Flashback 1981 - FLASH! CLASH! SLASH!

A selection of pages from British movie magazines of 1981. 

The highlight of 1980's Christmas holidays was easily Dino De Laurentiis' Flash Gordon, which didn't need much advertising with Queen's theme song riding high in the charts.

Photoplay, January

The above advert pinpoints when Flash Gordon opened in London and then around the country. The superb artwork is by Renato Casaro. (Film On Paper interview Renato Casaro).

Photoplay, January

Flash Gordon was played by Sam Jones, then almost completely unknown. These magazines had to remind us that he'd had a brief role in Blake Edwards' 10, playing Bo Derek's boyfriend.

Film Review, January

Unusually, Film Review ran an offer on original Flash Gordon film posters - UK quads for only 95p each! I've not seen official cinema posters being officially sold like this before or since! Yes, I've still got one.

Photoplay, January

The Stuntman was fun, with Peter O' Toole playing a crazed movie director (who he based on David Lean!). This article points out it was delayed in getting released, having been shot in 1978. It appeared in cinemas later in the year.

Photoplay, January

Director Richard Rush (kneeling), Peter O'Toole and Steve Railsback making The Stuntman.

Film Review, January

A tribute to Steve McQueen who'd passed away in November, 1980. In Britain, we'd only just seen his last film The Hunter.

To kick off a busy summer, here comes Superman... II. The newspapers were buzzing about how Richard Donner, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman had left the production when they discovered they'd made two films, while only being paid for one. Well, that was the story. The producers had performed a similar trick with The Three/Four Musketeers. Having lost the director, Richard Lester completed this second film, Susannah York replaced Marlon Brando as Superman's parental guidance, and Gene Hackman's scenes were very obviously finished with a body double (who mostly kept his back to the camera). Despite all this, the film was hugely successful and an enjoyable crowd-pleaser with just the right amount of humour. Years later, Richard Donner released his own Director's Cut on DVD, notably less humorous than Richard Lester's approach.

Films and Filming, April

While General Zod is the most memorable character in the film, Terence Stamp's face isn't even shown in the artwork (just the back of his head!) and he doesn't get a 'supporting cast' photo either.

Film Review, May

British film had a great boost from Chariots of Fire, again given free publicity from the hit single from Vangelis' soundtrack. The story of olympic runners didn't inspire me into the cinema though. Ben Cross (top left) emerged as the star of the film, but his career soon descended into US horror movies. His 'opponent' Ian Charleson (top right) later starred in Dario Argento's Opera (1987) but died far too young, soon afterwards.

Film Review, May

A far more interesting British film appeared at the same time. The Long Good Friday is the twisty tale of ambitious London gangsters. It also nailed the political mood of a country about to embrace Thatcherist consumerism. It established Bob Hoskins as a star and, for a while, Helen Mirren.

Film Review, May

Robin Williams' first starring role. I went to see Robert Altman's Popeye because Mork and Mindy was funny. Before buying my ticket, I was unaware that this was a musical, and also an origin story where Popeye took his sweet time becoming Popeye. Shelley Duvall appeared a great deal happier in this than she had in the previous year's The Shining.

Film Review, May

Here's a great double-page spread of Disney's Herbie Goes Bananas and... David Cronenberg's Scanners! No, it wasn't a double-bill.

Film Review, May

David Cronenberg continued with his run of graphic 'body horror' movies. Because of Scanners' science-fiction element, and a lack of violence featuring guns or knives, the moments of explosive gore bypassed any censor cuts. Videodrome wouldn't be so lucky...

Film Review, June

Weird paste-up poster with a lousy tagline. Posters were losing their touch. Especially in underselling a gutsy action-packed thriller like Nighthawks. With Rutger Hauer as a baddy, just before Blade Runner.

Film Review, June

Halloween and Friday the 13th had initiated the decade of the slasher. Tobe Hooper joined in with the weirdly bloodless The Funhouse, here supported by My Bloody Valentine, which wasn't bloody because much of the gore had been censored. Only the recent DVD special edition restored the scenes we'd first seen in the pages of Fangoria.

Film Review, July

Another Canadian horror classic (again with the bloodiest bits removed), Happy Birthday To Me is now more enjoyable as a whodunnit.

Film Review, July

The clear winner at the box office - Friday continued to thirteen. I remember seeing this on the afternoon of July 29th that year, in order to escape the blanket media coverage of Charles and Diana's wedding.

