Talking Pictures TV.....

09:10 THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945)
12:25 MEET ME TONIGHT (1952)
14:00 RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY (1992) Premiere
15:05 THE GIRL FROM WILLOW GREEN (1975) Premiere
18:00 GET SOME IN (1975) Premiere
20:30 PUBLIC EYE (1972)
21:30 WHAT A CRAZY WORLD (1963)
23:15 CABARET (1972)*




* IF there are any of you who haven't seen CABARET, do.

Today
09:15 THE FRIGHTENED CITY (1961)
11:15 90 DEGREES SOUTH (1933) Premiere
12:50 CROSSROADS TO CRIME (1960)
14:00 THE SQUARE PEG (1958)
15:45 THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER (1949)
17:35 FORBIDDEN (1949)*
19:20 DOUBLE CROSS (1955)
20:55 THE L SHAPED ROOM (1962)


*Would-be scientist Douglass Montgomery (Jim) teams up with salesman Ronald Shiner (Dan) to rid tourists in Blackpool of their money by selling medicine that re-grows your hair amongst other things. On a nearby stall, Hazel Court (Jane) has the hots for Montgomery, and they soon embark on an affair. Naughty Douglass – he's married to Patricia Burke (Diana). However, she is more interested in pursuing her acting career and is prepared to sleep her way onto the casting couch, her current favourite being Garry Marsh (Jerry). Montgomery wants a divorce but Burke won't give him one and so he hatches a plan to bump her off. He interferes with her own daily medicine and finds her dead. He then buries her in his studio and now he's really in trouble. The story is told in flashback before we end the film with a chase and fight on Blackpool Tower.

I like this film. Uk films are pretty good from this time, providing they are not comedies. The best in the cast is Patricia Burke. She excels as a bitch and it's a shame that she is killed off so early. There are several funny moments as demonstrated by Burke's self-assured nastiness. The scene where she visits Court is a classic as is the way she lets Montgomery know that she's going off to stay with a relative yet blatantly has her current beau escort her into a cab. And then presents Montgomery with the bill for her new change of clothes as she departs. A very wicked woman! And there are tense moments including the fight at the finale between Montgomery and love-rival Kenneth Griffith (Johnny). The scene is finished in an unexpected but refreshing way that demonstrates how to conduct oneself in a potential death situation. Jolly good manners all round.

IMDB

Today
09:55 ENCORE (1951)
11:45 IDOL ON PARADE (1959)
14:05 THE DAY WILL DAWN (1942)
16:20 THE UGLY DUCKLING (1959)
18:00 GET SOME IN (1975) Premiere
18:45 NO PLACE FOR JENNIFER (1950)
20:30 PUBLIC EYE (1972)
21:30 SCREAM OF FEAR (1961)
23:10 BEAT GIRL (1960)

Today
10:00 THE PRICE OF SILENCE (1959)
11:50 THE BARGEE (1964)
14:00 ROOMS (1974) Premiere *
14:30 MAN OF THE MOMENT (1955)
16:15 TO DOROTHY A SON (1954)
18:00 GET SOME IN (1975) Premiere
20:30 PUBLIC EYE (1972)
21:30 THE RAGING MOON (1971)
23:45 LIFE AT THE TOP (1965)

*A largely forgotten afternoon gem from Thames Tv that ran for several years which followed the goings on at 35 Mafeking Terrace, a large Victorian house converted into bed sits. There were 2 main characters landlady Dorothy Lawson played by Sylvia Kay (Penny's mum in just good friends) and long term resident Brian Marshall (Spindoe) and the scenario of rented accommodation allowed for a regular mix of new characters with episodes focusing on various tenants escapades. It had a high calibre of writing with TV greats such as Fay Weldon, Willis Hall and Trevor Preston contributing and boasting a cast including Jill Gascoine, Bryan Marshall, Brian Cox, Bernard Hill, Bill Dean, Nigel Havers, Miriam Karlin, Alfie Bass, Lewis Collins, Jan Francis, Tessa Wyatt, Arthur Brough (Are you being served) and strangely Brian Protheroe who had a hit in the 70's with the song Pinball) - Sure to find a new audience when it begins a run on the UK channel Talking Pictures TV in the summer. IMDB

09:40 THE BRIGAND OF KANDAHAR (1965)
11:20 THE EARLY BIRD (1965)
13:20 MALTA STORY (1953)
16:45 LOVE ON THE DOLE (1941)
20:25 THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1967) Premiere*
22:40 NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979)
00:55 THE TAMARIND SEED (1974)

*A John Le Carré-based Cold War spy film will always challenge an audience with an unflinching look at the world of espionage, and confront viewers with its most unpleasant facts; true stories of manipulation and deceit where the simplistic, Manichean scheme "good guys versus bad guys" is exposed as deceitful and manipulative. Sidney Lumet ("The Verdict", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Q and A") added another feather to his cap directing this 1966 adaptation of "Call for the Dead", which features an international cast headed by James Mason, Maximilian Schell, Simone Signoret (not De Beauvoir, who was an Existentialist author, not an actress)and Harriet Andersson. In true Lumet fashion, characterization does not take a back seat to plot development: Mason brings his masterful touch, an understated yet poignant despair to his doomed agent Dobbs; Schell manages to come across as debonair and sinister at the same time, and world-weary Signoret eloquently speaks for the victims who were tangled up in Cold War power games. The Bossa Nova soundtrack, full of sad sensuality, creates an innovative contrast to the bleak, rainy London streets where the web of deceit is torn in a violent and realistic showdown. Excellent supporting performances by actors Harry Andrews and Roy Kinnear help make "The Deadly Affair", many years after its first viewing, a somber and masterful look at Cold-War espionage and a fine example of serious movie-making. IMDB

Some highlights for Mon 15 July #TPTV
09:30 THE PEKE SPEAKS (1944) Premiere
10:10 DUEL IN THE SUN (1946)
14:45 BLIND CORNER (1965)
18:00 GET SOME IN (1975) Premiere
20:15 NINE, DALMUIR WEST (1962) Premiere
20:30 PUBLIC EYE (1972)
21:30 HELL DRIVERS
23:45 THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (1968

17th............

10:25 The Purple Plain (1954)
12:25 Passenger to London (1937)
13:35 Defence of the Realm (1985)
15:40 The Jazz Singer (1980)
18:00 Get Some In (1976) Premiere
20:30 Public Eye (1973)
21:30 Venus Peter (1989) Premiere
23:30 Capone (1975)