I really don’t know what to make of this character – James Robertson Justice.   He had a very successful film career, he was friends with Prince Philip and taught Prince Charles about falconry,  he had a brief spell in the diplomatic services – or did he ? fought in the Spanish Civil War, worked for Reuters and on and on. 

He had a very crowded life if it is all to be believed – but much of it can be checked to be true in fairness.

He also raced cars at Brooklands before the War. He claimed to be born in Scotland – untrue   – and he added the ‘Robertson’ name just to add a sliver of authenticity to the claim.

In later years he could be seen at Silverstone – as an enthusiastic spectator at BRDC Silverstone meetings through the 1950s and ’60s.

He campaigned as a Labour candidate in a General Election but failed to get in.

However, lets look on the plus side for James Robertson Justice.  After his first film Vice Versa, he built up his career quite nicely – Scott of the Antarctic, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, The Sword and the Rose and then Roby Roy The Highland Rogue – the last three for Walt Disney, then the Doctor series – and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and many in between – so that is a pretty good film career I would say.

ABOVE – as Little John for Walt Disney here with Elton Hayes and Michael Hordern.

That was a good role for James Roberston Justice and he did well in it – he certainly looked the part and fitted it like a glove.

ABOVE – as Little John for Walt Disney here with Richard Todd as Robin Hood – the Quarter Staff fight on the Bridge

Back to the films – There was also Land of the Pharoahs ( made in Hollywood) and Moby Dick plus Murder She Said with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple.

He seemed to be in his element wandering in the Scottish Highlands ABOVE

There is no doubt that he loved Scotland and identified with his family roots there.  Here he is training Falcons ABOVE

 ABOVE – At Home in his Highland Cottage at Spinningdale

With the earnings he made from the film Doctor in the House (1954), James Robertson Justice bought a cottage in the Scottish Highlands village of Spinningdale – quite a bit further North of Inverness, Nr Bonar Bridge – so right up in the Highlands but close to a Loch.

After he died in 1975  His ashes were buried in a Scottish moor near his former home in  Spinningdale.

Towards the end of 1956 and into the next year in Picture-goer Magazine, we had among many other items advertisements for what we were to see in the coming weeks at our local cinema.

At that time, this would increase our excitement levels because the advertisement would itself convey excitement as with The Battle of the River Plate BELOW

I see that the supporting film was The Red Balloon which seemed to get a lot of praise and publicity at the time I remember- I think it was a French Film that was either dubbed or had sub-titles

I hope that the above has not been included in a previous post – I don’t think so but as I have tried to do so many articles – particularly throughout 2019 – it would be easy to duplicate.

From  Picture-goer Magazine, we see an introduction to Friendly Persuasion – a film I cannot remember ever seeing although it had quite a lot of publicity and came from MGM so the budget would be high – one thing though – I am sure that Pat Boone sang the them song from the film He would have been at the peak of his success at this time.

William Holden BELOW in Brink of Hell – another one I have no recollection of.

All of the above advertisements are from Picture-goer Magazine of December 1958 or January 1959

Debbie Reynolds is one of the last of the Stars who graced the Hollywood scene towards the end of the Golden Era of Films.   Her first role of any note was in ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ with Gene Kelly and she is also one of the few actresses to have danced in films with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly – and to that I would add Donald O Connor too.

One of her films ‘Bundle of Joy’ which she starred in with her husband singer Eddie Fisher, I seem to remember well from my childhood – not so much that I saw it but that we saw the advertisements and publicity for it in the Picture Show or The Picturegoer magazines at the time OR just the newspaper ads that kept us up to speed with the films that were coming our way.

She had that lovely hit record Tammy from the film of the same name.  In the USA the film was called Tammy and the Bachelor released in 1957  although in England I am pretty sure it was just ‘Tammy’

It is reported that she was paid $150,000 for this film – which was a good amount – still is today but in 1957 that was pretty huge.

She had married Eddie Fisher two years before in 1955 and they went on to have two children together.

Divorce came in a very public fashion in 1959, when her husband ran off with Elizabeth Taylor – her best friend.

When she was going through her very public divorce from Eddie Fisher, news crews were camped out around the clock on her front lawn.

She gained public sympathy  as the “wronged wife by regularly granting  interviews in front of the house to waiting news reporters, often with and her two toddler children, Carrie and Todd Fisher, in her arms.

Her family love this picture of her ABOVE

William Castle was famous for his film gimmicks, and The Tingler featured one of his best: “Percepto!”. Previously, he had offered a $1,000 life insurance policy against “Death by Fright” for Macabre (1958) and sent a skeleton out  above the audiences’ heads in the Cinema  in House on Haunted Hill (1959).

Percepto: “Scream for your lives!”

“Percepto!” was a gimmick where William Castle attached electrical “buzzers” to the underside of some seats in theaters where The Tingler was screened.

