yangtse incident : the story of h.m.s. amethyst ( 1957 ) is a british war film that tells the story of the british frigate hms amethyst caught up in the chinese civil war .

it was based upon the book written by lawrence earl .

the film was known in the us by the alternative titles battle hell , escape of the amethyst , their greatest glory and yangtze incident .

non-english language titles include the direct german translation of yangtse-zwischenfall , and commando sur le yang-tse in france .

in belgium it was known as feu sur le yangtse ( french ) and vuur op de yangtse ( flemish/dutch ) , both meaning " fire on the yangtse " .

the film was entered into the 1957 cannes film festival .

yangtse incident : the story of h . m . s . amethyst

yangtse incident : the story of h . m . s . amethyst <EOT> yangtse incident – the story of h . m . s . amethyst – variety

yangtse incident : the story of h . m . s . amethyst ( 1957 )

yangtse incident the story of h . m . s . amethyst ( 1957 ) | bfi

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yangtse incident : the story of h . m . s . amethyst ( 1957 ) directed by michael anderson • reviews , film + cast • letterboxd

h . m . s . consort was ordered to the rescue of amethyst .

yangtse incident the story of h . m . s . amethyst / a wilcox - neagle production ; screenplay by eric ambler ; produced by herbert wilcox ; directed by michael anderson .

the full and true story of the yangtze incident has never been told but it is a story that has to be told , it is not a story about one ship the h . m . s . amethyst , and its amazing escape from the yangtze river , its not a story about four british royal navy ships , as in fact there were five ships involved , h . m . s . consort , h . m . a . s . shoalhaven , h . m . s . amethyst , h . m . s . london and h . m . s . blackswan .

the story of the amethyst is indeed glorious but please also let the full true story be known .

there is the book “the yangtze incident , by lawrence earl , published 1952” only four years after the incident . mr earl’s story is more or less a story about one of the ships involved in the yangtze incident ( h . m . s . amethyst ) .

there you have the damage report of h . m . s . consort .

yangtse incident [ videorecording ] : the story of h . m . s . amethyst / a wilcox - neagle production ; screenplay by eric ambler ; produced by herbert wilcox ; directed by michael anderson . – national library

true story of how hms amethyst escaped from the chinese revolution in 1949 . the story is fascinating but the film far too long .

the glorious story of h . m . s . amethyst , the official report produced by the navy league in co - operation with the admiralty . entry concerning hms concord ;

the photographs below were taken at hung joa cemetery in shanghai at the time of the ceremonial burial of ten ratings from h . m . s . consort , twelve from h . m . s . london , one from h . m . s . amethyst , and a chinese , yangtze river , ships pilot .

technical adviser who commanded h . m . s . amethyst during much of the period of the story , and whose exceptional help is gratefully acknowledged ( as commander j . s . kerans d . s . o . r . n . )

when h . m . s . consort , on the 20 th april 1949 tied up alongside of h . m . s . london , the london was fully operational and as such was able to transmit to the admiralty reports on consorts damage and condition . h . m . s . london’s ships company with consort along side were getting a gruesome insight into the damage and carnage flowing from a rescue attempt of amethyst , what must have been the mixed emotions and thoughts of h . m . s . london’s ships company on viewing that .

captain peter grenville lyon cazalet . d . s . o . , d . s . c . , royal navy , h . m . s london

when commander kearn’s wrote the forward to lawrence earl’s book yangtze incident within the foreword the third paragraph begins , “this story deals only with h . m . s . amethyst , ” that is fair comment by kearn’s which i accept as such believing that he read the material he was writing a foreword too or for .

the true story of one of the most daring actions in modern royal navy history .

in 1949 , during the chinese civil war , british warship h . m . s . amethyst sails up the yangtse river but on the return trip finds its way blocked by a barrage fire from the communist chinese shore batteries .

photograph of british sloop hms magpie in the atlantic , the sister ship of amethyst . magpie stood in for the moving shots of hms amethyst in the film yangtse incident in 1957 , based on the actual events .

within the house of commons on the 26 th april 1949 prime minister , mr clement attlee , two days after the five ships companies from h . m . s . consort , amethyst , london , black swan and h . m . a . s . shoalhaven , among others were burying some of the dead from the yangtze incident , at hung joa cemetery in shanghai made a statement concerning the yangtze incident .

the tributes above were sent to or for simon of hms amethyst , who was awarded the dickin medal in 1949 for gallantry under enemy fire . read simon ' s story for the account of the yangtse incident itself and how he came to receive his ' animal vc ' .

a news cutting from 1949 reporting h . m . s . consorts arrival at hong kong the terms within the news cutting are noteworthy .

neither the book nor the film comes anywhere near to the truth of the overall yangtze incident as it was , and how the incident came about , the yangtze incident is a story that has yet to be told , it’s a frightening story that has been covered up by government deceit and deception that is an on going saga to this day .

our featured feline at the head of the page is simon of hms amethyst . he remains the only cat ever to have been awarded the dickin medal for gallantry under enemy fire , in what became known as the ' yangtse incident ' ( 1949 ) . read simon ' s story .

in pointing out these matters i will attempt to provide an even clearer picture of h . m . s . consorts involvement in the yangtze incident , soon by way of a documentary it will be made even clearer by re - enactment , but in the meantime read into what it was like on board h . m . s . consort .

the yangtze river and china - this map was prepared for the " wahnsein incident " that took place just 30 years before . the story of the amethyst played out between nanking and shanghai

the hopes of those onboard in respect to being rescued were again raised on learning that the county class cruiser , h . m . s . london would be coming to amethysts rescue . on the morning of 21 st april 1949 the date set for the invasion and invading forces of the c . c . p in crossing the yangtze in force on the upper reaches of the yangtze at points that were above and below where the amethyst was aground h . m . s . london accompanied by h . m . s . black swan , were ordered up river to rescue the amethyst .

note : this is a companion page to our story of simon , of hms amethyst who was awarded the dickin medal for gallantry under enemy fire in 1949 . you should read the main story for the account of the yangtze incident itself and how simon came to receive his ' animal vc ' .

this telegram was to prevent an international incident as cold war tensions were high and it removed any official mention of the concord’s involvement in the yangtze incident .

in may of 1949 h . m . s . consort was the last royal navy ship to be stationed at nanking she relieved h . m . c . s . crescent , our listening post’s stationed there for the purpose of transmissions , from that station came learning of american war equipment being landed from ships at formosa , the connotations of a nationalist second front with u . s . a . involvement or support .

much has been written about that termed the yangtze incident of 1949 . within the house of commons there exists columns of hansard papers relative to the incident .

because of earl’s book and subsequent film yangtze incident that , in reality was about one ship the amethyst this has distorted the nation’s view of the incident and royal navy history . on the web , there is a royal navy profile site ; in the history section there is no mention of the yangtze incident or the ships involved .

on the 21 st april 1949 h . m . s . london , a county class cruiser a ship with a seventeen feet draught , in the company of h . m . s . black swan was ordered up the yangtze to attempt the rescue of amethyst as stated previously they got to within twenty miles of amethyst , before having to retire . both of those ships were ordered into a war zone on a date known to be the invasion date of chinas civil war .

in producing the photographs of h . m . s . consort this allows an insight to some extent of what it must have been like to have been on board h . m . s . consort during one hundred minutes of the ships life span of ten years on the far east station , one hundred minutes from the time of receiving the signal from the amethyst , in the first instance ( under heavy fire . am aground . large number of casualties ) .

the letter was acknowledged by dr lewis moonie , m . p . , of the m . o . d . and dated 14 th november 2000 .

meanwhile , the cruiser h . m . s . " london " ( captain cazalet ) , wearing the flag of flag officer second in command , was also proceeding up the yangtse at best speed . the three ships " london , " " black swan , " and " consort " met at kiang yin

the story of h . m . s . amethyst , the frigate which became famous for its exploits on the yangtse in 1949 . while on a legitimate , peaceful mission on the yangtse river , the amethyst is fired upon by chinese forces , with great loss of life , and comes to a standstill in a mudbank . for some weeks she remains there , unable to move for fear of destruction , while the navy negotiates with the chinese colonel ping , who wants the british government to claim that the amethyst illegally opened fire first . finally , the amethyst makes a break for freedom , under cover of darkness , hoping to be able to escape the shelling from the communist forces that line the river for many miles in both directions .

surgeon lieutenant john michael alderton , m . b . , b . s . , royal navy .

for gallantry , skill and determination while in command of hms amethyst in the planning and execution of her daring passage down the yangtse river when she escaped from chinese military forces .

