DVD/150: MADONNA: CIAO, ITALIA! LIVE FROM ITALY (Egbert van Hees, 1988)

An invaluable recording of Madonna's 1987 WHO'S THAT GIRL tour: it was her second tour but the first to play Japan and Europe - and I was there at Wembley Stadium.  CIAO ITALIA is compiled from two live shows in Turin and Florence.

Looking back over 33 years and eight subsequent tours, WHO'S THAT GIRL is an old-school arena proscenium show.  But with every tour, Madonna pushed the form and here she is already experimenting with the visuals - PAPA DON'T PREACH is sung against projections of the Vatican and The Pope then The White House and Reagan.

The set-list was drawn from the WHO'S THAT GIRL soundtrack (3 songs), TRUE BLUE (7), LIKE A VIRGIN (4) and her first album (2).

Cavorting, twirling, throwing attitudes that would be seen in the back row of the stadium, Madonna glows with her pure superstar power, showing us exactly Who's That Girl.

Shelf or charity shop?  An obvious keeper.  WHO'S THAT GIRL gave me my first experience of seeing Madonna live so it has a very special place in my memory.  Madonna was basking in her superstar status but it was her next tour BLONDE AMBITION when she became truly iconic - sadly BLONDE AMBITION has only ever appeared on LaserDisc, not dvd. My favourite moment?  After all these years it's still when LIKE A VIRGIN morphes into a cover of The Four Tops' I CAN'T HELP MYSELF - Michigan in da house!!

DVD/150: OLIVER TWIST (David Lean, 1948)

Two years after GREAT EXPECTATIONS, David Lean returned to Dickens for a second time with OLIVER TWIST.

Lean and co-adapter Stanley Haynes stripped away any characters that pulled focus from Oliver's perilous adventures which leaves a clear narrative for Dickens' characters to come to fully-rounded life.

John Howard Davies was a perfect Oliver, never fading off screen even among the actors around him all giving full-blooded, characterful perforrmances.

Anthony Newley is a wonderful Artful Dodger while Kay Walsh (then Mrs David Lean) is a fiery Nancy - her murder scene remains as terrifying as when I first saw it as Bill Sykes' bulldog frantically scratches at the door to escape her screams.

Robert Newton is an average Bill Sykes but all are eclipsed by Alec Guinness' Fagin. Just 34, he is unforgettable - Lean requested a bigger nose for him as the original make-up looked more like Jesus!

Shelf or charity shop?  A definite shelf. Controversy erupted when it was released - it was banned for two years in the USA as the character of Fagin was judged anti-semitic (which probably explains why it received no Academy Award nominations). When finally released seven minutes of Guinness' performance were edited out.  There were calls to ban it in Germany and in Israel too - but it was banned in Egypt for making Fagin too sympathetic!  OLIVER TWIST is memorable also because of the contributions of Guy Green's cinematography and John Bryan's production design, both returning after GREAT EXPECTATIONS.  Speaking of which Kay Walsh - who had suggested the way that film should end - here was responsible for OLIVER TWIST's moody opening as Oliver's mother battles a storm across the moors to reach the workhouse. 

 

DVD/150: THE CELLULOID CLOSET (Rob Epstein/Jeffrey Friedman, 1995)

This HBO film was inspired by Vito Russo's 1981 book "THE CELLULOID CLOSET: HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MOVIES" showing how cinema had presented gay characters, primarily in Hollywood.

Narrated by Lily Tomlin, it starts with William Dickson's 1895 short film of two men dancing while a violinist plays and ends with PHILADELPHIA from 1993.

It includes some insightful interviewees: performers like Quenton Crisp, Tony Curtis, Shirley MacLaine, and Tom Hanks, and writers like Gore Vidal, Arthur Laurents, Jay Presson Allen and Harvey Fierstein, and academics like Richard Dyer and Susie Bright.

The emphasis on Hollywood of course skews the argument: apart from a few soundless clips the only British films mentioned are VICTIM, THE HUNGER and SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY and European cinema is represented by one soundless clip of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES!

It's remit also mostly excludes US independant cinema so John Waters' only representation is a clip of HAIRSPRAY!

Shelf or charity shop?  Currently living in the plastic storage box, THE CELLULOID CLOSET is still a keeper - the balance was redressed two years later when Channel 4 (who co-financed CELLULOID CLOSET) produced A BIT OF SCARLET which looked at British cinema's representation of gay characters. 

 

DVD/150: TWENTY THOUSAND STREETS UNDER THE SKY (Simon Curtis, 2005, tv)

A perfect adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's trio of novels, published between 1929 and 1934, by the late playwright Kevin Elyot and directed by Simon Curtis.

In the early 1930s, Bob and Ella are co-workers in The Midnight Bell pub in Euston. Their easy friendship hides Ella's unrequited love for him, made worse by them being in adjacent rooms above the pub.

One night Bob starts chatting to young prostitute Jenny in the bar; when she goes to leave to work for her rent money, he gives her the cash if she promises to meet the next day.

Jenny doesn't appear but Bob later tracks her down in Soho; she acts contrite and soon they start an unbalanced relationship with Bob giving her cash from his diminishing savings and Jenny occasionally showing up, sometimes loving, sometimes dismissive.

Meanwhile Ella finds herself pursued by pub customer Ernest Eccles, a patronising bore.

Shelf or charity shop?  A definite keeper thanks to the spot-on 1930s design - although the sepia, drained-colour cinematography makes you pine for just one single primary colour - Kevin Elyot's marvellous adaptation, Simon Curtis' nuanced direction, and the painfully sad performances of Bryan Dick as Bob, Sally Hawkins as Ella and Zoe Tapper as Jenny.  The wonderfully chosen supporting cast, lead by Phil Davis as the emotional bully Ernest Eccles, include Marcia Warren, Doreen Mantle, Tony Haygarth, Susan Wooldridge, Ruth Sheen, Neil Stuke and Geoffrey Streatfeild.  All the more special too when I remember that it was filmed outside Flashbacks, the shop I used to work in, one weekend!

DVD/150: HEAR TO BE HEARD: THE STORY OF THE SLITS (William Badgley, 2017)

HEAR TO BE HEARD shines an overdue spotlight on the most anarchic and unique band to come out of Punk, The Slits.

The film focusses on Tessa Pollitt, the band's bass player, as she looks through her scrapbook compiled during the fast-moving years of their notoriety.

When drummer Palmolive spotted 14 year-old Ari Up having a tantrum at a Patti Smith gig she asked her if she wanted to form a band.  Their first bassist and guitarist were soon jettisoned, replaced by Tessa and Viv Albertine.

Supporting The Clash on their White Riot tour saw recurring chauvinist problems first appear: rather than The Clash, it was The Slits who were refused entry to hotels - and the tour bus - while the mainstream press treated them as Girls Gone Bad.

The film stands as a tribute to the unique quartet and that moment which gave them opportunity to express themselves.

Shelf or charity shop?  A keeper although the film feels too scattergun to be totally successful. I would definitely recommend Viv Albertine's memoir CLOTHES CLOTHES CLOTHES, MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC, BOYS BOYS BOYS for a deeper exploration into the internal and external pressures on The Slits.