There’s an old saying, often attributed to Harold Wilson, that “a week is a long time in politics”. It speaks to how much can change in just a few short days. Well, the third episode of House of the Dragon– titled “Second of His Name” – goes one step further. The week viewers have waited since that pact was struck between Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) has brought proceedings forward a full three years. Now, Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Alicent (Emily Carey) are happily married with a young son, Aegon, and another nipper on the way. A week truly is a long time.
Three years later…
Since we left them bartering over a backroom deal, Daemon and the Sea Snake have waged full-on war in the Stepstones against the so-called “Crab Feeder”, Craghas Drahar. The fact that the crabs are getting fat on the flesh of...
Three years later…
Since we left them bartering over a backroom deal, Daemon and the Sea Snake have waged full-on war in the Stepstones against the so-called “Crab Feeder”, Craghas Drahar. The fact that the crabs are getting fat on the flesh of...
- 9/5/2022
- by Nick Hilton
- The Independent - TV
Joining Helen Mirren as The Queen in the world premiere of The Audience are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill, Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown, Paul Ritter as John Major and Rufus Wright as David Cameron. The Equerry is Geoffrey Beevers and the role of Young Elizabeth will be played by Bebe Cave, Maya Gerber and Nell Williams.
- 2/15/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Joining Helen Mirren as The Queen in this world premiere are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill, Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown, Paul Ritter as John Major and Rufus Wright as David Cameron. The Equerry is Geoffrey Beevers and the role of Young Elizabeth will be played by Bebe Cave, Maya Gerber and Nell Williams.
- 2/14/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Comedian Rory Bremner has claimed that there is a "serious problem" with the lack of political satire on British TV. The impressionist, who appeared on Channel 4 politics series Bremner, Bird and Fortune between 1999 and 2010, claimed that the lack of an engaging politics show and the apathy from the public towards politicians was worrying and "a great shame". "I think there is seriously a problem with satire at the moment. There is a problem because the link between people and politicians has eroded after the expenses scandal and lots of other things," Bremner told Digital Spy. "First there was That Was The Week That Was, then we had Mike Yarwood doing Ted Heath and Harold Wilson impressions, then there was Spitting Image and then there was our show Bremner, Bird and Fortune. "But the point about those (more)...
- 1/8/2013
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Warning: Significant spoilers follow!
Big Finish Productions can never, ever be faulted for a lack of ambition. They took the characters of Jago and Litefoot and made them into a, so far, five season audio series. They look Davros and created a backstory for him. They have several seasons of stories about wars against the Daleks and Cybermen. They even have an ongoing series of stories about political machinations on Gallifrey.
But “Counter-Measures”, their newest series, is perhaps the most ambitious. It follows the story of the Counter-Measures Group, a military organization created in the wake of a Dalek incursion on Earth in 1963; essentially a proto-unit. The origins for this group and their stories happened in the 1988 Doctor Who episode “Remembrance of the Daleks”, where we met Group Captain Gilmore (Simon Williams), Doctor Rachel Jensen (Pamela Salem), and Doctor Allison Williams (Karen Gledhill).
While I personally liked the characters,...
Warning: Significant spoilers follow!
Big Finish Productions can never, ever be faulted for a lack of ambition. They took the characters of Jago and Litefoot and made them into a, so far, five season audio series. They look Davros and created a backstory for him. They have several seasons of stories about wars against the Daleks and Cybermen. They even have an ongoing series of stories about political machinations on Gallifrey.
But “Counter-Measures”, their newest series, is perhaps the most ambitious. It follows the story of the Counter-Measures Group, a military organization created in the wake of a Dalek incursion on Earth in 1963; essentially a proto-unit. The origins for this group and their stories happened in the 1988 Doctor Who episode “Remembrance of the Daleks”, where we met Group Captain Gilmore (Simon Williams), Doctor Rachel Jensen (Pamela Salem), and Doctor Allison Williams (Karen Gledhill).
While I personally liked the characters,...
