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.