We have a good selection of new films this week – five all told – and they should help to sustain us until cinemas re-open again. To think that it is a year since I last went to the Radway to watch Parasite! I am also very pleased to see that more classic TV series are being brought back, hopefully for the younger generation as well as those of us who have seen them before. On Wednesday, BBC 4 is starting a rerun of the 1971 series Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson. She is superb in the role and it deserved all the awards it received.

BEND OF THE RIVER (1952) Saturday 13 February   6.40-8.30pm Channel 25                
This wasn’t the first Anthony Mann/James Stewart western (that was Winchester ’73), but it was the first where they explored their creative partnership and developed character and settings. Filmed in Technicolor, almost entirely on location, Stewart plays a man who has suffered personal wrongs and hardships – and inflicted them on others – who agrees to act as guide to a group of settlers. Arthur Kennedy is good, Rock Hudson has a modest but showy role and the film was good enough to be placed in several Top Ten lists over the years.
THE LITTLE STRANGER (2018) Saturday 13 February 9.00-11.15pm Channel 4    P
Not wholly successful, but it is an interesting supernatural horror film, from the director of Room (2015), that has a strong cast. Set in the 1940s, Dr Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) makes a house call to a country residence where some very strange things are happening . . .
LOVE, SIMON (2018) Sunday 14 February 9.00-11.15pm Film Four    P
There are three premières this evening, and they overlap, so you might need to make use of the catch-up services! First up, is this inspired choice for Valentine’s Day – Hollywood’s first teen- romance drama to feature a prominent, and indispensable, gay character.
BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE (2018) Sunday 14 February 10.00-11.35pm BBC 4    P   
Britt-Marie is a sixty-something Swedish housewife who leaves her feckless husband and decides that she will have a go at coaching a youth football team. So, pretend it is Film Society Sunday, sit back and enjoy!
EDIE (2017) Sunday 14 February 10.45pm-12.20am BBC 2    P   
See notes for Thursday evening.
THE SILVER FLEET (1943) Monday 15 February 10.30am-12.15pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
The Silver Fleet is typical of its time and place – well made (under restrictions), and acted, with a good storyline that was also effective propaganda, and supported both the war effort at home and those in Europe who were offering resistance. Richardson is a Dutch engineer who risks his life to destroy a U-boat.
A QUIET PLACE (2018) Monday 15 February 9.00-10.45pm Film Four           
It is almost unheard of for me to select a film that we have included before, but we need A Quiet Place for a very quiet evening! It is the one where alien invaders rely on their hearing to detect human survivors. It is a memorable effort, although the adverts do dissipate the tension a little.
A TOUCH OF LARCENY (1959) Tuesday 16 February 4.00-6.00pm Talking Pictures (Ch 81)
Comedy wasn’t really James Mason’s forte, but the British press lavished praise on him for this rarely seen offering. He plays an ex-submarine officer who, after falling in love with a friend’s fiancée (Vera Miles), concocts a cunning plan to win her affection.
THE HITCH-HIKER (1953) Tuesday 16 February 12 midnight-1.30am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Director Ida Lupino treats us to a taut 70 minutes when, on a hunting trip, Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy pick up a psychotic hitch-hiker. It is the sort of B-thriller that RKO did very well; if its impact on viewers has lessened, it is because there have been so many imitations since.
IKE: COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY (2004) Wednesday 17 February 7.25-9.10am Channel 41   
On cue after writing recently about American presidents, here is Tom Selleck as Dwight D. Eisenhower, holding his nerve as the Allies agonise over ‘when to go’ for the invasion of Normandy.
EVEREST (2015) Wednesday 17 February 6.40-9.00pm Film Four   
Prior to its release, I was tracking Everest as a potential booking for Lyme and Sidmouth. Based on actual events in 1996, Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin are rival climbers; Baltasar Kormakur directed the excellent Icelandic TV drama Trapped, so must have been used to the cold!
THE KEY (1958) Thursday 18 February 4.45-7.15pm Channel 41  
Another coincidence – after writing about film locations in Dorset, The Key is given an airing. With direction by Carol Reed and William Holden, Sophia Loren and Trevor Howard heading the cast, you might expect one of the best films of the 1950s – but it is not, I am afraid. Ms Loren comes off best as the landlady who comforts a succession of naval officers and it does hold the interest, but it is also dull in patches and a little odd. Catch an early glimpse of Michael Caine!
EDIE (2017) Thursday 18 February 9.00-10.35pm BBC 4
Here is another film that we flirted with – which is not too surprising, as there are usually about 35 on the questionnaire. In this case, Sheila Hancock is a British housewife and mother, like Britt-May at the wrong end of a failed marriage, who, rather than coaching football, decides she will climb a mountain in Scotland.
APACHE DRUMS (1951) Friday 19 February 12.50-2.25pm Film Four
Another modest B-film, this time a Technicolor western from Universal-International, that punches above its weight. Producer Val Lewton’s final film (his B-unit had made horror classics such as Cat People at RKO) stars Stephen McNally (usually the villain of the piece) as gambler ‘Sam Slick’, who returns to Spanish Boot to warn the citizens of an impending attack. Sharing some similarities with The Lost Patrol (1934), Lewton’s trademark use of shadow and dark interiors help the tension to build towards an exciting climax.
STAN & OLLIE (2019) Friday 19 February 8.25-10.00pm BBC 1    P       
What a lovely way to end the week – we have the Freeview debut of a (largely) gentle, respectful part-biography of comedy giants Laurel and Hardy. Although there is a marvellous opening sequence on the set of Way Out West (1937), the focus is on the twilight of their careers and their 1953 tour of Britain. John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan are both superb, but I think Coogan (as Stan) just edges it. When I saw it at the Radway, I left with just a couple of minor criticisms: to be truly reflective it should be cert. U (not even PG) and (this might sound crazy) funnier, in a laugh-out-loud kind of way.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
HELLO MR POSTMAN!
The Royal Mail has maintained a wonderful service during the pandemic, especially prior to Christmas, and is now working hard to guarantee those Valentine deliveries. So, it seemed the right moment to think about postmen up there on the big screen . . .
