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17

May

More 50s Double Bill Horror Films

We did get quite a lot of this type of Double Bill at the Cinema – certainly in the mid to late Fifties. As we have seen, some of them were full of gimmicks to pull the customers in – we had 3D and Emergo then seats that gave us an electric shock – although really it was this sort of Poster that tended to sell the film to us.

Somehow they were cleverly able to lure us in and although time has passed since those days, I can still see why as looking at them I get a tinge of excitement. The Wasp Woman 1959

The Wasp Woman.

One of Film director Roger Cormans’ most beloved pictures and it is great fun. Nowadays it has become something of a minor classic. Roger Corman regular Susan Cabot plays Janice Starlin, a 40 year old cosmetics magnate who fears getting old. One day, she makes the acquaintance of mad scientist Eric Zinthrop. He’s developed a serum, derived from wasp enzymes, that can restore youth to living things. She insists that she be the first human guinea pig, with devastating results: she sometimes turns into a humanoid monster with a wasp head and hands, and seems compelled to kill.

Beast from Haunted Cave 1959

Another one from Roger Corman. This plot centres on a group of gold-robbers who unwittingly run into trouble when they become stalked by a strange spider-like beast while hiding out in the woods. This film has an ending which is a surprisingly effective climatic showdown with the monster which is certainly entertaining.

This is the scene ABOVE outside a Cinema in Sydney in the 50s. At first I was looking at the programme with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis but also Copper Canyon supporting – this must have been in the early fifties because Dean and Jerry went their separate ways quite early in the decade – but then I became intrigued with WVDASCOPE screen which must only have been at this cinema – unless it was an Australian style I don’t know.

It is billed elsewhere as the ‘Giant WVDAscope’ screen.

Well, The Fly and Return of the Fly really need no introduction to film fans.

Another Double Bill ABOVE – Featured on the front cover of Radio Times

Even a Triple Bill ABOVE – ‘The Astounding She Monster’ dates from 1957 and is billed in England as ‘The Mysterious Invader’

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16

May

John Cobb – A Real Life Hero and Land Speed Record Holder – and appeared in a film

Who remembers John Cobb ? – Well I for one do !

John Cobb died whilst attempting to break the Water Speed Record of Loch Ness in September of 1952.

He is nothing like as well remembered as is Donald Campbell but in my view he should be. Maybe it is because he was a quiet type was much less of a showman.

There is a link to the film world here here as John Cobb appeared in a 1941 film Target for Tonight which was a Crown Film Unit Production for the Government – much of it filmed at RAF Mildenhall.

The A82 is the major transport route south from Inverness to Fort William at the opposite end of the Great Glen. Exactly 1 mile south of Urquhart Castle the A82 passes a beehive-shaped cairn by the side of the road overlooking Loch Ness. Itcommemorates the tragic story of John Cobb, who lost his life while attempting to break the world speed record on Loch Ness on 29 September 1952.

John Rhodes Cobb was born in Esher, Surrey in 1899. He was quiet spoken and unassuming. His wealth enabled him to follow his passion for fast cars and that evolved into repeated attempts to break the Land Speed Record, a feat he achieved in 1939 by travelling at 367.91 mph. He broke the record again in 1938, travelling at 394.19 mph

During the War he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1945 and was demobbed with the rank of Group Captain.

He made an appearance in the wartime propaganda film Target for Tonight (1941).

This film was made using actual service men and women of the Royal Air Force, as a wartime morale-booster. When viewed over fifty years later, it is still fascinating to watch the planning and execution of the raid over Germany, and in particular follow the progress of F for Freddie and her crew. For once we can be sure that this is how it was done, it has the sense of realism that most dramas lack. A film made by the Crown Film Unit.

Not content with holding the Land Speed Record, John Cobb turned his attention to water. He spent some £15,000 designing a jet-propelled watercraft dubbed The Crusader and transporting it to Loch Ness.

Crusader was the first boat in the world to be built specifically for jet propulsion. It was 31 feet long and powered by a De Havilland Ghost 48 Mk1 engine. It was officially launched at Temple Pier, just north of Drumnadrochit on 26 August 1952.

ABOVE – John Cobb’s Wife waits, as she always did, for her hsuband to attempt a trial run or a run for the record. This time he did not come back to her. This is such a good picture of Mrs. Cobb and yet a very sad one too.

John Cobb made his record attempt on 29 September 1952 over a measured mile from Urquhart Castle. According to the generally accepted rules of the time for speed records, two runs were required. On the first run, Crusader travelled at 206.89mph, making Cobb the first man in history to reach 200mph.

Tragedy struck on the second run, however, when Crusader hit a boat wake that should not have been there and nosedived suddenly into the depths of the loch, killing Cobb instantly. Believers in the Loch Ness monster would later claim that Nessie was in some way to blame for the accident. Cobb was buried at Christ Church in his birthplace of Esher, Surrey.

