MUMBAI: The English movie channel from Sony's stable Pix launches on Saturday 1 April with a range of films that it believes will tell stories to engage viewers.
The films from different decades cover romantic comedies to dramas, war films and Westerns. While the lineup is reasonably strong, it remains to be seen as to how many English movie viewers tune in to watch films from the past. A lot of these films represent the mood of that period and some of their kind are no longer being made by Hollywood today.
One of the films that will be showcased is The Horse Soldiers on 18 April at 10 pm with John Wayne, William Holdern and Constance Towers. A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail/supply centre. A doctor is sent along with them who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander.
The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle who must be taken along to assure her silence. The Union officers each have different reasons for wanting to be on the mission.
Man, Woman And Child on 22 April at 10 pm stars Martin Sheen and Blythe Danner. A man with a wife and two daughters learns that he has a son. It seems that a few years ago while visiting France, he had an accident and he had an affair with the doctor who treated him. Now, he has learned that she just died and is informed of his son. He confides to his wife, she then suggest that they bring him over. While there all sorts of tension begin to arise. How will this affect them?
The channel will also showcase the Emily Bronte classic Wuthering Heights on 23 April at 8 pm with Anna Calder Marshall and Timothy Dalton. The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff.
Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes a companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the Moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy-- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbour.
The theme of Exodus which airs on 16 April at 8 pm starring Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint and Ralph Richdardson is the founding of the state of Israel. The action begins on a ship filled with Jewish immigrants bound for Israel who are being off loaded on Cyprus. An Intelligence officer succeeds in getting them back on board their ship only to have the harbor blocked by the British with whom they must negotiate.
Pix will also showcase the war film The Beast with Jason Patric, Stephen Baldwin and Kabir Bedi. During the war in Afghanistan, a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains. The film looks at the Soviet 'Vietnam' experience and is told for both sides.
More war comes courtesy The Battle Of Britain with Michael Caine and Harry Andrews. In 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the Nazi Germany Air Force for control of British air space to prevent a Nazi invasion of Britain.
The drama Crazy In Alabama stars Melanie Griffith, and David Morse. An abused wife heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially motivated murder involving a corrupt sheriff.
Fans of Woody Allen can check out Manhattan Murder Mystery. Larry and Carol are fairly normal New Yorkers who have sent their son off to college. They meet an elderly couple down the hall and later in the week find that the wife has suddenly died. Carol becomes suspicious of Paul who seems to be too cheerful and too ready to move on. She begins her investigation. Larry insists she is becoming too fixated on their neighbour. Ted, a recently divorced friend helps her investigation and Larry begins to become jealous of their relationship and agrees to help her.
