’s own Robert Osborne to kick off the four-day, star-studded event with a gala opening-night world premiere screening of the 40th anniversary restoration Cabaret (1971), the film for which the...
Coming to Hollywood April 12-15, 2012
Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Debbie Reynolds and “Baby Peggy” Diana Serra Cary, along with film noir leading ladies Peggy Cummins, Rhonda Fleming and Marsha Hunt are the latest stars scheduled to appear at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival.
Also announced today, the festival will feature the North American premiere of a new 75th anniversary restoration of Jean Renoir’s powerful Pow drama Grand Illusion (1937), widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. And the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will provide a live musical accompaniment for a screening of the silent Douglas Fairbanks fantasy-adventure The Thief of Bagdad (1924).
Minnelli and Grey are slated to join TCM’s own Robert Osborne to kick off the four-day, star-studded event with a gala opening-night world premiere screening of the 40th anniversary restoration Cabaret (1971), the film for which the...
- 1/31/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled additional programming and events for the 2012 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival, including a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Paramount Pictures. Robert Evans, longtime producer and former head of production for Paramount, is set to take part in the tribute, which will focus on the studio’s 1970s renaissance. In addition, the TCM Classic Film Festival is slated to include a look at The Noir Style, a tribute to legendary costume designer Travis Banton, a look at art deco in the movies, a collection of early cinematic rarities and much more.
TCM.s own Robert Osborne will once again serve as official host for the four-day, star-studded event, which will take pace Thursday, April 12 . Sunday, April 15, 2012, in Hollywood. Passes are on sale now through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival.
The Paramount Renaissance
The TCM Classic Film Festival will...
TCM.s own Robert Osborne will once again serve as official host for the four-day, star-studded event, which will take pace Thursday, April 12 . Sunday, April 15, 2012, in Hollywood. Passes are on sale now through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival.
The Paramount Renaissance
The TCM Classic Film Festival will...
- 12/19/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Some comments on my review of the Doctor Who Christmas Special 'A Christmas Carol' got me thinking about how it came to be that everyone's favourite Time Lord can never seem to get any 'action', romantically speaking. It's not been for want of attention or admirers; even back in the William Hartnell days, The Doctor was capable of flirting and even having a matrimonial 'near-miss' in the 1964 Who outing 'The Aztecs', so Matt Smith's Doctor is breaking no new ground in running away from connubial bliss with the 1957 version of Marilyn Monroe in 'A Christmas Carol'.
Can 47 years of sexual tension ever be released without killing the fundamental dynamic of the show? I've come to believe that it probably can't - which, if true, puts the Gallifreyan rogue at least neck-and-neck with Star Trek's Mr. Spock in terms of 'attractive unavailability'.
When the show...
Can 47 years of sexual tension ever be released without killing the fundamental dynamic of the show? I've come to believe that it probably can't - which, if true, puts the Gallifreyan rogue at least neck-and-neck with Star Trek's Mr. Spock in terms of 'attractive unavailability'.
When the show...
- 12/27/2010
- Shadowlocked
Night Of The Demon (1958)
Stars: Dana Andrew, Peggy Cummins, Niall McGinley, Maurice Denham | Written by Charles Bennett, Hal E Chester | Directed by Jacques Tourneur
This of you who watched Mark Gatiss’ excellent three part documentary The History of Horror will have seen the nod he gave to Jacques Tourneur’s excellent movie Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon in the Us), recently released on DVD.
The film deals with eminent parapsychologist Dr John Holden (Dana Andrews) who comes to England for a conference on the paranormal and finds himself embroiled in and victim to a demonic curse. The curse has been placed by Julian Karswell, who runs a demonic cult at risk of exposure at the conference.
It’s easy to see why this movie is held in such esteem; Martin Scorsese has listed it as one of his top horror films. Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie...
Stars: Dana Andrew, Peggy Cummins, Niall McGinley, Maurice Denham | Written by Charles Bennett, Hal E Chester | Directed by Jacques Tourneur
This of you who watched Mark Gatiss’ excellent three part documentary The History of Horror will have seen the nod he gave to Jacques Tourneur’s excellent movie Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon in the Us), recently released on DVD.
