It’s an awfully English week here in Toronto in terms of what is screening around town.
Cinema Royale
The Royal is running an assortment of Bond flicks over the next couple of weeks to get fans in the mood for the new 007 adventure Spectre later this year. This franchise is one of a kind in terms of staying power in the annals of film but the quality has always been all over the map.
Proof that the original is not always the best — although I guess given that producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli cherrypicked from the Ian Fleming novels, I suppose that’s not entirely fair — Dr. No is up tonight at 7 p.m. It’s the first time you hear Sean Connery say “Bond, James Bond,” features Ursula Andress in her iconic swimwear and has a fairly memorable villainous turn from Joseph Wiseman. Otherwise, it’s a fairly slow ride.
Saturday at 4 p.m. sees George Lazenby’s only chance to play the super spy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as he fends off Telly Savalas’ Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Aside from some irritating, gaudy sixties stylings, it’s actually one of the stronger films. Arguably the best of them all, Goldfinger is on Sunday at 7 p.m. You can also make time to see two Roger Moore offerings (Live and Let Die and For Your Eyes Only) and see Sean Connery sport a jet-pack in Thunderball. Additional screening times here.
Christopher Lee
There’s a special event at Reg Hartt’s Cineforum all of July, that being an ongoing tribute to the late Sir Christopher Lee.
The info page for this tribute contains a quote from Lee: "Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time but the trick is never to be terrible in them.” That actually sums up his career nicely.
Lee was a genre icon for decades, and of course Reg Hartt has mined his filmography deeply. There are triple headers playing all month.
On Wednesday July 15 there’s a low-budget Italian vampire flick from 1964 called Crypt of the Vampire. Following it up is a loose H.P. Lovercraft adaptation called Curse of the Crimson Altar. For a film that pairs Lee and Boris Karloff, and even throws in Barbara Steele, it’s sadly not a great "spooky castle estate" horror flick. Finally you get Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Lee doesn’t get too much screen time in that one.
The Devil Rides Out co-stars Charles Gray and is directed by Hammer Studio’s resident pro, Terence Fisher. It is really a pretty good period mystery flick for you to check out on Thursday July 16. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave follows, which is not one of Lee’s better Dracula films. Then you have the last film Christopher Lee made for the original Hammer Studios, To the Devil a Daughter, which has an incredible cast including Richard Widmark, Honor Blackman, Denholm Elliott and a young Nastassja Kinski.
Definitely for the completists, but Lee’s career is just so full of forgotten gems and oddities that it’s worth digging through.
Screening Roundup
The 11th Annual ReelHeART International Film & Screenplay Festival is wrapping up this weekend at the Carlton Magic Lantern theatre. Check out the listing for the indie-themed festival which features live script reads here.
To wrap up this English-themed edition, there’s one of the best Ealing Studios comedies at The TIFF Bell Lightbox Sunday July 12 at 1 p.m. from their For Queen and Comedy tribute to the studio.
Passport to Pimlico has been re-purposed a million times but is really quite terrific. An unexploded Second World War bomb blows up in a London neighbourhood. The blast uncovers an old treaty and the residents use it to reclaim their independence from from the mother country. This flick, along with Kind Hearts and Coronets and Whiskey Galore! – all from 1949 – launched the Ealing comedy which produced so many classics into the 1950s.
Toronto Screengrab of the Week
Last week we had a "Toronto-adjacent" pick in Agnes of God from Toronto-born director Norman Jewison. This week we’re back to the downtown as a couple of kids cruise for criminals down Yonge St. in this set of wheels. Check the license-plate.
