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Doctor at Sea (1955)
All at Sea
The Rank Organisation was quick to capitalise on the unexpected popularity of "Doctor in the House" by releasing this seaborne sequel, which proved to be just as successful at the box-office. Dirk Bogarde reprised his earlier leading role as the handsome and well-meaning if put-upon Dr Simon Sparrow, although I would hesitate to call him intelligent especially as he can't recognise the obvious doppelgangers in his midst in the shapes of James Robertson-Justice, Noel Purcell and Joan Sims amongst others who were "in the house" with him before under different disguises.
To escape his landlord's daughter Sims' very obvious advances, he takes the rather extreme step of becoming a ship's doctor under the severe command of Robertson Justice's officious captain. Naturally, there has to be female interest on the boat, no women, no movie, I guess, which duly arrives in the shape of the shipping line owner's middle-aged man-eating daughter, who points her compass at Robertson-Justice and her companion, a young Brigitte Bardot who likewise sets sail for Bogarde.
Over ninety rather choppy minutes, we're served up some rather predictable occasionally suggestive and sexist humour, from which one can easily predict the later success of the even more low-brow "Carry On" films of the 60's.
Personally, I just found the movie to be a lot less humorous than its predecessor. To paraphrase the old song, all the sailors appear to love a nice girl with the camera lingering on the nubile form of Bardot and there's even a scene with one tar in his bed poring over a magazine containing 3D pictures of the then current British sex-symbol Diana Dors. Worst of all, we briefly follow around one of the ship's company at an evening party who carries around with him an alcoholic concoction he plans to administer to render unsuspecting girls helpless, which today we'd call spiking their drinks.
Other supposedly comedic episodes are played out while the boat is in port and at sea but none of them are very funny so that long before the end, I'd run up the white flag on this rather predictable and stereotypical comedy which really wasn't a patch on the freshness of the original.
Doctor in the House (1954)
What's up Docs?
Funnily enough, I can only remember the early 1970's ITV television update of the original "Doctor" comedy films of the 50's, of which this popular hit was the first and none of which I've ever seen. Just as funnily, I actually remember the TV series as being very similar to what I saw here, namely the misadventures of a bunch of young doctors, learning their profession under the tutelage of the seeming old battleaxe James Robertson-Justice, each of them invariably chasing after the pretty young nurses, who themselves are learning their profession under the tutelage of their own old battleaxe, senior nurse Sister Virtue played by Jean Taylor-Smith.
It's all light and enjoyable pre-sit-com stuff, with each man assigned to a girl, high-jinking their merry ways from one comic situation to another. Dirk Bogarde gets lead billing and gets most to do as we follow him from his first day to meeting up with his three amigos and eventually by a circuitous route, the feminine charms of nurse Muriel Pavlow. He's supported by his chums, played by the emergent Kenneth More, a barely recognisable young Donald Sinden and Donald Houston although it's the perfectly cast Robertson-Justice who steals the show as the regimental superior who turns out to have a heart, if not of gold, then maybe silver or bronze at least.
It's all good, mostly clean fun, with some jokes landing and some not, although there is one distinctly off-colour "joke" which would certainly be red-lined today, with a number of amusing comic situations, the best gag being Bogarde's Simon Sparrow response to Robertson-Justice's wonderfully-named Sir Lancelot Spratt's question about a specific medical procedure.
I enjoyed the film and particularly appreciated the many location shots encapsulating the British buildings, cars and fashions of a bygone era. Bogarde plays his Simon Sparrow character with a little detachment but there's more energy about More, Sinden and Houston even if the constant pursuit of la belle femme wears after a bit
Yes, some of the attitudes are very outdated today and deservedly so, but on the whole,, it's easy to see why this was the most successful British film of the year.
Budgie: Brains (1971)
Stamp of Disapproval
This episode of "Budgie" revolved around a pilfered pile of trading stamps, which way back in the 70's you could exchange for goods at specialist gift shops
We drop in on Budgie and his mate Barry putting the squeeze on the old geezer who's come into possession of the stamp books before Budgie ends up taking possession of all of them and decides that rather than trying to flog them on the street, he might as well use them for their original purpose and so treat his estranged wife Jean to a gift of a food mixer, for services rendered, you might say.
Of course, bring Budgie, things rarely go to plan and so it is on this occasion too but at least he lives to fight another day, even if he's now down a tenner, is locked out of the old marital home and still owes Charlie Endell £40.
As ever, with these vintage episodes, some occasionally outdated and unfortunate sayings and attitudes are aired, including Budgie repeatedly talking about giving his old lady "a clip around the ear", but if you can get past that aspect, you'll be well entertained by Faith's interplay with Iain Cuthbertson's brilliantly larger-than-life big-boss Endell character who clearly still has the old razzlw-dazzle himself and Georgina Hale as his lippy ex-wife, in extended well-written, often very candid dialogue-heavy scenes.
In truth not much happens in this episode, but with astute insight into the lifestyles of the spivvy, shifty underbelly of society in early 70's London, this was, for me, another entertaining and enjoyable episode of one of my favourite TV shows as a kid.
Say Nothing (2024)
Deep "Troubles"
I've not read the recent best-selling book on which this television series is based but nevertheless found it a tough and challenging watch. Spanning the Troubles of Northern Ireland in the late 60's through to the 90's, two stories are intertwined, one concentrating on the life of Dolours Price, a young Catholic girl brought up in a strongly Republican household. Her father previously took up arms in the struggle and her mother is obviously just as committed to the cause of a united Ireland. Her own devotion, one might call it fanaticism, for the cause, is matched by her younger sister Marian with whom she has an especially close relationship and it's not long before both are roused to action in the resistance to the British government policy of the day in the region which sparks into inferno-like flames on the streets. Through a combination of determination, courage and native intelligence, both girls soon inveigle themselves into the higher ranks of the burgeoning Irish Republican Army (IRA), overcoming chauvinistic prejudice to progress from would-be "tea-girls" to active agents of the outlaw group, earning the favour of the movement's young leaders Gerry Adams, the outfit's brains and Brendan Hughes, its man of action.
However, at the same time, there's a carefully counterpointed story of the same, supposedly popular, freedom-fighting IRA, callously "disappearing" Mary McConville, a single Catholic mother-of-ten, from her young family for the punishable-by-execution crime of informing to the British when it seems more likely to have been because she was seen offering comfort to a wounded British soldier pleading for help just outside her front door.
