[profh0011]

It's kinda sad that one show led to 2 divorces.

Although, from what my friend in Wales has described, Gerry & Sylvia's marriage was on rocky ground at least from the time they were doing THUNDERBIRDS!  That's a long time for a break-up.

What I find most interesting... is that both Martin Landau & Barbara Bain's acting careers really seemed to pick up AFTER their breakup.  I saw her on a MIKE HAMMER where she was terrific as a mobster's widow, and most of my favorite Landau roles were in his later years.

Also, and I made this observation years before I started to learn the details... I felt the writing on Gerry's shows got steadily worse and worse at it went, starting downhill with THUNDERBIRDS (I know it's beloved, and that includes by me, but the writing was a step down from STINGRAY, which was a step down from FIREBALL XL5) with 1999 season 2 being the bottom. 

And then he got re-married... and suddenly, TERRAHAWKS had the best writing since XL5.  And SPACE PRECINCT was way better! That show got seriously overlooked and dismissed in America, and only run on late-night when most poeople never saw it, but it very quickly became my #1 favorite Anderson show.

I couldn't shake the feeling, that divorce was some kind of "wake-up call"... and next thing, "people" became more important in the writing than the machines.



I should ammend my earlier observation when it concerns UFO.  Some of the early episodes were TERRIBLY wrong-headed, downbeat, pointlessly depressing... which I now see as a reflection of what was going on behind-the-scenes.  But the later episodes... WOW.  It's really tragic what the TV programmers did to sabotage that show in England.  As I said, if you watch it in the right order, once you get past the "REALLY BAD" episodes... the "REALLY GOOD" ones show more potential than I ever picked up on before.

[profh0011]

I got my hands on a used VCR today!  Sadly... while it's obviously a much-better one than it's replacing, and mechanically it's working perfect... there's NO VIDEO signal.  Damn.  So close.  Have to send it back and get another one...

So today... DRACULA (1958).  The only Christopher Lee Dracula film where he's even pretending to be "civilized" in a couple scenes.  (Well, except maybe for "SATANIC RITES...".)

[Captain Audio]

The ep where the night before a certification physical he goes to a party and gets S**t faced and likely stoned as well tells you a lot about his priorities.
I liked the music at the party "Get back" by the Beatles.

I JUST watched that one this morning!

My friend in Wales some time back pointed out that Gerry seemed to do a couple of things in EVERY series he ever worked on:  "dream" episodes, and "clip shows".  This was the "dream".  And if you know that going in, you can pinpoint exactly where Foster falls asleep.

When I first got the DVDs, I was actually PISSED OFF when he woke up at the end of the story.  It seemed a good story, and not much reason for it to be a dream.

The main advancement of the "big story" this time around is... Carlin, who was doing such a good job, is NEVER seen again, and Waterman, one of the Interceptor pilots, is transferred to take over SkyDiver for the rest of the series.  At the same time, Foster, who'd been put in charge of Moonbase since his recruitment, is being bounced around to learn about ALL the various functions of SHADO.  So here, right after Straker's son got killed, Foster spent the next 2 months assigned to SkyDiver, apparently as part of his training.

I liked Franklin, played by David Healy.  he did a pile of voices on various Anderson shows, and also played Dr. Watson in my favorite version of "THE SIGN OF FOUR", the one with Ian Richardson.

Peter Burton made his 2nd of 3 appearances as Dr. Murray, this time working at the health farm (though the IMDB has his listed as someone else).  He played Major Boothroyd ("Q") in DR. NO back in 1962.

Also according to the IMDB (but I never noticed it), Stephanie Beacham makes her first of 2 appearances as Sarah Bosanquet, one of the girls at the party.

Quinn O'Hara played Sylvia Graham, the girl Foster was dating in this story.  I guess he got over his previous one (from "Survival") pretty quick.

Has anyone ever counted how many girls Jim Kirk got romantic with on STAR TREK ?


UFO actually has 2 "dream" episodes.  The 2nd one, "Mindbender", in the 2nd half, also doubles for a few scenes as a "clip show"!


My impression of Foster from this episode-- given that most of it was "just a dream"-- is he has a extremely high opinion of himself and his importance.  In his dream, Alec is concerned about him, Waterman VIOLATES a direct order to save his life, and Gaye takes part in the operation to get him out of the alien spacesuit.

By the way, while I have had some dreams where I seem to be watching a movie, USUALLY, my dreams involve myself.  So for this story to keep cutting back and forth to all this other stuff with all these other people while Foster is a prisoner in that alien spacesuit... makes me VERY suspicious the "it was all a dream" aspect was added at the very last minute.  That AIN'T no normal dream!!!

