Guns in the Afternoon, Western Film Club, 3rd July 2011, The Exhibit Cinema, London

Guns in the Afternoon as far as I am aware is the only western film club in the UK run by (in their own words) self-proclaimed western nuts Russ and Jon. Their mission is: 'to put on the big screen every six weeks the westerns that have long since been forgotten and bring the genre to forefront of peoples minds.'

I will admit that I am not a huge western film fan, but thought I would go along with the boyfriend as his friend Russ is one of the organisers. 

The film this month was The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. A 1948 film written and directed by the great John Huston, who also directed Katherine Hepburn and Bogart in The African Queen and Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in The Misfits, Gable's last film before he died.

It is a film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name. It focuses on two Americans Fred D. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) during the 1920s in Mexico who join old-timer Howard (Walter Huston, the director's father), to prospect for gold. They find a bit of land with gold and set about protecting it from Mexican bandits and then from each other as they start to suspect each other of trying to con the others out of the gold and finally money.

You can't beat a bit of Bogart but his suave and clean cut persona as seen in Casablanca wasn't the case here, he is down on his luck, unshaven and a bit unkempt, his cool and calm persona is also a little absent as Dobbs starts to get very paranoid about those around him. This film shows you a side of Bogart that you never get to see but is very convincing and shows that he is not a character actor but quite diverse.

A film well worth a watch if it's on on a cold and wet Sunday afternoon.

Now the film club, the cinema is quite small but a load of two seater sofas, fantastic and a nice change from the boring seats in multiplexes. The film club is a great idea, the cinema has a bar down stairs so you can have a drink after and chat about the film. Tickets at £10 and you get the film, popcorn, trivia sheet and entry in a raffle.

If you are interested in attending the August club email either Russ and Jon at either russbish@hotmail.com or costello120@hotmail.com for details.

http://www.theexhibit.co.uk/