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Unfortunately this is the impression you get of this film when watching it, although the excellent acting and very grandiose set pieces have nothing in common with the crap, long-running English soap opera. In addition to the already mentioned, top marks go to Rod Taylor as the no-nonsense hotel manager and Kevin McCarthy as the obsessed businessman intent on buying the hotel to settle a petty score. The supporting cast were also great and eased the sometimes mundane scenes. Likewise I agree that the 'outside' scenes were too obviously the Warner Brother's backlot and the big-band score was a bit annoying and repetitive.

I think the problem with this film is that, although Arthur Hailey's novels make great easy reading, they don't really transfer well onto the big screen which is probably why you get many adapted and spectacular disaster sequels of his 'Airport' series. Sequels of 'Hotel' were obviously never going to happen.

I will give them a degree of artistic licence , but the fact that the makers of this film were refused entry into the real Air Force One is strongly evident in this film. None of it seems to gel into a whole and you are constantly forgetting that the majority of the action takes place aboard an aircraft. This is evident when they fire machine guns all over the place without any concern about piercing the outer skin and sucking them all out into oblivion. I have seen this plot on too many films of this genre, and this particular piece of 'eye-candy', albeit action based and reasonably fun, is marred by a excruciatingly bad script, laughable cliche, crap acting (see Glenn Close) and dreadful 'foreign' accents. Harrison Ford is worth more than this.

This film is rarely shown and so it was a treat to watch it the other day. The first thing you notice is the liberal use of the f-word which probably did the film no favours in the 1970's as the TV series was watched, in the main, by under 15's. In fact the general level of violence has been greatly increased in this film spin-off, especially towards the end when the shootings, explosions and subsequent body count goes off the scale.

There are also liberal views and references to women's breasts (a nod towards the predominantly male audience). However, the old formula of the tv series that enderes it to so many 20-30 somethings still permeates the film. This includes car chases, scraps, extremely non-PC moments, and amusingly comic overtones, especially the odd scene where the bomb squad and sweeney have a booze-up in a hotel knowing that a device is being defused in one of the rooms (an incident that today would plaster the front pages of the newspapers for months afterwards). Reagan and Carter are a brilliant double act and their supporting colleagues (especially the scruffy, nose picking, Welsh DC Jellyneck) give an air of "Keystone cops" to the whole film. Mention must be made of the dreadful 70's fashions that always added to the enjoyment and interest of the series. Lots of famous supporting cast including Denholm Elliot in a small role as a corrupt ex chief inspector.

A soldier walks alone in the ever darkening sunset. Suddenly he is attacked by a creature. You know this because the camera is shaken around, there is disjointed screaming, and the same photo of a bloody slash mark is subliminally flashed. This was obviously to avoid too much editing by the censor, but I immediately thought, "Great, a 1970's crap horror movie. Worth watching" Then the laid back, easy-listening trumpet title tune put the icing on the cake - more cocktail lounge than horror film it is immediately at odds with the theme of the film. After the intro, the usual chapter with the detectives investigating the incident scene. You don't actually see the body, but the contrived commentary by the detectives gives you a good idea of its condition. "Hmmmm, deep lacerations to the face and body made by talons, I'd say." You get the picture. This thorough off the cuff autopsy by the detectives gets them off on the wrong foot by making the assumption that it's a Panther.

Apart perhaps from the two leading actresses and T P McKenna, there is little evidence of any real acting. The soldier that keeps an eye on the two old dears was probably a real soldier - he appeared to be reading from idiot boards such was his woodeness. However, the story does get a bit more involved and at times seems well written, so you shouldn't judge this film by the first amusing half hour.

Lazenby's solo appearance as Bond is actually not that bad. Whatever reasons there were for him not appearing again in the series robbed him of any chance to develop in the role. I happen to think that he would have made a good if not better Bond than Roger. Some of his lines especially at the beginning do appear contrived, but he was supported by one of the best and most believable Bond plots so far. Blofeld's legitimate allergy clinic in the Alps is far more feasible than his top secret volcano launch-pad bunker in You Only Live Twice.

