davidvmcgillivray-24-905811 Reviews

Daphne du Maurier (1971 TV Special)

The mysterious Daphne du Maurier

[7/10 · 28 March 2024]

Radio producer Wilfred De'Ath knows a lot more than he's saying about one of the UK's most famous female novelists. He says that she rarely sees anybody in her isolated home on a Cornish hilltop and that this is the first time that she's agreed to be filmed. But they embrace warmly because he'd already interviewed her several times on radio. One of his first questions is odd: are her powers failing? She scoffs at this. But only a year after this film was transmitted in 1971 she published her last novel, poorly received. Although du Maurier is dressed mannishly in a shirt, slacks, socks and boots, there's naturally no mention of her alleged affairs with women. But when the film was repeated on BBC4 (27.3.24) it accompanied the 2007 drama "Daphne" about du Maurier's affair with actress Gertrude Lawrence. (There's probably a coded reference in the documentary to pre-Great War gay life when she talks about men who took milk in their coffee as "effeminate.") The film is quite modern in style: du Maurier is filmed chatting as she hikes to the coast, or sits in the garden, or lounges around her home, and conversation sometimes overlaps. But it's now surprising that there's no archive. Her father, Gerald du Maurier, made films, but we don't see them. But we hear about him and the rest of her illustrious family (her grandfather, George du Maurier, wrote "Trilby) and she brings out her original typewritten MS of "Rebecca". There on the first line is "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again", which is a bit of a thrill. There are only passing references to her horror stories, today as well-known as her romances. But De'Ath is obsessed with "Rebecca" (there's a long recitation), and he appears uninterested in "The Birds", even though both films were directed by Hitchcock. Possibly to many, du Maurier, who died in 1989, is an enigma. This film is enlightening as much for what it leaves out as what it includes.

The Summer with Carmen (2023)

Potential feelgood summer hit for the gay community

[8/10 · 16 March 2024]

This Greek film subverts the love story by having gay partners working on the script of a film, extracts of which are cleverly interspersed with the action and sometimes amusingly contradicts it. I'd go so far as to say this is a real original. Even if I'm wrong, I believe I'm right in saying the film will lead to a major offer to director Zacharias Mavroeidis. He's made a few films before but nothing that's had potentially international appeal. This will be a particular joy for film fans, referencing Hollywood and British cinema. Pretentious or not, I knew from the first perfectly framed shot, on the rocks of the Athens coast, that Mavroeidis has talent. This was indeed the case. He draws excellent performances from his entire cast, notably charismatic star Yorgos Tsiantoulas. The film is also beautifully filmed around Athens and some of the footage on the coast is stunning. It includes a sequence in which the partners imagine turning their film into a musical, which is a delight. Zacharias and Yorgos were both at the British premiere at Flare last night, 15 March 2024, and told us great stuff about the Greek film industry (no agents, no intimacy co-ordinators), Carmen the dog, and Zacharias's hope that the film will be condemned by the Greek church. Yes, there's a lot of male nudity and that may be the main reason the screening was sold out. But the film is much more than exploitation: another critic has said that "existential philosophy has never been more playful than it is here" and he's dead right.

The Witch of Kings Cross (2020)

Not bad attempt to bring Rosaleen Norton to a much wider audience

[6/10 · 7 January 2024]

Rosaleen Norton (1917-1979) flourished in Australia in the 1950s and 60s as a much-censored artist and alleged witch. This film attempts an occult mood with only partial success. The candles, interpretative dances on a small stage, and music choices are banal. But the dancer who depicts Norton does resemble her, and the photos and art works are of a much better quality than in Nevill Drury's biography. As in the book, there's little critical objectivity. Did Norton genuinely believe she travelled across astral planes to commune with Pan and Hecate, or was she generally playing up to the media? (There's a photo of her happily donning a pointed witch's hat for a photo op). And was her art any good? In book and film they look more like illustrations. Bottom line, however, is that Norton's story is fascinating, perhaps the more so because until quite recently it was little known outside Australia. Norton and one of her lovers, none other than the British classical conductor Sir Eugene Goossens, were the victims of almost Victorian (and I don't mean the Australian state) censorship. Goossens' career was destroyed and (not mentioned here) he was given no credit for conceiving the idea of Sydney Opera House. Norton's art was blacked out and burned and she was jailed. It's only right and proper that we should know more about this fearless bohemian. I'll be writing more about her soon on the brilliant blog The Reprobate.

