《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Jin Ping Mei Beijing Dance Theatre Stage Presentation Brings Chinese Erotic Arts to Canada - Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto北京当代芭蕾舞团剧目把中国色情艺术带到加拿大温哥华、多伦多、蒙特利尔巡游表演

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus/Lotus d'or/Jin Ping Mei Ballet Stage Performance

 

This is a stage adaptation of the early 17th century erotic Chinese novel 'Jin Ping Mei'. The show was first produced in Hong Kong in 2011. However, it was banned (some say delayed due to content localization) in Mainland China for three years until 2014. After some racy scenes were toned down, the show was allowed to debut in China and now it is about to extend the work to oversea markets. This time around, the Beijing Dance Theatre took over the ballet presentation and it is now touring for the first time in Canada to entertain audiences in three cities – Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

 

The Golden Lotus or better known as Jing Ping Mei was written in the latter part of the Ming Dynasty by someone who used a pseudonym and the true authorship had not been satisfactorily proven to this day. Practically from day one of its existence, the work has been purged in society as a 'forbidden book' in China since its first printing in about 1610. Although generally regarded as pornography throughout the centuries, the book had nevertheless became known among many literal elites both in China and in the West as one of the most important works of Chinese literature in the same class as The Water Margin《水浒传》, Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三国演义》and Dream of the Red Chamber《红楼梦》. In fact, it could be said that The Golden Lotus was derived from The Water Margin as both shared some of the same historical and fictional characters as Wu Song武松, Xi Menqing西门庆, Pan Jinlian潘金莲 etc. But the plot concerning these characters are very different between the two novels.

 

Behind the scene, the Beijing Dance Theatre production has some big name attached to the project. The choreographer is Artistic Director Wang Yuanyuan（王媛媛）who was responsible for adapting the Ballet Raise The Red Lantern 《大红灯笼高高挂》from the movie that made director Zhang Yimou（张艺谋）a household name in Chinese entertainment. Costume Designer was Oscar-winning Set Designer and Artistic Director Tim Yip（叶锦添）of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 《卧虎藏龙》fame. Others such as the musical director, scriptwriters, effects masters and producers are mainly involved in the movies and stage productions.

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Stage Adaptation -

 

Vancouver: Sep 21-22, 2017 Queen Elizabeth Theatre 7:30PM

Montreal: Oct 01-02, 2017 Montreal Place des Arts 7:30PM

Toronto: Oct 5-6, 2017 Living Arts Centre 7:30PM

 

Tickets: $285/235/185/145/105/85/65

Online: www.MegaBoxOffice.com

Phone: 778-321-5829 | 778-680-8800 | 778-927-9265 | 778-251-9839 (English & 中文)

Hotline: 604-343-6260

 

English: vancouver.ca/news-calendar/beijing-dance-theatre-golden-l...

中文：http://www.bcbay.com/life/community/2017/04/07/487157.html

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Ping_Mei

 

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Ray Van Eng 雷云影 is an accomplished media professional, award-winning screenwriter and movie producer. His work has been part of the Hava Nagila Exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan in New York, NY from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

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French postcard by Cartcom. Photo: Derek Hudson / Télérama.

 

Lars von Trier (1956) is a Danish film director, well known for his original way of working and for such films as Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2002), and the television series Riget / The Kingdom (1994-2022). Together with colleague Thomas Vinterberg, he conceived and started the ambitious, provocative, and technically innovative avant-garde movement Dogma 95 and founded the Danish film company Zentropa with Peter Aalbæk. Their films have sold more than 350 million cinema tickets and received eight Oscar nominations. Since Von Trier was little, he suffered from depression and phobias, which he reflected in his famous Depression Trilogy: Antichrist (2009), Melancholia (2011), and Nymphomaniac (2013).

 

Lars von Trier was born Lars Trier in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1956. He was the second son of Inger Høst and Ulf Trier. His parents met in the resistance during the German occupation of Denmark, where they helped Jews flee to Sweden. By Von Trier's own admission, his mother was a communist. His parents belonged to a group of nudists and raised their son to be anti-authoritarian. His mother told him shortly before her death that his biological father was Fritz Michael Hartmann, her former superior at the Ministry of Social Affairs, who had also been a resistance leader during the war. His maternal uncle was Børge Høst, a film director who sparked Lars's interest in filmmaking. As early as primary school, he shot small animation films with a Super-8 camera, and later followed short films with his friends. His first documented animated film, Turen til Squashland / The Journey to Cockaigne (1967), lasted one minute. Von Trier suffered from stress in his youth and sometimes missed school, for which he received psychiatric support. Despite this, he played in the Danish-Swedish children's television series Hemmelig sommer / Secret Summer (Thomas Winding, 1969). Von Trier studied film science at the Københavns Universitet (the University of Copenhagen). From 1976, he made short films. He then studied at the Den Danske Filmskole (Danish Film School) from 1979 to 1982. His fellow students nicknamed him 'Von Trier'. This was good-natured teasing because 'von' suggested a noble background, which contradicted his mother's communist background. According to some sources, he retained his nickname as an homage to the self-titled directors Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg. He graduated with his short film Befrielsesbilleder / Images of Relief (1982), which won the Best Film award at the Munich Film Festival the following year. His first feature-length film was the crime drama Forbrydelsens element / The Element of Crime (1984). At IMDb, Michael Brooke writes: "A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. ". It received twelve awards at seven different international festivals, including the Technical Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and a nomination for the Palme d'Or. Von Trier always refers to his films as being divided into thematic and stylistic trilogies. Forbrydelsens element belongs to his Europa trilogy. These three films deal with traumatic periods in Europe, past and present, and also include Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991). Epidemic (1987) is an experimental Horror drama, starring Von Trier himself and scriptwriter Niels Vørsel. It describes the last five days of the lives of two film scriptwriters, Lars and Niels. The theme of the film is idealism and its destructive consequences, a theme that recurred in Von Trier's later film Manderlay. Epidemic was shot in black and white, but throughout almost the entire film, the text ‘EPIDEMIC’ is visible in red in the upper left corner. Music from Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser supports the story. Then followed a Danish television film, Medea (1988), based on an unrealised screenplay by Carl Theodor Dreyer about the mythological character Medea, described in Euripides' play. The lead roles were played by Udo Kier as Jason and Kirsten Olesen as Medea. Kier also played a leading role in his next film, the drama Europa / Zentropa (1991), co-starring Jean Marc Barr and Barbara Sukowa. Seeking more financial independence and creative control over their projects, von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the film production company Zentropa Entertainment in 1992, which as of 2006 had sold more than 350 million tickets and been nominated for Academy Awards. Zentropa has produced more films than just Trier's own, as well as several television series. An international success was the Danish television series Riget / The Kingdom (Lars von Trier, 1994-2022), consisting of two four-part episodes, Riget (1994) and Riget II (1997). The third season, Riget Exodus, was aired in 2022. The TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and David Lynch-like surrealism is set around the hospital's neurology department and follows both patients and staff members. Strange things happen on the ward that are inexplicable to science. The series was made in a sepia colour and with an unsteady moving camera, reminiscent of the Dogma 95 films of which Von Trier was one of the forerunners.

 

Together with Thomas Vinterberg and other Danish colleagues, Lars von Trier conceived and started the Dogma 95 collective in Copenhagen in 1995. The Danish name is Dogme 95. The participants agreed to abide by ten strict rules (dogmas) when making films. These rules are listed in Dogma 95's manifesto, and together form The Vow of Purity:

1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).

2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot.)

3. The camera must be handheld. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.

4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure, the scene must be cut or a single lamp must be attached to the camera.)

5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.

6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc., must not occur.)

7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)

8. Genre movies are not acceptable.

9. The film format must be an Academy 35 mm.

10. The director must not be credited.

The first and also best-known Dogma 95 film is Festen / The Feast (1998), directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Von Trier made only one Dogma film himself: the controversial film Idioterne / The Idiots (1998). His later films did have Dogma elements, but Von Trier no longer lived up to all the dogmas. For instance, Breaking the Waves also featured only one handheld camera, so that the actors were as unaware as possible of the presence of the camera and technology. The result was therefore a 'natural' way of acting. In Dogville, Von Trier went one step further than Dogma 95: buildings were also missing. The Dogma 95 concept set off a wave in the Danish and international film world, and in the following decade, a large number of Danish and international films were produced that followed the Dogme rules. In total, 35 films made between 1998 and 2005 are considered to be part of the Dogma 95 movement.

 

In his first marriage, Lars von Trier was married from 1987 to 1995 to Danish director, screenwriter and actress Cæcilia Holbek, who also studied at the Danish Film Academy. During his wife's second pregnancy, he fell in love with nanny Bente Frøge. In 1995, three weeks after the birth of his second daughter, he officially left his wife to be with Frøge. Apart from causing much misunderstanding with his wife, this led to a media circus in Denmark. He divorced Frøge in 2015. Von Trier shot his next film, Breaking the Waves (1996), with Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard, in the Scottish Highlands. It was his first film in the Guldhjerte-trilogi (Golden Heart trilogy) and was followed by Idioterne / The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). All the films in the trilogy feature naïve heroines who retain their ‘golden hearts’ despite the tragedies they have been through. Idioterne / The Idiots (1998) is about a group of ‘anti-bourgeois’ adults living in a residential community in rural Lolland. They go in search of their ‘inner idiot’ to provoke, by breaking established norms. This creates strange situations, especially in public places. The film contains explicit sex scenes and was therefore shown censored in several countries. Despite mixed reviews, Idioterne won several film awards. The most famous of these was at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Others include the European Film Award (1998) and the Danish Bodil Prize (1999). The emotions during the filming of Dancer in the Dark (2000) were very intense. Lead actress Björk even walked away from the film set because she disagreed with a green blouse she had to wear. She recordedly even tore the blouse with her teeth. Björk did not want to see the final result. The film won the Golden Palm at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. Björk won the award for best actress. A song from the film, 'I've seen it all' (co-written with von Trier), was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song, but ultimately did not win. The film received several other international awards, including one from the European Film Academy. Afterwards, Von Trier said he regretted making the film because of all the conflicts and emotions. Winning several awards for the film meant a slight mitigation for this. Lars von Trier then made with Jørgen Leth the documentary The Five Obstructions (2003), which incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films. The premise is that von Trier challenges Leth, his friend and mentor, to remake his 1967 experimental short The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different obstacle. His next trilogy, Land of Opportunities, consisted of Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005), and the unmade Washington. The trilogy is set in the United States during the 1930s crisis, when issues of intolerance, freedom and slavery pervaded American society. The first two instalments were shot with the same distinctive, extremely stylised approach, with the actors performing on a bare sound stage with no decoration, buildings' walls marked by chalk lines on the floor, a style inspired by 1970s televised theatre. Dogville (2003) starred Nicole Kidman as Grace Margaret Mulligan, a role taken by Bryce Dallas Howard for Manderlay (2005). Both films featured an ensemble cast including Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Danny Glover, and Willem Dafoe. In 2006, von Trier released the Danish-language comedy film Direktøren for det hele / The Boss of It All (2006), which was shot using an experimental process he named Automavision, involving the director choosing the best possible fixed camera position, then allowing a computer to randomly choose when to tilt, pan, or zoom. He followed this with an autobiographical film, De unge år: Erik Nietzsche sagaen del 1 / The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1 (2007), which von Trier wrote and Jacob Thuesen directed, a film that tells the story of von Trier's years as a student at the National Film School of Denmark. It stars Jonatan Spang as von Trier's alter ego, called 'Erik Nietzsche', and is narrated by von Trier himself, with all main characters being based on real people from the Danish film industry. The thinly veiled portrayals include Jens Albinus as director Nils Malmros, Dejan Čukić as screenwriter Mogens Rukov, and Søren Pilmark.