So, while the narrative focuses principally on the Price sisters' chequered progress, taking in Dolours driving a family friend to his death at the hands of a Republican death-squad in the fall-out from his affair with a married woman and both sisters taking a team of unruly teenagers to London to plant four car-bombs in the heart of the city, only for them to get caught, imprisoned and sent to serve their time in the male-only Brixton prison on British soil. Their claims for political-prisoner status and move to a women's jail in their own country fall on deaf ears prompting them to a hunger strike, which after almost a year and despite having to endure daily forced-feeding, eventually pays off when the British Government relents and sends them to Armagh Women's Prison back home to finish their terms.
The viewpoint changes back time and again however to that of another equally determined young woman, the now grown-to-adulthood daughter of Mary McConville, who seeks the truth behind what really happened to her mother which has psychologically scarred her back when she herself was just a teenager. She and her fellow-siblings want their mother's body returned to them to give her a Christian burial and achieve closure after so many years.
By now, we're in the the mid-90's and the whole complexion of the province has changed politically, with Adams now turned celebrity politician, denying any membership or participation in the IRA and leading his Sinn Fein party in UK elections, seeking to appease the hard-line Republicans still specifically embodied in the resistant outlook of his old colleague Hughes.
All of this history is related through the device of an older Dolours recording her memories on tape for a Boston University history project, the contents of which are only to be released after her death. She's joined in this by the equally candid cooperation on tape of Hughes who in fact does so first and who, like Dolours, points the finger of accusation at Adams for being the leader and orchestrator of IRA operations all through their active period, something the now top-ranking Sinn Fein politician has always rather improbably denied.
Finally all points converge in the final episodes as we see Dolours own disillusionment with Adams find an outlet in her confession tapes, even as she struggles in her personal life with alcohol addiction and a broken marriage. When Hughes dies suddenly, anticipating the release of his own tapes, she finally reveals, off-the-record, the shocking truth about the disappearance of Mary McConville, including the parts played by both her and her sister. Even after this, Mrs McConville's body is only discovered by accident, at last bringing to an end the nightmare of not-knowing of her long-suffering children.
Like I said I found this 9-part series to be both gripping and thought-provoking. I grew up in Glasgow during these times and well remember the near daily ritual of the news reports of the horror and terror of the IRA atrocities committed, particularly on mainland Britain. While I found my perceptions of justifiable resistance to a perceived illegal occupation challenged to some extent by what I saw here, I was equally revulsed by the open intent to harm innocents and the cold-blooded iron-discipline within the group which led to the summary maiming and executions of its own people which caught up innocents like Mary McConville and others of "The Disappeared" in their brutal machinations.
As a programme, I was occasionally confused by the leaps forward in time, seemingly by-passing whole chunks of narrative. To give just one example, we see Dolours entering into a relationship with the actor Stephen Rea and then jump forward to the end of her life, ignoring him and the intervening twenty years they were a couple. There are little or no references to the reactions of the British Governments of the time, bar an early reference to the then Northern Ireland and later Home Secretary William Whitelaw and a flashing TV image of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the dominant British politician of the time, far less any of the notable Irish politicians of the day, not to mention the complete absence of Martin McGuiness, another political convert of the movement. I also wasn't quite convinced as to whether the narrative was sufficiently balanced between the perceived travails of the Price sisters compared to the deeper heartbreak endured by the McConville family.
The setting of the era was certainly extremely well captured and the ensemble acting was also of a high level. I accept that no one series or movie could ever do justice to the complexities of the "Troubles" and this latest attempt wasn't without its faults but compared to say Kenneth Branagh's recent over-praised "Belfast" feature film, this TV series resonated far more with me.
So Long at the Fair (1950)
Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
A little French bon-bon of a movie from Gainsborough Studios which apparently paired the attractive young relative newcomers Dirk Bogarde and Jean Simmons in the hope that they'd become a popular screen couple. It was, however the only feature they made although they are both charming in it, if in a light and mannered way.
She's the little sister of brother Johnny, a young David Tomlinson in whose company she visits a busy Paris at the time of the Great Exposition of 1880. She defers to him in most things, including their barely sufficient financial position, but at least he manages to sweet-talk their way into a hotel so that they can enjoy the big show. They accidentally bump into another English party which includes artist Bogarde as the less than ardent would-be consort to a young debutante whose mother is particularly keen to match them up.
Things take a turn when Simmons' brother disappears from his room the next morning, in fact, very strangely the room appears to have disappeared too, at which time all the hotel staff try to convince her she's going slightly mad and that she arrived completely alone. She goes to the British Consulate and the local police for help but it's only when she recruits Bogarde, himself keen on a little excitement, that they end up getting into and solving the mystery.
The narrative is a familiar one but is enlivened by the period setting and nice performances by the familiar faces of the youthful Simmons, Bogarde and Tomlinson. All of them would go on to better things but together they add the necessary ingredients to make this rather slight souffle rise, if not quite to the top.
The Persuaders!: Element of Risk (1971)
Danny's the Boy
Another case of mistaken identity (you think anyone in 1971 would recognize Tony Curtis and Roger Moore), this time involving Danny, leads to another amiable adventure for the Persuaders. Our American hero is picked up at the airport by a pretty girl (there's always a pretty girl) and her gun-toting companion who take him for a criminal mastermind who's flown in to commandeer a major heist at a British military base.
Danny has no choice but to go along with the plan when he's introduced to the rest of the gang, which is headed up by the ever watchable Peter Bowles, deflecting any specific information requirements away with generalities and good old fashioned flannel. Naturally he tries to escape but is caught in the act by the afore-mentioned pretty girl so he pretends he's just reacting to cabin fever which can only be relieved by a night on the town, so he takes her to a night club where naturally he bumps into Brett trying to set them up with a pair of pretty twins.
However, Danny's situation worsens when the real supremo who was also nabbed at the airport duly escapes and meets up with his cohorts, putting Danny in a spot when he returns to camp. Brett tries to help by posing as a pilot but both are rumbled and are taken along under duress to play their parts in the crime.
It all ends happily enough with both Danny and Brett fighting their way out of moving vehicles and fades in an hilarious shot of our Rog in his self-designed menswear, doing the frug at a disco, the two twins again having escaped his grasp.
As light, amusing and entertaining as most episode of the series were, the secret to its success was invariably the star power of Moore and Curtis and the camaraderie between them, as amply demonstrated here, as ever.
Libel (1959)
Who's Whodunnit
This film adaptation of a successful play from the mid-1930's stars the unlikely pairing of Dirk Bogarde and Olivia DeHavilland as a seemingly happily-married, wealthy upper-class couple, the titled Sir and Lady Mark Sebastian Loddon (and you can't get much more upper-class than owning Longleat House, even if it is renamed in the movie) whose lives are turned upside down by the accusations of a Canadian former army colleague of Sir Mark's, Jeffrey Buckenham, played by Paul Massie, who seeks him out at his stately home on a trip over to England.