- 7/20/2012
- by Chris Swanson
- Obsessed with Film
A couple of months ago I wrote about the British artist Edward Bawden and his posters for Ealing Studios. The other day I stumbled upon this evocative and quite unusual poster for the 1947 Ealing noir It Always Rains on Sunday. Though I know the film I’d never seen the poster before and it started me looking into the story of its artist, one James Boswell. Like Bawden, Boswell not only did a handful of posters for Ealing but he also was stationed in Iraq during World War Two and produced a significant body of work from his time there. Whereas Bawden was an official war artist, however, Boswell, because of his famously left-wing sympathies and anti-war philosophy, was not. In fact, a book of his Iraq and other wartime paintings is called James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist.
Born in New Zealand in 1906, Boswell came to Britain to study painting...
Born in New Zealand in 1906, Boswell came to Britain to study painting...
- 1/28/2012
- MUBI
It is absurd to imply, as David Cameron has, that hearty commercial films are starved of cash by arthouse conspirators
They say that in politics, if you're in a hole, you should stop digging. And yet there's something about the subject of British cinema that gets the prime minister repeatedly reaching for his spade. Perhaps it's something to do with Meryl Streep's Maggie gazing down from every bus, and maybe that film's sentimentalisation of a Tory leader has emboldened David Cameron to believe this is solid ground for him. He will keep on making these eye-catching and brazen announcements about British film – a topic on which, as Clement Attlee once said to Harold Laski, a period of silence on his part would be most welcome.
On Radio 4's Today programme, Evan Davis cheekily asked him to comment on a listener's view that in a Cameron biopic, Malcolm McDowell should...
They say that in politics, if you're in a hole, you should stop digging. And yet there's something about the subject of British cinema that gets the prime minister repeatedly reaching for his spade. Perhaps it's something to do with Meryl Streep's Maggie gazing down from every bus, and maybe that film's sentimentalisation of a Tory leader has emboldened David Cameron to believe this is solid ground for him. He will keep on making these eye-catching and brazen announcements about British film – a topic on which, as Clement Attlee once said to Harold Laski, a period of silence on his part would be most welcome.
On Radio 4's Today programme, Evan Davis cheekily asked him to comment on a listener's view that in a Cameron biopic, Malcolm McDowell should...
- 1/12/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Ten of the brightest and best tell their stories – from the first novel optioned at 26 to being head-hunted by Donatella Versace at 24
Lucy Prebble, playwright, 30
Prebble is the creator of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. Her latest play, Enron, transferred to the West End and Broadway in 2010.
When we were auditioning actors for Enron, they'd talk to the director, not to me, and it occurred to me they thought I was a secretary taking notes. Then one said, "Who's the writer?" and the director said, "She is." This guy just looked at me and went, "You wrote this? Ok..." and nodded. It was beautiful because I felt like he was giving me a lot of respect.
I've always written – diaries, terrible poetry when I was younger, that sort of thing – but I didn't think about showing anyone until I was at university. I fell in with a group of...
Lucy Prebble, playwright, 30
Prebble is the creator of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. Her latest play, Enron, transferred to the West End and Broadway in 2010.
When we were auditioning actors for Enron, they'd talk to the director, not to me, and it occurred to me they thought I was a secretary taking notes. Then one said, "Who's the writer?" and the director said, "She is." This guy just looked at me and went, "You wrote this? Ok..." and nodded. It was beautiful because I felt like he was giving me a lot of respect.
I've always written – diaries, terrible poetry when I was younger, that sort of thing – but I didn't think about showing anyone until I was at university. I fell in with a group of...
- 12/10/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-maker Martha Fiennes's new work, Nativity, has a soundtrack composed by her brother Magnus. They talk about their bohemian upbringing as two of six siblings and the unusual creative bond they share
'I actually think Magnus is a genius," says Martha Fiennes, of her younger brother. "I really do, I've said it to other people and they've said 'Yeah, I think he is'. I'm chucking stuff out barely finished, but Magnus is picking up on it; I think he tunes into a frequency. What Magnus has done is so completely brilliant. Handel wrote The Messiah in 12 days, I understand, and Magnus has done exactly the same."
She is talking about the soundtrack that Magnus has created for her first digital installation, Nativity, on display for the Christmas season in a specially constructed chalet in Covent Garden piazza, in London. In fact, Handel is thought to have spent 24 days on his oratorio,...
