As Alan Williams notes, “Le Corbeau is an essential work for world film history, if only because its meanings are still being debated” (1). Filmed during the Occupation by the German controlled Continental Films Company, whose head likened himself to an Aryan version of Louis B. Mayer, the unit sought to make quality films rather [...]
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Tony Williams
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Tony Williams is Professor and Area Head of Film Studies at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. A frequent contributor to CTEQ Annotations, he also writes for Asian Cinema, and has just edited a collection of interviews with George A. Romero scheduled to appear in August 2011.
Articles by Tony Williams:
Dai yat lai aau him (Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind/Dangerous Encounters – 1st Kind) was the third film directed by Tsui Hark. Following his stylish first feature, Die bian (The Butterfly Murders, 1979) and the grim, allegorical fantasy about Mainland China, Di yu wu men (We’re Going to Eat You, 1980), it represented one [...]
Winner of many awards at national and international film festivals and the subject of several articles and one monograph – by Mette Hjort – in Hong Kong University Press’ New Hong Kong Cinema Series, Yuen Ling-yuk/Centre Stage has justifiably earned its reputation as a classic of the Hong Kong New Wave (1). Yet debate continues [...]
Thunderbolt (1929 USA 94 mins) Prod Co: Josef von Sternberg/Famous Players-Lasky-Paramount Prod: B. P. Fineman Scr: Charles Furthman (dialogue Herman J. Mankiewicz), from a story by Jules and Charles Furthman Phot: Henry Gerrard Ed: Helen Lewis Art Dir: Hans Dreier Cast: George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall, Eugenie Besserer, James Spottiswood Claire Johnston [...]
The Crowd Roars (1932 USA 84 mins) Prod Co: First National-Vitaphone/Warner Bros. Prod: Bryan Foy Dir: Howard Hawks Scr: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Seton I. Miller, Niven Busch, from a story by Howard Hawks Phot: Sid Hickox, John Sumar Ed: John Stumar, Thomas Pratt Art Dir: Jack Okey Mus: Leo F. Forbstein Cast: James Cagney, Joan [...]
The Emperor of the North Pole/Emperor of the North (1973 USA 118 mins) Prod Co: Inter-Hemisphere Productions Prod: Stanley Hough Dir: Robert Aldrich Scr: Christopher Knopf Phot: Joseph Biroc Ed: Michael Luciano Art Dir: Jack Martin Smith Mus: Frank DeVol Song: “A Man and a Train”, lyrics by Hal David, music by Frank DeVol (sung [...]
Alfred Hitchcock’s film of John Buchan’s novel, The Thirty-Nine Steps, was one of his most successful, and he repeatedly used the story template in other films, such as North by Northwest. But Hitchcock showed little empathy for Buchan’s ideology.
Manhunter (1986 USA 120 mins) Prod Co: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Inc. Prod: Richard Roth Dir: Michael Mann Scr: Michael Mann, based on the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris Phot: Dante Spinotti Ed: Dov Hoenig Prod Des: Mel Bourne Mus: Michel Rubini Cast: William Petersen, Kim Griest, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Stephen Lang, Tom [...]
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 USA 132 mins) Prod Co: Associates and Aldrich/Seven Arts/Warner Bros. Prod, Dir: Robert Aldrich Scr: Lukas Heller, based on the novel by Henry Farrell Phot: Ernest Haller Ed: Michael Luciano Prod Des: George Sawley, Ted Driscoll Mus: Frank DeVol Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Marjorie Bennett, [...]
b. 29 July 1932 Bristol, England Filmography Select Bibliography Articles in Senses Web Resources Beyond Get Carter: Landscapes of Alienation Although Mike Hodges will always be associated with Get Carter (1971), this is as much a mixed blessing as limiting Orson Welles to Citizen Kane (1941). Both are “great” films. But defining any major artist [...]