Swipr (2017)

Chilling little short from 2 film makers who should do a feature

[8/10 · 23 December 2023]

This short filmed entirely in somebody's flat packs more shivers into just under 8 minutes than many horror films manage in 90. The timing of the shocks is immaculate but then Craig and Coleman have years of experience on TV commercials and the like. Emily-Alice Sesto also gives a convincing performance as the frightened femme. There's a final, unlikely, but nevertheless clever twist. Film was first seen on YouTube (it's still there and on Scaredy Bird) and when I saw it on the London Live Film Festival in 2019 I declared that I'd watch out for the next thing Craig and Coleman did. Unaccountably there's been nothing else. This is their one and only credit on IMDb. They've stuck to their promotional stuff. Not only should they knock off more horror for the festival circuit, they clearly have the skills to make their feature film debut. Have a look at "Swipr" and see if you don't agree.

The Missing Scientists (1955)

Your guess is as good as mine

[1/10 · 17 August 2023]

Who knows the provenance of this left-over from the early 1950s? (I bet it was shot earlier than 1955. By 1954 Irene Papas, who has almost nothing to do here, was in big-budget movies in Italy). My guess is that the dreary "thriller" was an unsold TV pilot for a series in which minor Hollywood leading man Paul Campbell would have been some kind of investigator into Euro espionage. The US/West German (?) co-production may have seemed excitingly glamorous but the reality is people having dull, often post-synchronised conversations about things of no interest in locations of no visual appeal. (Stuff was also shot in London, but we'll come back to that). There's no action. Admittedly George and Gertrude Fass were just starting out as TV writers, but they were involved in some top shows. What went wrong? Everything points to producers trying to recoup by adding copious library footage (there really is a huge amount of it) in order to sell it to British cinemas as a featurette. This seems to have worked. The Renown re-master in 2009 (quality is still poor) comes complete with a BBFC certificate. The film was in fact released in 1956 by DUK, one of E. J. Fancey's companies. Is this the reason daughter Adrienne plays a receptionist and, if so, was the London footage also added later? As a matter of interest, Adrienne gives a much better performance than "Jacqueline" Collins. Yes, it's Jackie demonstrating why she was never going to make it as an actress like sister Joan. Can anyone be bothered to do more research? I can't.

The Trial of Madame X (2024)

Umpteenth version of the potboiler is a sight to behold

[2/10 · 28 June 2023]

Alexandre Bisson's 1910 play "Madame X", about a woman who finds herself being defended for murder by her long-lost son, is done here as a cheap filler. It was shot at Viking Studios although also included is glorified home movie footage shot in France probably by one-shot director Paul England. Mara Russell-Tavernan, credited as Mary Taviner, chews the scenery in the title role, something she did in two similar Poverty Row productions. Bit part player England also plays a role and is almost certainly reading his lines from a script on his desk. In the climactic court room scene another actor appears to forget his next line and there is a jump cut. The interiors look very cramped indeed, but there's one jail cell shot that makes stylish use of confined space. There's also pleasure in witnessing a rare screen appearance (as the judge) by Hamilton Deane, author of the "Dracula" play (1924). It's under an hour long so it's not much of a commitment. Bear in mind that the plot no longer makes sense and probably never did. The verdict handed down to Madame X was probably highly unlikely even in 1910. Curiously the version I saw (on Talking Pictures) was called "Jacqueline", gave Bisson no credit, and included Hammond organ music by Robin Richmond.

The Eyes (1960 TV Movie)

Seemingly unbroadcast pilot may be director Ken Hughes's first credit

[1/10 · 4 November 2022]

One of the oddest films to turn up on the Talking Pictures channel is this failed TV pilot, possibly never broadcast until now. The channel's website claims it dates from 1960, but the film plainly has a 1951 copyright date. It was shot in a couple of corners of the Merton Park studios and looks incredibly cheap. It was aimed at US tv: it has US-style ad breaks, one after the prologue, and the cast is either American or pretending to be. That prologue features two eyes disembodied in a black space (a couple of decades before the disembodied mouths in Beckett's play "Not I" and of course "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") and seems to promise something much more sinister than what we get, a feeble spin on Patrick Hamilton's play "Gaslight". A "hysterical" woman (Jean MacDonald) is patronised by two men - her husband and doctor - who are of the opinion she's losing her mind. The doc believes the husband's claim she's trying to kill him. But the unfaithful blighter is gaslighting her in the hope that she'll be put away and that he can go off with his mistress. The ending, including a knife murder, is badly-handled by director Ken Hughes. But the newly-discovered film becomes his first credit as director and this counts for something. He made his feature debut with "Wide Boy" the following year.

