This is a film version of the  BBC Television Series The Grove Family which was quite popular in the mid fifties and ran for over two years.

Ruth Dunning played Gladys Grove and Edward Evans Bob Grove – and these two characters with the same actors had been in the Norman Wisdom film ‘ Man of the Moment’ the previous year to the TV series starting – and I would reckon, even though they were uncredited in the film,  that this produced the idea for the BBC series.

Granny Grove – who seemed to be, in some ways, the star of the film and the series, was played by Nancy Roberts

In this film version ‘ It’s a Great Day, building contractor Bob Grove is desperately trying to find floor tiles to complete the council housing estate, which is shortly to be opened by Princess Margaret.

The Borough Surveyor does not like Bob Groves and, when he suspects that the tiles were stolen, he sets the police on Bob and rescinds the invitation to meet the Princess.

Bob is cleared of any wrong doing in the end  but too late to get back on the guest list. However there follows a twist in the story here – and all ends very satisfactorily and happily.

Along the way, we are treated to son Jack’s and daughter Pat’s romantic interludes, young Lennie’s dangerous escapade on some unstable scaffolding and numerous  humorous, asides from Gran, played  by Nancy Roberts.

Sheila Sweet ABOVE played daughter  Pat. In real life Sheila was first married to actor William Sylvester then later to another well know actor Richard Johnson by whom she had two children.  She didn’t have a very long TV or film career.   She died in 2003.

Nowadays, the film ‘It’s a Great Day’ is of more interest as a nostalgic piece of 1950’s family life.

This film is more for nostalgia fans like me,  and those interested in early British television – again like I am.

Walt Disney released this one ion 1957 in the USA but as far as I can see, it was not released in the UK until 1959 – I can’t think why that would be.

It was extremely successful at the Box Office – in fact Fess Parker, having been in the hit Davy Crockett scored bullseye again with Old Yeller.

It is a heart-warming tale of a boy’s friendship with a dog. Set in the late 19th century Texas, a homesteader leaves his wife (Dorothy McGuire) and his two sons for a few months to seek his fortune in the city. He leaves his elder son Travis (Fess Parker) in charge of the family. The very next day, the family comes across a stray dog. They name him Yeller and very soon he becomes a well-beloved family pet. Yeller is a smart dog and acts as a guardian for the family.

Yeller is in fact the protagonist of the story. His personality is well developed and he steals our hearts with no effort. The dog playing Yeller was one expressive canine. You can very clearly see the emotions on his face.

It is romanticised depiction of the old west but who cares. The location is picturesque. There are plenty of animals; lizards, snakes, toads, hogs, horses, cows, bears, wolves and of course dogs. They seem to be well-trained; most of their scenes look extremely natural. Add to that, the characters are all charming as simple, hard-working and good-natured folk and putting this all together  you have a very  enjoyable film  for both children and adults.

Humphrey Bogart puts in a great performance  in  “The Harder They Fall” (1956)-  a stunning indictment of the boxing profession.

The film also marks Humphrey Bogart’s final film performance. Here he plays  a former sports writer turned publicist along  with Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling and Mike Lane (as the giant Argentinian boxer)

Mike Lane ABOVE – having a joke with the make-up artists.

In addition to Bogart’s  performance, Rod Steiger plays a corrupt manager. Their scenes together are really well done, and very well written.

There is one particular gripping  scene when, after the big fight where Bogart presses to find out how much their fighters will ultimately end up with, after getting so badly beaten in the ring.

The tension in the film derives from the ultimate conflict between Bogart’s decency and Steiger’s willingness to exploit. The two had great on screen chemistry in their scenes together. They employed very different acting styles, Steiger being one of the first Method actors to enjoy success in films whilst  Bogart was strictly old school, but he not only held his own, he dominated their scenes together.

ABOVE – this shot just sums up the brutality depicted in this film

Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger ABOVE trade verbal fisticuffs ABOVE.

I watched much of this film today on Talking Pictures ‘The Harder They Fall was released on 31 March 1956.

Two months before this in January Humphrey Bogart had been having trouble swallowing and eating and sought medical advice. He was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent a long operation soon afterwards. It was not completely successful and the cancer returned.

He died at his home on 15 January 1957 aged 57 – he was born on Christmas Day 1899.

When he died he weighed just 6 and a half stone

Filmed in VistaVision and shot in Technicolor – Written  and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and released in 1956

The managed to bring together spectacular shots of many of the actual ships

This film was shown on BBC2 this afternoon – still looks good.

