The Running Man.

Rex Black is dead or is he? After the funeral service newly widowed Stella Black returns to their flat for the wake. Rex had been assumed dead after a glider he was piloting crashed into the sea and his body never found. When the guests have departed Rex Black miraculously reappears larger than life and potentially very much richer. We learn that the couple have plotted to swindle their insurance company by insuring Rex’s life and then staging the accident. All seems to be going to plan until an inquisitive insurance agent, Stephan Maddux, turns up to question the ‘grieving’ widow. Black has to disappear again until the claim is finalised and the money has been paid out. Leaving Stella in the UK to sort out the final particulars he leaves the country and goes to Malaga. While he is there he stumbles on the passport of an Australian sheep farmer and assumes the identity of Jim Jerome along with a rather dreadful Australian accent. When the claim is finally cleared Stella joins ‘Jim Jerome’ in Spain. But as luck would have it Stephan Maddox turns up at the same resort that Stella and “Jim” are staying at. Is the arrival of the insurance agent just coincidence or is he still on the trail of our two fraudsters?   

 

Laurence Harvey in a tourist free Spain.

Based on the Shelley Smith novel The Ballad of the Running Man, and Directed and produced by Carol Reed (Climbing High 1939) it has a screenplay written by John Mortimer who is probable best known for creating barrister Horace Rumpole who in turn is a character you will remember from the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey.  Shot in the Ardmore Studios in County Wicklow in Ireland and on location in a beautiful looking Spain before the advent of package tours. The Running Man (1963) stars Laurence Harvey (The Good Die Young 1954) as Rex Black, a role that really suited the actor, the attractive American actress Lee Rimick played Blacks wife Stella and Alan Bates appears as the insurance agent Stephan Maddux. A grand line up with all three helping to make the story more believable than it really deserved.

 

Lee Rimick with Alan Bates.

Although critics at the time of its release thought the film poorly conceived and some even went as far as saying it was muddled and indulgent, on reflection it know seems a breath of fresh air. It may seem a wee bit contrived but still gives us plenty to enjoy, in fact I found it a polished and exciting production that unfortunately is not available on DVD or Blu-ray at present. 

The Entertainer.

Originally a successful stage play at the Royal Court Theatre, John Osborne’s three-act play was adapted as a feature film The Entertainer (1960). This was the second Osborne play to be adapted for the big screen; the first was Look Back in Anger (1959) a stage play that changed British Theatre forever. Tony Richardson directing both the plays and movie adaptations

Filmed mainly on location at the English seaside town of Morecambe Richardson’s second feature film tells a story about the lingering death of the music hall which Osborne used as a metaphor for Britain’s post war decline. We follow the decay through the eyes of ‘has been’ Archie Rice, a seedy vaudeville artist who has that inbred knack of bringing misery and embarrassment to every one close to him.

Olivier with Shirley Ann Field.

Both Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright had transferred from the stage version to play identical parts in the feature film. Olivier’s portrayal of Rice was seen as one of his greatest performances, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Plowright plays Archie’s daughter Jean but both of these fine actors give the impression that they have not really left there stage craft behind, with that ‘must be seen and heard at the back’ type acting. Brenda de Banzie provides support as Archie’s long-suffering wife, with Roger Livesey reprising his role as the aged Colonel Blimp in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) as his father. There are debut-acting roles for both Albert Finney and Alan Bates as Archie’s sons.

Archie Rice.

It was an untidy adaptation with a soundtrack that at times drowned out the dialog.  Its commercial failure forced Richardson to decant to America to direct his next film. He did not seem to have the same directorial control over The Entertainer as he did in his previous film or in his two new wave films that were to be his greatest legacy to the British film industry, A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). Incidentally Joan Plowright must have made an impression on Olivier, he divorced Vivian Leigh and married her in 1961.

Tiger Bay.

Hayley Mills in her debut film..

