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The documentary series World’s Most Dangerous Prisoners profiles James Robertson, one of the most feared inmates in the US prison system. Robertson, currently on Florida’s death row, has a long history of violence and murder. The episode examines Robertson’s disturbing crimes, including the murder of his parents, Earl and Terry Robertson, in 1997. According to […]

World’s Most Dangerous Prisoners: Robertson...

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,...

Traveling to London is always a best bet and now, even more so, as 2023 closes with a burst of celeb-favored luxury offerings from the biggest names in hospitality. From new routes and hotels to private clubs, legendary shopping, designer trees, a must-see West End production and an upcoming debut to keep on the radar, the city that was recently crowned by TikTok as the top destination for Christmas markets is alive in lights and festive cheer. Here are the can’t-miss places for a holiday trip and beyond.

Where to Stay

Since The Londoner (from $571 a night) opened in the heart of Leicester Square’s theater district in 2021, it has attracted a parade of notables including Ryan Gosling, Adele, Patrick Dempsey, Sylvester Stallone, Ed Sheeran and more. It was the home base for this summer’s pink paradise-themed Barbie premiere and party as well as the Tag Heuer 60th anniversary fete last spring.

I Am a Killer is now in its fourth season. A doc-series that puts death row inmates on center stage. The inmates chronicle their lives, to ultimately revisit what led them to commit the murders. Witnesses, family members to the victims and advocates alike are also interviewed.

A series that is right up the alley of true crime fans.

In six episodes real life crimes are analyzed, and relayed using archive and found footage, as well as interviews with the convicted murderers.

‘I Am A Killer’ is considered one of the best doc-series in the true crime genre, as it goes above and beyond the sordid details, which true enough, it does cover, but it also covers the narratives of the people involved in the terrible tragedies it addresses.

Episode List – Season 4 of ‘I Am A Killer” Family Matters

A murderer recounts the crime that ended one life and ruined his own.

Anthony Asquith’s unusual look at wartime espionage garnered good notices in 1958, perhaps from reviewers rebelling against the trend toward ruthless screen violence. Star Paul Massie is fine as an emotionally-stricken Allied assassin who balks at carrying out his mission; the acting support from Irene Worth and Leslie French is superb. Screenwriter Paul Dehn was an ace at sharp, no-nonsense thrillers, but this story is soft around the edges — it seems to be explaining non-chivalric warfare to your sweet old grandmother. Which reminds us, Lillian Gish has a small role, too.

Orders to Kill

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99

Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.

Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson

Art Director: John Howell

Film...

I’d never heard of this gem of a British production; now it goes on my list of highly recommended titles. A dock area on the Thames is ‘the pool,’ and the sailors that disembark from the cargo ships are susceptible to the temptations of black market trade. A single eventful weekend traces the fates of a half-dozen young people, the women that like the sailors, and the sailor that gets mixed up in a deadly serious crime. Director Basil Dearden’s excellent cast is mostly unfamiliar to us Yanks, but we get really tied up in their problems. This picture should be much better known. It’s the first English movie to depict an interracial romance, and it does so without sensationalism or special pleading. The best new extra is an interview with actor Earl Cameron, who at 103 years of age has his act (and his memories) totally together.

To mark the release of Moby Dick on 11th November, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Based on Herman Melville’s Great American Novel, and adapted for the screen by Sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury and John Huston, Peck stars as Captain Ahab, a man who pits himself against the awesome power of the sea in his obsessive quest to destroy the Great White Whale known as ‘Moby Dick’.

In 1841 a young Ishmael (Richard Basehart) signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaling ship under the command of Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck). On a previous voyage Ahab lost his leg during an attack by ‘Moby Dick’ and is desperate for revenge. The Pequod sets out on its treacherous sea voyage to hunt down the elusive beast with Ishmael onboard alongside Starbuck (Leo Genn), James Robertson Justice (Captain Boomer) and Father Mapple (Orson Welles). Ahab is so...