We shouldn’t really include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 and 1981) as, although both John Garfield and later Jack Nicholson came knocking, it wasn’t with a delivery.  There was also an earlier, Italian version of James M Cain’s celebrated novel, Ossessione (1942), directed by Luchino Visconti, and a French one before that. We have shown Jacques Tati’s Jour de Fête (1949) twice over the years; he had tried out the story and comedy routines two years earlier in the short L’Ecole des Facteurs. In 1930s Britain, post-related shorts were part of the legendary GPO Film Unit’s output; they included Post-Haste (1934), one of two shorts that year that launched the career of Humphrey Jennings. In the US, Walter Brennan played George the mailman in a rather touching 1943 short The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith. There have been several films, over the years, about the Pony Express, the earliest being in 1907 and the best-known one being Charlton Heston’s in 1953. The myths associated with it far outweigh the reality, of course – the actual Pony Express lasted 18 months, doomed by the invention of the telegraph. A better American film featuring a member of the postal service as action hero was Appointment with Danger (1950), with Alan Ladd, which we reviewed recently.  
In Britain, Postman’s Knock (1961) was conceived as a vehicle for Spike Milligan, but it is pretty dire. Much better, although the postmen are, shall we say, unofficial ones are The Go-Between (1971), lovingly shot in Norfolk, and The Lunchbox (2013), lovingly shot in India. Also in Britain – during a Cook’s tour of London, to be precise – ransom money was removed from a postbox via an underground sewer in Brannigan (1975). The dispatch rider used as a decoy – and who ended up in some very uninviting water – was none other than Tony Robinson.
More recently, a most intriguing idea was aired in The Postman (1997). Here, the postman (Kevin Costner) delivered 15-year-old mail in what remains of the United States after a world war has devastated the planet in 2013. It was hugely expensive, long (170 minutes plus) and a huge flop – and since Costner also directed, then it is fair to say the responsibility was his. The best film to feature a postman was a much simpler affair, of course – the delightful Il Postino, released three years earlier. Excluding, to be sure, Postman Pat: the Movie (2013) - the big screen incarnation of the UK’s favourite postal worker!

Well done to the BBC for introducing ‘Lockdown Learning’ for schools during weekday afternoons – even though this is likely to mean fewer matinee films for older viewers! The good news is that it looks as though Talking Pictures has been able to refresh its programme content. Saturday Morning at the Pictures starts 6 February and we can look forward to a couple of cartoons, The Lone Ranger TV series and two cliffhanger serials – plus a modest CFF feature. There are also two interesting late-night films this week, but proceed with caution as they are not to everyone’s taste!

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE PICTURES Saturday 6 February Talking Pictures (Channel 81)       
ZORRO’S BLACK WHIP (1944) 9.10-9.40am. Chapter 1: The Masked Avenger. Serial queen Linda Stirling is Barbara Meredith who dons costume and mask after her brother is killed. Well, she entices me – don’t expect Zorro to put in an appearance, though!
CUP FEVER (1965) 9.40-10.55am. A children’s football team has an important cup tie and is helped by the players of Manchester United! Catch an early glimpse of Susan George and Olivia Hussey!
THE LONE RANGER (1949) 10.55-11.25am. Episode 1 of the classic TV series. Did you know that his mask is now in the Smithsonian?
FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (1940) 11.25-11.50am. Chapter 1: The Purple Death. Flash returns to the planet Mongo to save Earth for the third time. As well as rock men, now we have Robin Hood men!
IVANHOE (1952) Saturday 6 February 2.30-4.15pm BBC 2            
This remains the definitive version: Robert Taylor is suitably brave, the heroines and villains (Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders and Guy Rolfe) are splendid, the Technicolor lavish and Yakima Canutt’s second unit work is superb. Robert Taylor used to speak modestly of his trio of “iron jockstrap” films, but they boosted his career at a crucial time.
IN FABRIC (2018) Saturday 6 February 11.20pm-1.20am BBC 2    P       
Accurately described by the Radio Times as a “supernatural horror comedy”, we might be tempted to add implausible to that as shopper Marianne is possessed by her latest purchase. However, actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste (so essential to the success of the TV series Without a Trace) is so damn good, it is best to just go with it.
YENTL (1983) Sunday 7 February 2.00-4.05pm BBC 2
Deemed to be a failure on release (and, to be honest, in the years since) Yentl has such a winning combination of chutzpah and sincerity, it deserves a second chance. Barbara Streisand produces, directs, co-writes and stars as a young Jewish woman who has to disguise herself as a boy in order to study. At the time, I don’t think anyone else could have got even close to pulling this off, and Ms. Streisand is someone who clearly warrants the term ‘icon’.
STARTING OVER (1979) Sunday 7 February 10.00pm-12.05am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)   
Burt Reynolds is a divorced man who falls for a teacher (Jill Clayburgh) who is reluctant to commit, whilst still having feelings for his ex-wife (Candice Bergen). The result is a likeable comedy drama that is well played by all. And catch an early glimpse of Kevin Bacon!
CHAIN OF EVENTS (1958) Monday 8 February 6.35-8.00Pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Monday is very quiet this week, so we’ll take a look at this modest B-movie, in which events spiral out of control after a bank clerk refuses to pay his bus fare. Irish actor Dermot Walsh (Richard the Lionheart in the Danziger Productions TV series) is the lead actor; producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas were soon working on the Carry On films.
BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (1987) Monday 8 February 11.00pm-12.25am BBC 4           
The BBC is giving us a welcome repeat showing of a fascinating documentary on Hedy Lamarr. Her public persona, after Louis B. Mayer signed her to a contract and made her a star, was generally well known. Less familiar was her life offscreen, in particular a talent for invention in the field of electronics that included vital work on radar for the war effort.
FUNNY FACE (1957) Tuesday 9 February 1.40-3.45pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
The sublime pairing of Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn is the epitome of chic; he is a fashion photographer and she is a model. There is a top Gershwin score and Stanley Donen’s direction is spot on.
BLACK SUNDAY (1976) Tuesday 9 February 9.00-11.50pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Another brilliant thriller from John Frankenheimer (The Train) – this time, terrorists are plotting to blow up the Super Bowl and Israeli commando Robert Shaw is out to stop them. It may be a tad too long, but it is still riveting entertainment.
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN (1960) Wednesday 10 February 12.45-3.00pm Film four   
This clever heist drama has proved to be popular over the years and still makes for rewarding viewing. Jack Hawkins is the former army officer who ‘persuades’ other ex-army personnel to undertake the perfect crime. And catch an early glimpse of Oliver Reed as a ballet dancer!
O.S.S. (1946) Wednesday 10 February 4.55-7.05pm Film Four   
A good vehicle for Alan Ladd that helped to cement his stardom; he plays a wartime agent given the task of destroying an important railway in occupied France. It isn’t televised that often and the fact that we don’t see any familiar faces in the supporting cast seems to lend it the required authenticity.
