Kino Quickies

For our first film at a venue other than the Kino, Bermondsey , we were delighted to be hosted on October 8th 2023 at the gorgeous Garden Cinema for our screening of The Gaunt Stranger (1938). Based on a novel by Edgar Wallace , The Gaunt Stranger is the story of a mysterious criminal called "The Ringer" who, although supposedly dead, has threatened to kill a corrupt lawyer called Maurice Meister...

Scrooge (1935) was the subject of our Christmas special and the last Kino Quickie of the season. It's the first ever talkie version of A Christmas Carol and stars Seymour Hicks , a man who had played the part hundreds of times before, on both stage and screen. It's not this Seymour Hicks though. Our guest for the Q&A was the playright and screenwriter, Ming Ho . Follow Ming on Twitter . The Ki...

The cups all those millions of fans out there of the Kino Quickies mascot, Henry Kendall , runneth over this day, because Death on the Set treats us to a double dose of him. Our Henry plays two unlikeable men - a very unpleasent film director and his drunken and disreputable lookalike - who are locked in a cycle of crime. It's based on a book by Victor MacClure which is now out of print but you ca...

A Fire Has Been Arranged is the first full length feature starring the comedy musical duo, Flanagan & Allen . The first of two films in the season to be directed by Leslie Hiscott , it also stars Robb Wilton and a 35 year old (but perpetually middle-aged) Alastair Sim . It was, like many quota quickies, produced by Julius Hagan at Twickenham Studios. Our guest for the Q&A is quota quickie...

I Lived With You (1933) - a comedy starring Ivor Novello , based on a play that he wrote - is the third film in this second season of Kino Quickies. Novello plays a homeless Russian prince who meets Gladys Wallis ( Ursula Jeans ) in the maze at Hampton Court and moves in with her family. His presence in this normal family home has chaotic effects on the whole household. Also starring Ida Lupino as...

The Impassive Footman (1932), is the earliest film in Kino Quickies season 2. It's a tense melodrama about an unhappy marriage, a foiled affair and a doctor's dilemma, all watched over by a mysterious -you might even say impassive - footman. The film stars George Curzon as the eponymous footman, Betty Stockfeld & Allan Jeayes as the married couple at the centre of the film and Owen Nares as da...

The Last Journey (1935), the first film in season two of Kino Quickies, is a seat-of-the-pants, nail-biting thriller set aboard a runaway train, directed by Bernard Vorhaus . It stars Hugh Williams as Gerald Winter, Godfrey Tearle as Sir Wilfred Rhodes, Judy Gunn as Diana and Julien Mitchell as Bob Holt, the train driver whose suicidal mania is causing such a to-do. Our guest for the Q&A is Dr...

We're back! Welcome to this preview episode of the Kino Quickies podcast - SEASON 2! The Kino Quickies podcast is based on a series of live screenings of 1930s quota quickie films plus Q&As at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey Square, London SE1. We were amazed at how much people loved watching these rarely seen films in season one so we decided to do it all again with another season of six films...

The sixth and final film in Kino Quickies season 1, screened on May 22nd 2022, was Brief Ecstasy from 1937. Directed by Edmond Gréville - who is probably most famous for directing Beat Girl several years later - it's the story of a love triangle made up of Helen ( Linden Travers ), her husband Paul ( Paul Lukas ) and her former lover, Jim ( Hugh Williams ). The film is an early one from Ealing, so...

The fifth film in the Kino Quickies season, screened on May 8th 2022, was S ay it With Flowers from 1934. Directed by John Baxter , it's the simple story of a group of market traders who mount a benefit concert for their sick colleague. The film features performances from three of the biggest music hall stars of the Edwardian era, Charles Coburn , Marie Kendall and Florrie Forde . Our guest for th...

The fourth film in the Kino Quickies season, screened on April 24th 2022, was Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street from 1936. Directed by George " King of the Quickies " King and starring Tod Slaughter , it's the well known story of the murderous barber who polishes off his victims who are then processed into pie filling by his next door neighbour. Yum! Our specially invited expert guest...

The third film in the Kino Quickies season, screened on April 10th 2022, was The Phantom Light from 1935. An early film from director, Michael Powell, this is the story of spooky goings on in an isolated lighthouse off the remote Welsh coast. Our specially invited expert guest for the post show Q&A was broadcaster, composer and silent accompanist, Neil Brand . Follow Neil on Twitter Your hosts...

The second film in the Kino Quickies season, screened on March 27th 2022, was Death at Broadcasting House from 1934. In the futuristic and glamorous surroundings of the BBC's brand new headquarters, an actor is murdered while performing in a radio drama, live on air, before the unsuspecting ears of millions of listeners. Our specially invited expert guest for the post show Q&A was Dr Josephine...

To kick off the Kino Quickies season on March 13th 2022, we picked a sure fire crowd pleaser. The Ghost Camera is a comedy / mystery / thriller starring Henry Kendall as John Gray, Ida Lupino as May Elton and John Mills as her brother, Ernest. When John Gray finds a camera on the back seat of his car, he develops the film to try to find out the owner. What he discovers sets him on the path to dang...

Welcome to this preview episode of the Kino quickies podcast. Book tickets for any of the films in the Kino Quickies season HERE Here's a very good article explaining what Quota Quickies are from the Cinema History Blog Well that was fascinating but now I want to find out more Don’t forget to subscribe to the Kino Quickies podcast.  It comes out a couple of days after each screening. Follow K...