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PLEASE NOTE, SCREEN TIME IS NOW 7.30pm, FOR THE DURATION!
TONIGHT: STRICTLY MEMBERS-ONLY
* MEMBERSHIPS STILL AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR ON THE NIGHT, 'THO *
DETAILS BELOW
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SPLODGE! NOTES:
1st. Mon. in JUNE (02/06/08)
ON THE FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH
(except JANUARYs!)
a community FilmEdSoc project,
WE CONTROL THE CONTENT
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Unusual films of discernment,
still presented in convivial
surroundings!
ALL PRESENTED ON
GROOVY 16 MILLIMETRE FILM!
the back room
714 NICHOLSON (CNR. SCOTCHMER) STREET,
NORTH FITZROY
splodgeburger@...
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2nd. Quartile
JUNE
AD 2008
ALL PRESENTED ON
GROOVY 16 MILLIMETRE FILM!
the back room
714 NICHOLSON (CNR. SCOTCHMER) STREET,
NORTH FITZROY
splodgeburger@...
************ ********* ********* *********
2nd. Quartile
JUNE
AD 2008
MONDAY, 2nd
Registration: 7.00 - 7.30 pm
Screening: >>>>>
7.30 (*SEVEN THIRTY*!!!! ) pm <<<<<
TONIGHT: STRICTLY MEMBERS-ONLY
TONIGHT: STRICTLY MEMBERS-ONLY
MEMBERSHIPS STILL AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR ON THE NIGHT
DETAILS BELOW
TONIGHT! -
KIDSTUFF!!!
• DONALD'S NEPHEWS,
Donald Duck's sister Dumbella sends her three sons Huey, Dewey, and Louie to visit their Unca Donald. They prove to be quite a handful for Don and proceed to destroy his home. The Duckster turns to the book "Modern Child Training" for help.
The nephews made their debut in the Donald Duck Sunday comic page on October 17, 1937, and DONALD'S NEPHEWS was their first appeared on film.
Prod Co: Walt Disney Studios. Prod: Walt Disney. Dist: RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Directed By Jack King. Wr: CARL BARKS, Jack Hannah. Anim: Jack Hannah, Ed Love, Bernie Wolf, Paul Allen. Running Time: 9 mins. ALC
plus, Quickie Theatre returns, with:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/splodgefilms/
714 NICHOLSON STREET
(CNR. NICHOLSON & SCOTCHMER STREETS),
NORTH FITZROY.
PHONE 04 25 74 28 01
TONIGHT! -
KIDSTUFF!!!
• DONALD'S NEPHEWS,
(1938)
Donald Duck's sister Dumbella sends her three sons Huey, Dewey, and Louie to visit their Unca Donald. They prove to be quite a handful for Don and proceed to destroy his home. The Duckster turns to the book "Modern Child Training" for help.
The nephews made their debut in the Donald Duck Sunday comic page on October 17, 1937, and DONALD'S NEPHEWS was their first appeared on film.
Prod Co: Walt Disney Studios. Prod: Walt Disney. Dist: RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Directed By Jack King. Wr: CARL BARKS, Jack Hannah. Anim: Jack Hannah, Ed Love, Bernie Wolf, Paul Allen. Running Time: 9 mins. ALC
• THE TERIFFIC ADVENTURES OF THE TERRIBLE TEN:
Ep: EMERGENCY AT WALLABY CREEK,
Ep: EMERGENCY AT WALLABY CREEK,
(1961)
An episode from the series: "THE TERRIFIC ADVENTURES OF THE TERRIBLE TEN": One of the boys of "Ten Town" - an autonomous rural collective of precocious 1960s Aussie kids - falls ill and is taken to Ten Town hospital. One of the other Ten Town boys discovers dead fish in the dam and figures out that the aerial spraying from a crop-duster is poisoning life in the area. He runs to tell the adults - there is no-one in the police station - and the council water engineer won't listen, so the enterprising young Ten-Towner goes and shuts down the town water supply to prevent any further intoxication of the populace.
Originally aired on Channel 9, when re-aired in 1963 on the ABC, the national broadcaster re-jigged the episodes under the title THE TEN AGAIN.
Prod Co: Pacific Film Productions / Rod McNeil. Prod: Roger Mirams (THE MAGIC BOOMERANG; ADVENTURES OF THE SEASPRAY). Dir: David Baker (THE GREAT McCARTHY, 1975). Cast: GARY GRAY, Ken Goodlet. 13 mins. ALC
An episode from the series: "THE TERRIFIC ADVENTURES OF THE TERRIBLE TEN": One of the boys of "Ten Town" - an autonomous rural collective of precocious 1960s Aussie kids - falls ill and is taken to Ten Town hospital. One of the other Ten Town boys discovers dead fish in the dam and figures out that the aerial spraying from a crop-duster is poisoning life in the area. He runs to tell the adults - there is no-one in the police station - and the council water engineer won't listen, so the enterprising young Ten-Towner goes and shuts down the town water supply to prevent any further intoxication of the populace.
Originally aired on Channel 9, when re-aired in 1963 on the ABC, the national broadcaster re-jigged the episodes under the title THE TEN AGAIN.
Prod Co: Pacific Film Productions / Rod McNeil. Prod: Roger Mirams (THE MAGIC BOOMERANG; ADVENTURES OF THE SEASPRAY). Dir: David Baker (THE GREAT McCARTHY, 1975). Cast: GARY GRAY, Ken Goodlet. 13 mins. ALC
• A DAY AT THE ZOO
[TV SPOT],
[TV SPOT],
(c. 1969?)
VERNON SUNDFORS
A rare screening of a lost comedy classic made by VERN SUNDFORS in the late 1960s. This silent, possibly uncompleted, romp has overgrown "school-kids" wreaking havoc at the Royal Melbourne Zoo. The theme reflects SUNDFORS' great love of the "schoolroom farce" genre, also noted in his fascination with the great Australian radio comedy series "YES, WHAT?"
Prod Co: Jim Films. Dir: VERNON SUNDFORS. Wr: VERNON SUNDFORS. Phot: VERNON SUNDFORS. Ed: VERNON SUNDFORS. 5 mins. RM
VERNON SUNDFORS
A rare screening of a lost comedy classic made by VERN SUNDFORS in the late 1960s. This silent, possibly uncompleted, romp has overgrown "school-kids" wreaking havoc at the Royal Melbourne Zoo. The theme reflects SUNDFORS' great love of the "schoolroom farce" genre, also noted in his fascination with the great Australian radio comedy series "YES, WHAT?"
Prod Co: Jim Films. Dir: VERNON SUNDFORS. Wr: VERNON SUNDFORS. Phot: VERNON SUNDFORS. Ed: VERNON SUNDFORS. 5 mins. RM
plus, Quickie Theatre returns, with:
• PAPILLION,
[ TV SPOT ]
[ TV SPOT ]
(1973)
This month's "30 second" TV teaser is for that great FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER ( - yes, the man who gave us THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1973), and the first, original PLANET OF THE APES (1968) flick - ) - PAPILLION! ˝ min. RM
This month's "30 second" TV teaser is for that great FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER ( - yes, the man who gave us THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1973), and the first, original PLANET OF THE APES (1968) flick - ) - PAPILLION! ˝ min. RM
• LOLLIPOP OPERA
(1971)
Here's to the return of another of Splodge!'s favourite short films! Noted children's author-artist Don Freeman is the star of this delightful tale of a boy's first visit to a barber shop.
To the lively strains of Gioacchino Rossini's "Barber of Seville", a synchopated fantasy unfolds on the screen as the artist draws in the shop, furniture, and, finally, his customer - "Mop Top" - who then gets a "virtual" haircut and shampoo, followed by a special surprise! Prod Co: Pyramid Films. Prod/Dir: Glenn Johnson. Cast: Don Freeman, crayon. 9 mins. RM
followed by:Here's to the return of another of Splodge!'s favourite short films! Noted children's author-artist Don Freeman is the star of this delightful tale of a boy's first visit to a barber shop.