The Ghost of Richard Harris (2022)

Surprisingly detailed account of the hell-raiser actor and pop singer

[7/10 · 24 October 2022]

I wondered whether there was a need for a documentary about Richard Harris, who in the 20 years since his death hasn't maintained the almost mythological fame of his fellow hell-raisers Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole (the latter seen here rugby tackling Harris to the ground!) Director Adrian Sibley's achievement is to re-awaken our interest in a great actor (his performance in "This Sporting Life" is timelessly "real") and a unique singer (you try and attempt the range and colour of his performance of "MacArthur Park"). Sibley seems to have been given an open cheque book by Sky to travel everywhere necessary. He talks to all Harris's three sons and their mother (who died earlier this year), Jimmy Webb (writer of "MacArthur Park") and even - gasp! - Russell Crowe, who worked with Harris on "Gladiator". Thanks perhaps to Mum and the Harris boys, there's some great archive including home movies from Harris's childhood. The film is not hagiography. Harris behaved badly and several people speak ruefully about this. He also made a whole slew of minor films, a few with his second wife Ann Turkel, also now almost forgotten. Sibley stitches everything together with great ability. (He's been making films for well over 20 years). My only regret is the lack of his film bits prior to "This Sporting Life." All his other major roles are here including his late career revival as Albus Dumbledore. Sorry, but in my view his replacement, Michael Gambon, didn't have the Harris gravitas.

Tubby Hayes: A Man in a Hurry (2015)

Worthwhile tribute to a British jazz great

[7/10 · 9 August 2022]

Tubby Hayes was something of a prodigy, working professionally as a tenor sax player from his mid-teens. This documentary, made by a director who knows what he's doing (he also designed the graphics), puts the case that Hayes could have been a giant of modern jazz if (a) he had been born in the US, and (b) if he hadn't died of heroin-induced heart failure at 38. A wide range of authoritative speakers, including Hayes' biographer Simon Spillett, and Hayes' son Richard, explain the musician's brilliance for the benefit of those who are not jazz aficionados, and a huge amount of television and film clips are packed into an hour's run time. They include "Dr Terror's House of Horrors", which introduced "Voodoo", one of Hayes' most popular numbers, and "London in the Raw" featuring Hayes' girlfriend, American jazz singer Joy Marshall, also destined to die young. Originally on a DVD that probably sold only to fans, the film is now more widely available, but is good enough to be on a major TV channel.

Dimanche, nous verrons... (2013)

Charming account of the Musée du Jouet (Toy Museum) in Brussels and its eccentric curator

[7/10 · 14 May 2022]

Opened in 1990, the Musée du Jouet (Toy Museum) in Brussels was a huge building housing tens of thousands of dolls, toys and games dating back to 1830. But even when this film was made in 2013, it had fallen into disrepair. Curator André Raemdonck had to force his way through towering piles of uncatalogued exhibits. The film's title, which translates as "Sunday, We'll See...", refers to his uncertainty about the museum's future. This doubt is shared by a committee, which seems unhappy about Raemdonck's management. (In all honesty some of the reviews on Trip Advisor were pretty bad: "It's more of a repository of old toys that are disorganized and poorly preserved.") Canadian director Sophie B. Jacques lets the place - and Raemdonck - speak for themselves. Some very young children are clearly delighted to be visiting. But Jacques captures an air of very faded grandeur. It would have helped to have had at least one exterior shot. We're not sure of the geography of the building, which seems to be part exhibition but mostly storage and living quarters. Raemdonck seems very tired, even when he's at a toy fair, buying odds and ends and putting them in a plastic bag. The film now has an added poignancy. Raemdonck died in 2020. The collection was put in storage and the building is now empty. Jacques's film has become a lovely obituary.