(See previous post: “Gay Pride Movie Series Comes to a Close: From Heterosexual Angst to Indonesian Coup.”) Ken Russell's Valentino (1977) is notable for starring ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev as silent era icon Rudolph Valentino, whose sexual orientation, despite countless gay rumors, seems to have been, according to the available evidence, heterosexual. (Valentino's supposed affair with fellow “Latin Lover” Ramon Novarro has no basis in reality.) The female cast is also impressive: Veteran Leslie Caron (Lili, Gigi) as stage and screen star Alla Nazimova, ex-The Mamas & the Papas singer Michelle Phillips as Valentino wife and Nazimova protégée Natacha Rambova, Felicity Kendal as screenwriter/producer June Mathis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), and Carol Kane – lately of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame. Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972) is notable as one of the greatest musicals ever made. As a 1930s Cabaret presenter – and the Spirit of Germany – Joel Grey was the year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner. Liza Minnelli...

David and Bathsheba

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1951 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 116 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey, Kieron Moore, James Robertson Justice, Jayne Meadows, George Zucco, Francis X. Bushman, Gwen Verdon

Cinematography: Leon Shamroy

Art Direction: George Davis, Lyle Wheeler

Film Editor: Barbara McLean

Original Music: Alfred Newman

Written by: Philip Dunne

Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck

Directed by Henry King

Right in the middle of WW2, 20th Fox struck religious pay dirt with two respectful religion-themed movies, one about a miracle and another about the hard life of a priest. Each created a new Hollywood star. Five years later there began a regular Hollywood Bible War. In 1949 Cecil B. DeMille released his first Biblical epic in Technicolor, Samson and Delilah, throwing violence, sex and hammy acting at the screen in even measure. MGM bounced back with a tremendous production of...

I have a back file of reader notes asking for a Blu-ray for John Huston’s Moby Dick, and more pointedly, wondering what will be done with its strange color scheme. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but this new Twilight Time disc should make the purists happy – it has approximated the film’s original, heavily muted color scheme.

Moby Dick

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1956 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, James Robertson Justice,

Harry Andrews, Orson Welles, Bernard Miles, Mervyn Johns, Noel Purcell, Frederick Ledebur

Cinematography Oswald Morris

Art Direction Ralph W. Brinton

Film Editor Russell Lloyd

Original Music Philip Sainton

Writing credits Ray Bradbury and John Huston

Produced and Directed by John Huston

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Talk about a picture with a renewed reputation… in its day John Huston’s Moby Dick was not considered a success,...

There's nothing more earnest than an English national epic, and this is a valiant expedition that becomes a low-key disaster. Told straight and clean, it's a primer on how to behave in the face of doom. Scott of the Antarctic Region B Blu-ray Studiocanal (UK) 1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Street Date June 6, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £ 14.99 Starring John Mills, Derek Bond, Harold Warrender, James Robertson Justice, Kenneth More, Reginald Beckwith. Cinematography Osmond Borradaile, Jack Cardiff, Geoffrey Unsworth Editor Peter Tanner Original Music Vaughan Williams Written by Walter Meade, Ivor Montagu, Mary Hayley Bell Produced by Michael Balcon Directed by Charles Frend

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

English film companies fell on hard times during the postwar austerity period. But the relatively small Ealing Studios maintained its creative underdog brand even after it was taken over by Rank, and is still celebrated for wartime greats like Went the Day Well?, the singular masterpiece Dead of Night,...

Special Mention: Spirits Of The Dead (Histoires extraordinaires)

Written and directed by Federico Fellini (segment “Toby Dammit”), Louis Malle (segment “William Wilson”), Roger Vadim (segment “Metzengerstein”)

France, 1968

The first thing you should notice is the three directors: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim. Secondly, take notice of the cast, which includes Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Salvo Randone, James Robertson Justice, Françoise Prévost and Marlène Alexandre. Spirits Of The Dead is an adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe stories, one of which demands to be seen.

