Movie review - "The Fixer" (1968) **

 This was given a lot of money because John Frankenheimer was "hot" and the novel was a big deal in its day. Its day has passed.

This starts off lively with a good old progrom in 1910s Russia  then becomes bogged down as handyman Alan Bates goes to work for Hugh Griffith whose daughter Elizabeth Hartman is horny for him - this is a basic stock situation but takes around 40 minutes to get us there. 

At heart this is a television play - a man is falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit, because he's Jewish. There's some fancy production values at the beginning but the guts of this takes place in prisoin cells and interrogation room.

Fine acting from Bates, Dirk Bogarde (tortured official),  Ian Holm (prick), David Warner (aristocrat), Carol White (ex wife). It has views of sixties in that women are bitches - Hartman fakes a rape claim, White is a harlot. The characters say the word "Jew" in dialogue a lot.

It's not dumb, it tries to be decent, it has some moments but it's a slog. Kind of like Birdman of Alcatraz. 

I think it needed a plot witith someone on the outside. 

Book review - "Campbell's Kingdom" by Hammond Innes

 Read this because of the film. Can see its appeal to film producers - sexy rugged setting (Canadian rockies), hooky set up (terminally ill man investigates dead grandfather's obsession with oil), some romance, baddies, a dam burst.

I had trouble telling the characters apart, the chapters were too long, needed more dialogue, Innes shows off his research. But it's not a natural ripping yarn. 

Movie review - "The Captain's Table" (1959) ***

 A lovely surprise - from the works of Richard Gordon who did the doctor books only it wasn't from Ralph Thomas and Betty Box and Dirk Bogarde didn't star. John Gregson is a ship's captain being pursued by women and dealing with several adventures and troublesome passengers.

The film is more sexually sophisticated - horny passengers want to get married, the pursuer is gay, there are leggy women. The ship is going to Australia and Aussies Bill Kerr and June Jago are loud Aussies on board.

Jack Lee directed with a nice light touch. Fun movie. 

Movie review - "Desperate Moment" (1953) **

 Dirk Bogarde and Mai Zetterling prop this up by virtue of sheer star power. Location filming in Berlin helps. But it's not much of a story. Bogarde confesses to a crime he didn't commit because he thinks Zetterling is dead, then discovers she's alive and escapes to clear his name.

Again one senses Rank was hoping for some Third Man style grosses.  Bogarde is full of charisma but his character is an idiot and I couldn't care about his adventures. This film just felt dull and sluggish. Location filming in Europe is interesting but that's about it. Philip Friend, who loves Zetterling, is dull, Albert Levien twirls his moustache. I just didn't care. 

This is a negative review. Sorry. But it was dull.

Proposed Australian films of the 1930s to the 1960s

*Big Timber - from novel by William Hatfield  - announced 1935 - instead Cinesound filmed Tall Timber

*Call me when the Cross Turns Over - from novel by D'arcy Niland to be filmed in 60s with Diane Cilento and Sean Connery but not filmed

*Careful He Might Here You - optioned in 1963 by Josh Logan who wanted to make it with Elizabeth Taylor (who would've been great)

*Collits Inn - Frank Thring was going to film this musical but died

*Come Away Pearler - Colin Simpson novel optioned in 1954 by Joe Kaufman see here

*Come In Spinner - novel optioned in 1954 by Joe Kaufman

*Conn of the South Seas - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake The Adorable Outcast see here

*Desert Legion - Raymond Longford WW1 story

*The Delinquents - from novel adapted by Alan Seymour for producer Joseph Janni  and director Jack Lee - announced 1963

*Dig - story of Burke and Wills from Ralph Peterson script for Anthony Quayle  - announced 1957

*Don Bradman biopic - proposed by Ron Randell in 1952 see here

*Eureka Stockade - Ken Hall version 

*The Fatal Wedding - Cinesound said might remake this in 1933 see here - this may have just been a random announcement though Cinesound did make Silence of Dean Maitland

