Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Sean Connery's Bond would dare to disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon 53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp bowler like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagled on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn reprises his role as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tyres of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed.--Raphael Shargel, Amazon.com-- On the DVD: Featuring interviews with Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, the late Desmond Llewelyn and most of the surviving core cast and crew members, great on-set footage (Blackman and Connery look like they clearly had the hots for each other even when the camera weren't rolling) and a strong argument about how this firmed up the gadget-orientated, thrills-and-spills formula for the franchise, John Cork's "making of" featurette for this DVD is one of the most rewarding in this series. The two commentary tracks have moderately interesting observations by director Guy Hamilton, the cast and crew (many of their comments recycled from the documentary), and on both Bond superfan-and-author Lee Pfeiffer filling in blanks and explaining in exhaustive detail the history of the Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in this film. Also included is an open-ended 1964 interview with Sean Connery, designed so that American radio disc jockeys could pretend they had an exclusive interview with the star, in which he extols the series' "sadism for the family" among other things. --Leslie Felperin
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The Mouse That Roared, originally released in 1959, is mostly remembered as a tour-de-force from peerless comic actor Peter Sellers, playing all three of the principal roles. It's worth seeing for that alone, but the film is also one of the most memorable satires of nuclear geopolitics produced during the Cold War and, along with another Sellers vehicle, Dr Strangelove, provides an unbeatable illustration of the paranoia and helplessness engendered by that period. The Mouse That Roared tells the story of the fictional European principality of Grand Fenwick. Finding itself on the wrong end of a trade dispute with the United States, and noting America's generosity in rebuilding the countries it had fought in World War II, Grand Fenwick's rulers hit upon the idea of declaring war on the US, losing, and then reaping a Marshall Plan-style hand-out. The plan, proposed by Grand Fenwick's prime minister (played by Peter Sellers), is approved by the monarch (also played by Peter Sellers), who dispatches an invasion force of chain mail-clad archers under the command of Grand Fenwick's hapless Field Marshal (also played by Peter Sellers). Due to a series of happenstances and misunderstandings, Grand Fenwick's plan goes terribly wrong, and they inflict a surprising defeat on America, with curious consequences. On the DVD: The Mouse That Roared is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen; sound is mono. Soundtracks are available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and subtitles in all those as well as most other major European languages, Hebrew and Arabic. Special features include a scene selector, and three theatrical trailers: one for this film (English audiences will get a kick out of the 1950s American announcer raving about "an hilarious new personality, Peter Sellers"), one for Sellers' much bleaker (and much funnier) Cold War satire Dr Strangelove, and one for his slight horror spoof Murder By Death. --Andrew Mueller
Too Young To Love: Based on the American play Pickup Girl by Elsa Shelley and Filmed at Beaconsfield Studios this highly moral and controversial film tells the story of a young girls slide into the world of prostitution disease and abortion and her fight to redeem her life. Originally X rated it caused an outcry for support of teenage children in Britain at the time. Frail Women: Maurice Elvey directed this 1931 Twickenham production produced by the prolific Jules Hagen. Lillian (Mary Newcomb) has an illegitimate war baby. The father a soldier unaware of the situation goes off to war. Years later the soldier now a Colonel learns of his child and offers to marry Lillian to give his daughter a name and avoid the social stigma’s of that time. Stars: Mary Newcomb Owen Nares Edmund Gwenn.
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