 

Lars von Trier's Depression trilogy consists of Antichrist (2009), Melancholia (2011), and Nymphomaniac (2013). The three films star Charlotte Gainsbourg and deal with characters who suffer depression or grief. This trilogy is said to represent the depression that Trier himself experienced. Antichrist (2009), starring Willem Dafoe and Gainsbourg, follows a grieving couple who retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping a return to Eden will repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. Nature takes its course, and things go from bad to worse. At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, the jury gave the Best Actress award to Gainsbourg. Melancholia (2011) is an apocalyptic drama about two depressive sisters played by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Dunst marries just before a rogue planet is about to collide with Earth. Von Trier is known to be provocative in interviews. His Nazi joke during the press conference before the premiere of Melancholia at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival caused controversy in the media. The festival declared him persona non grata and banned him from Cannes for one year. Melancholia still competed in that year's competition, and Kirsten Dunst won the Best Actress award. The director of the Cannes Film Festival later stated that the whole controversy was as ‘unfair’ and 'silly' as von Trier's bad joke, declaring that his films were welcome at the festival and that von Trier was considered a ‘friend’ of the festival. His next film, Nymphomaniac (2013), tells about the sexual awakening of a woman played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. In early December 2013, a four-hour version was shown to the press in a private preview session. The cast also included Stellan Skarsgård (in his sixth film for von Trier), Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater, and Uma Thurman. For its public release, the film was divided into two volumes. In February 2014, an uncensored version of Volume I was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. The complete version premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and was shortly afterwards released in a limited theatrical run worldwide. In 2015, Lars von Trier began work on a new feature film, The House That Jack Built (2018), which was originally planned as an eight-part television series. The story is about a serial killer, seen from the murderer's point of view. It starred Matt Dillon in the title role, alongside Bruno Ganz, Riley Keough and Sofie Gråbøl. In 2017, von Trier explained that the film "celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo trumpus – the rat king". At the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, despite more than a hundred walkouts by audience members, the film still received a 10-minute standing ovation. Von Trier then produced a belated third and final season of The Kingdom, titled The Kingdom Exodus (2022), with Søren Pilmark returning as Jørgen 'Hook' Krogshøj, Ghita Nørby as Rigmor Mortensen, alongside a new cast including Mikael Persbrandt as Dr. Helmer, Jr. The miniseries premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival as a five-hour feature-length film and received mixed reviews from critics. On 8 August 2022, it was announced that von Trier had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Von Tier was working on a new film starring Stellan Skarsgård. Von Trier's health conditions would be reflected in the plot of the film. On 12 February 2025, Zentropa producer Louise Vesth announced via Instagram that von Trier had moved into a care centre in Bredebro near Kongens Lyngby. In 2018, Lars von Trier was awarded the Danish culture prize, the Sonningprisen. He has two daughters with his first wife, Cæcilia Holbek, Agnes and Selma Sunniva, and twin sons with his second wife, Bente Frøge, Benjamin and Ludvig.

 

Sources: Michael Brooke (IMDb), Wikipedia (English, Dutch and Danish) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 4, 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969).

 

Finally I found some collectors cards of my favourite series, Floris (1969). The series was the start of the successful vareers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp).

 

Source: IMDb.

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Mario Ausonia in Mes p'tits/Le Calvaire d'une saltimbanque/My Little Ones (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923). The woman in the middle could be Jane (Jeanne) Rollette.

 

Athletic muscleman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia (1881-1956) was an Italian actor, director, producer and scriptwriter in the silent era. He had his international breakthrough with Spartaco (Enrico Vidali 1913) and became a major actor in the Italian forzuto genre. In the early 1920s he moved to Marseille, made a few films there and ran a cinema.

Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 5 (?), 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Hans Culeman in the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969).

 

Finally I found some collectors cards of my favourite series, Floris (1969). The series was the start of the successful vareers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp).

 

Source: IMDb.

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

This I presume is an older american ambulance ,owned here in Gotland Sweden by a guy named Kut or Kuten ??? not sure about that. Apparently he was a friend of the late film director Ingmar Bergman who is buried in his beloved Gotland not far from this place. One thing for sure is that if you ar ever in sweden here on the little island of Gotland come and eat at Kutens,and the name of the diner is Creperie Tati,best meal s ever.

Ernst Ingmar Bergman, born 14 juli 1918 in Uppsala, died 30 july 2007 in Fårö Gotland was a swedish film and theater director,playwriter,theaterchief, scriptwriter and author.

Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 31, 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969). Caption: Vaandrig Rogier (Ensign-bearer Rogier).

 

Finally I found some collectors cards of my favourite series, Floris (1969). The series was the start of the successful vareers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp).

 

Source: IMDb.

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Jin Ping Mei Beijing Dance Theatre Stage Presentation Brings Chinese Erotic Arts to Canada - Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto北京当代芭蕾舞团剧目把中国色情艺术带到加拿大温哥华、多伦多、蒙特利尔巡游表演

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus/Lotus d'or/Jin Ping Mei Ballet Stage Performance

 

This is a stage adaptation of the early 17th century erotic Chinese novel 'Jin Ping Mei'. The show was first produced in Hong Kong in 2011. However, it was banned (some say delayed due to content localization) in Mainland China for three years until 2014. After some racy scenes were toned down, the show was allowed to debut in China and now it is about to extend the work to oversea markets. This time around, the Beijing Dance Theatre took over the ballet presentation and it is now touring for the first time in Canada to entertain audiences in three cities – Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

 

The Golden Lotus or better known as Jing Ping Mei was written in the latter part of the Ming Dynasty by someone who used a pseudonym and the true authorship had not been satisfactorily proven to this day. Practically from day one of its existence, the work has been purged in society as a 'forbidden book' in China since its first printing in about 1610. Although generally regarded as pornography throughout the centuries, the book had nevertheless became known among many literal elites both in China and in the West as one of the most important works of Chinese literature in the same class as The Water Margin《水浒传》, Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三国演义》and Dream of the Red Chamber《红楼梦》. In fact, it could be said that The Golden Lotus was derived from The Water Margin as both shared some of the same historical and fictional characters as Wu Song武松, Xi Menqing西门庆, Pan Jinlian潘金莲 etc. But the plot concerning these characters are very different between the two novels.

 

Behind the scene, the Beijing Dance Theatre production has some big name attached to the project. The choreographer is Artistic Director Wang Yuanyuan（王媛媛）who was responsible for adapting the Ballet Raise The Red Lantern 《大红灯笼高高挂》from the movie that made director Zhang Yimou（张艺谋）a household name in Chinese entertainment. Costume Designer was Oscar-winning Set Designer and Artistic Director Tim Yip（叶锦添）of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 《卧虎藏龙》fame. Others such as the musical director, scriptwriters, effects masters and producers are mainly involved in the movies and stage productions.

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Stage Adaptation -

 

Vancouver: Sep 21-22, 2017 Queen Elizabeth Theatre 7:30PM

Montreal: Oct 01-02, 2017 Montreal Place des Arts 7:30PM

Toronto: Oct 5-6, 2017 Living Arts Centre 7:30PM

 

Tickets: $285/235/185/145/105/85/65

Online: www.MegaBoxOffice.com

Phone: 778-321-5829 | 778-680-8800 | 778-927-9265 | 778-251-9839 (English & 中文)

Hotline: 604-343-6260

 

English: vancouver.ca/news-calendar/beijing-dance-theatre-golden-l...

中文：http://www.bcbay.com/life/community/2017/04/07/487157.html

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Ping_Mei

 

++++++++++++++++++++++

Ray Van Eng 雷云影 is an accomplished media professional, award-winning screenwriter and movie producer. His work has been part of the Hava Nagila Exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan in New York, NY from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 29 (?), 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969).

 

Finally I found some collectors cards of my favourite series, Floris (1969). The series was the start of the successful vareers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp).

 

Source: IMDb.

Dutch collectors card by Monty, no. 26, 1970. Photo: Gerard Soeteman. Publicity still for the TV series Floris (Paul Verhoeven, 1969). Caption: Soldaat van Gelre (Soldier Van Gelre)

 

Finally I found some collectors cards of my favourite series, Floris (1969). The series was the start of the successful vareers of director Paul Verhoeven, scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman and of course Rutger Hauer. Hauer played the exiled knight Floris. With his Indian friend Sindala (Jos Bergman), he tries to get his birth right papers back from Maarten van Rossem (Hans Culeman), an evil lord. During their quest they get help from Wolter van Oldenstein (Ton Vos), a noble man who offers them a place in his castle. They also meet the pirate Lange Pier (Hans Boskamp).

 

Source: IMDb.

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Jin Ping Mei Beijing Dance Theatre Stage Presentation Brings Chinese Erotic Arts to Canada - Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto北京当代芭蕾舞团剧目把中国色情艺术带到加拿大温哥华、多伦多、蒙特利尔巡游表演

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus/Lotus d'or/Jin Ping Mei Ballet Stage Performance

 

This is a stage adaptation of the early 17th century erotic Chinese novel 'Jin Ping Mei'. The show was first produced in Hong Kong in 2011. However, it was banned (some say delayed due to content localization) in Mainland China for three years until 2014. After some racy scenes were toned down, the show was allowed to debut in China and now it is about to extend the work to oversea markets. This time around, the Beijing Dance Theatre took over the ballet presentation and it is now touring for the first time in Canada to entertain audiences in three cities – Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

 

The Golden Lotus or better known as Jing Ping Mei was written in the latter part of the Ming Dynasty by someone who used a pseudonym and the true authorship had not been satisfactorily proven to this day. Practically from day one of its existence, the work has been purged in society as a 'forbidden book' in China since its first printing in about 1610. Although generally regarded as pornography throughout the centuries, the book had nevertheless became known among many literal elites both in China and in the West as one of the most important works of Chinese literature in the same class as The Water Margin《水浒传》, Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三国演义》and Dream of the Red Chamber《红楼梦》. In fact, it could be said that The Golden Lotus was derived from The Water Margin as both shared some of the same historical and fictional characters as Wu Song武松, Xi Menqing西门庆, Pan Jinlian潘金莲 etc. But the plot concerning these characters are very different between the two novels.

 

Behind the scene, the Beijing Dance Theatre production has some big name attached to the project. The choreographer is Artistic Director Wang Yuanyuan（王媛媛）who was responsible for adapting the Ballet Raise The Red Lantern 《大红灯笼高高挂》from the movie that made director Zhang Yimou（张艺谋）a household name in Chinese entertainment. Costume Designer was Oscar-winning Set Designer and Artistic Director Tim Yip（叶锦添）of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 《卧虎藏龙》fame. Others such as the musical director, scriptwriters, effects masters and producers are mainly involved in the movies and stage productions.

 

《金瓶梅》Golden Lotus Stage Adaptation -

 

Vancouver: Sep 21-23, 2017 Queen Elizabeth Theatre 7:30PM

Montreal: Oct 01-02, 2017 Montreal Place des Arts 7:30PM

Toronto: Oct 2-6, 2017 Living Arts Centre 7:30PM

 

Tickets: $285/235/185/145/105/85/65

Online: www.MegaBoxOffice.com

Phone: 778-321-5829 | 778-680-8800 | 778-927-9265 | 778-251-9839 (English & 中文)

Hotline: 604-343-6260

 

Two more shows in Vancouver (09/22 Fri & 09/23 Sat 7:30PM).