In 2001 the Loch Ness Project launched an attempt to discover the wreckage of Crusader, thought to lie over 650 ft below the surface. Over 18 months the research vessel Deepscan traversed the likely wreck location with sonar, mapping the loch floor.

One of the men assisting the search was Gordon Menzies, who as a child had witnessed the tragedy and as an adult owned Temple Pier where Crusader had first launched. At 3 pm on 5 July 2002 the remains of Crusader were found. They were left where they lay on the bottom of the loch.

This Post on the Blog has a tenous link to films in that John Cobb appeared in a 1941 film Target for Tonight which was a Crown Film Unit Production for the Government

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15

May

Flying to Fiji for The Blue Lagoon in 1949

Just after the war, the VIPs using the Air Service from Poole Harbour included film stars Gracie Fields, George Formby, Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger and singer Vera Lynn.

Jean Simmons as a very young actress who had never left England at that time or been in an aircraft, flew out to Fiji to make the film ‘The Blue Lagoon’ and she left in one of these planes from Poole.

She flew from Poole Harbour and her itinerary was much as below :-

The era of flying boats in Poole lasted until Easter 1948, when the service returned to a new marine air terminal in Southampton. In eight-and-a-half years, 34,000 passengers had flown in and out of Poole on seaplanes.

So when Jean Simmons boarded the plane at Poole – probably with other members of the film crew – and maybe Donald Houston, she was facing a journey with hops from one place to another to get to this far flung part of the world. The list below says it all.

I do remember a Travel Agent in our local town who told me that he had visited his sister in New Zealand in 1955 – so a few years after this – and his flight entailed at least Eight stops even then.

Poole 0600 Thu
Marseilles 1000/1100
Augusta (Sicily) 1640/1740
Cairo 2359/0230 Fri
Basra 0930/1030
Bahrain 1340/1440
Karachi 2240/0200 Sat
Calcutta 1140/1240
Rangoon 1710
(Nightstop)

Rangoon 0545 Sun
Penang 1205/1305
Singapore 1555
(Nightstop)

Singapore 0600 Mon
Surabaya 1145/1245
Darwin 2330/0130 Tue
Bowen (N Queensland) 1000/1100
Sydney 1700 Tue

The famous flying boats splashed in and out of Poole, connecting Britain with its colonial outposts across the globe.

Many even consider Poole to be the birthplace of British Airways, its forerunner BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) having established itself during its short time in the harbour.

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14

May

James Roberston Justice – Again

Well here are two more pictures of this large than life actor – around the time of the release of The Sword and The Rose for Walt Disney in 1953

Here he is BELOW with his Falcon ‘Siubhlac ( Gaelic for Soft )

He was quite a character no doubt and in some ways I admire how he grasped the chance to go into films and to become very successful. He was lucky enough to have a very good role as Little John in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and again – this time as the King in ‘The Sword and the Rose’ – Below – Both films for Walt Disney and both – particularly the first one – did very well at the Box Office on a Worldwide scale. This gave him the publicity and credibility as an actor that he needed.

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men 1952

ABOVE Two Stills from The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men 1952 where James Robertson Justice was ideally cast as

Little John – What a wonderful film that was !!

As regards his many reputed exploits prior to the War – and after – I take much of this with a pinch of salt. He was a Storyteller and Fantasist not just with his claim to have been born on the Isle of Skye which was completely untrue but things like dropping his rifle in front of Hitler and fighting in the Spanish Civil War, being a racing car driver – the list goes on.

I have a feeling though that there was some truth in the racing car driver claim.

Terrible tragedy struck him and his wife when their son James died at the age of four in 1949 when he drowned in a mill stream near the family home in Whitchurch, Hampshire.

The loss of his son must have been a heart breaking time for both him and his wife – and it really broke their marriage as she blamed him for not fencing the access to the River nearby where their son lost his life. It must have been a devastating loss for them.

His wife eventually divorced him but not until many years later when his own health was breaking down.

Really good colour picture from that time, I think – as Henry VIII in ‘The Sword and the Rose’ for Walt Disney

He was personal friends with Prince Philip and Prince Charles, who he seemed to take under his wing in that he taught him about falconry and other country pursuits – I have a feeling that this may have when Prince Charles was at Gordonstoun and he lived just North of Inverness.

Indeed Prince Philip attended the ceremony at which his friend James Robertson Justice was installed as Rector of Edinburgh University

ABOVE Edinburgh University, Scotland. Actor James Robertson Justice is installed as the Rector – on 17 th February 1964

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13

May

Doris Day – One of the Greatest Stars in Hollywood History

Very sad to hear that Doris Day has died today although we have to say that she had reached the great age of 97

I make the claim in the title to this post of her being ‘One of the Greatest Stars in Hollywood history’ – and I stick by that

When it comes to ranking stars of a golden period in Hollywood, she would be in the very top echelon. I cannot think of another who compares to her.

