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On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars
Shine Brightly!
December 29, 2012
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Film
Society
of
Lincoln
Center
is
presenting
See
It
in
70MM!
Dec
21-Jan1.
Star!,
by
Robert
Wise,
USA,
1968,
is
the
story
of
Gertrude
Lawrence,
who
became
a
stage
star
in
London
and
on
Broadway.
Julie
Andrews
played
her
in
the
film,
which
was
not
a
commercial
success,
showing
her
as
vain,
sometimes
violent,
and
quick
to
anger.
Daniel
Massey
was
a
supportive
Noel
Coward
in
the
lavish,
overlong
production.
The
songs
and
theatrical
numbers
are
quite
good.
Khartoum,
by
Basil
Dearden,
UK,
1985,
is a
spectacular
war
film,
that
takes
place
in
the
Sudan in
the
city
of
the
title,
about the
death
of
the
British
General
Gordon
(Charlton
Heston)
by
the
islamic
tribes
under
a
self-proclaimed
Muslim
prophet
(Laurence
Olivier).
The
acting
is
superb,
the
photography
is
magnificent
and
the
film
is
engrossing
and
riveting.
It
is a
marvelous
film.
Hamlet,
by
Kenneth
Branagh,
UK/USA,
1996,
is a
complete
version
of
the
play,
lasting
four
hours,
featuring
an
all-star
cast,
including
the
director
in
the
title
role.
While
it
is a
laudable
effort,
it
was
a
failure
commercially.
It
is
understandable,
because
of
its
length
and
the
performance
of
some
of
the
featured
players,
who
are
miscast
in a
play
by
Shakespeare.
Lord
Jim,
by
Richard
Brooks,
UK/USA,
1965,
is a
beautifully
filmed
adventure
story,
that
begins
excitingly
with
a
vessel
about
to
sink.
Peter
O'Toole
plays
one
of
the
sailors,
who
abandons
the
ship.
However,
as
the
film
progresses,
it
becomes
dull
and
boring,
and
the
characters,
which
includes
a
number
of
fine
international
actors
like
Jack
Hawkins,
Eli
Wallach,
James
Mason
and
others,
are
figuratively
lost
at
sea,
in
this
overlong
film.
MoMA is
presenting
Dickens
on Film
December
20-Jan 3.
Nicholas
Nickleby,
by
Cavalcanti,
Great
Britain,
1941,
follows
the
novel,
with a
wonderful
Derek
Bond
as the
titular
hero,
with
many of
the
finest
actors
of the
time,
including
Sir
Cedric
Hardwicke,
Sally
Ann
Howes,
Stanley
Holloway
and
Bernard
Miles. It
is a
typical
Charles
Dickens'
tale,
with a
happy
ending
and
villains
punished.
The
Pickwick
Papers,
by
Noel
Langley,
Great
Britain,
1952,
follows
the
amusing
adventures
of four
members
of the
Pickwick
Club,
named
after
its
founder
Samuel
Pickwick
(the
excellent
James
Hayter).
Pickwick
and his
three
colleagues
explore
the
countryside
and run
into
problems
when
they
encounter
a sly
actor (a
wonderful
Nigel
Patrick).
The film
takes a
serious
turn,
when
Pickwick
is
forced
to
defend
himself
in court
in a
breach
of
promise
suit and
his
imprisonment
in a
debtor's
jail.
It is
an
indictment
of
injustice
in
England.
It is
suitably
Dickensian.
Ballet
in
Cinema
by
Emerging
Pictures
presented
a
beautiful
The
Nutcracker,
by
the
Royal
Ballet
which
was
performed
on
December
12
at
Covent
Garden.
It
is a
sumptuous
production
with
exquisite
dancing
by
the
entire
cast,
headed
by
Gary
Avis
(Drosselmeyer),
Meaghan
Grace
Hinkis
(Clara)
and
Ricardo
Cervera
(The
Nephew/Nutcracker)
in
the
first
act
and
Roberta
Marquez
(Sugar
Plum
Fairy)
and
Steven
McRae
(The
Prince)
in
the
second.
It
is
the
perfect
viewing
at
this
holiday
time.
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