This film is part of Rentals
Shooting Stars
Anthony Asquith's (A Cottage on Dartmoor, Underground), fabulous silent film set in a British movie studio in the 1920s.
Director: A.V. Bramble
Overview
Anthony Asquith's Shooting Stars is a must for any silent cinema fan. Offering a rare insight into the workings of a 1920s film studio, there are location scenes, comic stunts and an on-set jazz band which demonstrate just what life was like in the early days of cinema.
Despite the directing credit going to veteran filmmaker A.V. Bramble, Shooting Stars is universally acknowledged to be the directorial debut of rising talent Anthony Asquith. Asquith wrote the original story, deliberately choosing the subject of movie-making itself as his theme, and the dynamic cinematographic style and professional approach to the design and lighting was introduced by Asquith himself, based on his experiences at Chaplin’s studio. The script is sophisticated, incorporating ironic counterpoint and containing very few inter-titles, a trope of Asquith’s work. Rarely seen and long unavailable on home video, the film is presented here in a new restoration by the BFI National Archive. This key film of the silent era marked a step change in the quality of British features on a par with Hitchcock’s work at Gainsborough; anyone enamoured with the glamour of film will relish the knowing humour and style of this long-unseen classic.
mild violenceRelated
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.
The Goldman Case The Goldman Case
Drama 2023 116 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Gripping courtroom drama based on the explosive 1976 murder trial of French political activist, Pierre Goldman.
In Camera In Camera
Drama 2024 95 mins Director: Naqqash Khalid
A struggling actor faces relentless knockbacks in Naqqash Khalid’s sharp-witted comment on race and identity in the film industry.
Kneecap Kneecap
Drama 2024 105 mins Director: Rich Peppiatt
Fantastically outlandish biopic about the anarchic Belfast rap trio and their fight to save the Irish language.
Tracks Tracks
Biopic 2014 113 mins Director: John Curran
Mia Wasikowska stars in this inspirational true story about one woman’s extraordinary odyssey through the Australian Outback.
Dark Waters Dark Waters
Biopic 2019 126 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Mark Ruffalo plays an attorney trying to uncover the corporate scandal of a chemical company poisoning a local community, in this searching ecological drama from Todd Haynes (Safe, Carol).
Sapphire Sapphire
Police drama 1959 92 mins Director: Basil Dearden
A young student with a secret is brutally murdered in this British Academy Award winning thriller about race, sex and jealousy.
Dead of Night Dead of Night
Anthology 1945 99 mins Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer
A group of guests assembled at a country house swap uncanny and supernatural stories in this classic Ealing chiller from 1945.
Hue and Cry Hue and Cry
Action and Adventure 1947 82 mins Director: Charles Crichton
An army of schoolchildren fight crime on the bomb-torn streets of postwar London in this ripping Ealing classic.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Drama 1989 116 mins Director: Jack Clayton
Maggie Smith is astonishing in one of her greatest roles as a spinster who falls for Bob Hoskins’ brash businessman.
Pink String and Sealing Wax Pink String and Sealing Wax
Crime 1946 90 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Gordon Jackson stars in a seething tale of family conflict, murder and blackmail in Victorian Brighton.
The Blue Lamp The Blue Lamp
Police drama 1950 85 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Dirk Bogarde stars as a loose-cannon crook with Dixon of Dock Green (Jack Warner) on his tail, in the classic Ealing policier.
Underground Underground
Romance 1928 93 mins Silent Director: Anthony Asquith
The BFI National Archive restoration of one of Anthony Asquith's finest silent films set in London's Underground, with a new score.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.
The Coming War on China The Coming War on China
Documentary 2016 113 mins Director: John Pilger
John Pilger’s prescient 60th film for ITV is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.