Vittorio de Sica's, Bicycle Thieves, (1948), BBC4

[Stanley Stewart]

Unmissable, this weekend, Sun, 25 Sept, (NB,although listed on TV schedules for 24 Sept:)
00.15-02.05hrs; a rare screening of Vittorio de Sica's 1948 heart-rending masterpiece, Bicycle Thieves, BBC 4. An Italian workman, long unemployed, is robbed of the bicycle he needs for his new job, and he and his small son search Rome for it. The epitome of Italian neo-realism, the slight human drama is developed so that it has the force of King Lear, and both the acting and the backgrounds are vividly compelling.

"A film of rare humanity and sensibility" - Gavin Lambert

I was all set to arrange my HD recorder when I noticed a further attraction, same day, 02,20-03.25 hrs, another rare outing for Jacques Tourneur's, I Walked with a Zombie, 1943, a stylishly camp melodrama I'd like to see again - and its background of voodoo drums!

[Nick Armstrong]

I was pondering a post about this too. BBC4 has apparently allowed Keith Richards to "curate" () the 'dusk to dawn' schedule this weekend, and being among his passions, there are several interesting old movies including the ones you mention Stanley.

Another to catch my eye was Build My Gallows High (also Jacques Tourneur). Likewise the intriguing The Sorcerers with Boris Karloff.

My HD recorder is going to be busy over the weekend too. I've seen none of the films (shamefully in the case of Bicycle Thieves !)


.


NB Shocker in the Grauniad: "the Rolling Stones guitarist will be handed the reigns of BBC4 over three nights"

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

NB Shocker in the Grauniad: "the Rolling Stones guitarist will be handed the reigns of BBC4 over three nights"

Perhaps they thought he used to be in Queen?

I am sure that I have seen Bicycle Thieves, but can't actually remember doing so - maybe one of those films that are discussed and excerpts shown so frequently that I've come to believe that I've seen it?

Wha'evva - I shall certainly be watching this showing. Many thanks, Stanley - I'd not seen the listings for it.

[Serial_Apologist]

The Sorcerers[/URL] with Boris Karloff.

Good preparation for the return of "The Apprentice" in a couple of week's time, then...

[Stanley Stewart]

Build My Gallows High, (1947) - aka Out of the Past. Vivid memories of seeing the RKO noir series in my early teenage years and how even a b/w print could be set alight by newcomers to stardom, Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, offset by the femme fatale presence of Jane Greer! I've had an off-air DVD for some time but remastering has done wonders for many of these prints in picture and sound and I look forward to replacing my disc with a pristine copy.

Quite confident that I don't have a copy of The Sorcerers and any Jacques Tourneur film would grab my attention. Again, many memories of frequent visits to NFT 2 from the 60s
to the 90s!

[Nick Armstrong]

The interview sections between the films warrant a look too! Lots of rare archive stuff, by no means all (or even mainly) rock music.

So far, Salvador Dali's appearance on "What's My Line?" is a highlight (answering yes to just about everything - truthfully - but looking disconcerted when the host obliged him to deny that he was a 'leading man' ) as are the Tex Avery cartoons!

It's going to take some time to get through this weekend's programming...

[mercia]

The Sorcerers

"customer in China shop" - Gerald Campion

[Stanley Stewart]

Delighted to see The Bicycle Thieves listed on my HD recording this morning, although it was shown 15 mins later than scheduled but my machine waited in solemn silence for the opening logo to be shown! A pristine print, too, which is now being transferred to DVD as I write. Made me reflect on films with a Rome setting which readily come to mind. Roman Holiday, 1953, with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, directed with finesse by Wm Wyler, although it lacked the sure light touch which, perhaps, Ernst Lubitsch would have developed - and why a monochrome film in such an exotic setting? I particularly warmed to Fellini's, La Dolce Vita, (1962) with its early exposure of paparazzo journalism, a huge hit in ts day but now forgotten. Three Coins in the Fountain (1955) was an early outing for the cinemascope ratio with the Rome locations particularly exotic in colour, alas, a slight plot but a hit parade title song. Another favourite with me in a wider Italian background is Visconti's, The Leopard, (1963), with Burt Lancaster at his best.

