4 British classics ....

As mentioned we moved house back in May, downsizing to an apartment 10 floors up, with great views. So we have been re-sorting and getting settled ok. A box of dvds though seems to have gone astray, maybe thrown out by mistake ..... I have had to re-buy several I had to have, but at least they are very cheap now. 

There were 4 essential British classics I had to have back:

THE BLUE LAMP - the 1949 thriller with a young Dirk Bogarde in his break-out role as the spiv with a gun in grim postwar London - its still terrific now, with great location filming. This is the one where PC Dixon of Dock Green (Jack Warner) gets shot by Dirk, but was later resurrected for that long-running TV series, which I remember seeing when new in London in the '60s.

POOL OF LONDON - a museum piece from 1951 showing the busy docks of London around London Bridge and surrounding bombsites after the war - its all different now of course with the new City Hall by London Bridge, ships can't moor there any more. A sterling British cast of the time headed by Bonar Colleano and Earl Cameron  as sailors on leave getting involved with crime and robbery, and there's that early inter-racial romance ....

SAPPHIRE - a fascinating re-view now from 1959, with the murder of that girl whose body is found on Hampstead Heath, as we follow detectives Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig as they discover that the girl, Sapphire, was passing for white - we follow the investigation through the London night clubs and to that ordindary suburban family. Yvonne Mitchell is marvellous as ever here. Those gals passing for white just can't resist those bongo drums, as detective Michael Craig realises in that seedy Notting Hill clip-joint ....

VICTIM - London in 1961 with those homosexuals being blackmailed, as we see all sections of society from titled toffs to grubby bedsits, taking in the famous Salisbury (gay then) pub, and the bookshops around Charing Cross Road, as barrister Melville Farr (Bogarde again) determines to find the blackmailers who have caused the death of the young man (Peter McEnery) he had been seeing, to the consteration of his wife Sylvia Syms, who does not understand ....

It was only after ordering them I realised all four are of course directed by Basil Dearden (killed in a car crash in 1971 aged 60) - one of the great directors of British films, but not as lauded as the Schlesingers, Loseys or Richardsons were. 

Other British classics of that post-war era, which I like a lot, and are reviewed here, at British/London  labels include IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY, HOLIDAY CAMP (both 1947), and  DANCE HALL from 1950. The early '50s also provided those enjoyable entertainments like TURN THE KEY SOFTLY, THE WEAK AND THE WICKED, THE GOOD DIE YOUNG, IT STARTED IN PARADISE (with Kay Kendall in a small role before hits like SIMON AND LAURA). Then there's those enjoyable Rank romps like AN ALLIGATOR NAMED DAISY, THE SPANISH GARDENER, CAMPBELL'S KINGDOM, DANGEROUS EXILE, PASSPORT TO SHAME and more, keeping the likes of Dirk Bogarde, Glynis Johns, Joan Collns, Yvonne Mitchell, Stanley Baker Michael Craig, Laurence Harvey, Diana Dors, Belinda Lee busy ...
So British cinema in the 1950s was very productive too, the Forties may have been the golden era of David Lean, Michael Powell, Carol Reed, Anthony Asquith, and the Sixties to early Seventies saw the new crowd of Tony Richardson, John Schlesinger, Joseph Losey, Richard Lester, Clive Donner etc. before the Trash merchants took over. 
The Fifties also saw that British War Era as they re-fought World War II keeping Dirk in uniform, along with Richard Todd, Kenneth More, John Mills, Jack Hawkins, Peter Finch, Stanley Baker, Michael Redgrave etc: THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM, THE CRUEL SEA, SEA OF SAND, DUNKIRK, THE DAM BUSTERS, REACH FOR THE SKY, THE MALTA STORY, APPOINTMENT IN LONDON, THEY WHO DARE, ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT, BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE, YANGSTE INCIDENT etc. 

Dearden and that league of gentlemen ...

THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, 1960. A witty crime caper of the old school, that one can happily enjoy again, Basil Dearden's film has a perfect lead in Jack Hawkins as a former army officer who repays his shoddy treatment by the military by recruiting a team of similarly irked ex-servicemen down on their luck, to pull off a daring bank robbery. They pull it off ok, but then ....

