Walt Disney in England.

In 1949, when Walt Disney made Treasure Island, his first all live-action feature, in England at Denham Film Studios,  he was not yet the instantly recognisable celebrity that he would  become but  his name was certainly well enough known, and so  he found himself in the middle of a crowd of autograph hunters in the centre of London as the picture below :-

Walt in England

The photo Below above was taken in England in the summer of 1951, during the filming of The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men. Walt and Lillian’s visit to England that summer was the second of the extended trips to Europe they made with their daughters, Diane and Sharon. (The first such trip was in 1949, for the filming of Treasure Island.) That’s Robin himself, Richard Todd, at Walt’s right, and Maid Marian, Joan Rice, at his left.

The above picture was taken at Burnham Beeches where scenes were being filmed.

In an interview, Richard  Todd spoke of Walt Disney as something of a “social climber.” For whatever reason Richard Todd was extremely well connected  in British  society of the day, to interesting and high-ranking people who Walt would have otherwise had difficulty meeting. One of them was Henry Tiarks, a  merchant banker who was married to a West End actress and whose daughter ultimately became the Duchess of Bedford.

Diane Disney Miller remembers that the Disney family were invited to the Tiarks home for lunch. “As I recall,” she says, “Dad was invited solo first, and went horseback riding with Tiarks around his grounds.” (Walt was of course an accomplished horseman, after his years as a polo player.) “Dad was amused when Tiarks indicated a neighbouring estate as belonging to ‘the fellow who lost us the American Colonies.’  Mother and Dad did enjoy their friendship.”

Walt Disney at Chingford, Essex in England  – Below :

Walt Disney was a very keen miniature railway enthusiast and had his own  railway at his home in USA. One day whilst visiting London on business and as he had completed his work asking his chauffeur if he knew of any miniature railways in London, the chauffeur brought Walt Disney to Ridgeway Park in Chingford. That day the park was holding the Chingford Day celebration. Walt Disney drove trains around the track and allowed the press to take some photographs and generally had a good time.

When the public heard that Walt Disney was visiting the railway every body rushed over to see him, just as the Mayor of Chingford was about to open the celebration which he did almost on his own.

Note – The caption above gives the date as 1954 and on this same picture elsewhere I have seen 1952 – IN FACT I am fairly sure that this was taken during Walt Disney’s visit to England in the summer of 1951 to film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men at Denham Film Studios.

Actor Francis Matthews has died aged 86                     

“KING SOLOMON’S MINES” (1950)

I remember my Mother and Dad taking us children to see this – and I also remember the publicity prior to its release which included a serialisation in one of the comics of the day. We were hooked before we even had a chance to see the film which in those days took about six weeks or more from its London release to arriving in the town in the North of England close to where we lived.

It was thrilling to see this on the big screen in Technicolor and we had a glimpse of the African jungle which we had no chance of seeing at that time but we would have read a lot about it in books of the day.

                                                

There have been a number of  film adaptations of H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novel, ”King Solomon’s Mines”. One film had been released in 1937,with Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson and then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released this one in 1950, starring Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger.It took Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer nearly four years to get ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES” into production. They had originally planned to have Errol Flynn star as the Victorian hunter – Allan Quartermain but Flynn dreaded the idea of spending time away from any form of luxury, while on location in Africa. He ended up taking the leading role in MGM’s other adventure, ”KIM”, in which he spent his off-camera hours at a resort in India.

British actor, Stewart Granger, took the role of Quartermain . . . and became a major Hollywood star. The other cast members included Deborah Kerr as Elizabeth Curtis, the woman who hires Quartermain to lead a safari in search of her missing husband; Richard Carlson as John Goode, Elizabeth’s likeable older brother; Siriaque as the mysterious Umbopa, who is revealed to be King of the Watusi; and Hugo Haas as Van Brun, a former hunter who is wanted by British authorities for murder.

Directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES”was filmed on location in the Republic of Congo and Kenya, along with California.

Very loosely based upon Rider Haggard’s novel, ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES” the film tells the story of Allan Quatermain (Stewart Granger), an experienced hunter and guide in 1897 Kenya, who is reluctantly talked into helping Beth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) and her brother Jack Goode (Richard Carlson) search for her husband, who had disappeared in the unexplored interior of Africa on a quest to find the legendary mines. They have a copy of the map that Henry Curtis had used in his journey. A tall, mysterious native, Umbopa (Siriaque), eventually joins the safari.

Inevitably during the gruelling journey, Elizabeth and Quatermain begin to fall in love.MGM castStewart Granger in many ways fitted the role of Allan Quatermain perfectly. He looked the part.

Deborah Kerr as Beth Curtis sets the journey in motion to find her husband.    Richard Carlson who was later to be The Maze and Creature from The Black Lagoon, played Elizabeth Curtis’ brother, John Goode.

                                          

This film was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1951.   It earned $5,047,000 in the US and Canada and $4,908,000 elsewhere. After production and other associate costs were deducted, the movie made a profit of $4,049,000, making it easily MGM’s most successful film of 1950.

“KING SOLOMON’S MINES” (1950)  Scenes from the Film below:-

Below are images from “KING SOLOMON’S MINES”, the 1950 adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s novel. The film starred  Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr and Richard Carlson:

“KING SOLOMON’S MINES” (1950)

Also starring Robert Taylor, Dana Wynter and Edmund O’Brien

It seems vital to post something here on the 70th Anniversary of the D Day Landings – and this film at times captures the invasion pretty well I would have thought.  SEE THE ORIGINAL FILM TRAILER BELOW.

 Richard Todd should also be mentioned today as he was the first paratrooper out from the  planes involved in the taking of Pegasus Bridge.  He did say in a radio interview that, as the first man out, he was able to get down on the ground and prepared before any of the enemy were alerted to what was happening. He also added that as he looked up a few minutes later many planes with gliders were under fire and a lot of them were being shot down.

As we know Pegasus Bridge was secured by the Allies.  Years later Richard Todd played Major John Howard who led the assault on Pegasus Bridge – in the film The Longest Day.

View in the Link Below the exciting Trailer to D-Day The Sixth of June :-

SEE THE ORIGINAL FILM TRAILER BELOW:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SNJR4eJ36o&feature=player_detailpage

Below Robert Taylor chats to a fan about this film :-

What a film this is -probably one of the most sinister and scary ever with Karl Boehm cast in the leading role as the repressed film cameraman who murders each of his victims in a truly horrific manner.

It has just been announced that Karl Boehm has died at the age of 86 – and I have to say after a long career in acting this is the film that he is best known for – certainly in England.

Anna Massey had a very good leading role in this film and she sadly passed away only a year or two ago.

In her autobiography in 2006, Telling Some Tales, she told of  a difficult early life and  her failed marriage (1959–1962) to actor Jeremy Brett. The couple had one son.  However after the early part of her life –  mainly unhappy – on August 1988 at a dinner party  she met  metallurgist Uri Andres. The couple were married from November 1988 until her death in 2011 – and so she found the happiness she longed for quite late in life.