TPTV Films Page 16

On the Night of the Fire (1939) "The Fugitive" Yank title

Gritty dramas set just before WWII, I find do not usually hold up well, but this was very good with the odd casting (in my mind) of a 37 year old Ralph Richardson as a cheap barber who gets himself embroiled in blackmail and murder, AND what was very odd is that it was clearly set in Newcastle Upon Tyne YET not one person had a Geordie accent - some London, some Manchester, but I suppose then the general public were not aware of regional accents as we are now. Why then was it not set in London.

Irene Handl had a very minor part with two appearances of one line and made it into the titles, as did a 16 year old Glynis Johns - two of my favourite actresses.

Yes, well worth the two hours, even though it stuttered a bit about two thirds of the way through.

To the Devil a Daughter (1976)

As previously mentioned, I was/am a fan of Dennis Wheatley and have a small library of his books, having read a number of them during the 1960s when I got hooked on his devil worship stories.

This film was based on the book of the same name and so at the time I looked forward to watching it, but now having watched it again after all those years I realise that I remembered nothing of the film itself and was disappointed to see it made for a poor film (probably why it was so immemorable), but isn't that always the case.

Even Christopher Lee in a main character part couldn't make much of it, so the highlight was, for a dirty old fart like me, a clear full frontal nude shot of 17 year old Nastassja Kinski as the maiden up for sacrifice.

Mr Barrowclough (Brian Wilde) and Miss Jones (Frances de la Tour) both made very brief appearances.............not much more to say, really.

The Long Dark Hall (1951)

Yes, there was a long dark hall, but it did nothing for the plot, having said that, I enjoyed it, my only criticism being that it finished all to quickly as the end was sort of bundled together in the last 5 minutes - there was clearly more mileage to be had or perhaps they ran out of money?

Anyway, Mr and Mrs (Lilli Palmer) Rex Harrison were both very good as husband and wife trying to face together his murder conviction of a drunken show girl Harrison had a dalliance with and was found in her dressing room stabbed with a knife Harrison had given to her as a gift. He didn't do it of course as you see the murderer right from the outset of the film, it was more about the seemingly impossible odds against Harrison being executed.

Raymond Huntley sans tash played the police Inspector investigating the case, and there were minor parts for the likes of Michael Medwin and The Major (Ballard Berkeley) from Fawlty Towers as the police Superintendent.

Colonel March Investigates (1953)

Apparently three stories from the TV series "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" (don't remember it) with an eye patched Boris Karloff working for the 'The Department of Queer Complaints'...........(no comment), which are enigmatic crime capers - like a poor man's Jonathan Creek from many years later on'telly.

Struggled to the end more out of curiosity than anything else. Boris was worth a look and one of the three stories had Joan Sims as a scatty secretary which was a bit of fun and Richard Wattis played a dodgy nightclub owner in one of the others.

The only other thing to come out of this, is that I'd never realised before that Boris Karloff was English - born and died in the UK....................AND was married six times!

Tptv did show the colonel march series as you say the film was just a few episodes stuck together, like you I never realised boris Karloff was English looked on the internet about him found I drove past a blue plaque about him every day in forest hill. I also discovered that the studio was in southall never knew there was one there

Murder at the Grange (1952)

Another like the Colonel March one, in it being made from the TV series "Inspector Morley, late of Scotland Yard, Investigates" (and again don't remember it). No one of note in it, but nonetheless a good murder yarn with a twist and all done and dusted in 30 minutes. I enjoyed it.

Chance of a Lifetime (1950)

A really good film from the pen and direction of Bernard (later Lord) Miles and an actor I have always enjoyed seeing in film/TV and hearing on the radio. Apparently, the secretary in the office was played by his wife Josephine Wilson and the two of them set up the famous Mermaid Theatre in London.

Small agricultural factory given over to the work shy workers when the owner (Miles) has had enough of the labour relations. Sounds boring? Good script and excellent acting make for a good story with some humour.
And a number of well know faces:-

Basil Radford, who made a number of films with Naunton Wayne as a comedy turn.
Kenneth More - not one of my favourites, but you can't win 'em all.
Hattie Jacques, who apparently did all her own welding in the film!
Geoffrey Keen, did lots especially later in James Bond films
Patrick Troughton, found fame as a Doctor Who
Peter Jones, laughingly as a Xenobian delegate interpreter
Erik Chitty, loads but especially as a teacher in the TV series "Please Sir"

And, oh look! There's our mate Sam Kydd

The Riverside Murder (1935)

I'd seen this before, but it was a must see again for me as it was Alastair Sim's first film and in it, he plays a slightly comic role as a plain clothes Police Sergeant with, it might be noted, a quite strong Scottish accent and showing wonderful acting prowess.

