The movie industry has always been keen to capitalize on what is perceived to be a winning formula, one glance at the franchise-heavy roster of movies that get approved these days ought to provide ample evidence of that. When Otto Preminger’s adaptation of Laura proved successful, it should not comes as any surprise that another novel by Vera Caspary with a single word title derived from a woman’s name soon caught the attention of filmmakers. So it was that Bedelia (1946) came to the screen, not via Hollywood this time though, but through Rank in the UK. It is an interesting yet not wholly successful work, partly due to the fact that inverted mysteries such as this tend to be tricky subjects at the best of times, and partly as a result of a cast that, the leading lady excepted, feels a little lackluster.
The opening plays out over a portrait of Bedelia (Margaret Lockwood), with a narrator leading the viewer into the story, placing the opening scene in pre-WWII Monte Carlo. The narrator is a man by the name of Chaney (Barry K Barnes), ostensibly a painter but it’s clear enough that this is not his real profession. He’s a hunter of sorts, I suppose, and it is apparent that the title character is his quarry. She is on her honeymoon, having just married the older and decidedly staid Charles Carrington (Ian Hunter). Chaney quietly finagles his way into making the acquaintance of this couple of newly-weds. Carrington is a man in love, starry eyed and besotted in the myopic way that only those caught up in the romance of a late spring can be. Chaney has no such illusions to trouble or dazzle him and he, as do we the viewers, sees that Bedelia has constructed an elaborate cocoon of deceit around her, a shell of deception to hide her true motives and character. I don’t think it constitutes a major spoiler if I state outright that this woman is what we would now refer to as a serial killer, one who collects well-to-do if not explicitly wealthy husbands in order to dispose of them and cash in on the insurance. Carrington has become her latest acquisition, and by the time they return to his home in England, his fate has effectively been sealed. It only remains to be seen whether, or indeed how, her scheme will succeed, or whether Chaney, her husband or those in their social circle will manage to put paid to it.
Vera Caspary’s source novel was set in the US, but the film saw the action shifted to the UK. Like all inverted mysteries, it is essentially a tale of suspense, relying on the viewer becoming absorbed in the process of following a criminal who is planning out what they hope will be an undetectable crime. The suspense arises from our being that half step ahead, knowing what the ultimate goal is, and juggling hope and frustration as we will the would-be victim to shake the sleep from their eyes, and wonder how or if the inevitable can be sidestepped. In a sense, it is hard to avoid comparing this film to Laura, although I dislike doing so in general and on principle – I reckon if a writer or filmmaker has taken the trouble to produce a work for our entertainment, then the least we can do is try to appreciate it or assess it as a discrete entity. As I say though, the temptation is there, and I feel the film comes up a little short under the circumstances. The story is good enough, Lance Comfort’s direction is smooth and suitably stylish, and Freddie Young’s cinematography contains some attractive flourishes, although it’s not difficult to see where it’s all headed.
Margaret Lockwood was one of the biggest stars of British cinema in the 1940s, courtesy of her work for Hitchcock, Carol Reed and the Gainsborough melodramas. She is fine as the title character, a deeply disturbed woman who successfully buries her greed and duplicity beneath a poised and polished exterior. We are onto her right from the beginning, those petty lies and that odd reluctance to be photographed or even have her portrait completed sending out strong signals of the presence of a wrong ‘un. Yet she displays a kittenish charm that serves to dilute the evil we know lurks beneath the surface, and adds the kind of layering to the character that allows the viewer to care about her even as we hope to see her machinations foiled. I won’t go into details here as I think that would be straying too deep into spoiler territory, but it’s worth noting that a separate and radically different ending was shot for US audiences. I’ve only seen the British ending myself, and I feel it is both appropriate and satisfying in the context of all that went before.
