The Runaway Bus 1953. Written, produced and directed by Val Guest is a comedy with a colourful cast. Starring Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford, Petula Clark, George Coulouris and Terence Alexander. Heavy fog prevents all flights from London Airport, therefore a number of passengers are put on a coach for Blackbush Airport where the fog is lifting. Driver Percy Lamb played by Frankie Howerd doesn’t realise that thieves have hidden gold bullion in the luggage boot of his coach. What follows is a fast paced comedy with lots of twists and turns and a number of red herrings. I watched and enjoyed the film many years ago on television, and a recently purchased DVD left me with no doubt the film had suffered very little from loss of enjoyment in all those years since 1953.
‘The Night Caller’… Armitage Films 1965. Still, after all this time, has some very scary moments! The title shot of The Thames is evocative! It features John Saxon (later to work in the US), Maurice Denham, and Patricia Haynes - I fell in love with her!… I just adore tall beautiful women… Later she appears in a ‘TV Steptoe’ Also has David Gregory and Romo Gorrara – two favorites of mine…Romo went on as a stunt actor -both established hands from many a Butcher Film! And of course the velvet soft tones of John Carson lend an air of quiet authority. (John retired to South Africa after many British Film appearances) Very decisive is the performance of Alfred Burke, who from 1965-1975 became a household name as Frank Marker in the popular TV series of Public Eye… The Night Caller is available on DVD from Amazon. Some title releases: The Night Caller from Outer Space 1966.
Vorvolaka… This nightmare vampire was very much on the minds of the people in the time when Greece fought her war of 1912…A classy screenplay from RKO which features Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helen Thimig, and Jason Robards. It was written by Ardel Wray and Josef Mischel, with masterly direction from Mark Robson. Not a run of the mill - ’blood and guts’ vampire movie… but a creative story with strong and convincing acting from the whole cast!
WHISKY GALORE! It was in the summer of 1948 when the Ealing crew arrived on the beautiful Island of Barra in the Western Isles of Scotland. Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios had not been happy about the production, saying as he looked at the story board, he just did not understand it! “It holds few laughs” he was heard to comment. Based on a Compton Mackenzie novel, shooting almost entirely on location presented huge problems, everything, including cast and crew, and a huge amount of camera equipment, had to be shipped from mainland Scotland. Actors were billited with a number of the Islanders, and in fact, many of the inhabitants appear in the production. Their view of the film people was… That they were quite mad! Prefabricated sets were constructed at Ealing Studios in London then shipped for assembly on Barra. Under the brilliant direction of Alexander Mackendrick, an American born Scot, the film gently eases you into a world of warmth, gentility and innocent skulduggery. I think this was partly due to Mackendrick’s insistence on being present during every scene, however, this did push the budget over by 20,000, and in those days that was a lot of money…as Michael Balcon soon pointed out, and when he saw the rushes he hated it, and ordered the film to be cut and released as a B’ supporting picture! At this point, Mackendrick asked Charles Crichton, a top editor, if he would look at the negatives. He did… And Recut, and Recut… the result was a more acceptable product for the Ealing Studio boss. Being based on a true maritime sinking means that some facts had to be changed. The real sinking took place off the Isle of Eriskay, and the local Islanders did profit from their huge haul of ‘Scotch’… Unlike the movie that had to deal with the moral issue. In America the movie was given a new title and called “Tight Little Island” because a number of States were at the time ‘Temperance’ If one looks at the stills today Alexander Mackendrick is always there beside the camera operator, and I think, that is what made it such a lasting and enduring, warm and attractive film.
Buggleskelly Today… The year of 1937 began the birth of Buggleskelly, the mythical Irish railway station set on a stretch of disused line near Basingstoke in Hampshire England. The setting was for the film Oh, Mr. Porter starring Will Hay, Moore Marriot, and Graham Moffat… The film was to become a classic!
A tumbledown railway station, representing Buggleskelly was built at an old halt, and even during filming the line was being taken up by The Basingstoke and Alton Railway Company. The film itself is one of the funniest of British comedies in the Music Hall tradition of the 1930′s. The location of the run-down mythical Buggleskelly station was very overgrown when we visited there with our cameras in 1996, but it was still possible to make out where the booking office, rail lines, and signal box had once stood. Pictured by Dave Riley.
Hobson’s Choice 1953. Hobson’s Choice has got to be one of the most beautiful movies ever made by Director David Lean. Set in Salford Lancashire… I’ve never tired of watching the masterly acting of Charles Laughton. It was written by Harold Brighouse, and is superbly cast in Sir John Mills as the hapless bootmaker’s assistant, and Brenda De Banzie as the forthright woman who takes him in hand, marries him, and turns him into Lancashire’s finest bootmaker. Sadly, Brenda died at the youthful age of 71, however Sir John lived on to the good age of 98. ‘Hobson’s Choice’ is entirely an English conception… As entertaining today as it was when first written! Made by London Films, it’s success was secured by classic English actor Charles Laughton and classic English director David Lean.
Made in 1962 ‘Carnival of Souls’ was shot as a ‘B’ picture in three weeks, and since has become a huge cult film!
After a fatal car accident a young woman played by Candace Hilligoss finds herself trapped between this world and the next. The Dead make several attempts to bring her to the world of perpetual darkness…
It’s a film of the supernatural played with thought and great feeling, and was made in the US by director Herk Harvey.
When I first aired this blog back in 2009 it raised a great deal of interest from many of you, so much so, that I followed it up with my blog on The Saltair Pavilion in Utah, and in turn that created much interest. So here again is the original blog on Carnival of Souls… And I hope you will link it to The Saltair Pavilion in my blog search window… Patrick.
This 1930 RKO offering would raise a few eyebrows these days! Based on a popular radio show, it soon ran into problems in bringing it to the screen. It features the exploits of two black guys, well enough on radio… because they were voiced by white guys, but you can see the problem… Voices had to be the same as on the radio show! It meant the radio stars - Freeman Godsen as Amos, and Charles Correll as Andy… had to ‘black-up’ Surprisingly, the movie was profitable for RKO Radio Pictures, but there was never a follow-up, until TV took the idea as a series in the 50s…. Which I remember enjoying as a child on BBC Television… And hopefully those were at last!.. genuine coloured American Males!
Among my most favoured British drama movies of the 1940′s is THE SMALL BACK ROOM made in 1948. It was made by the Archer Team for London Films, and features Sammy Rice, a troubled bomb fuse scientist. Sammy is troubled by alcohol and his relationship with his girlfriend. Sammy has a head full of ghosts to exorcise, then he is called upon to defuse a new German secret weapon that can kill with the slightest of touch…
It’s a movie that I’ve watched and enjoyed many times over, and never fail to be be impressed by the stunning performance of David Farrar and Kathleen Byron in the lead roles, it would seem as if they are just made for each other. The movie really does capture the exotic nature of wartime London and was based on the dramatic novel by Nigel Balchin. Other greats featured are: Jack Hawkins, Leslie Banks, Cyril Cusack, Emrys Jones, Michael Gough, and Renee Asherson.