To the lively strains of Gioacchino Rossini's "Barber of Seville", a synchopated fantasy unfolds on the screen as the artist draws in the shop, furniture, and, finally, his customer - "Mop Top" - who then gets a "virtual" haircut and shampoo, followed by a special surprise! Prod Co: Pyramid Films. Prod/Dir: Glenn Johnson. Cast: Don Freeman, crayon. 9 mins. RM
• THE LONE RANGER:
Ep: THE LOST CHALICE,
Ep: THE LOST CHALICE,
(1958)
The Lone Ranger & Tonto are reunited with an old friend - the padre of Mission Valley, during a search for lost treasure.
"A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi Yo Silver!" The Loooooone Ranger. [shouts] "Hi Yo Silver, away!"*
With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!"
(*The "Hi-Yo Silver!" shout at the beginning of each episode is a recording of Earle W. Graser, who played the Lone Ranger on radio from 1933-1941).
Say what you will about Texas - and Texans - it did give us The Lone Ranger. TLR began life as a radio series on Detroit's WXYZ in 1933, where it was created by the station's owner George W. Trendle, producer James Jewell and writer Fran Striker.
The show became an instant hit, was taken up nationally and turned into two film serials by Republic. In 1949 it arrived on America's ABC network to become one of the first major hits on television.
The first episode told of how John Reid, one of six Texan Rangers, was the sole survivor of an ambush by the Butch Cavendish Hole In The Wall Gang.
Reid was nursed back to health by an Indian scout called Tonto, who declared "You only ranger left. You lone ranger now."
Reid then set off to avenge the death of his five colleagues, one of whom was his own brother. With his trademark white hat, black mask and horse called Silver, the newly dubbed Lone Ranger set off with Tonto (who referred to him as 'Kemo Sabe', meaning 'trusty scout'), on his crusade to "clean up the town"; that was any town where villainy was in evidence or a wrong needed to be put right.
Having done so, he would then ride off into the distance with a "Hi-yo, Silver -awaaaaaay!", leaving his beneficiaries to ponder the question, "Who was that masked man?"
Former trapeze artist and male model, Clayton Moore played the Ranger on TV for most of it's run, although during a contract dispute with the studio he was replaced by John Hart. However, Moore and the studio sorted out their differences and he returned to the role leaving Hart to find further fame in 'Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans'.
Tonto was played by Jay Silverheels, who, despite being the genuine son of a Mohawk Indian, was really named Harold J. Smith. Years later he spoke out against the humbling way Indians had been portrayed on TV and film.
The other recurring characters (apart from the horses Silver and Scout) were Dan Reid, son of the Lone Ranger's murdered brother, and who later became the father of another George W. Trendle character, 'The Green Hornet', and Jim Blaine, who ran the Ranger's privately owned silver-mine that was his source of income and endless supply of silver bullets!
The show followed a strict set of guidelines, as laid down by the production company. "The Lone Ranger never shoots to kill, he uses perfect grammar and his ultimate objective must be towards the development of the west of our country."
Parents loved the patriotism and the moralistic story lines, and even FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover described it as "one of the forces for juvenile good in the country." With it’s rousing William Tell Overture, it’s fast paced action, simple plots and zero character development, 'The Lone Ranger' was the very embodiment of an idealized west, which had only ever existed within the minds of its creators, and the character's uncountable legions of adoring fans.
As unrealistically unsophisticated and child-like as it undoubtedly was, 'The Lone Ranger' was the very epitome of the deeply ingrained romantic notion of how the West was won. More fable than factual, the series provided uncomplicated entertainment in its purest form.
Prod Co: Wrather Productions Inc. Prod: Jack Chertok (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN). Dir: Charles D. Livingstone. Wr: George Van Marter, Charles Larson. Mus: Gioacchino Rossini (WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE). Cast: CLAYTON MOORE, JAY SILVERHEELS, William Challee (Reno), James Griffith (Hokey Carter) , Argentina Brunetti (Maria), Edward Colmans (Padre), Julian Rivero (Jose), Joe Turkel (Judd), Fred Foy (Announcer - uncredited). 25 mins. RM
The Lone Ranger & Tonto are reunited with an old friend - the padre of Mission Valley, during a search for lost treasure.