Film Review, July

Another summer, another Roger Moore Bond movie. There were far fewer gadgets in For Your Eyes Only as Bond came down to Earth (after Moonraker) for a tough, stunt-heavy, spy adventure.

Sword and sorcery films were a parallel genre to compete or cash in with the fantasy adventure of Star Wars mania. 

Film Review, August

Even Clash of the Titans' Bubo the clockwork owl had a whiff of R2-D2. It was Ray Harryhausen's final feature film.

Film Review, August

John Boorman's Excalibur had an interesting cast, but reminded me too much of Monty Python and The Holy Grail without the laughs. Well it still got a few laughs.

Film Review, August

Another Muppet movie - they became regular events for a few years.

Film Review, August

Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam's dark fairy tale, featured a couple of Python cameos, like his first solo film Jabberwocky. But here he'd imagined a spectacular time-travelling story and the special effects to visualise them, culminating in Good literally fighting Evil. Like The Long Good Friday, this was produced by Handmade Films.

Film Review, August

Another big summer movie was of course Raiders of the Lost Ark, though the poster art looked pretty drab in black and white. The many action set pieces and supernatural climax took me completely by surprise - I thought the poster completely undersold it!

Film Review, August

In the seventies, Ken Russell had a great run of making interesting new films almost yearly. But there was a gap after Valentino for a couple of years while he made Altered States, followed by an even longer gap before his controversial Crimes of Passion. In 1981, I was happy to see my first, first-run Ken Russell movie in the cinema. The bonus being that it was science fiction,with special effects by make-up maestro Dick Smith. The climax of the film may now only be familiar for inspiring the pop video for A-ha's 'Take On Me'!

Film Review, October

The film confirmed William Hurt as a star, and co-star Blair Brown is also still working, appearing recently as a regular cast member in J.J. Abrams' TV series Fringe. Both actors had to endure unusual and arduous full-body make-ups for the film. Much more about Altered States here.

Film Review, October

The Omen movie series was first announced as four films, but wound up as a trilogy (Omen IV was a TV movie). The best things about The Final Conflict are Sam Neill as the adult Damien and Jerry Goldsmith's grandiose soundtrack

Film Review, October

A busy summer continued with another from John Carpenter's run of cult classics. Kurt Russell had already starred before for Carpenter, in Elvis - The Movie!

Film Review, October

Michael Mann's first film Thief hit the UK with the title changed to Violent Streets. 

Films Illustrated, November

Another masterful Brian De Palma horror-edged thriller, his third with Nancy Allen. 

Films Illustrated, November

George Romero took a break from zombies with Knightriders, originally planned as knights on horseback rather than on motorbikes. I don't remember this getting a very wide release in the UK though.

Cinema, Winter Special

Cinema! A new magazine that lasted most of the following year (but infuriatingly displays no dates anywhere). The low quality pulpy paper, apart from a few splashy colour pages, weren't as attractive as the reviews and articles from many of the Starburst regulars. the first front cover (above) features hot property William Hurt in Body Heat.

Cinema, Winter Special

Rare photo of Harrison Ford and his sons Ben and Willard. Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark had already confirmed his star status.

Films Illustrated, December

For patrons of the sci-fi superstores of Forbidden Planet, there's plenty of history in this advert from the end of 1981. It mentions that Forbidden Planet began in London in 1978, then opened the New York store early in 1981. Then, in London, it splits into two shops - one for comics and books, the other for movie magazines and memorabilia. After this, it moved round the corner to New Oxford Street, before settling at its present site on Shaftesbury Avenue.

See more magazine flashbacks - here's 1980 - Apocalypse Now and The Empire Strikes Back... The other Flashbacks are linked in the sidebar at right.

WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) - what if Germany had invaded?

WENT THE DAY WELL?

(1942, UK)

Home invasion horror... in wartime England

An English village surrounded by countryside. The middle of World War II. A regiment of German troops secretly parachute down, pretending to be British troops. With inside help, they infiltrate the village on a strategic mission to make way for the German invasion. All that can stop them are the local women, old men and children...

The women who run the switchboard at the local post office become crucial. As does anyone with a car, a gun or even a bicycle. Anyone with the means to warn the outside world or the local Home Guard.

