The Glitterball

The Glitterball
Title Card
Directed by	Harley Cokliss
Written by	Michael Abrams, Howard Thompson, Harley Cokliss
Produced by	Mark Forstater
Starring	Ben Buckton Keith Jayne Ronald Pember Marjorie Yates Barry Jackson
Cinematography	Alan Hall
Edited by	Thomas Schwalm Nick Gaster
Music by	Harry Robinson Malcolm Clarke
Production companies	Children's Film Foundation Mark Forstater Productions Ltd.
Release date	1977 (1977) (UK)
Running time	55 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Glitterball is a 1977 British sci-fi children's film made by Mark Forstater Productions for the Children's Film Foundation.[1][2][3] It was directed by Harley Cokeliss, credited under his birth name of Harley Cokliss. The film was screened at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival as part of a retrospective of 16 "rarely seen" British films made between 1967 and 1979, "rediscovered" after a year of detective work by event staff.[4] In 1979, Methuen Publishing released the children's novel by the same name, written by screenwriters Howard Thompson and Harley Cokliss. ISBN 9780416863406.

Plot

Two boys befriend a stranded alien in the shape of a little silver ball and help it to return home.[5]

Cast

• Ben Buckton as Max Fielding
• Keith Jayne as Pete
• Ron Pember as George "Filthy" Potter
• Marjorie Yates as Mrs. Fielding
• Barry Jackson as Sergeant Fielding
• Andrew Bradford as corporal
• Derek Deadman as ice cream man
• Leslie Schofield as radar operator
• Linda Robson as checkout operator

Awards and nominations

1982, nominated for Fantasporto 'International Fantasy Film Award' for 'Best film' for Harley Cokeliss.[6]

References

1. "The Glitterball". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
2. "Review: The Glitterball". Time Out. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
3. Landers Film Reviews. Vol. 28. Landers Associates. 1983. p. 109.
4. Carrell, Severin (1 June 2010). "Edinburgh film festival to screen 'lost and forgotten' British movies. Rarely seen works by Ken Russell, Stephen Frears and Albert Finney among festival retrospective". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
5. Cinefantastique, Volumes 6-7. F. S. Clarke. 1977. p. 35.
6. "The Glitterball (1977)". The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television. Retrieved 26 June 2013.

External links

• The Glitterball at IMDb
• The Glitterball at the BFI's Screenonline. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries)