THE MAN IN THE SKY Aka DECISION AGAINST TIME (Dir: Charles Crichton, 1957).

THE MAN IN THE SKY aka DECISION AGAINST TIME (Dir: Charles Crichton, 1957).

In 1955 the Ealing Studios were sold to the BBC for use as a production facility. Production of Ealing Films was moved to the MGM British Studios at Borehamwood and a distribution deal with MGM was secured. The deal was short lived; only 6 films were released through MGM and Ealing’s days as a production company were numbered.

The first movie to be released under the new deal was The Man in the Sky, retitled Decision Again Time for US audiences.

Ealing regular Jack Hawkins stars as a test pilot who must make a difficult, life threatening decision when the engine of his aircraft fails. Elizabeth Sellars co-stars as his wife who believes her husband puts himself at unnecessary risk.

Hawkins does well in one of his many stoic action hero roles and is ably supported by a fine supporting cast including Brit acting legends Lionel Jeffries, Donald Pleasence and Megs Jenkins. Charles Crichton, better known for helming comedy classics Hue and Cry (1947) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), proves adept at combining highflying thrills with the earthbound familial trails in what might have been an uneasy mix of domestic drama and disaster movie.

The suspense is held to the final reel in this fairly tense and absorbing drama which, while perhaps not quite top drawer Ealing, is still a quality product with much to recommend it. Aircraft connoisseurs will enjoy the location footage shot at Pendeford Airfield and the Bristol Freighter plane which Hawkins pilots.

Check out my blog jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com for more reviews of vintage Ealing Studios classics!

Happy 85th Birthday Donald Duck!

ALADDIN (Dir: Guy Ritchie, 2019).

Disney raids its back catalogue once again for their latest remake of an animated classic. Released in 1992, Aladdin (Ron Clements and John Musker) is one of the Disney Studios most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies. With an excellent musical score, groundbreaking animation and a magnificent performance by Robin Williams as The Genie, it is also a difficult act to follow, not least for Will Smith stepping into the winklepickers of Williams.

This version of the Arabian Nights story of the boy who finds a magic lamp and the genie within who will grant him three wishes sticks close to Disney’s previous telling, although adding a further 40 minutes to its runtime. Surprisingly these extra minutes do not feel superfluous. Jasmine and Jafar both gain a little deeper character development and the Genie gets a love interest. Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice’s song score remains mostly intact with the addition of a new number, ‘Speechless’, co-written by Menken with songwriting duo Pasek and Paul.

Brit Guy Richie seemed an unlikely choice of director but acquits himself admirably with his first family friendly musical fantasy. As do the cast; Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine make attractive leads and Smith is reassuringly great as Genie. Thankfully, Disney cast actors who can also sing and the soundtrack is mercifully free of the auto-tuning that has plagued previous features.

What Aladdin lacks in originality it makes up for in spectacle. This is a very good looking movie with lavish song and dance numbers, exciting action sequences and top line special effects. Does it supplant the beloved animated version? Of course not. But it does hold up as a visually stunning, tuneful, wholly entertaining 130 minutes. While perhaps not as essential as its animated predecessor it is still a lot of fun and well worth a watch.

Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for more movie reviews! Link below.

Movie number 61: The Feminine Touch aka The Gentle Touch (Pat Jackson, 1956). A late period Ealing drama, variously retitled The Gentle Touch and A Lamp is Heavy in international markets; The Feminine Touch follows a group of student nurses as they embark on careers with the greatest of British post-war institutions, the NHS.

Unusually for an Ealing Studios production, the main protagonists are female. The narrative focuses largely on nurses Susan Richards (Belinda Lee) and Pat Martin (Delphi Lawrence) through initial training, exams and their inevitable romantic liaisons with doctors.

Told in the pseudo-documentary style often favoured by Ealing, the sense of realism is all slightly undone by the impossibly glamorous nurses who look every inch 1950s starlets and not hardworking medics.

Occasionally the movie threatens to deliver a worthwhile statement on gender inequality, such as addressing the injustice of female nurses having to quit their job when married. However, this important issue is undermined by the pat suggestion that by supporting their doctor husbands they will still be performing a valuable service to the medical profession!

While the idea of movie projecting a positive image of women in the workplace is to be applauded, its ultimate message seems to reinforce the notion that it is a man’s world and a woman’s place within it is to make her hubby happy. Such was the word in 1956. Indeed, even in a film about women top billing is given to man, co-star George Baker.

The Feminine Touch was to be director Pat Jackson’s only film for Ealing. This is probably no loss to Ealing. Where their earlier movies were often seen as promoting socialism and progressiveness, The Feminine Touch seems to be content with looking backwards rather than forwards. As entertainment it is pleasant enough, albeit slightly dull and hopelessly dated. As a tribute to NHS nurses it fails miserably a group of women who deserved so much more recognition than a middling, routine drama.

My apologies for the hiatus in posting new reviews. I hope to be back on track tomorrow with brand new content! In the meantime check out all of my previous reviews in my new blog: JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.

RIP Cameron Boyce.