Archive for September 2023
Notorious (1946) – A romantic spy story.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Writer: Ben Hecht Cast: Cary Grant. Ingrid Bergman. Claude Rains. Alfred Hitchcock was often referred to as the Master of Suspense. He was a supreme Auteur, the man whose personal stamp on the human condition was visible in every frame, scene and dialogue in his works. Every frame in his films…
Read MoreDev Anand – Forever an Icon
Today Dev Anand’s centenary celebrations have been kicked off across India. Fans across India, including me, are going wild. The festivities include screening four restored films: CID, Jewel Thief, Guide, and Johny Mera Naam. These four films span 20 years of cinematic life, creating generations of fans. Always considered a style icon, it is perhaps…
Read MoreThe Battle of Britain – 1969 – Accurate and entertaining
Director: Guy Hamilton Producer: Harry Saltzman Script: James Kennaway. Wilfred Greatorex A common legend among the British is the trope of a “small bunch of British men against the might of the ugly bad …….. ” . In the blanks, you can insert Africans (Zulu and Khartoum), Pathans and Indians (Gunga Din, The Bengal Lancers),…
Read MoreSeventeen Moments of Spring (1973) – Excellent
Story : Yulian (Julian) Semyonov Direction : Tatyana Lioznova Cast : Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Most of us are used to spy stories where Western Heroes set out to slay the evil Soviet Empire and save the Western Way of life. The Spy fiction genre has its rules in that the Western characters are usually the…
Read MoreAll the Old Knives (1994) – Slow Burn but Riveting
Dir: Janus Metz Cast: Chris Pine. Thandiwe Newton. Jonathan Pryce. Laurence Fishburne Story and Script: Olen Steinhauer It is said that the end of the Cold War also ended spy fiction as a genre, be it in print or on film. The post-1991 “unipolar” world soon proved to be a fallacy. As…
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