A Yank Comes Back (1949)

Burgess Meredith's 2nd film for the Crown Film Unit

[6/10 · 3 May 2022]

Burgess Meredith served with the US Air Force during World War II and came to the UK to make a light-hearted documentary, "A Welcome to Britain", advising GIs about the British way of life. Three years after the War ended, he returned to Britain to write and produce a similarly quirky film, this time reporting on how Britain was adapting in peace time. The conceit is that Meredith fails to make the film he wants (written by Coward, Greene and GBS), but is accompanied on research trips by an eager two-man film crew, who end up making the film we're watching. The message for the world is that productivity is up in many industries, but ordinary folk don't like rationing. As with the earlier film, Burgess pulls in favours from famous friends. The biggest star making a cameo here is Paulette Goddard. Meredith's style is relatively adventurous. There are plenty of jump cuts and zip pans. The comedy is now laboured, but the concept is fun and Meredith's final soliloquy, likening Britain to a wounded lion, is still stirring. Some scenes are staged (Meredith plainly isn't in a Welsh coal mine) but the real locations are great. Unbilled are strongwoman Joan Rhodes and one of William Friese-Greene's sons. Does anyone know which one? Whoever he is, he's a terrible actor. And that's Ronald Chesney playing the harmonica.

Vincent Price Is in the Country (1971 TV Movie)

Endearingly bonkers TV special is well worth seeing for Vincent singing and dancing

[6/10 · 12 December 2021]

Vincent Price, seemingly in the UK for "The Abominable Dr Phibes" (an extract from which, with Peter Gilmore plainly trying not to hurt the rats that are eating him alive, is shown) was tempted to front this summer special in which he pretends he's hosting a dinner party at a country house. The ill-assorted guests don't always look as though they're having a great time, particularly when The New Seekers launch into their new hit "Never Ending Song of Love". TV satirist Ned Sherrin really doesn't want to clap along. Pat Routledge tells unfunny show biz stories; cackling writer Margaret Powell is embarrassing; and a snarky, unknown, (drunk?) director called Michael Ayrton has been cut down to almost nothing. Cleo Laine sings (a lot). But Price (then 60) is the consummate professional. He acts out (with Ciaran Madden) the final scene of his stage hit "Gaslight"; waltzes with Routledge in a number they performed in the Broadway musical "Darling of the Day" (nobody mentions it closed after 31 performances); and most spectacularly performs a brilliant opening number written (as is all Price's material) by the great Dick Vosburgh. The show is as naff as it is mainly because of the involvement of the hack light ent director Bryan Izzard. But if revived the format of dinner table chat and variety interludes in an unusual location could work again. The programme was discovered by the BFI's Dick Fiddy and shown at London's BFI Southbank on 11.12.21. The audience was astonished and very receptive.

ITV Television Playhouse: Thunder on Sycamore Street (1957) Season 3, Episode 6

Not lost. Not about a convict. Quite a discovery

[7/10 · 15 August 2021]

1954 was a big year for Reginald Rose. He wrote "Twelve Angry Men" as well as this not dissimilar play about conscience for the CBS TV series "Studio One." The former had lasting success, both as a film and later a stage play. But Rose was required to re-write "Thunder on Sycamore Street" before it was broadcast. Executives worried that white prejudice against a black family would not play well in the American South. Rose replaced the black characters with a white ex-convict and his daughter. The play was subsequently adapted for TV throughout the world. But in every country with one exception the white convict stayed in the story. The exception was the UK. In 1957 the new and adventurous Granada TV hired Stanley Mann to reinstate the black family into Rose's play. (Racial violence was becoming common in the UK and would explode the following year in the Notting Hill Race Riots). The play is about white residents, who are planning to force a black family out of their street. At first it seems as though the second reel has been accidentally projected twice. But soon it's clear that the "Rashomon"-style construction is showing the same incident from three different perspectives. It's gripping stuff, well-played by everyone (although the accents are all over the place) and the ending, suggesting that hope for an end to mindless prejudice, lies with our children, is still moving. A telerecording in the ITV Archive was unseen until 2021, when it was included in a BFI Southbank tribute to Earl Cameron, who plays the black father. It's not in good condition and it shows once again that live TV drama in the UK at the time was primitive compared to the American "golden age." But director Silvio Narizzano does what he can with perhaps three lumbering cameras. Technical quality means that this will never be re-shown on TV. But it should be made available in cinematheques not only because of its message and the way it's handled but to remind viewers of subject matter that was not acceptable at the time in the US. Perhaps somebody with time on their hands could re-write the IMDb synopsis and remove the "lost film" keyword. It also goes without saying that Earl Cameron's mother is not played by Irish leading lady Constance Smith but the elderly black actress Connie Smith.

