"A bomb, at Dawki, on Tuesday, killed nine enlisted men; an explosion in the mess at Chamba bereaved eleven British women; and furthermore, Major Hamilton lost three fingers of his right hand, a great loss! Major Hamilton was one of the finest polo players in the North-West Frontier."
That most prolific of TV writers, Ted Willis, might have been excused for resting on his laurels by 1968. He had two long-running hits under his belt already; Sergeant Cork (1963 - 1968) was just drawing to a close on ATV, whilst BBC juggernaut Dixon Of Dock Green (1955 - 1976) rumbled gamely on, and Ted himself was now Baron Willis of Chislehurst - he had well and truly made it. Never one to stay idle, however, Ted pitched a new series to ATV, something a little different: where much of his work until this point had concentrated on the police procedural, his new show was to eschew the groundings of realism in favour of dashing spies, exotic locales and grand comic book style adventures. So Virgin Of The Secret Service was born.
Even by the standards of mid-60s, non-ITC television, Virgin is pretty obscure, and there's precious little information out there about the series. I can make some informed guesses, but they are only guesses; clearly Ted wanted to try something different, and the series is certainly unlike anything he had created to that point - or indeed, much of what came after. Gone were methodical investigations and wise, older detective figures - in came sword fights and deadly tarantulas and exploding tennis balls. The subtle, wry humour of Cork and Dixon is replaced with outlandish, arch pastiche. Drawing heavily on the Boys' Own magazine style of serialised adventure story, with dashing heroes and foreign villainy clashing all around the British Empire of Old, the series is a larger than life tribute to a style of storytelling that had already fallen out of fashion.
Whether it was a success or not, I don't really know - like I say, there is very little information out there. I suspect not, and it certainly hasn't entered the public consciousness in anything like the way some of its' contemporaries have. Certainly it didn't last long - one series of thirteen episodes. I suspect - though I'm guessing again - that it was never conceived to be the sort of durable hit that Ted was known for. The sets and the costumes look impressively expensive, and the concept simply doesn't lend itself to multiple seasons of adventure. It is, though, for thirteen brief episodes, gloriously, brilliantly fun.
'Panique' – darkness in post-war France on Criterion Channel
Julien Duvivier, one of the godfathers of French poetic realism, announced his return home from his World War II Hollywood sojourn with the dark, savage French noir Panique (France, 1947).
Based on the novel “Monsieur Hire’s Engagement” by the prolific George Simenon, Panique stars Michel Simon as the eccentric Hire, an aloof misanthrope eyed with suspicion by his gossipy neighbors. As he stalks…
ok le duo auclair - bernard c'est d'la bombe (j'aurais trop aimé qu'ils aient plus de scènes en commun ohlala)
j'aurais voulu qu'il dure 3h au moins (sa durée est suffisante hein)
par contre monsieur bernard c'est bien gentil de vivre pas très longtemps mais jfais comment pour choisir un film bien classe où il est un des premiers rôles pour les edits ohlala !
jeghetermagne har sluppet låten “Gror”. Jeg har laget musikken og mikset, Subphotic har mastret. Magne er rapper og poet. Han har vært en av mine favoritter i mange år, og vi går way back. Jeg kaller dette hiophop/rap, men andre ville kanskje sagt at det er nærmere visesang og filmmusikk. Sjekk ut låten selv – og del gjerne den gjerne med andre hvis den faller i smak! (Låten finnes selvsagt på…
130 jaar geleden maakte Toulouse-Lautrec een portret van Paul “Tristan” Bernard, de uitvinder van de bel voor de laatste ronde…
Continue reading Paul “Tristan” Bernard (1866-1947)
An animated retelling of John Lennon's Being A Short Diversion On The Dubious Origins Of Beatles recited by Bernard Hill, in character as John, from the 1985 TV special John Lennon: A Journey In The Life.
Aloud me to reintroduce myself:
Jeg er en artist, låtskriver, komponist og musikkprodusent fra Askøy utenfor Bergen. For mange er jeg kjent som musikkprodusent, spesielt innenfor hiphopsjangeren. Jeg har blant annet gjort musikk med Oral Bee, Sirius, Nils m/Skils, Big Daddy Karsten, Salvador Sanchez, El Axel, Damien og ikke minst Feit’n fra Kolbotn sin “Noe bedre” fra NRK-suksessen…