Ian Hunter had a long an varied career, starring in a number of early films for Hitchcock before heading to Hollywood and working with the likes of Frank Borzage and John Ford. By the mid to late 1940s he was back in Britain and Bedelia presented him with a worthwhile role. There is a good deal of high octane melodrama in this picture and his calm, slightly wounded stoicism acts as a counterweight to Lockwood’s more highly strung central performance. He grounds it all and provides the sympathetic figure the audience needs to identify with. This is all the more important as Barry K Barnes invests the character of Chaney with a rather colorless and oddly fey quality, somewhat remote and chilly. As for the others, Anne Crawford probably has the other fairly significant part yet, as with most of the supporting players, there is a sense of someone flitting in and out of proceedings without really making a lasting impression.
Bedelia was released on DVD in a very nice print from Odeon/Screenbound a few years ago, but it looks as though it has since drifted out of print. It’s a solid mystery/melodrama with a hint of film noir about it and definitely worth checking out should the opportunity arise. The inverted structure may not work for everybody and the cast, apart from Lockwood and Hunter, feel a bit anonymous. That said, it does look good and the resolution is bleakly satisfying.
Riding the High Country 
I’ll watch any 1940s Margaret Lockwood movie. Wonderful actress. Of course she was even better when paired with an equally charismatic leading man such as James Mason in The Wicked Lady. Which is one of my all-time favourite bad girl movies and one of my favourite melodramas.
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I agree. I think that while this is an enjoyable movie, it could have used a stronger cast for Lockwood to play off.
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Good to see Colin returning to Brit Noir. BEDELIA often turns up on Talking Pictures TV but I’ve so far missed it so here’s another one to look out for. Lance Comfort is another Brit director of A Movies that slid down into programmers then B Movies. Two from 1954 BANG YOU’RE DEAD and EIGHT ‘O CLOCK WALK are very good especially the latter his career seemed to slide
after those two.
Backtracking from the previous thread I too never understood why A PRIZE OF GOLD has never been given a DVD release-as Walter
notes it’s not as if it lacks star power. Other Warwick Films on the missing list are NO TIME TO DIE (Tank Force) with Victor Mature and HIGH FLIGHT with Ray Milland directed by John Gilling. KILLERS OF KILLIMANJARO with Robert Taylor does turn up on TPTV but as a horrible 4×3 version not in the correct 2.35 CinemaScope ration. TPTV have a very rare Brit Flick I’ve never heard of NOW BARABBAS, a prison drama with Richard Greene-I’ll certainly be tuning in for that one.
Jerry I’m so glad you have finally tracked down the Blu Ray of THE NAKED SPUR I’m sure you will agree with the rest of us that
it’s a revelation-I liked Paula’s comment over at Toby’s site that she’s now using the old DVD as a coaster! I might add that Studio Canal’s transfer of WOMEN OF TWILIGHT is sensational but I couldn’t get it to play on my multi region player, until I investigate further I wonder if Studio Canal have developed the technology to ensure their discs only play on region B players.
There are darkly comic aspects to Freda Jackson’s performance but her character is so chilling as to find much amusement.
Jackson and Rene Ray are sensational in this film-I must track down more Ray movies-she’s a class act. Two good extras detailing the evolution of the film and indeed the play and the many problems the film makers had with the censor at the time.
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Some people, perhaps even yourself, recommended Eight O’Clock Walk in the past and I managed to nab a copy earlier this year when Network had it on sale at a knockdown price. I look forward to watching it.
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Having read a rather dismissive review of “BEDELIA” in Radio Times magazine (they often dismiss films I like) I decided recently to give it a rewatch. Whilst not breaking new ground especially I found the film a rewarding watch.
Ian Hunter was a good, if rather bland, actor but Barry K. Barnes struck just the right note for me in this film – he was meant to be a ‘cold fish’, it seemed to me. I have liked him in other films from this time; his film career was cut short after this film due to an illness he contracted during the war.
As Dee says, Margaret Lockwood was great, certainly for her most famous decade.
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Jerry, you have my support re Barry K. Barnes. I like him and his take on the Pimpernel worked well for me.
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Thanks for your comment, Barry. Have you seen him in “WHO GOES NEXT” (1938), a WW1 prison camp drama in which Barnes starred with the support of Sophie Stewart and Jack Hawkins? The latter of course became one of the biggest screen actors in the UK in the 1950s. Rather a good escape story.
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I have not, but certainly shall. Thanks, jerry.
