HUE & CRY highlights Film Movements's quartet of classic British comedies starring Alastair Sim

Neither as well-known nor as well-loved perhaps as Alec Guinness, British comedian Alastair Sim was nonetheless a major force in British comedy from the 1940s through the 1960s. Now four of his best-known comedies are getting a Blu-ray debut in excellent transfers (without, unfortunately, SDH English subitles) in a four-disc package titled ALASTAIR SIM'S SCHOOL FOR LAUGHTER from Film Movement.

Film buiffs of a certain age will easily recall the original version of The Belles of St. Trinian's and School for Scoundrels. Lesser known but just as worthy are the other two "classics" included: Laughter in Paradise and the film under consideration here, HUE AND CRY.

Helmed by one of Britain's undersung comedic directors, Charles Crichton (at right), and written by the wonderful T.E.B. Clarke, Hue and Cry tells the tale of a gang of thugs whose clever leader uses a popular comic strip to alert his band to their next moves.

Another gang -- of British school-kids (below) -- led by an even more clever fellow gets on to the bad guys and determines to stop them, which leads to all sorts of fun and games and even, at the finale, more genuine suspense than you might have imagined possible in this kind of movie.

The ubiquitous Mr. Sim (shown at center on poster, top) plays the very funny, sunny, and near-camp writer of the comic book's story, who must be cajoled and then finally threatened into helping the kids. He is delightful, as usual, but it is Mr. Crichton's wonderful use of the so-recently bombed-out Britain (Hue and Cry was filmed only two years after the end of World War II) that both startles and rather amazes.

He and writer Clarke know how to plot and pace, so their movie bubbles along with charm and wit, from the funny and original opening credits right through the amusing and thrilling finish. The rest of the cast, of kids and polished British actors, are as delightful as is Mr. Sim. There's not a false step in the entire enterprise.

With this month's release of these classic Sim comedies, along with last month's offering of fine British war films -- both partnered by Film Movement and Studio Canal -- viewers are getting a very nice taste of British classics along with some wonderful accompanying Bonus Features. More please! (But consider including the SDH subtitles next time, OK?)

Gillies MacKinnon's WHISKY GALORE is a charming, spirited remake of the 1949 original

Pay absolutely no attention to today's New York Times sour and incomprehensible review of WHISKY GALORE, a very smart and spirited remake of the popular 1949 movie directed by Alexander Mackendrick. Rather than try to "modernize" the remake, as the Times reviewer suggests, director Gillies MacKinnon (shown below) and screenwriter Peter McDougal wisely stick to the original -- which was low-key and delightful then -- and come up with a film that is low-key and delightful now.

This tale -- of a small island off Scotland during World War II that is suddenly deprived of its liquor and a sailing vessel (three photos below) full of the stuff that is suddenly moored on the rocks just off-shore -- proves a sweet, succulent story that gives a fine ensemble cast the chance to shine together. The movie also captures the look and feel of its 1940s era with ease and charm, and the behavior of the actors is quite in keeping with that time and place. There is, thankfully, no inclusion of the kind of "modern" nonsense -- foul language, fart jokes, hot sex or fast car chases -- that some less skillful filmmakers might use to "update" this old-fashioned tale.

Instead we get an ensemble of townsfolk who are, each in his/her way, specific and amusing, and who join together to bring booze back to its rightful place. (Teatotalers, I would guess, need not bother to view this one.) It's all enchanting and full of charm and the kind of coincidence that is necessary and indeed works well in this sort of movie.

The cast is large and swell, with the most prominent name being that of Eddie Izzard, above, who plays what the film posits as something close to the villain's role. He's sweetly funny and nasty, but even his comeuppance is tinged with love, as his wife assures him that his arrest is just a "slap on the wrist."

That wife is played by the wondrous Fenella Woolgar (if you've never seen her award-calibre performance in Bright Young Things, please do). I have dearly hoped to see Ms Woolgar in another role as good as that, but until then, this one will do nicely.

As the island's grumpy postmaster with two highly marriageable daughters, Gregor Fisher (above) is terrific. But then so is everyone else. And MacKinnon and McDougal see to it that the tone, style and speed of all this adheres beautifully to the era at hand.

