8 - 14 JUNE 2024

My Talking Pictures email this week announced that “even diehard John Wayne fans” probably haven’t seen the 1933 serial The Three Musketeers which starts Saturday morning. Well, dear reader(s), I bought the DVD about 17 years ago (and I have a copy of Desert Command, the reconstructed ‘feature’ cobbled together circa 1946), but they do have a point. Whilst serials were a popular part of cinema programmes from about 1914 to 1954 they are little seen, or heard of, now. Most of the Hollywood studios made them and other countries (including France and Britain) did too, on occasion.   Each episode had a cliffhanger at the end so you would come back the following week. Republic Studios was usually deemed to be the best exponent of these chapter plays and Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) is one of their best. The Three Musketeers is on a lower level, but the best of the three serials that Wayne made for Nat Levine’s Mascot during his Poverty Row years. It was called Poverty Row for a reason, of course – the companies based there would pinch every penny: no frills, no music score, a cast of just a few, and one chapter that would reuse some of the earlier footage to remind you of the story again!   
LIMELIGHT (1952) Saturday 8 June 1.00-3.40pm Sky Arts (Channel 11)             
Limelight concludes the channel’s Chaplin season and, fittingly, it encompasses Britain’s music hall traditions. Charlie saves a young ballerina (Claire Bloom) from suicide; he mentors her and gives his own life a renewed sense of purpose. It proved to be the last Chaplin classic, and was the only time he worked with Buster Keaton. There is a repeat showing Sunday evening.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN (2021) Sunday 9 June 10.00-11.40pm BBC 2    P             
Tonight sees the terrestrial premiere of one of our successes (89%) from the 2022/2023 season. Mark Rylance, you might remember, is the hopeless golfer who gatecrashes prestigious golf tournaments.
KING OTTO AND FOOTBALL’S GREEK GODS (2021) Thursday 13 June 9.00-10.30pm BBC 4    P             
Even if you are not a fan of the beautiful game it’s worth giving this fascinating documentary a try – as underdog stories go, The Phantom of the Open pales into insignificance. Back in 2004, the Greek national side had never won a tournament game – but stunned everyone by winning the European Championships. The key figure in all of this was their coach, one Otto Rehhagel, who had left a successful career in Germany to take up the challenge. This year’s tournament starts tomorrow with Germany v Scotland, so the timing could not be better.