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Jerry, I don’t think I’ve seen Barnes in anything else, nothing that springs to mind anyway. I’ll concede he was playing a cold type, but it ended up leaving me cold. Hunter does generate sympathy but the sense of distancing I felt with Barnes’ investigator resulted in an imbalance, something approaching a void at the heart of the movie.
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Barnes had quite a range. As well as Sir Percy Blakeney, as Barry mentioned, he was quite a hit in “THIS MAN IS NEWS” (1938) in a light-hearted mystery with him getting in the way of a bad-tempered Alastair Sim. There was even a follow-up film. Always more to explore, Colin – thank goodness!
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I see Barnes also had a role in Dancing with Crime, which I have a copy of but have yet to watch. It is indeed good to have more films to explore, Jerry, and especially when one viewing sends us off in search of other potentially interesting material.
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I recommend you get to “DANCING WITH CRIME”, Colin. No cinematic classic but just a good slice of enjoyable entertainment.
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I will get to it, just a question of finding the time with one thing and another. I like mixing up more modest but entertaining films with better regarded fare, there’s a lot to be said for a varied diet.
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Hi, Colin – one of the many strengths of your reviews is that, while saying a movie is nothing special, you point out its strengths as well as its weaknesses. There’s enough of the former for me to see if I can track down a copy of Bedelia. A strong part of my motivation, I must admit, is Lockwood’s leading role.
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I do like to be as even handed as possible and as honest in my appraisals as possible. I can’t claim this film worked 100% for me but it wasn’t what I’d regard as a disappointment either, just that some areas could have stood some improvement. As I said in the main piece, it’s certainly worth watching should the chance arise.
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Colin, good write-up of a movie that I’ve never viewed. I agree with Steve in that though a movie is nothing special you do point out its strengths and weaknesses. I like that you don’t discourage anyone from viewing a particular movie, because we know everyone has different likes and dislikes. If I’m ever able to see BEDELIA(1946) it might turn out to be a special movie too me, or it might not. That’s part of the audience participation of the movie experience.
I’m also a fan of Margaret Lockwood ever since I first viewed her in THE LADY VANISHES(1938) on THE CBS LATE MOVIE in 1974. I agree with Dee that she is a wonderful actress. I really enjoyed her performance in THE WICKED LADY(1945).
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Margaret Lockwood is also terrific in The Man in Grey. Margaret Lockwood and James Mason together were dynamite. The Man in Grey is an absolutely outrageous and delightfully twisted melodrama. The 1940s Gainsborough melodramas are all wonderful and this is one of the best of them.
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Yes, I concur. I like the Gainsborough melodramas quite a lot myself. They weren’t all that well regarded by critics of the time but they are, by and large, terrifically entertaining and I think their stock has risen considerably over time.
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I’m not keen on discouraging people – I reckon we’re all capable of exercising our own judgment and using our own critical facilities. I can only give what I hope is an honest an account of how something strikes me and let others make of it what they will.
I must try to feature more of Margaret Lockwood’s movies in the future.
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I’ll look forward to that, Colin! A particular early favourite Lockwood film of mine is “BANK HOLIDAY” (1938) which was one of the films that made her name. It really is a wonderful slice of British life for factory workers of that time when many working people would pile onto trains to take them to the sea-side for a Bank Holiday Monday. It also was perhaps the film that brought director Carol Reed’s name to the forefront.
(Since Great Britain is such a small country there is practically nowhere that folk cannot get to the seaside and back in a day. Where I live is probably further from a coastline than anywhere but it only takes a couple of hours or so by car). I only mention this for friends in other countries who might not realise this.
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I have a copy of Bank Holiday, I think it was part of a Lockwood boxset I picked up long ago.
Regarding proximity to the sea, I think that’s even more noticeable in Ireland as it’s a much smaller island. I never would have thought of myself as a coastal dweller as a youngster, but the fact is I grew up less than ten miles from the coast.
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Well, it can take me 2 hours just to get from West to East London by car so …
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One of the great ironies of modern urban living. The nearer we are to our destination, the longer it takes to get there.