During the first half of the 1960’s Hayley Mills, youngest daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, was the most popular child actor in the world. British director, producer and screenwriter J Lee Thomson spotted her when he visited her father at the family home to discuss his new film Tiger Bay (1959).  Filmed in atmospheric black and white on location in the Tiger Bay area behind the Cardiff Docks, one time home of singer Shirley Bassey, and at the Transporter Bridge in near by Newport.  It tells the story of 10 year old Gillie who witnesses a Polish seaman, Bronik Korchinsky, shoot and kill his adulterous girlfriend Anya (Yvonne Mitchell) in a fit of jealous rage, abducting the young eyewitness they go on the run, pursued by the grim humourless policeman Superintendent Graham (John Mills). Twelve-year-old Hayley Mills play’s the tomboy Gillie Evens in this her debut feature film role for which she won the Best Newcomer BAFTA in 1960. The role also secured her a five-year contract with Walt Disney. Horst Buchholz in his first British film plays the fugitive Pole, the following year he went on to play Chico in the classic western The Magnificent Seven.

Hayley with fugitive Horst Buchholz

This British crime drama captures a glimpse of the rich multiracial culture of the area in the late 50’s including many scenes of children’s and black street culture. Authentic and realistic, a forerunner to the impending British New Wave. Hayley Mills went on to make her first two films for Disney but her biggest challenge was her role of Kathy Bostock in the British drama Whistle Down the Wind in 1961. Bryan Forbes debut film tells the story of three Lancashire children who discover Jesus Christ hiding in their barn! They get it in their minds that the local adult population is setting up a second crucifixion for their visitor and decide to do all they can to protect him. Alan Bates plays the stranger and Hayley’s mother wrote the novel that the films based upon. This I believe is Hayley best film and a great watch for all the family; in fact it would make a great double bill with Tiger Bay.

Hayley with fugitive Alan Bates.

The Lair of the White Worm. A Ken Russell Retrospective.

Ken Russell Publicity Shot!!

Mr Ken Russell.

Watching three films by the late  Ken Russell   can have a profound effect on your sanity and your never look at another film in the same way!! Known as the enfant terrible of British cinema he was born in Southampton in 1927 and started his film career working for the BBC, making some 20 documentary’s for Huw Weldon’s art programme Monitor between 1958 and 1965. The best remembered of these are probably his biographical studies of musical composers. His first feature film was a comedy French Dressing in 1963. This was followed by the only film he made as ‘director for hire’ when in 1967 he directed the third of the Harry Palmer series Billion Dollar Brain.  But it was his next film Women in Love (1969) that proved to be a turning point in the director’s career. His most infamous and best-remembered work is probably The Devils made in 1971. Described as a heady mix of lust, religious obsession, sacrilege, masturbation and nuns, it’s something we will be able to sample again as the BFI are releasing the film on DVD, hopefully uncut for the first time, in March 2012. Other films of note in the seventies were Savage Messiah (1972) based on the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and his infatuation with an older woman, Mahler a 1974 biographical film based on the life of composer Gustav Mahler and of course the brilliant Tommy (1975) based on Pete Townsends rock opera of the same name, that was originally written for the rock band The Who in 1969. This courageous visionary filmmaker will be missed even if his overall career has had its ups and downs but no one can deny that he has been responsible for some of the most daring film’s we have had the pleasure to see on the big screen.

Women in Love 1969.

Film Poster.

The Splendid Cast of Women in Love.

Based on the controversial novel by D H Lawrence about love, sex and the upper class, Women in Love (1969) tells the story of two sisters growing up in the sheltered society of 1920’s England. Gudrun Brangwen (Glenda Jackson) and Ursula Brangwen (Jennie Linden) are both looking for the right man, but both want something different from the relationship. Ursula meets Rupert (Alan Bates), a school inspector. Gudrun meets the profound Gerard (Russell regular Oliver Reed), the son of a wealthy mine owner, at a house party given by his rich friends.  Both men already know each other very well. It’s a story that hints at hidden desires and an underlying lust for passion and explores the meaning of love. The film remains a landmark in its frank depiction of sexuality and homosexual themes, who could ever forget Alan Bates and Oliver Reed wrestling naked in front of a roaring open fire? Probably one of Russell’s most straightforward movies, a lavish production with some great acting, Glenda Jackson’s deeply felt portrayal of Gudrun winning her an Academy Award for Best Actress.  

