Eric Portman

Moonlight Sonata

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Paderewski at the piano

It’s not often that you get to see a former prime minister in an acting role. Or a great classical pianist, for that matter. In 1937’s Moonlight Sonata you get both, and in the shape of a single person – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the Polish pianist who gave up his music career to serve his country as prime minister, then gave it up again decades later when his country repeated the call during the Second World War. There are two films awkwardly sandwiched together here, both featuring Paderewski, who’s functional in the first, ornamental in the second. The first opens with 20 minutes of straight-up footage of Paderewski playing in a concert hall. … Read more

The Whisperers

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Close up of Edith Evans as Mrs Ross

As good a portrait of what it means to be old and lonely as any you’ll see, 1967’s The Whisperers is an atypical British movie for the Swinging mid-Sixties, almost a return to the kitchen-sinkers of the early part of the decade. Bryan Forbes, who wrote and directed and was a smart man, understands the risks of making this film at this time and so doubles down on the “grim up north” stereotype, starting his film with visuals strongly reminiscent of the TV show Coronation Street – back-to-back houses, empty streets, dogs in the alleys rather than people, chimney-tops and brick walls – before bringing his focus in on one elderly lady. He … Read more