YESTERDAY’S ENEMY (1959) Thursday 11 February 5.10-7.05pm Channel 41  
In the late 1950s, Hammer sought to expand its portfolio beyond the confines of horror and adapted a TV play about a wartime incident in Burma in 1942. It would not have been made earlier in the decade (the word “bastard” had to be removed from the American print) and took the genre in a less heroic, more interesting, direction. Stanley Baker and Gordon Jackson were nominated for Baftas and Guy Rolfe is good in this one, too!
THE LOST CITY OF Z (2016) Thursday 11 February 9.00-11.10pm BBC 4
This one came into the ‘almost considered’ category four seasons ago. Charlie Hunnam is the explorer Percy Fawcett who was obsessed with finding a lost Amazonian civilisation in the early 1900s. Both the quest and the film provide frustrations, but at least it is interesting and literate!
CITY SLICKERS (1991) Friday 12 February 6.35-9.00pm Film Four
Let’s have some fun with a good comedy western. Three friends and urbanites (one of whom is Billy Crystal) decide that the best antidote to a mid-life crisis is to go on a cattle drive. The trail boss is Jack Palance, who looks as though he has just stepped out of a Remington sketch circa 1884. It is all very entertaining, although not quite as entertaining as Palance’s Oscar-acceptance speech and push-ups!
LADY MACBETH (2016) Friday 12 February 11.20pm-12.45am BBC 2       
A young Victorian woman is trapped in an abusive marriage and decides that she will do anything to escape it. I have always been very proud of the fact that we lavished praise on Florence Pugh’s performance and said that her career would prove to be an impressive one, even though the audience reaction marked down the film (2017-18 season, 65.5%). The next feather in her cap will be Marvel’s Black Widow.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
HI-YO SILVER AND AWAY!
Confession time – whenever I hear the “William Tell Overture” my thoughts turn to The Lone Ranger and not the composer Gioacchino Rossini! Created by George W. Trendle and Francis Striker during the Great Depression, the legendary character was first introduced to the public via a Detroit radio station in January 1933 – and it remained popular with listeners for more than 20 years. In an era that was teeming with western heroes, it was a natural for the silver screen and Republic Studios made a successful bid for the rights. In 1938, they released a 15-chapter serial called The Lone Ranger (most serials had only 12 chapters). Wearing a mask that might have been designed to combat Covid-19, Lee Powell was the hero and Chief Thundercloud was Tonto. Its instant success warranted a second serial, The Lone Ranger Rides Again, in 1939, but, whilst Tonto looked familiar, Robert Livingston was behind the mask – comfortably, one presumes, as he had just played Zorro. (And it was now that Tonto’s horse underwent a change of name from White Fella to Scout.)
The character’s most familiar incarnation is, of course, in the long-running TV series that made its debut on a Thursday evening in 1949 (in the US) and ran for eight seasons and over 200 episodes. The jobbing actor picked for the role was Clayton Moore (strangely enough, he had just made The Ghost of Zorro) and he was the Lone Ranger for the rest of his life (although John Hart took over the role, 1952-54, during a salary dispute). Indeed, I understand that his is the only star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame that also includes the name of his character. Jay Silverheels, the son of a Mohawk chief and a fine lacrosse player, played Tonto for its entire run. Essentially aimed at a juvenile audience – one of Trendle’s strictures was that “the Lone Ranger never makes love on radio, television, in movies or in cartoons” – over 50% of its audience was actually adults and it reached no. 7 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1951-52 season. Such was its popularity that episodes were edited together to make 75m films (there were over a dozen of them) and, towards the end of its run, when episodes were being filmed in colour, two cinema features were made by major studios – The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).
Aside from an animated series in the 1960s, it wasn’t until 1981, and with backing from Lew Grade’s ITC, that Ranger John Reid put on his mask again in The Legend of the Lone Ranger. Directed by William A. Fraker (Monte Walsh), the film itself wasn’t too bad (nor was Michael Horse as Tonto); unfortunately, Klinton Spilsbury couldn’t act, his lines were dubbed and the film was deemed to be a flop. More interesting were the real-life events of the time. The copyright owners were unhappy that Clayton Moore was still opening the occasional supermarket and keeping the nation’s children on the straight and narrow, whilst dressed in the iconic costume, and so issued a court order instructing him to desist. Not to be undone, Mr Moore continued as ‘the actor who had played . . .’ with the help of a pair of wraparound sunglasses. So, you see, truth and justice will find a way and the lawyers eventually withdrew their complaint.
There was to be one final cinema outing (to date) when ‘the team that brought you Pirates of the Caribbean’ re-imagined The Lone Ranger in 2013. Dutifully, I went to the Regent – oh, dear. A huge budget with the director (Gore Verbinski) throwing everything at it except for the eureka pot and a focus on Johnny Depp doing his star turn as Tonto. And with a running time that fell not too far short of the two film DVD for the 1956 and 1958 features! Sorry, but this “kemo sabe” would rather saddle up with Jay Silverheels. If, however, you would like to see the 2013 version it is on BBC 2 at 9.00pm on Saturday evening.
Footnote – The Green Hornet was the son of Dan Reid, John Reid’s nephew, which makes him the grand-nephew of The Lone Ranger! 

This week, the mix has quite a nice balance, I feel: a couple of premières, some classics, a couple of oldies and one or two surprises – for which I take full responsibility! If you would like to catch them, I have calculated that the Scotland Yard featurettes directed by Peter Duffell, at the start of his career, are due to be shown over three nights from Tuesday 9 February at 6pm. The titles to look out for are The Secret Weapon, The Grand Junction Case and The Never Never Murder.

THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR (1947) Saturday 30 January 2.10-4.10pm TP (Channel 81)       
Rex Harrison was always good value as a light comedian and he is excellent here, as the ghost of a sea captain who romances Gene Tierney (equally good) after she buys his cottage. The film is quite delightful. You might also remember the TV series, which ran for 50 episodes and was on British television in the early 1970s.
BEAUTIFUL BOY (2018) Saturday 30 January 10.00-11.55pm BBC 2    P        
The subject matter – a father helps his son in a years-long battle against drug addiction – might be something we would look to shy away from. However, it is a genuine, sincere drama with poignant performances from Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet and deserves an audience.
LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1959) Sunday 31 January 1.45-3.20am BBC 2
John Osborne’s superb, ground-breaking play was transferred quickly to the screen – and, directed by Tony Richardson, created a vivid, realistic style of film-making that, for just a few years, produced some of our very best films. Richard Burton is Jimmy Porter and Mary Ure his long-suffering wife; interestingly, Nigel Kneale (creator of Quatermass) co-wrote the screenplay with Mr Osborne.  