During the climax of the film, The Tingler was unleashed in the cinema, while the audience  a woman – probably an actor –  screamed and then pretended to faint; she was then taken away in a stretcher, all part of the show arranged by Castle.

From the screen, the voice of Price mentioned the fainted lady and asked the rest of the audience to remain seated. The film  resumed and was interrupted again.

The projected film appeared to break as the silhouette of the Tingler moved across the projection beam. The image of the film went dark, all lights went off, and Price’s voice warned the audience, “Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. But scream! Scream for your lives! The tingler is loose in this Cinema!”

This cued the Cinema projectionist to activate the Percepto! buzzers, giving some audience members an unexpected jolt, followed by a highly visible physical reaction. The voices of scared patrons were heard from the screen, replaced by the voice of Price, who explained that the tingler was paralyzed and the danger was over. At this point, the film resumed.

An alternate warning was recorded for drive-in film theatres in the USA  where Vincent Price  advised the audience the Tingler was loose in the drive-in.

ABOVE – The Audience screams in fear at the film

Castle’s autobiography, Step Right Up!: I’m Gonna Scare the Pants off America, erroneously stated that “Percepto!” delivered electric shocks to the Cinema Seats.

We have featured various film star at home and away from the Film Studios and here is another selection :

Alan Ladd playing chess having just returned from filming The Red Beret in England

Tyrone Power and his wife Linda Christian had only recently given birth to their daughter

Tyrone Power and Linda Christian were married on January 27, 1949.  Linda very sadly  miscarried three times before giving birth to a baby girl, Romina Francesca Power, on October 2, 1951. A second daughter, Taryn Stephanie Power, was born on September 13, 1953.

Around the time of Taryn’s birth, the marriage was becoming rocky. In her autobiography, Linda Christian blamed the breakup of her marriage on her husband’s  affairs, but acknowledged that she had had an affair with Edmund Purdom,  which created great tension her and her husband which resulted in them being divorced in 1955

Kathryn Grayson and her daughter – Patricia (Left) who is celebrating her Birthday with a friend

ABOVE:  Dick Powell and June Allyson and their son Richard Keith

 Farley Granger at his Hollywood apartment

Dana Andrews with his wife Mary and three children Stephen, Kathryn and David

Mrs. Andrews – formerly Mary Todd – had put her own career on hold to rear the actor’s son David – above on the Left – from his first marriage and their own son and two daughters. But she returned occasionally to perform at the Pasadena Playhouse, and in 1953 toured with her far-better-known husband and Walter Matthau in “The Glass Menagerie.”

In the 1970s, she and her husband, who died in 1992, toured together in several plays with mature leading roles. Among them were “Morning’s at Seven” and “Gaslight.” Critics drawn by Dana Andrews’ fame praised the performances by his wife.”

David Murray Andrews was born in 1933. He was the son of Dana Andrews and Janet Murray. He passed away in 1964.

Dana Andrews had married Janet Murray in 1932 – their son David was born in 1934 – and she died in 1935

The son of actor Dana Andrews, he lay  semi-conscious for a month after a cerebral haemorrhage and died Saturday February 17, 1964 in Marin General Hospital.

David Andrews, who lived in Sausalito, Marin County, California had been a patient at the hospital since January 14 and had undergone brain surgery.

He had been working as announcer and musical director at radio station KFRC in San Francisco for two years. He previously was a radio announcer in Monterey and an associate program director with Columbia Broadcasting System in Los Angeles. He was a graduate of University of California at Los Angeles.

He left a wife, Tracy – and his father.

This film is a great favourite of mine – a beautifully made film using a top Director in Ken Annakin as well as photography by Guy Green, Set Design superbly done by Carmen Dillon right at the top of her game on this one, and Alex Bryce as Second Unit Director.

Then to put the icing on the cake – Peter Ellenshaw for Matte Paintings which were just out of this world – and gave the film a story-book feel that it would never have achieved.

The film itself came to us from Walt Disney – who came over and watched some of the scenes being done at Denham – and alse he went to Burnham Beeches where he enjoyed a bite to eat with stars Richard Todd and Joan Rice 

On top of this the actors were all perfect for their roles.

However in the process of the filming it would seem that some strands of the film were left out and others replaced by studio sets.

ABOVE – we see Elton Hayes as Alan a Dale with Joan Rice as Marian, walking through Sherwood Forest – which actually was Burnham Beeches. This scene was not in the film – instead they had the two of them walking through studio sets of the Forest at Denham Film Studios.

Behind them in this shot was Midge the Miller played by Hal Osmond – and here he is in a closer shot – taken at the same time in the same bit of Burnham Beeches – again this bit not seen in the film.

Here Richard Todd evades his pursuers arrows as he scrambles up the bank. This was used but not as the picture shows – this must have been just a still because we can see figures in the background at the top of the picture.