Went the Day Well? isn't like the many British war films or spy thrillers of the time. The heroes aren't the best of the armed forces or dashing secret agents. This isn't armed combat and fistfights. There are no battlefields or rooftop chases. It's not an epic, it's not a comedy. While it has lighter moments, this is the horror of invasion, rather like the Village of the Damned and just as violent.

My first glimpse was of the most shocking the scene, on afternoon TV. I couldn't believe they'd show something that violent during the day. Of course, the rules were different during schooltime, when children weren't supposed to be at home. A modern, colour film wouldn't get away with that level of violence. 'An old black and white war film' is presumed to be harmless. But also the cosy setting of the rural home counties made most of the film seem, at a glance, idyllic. A sixty year-old film achieving shock value instantly impressed me, and I watched out for it to be repeated.

Now, to replace the cramped TV screenings (credits and captions used to be cut off at the edges), there's a blu-ray release in 1.66, presumably an early use of that aspect ratio. Besides the shocks, the continuing pleasures are in the cast, the photography and the uneasy sense of 'what if?'. What would have happened if Germany had invaded the British mainland, a country sapped of fighting fit young men.

The BFI Classics book by Penelope Houston starts with several rude swipes at Went The Day Well? being a minor film, not having "any striking depth or subtlety" and with "few puzzles of interpretation". What's wrong with a good story that dares to show us a possible yet unthinkable future?

Thankfully she goes on to explore its role as propaganda, one of the only films to visualise a German invasion of Britain that was made during the war. Indeed, in early 1942 invasion was still a real possibility and this would have been the perfect vehicle to demonstrate to a wide audience what ordinary people could do. Though apparently the government weren't nearly as interested in propaganda as Germany. Indeed, the British film industry had had to scale down production enormously, starved of funds, staff and resources. They certainly weren't being used to boost morale or speak for the government.

Apparently the story caught the eye of Michael Balcon at Ealing Studios, as well as the Brazilian documentary director Cavalcanti who was friends with Graham Greene, who had written it for a magazine. I think it was basically Balcon, the director and their writers who wanted to answer the difficult questions - what could people do if they came face to face with invaders in their own homes. It suggests a moral stance of selflessness, with scenarios that empower the young and old to make a difference.

An ambitious story, some of the action falls flat because of a lack of stunt performers, soldiers are playing soldiers and simply fall down rather than act at 'being shot'. This lessens some of the drama, but the director also avoids dwelling on all the sacrifices made. Some of the cast complained that he didn't direct them much and this showcases performers who could 'direct themselves'. A particular standout scene is from a young Patricia Hayes (The NeverEnding Story, A Fish Called Wanda).

Leslie Banks will always be Count Zaroff in The Most Dangerous Game, but here he's the traitorous town squire. The camera kindly makes little of the facial disfigurement on his left side (from an injury in World War I) though his character is still two-faced. Further down the cast, Thora Hird (below left) became a familiar face in British TV, here uncharacteristically handling a rifle with glee.

Elizabeth Allan (above centre) is more familiar in flowing dresses in Mark of the Vampire. The accomplished cast make the large number of characters are easy to distinguish. I failed to spot James Donald in the background, or a young Janette Scott (Thora Hird's daughter) as one of the children.

Little is made of the impeccable English accents of the German soldiers, and they don't revert to speaking German when found out. Their true allegiance isn't concreted with dramatically unveiled swastikas or flags. We don't even see them parachute in. The overall impression is that they could be rebel British soldiers. But that's another message from the film. You have to be careful and not go by appearances.

In the US, it was simply retitled 48 Hours. Director Cavalcanti of course went on to direct a segment from the acclaimed portmanteau horror Dead of Night (1945) that also features Mervyn Johns in a pivotal role.

An unusual nightmare from an unusual moment in history.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO and THUNDERBIRD 6 - blu-ray double-bill

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO,

THUNDERBIRD 6

(1966, 1968, UK)

Both on one limited edition blu-ray from Twilight Time

Gerry Anderson's many series have been a lifelong obsession of mine. But of all the times I've seen Thunderbirds Are Go, watching this blu-ray was one of the most thrilling. I could talk about this all day but I'll try and be brief...

The first mission to Mars is under threat from sabotage. International Rescue are called in to ensure the safety of the astronauts lift-off for Mars and their return journey too! Most of the Thunderbirds craft are needed and of course Lady Penelope is called in to tackle the villains, demonstrating a spectacular new feature of her fabulous Fab 1 Rolls Royce.

Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds TV series first aired in the UK in 1965 and really spoiled us as children. A puppet show with intricate models (that looked like the best toys ever), a weekly hour of special effects and explosions. Every set for the puppets had to be built and dressed in 1/6th scale. All the exteriors, every vehicle and aircraft and their surroundings, had to be built on an even smaller scale. As a child, it was a hugely exciting adventure. As an adult, the work that went into these illusions still fascinates, as does the high quality of the writing and the humour and inventiveness of the stories.

Thunderbirds was a huge phenomenon in sixties' Britain, so popular that it immediately spun off weekly comics, books, toys, model kits, records and more - a marketing phenomenon over a decade before Star Wars. As most televisions were still small, squarish screens in black-and white, Thunderbirds then burst into cinemas in two widescreen adventures in colour.

The puppets and models were all upgraded for their big screen appearance. Similar to when TV productions had to revamp their sets and make-up for the transition to HD transmission. None of the footage from the Thunderbirds TV shows was re-used - for instance, all the classic launch sequences of the Thunderbird craft had to be rebuilt and re-filmed.

Of course, Barry Gray (who provided the theme tunes and backing music for all of Gerry's shows from The Adventures of Twizzle to the first season of Space: 1999) composed and conducted the movie soundtracks, this time with a big orchestra.

While the two feature films weren't successful at the box office, I had no idea about that as a child. I'd got to see Thunderbirds in colour on a huge screen! The TV series then finished after 32 episodes, but continued to be repeated for many years on ITV. Eventually, there was home video, and then there was a second boom in popularity during the BBC2 repeats in the 1990s. 

I always double-dipped for the home video releases, through VHS, laserdisc, and DVD. But I think the new blu-ray release from Twilight Time, with both feature films on one disc, is the best presentation we're likely to see in terms of picture quality. Though I've read a few complaints about it...

Both films were shot on 35mm, but for some reason, in Techniscope - a lower budget alternative to anamorphic 2.35, where the widescreen image is squeezed onto four perfs of 35mm film. Techniscope was non-anamorphic, recording the 2.35 image onto two-perfs of 35mm. The result being that the features were filmed at half the visual quality of the TV series! 

As a result, any shots that involve 'optical' work, like when the opening titles are added over a moving image, the quality of the image has gone down a generation when the two elements were optically combined and copied onto a new negative - this makes it noticeably more grainy, which is unfortunately how Thunderbirds Are Go begins. After all the Thunderbird craft are introduced, and the assembly of the Zero-X (over which the opening titles appear), the picture quality improves greatly. But the visible grain might be a shock at the start of this blu-ray. It's not how the whole film looks, it's just during the title sequence, which is admittedly very lengthy.

Blu-rays use high-resolution digital scans of film elements, allowing us to see the quality of the original film even clearly than it was possible in the cinema. The puppet scenes look the best, with less grain and saturated colour. The exteriors, with models of spaceships and aircraft are grainier. I've also noticed this difference while watching the UFO blu-rays, where the actors' scenes have a different look than the miniature work. I'm guessing that they used different cameras, maybe even different film stock. The miniatures were usually shot at higher speeds, resulting in a slow motion to make the models appear to look heavy. But this increase in filming speed, and the need for very deep sharp focus so as not to give away the small scale, would demand much more light and wider lens apertures. Basically pushing the film stock it to its limit. The main problem would be more grain.

But I like the fact that I'm watching something that looks like film. After many years, I'm very used to seeing grain. I also know that it's not always welcome when watching a brand new film on blu-ray! But this isn't brand new and it wasn't shot digitally. I'll add that I'm against use of heavy digital grain reduction to amend this texture. It could add extra textural movement that wasn't on the negative and possibly obscure valuable visual detail. On this presentation, it's daunting to finally see (feint) support wires on the Zero-X spaceship. Derek Meddings and his visual effects crew would certainly have reshot those scenes if the wires were visible on a cinema screen. Proof that we're seeing the film at higher quality than ever before.

Twilight Time have included previously available DVD extras and added some new ones. Having both films on one disc makes this the best value of all their releases. The new transfers also improve on previous DVD editions with a less cramped aspect, revealing additional picture information on all sides of the frame. For the level of detail and richness of the colours, I couldn't be happier with it!

There are several high definition screengrabs from both films on this blu-ray here on DVD Beaver.

A special 1965 magazine about the story and the making of the film.