Film / News
Eighth edition of Cinema Rediscovered focuses on Dangerous Divas
The dates have been set for this year’s Cinema Rediscovered festival of film restorations, rediscoveries and rarities. More than 50 events – including screenings, expert-led talks, Q&As, workshops, cinema walks and a quiz – will take place in venues around Bristol from July 24-28.
Bristol-born director J. Lee Thompson. Image: Cinema Rediscovered
The programme is still being finalised, but we do know that there will be strands on corruption and scandal in New Hollywood cinema and Dangerous Divas – inspired by Rita Hayworth’s performance in the recently restored film noir classic Gilda (1946).
There will also be UK premieres of two new 4K restorations of films by Bristol-born director J. Lee Thompson (1914 – 2002). The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 entry in the popular ‘women behind bars’ cycle with the usual disparate bunch of ladies doing time. Mary Poppins star Glynis Johns plays the stock figure of the traumatised posh lady who was framed by a pal, while Swindon’s very own Diana Dors is cast as a brassier felon. Filming took place just weeks after the latter made tabloid headlines on being convicted of stealing alcohol “worth more than £4”. This one was adapted from the autobiographical novel Who Lie in Gaol, which impressed Thompson so much that he left his wife and subsequently married its author, Joan Henry.
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Released five years later in 1959, at the start of ‘kitchen sink drama’ fad, No Trees in the Street saw Thompson pivot towards social realism. Adapted by TV and theatre veteran Ted Willis from his own 1948 stage play, it casts the late Sylvia Sims (1934-2023) as a sweet young woman who becomes the girlfriend of nasty racketeer Herbert Lom in the slums of pre-war London. This one had poor reviews on release, with critics dismissing it as out of time and overly sentimental.
More details of the programme will be available at the end of April, when Early Bird passes go on sale. To be kept informed of the latest news, sign up for the Cinema Rediscovered newsletter here.
Main image of Diana Dors and Glynis Johns in ‘The Weak and the Wicked’ supplied by Cinema Rediscovered
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