*Fisher's Ghost - sound remake by Raymond Longford of his 1925 hit - Tony Buckley says towards the end of

*For the Term of His Natural Life - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake it see here

*The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney - adaptaion of novel to be done by MGM in the late 40s with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck

*Ginger Murdoch - optioned by Frank Thring

*Gold Dust and Ashes - from novel by Ion Idriess announced 1935 by Cinesound see here

*The Green Opal - Chips Rafferty film about immigration

*The Haunted House - announced by Cinesound in 1938 see here 

*James Don't Be a Fool - EV Timms novel

*The Kelly Gang - Cinesound said in 1933 might remake it see here

*Les Darcy film - announced by Chauvel in 1947 to star Tommy Burns see here

*Life of Nellie Melba - proposed 1940 Cinesound film with Marjorie Lawrence

*The Long Shadow - 1947 Jon Cleary novel optioned in late 60s but not made 

*Mr Burke and Mr Wills - Burke and Wills story written by Terence Rattigan

*My Love Must Wait - novel about Matthew Flinders optioned by Charles Chauvel

*Naked Under Capricorn - published 1958 owned by Chips Rafferty

*Ned Kelly - directed by Karel Reisz starring Albert Finney announced 1963

*The One Day of the Year - Alan Seymour's play, filmed a few times for TV, optioned in 1970

*Overland Telegraph - 1939 announcement Frank Clune sold to Cinesound, he'd write it up in 1955

* Pearl of Great Price - late 30s Cinesound announced 1936 see here

*Pepper Trees  - Ealing film late 40s with Chips Rafferty and Tommy Trinder - scheduled for 1948 see here

*The Pioneers - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake it see here

*Redheap - novel by Norman Lindsay to be filmed by Thring 

*Return Journey - film about Burke and Wills which collapsed in the 1960s but resulted in a short

* Robbery Under Arms - Ken G Hall version, mentioned from the 1930s until the 1940s but killed off by Rank's interest and dud 1957 film

*Rudd's New Selection - announced in 1933 see here - became Grandad Rudd

*Sara Dane - from the novel, starring Sylvia Syms, proposed late 1950s

*Saturday to Monday - original of The Siege of Pinchgut - announced in 1950

*Sheepmates - started filming but abandoned

*Storm Hill - Eric Porter film announced in 1946

*Wake in Fright - directed by Joe Losey starring Dirk Bogarde - announced 1963 - there was also a proposed Morris West version

*Wards of the Outer March - novel adapted by Charles Chauvel  - announced in 1944

*When Cobb and Co Was King - novel optioned by Charles Chauvel

*Yellow Sands - Cinesound in late 30s - announced 1936 see here

Movie review - "We Joined the Navy" (1962) **

 Producer Danny Angel probably thought this was a sure thing - Kenneth More in a Doctor in the House style comedy set in the Navy. Only he was too old to play a youngster, so the three young parts go to skinny other actors one of whom is Derek Fowlds, and More plays the James Robertson Justice type role, only he's more of a cheeky officer cynical about the navy who tells the truth too often.

This is why it's weird he and the three midshipmen are sent to the South of France to work with an American ship, captained by Lloyd Nolan, alongside nurse Joan O'Brien. There's a bit of clash but no culture clash - the Americans are here just to appeal to Americans but not much thought has been put into it. Here the Americans are the sticklers for the rules and the Brits are incompetent. 

There's a series of unfunny adventures - though I did smile when they hired dancers from the follies berges. The film never seems to quite know how to pitch its tone. It really needed to be about jolly japes from the youngsters but then they distort it by casting More and having to give him screen time. And his romance with O'Brien is underwhelming. He didn't have much luck with his American co-stars.

There's nice colour photography and location work in the south of France. The film throws in some old school racism with the navy having to rescue a captured American from a fictitious town - I don't mind the idea, but it's dumbly played here, with the Brits being hugely incompetent and More unrealistically saving the day. Mischa Auer plays a double role. 

