Tales of the Unexpected
Tales of the Unexpected was a series made on the late 1970s and 80s which has now resurfaced on Sky Arts as an afternoon filler.
I find it oddly addictive.
Each episode is 30 minutes long and invariably contains a clever twist.
The executive producer was John Woolf.
He and his brother formed Romulus Films – a real force in the 1960s film industry – its most notable product being Zulu (1964).
It’s probably down to John Woolf that many senior actors got parts in the series.
I have seen Peter Cushing, Van Johnson and Hayley Mills.
I also saw David Cassidy playing twins, one of whom commits a murder – the problem for the detective being that he cannot tell which.
Rumpole and Tales of the Unexpected reflect a golden age of TV drama which I do not think can be emulated nowadays with the present accent on diversity.
Finally, I must record the recent passing of two cinema greats.
Jean Louis Trintignant made his debut in And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim who had him co-star with Brigitte Bardot.
Not as charismatic as Belmondo, not as handsome as Alain Delon, he nonetheless was a better actor and had along and illustrious film career.
James Caan is best known for his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather but he made Rollerball and a raft of other successful movies.
He was very much the male star of the 1970s, a fine decade for films (The Godfather Parts 1 & 2, Apocalypse Now, The French Connection and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).