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Some of Carol Reed’s really early movies are quite interesting. I’m quite fond of The Girl in the News, a neat little 1940 murder mystery/courtroom thriller starring Margaret Lockwood. Night Train To Munich is a competent thriller (and also stars Margaret Lockwood). Since it’s a train thriller you’re naturally going to compare it to The Lady Vanishes, also from 1940. In 1940 Carol Reed wasn’t in the same league as Hitchcock (although within a few years he most definitely would be in that league) but it’s quite entertaining.
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I have never come across The Girl in the News but hope to get to it one day.
Aside from the train setting, it’s difficult not to have The Lady Vanishes in mind when watching Night Train to Munich due to the involvement of Launder & Gilliat as well as Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne.
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Noir or “Noirish” is always good and Lockwood was a great star but have never seen this one to my surprise. Not long after this Comfort drifted out of A pictures though was always a decent craftsman. Thanks Colin.
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While Comfort’s career saw him move into B pictures, with all the obvious restrictions imposed by that faster and less lavish form, he still managed to make some very entertaining movies, and a number of them were rather stylish too.
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Saw this on youtube after reading your review….and got very upset when the cat died.
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Yes, I’m not what you’d term a cat person myself, but that moment is a bit jarring.
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Saw Bedelia many moons ago on a rather weather-beaten vhs. I really need to get back into my Brit noirs-thrillers etc again. And this one will be at the top of the list. Thanks for the reminder.
Gord
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There are online options, which is useful seeing as it appears to be out of print on physical formats now, although i think the resolution is on the low side. The old UK DVD is pretty strong but didn’t seem to stay in print all that long. Odeon/Screenbound must have had a fairly limited licensing period available to them.
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I’ve seen “BEDELIA” on Talking Pictures TV channel only recently and in a fine print so maybe they have the Odeon DVD to show.
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Thanks Colin
Found a decent looking print on You-Tube of “BEDELIA”.
I just had another free channel added to my cable service. FILMRISE BRITISH TV AND FILM. Plenty of UK crime, thriller, comedy series etc. Some that I have never heard of like, “Serangoon Road’, “Wired”, “The Driver” “Sapphire and Steel”. There are some Aussie series and films and a few American western series like THE RIFLEMAN and 100 plus episodes of the 50s series Wyatt Earp with Hugh O’Brian. I see this channel is going to take up some of my time.
Have a good week people!!!!
Gordon
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I have very fond memories of Sapphire and Steel.
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Sapphire and Steel was a great series. Intelligent provocative wildly imaginative sci-fi, and very dark at times.
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Colin and Dee, which SAPPHIRE AND STEEL tv series are you writing about? The 1979-1982 series with David McCallum and Joanna Lumley or the 2005-08 series with Susannah Harker and Lisa Bowerman?
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The McCallum/Lumley show. I didn’t know there was any other version.
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The 1979-82 series. I don’t watch any 21st century TV so I hadn’t heard of another series with that name.
The 1979-82 series is a bit like Doctor Who for grown-ups. Sapphire (Joanna Lumley) and Steel (David McCallum) have the job of preventing damage to the spacetime continuum. It’s never quite clear if they’re highly advanced aliens or gods. What’s clever is that they’re neither malevolent nor benevolent. They just do whatever it takes to keep the spacetime continuum intact. It’s not their job to help people. They’re not social workers.
Lumley and McCallum do a great job of conveying the total alienness and non-humanness of their characters.
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Colin-
I hope you enjoy EIGHT ‘O CLOCK WALK-it has at times a creepy unnerving quality.
Another Attenborough facing the gallows film LONDON BELONGS TO ME (aka Dulcimer Street) has been on the missing list for some time now-hopefully TPTV will show it or better still Studio Canal will issue a 4K Blu Ray.
Speaking of Studio Canal can you (or Jerry) give me feedback on THE TECKMAN MYSTERY. It’s not a very well reviewed film but I like the cast and am really interested in the classic short THE STRANGER LEFT NO CARD. It seems a bit lavish shelling out 10 quid for a 20 minute short I might add. If you tell me it’s in your “To Be Viewed Stack” I’ll jump out of my 7th floor window! 🙂 A “Young Person” reviewing the film in The Guardian gave it a very lukewarm review-furthermore she stated that we are now in the death throes of digital media.