Forcibly-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way. These men have "done their bit" for their country in wartime, and now are not needed any more, as they cope with failure and post-war London, faithless wives, and being the "odd man out".

A fascinating collection of Britsh actors of the period here, who were gainfully employed in the '50s in all those war movies, stiff upper lips and all - but are now slightly redundant in the new '60s era. Hawkins and Nigel Patrick, both "People We Like" here (as per labels) are great leads, with lots of witty banter. Richard Attenborough scores too as does pal Bryan Forbes - and yes, Nanette Newman gets a look in too. Theres also Roger Livesey, Terence Alexander, Norman Bird, and Kieron Moore is the coded gay one, the butt of nasty comments by Attenborough's character, which the audience of the time may not have picked up on. The witty script is by Forbes, and also featured are Melissa Stribling (Mrs Dearden),  

The long scene where the Major gathers his motley crew for lunch at the Cafe Royal, is an enjoyable sequence - watch out for Oliver Reed's swishy chorus boy who enters another meeting of theirs thinking it is his ballet class! - a contrast to seeing him in THE SCARLET BLADE the other day (and his THE PARTY'S OVER from 1964 is on its way to me). A nice addition to those British movies of the time like THE ANGRY SILENCE and those other Attenborough-Forbes projects, like SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON, THE L-SHAPED ROOM and WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND. 

Basil Dearden (with regular producer Michael Relph) scores too, with another witty movie of his, to follow that thriller SAPPHIRE in 1959, and VICTIM in 1961. 

I read somewhere recently that if Dearden had been a European director he would be feted by retrospectives at the BFI and elsewhere. Its been interesting catching up with his other perfect British films of their era, lately like: POOL OF LONDON, THE BLUE LAMP, THE CAPTIVE HEART, FRIEDA, SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS, THE GENTLE GUNMAN, OUT OF THE CLOUDS, VIOLENT PLAYGROUND, ALL NIGHT LONG, THE MINDBENDERS, A PLACE TO GO, WOMAN OF STRAW, KHARTOUM. - reviews of these at British/London labels.

He was killed in a car accident in 1971, aged 60, he and his wife lived at Beel House, in Buckinghamshire, one of Dirk Bogarde's residences, which he had bought from Bogarde, whom he directed in 4 features.  
Two early Deardens I have not seen have now turned up on tv: the 1950 CAGE OF GOLD and the 1953 boxing drama THE SQUARE RING which features Kay Kendall and Joan Collins as the dames in its all star cast, yes Sid James is here too ...

Those British comedies ....

An affectionate look at some of those late '50s/early '60s British comedies we liked - its the performers that matter here, those comedians and character players who made even the dullest movie watchable. So we dedicate this to the great Joan Sims and Hattie and Kenneth and Charles and Richard Wattis and ...

PLEASE TURN OVER, 1959 - An early CARRY ON in all but name, by the regular team Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas, with regulars Leslie Philips,  Joan Sims and Charles Hawtrey (guesting as a jeweller). This is set in smart suburbia where martinet father Ted Ray and ditzy wife Jean Kent (her driving lesson with Lionel Jeffries is a hoot) preside - their daughter Julia Lockwood (Margaret's daughter) writes a raunchy best-seller and the locals recognize that she has written about them and soon chaos erupts throughout this small English town with predictable results. Its good fun, with Joan Sims as the maid and others like Colin Gordon, Joan Hickson and Dilys Laye providing the laughs. A pleasant afternoon time-waster.

MAKE MINE MINK - This is a delightful 1960 comic caper with a sterling cast headed by Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques and Elspeth Duxbury as 3 old dears in a mansion flat who discover they can steal fur coats which can be sold to fund Athene's charity. Young Billie Whitelaw is their maid, she is an ex-con herself but is dating policeman Jack Hedley. Terry Thomas is another companion of theirs so cue much hilarity as our foursome plot their robberies. Irene Handl is sheer delight as Madame Spolinski, owner of a fur shop they are targeting. Kennth Williams pops in as well.

