The biggest hit of the year ‘White Christmas’ swelled Paramount’s Bank balance by 12 million dollars from the American release alone – and pretty much the same again from the rest of the World

Such stars – and talents – as Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye along with Irving Berlin certainly did the trick – ably assisted by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. The story was nothing special but was about a couple of entertainers assisted by their girl friends who put on a show at a Winter Resort Hotel to make it a success for their old Army Officer.

The production was in Technicolor and VistaVision – the first film to be released using this process which was Paramount’s answer to Cinemascope.

The film boasted 15 Irving Berlin songs including ‘Count Your Blessing’ , ‘The Best Things Happen when you’re Dancing’ ‘Sisters’ and old ones like ‘Blue Skies’ and ‘Heatwave’

The script and story, makes this almost a remake of Holiday Inn.

Then we have the performances, with Bing Crosby his usual charming self as Bob, and Danny Kaye is superb as Phil. His dance routine with Vera Ellen, who looked gorgeous here, was a knockout.

Rosemary Clooney is terrific as Betty, with a calm and subdued performance. The choreography was excellent – clever, fast-paced and energetic.

All in all – a perfect film for Christmas

This was a short film but in full Colour shot at Waddington in Lincolnshire about the Vulcan Bomber and really about the legendary aircraft and it’s crew a film narrated by Peter Dimmock

The introduction of the Vulcans at Scampton – where they were based – in the fifties called for the main A15 road to be re-routed and instead of the normal straight Roman Road as it was, the runway extension meant that just North of Lincoln the road has quite a curve around the runway end

We see shots of the Officer’s mess with beer being consumed

I am surprised that this film is being billed as at Waddington as I do know the Vulcans were stationed at nearby Scampton – former home of the Dam Busters Squadron

Quite a few years ago in the Seventies, I had business with someone living and with a business in the charming village of Aisthorpe Nr Lincoln very close to Scampton. On a number of occasions, I was with him in his office when two or three of the Vulcans took off low over the village which although not visible is not too far from the Western end of the runway, and as they were at very low level and climbing the noise was just incredible and this person started to curse at them as it was impossible to hear anything on the phone.

On another occasion my wife and I were motoring towards Lincoln not too far from the village of Aisthorpe when suddenly a Vulcan appeared above us very low, very noisy climbing and the sight of it was so impressive = I wish they were there now at

This is such an impressive shot of the Twelve Vulcans on the Runway at Scampton.

I sometimes would stop as close to the runway as was possible and watch as probably six of the aircraft practiced take off, circling and landing on a regular basis. It certainly was a thrilling sight as they hurtled past – the ground seemed to shake below where you were standing

Raising the Standard

Just over a year ago.as s I watched and listened to the coverage of The Death of the Queen, I was filled, as I have been with great sadness and was listening to a discussion about the Royal Standard being raised at Buckingham Palace and other palaces in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

I try to relate items from such events to this Blog and to the film world of the relevant era.

The Still from the Film ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ 1948 shows the Prince played by David Niven raising the Standard at Glenfinnan.

What a beautiful place it is and what a wonderful and iconic scene

Alexander Korda put a lot of effort and money into this, but it did not fare too well at the Box Office. It does look an expensive film when you are watching it and it is spectacular in Technicolor with wonderful shots of the Scottish Highlands.

In my view David Niven just did not look the part and my own view is that he was mis-cast in this. I have always liked Margaret Leighton – she was with David Niven again in The Elusive Pimpernel in 1951 but again that was not successful although again it have a quite lavish budget and again was in Technicolor.

Mind you, sandwiched between these two films, David Niven was back in Hollywood and made ‘Enchantment’ for Sam Goldwyn which I enjoyed

Margaert Leighton had a leading role a year later in ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ – a film I love – very English in it’s style but a great story from a stage play

Sadly the greatest success of Cecil B De Mille’s career ‘The Ten Commandments’ 1956 was followed by this film – a disastrous flop and a month after the film’s release he died aged 77.