 

English: vancouver.ca/news-calendar/beijing-dance-theatre-golden-l...

中文：http://www.bcbay.com/life/community/2017/04/07/487157.html

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Ping_Mei

 

++++++++++++++++++++++

Ray Van Eng 雷云影 is an accomplished media professional, award-winning screenwriter and movie producer. His work has been part of the Hava Nagila Exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan in New York, NY from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no.566. Photo: G.F.F.A. (Gaumont-Franco-Film-Aubert), a company existing between 1930 and 1938.

 

Jean Toulout (1887-1962) was a French stage and screen actor, director and scriptwriter. He was married to the actress Yvette Andreyor between 1917 and 1926.

 

Jean Toulout was born in Paris in 1887. While no real online biography has been written about him, this bio is largely based on Toulout’s filmography. According to Wikipedia, Toulout started to act on stage at least from 1907, when he played in the Victor Hugo play Marion Delorme at the Comédie Française. One year later, he was already acting at the Théàtre des Arts, so if he ever was a member of the Comédie Française, then not for long. In 1911, he travelled around with Firmin Gémier’s wandering stage company, while at least from 1913, he settled in Paris playing with André Antoine’s 1913 staging of Paul Lindau’s The Prosecutor Hallers. At the same time, Toulout debuted in French film, which quickly would become much more intense than his stage career. All in all, he would act in some 100 films within four decades. Toulout started in short films by Abel Gance for Gance’s own company Le film français (Il y a des pieds au plafond, Le Nègre blanc, La Digue, Le Masque d’horreur, all 1912), but soon after he had also various parts at Gaumont, Pathé and smaller companies, under direction of Louis Feuillade (La Maison des lions, 1912), Henri Andréani (L’Homme qui assassina, 1913; Jacques l’honneur, 1913; Les Enfants d'Édouard, 1914), in addition to films directed by and Gaston Leprieur, René Leprince, Gérard Bourgeois and Alexandre Devarennes. For instance in L’homme qui assassina he is the evil, adulterous Lord Falkland [!], who presses his equally adulterous but goodhearted wife (Mlle Michelle) to either say goodbye to her child or publicly confess her sin, but her lover (Firmin Gémier) kills the husband and is even acquitted by the local Turkish commissionary (Adolphe Candé), who is very understanding in these matters. NB Les Enfants d'Édouard was, of course, based on William Shakespeare. While Toulout didn’t act on screen in 1915 (he may have been involved in the military during the First World War), he was back on track from late 1916 in several Gaumont films by Feuillade and others. In 1917, he played in Feuillade’s L’Autre, where he met the actress Yvette Andreyor, famous for her parts in Feuillade’s Fantomas and Judex, and they married on 12 June 1917. Toulout and Andreyor would perform together in various films until their divorce in 1926. In 1918, Toulout was the evil antagonist of Emmy Lynn in Gance’s La Dixième Symphonie, blackmailing her for having accidentally killed his sister, thus risking wrecking her new marriage with a composer (Séverin-Mars) but also the life of the composer’s daughter (Elizabeth Nizan). Luckily for the other, he doesn’t kill them, only himself. As English Wikipedia writes, “Gance's mastery of lighting, composition and editing was accompanied by a range of literary and artistic references which some critics found pretentious and alienating.” While Toulout would be reunited with Emmy Lynn in La faute d’Odette Marchal (Henri Roussel 1920), he would also be reunited as – again – a jealous, evil husband with Séverin-Mars in Jacques Landauze (1920) by André Hugon, a director with whom Toulout would do several films in the 1920s and 1930s: in the 1920s Le Roi de Camargue (1921), Notre Dame d'amour (1922), Le Diamant noir (1922), La Rue du pavé d'amour (1923), and the first French sound film, Les Trois masques (1929), shot at the London Elstree studios in 15 days.

 

In the early 1920s Toulout also acted in films by Pierre Bressol (Le Mystère de la villa Mortain, La Mission du docteur Klivers), Germaine Dulac (La fète espagnole, La belle dame sans-merci), Jacques Robert, Henri Fescourt, Armand du Plessis, and others. In La belle dame sans-merci, he is a local count who understands that the playful femme fatale he brought home is wrecking his whole family, so he has them reunited. In Chantelouve (Georges Monca, 1921), he was once more the jealous husband who threatens to kill his wife (Yvette Andreyor). In La conquête des Gaules (Yan B. Dyl, Marcel Yonnet, 1923), he is a film director who tries to film the conquest of the Gauls with modest means. In Le Crime de Monique (Robert Péguy, 1923), Yvette Andreyor is accused of killing her brutal, violent husband (Toulout, of course). Toulout also acted in Abel Gance’s hilarious comedy Au secours! (1924), starring Max Linder as a man who takes a bet to stay a night in a haunted house. Instead Toulout masterfully performed the persistent commissionary Javert in Les Misérables (Henri Fescourt ,1925), opposite Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean. When a restored version was shown at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone in October 2015, Peter Walsh on his blog Burnt Retina wrote: “Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean was a towering presence on screen, and his redemptive arc, and gradual aging were shown in a convincing way. Jean Toulout as Javert was also superb, at times overpowered by some of the mightiest brows and mutton chops I’ve seen in a long time. The climax of his personal crisis, and collapse of his moral world was incredibly striking, with extreme close-ups capturing a bristling performance.” After smaller parts as in Germaine Dulac’s Antoinette Sabrier (1927), in which Toulout would be paired with Gabrio again, Toulout left the set in 1928 and instead returned to the stage for Le Carnaval de l'amour at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin.

 

In 1929, however, Toulout returned as Mr de Villefort in the late silent film Monte Christo (Henri Fescourt) – the last big silent French production - as well as in the first French sound film Les Trois masques (see above) as a Corsican whose son (François Rozet) makes a girl (Renée Heribel) pregnant, after which her brothers take revenge during the carnival. Toulout had the lead in the Henry Bataille adaptation La Tendresse (André Hugon, 1930) as a famous, older academician who discovers his much younger wife (Marcelle Chantal) isn’t that much in love with him as he is with her. When he gravely falls ill he discovers she still gave the best of her life to him. In 1930 Toulout also tried his luck in film direction and with Joe Francis he directed Le Tampon du Capiston, a comical operetta film on an old spinster (Hélène Hallier), a captain’s sister, who wants to marry the captain’s aide (Rellys) who presumably has inherited a fortune. In the same year Toulout also wrote the scripts for two other films, both by Hugon: La Femme et le Rossignol and Lévy & Cie. The collaboration continued in 1931 when Toulout scripted and starred in Hugon’s Le Marchand de sable, while he had a supporting part in Hugon’s La Croix du Sud. The collaboration with Hugon would last till well into the mid-1940s with Le Faiseur (1936), Monsieur Bégonia (1937), La Rue sans joie (1938), Le Héros de la Marne (1938), La Sévillane (1943), and Le Chant de l'exilé (1943). In 1931 Toulout also scripted Moritz macht sein Glück, a German film by Dutch director Jaap Speijer. All through the 1930s Toulout had a steady, intense career as actor, but in 1934 he also directed his second film, La Reine du Biarritz, in which he himself had only a small part. Elenita de Sierra Mirador (Alice Field) is the toast of Biarritz. For her, a young groom leaves his wife. For her, a forty-year-old inflamed suddenly and deceives his young wife. But Elenita watched by her mother resigns herself to becoming honest and returns to her husband. Otherwise Toulout had mostly supporting parts, as in Le petit roi (1933) by Julien Duvivier, Fédora (1934) by Louis Gasnier, Les Nuits moscovites (Alexis Granowsky, 1934), and Le Bonheur (Marcel L’Herbier 1934). He could act the jealous, shooting husband again in Paul Schiller’s Le Vertige (1935), again starring Alice Field. He was the judge who forces Henri Garat and Lilian Harvey to marry on the spot in Les Gais lurons (Jacques Natanson, Paul Martin), the French version of Martin’s Glückskinder. He is the prosecutor in La Danseuse rouge (Jean-Paul Paulin, 1937) , a courtcase drama starring Vera Korène and inspired by Mata Hari’s trial. Toulout continued to act minor film parts in the late 1930s, during the war years and the late 1940s and quite continuously: fathers, judges, doctors, officers, aristocrats. But a major part among the first three actors of the film he didn’t have anymore. Memorable were his parts in Édouard et Caroline (Jacques Becker, 1951), starring Daniel Gélin and Anne Vernon, and – again, a judge - in Obsession (Jean Delannoy 1952) with Michèle Morgan and Raf Vallone. Toulout also worked as voice actor in France, playing Donald Crisp’s part in How Green Was My Valley (1941, released in France in 1946), and Nigel Bruce’s part in Limelight (1952). In the late 1950s, Toulout also acted on television. Jean Toulout died in Paris on 23 October 1962.

 

Sources: English, French and Italian Wikipedia, IMDb, DVD-Toile, Burnt retina.

Dutch postcard by Van den beginne BV. Caption: 'Happy Holidays'. Arjan Ederveen and Tosca Niterink as Theo & Thea in Theo en Thea en de Ontmaskering van het Tenenkaasimperium / Theo and Thea and the Unmasking of the Toe Cheese Empire (Pieter Kramer, 1989).

 

Arjan Ederveen (1956) is a Dutch actor, comedian, TV scriptwriter and TV director. He participated in the classical satirical Dutch TV series Theo en Thea / Theo and Thea (1985-1989), Kreatief met Kurk / Creative with Cork (1993-1994) and 30 minuten / 30 Minutes (1995-1997). He also played in the stage musicals 'Hairspray' and 'Lang en Gelukkig' (Happily Ever After) and appeared in several films.

 

Arjan Ederveen Janssen was born in 1956 in Hilversum, The Netherlands. His mother, Greetje van Schaik, was an actress, who appeared in the popular radio show De bonte dinsdagavondtrein. He had two brothers, who both died young, respectively of AIDS and a rare blood disease. Ederveen did his high school education at Comenius College in Hilversum. During a school project, he made his first film, Appel aan de Stok: De Musical (1971). With this film, he won a local film competition. Ederveen studied at the Academie voor Kleinkunst in Amsterdam where he met fellow student Kees Prins. After graduating, they started their career together as The Duos. Between 1981 and 1984, they created four theatre performances and the television programme De Duo's doen alsof / The Duos are pretending. Ederveen made his screen debut in the German Werktheater production Waldeslust / Bosch en Lucht (Friedrich Schaller, 1981) with Joop Admiraal and Kees Prins. He also appeared in two Dutch films, the Virginia Woolf adaptation Golven / Waves (Annette Apon, 1981) and another Werktheater production, Een zwoele zomeravond / A Hot Summer Night (Frans Weisz, Shireen Strooker, 1982) with Gerard Thoolen. He also played a bellboy in the American comedy Still Smokin' (Tommy Chong, 1983) in which Cheech and Chong fly to the marijuana capital of the world, Amsterdam. Together with Tosca Niterink, Ederveen formed a new TV duo Theo & Thea (Robert Wiering, Pieter Kramer, 1985-1989). The characters became hugely famous in The Netherlands and a whole generation remembers the duo with the big front teeth. Although Theo & Thea was a children's programme, it also became popular among students. Incidentally, the series was not always popular with parents. The programme was criticised for its adult themes, such as drugs, sexual harassment and prostitution. Theo and Thea returned in the film Theo en Thea en de Ontmaskering van het Tenenkaasimperium / Theo and Thea and the Unmasking of the Toe Cheese Empire (Pieter Kramer, 1989) with Adèle Bloemendaal and Marco Bakker. Other features in which Ederveen appeared were Everybody Wants to Help Ernest (Alejandro Agresti, 1991) and Filmpje! (Paul Ruven, 1995) starring Paul de Leeuw. In the 1990s Ederveen made the mockumentary TV series Kreatief met Kurk / Creative with Cork (Pieter Kramer, 1993-1994), 30 minuten / 30 Minutes (Pieter Kramer, 1995-1997) and Borreltijd / Schnaps Time (Pieter Kramer, 1996), in which he also played recurring roles. All his shows were critically praised. Especially 30 minuten, a stylistic satire of documentaries and reality television, earned Ederveen and director Pieter Kramer several awards, including the Zilveren Nipkowschijf (Silver Nipkow Disk) and a Gouden Kalf (Golden Calf). The title refers to its half-hour length and was inspired by the BBC documentary series Sixty Minutes. The series is filmed in a mockumentary style with tragicomic undertones.

