Movies

John Wayne was a titan of the Golden Age of Hollywood who has become an icon for many Americans and film fans around the world. After years of poor health, Duke finally succumbed to cancer on June 11, 1979. This was exactly 10 years to the day after True Grit …

John Wayne suffered years of ill health during his final couple of decades. The heavy-drinking and smoking star had a lung and some ribs removed in 1964 due to a cancer diagnosis. During his last years, Duke struggled through his more physically challenging roles, secretly relying on an oxygen mask …

Back in 1967, Sean Connery starred as James Bond in You Only Live Twice for what he thought would be the fifth and final time. The Scottish actor had become bored with the role and was dissatisfied with his salary of $750,000 (almost $7 million today) with 25% of merchandise …

The latest of Disney’s animated classics to get the live-action remake treatment is 1989’s The Little Mermaid. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s iconic fairy tale, the original movie famously portrayed Ariel as a redhead. However, for the reimagining, the studio has moved the action to the Caribbean, casting African-American singer …

Cleopatra: Elizabeth Taylor stars in trailer in 1963 Visitors to cinemas in the US and the UK 60 years ago would have been well advised to bring a plentiful supply of ice cream, popcorn and the then-popular “drink on a stick” lollipops from the foyer to their seats. For they …

After 15 years away, Vin Diesel returned to the XXX movie franchise in third outing XXX: Return of Xander Cage. The Fast and Furious star was joined by Bollywood’s Deepika Padukone who made her Hollywood debut as the leading lady in the blockbuster opposite him. XXX 4 has been “in …

Having worked with formerly blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo on Spartacus to great success, Kirk Douglas hired the scribe to adapt Howard Rigsby’s 1957 novel Sundown at Crazy Horse. The 1961 movie title The Last Sunset would see the Hollywood star play fugitive Brendan O’Malley, who crosses the Mexican border and …

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in his fifth outing, (Image: Disney) Harrison Ford wearily picked himself up off the ground, dusted off his brown fedora hat, straightened his leather jacket and shook his head. “That’s the last time I’m falling down for you!” he told James Mangold, director of Indiana …

Boasting two committed performances, this nicely shot, issue-based Brit flick clearly owes a debt to Ken Loach. But something is badly off with Jane Gull’s melodramatic script. Loach’s best films (Kes and I, Daniel Blake) make a case for social change by making us empathise with individuals suffering under an …

This handsome period drama tells the fascinating and little-known true story of Joseph Bologne, one of the 18th century’s only classical composers of colour. Kelvin Harrison Jr is so good in the lead role, you wish he’d been handed a better script. This is an unusual man living in a …