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Children of the Damned

Blu ray

Warner Archive

1964/ 1.85:1/ 89 Minutes

Starring Ian Hendry, Alan Badel

Directed by Anton Leader

Wolf Rilla’s Village of the Damned was an alien invasion thriller that was genuinely invasive—all around the world women of child-bearing age are suddenly and mysteriously pregnant. No matter the circumstances, whether a virgin or a lonely widow, they wake from a deep sleep to find themselves in a family way. Who or what is responsible is never determined and the results are devastating—marriages shattered, young lives ruined, reputations damaged beyond repair. Strong stuff for 1960 and Rilla didn’t shy away from the moral, not to mention awkward, implications of the situation. The otherworldly offspring grow up to be intellectual powerhouses with a talent for telekinesis and mind control—they’re defeated, irony of ironies, by an equally intelligent adversary who destroys them by simply not thinking at all.

Catch US If You Can is available to buy now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. To celebrate the release, we have a copy of the film on Blu-ray plus three more pop-music star vehicles courtesy of Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics range including Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday (1963) and David Essex in That’LL Be The Day (1973) and Stardust (1974).

Legendary British director John Boorman made his feature film debut with this cult musical comedy starring 60s pop sensation Dave Clark alongside The Dave Clark Five Band. Inspired by the huge success of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”, in the film the Five have been hired to appear in an ad campaign but during the filming of a TV commercial Steve (Dave Clark) absconds with the face of the campaign (Dinah played by Barbara Ferris) and they embark on a magical mystery tour across the country.

Please note: This competition is open...

John Boorman’s feature film debut sends the pop band on a zany adventure that serves as a potent time capsule of 1960s celebrity PR

A year after Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night, and a year before the Monkees were grown in TV’s pop culture lab, director John Boorman made his feature debut with this very English madcap pop lark from 1965, scripted by Peter Nichols and starring the Dave Clark Five as themselves. Or almost. They’re not supposed to be musicians, but rather stunt-men who live together in a wacky shared flat (evidently a converted church organ loft) that is dominated by gigantic posters of the sort generally collected by wealthy pop-art enthusiasts.

Dave Clark plays handsome Steve, first among equals in the gang, and they’re filming a TV commercial for the meat-marketing board starring It -girl and supermodel Dinah (Barbara Ferris). She’s so...

England’s swingin’ ’60s were more than A Hard Day’s Night, the Mersey Beat and slapstick in the street with Rita Tushingham. Michael Winner got the scene off to an early start with this beach-set tale of ‘clever lads’ that cooperate to score with vacationing girls. Oliver Reed gives a sterling performance as Tinker, a photo-snapper who takes on a tall target — an independent, posh model with her own amorous agenda. The romance proceeds in a positive direction… or is Tinker fooling himself?

The System (The Girl-Getters)

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1964 / B&w / 1:85 / 90 min. / / Street Date September 23, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Oliver Reed, Jane Merrow, Barbara Ferris, Julia Foster, Harry Andrews, Ann Lynn, Guy Doleman, David Hemmings.

Cinematography: Nicholas Roeg

Film Editor: Fred Burnley

Original Music: Stanley Black

Songs: The Searchers, The Marauders, The Rocking Berries

Written by Peter Draper

Produced by Kenneth Shipman

Directed by Michael...

Arthur B. Rubinstein, composer for films such as “War Games” who worked on more than 300 films and television programs, died April 23 of complications resulting from cancer. He was 80.

In the 1960s, Rubinstein composed incidental music for around 50 productions while serving as composer-in-residence for the American Conservatory Theater, the Williamstown Theater Festival, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. He continued on in the 1970s serving as a music director, both in Los Angeles and on Broadway, for shows such as “A Chorus Line,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and “Evita.” Rubinstein received an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for his work as music director on Gordon Davidson’s production of “A Little Night Music.”

After moving to Los Angeles, Rubinstein composed scores for films such as “WarGames” (1983) starring Matthew Broderick, and Albert Brooks’ “Lost in America” (1985). Rubinstein earned an Emmy Award for his original music on CBS series “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.” He also scored “Shooting War,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

In the wake of unexpected critical acclaim for director Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night in 1964, studios scrambled to emulate the success of that first feature film starring The Beatles. Over a period of a few years, many bands found themselves top-lining major feature films. Most were mindless exploitation films, a few others more ambitious in their goals. Fitting snugly into the latter category was Having a Wild Weekend (released in the UK under the title Catch Us If You Can.)  The film represents the only movie starring the Dave Clark Five, one of the more popular bands to emerge during that marvelous era in the 1960s when Great Britain shed its post WWII doldrums and came to dominate international pop culture. The band was one of many who rode the coattails of The Beatles to the top of the charts, but they had their own...

She had warmth, wit and talent. But most of all, she embodied the quality of friendship, recalls the playwright

Anna Massey was for a long time acknowledged and admired as the owner of the best fictional voice on BBC radio, and if you were lucky enough to meet her in person, then you would recognise that the voice was the woman: funny, warm, intelligent and lucid, with a sharp edge which very quietly but firmly kept you in line.

She and I were friends for 40 years, and if she hadn't died so soon, we intended to be friends for a great deal longer. In fact, when I think of friendship, I think of Anna: regular phone calls, very good jokes and steadfast loyalty.

She appeared in my first play, Slag. It had made a fair splash at Hampstead in 1970 when I was just 23, but the following year the Royal Court...