in conformity with the decision to remain at nanking , his majesty ' s ships had been relieving one another at that port at regular intervals for some months past . on this occasion the object of the passage of h . m . s . " amethyst " was to relieve h . m . s . " consort " at nanking . opposing chinese forces had been massed along the banks of the yangtse for a considerable time and there were repeated rumours for some weeks that the communists were about to cross the river . h . m . s . " consort " was already overdue for relief , but this relief was postponed in view of a communist ultimatum which was due to expire on april 12 and which might have been followed by the crossing of the yangtse . on april 12 his majesty ' s ambassador learned that the ultimatum had been extended to april 15 . the relief had therefore still to be postponed . only on april 18 was it learned that the final expiry of the ultimatum might lead to the crossing of the yangtse by the communist forces on april 21 . the necessity for relieving h . m . s . " consort " as early as possible remained . she was running short of supplies after a long stay at nanking and in any case a frigate was considered more suitable than a destroyer to be stationed at that port .

i will at this point briefly summarise the losses and damage which resulted . the casualties were : h . m . s . " london , " 13 killed , 15 wounded ; h . m . s . " consort , " 10 killed , 4 seriously wounded , h . m . s . " amethyst , " 19 killed , 27 wounded ; h . m . s . " black swan , " 7 wounded . in addition , 12 ratings are still missing . of the damage to the ships , the " london " suffered the most severely , having been holed repeatedly in her hull and upper works . the damage to the " consort " and the " black swan " was less serious . " london " and the " black swan " have already completed their emergency repairs . the " amethyst " suffered severe damage but was repaired by the efforts of her own crew to be capable of a speed of seventeen knots .

story [ based on the book by lawrence earl and an idea by associate producer franklin gollings ] is of the amethyst , which , battered though not beaten , broke the chinese communist blockade and rejoined the british fleet . the amethyst is shown sailing up the yangtse , headed for nanking on a lawful mission delivering supplies to the british [ … ]

signals were sent to the admiralty and the shoalhaven was stood down and h . m . s . amethyst was thereafter selected to take the shoalhaven’s place , and recalled from sea to do so . in the book , yangtze incident by lawrence earl , there is a reference to h . m . s . amethyst beginning her journey up the yangtze river at 9 a . m . , on the 20 th april 1949 and doing so with full clearance from the then government of china . that statement is then followed by a further statement to the effect “ even to - day it is not clear why the amethyst was fired upon . then you have the question by the author , “was the “first salvo” a deliberate , sneering affront to britain and the royal navy ? ”

h . m . s . consort in reaching amethyst made three valiant efforts to take amethyst in tow . to this day the overall valour and seamanship that went into those three efforts has never been fully recognised . as a result of the damage and casualties that was inflicted upon h . m . s . consort , she had to retire from the action . ten of her ships company were dead and a great many wounded for some of the wounded their naval careers ended . that night 20 th april 1949 h . m . s . consort tied up alongside of h . m . s . london , while the some of the wounded were being transferred on to the london for medical attention engineers from the london were assisting in repairs to the consort that would provide passage to shanghai . when it became known that the london and black swan were going to attempt rescuing the amethyst , almost to a man consorts ships company those not wounded were volunteering to take part in the rescue their request were refused as it was necessary to get the ship to shanghai .

when the yangtze incident occurred on the 20 th of april 1949 involving h . m . s . amethyst and your ship consort , shock waves reached and rocked london , then on the 23 rd of april a transmission from shanghai , at a time when arrangement’s were being put in place for the ceremonial burial there , the significance of what was found on board h . m . s . consort that day sent shock waves through out the admiralty and the diplomatic core in london , an un - exploded shell was found on top of h . m . s . consorts number one boiler , great care had to be taken in removing the shell , on inspection it was found to be of u . s . a . origin and unstable . the shell had penetrated the ships hull and came to land on top of the number one boiler , had it exploded in coming into contact with the boiler that would have resulted in consort sinking with a broken back , on deliberation of the location where that shell was found and up until the time of it being found h . m . s . consort was the equivalent of a mine primed and ready to explode . to my astonishment , and this lives and remains with me to this day , in the damage report for h . m . s . consort prepared for the admiralty and sent to london the reported finding of the shell on the number one boiler was omitted . ”

opening credits prologue : the story of h . m . s . amethyst is true and this dramatic reconstruction of it was shot with all possible accuracy in and aboard amethyst herself . the producers ' apologies are due , however , to the officers and ships ' companies , the chinese interpreter and many others whose parts in the original action have not been portrayed . these omissions have been dictated solely by the limitations of screen time . to the admiralty , the war office and the air ministry , to commanders - in - chief , officers and ratings of h . m . ships and other naval establishments who have contributed so much to the making of this film , the producers tender their sincere thanks .

the story of the so - called yangtse incident and the saga of hms amethyst has been told and retold in the press and over the radio of the world , but i shall attempt to give a more personal account as it affected my wife and myself ; and it affected us very closely , for bill skinner , the late commanding officer and his wife , monica , were very dear friends of ours , and of course we knew the other officers .

consort was ordered to the rescue of amethyst , h . m . s . consort stationed at nanking was stationed there as guard ship to the british embassy and nationals out there , there were no other warships at nanking therefore by ordering consort to the assistance of amethyst the british embassy , ambassador his staff and british nationals were left unprotected .

the first photo is the deceptive version of the yangtze incident the propaganda version helping to delude and hide the truth , the second photo exposes the elusion created by the film in matters appertaining to the yangtze incident .

dont know if its been published on here before ? anorak news » rip jack french d . s . m : remembering hms amethyst not too long ago rip .

with consort enroot great hopes were being placed on her ability to elevate amethysts problems and rescue the ship from its existing situation . h . m . s . consort with its motto loyal and steadfast was not about to let what must have been the hopes of those on amethyst down .

, john longden , basil longden , basil radford , george merritt , j . h . roberts , jerry verno , h . f . maltby , pamela carme , torin thatcher , frederick piper

m - 55 quad 50s , 44th artillery , 108th artillery grp . at khe sanh

there was an authority that could have and should have been contacted whether by right or in courtesy to ensure safe passage , because of those wrongful acts attempts by the means of deceit and deception have been the order of the day to cover up the true story of the yangtze incident .

now in this computer age with all the search engines that are available , you only have to type in yangtze incident , or britain’s small wars , and there you have a few pages where some individual is more or less reiterating what has already been stated and some have gone to the extent of producing what they would have as a photographic story of the yangtze incident .

october 13 , 1949 : hms amethyst passing through suez canal en route home following the yangtze incident . ( photo courtesy of robert w . green ,

ono of the topics of conversation among us was the news item of january 1991 the desecration of the yangtze incident graves at hung joa , cemetery , shanghai .

the communist people’s liberation army led by mao tse tung and the nationalist kuomintang are at each other’s throats on the banks of the river yangtze during china’s war of liberation .

in 1949 a chinese frigate sailed up the thames but we saw the blighters off . but that ' s another story . this film is about the british frigate that sailed up the yangtze and was fired upon by treacherous chinese communists . after a prologue showing the british soldiers going about their peaceful business , the film divides into three parts . first , the attack , the captain seriously injured and the h . m . s . amethyst damaged and grounded ; second , richard todd taking command of the ship and the negotiations with the people ' s revolutionary army ; finally , the ship sneaks off , dodges assaults and reaches the safety of the ocean . ( yes , i ' ve given the story away , but the film is based on a historical event and much of the…

well that particular photograph depicts a scene from the yangtze incident film ; it depicts and portrays the young gunnery officer , the then lieutenant hett , standing in front of the single barrelled boffer , manned and in the stood too position , behind the rating to the right and rear of the gun you can see the top part of the ships funnel , so what this tells you is that you are looking at a photograph of h . m . s . amethyst port side on .

returning to the yangtze incident and in particular to clement attlee’s , statement for a moment . in that statement there is no mention of who gave the order that sent the amethyst on its journey up the yangtze .

to day in this present time questions are being asked as to the legality of committing british service personnel to war in iraq , this at a time when the very large question mark hangs over the yangtze incident . this short story will provide an insight into the truth of the yangtze incident , that fifty - three years of british government deceit and deception has covered up .

h . m . s . consort , a “c” class destroyer built on the river clyde , and belonging to the british royal navy , was guard ship to and for the british embassy at nanking on the yangtze river she had been there for some time and her relief was long over due and her stores were depleted . the relief ship was h . m . a . s . shoalhaven , which was at shanghai and should have relieved the consort on 16 th april 1949 the relief did not take place . the shoalhaven was stood down . you are not told that in the book or film about the yangtze incident .

