In the Fifties we were treated to quite a lot of this type of film which must mean that they were successful at the Box Office.  Some of them like ‘The Giant Claw’ were quite frankly ludicrous and even at the time laughable – one of those films that was so bad that it was good.

However ‘Behemoth the Sea Monster’ was, for the time, a good film. Made in England at The National Studios, Borehamwood and much of the location work filmed in Cornwall.

There were many “giant-monster” films from the 50’s . Some were terrible. Most were good, including this one.  For the most part, the actors do a good job.  There is enough action to maintain interest and the story is pretty good – maybe not original though. This monster is not only radioactive but has an electric charge which emits  radiation.

Some use of stock footage as well which there often was in this sort of film.

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER is a British version of the classic GODZILLA story, although it’s more closely linked to THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS

British monster films are mostly entertaining  and this one is no exception –  the cast is full of decent, typically English types who  band together to tackle the menace coming their way.

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER tells a very typical storyline for the era.

The film features  American film actor Gene Evans, backed up by some heavyweight British talent in the form of a tough Andre Morell ( one of my favourite actors) and the likes of Jack MacGowran.

ABOVE – Behemoth rampages through the streets of London

ABOVE – Behemoth even attacks  The Houses of Parliament

ABOVE – A colour still from the film – probably and American Lobby Card.

It is with great sadness this morning that I read of the death at the age of 95 of Charles Clarke OBE. 

He was also a member 617 Squadron – the Dam Busters – with its officers mess in The Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa – and it is there that I stayed along with my daughter and family  who were visiting from Australia in January of this year and met Charles Clarke and his friend who were also staying at the Hotel.

ABOVE – Charles Clarke – and right with his Squadron

The Petwood Hotel was a real favourite of his and he came back there often as it had great memories for him of those WW2 days. We were lucky enough to chat to him over breakfast and found him fascinating company – as did my young Grandaughters.

It was indeed a privilege to have met him and share a breakfast conversation with him.  He belonged to a young heroic band of men who risked their lives – and many gave their lives – in the cause of the nation and us all.

He was a very nice man –  an astonishing wartime story from a true War Hero.

WORLD War Two hero Air Commodore Charles Clarke who was held as a prisoner during The Great Escape has died aged 95, it was announced last night.

The Lancaster Bomber crewman became a teenage prisoner of war in 1944 when his plane was shot down and he was captured by the Nazis.

ABOVE The Officers Mess for 617 Sqaudron at the Petwood Hotel Woodhall Spa

Cdr Clarke was described as a “giant of our nation” by John Nichol, the former RAF navigator who was himself taken prisoner during the first Gulf War.

He tweeted: “V sad to say Air Cdre Charles Clarke has died aged 95. Shot down in 1944, 3 of his crew perished & he ended up in Stalag Luft 3 just before the Great Escape.

Then the prisoners at that camp – and Charles was one of them – were marched many miles in freezing conditions  back into Germany on what became  known as The Long March. Many prisoners did not survive.

“He was a wonderful man, a great friend, a supporter of countless charities & a giant of our nation. Blue skies Sir. RIP”

RAF Cosford in Shropshire also paid tribute to Cdr Clarke, who visited the training station in 2018 with fellow POWs.

“Devastated to hear this evening that Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE has died. Lancaster bomb aimer and POW, he continued to inspire us all to the last,” the station tweeted.

This post on the Blog filmsofthefifties.com – may not be film news but in a way it is.   Charles Clarke had been with 617 Squadron ( Dam Busters) and at the camp at the time of The Great Escape – and there are great links to the film world there.

BELOW: Air Commodore Charles Clarke was the man wielding the specially designed silver shovel at the groundbreaking ceremony today.

Bomber Command veteran Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE breaks the ground at Bomber Command Memorial in Lincoln in 2016

Ronald Reagan BELOW – on his favourite mare ‘Tar Baby’    He has just finished filming ‘Night Unto Day’ with Viveca Lindfors

Ronald Reagan BELOW – Horse riding with The Queen at Windsor Castle in 1982

ABOVE – The Queen with Ronald Reagan riding in the grounds of Windsor Castle 1982

In 1983 The Queen and Prince Philip visited California on the Royal Yacht Britannia and hosted a special party there for President Reagan and His Wife.  Later in the visit she went to the Reagan’s Ranch but there had been a huge storm and a lot of rain and her motorcade had great difficulty going along the mountain road that led there.

They all seemed to get on very well and one senses warmth between them – maybe it was a shared love of horses and horse riding that gave them a common bond

BELOW : Alexis Smith is herself a horse lover – she was in her element when she was cast with Ronald Reagan in ‘Stallion Road’ – in the role of a horse trainer.

Ann Francis above – another horse woman

Ronald Reagan ABOVE – his greatest love is horse riding – here he is with a few of his horses

As we all know, Walt Disney cast Richard Todd in three of his films – made here in England. 

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men,  The Sword and The Rose and Rob Roy The Highland Rogue – the first one doing very well at the Box Office with next one quite good although Rob Roy didn’t fare that well.

The picture ABOVE and BELOW – has Richard Todd and Walt Disney on the ‘big dipper’ on Colney Island, New York in August 1953. 

Richard Todd was over there to promote  The Sword and The Rose and with that in mind  during his visit he did 26 Radio and TV appearance in the space of 23 days.   Only a few years before Elton Hayes had done the same promotional tour for The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men – in fact I am pretty sure that his was a larger and longer promotional visit – and it seems a very successful one.

Richard Todd recalled that the trip over to the USA was on the new Boeing Stratocruiser – and that the trip which was funded by Walt Disney stayed initially in an apartment at the Waldorf Towers.   However although this was luxurious,  there was no Air Conditioning – and the weather was VERY hot indeed so he said that one night he even thought of somehow getting g into the fridge for a while !!

After three weeks there, Richard’s wife Kitty joined him in New York but the very next day they flew on to California where they were booked into the Beverley Hills Hotel.

The next day, Walt Disney visited to welcome them and was just as kind and genial as ever. He then asked the two of them to join him and his family at their home in the Holmby Hills – where they saw his large rambling house set in large and beautifully kept gardens.

He had in the grounds a Barn resembling the one his family had somewhere in the mid-west of America when he was growing up – and of course he also had in the grounds  his own miniature railway

Not many actors who worked for Walt Disney were ever invited to his home but Richard Todd was one of those – I think that a few years later John Mills and his family went there also.

Walt Disney seemed to be , at that time, fascinated with the English and Richard Todd , for reasons I do not know, seemed very well connected at quite high levels in society of the time.

Michael Gough was poised and distinguished-looking, with an eloquent speaking voice.

I am doing this post today because this afternoon I watched ‘Dr Terrors House of Horrors’ with Peter Cushing and in one of the story segments Michael Gough appeared along with Christopher Lee – the story ‘the severed hand’ was quite gruesome as you can imagine

ABOVE – Christopher Lee is tormented by the severed hand – every where he goes – after he deliberately runs over Michael Gough a Painter, who has his hand severed – and the hand  seeks revenge – and is successful. BELOW:  Michael Gough makes a fool of Christopher Lee who plays the snobbish Art Critic  

He was able to play seducers, serial killers and other well-bred villains to menacing effect as a deranged writer in Herman Cohen’s Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), a film which begins with a girl being killed by binoculars with steel spikes which shoot out from the eyepieces.

Michael Gough  also featured in Black Zoo (1963), Berserk (1967) and Trog (1970), and Konga (1961), as a mad scientist who turns a baby chimpanzee into a giant gorilla.

He played in Four films with Peter Cushing – Dracula (1958), Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), The Skull (1965) and Top Secret! (1984). and three of these films also starred  Christopher Lee

Prior to these films. I remember him playing the villain opposite Richard Todd in Walt Disney’s ‘The Sword and The Rose’ in 1953 which ended with the two of them sword fighting in the film’s climax.  They were fighting on the sea shore in a set resembling Lulworth Cove – and a very good duel it was with both giving their all.

Just a follow on from yesterday, and more scenes and stills from the film Prince of Thieves with Jon Hall

ABOVE : The Cinecolor titles in the film – Prince of Thieves with Jon Hall

Prince of Thieves with Jon Hall – The Castle as the Robin’s men prepare to enter the Castle

Prince of Thieves with Jon Hall  – The Merry Men ambush some of Prince John’s Soldiers in the forest

ABOVE – A thrilling charge towards the town where the Wedfing Ceremony is to take place

The Town prepares for the Wedding

Prince of Thieves with Jon Hall ABOVE – with Little John ( Alan Mowbray )  and Will Scarlett ( Syd  Saylor who unbelievably had appeared in 395 or 431 films  – dependent on which records you look at – from 1926 to 1962 ) Astonishing fact.

This is a film I have heard about but always found it difficult to get hold of – not sure why. However that was put right and I have just seen the film – and was not dis-appointed.

Director Howard Bretherton’s 1948 Columbia Pictures’ Robin Hood’  is a good adventure film

Jon Hall stars as  Robin Hood, who ensures that the Lady Christabel (Adele Jergens) marries the Saxon noble Sir Allan Claire (Michael Duane) and not the Baron Tristram (Gavin Muir).

King Richard is away at the Crusades and there is crucial court intrigue in his absence.

Alan Mowbray plays Friar Tuck and  Patricia Morison is a pleasing Maid Marian 

The actors are all good and seem to enjoy their roles   with the Cinecolor photography of considerable help. It was the film’s main attraction – but apparently I am told this process could not  reproduce the colour green.

However I have just watched the film and I felt that the colour was really good and enhanced the film

Also in the cast are H B Warner just after his most famous role as Mr Gower in Its a Wonderful Life. He was superb in than classic film.

The  stunt work in Prince of Thieves is taken on by Jock Mahoney, who later played The Range Rider on Television.

The film was shot re-using many of the sets left over from Columbia Pictures’ 1945 The Bandit of Sherwood Forest  and at Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California.

Sam Katzman  managed to secure the huge budget of $400,000, including $100,000 for cast, and cash for the all-important colour.

 Scenes from very early in the film ABOVE and BELOW

Filmed in Cinecolor – which I thought very good.

Jon Hall in good form as Robin Hood

I have put in the scene BELOW  of the Lake where the two leading ladies swim later in the film to show the Cinecolor print

Some Action Scenes

More action

ABOVE – Robin marries Lady Marian and Lady Christabel (Adele Jergens) marries the Saxon noble Sir Allan Claire (Michael Duane) 

At the end of the film riders gallop into the town where the wedding have taken place

More Scenes from the film BELOW – In Cinecolor

More Scenes from the film – In Cinecolor

Robin chats to Lady Marian – Patricia Morison

And demonstrates the bow he uses

Lady Marian ( Patricia Morison) and   Lady Christabel (Adele Jergens)  swim in the beautiful blue waters of the lake

Lady Marian ( Patricia Morison) and  Lady Christabel (Adele Jergens)  prepare for the wedding BELOW

However Robin and his men arrive and the wedding goes ahead – with a difference this time though

A sword fight ensues

ABOVE – A lovely colour scene of the town  – the Cinecolor here looks so good.

What a thrill it is when the Postman drops the large white envelope through the door – and it contains the latest Movie Memories Magazine – this time Summer 2019.

This is the creation and brain-child of  Chris Roberts, who has been producing this for quite a lot of years now. Always interesting and it is a magazine that you can go back to time and again to read a little bit that you might have missed or re-read other parts – and from the articles and the letters it is quite surprising what you can pick up.

After all, we all have different favourites as regards films and film stars – and reading the magazine often focuses us on things that we might not have considered or might never have known.

I would ask all readers here to subscribe to it by contacting Chris at crob.mvm@ntlworld.com

 In this issue we have articles such as ‘Rem,embering Laurence Harvey’ and one on Carmen Miranda as well as ‘Some thoughts on Ronald Colman’ – the last one I found very interesting

BELOW – This is the back cover of the Magazine.

PLEASE Do not miss this – it is really too good to miss out on.

Chris always attend the Renown Film occasions and is well known to the stars of that era who seem to  appear every year – in fact he interviews quite a few of them.

The era produced film stars who – on the whole – knew how to project themselves and to behave as film stars,  who were admired and in the public eye probably to a greater extent than now,  would do – and they maintained that mystique that is appealing.

If you wish to receive a copy then please contact Chris Roberts at crob.mvm@ntlworld.com

or via the web site www.moviememories magazine.com

OR just leave a message on this site – and I will pass it on to Chris.

Either way I can really recommend this magazine

Walt Disney flew back into England on Saturday 15 October 1949 to supervise the final shooting of Treasure Island at Denham Film Studios as well as dealing with the  editing and  music scoring for the film. Virtually all of the film then would have been completed here.

Here he is ABOVE – being met at the Airport by Perce Pearce, Cyril Jones from RKO-Walt Disney and Fred Leahy Production Executive on the film.

Interestingly, it was practicality that would ultimately get Walt to make his first fully live-action feature, in the form of Treasure Island. in England the British government had imposed a 75 percent import tax on American films shot in Britain.

“After the war we still had the frozen fund situation in Europe,” Walt said later. “So, in order to get the funds out of England, they wanted me to go to England and do something. I had this story Treasure Island I had wanted to do, and I suggested we go over and do Treasure Island and that way we’d use our funds.

Making a picture over there seemed the most logical way of making use of these frozen funds.” He added: “All in all, the project worked out very well, and I believe we are getting a very good picture.”

Walt had chosen Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure classic Treasure Island as So Dear to My Heart was wrapping up. He tasked Perce Pearce and Fred Leahy to go to England and oversee the production, but Walt eventually wound up travelling to Europe with his wife and children to help supervise Treasure Island. Disney representative William Levy wrote to Roy (still back at the studio), that Walt had arrived “in excellent spirits and full of confidence.”

ABOVE:  Robert Newton in costume as Long John Silver with Walt Disney and Lady Tredder

Production on Treasure Island began on July 4, 1949, and while Walt said that he would be taking a more hands-on approach to the production, he only visited the set (at Denham Studios) occasionally.

That summer of 1951 proved to be a very good one – hot and sunny for much of the filming time – and as many scenes were outdoors this proved perfect. Later on the Studio scenes were done. The film was finished on 11th November 1949 – so a very long shoot.

According to Gabler, Walt was “unusually involved in post-production” on Treasure Island. He had asked  Perce Pearce and  Fred Leahy to airmail him specific takes for editing, and after a test screening in January.

The above Two scenes where Long John Silver escapes were actually the last scenes that Robert Newton filmed this was an extremely good Studio set at Denham – and very big

In Perce Pearce’s case, he remained here to look after the next film for Walt Disney the marvellous ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’.    Perce Pearce actually died in England in 1955 – where he had continued to live after Treasure Island.

Treasure Island–the first adaptation of the Stevenson story to be in colour–was released in America on July 29, 1950. (Its big premiere was, of course, in London on June 22.)

“Walt Disney, whose artistry marked a new era in motion picture entertainment, now sets a new milestone with his first all-live action feature,” shouted the film’s original trailer. “Only Walt Disney could bring to realistic life and with such dramatic impact Robert Louis Stevenson’s memorable characters.” The trailer promised a movie full of “daring action” and “breathless suspense,” and it delivered. The film was a hit. .

Walt and RKO then went ahead with three more British productions–The Adventures of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, The Sword and the Rose, and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue.

These are films that are important, according to British author and Disney historian Brian Sibley, not just because the films were “remarkable,” but because they “captured the essence of British stories.”

I would add that the films made here proved a defining moment in the Walt Disney history. They elevated Walt Disney to a whole new plateau.

After these came 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – made in the USA. 

These British Films though – particularly ‘Treasure Island’ and  ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ were indeed extra special – they were classics.

We have done an article on this Blog not that long ago on this superb film.

A young couple and their friend Tim ( John Carson), are messing around at their home – involving mild flirting between Tim and Ralph’s wife – Justine Lord. Ralph is played by Anthony Bate

Thee couple have planned a house swap – but things go very wrong – they are given a bogus address and think that they are taking on a West End flat with London views.

The people taking their home trash it and steal of all it’s valuables – but by the time the Longmans arrive home the contents have been mysteriously restored!!

However something is wrong  – Ann’s beloved garden has been vandalised, the chickens and pet canary have been poisoned and on their little dog is found dead.

They did not immediately suspect Tim who was the only person who knew the deep affection that Ann felt for the garden and her little dog

Ann can’t cope with anything and goes rushing off to – Tim. Ralph does some sleuthing when he finds out from the police that another house in the area had been burgled by the same “house swap gang” which starts him thinking – why was their house spared? It leads him to a shady antique dealer who finally admits their house had been targeted but a man returning for his overnight bag had stopped them in their tracks!!

The penny drops with Ralph.

Some great camera work and scenes – one where  Ann is dressing for bed,  and  chatting but there is no response, someone trips over in the dark – but it’s only Ralph.

Both John Carson  and Anthony Bate  are in top form here. Justine Lord was terrific as  Ann –   showing real acting depth.

After this, TV director Alan Bridges rightly much sort after and had a good career as a film director

In his first film Act of Murder  1964  made very much as a second feature on a cinema bill,   the director squeezes tension out of a love triangle between an actor, and his good friends – a married couple.