crumpytv's reviews

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2015, as Blind Date.

A rather wordy and overlong drama, more a play in acts than a film.

I must admit I saw the twist very early on so it came as no surprise.

Even in 1959 it seems that the higher the rank in the police the less interested in justice they became and focused purely on self interest.

At least Stanley Baker's character stayed true to the job. It must have been all that milk (interestingly, no mention was made of it).

The music at the beginning negated any sort of atmosphere, especially the drumming.

That whole scene should have played out with as little noise as possible.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Easy enough to watch but everything was fairly predictable.

The plot was rather unusual; murderer on the run hides up in a travelling holiday caravan while holding a small boy hostage.

Rather preposterous ending with gunman shooting at the police and they returned fire with a blast on their whistles.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Excellent film. It had a great feel to it, although allowances have to be made for some of the cinematography.

Also, that Bogart was nearly twice Gloria Graham's age.

However, they were both excellent. Bogart in trying not very hard to control his volatile temper and Grahame in trying change him for the better.

Of course it was a doomed relationship and the ending was appropriate.

Early in the film, Martha Stewart made a big impact. In a way Gloria Graham took over from where she left off.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

I really enjoyed this film.

I was reminded of Quadrophenia, although this predates it by many years. Also, it could be classed within the "kitchen sink" genre. It has that feel.

It carries a moral for those of the time tempted by the wrong side of the tracks/law.

The leads are excellent, particularly Carol White in her first starring role.

Both her and Alan Rothwell (Ken Barlow's brother in the initial Coronation Street) were very believable as the teenagers finding love for the first time.

There was a rather clumsy attempt to lead the viewer astray near the end when Linda claims to feel sick.

I watched 3 episodes but then gave up.

Essentially it was the same each week. A murder case which has some sort of medieval folklore undertones which make absolutely no sense.

Also, why set a drama in a location in which it clearly is not.

For Derbyshire read Ireland. It really annoyed me that the scenery and architecture was all wrong and even in one landscape shot there was sea in the distance.

I will applaud Channel 5 for airing a drama of this nature without any offensive language. It makes a nice change, but it couldn't save the weak drama and very familiar plotting.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Considering it is over 70 years old, it is not bad. Yes there is the usual overplayed melodrama, but the story chugs along at a decent pace.

I particularly liked the police inspector who didn't jump to conclusions. One is so used to the opposite in contemporary dramas.

15 years later and Vanda Godsell and Robert Brown would be major characters in the BBC soap, The Newcomers.

From the outset a lot of what was being said was interesting. I never really knew what all the "rave" business was about, but now I do and what was fuelling it and how things escalated out of control.

The problem with so many of these in depth documentaries is that nothing new ever comes to light and the end is always a frustrating disappointment.

One thing is common, the police never come out of it very well.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

This seems pretty lame 70 years on.

It is a semi-interesting B movie with a strong performance by Patricia Dainton and Conrad Philips providing the love interest as the policeman. He had just become a familiar face as William Tell.

Soon to be famous appearances by Richard O'Sullivan and Frazer Hines as boys.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Back in the day, Francis Durbridge dramas on TV were an event and this is good one.

Episode 1 in particular captures the attention and doesn't wane until the last epsiode where the storytelling falls apart a bit.

Pater Barkworth is excellent as usual and it was good to see Arthur Pentelow in a role just before Emmerdale Farm took over his life.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

This is well paced the storyline frequently appears to change direction.

There are one or two holes in the plot, not least whereby towards the end mention is made of prosecutions against villains that Myers was supposed to be giving evidence against. He wasn't involved so the whole "grass" premise came up short.

It is worth watching for a most excellent performance by Timothy West as DCI Jimmy McKinnes. He could easily have been Jack Regan in The Sweeney.

This is a contemporary drama and contains language and/or attitudes that some viewers, particularly those of a more mature generation, the Silent Majority, will find offensive.

Why has it become apparently acceptable to have so much profanity in supposedly entertainment productions? It is literally supposed to be an entertainment, not a medium to create a profane culture. Current generations are being brought up to think this is normal. Is it normal? It never used to be. The worst language I have ever encountered was in the school playground in the 1960s, but it was not prevalent in general society, certainly not in TV and films. So, when and where was the decision made, and by whom, to decide it as being acceptable to allow this sort of language into the lounges of the population where it is not welcome?

Unfortunately turning off is becoming less of an option as it is literally in nearly every drama and most contemporary so called comedies.

The language is so offensive.

It appears the North Americans roll off the F word as though it it was a flippant colloquialism, but it jars when there is just one F bomb after the other.

Recorded from Talking Picture TV, 2025.

I gave up after 50 laboured minutes.

I just could not see the point of it as an entertainment.

Yes, there is the psychology of the sailor seeking redemption, but I found the setting in the far east of no real interest.

I am sure there is more to come and he finally seeks achieves some inner peace, but I just could not be bothered to sit through another couple of hours of it.

