Recently watched on TCM:
Heavens Above (1963) Peter Sellers, Isabel Jeans, Cecil Parker. One of the last whimsical satires Sellers made in Britain before he became a super star with his roles in Lolita and Dr. Strangelove. As the Rev. Smallwood, he is mistakenly sent to a parish with upper class snobs who have no use for lesser folk. As he meets his parishioners, he sees what they really are and, when he comes upon a band of extended family members who live in tents and trailers and carts, as they are being evicted off the land by a big business venture, he invites them to come and live at the parish house. This is looked on with horror and in really bad taste! Lady Despard (Jeans) disapproves and is giving him what for, when he brings up 'the Bible' and what it says about the poor. She does some reading in the good book and decides to give away free food in the village. Which upsets the shopkeepers no end and when the giveaway is over, the people turn on the Good Rev and the church leaders decide to get rid of him by making him the pastor of outer space. Droll and amusing. No big laughs but smiles and chuckles throughout. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057134/
HBO:
Pirate Radio (2009) Philip Seymore Hoffman and a lot of other people. In the 1960's Britain's BBC tried to keep rock and roll off the airwaves as corrupting youth. A group of renegade broadcasters and assorted types take to the high seas in a big ship and broadcast 24 hours a day. The government is not amused. Various schemes to shut them down are tried. None work. Eventually the ship itself defeats them by sinking. But all is not lost, and rock continues and is still going strong. Amusing. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131729/
To be con't...
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