Perhaps someone should tell her that vinyl is now outselling CD’s in the UK and The States. I know that is in a large part due to Taylor Swift and her dedicated band of “Swifties” who will buy anything Taylor endorses and furthermore most of those young fans don’t even have a system to play vinyl. I like our friend Toby’s comment that streaming is just vapor and collectors like to own the movies they love-Young People just don’t understand these things.
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Don’t be jumping out of any windows, John, but I’m afraid I will have to admit The Teckman Mystery does indeed inhabit the still unexplored foothills of Mount To-Be-Watched and, seeing as its currently the other side of Europe, will remain so for at a least a few more months.
I’m someone who likes to own physical product, even if storage space is a problem. I think my generation is probably the last to set so much store by this though, younger people I talk to really don’t seem that bothered. Of course, one never knows how people will feel a few more years down the line. I’ll keep buying what appeals to me as long as it’s available or being released anyway. I mean I was just delighted to learn yesterday that the Warner Archive have Lang’s Clash by Night coming out on Blu-ray from a new 4K scan in May.
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Ah yes, storage space. I have no storage space left but I keep buying physical media. I think physical media is more important than ever before. I like going back and rewatching movies that I haven’t seen for a few years. I have movies on DVDs that I’ve owned for twenty years and I’ll suddenly decide I really want to watch them again.
Good movies are almost always worth rewatching. I also love rewatching movies and then going back to old reviews I wrote and comparing my reactions to those movies today to my reactions of maybe ten years ago.
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No – no jumping, John please! As many will know, Francis Durbridge was a highly popular writer of thrillers from 1930s to 1970s with many appearing on BBCtv as 6-part serials. I grew up on those serials.
“THE TECKMAN BIOGRAPHY” by Durbridge was a very popular and successful TV serial in 1953. My family got its first Tv in late 1953, missing the Teckman serial by a few months.
Several of the writer’s serials were so popular that a feature film followed and in 1954 “THE TECKMAN MYSTERY” was released by British Lion. Again no cinematic classic but, for me anyway, cracking good entertainment.
I have bought a lot of films on DVD (a few BluRay too) in the recent years and my wife is STILL waiting for me to come up with an answer to what I am going to do with the boxes of discs stacked in my den. MY den, please note, but I still need to find an answer LOL! The physical format is an absolute MUST for me – I want to be able (if I can find it!!) to rewatch a particular film at any given time. Obviously many of us on here share the same issue. BUT what a great problem to have surely?
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Generally speaking anything written by Francis Durbridge will be worth watching. It’s sad that a lot of his TV serials are now lost. I think I have most of the surviving Francis Durbridge Presents serials on DVD and I’ve enjoyed all of them.
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Books represent a bigger storage issue for me. Binders, envelopes and cross-referenced database allow me to keep the disc storage under control and mean I can lay my hands on a particular title very quickly.
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I know I need to organise my DVD collection in a more efficient and rational way. It’s just that there always seem to be other things that need doing more urgently.
Book storage is definitely a nightmare but I absolutely refuse even to consider buying ebooks.
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I enjoyed THE TECKMAN MYSTERY, but then I love aviation-themed mysteries and thrillers. And I love crime movies that add a dash of espionage. I think it’s worth seeing.
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Dfordoom
One of Francis Durbridge ‘s tales that was turned into a superb thriller was, “Operation Diplomat” from 1953. It starred Guy Rolfe, Sydney Tafler and Anton Differing. The film was nicely laid out by director John Guillerman. I quite enjoyed it and even put up a review on IMDB back in 2008.
You can add me to the fan list of aviation-themed films.
Gord
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Gordon, I watched Operation Diplomat in August last year and reviewed it on my blog. It is indeed a neat little thriller.
And I regard Sydney Tafler as a very underrated actor.
