I love these Hammer Horror Films – and particularly this one. When we get the flashback in the very early stages of the film, to the Princess Ananka being buried many years ago and Kharis High Priest with a dark secret – his love for the princess – it really sets the scene for us as we settle down for the action to come.

Whilst excavating the ancient site in Egypt,  Peter Cushing’s father played by Felix Aylmer, picks up and reads the scroll of life and The Mummy stirs,  this sequence is very erie – sending Felix Aylmers character- Banning – mad – to such an extent that on his return to England he is committed to a lunatic asylum where eventually he comes face to face with The Mummy.

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

 Christopher Lee as Kharis High Priest

After the early sequence in Egypt we return to England, in 1898:   For three years Banning has been confined to a mental asylum unable to communicate with anyone. One day his son John (Peter Cushing), now happily married to the beautiful Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux), is summoned to the asylum at his father’s request. The old man, having suddenly regained the power of speech, warns his son of impending doom. Kharis the mummy will soon come to kill him; John and his father are also marked for death for violating Ananka’s secret resting place. Heartbroken about his father’s condition, John chalks it up as the ravings of a madman.

He begins to realise differently when an The Mummy smashes into the elder Banning’s padded cell and strangles him. In a search for answers John and his uncle begin pouring through the old man’s papers. Meanwhile, Mehemet Bey played by  George Pastell , a secret acolyte of Karnak who’s made a sacred vow of revenge for the desecration of Ananka’s tomb — prepares for vengeance.

 The sets and production values for this film are very high even though the budget must have been limited.

Christopher Lee brings a measure of sadness to the character of Kharis / The Mummy because of his great love for the Princess Ananka.

In a thrilling sequence The Mummy breaks through the glass doors of Peter Cushing’s home and proceeds to try to strangle him. He is saved by his wife who enters the room and she bears a striking resemblence to the Princess Ananka. Kharis the stops and looks at her and departs the scene.

This is a good well made film – I must watch it again soon – and one which is recommended. It is in my view probably the best of the Hammer HorrorFilms.

 Yvonne Furneaux plays Peter Cushings wife and the Princess Ananka.

The climax of the film takes place in a marsh where The Mummy has carried John Banner’s  wife – but he will not harm her. Below:-

Christopher Lee made his film debut in 1948 in Corridor of Mirrors which was directed by Terence Stamp and made in Paris. He was also in Scott of the Antarctic shortly afterwards.

Much more about Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in later posts as these two hold a unique place in British Film History.

These pictures from Mr Smith’s collection show a  visit in 1977 to Denham Film Studios just before the demolition began.

The photographs  show Herbert Smith who had run Denham from 1945 to 1950 and been a very influential person in the Film World throughout his life.

Herbert Smith had been previously working at Beaconsfield Studios for some time when in 1945 he accepted an offer from Two Cities Films to join them at Denham.   He was Executive in charge of productions with a splendid office on the first floor overlooking the entrance – pictured below.   

A very famous name in Denham Film Studio’s history is that of Herbert Smith – ABOVE.

Herbert Smith, who was the brother of the late Sam Smith, founder of British Lion Films, was a well known figure in the British film industry with which he has been connected for many years. He continued to control productions at Denham till it closed in 1950.

He was Executive Producer of Walt Disney’s Treasure Island 1950 at Denham – although he is uncredited simply becuse this is the way he seemed to want it. He had his name removed from the credits of quite a few of the classics made at Denham

Pictures show Herbert Smith at his Old Office, Large Sound Stage, Grand Hall – now in ruins, and the Cutting Room.

Below: A Fire Engine arrives at Denham Film Studios 1941

Interesting picture – above top left – of what was Alexander Korda’s office in the old mansion and see how close it is to the River Colne. I remember Michael Powell telling the story that he had attended a film story meeting  for the film The Spy in Black in this very  office at Denham – and present was  Alexander Korda, the author of the book  and another man who he had not met before but who had actually adapted the novel for the screen. Michael Powell said that this man was asked to read out the bear bones of his story – which he proceeded to do. 

Michael said that he thought immediately that this man was a genius in the way he had adapted the story – he had,  from the original,   turned the story completely on its head – but it was good. 