The two films ABOVE were highly successful at the Box Office as was the one that followed it – Calamity Jane

-ABOVE Scenes from Calamity Jane

-ABOVE and BELOW – Scenes from Calamity Jane

I was listening this evening to a BBC Radio 4 programme paying tribute to Doris Day and it began with clips from the songs ‘The Deadwood Stage’ ‘ Secret Love’ and ‘ Que Sere Sera’ – and believe you me, they sounded wonderful – I had forgotten how good they were.

Reminiscing as you tend to do on these occasions, I always remember living in a village over 40 years ago, and there was a man in the local pub who had in the past over many years shown films in the local village hall – and these had been very popular.

He told me about it quite often, as he knew I was interested in the films – and he said that he had shown the film ‘Young at Heart’ with Doris Day and he described how wonderful it was to hear the projector and see the film IN CLOUR as he stressed – and how lovely it had looked on the screen. He of course mentioned Doris Day. He seemed at that time almost lost in another world. That little memory of how he described it and loved it, stays with me to this day.

I can see and hear him now even though he was not someone I knew well at all. Just a memory for me of Doris Day

This does not do justice I know to such a great star but I felt that today this had to be written.

I intend to return to Doris Day in the future on this Blog

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12

May

Cliff Richard – In Films

When I was much younger, I remember going to see Cliff Richard and The Drifters ( as they would be before they changed their name to The Shadows ) over in the City of Hull where they were in a Pantomime – although it was less of a panto and more of a Rock n Roll show. They were fantastic and my brother and myself and some friends were so impressed by this live show of such stars. At that time Cliff was in his Rock n Roll early stage and to many of us, at his best.

An astonishingly long and successful career for Cliff Richard as regards his singing and to be fair his films also did very well from his first part in ‘Serious Charge’ with Anthony Quayle – this was a very good and dramatic film and then onto the two below which were more light hearted, colourful and with quite good storylines.

I can’t recall Cliff being dressed up as a cowboy though, but I have to say, he looks good and seems to fit the part. Maybe he should have gone to the USA and done a Western after all Elvis started with one – ‘Love Me Tender’ – and then on to King Creole which to me was his best – and then GI Blues – and the films then although very successful were not brilliant – but they gave the fans what they wanted.

However the picture of Cliff ABOVE – is from the film ‘Wonderful Life’

Cliff in Summer Holiday was on great form with a strong cast.

ABOVE: Cliff with Una Stubbs and Jackie Daryl taking advantage of the location in the Canary Islands

Summer Holiday is one of those enchanting films, made when musicals were the rage in Hollywood.

Cliff Richard really enjoys himself and displays to the audience with his immense onscreen charisma as well as his songs and dance routines.

This well-cast film also has Cliff Richard singing the theme song, which we can all sing along to – “Summer Holiday”. Great entertainment and very good fun to watch

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11

May

Zulu – In 70 mm Technirama More Pictures

I did a Post on this film some months ago – and on the Technirama Process but have returned to it again – for today’s article.

Zulu, (1964), one of the last films made in Technirama, but a stunning example of the image quality available in the process, and a really good film, too. Some lucky cinema – goers would have seen the film in it’s 70mm format – and that would be impressive.

The film was produced by Cy Endfield and Stanley Baker, who also starred along with newcomer Michael Caine.

Zulu is a well made film recounting the historic battle of Rorke’s Drift, between a handful of British troops and a massive Zulu army.

Nowadays, I don’t know if there will ever be another showing of Zulu in Technirama 70 – there must be prints of the film that exist – but how wonderful it would be to have a suitable cinema with a 70 mm projector. On the huge screen this film – impressive by any standards – would be really mind blowing when screened as it should be seen. Very few of us have seen the film this way.

If, from my enquiries, I can find a print and a suitable 70 mm projection location then I will report back on this Blog.

Who knows, we just might be lucky.

A few scenes below from the film

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10

May

Dawn Adams and Anthony Steel

This is taken from a publication in November 1953 – at that time it appears that these two were close

ABOVE: Anthony Steel had just finished ‘Where No Vulture Fly’ and they were both watching the finished product in a Studio Screening Room

Film actors Anthony Steel, Dawn Adams, Robert Stack and Susan Stephens enjoying drinks at a nightclub after the showing of the Festival of Britain film “The Magic Box”, 1951

I really don’t know why Robert Stack was in England – he did not make a film here. He arrived in August 1951 and from this picture we see that he is still here in November 1951 but why ? Maybe a stage play but I cant find any reference to one.