 

In 2001, Arjan Ederveen starred in a spin-off of 30 minuten, 25 minuten / 25 Minutes (Pieter Kramer, 2001), which was more absurd in its mockumentary style. In 2004, he wrote and acted in the VPRO television series De Troubabroers (Pieter Kramer, 2004), together with Alex Klaasen. The following year, he made the garden show Wroeten / Rooting (Lernert Engelberts, 2005). Ederveen also took part in several children's films, including as the choreographer in the musical Ja zuster, nee zuster / Yes Nurse! No Nurse! (Pieter Kramer, 2002) starring Loes Luca, chemist Geelman in Pietje Bell / Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002), Mr. Pen and his brother, a hermit, in Pluk van de Petteflet / Puffin's Pluck (Ben Sombogaart, Pieter van Rijn, 2004) and Professor Lupardi in Kapitein Rob en het Geheim van Professor Lupardi / Captain Rob and the secret of Professor Lupardi (Hans Pos, 2007) with Thijs Römer en Katja Schuurman. In 2010 he was a recurring panel member in the game show Wie van de drie? / To Tell the Truth. Besides his television and film work, Ederveen was also active as a stage actor. He performed the role of Cinderella's stepmother in the Ro Theater's show 'Lang en Gelukkig', which was also filmed as Lang & Gelukkig / Happily Ever After (Pieter Kramer, 2010). He played Fabio, the right-hand man of the Greek goddess Hera, in 'Hera, de goddelijke musical' (Hera, the Divine Musical) (2008-2009). In 2009, he starred with Jack Wouterse at the Ro Theatre in the play 'Tocht' (Journey), an Easter play he wrote himself. In the 2009/2010 season, he performed the role of Edna Turnblad in the musical 'Hairspray'. In the 2010/2011 season, he wrote and starred in the Ro Theatre's play 'Moord in de Kerststal' (Murder in the Nativity Scene). In 2018, he played the role of Pontius Pilate in The Passion (David Grifhorst, 2018). As a voice actor, Ederveen provided the voice of Rex in the Dutch version of Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995) and the sequels. He also dubbed Gonzo in The Muppets (James Bobin, 2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (James Bobin, 2014) as well as Vlad in Hotel Transylvania 2 (Genndy Tartakovsky, 2015) and Hotel Transylvania 3 (Genndy Tartakovsky, 2018). Ederveen played Doctor Feelgood in My Foolish Heart (Rolf van Eijk, 2018) about the mysterious demise of jazz icon Chet Baker and he was James in the comedy Bon Bini: Judeska in da House (Jonathan Herman, 2020) starring Jandino Asporaat. Last year, Arjan Ederveen appeared in the television show The Masked Singer. He also played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge Live (David Grifhorst, 2024). This year, he appeared in the American film Jimpa (Sophie Hyde, 2025) starring John Lithgow and Olivia Coleman. The film is a celebration of LGBTQI+ culture. Arjan Ederveen is openly gay and has an American husband, Howie.

 

Sources: Theater.nl (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

I had the privilege of working at JPL for 14 years, including the day when the Huygens Probe landed at Titan, Saturn's large moon. That was 10 years ago today, Jan. 14, 2005. It was a big thrill. I have some unique photos of the lead-up and aftermath of that big day, but only had room to show four. I wish I could tell you more about the historic mission, and the personalities, scientists and co-workers that shared this experience, some of whom became long-time friends.

 

As far as I recall, I was the only one taking pictures on these occasions.

 

TL: Claudio Sollazzo (center), from Italy, was the Chief Operations Officer for the probe. I supported his computers at JPL and in Europe. In 2000, his son Robert wanted to see a California desert, so I took him and some others to Vasquez Rocks for a hike among the "Star Trek" rocks. Claudio once told me I was one of the nicest people he had ever dealt with.

 

TR: Jean-Pierre Lebreton was the Chief Scientist for the probe mission. He worked on it for 23 years of his life, all for a nail-biting 2.5-hour descent to the surface of Titan, a one-shot chance--and it worked! Here he is at a briefing in December 2004 in a conference room in the Space Flight Operations Center, giving Cassini staff a preview of what to expect in three weeks. My picture is included in the staff photo wall at left. I was the only one taking pictures of this meeting and various other events, including gatherings to see live images coming in.

 

BL: The night before the big event, the Planetary Society held a panel at the Pasadena Hilton with Cassini scientists, a Star Trek scriptwriter, an actor (John Rhys-Davies, who played the dwarf in Lord of the Rings), and Bill Nye the Science Guy. I brought family members to this event. All the panelists were hesitant to make predictions.

 

BR: On March 25, two months after the successful landing, all the Cassini staff participated in a lunch celebration in the Von Karman Auditorium at JPL. Claudio Sollazzo spoke and gave thanks to all who had worked on the mission. On the screen he shows some of the photos taken by the probe that revealed river channels carved by liquid methane in the ice.

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

This I presume is an older american ambulance ,owned here in Gotland Sweden by a guy named Kut or Kuten ??? not sure about that. Apparently he was a friend of the late film director Ingmar Bergman who is buried in his beloved Gotland not far from this place. One thing for sure is that if you ar ever in sweden here on the little island of Gotland come and eat at Kutens,and the name of the diner is Creperie Tati,best meal s ever.

Ernst Ingmar Bergman, born 14 juli 1918 in Uppsala, died 30 july 2007 in Fårö Gotland was a swedish film and theater director,playwriter,theaterchief, scriptwriter and author.

Title:

The Audrey Hepburn Story

Medium:

Animation

Date:

2009

Description:

Aniimation featuring quotes from the biopic movie “The Audrey Hepburn Story” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as Audrey Hepburn. The quotes featured are mainly ones that the script writers have imagied are things Audrey Hepburn would have said.

 

The animation shows the actress playing Audrey (Jennifer Love Hewitt) aping a dance from an Audrey Hepburn movie. She is spinning around and around in a sort of whirling dervish. I think the writing in this piece of work can relate to a lot of people in an autobiographical sense. The words on the animation are actually taken from the biopic ‘The Audrey Hepburn Story’. All of the lines are written by the scriptwriter of the film and are what they imagined Audrey Hepburn might have said in her private life. I think a lot of biopics allow space in their scripts so that you can imagine yourself as the character being depicted.

 

Link to animation:

art.sarah-doyle.com/331188/The-Audrey-Hepburn-Story

 

Shown at:

Too Much Is Not Enough

Transition Gallery, London (UK)

10 Jan - 8 Feb 2009

 

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

Diana Markosian

Armenia / United States (1989)

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, the first American soap opera aired in Russia after the fall of the USSR, was followed by millions of Russians, including Diana Markosian’s mother. In 1996, when she decided to leave Moscow and the father of her children, she placed an ad with various marriage agencies. She accepted a proposal from a man living in Santa Barbara, California, and moved there with her two children. Years later, Diana devised a docudrama about her mother’s extraordinary story. This artist enlisted the help of one of the scriptwriters of the original soap opera to make a short film with actors embodying her own family drama.

 

Created especially for Images Vevey, Santa Barbara is a poignant piece about the American dream and the disenchantment it could bring, but also about the tenuous line between reality and fiction.

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

This I presume is an older american ambulance ,owned here in Gotland Sweden by a guy named Kut or Kuten ??? not sure about that. Apparently he was a friend of the late film director Ingmar Bergman who is buried in his beloved Gotland not far from this place. One thing for sure is that if you ar ever in sweden here on the little island of Gotland come and eat at Kutens,and the name of the diner is Creperie Tati,best meal s ever.

Ernst Ingmar Bergman, born 14 juli 1918 in Uppsala, died 30 july 2007 in Fårö Gotland was a swedish film and theater director,playwriter,theaterchief, scriptwriter and author.

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

TITLE: The Raven

YEAR RELEASED: 1963

DIRECTOR: Roger Corman

CAST: Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court and Peter Lorre.

MINI-REVIEW BY STEPHEN JACOBS: “Roger Corman’s comedy is great fun. Vincent Price plays Dr. Erasmus Craven, a magician who discovers his wife [Hazel Court] is not dead but resides with rival sorcerer Dr. Scarabus [Boris Karloff]. Peter Lorre, however, steals the picture as Dr. Bedlo, a grouchy wizard who had been transformed into a raven by Scarabus. Also noteworthy as featuring a young Jack Nicholson as Lorre’s son, Rexford.”

 

MAIN REVIEW BY ADAM SCOVELL

 

With its rather ominous opening, the viewer would perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Roger Corman’s adaptation of Poe’s The Raven would be in similar ilk to his other dark Poe films. What at first seems like yet another gothic retelling of a Poe classic turns out to be a swiftly delivered curve ball that has, at its core, a desire for fun and mischief rather than for scares and dark forebodings.

Vincent Price plays Dr Erasmus Craven, one of many sorcerers to appear in the film. He may be on the side of good but this implies that the villains are genuinely bad. Boris Karloff plays the closest to what the film has to a villain in the form of Dr Scarabus but this is a film about having a laugh at the absurdity of the fantasy genre rather than genuine battles of good vs. evil. To add to an already impressive cast is Peter Lorre as the hilarious Dr. Bedlo who appears first in the form of a raven and then proceeds to be one of the most hilariously inept sorcerers in fantasy.

Bedlo was turned into a raven by Scarabus but the action taken by the sorcerers seems more in line with playground antics than fantasy action. Jack Nicholson also makes an early film appearance as the dashing hero of the piece though is sidelined in the film in place wizardry and joyfully silly battles. Though very clearly aiming at a younger market, Corman still manages to add a few spine tingling elements to the film. These are mainly to be found in the film’s opening twenty minutes and revolve around Craven trying to find the rather gruesome ingredients to cure Bedlo from of his raven form. It must be stated that though the connection to the original adaptation of The Raven (1935) through Boris Karloff is its only link. The original was a tense, gothic tale of murder far more in line with Poe’s original prose. This is the polar opposite in almost every conceivable way.

Corman’s Raven is far more laxed about its source material to the point where it’s all but abandoned after the film’s introduction. Though this may perhaps not do it any favours among the horror purists, criticisms of the film based around its lack of seriousness misses the point entirely. Perhaps also with Corman’s excellent track record for Poe adaptations, it comes as a shock to find him playing so freely with the material but it’s something he would come back to again and again (also remembering his previous horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1960)).

