The Classic Film Show

DVD Review: Jacques Tati’s Parade (1972)

Christian Hayes — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:39:31 +0000

Rarely seen, this is a welcome release of master French comic Jacques Tati’s final film as both director and performer. Made for television, Parade is a live compendium of circus, music hall and magic acts hosted by Tati himself. With opening scenes of audience members taking their seats, the film appears at its outset to [...]

The Balancing Bluebottle: The Films of Percy Smith

Christian Hayes — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:39:56 +0000

Here is an excellent Radio 4 programme all about silent filmmaker Percy Smith who specialised in detailed studies of the natural world. Named after one of his most famous films, The Balancing Bluebottle (1908, also known as The Acrobatic Fly, above), this programme features two of the greatest silent film experts: Bryony Dixon and Luke [...]

An Evening with George Kennedy

Christian Hayes — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:54:52 +0000

On Tuesday night (22nd April 2009) I had the great opportunity to attend a live interview with George Kennedy at the BFI Southbank. The conversation was preceded by a screening of Cool Hand Luke in which Kennedy played Dragline, the self-appointed leader of the prison gang who transforms into Luke’s most ardent disciple. His performance [...]

Christian Hayes on BBC Radio 5 Live: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

Christian Hayes — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:27:02 +0000

I will be one half of a debate on The Richard Bacon Show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday 15th January at 12 midnight (Thursday night). As the classic film expert I will be talking about how they don’t make ‘em like they used to. You can listen live on the BBC Radio 5 Live website. Or [...]

The Ultimate Film Archive: The Greatest Films of the 1940s

Christian Hayes — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:47:06 +0000

The Ultimate Film Archive is a hand-picked chronology of films from each decade (starting with the 1940s), all of which I highly recommend you seeking out. Not an exhaustive list but it’s a start as further films are added. How many of these have you seen? Either leave a comment or email me at classicfilmshow@gmail.com. Have I missed any [...]

The Online Cinematheque: Watch The Criterion Collection Online

Christian Hayes — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:24:06 +0000

The Criterion Collection have just announced that they have opened up their collection online. For $5 you can rent a film for an entire week, the fee of which will actually go towards the purchase of the actual disc when you want to buy it. For now there is a small selection including Au Revoir Les [...]

Screen legend Paul Newman dies at age 83

Christian Hayes — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:09:55 +0000

It has just been announced that Paul Newman has died yesterday (Friday 26th September 2008) after a battle with cancer. Until recently spokespeople for Newman had denied the rumour of cancer but it looks like the star had been suffering. Truly one of the greats, I hope to commemorate his passing here on the Classic Film [...]

Rare silents: Borzage & Murnau 12-disc DVD boxset

Christian Hayes — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:08:59 +0000

I have just had word of an upcoming box set from Fox. It contains 12 discs and features two F.W. Murnau films (including City Girl) and ten by Frank Borzage, four of which are silents. This seems to be in the spirit of the monumental Ford at Fox box from last year. The box contains: Silents: Sunrise [...]

Warner Bros. Gangsters Collection, vol 4.

Christian Hayes — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:28:01 +0000

Warner Bros. continue their exceptional series of gangster box sets with the Warner Bros. Gangsters Collection vol. 4. This release contains 4 Edward G. Robinson titles: The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The Little Giant, Larceny, Inc., Kid Galahad, as well as the George Raft vehicle Invisible Stripes. Bogart, as always, features as a welcomed supporting player. The [...]

Frame of the Week: 25th August 2008

Christian Hayes — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:08:37 +0000

Following on from last week’s frame which came from Bambi here is one that is perhaps a little harder. What is the name of the film? Leave a comment and let me know… Good luck!

Buster Keaton in London

Christian Hayes — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:43:32 +0000

This Summer I went to see a Buster Keaton film outdoors at The Scoop, a kind of amphitheater alongside the Thames by Tower Bridge. Anyone passing by could have stopped and watched The General which continued to play during the chilly night. I took these photos of the film which in some ways is quite a [...]

Stars in the City

Christian Hayes — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:00:25 +0000

Movie stars are defined by a combination of what we observe of them on-screen and our perception of them outside of the cinema. This would include photographs, articles, interviews, books, posters and merchandise. Film stars and their star images often become far removed from the films themselves. Here are three examples of movie stars as [...]

The Best of the British Silent Film Festival

Christian Hayes — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:30:30 +0000

Alongside the marvelous Chaplin restorations now playing at the BFI Southbank in London there is yet another exciting season coming up next month. Playing over 3 days (and therefore mimicking the festival itself) The Best of the British Silent Film Festival brings together a hand-picked selection of films screened since the festival began in 1998. The festival was sparked [...]

Frame of the Week: 18th August 2008

Christian Hayes — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:00:07 +0000

Today I am starting up a new series. Every week I will post a frame from a film and hopefully this will encourage readers to take a closer look at an image that would usually pass us by without us thinking. Also I would like all you brainy readers to tell me which film the [...]

Beat the Devil on Blu-Ray

Christian Hayes — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:20:57 +0000

It turns out that another Bogart movie is heading for a Blu-Ray release: Beat the Devil is slated for the High Definition platform. This is particularly interesting since Beat the Devil has always looked terrible on DVD. As an independent production it eventually fell into the public domain. This resulted in poorly produced DVDs from [...]