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09

Oct

Truth or Preposterous fantasy or maybe all true – James Robertson Justice

Whatever do we make of James Robertson Justice. Was he for real ?

The claims he made about his country of birth- which was not the case – and many of the stories in his youth which seem to be almost too preposterous for words. Did he live in this fantasy world all his life or was that just to get him the fame he eventually was successful with – I just don’t know.

He did have a very good career in films and a long one at that.

He was a perfect ‘Little John’. He remains a fascinating character in some ways and maybe those characters are needed – even if they embellish their stories a bit too much.

I suppose there is just the chance that some of these stories are true of course.

ABOVE: Here he is in ‘The Sword and the Rose’ another Walt Disney picture – playing Henry VIII – and looking very much the part.

James Norval Harald Robertson Justice – he added ‘Robertson’ himself, in an effort to appear more Scottish was born in London although his father was originally from Aberdeen.

He claimed to be able to speak as many as 20 languages.

He unsuccessfully contested the North Angus Constituency for the Labour Party in the 1950 election

Before acting, he had a supposedly varied career which included being a journalist for the Reuters along with James Bond creator, Sir Ian Fleming; teaching in Canada; playing professional ice hockey for the London Lions; racing motor cars at Brooklands; and finally, upholding the law as a policeman for the League of Nations in German, when the Nazis came to power.

He was good friends with the Duke of Edinburgh

Tragically his only son died in a drowning accident in 1949, aged just four

He apparently had countless affairs during his first marriage. His second marriage took place just three days before he died.

He adored Scotland and claimed to have been born there.

He died penniless in London, – a long period of ill health had led to him being forced to sell his beloved Scottish home. His final resting place was in Scotland close to his home below.

Postcard showing the Dornoch Firth at Spinningdale, including the old mill and James Robertson Justice’s former home.

Maybe I have been unkind to him here – he was ‘larger than life’ – and there is something about him that I admire but much I don’t. To have forged a good acting career starting at the late age of 37, and continued it for a great many years is some feat.

I will leave you with one thought I have just had – Wouldn’t he have been perfect, and very successful in the Harry Potter films – not sure of his role but he would seem to fit I think

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08

Oct

John and Julie 1955 Talking Pictures

Please don’t miss this one – such a charming British film telling a simple story of two children running away from home to see the Coronation in 1953 in London – and the adventures they have on the way – and we too with them

Below I have located a set of Front of House Stills from the film which are perfect – and fit the mood and the era so well.

ABOVE: I really love these – the colour is slightly faded and the printed words belong to another time – but aren’t they good

Thanks Goodness for Talking Pictures – who have given this film a number of showings and judging by the visits to the pages of this Blog -covering the film – it must have been watched by a great many people.

Also BELOW I have managed to copy some pictures from Reel Streets giving the locations around Beaconsfield where filming took place.

Beaconsfield ABOVE

Waterloo Station ABOVE

ABOVE – Near Amersham

Beaconsfield and other locations ABOVE

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07

Oct

The Adventure of Ben Gunn – BBC Television.

Although I can’t remember much of this serial, it seems that it was an expensive production for those days and – as was the case at that time – it went out ‘live’ from the Ealing Studios that the BBC had taken on.

It is as though the BBC were trying to take on ITV who had had great success with ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ later ‘Ivanhoe’ and ‘Sir Lancelot’ . However ITV were much cleverer here – they made these on film and so were able to sell them to America which in the case of ‘Robin Hood’ proved a great move.

With ‘Sir Lancelot’ some of the episodes were filmed in colour – had that happened with ‘Robin Hood’ then even greater success would have come their way.

It does seem that the BBC were a step behind here – surely it would have been obvious to them that on film it had much more potential

The Adventures of Ben Gunn tells the story of how Ben met Nick Allardyce, son of a local parson, who yearned for a life of adventure.

Nick had finished medical school before gaining his full qualifications, but he managed to get the job as surgeon on a transport vessel, the Walrus (later to become Captain Flint’s pirate ship)

Nick and Ben meet John Silver and others from Treasure Island. We learn where the buried treasure in Treasure Island came from.

The story also tells how Ben came to be marooned on the island years after he had fled the ‘Walrus’ pirate ship

The television series, which starred Peter Wyngarde as John Silver and John Moffat as Ben was a six-part serial which began at 5.35 pm on 1 June 1958 with The Parson’s Son.

The last episode was broadcast on 6 July.

The BBC spent a large amount of money on this production

They even had a giant wave machine and a Spanish galleon for the scenes on board the ship.

During a sword fight between Peter Wyngarde and Olaf Pooley, Peter sustained an injury but luckily only in a rehearsal.

