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.