Buckenham believes that Roddon is living a lie and is in reality one Frank Welney, a conscripted actor, who takes advantage of his great physical resemblance to the knight, to murder the real Roddon when the three of them escape from Nazi imprisonment during the war. Roddon, whoever he was, eventually returned home after the war, took over the family estate, resumed his marriage to his attractive American wife de Haviland, had a child and generally enjoyed the easy life of gentrification. Now, however, Buckenham threatens his cosy life when after obtaining the illicit collaboration of a family cousin, he takes his claims of impersonation and substitution to an ever-eager tabloid newspaper.
Naturally Rodden replies with a libel suit against the threatening newspaper, setting up a long, intense, courtroom battle where the debatable truth finally emerges, if not in an entirely satisfactory manner.
For me the film falls down with its over-elaborate plotting and reliance on extreme coincidence to drive the narrative along. The "evil-twin" cliche is as far-fetched as it is unoriginal and we're expected to swallow Welney's remarkable physical similarity to Roddan, the fact that he's an actor and also that they happen to find themselves thrown together as POW's.
These and more only pile up the longer things go on before an unlikely and indeed incredible denouement seeks to tie up everything in a big pink bow before the end. I didn't however feel like I was taken in by any of it leaving me to conjecture the whole premise collapsing under a house of cards.
In its favour, the movie is well cast and acted featuring such stalwarts in the flashy support roles as the competing counsels Robert Morley and Wilfrid Hyde-White behind the effective leads of Bogarde, de Havilland and Massie. But all their combined efforts couldn't raise this otherwise well-directed feature (by courtroom specialist Anthony Asquith) above the level of a common-or-garden Agatha Christie whodunnit.
Fly Me to the Moon (2024)
Dark Side of the Moon
This Netflix feature takes it as its premise the persistent conspiracy theory that the July 1969 Apollo moon landing was faked by the American government of the day to make good on President Kennedy's promise to put man on the moon before the decade's end as well as putting one over on those pesky Russians who up to that point appeared to be winning the space race.
So it is then, that one of newly-elected President Nixon's men, shady Woody Harrelson coerces Scarlet Johansson's go-getter advertising executive to use her street-wise skills to drum up fading public interest in the mission, boost funding for the project by opening up NASA to the magical world of advertising and product placement and most importantly, schmooze some wavering senators to vote through the required legislation to green-light the whole shebang.
All this she manages in about ten minutes of movie time before he hits her with the biggie - she has to film a very much earthbound fake moon-landing sequence which will be played to TV audiences no matter the outcome of the real mission. Johansson reluctantly agrees, telling herself that she's doing it to put a smile back on people's faces after all the recent bad news in the States, what with Vietnam and assassinations and all, but it's really because Harrelson has dirt on her that he can make go away if she plays ball.
To do this she'll have to go behind the back of the straight-arrow Launch Controller Channing Tatum, which is complicated by a previous chance encounter between the two sparking a nascent romance. From there, the film takes a circuitous route to its two big conclusions, the launch and of course the moon landing itself.
So were we all duped on that famous day of July 20th 1969? Well, the film here takes a perhaps predictable side on that issue, doing so in a less-than-serious, if mildly amusing way.
Certainly the era is wonderfully brought to life and as someone who years ago visited Cape Canaveral, the interior sets depicting NASA Control and especially the rocket launch site itself are a thrilling treat for the eyes. I also dug the recreated fashions and cars of the day although I found the use of contemporary soul songs as the soundtrack to be somewhat haphazard.
Johansson plays her part in that over-familiar sassy way we remember from all those earlier Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality features while Tatum, with his two-ring crew-neck sweaters, undervests and amazing comb-under hairstyle likewise overdoes the stoicism. In fact I could have done without their rather contrived romance at all and certainly a lot less of the campiness of Jim Rash as the flamboyant director she appoints to shoot the fake version.
Overall I felt that the movie, for all its slick performances and camera trickery just wasn't as smart or as funny as it thought it was. And it still didn't explain about the flag waving in the wind when we all know there's no air up there!
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
Hyde in Plain Sight
Hammer Studios' production of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story casts Paul Massie in the twin roles of Jekyll and Hyde in another convincing updating of a classic literary and cinematic monster. We see him first as the reclusive, driven scientist obsessed with his ideas of duality and what Zola called "La Bête Humaine" despite the warnings of his older friend Dr. Littauer, played by David Kossoff. He also can't see that right under his nose, his pretty wife Kitty played by Dawn Addams, is having an affair with his so-called friend, Christopher Lee's wastrel Paul Allen.
Undeterred, he ploughs on with his research and after achieving a breakthrough in the administration of the deadly serum to a lab monkey, he duly injects himself and is transformed into his hedonistic, amoral
other self, the villainous Edward Hyde. Quite why he loses and then gains facial hair as well as ageing and de-ageing with every change isn't made clear other than to clearly differentiate both sides of Jekyll's id. I must be honest in saying that I didn't realise at first that Massie was playing a double part which says a lot both for Massie's acting and also the make-up team, even if the film stops short of depicting the actual transformation process.
It's obvious that the studio's in-house director is pushing the envelope here with the sexuality he repeatedly presents for the viewers' delectation. First there's the ill-fated exotic dancer Maria's snake-charmer routine, repeated close-ups of the acrobatic night-club can-can dancers doing their thing and finally the suggestive pose of Kitty on a bed after she's obviously been raped by Hyde, which seems to the music fan in me to have been almost exactly copied on Roxy Music's debut album.
Massie seems to revel in particular in the Hyde part, perhaps a little less so as the tortured Jekyll where he mainly seems to wring his hands and beat his chest in frustration. Addams is effectively sexy as the straying wife, Christopher Lee, who it's not hard to imagine in the title role(s) is excellent as the caddish "family-friend" who comes to a suitably poisonous ending and David Kossoff impresses too as the sage Dr Littauer.
Director Fisher darkly controls the action, subtly conveying menace with his camera positions and superb studio sets. It's a great idea to make Mr Hyde, at least at face value, a handsome young playboy, quite different from other monstrous interpretations I've seen of this part. The dialogue doesn't go too deeply into discussions of schizophrenia, psychosis or the God complex as it's clear the director is enjoying his wallow in the heady atmosphere he creates for these mostly venal characters to inhabit.
As I continue my own personal odyssey through Hammer's chamber of horrors, I found this to be one of the best I've yet seen. I'm only surprised that they didn't follow it up with a sequel.