also within my knowledge was the fact that in march of 1999 h . m . s . boxer visited china and during that visit admiral sir michael boyce in the company of a chinese admiral laid a wreath on the waters of the yangtze in memory those who died in the yangtze incident . a very noble gesture , but on learning of the gesture , in my mine i questioned it because only those killed on board the amethyst were committed to the waters of the yangtze and it was people from the amethyst who provided the news supportive of the defamatory allegations that the graves of those buried in hung joa

much has already been written concerning h . m . s . amethyst and her detention by the communists ' people ' s liberation army in the yangtse kiang , not only in the press but in official documents ; a detailed account would now be redundant . political considerations debar certain details and , in addition , publication of other matter might be prejudicial to the safety of certain people still in communist - occupied china . it is intended to attempt , in the following paragraphs , to try and elaborate on some of the less publicized points and bring out certain salutary lessons learnt . there will , therefore , be no co - ordinated and co - related " story " in the strict sense .

the necessary equipment and expertise for repairing h . m . s . consort had to be shipped out from britain to singapore , as the damage inflicted upon the ship was to such an extent , the ship would never have made the journey to britain for the necessary repairs required .

i can relate to three instances that occurred on board h . m . s . consort where valour occurred that was well above and beyond the call of duty , but by the fact that selection for awards was via the hat those three recommendations were not pulled from the hat .

when h . m . s . " amethyst " was fired upon by communist forces , his majesty ' s ambassador instructed his majesty ' s consular officer in charge at peking to communicate to the highest competent chinese communist authority , by whatever means possible , a message informing them of this and seeking the issue of immediate instructions by them to their military commanders along the yangtse to desist from such firing . a subsequent message emphasised the urgent need of medical attention of the casualties and reiterated the request for instructions to prevent further firing upon these ships of the royal navy engaged in peaceful and humanitarian tasks . the local communist authorities , however , refused to accept the consul ' s letters .

by the very fact that i have mentioned h . m . a . s . shoalhaven , this will have some in high office cringing , good , as it may well be constructive to the present day government and to the admiralty whilst being destructive to the deceit and deception that has been allowed to exist for the past fifty odd years relative to the yangtze incident .

thus early on tuesday , april 19 , the frigate h . m . s . " amethyst " ( lieutenant - commander skinner ) sailed from shanghai for nanking , wearing the white ensign and the union jack and with the union jack painted on her hull . when " amethyst " reached a point on the yangtse river some sixty miles from nanking , at about nine o ' clock , chinese time , in the morning of the 20th , she came under heavy fire from batteries on the north bank , suffered considerable damage and casualties and eventually grounded on rose island

this is a short book relating to an incident that occurred on the yangtze river of china , 20 th , 21 st april 1949 where four royal navy ships were by order sent on suicide missions . on these ships h . m . s . amethyst , consort , london and black swan , servicemen serving on board three of the ships were killed , on all four of the ships servicemen were wounded , this happened at a time when great britain was at peace , but it was an incident that took us to the brink of a third world war .

the signature of the commander in chief on that documents dated 22 nd december 1945 some eight months from the time of the incident was indeed an order . it’s an order of the day that ties him into the deceit and deception of what went on and into the yangtze incident , and that is established by the terms within the second paragraph of his order of the day in relating to amethyst , and the action taken by consort .

i have briefly related to the fact that consort while along side of h . m . s . london received some assistance in repairing damage that was inflicted during her attempts at rescuing the amethyst , repairs that were essential in order to provide safe passage to shanghai , also mentioned is the fact that some from consort’s ships company who had been wounded were transferred to the london for medical attention . lets now pick up the story from there and in so doing i am doing so with a vengeance for several reasons that will become clear .

story [ based on the book by lawrence earl and an idea by associate producer franklin gollings ] is of the amethyst , which , battered though not beaten , broke the chinese communist blockade and rejoined the british fleet . the amethyst is shown sailing up the yangtse , headed for nanking on a lawful mission delivering supplies to the british embassy . suddenly , without warning , the red shore batteries open fire and the frigate , after a heavy engagement , is grounded in the mud .

on page 32 of earl’s book yangtze incident , he introduces lieutenant - commander j . s . kearns , into that book in the fashion “one of several involved in the relaying of that first message from amethyst to the ambassador was the embassy’s assistant naval attaché , john simon kearns . his rank was that of lieutenant commander . at the time he had no idea how vitally important the amethyst affair would become to him . ”

since , april of 1949 the incident has taken on the term yangtze incident , helped along by a book publication and film by that title , the film production , yangtze incident has been described as an epic production , and every so often television viewers are subjected to a re - run , of that alleged epic film .

below is a photograph taken of h . m . s . amethyst when she arrived at hong kong after the ships escape from the yangtze river , in this photograph it can be seen that the ship was shot up and the scars are visible . this photograph shows the starboard side of the ship and i have encircled the boffer gun sponson area in the centre of the photograph . to the left of the photo you can see the ships - funnel .

we ' re grateful to elaine fowler for telling us about this cast - iron doorstop that she came across . although it isn ' t a great likeness of simon , the base clearly says ' hero of h . m . s . amethyst ' . we know nothing about it , except that elaine says it ' s ' quite large and very , very heavy ' , so we think perhaps it was produced at the time of simon ' s return to england in 1949 , after the yangtze incident . does anyone know anything about this remarkable object ?

i have just read the true story of hms concord by william leitch rn ( hms consort ) and the true story it played in escorting hms amethyst . my father served on hms concord at the time of the incident , he was a radar operator . his name was r . c . r catt jx760425 . what i have just read is the story he told me time and time over again . although didn ' t know about the ships log . when the yangtze incident film was on tv he always watched it but got so cross every time at the end , as he always said that ' s not what happened they have got it wrong . do you think they may posthumously award a medal to the sailors that were aboard the concord ? if so i would like to accept it on his behalf . christine giles

when that happened the amethyst was selected and ordered to take the shoal havens place as we now know , we also now know according to attlee , and his statement made to the house of commons , that at the time of the incident on the yangtze river , h . m . s . amethyst was going about her lawful occasion . that being the case , by what we also know now , from december of 1948 all british war ships making passage on the yangtze would during passage be stood too , in readiness to respond to artillery fire from communist forces on the north of the river .

in the disturbed conditions which have prevailed in recent months , warships of various powers have been at shanghai and nanking so that in the event of a breakdown of law and order as the result of hostilities they would be able to assist in the evacuation of their nationals . when the chinese government decided to move to canton , it is true that a warning was issued about warships in the yangtse . nevertheless it is a fact that since that time the movements of our warships in the yangtse have taken place with the full knowledge and consent of the national government of china . i want to make the point , therefore , that , when the incident took place to which i am about to refer , h . m . s . " amethyst " was proceeding on her lawful occasions , and that there was no other properly constituted authority to whom his majesty ' s government were under an obligation to notify her movements even had they been in a position to do so .

h . m . s . consort is seen here coming into shanghai . wounded rating being assisted from the ship , and the dead being carried past a guard of sailors and u . s marines . this was at a time when the ship was the equivalent of an un - exploded mine with an un - exploded shell of u . s . a . origin lying on top of the number one boiler . ( picture on next page . )

earl’s book yangtze incident at page fourteen . quote * even to - day it is not clear why amethyst was fired upon . was the first salvo a deliberate , sneering affront to britain and the royal navy ?

there is no explanation as to why the soviet union exempted from the decision to remain at nanking there is no mention of the fact there were consultations between the british and australian powers represented there in nanking that brought about the decision to have the australian war ship h . m . a . s . shoalhaven stood down from the duty of relieving h . m . s . consort . in having the shoal haven stood down the australian powers were exempting them from the lunacy of sending a war ship into the internal and territorial waters of a nation involved in civil war and in particular into what amounted to be the war zone without having taken the necessary and required precautions for safe passage .

this is a short introduction to the hms amethyst incident in the yangtse river when she was fired on by communist forces with heavy losses to herself and those ships that attempted to rescue her . the london gazette lists the honours awarded but did not include an official despatch . in its place the proceedings of the house of commons as recorded in hansard have been quoted . these cover events in some detail until around the arrival of commander kerans to take over command . his own account - from " the naval review " - continues the story until her escape and rejoining the fleet .