THE TRAIN (1964) Sunday 31 January 2.45-4.55pm BBC 2   
The Train is a gripping war film that manages to be a little different. (Yes, it is possible!) A railway worker tries to prevent a German officer from looting some of France’s national treasures. It is quite an exceptional drama and this is due mostly to the director, John Frankenheimer, and the sparring of Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield. 
LAW AND ORDER (1936) Monday 1 February 10.30-11.55am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Oh, joy – we have a bona fide B-western (from Reliable) this morning! The question is which one? Tom Tyler’s filmography doesn’t include one with this title. I expect it to be Fast Bullets, which wasn’t released in the UK until 1945 and so this would be a retitled print. Whatever, we can expect the usual Texas Ranger shenanigans with the occasional off-the-wall surprise – western expert Phil Hardy described it once as “a surprisingly elegant piece of trash”. Tom Tyler (a former weightlifter) made an athletic hero before being reduced to bit parts that included Luke Plummer in the 1939 Stagecoach. He averaged about six B-westerns a year in the 1930s; in 1932, two of them were Two Fisted Justice and Single-Handed Sanders – confusing in the extreme, if they ever played on the same double bill!
ROBOCOP (1987) Monday 1 February 9.00-11.05pm Channel 25           
Still delirious after the above entry, I shall recommend Robocop – but, pandering to stereotypes, probably not if you prefer Jane Austen/Judi Dench. Peter Weller is the cop who is shot to pieces (literally, it is cert. 18) and returns as a half-man/half-machine to find those responsible. Outrageous (usually) director Paul Verhoeven does take satirical swipes at corporate America and consumerism but, mostly, it’s just a blast (literally, he says again). On release, I think I saw it at the ABC in Taunton (not long before LRFS was born and saved my film soul). I don’t remember shouting “5-star classic” as I left and I am still not convinced it deserves that rating. Presumably, a watching Donald Trump would implode – how would he ‘support’ law enforcement whilst it took down big business?
MY MAN GODFREY (1936) Tuesday 2 February 3.00-4.50pm Film Four
Unlike yesterday’s very modest offering from 1936, Godfrey is a peach of a film – a proper screwball comedy classic. William Powell is a tramp hired by an eccentric family (chiefly, the young daughter, a wonderful Carole Lombard) as their new butler. The whole cast is faultless, but a special mention for Alice Brady and Eugene Pallette (soon to be Friar Tuck) as the parents.
FOREVER FEMALE (1953) Tuesday 2 February 11.10pm-1.10am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Whilst not quite in the same league as Godfrey, it is still a witty comedy that bears a resemblance to All About Eve (1950). In her last role of any note, Ginger Rogers is an ageing Broadway star still hoping to compete with those on the way up; William Holden is the writer of a new play.
BREATHE (2017) Wednesday 3 February 9.00-10.50pm BBC 2    P
Following his success in the visceral war film Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Andrew Garfield made this gentle romantic drama. He plays a young (and actual) father-to-be that, in 1958, contracted a severe case of polio. Supported by his wife (played by Claire Foy), he remained determined to pursue his ambitions.
THIS SPORTING LIFE (1963) Wednesday 3 February 11.25pm-2.10am Talking Pictures (Channel 81)   
The last film of the British New Wave is, arguably, the best and possibly the best purely British film of the 1960s. (Lawrence of Arabia had an international cast, international locations and so on.) Richard Harris is the ex-miner who now plays professional rugby for a living and Rachel Roberts the widowed landlady who becomes his lover. Harris turned in other fine performances, including in The Field (1991-92 season, audience reaction 87%), but he never matched this. Incredibly, not all the reviews were positive, but it is a tremendous film. Grab the Network DVD if you find it – it has a PDF script and a commemorative booklet.
HANGMAN’S KNOT (1952) Thursday 4 February 12.35-2.15pm Channel 32  
It is a quiet afternoon, so our matinée will have to be a decent Randolph Scott western. He’s a Confederate officer who hijacks a Union gold shipment, but his men get other ideas when they learn that the War of the Secession has ended. Donna Reed and Lee Marvin offer good support. It is the only cinema film directed by Roy Huggins, who later created Maverick, The Fugitive and The Rockford Files for American television.
QUARTET (2012) Thursday 4 February 9.00-10.30pm BBC 4
Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut was a popular booking at the Regent, as the cast includes Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly. All is relatively calm at the Beecham House home for retired opera singers – until a particularly awkward grande dame makes up the numbers . . .
OLD MOTHER RILEY JOINS UP (1939) Friday 5 February 9.25-10.55am TP (Channel 81)
If you are a fan of the comic creation Mrs Brown, you might like to reacquaint yourself with her music hall predecessor. There were about 15 films, crudely made but popular with the masses, and TP have acquired at least some of the rights to show. When I remember where I have put it, it would be a good time to read Robert V. Kenny’s book on Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane!
JANIS: LITTLE GIRL BLUE (2015) Friday 5 February 10.00pm-12 midnight Sky Arts (Ch 11)       
The legendary blues and soul singer might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it makes for a fascinating documentary. She had an extraordinary presence, but drink and drugs took their toll (was it really 50 years ago?) and her only no. 1, ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, was a posthumous one.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
RANDOM DORSET (AND BEYOND)
In my introduction a week ago, I wrote that a film (or TV episode) always attracts more interest if there is a local aspect to it. We live in a lovely part of the world, here in the south-west, and so we have been a popular location with film makers from all around the world for over a hundred years. Steven Spielberg filmed some of War Horse (2011) in Devon and some scenes for Restoration (1995) were filmed just across the border at Forde Abbey. Cornwall’s rugged landscape has also been used. Parts of Robert Taylor’s Knights of the Round Table (1953) were shot at Tintagel (showcasing MGM’s first use of CinemaScope) and there has been a dramatic Cornish resurgence in recent years, with all of Summer in February (2013), Bait and Fisherman’s Friends (both 2019) filmed there.