'I actually think Magnus is a genius," says Martha Fiennes, of her younger brother. "I really do, I've said it to other people and they've said 'Yeah, I think he is'. I'm chucking stuff out barely finished, but Magnus is picking up on it; I think he tunes into a frequency. What Magnus has done is so completely brilliant. Handel wrote The Messiah in 12 days, I understand, and Magnus has done exactly the same."
She is talking about the soundtrack that Magnus has created for her first digital installation, Nativity, on display for the Christmas season in a specially constructed chalet in Covent Garden piazza, in London. In fact, Handel is thought to have spent 24 days on his oratorio,...
- 12/3/2011
- by Susanna Rustin
- The Guardian - Film News
Director who found success across film, TV and advertising
Paul Dickson, who has died aged 91, had a long, versatile and award-winning career in film, television and advertising. His critical reputation rests on two remarkable postwar documentaries, The Undefeated (1950) and David (1951, the Welsh contribution to the Festival of Britain). Episodes of The Avengers (1968) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in 1969 were among his best-known television credits.
Dickson first attracted notice with The Undefeated, a film about the difficulties faced by injured wartime combatants who were patients at rehabilitation centres in Roehampton, Stoke Mandeville and elsewhere, as they adjusted to life in the postwar world. A calculated but moving attempt to destigmatise state help for disabled people, the film quickly became a critical success after opening at the Edinburgh film festival. A recruitment drive for the Korean war appeared to curtail its wider circulation, but it was awarded best documentary by the British...
Paul Dickson, who has died aged 91, had a long, versatile and award-winning career in film, television and advertising. His critical reputation rests on two remarkable postwar documentaries, The Undefeated (1950) and David (1951, the Welsh contribution to the Festival of Britain). Episodes of The Avengers (1968) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in 1969 were among his best-known television credits.
Dickson first attracted notice with The Undefeated, a film about the difficulties faced by injured wartime combatants who were patients at rehabilitation centres in Roehampton, Stoke Mandeville and elsewhere, as they adjusted to life in the postwar world. A calculated but moving attempt to destigmatise state help for disabled people, the film quickly became a critical success after opening at the Edinburgh film festival. A recruitment drive for the Korean war appeared to curtail its wider circulation, but it was awarded best documentary by the British...
- 11/9/2011
- by Scott Anthony
- The Guardian - Film News
This gripping thriller, part of the BFI's Bogarde retrospective, daringly smashed through 1961's homosexual taboos, but has weathered best as a study of blackmail and paranoia
As part of a retrospective season dedicated to that utterly unique English actor Dirk Bogarde, BFI Southbank is this week screening his 1961 film Victim. Bogarde stars as Melville Farr, a brilliant, upwardly mobile barrister with a dark past: he's an in-the-closet gay man who risks exposure (in the days when it was illegal) by taking on a homosexual blackmail ring. It was co-written by Janet Green – a thriller/whodunnit specialist who counted Midnight Lace among her credits – and directed by Basil Dearden.
What a gripping film – melodramatic and self-conscious, yes, but forthright and bold. Its tendency to show homosexuality as a tragic, pitiable quirk of nature may now look like condescension, but for the time this was real risk-taking. It has some of the...
As part of a retrospective season dedicated to that utterly unique English actor Dirk Bogarde, BFI Southbank is this week screening his 1961 film Victim. Bogarde stars as Melville Farr, a brilliant, upwardly mobile barrister with a dark past: he's an in-the-closet gay man who risks exposure (in the days when it was illegal) by taking on a homosexual blackmail ring. It was co-written by Janet Green – a thriller/whodunnit specialist who counted Midnight Lace among her credits – and directed by Basil Dearden.
What a gripping film – melodramatic and self-conscious, yes, but forthright and bold. Its tendency to show homosexuality as a tragic, pitiable quirk of nature may now look like condescension, but for the time this was real risk-taking. It has some of the...
- 8/8/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
From stage-door duties for the RSC, to the village famous for Straw Dogs, Observer writers reveal their idea of a perfect summer, past and present
● What are your tips for summer culture? Join the discussion
Kitty Empire
Pop critic
Let's be honest – the notion of summer as an extended golden period of rest and re-stimulation really now only applies to the young, the retired, or those in the teaching professions. The rest of us slog on, hoping to catch the odd festival (or maybe just gig in a park), marking time until camping in Cornwall or fly-drive to France, where finally luxuriating in the latest Alan Hollinghurst will come a distant second to stopping the youngest weeing in the hotel pool.