From Arrow Films and running a just-right 98 minutes, Whisky Galore opens today in New York City at the Cinema Village and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3. 

Streaming tips: black-and-white 1950s British gems: FAST AND LOOSE and ALWAYS A BRIDE

Netflix provides such a treasure trove of movies -- from foreign films to independents to documentaries -- that some of its least-known gems can easily get lost in this abundance. People stupidly complain that the service doesn't have all the big mainstream hits. True. But so what? If you really care about movies of all types, they're here for the asking. Two such, which we recently watched one right after the other (we almost never do this at a single sitting, but these were so charming, we quickly were hooked), I'll tell you about now.

FAST AND LOOSE, a Brit hit in glorious black-and-white from 1954, and ALWAYS A BRIDE, from 1953, also British and in b/w (and filmed at least partially on the French Riviera!) are two small gems of subtle, subdued humor and full of fine character acting from all concerned. Both are also filmed in the aspect ratio of that time (1.37:1) that may seem a little small by our widescreen standards. But that also helps contribute to their charm -- as do the witty, low-key performances from almost everyone in the two casts, along with the unadorned, straight-ahead direction (Gordon Parry for Fast and Loose,  Ralph Smart for Always a Bride).

F&L takes off as a man and his new bride leave for their honeymoon but he runs into an old flame at the station and chats a bit as the train, with his bride aboard, takes off without him. What to do? The result makes up this silly, funny romp that features the wonderfully droll and glamorous actress Kay Kendall (above) as that old flame and the lesser-known-but-serviceable Brian Reece in the role of the husband. The bride's parents provide a bundle of laughs, as does the harridan landlady of the small hotel in which our cast finally gathers.

Always a Bride takes us into the world of father-daughter con artists, Ronald Squire and Peggy Cummins (above), their very funny accomplices and the fellow who falls in love with the daughter (the handsome Terence Morgan, below).

The grifting is handled with fine aplomb and oodles of charm, the romance is light-footed and sweet, and the Riviera looks lovely, even in black-and-white. Both films are quite short (Fast is only 75 minutes, Bride comes in at 82). And both are available now via Netflix and maybe elsewhere. Click on the links above for easy access.

A sequel full of food, fun, scenery & impressions: Michael Winterbottom's THE TRIP TO ITALY

If you loved (or hated or fell anywhere in between) Michael Winterbottom's earlier The Trip, his new lark, THE TRIP TO ITALY should keep you pretty much in that same frame of mind. If anything, this one's even a bit easier to enjoy because the scenery is a lot better -- not to mention the hotels and food (if only we could taste it!). The earlier movie had our enterprising duo Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves and touring Britain's finest restaurants. This new film does the same -- but in Italy. 'Nuff said?

Yes, we get the same constant wordplay, humor, impersonations and competitiveness that Coogan and Brydon (above, right and left, respectively) produce when they rub up against each other. Though, this time, all of it is tempered with some other interesting stuff: family (some of whom join the pair en route), and -- gosh, can it really be so? -- a little empathy from the guys  toward each other.

Filmmaker Winter-bottom, shown at left, is master of versatility. He rarely does the same thing twice. Perhaps, due to the surprise success of The (first) Trip, he's repeating himself for once. And we can be grateful for it. This fellow, who more often than not dabbles in very dark places -- from his first film, Butterfly Kiss, onwards through I Want You, Wonderland, The Claim, The Road to Guantanamo, The Killer Inside Me and Trishna -- might also have been delighted to tackle some out-and-out comedy again.

For their part Coogan and Brydon are as delightful as ever, whether giving us more of their Michael Caine interpretations, or Pacino or De Niro and on and on. Or finally, bonding a bit with wife or offspring and trying provide some husbandly/fatherly advice and/or affection.

Movies like this tend to be rather short. Interestingly, Winterbottom and his boys see to it that the humor and interest don't flag for the entire 108-minute running time (the initial Trip lasted 107). Well, that gorgeous scenery does change, as do the cities, hotels and food.  As someone once demanded, "What's not to like?"