( now separated and will go our devious way ) , when h . m . s . consort was ordered to the rescue of the amethyst the british embassy there was without direct communication with london , england . h . m . s . consort was in fact the listening post between london and the embassy at nanking . lieutenant commander kearns was the embassy’s naval attaché and through him went all incoming and outgoing signals . kearns was in fact by his position london’s spy , monitoring the day to day situation as it was , it fell to him keep london informed of all events including that of others involved in the cold war that existed between britain the u . s . a . and the soviet union . what was the u . s . a . and the soviet union up to that was the real importance of having a ship stationed at nanking the ship was not spying it was being used as a tool its ears the communication system .

it was at this time that i learned that robin cook , m . p . was due to hold a constituent’s surgery at broxburn , west lothian . mr cook , at that time was the british foreign secretary ; it was time to bend his ear on the matter of the yangtze incident and the graves from that incident . “someone with high profile as well as high office . ”

when h . m . s . consort , at nanking , picked up that flash signal the response was immediate . the british embassy at nanking was informed the british ambassador sir ralph stevenson stationed at nanking immediately sent dispatches to the c . c . p . headquarters requesting an immediate cease - fire .

since the time of that incident and up until the present time in this year 2003 there has never been a judicial or public enquiry into the overall yangtze incident in order to ascertain the legalities or illegalities of that incident . fifty - four years on and into the present , the government of today is attempting to avoid a judicial or public inquiry into the legalities of the right or wrongs of having gone to war in iraq .

photograph of british sloop hms black swan . during the yangtze incident , the ship fell back after unsuccessfully trying to rescue hms amethyst , suffering casualties of 46 killed and 64 injured and severe hull damage .

chief petty officer henry william robinson , g . m . , d / jx 133428 , hms consort .

h . m . s . amethyst , did not begin her journey up the yangtze river on the 20 th april 1949 the amethyst begun her journey on the 19 th of april 1949 and in beginning her journey on that date she did not have clearance or consent from the nationalist government in china , clearance or consent came from the nationalist after the amethyst had begun her journey on the 19 th of april 1949 . the amethyst on reaching kiang yin , on the 19 th april 1949 was ordered by signal from a nationalist gun boat , to drop anchor and darken ship , as the nationalists had forbidden the movements of ships on the yangtze after dark .

without a doubt many other cases of bravery and devotion will be revealed when all the facts are known . but we already have ample evidence that the conduct of the whole ship ' s company of h . m . s . " amethyst " was beyond all praise , though a considerable proportion were young sailors under fire for the first time . we have had reports of seamen and marines remaining at their task for up to twenty - four hours , though badly wounded , and of men declining to have their wounds treated until cases they considered more urgent had been dealt with . i have heard too that in h . m . s . " london " and " black swan , " when there was a possibility of volunteers being flown to " amethyst , " there was almost acrimonious rivalry for selection to take on this heroic task .

in 1991 in scarbourgh i met up with ex - servicemen from the 8 th destroyer flotilla and squadron association , far east 1945 - 59 the ships represented there were h . m . s . cossack , constance , consort , contest , cockade , comus , comet , concord and charity .

if there was any initial misunderstanding as to the nationality of h . m . s . " amethyst . " this would have been speedily resolved had the authorities in peking acted on his majesty ' s ambassador ' s message . moreover , had the communist authorities objected in the past to the movement of british ships on the yangtse , it was always open to them to raise these through our consular authorities in north china . it is the fact that for reasons best known to themselves the communists have failed to notify any foreign authority present in areas which they have occupied of the channels through which contact can be maintained , and that they have rejected all communications made to them . in these circumstances , his majesty ' s government can only reserve their position .

reply 1 sept . 4 , 2008 the name " tanner " does not appear on our crew list for the yangtze incident . in all probabilities he was a wartime member of the crew . you could check his service records , m . o . d . site . best wishes , charlie chivers rn amethyst association

what must have been the thoughts of the p . l . a , as one thing is certain they had not been notified of amethyst’s intention or movement ?

bandmaster frederick george harwood , r . m . b . x . 368 , royal marines . hms london .

the concord was soon met by the hms cossack and the cossack’s captain boarded the ship . he ordered the concord to patrol northern china and removed the ship’s log book – taking with him any evidence of the concord’s involvement .

h . m . s . amethyst , at dawn on the morning of 20 th april weighed anchor and began making her way up river , about an hour into her journey because of fog and treacherous currents , at the insistence of the chinese pilot the amethyst , dropped anchor . the amethyst was completely enshrouded in fog neither the north or south bank of the river was visible to the naked eye so this can well be a situation of vice versa between the ship and shore . radar would have played a part in this situation so far as the amethyst was concerned , as radar would have pointed out the shorelines of both banks of the river as well as the movement of the large flat bottomed vessels ploughing their trade on the river , those vessels would appear as mere blips on the radar screen .

nevertheless , it is a fact that since that time the movement of our war ships in the yangtze have taken place with the full knowledge and consent of the national government of china . i want to make the point therefore that when the incident took place to which i am about to refer , hms amethyst was proceeding on her lawful occasions and that there was no other properly constituted authority to whom his majesty’s government were under an obligation to notify her movements even had they been in a position to do so . ” unquote . the part played by h . m . s . consort is also covered in the public statement .

the sea cadet corps unit of welwyn garden city and hatfield in england is called ts amethyst and has close links to the famous ship of that name ; in fact , lt cdr stewart hett , formerly of the ship , is their unit president . in summer 2006 the unit moved into new accommodation and then set about enhancing their associations with amethyst and her story . this initiative included proposed visits by cadets to all the amethyst - related sites in the uk .

all this time , consort had been coming down river from nanking and somewhere around 2 p . m . appeared in sight of amethyst , saying she would make an attempt to tow them off .

here an analysis to the above paragraph is necessary and will arm the readers with knowledge and insight into matters concerning the yangtze incident .

when lieutenant commander kearns brought the ship h . m . s . amethyst out of the yangtze river he brought back the evidence of the wrongful acts and omissions of those responsible for sending the ship on a suicide mission in the first instance a ship that did not have the capacity for defensive action , such as responding to being fired upon , a war ship with no teeth and encircled on the photograph is the irrefutable photographic evidence of that fact , her orlikin or boffor guns were not on - board .

if the hopes of rescue by those on board amethyst were dashed then those same hopes of rescuing the amethyst for those of consorts ships company were also dashed and heartfelt considering the cost of what went into that rescue attempt .

“by the time of amethysts escape from the yangtze , shanghai was under the control of the c . c . p . and the peoples liberation army , during amethysts escape no ratings on board were killed . however on the 24 th april 1949 one of the wounded from amethyst on 20 th april who died from his wounds , was among those who reached shanghai having travelled overland from where the ship was grounded in the first instance and amethysts captain , who died from his wounds , was at the behest of his family committed to the sea from h . m . s . consort , while on route to hong kong from shanghai” . i also pointed out that it should be the government’s property services agency who should be dealing with the matter graves regardless of that agency’s comment that had also been published , ( “i’m afraid we cannot find the file” ) a typical comment in most matters relating to the yangtze incident .

on a peaceful mission , hms amethyst was unexpectedly atacked by the chinese people ' s liberation army on the north bank of the yangtse river . with rescue attempts blocked by the chinese communist army , for many weeks the situation remained in deadlock , until finally , lieutenant - commander john s . kerans realised he must make a dangerous decision - trust their captors to release them , or run the gauntlet of communist batteries down 140 miles of hostile territory .

while waiting on a reply to that letter i decided to take other steps to have matters concerning the yangtze incident resolved , one way was to draw attention to the farce concerning the graves , so i made up a placard with the prime ministers letter as a centrepiece surrounded by photographs that told the story concerning the graves and the duplicity attached .

reference has been made here to the book “hostage on the yangtze written by the author malcolm murfett . i . s . b . n 0870212893” the story took shape in the first instance as a thesis of naval event the yangtze incident , due to the amount of research to produce the theses a book came to life and it provides an insight into the yangtze incident , that in this country britain , government departments would prefer to keep under lock and key and in my opinion that is why , malcolm murfett in his book concludes , with the question , “why” .

when h . m . s . consort arrived at shanghai , dr wedderburn treated eight - one of consorts ships company for wounds . who is dr wedderburn ? dr wedderburn , was a doctor who in the company who in the company of a pilot in a sunderland flying boat flew over the yangtze and witnessed consorts approach and efforts in attempting to rescue the amethyst , in witnessing such dr wedderburn , later wrote it down in explicit detail as both he and the pilot at the time both were of the opinion it was beyond belief it may well be that dr wedderburn , read earl’s book and in so doing was prompted into his writing of the book “lotus garden” i have personally read the eye witness account of what both the doctor and pilot witnessed . from what can only be described as a bird’s eye view of the action taken by h . m . s . consort , her approach at speed , her devastating fire power that knocked out the p . l . a . battery’s during her three attempts to take amethyst in tow , the hits she was taking while putting in such an effort but what they were witnessing with unbelief was that there was no one to be seen on the upper decks of the amethyst .

simon’s resting place at the pdsa animal cemetery in ilford . his gravestone reads : ‘throughout the yangtze incident , his behaviour was of the highest order . ’ author : acabashi cc by - sa 3 . 0

reply 1 , aug . 12 , 2013 i ' ve just been watching yangtze incident for the umpteenth time and have been captivated by the story since i was a boy . whilst working in blackpool in the late 1960 ' s i met the mother of george winter . she described in detail how she had a premonition of georges death . i don ' t think she ever got over it . mike coyle


now and forever is a 1934 american drama film directed by henry hathaway .

the screenplay by vincent lawrence and sylvia thalberg was based on a story by jack kirkland and melville baker .

the film stars gary cooper , carole lombard , and shirley temple in a story about a criminal going straight for his child 's sake .

temple sang " the world owes me a living " .

the film was critically well received .

temple adored cooper who nicknamed her ' wigglebritches ' ( windeler 140 ) .

this is the only film in which lombard and temple appeared together .

now and forever ( 1934 film )

now and forever ( 1934 film ) <EOT> now and forever cast . opened 31 aug . 1934 | toni day ( lombard ) , jerry day ( cooper ) , penny day ( temple ) charlotte granville , felix evans ( guy standi… | pinteres…

a tribute to shirley temple and gary cooper in their 1934 film now and forever . this film was before shirley ' s star really took off , so it ' s more of a gary film with shirley as a cute add on . they are so sweet together and apparently gary just adored and doted on his young co - star .