As the blurb says: Zany collection of misfits led by aging military man (Terry-Thomas) go on a spree of robbing mink coats. An unlikely trio of women (Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, and Elspeth Duxbury) find new reasons to live ... until their housekeeper (Billie Whitelaw), an ex-con is suspected of the robberies. Again, it captures that cusp of the '60s time period perfectly and shows what good writing and a quality cast can do for a basic premise, as directed by Robert Asher. 

ALIVE AND KICKING - a more '50s offering, this 1958 comedy needs to be better known. Another trio of old dears: redoubtable Sybil Thorndike, Kathleen Harrison and Estelle Winwood are to be split up at their old folks home and decide to run away. They end up in a boat heading to the west of Ireland where they land on one of the islands where they find perfect cottages they can take over.
These belong to returning American Stanley Holloway but he is soon out of the picture as the old gals take over the local industry of knitting Ara sweaters and soon have a booming local industry going. We have to add in the compulsory Richard Harris among the locals as well as Marjorie Rhodes, Joyce Carey and singer Brendon O'Dowda. Directed by Cyril Frankel - there are no reviews on this at IMDB and they insist it is a 1964 title, but it is definitely 1958 when I saw it as a kid.

UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS - another delighted 1959 comedy from the Rank Organisation, directed by Ralph Thomas, in colour and with a very colorful cast! On marrying the boss's daughter, Richard takes his father-in-law's advice to hire a live-in domestic. He soon finds good help is hard to come by. Run-ins follow with dipsomaniacs, bank robbers, a Welsh lass who takes one look at London and runs, and an Italian charmer who turns the place into a bawdy house. Then when Ingrid arrives from Sweden things actually start to get complicated. This is one I enjoyed as a kid, as we watch Michael Craig and Anne Heywood as the newly-weds with James Robertson Justice bluff as ever as father-in-law.

Party girl Claudia + sailors

Joan Hickson is of course a delight as the tipsy cook, Joan Sims is Welsh Blodwyn who has never left Wales; those continental girls Mylene Demongeot and that new Italian girl Claudia Cardinale sparkle (five years later Craig would be supporting her in Visconti's SANDRA - a favourite of mine, Claudia, Craig labels) - Sid James is the local cop, Reginald Beckwith, Daniel Massey, Margalo Gilmore are fun and Joseph Tomelty and Nora Nicholson play the aged bank robbers using the kitchen to tunnel through to the bank next door .... laughs all round then.

THE NAKED TRUTH - a brilliant 1957 comedy utilising Peter Sellers in several roles, he was in the ascendant then. Dastardly Dennis Price is blackmailing several celebrities over secrets in their past which he will publish in his scandal magazine unless they pay up, so they decide to club together to kill him after their individual attempts fail - resulting in high comedy, as directed by Mario Zampi. We have crime writer Peggy Mount and her timid daughter Joan Sims, tv presenter Sellers, glamour girl Shirley Eaton and Terry Thomas is not as respectable as he lets on .... This one cemented Sellers' reputation for various roles as he and Terry Thomas became the major farceurs of the era - both starring in the classic  I'M ALRIGHT JACK and CARLTON BROWN OF THE F.O.

TOO MANY CROOKS - Another great 1959 Terry Thomas comedy also by Mario Zampi (the 3 here, MAKE MINE MINK, NAKED TRUTH and this are a good boxset). George Cole's hapless gang set out to kidnap cad Terry Thomas's daughter but end up with his wife Brenda De Banzie instead. Terry though does not play along and does not want her back, so Brenda takes control of the useless gang to exact her own revenge on her scheming husband. Sounds familiar? It must be the same plot used for that Bette Midler comedy RUTHLESS PEOPLE ...  it is an ideal role for the great Brenda De Banzie, Thomas is his usual caddish self and the crooks include Sid James, Bernard Bresslaw, Joe Melia. Add in John le Mesurier, Sydney Tafler and Nicholas Parsons for added humour. It is just as funny now as it was 50 years ago, as indeed all these are.