La Princesa de Woking (2020)

Short and sweet parody

[7/10 · 28 March 2021]

Short films are plentiful but generally the standard is so low that anything half decent is a delight. This is only a parody but it's precise and smart and leaves one wanting more. It's the work of two TV commercial makers calling themselves Big Red Button. They've chosen to spoof a genre not that well-known outside its homeland, the Latin American telenovela (soap opera). The joke is that it's not only shot but set in the UK. At the funeral of her mother, Becky receives a message from the grave. Performances are note-perfect and, although it's ridiculous, the story is, well, gripping. Not only did I want more (the film is only 7 minutes long) I would have watched next week's episode of the non-existent soap. Film was a finalist in the London Short Film Festival in 2020 and has since played Sky Arts (praised by none other than Mark Rylance), BBC2 and more. Strange that IMDb states that dialogue is in English when part of the fun is that everyone in Woking, Surrey, speaks Spanish.

Ask Any Buddy (2019)

Compilation of gay hardcore from 70s/80s is a record of a vanished society

[6/10 · 5 February 2021]

Evan Purchell is a film historian who previously assembled print ads for "classic era" (1970s-1980s) gay porn on an Instagram feed called "askanybuddy". The same title is used for a podcast in which Purchell exhibits a phenomenal knowledge of the gay porn personnel at work, mainly in the US, during this period. This film is a companion piece to the podcast consisting of extracts from 126 films from Purchell's collection. They include the work of most of the great auteurs of the period (Fred Halsted, Jack Deveau, Peter de Rome, Joe Gage, etc.) but most of the films themselves will be unknown to today's audiences. They were officially unavailable in territories where porn was illegal, notably the UK. Almost all have a sense of artistry and indeed social history. Shots were grabbed at gay events and in gay bars (one allegedly during a police raid) and there are references to heroes (Harvey Milk) and villains (Anita Bryant). But primarily "Ask Any Buddy" is a record of the ways in which gay men met pre-Internet: cruising, parties, sex cinemas, saunas. Almost all the locations are gone, almost all the performers and directors are dead. With no apparent previous film experience (this is his first credit on IMDb) Purchell has edited with a good deal of creativity, managing some striking juxtapositions. But even 80 minutes will be too much for those with only a passing interest in the subject matter. For aficionados here is a reminder of "adult films" that had plots, expected their performers to deliver dialogue (contrary to belief many porn models had drama training), and were often inspired by the work of the giants of Hollywood and Europe. Truly another world. Many viewers will be inspired to track down the films themselves. They're available on sites like xHamster, Tube Porn Classic and This Vid. Caveat emptor! Prints are sometimes poor dubs and incomplete.

Francis Bacon Fragments of a Portrait (1966 TV Movie)

1st important TV interview with Bacon, done by someone who really understood his work

[6/10 · 24 December 2020]

This appropriately stylish programme was made about Francis Bacon when he was 57 and recognised as the UK's greatest living painter. Director Michael Gill was a BBC hack, now mostly forgotten, who did many other documentaries for the Corporation, often about artists or royalty. (He's writer A.A. Gill's father). The interviewer, David Sylvester, was an early advocate of Bacon's work and asks pertinent questions. Bacon appears to be choosing his words carefully. But the subject of his private life doesn't come up. This is understandable. Homosexuality was at the time illegal in the UK. The truth was to come out nearly 20 years later in Melvyn Bragg's famously alcoholic interview for The South Bank Show. "We got very drunk," Bragg said later. "It showed." Gill's film is confined almost entirely to Bacon's squalid studio, which after the artist's death was recreated in a gallery in Dublin. Gill and cameraman Peter Suschitzky manage to make much of this location; at one point the two men are on the artist's bed and it's possible that this inspired David Bailey to do something similar with Andy Warhol in 1973. Most of Bacon's greatest work is seen but suffers from being reproduced in black and white. Bacon plays along to a degree with what was required of him. He gives a kind of performance at the beginning. But clearly he could not be persuaded to be captured at his easel. He mixes paint and that's all we get. Fans familiar with Bacon behaving badly in Bragg's film and in "Love Is the Devil" will be very interested in this serious, informative portrait. It completes the picture. (NB scenes in a slaughterhouse are very graphic). It's available on several platforms including YouTube and BBC iPlayer.

