15 - 21 JULY 2023

It is nearly the end of Wimbledon fortnight and, whilst having dinner the other evening, my thoughts turned to tennis on film (thereby dispelling any notion that these musings are planned and researched). I have a memory of Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot holding a tennis racquet and tennis star Althea Gibson was given a role in The Horse Soldiers (1959). Sally Forrest was pushed to the limit by a domineering mother (Claire Trevor) in RKO’s Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951); the British film Town on Trial  (1956) had a key opening sequence at a tennis club and Players (1979), starring Ali MacGraw and Dean-Paul Martin, had a UK cinema release. Shame it was a poor film. On TV, tennis has featured in episodes of The Professionals, the original Magnum P.I. and Murder She Wrote (with Linda Hamilton a guest star). There was also a very good TV movie Little Mo (1978), a biography of Maureen Connelly who was the first woman to win the Grand Slam. 
ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968) Saturday 15 July 1.45-4.05pm BBC 2         
Remember when there were Alistair MacLean novels by the sack full? This wasn’t the best adaptation for the big screen but, as I am currently reading Ernest Borgnine’s memoirs, it seemed a good time to include it. Rock Hudson stars, but Patrick McGoohan gives the best performance. 
AT WAR WITH THE ARMY (1950) Saturday 15 July 5.10-7.00pm TP (Channel 82)         
By 1951, Abbott and Costello’s heyday was over; Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were the new kids on the block and were hugely popular for five years until they split up. Here, the duo’s shenanigans take place in an army camp and it placed no. 9 in the Motion Picture herald’s Top 10 for that year. Also showing Tuesday afternoon. 
THE HOPE AND THE GLORY (1984) Wednesday 19 July 10.00-11.30pm BBC 2             
This filmed play is rather special and unseen since its original transmission. Rudolph Walker is a ticket collector who forma a rather touching friendship with an elderly man (a splendid Maurice Denham). 
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (2016) Friday 21 July 9.30-11.05pm BBC 3             
Sometimes the deciding factor in not selecting a film (as with Catherine, Called Birdy for the 2023-2024 season) is that it is really for a younger demographic. The Edge of Seventeen is worth some of your time, though, especially for the funny exchanges of dialogue between student Nadine and her teacher, played by Woody Harrelson.