I covered another favourite HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE from 1957 at Comedy, Nigel Patrick labels, featuring Athene Seyler again, Katie Johnson and Wendy Hiller.  What a great period it was for comedies from those Ealings like THE LADYKILLERS onwards... there's Sellers again in multiple roles in THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, and of course those first CARRY ONs: TEACHER, NURSE, SERGEANT etc;
and that other favourite of mine the perfectly '50s AN ALLIGATOR NAMED DAISY (comedy, Diana Dors  labels) with Diana Dors and Margaret Rutherford, as well as those early ST TRINIANS with the likes of Alistair Sim, Beryl Reid, Joyce Grenfell and the others, not to mention Dirk's DOCTORs: IN THE HOUSE, AT SEA, AT LARGE etc with Kay Kendall, Kenneth More, Brigitte Bardot, Brenda De Banzie and all the regular farceurs. These were very '50s creations - DOCTOR IN DISTRESS in 1963 did not work at all, it was that new swinging era and the Doctors were suddenly very dated. The '60s CARRY ON's began well with CLEO, COWBOY, CRUISING, SCREAMING, SPYING but too degenerated into tat by the '70s.  

1960 !

A thread on The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) on 1960 unleashed a torrent of memories:

1960 - what a year to have been 14 and "deeper into movies". Looking at it retrospectively now I am firmly in the PSYCHO and L'AVVENTURA camp (though I did not see the latter until years later) as the two most important films of the year, ushering in the new modern world (both of course feature a woman who goes missing and the people searching for her....)



So the major ones that year for me are: The 10 Big Ones:

PSYCHO
L'AVVENTURA
LA DOLCE VITA
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS
PLEIN SOLEIL [I was entranced by that cool European style, and Delon and Laforet]
WILD RIVER [ditto Lee Remick]
THE APARTMENT
SPARTACUS
A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (BREATHLESS)
PEEPING TOM.

Lots of solid middlebrow entertainment:

SONS AND LOVERS
TWO WOMEN [Sophia at her peak]
NEVER ON SUNDAY
ELMER GANTRY
LETS MAKE LOVE
THE UNFORGIVEN
EXODUS
NORTH TO ALASKA [a favourite!]
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
WHERE THE BOYS ARE
THE CROWDED SKY
THE TIME MACHINE
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON [great fun]
POLLYANNA [how we loved that in Ireland!]
BUTTERFIELD 8
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
BRIDES OF DRACULA
SINK THE BISMARCK
THE ENTERTAINER
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
TUNES OF GLORY
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN
THE SUNDOWNERS [Mitch and Kerr were so ideally perfect here, again]
THE GRASS IS GREENER
CIMARRON
THE LOST WORLD.

I suppose THE ALAMO should be included too among the year's hits, and I also liked Blake Edwards' HIGH TIME where rich Bing Crosby goes back to college, and rooms with Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld!

It was certainly the year for call girls - apart from Elizabeth and Melina (NEVER ON SUNDAY) there were also

Gina Lollobrigida - GO NAKED IN THE WORLD (high class call girl falls for Tony Franciosa but his powerful father - Ernest Borgnine, an ex-client of hers, has other ideas...)

Nancy Kwan - THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG

Anne Francis - GIRL OF THE NIGHT (downbeat indie film)

and award-winning Shirley Jones in ELMER GANTRY.

Adultery in suburbia was covered in Quine's STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET, with Kim Novak at her zenith.

It may have been Sophia Loren's best year: apart from the success of TWO WOMEN, she was also in Cukor's charming western HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS, plus THE MILLIONAIRESS with Peter Sellers' Indian doctor, with Gable in his second last film IT STARTED IN NAPLES which is still a charmer, and the under-rated A BREATH OF SCANDAL which I liked a lot.

Brigitte Bardot acted in LA VERITE, and Ingmar Bergman provided the austere THE VIRGIN SPRING, while Stanley Kramer inflicted the ponderous INHERIT THE WIND on us, and John Ford provided a good late western SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.

Donen's ONCE MORE WITH FEELING showcased Kay Kendall in her last role, she had died in 1959.

There were 2 Minnelli's: another hothouse melodrama HOME FROM THE HILL, and the under-rated musical BELLS ARE RINGING, Judy Holliday's last appearance.

Elvis was back from the army in GI BLUES and FLAMING STAR.

For those who like that kind of thing: Jerry Lewis as THE BELLBOY.

