TPTV Films Page 15

The Good Die Young (1954)

I watched this many years ago, long before TPTV, but wasn't sure to start with and it was only in the last third that I convinced myself I had seen it before.

Good film actually, which starts off with three men (one Yank and a Canadian "Yank" this time) with a fourth (Laurence Harvey, who was always good at playing parts of somebody who is sinister and off their rocker) who is the leader/organiser in a big old Jag about to commit a robbery and when the leader produces a case with guns in it, they start to get edgy. The film then shows the back story to each of them and how they came to be desperate, reluctant participants.

The end of the film then shows the robbery taking place with Harvey going menacingly over the top and the subsequent debacle they then find themselves in.

Very pretty and young looking 21 year old Joan Collins plays the love interest of one of the men and there's Mr.Partridge (Hi De Hi) Leslie Dwyer again.

The Counterfeit Plan (1957)

Like the previous film, this too had a Yank and Canadian "Yank", AND an American actress (Peggie Castle) who I have to say perfected a very good English accent.

It was about a retired forger (Mervyn Johns - one of my favourite actors) who is coerced into starting up again.
I enjoyed it and there were some nice 1950s cars to admire. David Lodge was a gang member, looking no different (that man never seemed to age!) and Sydney Tafler.

Well worth a look.

Noose (1948) "The Silk Noose" Yank title

Quite a gritty look at the post war gang bosses in London and worth a look if only for the transport at the time. OK, it's dated but the story is reasonable and here yet again we have the young leading (American) lady Carole Landis leading a tragic personal life, having committed suicide at aged only 29.

Stanley Holloway as the Police Inspector, Nigel Patrick as a seedy right hand man and John Slater, later to be seen on TV as Det. Sgt. Stone in Z Cars.

Thanks for your reviews Herc, I read them all and sometimes browse what films are on that channel.

I saw one a while back called 'Love on the dole' and the title only struck me as Jim Royle (of the Royle family) did a charade of that film to 'Ant and I'd never heard of it.

It was good - old fashioned but good. Plenty of 'Oh father, what is to become of us' and 'He's in a right state and no mistake' etc.

You're welcome Stephen, (I seem to have a small loyal band of followers) and yes saw "Love on the Dole" many years ago so did not bother with it this time - is a very good film.

Corridor of Mirrors (1948)

This was listed incorrectly by Virgin or TPTV as being a woman who finds out that her husband is planning a murder and this is what made me record it.

Anyway, it weren't and as it started with a married woman going to see her lover in London, who turned out to be a waxwork in Madame Tussaud's I was then intrigued, especially when she then looked back to the time when the model was a real man who lived in the past, to the extent that he dressed in Victorian clothes and had his own hansom cab to go around London just before WWII

Obviously very, very rich and in his enormous mansion he was obsessed by this 15th century painting of a raven haired "beauty" who was the image of this woman making the pilgrimage to see his waxwork. The gist of it was he tried to possess her (no sex involved) and the actress playing the lead was shown in the titles as "introducing Edana Romney" who disappeared of the face of the earth after a very short life in films. WHY she was called a beauty is beyond me as I don't think she was at all attractive, but then dark sultry types never were my thing.

Eric Portman was very good in the sinister lead.

Radio Cab Murder (1954)

Jimmy Hanley again with Carol Vordeman's mum Lana Morris (oft seen in Norman Wisdom films) and with quite a good plot. Oh, and we see Sam Kydd in a major part as one of the crooks and Captain Peacock (Frank Thornton) briefly as a Police Inspector......................, and Cor Blimey, Luv a duck, leave it art!! Arthur Mullard uncredited as a "Detective at Briefing" - the mind boggles.

So, we see reformed safe breaker Hanley in his London cab chasing some crooks who held a bank up, his boss then gets a sort of poison pen letter about him and it all then twists and turns from there - as I say, not a bad film, with this time, instead of Jimmy sticking his nose where it's not wanted in police business, they recruit him to infiltrate the gang.

Give it a look if you see it on.

Jet Storm (1959)

Not a bad film for a bomb on the plane thriller, with a number of stars - the lead being Richard Attenborough doing menace as only he can, a la Pinkie in Brighton Rock.

Technically the bomb was impossible how it was placed on the plane, but let's not let that get in the way of a good story with a number of sub plots from the "celebrity" passengers, which included Marty Wilde, Paul Eddington, Stanley Baker, Patrick Allen, David Kossoff, the Bradens and a surprise being Harry Secombe.

Worth a watch.