Though more in line with the TV series Bewitched than with the likes of Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven is a perfect film for the winter. Its silly nature gives it the feel of a Christmas film, however, boasting an extremely strong cast of horror royalty and providing some genuine laughs along with its witty wizardry, The Raven is a film that can be forgiven for straying array from the purely horrific and should instead be enjoyed for what it is; fun.

synopsis

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

 

www.hellsgate.co.nz/about

www.nytimes.com/1927/06/12/archives/shaw-moves-home-from-...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw

“By the author of ‘Speak of the Devil’ and ‘The Great Ego,’ ‘The Lady is a Witch’ is another fantasy that would have been more at home in the pages of ‘Unknown’ or ‘Weird Tales,’ much better than his earlier efforts, and obviously written in imitation of Thorne Smith’s posthumous novel ‘The Passionate Witch,’ that tells of the various strange antics of a witch in our modern world and which inspired among other things, the marvelous TV series of the sixties, ‘Bewitched,’ starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead and Dick York.” [From the “Annotated Guide to Startling Stories’ (Wildside Press, 1986)]

 

American pulp fiction writer Norman A. Daniels (1905-1995) worked in pulp magazines, radio and television. He created the pulp hero the “Black Bat” in 1939 (the same year as “Batman”) and wrote for such series as “The Phantom Detective” and “The Shadow.” Norman Daniels also served as a scriptwriter for the radio serial “Nick Carter, Master Detective” and contributed stories for TV programs, including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” -- Wikipedia

 

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

Cover design by Piet Schreuders for VPRO Gids #25, June 22, 1985. Four-part series about scriptwriters in Hollywood. Typeface: "Eccentric Lettering for Film Sub-Titles", from "Modernized Methods in the Art & Practice of Lettering for Commercial Purposes by William Hugh Gordon (Signs of the Times Publishing, Cincinnati, OH, 1918)

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3343/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Ufa.

 

German actor, scriptwriter and director Harry Piel(1892-1963), disguised as maharadja. Refers to the film Panik (Harry Piel 1927/1928) in which Piel plays Mister X alias Harry Peel, alias The Rajah of Lahore. For a biography and filmography, see: www.flickr.com/photos/truusbobjantoo/2350889185/

 

Sources: Wikipedia; filmportal.de; Matias Bleckman, Harry Piel. Ein Kino-Mythos und seine Zeit (1992).

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

 

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

 

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair™ was replaced by the name Elfia™. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

 

Here, hundreds of researchers, businesses and progressive home- owners will be living and working side-by-side, along with great food, drink and entertainment venues. A collection of stunning public spaces for everyone, of all ages, to use.

Everyone here is united by one purpose: to help families, communities and cities around the world to live healthier, longer, smarter and easier lives. In short, to live better. In the process, our businesses will continue to grow, employ more local people and help ensure Newcastle excels.

 

Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a member of the Russell Group, an association of research-intensive UK universities.

 

The university finds its roots in the School of Medicine and Surgery (later the College of Medicine), established in 1834, and the College of Physical Science (later renamed Armstrong College), founded in 1871. These two colleges came to form the larger division of the federal University of Durham, with the Durham Colleges forming the other. The Newcastle colleges merged to form King's College in 1937. In 1963, following an Act of Parliament, King's College became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

The university subdivides into three faculties: the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; the Faculty of Medical Sciences; and the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering. The university offers around 175 full-time undergraduate degree programmes in a wide range of subject areas spanning arts, sciences, engineering and medicine, together with approximately 340 postgraduate taught and research programmes across a range of disciplines.[6] The annual income of the institution for 2022–23 was £592.4 million of which £119.3 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £558 million.

 

History

Durham University § Colleges in Newcastle

The establishment of a university in Newcastle upon Tyne was first proposed in 1831 by Thomas Greenhow in a lecture to the Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1832 a group of local medics – physicians George Fife (teaching materia medica and therapeutics) and Samuel Knott (teaching theory and practice of medicine), and surgeons John Fife (teaching surgery), Alexander Fraser (teaching anatomy and physiology) and Henry Glassford Potter (teaching chemistry) – started offering medical lectures in Bell's Court to supplement the apprenticeship system (a fourth surgeon, Duncan McAllum, is mentioned by some sources among the founders, but was not included in the prospectus). The first session started on 1 October 1832 with eight or nine students, including John Snow, then apprenticed to a local surgeon-apothecary, the opening lecture being delivered by John Fife. In 1834 the lectures and practical demonstrations moved to the Hall of the Company of Barber Surgeons to accommodate the growing number of students, and the School of Medicine and Surgery was formally established on 1 October 1834.

 

On 25 June 1851, following a dispute among the teaching staff, the school was formally dissolved and the lecturers split into two rival institutions. The majority formed the Newcastle College of Medicine, and the others established themselves as the Newcastle upon Tyne College of Medicine and Practical Science with competing lecture courses. In July 1851 the majority college was recognised by the Society of Apothecaries and in October by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and in January 1852 was approved by the University of London to submit its students for London medical degree examinations. Later in 1852, the majority college was formally linked to the University of Durham, becoming the "Newcastle-upon-Tyne College of Medicine in connection with the University of Durham". The college awarded its first 'Licence in Medicine' (LicMed) under the auspices of the University of Durham in 1856, with external examiners from Oxford and London, becoming the first medical examining body on the United Kingdom to institute practical examinations alongside written and viva voce examinations. The two colleges amalgamated in 1857, with the first session of the unified college opening on 3 October that year. In 1861 the degree of Master of Surgery was introduced, allowing for the double qualification of Licence of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, along with the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Doctor of Medicine, both of which required residence in Durham. In 1870 the college was brought into closer connection with the university, becoming the "Durham University College of Medicine" with the Reader in Medicine becoming the Professor of Medicine, the college gaining a representative on the university's senate, and residence at the college henceforth counting as residence in the university towards degrees in medicine and surgery, removing the need for students to spend a period of residence in Durham before they could receive the higher degrees.

 

Attempts to realise a place for the teaching of sciences in the city were finally met with the foundation of the College of Physical Science in 1871. The college offered instruction in mathematics, physics, chemistry and geology to meet the growing needs of the mining industry, becoming the "Durham College of Physical Science" in 1883 and then renamed after William George Armstrong as Armstrong College in 1904. Both of these institutions were part of the University of Durham, which became a federal university under the Durham University Act 1908 with two divisions in Durham and Newcastle. By 1908, the Newcastle division was teaching a full range of subjects in the Faculties of Medicine, Arts, and Science, which also included agriculture and engineering.

 

Throughout the early 20th century, the medical and science colleges outpaced the growth of their Durham counterparts. Following tensions between the two Newcastle colleges in the early 1930s, a Royal Commission in 1934 recommended the merger of the two colleges to form "King's College, Durham"; that was effected by the Durham University Act 1937. Further growth of both division of the federal university led to tensions within the structure and a feeling that it was too large to manage as a single body. On 1 August 1963 the Universities of Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne Act 1963 separated the two thus creating the "University of Newcastle upon Tyne". As the successor of King's College, Durham, the university at its founding in 1963, adopted the coat of arms originally granted to the Council of King's College in 1937.

 

Above the portico of the Students' Union building are bas-relief carvings of the arms and mottoes of the University of Durham, Armstrong College and Durham University College of Medicine, the predecessor parts of Newcastle University. While a Latin motto, mens agitat molem (mind moves matter) appears in the Students' Union building, the university itself does not have an official motto.

 

Campus and location

The university occupies a campus site close to Haymarket in central Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located to the northwest of the city centre between the open spaces of Leazes Park and the Town Moor; the university medical school and Royal Victoria Infirmary are adjacent to the west.

 

The Armstrong building is the oldest building on the campus and is the site of the original Armstrong College. The building was constructed in three stages; the north east wing was completed first at a cost of £18,000 and opened by Princess Louise on 5 November 1888. The south-east wing, which includes the Jubilee Tower, and south-west wings were opened in 1894. The Jubilee Tower was built with surplus funds raised from an Exhibition to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. The north-west front, forming the main entrance, was completed in 1906 and features two stone figures to represent science and the arts. Much of the later construction work was financed by Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, the metallurgist and former Lord Mayor of Newcastle, after whom the main tower is named. In 1906 it was opened by King Edward VII.

 

The building contains the King's Hall, which serves as the university's chief hall for ceremonial purposes where Congregation ceremonies are held. It can contain 500 seats. King Edward VII gave permission to call the Great Hall, King's Hall. During the First World War, the building was requisitioned by the War Office to create the first Northern General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties. Graduation photographs are often taken in the University Quadrangle, next to the Armstrong building. In 1949 the Quadrangle was turned into a formal garden in memory of members of Newcastle University who gave their lives in the two World Wars. In 2017, a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was erected in the inner courtyard of the Armstrong Building, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his honorary degree from the university.

 

The Bruce Building is a former brewery, constructed between 1896 and 1900 on the site of the Hotspur Hotel, and designed by the architect Joseph Oswald as the new premises of Newcastle Breweries Limited. The university occupied the building from the 1950s, but, having been empty for some time, the building was refurbished in 2016 to become residential and office space.

 

The Devonshire Building, opened in 2004, incorporates in an energy efficient design. It uses photovoltaic cells to help to power motorised shades that control the temperature of the building and geothermal heating coils. Its architects won awards in the Hadrian awards and the RICS Building of the Year Award 2004. The university won a Green Gown award for its construction.

 

Plans for additions and improvements to the campus were made public in March 2008 and completed in 2010 at a cost of £200 million. They included a redevelopment of the south-east (Haymarket) façade with a five-storey King's Gate administration building as well as new student accommodation. Two additional buildings for the school of medicine were also built. September 2012 saw the completion of the new buildings and facilities for INTO Newcastle University on the university campus. The main building provides 18 new teaching rooms, a Learning Resource Centre, a lecture theatre, science lab, administrative and academic offices and restaurant.

 

The Philip Robinson Library is the main university library and is named after a bookseller in the city and benefactor to the library. The Walton Library specialises in services for the Faculty of Medical Sciences in the Medical School. It is named after Lord Walton of Detchant, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor of Neurology. The library has a relationship with the Northern region of the NHS allowing their staff to use the library for research and study. The Law Library specialises in resources relating to law, and the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms offers additional study spaces and computers. Together, these house over one million books and 500,000 electronic resources. Some schools within the university, such as the School of Modern Languages, also have their own smaller libraries with smaller highly specialised collections.

 

In addition to the city centre campus there are buildings such as the Dove Marine Laboratory located on Cullercoats Bay, and Cockle Park Farm in Northumberland.

 

International

In September 2008, the university's first overseas branch was opened in Singapore, a Marine International campus called, NUMI Singapore. This later expanded beyond marine subjects and became Newcastle University Singapore, largely through becoming an Overseas University Partner of Singapore Institute of Technology.

 

In 2011, the university's Medical School opened an international branch campus in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia, namely Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia.

 

Student accommodation

Newcastle University has many catered and non-catered halls of residence available to first-year students, located around the city of Newcastle. Popular Newcastle areas for private student houses and flats off campus include Jesmond, Heaton, Sandyford, Shieldfield, South Shields and Spital Tongues.

 

Henderson Hall was used as a hall of residence until a fire destroyed it in 2023.

 

St Mary's College in Fenham, one of the halls of residence, was formerly St Mary's College of Education, a teacher training college.

 

Organisation and governance

The current Chancellor is the British poet and artist Imtiaz Dharker. She assumed the position of Chancellor on 1 January 2020. The vice-chancellor is Chris Day, a hepatologist and former pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

 

The university has an enrolment of some 16,000 undergraduate and 5,600 postgraduate students. Teaching and research are delivered in 19 academic schools, 13 research institutes and 38 research centres, spread across three Faculties: the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; the Faculty of Medical Sciences; and the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering. The university offers around 175 full-time undergraduate degree programmes in a wide range of subject areas spanning arts, sciences, engineering and medicine, together with approximately 340 postgraduate taught and research programmes across a range of disciplines.