Alone with the Monsters (1958)

Only (?) film by a British poet expresses the frustration of feeling apart from the world

[5/10 · 14 October 2020]

This is the first credit on IMDb for Nazli Nour, a British poet, who hung out with the Beat Generation in Paris and is often linked with artist Liliane Lijn. Nour later married Tibetan lama Tarthang Tulku and settled with him in California. "Alone with the Monsters", made for the British Film Institute's Experimental Film Fund, may be Nour's only film, a statement of her spiritual beliefs. An old woman is jeered by a large crowd of people in the street. She makes her way home but the crowd finds where she lives and continues to laugh at her outside her door. Recalling when she was young, the woman is transformed into Nour herself. Passing from this life to another appears to curse her tormentors, who lie immobile in her street in a striking scene. Shot silent with music and effects added, the story is simplistic but clearly an artist's vision. It's possible that the inexperienced Nour had ideas that could be realised by cameraman Walter Lassally, much in demand for shorts in the 1950s. (He was soon to become part of the British kitchen sink movement before working internationally). The view from the crowd's world into the old woman's is a bold concept and the transitions from old to young woman are simple but effective. The film is available to view for free on BFI Player and has now been added to the BFI DVD/BluRay of "Dementia". It's a very complementary addition to the cult psychodrama.

The Men Who Speak Gayle (2020)

Charming little film that reveals the existence of another secret gay language - Gayle

[5/10 · 4 August 2020]

Whether or not the meeting was engineered, the little we hear of Nathan Kennedy's chats with Louis van Brakel - in van Brakel's home and on the stage of the attractive deco-style arts centre the Showroom in the town of Prince Albert in the Western Cape - will be enjoyed by students of gay history. We don't learn enough about either man. Why has young Kennedy learned Gayle, the Polari-like cant used by gay men during South Africa's apartheid era? Van Brakel actually spoke it at the time. All we find out about him is that he was unhappy in the Army but found his true calling working for airlines. He cuts a very glamorous figure indeed and seems to be delighting the very mixed audience at the Showroom. Why the film is just under 11 minutes long is hard to understand. This will be an introduction to Gayle for most viewers, but you will learn more about its history from Wikipedia. It appears much less complex than the British Polari and seems to consist mostly of substituting women's names for words, i.e. Olga = old, Gerty = girl. But surely an academic could have explained more? Co-produced by the BFI and currently available to watch for free on BFI Player.

The Kenny Everett Naughty Joke Box (1981 Video)

Time capsule comedy showing British humour at a crossroads

[4/10 · 23 July 2020]

As TV's technically innovative and anarchic "Kenny Everett Video Cassette" was drawing to a close in 1981, its star compered this very different comedy show tailored for the new home video market. Shot in a nightclub in London's Soho it features old-school comics, some in evening dress, doing dirty material that would not have been allowed on TV at the time. It's very much of its era, i.e. sexist, racist, homophobic, although this style of comedy was already on its way out. Alternative comedy was well established and would soon become the norm. Everett is between the two eras. He is as camp as Christmas on stage but in interspersed comedy sketches shot elsewhere he only lusts after semi-naked young women. In keeping with Everett's TV style, mistakes and chat with the film crew are kept in and there are constant references to tape editing and rewinding (as well as sinful Soho). The comics are a mixed bunch and some of their jokes are now toe-curling. William Rushton's act consists largely of repeating the word "pouves". Leslie Crowther does the X-rated routine he would have used for working men's clubs. A celebrity-packed audience seems to be having a great time. Editing is haphazard to put it mildly. The tape must have sold because it was followed in 1982 by "The New Kenny Everett Naughty Video". In this format Everett, supported by Barry Cryer and William Rushton, performed his TV characters in a studio to a small, largely female audience. Both tapes will be included as extras on a forthcoming Blu-ray release of the Everett movie "Bloodbath at the House of Death". Almost certainly they will be have to be preceded by warnings about outdated discriminatory language.