[The Australian Panther]

And now for something.... quite other.
Last night I watched The 1952 Noir movie, The Turning Point.
I love Noir and hadn't heard of this one.
William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmund O'Brian,  Ed Begley, more known faces as characters than you can poke a stick at and don't miss Carolyn Jones short screen debut.      Warren Duff(screenplay) Horace McCoy(story).
The Turning Point 1952 FILM NOIR 480p 30fps H264 128kbit AAC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THubLIP90m8

If you are paying attention to world affairs, you can't help being aware of how contemporary much of this seems.
You can watch this before screening the movie if you like, but better you don't till after. Spoilers!
Noir Alley: The Turning Point (1952) intro 20220206
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p1HIqMqT4I
Don't watch this till after you have watched the movie. Finale spoilers!
Noir Alley: The Turning Point (1952) outro 20220206
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a4DqDQC5HE
I haven't got this movie out of my head since I saw it. Always a good sign. And I will definitely watch it again.   

[profh0011]

"If you are paying attention to world affairs, you can't help being aware of how contemporary much of this seems."

That's always fun when that happens.

I've seen it with THE ROBE (specifically, the scene with Emperor Tiberius), and the James Whale adaptation of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK.  Both films seem more "today" than they probably were when they were made.

Then again, when it comes to "corrupt governments", the biggest collection of those I probably ever saw in old movies were the various "Italian muscle man movies" of the early 1960s.  They're supposed to be taking place 2 or 3000 years ago, but they seem very "now".

[The Australian Panther]

" Everything that happens has happened before;
nothing is new, nothing under the sun,
someone might say, 'here is something new!'
But it happened long before we were born,
no one who lived in the past is remembered any more,
and everyone yet to be born will be forgotten too."

Ecclesiasties 1 (9-11)
written about 3000 years ago.   

[Captain Audio]

Ecclesiasties 1 (9-11)
written about 3000 years ago.

After the first remake of Beau Geste.

[LoneRanger04]

Vendetta for the Saint was on yesterday on Talking Pictures, UK freeview channel 82. Its a peculiar film, apparently made up of two 1962 episodes from the TV series according to IMDb. It could almost pass as a Bond film, especially when compared to the generally poor writing of many of Sir Roger Moores outings. This too could have been adapted much better. Ian Hendry attempted to play a fake Mafia boss trying to take over the organisation (he put on a fake accent and all, with varying degrees of success) whilst Moore takes on the Mafia, and ends up arresting most of the bosses. The best part is probably the stunning views of Italy in the early 60s, with people riding around on Lambrettas.

[paw broon]

The first few Moore Bond films were entertaining and became funnier as they progressed. Almost slapstick at times. By the end they were poor stuff.  For me, Bond films gave not stood the test of time and I have no great desire to watch them, new  or old.
You want corrupt governments in tv?  Try Sword of Freedom, a show I fondly remember and there are some examples on you tube. Watching it nowadays, it seems slow and ploddy but there us usually a good sword fight. The bad guy is a devious nasty.
Marco del Monte played by Edmund Purdom.  Exciting opening credits.

[LoneRanger04]

I think the early Connery films, especially From Russia With Love, are brilliant. Those, and George Lazenbys only outing are still really enjoyable action flicks and are also interesting representations of the Cold War. It only went downhill from there. Moore was fun to watch, but he was just playing Simon Templar and his character from the Persuaders whose name I forgot, not Bond.

[The Australian Panther]

The Best Bond Films
the first two Connery Films
    1.1 Dr. No (1962)
    1.2 From Russia with Love (1963)
also
    Thunderball
Goldfinger almost makes it for the one scene,
'Do you expect me to talk?'
'No Mr Bond, I expect you to die.'   
The Lazenby Film almost made it, but not the fault of Lazenby.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
The First Timothy Dalton
1.15 The Living Daylights (1987)
and The First
Daniel Craig film
1.21 Casino Royale (2006)
and I'm partial to Connery in a wig in
Never say Never again.

You want corrupt governments in tv? 

"You May Very Well Think That; I Couldn't Possibly Comment..." -- Ian Richardson (1934-2007)
The House of Cards
https://bowjamesbow.ca/2007/02/12/you-may-very-we.shtml

cheers!

[Captain Audio]

 
"You May Very Well Think That; I Couldn't Possibly Comment..." -- Ian Richardson (1934-2007)
The House of Cards
https://bowjamesbow.ca/2007/02/12/you-may-very-we.shtml

cheers!