So Long at the Fair (1950)

I usually leave my wife watch any film with Dirk Bogarde in on her own as she is a big fan of his, but this one I was intrigued with as the heroine's brother not only disappears overnight in their hotel, but the room he was staying in disappears too!!

Very pretty Jean Simmons is the girl whose brother (played by David Tomlinson) vanishes very mysteriously and Dirk Bogarde is the only man who can help her prove her brother existed when everyone at the hotel denies that she booked in with him in adjacent rooms.

Good plot actually and at the end I remembered I had seen very similar with one of the Alfred Hitchcock's Presents TV series.

Well worth a look

Cloak Without Dagger (1956) Operation Conspiracy Yank title

Fairly mundane spy film with a yet again persistent heroine sticking her oar where it is not wanted and doing ridiculous things like swinging out from a high hotel balcony to an adjoining room in high heels, which must have been glued to her feet 'cos she was seen click clicking in them even when trying to eavesdrop two spies - played by some actress called Mary Mackenzie, she was yet again another one from that period killed in a car crash, dying at only 44 - I think that is the fourth one I have gleaned from the IMDb to have died so young!

The only other highlights were to see Colonel Hall (with the twitch) Fawlty Towers - Gourmet Night (Allan Cuthbertson), Mr Partridge - Hi De HI (Leslie Dwyer) and Captain Peacock - Are You Being Served (Frank Thornton) in their early film careers.

Saving grace was it was short.

The Franchise Affair (1951)

I REALLY enjoyed this, starring Michael Denison and his wife of nearly 60 years Dulcie Gray. Others in minor parts were Kenneth Moore, Patrick Troughton, Victor Maddern and Peter Jones.

A young girl accuses an elderly woman and spinster daughter (Dulcie Gray) of kidnapping her to enslave her as a skivvy (nothing new there then) and the girl gives an indisputable description of the house both in and out, which is behind a very high brick wall, and even details of the attic room she was held prisoner in.

Cast iron case; but local solicitor (Dennison) is not so sure and agrees to help the ladies' plight, especially when the local villages witch-hunt them and mob violence ensues.

Kept me gripped right to very end in the tense court case.

Bit of trivia for ancients like me - Ann Stephens, who played the accuser, was a child actress/singer and is most well known for (They're changing the guard at) Buckingham Palace recorded aged 9...................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Z5LpHuXVE

.......................and Teddy Bears picnic aged 11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybh7SZifiRs

She died aged only 35, but I can find no record of why she died so young. So sad.

Tick VG 9/10 Gold Star

I hate that Changing the Guard record.Every time it came on Uncle Mac I would have to switch the wireless off.

Rock You Sinners (1958)

Yet another early UK Rock and Roll (allegedly) group of "kids" in a coffee bar want to make it big (see my previous reviews of The Golden Disc and Play It Cool), BUT this one is even worse than The Golden Disc, if that's possible, with about half a dozen "R&R" bands I had NEVER heard of (honestly - NOT ONE) singing awful "Rock Songs" and crucifying classics such as Heartbreak Hotel.
They should have been prosecuted for making this diabolical load of crap, which I only watched to the bitter end out of curiosity, and that was because it was (thankfully!) only one hour long.

The only person of note in it was a barely recognisable Jackie Collins as a sort of groupie, and credit can be given to some of the very good saxophone and guitar players.

Here's the title track: -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c9t0nkf1yQ

Dig it man. >_

The Shipbuilders (1943)

Odd little film this as it is primarily about the Depression and collapse of the shipyards in Glasgow, and then the revival of them owing to the outbreak of WWII.

Thought it was going to be some sort of docudrama, but there was a story which involved the rich owner of one of the shipyards and (for some reason they didn't go into) one of his lowly riveters and the bond they had between them.

Bit of a struggle to keep the interest up, but glad I watched it as it finished on a sort of call to arms propaganda of how vital it was to keep out shipyards open - the threat of other countries taking our industry over, not the Far East as now, but of all ironies the Germans.

The Gorbals Story (1950)

I feel a theme coming on here, what with just having watched "The Shipbuilders" set in Glasgow, but this one was more like a sort of 1950s TV drama put on by The Glasgow Unity Players.

Few scathing reviews on the IMDb, but I don't think it was that bad (one complained of it needing subtitles, but I managed to follow the dialogue, but then my father in law was from the Gorbals originally) and it was interesting to see a young Russell Hunter ("Lonely" in the Callan TV series) and Roddy McMillan who featured a lot on TV when a rough, tough Scot was needed.

Just about held my interest on the dire conditions of these people living in one of the worse slums of post war Britain and there was a good punch up in the pub, which was quite well done, though I can't help thinking that one or two of those actors must have hurt themselves!