Keith Waterhouse’s adaptation of the play by Eduardo De Filippo.

One Saturday evening Rosa Priore is preparing a magnificent Sunday lunch for her family and their friends. By Sunday afternoon her life and marriage are in ruins.

Cast: Frank Finlay, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Judy Parfitt, Edward Woodward, Clive Francis, Nicholas Clay, Cyril Shaps, Michael Elphick, John Duttine.

Saturday Sunday Monday (Alan Bridges 1977).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 38 min
Size: 	1.41 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	706x480 ~> 706x529
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	1 849 kb/s
BPP: 	0.228
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (Stereo)

https://nitro.download/view/4B9396DF7322E9A/Saturday_Sunday_Monday_(Alan_Bridges_1977).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Alan Bridges – Saturday Sunday Monday (1978) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Written by Helene Hanff (book) & Hugh Whitemore (dramatisation)

Quote:
‘…people going to England find exactly what they go looking for. I said I’d go looking for the England of English Literature…’

When Arthur Dent receives an alien tongue-lashing on arrival at yet another inhospitable planet during The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he observes in exasperation: ‘Why doesn’t anyone ever seem to pleased to see us?’1 One answer to that question might well be: ‘Because drama and comedy rely on conflict to make them work.’ There’s rarely a great deal of mileage to be extracted from people liking one another and generally getting on, but when the trick is pulled off, the results can be delightful and surprising.

This was the case with 84, Charing Cross Road, Hugh Whitemore’s adaptation of Helene Hanff’s book in which the New Yorker recorded her 20-year love affair with Marks & Co, a second-hand bookshop in London. It began in 1949 when Britain was still on the ration and ran through until the end of the 1960s. Hanff’s book reads like a cross-cultural epistolary novella, in which the straight- talking Yank (responding to the first letter from London which begins: ‘Dear Madam’, she comments: ‘I hope Madam doesn’t mean over there what it does over here’), eventually extracts the inner warmth from the more reserved and correct Brits.

For people familiar with the book, there must have been considerable pleasure in seeing how faithfully it was represented on screen. Its brevity spared Whitemore too many tough decisions about which scenes might be most expendable to fit the 75-minute Play for Today format. The production’s charm and lack of dramatic tension won over reviewer David Pryce-Jones who commented that 84, Charing Cross Road ‘touched a soft spot’. He added: ‘Its simplicity was immensely appealing…there were no raised voices, no bared breasts.’2

Initially Hanff (Anne Jackson) writes to Frank Doel (Frank Finlay) the shop manager, but eventually other members of the staff and their families are drawn into her warm embrace; middle-aged bachelor and book cataloguer Bill Humphries (George Malpas) writes to thank her for the pleasure the food parcels gave him and the great aunt with whom he lives. Cecily Farr (Ann Penfold) sends details of her young family and a recipe for Yorkshire pudding. ‘The human interest ripples outward as each person takes up the correspondence with Helene Hanff and blossoms,’ wrote Pryce-Jones. ‘Here were a lot of nice, generous ordinary people – the sort who have becomes strangers to TV and stage alike – where the drama of nasty, mean extraordinary people is much preferred.’3

The publicity blurb on the inner sleeve of Hanff’s book describes 84, Charing Cross Road as ‘the record of a love affair between a lady and a shop’.4 It can also be seen as an unrequited love affair between Hanff and Doel, two very different but similarly bookish individuals. There’s great poignancy in the fact that the two chief protagonists never meet. Outrageously large dental bills prevent Hanff from coming to Britain for the Coronation (‘Elizabeth will have to ascend the throne without me…teeth are all I’m going to see crowned’). Sixteen years later she has still not made it across the Atlantic and Doel’s sudden death from peritonitis hits the viewer like a tidal wave in a previously calm sea.

It could all have been a trifle syrupy, but Helen Hanff’s letters and Jackson’s performance ward off any potential schmaltz factor. There’s an occasional testiness on Hanff’s part over Frank’s correctness (it’s three years before he starts addressing his letters to Helene rather than Miss Hanff) and her observations about both writers and the quality of the books themselves are often acerbic: ‘This is not Pepys’ diary, this is some busybody editor’s miserable collection of excerpts from Pepys’ diary’… Richard Burton ‘got knighted for turning Catullus into Victorian hearts-and-flowers’). As Pryce-Jones observed, ‘her letters reveal her personality – witty, caustic, exploring her way though literature with spot-on judgments’. (Pryce-Jones, ‘The return of the nice people’.)) Hanff is also a true bibliophile, who likes the look and feel of old books, enjoys the idea that they have brought pleasure to others, and can be appropriately unsentimental, too; a book for which she has no further use, or doesn’t like, can simply be thrown out or passed on to someone who might appreciate it.

