Arts
Beryl Cook
Many years ago I went to the National Theatre with a good friend who alas has now passed. I remember her but not the production. In the interval we wondered around the NT bookshop and were struck by the cover of a book called ‘THE WORKS” by Beryl Cook. Its cover – of two [...]
Tv drama: new and old
I watched the final episode of “THE NIGHT MANAGER” and was disappointed. Aside from the acting of Hugh Laurie as Richard Roper, the amoral arms dealer, there was little to engage and no improvement on the original. It bore all the formulaic trademarks of modern drama; incessant gizmos [...]
A Matter of Life and Death (1945)
Emetic Pressburger and Michael Powell were amongst our greatest filmmakers. “COLONEL BLIMP” is a classic and so is “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH“, which was on BBC2 yesterday. The story is surreal. David Niven plays Squadron Leader George Carter, who bails out of his plane [...]
Biographies
I recently moved from reading fiction to biography. Why do readers like biographies? The obvious explanation is the desire to know more about the subject and the times in which he/she lived. My own interest lies slightly elsewhere – namely, would I like to have met the subject? The first [...]
Amadeus and the Night Manager
The above programmes were the BBC’s Xmas offering and I was underwhelmed by both. Although centuries separated Mozart and the Night Manager the two dramas reflected the BBC’s emphasis on diversity. In Amadeus, Mozart’s librettist Carlo Ponte was played by à black actor. that was not the [...]
Dial M for Murder / Rear Wondow
What better way to get through that rarher dull period between Xmas and New Year than a double bill of vintage Hitchcock on tv . i have seen both Rear Window and Dial M for Murder many times but like all classics you turn on for 5 minutes and are rapidly engrossed. Dial M for Murder has a [...]
Brigitte Bardot
I was saddened by the passing of Brigitte Bardot and thought it inaccurate to dismiss her as a talentlrss bimbo and later eccentric recluse. She was a fine dancer training in the same ballet class as Leslie Caron ( not many people know that). Both Joan Crawford and Rits Hayworth were excellent [...]
Foyle’s War
They say a book improves in its second reading. I am now on my – at least third – viewing of “FOYLE’S WAR” and. if anything, am more impressed than ever by its script, acting and attention to detail. It’s written and directed by the celebrated writer Anthony Horowitz [...]