Once, though, I was artfully feckless too, making the rent by working as an usher for the Royal Shakespeare Company. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the...
● What are your tips for summer culture? Join the discussion
Kitty Empire
Pop critic
Let's be honest – the notion of summer as an extended golden period of rest and re-stimulation really now only applies to the young, the retired, or those in the teaching professions. The rest of us slog on, hoping to catch the odd festival (or maybe just gig in a park), marking time until camping in Cornwall or fly-drive to France, where finally luxuriating in the latest Alan Hollinghurst will come a distant second to stopping the youngest weeing in the hotel pool.
Once, though, I was artfully feckless too, making the rent by working as an usher for the Royal Shakespeare Company. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the...
- 8/1/2011
- by Kitty Empire, Mark Kermode, Rowan Moore, Philip French, Susannah Clapp, Laura Cumming, Luke Jennings, Fiona Maddocks, Rachel Cooke, Robert McCrum
- The Guardian - Film News
TV and film make-up artist with a gift for applying prosthetics
The television and film make-up artist Jane Royle, who has died aged 78, was admired by fellow professionals for her all-round ability to bring a look to the screen that was as important as that contributed by the director of photography or production designer. She could go from ensuring Izabella Scorupco looked stunningly beautiful as a Bond girl in GoldenEye (1995) to making actors appear hideous, old, scarred, bruised, bearded or bald. Royle particularly enjoyed applying prosthetics – to which she referred as "the stickies".
For the 1979 Sherlock Holmes film Murder By Decree, she simulated the wrenched-out innards of prostitutes killed by Jack the Ripper. One of her most memorable transformations was the complete prosthetic makeover – wrinkled face, bulbous nose, pointy ears and flowing hair and whiskers – she gave Billy Barty for his cowardly dwarf character, Screwball, in the fantasy film Legend (1985).
Later,...
The television and film make-up artist Jane Royle, who has died aged 78, was admired by fellow professionals for her all-round ability to bring a look to the screen that was as important as that contributed by the director of photography or production designer. She could go from ensuring Izabella Scorupco looked stunningly beautiful as a Bond girl in GoldenEye (1995) to making actors appear hideous, old, scarred, bruised, bearded or bald. Royle particularly enjoyed applying prosthetics – to which she referred as "the stickies".
For the 1979 Sherlock Holmes film Murder By Decree, she simulated the wrenched-out innards of prostitutes killed by Jack the Ripper. One of her most memorable transformations was the complete prosthetic makeover – wrinkled face, bulbous nose, pointy ears and flowing hair and whiskers – she gave Billy Barty for his cowardly dwarf character, Screwball, in the fantasy film Legend (1985).
Later,...
- 3/8/2011
- by Anthony Hayward
- The Guardian - Film News
It's 40 years since Get Carter hit British cinemas. The Guardian goes to meet the man in charge of the birthday celebrations
It's not even midday, and already my head is filled with stuff both unpleasant and grimly compelling: murder, violence, organised crime, the lower-grade parts of the sex industry, you name it. Having already visited pubs, houses, and the ruins of industrial installations, we've just called in at a cemetery; the next stop is a riverside location that will bring back memories of a reckless shoot-out.
This is a dry run for a guided tour conceived to mark the 40th birthday of Mike Hodges's Get Carter, the brilliant British film that set Michael Caine – in the role of Jack Carter – loose around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and beyond. My host is Chris Phipps, a film-maker and former producer on the Newcastle-located TV music show The Tube, who is an illuminating authority...
It's not even midday, and already my head is filled with stuff both unpleasant and grimly compelling: murder, violence, organised crime, the lower-grade parts of the sex industry, you name it. Having already visited pubs, houses, and the ruins of industrial installations, we've just called in at a cemetery; the next stop is a riverside location that will bring back memories of a reckless shoot-out.