Anthony Steel and Dawn Adams -much later- both appeared in the TV show ‘Crossroads’ along with another film actor of the 50s namely John Bentley who played Hugh Mortimer

Anthony Steel as Jocelyn Fortescue

Another great role for Anthony Steel came in 1980 in an episode of ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ in which he starred alongside John Mills. Both actors on top form – and Anthony Steel terrific as Foxley in ‘Galloping Foxley’. This along with ‘The Sound Machine’ is my favourite of the ‘Tales of the Unexpected’

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09

May

Behemoth The Sea Monster 1959

In the Fifties we were treated to quite a lot of this type of film which must mean that they were successful at the Box Office. Some of them like ‘The Giant Claw’ were quite frankly ludicrous and even at the time laughable – one of those films that was so bad that it was good.

However ‘Behemoth the Sea Monster’ was, for the time, a good film. Made in England at The National Studios, Borehamwood and much of the location work filmed in Cornwall.

There were many “giant-monster” films from the 50’s . Some were terrible. Most were good, including this one. For the most part, the actors do a good job. There is enough action to maintain interest and the story is pretty good – maybe not original though. This monster is not only radioactive but has an electric charge which emits radiation.

Some use of stock footage as well which there often was in this sort of film.

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER is a British version of the classic GODZILLA story, although it’s more closely linked to THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS

British monster films are mostly entertaining and this one is no exception – the cast is full of decent, typically English types who band together to tackle the menace coming their way.

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER tells a very typical storyline for the era.

The film features American film actor Gene Evans, backed up by some heavyweight British talent in the form of a tough Andre Morell ( one of my favourite actors) and the likes of Jack MacGowran.

ABOVE – Behemoth rampages through the streets of London

ABOVE – Behemoth even attacks The Houses of Parliament

ABOVE – A colour still from the film – probably and American Lobby Card.

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08

May

Charles Clarke OBE – Veteran of WW2 and The Great Escape has died

It is with great sadness this morning that I read of the death at the age of 95 of Charles Clarke OBE.

He was also a member 617 Squadron – the Dam Busters – with its officers mess in The Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa – and it is there that I stayed along with my daughter and family who were visiting from Australia in January of this year and met Charles Clarke and his friend who were also staying at the Hotel.

ABOVE – Charles Clarke – and right with his Squadron

The Petwood Hotel was a real favourite of his and he came back there often as it had great memories for him of those WW2 days. We were lucky enough to chat to him over breakfast and found him fascinating company – as did my young Grandaughters.

It was indeed a privilege to have met him and share a breakfast conversation with him. He belonged to a young heroic band of men who risked their lives – and many gave their lives – in the cause of the nation and us all.

He was a very nice man – an astonishing wartime story from a true War Hero.

WORLD War Two hero Air Commodore Charles Clarke who was held as a prisoner during The Great Escape has died aged 95, it was announced last night.

The Lancaster Bomber crewman became a teenage prisoner of war in 1944 when his plane was shot down and he was captured by the Nazis.

ABOVE The Officers Mess for 617 Sqaudron at the Petwood Hotel Woodhall Spa

Cdr Clarke was described as a “giant of our nation” by John Nichol, the former RAF navigator who was himself taken prisoner during the first Gulf War.

He tweeted: “V sad to say Air Cdre Charles Clarke has died aged 95. Shot down in 1944, 3 of his crew perished & he ended up in Stalag Luft 3 just before the Great Escape.

Then the prisoners at that camp – and Charles was one of them – were marched many miles in freezing conditions back into Germany on what became known as The Long March. Many prisoners did not survive.

“He was a wonderful man, a great friend, a supporter of countless charities & a giant of our nation. Blue skies Sir. RIP”

RAF Cosford in Shropshire also paid tribute to Cdr Clarke, who visited the training station in 2018 with fellow POWs.

“Devastated to hear this evening that Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE has died. Lancaster bomb aimer and POW, he continued to inspire us all to the last,” the station tweeted.

This post on the Blog filmsofthefifties.com – may not be film news but in a way it is. Charles Clarke had been with 617 Squadron ( Dam Busters) and at the camp at the time of The Great Escape – and there are great links to the film world there.

BELOW: Air Commodore Charles Clarke was the man wielding the specially designed silver shovel at the groundbreaking ceremony today.

Bomber Command veteran Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE breaks the ground at Bomber Command Memorial in Lincoln in 2016

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More 50s Double Bill Horror Films

John Cobb – A Real Life Hero and Land Speed Record Holder – and appeared in a film

Flying to Fiji for The Blue Lagoon in 1949

James Roberston Justice – Again

Doris Day – One of the Greatest Stars in Hollywood History

Cliff Richard – In Films

Zulu – In 70 mm Technirama More Pictures

Dawn Adams and Anthony Steel

Behemoth The Sea Monster 1959

Charles Clarke OBE – Veteran of WW2 and The Great Escape has died

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