"A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi Yo Silver!" The Loooooone Ranger. [shouts] "Hi Yo Silver, away!"*
With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!"
(*The "Hi-Yo Silver!" shout at the beginning of each episode is a recording of Earle W. Graser, who played the Lone Ranger on radio from 1933-1941).
Say what you will about Texas - and Texans - it did give us The Lone Ranger. TLR began life as a radio series on Detroit's WXYZ in 1933, where it was created by the station's owner George W. Trendle, producer James Jewell and writer Fran Striker.
The show became an instant hit, was taken up nationally and turned into two film serials by Republic. In 1949 it arrived on America's ABC network to become one of the first major hits on television.
The first episode told of how John Reid, one of six Texan Rangers, was the sole survivor of an ambush by the Butch Cavendish Hole In The Wall Gang.
Reid was nursed back to health by an Indian scout called Tonto, who declared "You only ranger left. You lone ranger now."
Reid then set off to avenge the death of his five colleagues, one of whom was his own brother. With his trademark white hat, black mask and horse called Silver, the newly dubbed Lone Ranger set off with Tonto (who referred to him as 'Kemo Sabe', meaning 'trusty scout'), on his crusade to "clean up the town"; that was any town where villainy was in evidence or a wrong needed to be put right.
Having done so, he would then ride off into the distance with a "Hi-yo, Silver -awaaaaaay!", leaving his beneficiaries to ponder the question, "Who was that masked man?"
Former trapeze artist and male model, Clayton Moore played the Ranger on TV for most of it's run, although during a contract dispute with the studio he was replaced by John Hart. However, Moore and the studio sorted out their differences and he returned to the role leaving Hart to find further fame in 'Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans'.
Tonto was played by Jay Silverheels, who, despite being the genuine son of a Mohawk Indian, was really named Harold J. Smith. Years later he spoke out against the humbling way Indians had been portrayed on TV and film.
The other recurring characters (apart from the horses Silver and Scout) were Dan Reid, son of the Lone Ranger's murdered brother, and who later became the father of another George W. Trendle character, 'The Green Hornet', and Jim Blaine, who ran the Ranger's privately owned silver-mine that was his source of income and endless supply of silver bullets!
The show followed a strict set of guidelines, as laid down by the production company. "The Lone Ranger never shoots to kill, he uses perfect grammar and his ultimate objective must be towards the development of the west of our country."
Parents loved the patriotism and the moralistic story lines, and even FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover described it as "one of the forces for juvenile good in the country." With it’s rousing William Tell Overture, it’s fast paced action, simple plots and zero character development, 'The Lone Ranger' was the very embodiment of an idealized west, which had only ever existed within the minds of its creators, and the character's uncountable legions of adoring fans.
As unrealistically unsophisticated and child-like as it undoubtedly was, 'The Lone Ranger' was the very epitome of the deeply ingrained romantic notion of how the West was won. More fable than factual, the series provided uncomplicated entertainment in its purest form.
Prod Co: Wrather Productions Inc. Prod: Jack Chertok (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN). Dir: Charles D. Livingstone. Wr: George Van Marter, Charles Larson. Mus: Gioacchino Rossini (WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE). Cast: CLAYTON MOORE, JAY SILVERHEELS, William Challee (Reno), James Griffith (Hokey Carter) , Argentina Brunetti (Maria), Edward Colmans (Padre), Julian Rivero (Jose), Joe Turkel (Judd), Fred Foy (Announcer - uncredited). 25 mins. RM
• CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED,
“Either they control us or we control them - that’s the law of nature!”
Following the success of the compact, low-budget chiller VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960) - starring that debonair depressive GEORGE SANDERS - MGM organized a team to produce the inevitable sequel.
Taking the helms at the project this time are the respected screenwriter John Briley, (an American expatriate living in London, who authored the Oscar-winning GANDI (1982) and CRY FREEDOM (1987) for Richard Attenborough, in addition to a rather wacky - but fascinating - SF misfire MEDUSA TOUCH (1978) ), and director Anton Leader, a veteran of a veritable slew of popular US TV series episodes, including THE TWILIGHT ZONE, HAWAII 5-0 and IRONSIDE.