Good Vibrations (2012)
He's Picking up Excitations...
I was 16 in 1976 when punk rock broke out in the UK and disrupted the safe, established musical establishment of the day. For me, the revolution was certainly not televised, at least initially but instead got out there through being reported in the music and later the national press of the day. Personally, I loved the excitement and energy of the music as well as its rebelliousness, although I could never claim to be hardcore - I didn't dress like a punk or seek out venues where local bands might have been playing. But there was definitely something in the air as small record shops proved for many to be the best way to access the new music, supplemented by locally published fanzines and suddenly out on the streets you started to notice young kids radically changing their appearance as they adopted the new punk fashions.
It's that buzz that this low-cost independent feature picks up on and for me successfully recreates in the story of the Belfast-based Good Vibrations record shop and record label owner Terri Hooley. A music lover with an eclectic taste which ran to Reggae, the Shangri-Las and Hank Williams, (who actually appears to him in his dreams), he follows his own dream of opening a record shop in the middle of town, effectively bridging the sectarian divide which had become the norm in the city with the onset of the Troubles, effectively offering a neutral no-man's land where religion didn't matter.
Then, at a chance appearance at a pub venue where he encounters the filth and the fury of a bunch of punks discovering the new music of local bands like the Outcasts and Rudi, Terry is swept up by the manic energy coming from the scene and promptly dives right into it, promoting gigs himself and then setting up his own record label, named after the shop, when attempts at courting the big labels based in London to come to Belfast repeatedly fail.
The touch paper is really lit when he happens upon a new band called the Undertones whose debut single "Teenage Kicks" leaps out of the speakers at everyone who hears it. Even as his new wife has their first baby, Terry still puts most of his time and energy into trying to break his bands even going to London in person, where he tries to get the Undertones single the vital oxygen it needs of national radio airplay. This finally arrives when the newly-appointed high priest of the movement, Radio One DJ John Peel falls in love with "Teenage Kicks" at first listen and promptly repeat-plays it on his show.
While the band did indeed go onto make other good records and achieve chart success alongside others like the more politically motivated Stiff Little Fingers, for Hooley himself it was more about keeping the music alive locally and his shop going, his own highest high being the promotion of a punk gig at the city's main 2000 capacity theatre where Peel himself makes a personal appearance.
I found it impossible not to like this film. Hooley, with his bearded, denims and jumper appearance doesn't try to ingratiate himself too much with the kids half his age but rather like Peel, he just gets the music and is transformed by it into becoming its number one supporter and promoter along the way. You feel the excitement as he surrenders himself to the music, enthusiastically pogoing along with punks or physically holding the label's first single on vinyl and then hearing it for the first time on the radio.
Filmed enthusiastically in true energetic punk fashion it certainly captures the vibrancy of the times. As ever with recreations of actual pop-cultural history like this, it's impossible to tell where fact blurs into fiction but with an engaging lead performance by Richard Dormer as the maverick Hooley and supported by a host of mostly young local actors, although you'll also catch sight of future established actors like Dr Who's Jodie Whittaker and Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar, this suitably low-budget feature certainly managed to revive and celebrate the home-made DIY spirit of the times in what was a warming, feel-good feature well worth a watch, I daresay even if you're more into the likes of Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac.
The Persuaders!: The Man in the Middle (1971)
Miseducating Archie
An even more fun and likeable than usual episode of "The Persuadors", given that it's very much centred on the appearance of the moustachioed, gap-toothed English comic actor Terry Thomas who guest-stars as Brett's penniless, fly-by-night third cousin. Cousin Archie promptly gets in the way when Brett's assigned mission to collect a top-secret microfilm sees him caught between a rock and a hard place with both British Intelligence and Russian secret agents after him for impersonating a spy at a rendezvous pre-arranged by the judge which naturally goes awry.
Of course we've already seen Archie accidentally meet the real spy, a Mr Price by name and even introduces him to Brett and Danny at the hotel where they're staying..Succeeding events see Brett survive being caught in the crossfire of both sets of spies, end up in the arms of a voluptuous lady diplomat in the British Embassy in Italy only to be tracked down and put in peril again as he's sent out again by the judge to save the Magoffin of the secret formula which both sides want.
On the other side is a pretty, gun-carrying young British agent played by Suzy Kendall. Half way through the episode it seems that Danny and Archie have tied everything up by rescuing Brett but when the dratted Ruskies kidnap Suzy, they demand an exchange with Price but as they don't know what he looks like, it becomes obvious who will play the part of the less than willing dupe to help engineer Kendall's escape and save the day.
It probably helps if you like Thomas's cowardly caddish-cadger persona built up in many a British film of the 50's and 60's and to be truthful he probably won me over despite myself in the end. Moore and Curtis gently and graciously give way to the roaring old boy in more ways than one in another amiable episode of this ever-entertaining light adventure series.
Heavenly Pursuits (1986)
Is Vic There
I was pleased to track down this lesser-known Film 4 production from the mid-80's, set in my native Glasgow. It's very much post-Bill Forsyth with its everyday locations and quirky characters even if it posits at its heart the old religious faith v atheistic scepticism argument although as you'd expect, it doesn't do so in a deadly serious way.
Events centre around a Catholic school in Glasgow for struggling girls and boys, the Blessed Edith Semple School, which is trying to claim sainthood for its namesake and founder for publicity and no doubt fund-raising purposes. To do this there must be three verifiable miracles which can be accredited to her influence and they're off to a flying, or should that be walking start, when one of their crippled young students gets up and does just that. So the search for numbers two and three is definitely afoot, although Tom Conti's teacherly cynic-in-residence character, Vic Matthews, doesn't believe any of it. He has his own problems anyway as he's just discovered he's suffering from an incurable brain tumour.
An intuitive and sympathetic teacher, he takes his class with a mixture of humour and empathy but can't get through to one young boy in particular who's perennially at the bottom of the class and seems uncommunicative, even to him, Ewan Bremner in his debut role as Stevie Deans. So he makes it his personal mission to try help the youngster out, especially as the school's rather severe headmaster, David Anderson, wants to pack Stevie off to a special school.
Also into Vic's orbit comes the pretty new female music teacher, Ruth Chancellor, a young Helen Mirren whom he initially awkwardly tries to woo. Then strange things start happening to him, he runs a bazillion red lights unscathed n his car to prove a point to his passenger Ruth and his stereo plays without being plugged-in culminating in an incredible physical feat of his, when he makes like Spiderman to try to talk down another youngster who's got up on the school roof in an attention seeking manoeuvre of their own. Naturally, it's not long before this story flies with the media with Vic as the reluctant focal point. But the biggest unexplained occurrence is just around the corner...