Some ghastly musicals were Fox's CAN-CAN and Columbia's all-star PEPE, and the Rat Pack played around in OCEAN'S 11.

One that did not work at all was Lumet's too highbrow THE FUGITIVE KIND, though Brando, Magnani and Woodward should have generated some box office .... despite playing what seemed like caricatures of themselves.

and for Trash you can't beat MGM and Arthur Freed for THE SUBTERRANEANS, their sanitised version of Jack Kerouac and the beat generation as depicted by Leslie Caron, George Peppard and Roddy McDowell - followed by the star quartet of Natalie, RJ Wagner, Susan Kohner and George Hamilton tearing each other apart in ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS, plus the afore-mentioned GO NAKED IN THE WORLD. Lurid melodrama doesn't get much better... though there were also two Burton starrers: THE BRAMBLE BUSH and ICE PALACE; while THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS and FROM THE TERRACE were also contenders.

Some other delirious treats - not Trash, but Guilty Pleasures - were two Ross Hunter extravaganzas: Lana, Sandra and Quinn in PORTRAIT IN BLACK and Doris and Rex in MIDNIGHT LACE, and Dirk Bogarde as Lizst in SONG WITHOUT END, plus Fox's biblical: THE STORY OF RUTH, while Gordon Scott was Tarzan and Belinda Lee and Steve Reeves headed the Italian sword-and-sandal movies.

Lots of these are covered at the Trash label.

Dirk Bogarde double bill: those '50s British war movies...

Life during wartime back in the '50s - including a brace of early Bogardes.

THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM. I saw this 1954 war drama as a kid, and it still involves now as it almost plays like a documentary on the wartime air rescue service, who went out in their boats in all weathers to rescue crews from downed planes. Here a plane ditches in the North Sea as Michael Redgrave (carrying a briefcase of military secrets), Dirk Bogarde, Bonar Colleano and Jack Watling spend the film in a dinghy in the Shepperton tank. The rescue boat 2561 is headed by Nigel Patrick and Anthony Steel (in regulation duffel coats and polo neck sweaters) and the lower orders below deck include all the familiar faces: Sidney Tafler, Victor Maddern, Michael Ripper. The men in the dinghy start to deteriorate in adverse weather, a rescue plane also has to ditch and picks up a German, (Anton Diffring of course), while back on land posh wife (Rachel Kempson, Mrs Redgrave) and working class one (young Joan Sims) get a scene each, and there is also a middle-class girlfriend waiting, so class distinctions are as rigid as in IN WHICH WE SERVE. It is all directed at a brisk pace by Lewis Gilbert. Certainly one of the best war movies of the ‘50s.

APPOINTMENT IN LONDON. A marvellous early Dirk Bogarde film I had not seen before, this 1953 film, sensitively directed by Philip Leacock, is one of the better war films of the ‘50s. It seems to be a realistic depiction of Bomber Command, flying their Lancasters on those nightly bombing raids. Bogarde is the Wing Commander who has done more than his share of night flights but wants to continue, he is grounded though by his superiors who feel that fatigue has set in. Bryan Forbes is the young flyer who disobeys orders by letting his girl (secretly his wife) know he is safe after flights, much to Bogarde’s annoyance. Later Dirk has to confront the wife, Anne Leon. Lots of regulars are among the ranks: Richard Wattis, Sam Kydd, Terence Longdon, William Slyvester. Dinah Sheridan is perfect again as the naval officer and her romance with Bogarde, who gets his opportunity to fly again, nicely depicted. As it THE WAY TO THE STARS there is also that bar and hotel next to the airfield. In all, a pleasant surprise. Leacock directed some interesting little films like this, THE SPANISH GARDENER and REACH FOR GLORY (both reviewed here , Bodarde, war labels) before going over to American television directing series like “The Waltons”, “Dynasty” and “Falcon Crest”.



SEA OF SAND. One of those British war movies they turned out a lot in the ‘50s, this 1958 one is rather a companion piece to ICE COLD IN ALEX. Here our motley crew are behind enemy lines tasked to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the North Africa campaign, in 1942. Guy Green keeps it moving nicely and the desert is like an ocean of sand with that crisp black and white photography. John Gregson and Michael Craig lead our men, with Richard Attenborough as one of the squaddies. The usual conflicts arise and sacrifices are made; surprisingly the young 21 year old who confides that his wife had a son a week earlier manages to survive – I had him down as a goner! It is an under-rated, well-made example of the war genre with some splendid moments, and a nice coda at the end.