The linked article mentions Ian Richrdson's role as Death in "Hogfather". I'm reminded of his role as a clergyman in the series "Demon Street.
He visits an elderly man in hospital. He is wearing his hooded cloak and the old man wakes to see him hovering over him and freaks out thinking that death has come for him.

The old man gasps "you look like death" and Ricardson says something to the effect of You don't look too great yourself.

[profh0011]

It got quite maddning when, in the 70s (and 80s), a lot of 2-parters from TV series were not merely edited together to form "movies", but YANKED OUT of the syndication packages in the process.

The following shows I taped in the 80s all had this crap done to them:

STAR TREK
THE SAINT
TARZAN
THE UNTOUCHABLES
THE NIGHT STALKER

The latter was particularly infuriating, as there were no 2-parters.  What they did was take 4 stand-alone stories, and re-edit them together as a pair of alleged "movies", with 2 stories apiece INTER-CUT to make it look like one story was going on.  This was the exact same ABORTION job done on the 1st season of McCLOUD, which may or may not still not be available in the US in its original form.  (There's a Region 4 set from Australia that has the original 6 one-hour episodes.  But I don't have it, and if I did, at the moment, couldn't play it.)



"Vendetta For The Saint" was one of the later SAINT novels, which may (or may not) have been written by Leslie Charteris (or someone else, who can say?).  I believe it came out in 1963 or 64, and I believe the TV version was done around 1968. 

There's an earlier episode set in Rome where Templar runs across The Mafia, and this was a sort-of sequel to it, but much bigger in scope.

The last time I watched the series (my tapes are very out-of-sequence, I got them as I could from a variety of stations), I noted that the first 2 seasons (both in B&W) were almost entirely adapted from short stories, and featured some of the best writing on the show, as well as, arguably, Roger Moore's BEST acting EVER.

The 3rd season (in color), a mix of adaptations and originals, was also a mix as far as the feel of the show went.  Some were quite good, others felt tacky somehow, but never slipping into the kind of farcical tone so many other adventure shows did during that excact same period (LOST IN SPACE, WILD WILD WEST, MAN FROM UNCLE, a few of THE AVENGERS episodes).  The 4th season, on loking back, was a surprise, as it tended to get more "serious" again, though I believe nearly all the stories were originals.

It's a shame the series NEVER bothered adapting any of the classic novels from the 30s or 40s.

Reading the books showed me an unexpected irony.  For the most part, Roger Moore's acting on the show was TOO SERIOUS.  Who would expect this, when he REFUSED to take James Bond seriously???

I think LIVE AND LET DIE, GOLDEN GUN and MOONRAKER are the 3 worst and stupidest films in the 007 series, an insult to the character, the film series in general and the audiences.

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME was a huge improvement, though not without a few flaws, but overall is like "James Bond's Greatest Hits", having a plot assembled from several previous films, and somehow managing to make EVEN LESS SENSE than YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, if you actually think about it.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is my favorite Roger Moore film, and I consider it a love letter to Ian Fleming (after they ignored his work for a whole decade).  I just wish Timothy Dalton had been in it, as it was more or less written with him in mind.  Except, Moore came back.

OCTOPUSSY and A VIEW TO A KILL are schizo, as both films they can't seem to decide if they want "serious" or "idiotic".  And VIEW is by far the worse of the two on that score.


These days I'm of the view that Roger Moore NEVER should have played Bond at all.


I'm hoping to upgrade my entire SAINT collection to DVD............. eventually.  (Lots of other stuff on the agenda ahead of it.)

[The Australian Panther]

Reading the books showed me an unexpected irony.  For the most part, Roger Moore's acting on the show was TOO SERIOUS.  Who would expect this, when he REFUSED to take James Bond seriously??? 

The first saint book I ever read changed my life in a way. I came from a very straight-laced background, found the book 'The Saint and Mr Teale' by accident when I was in a blue funk and laughed my way thorough it. I couldn't believe the irreverence. It was outside my experience at that time.
None of the books written after the 60's came close and I gave up on the book and rarely watched the TV show for exactly that reason. And yes, Moore didn't play Bond too seriously. But I love Roger Moore and I don't put the blame on him, an actor goes with the script and the direction the producers want.
I have to wonder how much they were influenced by the 3 dreadful Matt Helm movies with Dean Martin?
I am currently reading my way through a number of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm books. A very different writer than Fleming and not as good , but the character is every bit as tough as Bond and if anything colder and more ruthless. 
And yet the producers couldn't take the character seriously and went for corn and farce. Even the Man from Uncle telemovies are better.   
By the way Moore played Beauregarde Maverick in 16 episodes of that show. 
I also like the Persuaders with Moore and Tony Curtis.
Also, believe it or not, he played Clouseau in Curse of the Pink Panther for Blake Edwards.
And in 1978 played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes in New York (TV Movie)   
A jobbing actor and always enjoyable to watch.
cheers!   

