This film was on ITV3 a few Sundays ago , and we watched it again.

ABOVE – One of my own pictures – and I love it – so dramatic

The film seems to divide opinions but for me I was very happy with it – Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring and Bill Naghy as Sergeant Wilson were just about perfect in their well known roles.

Tom Courtenay was quite good as Corporal Jones as was Michael Gambon playing Godfrey – and the lovely Catherine Zeta Jones added a new dimension

In many ways, it was a brave move even to take on these parts which were so much identified with their predecessors but nevertheless they did and the results in my view were extremely good.

What a rousing end it was as Mainwaring led his men on a march through Warmington-on-Sea with cheering crowds as Three Spitfires swooped down above them. I couldn’t stop cheering !!

Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson head the parade through Walmington On Sea

Walmington On Sea – Bridlington Old Town

Walmington On Sea – Bridlington Old Town

A couple of the original cast members appeared in this 2016 film – Frank Williams who played the vicar Reverend Timothy Farthing – and does so again here and Ian Lavender who as a very young man was Private Pike, here he plays Brigadier Pritchard

The film did well at the Box Office

Saturday afternoon and I scanned through the Film Channels to find what I think was called GreatMovies and settling on that I watched ‘Montana Territory’ from 1952 in Technicolor but with a running time of just 64 minutes.

However those minutes were packed with Western Action and I have to say it was a film I thoroughly enjoyed

Pretty impressive supporting cast with Jack Elam, Clayton Moore and Myron Healey – I didnt know much about Lon McCallister but he proved good in this leading role

Much of the location filing was done at the Iverson Ranch just outside Hollywood – used in many Westerns – and others including the Jungle Jim series. Famous Film Director William Witney used this a lot and said that he was not fully at ease there because it was inhabited by quite a few Rattlesnakes

ABOVE – Preston Foster plays the Sheriff – but is he all seems seems to be ?

ABOVE – Wanda Handrix is captured and dragged back into the Ranch House

Lon McCallister is injured be is OK in the arms of Wanda Hendrix

Back to Wanda Hendrix – she had married Audie Murphy in February of 1949 but in 1950 she filed for divorce although I think she always loved him. When he remarried in April 1951 she went off to New York for as she says ‘heartache’ reasons on hearing this news.

She had many escorts until she later married Robert Stack’s brother – that marriage also ended in divorce.

When Audie Murphy died a lot of years later in 1971 she attended his funeral and was weeping throughout.

A decade later, at the age of 52, she died

‘Its Turned out Nice Again’ was shown on Television very recently – a film I know so well and just love with George Formby – this time married – but living with his dragon of a mother.

George works at a ladies underwear factory – an old traditional company whose products seem woefully out of date with modern design. Hence the cue for George to sing ‘You can’t go wrong in these’ at this very plush exhibition

I have often thought that there would be an opportunity to make a film of George’s life or even a remake of one of his films. If that ever happened then I would put forward the former Heartbeat actor Steven Blakeley to star as George. In many ways he looks very similar, and the role he played as PC Geoff Younger is very much on the style of George Formby in his films

I personally think that he would be brilliant

BELOW a scene from Heartbeat

BELOW – Anyone wishing to see Steven act again will be able to go the The Theatre Royal at Windsor where in a few weeks he will appear in Aladdin

Born September 28, 1934:

Actress Janet Munro was born in Blackpool. She starred in the live-action Disney films “Swiss Family Robinson” (portraying the “cabin boy” Bertie), “Third Man on the Mountain” (as Lizbeth Hempel), and “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” (as Katie O’Gill).

Selected by Walt Disney himself out of 300 candidates for the female lead in “Darby O’Gill” (the film was shot in Hollywood but cast out of London), Janet Munro later won a Golden Globe for her performance.

Sadly, she passed at only age 38 in 1972.