Mahler 1974.

Cosima (Antonia Ellis)

Written and directed by Ken Russell Mahler (1974) is a biographical film based on the life of the Austrian composer. It stars Robert Powell as Gustav Mahler and the enchanting British actress Georgina Hale as his wife Alma. The composer is unwell and along with his rather disillusioned wife are on a single train journey from where their story is unfolded in flashbacks chronicling a turbulent life. These involve his troubled childhood, his brother’s suicide, anti-Semitism, his conversion from the Jewish to the Catholic faith, his marital problems and the death of one of his young daughters. The film explores his contribution to music as we travel on a journey through his depressing existence. Russell includes the normal fantasy and dream sequences the best of which involves the window of Richard Wagner, Cosima (Antonia Ellis) who objects to a converted Jew (Mahler) taking charge of the German Court Opera. The film won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Top class filmmaking, but I imagine not to every one’s taste.

The Lair of the White Worm 1988.

I have a theory in that you look at a Ken Russell film with a different ‘eye’ than when you’re looking at other director’s work! The Lair of the White Worm (1988) is a case in point. Bram Stoker based his 1911 novel The Lair of the White Worm on a folk legend from the depths of North East England. It revolves around John Lampton who was the heir of the Lampton Estate, County Durham who battled with a giant worm, probable a dragon, who had been terrorising the local villages. It was from Stokers book that Russell adapted his film. This wonderfully enjoyable nonsense has all the hallmarks that underline Russell’s reputation, half naked nuns, lots of grisly deaths, and buckets of blood, fantasy sequences involving naked ladies, phallic symbols, bagpipes, Morris Minors and a gorgeous looking villainess in the shape of Amanda Donohoe. It’s a daft story, the acting leaves a little to be desired and what with Russell’s tongue in cheek direction! But its great fun with real laugh out loud moments.  

Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter.

Losey with James Fox and Harold Pinter

Joseph Losey’s Hollywood career ended in 1951with the notorious McCarthy era investigation into his supposed connections with the Communist Party after which he was blacklisted by Hollywood and as a result came to work in Britain. Hollywood’s loss was our gain with his new and important work influencing the formation of British Art Cinema of the 1960’s. There’s no doubt that Losey did his best work in the 60’s when his movies dealt with some very British subjects. It has been said that The Servant was more ambitious than the social realism of the British New Wave films; I can agree that Losey's movie had a stronger European feel but certainly dispute whether it’s more ambitious. He continued to work in England until his death in 1984

Harold Pinter who achieved widespread recognition as Britain’s leading dramatist and screenwriter of the 1960’s was born in London in 1930. His fame as a screenwriter began with The Servant (1963), which he adapted from a 1949 novella, which was the first of three screenplays directed by Joseph Losey, the other two being Accident (1967) and The Go Between (1971). He also adapted his own stage plays for the screen including 1964’s The Caretaker. Other notable 1960’s screenplays were The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and The Quiller Memorandum (1966)

The Servant. (1963)

The screenplay for The Servant is classic Pinter; it’s a direct comment on the British class structure and catches an entire society in moral decay recording the collapse in a dark visual style. This intriguing story, set in the world of ‘men’ with women portrayed as only pawns, has the theatrical discipline of a stage play.

A wealthy minor aristocrat returns from Africa to stay in London until his business interests in Brazil come to fruition after which he will return abroad. On acquiring a smart well-appointed Town House, Tony (James Fox) advertises for a personal manservant. After interviewing various candidates Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) is appointed. All goes well for a while until we realise that Tony’s sinister manservant is slowly and deliberately attempting to control his upper class master. Barrett’s psychological mind games include undermining Tony’s snooty girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig) and passing off the sexy young housemaid Vera (Sarah Miles) as his sister. Barrett’s task is made easier when his master becomes dependant on alcohol and drugs. Losey’s clever build up of sexual tension between Vera and Tony includes the imaginative use of a dripping tap! A turning point in the narrative is when Susan and Vera are forced to leave the house and Losey, not for the first time, lets us perceive not only an exchange of power but also an unspoken sexual relationship between the two men.