Back in the '40s during the war those films like IN WHICH WE SERVE, THE WAY TO THE STARS, THE GENTLE SEX, 2000 WOMEN and THE DAY WILL DAWN are still very affecting and were just the ticket then - then came those expensive '60s re-creations like BATTLE OF BRITAIN, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR and no end of stuff like OPERATION CROSSBOW or WHERE EAGLES DARE!

People We Like: the great dependables ...

Jack Hawkins [1910-1973]. No wonder when Howard Hawks was casting LAND OF THE PHAROAHS in ’55, he chose Jack for his Pharoah, he has the required natural authority here to be a very commanding Egyptian king. No wonder when William Wyler was casting BEN-HUR he chose Jack for the part of the Roman admiral Quintus Arrius. Again, Jack was perfect here, and no wonder when John Ford was casting his GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD in ’58 Jack was the obvious choice for the police commander – which led to all those cop dramas on television. Hawkins it seems always had that natural authority which made him ideal for military men in war dramas and costumers. Odd to think that when young he and Jessica Tandy were married to each other. Other great Hawkins roles of course include his Allenby in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (below), THE CRUEL SEA, ZULU, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, with Loren in JUDITH, with Ty Power in THE BLACK ROSE (1950), MANDY, THE MALTA STORY, LORD JIM, WATERLOO and he is perfect as the leader of THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN in 1960. I won't mention the dreadful SHALAKO or GREAT CATHERINE in '68!
An aside: a lot has been written about the supposed "gay subtext" inserted by Gore Vidal in BEN HUR, concerning Boyd and Heston, but I wonder if they did not have a word with Jack too, as although his hobby is training fighting men in Rome, he practically slavers when he sees the hunky Ben at the oars, and that whole scene and the ones following are all about Hawkins and his attraction to Heston. Is it just me or is that whole "ramming scene" very suggestive .... later Ben is like his hunky boyfriend when they arrive in Rome and Hawkins then "adopts" him, giving Ben his signet ring - it's almost like a civil partnership ceremony! Hawkins though lost his voice in 1966 but continued acting with a voice box and being dubbed (usually by Charles Gray). A brave man indeed.



Trevor Howard [1913-1988]. Trevor was a star and a leading man for a long time, and then like Hawkins and James Mason had a good run in the 60s in strong supporting parts and kept busy right until the end. One always knew one was going to enjoy any movie with Trevor. He was married to actress Helen Cherry and seems to have been a bit of a hell-raiser in his time, but what an actor. I like him as the young leading man in THE GOLDEN SALAMANDER, ’49 with the teenage Anouk Aimee, and THE CLOUDED YELLOW, in 1950 with Jean Simmons, after his breakthrough roles in BRIEF ENCOUNTER (he is just right as Alec Harvey), GREEN FOR DANGER, THE WAY TO THE STARS, THE THIRD MAN and for Lean, his lover coming back into the life of married Ann Todd in THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS in 1948 (a recent discovery, and several of Howards are reviewed here, as per label). THE HEART OF THE MATTER and OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS are also key roles, as are his African roles in THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN for Zanuck by Huston, and Jack Cardiff’s THE LION in 1962, where his gruff manner is perfect. I like RUN FOR THE SUN with Jane Greer and Widmark in ’56, where he is he Nazi holed up in the jungle, and his evil villain in INTERPOL with Anita Ekberg and Vic Mature in ’57. Then there were Carol Reed’s THE KEY with Loren and Holden, and of course SONS AND LOVERS for Cardiff where he and Wendy Hiller are ideal as the warring parents. He crops up in OPERATION CROSSBOW, is ideal in THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (top with Harry Andrews), and BATTLE OF BRITAIN, and of course back with Lean in Ireland for that priest in RYAN’S DAUGHTER. He was re-united with Celia Johnson for that nice telefilm STAYING ON in 1980. Then there was Wagner for Visconti in LUDWIG in ’72 with Silvano Mangano as Mrs Wagner, Losey’s A DOLL’S HOUSE as Dr Rank, STEVIE with Glenda Jackson, and a schmaltzy Christmas movie CHRISTMAS EVE with Loretta Young in ’86. These are just a few in a long and varied career – and of course his Captain Bligh opposite Brando in the ’62 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. They don’t really make them like Trevor any more.