Janet Munro

She admitted to being an alcoholic something that led to her tragic and early death although according to one Film Director who knew her well, she never touched alcohol at all until she met and later married Ian Hendry

She married British actor Ian Hendry in a wedding ceremony at Bayswater Presbyterian Church in London in February 1963. He was 32 and she was 28. They had a brief 24 hour honeymoon due to the fact that Hendry was due to start work on a new film Double Twist at Twickenham film studios.

They had two daughters.

Janet Munro with her daughter Sally ABOVE

ABOVE – One of Janet Munro’s most successful films – for Walt Disney – and BELOW Another very good one again from Walt Disney

BELOW – A thrilling action shot from the film with Janet Munro leaping across a ravine – Wonderful

Jimmy Greaves and his friend Bobby Moore meet Sean Connery on the set of ‘You Only Live Twice’ and Yul Brynner filming at Pinewood Film Studios.

This is just days before the 1966 World Cup began

Not sure what film Yul Brynner was involved with here – maybe ‘The Long Duel’ directed by Ken Annakin – but I am by no means sure of this

Film and Stage actress Glynis Johns is now retired and lives in a residential care home in Beverly Hills, California,

She celebrated her 100th birthday on October 5, 2023 – she was actually born in South Africa, where her parents were on tour, but she was soon back in England and made her stage debut as a babe in arms along with her Grand Parents

I recall her as the mermaid in ‘Miranda’ and later in ‘The Card’ with quite a lot of that film shot in Llandudno

For Walt Disney she was in ‘The Sword and the Rose’ and after that came Rob Roy.

She met members of The Royal Family many times, including Queen Elizabeth 11 at the premiere for Rob Roy The Highland Rogue’ in October 1953 – a film that the Queen, we later heard, did not much like

She was married to Anthony Forwood and had a son Gareth who died in 2007 . I saw Anthony Forwood, a few days ago, in one of the Colonel March episodes on Talking Pictures but he is best remembered as being Will Scarlet in Walt Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ released in 1952

In 1949 Anthony Forwood gained his first acting role when he starred in Ralph Thomas’ Traveller’s Joy. That same year he appeared in the thriller Man in Black with Sid James. Some time later, in 1952, he received a number of roles including Appointment in London with Dirk Bogarde, One year later he acted in the Oscar-nominated Knights of the Round Table, a film starring such high-profile actors as Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner and Stanley Baker, and in Terence Fisher’s Mantrap (1953). His last role came in 1956 in Colonel March of Scotland Yard.

Gareth Forwood had quite a good film and stage career although he never made the big time. He had a son

Anthony Forwood was divorced from Glynis Johns and became the partner of Dirk Bogarde for the remainder of his life

Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Forwood

Bogarde always publicly denied he was a homosexual, though later in life he did confess that he and his manager, Anthony Forwood, had a long-term relationship. When Bogarde met him in 1939, Forwood was a theatrical manager, who eventually married and divorced Glynis Johns. Forwood became Bogarde’s friend and subsequently his life partner, and the two moved to France together in 1968. They bought a 15th-century farmhouse near Grasse in Provence in the early 1970s, which they restored. Bogarde and Forwood lived in the house until 1983, when they returned to London so that Anthony Forwood could be treated for cancer, from which he eventually died in 1988. Bogarde nursed him in the last few months of his life.

This is a pairing that I think is on DVD / Blu Ray as opposed to a cinema release

Both Audie Murphy films

It would seem that in Britain Arizona Raiders went out as the supporting film – and again BELOW the same with ‘The Quick Gun’.

Looking at the Poster, I cannot recall either ‘A Jolly Bad Fellow’ or ‘The Quick Gun’

‘Arizona Raiders’. was filmed in Techniscope – and here BELOW we see, none other than Elvis looking throught the lens of a Techniscope Camera on the set of his film ‘Clambake’

In ‘The Quick Gun’ – Audie Murphy’s leading lady is Merry Anders a very nice looking girl as can be seen by this photograph from the film

Merry Anders, like so many, started out as a model and was quickly ‘spotted’ and given a film contract with 20th Century Fox, which resulted in quite a few appearances. Then out of that and into a new contract with Warner Brothers which went quite well for a time – then she was dropped. She cried for a couple of days after this and then decided to offer herself as a freelance actress with quite a lot of success in films and on Television.

