Unfaithfully Yours (1948 Preston Sturges and scr)

Didn't think too much of it when we last saw it 13 years ago; seems much better when reevaluated. Rex Harrison is funny from the off as conductor not wanting to believe anything bad about his wife, glamorous and younger Linda Darnell, but can't help accepting she's had an affair. Over the course of three classical music performances he imagines different outcomes to the news involving murder, forgiveness and accidental suicide. Then when he tries to recreate the murder he finds it's much harder than he's imagines in the funniest scene. "Number please."

Many trademark long takes, inspired use of sound effects, distinctive extreme close-ups. With many Sturges stock company in bit parts. Rudy Vallee, Lionel Stander, Barbara Lawrence, Kurt Kreuger, Edgar Kennedy, Al Bridge, Robert Greig etc.

"So simple a child can use it"

Thunder on the Hill (1951 Douglas Sirk)

A convent opens its gates to flooded villagers - and a young woman who is about to be executed for murdering her brother. But strong willed nun Claudette Colbert doesn't believe she's guilty.

Atmospheric tale of faith and justice, adapted from Charlotte Hastings' play 'Bonaventure' by Oscar Saul and Andrew Salt. Great to see a new Sirk for the first time. Atmospherically designed and filmed (at Universal) - Bernard Herzbrun & Nathan Juran (coincidentally I was half-watching and enjoying his terrible Jack the Giant Killer earlier while cooking) and William H Daniels.

Cast: Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas (doctor), Anne Crawford (his wife), Philip Friend (Fiance), Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate (village idiot), Connie Gilchrist  (whose 'Never throw away newspaper or string" becomes usefully prophetic).

Good music by Hans J Salter, another of Hitler's gifts to the USA.

Sirk doesn't say a lot about it in Halliday's book, other than that he wasn't interested in the religious angle at all. It was his first picture for Universal, and he liked them because they let him work on the material and left him alone to cut.

No Reservations (2007 Scott Hicks)

An utterly predictable remake of  German film, which is fun. Catherine Zeta Jones inherits Abigail Breslin and runs up against new chef Aaron Eckhart. Carol Fuchs adapted Sandra Nettlebeck's original screenplay (which is a much higher rated film on IMDB).

The restaurant is at 22 Beeker Street in the Village.

She looks guilty and sheepish at the same time

Don't bother parking properly

Trois Couleurs Rouge (1994 Krzysztof Kieslowski & co-scr)

There's a moment where Irène Jacob says to Jean-Louis Trintignant "I feel I'm in the middle of something important going on around me" and that's a bit like what watching this film is like. Because the rather beautiful piece of parallel action going on to Jacob's life, involving a neighbour who is studying for a law exam (Jean-Pierre Lorit) and whose girlfriend (Frédérique Feder) cheats on him, is actually the former life of strange reclusive ex Judge Trintignant, who befriends Jacob over a runaway dog.

Has some stunning moments, like the camera dropping from the balcony at the theatre. And interesting sound (the sound from the very opening for example coming in much later - Jean-Clause Laureux).

For the third time a wizened old person tries to get a bottle into the recycling - but this time she is helped. And the finale brings back the characters from the previous two films. It's a most interesting trilogy of films. Written again by Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiwicz with contributions from Agnieszka Holland, Edward Zebrowski and Edward Klosinski.

Photographed by Piotr Sobocinski (Marvin's Room), composed by Zbigniew Preisner, production design Claude Lenoir, editing Jacques Witta. It was nominated for key BAFTAs, Oscars and Césars but didn't win any.

At the very end of the film

Jacob was in Au revoir Les Enfants (1987) and starred in Kieslowski's The Double Life of Véronique in 1991, which also sounds good.