Omnes Blotto! Starting at midday at 11:30am – along with Peter Sellers in the above “Showing with…” self-directed short from 1959, he stars this afternoon in The Mouse That Roared; joining The Mouse… and Sir Henry at Rawlinson End will be a “triple F” of Fantômas with his mad big blue face, F for Fake with Orson Welles and F/X: Murder by Illusion with Bryan Brown; accompanying the aforementioned will be Dean-o and gang in The Wrecking Crew for some reason, Kurt Russell wearing Tennis Shoes and the epic double-episode finale of The Venture Bros.’ second season.

Starting at 11:30 with a little music, we commence a day of films with:
11:40 – The Wrecking Crew (1968)
In this, the final of the four Matt Helm films featuring Dean Martin, very special agent Helm is tasked with foiling the evil Contini, half conman-half cocktail. Unsurprisingly, to do so he must travel the world and meet beautiful women – amongst them: Elke Sommer, Sharon Tate (tragically in her final role), Nancy Kwan, and Tina Louise. Character actor Nigel Green turns up too; while the whole time Bruce Lee, in an off-screen choreography role, fruitlessly tries to teach Deano how to kick.


13:30 – The Mouse That Roared (1959)
Starring Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg and William Hartnell, with David Kossoff and Leo McKern; a small unassuming country goes toe-to-toe with the United States when the larger nation steps on European Duchy of Grand Fenwick’s sole-export-toes; geopolitical giggles abound in this satire based on Leonard Wibberley’s homonymous novel.

Director Jack Arnold, working under the auspices of line producer Walter Shenson, was afforded virtually unlimited freedom in adapting the novel, constrained only by the budget (the film cost $450,000 according to Arnold); “I didn’t have any studio pressures.” Arnold explained that “the producers left me alone because (1) they didn’t think it meant anything, (2) they were just writing it off for expenses anyway.”


14:55 – The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
In the first of three Disney sci-fi-comedy flicks featuring Kurt Russell (also starring Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn and William Schallert), student Dexter Riley manages to convince a shadowy businessman to “donate” a computer to his college. Wisely installing the machine during a thunderstorm… jinks, high and regular, ensue!


16:30 – Fantômas (1964)
In this Pink Panther-inspiring comedic adaptation of the long-running French supervillian’s escapades, many-faced evildoer Fantômas finds dogged journalist Fandor’s critique too much to bear and plots spectacular revenge.
Starring Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, and featuring a flying Citroën DS, this is the first film of a trilogy directed by master glass-maker André Hunebelle.


18:15 – F for Fake (1973) plus extended trailer
Initially released in 1974, this film essay focuses on Elmyr de Hory’s recounting of his career as a professional art forger; de Hory’s story serves as the backdrop for a meandering investigation of the natures of authorship and authenticity, as well as the basis of the value of art. Far from serving as a traditional documentary on de Hory, the film also incorporates Welles’s companion Oja Kodar, hoax biographer Clifford Irving and Orson Welles as himself.

Author Robert Anton Wilson, a great fan of the film, argued in Cosmic Trigger III: My Life After Death that the film was itself largely an intentional effort at fakery by Welles in support of the film’s themes.

This is preceded by Welles’ nine-minute “trailer” for the film, which includes footage not shown in the main piece, the start time above includes the trailer.


20:05 – F/X: Murder by Illusion (1986)
Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff De Young, and Angela Bassett star in this real film on fakery following the prior fake film on fakery (or would that be the other way round?). The movie follows a special effects expert who is hired by the U.S. Department of Justice to stage the murder of a mobster about to enter the Witness Protection Program, but complications arise when he is targeted for murder himself; meanwhile, an NYPD detective (Dennehy) becomes suspicious of the circumstances of the case.


22:00 – The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959)
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film is a 1959 British sketch comedy short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. Filmed over two Sundays in 1959, at a cost of around £70 (including £5 for the rental of a field), it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject, but lost to the Jacques Cousteau film The Golden Fish. It was a favourite of The Beatles, which led to Lester being hired to direct A Hard Day’s Night and then Help!, in which Lacey makes a guest appearance as George Harrison’s gardener in the sequence where the group arrive at their ‘home’.

Also appearing: Spike Milligan, Leo McKern, Mario Fabrizi, David Lodge, Norman Rossington and Graham Stark.


22:10 – Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (1980)
Based on the eponymous character created by Vivian Stanshall, this magnificent piece stars Trevor Howard as Sir Henry and Stanshall himself as Henry’s brother Hubert. Patrick Magee, Denise Coffey, J G Devlin, Liz Smith, Simon Jones and Ian McDiarmid amongst others round out the amazing cast of this very English of satires, an exorcism crossed with a party on a country estate; a tale of drink, drunks, Reader’s Digest-defacing buffalo horns and Old Raw’s son – son of Rawlin son!