This as we have said was done ‘live’ so had this sort of thing happened, I really don’t know what would have been done.

Peter Wyngarde was taken to hospital with the sword still protruding from his leg which to say the least must have been pretty alarming at the time.

Peter Wyngarde played John Silver as a young man. He did say that “I played Long John absolutely straight. In this series he was a young man – about 30 years before the Long John of Treasure Island.”

He was also played as a quite well to do type from a good family who later fell into bad ways.

One role I well remember from Peter Wyngarde was in the 1961 film ‘ The Innocents’ with Deborah Kerr

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06

Oct

The 20 Questions Murder Mystery 1950

The 20 Questions Murder Mystery is a 1950 British whodunit screened on Talking Pictures TV this morning

20 Questions, was a radio panel show broadcast on BBC Radio from 1947 to 1976. Host Stuart MacPherson and panelists Richard Dimbleby and Jack Train, I do remember from the show – but the two others Jeanne De Casalis, Daphne Padel , I did not know at all. When I listened it, it had on the panel Joy Adamson and Anona Winn plus ‘mystery voice’ Norman Hackforth.

However looking further into this, it appears that Daphne Padell had indeed been on the panel and was replaced in 1950 by Anona Winn. In fact Daphne had been on of the panel when a special performance of 20 Questions was done in Windsor Castle with the King and Queen, with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Maragaret who were all seated on the front row of the audience in the Ballroom. This occasion was Christmas 1949

However in this film Robert Beatty and Rona Anderson were in the audience of the recording of the Radio Show A listener has submitted a mystery object, Rikki-Tikki-Tavy (the mongoose in Kipling’s story), which the panel didn’t guess. Later that night, a butcher named Ricky Tavy (Meadows White )is found hanged. Though Bob spots the connection, Inspector Charlton (Edward Lexy) of Scotland Yard puts it down as a suicide until another object suggestion (‘Hanging Judge’) from the anonymous listener is followed by the strangling of a retired Judge. It becomes apparent that a killer is at work who links the murders through questions to the Show, and seems to be settling old scores dating back to a murder trial in India.

Eventually, it is Robert Beatty and Rona Anderson who together crack the case but only after they enlist the help of the 20 Questions panel – this culminating in the killer being flushed out as he goes for one murder too many.

Robert Beatty is an actor who seemed to eb around in Television plays / dramas in the early to mid fifties along with Tony Britton and Patrick Barr – as I remember it anyway.

Rona Anderson

In the 1950s, while watching a second feature at the local cinema, British filmgoers would often have seen Rona Anderson.

She starred in 20 films between 1950 and 1958 – and this is one of them mostly , low-budget thrillers. Opposite such lactors as Robert Beatty, Jimmy Hanley, John Bentley, Paul Carpenter and Lee Patterson.. She was the classy girlfriend who helps the hero solve a murder, as she did here

According to the Scottish actor Stanley Baxter, Anderson “had this incredible, porcelain-like face, too beautiful for film … The camera likes angularity, to see the edges, and I think Rona’s face was just too perfect.” Whatever the reason, she made few major films.

She was happily married to actor Gordon Jackson ABOVE

Kenneth Williams was a great friend of the family for 30 years or more – and in his diaries he always spoke very highly of them when he had visited for a meal or for a chat.

A year or two after this film, she appeared in the drama ‘Little Red Monkey’ (1955), where she played opposite the Hollywood tough guy Richard Conte. This was the film version of the BBCTV serial that went our over six Saturday nights a year or more before.

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05

Oct

Play it Cool – Billy Fury

Billy Fury was a major star of the late fifties on the music scene. He had a lot of hits and is still well remembered today with tribute acts touring regularly around the country.

In the Photograph we see Bill Fury chatting with Anna Palk, Helen Shapiro and Norrie Paramor.

Norrie Paramor seemed to be connected to all the British Pop Artists at that time – I also remember he had Norrie Paramor and the Big Ben Banjo Band and they had ont hit – they were a studio group and didn’t appear at all as far as I know – but I just remember the name.

Billy Fury was one of our big Pop Stars – I saw him on a bill with Marty Wilde in the Summer of 1964 at Great Yarmouth. He was good – in fact they both were good.

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04

Oct

Lex Barker – Tarzan of course !!

Lex Barker was apparently the 10th actor to play the role of Tarzan in Hollywood

His full name was Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. He succeeded Johnny Weissmuller, the Olympic swimming star, in the Tarzan role in 1949 after Johnny had played it for some 17 years.