The BBC must have suspected that it was on to a winner with 84, Charing Cross Road, giving it a high profile in that week’s Radio Times. In an article by David Benedictus, Hanff and Jackson were brought together. Jackson admitted that she had been worried about playing a real person for only the second time in her career. Her previous experience of such a role had been as Ethel Rosenberg, the American woman who was executed in 1953 after being found guilty of spying for the Soviet Union, a part she’d called “grave snatching”.5 Jackson spent a lot of time trying to capture Hanff’s walk, which she described as ’schlepping’6 and Hanff pronounced herself highly impressed with the performance, commenting: ‘She managed to make my faults endearing.’7

In common with many Play for Today productions, much of the work was studio bound but the production had an attractive period feel, especially in relation to the vanishing world of London’s second-hand bookshops. One Radio Times reader, Harry Blackmore of Bonchurch, was moved to comment: ‘At least one insignificant and impecunious customer will bear witness to the verisimilitude of the shop’s atmosphere.’8

In fact, the best description of Marks & Co comes from Hanff’s actress friend Maxine (Marcella Markham) who writes to her after going into the shop one lunch-time in 1951 while appearing in a London show. ‘It’s dim inside, you smell the shop before you see it. It’s a lovely smell, I can’t articulate it easily, but it combines must and dust and age, and walls of wood and floors of wood.’ Inevitably, perhaps, she thinks that it is ’straight out of Dickens’, whose name Anglophile Americans have difficulty keeping out of any conversation about London. In Ordinary People (1980), when Mary Tyler Moore suggests to Donald Sutherland that they spend Christmas in London, she adds: ‘Wouldn’t that be like something out of Dickens?’9 Hanff’s food parcels to the grateful team at Marks & Co convey something of the flavour of ration-bound post-war Britain. Doel tells Hanff that George Martin, a senior staff member, has died. His further observation that the death of George VI contributes to their being ‘rather a mournful crowd at the moment’ hints at a world of deference that had yet to be swept away.

But 84, Charing Cross Road also includes sharp insights into American life. The inclusion of a scene showing Hanff in the television studio, where her adaptations of Ellery Queen are being created, provides a colourful picture of the early days of modern, consumer-driven America: ‘Did I tell you that we’re not allowed to use a lipstick-stained cigarette for a clue? We’re sponsored by the Baruka Cigar company and we’re not allowed to use the word cigarette.’10

Director Mark Cullingham conveys the passing of time economically with the insertion of news reels. Major events of the two decades during which Hanff writes are paraded across our screen (accompanied by appropriate choices of popular music) from the Berlin airlift, to Eisenhower’s first election victory, the Coronation, the arrival of The Beatles in the US and the assassination of John F Kennedy.

Many people will be familiar with 84, Charing Cross Road through the glossier 1986 cinema version, directed by David Jones. Whitemore was, once again, the writer and, apart from the production values, it’s much in the same vein stylistically and in tone as the original BBC drama. As in the later film version, Hanff directly addresses the camera when reading extracts from her letters to Doel. The rather quaint comment in Halliwell’s Film Guide (‘pleasant picturization of a now famous book which had already been on seen on TV and stage’)11 reflects the similarity of the two adaptations.

Perhaps the most significant difference lies in the performance of the two actors playing Doel: Anthony Hopkins appears to be higher up the social scale than Frank Finlay. Hopkins is almost neutral, while Finlay’s curious Brummie/Cockney hybrid is probably closer to the lower middle-class autodidact who wrote to Hanff. In both TV and cinema version of 84, Charing Cross Road, Frank’s Irish wife, Nora (Kate Binchy and Judi Dench respectively) emphasises how learned he is, although Finlay occasionally sounds – and looks with his funny little moustache – as if he’s more likely to offer you a low-mileage Morris Minor than a nice copy of Hazlitt’s essays. Or to sell Arthur Dent an old Ford Prefect.

But his fundamental decency is central to the play’s appeal. As Nora Doel writes to Hanff after her husband’s death: ‘Although Frank was never a wealthy or powerful man, he was a happy and contented one.’12

This essay first appeared on our Play for Today mini-site in October 2009; transferred to our main British Television Drama website in November 2010.

