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This adult film noir masterpiece showcases the most glamorous pin-up dream girl of the 1940s. Rita Hayworth, a young Glenn Ford and a sinister George Macready form a sophisticated, poisonous love triangle. Criminal intrigues and killer striptease fill out the bill. Gilda Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 795 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr, Ludwig Donath, Argentina Brunetti, Eduardo Ciannelli, Ruth Roman. Cinematography Rudolph Maté Film Editor Charles Nelson Music underscore Hugo Friedhofer Written by Marion Parsonnet, Jo Eisinger, E.A. Ellington Produced by Virginia Van Upp Directed by Charles Vidor

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.

Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie is set to direct a great sounding new film for Warner Bros. called Empire Rising. It's a love story set in the 1930s around the construction of the Empire State Building. 

The movie is an adaptation of the novel by Thomas Kelly, who will also be writing the script. The book was published back in 2006, and it told of "an epic love triangle set in 1930 just as construction on the iconic building begins and the Depression is beginning to take hold. On one side is the Irish immigrant Michael Briody, a steelworker on the building who is also running guns for the Ira. On the other is Johnny Farell, a bagman for Mayor Jimmy Walker and adapt at running the corrupt political system. And in the middle is a beautiful artist named Grace Masterson. Historical figures also make appearances."

Ritchie is the perfect director to take on this story.

Warner Brothers has purchased the film rights to author Thomas Kelly’s historical romance novel Empire Rising as a possible directing project for Guy Ritchie.

Here’s little on the book from Barnes & Noble:

It is 1930, and ground has just been broken for the Empire State Building. One of the thousands of men who will come to work high above the city is Michael Briody, an Irish immigrant torn between his desire to make a new life in America and his pledge to gather money and arms for the Irish republican cause. When he meets Grace Masterson, an alluring artist who is depicting the great skyscraper’s rise from her houseboat on the East River, Briody’s life suddenly turns exhilarating—and dangerous—for Grace is also a paramour of Johnny Farrell, Mayor Jimmy Walker’s liaison with Tammany Hall and the underworld.

Kelly will be adapting his novel for...

Stars: Sarah Louise Madison, Sabrina Dickens, S.J. Evans, Rorie Stockton, Richard Goss, Sule Rimi, Kathy Saxondale, Johnathon Farrell | Written by James Plumb, Andrew Jones | Directed by James Plumb

In 2012,the deceased have risen from their graves with only one instinct-to feed on the living. Academics speculate on the scientific cause of the phenomena and theologians point to the Armageddon foretold in the Book of Revelation. But as the cities are over run and civilization crumbles, four generations of one family take refuge from the undead army in an isolated farmhouse in West Wales.

Based on the 1968 zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection is not a direct remake of George Romero’s original, instead it takes inspiration from the original movie, often playing with the audiences expectations and subverting the events that you would expect, given the trend of “remakes”, to take place.

Very much an amateur production, and...

Based on George Romero’s 1968 zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection focuses on four generations of a British family trapped in a farmhouse in Wales during a zombie apocalypse. The film stars Richard Goss, Johnathon Farrell, Sabrina Dickens, S.J. Evans and Sule Rimi as Ben; and comes from director James Plumb who makes his feature-film debut from a script by Andrew Jones (The Feral Generation).

In 2012,the deceased have risen from their graves with only one instinct-to feed on the living. As the cities are over run and civilization crumbles, a family take refuge from the undead army in an isolated farmhouse in West Wales.

Plumb and Jones are next set to work together on a remake of Silent Night, Bloody Night which will shoot in Wales later this month.

(Source: AndyErupts)...

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Buenos Aires, 1944: the setting of one of cinemas steamiest and most scintillating love triangles. Re-released for a limited time only at the BFI Southbank, Charles Vidor’s 1946 iconic film noir is a daring but flawed piece that established Rita Hayworth as a femme fatale to be reckoned with.

Glenn Ford plays Johnny Farrell, a seasoned hustler who has been kicked out of every town, city and state where he can roll a dice, toss a coin or play a hand. He finds himself in Argentina, back to his old tricks, back in black and back in trouble – held at knifepoint. Fortunately for Farrell, the sinister and savvy tycoon Ballin Mundson (George Macready) stumbles upon him and saves his life. A professional partnership quickly develops into a friendship as Ballin puts Farrell to work in his casino. The golden rule their relationship is built on is...

First released in 1946, Gilda is a wonderfully perverse noir classic that comes over as a cross between Casablanca (an intentional influence) and Hitchcock's Notorious (which appeared just weeks after Gilda). The movie revolves around the exotic Rita Hayworth and was produced by Virginia Van Upp, the most powerful woman at Columbia, who was charged by tough studio boss Harry Cohn with supervising the star's career. Hayworth is stranded in Buenos Aires at the end of the second world war, trapped between her sadistic, middle-aged husband, the Nazi-sympathiser Ballin Mundson (George Macready), and her ex-lover, the cruel, amoral American adventurer, Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford). The men have a homoerotic love-hate relationship. After Johnny sees Ballin's phallic sword-cane the first time they meet, he says admiringly: "You must lead a gay life."

Hayworth is sad and stunning, the film is beautifully lit by Rudolph Maté (who photographed Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc,...

Here's what you've got to look forward to in May, in terms of movies, TV shows, DVD releases and games...

Last month, we trialled putting together an article at the start of the month to let you know what was coming up in the weeks ahead. We asked you if you wanted us to do it again. You said yes. Thus, the following article is clearly all your fault...!

Films

Lots to watch out for in May. Iron Man 2 is already tearing up the box office in the UK, with its Us roll-out coming on May 7th. Conversely, we get the terrible remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street on the 7th, which the Us got last week.

A much better bet, and arguably the film to beat this month, is Chris Morris' terrific Four Lions. We've got a review of that here to explain more about it...