That person turned out to be Emric Pressburger and thus began one of the most famous partnerships in film history – Powell and Pressburger.

 The two great men – above.

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were the most original filmmaking team in the history of British Cinema. The films that they made together under the name of their production company ‘The Archers’ include some of the most critically celebrated and best loved films ever made in Britain. 

Their work from the 40s, included –  ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’, ‘A Canterbury Tale’, ‘I Know Where I’m Going’, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’, ‘Black Narcissus’, AND  ‘The Red Shoes’.

These would be good films by any standard and in any era.      They were just so original in style. 

Kathleen Byron  who starred as Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus above  – from the novel by Rumer Godden – said that when Michael Powell offered her the role he said that it was a great part  – but he added  ‘make the most of it Kathleen because you will never get a part as good again’.   And she said that he was quite right – she never did get as good a part as that again even though her career lasted for many years afterwards.   Interesting little story I think.

This film was shown on British TV over the Christmas period, and a friend of mine watched it after I had mentioned the film version of this daring raid some months ago. He agreed that it was a very good film – actually with his family he had gone to the St.Nazaire area of France a year or more ago so was familiar with the location of the action.

The Fifties were Jose Ferrer’s peak years as an actor and he was getting acclaim for all kinds of roles although he had  never been thought of as an action hero, but in a film in which he directed himself The Cockleshell Heroes, he is outstanding in a part that someone like Clint Eastwood would have been more identified with in later years.  Somehow though Jose Ferrer never had the Box Office appeal of Clint Eastwood.

This was one impossible mission given to the Royal Marines.  The idea is to demolish German ships in the port of Bordeaux and render the harbour useless. The problem is that Bordeaux isn’t  on the coast –  it is up the Gironde River.
In this amphibious operation the idea is for a selected bunch of Royal Marines to row kayak like canoes up the river after having been landed by submarine on the coast under cover of darkness.  So that no motors are heard on the river the plan was to use canoes. The Marines are to attach mines to the various enemy ships and  blow them up and then they would escape inland with the help of the French Resistance.

It all sounds very much like mission impossible –  but it really did happen.

This was a mission so daring and so dramatic that in 1955 the broad outline of the story would be turned into a film – The Cockleshell Heroes

The film takes us through the training and the mission – sadly most of the Marines are killed.
Ferrer the director did a good job on this movie and  Ferrer the actor and the rest of his cast – particularly Trevor Howard as his second in command  all performed well.

Above – Scenes from the film with Tevor Howard and Jose Ferrer.

Trevor Howard was always good and in this one he plays  someone who is tough but has a deep secret –  he had failed under fire just as World War I was ending and has a black mark against him. However  25 years later  he gets a second chance in another war – the Second World War.
David Lodge play a young Royal Marine who goes AWOL to try to sort out problems back home with an unfaithful wife in Beatrice Campbell.
The film bears some resemblance to The Dirty Dozen from the next decade.  However  these Royal Marines were certainly not misfits made into a fighting force- they were some of the best of that generation who went on this  mission  knowing that they most likely would not come back.   These were not specialists, but ordinary Royal Marines who were put through a steep learning curve.

Some action still from the film – above.

The Associate Producer on this one was Alex Bryce who had been a film director of some note – he had worked on some of the Walt Disney films of the early fifties as Assistant Director. He was usually in charge of the exterior action shots – and there were few better at this than he was. I had the good fortune to make contact with his daughter recently and she said that he had become ill whilst working on The Cockleshell Heroes. He died in 1960.

On another note I did work in the Head Office of Murco Petroleum Ltd which in the late 60s was at 65, Grosvenor Street, London W.1and at that time they employed a number of Services Station site supervisors who used to visit the office regularly  – one of them I met quite frequently and it turned out that he had actually been one of the Cockleshell Heroes and had lived to tell the tale. He was a very nice person. He must have left us by now I would have thought.  I wonder if there is anyone out there who worked for Murco in those offices at the time – if so maybe they could make contact through this site – I would be very pleased to hear from them.

The most fitting tribute to the real life heroes of Operation Frankton came recently when a new memorial was dedicated at La Pointe de Grave, at the tip of the Gironde estuary.

Above – Memorial to the Cockleshell Heroes at Poole, Dorset.