Unlike VILLAGE, which only partially alluded tothe anxieties of The Cold War, CHILDREN is an unabashed bolshy commentary on the one-time global superpowers struggle.
This outing, rather than regarding the glowing-eyed wunderkinder as an evil, invading task-force from outer space, posits them as a higher rank of evolution for Mankind. By concocting a storyline that openly portrays major nations, and the adults who work for them, as bloodthirsty megalomaniacs who consider these children only as potential weapons, the filmmakers turn their product into a science fiction parable about the folly of the arms race.
It features the same cut of uber-brats (six of them) with telepathic superpowers and advanced intelligence as previously though. This time, however, the whole Nazi "Hitler Youth" subtext of the Aryan-like blond kids is turfed out, as these kids are a micro-U.N., since they hail from all corners of the globe: Nigeria, India, China, the UK . . . you name it.
Born under similar mysterious circumstances (mothers claiming to be virgins, but, this time, no small English villages being "overcome" by mysterious, "unnatural events", as these kids were born in isolation from each other), CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED plays initially more like a tame forerunner of those Omen movies, with little Damien as the anti-Christ with superpowers!
The children are discovered during a worldwide scholarly project, spearheaded by psychologist Tom Llewellyn (IAN HENDRY) and geneticist David Neville (Alan Badel), because of their abnormal levels of skill and high intelligence. The British boy, Paul (Clive Powell) is the first to be examined, and the other five are brought to the U.K.
This time, the children, look different (ie. rather than wearing the same cookie-cutter blond wigs, they’re a veritable multicultural crew!), and aren’t posited as inherently evil or alien - indeed, they only band together once they realize that they’re about to be used as pawns by governments eager to exploit their extraordinary talents for military purposes. .
The second half of the film basically features a show-down between the children and British military forces, with additional drama generated through the pair of quibbling scientists (HENDRY and Badel), who disagree about whether the children should be destroyed or nurtured. The children hide out in an abandoned church, and the movie veers off in a different direction, with some interesting moral ambiguities that weren't found in the predecessor. These kids aren't necessarily evil, because they (mostly) kill to defend themselves, since humanity obviously sees them as a threat and wants to destroy them. Y'know, the usual deal.
"Why are you here?" one of the human adults asks. "We are here for the same reason you are," one kid replies. Which brings us to the existential cruxof the matter, doesn't it. Just why are we (humanity) here?
There is also some commentary on Cold War politics that aren't particularly insightful, in regard to how The State monopolizes violence and how it is, for instance, OK for armies to kill people, but not for you or I as private citizens to do so as well.
Unlike VILLAGE, which remained faithful to the modalities of a classic Anglo-American supernatural thriller, CHILDREN goes for more overtly symbolic and artsy aesthetics, employing such techniques as slow-motion and wide-angle lensing to convey the "fantastic" nature of the proceedings.
HENDRY and Badel make for realistic and engaging protagonists, sarcastically defiant when confronted by a dour-looking secret service agent, and believably expressing frustration with the military knuckleheads as well as the pouty super-children, without appearing whiny.
CHILDREN does not try to copycat VILLAGE, but actually creates a darker, more violent tale. The lethal but misunderstood children are more "subdued" here (hardly given any dialogue).
A particularly disturbing scene (you may remeber it for the rest of your life!) has Paul send his mother out to be hit by a car, only she survives, screaming from her hospital bed that she had "never been touched” ( - in reference to the immaculate conception of her (supposed) wicked offspring). The film surely boasts more murders than the first one.
IAN HENDRY is an excellent lead, and it's a shame that he didn't feature in a range of more prominent roles in film (of the like he won for the glorious THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973), for example) before his untimely death at the age of 53, in 1984, from a stomach haemorrhage.