As for Dorset, it has been estimated that over 300 films and TV episodes have been enhanced by location shooting in the county. As early as 1913, film pioneer Cecil Hepworth came here to make Hamlet and a mock-up of Elsinore castle was built on the cliffs above Lulworth Cove. Both The Heroes of Telemark (1965) and The Ship that Died of Shame (1955) had scenes filmed in Poole Harbour. The production companies of The Key (1958) and The Damned (1961) came to Weymouth; movies that are likely to turn up again on Talking Pictures, or other channels, if you are patient. A much rarer film – not televised for years and not on Region 2 DVD, to my knowledge – is Rough Shoot (1952), a thriller with a script by Eric Ambler and starring Joel McCrea (hence its American title Shoot First). We have shots of the Dorset countryside, a mention of Dorchester prison, a signpost saying Wood Lane and other examples of local colour. Also quite rare is the 1957 CFF serial Five on a Treasure Island, filmed at Corfe castle and in Wareham; this is available from the BFI in a nice HD transfer. The most prestigious film made in the county, would be Tom Jones (1963) which won the Oscar for Best Picture; its other claim to fame (I have been told many times!) is that the Regent’s long-serving manager, Alec Orme, worked on it as an extra. Then, in August 1966, MGM’s expensive Far from the Madding Crowd began shooting here, with occasional forays over the border into Wiltshire. Once again, local citizens were employed as extras.
Coming closer to home, The Boat that Rocked (2009) had scenes shot in Lyme Bay and was a popular booking at the Regent; as was Tamara Drewe (2010) with nearby locations that included Yetminster and Salwayash. This brings us, finally, to Lyme Regis itself. In storage at the Regent, we used to have two Universal newsreels from the early 1930s that showed the town criers of the day and Langmoor Gardens. My memory is that they were shown last at the cinema’s 60th birthday celebrations. Their current whereabouts are unknown and it is likely they were destroyed in the 2016 fire. When I gave a talk to the U3A a few years ago, I ended it by focussing on ‘The Big Three’. Two of these are, of course, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and All Over the Town; the third, at the time, was the CFF film Wreck Raisers, released 23 October 1972. There are clear shots of the Cobb and harbour, the RNLI and Langmore Gardens. I still hope to bring it, one day, to a newly-built Regent; in the meantime, we will replace it with Ammonite (2020), the new film about Mary Anning, whose release has been scheduled for March 2021 – but don’t be surprised if that date is subject to further revision.

It is always a good thing when there is a point of local (or semi-local) interest in something we are watching, as several performances of The French Lieutenant’s Woman have borne out over the years. This can be minor, or unexpected, as in the 1941 Fritz Lang film Man Hunt, when we catch a brief glimpse of a signpost to Lyme Regis. Anyway, last Saturday, I just had to take a look at The Adventures of Sir Lancelot episode ‘Maid of Somerset’. In it, the dastardly King Meliot was selling all the young, in-their-prime, male cheddar makers into slavery. He and his henchmen got their comeuppance, of course, in a cave/cold storage facility that, in colour this time, seemed to foretell of the psychedelia that was still a thousand years away. I have to say, the moment when Lancelot (William Russell) shouted “the weapons are behind the cheese” made my day!

NIGHT WILL FALL (2014) Saturday 23 January 9.00-10.20pm Channel 18       
Showing to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, this is an absorbing – at times chilling – documentary on an Allied project to record, for posterity, the Nazi atrocities and why the project was never completed.
THE WHITE CROW (2018) Saturday 23 January 9.30-11.30pm BBC 2    P        
Ralph Fiennes directs Ukranian dancer Oleg Ivenko in a biopic of Rudolf Nureyev. Focussing on Nureyev’s 1961 defection to the West gives it some dramatic heft and the return of some quality premières this week is most welcome. 
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950) Sunday 24 January 3.45-5.30pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Perhaps inspired by the success of Meet Me in St Louis (selected last year), or (more likely) by the desire of Americans to remember a time that wasn’t so riven by conflict, from about 1946-1953 there was a plethora of early 20th-century dramas from thrillers to musicals. This is a light, enjoyable comedy in which Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy try to keep their 12 children in some kind of order. 
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (2016) Sunday 24 January 11.35pm-1.40am BBC 2   
Tom (Michael Fassbender) returns to Australia after surviving the First World War. After marrying Isabel (Alicia Vikander), they opt for the solitude of a remote lighthouse and, hopefully, a new family. Whilst it doesn’t quite do the novel justice, there are several strong performances and it looks splendid.
TEN TALL MEN (1951) Monday 25 January 1.20-3.30pm Film Four
Burt Lancaster certainly travelled the world in the early stage of his career with The Flame and the Arrow (1950, Italy), this film (the Foreign Legion) and The Crimson Pirate (1952, the Mediterranean) all making use of his athleticism and devil-may-care persona. It is very entertaining and much superior to Alan Ladd’s Desert Legion (1953) – which is on Channel 41 at 5.20, if you would like confirmation.
SCORE: CINEMA’S GREATEST SOUNDTRACKS (2017) Monday 25 January 10.00-11.30pm BBC           
How wonderful is this, for lovers of film and the music written especially for them? It covers almost a hundred years and some of the very best composers including Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann and John Williams.
RIDE BEYOND VENGEANCE (1966) Tuesday 26 January 12.05-2.00pm Channel 32
These quiet Tuesdays are becoming a habit, so we’ll select a couple of oddities today. If you used to enjoy Chuck Connors in his TV series The Rifleman and Branded, then you might like to give this a try. Flashbacks abound as he returns home and seeks vengeance on those who have wronged him. It was put together by the Branded production team; there is a little extra violence for the cinema and, typically for the period, a combination of veterans (Joan Blondell and Michael Rennie) and newcomers (Kathryn Hays and Bill Bixby) in the supporting cast.
AMERICAN ANIMALS (2018) Tuesday 26 January 9.00pm-11.20pm Film Four    P
American Animals had a number of 5-star reviews on release, but any success with us would have been problematic. Ostensibly about an arts heist with actors (or not) and actual participants (or not), its blend of both fact and fiction (or not) is a challenge that could be very rewarding.
COTTAGE TO LET (1941) Wednesday 27 January 1.05-2.55pm Film Four
The first thing that might strike you is that the casting seems to be back-to-front with Leslie Banks as the scientist whose invention is under threat, Alastair Sim as the detective and John Mills under suspicion. Anthony Asquith directs reliably, George Cole is notable in his film debut and it all makes for an entertaining propaganda piece.
THE GUILTY (2018) Wednesday 27 January 9.00-10.50pm Film Four    P   
It’s looking like a quiet night in a police call centre, until one of the officers takes a call from an abducted woman. The bare-bones settings and the imaginative sound design help immeasurably – this Danish thriller is a real nail-biter!