Vivid memories of my only visit to Rome, in 1984, when I did a tour of Consul offices and TV contacts in Rome, Athens, Tel Aviv and Saudi Arabia, (separate passport obligatory!). Fortunately, business is done early in the day in the far Medit & Middle East which left me free after lunch to ignore the midday sun and visit so many sumptuous locations into the evening. Glad I used my annual leave entitlement to extend my stay.

[pastoralguy]

Intrigued by this thread, I hired it through Amazon DVD and have just watched it. My goodness, what a sad film!

[Conchis]

Intrigued by this thread, I hired it through Amazon DVD and have just watched it. My goodness, what a sad film!

But somehow very uplifting,too, don't you think? :)

[Stanley Stewart]

I've viewed Bicycle Thieves three times during the past week and it stirred vivid memories of seeing it in cinemas, initially at a film society in well-worn prints. It remains a deeply disturbing experience from the age of neo-realism, yet still connects today in a disturbed world with its indelible imagery. Often, during the close-up shots revealing the sensibility of the young boy, I was reminded of other recent stark images with a dead child being lifted on a Turkish shoreline, and the total bewilderment on the face of an injured lad in Syria, surrounded by devastation and the continuation of cluster bombing and chemical warfare - it all connects. It's a mad world my masters!

Ironic, too, that 1948 saw the formation of the indispensible NHS and in the same summer, I saw Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), albeit in a battered print, but a stylish tale of boulevard theatre which was still being filmed during the occupation of France. Here, in the UK, Michael Powell's, The Red Shoes, full of glorious attractive design, became the box office triumph of the year. A trio of films which get a regular outing here.

[Ferretfancy]

I've viewed Bicycle Thieves three times during the past week and it stirred vivid memories of seeing it in cinemas, initially at a film society in well-worn prints. It remains a deeply disturbing experience from the age of neo-realism, yet still connects today in a disturbed world with its indelible imagery. Often, during the close-up shots revealing the sensibility of the young boy, I was reminded of other recent stark images with a dead child being lifted on a Turkish shoreline, and the total bewilderment on the face of an injured lad in Syria, surrounded by devastation and the continuation of cluster bombing and chemical warfare - it all connects. It's a mad world my masters!

Ironic, too, that 1948 saw the formation of the indispensible NHS and in the same summer, I saw Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), albeit in a battered print, but a stylish tale of boulevard theatre which was still being filmed during the occupation of France. Here, in the UK, Michael Powell's, The Red Shoes, full of glorious attractive design, became the box office triumph of the year. A trio of films which get a regular outing here.

Another wonderful film made during the occupation of France was Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete, shot with wonderful economy and imagination under the most difficult conditions.

Could I also put in a word for De Sica's Miracle in Milan? It's a fantasy which still casts a spell.

[Serial_Apologist]

Another wonderful film made during the occupation of France was Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete, shot with wonderful economy and imagination under the most difficult conditions.

Could I also put in a word for De Sica's Miracle in Milan? It's a fantasy which still casts a spell.

To which I would add the (in this country) little-known "La Bataille du Rail" (1945) of Rene Clements, about a group of railworkers' contribution to the Resistance, with a powerful score by Yves Baudrier, one of the members of the French group of composers La Jeune France I bang on about because we never hear of them over here, which included Jolivet and Messiaen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The-Battle-of-the-Rails

Here is the opening sequence - follow-up clips are available by scrolling down the RHS of the page, which I strongly invite others to sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CS8iZc1WIw

[Stanley Stewart]

Thank you, gentlemen! Many happy reminders in your responses of several decades of cinemagoing in the Metropolis: NFT venues, Everyman, Hampstead, George Hoellering's, Academy and the Berkeley and Continental, Tott Ct Rd and the Electric, Portobello Rd, a fleapit before renovation.

De Sica's, Miracle in Milan, (1951) now a fading memory but, mercifully, with an optimistic ending. Rather ironic to realise that this tale of a poor boy seeking a home in the suburbs of Milan, resolved his problems by eventually flying away on broomsticks to a better land!

La Bataille du Rail (1945) also stirred a memory of John Frankenheimer's, The Train, (1965), with a similar theme of French resistance to occupation with Paul Scofield as the Nazi general determined to transport art treasures back to Germany. The cast also included the distinguished French actor, Michel Simon as the driver.

The ace film for me was a welcome reminder of Jean Cocteau's, La Belle et la Bete, 1946, with a truly shimmering elegance.