Radio review – Lux – “Seven Keys to Baldplate” (1939) ***

The RKO perennial turned into a vehicle for Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone, who play themselves – as does Cecil B de Mille! Benny offers to stay the night at de Mille's place and come up with a story - if he does so, de Mille will cast him in a film. It's a convoluted set up - even more than the original play - but once it gets going the action flies by and Benny is fun. Good fun. Perhaps one twist too many at the end.

Play review – “Titus Andronicus” by William Shakespeare

A good strong play – the lines of conflict are clear, the story works, the characters defined. Tamora is another great early female role; Aaron, the Queens’as lover, is a strong black role – villainous to be sure, but sexy and smart. It's a full on play: Titus is a top general who thinks he’s going to be the Emperor’s father in law, only his daughter runs off with the Emperor’s brother instead – causing the Emperor to marry the Queen of the Goths. Titus’s daughter is raped and has her hands cut off and tongue removed, while her husband is killed. Titus’s sons are blamed and executed; Titus offers up a hand to save them but it’s not taken. You feel sorry for Titus but then he kills his own daughter for being raped.

Shakespeare was probably going through an anti woman phase at this stage – taming Kate, raping pretty things, etc. Characters aren’t hugely deep and everyone is this pulsating mass of viciousness – Temora, Aaron. I think the fact this is not set in England meant Shakespeare didn’t have to worry about politics as much – no one had to be patriotic, everyone is ruthless. I’m surprised this isn’t better known - probably because of the violence.

Play review – “Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s shortest play, adapted from Plautus (lesson from Shakespeare to up and coming writers: if you’re going to learn how to write, adapt an existing work – either historical record or something out of copyright. Also if you’re going to learn structure, write a farce). The plot is about two sets of twins who wind up in a town – mix ups result, accentuated by the fact that each twin has the same name, and revolving around. Throw in a ticking clock where an arrested man has a day to pay a fine or else he’s going to be killed.

The humour is very broad - jokes where masters beat servants (not really funny), jokes about a fat girl describing countries in her body, about going bald. It lacks any really memorable characters although I enjoyed the squabbling married couple, vicious in their insults (she’s convinced he’s cheating and gets a witch doctor to deprogram him).

On the the whole this is good fun – there's plenty of action, good structure, a bit of romance and a happy ending. It’s like a good solid sitcom, and that’s not a back handed compliment at all.

Play review – “Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare

Great archetypal rom com plot – they are still doing variations on it today (and Shakespeare couldn’t have invited it for all his genius). It takes a long time to get going – there's this prologue with a lord, and servants, and some strolling players (what was the point of this?), but then once it gets going it's the battle of the sexes we all know and love and argue over.

There’s a theory Shakespeare had access to a good “female” actor in his early days because there were some good parts (not as good as for the blokes, true, but still good): Queen Margaret, Queen Anne, Juliet, and here, Katerine. She is a really nasty piece of work – she hits her sister and Petruchio. However she doesn't deserve her treatment here.

There's no doubt this is a sexist and misogynist play – you can make the argument that it isn’t, but why can’t people just accept just because Shakespeare was a genius doesn’t mean he can’t be sexist? Petruchio bullies Kate in to submission – he even starves her. But it’s got a great central situation, strong characters, lots of entertaining dialogue exchanges (in particular word play). I was surprise how mean and how little time spent on the famous duelling couple – as much time is spent on pursuit of Bianca. Not one of Shakespeare's great plays but very influential in its own way.

Radio review – Lux - “Only Angels Have Wings” (1940) ***

Lux was perhaps the most prestigious radio drama show of its day, for movie stars at least. This adaptation of the Hawks classic has Jean Arthur, Cary Grant, Thomas Mitchell, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthemless, etc. This doesn't quite capture the flavour of the Hawks classic - you just need those visuals of the actors walking around being comfortable in their masculinity - but it's pretty close and it's rousing entertainment.

Movie review – “Foxy Brown” (1974) **1/2

A sort-of sequel Coffy with Pam Grier back as a hot black chick out for revenge under the direction of Jack Hill. Instead of being motivated by a drug addict sister (she does have a druggie brother but he’s totally unsympathetic) she’s out to get revenge on behalf of her murdered boyfriend (Terry Carter – Colonel Tigh from the first incantation of Battlestar Galactica). So she goes undercover as – what else? - a call girl. (Coffy was a nurse but Foxy Brown isn’t given a job.)

There’s a great credit sequence with Pam Grier dancing along to the terrific Willie Hutch theme song. Its reminiscent of James Bond movies and so is this film, with its sexy superhero and outlandish villains (one of whom even has a swivel chair). It is still 70s in some unpleasant ways, including the throat cutting of a naked woman.

Grier is fantastic value, all big afro, massive boobs and attitude. She shoots at her brother, beats up a bunch of lesbians in a barroom brawl (a another great Jack Hill girl on girl fight), various gangsters, etc. She also gets tortured and raped but manages to triumph by bringing in some black revolutionaries who help her castrate one of the baddies. Full on! Then Foxy delivers the dick in a pickle jar to the girlfriend of said baddy. Fuller on!

The audio commentary by Jack Hill is interesting – particularly as Hill seems bitter about his cavalier treatment by AIP. (Though to be fair he does admit some things he didn’t have control over and was opposed to at the time – clothes, music – he says really works.) He also complains about the fact the success of this and Coffy didn’t turn him into a hot property in Hollywood, partly because the films were dismissed as “black films”. (At the end of the commentary he says he’s doing what he really wants to do now – which is develop romantic comedies!) I'm surprised that Hill's career didn't kick on after the mid 70s, even if only as a script writer (most of his films had very strong stories and were full of great scenes and images); maybe he just got jack.

Radio review – CP – “Lost Horizon” (1939) ***

Strong version of the classic tale with Orson Welles surprisingly not taking the Ronald Colman role, but the lama. It’s atmospheric and expertly produced; like all versions of this story there’s a dodgy undercurrent – the other two members of the expedition are determined to dig for gold and spread Christianity, why is the girl so keen to leave Shangri-La? That doesn’t bode well for them. The “star” is Sigrid Gurie, who specialised in playing oriental types around this time; she’s the female lead.