Well, this goes right back to the days of Radio and the late forties / early fifties when this very popular radio drama held our attention each evening – always finishing with a ‘cliff-hanger’ situation and then the stirring title music – leaving us, so as we had to tune in the next evening.

Because of the show’s impact, it was decided that there should be a film version – and in fact in all there were three films. When we saw them on the screen however, Dick’s sidekicks Snowy and Jock did not seem to be as we imagined and a friend of mine made this point – they just weren’t right.

I always am of the opinion that there was also a serial version using the same formula and I seem to remember seeing it when we had a regular visiting cinema come to our village many years ago – but I can’t seem to find any reference to this serial at all.

I have it in my mind that one of the episodes had Dick Barton standing at a bar and then we see from a hidden point someone with a blow pipe loading a poison dart and aiming at our hero. He gives a sudden blow – then the episode ends and we await to see how Dick escapes from this one – but the visiting cinema people never came again –  they had been coming for a few years – so I never saw the outcome and yet, to this day, I sometimes think of that and can still see the scene in my mind.

Going back to the Radio Serial even though I would be very small I can still remember the names Noel Johnson played Dick Barton and after he left Duncan Carse took the role. Someone else did towards the end of the series but I have only just discovered that and do not remember him.

Noel Johnson above – the Radio Dick Barton in action

Duncan Carse – the second Radio Dick Barton – I remember him

Hammer Films made three Dick Barton films – so they must have had success and they were planning another when the actor who played Dick on screen, Don Stannard was killed in a car crash   on July 9 1949 at Cookham Dean in Berkshire.

I did have it in my mind that the American Actor Bonnar Colleano who had s film cereer over in England died in the same car crash but that is completely wrong. He did die in a car crash in 1958 though

I liked this film and do remember seeing it at the local cinema. It was certainly action packed at the end with a realistic re-inactment of the D Day Landing which we have just been watching today as we honour those who took part at the commencement of the Liberation of Europe.

Another big-budget WWII adventure, filmed in colour and widescreen by Fox released in the UK on 15 October 1956.

The film has a climatic  battle sequence, while quite well done. The film stars American Robert Taylor and British Actor  Richard Todd and Dana Wynter. T

he  film  remains highly watchable. It would be good to see it again on the Cinemascope Screen.

This man ABOVE – Richard Todd of course would know all about D Day the Sixth of June – he was involved in it and was one of the first – if not the very first – to parachute into Northern France from a Glider in an attempt – which proved successful – of taking and holding Pegasus Bridge

Actions Shots from the Film

 RICHARD TODD – D DAY – The First Paratrooper to land in the invasion.

In June 11 th 2009 just about 7 months before he died a  group of friends put on a lavish birthday party at Grantham House in Lincolnshire. “They’re keeping it all very secret, but I know many senior military and RAF officials are attending, as well as the three county Lord Lieutenants,” he said at the time. Trained at Sandhurst, Todd volunteered for army service in the autumn of 1939, just as his acting career was beginning to take off.

After the war, he became a household name, starring in more than 20 box-office successes including The Dam Busters, Robin Hood and Hasty Heart, in which he played alongside Ronald Reagan. However, the role he cherishes most is the one he played in the British Army’s 6th Airborne Division. During the Normandy invasion in June 1944, his unit was put in charge of securing the east side of the beach landing areas and opening up communication routes for the rest of the Allied troops.

Todd was the first to jump out of the plane. “That wasn’t my idea,” he recalls, “I was supposed to be on plane number 33, but when I got to the aircraft I discovered the pilot was extremely senior and one of the most experienced there. He wanted to go in first, because he had the creme crew.

My immediate thought was: ‘Oh Lord, I’m going to be the first on the ground.'” His moment came at 0040 on Tuesday 6th June. “As I parachuted down, the noise became more overwhelming – machine-guns, shells and mortars. It was impossible to tell who anyone was. I could see shapes but didn’t know if they were the opposition. By luck, the place where I actually dropped was the very track that led to our battalion rendezvous.

So I had no trouble finding it. Other chaps were dropped miles away, in areas inundated by Germans. Some landed in the flooded marshes and drowned. “I was looking back at the incoming aircraft and realised a lot were getting knocked shot down all over the place. If I had been in plane 33 as planned, there was definitely more chance I wouldn’t have survived.”

More than 600 men in the 6th Airborne Division, from the 7th Parachute Batallion, jumped from planes that night, but according to  Richard Todd, only around 160 made it to the RV. From there, they were led by commanding officer Lt Col Geoffrey Pine-Coffin towards the bridges over the river Orne and the Caen canal. “We lost a few more en route, and then even more getting from one bridge to the other. It was swampy ground, and a lot of chaps were caught out in the floods and mud.” The bridges had already been seized by a glider force, led by Major John Howard.

The task for  Richard Todd and his team was to stop the German forces getting reinforcements to the beach. “We got to Pegasus Bridge at the same moment as the German reaction opened up. There was a lot of firing and we lost another 65 men on the bridges.” Exhausted, they carried on fighting for 21 hours and weren’t relieved until 10pm the following night.

