What was originally a straight Western starring Richard Egan and Debra Paget also became the first film starring a new Rock ‘n’ Roll sensation named Elvis Presley.

He gets quite an acting challenge here and does it pretty well, something he rarely got to do in most of his later films. He also does, however, perform four songs including the hit title tune.

His role is that of Clint, who’s the brother of returning Civil War veteran Richard Egan.

When the film was released, as we can see, Elvis Presley took star billing with his name above the title.

The original ending where Elvis was killed had to be re-written and filmed again and in later prints, he survives.

The leading lady in this film was the beautiful Debra Paget. It is reported that Elvis fell in love with her during the filming, and proposed marriage but she turned him down because she was in love with Howard Hughes at that time. That was confirmed by Debra herself – I find it incredible – he must have been the best part of 30 years older than her but apparently that’s how it was.

Elvis Presley thought Love Me Tender co-star Debra Paget was “the most beautiful woman he had ever seen”. The King was obsessed with finding “The Debra Paget look” in future co-stars and Priscilla Beaulieu even styled herself after her. The talented actress was “touched by the hand of God” said legendary director Cecil B DeMille and went on to make one of the most risque films of the 1960s.

At the time, Debra was already an established Hollywood star at 22, with 19 films under her belt. That same year she also starred opposite Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner in Cecil B DeMille’s Biblical epic The Ten Commandments. The director didn’t screen test her, saying he knew she was “touched by the hand of God.”

By contrast, Love Me Tender was The King’s first movie – and the last time he appeared with his natural, lighter hair colour. Originally titled The Reno Brothers, its name was changed when the soundtrack ballad sold over a million copies. The King’s role was also expanded. Its success meant future projects would be shaped around Elvis and, usually, his music, often to the detriment of the movie and the star’s own acting ability

Elvis Presley, Debra Paget and Priscilla Presley 

Elvis and Debra Paget kiss on screen

Like many of Elvis’ co-stars, Debra later commented that he could have been a very fine actor If he had been given meatier roles. Like so many of his co-stars, she also found herself pursued by him. But she was the first and, many believe, set the template for Elvis’ “obsession with the ‘Debra Paget look.'” It was even reported that young Priscilla Beaulieu updated her hair and make-up when she heard about it. 

Elvis soon established a pattern that would follow him on every film set, “flirting with Paget almost from day one and following her around the set like a lovesick puppy.”

He also went to meet her parents and was determined to marry her

Elvis and Debra Paget promo pics 

Debra Paget later recalled in 1997: “I was very shy, very quiet and very immature for my age. I was in my very early 20’s but I was emotionally more like a 16-year-old. Elvis and I just sort of came together like a couple of children really.”

Debra also took him home to meet her parents who he charmed with his manners, leaving the room once to go and get Mrs Paget a chair: “From the time he first came to the house, my folks considered Elvis a member of the Paget clan – which I believe, he reciprocated. I had the feeling that our closely-knit family life resembled his own.”

The besotted star would even drive over at night and park nearby, watching the house jealously to see if Debra had any other callers.

Debra Paget in The Ten Commandments 

Like Elvis, Debra was deeply religious

From the start, Elvis thought she was “the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.”

In 1997 Debra revealed: “Following the film, he did ask me to marry him but my parents objected to my getting married. I cared about Elvis, but being one not to disobey my parents, that did not take place.”

In fact, she was actually already engaged in a two-year affair with the billionaire industrialist and film producer Howard Hughes – a man far more rich, famous and powerful than Elvis.

But Debra always spoke highly of Elvis in the following years, saying: “He was a precious, humble, lovely person. Elvis had a lot of talent; there was a lot of depth they never used. He could have been a fine actor.”

In 1958, Debra travelled to Germany to film Fritz Lang’s epic two-part historical Indian saga, The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb. The latter contains an extraordinarily daring (for the time) snake dance sequence, where the star appears to be almost entirely naked. 

Back in the US, her career was in decline with diminishing film roles and a few TV appearances, mainly in Westerns like Rawhide and Johnny Ringo.

Her parents might not have wanted her to marry Elvis, but she made two short-lived mistakes – a four-month marriage to actor David Street in 1958, followed by an even shorter marriage to director Budd Boetticher, from who she separated after just 22 days.

Her third and final marriage lasted much longer. In April 1962 she married American-Chinese oil magnate Ling C Kung

Debra had one son, Gregory Teh-chi Kung. Her husband’s position and her new family prompted her retirement from acting in 1964, although the marriage ended in 1980.