This is a dry run for a guided tour conceived to mark the 40th birthday of Mike Hodges's Get Carter, the brilliant British film that set Michael Caine – in the role of Jack Carter – loose around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and beyond. My host is Chris Phipps, a film-maker and former producer on the Newcastle-located TV music show The Tube, who is an illuminating authority...
- 3/4/2011
- by John Harris
- The Guardian - Film News
2010 British film titled Made In Dagenham and directed by Nigel Cole is definitely something that deserves our full attention.
If you’re asking why – then let me remind you that the movie was nominated for four awards at the 2010 British Academy Film Awards and at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival premiere, the movie was described as “combination of Milk and Mad Men.” Sounds good?
So, when we’re here at the beginning, let’s take a look at the above mentioned nominations. Here are categories: Outstanding British Film, Costume Design, Make Up & Hair Design and Supporting Actress – Miranda Richardson.
Not bad, but if you ask the actress Rosamund Pike (also stars in the movie) she believes that Made in Dagenham deserved greater recognition.
In an interview with the BBC, Pike said British films were being unfairly overlooked in favour of Hollywood rivals as voters “watch them over Christmas.”
In addition to that,...
If you’re asking why – then let me remind you that the movie was nominated for four awards at the 2010 British Academy Film Awards and at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival premiere, the movie was described as “combination of Milk and Mad Men.” Sounds good?
So, when we’re here at the beginning, let’s take a look at the above mentioned nominations. Here are categories: Outstanding British Film, Costume Design, Make Up & Hair Design and Supporting Actress – Miranda Richardson.
Not bad, but if you ask the actress Rosamund Pike (also stars in the movie) she believes that Made in Dagenham deserved greater recognition.
In an interview with the BBC, Pike said British films were being unfairly overlooked in favour of Hollywood rivals as voters “watch them over Christmas.”
In addition to that,...
- 1/27/2011
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Nigel Cole’s films are both utterly charming and unapologetically transgressive. From his directorial debut, Saving Grace that centered on a retiree-cum-pot dealer, to Calendar Girls, which focused on female senior citizens who pose nude for a fundraising calendar, to Made in Dagenham, a docu-dramedy that follows chipper female machinists in their fight for equal rights, Cole’s films are cheerful and poignant while being challenging and thought-provoking.
His latest, Made in Dagenham, centers on Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) and a group of women machinists, whose fight for equal pay drew national attention, and ultimately changed the world. The film not only tells the tale of these brave blue-collar workers but also connects their struggle to that of an educated but undermined upper middle class housewife, Lisa (Rosamund Pike), and powerful yet patronized politician Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson).
Like his films, Cole is so casually winning that within moments of our introduction,...
His latest, Made in Dagenham, centers on Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) and a group of women machinists, whose fight for equal pay drew national attention, and ultimately changed the world. The film not only tells the tale of these brave blue-collar workers but also connects their struggle to that of an educated but undermined upper middle class housewife, Lisa (Rosamund Pike), and powerful yet patronized politician Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson).
Like his films, Cole is so casually winning that within moments of our introduction,...
- 11/16/2010
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
London, Oct 8 – Rockstar Rod Stewart is preparing to bid adieu to the Us and move back to Britain.
Rod, 65, and pregnant wife Penny Lancaster, 39, consider Britain schools better and are thinking of relocation for their son Alastair, four, and their unborn boy.
Rod left Britain 35 years ago to escape punitive tax levels by Harold Wilson’s Labour government and is only allowed back for a quarter of a year.
However, on ITV1 ‘Life Stories’ show, due to be screened later this year, he said he would return in about five years.
“There will come a time. Penny and I have talked about it and she.
Rod, 65, and pregnant wife Penny Lancaster, 39, consider Britain schools better and are thinking of relocation for their son Alastair, four, and their unborn boy.
Rod left Britain 35 years ago to escape punitive tax levels by Harold Wilson’s Labour government and is only allowed back for a quarter of a year.
However, on ITV1 ‘Life Stories’ show, due to be screened later this year, he said he would return in about five years.
“There will come a time. Penny and I have talked about it and she.