‘letters to a little lady’ , magazine article on shirley temple’s fanmail , 1934 .

review 1 - - no title ; the paramount presents little miss temple in ' now and forever ' - - ' crimson romance . '

tags : auctions , madonna , now and forever , publicity stills , rumba , sir guy standing , the eagle and the hawk , william e . thomas

gary cooper & shirley temple as jerry day penelope ' penny ' day film title now and forever directed by henry hathaway film company paramount 31 august 1934 * * warning * * this photograph is the copyright of the film company and / or the photographer assigned by or authorised by / allowed on the set by the film company at that time of this production & can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above film . a mandatory credit to the film company ( and photographer if known ) is required .

shirley temple & gary cooper as penelope ' penny ' day jerry day film title now and forever directed by henry hathaway film company paramount 31 august 1934 - * * warning * * this photograph is the copyright of the film company and / or the photographer assigned by or authorised by / allowed on the set by the film company at that time of this production & can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above film . a mandatory credit to the film company ( and photographer if known ) is required .

gary cooper carole lombard & shirley temple as jerry day toni carstairs day & penelope ' penny ' day film title now and forever film company paramount 31 august 1934 - * * warning * * this photograph is the copyright of the film company and / or the photographer assigned by or authorised by / allowed on the set by the film company at that time of this production & can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above film . a mandatory credit to the film company ( and photographer if known ) is required .

six degrees of shirley temple urltoken shirley temple sings her version of " the world owes me a living " from the 1934 movie ' now and forever . ' this song was originally from the disney short " the grasshopper and the ants " and was later goofy ' s song .

review 1 - - no title ; the paramount presents little miss temple in ' now and forever ' - - ' crimson romance . ' - the new york times

with the headline : review 1 - - no title ; the paramount presents little miss temple in ' now and forever ' - - ' crimson romance . ' .

explore popular and recently added tv series available to stream now with prime video .

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now and forever is a unique film . it features three great stars of hollywood ' s golden age in a movie unlike any other each of them would ever again make . in that regard it ' s an interesting curiosity .

my wife and son both looked at me as if i were a bit off when i rented now and forever . they wanted to know what i saw in a shirley temple movie . other than the bachelor and the bobbie soxer , i have honestly never even seen a shirley temple movie , and was not actually interested in seeing one . however , now and forever stars two of my favorite old time actors , gary cooper and carole lombard . i always like finding great pairings of famous stars .

enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with prime video .

title now and forever genre film notes - soundtrack . shirley temple : " the world owes me a living " ( alb - 1193 ) ( production and recordings information ) - from : show music on record by jack raymond - loc . natlib . smor . 1934 - 67 ( digitalid ) description film . soundtrack . shirley temple : " the world owes me a living " ( alb - 1193 ) ( production and recordings information ) . from : show music on record by jack raymond additional metadata formats metsxml record

* " floating weeds " ( 1959 ) . ozu ' s own remake of his 1934 silent film " the story of floating weeds . " a traveling actor meets his grown son . $ 29 . 95 .

future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .

when she was younger , said ms . hirano , she considered mizoguchi " more profound and interesting " than ozu . then , in the early 1980 ' s , she attended a film series that showed one ozu film and one mizoguchi film every day .

from vertigo to la jetée , the best films ever made are now available in the bfi shop .

with the headline : film view ; how american intellectuals learned to love ozu .

the honorable profession of second story work comes in for another contemptuous drubbing from the scenarists in " now and forever , " the new film at the paramount . so simple are the problems of the craft that the photoplay finds it unnecessary to delve into the kindergarten technique by which its larcenous hero makes a success of his chosen calling . view full article in timesmachine »

" now and fo . . . " the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .

moore went to hollywood in 1930 and subsequently appeared in the films a lady’s morals ( 1930 ) , a biography of jenny lind , and new moon ( 1931 ) . in 1932 she returned to broadway in the operetta the dubarry . back in hollywood she won the starring role in one night of love ( 1934 ) , a film that features a pioneering attempt to record operatic works with full orchestra . the film was a great popular success and brought moore a medal from the society of arts and sciences for her contribution to “raising the standard of cinema entertainment . ” her other films include love me forever ( 1935 ) , the king steps out ( 1936 ) , when you’re in love ( 1937 ) , and i’ll take romance ( 1937 ) .

" koichi got married and has children , " the husband says to his wife of his son . then , of his daughter , he adds , " and now noriko ' s marrying . "

in the last decade i’ve watched this first feature many times , and each time , it reveals new treasures . clearly , no single film is the greatest ever made . but if there were one , for me kane would now be the strongest contender , bar none .

now and forever doesn ' t fit the temple movie template that twentieth century fox would soon establish for their most bankable star . it ' s more adult and slightly darker in tone than her most famous movies , where she sang and danced while melting hearts and playing cupid for whichever stars were given the thankless supporting roles . but then this makes sense since she made this movie on loan out to paramount , which was cooper ' s home studio .

this isn ' t really a standard gary cooper movie either . he rarely played a father , especially at this early stage in his career , and this low key family melodrama isn ' t really his forte . ditto for carole lombard who would soon make her mark as one of the greatest screwball comedy dames of them all . now and forever is an offbeat movie for each of its three main stars .

this is a scene from the movie " early summer . " only one director in history could have made it : the japanese master yasujiro ozu ( 1903 - 63 ) . ozu is now considered by some film enthusiasts worldwide to be the greatest director japan ever produced and one of the greatest ever to work in the medium . last year , in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the film maker ' s birth and the 30th of ozu ' s death , the tokyo film institute staged a retrospective of his 35 surviving films , and companion retrospectives were staged elsewhere .

sound . texts below are quotations from our poll entries and magazine coverage of the top ten . links are to the bfi’s explore film section .

amrit nahata ' s kissaa kursee kaa , the film which will never be released = " kissā kursī kā " .

" we ' re happiest now , " the wife replies . somewhere , very softly , a few musicians are playing a curious , unresolved melody on stringed instruments .

joan was and remains an unassailable giant of early cinema , a transcendental film comprising tears , fire and madness that relies on extreme close - ups of the human face . over the years it has often been a difficult film to see , but even during its lost years joan has remained embedded in the critical consciousness , thanks to the strength of its early reception , the striking stills that appeared in film books , its presence in godard’s vivre sa vie and recently a series of unforgettable live screenings . in 2010 it was designated the most influential film of all time in the toronto international film festival’s ‘essential 100’ list , where jonathan rosenbaum described it as “the pinnacle of silent cinema – and perhaps of the cinema itself . ”

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

i asked ms . hirano what she thought people meant when they called ozu " the most japanese of film directors . "

she and her future husband will be moving far away ; no one knows for how long . not only will her parents lose daily contact with her , but they will also lose the income that made their own presence in their son ' s house possible . now they must also move out of the city , into the house of a relative , disengaged from their children and their grandchildren , possibly forever . the bubble of stability and satisfaction in which the parents have been living has been destroyed , and by the person they loved most .

, ( born dec . 5 , 1898 , slabtown [ now nough ] , tenn . , u . s . —died jan . 26 , 1947 , in - flight in

is a political science teacher by trade . he buys and watches more movies than is probably sane . he has special affection for french dramas and crime thrillers , giallos , japanese crime and samurai movies , 70 ' s horror , film noir and literate science fiction .

the programme that wilson and his orchestra are obsessing over at the moment is a celebration of george and ira gershwin , the american songwriting partnership that produced such immortal songs as “i got rhythm” , “’s wonderful” and “funny face” , as well as the 1934 opera porgy and bess . though it might all sound effortless when everyone finally appears in white tie , huge amounts of preparation go into a john wilson concert and they start long before the orchestra begins to rehearse .

this list collects every film from the starting list that became they shoot pictures don ' t they ' s 1000 greatest films . this…

: well , that wins . i guess i ' m gonna get a job now . i guess i ' ll be anything you want , toni , if you love me . . .

