Children's Film Foundation Collection (Vol. 3): Weird Adventures ( The Monster of Highgate Ponds / The Boy Who Turned Yellow / A Hitch in Time )

Children's Film Foundation Collection (Vol. 3): Weird Adventures (DVD) (*)

~~$28.99~~ $25.98

Original Title: The Monster of Highgate Ponds / The Boy Who Turned Yellow / A Hitch in Time
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
162 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White
Booklet
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1961 - 1978 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Alberto Cavalcanti
Michael Powell
Jan Darnley-Smith

Written By:
Joy Batchelor
Mary Cathcart Borer
Emeric Pressburger
T.E.B. Clarke

Actors:
Roy Vicente ..... The Monste
Ronald Howard ..... Uncle Dick
Rachel Clay ..... Sophie
Michael Wade ..... David
Terry Raven ..... Chris
Frederick Piper ..... Sam
Michael Balfour ..... Bert
Beryl Cooke ..... Miss Haggerty
Mark Dightam ..... John
Robert Eddison ..... Nick
Helen Weir ..... Mrs.Saunders
Brian Worth ..... Mr.Saunders
Esmond Knight ..... Doctor
Laurence Carter ..... Schoolteacher
Patrick McAlinney ..... Supreme Beefeater
Lem Dobbs ..... Mun
Michael McVey ..... Paul Gibson
Patrick Troughton ..... Professor Wagstaff
Pheona McLellan ..... Fiona Hatton-Jon
Jeff Rawle ..... 'Sniffy' Kemp
Sorcha Cusack ..... Miss Campbell
Ronnie Brody ..... Grandpa Hatton-Jones

Synopsis:

The BFI presents three more classic kids' films from the much loved Children's Film Foundation. This volume showcases three remastered films - all weird and fantastic adventures - made by some of the leading figures of British cinema. The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972) was the final film produced by the legendary British director/writer/producers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes). In this fantastic story a young boy changes colour and gets the ability to transport himself through the TV. The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961) was made by the great director Alberto Calvalcanti (Went the Day Well, Dead of Night). Three London children acquire a giant egg which hatches out into a mild-mannered monster. A Hitch in Time (1978) stars Patrick Troughton - the second Dr. Who - as an eccentric professor whose new time-machine keeps going wrong.

Contains The Boy who Turned Yellow (Powell & Pressburger, 1972), The Monster of Highgate Ponds (Cavalcanti, 1961), A Hitch in Time (Darnley-Smith, 1978). A fine volume, writes Graeme Hobbs. Church bells ring, 'a CFF Production' expands onto the screen, a flock of pigeons scatters from Trafalgar Square - and we're off, into three more unpredictable adventures from the Children's Film Foundation, filled with unexpected encounters, intrepid, unafraid children, inept adults, monsters, time-travellers, start-rite sandals and carefully-enunciating children who say 'gosh', 'buck up', 'glory' and - most importantly - 'wait, I've got an idea'. Cavalcanti's The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961) is exactly that and all comes about when David, Chris and Sophie help Uncle Dick unpack his specimens from Malaya at the museum and David gets to keep an unmarked egg which is awfully warm. However, when bringing up a dragon in his wardrobe proves unavoidably noisy, the children take it to Highgate Bathing Ponds, where it attracts the attention of two disillusioned fairground men, looking for a new attraction for their depleted menagerie. If the great Cavalcanti thought directing it a bit of a comedown from heading the GPO film Unit (writer Joy Batchelor's daughter Vivien, 15 at the time, recalls him with his head in his hands saying 'Gods gif me patience' quite a lot), the film - complete with Halas & Batchelor's animated inserts - clips along without condescension, but with plenty of humour and good old-fashioned enjoyment. Now, take a boring old school lesson on electricity, a trip to the Tower of London, a missing white mouse called Alice and a camp man dressed in orange cape and boots, canary yellow tights and sporting skis and a rotating amber beacon on his head - and you have The Boy who Turned Yellow (1972), the wonderfully improbable final collaboration between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in which a boy who has suddenly and inexplicably done what the title says skis on electric waves through his TV set (best just to go with it). It's completely batty, great fun, and was voted best children's film by its intended audience - and who's to argue with them? Enjoyment of the story is enhanced by the trappings of the period - tasselled jackets, Hendrix and Joni Mitchell posters (in the classroom!), and David Vorhaus and Patrick Gowers' electronically squeaked version of 'Three Blind Mice' that accompanies the opening credits. The final adventure, A Hitch in Time (1978), sees two schoolchildren sent off on an unpredictable journey through British history when they stumble upon a bewhiskered inventor (in the person of Doctor Who's second incarnation, Patrick Troughton) and his imperfect time-travelling machine OSKA (an acronym involving 'Oscillating', as these things do) in the dungeon of a nearby ruined castle. And no matter when they fetch up, be it in the civil war or the stone age, Sniffy Kemp is there to create as many problems in their lives as he does as their present-day history teacher. All in all, a classic CFF collection for nostalgists and novices alike.

The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961)
A group of children befriend a monster.

The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972)
John and his class go on a school trip to the Tower of London. While he is there he loses his pet mouse and vows to return and find her later. Back in school, he is not very attentive and falls asleep during a lesson about electricity so his teacher sends him home. On the 'tube' there is a sudden flash, and John, the train and all of the passengers turn yellow. With the help of Nick (short for 'Electronic') John learns about electricity, invades the Tower of London and saves his pet mouse ... or was it a dream. This is the Powell & Pressburger touch applied to children's films.

A Hitch in Time (1978)
Inside an old castle, an eccentric professor is testing out a new time-machine, but it keeps going wrong. He asks two children to become his assistants and they get some curious and unexpected results.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 16 October, 2013.

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