Good murder mystery, especially for it's time, with a sort of twist - one where you needed to exercise all your credulity to believe the end of the plot, but hey, why not have a bit of fantasy and not look too deeply if the film has given you some enjoyment.

See it if you can.

Yes, I know I normally only do early B&W, but couldn't resist this

That'll Be the Day (1973)

Convinced I'd seen this before, it was some way in before I realised I was thinking of the sequel "Stardust" - here we see the lead character Jim MacLaine (David Essex) up to the point before he found fame as a pop star.

We'll ignore the fact that some of the songs they played were not released until long after the time the film was set in, and say that it was worth a watch with a number of people of note (ALL looking oh so young!! Robert Lindsey, Karl Howman, Rosemary Leach etc.) with pop star luminaries such as Billy Fury and Keith Moon, with Ringo Starr showing what a good actor he was when away from The Beatles films.

Maybe not as good as its follow up, but as I say, well worth a watch.

Bang You're Dead (1954) Yank title "Game of Danger"

Had a devil of a job finding this on the (now) Yank IMDb, especially when their search couldn't come up with Jack Warner - the ORIGINAL and English film title was a no-go. GRRRRR - bloody Americans.

Anyway, set on an old American air force base where English families are having to live in the Nissen huts left by the Yanks because of the severe housing shortage in the UK ("Homes fit for heroes"? Don't make me laugh............)

So, young boy finds a loaded pistol in one of the unused huts and playing a game with it he accidentally shoots and kills a local yob. Along comes an innocent Michael Medwin, who'd had fight with yob earlier, picks up the gun, along comes PC Plod and an arrest is made. No spoilers here as you see that at the outset and then see if it can all be resolved in the end as the MM character faces the noose.

Not a bad film EXCEPT FOR the young boy has a mate who constantly plays the same record on a wind-up player he carries around with him all the time and and very soon this becomes very f**king annoying!! Apart from that annoyance, it would be impossible to carry round an open lid old 78 record player playing a disc anyway, but he "managed" it somehow - ridiculous.

There were still families in our village living in an old Italian POW Camp in the 50's.They did get council houses eventually.

WOW. I remember when my Dad was demobbed in 1953 we had to live with my grandmother until a house was available, and while we waited they put us in a new council house we had to share with another couple - ridiculous situation as we had the back half of the three bedroom end of terrace and they had the front half! So, it was shared bathroom and kitchen, which had two cookers, and the back garden was split down the middle.

Fortunately, this didn't last long and we eventually got our own council house, but on the day we moved in somebody had forgot to connect the electricity.

OK Herc. How do you decided when to post here or give it it's own thread?

Also when you've reviewed them it's too late. Would be good to know when they show them again though.

Quote: Chappers @ 29th July 2020, 6:02 PM

OK Herc. How do you decided when to post here or give it it's own thread?

Also when you've reviewed them it's too late. Would be good to know when they show them again though.

View original

Er, well as were now into the 16th page of posts, I'm not sure what to say.

As far as the reviews are concerned, I've been keeping a list of my viewings since I wandered off last year after the second Rude Boy debacle, and so some of these I saw months ago, but they do repeat them often as I'm now finding I'm not watching so many now owing to the repeats.
For that reason, I can't help you as to when they are next on - you'll just have to keep an eye on the schedules. For example, I go through the TPTV channel (445 on Virgin) once week and pick out the British pre/post films and store them to record on my V digi-box every Saturday morning for the coming week.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947)

I've seen Great Expectations and Oliver Twist many times, but this one in the "trilogy" from the immediate post war British cinema has been noticeable by its absence on TV until now, thanks to TPTV, and a film I have never seen before.

I love early adaptations of Dickens (I have a complete set of his works) as they seem to set the mood of malevolence and drab, extreme poverty far better than modern colour films do.

Didn't realise Derek Bond, who played the lead and very well, was so tall, and along with him there were some notable famous actors of the period, the best one being maybe Cedric Hardwicke who played the evil uncle.

Also in the film, in various importance of roles were Bernard Miles (love him), Sybil Thorndike, Patricia Hayes, Cyril Fletcher, Stanley Holloway, James Hayter and uncredited - Hattie Jacques, Jean Marsh, Dandy Nichols, Andrew Sachs etc etc

Yes, a very good adaption, highly recommended