Flying with Prudence (1946)

"You're not flying home from Berlin now"

[7/10 · 9 June 2020]

Coming cold to this film, it's not at all clear for whom it was intended. The end title reveals that it was sponsored by the Air Ministry's Directorate of Accident Prevention. It was made to remind daredevil fighter pilots during World War II that they must use more care and attention during peace time. In her film debut Patricia Cutts climbs down from a safety poster and gives advice to a pilot and his navigator. The film has only become available to the public in recent years and it's quite a privilege to see it. The insight into commercial air travel in 1946 is fascinating. The plane (an Avro York) mainly carries military personnel, but there are two civilians. The flight consists of several short hops to India. At one stopover the flight crew gets tanked up in a bar and considers going on to a nightclub. At another there appear to be no facilities whatever apart from a tent. (There were still tents at London Airport at this time). According to the Imperial War Museum site the destination may be Karachi. I was left with the feeling that, if pilots really were behaving so recklessly in 1946, commercial passengers were extremely brave to fly with them. Technical credits are quite high for this type of information film and the so-called "trick" effects (Cutts keeps materialising in the cockpit) are smoothly done. Well worth catching.

A Deceitful Summer (2016)

No fan of British sexploitation should miss this unbelievably bad sex drama

[1/10 · 6 April 2020]

Steven Drew is a former male model with delusions that he can act, write and direct. His previous feature, "The Estate" (2011), is distinguished by a list of "worst British film ever" reviews on IMDb. This "new" (read on) effort is a sex drama with all the qualities we remember from "The Wife Swappers" (1970): a tawdry, melodramatic script; leaden direction; flat lighting; dull suburban settings; and crowd and bit players struggling with leading roles. The only comparable film to turn back the clock 50 years so successfully is "Killer B****" (2010). But Liam Galvin is David Lean compared to Drew. The lead characters are an Indian family although the representation of Indian culture is about as authentic as "Curry and Chips". The discovery of the late patriarch's private life leads his widow and her potty-mouthed Brit neighbour to swingers' clubs that are bad movie gold. Subplots are not of the remotest interest. Sex scenes are thankfully perfunctory given the awkwardness and unattractiveness of the participants. If the budget exceeded £500 I'd be surprised. The film is without doubt a cult in the making and only its previous unavailability seems to have prevented this. (Where it's been is anyone's guess. It has a 2016 copyright date but as lead player Gurdial Sira died in 2013, the film may be considerably older). Now that it has surfaced (needless to say on desperate-to-fill-its-schedule London Live) it should be snapped up for midnight screenings. We have been waiting for a successor to "The Room". This is it. I want little more than to introduce Steven Drew before the screening and congratulate him on an astounding achievement.

The Empire Strikes Door (2019)

Insignificant occurrence is the subject of an entertaining documentary

[8/10 · 29 February 2020]

Probably everyone reading this is aware that the original "Star Wars" film includes a scene in which a marching stormtrooper accidentally hits his helmeted head on a door frame. The incident gained more cult success after at least three extras claimed to be the culprit. Online presenter Jamie Stangroom became obsessed with it and spent three years investigating with all the integrity of a forensic scientist. He tried to talk to everyone who was on the Elstree set in 1977 and succeeded in talking to quite a few big names - Benicio del Toro!, John Boyega!, Noel Gallagher!? - who most certainly weren't. He includes a polygraph expert, the designer of the stormtrooper helmet (it was impossible to see through the visor), a "jury" (more online celebs), and none other than "Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz. But Stangroom's piece de resistance is the participation of two of the head-banging claimants. (The third - "EastEnders" milkman Michael Leader - didn't want to talk and then died 2016). Rather bravely (considering the fact that someone has to be lying), Martin Read and Laurie Goode submitted to the polygraph test. One of them romps home with a score of 99.21%. Stangroom manages to be authoritative and tongue-in-cheek about the whole silly business and the chances are high he'll make you laugh at it. The film premiered on YouTube last year and is still there. It's worth a look, despite the ad breaks every five minutes.