I have read the he had intended to make this as a Musical Version which really surprised me, but in the end that did not happen.

This film had a very large budget at 5 million US Dollars and had VistaVision, Technicolor and a large cast of actors and extras and yet it still missed the mark. Who can say why.

I remember at the time speculation that seeing Yul Brynner with hair didn’t help but that can’t have been the only factor

The film starred Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Charles Boyer and Claire Bloom

Yul Brynner makes as dashing a Jean Lafitte as Fredric March did in the 1938 film. Charlton Heston repeats his Andrew Jackson role from The President’s Lady which he made earlier in the Fifties.

The best role in the film was Charles Boyer as Dominic You, Lafitte’s cynical second in command. A former artillery officer in Napoleon’s army, he left there and took up piracy out of disillusionment with how the French Revolution turned out.

Charles Boyer has some good and wise lines which he delivers well

Cecil B DeMille’s film is pretty much the same as the 1938 version.

In the film the two female leads are played by Claire Bloom as a fiery type who seems to cross between Love and Hate for Lafitte, whereas Inger Stevens is really attractive as his true love – she is also the daughter of the governor

This film had one additional thing going for it.

Singer Johnny Horton had a big hit record with ‘The Battle of New Orleans’ at the same time the film came out. In England we had another great version from Lonnie Donegan which I preferred

The film was directed by Anthony Quinn who was the Son-in-Law of Cecil B De Mille at the time. Generally he did a good job but the film’s dismal showing at the Box Office probably contributed to the fact that he never directed another film. I have read that the final cut was done by Cecil B DeMille and he had hacked it about quite a bit – maybe that also was a contributory factor.

Anthony Quinn poses for an Advertisement on the Film Set

This has the sort of title that would really pull me in with the prospect of excitement up the Amazon searching for a missing person and the fabled Lost City of Gold – what a story line

The film is based on the expedition by George M Dyott to seach for the facts surrounding the Disappearance of Colonel Percy H. Fawcett in the jungles of Matto Grosso*, Brazil in 1925.

At the time, the story of the fearless and obsessive explorer, looking for a lost city in one of the most remote areas on the planet, was followed by newspapers around the world.

Fawcett, born in 1867 in Devon, England, led seven successful expeditions to the Amazon between 1906 and 1924. Initially these were funded by the Royal Geographical Society, but later trips were sponsored by newspapers and other businesses. Fawcett’s drive, stamina, and imperviousness to sickness were legendary. Newspaper dispatches followed Fawcett’s fantastic journeys leaving readers enthralled, and later, stunned by his disappearance.

Fawcett was known for his respect for native people.

He was also a Spiritualist who had come to imagine an advanced urban civilization deep in the Amazon jungle, possibly with ties to Atlantis.

His last trip was made with his eldest son and his son’s best friend, to discover the Lost City. However, after one last message on May 29, 1925, in which Fawcett told of preparing to enter uncharted territory, they disappeared without a trace

Robin Hughes ABOVE played George M Dyott with James Wilson as Dyott

It was filmed in WarnerColor

There is a 16 mm print available for sale and I am considering buying it

I did read this review :

An adventure that makes the blood race romance, mystery — and peril! So promised the North American Newspaper Alliance in 1928 when they sponsored an Amazon expedition to determine the fate of a famous explorer who hadnt been seen in three years. Led by George M. Dyott (Robin Hughes), a commander in the British Naval Reserve, the team ventured deep into the jungle in search of P. H. Fawcett (James Wilson), a British colonel who disappeared in Brazils Mato Grosso region in 1925.

Following a trail left by the colonel, Dyott braves hostile natives, giant reptiles, raging rapids and more as he tries to retrace Fawcetts steps before he vanished without a trace. Shot entirely in Amazon country, Manhunt in the Jungle was based on a 1930 book written by Dyott, his exploits also inspiring the 1933 film Savage Gold, an action-adventure made by and starring the commander himself.