She never re-married or returned to showbusiness but became a born-again Christian in the mid-1980s and worked on numerous faith-based projects including hosting her own show on a Christian network.

This film seems to get really good reviews from all who have seen it. From 20th Century Fox – it is in Technicolor and boasts romance, excitement, intrigue and action and the beautiful Debra Paget

“Princess of the Nile,” is 20th Century Fox’s Fox’s in Hollywood’s mid-’50s fascination with these tales – we had “Land of the Pharoahs,” “Valley of the Kings,” and more.

Pure, unadulterated, mindless fun and we loved it , lavishly produced (low-budgeted but using sets and costumes left over from “The Robe,” this Technicolor spectacle looks like it cost millions.

The film offers the audiences the delectable sight of Debra Paget wearing an assortment of veils.

Fox’s handsomest young contract player, Jeffrey Hungter is the male lead opposite Debra Paget who is top=-billed I am pleased to say, while Michael Rennie lurks around in the background, plotting who knows what.

Debra Paget and Jeffrey Hunter were again cast together a few years later in “White Feather”.

“Princess of the Nile” still stands in a class by itself as a cheerfully mindless, breathlessly fast-paced, dazzling testament to the glories of Technicolor.

Put this one as a classic at the top of your list in terms of colouful adventure and great fun.

Debra Paget ABOVE

Debra Paget, from a very young age, had been in films and she got a good, and very early break when she was cast opposite James Stewart – two years or more before this – in a classic Western ‘Broken Arrow’

Very recently we did an article on ‘Robinson Crusoe’ which had been filmed mainly on location in Mexico.

Dan O’Herlihy who played Robinson Crusoe, gives an account of the filming experiences of the film in one of the Hollywood Film Annuals.

In all, he says, he was in Mexico for seven and a half months – five and a half on Robinson Crusoe and then he stayed on to make ‘Tehuantepec’ with Katy Jurado – a film I have never heard of but apparently it was quite popular at the time in Mexico. This one though was mainly done at the Churobusco Studios in Mexico City.

By contrast ‘Robinson Crusoe’ was mainly filmed on location in the jungle about 15 miles inland of a small town called Manxanillo. It was a location swarming with Scorpions, so much so that Dan wore heavy boots as protection when he could – otherwise locals were sent in with sticks to beat the ground to scare them off. These were small blond scorpions as he describes them, who gave a deadly bite – and when they were there a local doctor died after being bitten by one.

Enormous rattlesnakes were an added problem

He was very careful for a time, not to drink the local water and some special purified water was shipped in to the hotel for the guests- however one day, he saw one of the waiters filling the receptacle up from the mains tap, so he thought he would just take a chance – luckily he did not become ill and he says that his upbringing in rural Ireland up to the age of 27 when he just drank whatever water was available, meant he had some kind of immunity built into him because of this. Maybe he was right – we will never know

In ‘Robinson Crusoe’ until the arrival of “Friday”, the only other featured character was Robinson Crusoe so for Dan this turned into a tour-de-force one man show, a compelling, wordless portrayal of agonised solitude.

However with this being a Mexican production it was considered merely a B-movie in Hollywood terms, and in fact Dan O’Herlihy was forced to invest his own money to have the film shown in Los Angeles. This proved a good move because it was widely seen and he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination, but it did not lead to any meaningful parts coming his way.

I wonder if his long bearded appearance in Robinson Crusoe proved off-putting to casting directors – after all he was a quite good looking man who you would have thought would have done well but this ‘look’ was not good

I hadn’t realised until I came across these Front of House Stills that he had been in the 1948 film ‘Kidnapped’ which is one that is rarely shown but I have always wanted to see it and up to now, never have.

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Kidnapped 1948

Fortunately, this is one of the better Monogram films. It was produced by Roddy McDowall and Ace Herman. When you look at the cast line-up, you see some good names there including of course, Roddy McDowall himself (perfectly cast as a convincing, young David), and Dan O’ Herlihy (cutting a fine figure as Alan Breck)

Sue England starred alongside the two men – I remember her a couple of years later, in one of my own boyhood favourites ‘Bomba and the Hidden City’ with Johnny Sheffield

Another Film – and a later one – was The Purple Mask with Dan O Herlihy – Tony Curtis starred in this, as he did in ‘Black Shield of Falworth’ earlier and Dan O Herlihy was in that one too

ABOVE – Dan O Herlihy studies the script of ‘The Purple Mask’ along with Angela Lansbury

‘The Last Hunt’ was a quite big MGM Cinemascope production with much of the filming done in Dakota.

