I have written about this lovely actress before –.

She was actually in THREE of the Edgar Wallace Mystery series – Marriage of Convenience,  Clue of the Silver Key and  Return to Sender.

She was married to Dinsdale Landen the actor from 1959 until his death in 2003.

They met when she played Clara in a BBC TV adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’ – he played the leading role as Pip in 1959 – and they married 6 weeks later . What a romantic story.

They later lived in South Creake, Norfolk – where Dinsdale sadly died in 2003 at the youngish age of 71

Jennifer Daniel BELOW- a very attractive young lady – starred in ‘The Reptile’

We have mentioned her before but mainly with regards to her film career – however from 1958 she had been active in the Theatre starting up in Dundee Rep with a small part in ‘Jonah’s Ark’ and another one before coming down South later that year to have a significant role in ‘The Voice of the Turtle at the New Theatre in Hull.

Then she was in the West End in 1959 in ‘Fool’s Paradise’ at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. She continued in many productions until 1981 when she was in ‘Dangerous Corner’ at the Ambassadors Theatre.

Before this she had played Lady Clarissa Eden in the stage play ‘Suez’ in 1977 which did a lengthy tour of the UK – very successfully too. I think she looked a lot like Lady Eden. Incidentally although Jennifer Daniel was much younger than Lady Eden, she actually died some time before her – mind you Lady Eden lived to be 101

Jennifer Daniel again played Lady Eden in the 1979 television drama “Suez 1956”. The show, produced by Michelangelo Productions, also featured other actors like Mark Brackenbury as Admiral Earl Mountbatten, and David Webb as Lt-Gen Sir John Bagot Glubb. 

Michael Gough played Sir Anthony Eden

Earlier than this she took the lead in ‘Dangerous Corner’ a play by J B Priestley – not one I know at all even though I am a big fan of this writer.

I watched an episode yesterday on Talking Pictures – not of the best quality production-wise but the very lovely Jennifer Daniel was in it so it became more watchable. The sets were not brilliant and some of the sword fights not convincing but all in all it was pleasant.

it seems that the producers were looking at building on the huge success of ‘The Adventure of Robin Hood’ and ‘Ivanhoe’ but it didn’t seem to work – Dermot Walsh did not have the charisma or the film star looks of either Richard Greene or Roger Moore so this series didn’t take on so well.

‘Richard The Lionheart’ portrays Richard I of England in a swashbuckling, family-friendly way. 

DERMOT WALSH

Filmgoers in the 1950s had to sit through many a dire, low-budget second-feature, made to satisfy the government ruling that a percentage of films shown in British cinemas must be home-grown rather than Hollywood imports. Dermot Walsh, who has died aged 77, starred in more than 20 such films.

He joined to the Abbey theatre school of acting, he spent three years with Lord Longford’s repertory company, and was in productions at the Gate and Croydon repertory theatre, before being spotted by a Rank talent scout.

His first three films were enjoyably e melodramas starring Margaret Lockwood, then at the peak of her stardom. Little noticed as a chauffeur in Bedelia (1946), Walsh made an impression later that year, in Hungry Hill. In this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel about an Irish family feud spanning three generations, he played Lockwood’s profligate son, although he was only eight years her junior. In Jassy (1947), he graduated to being her lover, and was well cast as a dispossessed heir whom the half-Gypsy Lockwood steals from sweet Patricia Roc.

Nothing else Walsh did in features was as good. A few feeble films followed, including Third Time Lucky (1949), in which he starred with Glynis Johns.

In the same year, he married Hazel Court, with whom he co-starred in My Sister And I (1948), the first of a number of plays and films they would appear in together. Back on the stage, he was in the first production of Shaw’s Buoyant Billions, as well as in Reluctant Heroes and JB Priestley’s Laburnum Grove.

In 1952, Walsh started his cycle of leading roles in shoestring second features, many of them murky crime thrillers, shot in two weeks, and middlingly directed by John Gilling and Lance Comfort. Despite the functional scripts, Walsh actually gave a good account of himself in, among others, The Frightened Man (1952), Ghost Ship (1952) and The Floating Dutchman (1953).

One of the better of these films, directed by Gilling, was The Flesh And The Fiends (1959) aka Mania, The Fiendish Ghouls and Psycho Killers, about the grave robbers Burke and Hare. In it, Walsh played the medical assistant to Peter Cushing’s Dr Knox, who bought the bodies for experiments. He also played straight man to Arthur Askey in Make Mine A Million (1959). The same year, in Crash Drive, he portrayed a racing driver who believes he cannot walk after an accident.