The Wild Bunch (1969 USA 144 mins) Source: Roadshow Prod Co: Warner Brothers-Seven Arts Prod: Phil Feldman Dir: Sam Peckinpah Scr: Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah, adapted from a story by Walon Green and Roy M. Sickner Phot: Lucien Ballard Ed: Louis Lombardo Mus: Jerry Fielding Cast: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, Warren [...]
Macbeth (1948 USA 107 mins) Source: Library of Congress Prod Co: Mercury Productions/Republic Pictures Corporation Prod, Dir: Orson Welles Scr: Orson Welles, adapted from the play by William Shakespeare Phot: John L. Russell Ed: Louis Lindsay Prod Des: Fred Ritter Mus: Jacques Ibert Cast: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O’Herlihy, Edgar Barrier, Roddy McDowall, Erskine [...]
Forty Guns (1957 USA 80 mins) Source: NFVLS Prod Co: Twentieth Century-Fox/Globe Enterprises Prod, Dir, Scr: Samuel Fuller Phot: Joseph Biroc Ed: Gene Fowler Prod Des: Walter M. Scott, Chester Bayhi Mus: Harry Sukman Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Dean Jagger, John Ericson, Gene Barry, Robert Dix, “Jidge” Carroll, Paul Dubov, Eve Brent, Hank Worden In his [...]
An Airman’s Letter to His Mother (1941 UK 5 mins) Source: PC Prod, Dir, Phot: Michael Powell Add Phot: Bernard Browne Narration: John Gielgud (and Michael Powell) Although this short film appears in the filmography of Michael Powell’s two autobiographies, A Life in Movies (1986) and Million-Dollar Movie (1992), the director never mentions it in his reminiscences. [...]
Hue and Cry (1946 UK 82 mins) Source: NFVLS Prod Co: Ealing Prod: Michael Balcon Dir: Charles Crichton Scr: T.E.B. Clarke Phot: Douglas Slocombe Ed: Charles Hasse Art Dir: Norman Arnold Mus: Georges Auric Cast: Alastair Sim, Valerie White, Jack Warner, Harry Fowler, Douglas Barr, Joan Dowling Despite its association with the Ealing group of [...]
Horror of Dracula/Dracula (1958 UK 81 mins) Source: NFVLS Prod Co: Hammer Film Productions Prod: Anthony Hinds Dir: Terence Fisher Scr: Jimmy Sangster, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker Phot: Jack Asher Ed: Bill Lenny Art Dir: Bernard Robinson Mus: James Bernard Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Melissa Stribling, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, [...]
Made at a troubled time and with a subtext of dissention and social maladjustment, So Young So Bad is a film at odds with itself.
Days of Hope (1975 UK 411 mins) Source: NLA/ACMI Prod Co: BBC Prod: Tony Garnett Dir: Ken Loach Scr: Jim Allen Cast: Pamela Brighton, Paul Copley, Nikolas Simmonds, John Young, Gary Roberts, John Philips Originally televised on BBC 1 during September-October 1975 and repeated during April 1978, a year before the election of Margaret Thatcher’s [...]
b. Lawrence G. Cohen b. 15 July, 1941, New York, New York, USA filmography bibliography web resources Larry Cohen was born in New York’s Washington Heights district in 1941 and was educated at the City College of New York. He was interested in cinema from a very early age and exhibited a precocious interest in [...]
A Fistful of Dollars (1964 Italy/West Germany/Spain 100 mins) Source: Chapel Films Prod Co: Constantin Films/Jolly Film/Ocean Films Prod: Arrigo Colombo, Giorgio Papi Dir: Sergio Leone Scr: Sergio Leone, Duccio Tessari, Victor A. Catena, G. Schock, Jaime Comas Phot: Massimo Dallamano Ed: Roberto Cinquini Art Dir: Carlo Simi Mus: Ennio Morricone Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne [...]
Barr’s book does a fine job at exploring a traditionally neglected area: Hitchcock’s English films and their indebtedness to English national culture.
