FILM: THE FIVE BEST REVIVALS

1

The Philadelphia Story (Sun .45pm, Phoenix)

Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart form the bickering constellation of this warm, witty romantic comedy. Cukor's 940 classic is filled with razor-sharp repartee.

2

Touch of Evil (Mon 2pm, NFT)

The film noir hit its burnt-out apogee with this baroque chunk of filmic flamboyance. Charlton Heston is the straight-as-an-arrow Hispanic cop; a bloated Orson Welles his corrupt US counterpart.

3

The Battle of Algiers (Sat-Wed 9pm, ICA)

Gillo Pontecorvo's teeming, turbulent portrait of the Algerian war of independence sweeps in on a blast of documentary-style realism. It's as fresh today as ever.

4

Accatone (Tue 6.30pm, Riverside)

A career-making debut for writer-director Pasolini, the raw-boned Accatone scores Rome's pimp-and-pickpocket underbelly to a soaring Bach soundtrack, squeezing startling beauty out of sleazy scenes.

5

Oh, Mr. Porter! (Thur 6.5pm, NFT)

The finest film outing there is for that spluttering comic genius, Will Hay - here, spirited off to a crumbling Irish train station, and foiling a boisterous band of gun-runners to boot.