This is the  former home of Roger Moore ,the sprawling 11-acre property at Denham close to the long gone Denham Film Studios. Moore lived at Sherwood House at Denham, when he shot his first three Bond films just up the road at Pinewood and it has just gone on sale for £4.5million.

This quintessentially English property is just  a short journey from the centre of London.

The former home of James Bond star Roger Moore, where he lived when he shot his first three 007 films in the 1970’s.

One of his near neighbours in those days was  none other than Jess Conrad – Film Star, Pop Singer, Actor.  and stage performer.

Jess purchased his home for £8000 way back in 1961

Republic Studios – Below :-

Republic Pictures was an American Film production-distribution company with studio facilities, operating from 1935 until 1959. They produces generally – but not exclusively – in Westerns, Film serials, and B films often on the subject of  mystery and action. Several of the films of John Ford were made through Republic and the studio had a great deal to do with the development of the careers such stars as  John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers.  

Angel And The Badman (1947)

  Ride The Man Down (1952) City That Never Sleeps (1953)   Radar Men From The Moon (1952) The Fabulous Texan (1947) Hoodlum Empire (1952) Jubilee Trail (1954) Rock Island Trail (1950) and California Passage (1950) The Outcast (1954) Blackmail (1947) Angel And The Badman (1947) The Red Pony (1949) Dakota Incident (1956)

Interesting film this one. A ‘Western’ really which was set in South Africa. Stills from the film above.

This one had 50 s pop idol Marty Wilde in the cast with Richard Todd starring. He was very good as usual.
Luke Billings (Lionel Jeffries) and his family have a problem with the new police sergeant Sam Hargis (Richard Todd) so they take over a small Transvaal town with the attention of drawing Hargis into a showdown.
Hargis tries to get back up from the townsfolk who do not want to know, so is forced to lay low.
As things get out of hand one of the Billings boys takes an interest in the storekeeper’s wife, Priss Dobbs (Anne Aubrey). Having had enough her husband, Ernie (Jamie Uys) takes up the gun and heads down the main street alone. An act that prompts Hargis to join him. Slowly, the townsfolk turn up to back them up.

This is a great ‘western’ set against a South African background.

Above: Anne Aubrey one of the stars of the film – Director Ken Annakin was none too complimentary about her abilities in his Autobiography which I recommend to all readers – Its title is ‘So You Wanna Be a Director’

James Booth who plays the eldest of the Billings boys, Jubal, is excellent with his soft yet menacing voice.

This film marked the debut of one of Britain’s pop idols, Marty Wilde, as John Billings and gives a credible performance.

Unfortunately, this film has not appeared on TV, video or DVD.

The Hellions (1962)

The Hellions is just like a western, only  set in the South African Transvaal. The title characters are Luke Billings and his four sons, desperados all, who invade a dusty little town to settle an old score with the newly-appointed marshal, Sam Hargiss. Unable to mobilize the cowardly townspeople for help, and unwilling to face the Hellions alone, Hargiss hides at home with his pregnant wife, while the Billings gang misbehaves with impunity all over town. Finally old Luke Billings makes a pass at the wife of timid shopkeeper Ernest Dobbs. Though wussy in the extreme and a poor marksman, Dobbs is so outraged by this transgression that he marches down the main street with a rifle, to confront the Billings gang single-handed. This inspires the marshal and the townspeople to unite behind him. The film ends with the Hellions dead and virtue triumphant.

………………………..            .

James Booth is in great form playing this scary and out-of-control character, like a more sinister version of Ernest T. Bass, Jubal delights in firing his gun at whiskey bottles and human beings. He talks in a soft, sugary voice full of menace, laughs maniacally, and walks like a pimp. Weeks away from a shave or haircut, Booth looks  young, fit, and handsome. His rumpled, tough-guy rags are torn open to the waist, revealing a strip of hairless chest and flat stomach.

As usual, some of his best moments are silent—e.g. the absurd “grooming” scene on the street before he accosts the woman in blue, and the fight scene at the end (where he wields a pitchfork and an axe).

Fans of Zulu will notice that certain details of that great film are anticipated in The Hellions. Jubal’s neck scarf and some of his mannerisms carry over to the character Booth plays in Zulu. Also the South African actor Gert Van Den Bergh, who plays Dr. Weiser in The Hellions, will reappear in Zulu as Adendorff.

Above – Press cutting from a German Magazine at the time.

Al Ritz and Eddie Roberts	Anne Aubrey and Jamie Uys
Bill Brewer	George Moore
Jamie Uys and George Moore	Jamie Uys, Zena Walker and Anne Aubrey
	Jamie Uys and Zena Walker
Jamie Uys	Jan Bruyns
Lionel Jeffries and Jan Bruyns	Lionel Jeffries and Jan Bruyns
Lionel Jeffries	Patrick Mynhardt
Richard Todd	Richard Todd
Zena Walker

Also – what about the theme song – sung by Marty Wilde

“Live by the gun/then sure as the sunrise/die by the gun you must/just as the Hellions/one by one/died in the Transvaal dust.”

Lash La Rue

Throughout the 1950’s, LASH LA RUE appeared many times on various TV shows and had several different roles in the movie “Judge Roy Bean”. He also had a continuing role as Sheriff Johnny Behan on the TV series “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”. After interest in Westerns faded, he made a living by making appearances at conventions for Western film buffs.