, den . ) , american singer and actress who found great popular and critical success in both opera and motion pictures .

2001 : a space odyssey is a stand - along monument , a great visionary leap , unsurpassed in its vision of man and the universe . it was a statement that came at a time which now looks something like the peak of humanity’s technological optimism .

cute film but mediocre performance by peck who is anything but believable . . . lombard shines as always and temple steals every scene she is in ! a lesser entry into her films but good nontheless

but it does mean that hitchcock , who only entered the top ten in 1982 ( two years after his death ) , has risen steadily in esteem over the course of 30 years , with vertigo climbing from seventh place , to fourth in 1992 , second in 2002 and now first , to make him the old master . welles , uniquely , had two films ( the magnificent ambersons as well as kane ) in the list in 1972 and 1982 , but now ambersons has slipped to 81st place in the top 100 .

arguably the film that most accurately captures the agonies of creativity and the circus that surrounds filmmaking , equal parts narcissistic , self - deprecating , bitter , nostalgic , warm , critical and funny . dreams , nightmares , reality and memories coexist within the same time - frame ; the viewer sees guido’s world not as it is , but more ‘realistically’ as he experiences it , inserting the film in a lineage that stretches from the surrealists to david lynch .

has a degree in medieval literature , but doesn ' t use it . in general she believes that film , like fine wine , gets better with age . look for her take on this year ' s top films , coming in 2056 ! allex will watch most anything made before 1955 , but has particular interest in silent film and golden age hollywood musicals .

* " an autumn afternoon " ( 1962 ) . ozu ' s last completed film . a widower ' s daughter marries , resignedly . $ 69 . 95 .

" i was interested to see his silent films from the 1930 ' s , " she said . " some of them i was seeing for the first time . his film language in them , the way he made and shot film and directed actors , was not so organized and formal as it was to become , and it was more open to american influences . the action of the bodies in these films seems american . people touch each other more freely . there ' s even an element of slapstick . "

hitchcock’s supreme and most mysterious piece ( as cinema and as an emblem of the art ) . paranoia and obsession have never looked better .

jenny lind , swedish - born operatic and oratorio soprano admired for her vocal control and agility and for the purity and naturalness of her art . lind made her debut in der freischütz …

" obviously , there are conventions of japanese reticence and expressiveness represented in his films , " ms . sontag said . " he uses discretion and ellipsis . he builds emotion by leaving things out . yet as a japanese film maker - - and ozu seems very japanese to me - - he is also very eccentric . "

" ozu is definitely a fashion now in academia , " she said . " especially here . in japan , one sees a reaction against this canonization . the critics charge that other japanese directors are not taken with the same kind of seriousness . "

thankfully , the film runs less than 90 minutes . it ' s not completely horrible by any means , but with this trio of stars , it should have been something more .

* " tokyo story " ( 1953 ) . ozu ' s best - known film in the united states . elderly parents visit their preoccupied grown children . $ 69 . 95 .

i rented this film because of cooper and lombard , but it is not either of theirs best work . cooper comes across more as a lunk head than a party boy . clark gable , and his shit eating grin , could have added some spark to this role . lombard has very little to do and is fairly forgettable .

it ' s an odd sort of film , darker and shadier than i would have expected from shirley or cooper either one . i never expected to watch a shirley temple movie that must be stretched out of shape to fit into the hays code box , and cooper ' s portrayal of con man jerry day is a far cry from his usual wholesome image . there are a few predictable plot elements on both sides - - as usual , shirley has several family members and friends fighting for custody of her , and the film ' s ending has cooper stoically battling a gunshot wound without bothering to seek medical attention . the film does present a fairly simple moral dilemma and then test the characters ' reactions to the challenge , and shirley overwhelms everyone in her path with near toxic levels of cuteness , as she giggles and dances her victims into submission . but shirley is not in every scene , which helps to keep the radiation levels in check , and the story itself is both interesting and original .

a loafer and a manicurist , both planning to marry money , meet and form an uneasy alliance .

this is the third of jarmusch’s fictional films in which he concocts a fantasy realm in which he , the image - maker and aesthete , could lead a comfortable and productive existence . in 2009’s “ the limits of control ” he posited the imaginative realm as one in which an individual could not just escape political oppression but also effectively obliterate it . in 2013’s “ only lovers left alive ” he explored the state of vampirism as a way of building a realm in which one could stay not just forever young but forever young with fantastic taste . here he constructs an idyll out of orderliness and a circumscribed mode of engagement . paterson and laura have no onscreen social life to speak of ( the bake sale for which laura creates dozens of delicious looking black and white cupcakes is not depicted ) , and no nosy or imposing family members . paterson has not published his work , and does not even deign to copy it out of his notebook . and yet there’s a sense of interdependent gears at work here . the man , the bus , the passengers , the bar patrons , all pouring into the poetry .

this collection is home to over 4 , 500 images and documents relating to the depression - era child star and her life beyond hollywood . all posts are tagged by year , decade , media , film , and more . if you have any enquiries , please get in contact via the inbox button above or e - mail shirleytemplearchive @ urltoken

so does 2012 – the first poll to be conducted since the internet became almost certainly the main channel of communication about films – mark a revolution in taste , such as happened in 1962 ? back then a brand - new film , antonioni’s l’avventura , vaulted into second place . if there was going to be an equivalent today , it might have been malick’s the tree of life , which only polled one vote less than the last title in the top 100 . in fact the highest film from the new century is wong kar - wai’s in the mood for love , just 12 years old , now sharing joint 24th slot with dreyer’s venerable ordet…

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only renoir has managed to express on film the most elevated notion of naturalism , examining this world from a perspective that is dark , cruel but objective , before going on to achieve the serenity of the work of his old age . with him , one has no qualms about using superlatives : la règle du jeu is quite simply the greatest french film by the greatest of french directors .

is dziga vertov’s cine - city symphony a film whose time has finally come ? ranked only no . 27 in our last critics’ poll , it now displaces eisenstein’s erstwhile perennial battleship potemkin as the constructivist soviet silent of choice . like eisenstein’s warhorse , it’s an agit - experiment that sees montage as the means to a revolutionary consciousness ; but rather than proceeding through fable and illusion , it’s explicitly engaged both with recording the modern urban everyday ( which makes it the top documentary in our poll ) and with its representation back to its participant - subjects ( thus the top meta - movie ) .

after half a century of monopolising the top spot , citizen kane was beginning to look smugly inviolable . call it schadenfreude , but let’s rejoice that this now conventional and ritualised symbol of ‘the greatest’ has finally been taken down a peg . the accession of vertigo is hardly in the nature of a coup d’état . tying for 11th place in 1972 , hitchcock’s masterpiece steadily inched up the poll over the next three decades , and by 2002 was clearly the heir apparent . still , even ardent wellesians should feel gratified at the modest revolution – if only for the proof that film canons ( and the versions of history they legitimate ) are not completely fossilised .

" we were breathless waiting for ' breathless , ' " he said . " it was a very different way from now of going to the movies . " ozu ' s films were seen by this crowd as " a new kind of movie making , " mr . cornfield explained .

in our redesigned , expanded new issue : the greatest films of all time by 846 critics and 358 directors . plus more pages , sections and columns , and . . .

when f . w . murnau left germany for america in 1926 , did cinema foresee what was coming ? did it sense that change was around the corner – that now was the time to fill up on fantasy , delirium and spectacle before talking actors wrenched the artform closer to reality ? many things make this film more than just a morality tale about temptation and lust , a fable about a young husband so crazy with desire for a city girl that he contemplates drowning his wife , an elemental but sweet story of a husband and wife rediscovering their love for each other . sunrise was an example – perhaps never again repeated on the same scale – of unfettered imagination and the clout of the studio system working together rather than at cross purposes .

why did it take me so long to warm to these films ? what faculty was i missing , for i was definitely missing something ? down at film forum , you could have seen the director louis malle standing in line , and the playwright john guare , the arts critic annette michelson and the performance artists eiko and koma , who brought their children . at these ozu screenings , one had the sensation that nearly everybody in the audience was a somebody . so , in the spirit of a film maker whose movies are primarily taken up with people talking , i decided to get in touch with a few of them and listen to what they had to say .

at the japan society , kyoko hirano , the director of the film program there , has attended and overseen several ozu retrospectives since the mid - 80 ' s , all of them so popular that hundreds of people had to be turned away from many showings . i asked her to compare his audiences in new york and in tokyo .

eric , you may not remember this but i have a distinct memory of us watching stand up and cheer at our grandparents house in the early 1970s . and i ' m also certain we watched the blue bird together as well . at any rate i agree that shirley temple does indeed steal the movie away from gary cooper and carole lombard . 1934 was the year she became america ' s sweetheart . she only sings one song , " the world owes me a living " , but she proves just what an accomplished actress she had already become by the tender age of six . after the release of this movie temple ' s fan mail reached 500 letters a day .