Prod Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios. Prod: Lawrence P. Bachmann. Dir: Anthony M. Leader. Wr: John Briley, based on the characters created by JOHN WYNDHAM. Phot: David Boulton. Mus: RON GOODWIN. Cast: IAN HENDRY (Tom), Alan Badel (Dr. Neville), Barbara Ferris (Susan Elliot), PATRICK WYMARK, Sheila Allen, Ralph Michael, Martin Miller (Professor Gruber), Harold Goldblatt, Patrick White, Andre Mikhelson, Bessie Love, Clive Powell (Paul), Roberta Rex (Nina), Mahdu Mathen (Rashid), Lee Yoke-Moon (Mi Ling), Gerald Delsol (Ago), Frank Summerscale (Mark). 88 mins. ALC
Minor programme changes may occur due to unforseen circumstances.
Feature runs last; shorts order may vary from listing.
* Acknowledging ACMI Inc. & National Film and Sound Archive ;) *
************ ********* ********* *********
ADMISSION IS RESTRICTED TO MEMBERS FOR THIS PROGRAMME
(1963)
“Either they control us or we control them - that’s the law of nature!”
Following the success of the compact, low-budget chiller VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960) - starring that debonair depressive GEORGE SANDERS - MGM organized a team to produce the inevitable sequel.
Taking the helms at the project this time are the respected screenwriter John Briley, (an American expatriate living in London, who authored the Oscar-winning GANDI (1982) and CRY FREEDOM (1987) for Richard Attenborough, in addition to a rather wacky - but fascinating - SF misfire MEDUSA TOUCH (1978) ), and director Anton Leader, a veteran of a veritable slew of popular US TV series episodes, including THE TWILIGHT ZONE, HAWAII 5-0 and IRONSIDE.
Unlike VILLAGE, which only partially alluded tothe anxieties of The Cold War, CHILDREN is an unabashed bolshy commentary on the one-time global superpowers struggle.
This outing, rather than regarding the glowing-eyed wunderkinder as an evil, invading task-force from outer space, posits them as a higher rank of evolution for Mankind. By concocting a storyline that openly portrays major nations, and the adults who work for them, as bloodthirsty megalomaniacs who consider these children only as potential weapons, the filmmakers turn their product into a science fiction parable about the folly of the arms race.
It features the same cut of uber-brats (six of them) with telepathic superpowers and advanced intelligence as previously though. This time, however, the whole Nazi "Hitler Youth" subtext of the Aryan-like blond kids is turfed out, as these kids are a micro-U.N., since they hail from all corners of the globe: Nigeria, India, China, the UK . . . you name it.
Born under similar mysterious circumstances (mothers claiming to be virgins, but, this time, no small English villages being "overcome" by mysterious, "unnatural events", as these kids were born in isolation from each other), CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED plays initially more like a tame forerunner of those Omen movies, with little Damien as the anti-Christ with superpowers!
The children are discovered during a worldwide scholarly project, spearheaded by psychologist Tom Llewellyn (IAN HENDRY) and geneticist David Neville (Alan Badel), because of their abnormal levels of skill and high intelligence. The British boy, Paul (Clive Powell) is the first to be examined, and the other five are brought to the U.K.
This time, the children, look different (ie. rather than wearing the same cookie-cutter blond wigs, they’re a veritable multicultural crew!), and aren’t posited as inherently evil or alien - indeed, they only band together once they realize that they’re about to be used as pawns by governments eager to exploit their extraordinary talents for military purposes. .
The second half of the film basically features a show-down between the children and British military forces, with additional drama generated through the pair of quibbling scientists (HENDRY and Badel), who disagree about whether the children should be destroyed or nurtured. The children hide out in an abandoned church, and the movie veers off in a different direction, with some interesting moral ambiguities that weren't found in the predecessor. These kids aren't necessarily evil, because they (mostly) kill to defend themselves, since humanity obviously sees them as a threat and wants to destroy them. Y'know, the usual deal.
"Why are you here?" one of the human adults asks. "We are here for the same reason you are," one kid replies. Which brings us to the existential cruxof the matter, doesn't it. Just why are we (humanity) here?