This is one of those early 60s British comedies which still pretended it was the 60s eg A Pair of Briefs.

The best bit is the cameo from Dirk Bogarde as Simon Sparrow. He offers such a jolt of charisma and professionalism that he makes you wish that Bogarde and More had been reunited on a project. Or More had taken over the Doctor role when Bogarde didn't want to do it.

British Box Office 1955

 Kinematograph from December 1955

The big hits of the year: 

1) The Dam Busters 

2) Doctor at Sea 

3) White Christmas.

Other hits of the year included several British movies:

* Above Us the Waves

* Cast a Dark Shadow

* The Colditz Story

*The Constant Husband

*Footsteps in the Fog

*Geordie

*I am a Camera

*John and Julie

*A Kid for Two Farthings

*The Love Match

*Man of the Moment

*One Good Turn

*Prize of Gold

*Raising a Riot

*The Sea Shall Not Have Them

*Touch and Go

Interesting to see what worked. War movies of course (Colditz, Above Us the Waves, The Sea Shall Not Have Them), but also thrillers (Cast a Dark Shadow, Footsteps in the Fog), star vehicle comedies (Man of the Moment and One Good Turn with Norman Wisdom, Raising a Riot with Kenneth More, Touch and Go with Jim Hawkins, The Constant Husband with Rex Harrison, The Love Match with Arthur Askey). Geordie was a comedy without a star. There's also action-y pieces (Prize of Gold).

Some are more random. Kid for Two Farthings and John and Julie had child protagonists. I am a Camera  was drama, albeit based on a well known book.

Birmhingham Gazette 29 Dec 1955

British Box Office 1959

Kinematograph Weekly

Biggest hits of the Year

1) Carry on Nurse

2) I'm Alright Jack

3) The Inn of Sixth Happiness.

A good vote for British comedy!

Other better than average offerings that were British:

* The Bridal Path

*The Captain's Table

*Carry on Teacher

*Darby O'Gill and the Little People

*The Doctor's Dilemma

*Horrors in the Black Museum

*The Hound of the Baskervilles

*I Only Arsked

*Jack the Ripper

*Left Right and Centre

*Look Back in Anger

*North West Frontier

*Operation Bullshine

*The Rough and the Smooth

*Sapphire

*Serious Charge

*The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw

*The Square Peg

*Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

*The 39 Steps 

*Tiger Bay

*Tom Thumb

 Interesting to analyse what was popular. Comedies of course (I'm Alright Jackl, Operation Bullshine, The Bridal Path, Left Right and Centre, The Captain's Table). Franchises (Carry on, Tarzan, Norman Wisdom comedies). Kenneth More vehicles (39 Steps, Northwest Frontier, Fractured Jaw). Films with kid protagonists. Musical adaptations (Serious Charge). Low budget thrillers (Rough and the Smooth). Horror (Black Museum, Hound of the Baskerville, Jack the Ripper) Only two dramas (Sapphire, Doctor's Dilemma).

Book review - "The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life" (2005) by Michael Craig

 Gloriously entertaining look at Craig's acting adventures - his relatively quick rise to success, being at Rank in the 1950s, Europe and Hollywood in the 1960s, Australia in the 1970s. He was a good looking lad who could act - Rank had him as a back up Dirk Bogarde. He whinges a lot. This is very bitchy for someone who had so much success (i.e. consistent work). But it is very funny. It shines a light too on films that don't get a lot of attention, i.e. 1950s British movies.

Movie review - "Dancing with Crime" (1947) **

Richard Attenborough is just out of the army and struggling to make a go of it as a cab driver. His old army pal has gone into crime - which is a great set up for a thriller,Atteborough being tempted so he can provide for Sheila Sims, dealing with post war adjustment problems for veterans. But this promising situation is dealt with perfunctorily - Attenborough is never tempted, his mate is killed, Attenborough goes investigating.

They should've kept the mate alive and killed a third mate or something. Had both men in love with Sims.