 

It holds a series of public lectures called 'Insights' each year in the Curtis Auditorium in the Herschel Building. Many of the university's partnerships with companies, like Red Hat, are housed in the Herschel Annex.

 

Chancellors and vice-chancellors

For heads of the predecessor colleges, see Colleges of Durham University § Colleges in Newcastle.

Chancellors

Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (1963–1988)

Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley (1988–1999)

Chris Patten (1999–2009)

Liam Donaldson (2009–2019)

Imtiaz Dharker (2020–)

Vice-chancellors

Charles Bosanquet (1963–1968)

Henry Miller (1968–1976)

Ewan Stafford Page (1976–1978, acting)

Laurence Martin (1978–1990)

Duncan Murchison (1991, acting)

James Wright (1992–2000)

Christopher Edwards (2001–2007)

Chris Brink (2007–2016)

Chris Day (2017–present)

Civic responsibility

 

The university Quadrangle

The university describes itself as a civic university, with a role to play in society by bringing its research to bear on issues faced by communities (local, national or international).

 

In 2012, the university opened the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal to address issues of social and economic change, representing the research-led academic schools across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences[45] and the Business School.

 

Mark Shucksmith was Director of the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (NISR) at Newcastle University, where he is also Professor of Planning.

 

In 2006, the university was granted fair trade status and from January 2007 it became a smoke-free campus.

 

The university has also been actively involved with several of the region's museums for many years. The Great North Museum: Hancock originally opened in 1884 and is often a venue for the university's events programme.

 

Faculties and schools

Teaching schools within the university are based within three faculties. Each faculty is led by a Provost/Pro-vice-chancellor and a team of Deans with specific responsibilities.

 

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape

School of Arts and Cultures

Newcastle University Business School

Combined Honours Centre

School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences

School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics

School of Geography, Politics and Sociology

School of History, Classics and Archaeology

Newcastle Law School

School of Modern Languages

Faculty of Medical Sciences

School of Biomedical Sciences

School of Dental Sciences

School of Medical Education

School of Pharmacy

School of Psychology

Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology (CBCB)

Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering

School of Computing

School of Engineering

School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics

School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Business School

 

Newcastle University Business School

As early as the 1900/1 academic year, there was teaching in economics (political economy, as it was then known) at Newcastle, making Economics the oldest department in the School. The Economics Department is currently headed by the Sir David Dale Chair. Among the eminent economists having served in the Department (both as holders of the Sir David Dale Chair) are Harry Mainwaring Hallsworth and Stanley Dennison.

 

Newcastle University Business School is a triple accredited business school, with accreditation by the three major accreditation bodies: AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS.

 

In 2002, Newcastle University Business School established the Business Accounting and Finance or 'Flying Start' degree in association with the ICAEW and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The course offers an accelerated route towards the ACA Chartered Accountancy qualification and is the Business School's Flagship programme.

 

In 2011 the business school opened their new building built on the former Scottish and Newcastle brewery site next to St James' Park. This building was officially opened on 19 March 2012 by Lord Burns.

 

The business school operated a central London campus from 2014 to 2021, in partnership with INTO University Partnerships until 2020.

 

Medical School

The BMC Medicine journal reported in 2008 that medical graduates from Oxford, Cambridge and Newcastle performed better in postgraduate tests than any other medical school in the UK.

 

In 2008 the Medical School announced that they were expanding their campus to Malaysia.

 

The Royal Victoria Infirmary has always had close links with the Faculty of Medical Sciences as a major teaching hospital.

 

School of Modern Languages

The School of Modern Languages consists of five sections: East Asian (which includes Japanese and Chinese); French; German; Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies; and Translating & Interpreting Studies. Six languages are taught from beginner's level to full degree level ‒ Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese ‒ and beginner's courses in Catalan, Dutch, Italian and Quechua are also available. Beyond the learning of the languages themselves, Newcastle also places a great deal of emphasis on study and experience of the cultures of the countries where the languages taught are spoken. The School of Modern Languages hosts North East England's only branches of two internationally important institutes: the Camões Institute, a language institute for Portuguese, and the Confucius Institute, a language and cultural institute for Chinese.

 

The teaching of modern foreign languages at Newcastle predates the creation of Newcastle University itself, as in 1911 Armstrong College in Newcastle installed Albert George Latham, its first professor of modern languages.

 

The School of Modern Languages at Newcastle is the lead institution in the North East Routes into Languages Consortium and, together with the Durham University, Northumbria University, the University of Sunderland, the Teesside University and a network of schools, undertakes work activities of discovery of languages for the 9 to 13 years pupils. This implies having festivals, Q&A sessions, language tasters, or quizzes organised, as well as a web learning work aiming at constructing a web portal to link language learners across the region.

 

Newcastle Law School

Newcastle Law School is the longest established law school in the north-east of England when law was taught at the university's predecessor college before it became independent from Durham University. It has a number of recognised international and national experts in a variety of areas of legal scholarship ranging from Common and Chancery law, to International and European law, as well as contextual, socio-legal and theoretical legal studies.

 

The Law School occupies four specially adapted late-Victorian town houses. The Staff Offices, the Alumni Lecture Theatre and seminar rooms as well as the Law Library are all located within the School buildings.

 

School of Computing

The School of Computing was ranked in the Times Higher Education world Top 100. Research areas include Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and ubiquitous computing, secure and resilient systems, synthetic biology, scalable computing (high performance systems, data science, machine learning and data visualization), and advanced modelling. The school led the formation of the National Innovation Centre for Data. Innovative teaching in the School was recognised in 2017 with the award of a National Teaching Fellowship.

 

Cavitation tunnel

Newcastle University has the second largest cavitation tunnel in the UK. Founded in 1950, and based in the Marine Science and Technology Department, the Emerson Cavitation Tunnel is used as a test basin for propellers, water turbines, underwater coatings and interaction of propellers with ice. The Emerson Cavitation Tunnel was recently relocated to a new facility in Blyth.

 

Museums and galleries

The university is associated with a number of the region's museums and galleries, including the Great North Museum project, which is primarily based at the world-renowned Hancock Museum. The Great North Museum: Hancock also contains the collections from two of the university's former museums, the Shefton Museum and the Museum of Antiquities, both now closed. The university's Hatton Gallery is also a part of the Great North Museum project, and remains within the Fine Art Building.

 

Academic profile

Reputation and rankings

Rankings

National rankings

Complete (2024)30

Guardian (2024)67

Times / Sunday Times (2024)37

Global rankings

ARWU (2023)201–300

QS (2024)110

THE (2024)168=

 

Newcastle University's national league table performance over the past ten years

The university is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's research-intensive universities. It is ranked in the top 200 of most world rankings, and in the top 40 of most UK rankings. As of 2023, it is ranked 110th globally by QS, 292nd by Leiden, 139th by Times Higher Education and 201st–300th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Nationally, it is ranked joint 33rd by the Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide, 30th by the Complete University Guide[68] and joint 63rd by the Guardian.

 

Admissions

UCAS Admission Statistics 20222021202020192018

Application 33,73532,40034,55031,96533,785

Accepte 6,7556,2556,5806,4456,465

Applications/Accepted Ratio 5.05.25.35.05.2

Offer Rate (%78.178.080.279.280.0)

Average Entry Tariff—151148144152

Main scheme applications, International and UK

UK domiciled applicants

HESA Student Body Composition

In terms of average UCAS points of entrants, Newcastle ranked joint 19th in Britain in 2014. In 2015, the university gave offers of admission to 92.1% of its applicants, the highest amongst the Russell Group.

 

25.1% of Newcastle's undergraduates are privately educated, the thirteenth highest proportion amongst mainstream British universities. In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 74:5:21 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 51:49.

 

Research

Newcastle is a member of the Russell Group of 24 research-intensive universities. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), which assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, Newcastle is ranked joint 33rd by GPA (along with the University of Strathclyde and the University of Sussex) and 15th for research power (the grade point average score of a university, multiplied by the full-time equivalent number of researchers submitted).

 

Student life

Newcastle University Students' Union (NUSU), known as the Union Society until a 2012 rebranding, includes student-run sports clubs and societies.

 

The Union building was built in 1924 following a generous gift from an anonymous donor, who is now believed to have been Sir Cecil Cochrane, a major benefactor to the university.[87] It is built in the neo-Jacobean style and was designed by the local architect Robert Burns Dick. It was opened on 22 October 1925 by the Rt. Hon. Lord Eustace Percy, who later served as Rector of King's College from 1937 to 1952. It is a Grade II listed building. In 2010 the university donated £8 million towards a redevelopment project for the Union Building.

 

The Students' Union is run by seven paid sabbatical officers, including a Welfare and Equality Officer, and ten part-time unpaid officer positions. The former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron was President of NUSU in 1991–1992. The Students' Union also employs around 300 people in ancillary roles including bar staff and entertainment organisers.

 

The Courier is a weekly student newspaper. Established in 1948, the current weekly readership is around 12,000, most of whom are students at the university. The Courier has won The Guardian's Student Publication of the Year award twice in a row, in 2012 and 2013. It is published every Monday during term time.

 

Newcastle Student Radio is a student radio station based in the university. It produces shows on music, news, talk and sport and aims to cater for a wide range of musical tastes.

 

NUTV, known as TCTV from 2010 to 2017, is student television channel, first established in 2007. It produces live and on-demand content with coverage of events, as well as student-made programmes and shows.

 

Student exchange

Newcastle University has signed over 100 agreements with foreign universities allowing for student exchange to take place reciprocally.

 

Sport

Newcastle is one of the leading universities for sport in the UK and is consistently ranked within the top 12 out of 152 higher education institutions in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) rankings. More than 50 student-led sports clubs are supported through a team of professional staff and a network of indoor and outdoor sports facilities based over four sites. The university have a strong rugby history and were the winners of the Northumberland Senior Cup in 1965.

 

The university enjoys a friendly sporting rivalry with local universities. The Stan Calvert Cup was held between 1994 and 2018 by major sports teams from Newcastle and Northumbria University. The Boat Race of the North has also taken place between the rowing clubs of Newcastle and Durham University.

 

As of 2023, Newcastle University F.C. compete in men's senior football in the Northern League Division Two.

 

The university's Cochrane Park sports facility was a training venue for the teams playing football games at St James' Park for the 2012 London Olympics.