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Gord, “OPERATION DIPLOMAT” had been an (obviously) successful BBC TV serial also. That same year, 1952, another Durbridge TV serial “THE BROKEN HORSESHOE” was also made into a cinema feature, this time starring Robert Beatty. It co-starred Peter Coke who played Durbridge’s sleuth Paul Temple on BBC radio 1954-68.
Like Dee, I have DVD sets of all the available Durbridge serials, the earlier ones were probably either ‘live’ or, if filmed, wiped sadly.
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The really depressing thing is that even the 1969-71 Paul Temple TV series (featuring Durbridge’s most famous character) doesn’t survive in its entirety. It was shot in colour and was very successful (and was a huge success in Europe) but the BBC still destroyed many of the episodes.
This is one case where the BBC really does seem to have been motivated by malice. It was a series that was popular with ordinary viewers and therefore not worthy of preservation even though being a colour series it had potential for reruns. The BBC in those days had a virulent contempt for the tastes of the general public.
And it was a very entertaining series.
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Jerry
i actually have a dvd R of “THE BROKEN HORSESHOE” feature film here somewhere. I try and catch anything with Canadian actor Beatty in it. A good actor who seldom gets mentioned for some reason. Loved him in “DIAL 999” tv series and the top prisoner of war film, “Albert R.N.”
Gordon
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I’m really happy to see your good opinion of Robert Beatty, Gord. He had a long and successful career here in the UK yet seems forgotten today. Fine actor and I was ‘over the moon’ when Network released the complete “DIAL 999” series on DVD last year. Great to see it again after 60 years.
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When it comes to old and rare TV series, the 2 ‘most wanted’ for years on Jerry’s List were “DIAL 999” (now released!!) and “FABIAN OF THE YARD” which I was hooked on as a child when the whole series (39 episodes) aired on BBCtv. A mere half-dozen are all that seems able to be found sadly. I live in hope but…….
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I haven’t worked my way through all of Dial 999 yet but what I have seen has proved to be really enjoyable and well made. The Network box set offers a really attractive presentation of the show.
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Off-topic but in a discussion on Audie Murphy westerns elsewhere two movies were mentioned, neither of which I’ve seen (remember that I’m a comparative newbie where westerns are concerned). The movies were Sierra and John Huston’s The Unforgiven. Are these movies I need to see? Are there decent DVD releases?
Of course I guess Audie Murphy can never really be off-topic here!
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Sierra is fine, an entertaining little picture but not what I’d term essential, one to look out for rather than make a big effort to seek out. There are a number of DVDs available, all of which are fine as fa as I’m aware.
The Unforgiven, on the other hand, is excellent and I recommend it – I wrote a short piece on it many years ago here and I probably like it even more now. The old DVD looked very good, although I did pick up a cheap German Blu-ray at one point which considerably improves on that
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Yes, I would very much go along with Colin’s assessments, Dee. “THE UNFORGIVEN” contains Audie Murphy’s finest perfomance on screen.
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Colin-
I tried to post something right under your CLASH BY NIGHT comment but it never went through. I’ve never seen CLASH BY NIGHT-is it more Noir or Melodrama or a bit of both.
I’m also getting BORDER INCIDENT which I’ve never seen it looks somewhat similar to Sturges’ THE CAPTIVE which I really like.
Warner Archives restoration of RANCHO NOTORIOUS is stellar the best so far of their RKO Technicolor restorations. I’d love a restoration of SILVER LODE in that quality ‘though sadly Warners don’t own the rights to that one.
Thanks,Jerry for the thumbs up on TECKMAN MYSTERY……………..if it’s good enough for you. Warner Archive and Studio Canal top the list for high quality restorations.
BTW Colin do you already have STORM WARNING. My old DVD is fine but I’m going to miss out on the nice extras on the Blu Ray…….the film is excellent and very highly recommended. Also on my shopping list A LION IS IN THE STREETS again with some
good extras on the Blu Ray.
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Sorry, for the late response, John, I’m jut in from work.
Clash by Night is melodrama with a strong noir vibe in my opinion, and I like that a lot. Others may, of course, get less from it, but I find there is so much to admire in just about every department.