As I expected, the humour here is gentle and warm. The film doesn't try to lead the viewer to any favoured conclusions leaving the subject of whether or not to believe, down to the audience themselves. Anyway, Vic's much more interested in the welfare of his pupils as well as his stop-start courting of the initially resistant Ruth, than whether the school gets recognition from the Vatican.
It has to to be said that the acting of the child actors is occasionally rather amateurish and it's also blessed, (no pun intended) with an especially dated pop-synthesiser soundtrack which made me wince with every blast of it. Conti is highly personable as Matthews and is nicely supported by Mirren, Anderson and a young David Hayman as another of his teacher colleagues. It goes without seeing that it was highly pleasurable for me to identify in the location shots, familiar parts of my city as it was when I was younger.
I felt the film could have perhaps benefited with a little more humour and drama, but nevertheless it was a pleasant watch and definitely worth looking up on my part.
Disturbia (2007)
New Light Through an old Window
"Rear Window" for teens. Not ordinarily the type of movie I'd watch but having recently watched a different Hitchcock remake, this came up as a recommendation in a similar vein, although I first had to get myself get over its awful title.
The pitch is roughly the same, with the clever twist that the troublesome teenager here, Shia LeBouf's character, is restricted to his room (okay and to his garden too) not by a broken leg as James Stewart was, but by an electronic tag around his ankle which he git after punching out one of his teachers. For about an hour, you have to sit through the movie's teen sex-comedy tilt at its target audience as LeBouf and his Chinese-American chum get their kicks spying on his neighbours, in particular the bikinied young female who's just entered the neighbourhood. I could have happily missed out all the goofiness not to mention the casual voyeurism but things do pick up when the big bad serial-murderer comes into his view.
Aided by a pounding soundtrack, the film builds to a decent climax as LeBouf, his mate and especially his new girlfriend-next-door combine to save his own mom, yes, seriously and of course take down David Morse's nightmare of a neighbour.
Although the film can't escape it's widely over-contrived plot jumps, making allowances for my widely out-of-synch personal demographic, it's not that bad a thriller and if it also managed turn a few youngsters onto the real deal of one of the Master's very best features, even later in life, then I'm happy enough that this exists.
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
Who Wants to Live Forever
A lesser-known Hammer Studios movie which is less a horror movie than a psychological thriller. The story itself borrows bits of "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" and even the Dracula legend in a complicated narrative which stars Anton Diffring as a Victorian-era young-ish scientist who appears to have discovered the secret of eternal life. Now actually 104 years old, and looking great on it, the only thing is that the process seems to require ten year boosts from the glands of deceased young women who the distinguished doctor appears to meet through his sideline practice as a sculptor.
His accomplice down the years has been Arnold Marlé's now elderly fellow-scientist who started out younger than Diffring but now has literally one hand in the grave as a recent series of strokes has rendered him incapable of performing the required operation to prolong Diffring's already long life. With Diffring only surviving week to week by imbibing a suitably hubbling and bubbling secret potion, he's desperate to have another regeneration but with Marlé physically incapable of the task and also now becoming suspicious at the regular ten-year disappearances of young women, the prof will need someone else to act as his stand-in surgeon to get the job done. Which is where Christopher Lee's straight-arrow young doctor comes in, who finds the whole idea firstly unbelievable and then morally reprehensible but unfortunately his pretty young girlfriend Hazel Court is a still starry-eyed old flame of Diffring's who nevertheless isn't afraid to use her as a hostage to encourage Lee's participation.
But even after the operation, the now revitalised Diffring wants more, in short, he wants Court as his mate resulting in a rescue-come-showdown which literally puts years on the dastardly scientist.
I found the narrative and plot-points a little confusing with a number of situations seemingly flung at the viewer out of nowhere, usually accompanied by a heap of often expository dialogue which rather loftily included discussions on the God complex, eternal life and the world's over-population which I didn't know iwas such a hot topic so long ago as this. I also wasn't convinced by Diffring as a lady-killer in both senses of the phrase in what was overall a rather static and set-bound piece. Still, the acting of Lee, Court, Marlé and Francis De Wolff as the 'tec on the old boy's trail was some compensation and there was a convincing transformation scene at the end too.
Perhaps this particular Hammer lacked a little force but it still nailed down my attention well enough for its eighty odd minute running time.
The Persuaders!: The Long Goodbye (1971)
Oil Be Back
This was definitely one of the best episodes of "The Persuaders" I've yet seen as I rewatch the entire series, the first time I've looked in on it since I was a boy of 10 or 11 when it first hit the TV screens.
This episode, directed by Roger Moore himself, who cleverly contrives a small part for his own young daughter, combined elements of cold war tension, big business extortion and a topical, environmentally friendly message around a scientific formula which could eliminate the need for oil going forward.
The long dead remains of an eminent scientist are accidentally discovered on purpose deep in the heart of Scotland by Danny and Brett on a tip off from the judge. In the late man's possession is his own revolutionary calculation which could be worth millions in the open market and soon attracts the interest of a number of different parties. The deceased's will puts his daughter Carla in possession of the system and it's not long before three pretty young women come forward all claiming to be her.
In the meantime Danny is kidnapped but keeps his wits sufficiently about him, while he is being driven to the captive house, to remember the various landmarks and sound effects en-route which will enable him to retrace his journey later on and so set up the finale. This is when Brett, naturally, comes to the rescue in a wonderfully of-its-time bubble-car promoting a new soap brand where he's previously schmoozed way past the resistance pretty young sales-girl driving the car in time-honoured James Bond style, to then race to the rescue leaving the real Carla to make a noble decision which she believes is best for the planet although we could definitely do with that formula now given how the world has turned against fossil fuels.
With lots of shots of vintage cars in real London locations adding period charm, not to mention Danny's ridiculous outfit of the day which seemed to comprise a lady's low-cut collarless blouse with an extravagant cravat-tie around his neck, all adding to the fun, bar some ugly process shots used for the various car journeys employed, I really enjoyed this episode.
A Perfect Murder (1998)
An Imperfect Movie
This slick, stylised 90's remake of Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" updates and relocates the action from 50's London to contemporary New York and features Michael Douglas in the villainous Ray Milland part of the murderous husband who decides to kill his unfaithful wife not only for that reason but also because she's filthy rich and didn't sign a pre-nup when they married. He needs to act quickly too because as a Wall Street financier, his house of cards is falling apart, as with all his hedge bets off, he faces financial ruin.