The first segment of the film, Vadim’s “Metzgengerstein”, is unfortunately the least impressive, but is still great in its own right, and features a marvelous performance by Jane Fonda. Malle’s segment, which is the second of the three, turns Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 story into an engrossing study in cruelty and sadism. This episode is an engaging enough entry,...

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...

Every year, we here at Sound On Sight celebrate the month of October with 31 Days of Horror; and every year, I update the list of my favourite horror films ever made. Last year, I released a list that included 150 picks. This year, I’ll be upgrading the list, making minor alterations, changing the rankings, adding new entries, and possibly removing a few titles. I’ve also decided to publish each post backwards this time for one reason: the new additions appear lower on my list, whereas my top 50 haven’t changed much, except for maybe in ranking. I am including documentaries, short films and mini series, only as special mentions – along with a few features that can qualify as horror, but barely do.

Come Back Tonight To See My List Of The 200 Best!

****

Special Mention:

Wait until Dark

Directed by Terence Young

Written by Robert Carrington

USA, 1967

Directed by Terence Young,...

Gregory Peck from ‘Duel in the Sun’ to ‘How the West Was Won’: TCM schedule (Pt) on August 15 (photo: Gregory Peck in ‘Duel in the Sun’) See previous post: “Gregory Peck Movies: Memorable Miscasting Tonight on Turner Classic Movies.” 3:00 Am Days Of Glory (1944). Director: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Gregory Peck, Lowell Gilmore, Maria Palmer. Bw-86 mins. 4:30 Am Pork Chop Hill (1959). Director: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn. Bw-98 mins. Letterbox Format. 6:15 Am The Valley Of Decision (1945). Director: Tay Garnett. Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp. Bw-119 mins. 8:15 Am Spellbound (1945). Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, Bill Goodwin, Norman Lloyd, Steve Geray, John Emery, Donald Curtis, Art Baker, Wallace Ford, Regis Toomey, Paul Harvey, Jean Acker, Irving Bacon, Jacqueline deWit, Edward Fielding, Matt Moore, Addison Richards, Erskine Sanford, Constance Purdy. Bw-111 mins. 10:15 Am Designing Woman (1957). Director: Vincente Minnelli.

Star of British film thrillers who specialised in the role of the classy girlfriend

In the 1950s, while watching a second feature before the "big picture" at their local cinema, regular British filmgoers would often have seen Rona Anderson, who has died aged 86. Anderson starred in 20 movies between 1950 and 1958, mostly well-crafted, low-budget thrillers. Opposite such luminaries as Robert Beatty, Jimmy Hanley, John Bentley, Paul Carpenter and Lee Patterson, Anderson was the classy girlfriend who helps the hero solve a murder, usually via a visit to the criminal underground, all within the hour allotted to the film.

According to the Scottish comedian Stanley Baxter, Anderson "had this incredible, porcelain-like face, too beautiful for film … The camera likes angularity, to see the edges, and I think Rona's face was just too perfect." Whatever the reason, Anderson made few major movies, though she appeared in many popular television series, such as The Human Jungle...

Howard Hawks's 1955 tale about the building of Khufu's Great Pyramid is a big camp mess with nothing in the throne room

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

Director: Howard Hawks

Entertainment grade: C–

History grade: D–

Khufu, or Cheops, was an Egyptian pharaoh of the fourth dynasty. He is remembered for building the Great Pyramid of Giza in the 26th century BC, the only surviving wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Casting

Khufu returns from a war rich with treasure and slaves. In 1955, Hollywood knew how to stage this sort of thing: scores of marching trumpeters, drummers, pipers and maraca players; hundreds of cavalry camels; and almost 10,000 extras supplied by the Egyptian government. This spectacle made an impact on the then-13-year-old Martin Scorsese: "When I first saw it as a kid, Land of the Pharaohs became my favourite film," he said.

