Here is a classic family drama from 1970. The Railway Children is based on the book by E Nesbitt and directed by Lionel Jeffries. The background to the film can be found on my post of 24th November 2025: Classic Movies on Sky Arts - Series 4 Episode 5 - The Story of the Railway Children. There is not much else to say except it is all told from the children's point of view, with our narrator being the eldest child played by Jenny Agutter. (Who I met at The Globe theatre). It was nice when at the beginning and it's Christmas, Peter gets a train for a present. I remember my own clockwork O gauge train set.
I liked the contrast between their rich London life and the much more basic, but actually happier time in the country. The film includes all those great character actors and the exterior shots are so clear and bright. It certainly is a classic.
The Undertaker stars Paul McGann at his very best. The role suited him so well. A quiet morose bachelor, Arthur is meticulous in his work, having to cope on his own after his partner died. The film was released in 2023, but it looks like something from the sixties. It is set in Northern England sometime in that same decade. Most of the colour has been drained from the print. Nearly all of the film takes place in the shop where who should turn up but gangster Finlay Unsworth. He is played by Roger Barclay in one of the biggest casting errors I have ever seen. He would not have scared a young child. And his acting was awful. Maybe there as he was on of the producers. Fortunately there is the marvelous Tara Fitzgerald as the new assistant. She despairs when her boss agrees to arrange burials for Unsworth. And things spiral out of control. But the writing and direction by Michael Wright was top class.
The film reminded me of a similar story from the 2022 film called The Outfit that starred Mark Rylance who runs a tailor shop in Chicago. See my post 3rd March 2025.
The 1953 movie Sabrina is a Billy Wilder classic. Although I had never heard about it before it arrived on the BBC. A very clever comedy, it has an all star cast with Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Adapted from the stage play Sabrina's Fair by Samuel Taylor. There is not a lot of plot, it relies on the witty script to tell the story of the Larrabee brothers from a wealthy Long Island family and their chauffer's daughter Sabrina played by Hepburn. She is madly in love with David, the playboy of the two brothers who ignores her. Humphrey Bogart's Linus is only interested in the family business.
When Sabrina returns from two years at a finishing school in Paris, she is all grown up and suddenly the object of David's affection, although he is due to be soon married. This was all fine and quite enjoyable until the second half became quite tedious. Sabrina's relationship with Linus did not work at all. Bogart was far too old and grumpy for this role. He was obviously there for the name but was totally miscast. It need a Cary Grant type for Sabrina to change her affections.
Some of the reviews were more positive: "fast paced, witty and engaging", "lightweight and frothy". Yes, the script was great, and I really liked Sabrina's father, the chauffer, played by John Williams, and some terrific tiny performances. The black and white cinematography by Charles Lang looked great and the dialogue first class.
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