- 10/8/2010
- by realbollywood
- RealBollywood.com
The strike by women at the Dagenham Ford factory in 1968 that led to the Equal Pay Act is given the Calendar Girls treatment
Andrzej Wajda's superb Man of Iron (1981) was shot in the Gdansk shipyards at the very heart of Solidarity's activities, gave Lech Walesa a brief role as himself, and became part of the political process it commented on. It was a rare case of a feature film based on a major episode in the history of organised labour made close to the actual events. More typically, Mario Monicelli's The Organizer (1963) was a bracing reconstruction of a strike in late 19th-century Turin. Bo Widerberg's Adalen 31 (1969) lyrically recreated the violent strike in northern Sweden that ushered in 40 years of Social Democratic government.
There was an even greater gap in the case of Comrades (1986), Bill Douglas's epic account of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Dorset labourers transported...
Andrzej Wajda's superb Man of Iron (1981) was shot in the Gdansk shipyards at the very heart of Solidarity's activities, gave Lech Walesa a brief role as himself, and became part of the political process it commented on. It was a rare case of a feature film based on a major episode in the history of organised labour made close to the actual events. More typically, Mario Monicelli's The Organizer (1963) was a bracing reconstruction of a strike in late 19th-century Turin. Bo Widerberg's Adalen 31 (1969) lyrically recreated the violent strike in northern Sweden that ushered in 40 years of Social Democratic government.
There was an even greater gap in the case of Comrades (1986), Bill Douglas's epic account of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Dorset labourers transported...
- 10/2/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
It may have had a little too much of the grimness removed, but this sweet-natured film about a 1968 strike for equal pay is a properly feelgood film, says Peter Bradshaw
There could hardly be anything more exotic and unfamiliar in mainstream commercial cinema than the story of a successful strike. But this is what screenwriter Billy Ivory and director Nigel Cole give us with their broad, primary-coloured, good-humoured comedy – almost, but not exactly, a shopfloor version of Calendar Girls (2003), also directed by Cole, the film about the Wi women who posed nude to raise money for charity. Made in Dagenham is based on the Ford women car workers' strike of 1968, in which female staff sewing seat covers for Cortinas and Zephyrs went on strike for the same wage as the men. This commanded headlines, galvanised the political debate, and indirectly led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
It stars Sally Hawkins as Rita,...
There could hardly be anything more exotic and unfamiliar in mainstream commercial cinema than the story of a successful strike. But this is what screenwriter Billy Ivory and director Nigel Cole give us with their broad, primary-coloured, good-humoured comedy – almost, but not exactly, a shopfloor version of Calendar Girls (2003), also directed by Cole, the film about the Wi women who posed nude to raise money for charity. Made in Dagenham is based on the Ford women car workers' strike of 1968, in which female staff sewing seat covers for Cortinas and Zephyrs went on strike for the same wage as the men. This commanded headlines, galvanised the political debate, and indirectly led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
It stars Sally Hawkins as Rita,...
- 9/30/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
An array of acting talent is wasted on a film that raised hopes of a new Full Monty but is mired in cheapness and banality
High hopes heralded the Toronto premiere of Made in Dagenham. This was to be the fiery but feelgood tale of a band of female workers who triumph over their own exploitation and go on to win new rights for womankind. It was all rooted in fact. Could this be one of those rare breakthrough Britflicks that enchant the world with their grittily wry realism, like The Full Monty or Billy Elliot?
The film portrays the machinists responsible for sewing Ford seat-covers who went on strike in 1968 when their exacting task was reclassified as unskilled. Their struggle became a national cause celebre and paved the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
Veteran producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen decided to create fictional figures rather than depict the actual individuals involved.
High hopes heralded the Toronto premiere of Made in Dagenham. This was to be the fiery but feelgood tale of a band of female workers who triumph over their own exploitation and go on to win new rights for womankind. It was all rooted in fact. Could this be one of those rare breakthrough Britflicks that enchant the world with their grittily wry realism, like The Full Monty or Billy Elliot?
The film portrays the machinists responsible for sewing Ford seat-covers who went on strike in 1968 when their exacting task was reclassified as unskilled. Their struggle became a national cause celebre and paved the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
Veteran producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen decided to create fictional figures rather than depict the actual individuals involved.