 

A

Ali Mohamed Shein, 7th President of Zanzibar

Richard Adams - fairtrade businessman

Kate Adie - journalist

Yasmin Ahmad - Malaysian film director, writer and scriptwriter

Prince Adewale Aladesanmi - Nigerian prince and businessman

Jane Alexander - Bishop

Theodosios Alexander (BSc Marine Engineering 1981) - Dean, Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology of Saint Louis University

William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong - industrialist; in 1871 founded College of Physical Science, an early part of the University

Roy Ascott - new media artist

Dennis Assanis - President, University of Delaware

Neil Astley - publisher, editor and writer

Rodney Atkinson - eurosceptic conservative academic

Rowan Atkinson - comedian and actor

Kane Avellano - Guinness World Record for youngest person to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle (solo and unsupported) at the age of 23 in 2017

B

Bruce Babbitt - U.S. politician; 16th Governor of Arizona (1978–1987); 47th United States Secretary of the Interior (1993–2001); Democrat

James Baddiley - biochemist, based at Newcastle University 1954–1983; the Baddiley-Clark building is named in part after him

Tunde Baiyewu - member of the Lighthouse Family

John C. A. Barrett - clergyman

G. W. S. Barrow - historian

Neil Bartlett - chemist, creation of the first noble gas compounds (BSc and PhD at King's College, University of Durham, later Newcastle University)

Sue Beardsmore - television presenter

Alan Beith - politician

Jean Benedetti - biographer, translator, director and dramatist

Phil Bennion - politician

Catherine Bertola - contemporary painter

Simon Best - Captain of the Ulster Rugby team; Prop for the Ireland Team

Andy Bird - CEO of Disney International

Rory Jonathan Courtenay Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan - heir apparent to the earldom of Cork

David Bradley - science writer

Mike Brearley - professional cricketer, formerly a lecturer in philosophy at the university (1968–1971)

Constance Briscoe - one of the first black women to sit as a judge in the UK; author of the best-selling autobiography Ugly; found guilty in May 2014 on three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice; jailed for 16 months

Steve Brooks - entomologist; attained BSc in Zoology and MSc in Public Health Engineering from Newcastle University in 1976 and 1977 respectively

Thom Brooks - academic, columnist

Gavin Brown - academic

Vicki Bruce - psychologist

Basil Bunting - poet; Northern Arts Poetry Fellow at Newcastle University (1968–70); honorary DLitt in 1971

John Burgan - documentary filmmaker

Mark Burgess - computer scientist

Sir John Burn - Professor of Clinical Genetics at Newcastle University Medical School; Medical Director and Head of the Institute of Genetics; Newcastle Medical School alumnus

William Lawrence Burn - historian and lawyer, history chair at King's College, Newcastle (1944–66)

John Harrison Burnett - botanist, chair of Botany at King's College, Newcastle (1960–68)

C.

Richard Caddel - poet

Ann Cairns - President of International Markets for MasterCard

Deborah Cameron - linguist

Stuart Cameron - lecturer

John Ashton Cannon - historian; Professor of Modern History; Head of Department of History from 1976 until his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1979; Pro-Vice-Chancellor 1983–1986

Ian Carr - musician

Jimmy Cartmell - rugby player, Newcastle Falcons

Steve Chapman - Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University

Dion Chen - Hong Kong educator, principal of Ying Wa College and former principal of YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College

Hsing Chia-hui - author

Ashraf Choudhary - scientist

Chua Chor Teck - Managing Director of Keppel Group

Jennifer A. Clack - palaeontologist

George Clarke - architect

Carol Clewlow - novelist

Brian Clouston - landscape architect

Ed Coode - Olympic gold medallist

John Coulson - chemical engineering academic

Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox - cross-bench member of the British House of Lords

Nicola Curtin – Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics

Pippa Crerar - Political Editor of the Daily Mirror

D

Fred D'Aguiar - author

Julia Darling - poet, playwright, novelist, MA in Creative Writing

Simin Davoudi - academic

Richard Dawson - civil engineering academic and member of the UK Committee on Climate Change

Tom Dening - medical academic and researcher

Katie Doherty - singer-songwriter

Nowell Donovan - vice-chancellor for academic affairs and Provost of Texas Christian University

Catherine Douglas - Ig Nobel Prize winner for Veterinary Medicine

Annabel Dover - artist, studied fine art 1994–1998

Alexander Downer - Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (1996–2007)

Chloë Duckworth - archaeologist and presenter

Chris Duffield - Town Clerk and Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation

E

Michael Earl - academic

Tom English - drummer, Maxïmo Park

Princess Eugenie - member of the British royal family. Eugenie is a niece of King Charles III and a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II. She began studying at Newcastle University in September 2009, graduating in 2012 with a 2:1 degree in English Literature and History of Art.

F

U. A. Fanthorpe - poet

Frank Farmer - medical physicist; professor of medical physics at Newcastle University in 1966

Terry Farrell - architect

Tim Farron - former Liberal Democrat leader and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale

Ian Fells - professor

Andy Fenby - rugby player

Bryan Ferry - singer, songwriter and musician, member of Roxy Music and solo artist; studied fine art

E. J. Field - neuroscientist, director of the university's Demyelinating Disease Unit

John Niemeyer Findlay - philosopher

John Fitzgerald - computer scientist

Vicky Forster - cancer researcher

Maximimlian (Max) Fosh- YouTuber and independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election.

Rose Frain - artist

G

Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster - aristocrat, billionaire, businessman and landowner

Peter Gibbs - television weather presenter

Ken Goodall - rugby player

Peter Gooderham - British ambassador

Michael Goodfellow - Professor in Microbial Systematics

Robert Goodwill - politician

Richard Gordon - author

Teresa Graham - accountant

Thomas George Greenwell - National Conservative Member of Parliament

H

Sarah Hainsworth - Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Aston University

Reginald Hall - endocrinologist, Professor of Medicine (1970–1980)

Alex Halliday - Professor of Geochemistry, University of Oxford

Richard Hamilton - artist

Vicki L. Hanson - computer scientist; honorary doctorate in 2017

Rupert Harden - professional rugby union player

Tim Head - artist

Patsy Healey - professor

Alastair Heathcote - rower

Dorothy Heathcote - academic

Adrian Henri - 'Mersey Scene' poet and painter

Stephen Hepburn - politician

Jack Heslop-Harrison - botanist

Tony Hey - computer scientist; honorary doctorate 2007

Stuart Hill - author

Jean Hillier - professor

Ken Hodcroft - Chairman of Hartlepool United; founder of Increased Oil Recovery

Robert Holden - landscape architect

Bill Hopkins - composer

David Horrobin - entrepreneur

Debbie Horsfield - writer of dramas, including Cutting It

John House - geographer

Paul Hudson - weather presenter

Philip Hunter - educationist

Ronald Hunt – Art Historian who was librarian at the Art Department

Anya Hurlbert - visual neuroscientis

I

Martin Ince - journalist and media adviser, founder of the QS World University Rankings

Charles Innes-Ker - Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford

Mark Isherwood - politician

Jonathan Israel - historian

J

Alan J. Jamieson - marine biologist

George Neil Jenkins - medical researcher

Caroline Johnson - Conservative Member of Parliament

Wilko Johnson - guitarist with 1970s British rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood

Rich Johnston - comic book writer and cartoonist

Anna Jones - businesswoman

Cliff Jones - computer scientist

Colin Jones - historian

David E. H. Jones - chemist

Francis R. Jones - poetry translator and Reader in Translation Studies

Phil Jones - climatologist

Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling - Member of the House of Lords and the Conservative Party

Wilfred Josephs - dentist and composer

K

Michael King Jr. - civil rights leader; honorary graduate. In November 1967, MLK made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Newcastle University, becoming the first African American the institution had recognised in this way.

Panayiotis Kalorkoti - artist; studied B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art (1976–80); Bartlett Fellow in the Visual Arts (1988)

Rashida Karmali - businesswoman

Jackie Kay - poet, novelist, Professor of Creative Writing

Paul Kennedy - historian of international relations and grand strategy

Mark Khangure - neuroradiologist

L

Joy Labinjo - artist

Henrike Lähnemann - German medievalist

Dave Leadbetter - politician

Lim Boon Heng - Singapore Minister

Lin Hsin Hsin - IT inventor, artist, poet and composer

Anne Longfield - children's campaigner, former Children's Commissioner for England

Keith Ludeman - businessman

M

Jack Mapanje - writer and poet

Milton Margai - first prime minister of Sierra Leone (medical degree from the Durham College of Medicine, later Newcastle University Medical School)

Laurence Martin - war studies writer

Murray Martin, documentary and docudrama filmmaker, co-founder of Amber Film & Photography Collective

Adrian Martineau – medical researcher and professor of respiratory Infection and immunity at Queen Mary University of London

Carl R. May - sociologist

Tom May - professional rugby union player, now with Northampton Saints, and capped by England

Kate McCann – journalist and television presenter

Ian G. McKeith – professor of Old Age Psychiatry

John Anthony McGuckin - Orthodox Christian scholar, priest, and poet

Wyl Menmuir - novelist

Zia Mian - physicist

Richard Middleton - musicologist

Mary Midgley - moral philosopher

G.C.J. Midgley - philosopher

Moein Moghimi - biochemist and nanoscientist

Hermann Moisl - linguist

Anthony Michaels-Moore - Operatic Baritone

Joanna Moncrieff - Critical Psychiatrist

Theodore Morison - Principal of Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne (1919–24)

Andy Morrell - footballer

Frank Moulaert - professor

Mo Mowlam - former British Labour Party Member of Parliament, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, lecturer at Newcastle University

Chris Mullin - former British Labour Party Member of Parliament, author, visiting fellow

VA Mundella - College of Physical Science, 1884—1887; lecturer in physics at the College, 1891—1896: Professor of Physics at Northern Polytechnic Institute and Principal of Sunderland Technical College.

Richard Murphy - architect

N

Lisa Nandy - British Labour Party Member of Parliament, former Shadow Foreign Secretary

Karim Nayernia - biomedical scientist

Dianne Nelmes - TV producer

O

Sally O'Reilly - writer

Mo O'Toole - former British Labour Party Member of European Parliament

P

Ewan Page - founding director of the Newcastle University School of Computing and briefly acting vice-chancellor; later appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Reading

Rachel Pain - academic

Amanda Parker - Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire since 2023

Geoff Parling - Leicester Tigers rugby player

Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes - British Conservative politician and Chancellor of the University (1999–2009)

Chris M Pattinson former Great Britain International Swimmer 1976-1984

Mick Paynter - Cornish poet and Grandbard

Robert A. Pearce - academic

Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland - Chancellor of the University (1964–1988)

Jonathan Pile - Showbiz Editor, ZOO magazine

Ben Pimlott - political historian; PhD and lectureship at Newcastle University (1970–79)

Robin Plackett - statistician

Alan Plater - playwright and screenwriter

Ruth Plummer - Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research and Fellow of the UK's Academy of Medical Sciences.