ABOVE – Tarzan and the She Devil – I just love that tree house – here with Jane played by Joyce MacKenzie – the only time she played the role. She retired from films in 1960 and later became a teacher

He was born in New York and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Princeton University, and had had considerable training as an actor before Sol Lesser, the Hollywood producer, signed him for the Tarzan role.

He appeared in summer stock and briefly on Broadway before he tried the Hollywood film factories in 1945. He had small roles in “The Farmer’s Daughter,” “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” and “Velvet Touch,” and then made his first Tarzan film, “Tarzan’s Magic Fountain.”

This one is my own favourite of the Lex Barker Tarzan films – although the others were all pretty good – I just wished that the films had been made in colour as they could easily have been. I reckon they would have had a much stronger appeal and given the films an impressive look if we could have seen those jungle locations in Technicolor which, as I have said many times before – produced a colour which has never been bettered in my opinion.

I wonder if any of them have been colorised – well at least the publicity still above is in Colour

Lex Barker dropped the Tarzan role, and eventually made his way to Europe and particularly in Germany where he became a top boxoffice star.

The ABOVE picture is in the early fifties during his Tarzan Years. Here he is on the occasion of Lex Barker and Arlene Dahl’s engagement chatting to actress and dancer Ann Miller

Here BELOW is an interview given by Arlene Dahl many years later. Her marriage to Lex Barker was quite short but she obviously still thought a lot of him :

What do you think about Tarzan?

I thought it was fabulous that he was Tarzan. He got me exercising with him every day. He had a fabulous physique, he was very proud of it and he worked a lot to keep it that way. I didn’t see him in the studio as Tarzan and I couldn’t go to be with him in Africa because I was making films under contract — I had just signed a contract with Paramount. When he came back I was filming every day in the Paramount studios. All of this worked against our marriage.

Looking at the book Tarzan and Hollywood you saw many familiar faces again. What can you say about producer Sol Lesser?

Sol gave Lex a bonus that he could use for his honeymoon. Sol Lesser was not very generous with his contract with Lex. I never asked Lex how much he was making. He certainly wasn’t making a lot of money, even though he was the star of Tarzan. Sol Lesser was not very generous that way, but because of all the publicity and everything he gave the bonus to Lex to use for the honeymoon, which I thought was very nice, of course! But I met Sol Lesser on various occasions. He never gave parties or anything like that, he was a businessman. The bottom line was the most important thing for him. Lex wanted me to go with him to Africa. I don’t know if Sol Lesser would have picked up the tab or not. It never came up because I was just put under contract for three pictures to Paramount and one of them started almost immediately. I never had a chance to go to Africa. I think had I gone to Africa we would probably still be together. Who knows? That’s life!

Have you ever met Johnny Weissmuller?

Oh, yes…

How was he different compared to Lex?

Completely different. The only thing they had in common was the great physiques. But Weissmuller was not as social as Lex. He didn’t go out very much. He was a very nice man, but he was not very social. And he didn’t go to the big Hollywood parties and so on.

The last question: what place does Lex Barker hold in your life today?

I only have to close my eyes and I can hear his voice in my mind. Lex is already and always a part of my life.

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03

Oct

‘Master of the World’ and ‘On The Fiddle’

This programme had these two very different films showing on the same bill but maybe that’s a good idea.

‘On The Fiddle’ had a big cast of well known British stars with Sean Connery and Alfred Lynch who shared top billing – but also it had Cecil Parker, Wilfrid Hyde White, Stanley Holloway – and the list goes on. It even includes John Le Mesurier – but then again in those days he cropped up a great many films. He was always good though.

ABOVE: Alfred Lynch and Sean Connery

Alfred Lynch had a chirpy, unaffected appeal with a lot of charm, and on screen he will be remembered as the cockney soldier who, Bilko-like, devises scams and avoids active service in On the Fiddle (1961). He was top-billed in the comedy above Sean Connery, who played the gypsy friend Lynch recruits to help him fleece the soldiers by such schemes as selling rations and leave passes

Sean Connery was just a year away from playing James Bond in Dr. No

‘Master of the World’ starred Vincent Price who specialised in this type of role where he could really let rip in his own inimitable style, a mixture of hammy, camp and tongue in cheek – but somehow an appealing style.

Vincent Price does his usual hammy bit, and if you like Vincent Price you will probably like the film. He has made better films though such as “The Raven” and “The House On Haunted Hill”

Interesting to see Charles Bronson in this film, where he plays John Strock -probably far from the best role he ever played in his career

Vincent Price plays Robur, a mad inventor who has much the same anti-war mission as Captain Nemo in 20 Thousand Leagues Under The Sea – he captains a giant flying machine rather than a submarine, and flies around the world trying to end war by the threat of mass destruction.

