As Skyfall opens  in the biggest release ever for a James Bond film  plans are already well advanced  for the next 007 thriller again with  Daniel Craig in the role – not unexpectedly. There is also speculation in the press this very day that Sam Mendes will again be the Director – at least Daniel Craig wants him to be apparently.

There was a four-year wait between Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall but  Bond 24 is already in pre-production and the plan is for it to start shooting at Pinewood Studios around this time next year and be ready for cinemas in the autumn of 2014.

Meantime – Some more Location  Stills from Skyfall :

The Bridge –  where Bond falls from – ‘Take the Bloody Shot’ says M is actually the Varda Bridge, Kiralan, in  Turkey.

On to the Scottish Highlands – above.

We can only await the next but we can be sure it will be made in England at Pinewood  Film Studios- above

I must have seen this first about a 1954 or 55 when each Tuesday we had someone come to out local village and put on a proper film show with a typical second film about 60 mins or so, then the trailers and then the big picture – as we used to call it.

We had a village hall in this small rural village in England and it was here that among many others we saw Distant Drums – and what a thrilling film it was and is.   That was the first time that I knew that such a sub tropical part of the USA existed and I learned about  the Everglades in Florida of course.  We all know of it nowadays but in the mid fifties not very many people had ever been there.  It was only 10 years after the end of the war – and during that time many men had travelled widely but sadly that was because of conflict but other than that most people had not.

This was an unusual western – first because of its setting in Florida and also because we saw alligators and snakes – here again that was the Everglades and probably still is. The underwater fight to the finish at the end of the film was shot at Silver Springs in Florida which is still very much on the go and used in movies.   Prior to this film Tarzan Finds a Son used Silver Springs with Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield.

In this film  we are taken to the  swamps, jungle and the Indians in a stone fort because  this is a Florida Western!

The story opens with US Navy Lieutenant Richard Tufts arriving in Florida with a small boat which he has taken overland to Lake Okeechobee.  He travels separately and meets up with Capt. Quincy Wyatt, who will lead the mission against an old Spanish fort on the opposite side of the lake which is being used by the Seminole Indians.

Watch the trailer to Distant Drums 1951

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh-C0e6Thqc&feature=player_detailpage

The real story is about how Quincy Wyatt (Gary Coper) and his men along with some rescued prisoners from the fort, escape through the alligator infested Everglade swamps with the Seminole chasing after them.  Not all of them will make it –  some will die at the hands of the Seminole Indians and others to the alligators!

The above shot is a favourite of mine. It really sums up the film – Florida Everglades,  Gary Cooper and Mari Aldon.

The Florida setting certainly gave this film a different feel to just about every other western.  The alligators here ARE more frightening than the usual rattlesnake and there was one quite bloody sequence  shown when one of the men was killed by an alligator.

They all pause for breath – above – in the Everglades.

It is an action-packed film and I love the Technicolor here which gives the Everglades a realistic beauty.  The scenes where they are on the canoe on the water paddling through the trees is a beautiful shot.

 Gary Cooper is good as always but  nowhere near as good as he was in ‘High Noon’ .   I reckon he would have enjoyed working down in Florida though.   Mari Alden takes the female lead but there isn’t a lot in this part for her to do much with.   We do learn that she isn’t quite the Southern lady she makes out to be but that  hardly seems to affect  her character and this revelation is quite sketchy anyway.

Mari Aldon was originally a ballet dancer born in Lithuania. She later married film Director Tay Garnett although he was more than 25 years older than her and he died in 1977 although they were by then divorced.

Mari Aldon.

I don’t know much about her but here are some interesting quotes written at the time.

Columnist Sheila Graham reveals: “Mari Aldon, who could have been a big star after her role with Gary Cooper in Distant Drums, won’t be. The Warners are dropping her like a hot coal. ‘Too much temperament.’”

May 51 – Columnist Louella Parsons knows: “Incidentally, Mari Aldon flies home ahead of the rest of the Cooper company – that’s how lonely she is for Tay Garnett…”

10 August 1953 – Louella Parsons tells that “Tay Garnett phoned from London to say he and Mari Aldon are getting married Thursday in a London registry…”

25 October 1955   Her daughter, Tiela, is born in Los Angeles.

August 1970  She files for divorce from Tay Garnett in Los Angeles,

31 October 2004   Mari Aldon Garnett  she died at age 78 in Las Vegas. She is survived by her daughter, Tiela Garnett; grandson, Taylor Benatsou-  granddaughter, Chloe Fazio; and sister  Janet Kozlowski.