When the quota quickies faded, Walsh starred in the 39 episodes of the swashbuckling children’s adventure series Richard The Lionheart (1961-62). His last film appearance was in The Wicked Lady (1983), but he continued to act on stage until fairly recently, in The Rivals at Birmingham Rep, Joe Orton’s Loot in London, and Harold Pinter’s A Kind Of Alaska in Cambridge.

He and Court divorced in 1963; their daughter survives him, as does his son by Diana Scougall and two daughters by his third wife, Elizabeth Knox, who predeceased him.

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Another similar series – in my view much better – was ‘Sir Lancelot’ with William Russell with one series of this was actually filmed in colour

This series, which only consisted of only 30 episodes in all, was shown over two years 1956 and 1957. It starred William Russell as Sir Lancelot and apparently went well in the USA so that the last 14  episodes were made in Colour.  This would have been on film of course as  Colour Television Cameras were not around at that time. Mind you most of these series were made on film at the time.

 Above William Russell as Sir Lancelot – although he didn’t have the pipe in the show !!

Above William Russell as Sir Lancelot.

The producers went to a lot of trouble with the sets and costumes and they look splendid given the very limited television budgets. William Russell makes a lively and very personable hero and handles the action scenes with dash and enthusiasm.

In this 1957 RKO Radio Technicolor production Diana Dors starred in her first American production alongside Rod Steiger.

‘Half-Angel, Half Devil – she made him Half-man’ – this was from the American advertising release

Diana Dors slinked her way through thie film – the story of a party girl who marries wealthy windery owner Rod Steiger, and then quickly falls in love with rodeo performer Tom Tryon and then decides to murder her husband. The plan, however, backfires when she mistakenly kills Steiger’s best friend.

She manages to escape punishment for this murder but is eventually convicted for another murder that she did not commit.

John Farrow directed this one

It was one of the last films from RKO Radio

The Unholy Wife 1957

Diana Dors is seen on death row telling her story of how her own greed lead to her downfall. She is married to wealthy vineyard owner Rod Steiger whom she met in a bar, but bored spending the day taking care of his elderly mother, she is soon involved in an affair with rodeo horseman Tom Tryon.

Dian Dors proves here – something I have long known – that she is a very good actress. She more than holds her own with Rod Steiger – as she did with many of the male stars she worked with.

This was to be the first of three films for RKO but in the end there was the only one – the film did not do well so she was dropped from her contract. Apparently she sued RKO and was paid something like 200,000 US Dollars in compensation.

A few years before this, she had been offered the leading female role in ‘His Majesty O’ Keefe’ with Burt Lancaster but her husband Dennis Hamilton – her manager as well – would not let her go out to Fiji to make the film – instead he accepted a Summer Season at Blackpool.–

Eventually Joan Rice got the role and was very good

I am a great  fan of Joan Rice who took the part – and was very good in it, but I also am an admirer of Diana Dors who was a very good actor.

Above: Joan Rice and Burt Lancaster in a still from the film

It appears that Burt Lancster asked to see Diana at his suite at Claridges in London and indeed she did have this meeting alone with Burt but with her husband lurking somewhere below. She later tested for the part by darkening her skin a little, donning  a sarong, and wearing a black wig but Dennis would not let her take this part. It wouldn’t be much of a guess as to why.

I am pleased however that Joan Rice got the part – but can’t help but wonder what the film would have been like with Diana in that role – but more than that the effect it would have had on her future because she may well have seized the opportunity of such a big film as this. Her husband thought better of her spending months in Fiji on a South Sea Island with Burt Lancaster.

A friend of mine locally has just built this ‘pier’ at a lake nearby and it struck me immediately that I could just see Johnny Weissmuller sprint along this walkway and plunge headlong into the pool below – no doubt along with Crocs and Hippos – he would see the crocodiles off

That same friend – although not a film fan at all also acquired ths large scale model of a galleon that had been used in Hornblower.

BELOW – here it is floating on his pond – it is just small enough to fit

B

Starring Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo, Raoul Walsh’s 1951 adaptation of some of C.S. Forester’s classic seafaring novels is stirring stuff!

Here are some stills from the film – by no means one of my favourite films but OK

Filmed in Technicolor, and released by RKO Radio in their new Superscope wide screen process, this was

Dale Robertson who was borrowed from 20th Century Fox and Mari Blanchard borrowed from Universal starred but it was Vincent Price who stole the show

Plot: Sinbad, accompanied by his friend Omar Khayyam, is on the search for beautiful women and the legendary substance known as Greek Fire.

“Son of Sinbad” is a highly entertaining adventure with a funny story and a incredible cast of beautiful actresses, including Kim Novak in an uncredited role.

Son of Sinbad (1955)

Son of Sinbad (June 2, 1955)
Cast:        Dale Robertson as Sinbad
                Vincent Price as Omar Khayyam
                Sally Forest as Ameer
                Lili St. Cyr as Nerissa
                Mari Blanchard as Kristina
                Leon Askin as Khalif
                Jay Novello as Jiddah

Written by Jack Pollexfen, Aubrey Wisberg & Jeff Bailey
Directed by Ted Tetzlaff

In this film Sinbad is really more of a womaniser than an adventurer.

The real shining element here is Vincent Price, who is charming and very funny as Omar Khayyam. He’s basically a colleague of Sinbad but he ends up really being the star of the film. There is also the never ending array of scantily-clad women, including some very seductive dances. It’s a well-made and very colorful film, perfect matinee

Trivia:

• The film was shot in 1953 but delayed until 1955 due to Lili St. Cyr’s controversial belly dance. It was originally shot in 3D but by the time it was released, 3D was no longer popular and it was converted to the Superscope format. The dance scenes were supposedly censored but remain very risqué, especially for a film from the 1950s.
• While Vincent Price was only a supporting character in the film, his legendary status has helped elevate his performance as the standout of the film. He starred in this the same year House of Wax (1953) was released.
• Sally Forest is also known for The Strip (1951) with Mickey Rooney and The Strange Door (1951), also starring Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff.
• Mari Blanchard also played Queen Allura in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953).
• Leon Askin is best known for his role of General Burkhalter in Hogan’s Heroes (1965-1971).
• Jay Novello had 207 film and TV credits, including The Lost World (1960) and The Mad Magician (1954), as well as countless television appearances.
• Kim Novak is uncredited as one of the harem girls. She made her film debut the same year this was filmed and is best remembered for such films as Picnic (1955), Vertigo (1958) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958).
• Woody Strode is uncredited as one of the palace guards. He had made his film debut in 1941 but was still a few years away from achieving greater recognition at the time this was filmed in 1953. He is best remembered for such films as Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Pork Chop Hill (1959).

After it’s initial very successful release way back in 1952 – then known by it’s full title ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ – this film seemed to just be forgotten. It was re-released in the mid Seventies under it’a later title as a Double Feature with Scandalous John another Disney film but I seemed to have missed that release and until recently didn’t know about it.

So we then awaited a Video release which came about in 1986 – I remember buying it and seeing it again after all those years – I had never forgotten it. Wonderful !!

Now ‘Talking Pictures’ have taken on the film and it has been shown quite a few times. In fact it was shown on Sunday 25 May and I watched it again and this time concentrated more on Joan Rice’s acting having remembered the cruel comments about her from Ken Annakin and more so by Richard Todd. It is rare in my experience to hear such criticism of a fellow actor – even more cruel when I think that Joan Rice was only 20 years old when this film was made.

I published this a couple of years ago and since one of her best remembered films has just been shown it is probably more topical now.

Here it is again :-

THE BULLYING OF JOAN RICE

Yes – this is a hard hitting title I know but this is very much what I think when it comes to discussing the making of ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ at Denham Film Studios in the summer of 1951

It is well documented that Richard Todd and Ken Annakin did not respect Joan Rice as an actress and this is confirmed in a number of interviews Richard Todd gave – he said ‘She wasn’t an actress at all’ and impled that she was out of her depth.

Ken Annakin in his Autobiography states that she was poor and accident prone and much more.

He says that Joan Rice was ‘ a cross he had to bear’ and that she was ‘dumb and accident prone’ and he describes her ‘going off crying again’ following insults thrown at her by one of the crew.

He then says that Walt Disney visited the set and had his picture taken with a few of the actors and some with Joan Rice on the Archery set – and he declared that he had made the right choice in casting her as Maid Marian. Ken Annakin said that he and others , Richard Todd no doubt, did not agree with him and thought he could have done better

During the filming Joan had said amid tears that ‘if she wasn’t good enough then she would go back to being a waitress’ – however she had one very powerful ally in Walt Disney who chose her – in my view for her looks and how she fitted his own picture of Maid Marian. He was right – the public loved her in this role and still do

Ken Annakin says, again in his Autobiography, that he recalls one incident where one of the crew – an electrician – was walking past him and Joan Rice as Ken Annakin was going through her lines with her and the crew member in a loud whisper said ‘ She’s nothing but a big soft milk tart, Governor. Big boobs and and no drawers’. This again made Joan run off and cry until she was persuaded to come back.

This should never have been allowed and the crew member should have been reprimanded but the culture was such that this type of offensive behaviour to a very young girl was just let go,

What makes it even more galling for me is that Richard Todd had recommended James Robertson Justice for Little John – but here was someone who was not trained as an actor – and in fact was a fantasist and story teller on a grand scale – who seemed to get through each role by shouting his lines. He had a terrible Scots accent in Rob Roy although he claimed to be Scottish and born on the Isle of Skye which he wasn’t.

To add insult to injury Ken Annakin also in his Autobiography – says how well he got on with James Robertson Justice who, he said was ‘larger than life’ and always entertaining. In fairness to him, James would not have been pushed around and treated badly by Ken Annakin and Richard Todd – as Joan Rice was.

James Robertson Justice was a former public schoolboy as was Richard Todd, and as such had that confidence which Joan Rice with her poor upbringing did not.

It has also to be remembered that in the summer of 1951 when the film was made, Joan Rice was only 20 years old

Ken Annakin and Richard Todd I am sure looked down on her maybe because of this and treated her with disdain throughout the filming – maybe Ken Annakin, to be fair, was better to her than Richard Todd.

Richard Todd had nothing to do with her after the film was finished – he could have helped her but didn’t.

I sometimes think that if a different actress had been given the role – and I am pleased that they weren’t – she would have stood up to Mr Todd or maybe if Joan Rice had been a little older she would have.

Joan Rice was cruelly treated in the making of ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ by these two

Joan Rice went on to make ‘His Majesty O Keefe’ with Burt Lancaster out in Fiji and I hope that she was treated better there. It was another ‘big’ film.

Before she was cast in this film, Diana Dors had been approached for ‘His Majesty O Keefe’ but did not get the part – If Diana had worked with Ken Annakin and Richard Todd, she would have more than competed with them. She would have stood up to them

I did write this in an earlier post :-

Richard Todd said in a recent BBC radio interview that Joan Rice wasn’t really an actress although she was a very lovely girl. He also said that he didn’t know why Walt Disney and others had chosen her. In fact in Ken Annakin’s autobiography (and he directed the film) he states that Joan Rice was the choice of Walt Disney himself and Walt insisted she was in, having seen previous rushes of her films. He was absolutely right of course. She looked the part and acted pretty well – so much so that she got a major part in His Majesty O’Keefe opposite Burt Lancaster next.
Walt Disney knew what the public wanted instinctively. Joan Rice IS Maid Marian!!!

I wish Walt Disney had been around much more for the filming – he would not have allowed the bullying of this lovely young girl who was just making her way in the film world – and this one was about as big a film as you could get at the time.

AND THEN ANOTHER POST I DID ON THE SAME SUBJECT :-

Ken Annakin in his Autobiography and Richard Todd in some of his later interviews were particularly unkind in their remarks about Joan Rice after she had been the leading lady in ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ which as we all know Ken Annakin Directed and Richard Todd starred in.

They thought that she was a poor actress.

Walt Disney on the other hand was her admirer – he knew that she just looked the part and was determined that she would be IN. What he said went. He knew his audience so well – he knew that they would love her in the role – and we all did.

The film was a financial success worldwide

Next from Walt Disney came ‘The Sword and the Rose’ and then ‘Rob Roy The Highland Rogue’ – Ken Annakin directed the first one and Richard Todd starred in them both. They both had Glynis Johns in the lead who was well approved of by these two.

However neither film performed well at the Box Office – Rob Roy did OK in Britain but fared less well in the USA and other parts of the World.

So it seems that Ken Annakin and Richard Todd were pretty poor judges on actor’s abilities and their Box Office pulling power

Rob Roy was chosen for the Royal Film Premier that year – 1953. It was later reported that the Queen had not been particularly impressed by it – it is an opinion of mine that in the film the King was referred to by Rob Roy as ‘German Geordie’ – I have a feeling that the Queen would not have liked that

I remember going to see this film at our local cinema but I think that it was after 1959 – the year that it is shown as being released. As always I went with some excitement for a new Tarzan film but I have to say how disappointed I was.

It was made by MGM so you would expect it to have a decent budget and production values. This was not the case.

Certain dramatic sequences used the original 1932 Johnny Weismuller version footage and it was quite poorly tinted – certainly not colorised as we see today. It really did look so poor.

Denny Miller to be fair, was OK as Tarzan and he had Joanna Barnes as his ‘Jane’ – she was a good actress and had quite a long career.

The Film Trailer makes it look so thrilling – maybe I have mis-judged it and will have to view it again :-

Tarzan

Tarzan and his friends

Tarzan and Jane enjoy a swim – ABOVE

Tarzan – A PUBLICITY STILL

Tarzan IN ACTION above

The film was made at the same time as another Tarzan film, Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure – although that was filmed at Shepperton Studios in England and Kenya – both being produced by Sy Weintraub. MGM had kept the remake rights to the 1932 Tarzan the Ape Man, enabling them to make this film. The rights to the bulk of the Tarzan stories were owned by Sy Weintraub

I must view this film again

It is great to realise that Cinemas are still wanted and even better to see this underlined with the news that a brand new complex is being built in the town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire – and in the Town Centre at that

The New Cinema will be called The Savoy

Coming Shortly

Soon we shall see the finished cinema – as below

ABOVE – An artist’s impression of what it will be like

Construction work on a new cinema in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire is well underway this summer.

Scheduled to open in June 2025, the four-screen cinema complex and attendant leisure and retail development are the anchor properties at the heart of the multi-million pound initiative by West Lindsey District Council to regenerate Gainsborough’s historic town centre.

Gainsborough is the third Lincolnshire location – the others are in Grantham & Boston – for Savoy Cinemas Ltd, a growing regional chain whose other locations include two in Nottinghamshire, one in Northamptonshire and another in South Yorkshire.

James Collington, Managing Director, Savoy Cinemas Ltd, added, “We’re glad to be adding Gainsborough as the newest location to our growing portfolio of cinemas across this part of the country.  The fact that our new complex gives new life to a derelict site and is at the heart of the revival of the town centre gives the project extra significance for all involved.”

Moving back in time 71 years t9 1954 Gainsborough had the Gaumont Cinema – and some very well known actors visited :-

None other than Joan Rice accompanied by Donald Sinden who had starred together in ‘A Day to Remember’ visited the lovely town of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire – a town situated on the banks of the River Trent.

The cinema had been re-named the Gaumont in 1949 and was modernised in early-1954, Reopening on 29 March 1954 with Edward G. Robinson in “The Glass Webb” showing.and with film stars Joan Rice and Donald Sindon making personal appearances.

I haven’t been able to locate any pictures of the visit which is a shame – but above we the Two stars together.

However there have been references to this visit on Facebook by people who remember it and were there as young children. At that time Joan Rice was quite a big name after The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men  and His Majesty O’Keefe.

Donald Sinden though had yet to make his mark in film terms but of course he had a much longer and more varied career than Joan Rice.

I understand that there was quite large crowd out to see them in the Town. One woman from Gainsborough seems to remember a Norman Wisdom film being the first one shown after the Cinema re-vamp – and she could well be right because it would be at the time when one of his films was on release – and in fact Joan Rice had been the female lead in that – the film was One Good Turn although on checking this was not released until February 1955.

Anyway – if anyone reads this and was there at the time, or has photographs of this visit –  please do let us know.

BELOW – that same Gaumont Cinema in Gainsborough givng these youngsters an exciting Saturday morning no doubt.

I remember seeing the Trailer to this in the Cinema at the time, and what stood out for me was, again the fabulous Technicolor and I have even viewed the trailer again recently and I can see why – it just looked so good.

As I have remarked so often on this Blog, the Technicolor of that era has never been bettered – that time to me represented the pinnacle of Colour photography in films.

The Painted Hills 1951

The Painted Hills 1951

The Painted Hills 1951

Shep looks frightening

The plot of the film – an aging prospector living in the California hills during the gold rush days. Paul Kelly’s character has spent a long time in the hills eking out a meagre existence, following his gut instinct that there must be a rich vein of gold nearby.

While continuing to dig for treasure, he is joined by his faithful companion Shep. They are like two peas in a pod and go everywhere together. One place they visit at Christmas is the home of his godson (Gray) whose father recently died. Gray forms an attachment to the dog, and he joins Kelly and the animal in their digs.

Meanwhile, a lawyer has learned that Kelly found some small nuggets and may be close to striking more. The role of the lawyer is played by MGM contract player Bruce Cowling, who usually specialised in villainous characters. This is no exception. The lawyer is a crook and while befriending Kelly, the boy and the dog, he plans to take all the gold for himself.

Kelly suspects the lawyer plans to file a claim with an assayer behind his back. He also worries that the lawyer may do something dangerous, so he sends the boy away.

In the next sequence, the lawyer leads him to a hilltop where he insists he found the gold. But there is no gold there, just a confrontation between the two men. Shep watches as the lawyer pushes the old prospector off the cliff in a horrifying scene. The lawyer then decides to get rid of the dog, and he poisons Shep’s food. Shep survives because some concerned Indians find him dying along the road and nurse him back to health.

Gray learns the dog nearly died, and he returns to the cabin. He does not find his godfather, only the lawyer. Shep shows the boy where Kelly’s body was buried. The lawyer insists the old man died because of an accidental fall. The boy spends the night at the cabin, but this is not a safe environment. The lawyer still wants to get rid of Shep.

A pastor stops by the cabin the next day but doesn’t believe the boy’s story about a possible murder. Also, the boy is at the mercy of the lawyer, but is somehow spared. When the boy leaves with the pastor, to return to his mother, it is up to Shep to carry out justice. There is a climactic finale, where Shep is chased up the hill by our gun-toting villain who intends to blast him to smithereens. However, Shep is too smart and lures the big bad man to the edge of a snowy peak, so he will fall off the cliff the same way the old man did.

A good Technicolor Film

Well, although this superb BBC dramatisation was well out of the fifties era as regards when it was shown, the actual play and West End production was in 1950.

It was the type of play I love – lovely setting with fascinating characters where not a lot happens but it is our getting to know the people involved and their interaction and eventually how the story works out that holds our interest the whole time. Absorbing.

Also at this time the BBC were very good at staging this type of production – I think of ‘Mary Rose’ around the same time which featured a small Scottish Island with water all around and a small boat – all Studio work

‘Waters of the Moon’ has the setting of a small Devon Hotel in Winter and again the Studio set was marvellous with a large outside formal garden covered in snow where a lot of the action later in the play takes place

ABOVE – Virginia McKenna

As the story starts we are introduced to the relatively the dull lives of a group of people in a residence hotel in Devonshire.

There’s the retired colonel (Richard Vernon) and an Austrian Jew (Ronald Pickup), and two women at opposite ends of the pole: Mrs. Whyte (Virginia McKenna), a brittle upper-class woman who has fallen on hard times financially , and Mrs, Ashmore (Joan Sims), a jolly type.

The hotel is run by the dour Mrs. Daly (Dilys Laye) and her adult children.

Then as if to upset the applecart – on a snowy night, in comes Helen Lancaster (Penelope Keith) with husband and daughter who come to the Hotel after their car skidded off the road and they are stranded.

She immediately takes over the household, asking for rooms, hot soup, and a place by the fire.

As the storm rages and the days go by, Helen Lancaster is still there and disrupting the lives of the residents. She plays particular attention to the displaced Austrian and chats about Old Vienna and music and art. As New Year’s Eve approaches, she decides they must have a party.

The party does not go well. Mrs. Whyte becomes more and more resentful of the breezy Helen. Mrs. Daly’s daughter (Lesley Dunlop) also grows weary of the obvious wealth Helen displays, and the sickly son (Dean Allen) gets drawn into the talk about continental travel and skiing in Switzerland with Miss Lancaster (Clare Byam-Shaw).

On New Year’s Day, the weather changes and a thaw means the Lancasters may soon be leaving. As they pack up to leave it becomes obvious that Helen’s casual invitations to visit London are meaningless. The lives she has disrupted are already forgotten as she stresses about meeting city friends for lunch.

Ronald Pickup ( Mr Winterhalter) seems to have fallen for Helen Lancaster (Penelope Keith ) but on leaving she just casts him aside

All this time Mrs Daley’s daughter played by Lesley Dunlop has been in love with Mr Winterhalter the Austrian but nothing has ever materialsied between them – but maybe as the Play closes we realise that things could change in that direction

In this adaptation the whole cast are terrific. The outside set of terraced garden and house exterior is excellent as can be seen from these stills.

I just love this BBC TV play