Another Review:

Led by George M. Dyott (Robin Hughes), a commander in the British Naval Reserve, an Amazon expedition venturs deep into the jungle in search of a British colonel who disappeared in Brazil’s Mato Grosso region. Following a trail left by the colonel, Dyott braves hostile natives, giant reptiles, raging rapids and more as he tries to retrace the colonel’s steps before he vanished without a trace.

PICTURES BELOW from the film give us a good look at the impressive Colour film making on Location

A film based on Mark Twain’s novel, ‘The Millionaire Pound Note’

The Million Pound Note

A charming Gregory Peck totally excellent the part and the luminous Jane Griffiths is a treat.

The ending is a little predictable but the director does an overall good job

ABOVE – with Jane Griffiths

Jane Griffiths

Name  Jane Griffiths		Role  Actress
Born  16 October 1929 (1929-10-16) Peacehaven, Sussex, England, UK Died  June 11, 1975, London, United Kingdom Movies  The Traitor, The Impersonator, Tread Softly Stranger, The Gambler and the L, The Durant Affair

Jane Mary Griffiths (16 October 1929 – 11 June 1975) was an English actress who appeared in film and television between 1950 and 1966.

She played the female lead opposite Gregory Peck in The Million Pound Note (1954), but never appeared in another major film, and spent the rest of her career in B movies.

However, the film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane praise her “unexpectedly poignant” performance in The Durant Affair, in which she evokes “a convincing air of struggling to contain past sadness”.

She also appeared in an episode of Colonel March with Boris Karloff – a series shown on Talking Pictures recently

The Case of the Misguided Missal – SEE FURTHER BELOW

She died on June 11, 1975 in London, England, UK. 

Jane Griffiths

Here Jane Griffiths appears in the Colonel March episode ‘The Case of the Misguided Missal’

Here she acts alongside Boris Karloff, Chan Canasta and a young Anthony Newley

ABOVE – Jane in the arms of a young Anthony Newley

This turned out to be the most successful film of the year for MGM back in 1956

The film was shown recently in widescreen format in what is a new or restored print.

The cast – Glenn Ford, Paul Ford (ironic , Eddie Albert, Marlon Brando and Harry Morgan – do a fine job of playing out the film’s humorous meditation on culture clash, and the ability of a strong but flexible people to maintain their Eastern ways in the face of Western influence.

Marlon Brando, in particular, is surprising in a film you might think him not able to do much with – it was a humorous characterisation, yet the brilliant and convincing manner in which he pulls it off reminds us of what a talented actor he was.

The film had its origins in a very successful stage play. We really have to thank everyone involved in making it so successful and even bringing it to the screen in the first place

ABOVE Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford

If you are a fan of Glenn Ford’s westerns – as I am – have a look at this role he plays to ‘timed’ perfection.

Glenn Ford has all the hesitation, stammering, and exasperation that it takes to be a comic genius. What an actor he was !

We are kept laughing so hard that we have a job to keep up with the fast pace of the story.

It is difficult to recognise Marlon Brando

What a great set ABOVE

A curious little picture with a running time of only 23 minutes, and a film that I did not know until Talking Pictures showed it a few days ago.

Alan Badel plays the part of an eccentric stranger who comes to town – it was filmed in Windsor – and somehow entrances the people with his bizarre antics and magic tricks – dressed in theatrical attire

It looks as though this was only Alan Badel’s second film – he was only 28 or so when it was made.

Wendy Toye directed the film.


Alan Badel is a peculiar, bearded man with bushy eyebrows and baggy patchwork clothes who shows up one sunny day in a small town. Merrily twirling his umbrella as he prances through the streets wowing the children with showers of confetti and magic tricks.

He manages to turn the heads of everyone he encounters and charms all of the townspeople in a short time.

However this strange man, is actually up to something much more sinister, as he eventually seeks out a wealthy and corrupt banker named Mr. Lathan (Cameron Hall).