The Trip to Italy, from IFC Films, opens this Friday, August 15, in New York City at the IFC Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema; it is said to be opening in Los Angeles this coming Friday, as well, but I have not been able to determine at which theaters.  (The following Fridays, Aug 22 and 29, it will open at various Laemmle theaters around the L.A. area.)

Blu-ray debut: ON APPROVAL -- Brit hit from the vaults returns to tickle us anew

If you're an aficionado of old movies -- good old movies, I might add: the kind that actually hold up well in this new century of ours -- you cannot miss the return (on Blu-ray, where it looks smashing) of ON APPROVAL, the lightweight cream puff of a film that starts out well and just gets better and better as it skims along. When it first appeared in 1944, critics were calling it among the funniest British light comedies ever made. Current critics still are, and the movie still is.

Seen on this digitally restored Blu-ray disc, the black-and-white cinematography looks stunning (could it have looked this good back then?) and the costumes (by Cecil Beaton!) enchant. But it's the cast and the script, sporting dialog so much fun that you wonder where humor has gone (What -- no fart jokes? Not a one!) What probably seemed daring in its day now seems not at all old hat but simply sensible and smart.

A comedy of manners in which the two woman characters come with tidy fortunes in hand, while the two men -- one a duke, the other his good friend -- are resoundingly poor. The gals are played by Beatrice Lillie (yes, that funny British eccentric, shown center on poster, top, and above, left) and Googie Withers. (The latter, shown below, left, and only recently departed, gives a simply lovely 2011 interview as part of the disc's Special Features, telling us all about what it was like to make this movie, back in the day.)

The males are played by Roland Culver (below, left, with mustache) and Clive Brook (above, right), who doubles as director, although the movie did not start out with him at the helm (this is one of the big surprises we learn in Ms Withers interview). All four stars are to this sort of manor born, and they have a terrific old time with the great script and story by Frederick Lonsdale, based on his play of the same name.

At a breezy length of only 80 minutes, the movie wastes not a word nor scene, bouncing along and culminating in a some terrific surprises leading to one of the great last visual and verbal moments in cinema story-telling history. Ho!

On Approval, a wonderful gift from Inception Media Group, Inc., is available now on Blu-ray disc, for sale and, I would hope, rental. But as you can no longer trust Netflix to purchase a new and better restoration of an inferior disc they already have, and Blockbuster, playing its usual game, appears to have the Blu-ray (until you stick it into your queue and discover that, no, they don't actually carry it), maybe eventually, there'll be VOD or streaming. For now, get some like-minded old-movie fans/friends together and chip in on the $35 suggested retail price. It's expensive, but with several of you sharing, not so much.

Scheinmann bros' cutting-edge ensemble delight -- THE WEST WITTERING AFFAIR

A good friend of mine, who is also a psychotherapist, once told TrustMovies that any two people could form a successful relation-ship and/or marriage. There were only two necessities: They had to be mature (that is, autonomous) adults, and they had to want the relationship. Granted, that first necessity precludes at least three-quarters of the world's adult population but, still, this is a very interesting concept. It came to mind while TM and his companion were watching a British movie he had only just become aware of -- THE WEST WITTERING AFFAIR -- though it was actually made in 2006 but released solely (and all too briefly) in the U.K. at the end of that year.

The WWA, as I'll now refer to it, is a rom-com set partially in the titular tiny village, located in the West Sussex district of England. The movie features a quartet of smart performers. Later a younger, fifth wheel is added to the group, but for most of the movie it's this foursome that captivates and annoys us (most humorously). As rom-coms go, the movie is light years ahead of most, whether British, American or whatever country of origin. This is due to the diretor, a fellow named David Scheinmann (at left), an evidently well-known British photographer and music--video creator, here helming his first full-length film; to his splendid acting ensemble, who play together like the pros they are; and to the screenwriters (two of this ensemble: the director's brother, Danny Schneimann, and Sarah Sutcliffe).

The actors are all new to me and probably will be to you. All the better, then, to enjoy their novelty, ability and spontaneity. The movie begins by flashing forward and back in time, days and/or weeks before or after West Wittering, as the "event" has evidently come to be referred to. That event turns out to be kind of "date" arranged by one woman (Ms Stucliffe, below, left) to get to better know the young caterer, Jamie (played by Mr. Scheinmann, above) to whom she's become attracted. Another couple has been invited, but only one person, the female half (Rebecca Cardinale, below, right) shows up. Things go both badly and well, depending on how you view them -- which is pretty much true about everything that happens in this movie, consequently giving it such an interesting, "adult" edge.

