Jack Cardiff Movies

The history of color photography in motion pictures is lovingly detailed with vibrant film clips and first-person interviews in this 60-minute cable TV special. Beginning with such experimental processes as hand-tinting each frame of film (a specialty first of Edison, then perfected by the French Pathe company) and the "Kinemacolor" technique (a cumbersome procedure requiring special high-speed projectors and two separate strips of film), the special then moves on to the swaddling days of Technicolor, with rare vignettes from such silent films as The Toll of the Sea (1922), The Black Pirate (1926), and Ben-Hur. The two-color Technicolor process gives way in 1933 to an improved three-strip format, yielding such splendiferous results as Becky Sharp (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), and Gone With the Wind. But because of the dictatorial policies of Technicolor consultant Natalie Kalmus (who gained control of the company in a divorce proceeding), moviemakers were forced to adhere to firmly controlled policies of how the colors could be arranged and toned, with no wiggle room for individual creativity. Fortunately, Kalmus did not wield as much power over British filmmakers like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger who freed the Technicolor process from the shackles of conformity and corporate thinking in the 1940s, yielding such visual feasts as The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. The special concludes with the final years of the three-strip format in the early '50s, with interviews from such Technicolorful stars as Esther Williams and Arlene Dahl. Drawing heavily from Turner's vast MGM film library, Glorious Technicolor originally aired over the Turner Classic Movies service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Daryl Duke directed this epic adventure, based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, concerning the battle for control of the China trade in early 19th-century Hong Kong. The film takes place in 1842 on the China Coast, where the Chinese object to the British imperialist policy of buying opium from the Chinese and then selling it back to them at a higher price. As a result, British warships arrive to pound the recalcitrant Chinese into submission. The outcome of the assault is a treaty giving England the right to operate Hong Kong as a free-port. The problem is who will become the Tai-Pan, or British merchant ruler of Hong Kong? The battle lines for the position are drawn between two swashbucklers -- Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown), a skipping and jumping buccaneer, and Tyler Brock (John Stanton), a weaselly cheat. Brock makes the first move by forcing Straun into bankruptcy, but, thanks to the help of the local prostitute May-May (Joan Chen), who has a score to settle with Brock, Straun is able to raise the money at the last minute. This enrages Brock, who remains bitter through the years and finally confronts Straun in a climactic sword fight. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Cat's Eye is an uneven, tepid trilogy of stories written by Stephen King connected by a cat which appears at the beginning of each story. The best story, and first episode, concerns chain-smoker Morrison (James Woods) who joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti, played with great relish by Alan King. In the second episode, a gambler named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan) makes a bet with his wife's lover. In the third episode, a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is terrorized by a tiny troll. Although he wrote the screenplay, Stephen King was disappointed with the results and thought the interconnection of the stories using the cat clumsy and distracting. Directer Lewis Teague does an average job of directing the confusing and sometimes foolish script. However, James Woods' fine performance and the special effects by Jeff Jarvis make the film worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This three-part, seven-hour TV adaptation of Edgar Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 best-seller The Last Days of Pompeii was arguably more faithful to its source than any of the earlier film versions -- and inarguably the most expensive version of all, boasting a 19,000,000-dollar budget and a truly spectacular cast. In recounting the events leading up to the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., the film, like the novel, introduces a veritable coliseum full of colorful fictional characters: stalwart Athenian Glaucus (Nicholas Clay), religious-zealot Egyptian Arbaces (Franco Nero), and mighty gladiator Lydon (Duncan Regehr), all of whom vie for the affections of high-born Ione (Olivia Hussey) and lowly, sightless slave girl Nydia (Linda Purl). Also around and about are Ned Beatty as wealthy merchant Diomed, Lesley-Anne Down as belly-dancing courtesan Chloe, and a handful of theatrical stalwarts like Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quayle. Mercilessly drubbed by the critics, who chortled at such dialogue as "Turn the other cheek, Christian lover!" and "Christians. They're everywhere I go. They're spreading through the empire like a pox!," The Last Days of Pompeii nonetheless garnered healthy ratings when it aired over ABC from May 6 to 8, 1984, despite the formidable opposition of the NBC blockbuster miniseries V: The Final Battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, this fast-paced, occasionally humorous sequel to Conan the Barbarian features the hero (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as he is commissioned by the evil queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) to safely escort a teen princess (Olivia D'Abo) and her powerful bodyguard (Wilt Chamberlain) to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagon. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen's plans fail to take into consideration Conan's strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro (Mako), the wild woman Zula (Grace Jones), and the inept Malak (Tracey Walter). Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Faye Dunaway stars in Michael Winner's labored re-make of the 1945 swashbuckler, which was co-scripted by Leslie Arliss, the original director of the 1945 film. Dunaway is Lady Barbara Skelton, a lady of the royal class, who becomes a highway robber, taking up with Captain Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates), a highwayman and her lover. Because of a notorious whiping scene in which Lady Barbara and Jackson's girlfriend (Marina Sirtis) take horsewhips to one another, tearing their clothing to strategically-placed ribbons, the film was held back from release because Winner refused to cut the salacious footage. After corralling author Kingsley Amis, and directors John Schlesinger, Karel Reisz, and Lindsay Anderson to attest to the redeeming social value of the scene, the scene stayed in the film. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This 1981 John Irvin picture constitutes an adaptation of Peter Straub's colossal, bestselling novel. The central plot -- shared by both book and film -- revolves around the four elderly members of the Chowder Society (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and John Houseman), who gather in each other's drawing rooms each winter to sip cognac and spin elaborate ghost stories. The four men also share a dark secret far more unsettling than fiction -- a secret which has literally come back to haunt them, as well as their own adult offspring. Each man is visited by a hideous specter bearing the likeness of a young woman (Alice Krige) they accidentally killed 50 years ago when spurning her mischievous sexual advances. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this crime comedy, Donald Sutherland and Paul Mazursky play Reese and Norman, two charming computer whizzes who tie into a bank under construction, and arrange to withdraw a huge sum of money without being caught. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Peter Ustinov began his long association with the Hercule Poirot character of murder mystery novelist Agatha Christie with this lavish but financially disappointing follow-up to the popular Murder on the Orient Express (1974). During a luxurious pleasure cruise down the Nile aboard a lavish vessel populated with wealthy passengers, widely despised heiress and home wrecker Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) is murdered. Also aboard is famed Belgian detective Poirot (Ustinov) and his taciturn traveling companion, Colonel Race (David Niven). Poirot undertakes an investigation into Ridgeway's killing. Among the colorful suspects are Salome (Angela Lansbury) and Rosalie Otterbourne (Olivia Hussey), Doctor Bessner (Jack Warden), Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis), Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), and Jacqueline De Bellefort (Mia Farrow). As more bodies pile up, however, it appears that nearly everyone aboard has a motive. The script for Death on the Nile (1978) was adapted by Anthony Shaffer, the writer of Sleuth (1972) and the identical twin brother of Amadeus (1984) author Peter Shaffer. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The story in this lavish cinemadaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask remains faithful to the original novel: the right heir to the throne of France is imprisoned in a dungeon by his evil twin brother, his identity kept secret with an uncomfortable iron mask. It's up to the aging D'Artagnan and his three Musketeer companions to set things aright. Though the action takes place in France, the film was rather obviously lensed in Austria, adding an exotic touch to the proceedings. Beau Bridges does double duty as the "right" and "wrong" King Louis, while Beau's dad Lloyd Bridges plays Aramis. Alan Hale Jr. essays the role of Porthos, just as he'd done in 1951's At Sword's Point; also carried over from the 1951 film is Cornel Wilde as D'Artagnan. Other seasoned veterans in the cast include Jose Ferrer (Athos), Ursula Andress (Mme. De la Valliere), Olivia DeHavilland (Queen Anne) and Rex Harrison (Colbert). The Fifth Musketeer was also released as Behind the Iron Mask. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Freakmaker is a creepy horror film about a mad scientist who abducts college students for the subjects he needs in his attempts to crossbreed plants with humans. His failures are turned over to a dwarf who runs a circus freakshow. This film is also known by the title The Mutations. ~ All Movie Guide

In this exciting adventure, based on a tale by Robert Louis Stevenson and shot in Yugoslavia, a one-legged pirate must rely on the memory of a boozy, uncooperative parrot if he is to find the location of a tremendous treasure. He is later assisted by two plucky youths who help him battle it out with a mutinous crew, unfriendly natives, and dangerous rapids. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Curry (Rod Taylor) is a veteran soldier-of-fortune hired by the president of the Congo for a three day mission. He and native Congoan Ruffo (Jim Brown) are to oversee the safe passage of a train through hostile enemy territory and bring back some uncut diamonds and a human cargo of fugitives loyal to the Congo cause. The two employ the drunken Doctor Wreid (Kenneth More) and a suspicious ex-Nazi named Henlein (Peter Carsten). The quartet, along with 40 of the Congo's best soldiers, try to maneuver the train against the rebel forces and save the beautiful missionary Claire (Yvette Mimieux) at no extra charge. The action takes place in the wake of the political unrest that swept the Congo in the 1950s. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide