Noticias

Julie Christie in Joseph Losey‘s The Go-Between Julie Christie, one of the greatest performers of the last half century and an ardent political activist for liberal causes, has her day on Monday, Aug. 2, as part of Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" series. Along with better-known Christie vehicles such as Doctor Zhivago (1965), Darling (1965, right), and Shampoo (1975), TCM will be showing lesser-known, little-seen fare such as Ken Annakin‘s 1963 comedy The Fast Lady, Christie’s second feature-film appearance, and Peter Wood‘s psychological drama In Search of Gregory (1969). Not all of the movies are good and Christie, no matter how great an actress, wasn’t always wisely cast. In both Doctor Zhivago and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), for instance, she feels much too modern in period clothes. Curiously, she’s flawless in Joseph Losey‘s masterful period drama The Go-Between (1971), one of the seminal releases of the ’70s.

Ken Annakin, best known for directing the 1965 World War II epic “The Battle of the Bulge,” died Wednesday at his Beverly Hills home. He was 94.

Annakin’s daughter, Deborah Peters, said her father had a heart attack and stroke within a day of each other in February.

The British native’s 50-year career also included “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination (shared with Jack Davies) for original screenplay.

Annakin also directed “The Call of the Wild,” a 1972 adaptation of Jack London’s adventure; Disney live-action films “The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men” (1952), “The Sword and the Rose” (1953), “Swiss Family Robinson” (1960) and “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking” (1986); and “The Longest Day” (1962).

In the 1962 films “The Fast Lady” and “Crooks Anonymous,” Annakin directed Julie Christie’s first film appearances. His personal favorite was “Across the Bridge” (1957), starring Rod Steiger...