- 9/13/2010
- by David Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
The 25-year-old writer-director Barney Platts-Mills made his promising debut with Bronco Bullfrog in 1969 at a time when British cinema, having abandoned realism for the seductive tinsel of Swinging London, was thrashing around in the doldrums following the withdrawal of American finance. Only Ken Loach with Kes and Platts-Mills with Bronco Bullfrog seemed to be looking at Harold Wilson's Britain and the dead-end lives of its teenagers.
Platts-Mills's low-budget, independent monochrome movie arose out of a project for East End kids at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was semi-improvised by non-professional performers. At the centre is the 17-year-old apprentice welder Del, who disrupts the monotony of life with petty theft and fighting and hero-worships the eponymous borstal fugitive (Sam Shepherd). Just as he plans a railyard robbery with Bronco, he enters into a touching relationship with the 15-year-old Irene, whose father is serving time for armed robbery. Her mother...
Platts-Mills's low-budget, independent monochrome movie arose out of a project for East End kids at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was semi-improvised by non-professional performers. At the centre is the 17-year-old apprentice welder Del, who disrupts the monotony of life with petty theft and fighting and hero-worships the eponymous borstal fugitive (Sam Shepherd). Just as he plans a railyard robbery with Bronco, he enters into a touching relationship with the 15-year-old Irene, whose father is serving time for armed robbery. Her mother...
- 6/12/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Sony Pictures Classics have pre-emptively picked up the rights to Made in Dagenham, Nigel Cole's foray into the women's movement in the heyday of 1968 - a Norma Rae or North Country type project. Formerly going by the more poignant, catchier title of We Want Sex, the project is destined for multiple film festival appearances and a release in the Fall, but most likely Spc will wait until Cannes buying is completed before attaching a date to the progressive, fact-based story. - Sony Pictures Classics have pre-emptively picked up the rights to Made in Dagenham, Nigel Cole's foray into the women's movement in the heyday of 1968 - a Norma Rae or North Country type project. Formerly going by the more poignant, catchier title of We Want Sex, the project is destined for multiple film festival appearances and a release in the Fall, but most likely Spc will wait until...
- 4/14/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Celebrated author and playwright Keith Waterhouse has died at his home in London.
The Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell writer passed away in his sleep on Friday morning. He was 80.
His death comes after a short undisclosed illness.
Born in Leeds, England, Waterhouse started his career as a clerk in an undertaker's office, which inspired his first bestseller and play, Billy Liar.
He served in the Royal Air Force and then signed on as a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper.
He became a Daily Mirror journalist in the early 1950s and his literary skills were so renowned he frequently wrote speeches for top politicians like Harold Wilson.
He wrote his first novel, There Is A Happy Land, in 1956 and went on to create one of the West End's favourite shows Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based on his friend Bernard's weekly Low Life columns in the Spectator magazine.
Waterhouse and Bernard also co-scripted two beloved British films, Whistle Down The Wind and A Kind Of Loving.
He was nominated for the Best British Screenplay BAFTA three years running in the early 1960s.
The Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell writer passed away in his sleep on Friday morning. He was 80.
His death comes after a short undisclosed illness.
Born in Leeds, England, Waterhouse started his career as a clerk in an undertaker's office, which inspired his first bestseller and play, Billy Liar.
He served in the Royal Air Force and then signed on as a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper.
He became a Daily Mirror journalist in the early 1950s and his literary skills were so renowned he frequently wrote speeches for top politicians like Harold Wilson.
He wrote his first novel, There Is A Happy Land, in 1956 and went on to create one of the West End's favourite shows Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based on his friend Bernard's weekly Low Life columns in the Spectator magazine.
Waterhouse and Bernard also co-scripted two beloved British films, Whistle Down The Wind and A Kind Of Loving.
He was nominated for the Best British Screenplay BAFTA three years running in the early 1960s.
- 9/4/2009
- WENN
Once again I bring you the best round-up of all the movie updates announced in this past week's trade reports. Why read a Ton of articles when you can read just one? This week we get new cast members added to films such as Law Abiding Citizen and Carmel. An unlikely trio may team up for a DreamWorks Animated feature. John Carpenter returns to the director's chair with Amber Heard who will also join Johnny Depp in Rum Diary. Jennifer Lopez may be in another movie and that Judy Garland biopic may be quite good. Oh, and Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman are teaming for a new film and check out the casting on Mary, Mother of Christ, that could potentially be a decent little flick. Check out the full list and links are available if the film is in the database already. Enjoy! Title: Law Abiding Citizen
Studio: Overture...
Studio: Overture...
- 2/6/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
British actress Sally Hawkins has signed on to star in "We Want Sex."
Written by Billy Ivory and directed by Simon Curtis, the flick focuses on the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant.
More than 800 women protested "against sexual discrimination in their job performance evaluations," according to Variety.
Resulting from the strike was a significant advancement in the women's rights movement, as well as equal pay for working women.
The trade also says Imelda Staunton is in talks to play Barbara Castle, employment secretary for Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Castle invited the strike committee to tea.
The title, which sounds indeed a bit provocative, is a reference to a protest banner that read "We Want Sex Equality."
Hawkins recently won a Golden Globe for her performance in "Happy-Go-Lucky." She also starred in "Cassandra's Dream."...
Written by Billy Ivory and directed by Simon Curtis, the flick focuses on the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant.
More than 800 women protested "against sexual discrimination in their job performance evaluations," according to Variety.
Resulting from the strike was a significant advancement in the women's rights movement, as well as equal pay for working women.
The trade also says Imelda Staunton is in talks to play Barbara Castle, employment secretary for Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Castle invited the strike committee to tea.
The title, which sounds indeed a bit provocative, is a reference to a protest banner that read "We Want Sex Equality."
Hawkins recently won a Golden Globe for her performance in "Happy-Go-Lucky." She also starred in "Cassandra's Dream."...
- 2/6/2009
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
Sally Hawkins ( Happy-Go-Lucky ) will star in We Want Sex , reports Variety . The project is about the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant when 850 female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination in their job performance evaluations. Their actions gave a huge boost to the women's rights movement in the country and helped bring about equal pay for women in the workplace. During the protest, the strike committee was invited to tea by Barbara Castle, employment secretary in then-prime minister Harold Wilson's Labour government. It was during that meeting that the strikers raised the issue of equal pay for the first time. Imelda Staunton is in negotiations to play Castle. The title is a reference to a famous banner carried by the women during one...
- 2/4/2009
- Comingsoon.net
Veteran journalist David Frost has called Frost/Nixon 'fiction' because movie chiefs changed some of the key historical facts for entertainment value.
The new Ron Howard-directed film is based on a series of interviews former U.S. President Richard Nixon gave to British TV host Frost in 1977 in which he admitted he may have broken the law in the Watergate scandal.
But Frost was not involved in the new project, which is based on the hit play by Peter Morgan, and fears the movie is telling an altered version of the real story to keep cinema audiences happy
He says, "I voluntarily gave up my rights to editorial control of it. I'm not complaining but it does mean that 10 to 15 per cent of the film is fiction.
"I wasn't just a talkshow host before (Richard Nixon). I'd done British prime ministers - Harold Wilson, Ted Heath - all the U.S. presidential candidates, Robert Kennedy, Ronald Reagan. I think Peter (Morgan) did it this way to make me out to be the underdog - more a showman than a journalist."
Nixon was forced to resign his presidency in 1974 following a series of scandals which rocked the White House and nearly ended in his impeachment.
The new Ron Howard-directed film is based on a series of interviews former U.S. President Richard Nixon gave to British TV host Frost in 1977 in which he admitted he may have broken the law in the Watergate scandal.
But Frost was not involved in the new project, which is based on the hit play by Peter Morgan, and fears the movie is telling an altered version of the real story to keep cinema audiences happy
He says, "I voluntarily gave up my rights to editorial control of it. I'm not complaining but it does mean that 10 to 15 per cent of the film is fiction.
"I wasn't just a talkshow host before (Richard Nixon). I'd done British prime ministers - Harold Wilson, Ted Heath - all the U.S. presidential candidates, Robert Kennedy, Ronald Reagan. I think Peter (Morgan) did it this way to make me out to be the underdog - more a showman than a journalist."
Nixon was forced to resign his presidency in 1974 following a series of scandals which rocked the White House and nearly ended in his impeachment.
- 1/2/2009
- WENN
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