[LoneRanger04]

I have to agree with Dr No and From Russia With Love being the best Bond films. These are the ones I usually end up watching anyway. Roger Moore seems to have a huge following on Bond Twitter as being the ultimate witty action hero Bond, echoing the character of the books. Not so sure of that myself. The gritty portrayal by early Connery is the ultimate Bond in my view. Yes, the producers and directors are probably to blame for Moore?s unfortunate ventures with View to a Kill and Octopussy.

Sunday afternoon?s film was The Count of Monte Christo, 1975, featuring Richard Chamberlain, Donald Pleasance and Tony Curtis. (Apologies for the ? that appears whenever I type an apostrophe on this forum) I wasnt that familiar with the story before watching this, although I had listened to a very good Lux Radio Theatre interpretation only the day before. This seems to be one of those classic tales like Robin Hood which can be interpreted in different ways and still remain interesting. I enjoyed it a lot, as a sort of vengeance thriller. It reminded me of Bruce Lee?s excellent (at least in my opinion) Fist of Fury and Game of Death, both in which Bruce takes revenge for wrongs done to his family by vicious crime syndicates and mob bosses.

Speaking of Game of Death, only the last 30 or so minutes of the film are actually enjoyable and feature Bruce fighting his way through a pagoda full of enemies. The remainder is comprised of awful stunt doubles and distasteful footage of Bruce?s actual funeral, edited together in a desperate attempt to create a coherent narrative. Bruce had sadly died in 1973 of course, and this film came out in 1978 I believe. It was later followed by Tower of Death a.k.a. Game of Death II which was released in 1981, and featured even less footage of Bruce. When compared to the frustrating cash-ins of today?s endless remakes, there is something even more frustrating about the way that Golden Harvest put these posthumous films together.

At least the soundtracks were incredible. Luckily enough I have quite a few of the original Tam releases on vinyl, some of favourite film soundtracks of all time!

[paw broon]

The BBC tv 12 part adaptation of count of Monte Cristo is on you tube:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF1Z7irZLdY&list=PLSqez9-elIrEjiiPAeTN1YLfKk7BMwv5j

I just noticed that the weird but highly enjoyable Minikillers - Diana Rigg - is on you tube:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3iuSESdo4

[LoneRanger04]

Brilliant, thanks! Tomorrow I?ll have a good search for some Monte Cristo comics and dime novels. Bound to be some on here.

[Captain Audio]

"Dr No" and "From Russia With Love" are excellent introductions to the character and genre.
"Thunderball" is by far the best Bond Film ever. The sound track alone is a masterpiece. The underwater battle hasn't been matched yet that I know of.

[profh0011]

'The Saint and Mr Teal'

I remember that one.  Short story collection, right?


rarely watched the TV show for exactly that reason

The weird thing is, I never watched the show until the 80s.  My first exposure to the character was THE SAINT STRIKES BACK with George Sanders, which I currently rank as the single WORST Saint film ever made.  It blows my mind that the very next one, THE SAINT IN LONDON, I currenlty rank as the single BEST Saint film ever made.  And with the same lead actor.  HOW did that happen??  (Yeah, maybe we shouldn't blame Roger Moore... heeheehee.)

But I also got hooked on RETURN OF THE SAINT with Ian Ogilvy.  This became my favorite show on TV for a little while.  Overe the years, Ian Ogilvy became my FAVORITE living actor.  (Ever since Peter Cushing passed away.)  He still is. 

When The CBS Late Movie began doing reruns of Roger Moore, I liked it, but felt his acting wasn't anywhere as good as Ogilvy's.  I STILL feel that way!  I also came to feel tat Ogilvy's character was NOT the same one Moore played.  Either a different continuity (as with every time they recast Tarzan), or something else.  When I saw THE SAINT IN NEW YORK, Louis Hayward blew my mind.  WOW.  I suddenly "got" why Simon Templar was so popular. I also thought he & Ogilvy has a physical resemblence... so I started to feel that ogilvy was the SON of the original.

Many years later, I read that producer Robert S. Baker wanted to call the series SON OF THE SAINT, but Leslie Charteris nixed the idea.  Whatta ya know?