Unfortunately, when Khufu descends from his double-decker litter,...

Blu-ray Release Date: March 19, 2013

Price: Blu-ray $24.95

Studio: Kino Lorber

The eyes have it in Zeta One.

A 1969 British superspy comedy film with a Pop Art aesthetic, Zeta One is the kind of psychedelic, sexy science fiction thriller that inspired the Austin Powers series.

Robin Hawdon stars as James Word, a womanizing secret agent whose investigation of a criminal mastermind (James Robertson Justice) leads him to discover a race of beautiful, exotic superwomen. Further inquiry exposes the naked truth: that the women have been abducted and brainwashed by the alien goddess Zeta (Dawn Addams). Zeta and her fellow babes live in another dimension known as Angvia, and they bring back the Earth girls to unite with their own race of über femmes!

Distributed by Kino Lorber, Zeta One appears on the Jezebel label, the British video imprint that deals in vintage erotic films. one a title

Originally released in the U.

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.

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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...

For the horror buff, Fall is the best time of the year. The air is crisp, the leaves are falling and a feeling of death hangs on the air. Here at Sound on Sight we have some of the biggest horror fans you can find. We are continually showcasing the best of genre cinema, so we’ve decided to put our horror knowledge and passion to the test in a horror watching contest. Each week in October, Ricky D, James Merolla and Justine Smith will post a list of the horror films they have watched. By the end of the month, the person who has seen the most films wins. Prize Tbd.

Ricky D (5 viewings) Total of 76 viewings

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Purchase

Spirits Of The Dead (Histoires extraordinaires)

Directed by Federico Fellini (segment Toby Dammit), Louis Malle (segment William Wilson), Roger Vadim (segment Metzengerstein)

France, 1968

First thing to notice is the three directors: Federico Fellini,...

Choosing my favourite horror films of all time is like choosing between my children – not that I have children, but if I did, I am sure I would categorize them quite like my DVD collection. As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. Also, it was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried. I based my list taking into consideration three points:

1- Technical accomplishments / artistry and their influence on the genre.

2- How many times I’ve revisited the films and how easily it makes for a repeated viewings.

3- Its story, atmosphere and how much it affected me when I first watched them.

Finally, there are many great films such as The Witchfinder General, The Wickerman and even Hour Of The Wolf that won’t appear here. I...

42 – Nosferatu: The First Vampire

Directed by F.W. Murnau

1922 – Germany

The earliest surviving film based on Dracula is Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. One of the first vampire movies, it is perhaps on one of the best vampire movies ever made. Generally creepy from beginning to the last frame.

41- Spirits Of The Dead (Histoires extraordinaires)

Directed by

Federico Fellini (segment Toby Dammit)

Louis Malle (segment William Wilson)

Roger Vadim (segment Metzengerstein)

1968 – France

First thing to notice is the three directors: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle and Roger Vadim. Second you need to take notice in the cast which includes Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Salvo Randone, James Robertson Justice, Françoise Prévost and Marlène Alexandre. Spirits Of The Dead is an adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe stories that amount to one mixed bad, but with one incredible segment that needs to be seen.

"To the west, there is nothing, except America."

Revived at Edinburgh Internbational Film Festival, Alexander Mackendrick's first film, Whisky Galore! (released in the USA as Tight Little Island) is regarded as a perennial classic in Britain but not so well-known elsewhere. Inspired by a real-life incident, the wrecking of a ship carrying a cargo of whisky off the coast of a Scottish island where that vital social lubricant had been cut off by wartime shortages, it's an easy-going comedy and in some ways the ur-text behind Bill Forsyth's Local Hero (1983). 

Even in his modest first film, Mackendrick's indebtedness to German expressionism leads to some rousing sequences, kinetic montages of conspiratorial islanders, who have to circumvent the English home guard official who is determined that the shipwrecked cases of scotch should sink to the sea bed rather than be illicitly salvaged. As with all the great Ealing comedies, the...