Film Movement Classics to Release ALASTAIR SIM'S SCHOOL FOR LAUGHTER, A 4-Disc Collector's Set
Perhaps best remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Scottish character actor Alastair Sim became a leading star of British cinema after spending five years as a lecturer of elocution at the University of Edinburgh. One of the best-loved and most prolific actors in classic British comedy, Sim, who often appeared in multiple roles, starred in more than fifty films beginning in 1935 and was both critically acclaimed and unfailingly popular, regularly topping the cinema-goers popularity polls. This April, courtesy of Film Movement Classics, classes are now back in session with ALASTAIR SIM'S SCHOOL FOR LAUGHTER, a seminal 4-disc Blu-ray collection spotlighting his most laughter-inducing film roles -- now digitally restored in HD for optimal viewing.
Film Movement Acquires a Treasure Trove of Digitally Restored British Classics for Release on Loaded Blu-Ray
Since its launch in 2015, the Film Movement Classics label has been dedicated to seeking out distinctive films of the past from around the globe, and offering these digitally restored classics to cineastes everywhere. Following the recent theatrical releases of FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC and Bill Forsyth's coming-of-age classic GREGORY'S GIRL and the home entertainment releases of French farce THE MAD ADVENTURES OF RABBI JACOB and King Hu's pioneering wuxia film, THE FATE OF LEE KHAN, Film Movement has acquired a baker's dozen of British classics from the '40s-'60s for Blu-ray and digital release on the Film Movement Classics label beginning this December.
Finborough Theatre Presents of DR. ANGELUS
In a production commissioned by the Finborough Theatre, and rediscovering one of the West End's most popular dramatists of the 1930s and 1940s, Dr Angelus by James Bridie starring David Rintoul and Malcolm Rennie plays at the acclaimed Finborough Theatre on Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday matinees from Sunday, 27 November 2016 (Press Night: Monday, 28 November 2016 at 7.30pm).
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Spikes the Eggnog with A CHRISTMAS CAROL
As my hand was turning to mincemeat while writing personal notes in Christmas card after Christmas card, I persevered, knowing that at the end of my travails there would be a reward: A much anticipated performance of Theatre Memphis' annual 'gift' to Memphis, Charles Dickens' venerable A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I must admit: I have not attended every performance of that classic since its inception. I have, however, infrequently stopped to hang my wreath at its door; and I've seen some fine 'Ebeneezers' over the years (I recall a former teaching colleague, Tom Ford, offering a tight, clipped interpretation and, of course, one of the best and most frequent of the actors donning those tattered gloves, Memphis acting favorite Barry Fuller). As I wrote card after card, I began to think about all the other interpretations of A CHRISTMAS CAROL that I have encountered through the years - Seymour Hicks; Reginald Owen (in the role MGM intended for an ailing Lionel Barrymore, who had become famous for his radio performance and who would have, no doubt, been superior; a not-all-that-bad consolation prize was his equally tight-fisted 'Mr. Potter' in Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE); Orson Welles (in a Mercury Theatre radio performance); Sir Ralph Richardson (a beautiful audio recording); Alastair Sim (in the early 1950's British film and offering my favorite interpretation of the role; Danny Peary, in his fascinating ALTERNATE OSCARS, selects him as Best Actor for that performance); and, certainly, George C. Scott, in what was considered to be the version to end all versions. (And does anyone recall Jim Backus' 'Mr. Magoo' in a delightful animated musical television special back in the 1960's?)
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Premieres MOST WONDERFUL MOVIES OF CHRISTMAS Today
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries unveils its blockbuster annual holiday-themed programming event, MOST WONDERFUL MOVIES OF CHRISTMAS, today, October 31 with 1300 hours of the most sought-after, traditional and cherished Christmas programming, including an exclusive lineup of the highest-rated Holiday Original Movies of all time from Crown Media Family Network's robust library, airing exclusively on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
ESP to Present DANDY DICK Reading, 9/9
ESP comes around the curve and into summer's final stretch with Pinero's 1887 horse-racing farce, Dandy Dick! With two impetuous daughters both on the brink of matrimony,the Very Reverend Augustin Jedd is in need of a bit of dowry enhancement... So, even though he's a staunch disapprover of the racing game, when his sometime-do-well sisterGeorgiana Tidd, the 'daisy of the turf,' shows up with a supposedly sure thing -the horse of the play's title - the Very Reverend gets very interested, and he and his whole household go delightfully and British-ly bonkers!
DANDY DICK Launches National Tour in Brighton Tonight, July 3
Starring Patricia Hodge and Nicholas Le Prevost, DANDY DICK by Arthur Wing Pinero will have its opening tonight, July 3. This Theatre Royal Brighton Productions and Ambassador Theatre Group collaboration kicks off the first of many planned classic plays to tour the country's best playhouses nationwide before the West End.