However a dramatic looking scene which definitely did not make the film shows Peter Finch firing arrows back at the outlaws – how this was going to fit the film I just don’t know. It seems though it might originally have been  filmed and was part of the story – I am not sure on this one.

The Technicolor on this was just about as good as it gets – really lovely and showed the Forest – both Burnham Beeches and the Denham Studio Sets – to great effect and looking stunning and fitting of any childhood imagination for this famous story.

Author Peter James who gave us  Not Dead Enough, The Perfect Murder and Dead Simple,  is back with the world premiere of this spine-chilling thriller.

This is a Theatre Play touring Britain at the moment – so not exactl a Film of the Fifties though  very reminiscent of the type of ghostly thriller we used to see on screen.    So I have included it here as it fits in quite well I think.

In the Stage Cast – BAFTA nominated actor – formerly of Heartbeat,  Joe McFadden  and award winning actress Rita Simons from  EastEnders, are joined by actors, Charlie Clements  and Persephone Swales-Dawson  in Peter James’  ghostly story of the Harcourt family, who move into the house of their dreams that has been empty for the last forty years.

Soon, however, their dream home quickly turns into the stuff of nightmares as they begin to wonder whether they may not be the only residents at Cold Hill

The House on Cold Hill is a modern-day supernatural thriller that will send shivers down your spine and make you think twice about returning home to a dark, empty house after the show – It has a great twist at the end – totally unexpected.

Above – a tense scene as the characters witness something very frightening.

The House on Cold Hill is a modern-day supernatural thriller – ABOVE the cast

The House on Cold Hill – the Theatre Production currently touring around Englad

I have never been a fan of Gene Autry – nor can I ever remember seeing one of his films. To me he did not look like the cowboy hero that he portrayed- However it must be said that he was very successful indeed.

First he made and starred in quite a number of Westerns – then he went into producing though his companies such TV series as The RangeRider and Champion The Wonder Horse both of which us youngsters in England loved.

Of course Champion was Gene Autry’s horse – I always remember the theme song for Champion The Wonder Horse sung by Frankie Laine – and when he sang the title song the show gained prestige. His delivery was so dramatic.

His wife said that the key to Gene’s success is that he always stuck to what the public wanted and so he remained just a Cowboy star. He also dressed to appeal to youngsters when in public – he would wear quite colourful cowboy outfits.

He is also a singing star – I think it is right that he is the only artist to have five stars on The Hollywood Walk of Fame

Here ABOVE is a poster for Silver Canyon a 1951 film

Gene Autry relaxes with his guitar

Now here is one of the great character actors of Cinema – and apparently also in real life a quite colourful character at that.

Robert Newton has been over living in England while filming The Beachcomber at Pinewood Film Studios with Glynis Johns –  in February 1954 when these pictures were taken

He had met his wife Eva Budnick in June of 1952 and from that moment as a promise to his young wife he had given up alcohol completely. Drinking had been a problem with Robert Newton over many years but he had given this up and the couple now had a lovely 10 month old daughter.

During their stay here they were living in Thurloe Square, South Kensington. Here they were visited on occasions by Robert Newton’s Daughter Sally from his first marriage.

Sadly he could not maintain his sober lifestyle for that long – He died of a heart attach in 1956 just after finishing his last film ‘Around The World In 80 Days’ alongside his good friend David Niven.

Robert Newton it was said was at his entertaining best after say a couple of drinks – had it stayed at that then all was well but after the 3rd of 4th there emerged a less pleasant person and the entertaining man he was became objectionable.

However we must not dwell on that – it is his performances that live in the memory – he was Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist – but it is as Long John  Silver in the 1950 Walt Disney classic that remains in the memory. Maybe an over the top performance by some standards but I think he realised that was what was needed in  order to lift this film version out of the normal range and put it up amongst the best.

His spectacular portrayal of  Long John Silver in the Disney version of Treasure Island (1950), greatly influenced actors playing pirates in film, radio, television, and theatre, after that – and all tended to use – and still do –  the same  accent that Robert Newton had made his own.

Like us all to this day,  Film Stars also enjoy the relaxation of time off at the Weekend particularly in the Summertime.

Theirs is a busy schedule in the week – up early and sometimes in demanding locations – but not a bad life at all in film land I would imagine

Here are a few pictures of these actors at home on their days off- Doris Day above at her home in Bel -Air

Above: Gene Autry reads the script of a film in the sunshine in Laurel Canyon

Above: Actress Jennifer Raine, her Mother Gipsy Raine with her husband Alan Napier lying back in the sun

The patio of Alan Napier’s home Near Santa Monica – not quite on this scan is the Pacific Ocean on the far left

Our own Jean Kent enjoys her flowers – this picture actually from a Lux advertisement but I though we should have an English Star in there

Brian Aherne by the pool enjoys a cup of tea – at home in Santa Monica