Poh Kwee Ong - Deputy President of SembCorp Marine

John Porter - musician

Rob Powell - former London Broncos coach

Stuart Prebble - former chief executive of ITV

Oliver Proudlock - Made in Chelsea star; creator of Serge De Nîmes clothing line[

Mark Purnell - palaeontologist

Q

Pirzada Qasim - Pakistani scholar, Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi

Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin - politician

R

Andy Raleigh - Rugby League player for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Brian Randell - computer scientist

Rupert Mitford, 6th Baron Redesdale - Liberal Democrat spokesman in the House of Lords for International Development

Alastair Reynolds - novelist, former research astronomer with the European Space Agency

Ben Rice - author

Lewis Fry Richardson - mathematician, studied at the Durham College of Science in Newcastle

Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley - Chancellor of the University 1988-1999

Colin Riordan - VC of Cardiff University, Professor of German Studies (1988–2006)

Susie Rodgers - British Paralympic swimmer

Nayef Al-Rodhan - philosopher, neuroscientist, geostrategist, and author

Neil Rollinson - poet

Johanna Ropner - Lord lieutenant of North Yorkshire

Sharon Rowlands - CEO of ReachLocal

Peter Rowlinson - Ig Nobel Prize winner for Veterinary Medicine

John Rushby - computer scientist

Camilla Rutherford - actress

S

Jonathan Sacks - former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

Ross Samson - Scottish rugby union footballer; studied history

Helen Scales - marine biologist, broadcaster, and writer

William Scammell - poet

Fred B. Schneider - computer scientist; honorary doctorate in 2003

Sean Scully - painter

Nigel Shadbolt - computer scientist

Tom Shakespeare - geneticist

Jo Shapcott - poet

James Shapiro - Canadian surgeon and scientist

Jack Shepherd - actor and playwright

Mark Shucksmith - professor

Chris Simms - crime thriller novel author

Graham William Smith - probation officer, widely regarded as the father of the national probation service

Iain Smith - Scottish politician

Paul Smith - singer, Maxïmo Park

John Snow - discoverer of cholera transmission through water; leader in the adoption of anaesthesia; one of the 8 students enrolled on the very first term of the Medical School

William Somerville - agriculturist, professor of agriculture and forestry at Durham College of Science (later Newcastle University)

Ed Stafford - explorer, walked the length of the Amazon River

Chris Steele-Perkins - photographer

Chris Stevenson - academic

Di Stewart - Sky Sports News reader

Diana Stöcker - German CDU Member of Parliament

Miodrag Stojković - genetics researcher

Miriam Stoppard - physician, author and agony aunt

Charlie van Straubenzee - businessman and investment executive

Peter Straughan - playwright and short story writer

T

Mathew Tait - rugby union footballer

Eric Thomas - academic

David Tibet - cult musician and poet

Archis Tiku - bassist, Maxïmo Park

James Tooley - professor

Elsie Tu - politician

Maurice Tucker - sedimentologist

Paul Tucker - member of Lighthouse Family

George Grey Turner - surgeon

Ronald F. Tylecote - archaeologist

V

Chris Vance - actor in Prison Break and All Saints

Géza Vermes - scholar

Geoff Vigar - lecturer

Hugh Vyvyan - rugby union player

W

Alick Walker - palaeontologist

Matthew Walker - Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

Tom Walker - Sunday Times foreign correspondent

Lord Walton of Detchant - physician; President of the GMC, BMA, RSM; Warden of Green College, Oxford (1983–1989)

Kevin Warwick - Professor of Cybernetics; former Lecturer in Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Duncan Watmore - footballer at Millwall F.C.

Mary Webb - artist

Charlie Webster - television sports presenter

Li Wei - Chair of Applied Linguistics at UCL Institute of Education, University College London

Joseph Joshua Weiss - Professor of Radiation Chemistry

Robert Westall - children's writer, twice winner of Carnegie Medal

Thomas Stanley Westoll - Fellow of the Royal Society

Gillian Whitehead - composer

William Whitfield - architect, later designed the Hadrian Building and the Northern Stage

Claire Williams - motorsport executive

Zoe Williams - sportswoman, worked on Gladiators

Donald I. Williamson - planktologist and carcinologist

Philip Williamson - former Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society

John Willis - Royal Air Force officer and council member of the University

Lukas Wooller - keyboard player, Maxïmo Park

Graham Wylie - co-founder of the Sage Group; studied Computing Science & Statistics BSc and graduated in 1980; awarded an honorary doctorate in 2004

Y

Hisila Yami, Nepalese politician and former Minister of Physical Planning and Works (Government of Nepal

John Yorke - Controller of Continuing Drama; Head of Independent Drama at the BBC

Martha Young-Scholten - linguist

Paul Younger - hydrogeologist

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: (L) Rhianna Pratchett, video-game scriptwriter and Keith Stuart, Games Editor at Guardian News & Media attend Rhianna Pratchett: The Art of Storytelling The Art of Storytelling during Advertising Week Europe 2016 at Picturehouse Central on April 20, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for Advertising Week Europe)

French autograph card. Photo: Luc Roux, Première. Publicity still for Rue barbare/Barbarous Street (Gilles Béhat, 1984).

 

French actor Bernard Giraudeau (1947-2010) was with his bright blue eyes one of the most attractive but also talented stars of the French cinema. For his roles, he was twice nominated for the French Oscar, Le César. Giraudeau also worked as film director, scriptwriter, producer and writer.

 

Bernard René Giraudeau was born in 1947 in La Rochelle, France. In 1963 the 15-years-old enlisted in the French navy as a trainee engineer, qualifying as the first in his class a year later. He completed two around the world cruises before his service ended. He served on the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc in 1964–1965 and 1965–1966, and subsequently on the frigate Duquesne and the aircraft carrier Clemenceau before leaving the navy to try his luck as an actor. He studied acting at the CNSAD (Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique). Giraudeau first appeared on film in the Franco-Italian crime film Deux hommes dans la ville/Two men in Town (José Giovanni, 1973) starring Jean Gabin and Alain Delon. He played a kidnapper in Revolver (Sergio Sollima, 1973) with Oliver Reed. Two years later he had a supporting part in another crime drama by José Giovanni, Le Gitan/The Gypsy (José Giovanni, 1975), starring Alain Delon and Annie Girardot. In 1977, he played the male lead in the coming-of-age erotic romantic drama Bilitis (1977) directed by photographer David Hamilton with a music score by Francis Lai. It starred Patti D'Arbanville as Bilitis. The film was shot in the soft-focus schmaltz style that was common of David Hamilton's photography. Giraudeau also co-starred with Jodie Foster in the French film Moi, fleur bleue/Stop Calling Me Baby! (Eric le Hung, 1977). He co-starred again with Alain Delon in the futuristic war film Le Toubib/The Medic (Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1979), and appeared in the hit comedy Boum/The Party (Claude Pinoteau, 1980) with Sophie Marceau in her film début. Then followed his breakthrough as a handsome dashing officer who falls desperately in love with an ugly but passionate woman (Valeria d’Obici) in the Italian drama Passione d'amore/Passion of Love (Ettore Scola, 1981). The film was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and served as the inspiration for the 1994 Broadway musical Passion by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. Soon followed leading roles in international films like the French-Swiss drama Hecate (Daniel Schmid, 1982) with Lauren Hutton, the French-Canadian crime film Le Ruffian/The Ruffian (José Giovanni, 1983) also starring Lino Ventura and Claudia Cardinale, and the French drama L'année des méduses/The Year of the Jellyfish (Christopher Frank, 1985) with Valérie Kaprisky. Another box-office hit in France was the buddy-action film Les Spécialistes/The Specialists (Patrice Leconte, 1985). in which he co-starred with Gérard Lanvin. DB Dumonteil at IMDb: “A deft, energetic buddy movie interspersed with unexpected twists, suspenseful chases and stunts and a sharp humor into the bargain. Everything you could wish for to spend a comfortable evening in front of the telly without reservations. (…) One shouldn't forget the two main actors which contribute in making the film a little winner. Gérard Lanvin and Bernard Giraudeau are on top form.”

 

In 1987, Bernard Giraudeau made his first film as director the TV film La Face de l'ogre (1988), though he continued to work as an actor. He co-starred with Isabelle Huppert in the romance Après l'amour/Love After Love (Diane Kurys, 1992). In the drama Le Fils préferé/The Favourite Son (Nicole Garcia, 1994), he played the brother of Gérard Lanvin and Jean-Marc Barr. He also appeared in the lauded historical drama Ridicule (Patrice Leconte, 1996), set in the 18th century at the decadent court of Versailles. The film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received several César awards, but Giraudeau was only nominated as best Supporting Actor. He played Molière in another historical film, Marquise (Véra Belmont, 1997) with Sophie Marceau and Lambert Wilson. In Italy he appeared in the drama Marianna Ucrìa (Roberto Faenza, 1997). In France he starred in François Ozon’s drama Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes/Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000, based on a German play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Tropfen auf heisse Steine, written when he was 19 years old. Elbert Ventura at AllMovie: “The movie has an undercurrent of absurdist humor, but its laughs are muffled for the most part, with the exception being an out-of-left-field dance number that injects some needed energy into the dour, claustrophobic story. Beautifully structured and meticulously filmed, Water Drops on Burning Rocks is clearly the work of an intelligent filmmaker.”Also interesting is 'Une affaire de goût/A Question of Taste (Bernard Rapp, 2000). About the growing dependency between a rich CEO (Giraudeau) and a handsome young waiter (Jean-Pierre Lorit) whom the C|EO hires at an astronomical sum to serve as a personal food taster. David Anderson at Bunched Undies: “A Matter of Taste is a well-executed film: excellent production, nicely photographed and well-acted. But by the time it’s over, like the principle characters, you may find yourself feeling a bit empty.” The film received 5 César Award nominations, including nominations for Best Film and for Giraudeau as Best Actor.

 

As a writer, Bernard Giraudeau wrote the text of books of photography and published children's stories (Contes d'Humahuaca, 2002) and several novels. He was also the reader on the French audiobooks of the Harry Potter series. Since 1976, he was married to actress and author Anny Duperey, whom he had met while acting in the same play. They acted together on-screen in five productions, the TV series La nuit des Césars/The Night of the Césars (1976), the crime drama Le grand pardon/Grand Pardon (Alexandre Arcady, 1982), Meurtres à domicile/Evil in the house (Marc Lobet, 1982), La face de l'ogre (Bernard Giraudeau, 1988), and Contre l'oubli/Against Oblivion (Bernard Giraudeau a.o., 1991). They divorced in 1993. From 1996 to his death, he was the companion of Tohra Mahdavi. Giraudeau and Duperey had two children: son Gaël and daughter Sara. Sara Giraudeau achieved success as an actress. In 2000 Bernard Giraudeau suffered a cancer which led to the removal of his left kidney, with a subsequent metastasis in 2005 affecting his lungs. He said that the cancer led him to re-evaluate his life and understand himself better. He devoted some of his time to the support of cancer victims through the Institut Curie and the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Paris. His later films included La petite Lili/Little Lili (Claude Miller, 2003), featuring Ludivine Sagnier, the comedy Ce jour-là/That Day (Raúl Ruiz, 2003), and . the thriller Je suis un assassin/The Hook (Thomas Vincent, 2004) with François Cluzet and Karin Viard. In 2010, Bernard Giraudeau died of his cancer in a Paris hospital. He was 63.

 

Sources: David Anderson (Bunched Undies), DB Dumonteil (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This page is about written communication, signalled by the diagonally linked messages at top left page and bottom right page.

 

‘Man schreibt uns’ strikes us at the top left. In German, someone is writing to us; we are being sent a letter. And the diagonally opposite passage from a version of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (one of Edwin Morgan’s favourite novels) wonders whether ‘any usual sort of ordinary fellow ever looked sufficiently longly at a quite everyday-looking stamped addressed envelope’. The double page then invites us to contemplate life stories hidden inside the envelopes addressed to prison governors in various Victorian gaols.

 

Calligraphy is a recurrent theme in the Scrapbooks, but the script and spelling on these envelopes speak of blighted lives. There is a letter, too, from inside one such envelope. A woman is asking the governor for permission to send her husband a photograph of his baby daughter (‘my durter postgrift’).

 

There are other ways of writing, too. The pictures arranged centrally in two vertical columns remind us that in Morgan’s view there is ‘nothing not giving messages’. Gesture, human-animal communication, the ripples of a shark’s fin in water, wild horses as they gallop across the plains, sailing boats moving on a lake beside industrial workings – all of these make signs, leave trails that also hint at significance, as much as any writer does.

 

Christopher Isherwood, best known for his novels of the 1930s based on his experience of decadent pre-Nazi Berlin, figures in a picture dated 1954. By then he had become an American citizen, having migrated to California in 1939 to work as a scriptwriter. His politically-inspired travels with Auden in China in 1938, and their prose-verse collaboration in war reportage had all been safely left behind. That sends a message too.

 

Image: Edwin Morgan Scrapbook 11 (1953-1955) pp 2228–2229