Eighteen years after the events at Pegasus Bridge, Todd went on to play Major Howard in the 1962 war film, The Longest Day, alongside John Wayne, Richard Burton and Robert Mitchum.

He has strong feelings for how the world’s largest single-day amphibious invasion was depicted on screen. “I think I prostituted myself a little bit with my role in that. I’m very glad I did it, but like many blockbusters, drama gets added. The set was very realistic which made it emotional, but my main gripe is that in the film, the gliders got too much kudos and not enough was given to the Paras. Too much credit went to Major Howard when the real hero of the day was our commanding officer, Lt Col Geoffrey Pine-Coffin.”

Richard Todd above with Madame Arlette Gondrée at Pegasus Bridge. She had been a little girl and her family owned the café close to Pegasus Bridge when he first met them after the bridge had been recaptured. They were in fact re-united on the ‘This Is Your Life’ show with Richard Todd the subject in 1988 when it was recorded at The Theatre Royal,  Windsor where Richard was touring with a stage production.

This picture ABOVE was taken in 2005

ABOVE – At Pegasus Bridge again – in more peaceful times

This legendary meeting has been done on film so many times – with the best ever being Richard Todd and James Robertson Justice in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men 1952.

However just a little later we have the famous Television Series with Richard Greene – and in this the third episode in the series entitled ‘ Dead or Alive’  the confrontation on the bridge is quite well staged with Archie Duncan as Little John.

I was alerted to this by a regular reader of this Blog, David , who did give me the episode details from the series – he has all the episodes. He has lso contributed more information over the last few years which is very much appreciated.

This famous scene was filmed out of doors and not using a stage set-  the disappointing thing to me is that it has been done in late winter so we do not have the green leaves on the trees and everything looks bare. I would guess this may have been done in late March or early April.  Other than this it is well done. 

I must say that when Richard Greene plunges into the water, it must have been very cold indeed – it may just have been a stunt man doing this though as we did not get a clear picture of Robin in close-up.

This Television Series of the mid 50s was extremely popular both her and in the USA.

R

ichard Greene played Robin Hood and Patricia Driscoll was Maid Marion. ABOVE   Archie Duncan made a very good Little John and this role was a big break for him as an actor.

Above: Richard Greene with Alexander Gauge who made an excellent Friar Tuck.

Again back to the Monster Movies of the late fifties , this one saw a spaceship return to earth with an alien that grows in a gigantic creature.

A spacecraft returns from a trip to Venus ( much the same story as The Quatermass Experiment at this stage ) but it crashes into the sea just off the coast of Italy. Local fishermen rescue two of the occupants who are still alive. One of them dies just after and the other is taken to a local hospital.

Then, a small boy finds a canister containing a strange jelly substance and takes it to a visiting circus to see what it is. The owner of the circus takes charge of the jelly and a eventually a strange creature  emerges from it. The following day, the creature has grown into a giant – it escapes and goes on the rampage, eventually ending up in Rome.

The Military are called in to try and capture it, but they are unable to.

In  Rome, the Creature is put in the zoo as a tourist attraction –  it escapes from there, fights and kills an elephant and climbs the Colosseum, we have the exciting climax to the film.

The Film Trailer BELOW :-

I have to admit I was drawn to this because it was set in Sicily, but they really never got far from Rome. It is a significant film for the fact that special effects were done by Ray Harryhausen, who has a cameo role in the film (watch for the man feeding the elephant at the zoo.).

William Hopper, who played Perry Mason’s assistant Paul Drake, will be a familiar face for those who grew up during the 50’s and 60’s. Joan Taylor was also on TV a lot during those years. They both have a  sci-fi history in films like Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, “Men Into Space”, and Conquest of Space.

The  Godzilla-like monster from Venus is the focus of the film as they try to find and capture it. An enjoyable reach into the past with a film that entertains after you have adjusted to the special effects style of the day.

In the day, this sort of Summer Show would do great business – and this one in the summer of 1956 would be no exception. Tessie O Shea seemed to be topping the bill with Nat Jackley – Rubberneck – and also I noticed the Television Toppers – also there was Comedian Albert Modley and Sabrina

There was a 45 minute programme on BBC Television on 29 June 1956 which was an excerpt from this show and billed as follows :- An excerpt from Tom Arnold’s show at the Hippodrome, Blackpool. With Tessie O’Shea, Nat Jackley, The Nitwits, Marianne Lincoln, Margo Barry, Arthur Worsley, Alan Modley and Company, Sabrina. The Television Toppers Directed by Leslie Roberts

Peter Ellenshaw is the master of this clever technique and worked most of his life for Walt Disney.

One of his earliest films was ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ – made in England at Denham Film Studios in the summer of 1951 and released in March 1952

Here are just two marvellous examples with a ‘before and after’ picture that says it all about Matte Painting

ABOVE: Robin and His Father walk back through the Forest – with the help of Peter Ellenshaw we see the scene on the right quite differently – and very impressively

ABOVE: Equally so on the above ‘before and after’ pictures – the scene is the Archery Contest – on the right we now have Nottingham Castle.