The only gripe is the crudely sped up fight scenes and the underlying "Love Story" that runs with the main plot. It becomes a bit of a chick flick, especially at the end, but the story itself is good and the film is stylish (for 1969). Also it could have been a bit shorter - they could have cut out the unnecessary stock car racing scene. However, the plot and the good sound track make it enjoyable viewing.

You can always tell Ken Russell's arty farty and not wholly successful direction in this film. Some of the scenes are just plain eccentric, but add a certain charm, especially when coupled with the wonderful Finland scenery. Definitely not as good as the Ipcress File, but still worth a look as an interesting 1960's period piece. It's the familiar Cold War story though this time Deighton has introduced a slightly more inventive, albeit fantastic plot. In this film it revolves around a billionaire nutcase who has built a super computer that is orchestrating an anti-communist revolution. As it's the late 1960's, when sophisticated computers were becoming in vogue, expect the usual enormous mainframe with lots of flashing lights, reel to reel memory banks, clackerty-clack machines which spew paper out and electronic noises nicked from James Bond films. I'm sure I saw some of the equipment in You Only Live Twice filmed in the same year. Also, I can't decide whether the soundtrack is good or rubbish - it sounds disjointed and inappropriate in some places. However, worth a look.

This is one of Caines best films and proof that with the right material he can be a very good actor. The story is based on the popular 1960's British theme of human emotions and how the central character faces up to their shortcomings. Alfie, the character, is a dinosaur by today's standards, but there were, and still are men who behave in this way. The film broke new bounds at this time, particularly with the abortion scene. It is said that many cinema-goers walked out in disgust at this harrowing point in the film. How times change. Denholm Elliot's short performance as the sleazy abortionist is worth a mention here as it captures the filthiness of the moment perfectly.

In fact all the supporting roles are excellent. As a period 1960's piece, the film is almost flawless and Sonny Rollins' jazzy soundtrack is beautiful. The ending of the film is very moving with Caine summing up his life and the arty end credits being run whilst Cher sings Burt Bacharach's "Alfie" theme tune. Watch it and your views on life will change.

Like the majority of people brought up on The Ipcress File I was disappointed by sequels such as Billion Dollar Brain (yet to see Funeral in Berlin). This sequel is no exception. Although he has done some great stuff in his career, Mr Caine, a "working actor" who does not suffer luvvies and primadonnas gladly, has produced some real stinkers. This is one of them, although I have to say it was initially good to see Caine returning to the role after all these years (and he looks bloody good for 62 as well). There are some interesting scenes. At the beginning of the film when HP is spying on an embassy through some net curtains, you can see where the comedian, Paul Whitehouse, got the inspiration for "Michael Paine, the nosey neighbour." Apart from that, a disappointment and an unbelievable plot. And tell Jason Connery not to give up the day job.

This film really does make the equivalent Carry On movies extremely juvenile. Very rarely, if at all does this film delve into lavatorial/innuendo humour. All of its humour is based on slapstick and a terrific script full of one-liners that you never tire of viewing. They could have made a sequel, but then the humour would have soured in the same way that the Naked Gun or Airplane films did. All the characterisations are spot on, everyone except Striesand is portrayed as being bumbling unsubtle fools including the CIA and Russian spys. It's basically a change to see the Americans not taking themselves seriously for once. Kenneth Mars is very amusing as O'Neal's opponent for the music grant. Of particular note is the car chase in San Francisco in an exaggerated Bullitt style. Granted, it is very dated - it's 1972 and chequered flares and velvet is much in evidence, but this adds to the film's charm. It is one of the few films that I was sad to see ending...

Alan Bates' eccentric performance outshines in this interesting and whimsical film. It is certainly an odd mix of drama and comedy as Bates never seems to act seriously around what essentially is a perverse story with cutting moments, particularly Charlotte Rampling's performance in the hospital after her baby is born. Redgrave is perfect as the dowdy and shy Georgie - like her description in the book, she appears plain but strangely attractive. Mason again appears as the downtrodden anti-hero, never quite getting what he wants at the end of the film - in this respect he always seems typecast. There's always something I like about these B/W 1960's films with their gritty London location filming and this one is no exception.