The four characters, the last of whom is a therapist (played by David Annen, shown at right in the penultimate photo) involved with one of the women, are quite good at sizing up the other three. It's understanding themselves that gives them -- as it gives most of us -- such trouble, while peppering the movie with resonance and pizzazz. There's one other thing that distinguishes the film, but I hesitate to tell you what it is -- because, when I learn that a movie's been made in this manner, I tend to resist it from the outset. This is unfair, particulaly when a film works as well as does The WWA.  (You can learn what this "magical" ingredient is by watching the maybe 15-20 minute interview with the director that appears as a extra on the DVD. Scheinmann comes across as a very smart and intuitive guy, and what he has to say about his movie and how it was made is consistently interesting and vibrant. Listening to this interview (it's all audio, against a photo of the director) added immeasurably to my understanding and enjoyment of the film.)

I don't say this about very many movies, but The West Wittering Affair -- by tracking these characters as they attempt to create viable relationships -- flirts with profundity, even if it does not finally consummate it. But for a rom-com to make us laugh and entertain us so well, while locking us into its stories of these crazy but believable characters, and then make us consider seriously the ways in which our uses of sex and food and romance and loyalty conspire for and against us -- well, this is one hell of an achievement. Not to mention the smart, sharp style the director uses in his odd time shifts, his introduction of a men's sex therapy group, and finally the addition of that very important fifth character.

All of this brings up another interesting point: How did those guardians of our film culture let this movie slip past them?  While they were sleeping, another much less worthy filmmaker like Ben Wheatley got his two movies -- Kill List and Down Terrace -- praised to the skies. While these films are indeed "different," stylistically they both clunk and neither works that well in terms of simple credibility. Could it be that Wheatley's insistence on giving us the blood, gore, murder and mayhem that so many of us crave above all else, makes him a worthier object upon which to heap praise?  Just asking.

Meanwhile, track down The West Wittering Affair, watch it and weigh in. You can rent it, as did I, from Netflix (Blockbuster has it, too), or purchase or stream it from Amazon and elsewhere.
Whatever: See it.

Winterbottom's THE TRIP: major laughs from Coogan, Brydon and... Michael Caine

Michael Caine? Not really. Caine comes out of the two stars of Michael Winterbottom's very funny new movie THE  TRIP.  (A director not known for humor, Winterbottom has made, out of more than 20 films in 20 years, only two that you could call comedies.) His stars in this film, however, are Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and both do such fab impressions of this great British actor that you'd swear he was there. (Caine, who loves movies, will certainly see this one, and I would expect that he'll be laughing right along with the rest of the audience.)

Mr. Winterbottom (shown at right) is taking, I should think, some sort of vacation with his new movie, which is itself a kind of vacation in which two buddies (I use that last word loosely) tour the Brit hinterlands reviewing restaurants and one-upping each other regarding their superlative impressions of various movie people. Competition and the male ego have rarely been shown to such disadvantage (for the owners) and such amusement (for the audience). These two "mates" are also, more often than not, unemployed actors -- with (as in real life, one suspects) Coogan the more oft-employed and Brydon, the not-quite-there-yet.

Does anyone preen as nastily -- at the same time pretending not to -- as Coogan (above, right)? Doubtful. This guy excels at playing pigs of major proportions. And Brydon, above, left, as the lap dog trying desperately to be the Great Dane, proves the perfect foil.

While the film makes great fun of haute cuisine, foodies and cell-phone unavail-ability (left), it is mostly an insider's movie. From its Ben Stiller fantasy to Coogan's agent to those near- constant impressions (there are some very good ones of Woody Allen), the movie's so chock-a-block with sophistica-ted and/or work-related references that non-film-buffs had best stay away, for they'll probably sit in stony silence wondering what all the laughter is about. 