His wife Gwyneth Paltrow is oblivious to this. She's out of love with him anyway but has found solace in a torrid affair with a bohemian artist, played by Viggo Mortenson in an early major role. She's edging towards leaving hubby but may not get the chance as he's meticulously planned her demise and what's more, he wants the lover to do the job for him.
Those of us familiar with Hitch's original will know that things don't go according to even the best-laid plan, the moral here being that perhaps a kitchen well-stocked with sharp objects isn't the best place to stage a killing but even when things do go awry, the quick-thinking Douglas pivots neatly to try to set up Paltrow for murder but hasn't planned for the actions of the similarly duplicitous Morgenson who also has an eye for the main chance.
If anything, the plotting here was even more contrived than in the original, to the point where it probably exploded the credibility of the narrative. For one thing, Paltrow seems so rich and in love with Morgenson that all he has to do is ask her for the not too considerable sum Douglas offers him. The major plot deviations where the lover becomes actively involved in the murder plot and the wife likewise turns from victim to detective and subsequently avenger also felt just too fantastical.
The film certainly looks good, especially the couple's fabulously appointed apartment but director Davis lacks Hitchcock's sense of pacing and flair with the camera. Douglas is good as the coldly calculating husband and Morgenson registers strongly as the pawn who wants to be king. Paltrow for me though is less convincing in a film which nonetheless makes a laudably strong effort to big up the original Grace Kelly role where her wife was little more than a passive victim of her husband's deadly machinations while David Suchet is criminally underused as the detective assigned to the case.
Never less than at least watchable as a present-day thriller, it certainly doesn't supplant the artistry which so infused the original feature on which it was based. Better perhaps to leave this kind of thing to Brian de Palma!
The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
The Phantom Menace
I've lately been watching a Monsters Inc.-like procession of low-budget horror movies from England's Hammer Studios and would probably pronounce this one the best I've seen, even as I understand it wasn't successful at the box office. I was surprised at how good it was, especially as it doesn't feature in its cast either of the two redoubtable British actors who so often took prominent roles in these productions, being of course Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Perhaps they were busy on other projects but anyway they weren't missed in this imaginative retelling of Gaston Laroux's immortal tale of "The Phantom of the Opera".
Herbert Lom stars in the title role, which naturally entails him acting for the most part behind a mask which in fact is somewhat different to the white half-face plaster-of-paris type we now more usually associate with the character, no doubt due to the successful musical adaptation of the tale, but nonetheless with his deep voice and expressive acting, he's excellent in the part. There's good support for him too with Heather Sears as his kidnap victim-turned protégé Christine, Edward de Souza as her ardent lover Harry Hunter and Michael Gough as the treacherous and lecherous Lord Ambrose D'Arcy, who not only cons the future Phantom, when he was the too-trusting Professor Petrie, into signing away all his compositions but also seeks to employ the casting couch for his own nefarious ends with every attractive female lead in his productions.
Tightly directed by Hammer perennial Terence Fisher, it tells its adapted story well, aided as usual by the company's convincing sets, in particular the Phantom's subterranean lair and the excellent use of music both incidental and for the extended "Saint Joan" operatic showpiece.
Modern audiences will baulk at the way the Phantom slaps Christine around for not "commiting to the role" and it also seemed to me that the prior crimes of the Phantom and his mute dwarf assistant got rather pushed aside in which a presumably innocent floor manager and rat catcher (the latter played by Patrick Troughton in another minor role before he regenerated into Dr Who later in the decade) both meet violent ends at their hands but at least the dastardly Lord got his too beneath the famous chandelier.
All in all, this was a version of the much-told story which deserves much wider recognition especially to those of us not in thrall to Lloyd-Webber's music.
The Persuaders!: That's Me Over There (1971)
It's Not You, It's Me
This episode of "The Persuaders" was written by one of my favourites writers for British television, the late Brian Clemens. Best known for his work on "The Avengers", "The New Avengers" and "The Professionals", he also wrote many episodes of the excellent "Thriller" TV series. Whenever I saw his name in the credits of a programme, it was always with a sense of anticipation and I was actually surprised to see that he wrote this episode for this altogether more relaxed and light-hearted series. Cutting his cloth accordingly, while it may have started like a vintage case for Steed and Peel, as a pair of employees, a young man and woman, seek to expose the nefarious operations of a highly respected and extremely powerful captain of industry by the name of Krane, but I might as well call him Murwell or Maxdoch, if you catch my drift, it soon relaxes into another easy-going case for the intrepid duo to crack.
The young man in question is caught in the act and conveniently falls off a roof leaving the young woman to try to get their proof, a tape recording, to the proper channels and so expose and bring the criminal kingpin to justice which of course is when she bumps into our heroes who, egged on by the judge, join the fray.
The highlights of this episode are when Danny and Brett are forced to impersonate one another with outrageous accents and mannerisms to match, there are entertaining scenes at an auction where Danny unwittingly commits Brett to an extravagant purchase before the usual punch-up at the end sees our heroes prevail and the big baddie taken down.
So, even if it didn't perhaps exhibit Clemens' more typical cleverly-plotted style, with entertaining dialogue put over as ever in the usual winning Curtis and Moore style, this was still an above average episode of what was, as childhood memory serves and modern-day rewatches prove, an entertaining and enjoyable series.
The Gorgon (1964)
Turn to Stone
Having plotted their way through the top-tier of scary monsters and super creepies, Hammer Studios effectively dropped down a division in producing this movie about old Snakeeyes herself, Magaera the Gorgon. Helpfully identified for us as one of the three demonic sisters whose stare was capable of turning to stone those who returned their gaze, of course it couldn't be the most famous of their number, Medusa, as she was slain by Perseus way back in the days of Greek Mythology.
Here, the creature manifests itself in early 20th Century Germany petrifying in more ways than one, a host of local victims. When a young girl becomes the latest victim and her boyfriend hangs himself in grief, the lad's father, an eminent professor, comes to investigate and soon suspects the old legend has come back to life. He confronts Peter Cushing's local expert Professor Namaroff and a pre-Dr Who Patrick Troughton's pliable police chief and becomes even more certain of a cover-up until he too is visited by Mageera and pays the ultimate price. Still, before he succumbs to his rocky ruin, he sends a letter to his son Paul who promptly arrives on the scene demanding answers.
He too gets the, pardon the pun, stonewall treatment apart from Namaroff's pretty female assistant Carla, who hints at darker events afoot. What does she know of the unnatural deaths in the area, will Carla's love for Paul save him in the end and just why does she seem to suffer from amnesia anytime Magaera does her stony stuff? The answers lie in that permanent feature of almost all the Hammer films of this time, an old, imposing castle and can Christopher Lee's visiting professor help Paul to break the mould and save the day?