It is a short story written by Sidney Carroll; that somehow manages to be both amusing and eerie.

The film certainly packs a lot into its 23-minute run-time – almost more than some feature length films. I

It has a whimsical music score from Muir Mathieson who seemed to feature on the credits of every film we saw at the time

Director Toye and Alan Badel would team up again for the even-better short ‘In the Picture’ (contained in the 1955 THREE CASES OF MURDER) a few years later.

Wendy Toye remade The Stranger for the TV series Tales of the Unexpected in a version which starred Derek Jacobi

We will all remember these two BELOW. The films were made in Hollywood but the casting of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce was just perfect.

ABOVE In a publicity still

I always thought that this version of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ really suffered because of it’s lack of English locations and location filming. It was Studio bound mainly although the sets were pretty good.

It still somehow lacked that English feel that is so vital in this story but the later ones which were set much later in the forties were much more acceptable to us I think – they were shorter but somehow captured the mood

Richard Greene played Sir Henry in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ – and shortly after this he joined the British Forces and fought in the Second World War after which his career faltered for almost a decade until he became very famous on a world scale as Robin Hood.

I really like the story ‘The Speckled Band’ but have never seen this early version. In the scene above we have Lynn Harding, and Arnold Stewart with Holmes here played by Raymond Massey.

One comment from someone who has seen the film says ‘Very bad casting. Raymond Massey looked no more like Sherlock Holmes than James Cagney’

This film has Arthur Wontner as Holmes – again a comment from the same contributor ‘ A first class actor with a strong resemblance to the character. Easily the best Holmes up to that time‘.

It was made at Twickenham Studios and released in 1934

The film above from 1991 is ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady’ and in this story Holmes and Watson are older. The film’s running time is 187 minutes so over 3 hours long. The film also featured singer Engelbert Humperdinck in a straight role.

I am not sure that it did any good at the Box Office – it was a European Production with much of the filming done on the continent.

We have skipped past Jeremy Brett who was superb as Holmes with Edward Hardwicke as Dr Watson. This would require at least a full article.

However we must not forget the BBC Radio series with Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley in the role of Doctor Watson

Carleton Percy Hobbs (18 june 1898 – 31 july 1978) was a British actor most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on radio.

Hobbs is the only one who have performed Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in radio shows :

• In 1943, he played Dr. Watson in The Boscombe Valley Mystery with Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes.
• From 1952 to 1969, he played Sherlock Holmes in 75 episodes (56 stories and reruns) in the radio show Sherlock Holmes (BBC) with Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson.
• This is the longest show in the history of Sherlock Holmes radio plays. The stories recorded were created in two main batches. The first 18 stories was from 1952 to 1958, when the recordings were made for BBC Children’s Hour. The second batch spans from 1959 to 1969 and were produced for the adult listener.

I hadn’t realised that Patricia Medina was out in Hollywood as early as this but maybe now, thinking about it, I do remember

The film was produced by Walter Wanger who got off to a flying start by sacking Barbara Payton a week before the film went into production and replacing her with Patricia Medina.

‘Lady in the Iron Mask’ is directed by Ralph Murphy, and has a running time of 78 minutes.

It was released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas Père

The film was shot in Supercinecolor (as Natural Color) by Ernest Laszlo and was made at Motion Picture Center Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles.

It is a pleasing swashbuckling story with Louis Hayward as D’Artagnan and the Musketeers rallying to the rescue of the Royal throne of France when Princess Anne (Patricia Medina – in a dual role ) is kidnapped and her long-lost sister Louise is put in her place. The plotters want a marriage with Philip of Spain, which would ensure their control of France. The musketeers rush to stop this plot and after many adventures they are successful. Princess Anne marries D’Artagnan and leaves her sister on the throne of France in her place.

ABOVE: A film still signed by the two stars.

I am searching currently for a DVD of the film but I would want the Colour Version which is in SuperCinecolor – a very good process – have a look at ‘Hurricane Island with Jon Hall to see how good it is.

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