Lash became a born-again Christian and an evangelist on the rodeo and country music circuit, but he had financial troubles and problems with the IRS which made it difficult for him to work. Late in his career he appeared in 2 low-budget horror films (“Alien Outlaw” and “Dark Power”) and he returned often to his native Louisiana where he would appear in jam sessions at the “Dew Drop Inn”. He was a very good guitar player, popular and well-liked by many.

Lash La Rue died at age 79 in Burbank, California on May 21, 1996 from Emphysema. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Mario Lanza’s beautiful tenor soars on the soundtrack of this fairy tale, loosely based on Sigmund Romberg’s  operetta. In an interview on a Lanza bio program, Music Director George Stoll shared how Lanza came into the recording studio and rendered perfect one-takes on the entire score, within a remarkable single session. His wonderful voice is a highlight of this film. A special treat is hearing  soprano Ann Blyth, who was an experienced singer even before making her film debut. The two are heard to advantage in the lovely “Deep in My Heart” park scene duet. Composer Nicholas Brodszky contributed two further beautiful added songs, “Beloved” and “I’ll Walk With God,” intoned to perfection by Lanza.

Edmund Purdom does a fine job of lip-synching to Mario Lanza in this  fairytale of a film. The combination of Lanza’s glorious romanticism and Purdom’s very British demeanour is an odd combination, but it seems to work.  It helps that Purdom was actually singing along with Lanza’s pre-recorded vocals – a daunting task for any singer, let alone a non-professional like Purdom. (The actor spent three months practising with the recordings, and commented 20 years later: “It was enough to make you sweat – just listening to the voice.”)

It’s to Purdom’s credit that he persevered, for Lanza’s singing is at the very core of this movie. The Serenade, Drinking Song, Beloved, Golden Days and I’ll Walk With God are without peer, and represent the pinnacle of Lanza’s achievement in English language song. Lanza’s timbre was at its most ravishing by this time (1952) and he imbues these songs with such magic that every word sparkles – a feat not lost on Purdom, who later compared Mario’s poetic artistry to that of the great soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf.

The Student Prince has three new songs (Beloved, I’ll Walk With God and Summertime in Heidelberg) by Nicholas Brodszky replacing some of the more dated Romberg numbers.

Ann Blyth provides worthy support as Kathy, the barmaid with whom The Student Prince falls in love, and the hilarious supporting cast includes such seasoned pros as Edmund Gwenn, SZ (Cuddles) Sakall and John Williams.

But watch this film for its irresistible fairytale appeal, and the magic of Mario Lanza at his extraordinary best.

Edmund Purdom

Edmund Purdom  in The Student Prince

Bobby Driscoll was a child star of considerable fame – earning a long and lucrative contract with Walt Disney – and was really excellent in Song of the South and of course Treasure Island – made here in England at Denham Film Studios in 1950.

Sadly his star very quickly waned. He turned to drugs and drink and a number of years later was found dead in a run down building in New York. He was buried at that time in an unmarked grave but later records confirmed that the body found had been that of Bobby Driscoll.

This letter was in the Daily Express here in England on 8th August 2015 – with another letter giving answers to the question posed – what happened to Bobby Driscoll.

Wonderful Double Bill on offer here to all Horror Fans.  – and more particularly to all HAMMER Horror enthusiasts of which there are so many. This Double Bill was actually from the Sixties but it seems a good feature to include here.

In the 1970’s, BBC-2 ran a summer season of ‘Horror Double Bills’ on Saturday nights, usually a black & white Karloff and Lugosi movie followed by a much more recent  Hammer, Amicus or Vincent Price chiller in colour.

On one particular Saturday night, ‘The Reptile’ was shown around the midnight mark and when  Jacqueline Pearce made her first full appearance in her snake make-up (as The Reptile) it was a memorable moment in Horror Film History.

A few years ago I was out with my daughter and her family living at that time in Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills, Australia. We went to a Sunday Collectors Fair at Port Adelaide – a very large one at that – and I purchased The Reptile on Video and we all watched it – and enjoyed it -when we got back to Lobethal that evening. This was a Double Bill Video release in a box along with ‘She’ with John Richardson, Ursula Andress and of course Peter Cushing.    Wonderful  memories.

Above The Trailer from The Reptile –

Below Scenes from the Film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ95jCVIFDA&feature=player_detailpage

Above The Trailer from Rasputin The Mad Monk with Christopher Lee.

I often go back to this wonderful colour film made out in Fiji many years ago. These pictures come from an old Annual I recently bought.

Jean Simmons – above

Scenes from the film – above

This film was on Television last week here in England – and it was just as good as it always is. My wife saw it for the first time and really liked it.

See The Trailer to this exciting film here :-

Below are some action shots from the film in stunning Technicolor.

I have seen this film featured a number of times in Film Annuals and periodicals of the time, and I recently purchased it on DVD. Looks to be a good film. I like Jean Simmons and also James Donald – remember him in The Great Escape. He was such a good understated actor.

A young bride believes her husband has been killed. After a suitable period of mourning, she re-marries. But then her “dead” husband comes back and tries to extort money from her.