It seems that she could have been a bigger star but she had a family and continued her career in films and later TV so she maybe had a good time. I hope she did.

Bérénice Marlohee is the leading female in the film along with Naomie Harris.

Bérénice Marlohee  – above.

Bérénice was born in Paris in 1979 of mixed ancestry she was the  daughter of a French mother and a Cambodian / Chinese father.  Her mother is a teacher and her father a doctor. She originally wanted to be a a pianist. Initially she struggled to get screen roles in France because people did not think she fitted the mould of a French actress. Before her lucky break came with the  Bond film Skyfall,  she mainly appeared on TV.   This does seem to beg the question – How on earth did they pick her out for this major role ?   But maybe the next paragraph explains ….

She is  a strong believer in fate. During an interview, she claimed to have dreamt of acting alongside Javier  Bardem at least six months before the Bond audition.    After the dream, she had a feeling that all would work out well – and it did.   It was only after  the second audition for Skyfall  that someone actually mentioned to her that Javier might also be cast.

 Naomie Harris

Naomie was born and brought up in London and is the daughter of  writer Lisselle Kayla, a single mother who came to the UK   as a child. After graduating in 1998 from Cambridge with a degree in she  trained at the Bristol Old Vic School.

Among many roles she has played is that of  Elizabeth Lavenza in Danny Boyle’s production of  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the Theatre.  In fact  she is probably best known to American audiences for her role as Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007).

Some moths ago it was  first reported that Harris was in talks for a  role in the upcoming 23rd Bond  film -Skyfall – as field agent Eve and this turned out to be correct. She is very good in this role and she appears regularly throughout the film – and I have an idea she may continue in future ones.

It is certainly an action-packed role she has as you will see the in clip on the Trailer below when she is taking aim at the villain who is fighting with Bond on the top of a moving train – and ‘M’ screams the order ‘Take the Bloody Shot’ – it is a great sequence.

See the NEW SKYFALL INTERNATIONAL TRAILER here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgr2syY_OU4

Above – Looks really good at the Premiere –  Aston Martin DB5

Skyfall not a film of the fifties of course but James Bond is very much a creation of that decade  when he first appeared in print so I can include this film and characters on this Blog I feel.

Javier Bardem – well what does one say about probably the best Bond villain ever.  

I have written before in an earlier post that I thought that Javier Bardem’s part was played  by him almost in the same style as  Robert Newton’s famous portrayal years ago of Long John Silver in Treasure Island.   Javier dominates the screen and is ‘larger than life’ in the scenes he has and in a way it is a calculated – slightly over the top performance with the tiniest hint of pantomime – that enables him to become  a real scene stealer.  I reckon the Director gave him carte blanche to ‘let rip’ when he was on screen – and this he did to great effect. This strategy though means that once started it would be very difficult to ‘rein him in’ . It didn’t much matter in either of the performances I mention because the actors just knew what they were doing.   Byron Haskin did the same with Robert Newton in a now classic film role by which all future actors in the part would be compared  – this might happen again with Javier in this film – and the villain in future Bond films just might have to up his game after this.   A low key performance would now be difficult to take because this is, indeed, a hard act to follow !!

Robert Newton and Walt Disney discuss the film at Denham Film Studios – They both looked very young in those days – and we saw in this film (Treasure Island) Robert Newton pull off a marvellous portrayal – to become THE yardstick from which all future pirate performances would be judged.
Has anyone out there been struck by the similarity of these two performances or is it just me ?

This isn’t really a film of the fifties as this site is titled BUT James Bond first appeared in the early 50s and many of his adventures – certainly in the books – takes place in that period.

He has since then come up-to-date so to speak, and his new film Skyfall is one of if not THE best Bond film ever.

 He even gets to used the famous DB5  Aston Martin car – Above.

Isn’t it funny that with the wonderful array of modern cars around today that a 50 year old one should turn heads – and look just SO GOOD !!

Skyfall has action taking place mainly in England but it is none the less exciting for that.  London features strongly and this film will be a major tourist boost for the city I think.

 Many action shots take place in the capital.

Glittering Premiere at the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall – Above The Film Premiere

James  Bond is back.     Skyfall is a magnificent return to form for Bond and in what is considered to be one of the best Bond movies ever.

Skyfall is brilliantly acted, well paced, with  touches of  humour and some great references to Bond movies past.       Visually  the movie is stunning with some beautiful locations  from Shanghai and Macau to the Scottish Highlands and we start off in Istanbul.