The film deals with eminent parapsychologist Dr John Holden (Dana Andrews) who comes to England for a conference on the paranormal and finds himself embroiled in and victim to a demonic curse. The curse has been placed by Julian Karswell, who runs a demonic cult at risk of exposure at the conference.
It’s easy to see why this movie is held in such esteem; Martin Scorsese has listed it as one of his top horror films. Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie...
- 11/14/2010
- by Sarah
- Nerdly
The winter Memorabilia Show at the NEC in Birmingham, UK November 20-21, again boasts an impressive mixture of memorabilia dealers, exhibitors, interactive games, interviews and celebrity signings. Among the many celebrities in attendance - and co-ordinated by Cinema Retro's Gareth Owen - are Peggy Cummins (Hell Drivers, Night Of The Demon), Sylvia Syms (Ice Cold In Alex, The Queen), Mark Eden (Curse Of The Crimson Altar, The Prisoner), Derren Nesbitt (Where Eagles Dare, The Prisoner), Jess Conrad (60s singing icon and actor) and many more! See www.memorabilia.co.uk for details...
- 11/2/2010
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The 'unseen' terror is widely thought to be the sharpest and deepest chill in a horror movie, but it's not always there because the producers are showing restraint. Ridley Scott and and all subsequent Alien franchise directors kept exposure to the xenomorph brief in order to hide the fact that the alien was 'a man in a suit' (and additionally in the case of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, to hide the contemporary limitations of puppeteering and CGI, respectively).
Thus Jacque Tourneur's acclaimed adaptation of M.R. James' chilling short story Casting The Runes has always been associated with notions that the prosthetic demon featured in the movie was a late add-on by nervous producers. Tourneur himself said, in 1966:
"The film was interesting apart from the appearance of a monster who was added after the event, after my departure from [film production] in London"
Some say Night Of The Demon would...
Thus Jacque Tourneur's acclaimed adaptation of M.R. James' chilling short story Casting The Runes has always been associated with notions that the prosthetic demon featured in the movie was a late add-on by nervous producers. Tourneur himself said, in 1966:
"The film was interesting apart from the appearance of a monster who was added after the event, after my departure from [film production] in London"
Some say Night Of The Demon would...
- 10/30/2010
- Shadowlocked
Exhausted the classic canon? Fed up with the current cinema of remakes, reboots and reimaginings? This week The Cold Case talks to Peggy Cummins, the star of a stylish, gritty noir classic made 60 years ago this summer.
While film noir detectives, desperados and dames are known for their direct dialogue, the titles of their capers are surprisingly soft-boiled: Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Where The Sidewalk Ends... they're all pretty oblique. Not so one of the greatest -- yet least seen -- of the species. As a title, Gun Crazy hits you right between the eyes to describe its protagonist, Bart Tare, played by John Dall, who since childhood has been obsessed with firearms. Equally vivid, though, is the original-release title Deadly Is The Female, which perfectly fits the femme fatale of the piece, Peggy Cummins' sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr.
While film noir detectives, desperados and dames are known for their direct dialogue, the titles of their capers are surprisingly soft-boiled: Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Where The Sidewalk Ends... they're all pretty oblique. Not so one of the greatest -- yet least seen -- of the species. As a title, Gun Crazy hits you right between the eyes to describe its protagonist, Bart Tare, played by John Dall, who since childhood has been obsessed with firearms. Equally vivid, though, is the original-release title Deadly Is The Female, which perfectly fits the femme fatale of the piece, Peggy Cummins' sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr.
- 8/13/2009
- Movieline
Remakes, remakes, remakes. One of the best horror movies of the 1950s, "Night of the Demon" is now set for the redo treatment by none other than Kenneth Branagh, director of "Much Ado About Nothing" and, yes, that terrible 1990s "Frankenstein" film, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." He tells Fangoria that he's working on a remake of "Night of the Demon", the 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of M. R. James' Casting the Runes (1911), the plot revolves around American Professor John Holden going to England and investigating a Satanic cult suspected of being responsible for more than one death in recent months. "I think it's a sensational movie and I think it's ripe for redoing," he told Fangoria."We can be quite different with a new version of it." Currently, Branagh is getting ready to film a comic book...
- 3/21/2009
- ESplatter.com
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