News

Elizabeth Sellars, the Glasgow-born actress who appeared in films that starred Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Peter O’Toole, on TV with Laurence Olivier and onstage opposite Alec Guinness, died at her home in France on Dec. 30. She was 98.

Her death was announced by her family.

Trained at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sellars made the first of many stage appearances in 1946’s The Brothers Karamazov, starring Guinness.

By 1949 she’d embarked on a long film career, making her debut in the British film Floodtide, and, in Hollywood, she appeared in 1954’s The Barefoot Contessa with Bogart and Ava Gardner. Also that year, she performed in the Brando film Désirée.

Other film highlights include Prince of Players, starring Richard Burton, in 1955; 1957’s The Shiralee, starring Peter Finch; 1960’s The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, with O’Toole; and, reteaming with Gardner in 1963, 55 Days in Peking. In 1967 she...

Elizabeth Sellars, the Scottish actress who starred with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner in The Barefoot Contessa, with Marlon Brando in Désirée and with Peter O'Toole in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, has died. She was 98.

Sellars died Monday at her home in France, her family reported.

Sellars co-starred as the wife of a pilot (Jack Hawkins) in Decision Against Time (1957), one of the last films made by famed Ealing Studios, and worked with Gardner again in the historical drama 55 Days at Peking (1963).

She also appeared in the Hammer films Cloudburst (1951) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967),...

Elizabeth Sellars, the Scottish actress who starred with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner in The Barefoot Contessa, with Marlon Brando in Désirée and with Peter O'Toole in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, has died. She was 98.

Sellars died Monday at her home in France, her family reported.

Sellars co-starred as the wife of a pilot (Jack Hawkins) in Decision Against Time (1957), one of the last films made by famed Ealing Studios, and worked with Gardner again in the historical drama 55 Days at Peking (1963).

She also appeared in the Hammer films Cloudburst (1951) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967),...

The Barefoot Contessa

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Enzo Staiola, Mari Aldon, Bessie Love.

Cinematography: Jack Cardiff

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written, Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

As a teenager, many of my first and strongest movie impressions came not from the movies, but from certain critics. I memorized Robin Wood’s analysis before getting a look at Hitchcock’s Psycho. Raymond Durgnat introduced me to Georges Franju and Luis Buñuel, and I first learned to appreciate a number of great movies including The Barefoot Contessa from Richard Corliss, a terrific critic who championed writers over director-auteurs.

The Barefoot Contessa is a classically structured story, in that it could work as a novel; it’s told from several points of view.

Merle Oberon films: From empress to duchess in 'Hotel.' Merle Oberon films: From starring to supporting roles Turner Classic Movies' Merle Oberon month comes to an end tonight, March 25, '16, with six movies: Désirée, Hotel, Deep in My Heart, Affectionately Yours, Berlin Express, and Night Song. Oberon's presence alone would have sufficed to make them all worth a look, but they have other qualities to recommend them as well. 'Désirée': First supporting role in two decades Directed by Henry Koster, best remembered for his Deanna Durbin musicals and the 1947 fantasy comedy The Bishop's Wife, Désirée (1954) is a sumptuous production that, thanks to its big-name cast, became a major box office hit upon its release. Marlon Brando is laughably miscast as Napoleon Bonaparte, while Jean Simmons plays the title role, the Corsican Conqueror's one-time fiancée Désirée Clary (later Queen of Sweden and Norway). In a supporting role – her...

Graceful stage actor who stood out in Doctor Who on TV and the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

In a long and distinguished career, the actor Aubrey Woods, who has died aged 85, covered the waterfront, from West End revues and musicals to TV series and films, most notably, perhaps, singing The Candy Man in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), starring Gene Wilder, and playing the Controller in the Day of the Daleks storyline in Doctor Who (1972).

Tall and well-favoured in grace and authority on the stage, he played Fagin in the musical Oliver! for three years, succeeding Ron Moody in the original 1960 production. He was equally in demand on BBC radio, writing and appearing in many plays, including his own adaptations of the Mapp and Lucia novels by Ef Benson (he was a vice-president of the Ef Benson society).

In the early part of his career he...

We've updated our Film4 Fright Fest line-up story with tons of images. Read on to see what you may have missed and what's brand spanking new! Dig it!

Programme - Screen 1

Thursday Aug 23

Opening Film - The Seasoning House (World Premiere)

Special make-up prosthetics and splatter genius Paul Hyett makes his directorial debut with a harrowing exploration into tense claustrophobia, hard-hitting action and rollercoaster suspense. In a Balkan brothel, where girls kidnapped by soldiers in war-torn zones are prostituted to the military and civilians alike, Angel (Robin Day) is the deaf mute orphan enslaved to care for the inmates. But unbeknownst to her captors, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the seasoning house planning her escape. Psychological horror in the nerve-shredding Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski style but with an ultra-modern twist.

89 mins Director: Paul Hyett UK 2012

Rosie Day – Angel

Sean Pertwee – Goran

Kevin Howarth – Viktor

David Lemberg...

Given the success of Warner’s Archive program, we’re thrilled to see other studios scouring their vaults for content aimed at the discerning cinephile. Here’s a release showcasing the latest coming from MGM via Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Los Angeles (April 14, 2011) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is bringing even more classics to DVD in April through its unique “manufacturing on demand” (“Mod”). The newest group of films will be part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection and available through online retailers. The vast catalog ranges from 1980’s Defiance to 1965’s four-time Academy Award® nominated A Thousand Clowns.

Enjoy your favorite movies from across the decades including:

1950′s

● Davey Crockett, Scout (1950): A U.S. military scout is assigned to stop Indian attacks on a defenseless group of wagon trains making their way West. Stars George Montgomery, Ellen Drew, Noah Beery Jr. Directed by Lew Landers.

● Cloudburst...

Peter O’Toole in David Lean‘s Lawrence of Arabia Peter O’Toole on TCM: Lawrence Of Arabia, The Last Emperor Schedule (Pt) and synopses from the TCM website: 3:00 Am Day They Robbed The Bank Of England, The (1960) Turn-of-the-century Irish patriots plan to overthrow the British government. Cast: Peter O’Toole, Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars. Dir: John Guillermin. Bw-85 mins. 4:30 Am Night of the Generals, The (1967) A Nazi officer tries to catch a serial killer attacking prostitutes. Cast: Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay. Dir: Anatole Litvak. C-144 mins. 7:00 Am My Favorite Year (1982) A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos. Cast: Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper. Dir: Richard Benjamin. C-92 mins. 8:45 Am Becket (1964) England’s King Henry II appoints his best friend Archbishop of Canterbury then turns on him. Cast: Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud. Dir: Peter Glenville.