 Above – Shanghai – Friends of mine visited there in the summer – a place their son has been working – and they loved the place.

Sam Mendes has made his name through excellent  movies. An accomplished theatre director.   He is a director who rarely does a bad movie and he certainly delivers the goods with this one.

Daniel Craig lays claim to be  the best Bond ever and the best actor to have played  Bond. He is an experienced little rough around the edges and dangerous Bond who is entirely believable.    Judi Dench has a much larger role in this film and her  performance must surely gain recognition.   

Javier Bardem also  impresses in a ‘scenery chewing’ performance here as the villain.

Now I am going to make a comparison here that I doubt anyone else will – here goes:-

I thought that Javier Bardem’s part was played  by him almost in the same style as  Robert Newton’s famous portrayal years ago of Long John Silver in Treasure Island.   Javier dominates the screen and is ‘larger than life’ in the scenes he has and in a way it is a calculated – slightly over the top performance with the tiniest hint of pantomime – that enables him to become  a real scene stealer.  I reckon the Director gave him carte blanche to ‘let rip’ when he was on screen – and this he did to great effect.    Byron Haskin did the same with Robert Newton in a now classic film role by which all future actors in the part would be compared  – this might happen again with Havier in this film – and the villain in future Bond films just might have to up his game after this.   A low key performance would now be difficult to take.

Naomi Harris and Bernice Marlohe are gorgeous as the  two Bond girls and I think we will see more of Naomi in future films – those who have seen the film will know why.   The cast was completed with a very effective role for Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw as the new Q gives us a new angle on the role and he appears very confident in his playing of the part.    Albert Finney appears too  in the gripping finale set in the Scottish Highlands.

Also Rory Kinnear appears as a close ally of M and he too is top class – I didn’t know a lot about him except for his famous father but he is a very capable Shakespearean actor and it showed here.

I think he ‘under played’ his role quite skilfully and effectively too.

All in all a Must See Film !!!

I might be stretching things a bit here to include this film on a Blog aimed at the Films of the Fifties – but we have a link.    Ian Fleming began writing the books in the fifties in fact Casino Royale appeared in 1953 – and something I didn’t know until very recently was that Bob Holness an actor who later became famous on TV for Blockbusters, was one of the first ever James Bonds in a radio drama version  of The Moonraker in 1956.

Skyfall – James Bond an early taste of action in the film below

Above – Bond heads for the final showdown in Skyfall

 This new film is senstational – I saw it last evening – and what a film it is.  Action packed with a cast including Judi Dench, Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney – sound like a Whos Who of Shakespearean actors and the superb ‘baddie’ who I didnt know called Javier Bardem – but he is really good. Judi Dench has the largest part yet in a Bond film. None of us knew anything at all about the storyline so we were in for surprises all the way with action in Shanghai and Macao but most of it on English soil, athough the final minutes are played out in a breathtaking climax in the Scottish Highlands. This is one to see on the big screen. I was just thinking that after the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics both in 2012 this film is another major British event that will be seen the world over.

Duntrune Castle  above (the oldest intact and inhabited castle in Scotland) on the north side of Loch Crinan was to be a central point in the films ending although the actual house itself used in the film was in fact built as a set many miles away  in Surrey – where a great deal of action takes place.

James Bond Returns Home.

The House in Skyfall – above

In the run up to last Christmas the tiny West Scotland village of Crinan was swamped by film crews capturing the blistering finale for Skyfall the new Bond Film.

It is great to have such a big occasion at the cinema – such as a new Bond film – and this one will not disappoint and probably go down as one of the best ever – although it is always difficult to know how the future changes public perception of films in particular.   However this one seizes the moment.

Below a few more action shots from the film.

Above: A Laugh during this action packed scene.

Another view above as Bond forces his way into a moving train.

A unique way of getting a lift  from Skyfall.

Javier Bardem – A really great ‘baddie’ in this film – Above.

Naomie Harris – Terrific action shot – Above.

And the Aston Martin DB5 makes a stunning return above.

And again – in Scotland on location.

Skyfall World Premiere London October 2012

Daniel Craig and Naomie Harris

Some comments from Daniel Craig and Judi Dench about filming in the Scottish Highlands.

The new James Bond movie Skyfall was partly filmed in Scotland and Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench  filmed scenes in the Highlands.

