This film is part of Rentals
Time Flies
Fast-talking funny man Tommy Handley visits Elizabethan England - and ends up teaching Good Queen Bess con tricks - in this snappy time-travel comedy.
Director: Walter Forde
Overview
This rollicking flight of fancy sees Liverpool-born comic Tommy Handley - best known for his cheery wartime radio comedy show, ITMA - take a trip back to Ye Olde England inside a dotty professor's amazing 'Time Ball'. While he's there, he and his friends teach Raleigh to smoke, help Shakespeare pen a few tricky lines, and introduce the peasants to the joys of jazz music.
Some of the jokes in Time Flies would surely have been considered corny in Shakespeare's day, but amid the puns and patter are some remarkably prescient sci-fi ideas - a futuristic camera, capable of capturing and instantly replaying moving images, seems a lot like a hand-held digital video device. Notable among a strong supporting cast are Felix Aylmer, outstanding as a scientist in a world of his own, and Will Hay's old sidekicks: Moore Marriott as a Nostradamus-like soothsayer, and Graham Moffatt as his surly nephew. Digitisation supported by The Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation.
Related
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.
Seven Psychopaths Seven Psychopaths
Comedy 2012 110 mins Director: Martin McDonagh
Three Billboards' director Martin McDonagh spins an epic and twisted tale of pets and gangsters, with an all-star cast.
Tamara Drewe Tamara Drewe
Comedy 2010 111 mins Director: Stephen Frears
The return of beautiful journalist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) awakens destructive passions in a Dorset village.
The Day Shall Come The Day Shall Come
Comedy 2019 88 mins Director: Christopher Morris
An impoverished Miami preacher is lured into terrorism by the FBI, in the latest explosive satire from comedy genius Chris Morris.
Happy-Go-lucky Happy-Go-lucky
Comedy 2008 118 mins Director: Mike Leigh
Sally Hawkins shines in her breakout role as the perpetually sunny Poppy, in Mike Leigh’s charming drama about the power of optimism.
The Angels' Share The Angels' Share
Comedy 2012 97 mins Director: Ken Loach
A young Glaswegian father-to-be discovers his nose for whisky and spots a chance to help his friends. Directed by Ken Loach.
Kadoyng Kadoyng
Children's 1972 60 mins Director: Ian Shand
It looks like the quaint village of Byway will be bulldozed to make way for a motorway – until alien outcast Kadoyng arrives from Outer Space to help.
Quest for Love Quest for Love
Romance 1971 87 mins Director: Ralph Thomas
This British sci-fi comedy, adapted from a John Wyndham story, follows a man’s search to find the ideal woman whom he briefly meets in a parallel universe.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Science Fiction 1961 100 mins Director: Val Guest
The BFI’s HD remaster of the British sci-fi classic. A journalist discovers that the Earth has been knocked off its axis and is moving ever closer to the sun. Is the Earth doomed?
The Man Who Changed His Mind The Man Who Changed His Mind
Horror 1936 63 mins Director: Robert Stevenson
Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Laurence, a scientist who has devised a way to put one person’s mind into another’s body.
Brown on Resolution Brown on Resolution
War 1935 71 mins Director: Walter Forde
Walter Forde’s 1935 war drama stars a young John Mills as the illegitimate son of a naval officer who brings down a German cruiser in WWI.
Rome Express Rome Express
Thriller 1933 91 mins Director: Walter Forde
A star-studded international cast boards the Paris-Rome express for this lavish comedy-thriller from Gainsborough Pictures.
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.