1. Douglas Adams, Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, BBC Radio 4, 1979.
2. David Pryce Jones, ‘The return of the nice people’, The Listener, 13 November 1975, p. 650.
3. Ibid.
4. Helene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road (Andre Deutsch, 1971).
5. David Benedictus, ‘All change at Charing Cross’, Radio Times, 1-7 November 1975, p. 10.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Letters page, Radio Times, 22-28 November 1975, p. 71.
9. Ordinary People (1980), dir. Robert Redford.
10. I have not yet seen the script, so am guessing the spelling of the cigar company. This name is changed from the book, which uses the real-life Bayuk Cigars.
11. John Walker (ed), Halliwell’s Film Guide (London: Harper Collins, 2004).
12. After Doel’s death in December 1968 and after the book was published in 1970, Hanff finally visited London – and the bookshop, by now empty – in 1971. The visit is featured in the film version.

1.01GB | 1h 13m | 750×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/F654752EF50821A/Play_for_Today_S06E04_84,_Charing_Cross_Road__576p__(4_Nov_1975)__WebRip_x264_.mkv
or
https://fikper.com/NaEFOLrVtm/Play_for_Today_S06E04_84,_Charing_Cross_Road_[576p]_(4_Nov_1975)_[WebRip_x264].mkv.html

Language:English
Subtitles:None

The post Mark Cullingham – Play for Today: 84, Charing Cross Road (1975) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

In 1940s Venice, after twenty years of marriage, a Professor and his younger wife witness the passion wane. Now, all that remains is to confess the rousing thoughts to an elaborate diary hoping to break free from ties and inhibitions.

Letterboxd review
★★★½ Watched by Slig001 03 Aug 2021

Tinto Brass is probably best known for exploitation films such as Caligula and Salon Kitty, but he also made some softcore erotic films, and The Key is the first of them. The film is based on a story by Junichirō Tanizaki and depicts a four way love affair, here set in 1940 fascist Italy, just before the outbreak of World War 2. The film has some humour and absurdity to it; but it’s actually a quality film; very well made and with things to say about sex and relationships. It’s a Tinto Brass film though, so there’s plenty of nudity too. Much of it focuses on the amazingly beautiful Stefania Sandrelli, who is very well cast in the lead role. She has just the right assets for the part. The Key is very slowly paced but there’s plenty to keep the interest up – by far the most bizarre moment is a foreplay scene involving horse noises! The film seems to be something of a celebration of sex and the importance of enjoying your life, which are messages I can get behind. The Key is definitely a better film than its reputation would suggest, anyway.

2.91GB | 1h 50m | 1024×574 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/0CFE6F21CCCEB05/La.chiave.AKA.The.Key.1983.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):Italian,English
Subtitles:English

The post Tinto Brass – La chiave AKA The Key (1983) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

PLOT:In the Victorian period, Ebenezer Scrooge is a cynical old man whose greatest concern is money, and who regards compassion as a luxury he cannot afford. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his former business partner, who arranges for Scrooge to be visited by three spirits in an attempt to show him the errors of his ways — the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. The spirits force Scrooge to examine the failings of his own life, as well as the bravery and optimism of his loyal but ill-treated employee Bob Cratchit. Scrooge reforms, learning to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in his heart, ultimately becoming a well-loved and respected man.

2.37GB | 1h 41m | 774×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/19EE4F9DB13F019/A.Christmas.Carol.1984.576p.BluRay.AC3.x264.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English, Chinese (cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, Spanish (Latin American), Spanish (Castilian),

The post Clive Donner – A Christmas Carol (1984) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
Ginley (Albert Finney) is a nightclub bingo caller eager for a career change. On his thirty-first birthday, he advertises himself as a private eye in the newspaper. He dons a trench coat, and begins engaging others in rapid-fire dialogue as if he were Humphrey Bogart, or some Dashiell Hammett creation. Soon after, Ginley is phoned by a fat man, who gives him a package containing a gun, a photograph, and a large sum of money. Eventually Ginley is investigating a case involving smuggling of weapons as well as drugs. Ginley also finds himself at odds with his unsupportive brother, who offers Ginley payment to break off his investigations. Eventually Ginley learns of his brother-in-law’s involvement in the crimes at hand. Ginley faces a series of daunting tasks: solving the crimes, bringing justice to the smugglers (and a murderer), as well as maintaining his safety and sanity in the process.