Craig said: “We got the chance to go up to Scotland and it’s a great backdrop. I mean it’s so beautiful, it’s amazing up there.    

“It’s still one of my favourite places.”

Bond author Ian Fleming loved the area and wrote that the spy’s father Andrew hailed from Glencoe.

Dame Judi Dench said: “It was glorious as always and happened to be the most wonderful day in Glencoe – a beautiful clear day.

“With just that kind of band of mist under the hills – it was perfect.”

They certainly liked it – who wouldn’t ?

Wonderful Ealing Technicolor film set in a dreamy part of the English countryside of a nostalgic age – a real treat from start to finish and if anyone reading this post has not seen the film then please go out and get it.

It was the first Ealing comedy shot in Technicolor  and one of the first colour comedies made in the UK.

The film was directed by Charles Crichton and starred Stanley Holloway, George Relph and John Gregson among many others.

 I do think that the above TWO pictures are a terrific example of Technicolor at its best.   The colour in them is perfect

The film was released in 1953  – Made in 1952 by the famous Ealing Studios, the film tells the story of how the Titfield villagers fight the closure of their local branch line by British Railways. The film was made on location on the Camerton branch line –  an ex GWR railway which ran through the beautiful Cam Valley just south of Bath.

The idea for the Titfield Thunderbolt came from a visit that T.B.E. Clarke made to Wales in 1951. He was researching some ideas for a new film and also visiting an old friend who took him to see something which he thought Clarke might find interesting, a  narrow gauge railway line  – the Talyllyn Railway which a  had passenger service as far as the village of  Abergynoln in North Wales.

Here, and out of the blue, he  had come across a completely unique operation.   The BBC at that time also seemed to take an interest in the Talyllyn Railway and it was often featured on Childrens TV.     The railway is still operating today and is one of the best of the now numerous preserved railway lines which exist throughout Britain.

Clarke was intrigued by the whole idea of a line run mainly by volunteers and he decided to base a film around the idea and that was the start of idea for The Titfield Thunderbolt.

He wrote about the English love for old trains but probably didn’t anticipate  the future  growth of the movement towards saving  these lines but the fact is that the Titfield Thunderbolt marks the beginning of a railway preservation  movement which  remains peculiarly English – much like the Ealing Comedies.

Nearly all of the location work for the Titfield Thunderbolt was shot in the picturesque “Cam Valley” a couple of miles South of Bath.     The feature which made this particular valley suitable for the film was the presence of a disused railway set amidst very attractive countryside, both essential features for the screenplay that T.E.B. Clarke had written for Ealing –  and something which would look so good in  Technicolor.

Hunters Rest Inn overlooking the Cam Valley – below

The Cam Valley – below.

 The railway in question was the Limpley Stoke to Camerton branch of the Great Western Railway, which had closed in 1951 as a result of the closure of Camerton Colliery in 1950.    Titfield station was in fact the old station at Monkton Combe, and the film-makers made various alterations to the building, including extending the canopy at one end, the addition of an external ticket window and other things too.

George Relph and Geoffrey Tearle – above.

The Story of the Film

The residents of the  rural village of Titfield rely on the railway to commute to work and transport their produce to market. So they are shocked when the government announces that the line is to be closed. Particularly hard hit is the local vicar, railway enthusiast Rev. Sam Weech  he comes up with the idea to run it locally. He and the local squire, Gordon Chesterford (John Gregson) , persuade wealthy Walter Valentine (Stanley Holloway ) to provide the financial backing by telling him they can legally operate a bar while the train is running – he will not have to wait all morning for the local pub to open.

There are many many twists and turns in the plot as we all join the villagers and will them on to success.

Will they achieve it ?   Wait and see the film – You will love it !!!

 Naunton Wayne – 1901 to 1970

He was a British character actor  born in South Wales.On stage from 1920, Welsh actor Naunton Wayne made his film bow in 1931. Wayne was catapulted to worldwide fame in 1937, when he and Basil Radford were teamed as cricket-happy British tourists Charters and Caldicott (Wayne was Caldicott) in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes roles they repeated in three further films.  The two would go on to appear in other films together  often playing similar characters.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Naunton Wayne    

They appeared together in the classic chiller Dead of Night in 1946 and quite a few more films too.

Dead of Night – above the most light hearted of the stories with Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne.