Lee himself is on record as saying that he thought the unconvincing appearance of the gorgon herself marred the film's impact and he's right, although the transformation scene right at the end is effective enough. Overall, I enjoyed yet again director Terence Fisher's ability to create a suitably scary atmosphere with good sets, good background music and most of all, good acting, as usual by studio stalwarts Lee and Cushing but also well supported by Barbara Shelley as the conflicted Carla, Troughton as the nervous head of police and Richard Pasco as the investigative son.
On paper this may have been a rather silly premise for a movie but Hammered out in stone, it made for one of the studio's better chillers.
Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare (2024)
Bobby's Girl
On-line scams of different types are now almost a staple of the TV schedules. This Netflix production told the story of how a mature, (35 years old at the outset), seemingly intelligent single career woman was romanced on Facebook by a man she'd only met once years before and even then accidentally and fleetingly. This was the Bobby of the title, a handsome, successful and well-connected (an important consideration in the Sikh community of which she is a member) to whom she ended up in an "affair" which runs for over ten years without their ever meeting.
At the time they first hooked up on-line, Kirat, the woman in question, was a successful London-based career woman. Her day job was as a marketing executive, while in her off-time she deejayed on a local radio station. She was also in a long-term relationship and seemed ready to at last marry, with the point being strongly made that this was very much a desired outcome by her family, as the testimonies of both her parents and others close to her make clear.
However, when her romance breaks down, she takes comfort in the messages she starts to receive from Bobby, who appears to be free too and is keen to get to know her better. So their cyber-connection deepens with all-night Skype calls, gift-giving and soon enough, professions of love, all without ever physically getting together. Kirat gets to know Bobby's circle of friends and also starts inter-communicating with them, but matters take a dramatic turn when Bobby is apparently shot and badly injured in Kenya and as a result enters Witness Protection in New York for his safety. His injuries mean he can't speak or appear on video but still the messages keep coming, leading up to a marriage proposal which Kirat ecstatically accepts. As Bobby slowly recovers, all she needs now is for him to finish the protection programme and actually meet up with her so that she can introduce him to the family and get on with the expected happy-ever-after marriage and succeeding parenthood.
But when he continues to prove elusive even after his "return" to England, alarm bells at last go off for Kirat with disastrous consequences for her, when after she tracks him down in person, an almost unbelievable revelation explodes the whole concocted story.
Watching this compelling documentary, one is again reminded of how easily apparently responsible people fall for on-line tricksters again and again although the eventual reveal in this one was especially difficult to fathom in terms of motive. It is very easy to criticise Kirat herself for being so foolish as to allow herself to be strung along for so very long without becoming suspicious about what turned out to be a fantastic web of deceit contrived by her long-awaited dream man. It has to be said too that her neediness and susceptibility do occasionally portray her on-camera as a touch delusional and even as something of a fantasist but nothing can excuse the actions of the callous and twisted perpetrator who finally runs out of loom and is finally caught up in their own web of lies.
As a programme, it was sometimes difficult to watch Kirat walk and talk us through her obviously painful story. Told with mock-ups of the texting and messaging which were exchanged and the staging of key events as they occurred, complete with blurry images of actors playing them out, this was another cautionary tale of modern life and the pitfalls of wanting something too much. The only saving grace for Kirat here appeared to be that at least she wasn't swindled out of a large amount of money but she certainly got cleaned out emotionally. As the old saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is but try telling that to someone in love.
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
The Meinster Mash
Peter Cushing returns as Prof Van Helsing in this Hammer Studios follow-up feature to its successful updating of the Dracula character in its preceding production "Dracula". The only thing is that neither Dracula himself, or more importantly Christopher Lee in particular, returned with him and both their appearances are greatly missed.
Van Helsing is back in Transylvania however, this time on the trail of what today one might call an offshoot branch of Vampires Inc. As he pursues another vampiric figure who goes under the name of Lord Meinster. Naturally, you won't find him buried away in an office or a factory, but as ever ensconced in plain sight in a massive, gloomy Gothic castle out in the country.
The viewer is led to him by following a pretty young female teacher as she arrives at a local inn en route to her new position. Looking for a bed for the night, her options become severely limited when an elderly lady enters and makes her acquaintance, instantly emptying the place. The customers know what she doesn't, that she's been lined up by the old woman as the next victim of her bloodthirsty son, who she chains up in their castle. Quite why he only feasts on pretty young girls isn't made clear but with nowhere else to stay, the teacher is obligated to take up the offer of a bed for the night.
There, in daylight, she falls in love at first sight with the young Lord but little does she know what he gets his teeth into at night, when she innocently frees him from his chains. Then, when a local girl and the castle maid both subsequently die in mysterious circumstances, the good professor finally appears, bearing his essential travel items of a hammer and stake, crucifix and holy water as he seeks to track down the monster and by extension save the teacher.
I found I enjoyed this sequel a bit less than its predecessor. Cushing is as good as ever as the pursuing professor but he doesn't enter the action until the movie's thirty minutes in. I also have to say that the appearance of Lord Meinster in his vampire guise filled me more with amusement than fright, plus the special effects are thin on the ground and weak in execution, none worse than the vampire bat which flits around with more strings attached to it than Thunderbirds.
The script is weak, with poor dialogue, inexplicable plot jumps and strange out-of-character actions proliferating. The backgrounds are good but Cushing apart, the support acting is weak especially the actor playing Meinster / Dracula who in his full regalia comes over more as Camp than Count Dracula.
Lee would return to the Dracula role for Hammer in the future as the central character but I doubt even his appearance could have rescued this rather pallid and anaemic return of the lord of darkness.
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Man With New Brains
After the runaway success of their first venture into reinventing the classics horror catalogue,it was inevitable that Hammer would return with a sequel to "The Curse of Frankenstein". Perhaps a better title to this feature would be "The Resurrection..." rather than "The Revenge of Frankenstein" as they roll back the ending to the first film by now showing the bad Baron cheating the guillotine which seemed to have claimed him before.
Three years have passed and he's now turned up with his own hospital of the poor, making such a success of it that the local society of doctors wants him to become a member but the doc curtly declines and we soon find out why. He's not given up on creating a living, breathing man and secretly has a project to do just that literally percolating away in the background. Attracted by his medical genius, Francis Matthews' young doctor joins him in his grand design but this time the creature isn't stitched together from recent body parts but instead is a full, recently exhumed "healthy" body, just in need of a brain to cone fully to life. Conveniently, the doctor's general dogsbody Carl has physical deformities and is up for swapping his brain to the handsome, fitsle specimen preserved in formaldehyde.