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moore continued in opera throughout her film career . she made her london debut at covent garden in la bohème in june 1935 to tremendous ovations . she starred in a film version of louise ( 1938 ) in france and then performed it at the met the following year . in 1941 she sang l’amore dei tre re . radio broadcasts and public appearances further increased her popularity . during world war ii she made numerous appearances at bond rallies , benefits , and army camp shows , for which she was decorated by several governments . her autobiography , you’re only human once , appeared in 1944 . moore died in an airplane crash in copenhagen following a command performance there .

the current ozu renaissance is also a cumulative result of periodic mini - rediscoveries that have taken place in europe and in the united states since the late 50 ' s , when his films first began to be shown outside japan . a number of new york venues have been crucial to ozu ' s growing prestige : the museum of modern art , various revival houses ( notably the old new yorker theater , now gone ) , the japan society and film forum . movie theaters of one sort or another , not home video , have kept ozu alive in this city , and continue to keep him alive . although a handful of his films are available on video , all of them date from after world war ii and give a limited perspective on his emotional range , his world of character types and , especially , his sly humor , in literary as well as visual terms . ( ozu co - wrote his own scripts . )

. at any rate , these early shenanigans are more than enough to make jerry day about the most nefarious cooper character i ' ve seen yet , and that ' s before he turns jewelry thief later in the film and then ( horror of horrors ! ) lies to his daughter penny ( temple ) about the stolen necklace even after swearing " honor bright " to tell the truth .

toni suddenly gets a conscious and goes her own way . jerry makes the trip and seals the deal , until he happens to run into his daughter . they spend the afternoon playing pirates , and jerry falls under her charm . he forgoes the money and takes penny with him .

film . 1946 records by dick haymes of orig cast . " another night like this " ( 78 / dec 23731 , alb - 299 , alb - 397 ) " mi vida " ( 78 / dec 23731 , alb - 299 ) ( production and recordings information ) . from : show music on record by . . .

his conducting work spans much more than his hollywood musical reconstruction projects . wilson is a principal conductor with the royal northern sinfonia and has performed or recorded with most of the major ensembles in britain . and his great passion is for english music : the romanticism of elgar , vaughan williams and delius needs advocates , too , he says . he insists that these two strands of his career are of equivalent importance . “i make no separation between my activities conducting classical music and [ film scores ] . they’re just all different rooms in the same house . ”

the first scene gary and shirley share is very cute and pleasing ; it ' s probably the stand - out sequence of the film . i thought their rapport with each other , especially at the beginning of their relationship , was lovely . on the other hand . . . some of the more dramatic scenes with gary and carole . . . it was almost as if she was bouncing her lines off of a brick wall ( am i terrible for saying that ? sorry coop ! )

there is a moment of silence as wilson holds the whole hall , audience and orchestra alike , in stasis , his baton raised expectantly . then it slices down and the orchestra bursts into a tightly controlled mass of sound , complete with swirling strings and blowsy brass . you are instantly transported : this is the music to which fred astaire and ginger rogers danced , the music of george gershwin , cole porter , irving berlin , which reverberated around the cauldron of creativity that was hollywood of the early 20th century , when composers were as sought after as film directors .

" it was an opportunity to compare two great directors , " she said . " i was surprised to discover that i preferred ozu . he is very simple , but he has a universal message that can travel across time and borders . i can go back 10 or 20 times to his movies , and it ' s always a pleasure to rediscover him . that ' s not true of every film maker . "

the new movie written and directed by jim jarmusch is a total fantasy . this in spite of being shot on the streets of the new jersey city in which it is set , and for which the movie itself and its lead character are named . it’s as much of a fantasy as jean cocteau’s “ orpheus , ” another great film about a poet that was at least partially set in the “real” contemporary world . it’s maybe not as much of a fantasy as the “lord of the rings” trilogy .

film . soundtrack . music : josef myrow . words : mack gordon . orch & cond : alfred newman . cast : dan dailey , betty grable , mona freeman , lee patrick , chick chandler , imogene lynch , connie marshall . ( classic international filmusicals 3008 , . . .

the title of the concert he conducted at this year’s proms was “george and ira gershwin rediscovered” , which hints at the full scale of wilson’s work . not only does he select his music from the surviving repertoire of 20th - century hollywood : in many cases , he unearths scores that weren’t considered worth keeping at the time and resurrects the music into a playable state . at times , there is no written trace at all and he must reconstruct a score by ear from a recording or the soundtrack of a film .

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directors : robert hamer , hal e . chester , and 1 more credit »

shirley temple and john agar at their wedding reception , september 19th , 1945 .

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while on a business trip , an ambitious young lawyer meets and immediately falls in love with a stranger . they wed the following day , and tragedy soon strikes .

846 critics , programmers , academics and distributors have voted – and the 50 - year reign of kane is over . our critics’ poll has a new number one .

film . album ( c 1947 ) by charles kullman of orig cast . music : nicolai rimsky - korsakov , arranged by miklos rozsa . words : jack brooks . cond : julius burger . " song of india , " " hymn to the sun , " " gypsy song , " . . .

what a disappointment ! all i knew when sitting down to watch this film was the title , the cast and the year it was released . with that knowledge , i think i can be excused for assuming this was going to be a comedy . instead , apart from a few lighthearted moments , this is , as patrick so accurately called it , a low key , family melodrama .

a tribute to the late tab hunter , a gay matinee idol and hollywood trailblazer .

gary cooper isn ' t very likable in this melodrama . carole lombard and shirley temple make it tolerable . nice performances from sir guy standing and charlotte granville , too .

still , this moment together in the park has a special grace . the sun shines , they bask in it , and the food they eat is wholesome and good .

ozu used to liken himself to a “tofu - maker” , in reference to the way his films – at least the post - war ones – were all variations on a small number of themes . so why is it tokyo story that is acclaimed by most as his masterpiece ? dvd releases have made available such prewar films as i was born , but… , and yet the ozu vote has not been split , and tokyo story has actually climbed two places since 2002 . it may simply be that in tokyo story this most japanese tofu - maker refined his art to the point of perfection , and crafted a truly universal film about family , time and loss .

toni is torn between her love for jerry and her mistrust of his intentions towards her and towards penny , and the frostiness this creates in her makes even penny wary of letting her too close , and it takes a while for them to warm up to each other at all . the three of them move through life without any clear idea what they ' re doing , and it quickly emerges that penny , at the ripe old age of five , is the wisest and most mature of the group . there ' s a lot of love here , though , and it ' s not all saccharine .

a wealthy new york socialite falls for and marries a cowboy while out west . her father disinherits her , and after trying to make a go of it as a cowboy ' s wife , they agree to divorce and she . . . see full summary »

gary cooper , shirley temple , and carole lombard make an uncomfortable family , at best .

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and the loser is – citizen kane . after 50 years at the top of the sight

the real saving grace in this film is that the characterizations of all three leads and their relationships with each other are sympathetic and believable . jerry falls for penny in spite of his best intentions ( it seems no one is immune ) , and turns down the $ 75 , 000 in favor of taking penny to paris with him to rejoin his " wife " toni . he hasn ' t really changed - - " i don ' t like life any better than i ever did , " he tells toni , " and nothing can make me settle down , " - - but the more attached he becomes to penny the more he realizes that there is more to life than just having fun , and even manages to develop a little responsibility . or , at least he tries .

following appearances in suite sixteen , just a minute , and up in the clouds , moore made her broadway debut in the 1920 edition of the revue hitchy - koo , which featured jerome kern ’s music . she then sang in town gossip and went to paris to train for a career on the operatic stage . moore circulated easily in café society . when she had exhausted her funds , she returned to broadway to star in irving berlin ’s music box revue of 1923 . in 1925 she went back to france , where the opera singer mary garden , long her idol and now her friend , recommended her to operatic coach richard barthelemy . auditioning for giulio catti - casazza in 1927 , moore finally won a contract with the metropolitan opera .

like my brothers , i thought temple completely stole the show . i ' ve never really been a huge fan of her or her films , but even i have to admit that she ' s pretty darn adorable here . she ' s cute without being cloying and she manages to deliver her lines very naturally and without sounding as if she ' s parrot . her scenes with gary cooper , particularly their first meeting , are the highlight of the film . reportedly the two bonded off screen as well where cooper charmed her on the first day by asking temple for her autograph and nicknaming her “wiggle - britches” .

a rich young society girl falls in love with a car mechanic . her family is appalled and stops her seeing him . the girl attempts to commit suicide and then decides to elope .

go behind the scenes of the mission : impossible movies , check out the latest videos and trailers , and see which spy movies topped the box office in our mission : impossible guide .