The Film uses a lot of stock footage as it has been made on a limited budget

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02

Oct

Hand In Hand 1961 More Pictures from the Film

I certainly got myself very interested in this film after doing the article yesterday – and I have again to thank David Rayner – a regular contributor to this Blog very much indeed for filling in some details about this one that I did not know.

David let me have the following information :-

Although the film was made in the spring of 1960, under the title ‘The Star and The Cross’, Warner-Pathe couldn’t decide what to do with it. So it was left on the shelf for three years in this country, finally going out on the ABC circuit in April, 1963, as the support to the Tony Hancock comedy ‘The Punch and Judy Man’. Conversely, Columbia Pictures picked it up for distribution in the United States in 1961, so the Americans got to see it before the Brits. It’s a totally unique and wonderful film and you should get the Network DVD of it and see it for yourself. I have a large number of publicity stills for it, as well as theme music on a Decca 45 rpm single by Stanley Black, his Piano and Orchestra, that was released in April, 1963.

As far as I know, Loretta Parry is still with us at the age of 68, but unfortunately, Philip Needs passed away after a long illness in March, 2016, aged 65.

The two youngsters played by Philip Needs and Loretta Parry decide to run away together and start their journey in a small rowing boat – but not long into their voyage the boat capsizes

Setting Off for Africa ABOVE

They look to be going well – but then come to a weir and go over it with dangerous consequences

Michael pulls Rachel from the water ABOVE

Michael pulls Rachel onto safer ground

Michael runs for help ABOVE

All of this was filmed in and around St.Albans

Just to whet your appetite for the film – the Trailer can be viewed on Youtube – and very good it is. Please take a look !!

Hand in Hand 1961

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01

Oct

Hand In Hand 1961 – John Gregson

This is not a film I know at all – but when I read the Reviews on IMDB it seems that I will just have to see it.

It seems from what I have read that this is a film in some ways similar to ‘John and Julie’

‘Hand In Hand’ Starred Philip Needs and Loretta Parry as the children – and with John Gregson, Finlay Currie and Sybil Thorndike and the wonderful Kathleen Byron

Much of the filming was done in St. Albans – one of my own favourite places – in St Peters Street, A School in Hatfield Road and numerous other locations in the City

Although I have not yet seen the film, I have really enjoyed collating this article for the Blog

I couldn’t resist copying this post from Loretta Parry who had played Rachel in the film. This comment on imdb was from 2006

‘I am so thrilled to read the lovely comments on this little film. the reason being, I was the little girl who played Rachel all those years ago. I am now a middle aged lady with three grown children of my own. I live quietly,but busily. My children may be grown,but they always seem to need me. I am very lucky. What a privilege to have read such heartwarming comments,I didn’t think anyone remembered. My family have seen stills of various films I was in, but have never been able to show them Hand in Hand, which I have to admit, was my favourite. I would love them to see it, it could still be relevant today. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Your kind words really mean a lot to me.’

ABOVE

ABOVE:

Loretta Parry made another comment as below – this one in May 2011 :-

‘Again, I must thank you all for your very kind comments. This is Loretta Parry. Shown under my married name. Since I last posted, I have divorced, (amicably),and have had the extreme pleasure of becoming a Grandmother 3 times, to the 3 most beautiful little boys,the youngest born only a few weeks ago. I am coming up to the big 60 in July, and cannot say I’m too delighted about it. It seems only a couple of years ago,when I was having my own children, and just a short time before that,was at school myself. The years and life have been very kind to me, my children and Grandchildren have become my life, and I just couldn’t be more content. Thank you all so much for your continued interest in ‘Hand in Hand’.Long may it have such a positive impact on us all.’

Unusually rare photo book BELOW – Hand in Hand, from the award winning children’s Film by Helen Winston, a screenplay by Diana Morgan, based on an adaptation by Leopold Atlas of a story by Sidney Harmon.

Hand in Hand, from the award winning children’s Film

In a 1962 episode of The Saint entitled The Charitable Countess, made two years after Hand in Hand Philip Needs and Loretta Parry are again teamed together, this time as Roman street urchins.

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Archive for October, 2019

Truth or Preposterous fantasy or maybe all true – James Robertson Justice

John and Julie 1955 Talking Pictures

The Adventure of Ben Gunn – BBC Television.

The 20 Questions Murder Mystery 1950

Play it Cool – Billy Fury

Lex Barker – Tarzan of course !!

‘Master of the World’ and ‘On The Fiddle’

Hand In Hand 1961 More Pictures from the Film

Hand In Hand 1961 – John Gregson

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