Affairs of a Rogue (1948)

British costume drama is uneven but good to look at

[7/10 · 29 January 2020]

This broadly factual account of part of the life of the Prince Regent, detailing his relationship with his strong-minded young daughter Princess Charlotte, has many strong points but cries out for a colour re-make that would address its flaws. It's elegantly mounted, both in the studio and on location, by the reliable and underestimated Cavalcanti, and it offers Cecil Parker, almost always a supporting actor, a chance to shine in a leading role. The script is based on a play that ran for over a year in London and much later and less successfully on Broadway. Judging by author Norman Ginsbury's other credits, my guess is that the sharp, witty dialogue is mostly that of comic screenwriter Nicholas Phipps. The problem is that the tone is overly comical, given that the focus shifts dramatically to the tragedy of Charlotte, only briefly able to find happiness with her chosen husband, Prince Leopold, before dying in childbirth. Then we return to Prinny being pompous and silly again. There is a lot of historical information here and much of it (references to Regent's Street, the Brighton Pavilion and so on) is given in a throwaway style with which fans of present-day historical TV drama will be familiar. Although "The First Gentleman" can't compare with "The Madness of King George", Alan Bennett's acclaimed take on Prinny's father, George III, mentioned but not seen, there is still enough here to recommend. The version currently on British TV, "Affairs of a Rogue", is the American cut, reduced by 20 minutes allegedly because of concerns about the Prince Regent's adultery. On a couple of occasions abrupt edits are noticeable. But the film seems quite long enough and it's hard to imagine what the missing footage would add. Interestingly a 1961 TV version of the play, with Charles Gray as the Prince Regent, also runs 90 minutes. It was one of 65 British TV plays discovered in the Library of Congress and it's been shown at London's BFI Southbank.

Remembering Merton Park Studios (2008 Video)

Old-timers talk about a minor British studio

[3/10 · 6 December 2019]

Details are sketchy but this appears to have been a privately-circulated video made for former employees of Merton Park studios, a much-maligned outfit in Wimbledon, London, best-known for poor quality second features until it closed in 1967. It's the last work to date by Kenneth V. Rowles, who I wrote about in my book "Doing Rude Things": "His cult status rests almost entirely on one featurette." That film was the soft-porn drama "Take an Easy Ride". Rowles was a bog-standard film maker, but his tribute to Merton Park is at the very least technically superior to that of some fan boys today. Rowles interviewed several technicians in the pub next door to the site of the studio. (The stages were demolished for housing. Long Lodge, the country house used for administration, is currently occupied by Bedford Insurance. There is a plaque there dedicated to the studio). Most interviewees talk about post-production detail that will mean little to the average viewer. The only "name" participant is director John Hough. What the film lacks is critical perspective. At the time of their production the "Scotland Yard" and Edgar Wallace series were regarded as the lowest of the low. The only person who comments on the poor production standards is someone who worked on the special effects of "Konga". Film clips look as though they're ripped from VHS tapes. Down the years, however, Merton Park productions have gained a cult following from TV screenings. They now run regularly on the Talking Pictures channel, where I saw this documentary. If anyone reading this has fond memories of Edgar Wallace's revolving bust, they should watch out for it.

Girls of the Moulin Rouge (1985 TV Movie)

Workmanlike record of a show at the Moulin Rouge in 1985

[5/10 · 22 November 2019]

Worthwhile if superficial documentary about the Moulin Rouge that includes extracts from the revue "Femmes, Femmes, Femmes", which at the time of filming had been running for two years. The most interesting interviews are with long-serving performers Debbie de Coudreaux and Elaine Thomas. De Coudreaux is ambiguous about the long hours (two shows a day, seven days a week) and pay. We also hear from showgirls (many of whom are British), German choreographer Doris Haug, people in the street, and Marty Pasetta, who seems to be directing the film we're watching but doesn't get a credit for it. There's next to nothing about the history of the theatre (then approaching its 100th anniversary), apart from quick references to Toulouse-Lautrec and Josephine Baker, and there are only glimpses backstage. This was not what the TV audience wanted. The film was made in the early days of the Playboy channel, whose viewers are finally rewarded with copious footage of topless women and a swimmer whose speciality is eating a banana underwater. Despite the many claims about "spectacle", the show comes across as anything but spectacular, more an old-fashioned floor show of the type that was already going out of fashion. But for those who can't afford the sky-high ticket prices for the Moulin Rouge, here at least is some eye candy. Veteran American voice actor Melendy Britt does the narration in a French accent!