Despite the myth-making of the movie, there has been a feeling that the Cockleshell Heroes were not given adequate tribute. A memorial was created by public subscription, but, placed at the Special Boat Service base in Poole, Dorset but it cannot be viewed by the public.

I wonder how many readers will remember much about this very lovely star of the fifties who rocketed to fame after being spotted as a waitress in a Lyons Corner House to film stardom alongside stars such as Dirk Bogarde, Richard Todd and Burt Lancaster.

This is a fairy tale really but without the ending it should have had.

Above as  Dalabo in His Majesty O Keefe

 

Joan Rice  died in January 1997 at the age of 66 . She was a Rank starlet of the 1950’s and her best remembered role was that of Maid Marian in Walt Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood  (1952) opposite Richard Todd.
Hers was a Cinderella story without the glass slipper. She was discovered as a waitress at the former Lyons Corner House in Piccadilly and signed to a film contract after winning the Lyons ‘Miss Nippy’ contest of 1949.
With no formal acting training, she was sent to the Rank charm school and rushed into a stream of mostly minor roles in British films of the day. After The Story of Robin Hood she flew out to Fiji to make His Majesty O Keefe (1953)  and starred opposite Burt Lancaster  in a large scale Hollywood production set in the South Seas.   It was a very good colour film and she looked lovely in it.

Joan Rice – above in His Majesty O Keefe.

 

After she returned to England she met and married David Green very quickly and they had a son late in 1953. Her film career never seemed to get going again even after these two great roles she had.

Joan Rice never found the role that might have established her on the international scene. She dropped out of the cinema in the 1960’s to try to build a life in provincial repertory.
She claimed never to miss her movie career, and later in life, at the instigation of her father-in-law, she took up live acting to repair the omissions of youth. She toured in ‘Rebecca’ and ‘A View from the Bridge,’ her favourite play. She never attracted bad notices, but none of these productions reached the West End and she became a forgotten figure to many of the cinemagoers of the 1950’s who fondly recalled her English rose complexion and shapely contours.
After seven years she abandoned acting completely because she disliked being away from home for such long periods. She was tempted into television only once – as a contributor to a ‘This Is Your Life’ show for Richard Todd, but dried up before the cameras and had to be steered through the programme by Michael Aspel.
Joan Rice was born in Derby on February 3rd 1930, one of four sisters from a broken home. Her father was imprisoned for child abuse and she was brought up for eight years in a convent orphanage in Nottingham. After early experience as a lady’s maid and a housemaid, she left for London with half a crown in her purse and took a job as a waitress with Lyons at £3 a week.
Balancing tea trays and negotiating obstacles gave a natural poise that stood her in good stead in the company’s in-house beauty contest. The prize was a week’s promotional tour in Torquay ( a town to which she returned 20 years later in a revival of ‘The Reluctant Debutante’ at the Princess Theatre).
As winner of the ‘Miss Nippy’ contest, she was introduced to the theatrical agent Joan Reese, who went to work on her behalf and secured a screen test and a two-line bit part in the comedy, ‘One Wild Oat.’ Her first substantial role, however, was in Blackmailed (1950) – see picture below –  a hospital melodrama, starring Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde, in which Joan Rice played a good time girl.

This film caught the eye of Walt Disney and he cast her as  Maid Marian in The Story of Robin Hood – the best film part she ever got.   Then she was whisked off to Fiji to star in His Majesty O’Keefe with Burt Lancaster – what an adventure that must have been in those far off days.

 Her other films included ‘Curtain Up’ (1952),  about a seaside repertory company, ‘A Day to Remember’ (1953), about a darts team on a one day excursion to France, ‘The Crowded Day,’ (1954) about the staff of a department store coping with the Christmas rush and ‘Women without Men,’ (1956) about a breakout from a women’s prison.
Only ‘Gift Horse’ (1952), a traditional wartime naval picture, had quality, yet her role as a Wren was subsidiary to Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough and Sonny Tufts. In ‘One Good Turn’ (1954), she was wasted as a stooge to Norman Wisdom. After ‘Payroll’ in 1961, she effectively called it quits, returning for only one last picture, ‘The Horror of Frankenstein’ in 1970.
After leaving show business, she lived quietly with her beloved Labradors, Jessie and Sheba, took work as an insurance clerk and later set up an estate agent, letting accommodation in Maidenhead through the Joan Rice Bureau, though she had only one member of staff.
She smoked heavily and suffered from asthma and emphysema, which kept her largely housebound for the last six years.
She married first, in 1953 (dissolved in 1964), David Green, son of the American comedian, Harry Green; they had one son. She married secondly, in 1984, the former Daily Sketch journalist Ken McKenzie.