Made in the same vein as Eric Sykes' "The Plank," this film was made with very little money. Stark was able to line up this impressive cast because he was best friends with Peter Sellers. The actors did the film as a favour and didn't recieve any fee. It really is a spot-the-star-blink-and-you-will-miss-them feature. Michael Caine appears fleetingly in his recently purchased Rolls-Royce convertible. Much of the film is banal prank slapstick, but the scene with Peter Sellers scratching his Lamborghini and clicking his fingers for a new replacement is quite amusing, and a reflection of what Sellers was like in real life. Not shown much these days (I saw it at 3am in the morning), it is an interesting film for star spotters.

This is one of my favourite films of all time. Unlike a great many pictures of the 1960's this has stood the test of time extremely well. Essentially it is about a naive young Texan who tries to find his fortune by becoming a giggolo in New York mistakenly in the belief that there are thousands of wealthy bored housewives gagging to pay for sex.

There are many reasons why this film is brilliant, one of which is the slick direction by Schlesinger. The camera seems to take an objective view of Joe Buck's decline and depravity within what appears to be a cruel, unforgiving city. This is evident in the scenes where Joe walks aimlessly on the busy streets of New York, the camera watches him like a casual observer. The other reason is John Barry's masterful soundtrack which, with Nielsson's song, captures Joe's optimism at the beginning and then becomes downbeat as things start to go wrong. As Joe walks the streets with no money, the Midnight Cowboy theme is hauntingly played.

The film becomes very depressing at this point because you don't see a way out for the main character, especially when he has Ratso Rizzo in tow. Rizzo, a small time crook with expanded ideas, is played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman who coughs and limps his way through the film befriending Buck and conning him out of what little money he has. One of my favourite scenes is when the two are invited to a psychadelic party. Buck is plied with mind expanding drugs, strange music is played and a kaleidascope of colours blurr the picture.

The film is also depressing because just as you think that things are going to improve for Buck, Fate casts a cruel blow. Movies like this, with so much to take in, are enjoyable because you never tire of watching them. However, it is a film that you come away feeling overwhelmed and depressed. Don't watch it if you have just broken up with someone!

This is one of the first in the series and also one of the best. The clever storyline revolves around an acclaimed art critic who murders his wealthy relative in order to get at the inheritance. This episode sets the central theme for the whole of the series. All of Columbo's suspects appear to be members of high society and own plush apartments or large modern houses.

One of the things that attracts me to early Columbo's is how amusingly dated they now appear. In this episode the first thing you notice is the dreadful crushed velvet dinner-jacket and huge bow tie that the central character, Dale Kingston, wears. Later, he goes to a chitzy art exhibition where lots of art luvee's wearing silk neck-ties reside. In every scene, you hear a never-ending bossa-nova tune in the background as Kingston makes cutting remarks and jokes with artists. The cars people drive are ridiculously huge with ultra springy suspension. After all this is 1971, when flares were just starting to become wider and cars were pre-emissions. There are interesting appearances by Don Ameche and Kim Hunter, the latter will be best remembered for being a monkey in the Planet of the Apes series. If you like Columbo and like to see how tasteless wealthy Americans were back then, watch it.

This episode of Columbo has a very strong whiff of cheese about it. Think of a really bad 1970's parady of a magician and you have The Great Santini. He murders his employer who has found some damning evidence against him. Columbo has to find out whodunnit. Santini has a cast iron alibi - he was doing his "piece de resistance" escaping from a box routine. The venue for his "World famous" tricks appears to be a recently vacated Indian restaurant. Wearing his velvet cape and huge bow tie, Jack Cassidy plays Santini with a camp aloofness that obviously had paid off with his part as gay Miles in The Eiger Sanction a year previously. All I can tell you is that if I had been one of the fortunate wealthy to have paid to see The Great Santini, I would have felt hard done by. Obviously constricted by the types of magic tricks they could blow the cover on, the producers of this episode had to stick with the "chained up in a box and trap-door" routine.