Successful transference duly takes place but almost inevitably, things don't go smoothly triggered by a young well-to-do female volunteer, to whom Carl previously took a shine, who humanely released the Mark 2 version into the community where, thanks to a bump on the head, he too proceeds to go on to commit murder and go on the run.
The plot here crosses over somewoeith the story of Jekyll and Hyde plus an agile, good looking creature such as this just doesn't have quite the same scare-appeal as the traditional hulking, green-skinned monster embedded in our imagination. Later however, the focus switches to Frankenstein himself as his past returns to haunt him before a neat ending is contrived to set up the next sequel.
Peter Cushing is excellent as always as the duplicitous doc and he's well supported by TV's future Paul Temple, Matthews as his new no. 2 while Michael Gwynne tries his best to convince us he's a monster in sheep's clothing, so to speak. With effective studio sets and a sympathetic orchestral soundtrack, this was another convincing, low-budget creature-feature from the studio whose name has become synonymous with the terror genre.
Cool Runnings (1993)
The Road to Calgary
This light-hearted, undoubtedly Disney-embellished retelling of the story of the Jamaican bobsleigh men's team's surprise entry to the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary certainly plays up the humorous aspect but also got across its broader message of commitment to a cause, defying the odds and probably most of all, national pride in a sunny, funny movie which like the team itself, surprised many when it was first released.
The team was formed when three hopeful sprinters who crashed out of the country's 100m Olympic trials came together to have a go at qualification instead in the unlikely sport of bobsleighing. They eventually win round their initially reluctant coach, disgraced former Olympian John Candy and on makeshift buggies going up and down rough hilly tracks in their native Jamaica, gradually hone their teamwork and technique to a level where they can actually meet the required qualification level to go to the games. They still need funding however and after some amusing ruses to raise the money all fail, it takes the sacrifice of the team's one rich member to find the $20000 dollars needed.
Once in Calgary they first experience the extreme cold they've never felt at home, their sense of displacement only compounded by the scorn heaped on them by their better funded and trained opponents, but with Coach Candy's persistence and resourcefulness, they not only managed to purloin an old American sledge with which to race but more importantly bond together into a team which in the end completes the course, gaining the respect of not only their fellow-competitors but also,more importantly, the support of their countryman and women back home, most of whom probably wouldn't recognise a bobsleigh if it slid right in front of them.
Like I said, I was thoroughly amused and enthused by this modern-day David and Goliath sporting fable. The humour was light, unforced and family-friendky and I also enjoyed the very different characterisations of the four team members, firstly the handsome, naturally-gifted athlete, then his best mate, the comic, almost Spike Lee-tyoe figure of fun, next the taciturn, steely, committed sprinter and finally the timid, rich daddy's boy who initially defies his stern old man to pay the team's way to Calgary.
This winning combination of humour and the cause of the underdog, filmed in bright colour to an effusive reggae-based soundtrack made for a pleasantly amusing and uplifting movie suitable for all the family.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Hounds of Hate
Hammer Studios, no doubt casting about for a new monster to feature in one of their movie productions, went somewhat left-field, in picking up on the Hound of the Baskervilles which meant of course that they had to go all-in on a Sherlock Holmes feature. It actually worked out pretty well with Peter Cushing making for a fine Holmes, bringing out well Conan Doyle's immortal detective's various quirks and ticks and Christopher Lee playing, no, not the hound this time, but instead the newly-installed current Sir Charles Baskerville who becomes the centre of a villainous plot to kill him to acquire his title, wealth and property.
Set at around the same time as the original book, it starts with a prologue which recounts the old story of the debauched Sir Hugo Baskerville who met his end at the paws of the legendary hell-hound of the moors for his murder of the daughter of a servant. We're then brought up to date with a retelling of the demise of the most recent Baskerville, the equally scandalous uncle and lord of the manor, Sir Charles
Baskeville again attributed to the devil-dog, not that you get to actually see it at this stage,
Holmes is hired by the family doctor to investigate the mysterious goings on at Baskerville and sends his faithful retainer Dr Watson on ahead to check the lie of the land. It's worth saying at this stage that this Dr Watson is no oafish sidekick as personified in Hollywood's Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce series of films in the late 30's but is actually resourceful and rather brave to the extent that he ends up almost getting himself killed in one of Dartmoor's treacherous quicksand marshes.
Holmes duly turns up, in rather unexpected fashion by which time the plot has been enriched to include an escaped prisoner, the local farmer and his exotically beautiful Spanish-descent daughter, all of whom will come to figure prominently as the story moves to its inevitable climax out on the moors.
While the story itself moves along rather fitfully, director Terence Fisher again uses his sets and dramatic use of music to create a suitably dark and mysterious atmosphere. As stated, Cushing has a good deal of fun playing the quixotic, human computer that is Holmes, Andre Morrell is credible as the redoubtable Watson and Lee, at last stepping out of the shadows into almost a lead romantic role, at last gets to show his up till then underused acting talent. Even if the long-delayed introduction of the "monster" itself is inevitably something of an anti-climax, there's more than enough here to mark this as one of the superior Holmes adaptations, sadly not picked up by the studio for further adventures, although both Cushing and Lee were indeed to play Sherlock in future film productions elsewhere.
The Persuaders!: Chain of Events (1971)
Suitcase's You, Sir...
A trip to the country inevitably goes west for our intrepid duo as a stroll by Danny ends up with him encountering a British agent who's parachuted into a tree and who before he expires, attaches an important attaché case to his wrist without giving him the key. Naturally the case is in demand, not only from British intelligence who have a team on the spot looking for it, but also a crack, let's call him Russian agent, at least judging by Peter Vaughn's attempted accent, who goes by the unlikely codename of Schubert.
In due course, Brett catches up with his chum and they both go on the run from Schubert and his recruits with matters becoming more confusing when the baddies don police uniforms and even set up one of their own with a dummy case to throw MI5 off the case, no pun intended.
Danny hooks up, almost as you'd expect, with a pretty young female agent, coincidentally a childhood girlfriend of Brett's, whose doctor father's country practice is handily close by where the boys go to use his X-ray equipment to learn what's in the case.
This leads to an amusing scene when the girl bursts in on Danny trying to take a shower still attached to the case and it all ends up in a face-off or should that be case-off between the secret service and Schubert and the explosive conclusion about the case contents is revealed.
A light, fun outing here for Messrs Curtis and Moore in this Terry Nation scripted episode which takes the old Hitchcock idea of setting up the audience with a McGuffin and literally running with it.