大象传媒

In today's Strand - Tony Curtis, Founding of a Republic, Russian Dolls, Olafur Arnalds.

Tony Curtis
Legendary American actor Tony Curtis spills the beans about what it was like to make the classic film Some Like It Hot - which was released 50 years ago. He talks to us candidly about his affair with Marilyn Monroe, the challenges of working with her - and why he believes the film is so iconic.

Founding of a Republic
A government-backed film about the rise of communism in China has seen Chinese audiences flocking to the cinema. It opened in September and is now the biggest home-grown movie of all time with a star-studded cast including Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Zhang Zivi. We speak to the 大象传媒's Beijing correspondent Quentin Somerville to find out the reasons for its unprecedented success.

Russian Dolls
The Matryoshka or the iconic Russian doll is in crisis. It's been banned from the famous Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg which says it's actually Japanese not Russian. However the wooden figure is still being backed by the Russian government as it's investing millions of roubles into the Russian doll industry to try to keep it going.

Olafur Arnalds
Icelandic pianist/composer Olafur Arnalds' music is ethereal, haunting, beautiful and has achieved extraordinary success through his internet-led project to compose 7 tunes in 7 days; This has resulted in 10s of thousands of hits on his website and pleading messages from fans around the world to come and play in their country as well as being commissioned to compose ballet music, and even a Hollywood film director who wants him to score his next film. All this and he's only 21 years old.