The film showed what an interesting actor Robert Taylor was – he is totally believable in this film – in a really villainous role. He had the longest contract ever with MGM and basically caused few ripples and would do the films that he was asked to do without any drama. This film proves that he could handle difficult roles. .

Stewart Granger plays a retired buffalo hunter who is revered in the West as one of the best. Robert Taylor seems to just want to slaughter buffalo, and lures Stewart Granger into business with him. They hire two helpers played by Lloyd Nolan and Russ Tamblyn.

Stewart Granger becomes haunted by the buffalo he has killed, knowing if they become extinct, the Native American way of life will greatly suffer. Robert Taylor soon reveals a sadistic side.

BELOW – Some Front of House Stills from the film – I can remember walking up to school in our town, past one of the cinemas on the way, and I always looked at the film stills outside in a glass case. For some reason I remember the stills from this film although I can’t recall these particular ones.

Earlier Stewart Granger had appeared in some very big MGM films among them Scaramouche – however he does not seem to have been popular with his fellow actors if this is anything to go by :-

His co-star Eleanor Parker  said that Stewart Granger was the only actor she did not get along with during her entire career. “Everyone disliked this man…Stewart Granger was a dreadful person, rude…just awful. Just being in his presence was bad. I thought at one point the crew was going to kill him.” However, the resulting film was a notable critical and commercial success.

The film ‘The Last Hunt’ was directed by Richard Thorpe who went on to marry Jean Simmons in 1960

In the academic world of journalism, problems can arise, and when James Gannon ( Clark Gable ), the newspaper editor for the Evening Chronicle collides with journalism professor, Erica Stone ( Doris Day ), clashes do happen.

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Doris Day is perfectly cast as the headstrong Erica Stone, a worldly woman who exudes knowledge, and is not afraid to prove her expertise even when she is being challenged by the brash James Gannon ( Clark Gable) posing as Jim Gallagher.

In the middle of all this is Gig Young who received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Dr. Hugo Pine, a psychologist whose knowledge and skills supposedly encompass every chapter of an encyclopedia. For most part of the film, Dr. Pine is the object of Gannon’s jealously.

Quite a while after this in 1966 , Gig Young came to England to film’The Shuttered Room’ – a film I really like which was released in 1967

THE SHUTTERED ROOM

Much off the filming of ‘The Shuttered Room’ was done at Hardingham Mill in Norfolk – which was destroyed by fire at the end of the film

Gig Young chats to a News Reporter from Anglia Television during the filming

The Solitary Child is a 1958 British murder mystery which begins some time after the murder has taken place.

Captain James Random (Philip Friend) brings his new wife Harriet (Barbara Shelley) back to Random Farm. Captain Random had been accused of murdering his first wife but had been acquitted.

At first Harriet isn’t worried as she was convinced that Random’s first wife’s death was an accident. Soon however she begins to have her doubts.

However doubts have crept into her mind because yhere does seem to be secrets at Random Farm.

Everyone seems to know something about Eva Random’s death and, disturbingly, these include things that had not come to light at all at the trial.

James Random had been, and still is, surrounded by women. ‘

His sister Ann (Sarah Lawson) owns a half share of the farm and has been ages deciding whether or not to marry local vet Cyril (Jack Watling).

There seems no reason for her not to marry him. He’s a thoroughly amiable fellow and she obviously loves him and yet the wedding never seems to happen.

Jean (Rona Anderson) is a Devlin and the Devlins used to own Random Farm. Jean’s mother is not merely an dreadful snob but a malicious gossip.

Then we have Random’s daughter Maggie (Julia Lockwood), a rather troubled and slightly scary teenager.

Eva Random had been carrying on a notorious affair with Jean’s young and very disreputable brother. James Random who would seem to have a motive for murder.

Now it seems that someone wants Harriet out of the way. Quite possibly they want her dead. There are several mysterious accidents and soon rumours are sweeping the village.

Harriet is determined to untangle the mystery of Eva Random’s death since her own life might depend on it.

By now Harriet is getting quite scared and James Random is becoming even more withdrawn and morose than usual.

This is a really good plot with plenty of twists and turns.. The tension builds. Can Harriet stay alive long enough to solve the puzzle?

Director Gerald Thomas was better known for the Carry On comedies but he proves himself to be well able to handle such a drama

All the characters have things to hide but they could have quite legitimate reasons for wanting to keep their secrets. Julia Lockwood does a fine job as Maggie. Maggie is a troubled and disturbing child but she’s in a situation in which a girl might well be troubled.

Barbara Shelley is at her most ravishing and she delivers a very effective performance.

The Solitary Child is a very well-crafted murder mystery with a fine cast.

Barbara Shelley, who died Jan. 4, 2021, at 88 years of age, was one of Hammer Film’s celebrated “Scream Queens.”

She became part of the Hammer’s acting repertoire, adding glamour to the grisly proceedings.

A rising film star throughout the late 1950s and early 60s, in such films as Village of the Damned (1960), Barbara Shelley’s professional world changed forever with the 1964 Hammer film, The Gorgon. Thereafter, throughout the 1960s, she was to be identified with Hammer Horror.

The friendships she made with fellow stars, such as Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, were genuine and enduring.

She was born Barbara Kowin in 1932 in London. Eventually, the family settled in Wealdstone, northwest London. It was to this house throughout most of her adult life.

She would later tell how it was by accident that she ended up appearing in a school play. However, from the moment she stepped on stage she said she knew her life’s calling was no longer in doubt.

Early in the sixties she began a relationship with Jeff Chandler, who she had met on the set of the 1961 film A Story of David, and she later confessed that he had been the love of her life.

Their love affair was short-lived, however, on account of Chandler’s death from a bungled operation deemed medical malpractice that same year. She never married. 

Following the death of her parents, Barbara Shelley lived alone in her childhood home for the last decades of her life. She was a gifted interior decorator. She sewed and painted props for the BBC, and was skilled at making elaborate wedding dresses.

Brought up in a devout Roman Catholic home, during the last years of her life Barbara Shelley returned to her childhood faith. She attended daily Holy Mass at the nearby St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Wealdstone, as well as going on pilgrimage to Lourdes. In her latter days, she could be seen in church often alone praying the Rosary. This deepening of her faith seemed to put all else in perspective — so much so that, by the end, she had to be coaxed to speak of her former glamorous career.

Nevertheless, in the last decade, Barbara Shelley found herself rediscovered on the retro–film-festival circuit, especially among devotees of the horror genre.

ABOVE Barbara Shelley at the London Film Convention

She was surprised and flattered by this, while taking it all in her good-natured stride. Her last appearance on television was in 2010 when she was interviewed for a BBC documentary series on horror films.

In 2009, Barbara Shelley suffered a stroke. From then on, she lived with impaired and decreasing mobility. As a consequence, with deteriorating health. Independent all her life, and determined to retain her family home, she was frustrated at having to rely increasingly on the assistance of others. Nevertheless, her mind and her wit remained as sharp as ever. 

Well this is something I did not know – Can you imagine it – A Western and an Elvis Presley concert for 1.25 US Dollars – now that is value

For three nights in June of 1956, Elvis Presley (with Scotty and Bill) performed at Atlanta’s Paramount Theater, between showings of Fury At Gunsight Pass (1956).

Fury At Gunsight Pass is a terrific low-budget Western from Fred F. Sears — and Elvis came as the supporting at.

One very sad note – During the filming news came of the death of Suzan Ball at the early age of 21 – she was Richard Long’s wife. He was inconsolable on set.

We have done a previous article on Suzan Ball – one that is one of the most read

.

This story was part of the Scotland Yard series introduced each time by Edgar Lustgarten and in this case was based on a real life crime dating back before the War.

In the main role was Alexander Gauge, famous for playing Friar Tuck alongside Richard Green in the very successful series ‘The Adventure of Robin Hood’ – although he was someone who cropped up in films over many years and had a prominent career on stage – a lot of the time in the West End. He also played Shakespeare on Broadway

This film was made in 1954 and it was very shortly after this that he got the role of FriarTuck and that ran from 1955 to 1960 when he died.

He died of a drug overdose and it is reported that he was plagued with gambling debts but I have no idae how true this is. He was a married man – He married to Phyllis Anne Lilley in Penzance in1947

Alexander Gauge

ABOVE – Edgar Lustgarten narrates the story as he always did in the ‘Scotland Yard’ series

Alexander Gauge ABOVE is exposed in the Bank by the police

1938: A blazing caravan is discovered in Edgware with a burned and unrecognisable body inside. Scotland Yard, led by Superintendent Ellis (played by Alan Robinson), identify the man as a printer called George Buxton since the remains of his suitcase with his name printed on it was discovered among the wreckage.