As for Storm Warning, I too have the old DVD, which I always felt was perfectly adequate so I doubt if I’ll be looking to upgrade that one.
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I also think Clash by Night is worth seeing and I agree with your description – melodrama with a decided noir vibe.
I remember it as having a slight similar feel to Human Desire which Lang made a couple of years later. Human Desire is very much worth seeing.
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It is, and it’s a film I’ve had in mind for a revisit, and maybe a write-up, for a while now.
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Did anyone catch Talking Pictures TV’s showing of
NOW BARRABAS (1949)
This ultra rare film I understand was loaned to TPTV by
The British Film Institute.
It;s one of those very hard to locate Warner Bros British Pictures.
I loved the picture-only drawback Richard Greene a bit lightweight
for the role of the man awaiting execution.
Greene just did not have the acting chops for such a role-Michael
Redgrave or Stanley Baker would have provided the intensity required
although film was made too early in Baker’s career.
The film (like Losey’s THE CRIMINAL) shows how the UK prison system
was designed to brutalize and dehumanize the inmates-furthermore
not much had changed between 1949 and 1960.
This is even more harrowing considering many of the inmates were there
for petty crimes that would not warrant a custodial sentence these days.
Action honours go to Richard Burton playing an IRA saboteur now a
trustee eight years into a ten year term.
Burton’s character is explosive, embittered with his own code of ethics.
Only actor to give Burton any serious competition is William Hartnell
as the prison warden from hell-today’s street punks and drug pushers
would not last ten minutes under Hartnell’s regime.
A fine companion piece to Gordon Parry’s WOMEN OF TWILIGHT-
another Parry film I’d love to see is FRONT PAGE STORY (1954)
with Jack Hawkins and Eva Bartok.
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Oh and yes Colin thanks for the link to your
CLASH BY NIGHT review..most interesting comments too.
So, Dee cannot watch anything with Jack Lemmon-
I wonder how he feels about Jerry Lewis.
Speaking about Paul Douglas has anyone seen JOE MACBETH (1955)
with Douglas, Ruth Roman and Sid James directed by Ken Hughes.
A USA set gangster flick filmed in the UK based on you know what.
Oddly enough JOE MACBETH played as a main feature in the UK.
This is the sort of oddity TPTV are bound to show sooner or later.
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I like Jerry Lewis almost as much as I like Jack Lemmon. They appeal to me about as much as root canal therapy.
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I note with interest that Renown Pictures are releasing
NOW BARABBAS as a stand alone DVD.
I’m very pleased about this as it’s such a rare film and
while watching on TV thought there’s a film I’d love to own.
I must say Renown’s graphics have improved considerably.
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Firstly, John – “BORDER INCIDENT” is terrific. Well worth anyone’s viewing.
I picked up a rather ropy copy of “NOW BARABBAS…” only months ago. I enjoyed the film quite well and agree with your thoughts on both Greene and Hartnell. I have recorder the film off TPTV as I am sure to get much more from the film with a good B.I. print.
“FRONT PAGE STORY” is available on disc but really needs a restoration. Very fine newspaper drama and I’ll enjoy anything with Jack Hawkins.
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Thanks Jerry.
I’m glad you agree with me regarding Greene and Hartnell
always delivers.
I’m no great Burton fan but I thought he was outstanding
and had the intensity Greene lacked.
I’ve searched everywhere for FRONT PAGE STORY with no luck
I don’t think it’s ever had an official release unless there is an OOP
version.
It’s the sort of film Studio Canal will hopefully release.
SC are knocking them out of the park right now with beautiful
transfers and seem to have taken over from Network who are releasing
tons of TV titles most of which have zero interest for me.
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In the mood for another prison flick I dug out the Warner
Archive DVD of ROAD GANG (1936) directed by Louis King
from a Dalton Trumbo script.
This Southern Chain Gang makes the Brit Prison System in
NOW BARABBAS look like a holiday camp.
You know you’re in trouble when Charles Middleton is head warden.
The poor inmates diet of fish hash looks as revolting as it sounds.
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John
ROAD GANG packs quite a punch into it’s hour long runtime. An excellent low renter!
Gord
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