With the role of Barrett, Bogarde finally traded in his matinee idol image some thing he began with his brave portrayal of a homosexual barrister in Victim (1961) he went on to make a further three movies with Losey, King and Country (1964) Modesty Blaise (1966) and the brilliant Accident (1967). The Servant launched the cinema careers of both James Fox and Sarah Miles.

Douglas Slocombe intense black and white cinematography makes wonderful use of tone and shadow. John Dankworths Jazzy soundtrack along with Cleo Laines song All Gone gave the film its haunting atmosphere.

Accident. (1967)

In 1967 Losey made what is widely regarded in some quarters as his best film Accident. This beautifully paced character driven movie involves Anna (Jacqueline Sassard) a young Austrian student who willingly becomes the focus of a sexual power struggle between two married Oxford dons and a student. Stephen (nobody does repressed sexuality like Dirk Bogarde) is her handsome tutor; William (Michael York in his film debut) is a wellborn fellow student; Charley (Stanley Baker) is Stephens’s athletic friend and rival. The film starts with Stephan alone in his large country house at night, his wife Rosalind (played by Vivien Merchant who was Harold Pinter's wife at the time) is at the maternity unit waiting to go into labour. He hears the roar of an engine and then a crash; going out side he finds a car on its side with two people in it. William is clearly dead, but Anna seems uninjured. Stephen pulls Anna out of the wreck, the police are called but the girl has mysteriously disappeared, the story is then told in retrospect. Nicolas Mosley’s novel is the source for Harold Pinter’s brilliant screenplay. Losey's fine direction allows time for the story to unfold and the viewer to saviour each scene, which can be likened to an artists painting.

A wee point of interest, the actress that plays Bogarde five year old daughter Clarissa is Carole Caplin who went on to be the style advisor to Cherie Blair and was involved in the scandal referred to as Cheriegate because of her involvement with a convicted conman who assisted the then Prime Ministers wife with the purchase of two flats in Bristol!!

The Go-Between. (1970)

The beautifal teenage sister (Julie Christie)

The third collaboration between director Joseph Losey and screenwriter Harold Pinter is the 1970 film The Go-Between considered by many critics to be the best of the three winning the Palme d’or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. Based on the autobiographical novel by L P Hartley which linked the present with the past taking an ageing bachelor back to a long hot English summer when he was twelve-years-old and lost his boyish heart to a beautiful headstrong young women who exploited his adoration to suit her own purposes.

In this costume drama, set in 1900, two young boys, Marcus and Leo, arrive at Branham Hall in Norfolk for the duration of the summer holidays. The grand house belongs to Marcus’s family and the first thing that catches Leo’s attention is Marian, his hosts beautiful teenage sister with whom he quickly becomes besotted. After a family dinner it’s agreed that Leo, because of the unbearable hot weather, should have a lighter suit to wear. Marion volunteers to accompany the eager young lad into Norwich and while there Leo see’s her talking, quite passionately, to Ted Burgess the estates tenant farmer! When the naïve young lad first visits Burgesses farm he is asked to take a letter to Marian but is not allowed to mention its existence to anyone. There begins Leo’s complicity in the clandestine love affair.

Alan Bates and Julie Christie

This very entertaining forerunner of the modern costume drama excels on detail with grand colours and superb country landscapes. Losey’s take on the English upper classes with its simmering passions and social repressiveness stars Julie Christie as Marion and Alan Bates as Burgess with Edward Fox as Hugh Trimingham a war hero and the man Marian is expected to marry. Dominic Guard who went on to appear in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Gandhi (1982) portrays the adolescent Leo Colston.