BRITISH FILM: Ealing Studios documentary and film schedule

EALING STUDIOS DOCUMENTRARY AND RELATED FEATURE FILMS AIRING ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES IN DECEMBER 2002.

Opening night: Thursday, December 5, 2002
(Dec. 5 thru Dec. 26, 2002)

Introduction to Ealing Studios

"Dramas with a documentary background and comedies about ordinary people with the stray eccentric among them; films about daydreamers, mild anarchists, little men who long to kick the boss in the teeth." That's how the typical output of England's Ealing Studios in its heyday was described by Sir Michael Balcon, the studios' chief of production during the years 1936-59. Balcon was responsible for such unadorned Ealing dramas as The Cruel Sea (1953) and, most notably, the droll movies that became internationally celebrated as the "Ealing comedies" and practically defined British humor. Among the best-remembered of the latter are Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955), all featuring Alec Guinness, who quickly became a star with his comic genius and amazing ability to transform his appearance from character to character.

TCM's tribute to the studios once credited with forming "the pinnacle of the most astonishing British film production ever seen" includes the U.S. television premiere of the documentary Forever Ealing (2002), along with TCM premieres of more than a dozen Ealing productions.

Ealing, still located at Ealing Green in West London, can lay claim to being the world’s oldest movie studio. Originally acquired by British film pioneer Will Barker in 1902, the site was taken over by Basil Dean's Associated Talking Pictures in the early 1930s and was established as Ealing Studios in 1936. The British Broadcasting Company bought Ealing in 1959, and filmed its television productions there for the next two decades. In recent times, Ealing has once again become home to high-profile movies, including this year's Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

Ealing's golden era began with the release of the whimsical comedy Passport to Pimlico (1949), featuring Stanley Holloway as a genial grocer who becomes the head of a new government in a section of London that it is discovered to belong to France. The same year Guinness won international recognition for the black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which he plays eight successors to a dukedom, all of whom become murder victims.



Ealing Studios - List of Films to be screened on TCM
December 2002

SCHEDULE:

Dec 05 08:00 PM Forever Ealing - (2002)
A documentary that explores the history and influence of England's Ealing Studios. Narrated by Daniel Day Lewis. D:Andrew Shell. BW & C 50 m

Dec 05 09:00 PM Kind Hearts and Coronets - (1949)
An ambitious young man sets out to kill everyone who stands between him and a fortune. Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood. D:Robert Hamer. CC 106 m

Dec 05 11:00 PM Forever Ealing - (2002)
A documentary that explores the history and influence of England's Ealing Studios. Narrated by Daniel Day Lewis. D:Andrew Shell. BW & C 50 m

Dec 05 12:00 AM Passport to Pimlico - (1949)
When residents of a small London neighborhood discover the land still belongs to France, they take their new nationality seriously. Stanley Holloway, Barbara Murray, Margaret Rutherford. D:Henry Cornelius. 84 m

Dec 05 01:30 AM Feminine Touch, The - (1941)
An author writing a book on jealousy discovers his wife is an expert on the subject. Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche, Kay Francis. D:W.S. Van Dyke II. BW CC 98 m

Dec 12 08:00 PM Lavender Hill Mob, The - (1951)
An honest bank clerk gets mixed up in gold smuggling. Alec Guiness, Stanley Holloway, Alfie Bass. D:Charles Crichton. BW CC 82 m

Dec 12 09:30 PM Man in the White Suit, The - (1951)
A young inventor threatens the business world when he creates a cloth that can't tear or wear out. Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker. D:Alexander MacKendrick. CC 85 m

Dec 12 11:00 PM Ladykillers, The - (1955)
An eccentric bandit gang moves in on a little old lady's boarding house to plot a major heist. Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Katie Johnson. D:Alexander MacKendrick. LBX 91 m

Dec 12 01:00 AM All At Sea - (1958)
When he's stricken with seasickness, the last of a family of sailors takes charge of a decaying amusement pier. Alec Guinness, Irene Browne, Percy Herbert. D:Charles Frend. BW LBX 82 m

Dec 12 03:00 AM Davy - (1957)
A musical-hall entertainer defies family tradition to audition for the opera. Harry Secombe, Ron Randell, George Relph. D:Michael Relph. C LBX 41 m

Dec 19 08:00 PM Scott Of The Antarctic - (1948)
A British commander fights to beat a Norwegian team in the search for the South Pole. John Mills, Diana Churchill, Kenneth More. D:Charles Frend. 105 m

Dec 19 10:00 PM Ship That Died Of Shame, The - (1955)
World War II veterans buy the ship they once served on and turn it into a smuggling boat. Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Virginia McKenna. D:Basil Dearden, Michael Relph. 88 m

Dec 19 02:15 AM Decision Against Time - (1956)
A test pilot thinks back on his past as he fights to survive a burning plane. Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Sellars, Walter Fitzgerald. D:Charles Crichton. BW 87 m

Dec 19 03:45 AM Dunkirk - (1958)
True story of the Allied evacuation of occupied France at the start of World War II. John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee. D:Leslie Norman. BW CC 136 m

Dec 19 12:00 AM Cruel Sea, The - (1953)
A naval commander fights to toughen up his inexperienced crew during World War II. Jack Hawkins, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker. D:Charles Frend. BW 126 m

Dec 26 08:00 PM Saraband for Dead Lovers - (1948)
A British queen trapped in a loveless marriage falls for a soldier of fortune. Joan Greenwood, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson. D:Basil Dearden, Michael Relph. 92 m

Dec 26 12:00 AM Shiralee, The - (1958)
An Australian wanderer leaves his cheating wife and tries to raise their daughter on the road. Peter Finch, Elizabeth Sellars, George Rose. D:Leslie Norman. BW LBX 98 m

Dec 26 02:00 AM Nowhere To Go - (1958)
A burglar on the run holes up with an innocent English girl. George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee. D:Seth Holt. BW LBX 87 m

Dec 26 10:00 PM Lease of Life - (1954)
When he learns he has a year to live, a small-town minister begins to see life differently. Robert Donat, Kay Walsh, Denholm Elliott. D:Charles Frend. 90 m