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS (2018) Thursday 28 January 8.00-9.30pm BBC 4  
John Boyne’s novel was perfect for encouraging discussions of the Holocaust in schools and Mark Herman (Brassed Off) turns it into a good film. Young Bruno (Asa Butterfield, showing much early promise), the son of a Nazi officer, is curious about the neighbouring ‘farm’ and soon makes friends with a boy his own age. Whilst not a film, strictly speaking, it is followed immediately by a very good TV drama THE EICHMANN SHOW. It tells the story of how a blacklisted TV director Leo Hurwitz (Anthony La Paglia) somehow gained permission to film the 1961 trial.
SEARCHING (2018) Thursday 28 January 9.00-11.05pm Film Four    P
This is a novel and clever thriller that follows a father’s investigation of his daughter’s disappearance. The conceit is that he conducts it entirely on her laptop.
ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS (1969) Friday 29 January 11.00-2.00pm Film Four
This sumptuous epic had a flamboyance that the later TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII couldn’t match. Geneviève Bujold is Anne Boleyn and Richard Burton is the king. Whilst even an actor of his magnitude couldn’t match Keith Michell’s interpretation, he was nominated for an Oscar (again). He lost to John Wayne for True Grit, but at least had the consolation of several drinks with the winner afterwards.
FADE-IN (1968/1973) Friday 29 January 8.05-9.55pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)       
To end the week, we have an ultra-rare presentation! The story is routine – a film editor has a love affair with a cowboy (Burt Reynolds) whilst on location – but it is the background to it that fascinates. Some of the cast of the western Blue (1968) agreed to do bit parts, the director Allen (or Alan) Smithee is a Hollywood pseudonym used when the director disowns the final product, and it was shelved without a cinema release before appearing on American TV in 1973. The actual director was Jud Taylor who worked exclusively for television and did some decent work with Oscar winners Shelley Winters, Susan Hayward and Cliff Robertson. 
YOUNG GUNS (1988) Friday 29 January 11.35pm-1.15am BBC 1
In its own way, this too was a rarity – a 1980s western that drew an audience. Its young cast, led by Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid, caused it to be labelled a ‘Brat Pack’ western. I found it brash, vigorous and rather refreshing – and the film’s success led to a sequel Young Guns II.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
RANDOM PRESIDENTS
Finally, we have a peaceful transition of power and a new President of the United States. It should be a while before anyone rushes to make a film about Donald Trump (produced, directed by and starring himself, no doubt), but it won’t surprise you to learn that American presidents have been considered ‘good material’ for the silver screen. With the exception, oddly, of the early ones: revolutionary wars and such have never been good box office. (Although Anthony Hopkins has played George Washington, John Quincy Adams - in Amistad, you might remember – and then came up-to-date with Richard Nixon which must be a record!) Charlton Heston was Andrew Jackson in The President’s Lady (1953, average at best) and in The Buccaneer (1958). Ulysses S. Grant has tended to appear in his Civil War guise (as in How the West Was Won) and The Three Mesquiteers wrote to President Garfield, on behalf of some dispossessed ranchers, in The Night Riders (1939).  
Abraham Lincoln is something else again, of course. Walter Huston starred in a 1930 DW Griffith film of that name (it’s okay, but stagey), Henry Fonda took on the role in the excellent Young Mr Lincoln (1939) and Raymond Massey almost made a career out of it (Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 1940 and on four more occasions). More recently, Daniel Day Lewis was awarded an Oscar for his portrayal in Lincoln (2012).
Alexander Knox took on the title role in Wilson (1944) – it was a very good film, won five Oscars, but did not bring in the crowds. We presented Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) as a Silver Screen, with Bill Murray as Franklin D Roosevelt; he was fine, but the film less so. Much better was the 1976 TVM Eleanor and Franklin; its 208m running time enabled Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann to really do them justice. Indeed, it was so successful a sequel subtitled the White House Years followed immediately. Similarly, the year before, Give ‘Em Hell, Harry had a brilliant performance from James Whitmore as Harry S. Truman in what was, effectively, a filmed stage performance. I would also recommend Tom Selleck (the Kevin Costner of TV movies, always reliable) in Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004), although the focus is entirely on Eisenhower during the Second World War.
President Kennedy is probably second only to Lincoln in terms of screen portrayals. Cliff Robertson, in PT 109 (1963), portrayed him doing his war service, members enjoyed Thirteen Days (2000), set during the Cuban Missile Crisis and we witnessed his assassination in Jackie. Pride of place, however, ought to go to Martin Sheen for the 1983 TV mini-series.

Here we are, another week, and we hope you are all safe and well. It is one of the weakest weeks we have had for a while – there are no premières and on a couple of days it was a struggle to find a film to recommend. My own best picks would be the two films on Saturday, plus All the President’s Men – but they all offer something of interest which is the name of the game, of course!

THE NUN’S STORY (1959) Saturday 16 January 1.15-3.40pm BBC 2       
Audrey Hepburn gives a wonderful performance as the nun who questions her faith, whilst dedicating herself to the service of others. It is a wonderful movie, too, but this was the year of Ben-Hur, so its 8 Oscar nominations came to naught (or nought, even).
THE BOSTON STRANGLER (1968) Saturday 16 January 9.35-11.55pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)        
As you know, I love it when an actor-star steps outside his comfort zone and, as serial killer Albert DeSalvo, Tony Curtis certainly does that here. He is brilliant in a documentary-style thriller that uses split screen to great effect and has sterling work from the likes of Henry Fonda and George Kennedy.
WATERFRONT (1950) Sunday 17 January 11.00am-12.35pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)
Set in Liverpool during the Depression, Robert Newton is unusually restrained – and very good – as the seaman who likes a drink or three; Kathleen Harrison is his long-suffering wife and Richard Burton shows promise in his third film. Michael Anderson achieves an honest, respectable sense of reality that served him well when directing The Dambusters four years later.
MISSISSIPPI GRIND (2015) Sunday 17 January 10.30pm-12.10am BBC 2   
A decent drama that sees Ben Mendelsohn’s gambler, in an attempt to avoid a not-very-nice loan shark, team up with Ryan Reynolds’s poker player. Perhaps a trip to New Orleans will benefit them both?  
IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (1947) Monday 18 January 2.25-4.15pm TP (Channel 81)
The title is a bit of a giveaway: Googie Withers is shocked when her ex-lover turns up, as he is supposed to be in prison. Up to this point, most British films had featured posh people with posh accents, so this uncharacteristic effort from Ealing Studios, set in the East End, was quite a revelation – and a very good one, too.
BOOK CLUB (2018) Monday 18 January 9.00-11.05pm Film Four     
If you would like a light, enjoyable change, then this ensemble comedy is for you. The cast includes Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton and Candice Bergen and they are a joy to watch.