Too much time is given to boring cops and moralising, not enough to gangsters. I did like how Sims got involved and went undercover - I wish they'd done more wiht it. Diana Dors is a dancer at a club - she was just a few years too young for this sort of role for which she'd otherwise be perfect.

Barry Barnes is the villain - he's better than as leading man.Judy Kelly has a big part as a gangsters moll - a part Dors would've been good at later. Aussie John Warwick is a cop.

The last act is quite exciting. Apparently Dirk Bogarde has a small bit.

Script review - "A Bridge Too Far" by William Goldman

Not recognised as one of Goldman's classics even though in Adventures in the Screen Trade he spoke highly of the experience and the resulting film - he seemed to have only good things to say about Butch Cassidy and Bridge - I think later Princess Bride and Hearts of Atlantis were added to this.

It's done in that lively Goldman style very easy to follow and read, with little asides (eg "he's four days away from becoming a legend") and some bright dialogue. He was hamstrung by the fact many of the principals were still alive. Montgomery died in 1976 - I presume that's why he's not in the film at all, only mentioned. Lord Browning - who died in 1965 - has to take on some of the mistakes (eg ignoring intelligence reports that Germans were in the area), which for me was the main flaw of the film. It felt unfair.

I did struggle to tell the characters apart on the page - this was less of an issue on screen because the main roles were played by stars. There are some lively cameos - the sergeant who drives his "dead" captain to a hospital; the Americans going across the river to take the bridge; Major Frost and Urquhart's adventures behind enemy lines.

Some characters threaten to become interesting but don't, like that bridge-building captain (I think Elliot Gould played him) and the Irish guards officer Vandeleur (Michael Caine). Others are annoying like the Polish general, Sosabowski who whinges all the time.

Structurally although the film takes place over several days it feels like one afternoon - I know films sometimes struggle with that and wasn't sure how to fix it, it's just the reaction I got. Also it didn't feel as though it built - towards the end when the Poles started their attack, I was getting impatient.

Still some very effective moments - the siege, the build up, the death of the old lady and the little boy. And it gets points for being a British-American film about a big defeat. There aren't that many apart from Tora Tora Tora.

Dirk Bogarde Top Ten

1) Doctor at Sea  (1955) - high-spirited fun comedy, which I prefer to the first one because it has some sea views and Brigitte Bardot
2) Victim (1961) - for an actor in the closet Bogarde played an amazing number of gay characters for the time - this one notably, a hard hitting genuinely entertaining thriller that became unfashionable for a time but retains its power
3) The Servant (1963) - Bogarde played a few creepy corrupters in his career but this was perhaps his greatest performance in that genre
4) A Tale of Two Cities (1958) - perhaps Ralph Thomas' best film, a very fine adaptation of the novel with Bogarde excellently cast.
5) Hunted (1952) - part of the young-kid-idolising-a-crook genre, with Bogarde excellent as a spiv
6) The Blue Lamp (1949) - Bogarde makes a superb villain and I wish he'd played more
7) The Wind Cannot Read (1958) - presumably David Lean would've made a better film but this is a pretty good melodrama
8) The Doctor's Dilemma (1959) - Bogarde and Shaw go together well in a literate, entertaining film
9) Death in Venice (1971) - it is about, well, a pedophile and has some shocking make up but is very well done
10) Cast a Giant Shadow (1955) - Bogarde again makes a marvellous villain well teamed with Margaret Lockwood in character actor mode

Book review - "Hollywood England" by Alexander Walker

Invaluable account of the British film boom of the 1960s and subsequent bust, with a skilful appreciation of the talents involved and the artistic and corporate industry within which they worked. Occasionally it falls into the trap of whininess - all of Walker's British film industry books have this flaw, "why did they do it that way?" 

He also waffles at times and overlooks some key films from the era - there's nary a mention of horror or comedy, two massively popular genres from the period.

But there is some terrific stuff, such as the story behind the Bonds, early works of Schlesinger, Boorman, Richardson etc, the role of Nat Cohen, the finale involving Bryan Forbes, the regimes of United Artist and Universal, etc.