When this dried up quite a few years later around 1968 she finished with acting and became a receptionist with a large company in Los Angeles

With a title like that, we hardly need to ask who is in the film. Of course it is Hylda Baker who stars, and is on sparkling and very lively form in this British Film.

In many ways the film very much reminds me of the earlier Arthur Askey film ‘The Love Match’ – both are set in the North of England in the early fifties and both rely very much on the two stars who definitely liven things up – both have a lovely young blonde girl involved in a romantic situation – and both films have a lodger in the house !!

‘She Knows Y Know’ was on Talking Pictures a week or two ago, I had recorded it at the time and watched it last evening – very glad I did as I found it hilarious.

I couldn’t have imagined that on release it would have been paired with the film on the programme advertised above although, I have to say, to me that would be an unusual but very entertaining night out. I would love both films

In ‘She Knows Y Know’ Hylda Worswick ( Hylda Baker) makes it her mission to prevent her son from a marrying Marilyn Smallhope, who we learn is pregnant. However her son Leslie, is quite keen to marry her – she is certainly a very nice looking blonde girl

It’s a very enjoyable film from 1962, it’s funny and charming.

Hylda Baker has a unique brand of humour, and of course she’s great and later on found a starring role in Nearest and Dearest and Not on your Nellie.

Joan Sanderson was great here as Marilyn’s fearsome mother.

ABOVE – Hylda lays down the law to her son about marrying the pregnant girl

ABOVE – The situation calls for a top level discussion at the pub along with lodger Charlie Todger LEFT

ABOVE – Leslie caught out by Joan Sanderson – in an embrace with Marilyn her daughter. He looks suitably shocked

She Knows Y’Know

ABOVE Hylda talking with Solicitor Emmanuel Fox of Fox, Fox and Badger. Played of course by a very well spoken Alfred Burke later to become very well known as Frank Marker in ‘Public Eye’ on Television

Hylda Baker stars in this 1962 film comedy. She plays the matriarchal mother of a working class family. She and her husband (Cyril Smith) have a bright but dull son. The Smallhopes a “middle class” family led by Joan Sanderson (Please Sir), have an attractive daughter, but things go astray – as they usually do in this situation.

The film is set in the fifties with its coffee bars and earnest pop singers. Enjoy the class wars, a good slice of Britain in that era and Hylda strutting her stuff!

ABOVE – Here she is again but this time with Terry, who sings in the Coffee Bar

74 years ago on September 15, 1949, The Lone Ranger premiered. It aired on the ABC Television network from 1949 to 1957, with Clayton Moore in the starring role. Jay Silverheels, a member of the Mohawk tribe in Canada, played The Lone Ranger’s American Indian companion Tonto.

John Hart replaced Moore in the title role from 1952 to 1954, due to a contract dispute. The live-action series initially featured Gerald Mohr as the narrator.
The Lone Ranger was the highest-rated television program on ABC in the early 1950s and its first true “hit”. The series finished #7 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1950-1951 season, #18 for 1951-1952 and #29 for 1952-1953.George W. Trendle retained the title of producer, although he recognized that his experience in radio was not adequate for producing the television series. For this, he hired veteran MGM film producer Jack Chertok. Chertok served as the producer for the first 182 episodes as well as for a rarely seen 1955 color special retelling the origin.The first 78 episodes were produced and broadcast for 78 consecutive weeks without any breaks or reruns. Then the entire 78 episodes were shown again before any new episodes were produced. All were shot in Kanab, Utah and California.