2.19GB | 1h 25mn | 960×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/4265B5CD55EEF17/Gumshoe.1971.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English (muxed)

The post Stephen Frears – Gumshoe (1971) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

R E V I E W B Y D E R E K H I L L
Director Tinto Brass is a man of big passions. His films — excluding Caligula (1980), which doesn’t really fit into his overall body of work — are filled with curvaceous women who are uninhibited and bold enough to freely express their healthy appetites for sex. Brass’ camera lovingly (and intrusively) explores the many facets of a woman’s beauty, be it physical or psychological. Brass also isn’t shy about what he likes most about a woman’s body, either — her ample backside. The bigger the better.
Although Brass would probably chuckle at the idea that his films have a strong feminist slant, Brass’ female leads are strong, independent, and almost heroic in their quests to become emancipated from their roles as housewives, concubines, or mothers. Less cartoonish than his American counterpart Russ Meyer’s heroines, Brass’ ladies actually exude a real humanity with their sensuality.

As mentioned above, Brass’ camera can be intrusive. His lens probes in and around his leads’ genitalia or backside with the finesse of an amateur gynecologist, but sometimes, as in LA CHIAVE(The Key), Brass’ imposition never once comes across as clinical or puerile. The camera may still be mischievous, but its forthrightness could also be seen as an instrument to explore the mysteries of femininity itself. If Brass (and the viewer as well) stares long enough, perhaps he’ll come a little closer to understanding the currents that truly move women. Or perhaps not.
Unlike many mainstream filmmakers who have dabbled in erotica over the last few decades (e.g. Bertolucci, Cronenberg, Kaufman, and Verhoeven) or recent art-house films that contained explicit sexuality (e.g. Baise Moi, The Idiots, The Piano Teacher, Pola X), Brass’ films are genuinely erotic and void of any kind of existential dread, violence, or moralistic endings wherein characters have to be punished for their allotted two-hours of cinematic carnality. Brass leans more toward Henry Miller than de Sade. Granted, working in Italy in the seventies and eighties allowed for greater creative freedom for Brass. But his films were nevertheless brutally shorn of their “nasty” bits when exported to other countries and frequently banned in Italy also. It seems that many people believe that erotica is only okay if it’s not erotic at all.
Based upon a novel by Japanese writer, Junichiro Tanizaki, and set in Venice during Mussolini’s fascist reign, the film centers on the relationship between an older man, Nino (played by Frank Finlay), and his much younger wife, Teresa (played by the stunning Stefania Sandrelli). Nino can’t help but notice that his wife is sexually attracted to their daughter’s fiancée (played by Brass regular Franco Branciaroli). What shocks Nino isn’t the fact that he’s jealous, but that he likes being jealous. Nino’s jealously quickly becomes the catalyst for an elaborate sex game between he and Teresa, but at what cost?
The Key is a rich film in many ways. From its elegantly low-budget period set-design to its whimsical Ennio Morricone score, it has obviously been put together with care and attention. But its greatness stems from its skillfully realized portrait of the sexual life keeping Nino and Teresa’s marriage alive. Brass’ characters are complicated, occasionally messy, and charged with enough lust to sap even the strongest of relationships, and Brass allows his characters room to explore, make mistakes, and ultimately celebrate the intricacies of their intimacy. A classic of erotic film indeed.

http://www.nitroflare.com/view/3F420DD4809C51C/La-chiave.Director.avi

Eng srt:
http://titles.box3.net/index.php?pid=subt2&p=i&rid=224363
spanish srt:
http://titles.box3.net/index.php?pid=subt2&p=i&rid=224364
no pass

The post Tinto Brass – La chiave aka The key (1983) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Plot Synopsis: A brilliant pianist, a Polish Jew, witnesses the restrictions Nazis place on Jews in the Polish capital, from restricted access to the building of the Warsaw ghetto. As his family is rounded up to be shipped off to the Nazi labor camps, he escapes deportation and eludes capture by living in the ruins of Warsaw.

Quote:

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps, and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist steadfastly maintains its protagonist’s singular point of view, allowing Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing a direct parallel between Szpilman’s tenacious, primitive existence and the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler’s List, it’s one of the greatest films ever made about humanity’s darkest chapter.

	
The Pianist.2002.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 28 min
Size: 	3.58 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x576 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.212
Audio
#1:  	English 5.1ch AC-3 @ 448 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/FA8DACE0CD331D9/The_Pianist.2002.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

Language(s):English, German, Russian
Subtitles:English

The post Roman Polanski – The Pianist (2002) first appeared on Cinema of the World.