TPTV Films Page 13

Tinker (1949)

Odd little docudrama this, made about training boys to work in the coal mines with seemingly only one professional actor who played the title character of Tinker and then disappeared into obscurity. The rest of the "cast", and there were a number of them, seemed to be a bunch of local lads who were at odds with each other over this very young boy they assumed was from a gypsy family.

What WAS notable about it was the film finishing exactly as "Get Carter" did with the slag buckets taking waste out to dump in the sea. (won't spoil either film) Hmmm, thinking about it now - I wonder if its where they got the idea for the end of the Michael Caine film?

The Golden Disc (1958) The Inbetween Age, Yank title

Is basically a poor man's Expresso Bongo, which was made a year later with Cliff Richard which was only slightly better than this one, with this time the easily forgotten "pop sensation" Terry Dene.

Just about worth a look to see what we in the UK were making of this new Rock n Roll from the States via Rock Around the Clock with Bill Haley, and the only thing I remember about Terry Dene was him featuring on the front page of me Mum & Dad's newspaper of him sans trousers pissed out of his head staggering along a London street - needless to say his career in the pop industry took a very quick nose-dive, especially with the arrival of such singers as the clean cut Cliff.

Speak of the devil (woman)............................

Expresso Bongo (1959)

Usual format of boy singer discovered in a coffee bar (again!!), with mostly good reviews on the IMDb, but at least one agreed with me..............this is awful. Couple of reasonable songs by Cliff, but his acting was wooden and the musical interludes by other members of the cast were cringe-worthy. The most annoying though was Laurence Harvey's overacting as a back street Jewish fly boy agent - every time he was on the screen (and that was a lot!) I wanted to punch is lights out.

I did wonder if Cliff's name in the film was a joke, as it was Bert, but his agent didn't think that good for a pop singer so decided to make it Bongo Herbert.............words fail me. And I wondered if he protested at being made to smoke in the film as it didn't look right for his clean cut image.

The only person to come out of this with any credit in my eyes was Sylvia Syms.

Play It Cool (1962)

Starring Billy Fury (who can't act) along with the likes of Bobby Vee, Helen Shapiro and Shane Fenton (the blond Alvin Stardust) in a pop film that has the most ridiculous plot. It's only saving grace is you're able to see very early (pre Beatles) pop stars of the day, and if it hadn't been for them I would have switched off after about a quarter of an hour.

Mix Me a Person (1962)

Released a month after Play It Cool, this is a polished film by comparison with Adam Faith who CAN act, although the plot again left a bit to be desired. Again set mostly in a coffee bar and again with a ridiculous set of circumstances Adam is caught red-handed as the killer of a policeman and is sentenced to death, but the defence QC's bit of stuff (a female GP) is convinced he is innocent - can she prove this and stop Adam being hung? I'm not telling.

Early appearance of Tony Blair's father in law, the Scarse git.

Seems to be a season for fifties pop singers.
Adam was quite an actor eg: Budgie and with Peter Sellers in Never Let Go.

Yes, and although there was a song released by Adam.................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPT5YE3nlGc

..............this was not a pop film in the true sense of the word and was quite a good drama. I see Budgie has just started running on TPTV.

Whenever I see a video of Adam Faith like this one, I can't help smiling as I have Freddie Starr's impersonation stuck in my head.

Quote: john tregorran @ 22nd June 2020, 9:40 AM

Seems to be a season for fifties pop singers.
Adam was quite an actor eg: Budgie and with Peter Sellers in Never Let Go.

View original

Speak of the devil........................

Never Let Go (1960)

Adam Faith in a straight non-pop role this time and very good he was too as a local hoodlum stealing cars to order, but the surprise for me was Peter Sellers as a vicious psychotic in his part of a very dodgy car dealer who encourages the local thugs to keep him supplied with stolen cars, along with his heavy side-kick David Lodge. I think it's the only time Sellers has played such a role, showing just how versatile he was in this menacing part.

A number of big names in this, most notable being Richard Todd in the lead who takes it on himself to pursue Peter Sellers to get his stolen car back when the police seem to him to be not caring or doing much - VERY gripping.

I concur

Kill Her Gently (1957)

One of those that comes along with nobody you know in it at all and turns into a cracking good thriller.

Mentally deranged man (it turns out) picks up two escaped convicts (one American, one Swede for some reason) and offers to get them free passage out of the country, plus £1000 IF they will kill his wife.

There's a gun involved, pretty wife with doctor friend who put her husband in a mental home for a while, so there's lots of mixed emotions as also the two criminals argue with each other at the man's house prior to doing the dirty deed - of course, it all goes pear shaped.

Noted on the IMDb that the Swede was played by Lithuanian/German George Mikell who died last month aged 91.

RIP Herr Mikell

Quote: john tregorran @ 18th June 2020, 12:27 AM

Yes, Denis Wheatley books were swapped around a lot.I've seen The Devils Rides Out,a load of nonsense but good fun.
H P Lovecraft was the same sort of thing but creepier.
I got the impression that the Wheatleys were sort of allegorical.Democracy was all very well but the lower orders had to be kept in place by the toffs.

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Unlike the current UK political situation. Er...

Rogue's Yarn (1957)

Derek Bond again as a man who pulls off the perfect murder of his rich wife, so he can go off with his French bit on the side, and the plan is near perfect, but as always there is one very tiny detail that catches them out and the whole film revolves around this police inspector looking for that missing link, even though his boss tells him to drop the case through lack of evidence.
I won't say what that tiny link is, but the film title has something to do with it, which was something I never knew.

No one else in it I knew.

Very good film actually. You know who did it from the start, but will he be found out, and how?

Night Ride (1937)

Now this one exceeded Wally Patch's (who was in this film too) attempt at writing AND acting by the lead being taken by Julian Vedey (previously never heard of him) who wrote this mess and then proceeded to SERIOUSLY overact in it to the point where he became annoying.

"Hell Drivers" it ain't and to make thing worse, there was a lengthy sequence of lorries stuck in a very dense fog to the extent you could not see what was going on and had to rely on what they were saying to each other.

A wooden Jimmy Hanley was the other main star and according to the IMDb one of my favourite actors Mervyn Johns had an uncredited part in it as a trapped miner (don't ask), as did Moore Marriott whose part in the film was deleted.

I have to confess I watched this in two parts as I deleted it half way through, not being able to stand anymore of it, and then resurrected it on my digi-box to watch the second half, as I'm a glutton for punishment.

Dancing with Crime (1947)

Here we go again, but I suppose you wouldn't have a story if the hero didn't try to solve the crime without the police, which 24 year old Richard Attenborough did in this and of course nearly comes to grief. A NORMAL person would report it all and leave the Rozzers to do their job, but no (yawn) the hero knows best.......................London cabbie finds out about a local gang working out of a nightclub and tries to expose their nefarious activities.

Anyway, other "youngsters" in this were a 26 year old Dirk Bogarde in an uncredited part as a policeman, and a very pretty 16 year old Diana Dors, who was a very good actress even then.

Bill Owen had a major part, albeit briefly and Danny Green (the lovable "One-Round" in 'The Ladykillers') playing to type as a heavy.

Good story, good acting and very enjoyable.

Murder at 3am (1953)

Silly short film only notable by the police inspector leading the investigation of women being murdered at exactly 3am being played by Dennis Price who is usually/maybe the prime suspect. As always, he gives an excellent performance, but unable to save the film, which has a bizarre and hurried end.

Apart from Price, nobody of note in the cast.