 

Until the last few years I had often asked the question ‘Whatever happened to Joan Rice’ and now we do know a lot more.

Please go to the site     www.disneysrobin.blogspot.com

and you will find it is a site dedicated to Joan Rice – and there is much much more detail than I have been able to include here

 

This was the second all live-action film made by Walt Disney – and again made in England at Denham Film Studios and it is my own  favourite film.   My very first post on this Blog covered Treasure Island – a first for Disney – and as the year 2012 closes we concentrate on this one.

As films go this is about as good as it gets.  It is a superb film in all respects.

Following Treasure Island Walt Disney decided to make The Story of Robin Hood and carefully chose the leading actors himself – certainly Richard Todd and Joan Rice were his preference – and he was right. They were VERY good.

 This publicity still  – above – shows Walt Disney meeting both Richard Todd and Joan Rice whilst filming an exterior scene actually at Burnham Beeches in June or July of 1951 –

The story is beautifully told and tells of Robin Hood becoming an outlaw after his father is murdered and the now famous meeting with the ‘ Merrie Men ‘ then to a thrilling climax in the castle with Robin locked in combat with the Sheriff of Nottingham – brilliantly played by Peter Finch – in the role that would kick start his career.

Richard Todd plays a youthful Robin Hood – and plays him well with just the right balance of action and romanticism whilst Joan Rice takes her big chance with this role and is excellent – and she really looks the part and to my mind is unrivalled in this portrayal.

Richard Todd, Walt Disney and Joan Rice enjoy a picnic at Burnham Beeches while filming The Story of Robin Hood – Above

James Robertson Justice fits the bill as Little John and James Hayter nearly steals the show with his portrayal of Friar Tuck. Also Elton Hayes as Alan A’Dale is perfect and links many of the scenes with his minstrel songs.  Martita Hunt who a few years earlier had played Miss Havisham, is here cast as Queen Eleanor – mother of Richard and Prince John.

On top of this we have Hubert Gregg as a brilliant Prince John with Peter Finch as mentioned earlier as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Here are four of the main characters Left to Right Elton Hayes, Richard Todd, Joan Rice and James Hayter – above.

This shot of Hubert Gregg as Prince John – above – just seems to capture the style of how he played the the part.

The Director of the film was Ken Annakin and this was his big break in films although he had directed British films such as The Huggets and Quartet – so he was by no means unknown. He did a great job on this film. Walt Disney appointed Carmen Dillon as Art Director who he got on well with and who he trusted and I have to say her set design on this was just wonderful. Some of the studio forest scenes and the enormous Robin Hood camp set she built were incredible.  It is a good job this film was made at Denham because there she had the room to do what she wanted.

Another  person who we have posted on before on this Blog was Peter Ellenshaw Matte Artist genius who painted in some great matte backgrounds.  Ken Annakin thought this process was wonderful and enabled the film to have such a big scale look.  Guy Green was in charge of the colour photography.  These are all names that belong in a Film Greats List if such a thing exists.

Robin meets Little John – the famous quarter staff fight on the bridge. Again a wonderful studio set from Carmen Dillon but it was just so real.

I know we will re visit this film in the future as there is so much to say about it. However for much much more information please go to this site by clicking on:-                     www.disneysrobin.blogspot.com

There you will see about six years of considerable effort by Tony who has produced it – others like myself have contributed and we have together found out so much – as you will read.

Now I really am cheating a bit here ( again) because this film was made in 1946.  However my recollection of it was a film in the fifties shown on Television around Christmas time – and what better film to show at Christmas !

So I have decided to bring it to the Filmsofthefifties Blog here.

George Bailey (James Stewart), Mary Bailey (Donna Reed) and their youngest daughter Zuzu (Karolyn Grimes).