ALBERT, RN (1950) Tuesday 19 January 12.30-2.20pm Channel 32
Escaping POW dramas were in vogue for a decade or so and this one (and the same year’s The Wooden Horse) established their credentials and popularity. Anthony Steel appeared in both and his star burned quite brightly for roughly the same period.
VICTORIA & ABDUL (2017) Wednesday 20 January 9.00-10.45pm BBC 4
This evening, you will have to choose between two films scheduled opposite each other (unless you can record): Victoria & Abdul has Judi Dench playing the monarch for a second time (Mrs Brown was on last week), forging an unlikely friendship at the time of her Golden Jubilee.
TRANSSIBERIAN (2008) Wednesday 20 January 9.00-11.15pm Channel 33   
Transsiberian is, perhaps, the more intriguing offering: Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer are on their way from China to Moscow; there are some drug smugglers and Ben Kingsley as a Russian cop. The plot doesn’t always make sense, but it is an exciting trip and the contrast between the train’s interior and the spectacular snowscapes of the exterior is done very well.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976) Thursday 21 January 9.00-11.10pm BBC 4
The Post was popular with members, but All the President’s Men remains the Hollywood political thriller that every other one needs to beat. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are tremendous as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the journalists who investigated the Watergate break-in (alluded to at the close of The Post, you might recall).  
NURSE ON WHEELS (1963) Friday 22 January 11.55am-1.40pm TP (Channel 81)     
Following the success of 1962’s Twice Round the Daffodils, the Carry On producer (Peter Rogers) and director (Gerald Thomas) reteamed with Juliet Mills and other cast members. This is the better of the two films – it is all rather charming and the village eccentrics are well-drawn. Indeed, it could almost be taking place in deepest Dorset!
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT (1974) Friday 22 January 11.10pm-1.30am Film Four  
Clint Eastwood let Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) take the directorial reins for the first time, after he had co-written Magnum Force, and he turned in an impressive film. (Not that you would think so, if you were to believe Rex Reed’s original review in The New York Daily News.) Clint is a retired thief and conman looking for some stolen money; Jeff Bridges (Oscar nominated) is the impressionable young ‘un he takes under his wing. It is a first showing on free-to-air channels for many years, so recommending it is a nice way to end the week.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
WHAT IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?
 
Almost certainly we all have a film or TV series that we enjoy rather a lot, but wouldn’t include in a serious – dare I say intellectual – discussion. One of mine is the BBC’s Death in Paradise which has been running for 10 years now and started a new 8-part series on 7 January. The regularity and timing are part of its appeal, of course: every January, come what may (including lockdowns), when it is wet, cold and grey, we are transported to a Caribbean island, where the sun sits high in a cloudless sky. Guessing ‘who did it’ can be fun and the cast and guest stars are engaging. (Although, I have to say, I thought it worked less well with Ardal O’Hanlon as the detective and with the changes in the supporting cast during his tenure; this has been rectified.)
It isn’t the first time the word paradise has figured in a title – I mentioned elsewhere the western series Paradise (aka Guns of Paradise) that the BBC ran twenty years ago. Has anyone, though, seen the American ABC-TV series Adventures in Paradise (1959-62)? This was quite an oddity and its star, Gardner McKay, disappeared from the screen soon afterwards. It was based on stories by James Michener and lasted for 91 episodes.
In the cinema, and ignoring the fact that The Admirable Crichton (1957) – an enjoyable comedy – was later re-titled Paradise Lagoon in the US, the word hasn’t brought much luck or good fortune to those who have used it. 1932’s Bird of Paradise, in which Joel McCrea falls in love with ‘native’ girl Dolores Del Rio, was barely average, as was the 1952 remake with Louis Jourdan and Debra Paget. Paradise Canyon (1935) was the weakest of John Wayne’s 16 Lone Star westerns. Paradise Alley (1978), the story of three New York brothers, marked Sylvester Stallone’s debut as a director, but the results were disappointing.
More recently, the balance has been redressed, particularly if we include Cinema Paradiso (95% reaction); you might also have joined us for the Second World War drama Paradise Road (1998-99 season, audience reaction 87%). Highly recommended would be the 2005 release Paradise Now, a gripping drama about two young Palestinians who are recruited for a suicide-bombing mission in Tel Aviv. Incidentally, a new film with the title Birds of Paradise is currently in post-production; in this case the story concerns two young ballet dancers trying to make the grade.

The second week in January is a quiet one, I’m afraid – there are some good mid-range films, but nothing really exciting and just the one première. However, for those of us who are interested in what happens behind the scenes or off-camera there are two programmes to make a note of. Film critic mark Kermode begins a new three-part Secrets of Cinema on BBC 4 and, on BBC 2, Death in Bollywood is a three-part forensic dramatisation of the death of the young actress Jiah Khan in 2013. The police concluded it was suicide, but her family believed otherwise.

BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) Saturday 9 January 1.15-2.55pm BBC 2       
Today’s showing is perfect timing for those who have been watching the new BBC adaptation. Aided immeasurably by superb art direction and cinematography, the film is one of the greats and much loved by Martin Scorcese. In our 1992-93 season, it had an audience reaction of 77%.
HOMBRE (1967) Saturday 9 January 6.15-8.25pm Talking Pictures (Channel 81)       
Hombre doesn’t often spring to mind when contemplating the best westerns, but it’s really good. Director Martin Ritt and star Paul Newman (Hud) team up again; he’s the white man raised by Apaches who is trying to live in both worlds and who reluctantly helps a group of beleaguered travellers. Richard Boone supplies the villainy (few did it better) and there are good roles for Diane Cilento, Fredric March and Cameron Mitchell.
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011) Saturday 9 January 9.30-11.30m BBC 2        
Programmed as a tribute to John le Carré, this excellent adaptation did well in Lyme. Gary Oldman plays George Smiley and the rest of the cast reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of British talent.
COLUMBO: A MATTER OF HONOR (1977) Sunday 10 January 4.35-6.05pm Channel 21
We need to be inventive today – it’s a very quiet Sunday! This is a rather neat, enjoyable outing for the famous detective: he’s asked for assistance by a Mexican counterpart, after someone is found dead at the hacienda of a retired bullfighter. Ricardo Montalban guest stars.
ROOSTER COGBURN (1975) Sunday 10 January 9.00-11.15pm Channel 32   
The sequel to 1969’s True Grit is a step down, but the ‘actors’ love-in’ between John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn is quite delightful and justification enough. The colours are vivid and good use is made of the Oregon locations (especially of the Rogue River), so it’s a shame the director (Stuart Millar) couldn’t give us a better film. Another sequel was mooted, called Someday, but it was not to be. However, Warren Oates did essay the role in the 1978 TVM True Grit (A Further Adventure).    
