des-47

This listing seems confused by two different BBC adaptations of the M R James story. The series referred to, and the transmission date, indicates an episode in the short series broadcast in 2000, featuring Christopher Lee as M R James narrating this and two other stories to his students. But the cast and director details refer to a fully dramatised version of the story, broadcast in 2006.

I'd agree with the reviewer kekseka that this film is indeed sensational and should be better known, but it's not, as the review claims, a natural colour film. Instead, the print available online is hand-tinted, with each frame individually and painstakingly coloured using brushes, as is particularly noticeable in the shots of rockets and Roman candles where broad strokes are used. I'd say this method of colouring adds something natural colour wouldn't, abstracting the image and increasing the impression of kinetic art. It's certainly not Kinemacolour, which was a two-colour additive process that resulted in a distinctive flickering colour palate not evident here.