In actual fact Buxton (played by Alexander Gauge) murdered an elderly taxidermist called Arthur Cox (played by Edgar Driver), one of his customers, for his £30,000 football pools winnings.

He then burned his body, stole his identification and successfully claimed his prize money. Buxton then fled to a seaside town on the south coast of England where he cashed the cheque and requested the money be converted into bearer bonds, thus making it easier to get away with it. However, Buxton made a serious mistake – he didn’t bank on the fact that Cox had not ticked the no publicity box on his football pools entry form .

Another error he made – he did not know that his victim had agreed to split the winnings with a friend – in writing and the friend turns up and goes to the police who, armed with this information, are able to track Buxton down and prove that he is the killer

This film boasted an excellent cast Richard Basehart, Laurence Harvey, Stanley Baker, and John Ireland who all turn in terrific performances in this British film from 1954. The story is of three decent men who have hit on hard times, so much so that they are enticed into being involved in a robbery by the one bad seed among them (Laurence Harvey). Also interesting to view Joan Collins in an early role. The story is told in flashback, and the ending is both subtle and surprising. A good film.

These were certainly top actors as was the rest of the excellent cast including Margaret Leighton – soon to be married to Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Rene Ray, Robert Morley among them

On to the film that is the supporting one here ‘ Battles of Chief Pontiac’ which seems to get remarkably good reviews

BELOW THREE SUCH REVIEWS

A surprisingly accurate, low budget, historical drama. The story of a white scout(Barker)attempting to broker a peace agreement between English Colonials and Chief Pontiac and his Ottawa tribe. Kroeger is loathsome as German Hesian mercenary, and Chaney brings his best to the role of Pontiac. The “gifts” of small-pox infected blankets to the Indians is a reminder of the brutality of the times. A good cast performs well, and of course Barker, a former Tarzan, finds several chances to bare his chest! While this one was made on a small budget by the Jack Broder Company,it has held up well over the years. This is a hard one to find on video or TV but well worth watching.

1952’s “Battles of Chief Pontiac” was a low budget Western from Realart, a redistribution outfit that produced several titles of their own, but are best remembered for keeping Universal Horror in cinemas right up to the 1957 TV debut of Shock Theatre. This was their third and last from Lon Chaney, following successful turns in “Bride of the Gorilla” and “The Bushwhackers,” here playing the title role of Chief Pontiac, third billed behind Lex Barker and Helen Westcott. Still the current Tarzan, the well cast Barker seeks peace between the Indians and the colonists in pre-Revolutionary War America, filmed on location in Rapid City, South Dakota. Usually cast as Western villains or thug henchmen, Lon Chaney Jr retains great dignity and compassion in this rare change of pace, which may have played a part in his later series HAWKEYE AND THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, where he portrayed Chingachgook. Those familiar with “Of Mice and Men” or even “The Wolf Man” remember how Lon Chaney Jr. could excel in sympathetic roles, and here he delivers the goods, though slightly, and understandably, overshadowed by Barker’s heroics. Berry Kroeger’s evil Hessian Von Weber deserves special mention, and his shocking fate in the fitting hands of Chief Pontiac is punishment well deserved.

This film was produced by a very small film studio and it is very hard to find. Lon Chaney Jr. had the leading role as Chief Pontiac in this exquisite movie. It was one of his best, most sensitive performances. Chief Pontiac was in real life an influential Native American chief who affected the course of history of the native people on the Canadian border and Lon Chaney Jr. did a great job staying close to the documented history of this Native American tribe.

Battles of Chief Pontiac 1952

Well I am moving well out of the Fifties now to this terrific new series starring Bertie Carval as Inspector Dalgliesh – I suppose at least there is the fact that this is set in the 1960s – so we are, at least, in the next decade !

It is a real winner of a crime drama series from Channel five.

Bertie Carvel and takes on the role of Adam Dalgliesh, and he is outstanding in the role with an understated style which fits really well.

He portrays the depth. tormented soul of a poet while at the same time being very observant of human behaviour and detail surrounding each crime.

Beautifully made, very well acted, and very well written, working off some superb original material, which doesn’t seem to have been messed around with it too much.

Also – It looks good visually , the E Type Jaguar is a real show-stopper

The attention to detail makes this very watchable.

If you haven’t seen it on Channel 5 – then please do. You will not be disappointed

T