Just two of the ‘Dream Factories’ in the hey day of Cinema – they helped transport us to worlds that we could only  imagine – into a fantasy land – at least for a short time – where we could live out the dramas and romances that we saw on the huge silver screen. As young kids we would sit  there watching – wide eyed at the sights we saw.  That may sound a little ‘over the top’ but  I don’t think  it was because this era  preceded the days of far off travel – so any films on, say, the old west or a tarzan film for example in the jungle,  we would see these foreign lands that we had only seen before in photographs.  Even if you  had a TV set in those days it was so small and what we could watch, although very good – was limited.  Here in the cinema however  we could see things that were  larger than life.  When TV did get a hold the cinemas hit back with Wide Screen, Technicolor epics that were way beyond the capability of television – and still are to this day.

I have come across these two terrific photographs taken in 1947 of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

and REPUBLIC PICTURES Studios – below

Above and Below – Pictures of Republic Studios, Hollywood.

Above – Republic Studios in 1957

Republic Pictures was a film production and distribution company, but it also  had studio facilities.  It was active from 1935 until 1959  specialising in B movies, serials, westerns and jungle adventures such as the Bomba The Jungle Boy series done by Monogram Pictures which made up one of the component parts of Republic.

The studio helped with the financing and distribution  of several of the films of John Fords during the 1940s and early 1950s.

They also had a hand in the development of the early careers of  cowboy stars John Wayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uU_59vEqnAc

Mongram Pictures

In the 40s Monogram made such great features with stars like Charlie Chan and the Bowery Boys – both of which became very popular in a series of films – mainly supporting films though.

They didn’t turn their back on westerns either because they had cowboy stars such as Tim McCoy and Tex Ritter and later on  they signed Johnny Mack Brown  when the other major studios decided to move away from westerns and this allowed  Mongram to maintain a  production level of between 30 to 40 films per year in the 40s which in present terms would  really be some going.

Prior to  the fifties era the studio signed Boris Karloff to do six films and also Bela Lugosi who by that time had probably seen the best of his interesting career.

There were also – later – camp horror classics such as “House on Haunted Hill” with Vincent Price – filmed in Emergo – something I actually saw for myself when a skeleton appeared to come out of the screen – it was actually done by the local cinema manager who was operating a sort of pulley arrangement which had the skeleton coming out into the audience on overhead wires. The emerging skeleton then with luck linked in with the screen action.

Here is a Link to see Emergo in action at a cinema in Detroit apparently – see what you think –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nBNtbQXEtCg

Among much bigger productions John Ford shot “Hurricane” there in 1937. Other notable films included  “Kidnapped! ” (1949 with Roddy McDowell.)

Jon Hall in The Hurricane

The Hurricane was a really big film in terms of a spectacular climax – and one that was at the time very well done.

 Roddy McDowell in Kidnapped

I don’t think I have ever seen the above version of Kidnapped out of the many there have been.  Later we had the Disney version with Peter Finch which was a good one,  and well after this Michael Caine played that same role although my own view is that he was mis-cast.   One thing about it though was that the scenery in the Scottish Highlands looked superb in Technicolor on the big screen.

I realise that in the case of Republic Studios then they were probably seen as being at their best throughout the 40s but neverthles they did go through until the end of the 50s – so we can quite justifiably include this item.

This film was shown on BBC2 last weekend.  It turned out to be one of the best of the many Tarzan movies ever made – maybe Gordon Scott was not the best Tarzan – but the film stands up really well with a great villain in the shape of Anthony Quayle. It was filmed in Africa in colour – I don’t remember any of the previous ones being Technicolor but this was.

It is very fitting that this post is published  because Tarzan is offically 100 years old this month – first launched in comic form all those years ago

 Gordon Scott above as Tarzan

Anthony Quayle gets a great part here and gives Tarzan – and others – a very rough time !!!

Anthony Quayle.

I do remember that he was married to Dorothy Hyson who played opposite George Formby in Spare a Copper.  He was a classical actor and very good too although he tended to play straight roles more often than not – probably because he had a serious face. I certainly don’t ever remember him doing comedy. Can’t quite imagine that somehow. He was a Shakespearean actor of some note.

Sean Connery comes to a sticky end in a film made just before  he made his debut as James Bond in Dr.No

Sean Connery was apparently  paid 5600 dollars  for this role and  is surprisingly good as the wicked O’Bannion  which turns out to be quite a  sizeable role.   He was evidently impressive enough in the part for Sy Weintraub to ask him back to play a different role in the next Tarzan movie – however  Sean said that ‘Two fellows took an option on me for some spy picture and are exercising it. But I’ll be in your next,’ he promised.    The film was of course Dr.No and the rest is history.