There is also some commentary on Cold War politics that aren't particularly insightful, in regard to how The State monopolizes violence and how it is, for instance, OK for armies to kill people, but not for you or I as private citizens to do so as well.
Unlike VILLAGE, which remained faithful to the modalities of a classic Anglo-American supernatural thriller, CHILDREN goes for more overtly symbolic and artsy aesthetics, employing such techniques as slow-motion and wide-angle lensing to convey the "fantastic" nature of the proceedings.
HENDRY and Badel make for realistic and engaging protagonists, sarcastically defiant when confronted by a dour-looking secret service agent, and believably expressing frustration with the military knuckleheads as well as the pouty super-children, without appearing whiny.
CHILDREN does not try to copycat VILLAGE, but actually creates a darker, more violent tale. The lethal but misunderstood children are more "subdued" here (hardly given any dialogue).
A particularly disturbing scene (you may remeber it for the rest of your life!) has Paul send his mother out to be hit by a car, only she survives, screaming from her hospital bed that she had "never been touched” ( - in reference to the immaculate conception of her (supposed) wicked offspring). The film surely boasts more murders than the first one.
IAN HENDRY is an excellent lead, and it's a shame that he didn't feature in a range of more prominent roles in film (of the like he won for the glorious THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973), for example) before his untimely death at the age of 53, in 1984, from a stomach haemorrhage.
Prod Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios. Prod: Lawrence P. Bachmann. Dir: Anthony M. Leader. Wr: John Briley, based on the characters created by JOHN WYNDHAM. Phot: David Boulton. Mus: RON GOODWIN. Cast: IAN HENDRY (Tom), Alan Badel (Dr. Neville), Barbara Ferris (Susan Elliot), PATRICK WYMARK, Sheila Allen, Ralph Michael, Martin Miller (Professor Gruber), Harold Goldblatt, Patrick White, Andre Mikhelson, Bessie Love, Clive Powell (Paul), Roberta Rex (Nina), Mahdu Mathen (Rashid), Lee Yoke-Moon (Mi Ling), Gerald Delsol (Ago), Frank Summerscale (Mark). 88 mins. ALC
Minor programme changes may occur due to unforseen circumstances.
Feature runs last; shorts order may vary from listing.
* Acknowledging ACMI Inc. & National Film and Sound Archive ;) *
************ ********* ********* *********
ADMISSION IS RESTRICTED TO MEMBERS FOR THIS PROGRAMME
THIS IS A FILM SOCIETY SCREENING OPEN TO MEMBERS
BUT IF YOU WISH TO BECOME A MEMBER,
THE JOINING FEE IS SO LOW,
IT MIGHT AS WELL BE FREE!
************ ********* ********* *********
MEMBERSHIP RATES:
Quarterly*:
Generally Socially-Advantaged : $7.00
Generally Socially-Oppressed: $6.00
BUT IF YOU WISH TO BECOME A MEMBER,
THE JOINING FEE IS SO LOW,
IT MIGHT AS WELL BE FREE!
************ ********* ********* *********
MEMBERSHIP RATES:
Quarterly*:
Generally Socially-Advantaged : $7.00
Generally Socially-Oppressed: $6.00
*annual and half-yearly memberships available on request
If you wish to join on the night, we strongly advise you
to arrive well-prior to the time listed for the screening to commence!
************ ********* ********* *********
For e-mail notification, spam your Subscribe-Request to:
splodgefilms-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splodgefilms/
or register* via snail-mail (address below).
************ ********* ********* *********
To exit the mailing list,
or for general correspondence,
dispatch to:
If you wish to join on the night, we strongly advise you
to arrive well-prior to the time listed for the screening to commence!
************ ********* ********* *********
For e-mail notification, spam your Subscribe-Request to:
splodgefilms-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splodgefilms/
or register* via snail-mail (address below).
************ ********* ********* *********
To exit the mailing list,
or for general correspondence,
dispatch to:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/splodgefilms/
714 NICHOLSON STREET
(CNR. NICHOLSON & SCOTCHMER STREETS),
NORTH FITZROY.
PHONE 04 25 74 28 01
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