Columbo takes a surprisingly long time to catch him out, naively believing a trick that isn't even worthy of Paul Daniels. The best bits involve the run up to the box trick, Santini doing a routine with a top hat and doves (yawn). Then, when he is in the box a woman in a leotard does a trick with a long tape on a stick (something I used to do quite well as a five old). In the background, to increase the tension (!) a percussionist does the Tss tss tsstss tss tsstss brrrrum tss tss, etc that always leads up to a finale and enthusiastic applause as Santini emerges unscathed. How did he do that? You will have to watch it and see, but I guarantee to those Columbo fans like myself that this is an entertaining yarn and in some instances downright amusing. Columbo's mannerisms are, as always, are at their usual eccentric best.

You would be forgiven at first into thinking that this was an old Walt Disney children's film. The humour is family orientated and typically weak - this type of film always has an annoying American character in holiday mode who pops up every so often. However the story is quite clever, albeit moralistic - the moral is don't pretend to be something you ain't.

The main problem with this film is that you are unsure what kind of viewers it is actually aimed at. In between the "sweet" scenes of David Niven and his young cheeky Asian charge there are shootings,terrorist bombings and assassination attempts - hardly Walt Disney.

However, the story is quite good with nice appearances from familiar faces and, apart from the rather insipid and soppy vocal version of the theme tune, is wrapped up fairly well. A good Saturday-afternoon-with-nothing-to-do sort-of-film

As with all 1960's films, time hasn't been kind to this clever slant on the cold-war theme. However, one can imagine that at the time of its release, the film's stylish direction, cool bossa nova soundtrack and unusual filming technique was very "in vogue". Unfortunately, the then unrelenting interest in James Bond and Harry Palmer has meant that The Deadly Affair is one of these little known, understated thrillers that are shown late at night on satellite TV. The film's gloominess is intentional - the film having been deliberately exposed briefly to make the colour appear dull. You could say that this reflects the frustration and despondence of the main character, Dobbs. James Mason, who always seems to be cast as the down-trodden tragi-hero, plays Dobbs with consummate ease. He is supported by a long list of familiar faces including Harry Andrews as an unassuming retired policemen. The best part of the film for me is when Fannen is tailed by Mendel during a lengthy chase on foot through London. An elongated version of Quincy Jones' theme tune provides the right level of excitement to what would initially be quite a staid scene.

I remember the first time I saw this film was by accident and I was wetting myself with laughter. The zombies are the typical "walking dead" characterisations you used to do at school, with outstretched arms, "dead" expressions and making gutteral noises. Blood is spilt aplenty as the living characters seem to relish shooting the tops off the zombies' heads with unnecessary automatic machine guns. The scenes in the shopping centre where the creatures walk aimlessly around to some dreadful piped musak is very amusing. I can't decide whether this film was deliberately being tongue in cheek as there is a serious side to the story. In general the film is very enjoyable and, apart from the gory undertone, is refreshingly different to the average horror film. You will enjoy it, and if you have the same sense of the ridiculous as I do you will laugh.

Like "A Bridge too Far", this film is stuffed with familiar character actors. The plot is straight forward mercenary fare. Even if you don't like war films, this is an interesting slant on the usual durge. Richard Burton plays Faulkner with very little humour and delivers some excellent, acidic cutting remarks. This is most evident in the first 10-15 minutes of the film when he seems to rub everyone up the wrong way. There are some undeliberate, amusing scenes. The party Roger Moore goes to seems very dated now - the dreadful boogie pop music and the interior of the venue may have been contempory at the time. In this scene, Roger Moore's flat cap is ridiculously enormous and totally at odds with his surroundings. Also, the behaviour of Richard Harris' precocious son makes you want to give him a slap. The way he expresses elation by "Yahooing" in one scene is just embarrassing - you will laugh. After these bits of hilarity, though, the film gets serious and at times, violent. Overall, the film is very enjoyable with a bitter-sweet ending.

A number of films were made by Amicus productions which essentially comprised separate short stories based around a central theme. Cheap budget notwithstanding, this film has a clever storyline. Basically, Robert Powel, a prospective replacement manager of an asylum has to guess the identity of his predecessor, (who has gone cuckoo), in order to get the job. He has to interview several patients who tell him why they are there. The stories they tell are nothing really to do with the central plot, however they are quite chilling. The one I always remember is the dismembered body in the deep-freeze episode. Peter Cushing also makes a welcome appearance in one of the stories. The ending is actually quite unexpected and provides a wonderful twist to the film. There are a good number of famous faces, including Britt Eckland and Geoffery Bayldon doing some manical laughter. Generally a clever film, although if you like modern special effects, you will be disappointed.