*See the bottom of this post for the (spoiler-filled) original synopsis of the film, written by Vivian Stanshall and given to cinemagoers on the initial theatrical release in 1980

The Blazing – Old Raw’s Full Chant
Old Raw, thrice named by Harild King of Danes as a man of note for his mighty plunderings, in great halls this his sword Shortener was sung of. Old Raw drinks deep in Valhalla.

Now let Old Raw’s son, son of Rawlin son, show how he slew. At the sound of the bullhorn thrice blown, Old Raw threw off his wolf skins and woman and leapt from his shut-behair cleanses straight. Free of lice, and with beard fresh plaited, no sea salt to sicken or crack his mouth, washed mouth he put on iron. And the new painted longships were pulled to the sea by men too maimed to hurry. But his woman had eyes of autumn.

‘Twould be a long time, a long, long, long before, if ever. And it soon came to them a great storm, and the long ships like tinder were tossed in the sea. Raw rode the Dragon. Raw clutched the Figurehead (All shout: Half-drowned Raw), earthquake, grave crack, oaks uproot, stink of the dead, shrieks of the damned Raw rode the Dragon (All shout: Half-dead Raw).

Shocked the skies old fearsome Raw. Not for him the ocean’s maw. Raw rode the Dragon (All about:Half-made Raw). Then washed up on England’s shore, Raw rode the Dragon. Coooooome to!!! (All shout: Henry!)


23:20 – A selection of “music” “videos”.


23:35 – The Venture Bros.: Showdown at Cremation Creek parts I and II
The Venture family are invited to a wedding, while Dean takes the opportunity to go on a fantastic adventure with Giant Boy Detective; Phantom Limb wants his girlfriend back, and will do anything to get her back – how will the Guild of Calamitous Intent (and, indeed, the Guild’s huge shadowy Sovereign) respond? Find out in this action-packed second-season finale, presented in “GLORIOUS EXTRA COLOR”!


00:25 – The Venture Bros Special – Deep Inside Astrobase Go!
Pete White and Billy Quizboy narrate a tour of the extraplanetary base from within which The Venture Brothers’ every episode is created. Featuring an examination of the hitherto-unknown inner-workings of voice-of-H.E.L.P.E.R. – the magnificent Soulbot!


01:00 – Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (1980) with commentary
A late-night repeat of the earlier film with commentary from director Steve Roberts, Sheila Reid (Florrie) and Jeremy Child (Peregrine Maynard).




Additionally, there will be appearances from Taco, Klaus Nomi, David Bowie and will someone please tell Mike Patton to stop finding his way in to my streams?
SPOILERS ABOUND BELOW

*The original synopsis of the film, written by Vivian Stanshall and given to cinemagoers on the initial theatrical release in 1980:

Welcome to the wacky world of Walinsons.

With a song on its lips and a highdeeeho-kick of its cloven hoof. There’s laughs aplents. Yes! There is humour, pathos, romance and good home cooked horse sense. Last one pays for the treatment. So it’s a big HELLO to all our compatriots and those unable to make heads or tails of this film. For them we offer the following.

In the first scene what I (THE AUTHOR) really meant was a lot of bouncy tragedy. But did I get it? No! Why? You ask yourselves. Because the ugly rumours that I was drunk and not allowed on set were wrong. Well, we’ve come this far together so let me fill you in on the fax. The raunchiest hombre I ever met was a man who pumped pounds. Now back to Rawlinson End. Briefly.

In short, an English Drunk shoots his brother (plenty o’ laffs here) and the brother turns into a ghost. (That’s the scary bit. I told you there was pathos – the following bit’s pathetic too). The ghost has a dog (this’ll crease you) who pisses on the drunk (told you). The drunk wanders around a lot and so does his younger brother on stilts. The brother finds barbers in the lake and we have a song here.

Lost more of the same and this brings us about halfway. Then the drunk’s wife throws a chicken at his head and he spends the rest of the film stunned. (Lots of romance as mentioned). Then we wad it out with flashbacks and more songs, then when it gets really confusing the narrator comes in and attempts to sort things out.
This doesn’t work.
Which is why you find yourself reading a synopsis. (Bags of horse sense in this, and enough morals to make the Waltons weep). At this point the director, in another moment of creative zest, uses the whole gamut of long shot to close up (and all the other two shots in between – lots of art in this part). Time for another song while you prise the popcorn out of your turn-ups. And what a turn-up! The ghost gets laid. (Yes! There’s Sex!) The drunk sleeps it off and it’s high-ho for the credits. Oh, I forgot to mention the two Germans. (Plenty of kraut-angle here!)