DRACULA (1931) Monday 11 January 1.00-2.30pm Channel 68
Dracula was – and remains – a hugely influential horror film. It’s a little creaky now, of course, but Bela Lugosi still mesmerises. The Blu-ray is a worthy purchase as it includes the Spanish language version. (When talkies came in, it was quite common to use the same sets, but different actors, to make foreign language versions.)
MR BROOKS (2007) Monday 11 January 9.00-11.20pm Channel 33    P     
And now the modern, flipside to horror (certificate 18): Earl Brooks is a respected businessman who just happens to be a serial killer. It’s unusual that a film with an actor of Kevin Costner’s stature should take so long to make its Freeview debut, but the role was quite a departure for him and the box office returns were less than expected. I reckon it’s worth checking out!
DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) Tuesday 12 January 2.30-4.20pm Film Four
The film that re-established Marlene Dietrich as a force at the box office: she’s the saloon entertainer singing See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have and James Stewart is the sheriff who doesn’t like guns. The result is a rollicking comedy western that hasn’t aged and set the template for the likes of The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958) and Blazing Saddles (1974).
AFTERMATH (2017) Tuesday 12 January 9.00pm-10.50pm Channel 33
We have another instance of an actor, this time a bearded Arnold Schwarzenegger, trying something different. His wife and daughter have been killed in a plane crash caused by human error and he is struggling to control both grief and anger.
SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960) Wednesday 13 January 3.15-4.55pm TP Film Four
The enormous success of The Adventures of Robin Hood TV series encouraged Hammer to join forces with Richard Greene and make a feature in colour (and Megascope!). Whilst not a classic, I’m not sure that Russell Crowe did any better and it’s an enjoyable afternoon matinée. Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed add some class and the plot unravels competently – and this is surely the only film where Bawtry is central to it!
MRS BROWN (1997) Wednesday 13 January 9.00-10.40pm BBC 4   
It’s been a little while, perhaps, since we had occasion to enjoy Judi Dench’s performance as Queen Victoria. The real surprise was Billy Connolly, who more than holds his own as Her Majesty’s gillie and confidant. Amazingly, Richard Pasco, who played the Earl of Newark in Sword of Sherwood Forest, pops up in this one too!
LEASE OF LIFE (1954) Thursday 14 January 6.35-8.25pm Talking Pictures (Ch 81)
Robert Donat’s battles with chronic asthma reduced him to starring in just three films in the 1950s; this is the middle one. He gives a delicate, shaded performance as a Yorkshire vicar with only a year to live.
WHISKY GALORE (1949) Thursday 14 January 10.00-11.20pm BBC 4
Thankfully, not the recent remake but the Ealing original. Hebridean locals are delighted when a ship runs aground and they discover its cargo is whisky. A repeat of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema, on British comedy, follows.
MINISTRY OF FEAR (1945) Friday 15 January 1.15-3.00pm Film Four
Not televised for a while and a film I have seen only once; my recollection is that the Hollywood recreation of wartime London is effective, and Ray Milland is convincing as the mental patient attempting to unravel an espionage plot. Whether Graham Greene would recognise his novel, is another matter!
THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS (1955) Friday 15 January 5.00-7.10pm Channel 41       
Another wartime spy story, but this is based on true events: a corpse with ‘secret’ papers is used to convince the Germans that Greece, not Sicily, will be the point of invasion. It’s a solid, rather than exceptional drama, but has a decent cast, colour and CinemaScope.
 
RANDOM WORDS AND RANDOM MEMORIES
OBITUARIES PART 2
 
I do try hard to be balanced across genders, genres and other film-related topics when writing about them (honest). However, I do pause for thought occasionally to see if my own predilections create an imbalance. Out of the 22 obituaries I listed at the turn of the year, 15 were male so I’ll make up for that here:
LUCIA BOSE – a respected Italian actor who worked with both Antonioni and Luis Buñuel.
LORI NELSON – the Universal starlet who didn’t really surmount an early appearance in Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952), but who then at least had ten busy years in film and on television.
RHONDA FLEMING – vied with Maureen O’Hara as the Queen of Technicolor. Hers was a strange career. She made early appearances in Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) and then in two impressive examples of film noir, namely The Spiral Staircase (1946) and Out of the Past (1947).  Then of the 40 films she made after 1950, only three would really rate a mention: Inferno (1953) with Robert Ryan, Fritz Lang’s While the City Sleeps (1956) and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral the following year. She later did a lot of work to support women with cancer.
BABY PEGGY (DIANA SERRA CARY, aged 101) – who must surely have been the last surviving silent film star in such fare as the 1924 Captain January.
HILARY DWYER – she had an ‘and introducing’ credit in Witchfinder General (1968), the cult classic that TP televised on New Year’s Day. Like Lori Nelson, she was active for about 10 years (including a recurring role in the TV series Hadleigh). Later she became a producer under her married name, Hilary Heath. She died from Covid-related complications.
LINDA CRISTAL. I make a reasonable job (I think!) of keeping up-to-date with film news, so I was shocked to discover that I had missed the news of her death in June 2020, as I had followed her career over the years. She was born Marta Victoria Moya in 1931 in Buenos Aires. (Some sources say 1935, but it was quite common for publicists to remove a year or two.)  Her mother was French and her father Italian; after their deaths (probably by suicide), Ms Cristal made some films in Mexico before making her American debut opposite Dana Andrews in a weak western, Comanche (1956). She then began to build up some experience in English speaking roles and won a Golden Globe in the Most Promising Newcomer category for The Perfect Furlough (1958). She displayed a quite touching sensitivity in both John Wayne’s The Alamo (1960) and John Ford’s Two Rode Together (1961), but then the roles dried up; in part because she lacked confidence and turned down parts she should have accepted. One she did say ‘yes’ to was the role of Victoria in the successful TV series The High Chaparral (1967-71), for which she won a Golden Globe and which is still being shown today. Thereafter her career declined, although she did appear in a Mexican series El Chofer and one in her native Argentina, Rossé.
Finally, you might remember us listing a film called The Kidnappers (1953), directed by Philip Leacock. The child actor JON WHITELEY was awarded a special Oscar and was clearly a natural performer. Rather than pursuing a career in the cinema industry, he later went to Oxford and became a hugely respected art historian and curator. He died in May 2020, aged 75.