Movie review - "The Wind Cannot Read" (1958) *** (warning: spoilers)

A case of what might have been - David Lean wanted to make a movie out of Richard Mason's novel, intending at one stage to star Kenneth More, but never got around to it and the project wound up being made by the team of Dirk Bogarde and Ralph Thomas. Thomas could be okay as a director, he just wasn't David Lean.

This isn't bad, and benefits from a good performance from Bogarde, who is deal as the soulful British officer who falls in love with a Japanese girl in India in 1943. Bogarde wasn't always convincing as a man in love with women - far too many performances he seems disinterested - but he tries here, and his aloofness works with the cross cultural gap (for lack of a better word).

His female co-star isn't really up to him, but it's not that fatal because she doesn't have much of a character to play - a mysterious Oriental beauty. (It was the 1950s - foreigners could sleep with white stars but they had to be exotic and die at the end.)

There is some lovely location photography in India, we don't get many World War Two stories set in India and Burma which is great, the melodrama isn't bad, Ronald Lewis gives one of his best performances as Bogarde's nasty colleague, and it's quite well done. Not a classic but definitely one of Thomas' best movies.

Movie review - "Quartet" (1948) ***

Every now and then omnibus films are really popular - this kicked off a vogue in the late 40s, there was another one in the late 60s with Amicus horror tales. These four stories here come from Somerset Maugham, and are very sensible dramas sensibly adapted by R. C. Sherriff. That's kind of a back-handed compliment but this is an extremely competently made movie. It does feel like TV at times, but the quality of acting is very high and the stories are quite good.

The first one has Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne briefly reunited in a story of Radford worrying about his son going off the rails; then Dirk Bogarde plays perhaps the first in what would be a long, long line of men not particularly interested in women, a rich man's son determined to play the piano; following that is George Cole as a man who marries a woman way too hot for him (Susan Shaw) (not that this is the point of the story - that's to do with her not wanting him to fly a kite); then Cecil Parker worries about his wife writing a racy novel.

Noel Coward once observed Maugham always looked on the human heart as a necessary organ rather than something to be listened to (I could be paraphrasing) - emotions are dealt with in a matter of fact way. Mai Zetterling and Honor Blackman are achingly young and gorgeous, Bogarde was effective already, it's crisply directed. Civilised entertainment all round.

Movie review - "Esther Waters" (1948) **

Dirk Bogarde didn't serve much of a supporting role apprenticeship in the movies - he was playing leading men pretty much from the get go. In hindsight it's not that hard to understand, with his dark, Byronic good looks he was so easily castable. (He stepped in for a role that was meant to be played by Stewart Granger.) He is clearly inexperienced here but he isn't bad as the dashing man who seduces poor old Esther Waters and knocks her up, causing her no end of grief.

That ushers in the best section of the film for me - Esther copping it from nasty employers, trying to make a go of it. Then Bogarde comes back with a dodgy moustache and there's this plot about him being a bookie and lots of scenes of horse racing.

Kathleen Ryan is a sensible, not overly pretty heroine - no-nonsense and very British, like a smarter Phyllis Calvert. It's pretty minor melodrama, lacking the flourish of the best Gainsborough - no one really seems to have any fun and Bogarde lacks the sensuality of a Granger or James Mason. Still, he's a lot better than many British leading men of the time.

Movie review - "The Singer Not the Song" (1961) **1/2

Dirk Bogarde's leather pants have ensured this movie was/is much mocked but playing his character as gay works for the drama. John Mills doesn't quite get the ambiguities that say Marlon Brando, Peter Finch or Alec Guinness might have but it's clear he has strong feelings for Bogarde's bandit character - and Bogarde is clearly in love with Mills.

Homoeroticism isn't uncommon in male adventure films e.g. Point Break, Howard Hawks' output - it's heightened here because one is a priest and Bogarde is cast. Also I guess because the story wouldn't make any sense otherwise. Bogarde isn't the first actor you think to play a Bandit, and his leather pants are a bit camp, but the whole cocked eyebrow sardonic thing he's got going on works.

No one looks remotely Spanish or Mexican, and it goes for too long, but this is consistently interesting - watching it I couldn't help thinking "the British film industry made this??" Myleen Demongeot is incredibly cute, with those bee stung lips, as a girl in love with Mills.

Movie review - "Song without End" (1960) **

Fairly dreadful biopic of Liszt, with its title meant to evoke memories of A Song to Remember. If you're a Liszt fan you might enjoy the piano playing, which Dirk Bogarde does very well. It's the best thing about his performance, which is poor - all flaring nostrils and haughty indignation. He was probably annoyed at the quality of the script, which requires him to gnash his teeth and agonise over fame and music and... something or other. However he plays the piano extremely convincingly.

The plot mostly concerns him touring Europe and falling in love with married Capucine, neither of which you're likely to care about, especially as it goes for over two hours. 

Capucine gets a bad wrap a lot of the time but I really like her in comedy (North to Alaska, The Pink Panther) - this is the first drama I've seen her in and she is, er, a lot less effective. Her scenes with Bogarde are pretty bad - it's like both are sending them up.

The supporting cast isn't anything to write home about - lots of European actors being undercast, plus stock types (e.g. greedy, wacky writer; jealous partner). There is lots of piano playing and music, though - if you like Liszt and/or classical music you'll at least get that.

Book review - "J Arthur Rank: the Man Behind the Gong" by Michael Wakefield

Rank deserved a biography - this is actually the second but the first came out in 1952 when the mogul was still very much alive. Death allows freedom and a bit of perspective and Wakefield does a good job - its not a classic biography but its solid, thorough work. Its main problem is that Rank wasn't that interesting. The concept of him is - Methodist flour miller, one of the richest men in England via inheritance, who went into movie making to spread the word of God and wound up dominating the British film trade. But in full length form he's actually not that compelling - devoted family man, fond of a joke and shooting, principled, teetotal chain smoker, feudal in his manner, regular Sunday School teacher, a proud Yorkshireman who never lived there, extremely hard working.

I always got the feeling he was into cinemas because it was a way to differentiate himself from his father (rich men's sons often have a point to prove) but he never really loved movies the way he did God, or flour - so his involvement with the creative side of things was a bit limited, which I guess is where this fell short. I did find a lot of the stuff about his adventures with the Methodist church interesting ditto the details of his daily routine - but the flour industry stuff not so much. The people around Rank e.g. Pascal, John Davis, are a bit more interesting and colourful.

Wakefield was partly motivated to write this to rehabilitate Rank's reputation (which shouldn't have been as bad as it was anyway) - he certainly succeeds.  It's a very good book, just not a top rank one, if you'll excuse the pun.

Movie review - "The Servant" (1963) ****

Sometimes it just all comes together - Dirk Bogarde expressed the desire to give a great performance in a great film, and Joe Losey came through for him, with the considerable help of Harold Pinter. It all works - the claustrophobic setting, black and white photography, music score, Sarah Miles electric performance as Bogarde's mysterious and extremely sexy (and leggy) "sister", James Fox as the weak aristocrat, Wendy Craig as the sensible girlfriend (probably the most thankless role as she is a bit of killjoy but important because she's the antagonist).

Maybe I didn't quite buy that someone like Fox would have a manservant in the first place but that's probably just me and my cultural biases. And it did feel as though it went on a bit long - maybe 20 minutes could have been cut (or maybe it's just I got weary with descent-descent-descent - Fox's weakness is hardly a challenge).

Losey's stylish direction is spot on: reflections through mirrors, careful framing, the whole "smell" of decadence. Bogarde had played rotten charmers a few times by now but never better here, with his crooked smile, superior air, lower class accent, homoerotic air around Fox, kinky relationship with Miles. One of the best things Pinter ever did.