More concise than the TV series and marginally easier to understand. The whole issue is a complex of lies, deceit, cover-ups and bullying.

The shocking part is that there are a lot of people out there who are guilty and got away with it. There are also many innocents whose lives have been changed by the whole affair.

This documentary went far further than the one that accompanied the Gold drama series some months ago.

There was a lot more to John Palmer than was portrayed in the drama.

This fails to underline that he was not actually involved in the Brinks Mat robbery, he was the smelter and engaged after the event.

The possibilities as to the reason for his murder/assassination seems to be endless. It just depends on what line of enquiry is followed.

It was still an interesting watch, though.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

The worst part of this movie was the appalling resolution. I am guessing it was shot on video, maybe, but it really detracted from the overall look.

As a drama, I thought it was pretty good and don't go along with the negative reviews.

This was 19 years before the X Files and it is definitely of that genre.

The point of the movie is that as is often suggested these days, there are powerful people in control of everything and normal people doing a job can and will be manipulated at will. In this case army personal in different working environments are left with little option but to concede they did not see what they had witnessed.

The cast includes David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) and Ken Kercheval (Dallas) just before they both became very familiar faces on TV screens.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Neat film of its time about a father trying to gain access to his son by any means possible.

11 year old Dennis Waterman plays the 7 year old son ????

This was his first role and he looks rather awkward in it.

This is as much a public awareness film for diabetes as a kidnapping.

Anyway, it is all rather twee apart from cinema histories' most evil mother/ grandmother/mother in laws you will see anywhere.

Some good steam railway scenes.

It was ticking along ok. Nothing offensive. Ross Kemp being Ross Kemp.

I can't believe the book was anything like this.

The so called Iranian hit man didn't have to do anything other than turn up at the right time.

The British so called security forces were a joke.

They were utterly hopeless and didn't offer any sort of protection to the family they were supposed to be looking after.

There was more of a suggestion at the end that they had done a good job.

Really? I don't think so.

The scene with the assassin and the kite was just not believable.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Solid film with a relatively high profile cast.

The story revolves around four men and four wives.

Three of the men are strong but the supposed lead is weak. I have never found Laurence Harvey convincing, and in this I think he is miscast as a very effeminate lothario with women seemingly falling at his feet.

On the plus side Gloria Grahame turns in an excellent flirty performance.

Joan Collins gives a solid straight love interest performance and Margaret Leighton is also very good.

The whole story is not really credible but it is worth watching. Captures the atmosphere mid-1950s London.

Look out for a map on the wall with Ireland cut in two by sea.

Recorded as And Then There Were None, from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Another name change for Agatha Christie's politically incorrect novel.

The plot is true to the essence of the original, but other things have been changed.

Notably the location.

A hotel in the desert 200 miles from the nearest civilisation. Really??

The conclusion was been changed, but in quite a neat way that Agatha may have approved.

The cast were a real oddball with the level of their celebrity telegraphing their demise.

Oliver Reed was good but I have always found Elke Sommer a bit laboured.

I turned it off after the C word bomb in episode 2.

By then I has bored by it anyway. It features some very psychologically disturbed and uninteresting characters which it is impossible to have any sympathy for.

Is this really entertainment?

The trend of no profanities for the early part of the drama is followed until they let rip in episode 2.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

In times where murder is commonplace in dramas, quite often supported by the accompanying violence and/or graphic images, it is ironic that I found it more shocking that the murder of a young boy at the start of the film was only conveyed in words. It had far greater impact.

I really could not decide whether Dan Duryea was good or awful. An American out of place for sure in this film.

The supporting cast of Peter Madden, Gwen Watford and Barry Warren were very good and helped keep things tight.

The whole thing was completely implausible but it was still an enjoyable thriller of 1960s vintage.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

Watched this on a cold afternoon and really enjoyed it.

It was well paced and a largely unfamiliar cast held it together well. Something that contemporary dramas are lacking in.

To be honest, it is a change to watch something that is profanity free.

I wonder if that portrait was regarded as risqué at the time. It got a lot of air time.

I can't help but feel that Siobhan Finneran was miscast here.

She looked very awkward throughout and not really a cogent lead detective. The frequently reprised bedroom scenes were just plain embarrassing and if the lead character is going to have to fight off basically psychopath villains, then I am afraid a woman just does not cut it. Here's a thought, how about casting men in lead roles for a change.

There are also a lot of cliched sub-storylines and contemporary (woke) casting.

It was refreshing to have the first two episodes profanity free, but unfortunately the producers thought they would pepper a few throughout the remaining episodes.

Recorded from Talking Pictures TV, 2025.

A lot different to his persona in Gideon, I can't help but feel John Gregson rather overplayed the character of Richard Hammond.

He was rude, arrogant and aggressive both before and after his accident, so not one of those people the viewer could have much sympathy with.

The soundtrack was really annoying. More Doctor Who circa 1965 than acceptable in a drama.

Overall, it was a bit long and there were no real surprises. The twists were well telegraphed prior to arrival.