James Stewart stars and gives the acting peformance of his life as George Bailey a young man who dreams of travelling the world  but somehow never does and he stays in Bedford Falls,  marries and raises a family devoting his life to working for the benefit of his many friends in the town through difficult times.   However misfortune befalls him and he is faced with despair and ruin.  He contemplates taking his own life but a guardian angel in the unlikely guise of Henry Travers visits him and shows him how life would have been had he never been born.

He pleads to be given a second chance and finds out how much he is loved and valued.

It is a truly great story with James Stewart’s performance as George Bailey absolutley magnificent – and one that will live in the memory.   His wife is played by the lovely Donna Reed who I feel never got a part as good as this one again although she had a long career.  The cast reads like a whos-who of Hollywood actors with H.B.Warner, Beulah Bondi, Henry Travers, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell,  Frank Faylen, Gloria Grahame and Ward Bond among many others.

 James Stewart and Donna Reed – above.

The scene where James Stewart prays on the bridge and in an anguished prayer asks God to ‘Let me live again’ must rank as one of the most tear jerking moments on film but it is the culmination of the build up to the ruin he faces and his misjudged perception of letting down  his friends and family.  He is of course saved and surrounded by his loved ones and his family realises that he truly has a Wonderful Life.  The last moments of the film  are filled with joy and happiness.

Above – George Bailey with his friend played by Ward Bond – After the famous ‘Let Me Live Again’ prayer.

Actual Filming.

It’s a Wonderful Life was shot at the RKO Studio in Culver City, California, and the 89 acre RKO Radio ranch  in Encino, where “Bedford Falls” consisted of Art Director Max Ree’s Oscar winning sets originally designed for the 1931 epic film Cimarron that covered 4 acres , with a main street stretching 300 yards,  stores and buildings, and a residential neighbourhood.  Capra built a working bank set, added a tree-lined centre parkway, and planted 20 full grown oak trees to existing sets.                                        

Pigeons, cats, and dogs were allowed to roam the mammoth set in order to give the “town” a lived-in feel.   Due to the requirement to film in different seasons, the set was made  extremely adaptable.   RKO created “chemical snow” for the film, made up of crushed cornflakes. Filming started on April 15, 1946 and ended on July 27, 1946, exactly on deadline for the 90-day filming schedule.

RKO’s  movie ranch a filming location of “Bedford Falls”, was demolished in 1954. There are only two surviving locations from the film. The first is the swimming pool that was unveiled during the famous dance scene where George courts Mary. It is located in the gymnasium at Beverly Hills High School  and is still in operation as of 2008. The second is the “Martini home”, at 4587 Viro Road in  Flintridge, California.

Above Karolyn Grimes – who played Zuzu in the film visits the town which it is said Frank Capra based Bedford Falls on – the town of Seneca Falls i New York State.

Sixty-five years ago Bedford Falls was the  talk of the town as the setting for Christmas classic ‘It’s a Wonderful  Life’.

Residents from the New York village say it  served as director Frank Capra’s inspiration for the design of the famous  fictional town.

Karolyn Grimes who starred as six-year-old Zuzu in the 1946  movie visited Seneca falls last year – see above picture.  The actress divorced and her former  husband was killed in a hunting accident.  She married again, and her son  committed suicide and second husband died of cancer.

She made a few films up until 1952. Her Hollywood career ended with her parents’ deaths when she was a teenager.   She was then sent to live with her aunt. She eventually became a medical technician.

One of her most vivid memories of filming “It’s a Wonderful Life” was the large Christmas tree in the Bailey house. Karolyn’s’ own family had a two-foot-tall tree that stood on a table.  She also said that she enjoyed the snow on the set, even thought it was artificial, because she had never seen real snow.  She still has an angel ornament from the Christmas tree in the film.

Bedford Falls.

Wouldn’t it be dreamland to be able to visit Bedford Falls and have a good look around the place that is so familiar to us – but none of us has ever been.  I think if we offered excursions they we would be ‘fully booked’ continuously particularly at this time of year.

The 1951 film was based on the Josephine Tey novel – recently voted by the Crime Writer’s Association as one of the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.

THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR – 1951  UK Michael  Denison is a small town solicitor ( lawyer)  who gets himself involved in a suspected kidnapping. Dulice Gray is a woman who along with her mother is accused of grabbing a local teenager and forcing her to become a maid.

