British Comedy Guide

Second Best Bed (1938)

I managed to watch 15 minutes of this adapted Ben Travers' marital farce (appropriate) with, Martita Hunt and Peter Bull who both had minor parts, the only actors I knew.

The three reviews on the IMDb give it the thumbs down and......................
"A newly married couple run into difficulty when the wife refuses to obey her husband." Sleepy

Hi Hercules - I can only hope that my youthful Grandpa's (Carl Jaffé - that chap in the PR scene still from my personal private archive that was supplied to TPTV; sandwiched by two - ahem - very fetching ladies of the day) 1st UK film outing helped lighten the mood for you! FYI - he was hired by Tom Walls without audition based on TW having seen CJ on stage in the 1937 production of JB Priestly's 'People At Sea' (London Apollo).
Warm wishes
Michael Jaffé - London

Wow, we have film royalty in our midst - thank you so much Michael. :)

Well thank you - I wouldn't say film royalty exactly (although he did do a royal command stage show in 1964 in aid of the NSPCC in the presence of HRH The Princess Margaret (I've got the souvenir programme) and I was waving from my pram - really I was... but CJ did have quite a prolific run of c. 60 film features, 90-tv (inc. Dad's Army , Hugh & I Spy - see elsewhere on this site for the missing episode Checkpoint Charlies from 1968), dozens of stage and over 3000 radio episodes of his post WW2 English Lessons on the Radio for German audiences. Happy to share more anecdotes if you want and pix if you wish. MJ :)

Yes, his name often crops up in films, it being one that stands out (like Sam Kydd) - in fact, amazingly, I saw him only last night in "Warn That Man" from 1943, which again took a lot to be desired. Please see my review. :(

And yes again, would love to see any photos you have. You mention he was in Dad's Army, so you need to post that fact on the thread below, it would be most interesting to number of members, I'm sure.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/5412/27/

I think that was the one where he played a Polish officer in "The Enemy Within the Gates", wasn't it? :)

Welcome to BCG, by the way. :D

Thank you (and for the welcome) - yes I will happily post the info later today... and you are correct for DA; CJ played the frustrated (stereotyped) Captain Winogrodzki. 'WTM' and one or two others of the era was a rare instance of CJ being allowed to properly play a darker character rather than 'just the enemy'. Although the vast majority of his roles were supporters he often found himself in bit parts opposite the really big names; hence he tends to get around! ;)

Welcome, Michael! Great to have you on the message board. Wonderful photos and insight. :)

Quote: ProfessorH @ 17th September 2020, 11:51 PM

Well thank you - I wouldn't say film royalty exactly (although he did do a royal command stage show in 1964 in aid of the NSPCC in the presence of HRH The Princess Margaret (I've got the souvenir programme) and I was waving from my pram - really I was... but CJ did have quite a prolific run of c. 60 film features, 90-tv (inc. Dad's Army , Hugh & I Spy - see elsewhere on this site for the missing episode Checkpoint Charlies from 1968), dozens of stage and over 3000 radio episodes of his post WW2 English Lessons on the Radio for German audiences. Happy to share more anecdotes if you want and pix if you wish. MJ :)

His fame is spreading!

He actually gets a listing on my Virgin Digi-box as being one of the actors in "The Hostage" from 1956 in the fairly prestigious part of President Gonzuelo. HOWEVER.......................................

Out of the four reviews on the IMDb, only one gave it a 5 out of 10, the other three being quite scathing, and I quote one:-

|"Anyway this film it has to be said is truly dreadful.The script is truly awful and the denouement has to be seen to be believed.If you are in to truly bad films then you can catch this on the Movies4Men satellite channel."

So, like the man said, and as I'm a sucker for bad films, I've set my digi-box to record it - Wed. 23/9 1.25 AM. on TPTV

IMDb can indeed be somewhat over-critical and dare I say it unkind in certain quarters - The Hostage isn't actually that bad but of its time; what you have to remember about these 'old' films is that many of the ones CJ appeared (and truck loads of other similars of its day) were B features and as such tended to try and; ahem - B - something they weren't. Once that perspective is understood they aren't so horrible; Sophisticated? no. Intellectual? unlikely? compelling? - probably not. Groundbreaking; mostly no but some are now revered as cult examples (The Electronic Monster; First Man Into Space) Entertaining? - almost certainly; which is I suspect all they were really trying to be. Still when your wages are no more than 7/6 a week it's unlikely you can deliver a Larry or Caine or Cruise performance every time - if you get my drift. Sometimes it's the supporting performances that carry a film - how many times have we seen THAT un recent memory? Not saying that CJ was able to save a film although he was in some that his entire 90-secs appearance set the film up e.g. The Blind Goddess (1948) IMDb 6.5 - well that did have Crawford/Portman so not the best example as it would have been good without CJ but he certainly did find himself in a good few dire productions. But if you do enjoy some of the 40s/50s/60s mash-ups then there's no shortage of schlep and schlock to amuse... Enjoy Grandpa hamming it up... he did enjoy that. But he did put in some half-decent more serious stuff along the way. Prof ;)

My profuse apologies to Aaron to whom I didn't acknowledge his welcome to me earlier... many thanks and happy to be making some kind of humble contribution... Prof ;)

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