Filmed on location in Africa, this Tarzan epic is  considered by many critics to be the best with Gordon Scott playing the character in keeping with author Edgar Rice-Burroughs creation.

We didn’t have a Jane in this story however Sara Shane played an adventurous heroine named Angie whose plane crashes into the jungle where she luckily immediately joins up with Tarzan – rather than the crocodile waiting – Tarzan of course wrestled with the croc  in the water.

Sara Shane

Elaine Hollingsworth – her real name –  became a model at age 14 and later secured a film contract with  MGM. She was featured in a few musicals using her real name  then in 1953  began using the name Sara Shane.

Sara Shane looking very good in this Tarzan film – in fact her very last film.

She then acquired a seven year contract with Universal International pictures but that didn’t go the distance for whatever reason. In  1955 she appeared with  in the Clark Gable Film The King and Four Queens – interestingly the one and only film produced by Clark Gable – which was a western but it can’t have done much good at the Box Office. I had never heard of this one.

Above Clark Gable with Sara Shane

Her last film in fact was this Tarzan picture and it is considered to be her most memorable performance. She continued in television to  1964.      Elaine married William Hollingsworth in 1949 but  they were divorced in 1957.

Sara left the Hollywood and retired from TV and films in her late 30s. She turned to writing and began to devote herself to the study of pharmaceuticals. She wrote two books-  the first one a work of fiction and the second a book promoting healthy living.  She eventually moved to Australia to avoid the Los Angeles pollution and  still lives happily – and healthily – on her 5 acres of land. She is now in her eighties.

Gordon Scott

 The man who played Tarzan in 1950s movies died at the age of 80 in 2007

He made 24 movies including “Tarzan and the Lost Safari” (1957), “Tarzan’s Fight for Life” (1958), “Tarzan and the Trappers” (1958), “Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure” (1959) and “Tarzan the Magnificent” (1960).

Scott was a lifeguard at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas when he was discovered by Hollywood producer Sol Lesser and he was signed to a seven-year-contract after he outperformed his rivals at the audition.

During the 1955 production of his first film, “Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle,” he fell in love with co-star Vera Miles. The couple married that year but divorced a few years later. Vera Miles was married three times – the second of which was to Gordon Scott – but all three marriages ended in divorce – however, sadly and coincidentally, all three of her ex husbands died with a few months of each other.

Vera did have a very long and full career in films which we will definitely return to because a year after this one she appeared in one of the greatest westerns of the decade and of all time – The Searchers.

 Above – Gordon Scott with Vera Miles and Cheetah

After the Tarzan movies Gordon Scott appeared in Westerns and gladiator films.

The year as we all know is 2025 and I am hoping to be back in this wonderful cinema tonight or tomorrow night to see ‘Gladiator2’ at this very fifties style cinema in the Adelaide Hills, Australia.  This article appeared way back in 2012 –  so now I am back again quite a few years later

They seem to show one film per month here – usually up to date releases but it is the cinema itself and its style that influences me to post this item.

Upstairs is the seating area – as the picture below –  and it is very reminiscent of the old style cinema experience – very quaint and very good.    They also have a  wide screen if needed so the older Cinemascope films could easily be viewed here.

Patrons are seated on comfortable seats ( some double seats)  in an art décor hall with the novelty of an interval in the middle of the movie. A canteen is available. Patrons will find a quaint ticket box from where to purchase their tickets.

The art deco Lobethal Centennial Hall foundation stone was laid on 8 August in 1936 on the centenary of the proclamation of the state of South Australia. It took another 60 years before the hall was finished with store room, two large change rooms with heating, two showers and extra toilets in 2002. The terrazzo floor at the front of the hall was the first of its kind in South Australia.

Initially, local people assisted in the furnishing by buying double seats for ₤1 with a name plate on the seat acknowledging their contribution. You can still find the name plates on the seats. The Onkaparinga Woollen Mill donated the money to the Centennial Hall committee to help build the toilets inside the hall, and renovate the original seating. The seat upholstery was replaced with lush fabric by a local upholsterer and the backs of the seats were revarnished.

Black and white silent movies were first shown in the Hall from 1919 and in 1932 the Talkies came to town.     There is still evidence of shops that were once in the front of Centennial Hall until 1993.

There was a lull in movie showing in the early 1990s but now the cinema is functioning well and regularly.

Awaiting the film.

The film will start shortly – below.