Peter Finch – ABOVE – stars as Capt. Langsdorf of the German “pocket” battleship Admiral Graf Spee. He is perfectly cast

Also starring  Anthony Quayle as Commodore Harwood  and John Gregson, who plays Capt. Bell of the British cruiser Exeter

I did a post some months ago on John Gregson and his former home on the River Thames – and that seems to get the most visits on this site. I think at around that time, there was a programme on Talking Pictures which had his Wife and family being interviewed on what would have been his 100th Birthday.

One of his sons appeared on the TV programme Eggheads – and it was mentioned that he was John Gregson’s son which caused a lot of interest from the resident team of experts.

It just goes to show that even today, John Gregson remains well known and popular. Talking Pictures does indeed take a lot of the credit for that in that they have shown the full TV series of  ‘Gideon on the Yard’ which he starred in – as well as many films such as this one.

Some of the location work was filmed in Malta and Gozo and well as Argentina

There are so many good and well known actors in this film including Bernard Lee,  Andrew Cruikshank, Ian Hunter, Barry Foster, Douglas Wilmer and Roger Delgado to name but a few.

Another name in the cast would be Patrick MacNee,   and in a small part John Le Mesurier

Christopher Lee has a minor role as Manolo, the jealous bar owner.

In the early years of WWII, the Royal Navy struggled to keep British supply routes clear. This film tells the true story of the hunt for one of their biggest threats, the German warship Graf Spee.

In places this was an Action packed film

The Picture Show of 1956 carried this cover picture

Above:  Ian Hunter, John Gregson and Anthony Quayle in a scene from the film – Not sure who the actor on the right is though.

The date was 23 October 1943 when Glenn Ford married Eleanor Powell.

Glenn Ford was in his US Marine Corps uniform.

They had a son Peter Ford who also became an actor – he was born in February 1945.

Later Eleanor Powell turned to God and became a Minister in the Church.

Her son Peter had been struck down with severe arthiritis at the age of 21 and he went through a long period when he could hardly move – then one day he woke up and the affliction had completely left him.    He attributes this to his Mother’s prayers

The year is 1964 and the smartly dressed driver delivering cartons of cream to the village grocer in the Shiplake area,  from his Land-Rover did not seem to be just another tradesman. 

Eagle eyed  onlookers were reminded of  Robin Hood, Rob Roy or even Guy Gibson from  from The Dambusters film. They were right. The driver was none other than  actor Richard Todd. The cream came from his farm in Shiplake, near Henley on Thames from a growing herd of pedigree Jersey cattle.

In order to test local markets and discover the problems of producing and transporting the cream, Mr. Todd carried his first deliveries in his estate Land-Rover.

The products caught on and soon a driver and small van were delivering regular supplies. So good was the quality that demand exceeded supply. Alternative sources had to be established.

In September 1964, with Richard  Todd as chairman and managing director, Shiplake Dairies Ltd. was formed and became the heart of a small group of companies of which Richard Todd Farms is the marketing company for all dairy produce.

ABOVE: Richard Todd looks proudly at his Refrigerated Delivery Van

After experimental work with a number of home-made types of transport refrigeration, Mr. J. Coates, general manager of Shiplake Dairies, enlisted the aid of Mr. Alex Schepen, of Abingdon. Mr. Schepen suggested Petter mechanical transport refrigeration units and with the assistance of the bodybuilding manager of City Motors, Oxford, designed their first economically successful refrigerated vehicle.

A Bedford KB 2-ton chassis, it was equipped with a Thermo-King HPA2OD transport refrigeration unit, hydraulically operated from a gearbox p.t.o. There was a single-access rear door with mounting step incorporated in the rear bumper.

Vehicle insulation was made up from 3M. polystyrene foam on sides, rear and roof with 4in. thickness on the bulkhead, body lining of 18swg aluminium and a galvanized steel floor.

To overcome the problem of maintenance of vehicle livery, extensive use was made of glassfibre-reinforced polyester sheeting which undoubtedly helped the efficiency of the insulation.

ABOVE – One of the Richard Todd Farms Delivery Vans.

Richard Todd with his wife and family lived at Haileywood House Nr Shiplake.

He became a Dairy Farmer and loved it but as he later said it did get in the way of his film career which was about on the wane by 1964 when these pictures were taken. This venture did not last that long.

He sold the house and moved to the Cotswolds which was a mistake as he later admitted – and shortly after that he left his wife Kitty and eventually married Virginia.

The picture above shows Richard Todd with his son Peter taken a little time before the pictures at the top of the article I would think