There are quite a few of these in this film and in the later film’The Sword and The Rose’

Th Film Director Kenn Annain on both these films became very taken with Peter’s Matte Painting and the scope it could give to the films.

In fact Ken Annakin said :

Walt Disney specifically had the film The Sword and the Rose designed in such a way as to use the maximum number of painted mattes; In fact we used 62 mattes in all, and it allowed us to give the picture a much broader sweep visually than it ever could have had.

It resulted in Peter being given a life contract by Walt Disney. 

I got very taken up with this technique and continued to use it on later pictures, but I almost had to train new artists myself and pass on to them the sort of tricks I thought Peter Ellenshaw relied on. But Peter just knew how to modify reality to make it look even realer than real’

ABOVE: British film director Ken Annakin, 85, poses with a poster from one of his film’s at a tribute honoring his career at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, May 6, 1999

You often hear of film actors who don’t get on with the Film Director – that is not uncommon – but it is to me  the same scenario as football players and Managers. It can be a clash of personalities or just the coming together of two people who just will never get on.

Personally I am mostly on the side of the Directors and Managers

I am not suggesting that Charlton Heston did not get along with Director William Wyler although he is quoted in an article as saying ‘I have never known a Director who could keep his mind open longer on a scene’

It seems that after around ten takes William Wyler would  say ‘ Y’know, I’m damned if this is the right way to do this after all. I now have a different idea’

However to film something on the scale of the chariot race in Ben Hur must have been a big task – to bring those actors and crew and horses together on such a large set and to know what you wanted the camera to show on screen, must have been so demanding. 

We see William Wyler ABOVE crouching down looking through the viewfinder of that enormous Camer 65 and trying to cut the fim together in his head.  To me that is impressive.

When I first saw the two top pictures, it became obvious that to get the scale on the long shots, there had to be Matte Paintings for the top of the  buildings. We see on  the bottom colour shot the tops of the buildings plus the mountains behind as a matte painting

There were some wonderful examples of this clever technique  in Ben Hur

I personally remember those done by the Matte genius Peter Ellenshaw for The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men in 1952

William Wyler just seems to be having a bad day here.  Still the end result was extremely successful.

There are many classic moments in Ben Hur during it’s three-hour-and-half hours .

Scenes in the desert or in  the galleys, the big fight and Ben-Hur rescuing Arrius (Jack Hawkins) and it goes on and on.

I think that, after the chariot race, the film seems to go on a little too long – maybe that is because a film of this quality and scale can’t be brought to a hurried ending.

Charlton Heston, in his greatest role, contributed a lot to the appeal of the film.

However it is the Director William Wyler who, with a film budget of 15.9 million dollars brought in a film that grossed 196.2 million dollars worldwide – in those days – although to be fair,  it certainly would have been a team effort – and a very big team at that !!!

With the arrival of the Rock n Roll era,  many singers of that time found that their careers stumbled. However one that held her own was Alma Cogan who is seen here singing with Marty Wilde on Oh Boy the ITV pop show that went out each Saturday.

Sadly she died of cancer at a very young age.  I really liked her as she seemed so full of life – something that came over strongly when she was appearing  – and in her records too.

BELOW – In Rehearsal Lord Rockingham’s Eleven with Cherry Wainer at the piano under the watchful eye of Conductor Harry Robinson

‘The Sunday Break’ was  born  when Howard Thomas Chief of the ABC Network, overheard his daughters discussing religion with their friends.

A Scene from a typical Show BELOW

Band Leader Joe Loss with Joan Edwards and McDonald Hobley in Bid for Fame

Interesting snippet about McDonald Hobley the BBC Announcer – he was born in Port Stanley in te Falkland Islands where his father was the Vicar – in 1917

That would have been a long and arduous journey by sea in those days

McDonald Hobley

BELOW – A typical Variety Show by the looks of it

Drama was never far away I am pleased to say.

Here is Susan Strasberg and Franchot Tone in ‘The Time of Our Life’ a guest production in the ‘Armchair Theatre’ when the New York City Centre Company was touring Europe

Just a couple of stills from this version – it was apparently  very good!

George Baker played the 2 Rudolfs, and Barbara Shelley (a Hammer favourite) Queen Flavia.

Rupert was played by Peter Wyngarde, better known as Jason King  and  John Phillips played Zapt. The adaptation was by Donald Wilson.

ABOVE: Peter Wyngarde played Rupert of Hentzau and George Baker as both Rudolph Rassendyll and The King.

On looking further into this Production one of the actors in it was a Derek Bloomfield who I did not know at all.

However it seems he died shortly after this serial went on air which was from the end of March 1964 – he actually died on 23 rd July 1964 at the age of 43 in Brittany.

ABOVE: Derek Bloomfield One other curious fact is that although he looked a very English type of actor and have been acting since he was very young – one of his early  roles in films was in the 1935 version of Mutiny on The Bounty. 

That, of course was made in Hollywood. The films he was in before and after were films made here in England.

He was in Hobsons Choice  ABOVE – that classic film of 1954 with John Mills, Charles Laughton and Brenda De Banzie.

Here he is above seated far left playing Freddie Beenstock – and in this he was 7th on the billing so it was a decent part to get.