Laurence Olivier is unfortunately cast as an Arab (complete with heavy brownface makeup) in this sweeping epic of colonial war in 1880 Sudan.
Tag: Basil Dearden
‘The League of Gentlemen’ – a very British heist on The Criterion Channel
Basil Dearden’s The League of Gentlemen (1960) is a sturdy and meticulous heist film built on an appreciation of teamwork, camaraderie and hard work: a professional work about professionals working. That’s the foundation of many a classic heist or men-on-a-mission thriller and this film offers it as a kind of skewed redemption for a misfit […]
‘All Night Long’ – Jazz Othello on Criterion Channel
Set over the course of a single night in a sleek jazz club carved out of a waterfront warehouse (the passion of a jazz-loving millionaire played by Richard Attenborough), All Night Long (1962) reworks Shakespeare’s Othello for the 1960s jazz culture culture of musicians and singers and nightclub showbiz dealings. Iago here is America drummer […]