Much of the series was filmed on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, including the iconic opening sequence to each episode, in which the cry of “Hi-yo Silver” is heard before the Lone Ranger and Silver gallop to a distinctive rock and Silver rears up on his hind legs. The rock seen next to Silver is known as Lone Ranger Rock and remains in place today on the site of the former movie ranch.When it came time to produce another batch of 52 episodes, there was a wage dispute with Clayton Moore (until his death, the actor insisted that the problem was creative differences), and John Hart was hired to play the role of the Lone Ranger. Once again, the 52 new episodes were aired in sequence followed by 52 weeks rerunning them. Despite expectations that the mask would make the switch workable, Hart was not accepted in the role, and his episodes were not seen again until the 1980s.

At the end of the fifth year of the television series, Trendle sold the Lone Ranger rights to Jack Wrather, who bought them on August 3, 1954. Wrather immediately rehired Clayton Moore to play the Lone Ranger, and another 52 episodes were produced.

Wrather invested money from his own pocket to film in colour although ABC telecast only in black and white. Wrather also went outdoors for action footage. Otherwise, the series was mostly filmed on a studio sound stage. Another big change, not readily detectable by the viewers, was replacing Jack Chertok with producer Sherman A. Harris. By this time, Chertok had established his own television production company and was busy producing other programs.Wrather decided not to negotiate further with the network and took the property to the big screen and cancelled television production.

The last new episode of the colour series was broadcast on June 6, 1957, and the series ended September 12, 1957, although ABC reaped the benefits of daytime reruns for several more years. Wrather’s company produced two modestly budgeted theatrical features, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).

The cast included former child actress Bonita Granville, who had married Wrather after his divorce from a daughter of former Texas Governor W. Lee O’Daniel.

A wonderful colour picture of Greer Garson, Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, Brian Aherne, Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone doing a radio broadcast for British War Relief.

We are used to seeing these big stars usually in Black and White films so when we look at this Colour photograph, somehow they all look younger.

Basil Rathbone particularly.

I would guess that this picture is taken from later in the War after the USA entered the conflict

Some Hollywood filmmakers such as Frank Capra and John Ford left filmland behind to make war documentaries for the United States Government. Others like James Stewart and Clark Gable put on a uniform and joined up.

Others like John Wayne stayed in Hollywood to make heroic movies that would inspire the public to stay committed to a long and difficult battle.

Greer Garson made Mrs Miniver and Ronald Colman made Random Harvest – with Greer Garson – and these did much for the morale of the British people and helped galvanise support – and finance – from the USA.

Ronald Colman had fought in the trenches in World War 1 and in fact was badly injured.

He was seriously wounded by shrapnel in the ankle at the Battle of Messines. It gave him a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career.

Basil Rathbone also saw action in the first World War

We frequently hear about Hollywood actors such as James Stewart, Clark Gable and Mickey Rooney who enlisted and were decorated for their bravery during World War II.

In World War 11 films actors who served their country well included Audie Murphy whose history is well known – and Wayne Morris

Wayne Morris’ film career straddled the War years and he certainly was not idle during those years pf conflict as you will read BELOW

Hollywood war hero: Wayne Morris

Wayne Morris is rarely recognised for his service and yet was one of World War II’s first flying aces.

His interest in flying started in Hollywood.

While filming “Flying Angles” (1940) with Jane Wyman and Dennis Morgan, Wayne Morris learned how to fly a plane.

Once World War II began, he had joined the Naval Reserve and became a Naval flier in 1942 on the U.S.S. Essex. He put his career on hold to fight.

The same year he got married to Olympic swimmer Patricia O’Rourke.

“Every time they showed a picture aboard the Essex, I was scared to death it would be one of mine,” Morris said. “That’s something I could never have lived down.”

Wayne Morris flew 57 missions-while some actors only flew 20 or less- and made seven kills, which qualified him as an ace.  He also helped sink five enemy ships.

Apparently he was originally told that he was too big to fly fighter planes until he went to his uncle-in-law, Cdr. David McCampbell who wrote him a letter, allowing him to fly the VF-15

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