She hires Denison to prove her innocence.  Very soon rocks are coming through the window and threats are coming thick and fast. Not as silly as it might sound – the film was directed by Laurence  Huntington.

                
The film was made in moody black and white. . The story was updated by author Jopsephine Tey to the late forties  and the film presents pleasant views of English village life at that time.   The script is extremely well-written.  As in films of this era and type, there is a great deal of dialogue whereas today both in TV , films  and maybe in life itself, people do not seem to converse to the same extent – I dont know why really.
The acting is, as always with films made in the golden years of British film making, is  good. There are also a number of future British film stars in small roles here including Kenneth More, Patrick Troughton and Jean Anderson and there is a delightfully dotty performance from  Athene Seyler as the lawyer’s mother. Such witty and well-judged performances like those are always worth a look.

A review of the novel rather than the film went as follows:-

A true oddity. A novel that always shows up on various lists of the greatest mystery novels ever written, but it’s hardly a mystery at all. It’s loosely based on the true story of Elizabeth Canning, and it has a mystery premise: a young woman named Betty Kane accuses two spinster women, a mother and daughter, of kidnapping her in order to turn her into their maid. She claims that when she refused they kept her in an attic room and beat her. The story is narrated by the mild-mannered solicitor  hired to defend Marion Sharpe and her mother-  the two women accused.

 Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray and Marjorie Fielding – above

Josephine Tey was, in reality, the Scottish writer Elizabeth Mackintosh, who wrote just eight mysteries under her pseudonym. What makes her truly stand out from other writers during the golden age of the mystery novel is how unorthodox she was as a plotter; some of her mystery novels barely qualify as mysteries at all, including this one, for the simple reason that it is made clear early on who is telling the truth and who isn’t. The suspense comes from wondering if the innocent will triumph in the end.

The film was made at Welwyn / Elstree Studios, Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England. – The last film made here see below.

The story opens in a solicitor’s office in a quiet country town. The scene is set perfectly. Robert Blair’s usual business is conveyancing, wills and investments but, just as he is rising to leave the office, he receives a telephone call that will lead him to a very different case.

He is summoned to The Franchise, a large house behind a high wall on the edge of town. Marion Sharpe lives there with her mother in genteel poverty. The story he hears there is extraordinary.

Betty Kane had just left school. One day, she says, she missed the bus home from town. She accepted a lift from two ladies in a car. And those two women kidnapped her and kept her prisoner to act as their servant. Because they couldn’t find anybody willing to work in their big house on the edge of town. She was locked up, beaten and kept hungry to make her comply. Finally she found a locked door and made her escape.

Betty Kane was played by Anne Stephens who after a film career lasting well over a decade – and as a child star – actually died in 1966 at the very young age of 35.  Here she is with James Mason’s daughter in They Were Sisters 1946 – Below:-

Betty Kane  describes the Sharpes, their car, details of their home perfectly.

They are astounded, and insist that they have never seen the girl before. Robert believes them. But how does she know so much. How can he prove that she wasn’t there?

So begins an extraordinary mystery. A crime without a body, without a single drop of blood shed.

Little facts emerge and a picture builds and changes. Progress is slow, and yet a fairly unremarkable country solicitor holds the attention.

Why? Well Josephine Tey can certainly write. All of her characters are distinctive beautifully drawn, her story-telling is assured, her plotting is clever, and she paints a clear picture of a time and place.

The social changes that followed the war are illuminated. The tabloid press take a keen interest. And their neighbours are eager that the women that they perceive to be wicked criminals are punished. There is much food for thought, with every element judged and balanced perfectly.

The story culminates in a brilliant court room scene. The truth is revealed.

It was the right conclusion to a wonderful story.

Micahel Denison had a long career in Film and Theatre and also a good long marriage to Dulcie Gray.  They very often appeared  together and may be better known to TV audiences for their appearance in Howards Way in the late 80s.

Michael and Dulcie 1956 – above Studying a script.

