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Category Archives: Film
John Hurt on the importance to acting of imagination
By Ray Bennett At his elegant home in Chiswick in west London, John Hurt, who was born 85 years ago today, smoked cigarettes contentedly and over a long, relaxed conversation, spoke candidly to me about many things including the art … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ...
Tagged Al Pacino, Chekhov, John Hurt, Michael Radford, Richard Burton, Robert De Niro, Stanislavsky, ‘1984’, ‘Nineteen, ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’
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Kevin Costner in praise of ‘Cool Hand Luke’
By Ray Bennett I’ve been a fan of Kevin Costner, who turns 70 today, since ‘Silverado’ and I’ve liked most of his movies since then even ‘Waterworld’. I was pleased to find that he’s good company back in 2003. He … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Memory Lane, News
Tagged 'Cool Hand Luke', 'The Upside of Anger', British Film Institute, Electric Cinema, Grand Classics, Indyssey Entertainment, Kevin Costner, Mike Binder, Paul Newman, Sky Movies
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Elvis: The man who fell to earth and changed the world
By Ray Bennett Little more than 10 years after the end of World War II, Great Britain was a cold, grey place in 1956 when Elvis Presley, who was born 90 years ago today, dropped from the sky. He changed … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Music
Tagged 'The Sanibel Sunset Detective', Charlie Rich Jr., Elvis Presley, Graceland, Ron Base, Sam Phillips
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When Maggie Smith called me a horrible man
By Ray Bennett To meet a movie actor you admire can sometimes be a disappointment but Maggie Smith, who has died aged 89, was exactly how I hoped she would be. She told me off and swept away. It was … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television
Tagged Maggie Smith
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That time when Lauren Bacall gave me a smacker
By Ray Bennett ‘You know how to whistle, don’t ya? Just put your lips together and blow.’ Whenever I watch the movie ‘To Have and Have Not’, that provocative line Lauren Bacall (photo below) says to Humphrey Bogart always gives … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Music, Recalling ..., Theatre
Tagged Charles Strauss, Fisher Theater, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Len Cariou, Ron Base, ‘All About Eve’, ‘Applause’, ‘To Have and Have Not’
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Composer Maurice Jarre’s ups and downs scoring films
By Ray Bennett French film composer Maurice Jarre, who was born 100 years ago yesterday, is invariably linked with director David Lean but there were other filmmakers he worked with more than once and he had interesting anecdotes about them. … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Interviews, Music, World Soundtrack Awards
Tagged Adrian Lyne, David Lean, Maurice Jarre, Peter Weir
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Alfred Hitchcock had a wicked way with film music
By Ray Bennett The films of Alfred Hitchcock, who was born on this day 125 years ago, are noted for their exceptional scores and it was no accident. Composer John Williams told me that the master of suspense had a … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Music, Recalling ...
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Edward Elgar, John Williams, ‘Family Plot’
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Richard Lester on making ‘A Hard Day’s Night’
By Ray Bennett Sixty years ago today, a little rock’n’roll movie titled ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ starring the Beatles was released in the U.K. Their first album had come out less than eighteen months earlier, their singles were topping the … Continue reading
When I mixed up Frankie Avalon with another former teen idol
By Ray Bennett ‘It wasn’t exactly Elvis in Las Vegas’. That was the lede in our story after my colleague Ron Base and I interviewed Frankie Avalon, who turns 84 today, when he performed in cabaret at a seedy nightclub … Continue reading →