We also get some crackerjack scenery, The Winner Takes It All, and more impressions. At 107 minutes, the movie's too long. It could easily lose 15 of these, but I suspect everyone was having too good a time to yell "cut!" What about later, in the editing room? My theory is that perhaps there was still so much laughter that, well, they kept in damn near everything.

Still, you really do get the sense that these two guys enjoy each other's company immensely. And we enjoy theirs. Just maybe not quite so much of them. The Trip, from IFC Films, opens this Friday. June 10, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the IFC Center. It'll play elsewhere, I am sure, and then on June 22, as happens with so many IFC movies, you can get it via VOD.

Chris Morris' FOUR LIONS: comic, cosmic Jihad that's funny, piercing and sad

"How did they do it?" may fall from your lips, or at least invade your thoughts, after viewing FOUR LIONS, the new and very funny tragi-comedy from Chris Morris, director and co-writer, with Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain and Simon Blackwell. Together with their cast of four splendid lead actors and a host of fine supporting people, this group has taken about as black and tricky a subject as exists in the world today and spun it into comic gold -- without ever losing sight (sound or feel) of its underlying tragedy. After a first viewing (I'll have to see this one again) I'm amazed, and I suspect you will be, too.

Can a movie manage to make repeated and resounding fun of fundamentalism and suicidal Jihad while somehow honoring the deep religious feelings that must be engen-dered in participants engaging in this kind of terrorism? Evidently so, for this is the very weird and perhaps dangerous combination that Morris (shown at right) and crew have concocted. One fears for the lives of the filmmakers. Yet the movie opened in Britain much earlier this year and, as these guys are still with us, perhaps Islam looks kindly on their venture. Islam ought to, for the result is more than any religion (whose followers engage in this kind of terror against civilians) deserves. Well, it's a conundrum, I tell you.

The movie opens (above) with a scene all too familiar of late. But it's a rehearsal, and it's not going well.  The humor may take awhile to kick in, given the ugliness of the would-be situation. But because so much of the humor generates from the characters of the four participants, the more we grow to understand them, the funnier the movie gets. And it gets very funny.

Four Lions' fullest character -- the one with whom most audiences will identify -- is family man Omar (played by Riz Ahmed, above and at bottom, whom you may remember from Sally Potter's Rage and/or Neil Marshall's Centurion). The scenes of family life shown here -- Omar's wife arguing with a male relative about a "woman's place," how both wife and son appear to actually encourage Omar in his crazy endeavor, and especially the hilarious use of The Lion King conflated with Jihad -- are as funny as they are cogent and remarkable.  In fact, Morris and his crew come at fundamentalism from several standpoints so that we see a non-violent fundamentalist (who would keep women under thumb) along with a suicidal Jihadist (who is happy to have a "liberated" wife). The ironies comes thick and fast in this film.

The need to "fit in," to find one's place, is found in two other quite disparate characterizations: one from Arsher Ali (above), as the bumbling Hassan (all these guys are bumblers, but they each bumble in differing ways), whose "Jihad rap" number in the midst of a town council meeting is classic cinema. Nigel Lindsay (below), as Barry, on the other hand, is the one Brit in the bunch possessing no middle-eastern heritage. His need for inclusion comes from somewhere else, though it is every bit as urgent -- and believable.

The fourth lion, Adeel Akhtar as Faisal (below), seems the oldest of the men and perhaps the saddest (they're all sad) and is the one we know the least about, but he gets the single funniest moment -- with the crow pictured above and on the poster at top. Here's another scene destined to join those in the annals of great comedy.

As funny as it is, what gives the movie its poignancy, in fact its greatness, is the depth accorded its characters, despite/because of their very foolishness and misguided bungling. Morris and his writers insist on not just offering up the crazy humor but the beliefs and desires of the men that underly the situation. By the whopper of the finale, humor and hurt coalesce into something cinema has not previously given us. Bravo, guys -- every last one of you -- and Preeya Kalidas, who does such a good job playing Omar's wife, and Julia Davis as the Lions' somewhat "out-of-touch" neighbor.

Four Lions, from Drafthouse Films, opens today, November 5, in New York City at the Angelika Film Center. Click here, then look down the right hand side of the screen to find, in alphabetical order, the 21 cities where the film is (or soon will be) playing -- along with specific dates and theaters.