In some ways this is a strange film. It is loosely based on the Great Train Robbery, but for some reason, possibly legal at the time, nobody is directly portraying Ronnie Biggs or Buster Edwards etc. The car chase at the beginning is the most exciting parts. (Peter Yates, not surprisingly, went on to direct Bullitt the following year). Check out the usual ream of rent-a-hood British film character actors such as George Sewell and James Booth. They are led admirably by Stanley Baker. The main failing of this film is the fact that they lumped all the most exciting bits at the beginning. Some might lose interest half way through because you basically know what's going to happen. Also the music soundtrack is a little repetitive - in some scenes, no sooner has the theme been faded out then it starts up again. Other than that, and a bit of dubious dubbing during the car chase, the film is very watchable.

This is one of my favourite horror movies. Here we have an old fashioned English thriller containing the blackest humour you are ever likely to find in cinema. Don't expect to be scared, but do expect a lot of gory detail and, in some places, extremely amusing scenes. Basically, a group of theatre critics are systematically murdered by the very actor they slated. The murders are in the style of Shakespearian death scenes and this creates a central theme that carries on until the end of the film. What is amusing to me is the matter-of-fact way that the murders are committed, particularly during the hairdressing scene. Vincent Price is stupendous as the avengeful Lionheart, and his performance is supported by a huge number of famous British faces, most of whom are sadly departed. Coupled to this is the brilliant location filming in London.

This film is similar in vein to the Hammer/Amicus productions of the same era, except that this film is not only much more precise and humorous, but you also have more time to take in the central characters. The only glaring malady is the fact that the film is very obviously early 1970's chic with lots of short skirts, knee-length boots and men wearing neck-ties and velvet. However, this definitely adds to the very camp "luvee" atmosphere and adds to the enjoyment

I love these old Columbo TV films. This one is perhaps my favourite because of its sophistication. The story is set around a priggish and arrogant wine-maker and his attempts to cover up his brother's murder. I also like it because Donald Pleasance's over-acting is even more amusing than normal. Peter Falk is brilliant as usual - his character is at his most annoying in this episode. These films are always entertaining because you don't need to think about them too much - you already know who has committed the murder. This is ideal Sunday-afternoon-with-a-hangover viewing.

Amicus Productions made several films of a similar genre at around the same time as this interesting flick. Asylum, The Vault of Horror and From Beyond the Grave each comprised several stories based around a central theme. In this film the main characters are locked in a crypt and stories about each of them are told. The film is entertaining, a little gory and in some areas could be described as chilling. Unlike films like the Exorcist or Texas Chainsaw Massacre this seems to have been made with an English reserve that almost apologises for itself and the atmosphere is less violent than these productions. It is all wrapped up neatly at the end and features the usual round up of famous British faces including Peter Cushing (such films wouldn't be complete without him would they?). If you enjoy this type of camp British horror do watch the other three I have already mentioned.

This pretty mediocre remake has a very strange feel to it. The main reason for this is the setting. Filming was done in a very plush Iranian hotel and the film was set in the present day rather than the 1930's. The result is a rather kitsch 1970's thriller and it would be interesting to see what Agatha Christie thought of it. The story needs very few actors to perform in the film which explains the reason why the producers were able to afford such an impressive cast list on an obviously tight budget. Interestingly, Charles Aznavour makes an appearance and unnecessarily plugs his (then) new single during the after-dinner scene. Thankfully, we are spared from any more of his singing because he dies shortly afterwards. On a passing note, one of the most amusing death scenes in cinema history is provided by Richard Attenborough who plays the judge.

This is a fairly interesting picture with lots of British faces and a gorgeous young Susan George playing the babysitter. Ian Bannen's acting doesn't bear close inspection at the best of times, but here his characterisation seems appropriate. This is a seventies film so flares are much in evidence and Dennis Waterman has some wicked side burns. Also check out the amusing restaurant scene where diners in velvet dinner-wear are grooving and shimmering to a guy playing a jazzy number on a Hammond organ. Overall though, an interesting yarn.