Nigel Patrick [1913-1981]. Nigel was a dapper gent, very insouciant, bred in the theatre and had a some good movie roles in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He is ideal as the teacher who regrets carrying on with Michael Redgrave’s wife in Rattigan’s THE BROWNING VERSION in 1951, and the test pilot who marries Ann Todd in Lean’s THE SOUND BARRIER in ’52, as well as Mr Jingle in THE PICKWICK PAPERS, young Audrey Hepburn’s husband in YOUNG WIVE’S TALE in ’51, and the test driver who wrecks his racing car for love of Ava Gardner in PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN. He pops up in RAINTREE COUNTY in ’57, and that year stars in and directs a droll black comedy HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE, which is too little known now. He is ideal as the police superintendent solving the mystery of SAPPHIRE, a race drama from 1959, and he is the defence council who defends Peter Finch’s Oscar Wilde in THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE in 1960, a splendid performance, as is his turn with Jack Hawkins in THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN in 1960. Other roles of note were in ALL FOR MARY in ’56 and THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM, BATTLE OF BRITAIN as well as lots of theatre and television. We like Nigel a lot.

HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE - Having also recently seen Charles Coburn again in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, Nigel Patrick in THE BROWNING VERSION and THE SOUND BARRIER, and Wendy Hiller again in I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING, it was a pleasure to see them together in the 1957 British comedy HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE, directed by Patrick, who also plays the lead and is as splendidly insouciant as ever. He and wife Wendy are the impoverished aristocrats trying to bump off their American relation – Coburn – but every attempt goes wrong, leading to members of the family being bumped off instead. It is low key but nicely droll and should be a much better known black comedy. Supporting players are those wonderful eccentrics Athene Seyler and Katie Johnson (from THE LADYKILLERS), with a young Anthony Newley and an almost silent Michael Caine in one of his first bit parts. A Warwick film which Columbia used to distribute.



Harry Andrews [1911-1989]. Like Anthony Quayle Harry is another ‘great dependable’, equally at home as military men in any war film, or in costume in those ‘50s epics like his Persian king Darius in Rossen’s ALEXANDER THE GREAT in ’56, Balthor the advisor to Gina Lollobrigida’s queen in SOLOMON AND SHEBA, or Hector in the best film about HELEN OF TROY, in 55. He excels of course in ICE COLD IN ALEX, Lumet’s THE HILL, and again like the others here had a very prolific progidious career. He is just right too as the brother of Beryl Reid in the 1970 film of Orton’s ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE eager to get his hands on that enterprising young man. Then there were his roles in Huston’s MOBY DICK, Preminger’s SAINT JOAN, war films like A HILL IN KOREA, a little film I like REACH FOR GLORY with Kay Walsh in 1962 (I must report back on that one), Nick Ray’s 55 DAYS AT PEKING, NOTHING BUT THE BEST, Lumet’s THE DEADLY AFFAIR, THE JOKERS and so many others, BATTLE OF BRITAIN of course, Losey's MODESTY BLAISE with Vitti, and his Lord Lucan in Richardson’s THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE in ’68. Harry kept going until the end of the 80s. He was certainly a trouper.
An enduring memory of the ‘80s is an edition of “This Is Your Life” which was devoted to Harry – and to his, and our, astonishment, out walked Gina Lollobrigida in full Queen of Sheba dress, including that hair ornament, to thank Harry for helping her with her English during the shoot of SOLOMON AND SHEBA. Then she sat down next to a bemused Beryl Reid. Pity I didn’t get to video that…. His IMDB profile lists lots of theatre work with Gielgud and Olivier. I think Harry was what was mentioned then as a “confirmed bachelor” – it is always a pleasure to see him in any role, large or small.

Next: some great female dependables and a couple of dames!