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susan sontag , the novelist and essayist , cautions against stereotyping ozu ' s work , however .

film . 1947 records by betty hutton of orig cast . music & words : frank loesser . " poppa , don ' t preach to me " ( 78 / cap 380 , alb - 285 , alb - 1014 , alb - 1635 , alb - 2123 ) " the sewing machine , " " i wish i didn ' t . . .

wilson , 44 , who also conducts the more conventional classical repertoire , says that his interest in so - called light music came early on . “when you’re a kid , you don’t know that you shouldn’t like the beatles , or you shouldn’t like fred astaire , or whatever , ” he says . “you just like anything that’s good . so i grew up loving beethoven and brahms and ravel and frank sinatra and the beatles . ” at home in gateshead – he still has the geordie accent – the only music in the house was “what was on the radio and telly” , and the young boy acquired his taste from what he encountered playing with local brass bands and amateur orchestras .

several people to whom ozu meant the most linked him to their cultural experience of new york city , where they were living when they saw their first ozu film , which , in all cases , turned out to be " tokyo story " ( 1953 ) , another movie about ozu ' s recurring theme of parents , their grown children and the dissolution of the family . their discovery of ozu was part of the story of what made them new yorkers .

in new york , the walter reade theater in lincoln center presented some of his best - known movies during january and february in a program called " cinema ' s sacred treasure : the films of yasujiro ozu . " ( the title refers to an honorific coined by wim wenders , an ozu disciple . ) and for eight mondays from january to march , film forum in soho presented a series devoted to the director ' s early films , with special attention to his silent movies , a medium in which ozu worked through the mid - 1930 ' s .

she and cooper introduced me to a phrase i had never heard of before - - " honor bright " . it was used instead of " cross my heart and hope to die " and meant on my honor . i couldn ' t find an origin for it . anyone familiar with this ?

film . records by danny kaye of orig cast . " anatole of paris " ( 1942 : alb - 70 , alb - 107 , alb - 518 , alb - 1370 , alb - 1567 , alb - 1613 , alb - 1825 , alb - 1831 , alb - 1974 , alb - 2186 ) ( 1952 : alb - 6 , alb - 515 ) " the little fiddle " ( 1949 : alb - 55 ) ( production and . . .

the black sheep of a family and the local minister discover their true vocations during the revolutionary war .

young freewheeling wanderer jerry day and his beautiful wife toni are at odds over their lifestyle . jerry can ' t accept responsibility but toni yearns for a family and a settled life . then . . .

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charlotte granville and guy standing are both excellent in their respective supporting roles . she ' s a domineering dowager with a heart of gold and he ' s a debonair charmer with the morals of a rattlesnake .

a chronicle of the life of william friese - greene , a british inventor and early pioneer in cinema .

wilson’s shows are tremendously popular . since he presented the mgm musicals programme at the proms in 2009 , which was watched by 3 . 5 million people on tv and is still selling on dvd , his concerts have been among the first to sell out in every proms season . there are international tours and popular cds , too . but a great deal of behind - the - scenes work goes into bringing this music – much of which had been lost to history – back to life . there are familiar tunes among the complex arrangements that he and his orchestra play , to be sure , but the music sounds fresher and sharper than it ever does on old records or in movies . whether you’re a film fan or not , you will find something about the irrepressible energy of these tunes that lifts the spirits .

carole has always been one of my favorite actresses and this movie has helped me realize that a lot of my love and appreciation for her work comes from her voice . i think gary ' s infamous stilted delivery really made me pay attention to the ups and downs in her tone . one moment she could be a sharp wisecracker ; the next , a warm and enchanting lover . she truly made it all look so effortless .

she sees the films of akira kurosawa , kenji mizoguchi , shohei imamura and nagisa oshima as very different from ozu ' s . " it ' s like comparing emily dickinson and whitman , both americans , " she said . " ozu is a supreme artist because he gives you all the pleasures of formal or abstract art and evokes profound emotions and sympathies . does that make him universal ? no . that makes him accessible . "

sound poll , orson welles’s debut film has been convincingly ousted by alfred hitchcock’s 45th feature vertigo – and by a whopping 34 votes , compared with the mere five that separated them a decade ago . so what does it mean ? given that kane actually clocked over three times as many votes this year as it did last time , it hasn’t exactly been snubbed by the vastly larger number of voters taking part in this new poll , which has spread its net far wider than any of its six predecessors .

although penny is the catalyst that makes jerry want to change and be a better man , he doesn ' t really do it for her . it is toni that he really loves , but bringing penny into their lives lets him see toni ' s pain and vulnerability for the first time . it is for her , and not for penny , that he agrees to stop " chasing trains " and go get a job . these are two broken , desperate people , lonely even when they ' re together and unable to commit to each other in any traditional way yet each physically incapable of living without the other . a handful of catch phrases and inside jokes make the characterization of these two beautifully three dimensional , and create , almost in the background , a genuinely touching love story .

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jerry is still without employment and is soon back to his old ways . he sells a phony goldmine to some sucker , felix , and then hops a ship with penny to europe . the only problem is that felix is likewise aboard .

i ' m not about to rush out and complete my " little darling " collection , but it was a pleasant surprise to find i could watch one of temple ' s movies all the way through without wanting to throw up in my mouth . shirley is far more sickeningly sweet than i ' d like , but she was also a very capable actress even as a very young girl , which is itself certainly worthy of respect . as a whole , the film was sincere and unpredictable , a worthwhile showcase for the exceptional talent of all three leads . shirley comes on a little strong for many people , including myself , but if you ' re willing to look past this ,

it ' s interesting to see cooper play a total cock of a man though he doesn ' t fully convince of it until after his supposed redemption . in short it is a pretty great though very small messing with his image . it threatens to become alfie with cooper being as charming as usual and the film giving him excessive allowances early on . much less messy is temple who really proves her star , and greene ' s criticism , with a shockingly adult performance that frankly outclasses everyone else while still playing up that idea of naive child . which leaves poor carole lombard who has a truly nothing role the she treats as such . a nagging stick could do just as well .

a swindler and his girlfriend take in his young daughter , who has been living with the family of his deceased wife .

a dissolute rich society boy marries a worldly nightclub singer , and she begins to have a wholly unexpected effect on him .

the movie’s protagonist , played with spectacular attention to detail and what feels like a genuine sense of affinity by adam driver , is named paterson , and he drives a new jersey transit bus around the new jersey city of paterson , where he also lives . paterson , new jersey was once an industrial center of the united states—a storied manufacturer of silks and textiles—that fell into a kind of ruin by the time this film reviewer moved there , to live , in 1978 . it has undergone several not - quite - revivals since that time . its main fame today is in its being the ostensible subject of an epic modernist american poem by william carlos williams , who lived in nearby rutherford . “ [ a ] nd so to man / to paterson , ” williams wrote in the preface to that work , underlining an ambition that was potentially pantheistic .

his nemesis is an english bulldog named marvin , who belongs to the couple but is clearly not crazy about paterson . every night , though , paterson walks the growling , grumbling beast , and leashes him outside a bar . there , paterson has precisely one beer and talks things over with bartender doc ( barry shabaka henley ) , discussing doc’s paterson wall of fame ( featuring lou costello , floyd and jimmy vivino , and others ) and contemplating life and love . paterson gets food for thought on his bus , too ; he overhears a teenage girl explaining italian anarchist gaetano bresci to a fellow student , say , or two construction works discussing ( in incredibly polite terms ) their potential amorous conquests , which they say they’re too tired or preoccupied to follow through on .

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jean - luc godard’s extraordinary debut almost singlehandedly changed the face of french cinema and went on to inspire filmmakers around the world .

one of the early scenes in the film has jerry posing as a hotel auditor to collect past due rent from other guests in order to pay his own bill , and i can ' t help but think that any other cooper character would punch jerry in the face if he got wind of such a stunt . as if that weren ' t enough , soon after he excitedly explains to toni that his next project involves a visit to his former in - laws to " sell " them custody of his daughter for $ 75 , 000 . maybe this was the dark past cooper shuddered to remember in