Last Film to be made at these studios :-

Welwyn Studios:-

The final productions made at Welwyn in 1950 were  the comedy Talk of a Million (1951) and The Franchise Affair (1951), which starred husband-and-wife team Dulcie Gray and Michael Denison.   ABPC sold the site shortly afterwards bringing to an end the three-stage studios that had produced over 70 films, and tobacco company Ardath took over the premises in late 1951. The premises were shortly after used as warehouses by DIY manufacturers Polycell. Supermarket giant Tesco cleared the site in 2007.

Now this one is definitely among my VERY favourite films – a comedy thriller with the magnificent Alistair Sim with all his incredible facial expressions at his very best and among a crowd of now famous character actors from  British Films at that time.

Above – Alistair Sim and Avril Angers

This is a film that used to crop up on TV in England on a regular basis but I haven’t seen it for ages.

Alastair Sim plays a retired assassin who has been hired to do one more job.   He plays  Hawkins who had been involved years before in espionage  (we assume)  but had  retired at the end of WWII.  However now  he is  hired to eliminate Sir Gregory Upshott – a pompous minister played by   Raymond Huntley   – before he leaves for the Middle East.

In the process Hawkins romances Upshott’s secretary Marigold to find out his schedule and she  tells him  that Upshott is going to the Green Man Hotel with one of the office girls under an asssumed name.  However  when he was making notes  he didn’t see a piece of carbon paper under his sheet.

Alistair Sim meets George Cole who is selling ‘the little wizard of the carpet’   door to door

Marigold finds the carbon  copy  and rings  Hawkins asking why he was so interested in her boss – the government minister.  She insists on  coming over for an explanation.   Hawkins sends his assistant  next door and he switches  house names so that Marigold will go to the wrong place which  she does and the assistant murders her.

Stumbling into this situation comes  William Blake (George Cole), a vacuum cleaner salesman – I always remember he was trying to sell ‘the little wizard of the carpet’. He had made an appointment with Hawkins housekeeper. and since the house names were changed he thinks he’s in the right place. He dumps soot on the carpet for the demonstration but there is a problem here – no electricity.

Blake is left alone until Ann Vincent (Jill Adams) comes in. The house belongs to her fiancee, a BBC radio announcer.   The two are due to get married and the house is empty and waiting for them to set it up.

George Cole meets Jill Adams – but it is not what it looks like !!

Her fiance comes by and catches the two hiding under the bed.  Reginald the fiance played by that wonderful character actor Colin Gordon,  doesn’t believe  why they are hiding  and becomes angy and storms out.   Blake then discovers Marigold’s body in the piano.

It all comes to a climax at the Green Man – a cliff to hotel somewhere in the South of England.

The Thrilling Climax of the film takes place here – at The Green Man Hotel. – above.

Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder were up for the BAFTA award for Best British Screenplay.

Extracts below from one viewers comments which I have to agree with:-

Great performance from Alistair Sim surely Britains greatest actor (well I think so), with all round good performances from the rest of the cast. The film is farcical in the best tradition of British farce  but all good clean innocent fun really.

Above all it is truly funny and it contains one of the best lines in British film comedy.  When the character Reginald Willoughby-Cruft ( the brilliant Colin Gordon) confronts William Blake (George Cole) and says, “by heaven I’d thrash the life out of you, if I didn’t have to read the 9 o’clock news.” How much more British can you get !!

Alistair Sim in one of his best remembered roles as Scrooge – above

When the former Norma Jeane Mortenson teamed up with pinup photographer Earl Moran as a model in the 1940s, the result was nothing short of stunning.     At the time, Marilyn  Monroe was a model for Blue Book Modeling Agency, and was paid 10 dollars  an hour for the shoot. The images are being displayed  in Minneapolis.

Even then it was evident that she had real star qualities

It was probable that this photo shoot helped her into films.

I didn’t know much about Earl Moran, the photographer but he certainly did a good job – and I have discovered something – as below:-

In 1946, Earl Moran  moved to Hollywood though having already painted many movie stars and soon after his arrival, he interviewed a young starlet named Norma Jean Dougherty who wanted to model for him.    For the next four years, Marilyn Monroe  posed for Moran and the two became friends.     She always credited him with making her legs look better than they were as she felt they were too thin.

Moran’s work during this time period is now his most valuable; a Moran Marilyn pastel sold for $83,650 in 2011 nearly doubling the previous record for one of his works.