I wound up casting Ogilvy in one of my own stories, as the SON of an infamous adventurer often accused (but never convicted) of various crimes.  Heh heh heh...



I love Roger Moore and I don't put the blame on him, an actor goes with the script and the direction the producers want.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER really, really sucked. And that had Connery in it.

The first half of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, Moore actually played Bond pretty serious.  UNTIL... the fight in the temple, when it turned into a slapstick comedy all of a sudden.  FUNNY AS HELL!!!  "Women drivers..."

And Moore did damned good in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.  I really hoped OCTOPUSSY and VIEW had been that good.  Oh well.  They filmed some REALLY stupid scenes for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS... then had the sense to CUT them before release.



I have to wonder how much they were influenced by the 3 dreadful Matt Helm movies with Dean Martin?

There's a scene with an electromagnet in MURDERERS' ROW that turned up in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.  Remember when Bond was the trailblazer others copied-- instead of Bond copying everyone else?  WHY was there an electromagnet in the shark tank room?  Because the writer was a fan of Dean Martin.............. (that's just not right)



I am currently reading my way through a number of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm books. A very different writer than Fleming and not as good , but the character is every bit as tough as Bond and if anything colder and more ruthless.

I don't suppose we';ll ever see "authentic" Matt Helm movies.  I've seen the pilot of the 70s TV series with Tony Francisosa, and while it's TOTALLY different from the Dean Martin films, I get the feeling it's not any more authentic than they were.


And yet the producers couldn't take the character seriously and went for corn and farce. Even the Man from Uncle telemovies are better.


The TV episodes those filmes were assembled from are BETTER.  Watching the complete series on DVD now... most of which, I somehow NEVER saw before!  Have I mentioned TODAY how much I love DVDs?   



By the way Moore played Beauregarde Maverick in 16 episodes of that show.

I've seen a cpouple of those!  (That's all the cable channel was running, about 15 years back.  Weird.



I also like the Persuaders with Moore and Tony Curtis.

I've seen 2 of those, spliced together (NOT intercut) as a "movie".  "Okay", but didn't grab me much.  And I like BOTH actors!!

I'm plowing thru THE PROTECTORS with Robert Vaughn right now, and for the most part enjoying it, so, who knows, maybe someday I might get THE PERSUADERS.  But only after I upgrade my whole SAINT collection.  (I need to CLEAN OUT my house and get rid of MOST of my collections... to make room for NEW stuff.  Never thought I'd feel that way, but, there you go.)


Also, believe it or not, he played Clouseau in Curse of the Pink Panther for Blake Edwards.

SHHH!  You're not supposed to tell that to anyone who hasn't seen that film yet.  (heh)

Except for the 10 minutes with Harvey Korman (which I would like to cut out and BURN), CURSE is one of my favorite "Pink Panther" films.  It rearlly brings to a close the whole series.  I loved the car chase with the upside-down cab (one of the funniset scenes I've ever seen in any movie), I loved what they did with Robert Wagner, I loved that David Niven FINALLY got his hands on the jewel after 20 years... and I loved them ginving "Chang" a 2nd shot after he went ot the window in "REVENGE".



And in 1978 played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes in New York (TV Movie)   

Roger Moore & Patrick Macnee (Templar & Steed!), plus Charlotte Rampling and John Huston. Not great, but NOT BAD. The mystery plot repeated one from a BANACEK movie.  No kidding.  Moore & Macnee were reunited in VIEW... (but not in a nice way).  Macnee later teamed with Christopher Lee in a pair of 4-hour TV movies in the early 90s.



A jobbing actor and always enjoyable to watch.

YEP!

Also enjoyed him in THE CANNONBALL RUN.  He played a guy who pretended to be Roger Moore.   

[profh0011]

"We're very proud of our Captain!"

[profh0011]

THE STRANGER CAME HOME   (1954)
With "friends" like these...!     ******

On a fishing trip, a businessman is nearly murdered by one of his 3 partners, but winds up with amnesia instead. When he turns up unannounced 4 years later... it hits the fan. WHO tried to kill him-- and, was his wife (who the others all had a thing for) or his social secretary (who resents his company ruining her father) involved?

To me, anything with Michael Carrerras & Terrence Fisher is worth a watch. William Sylvester (who physically reminds me of a guy who spent 3 whole years trying to have me fired from a job) is the lead. Apart from "2001" (where nobody exhibited any humanity), he was quite memorable in one of the very best Roger Moore "SAINT" episodes, "Interlude In Venice". Paulette Goddard (who I found so adorable in "THE GHOST BREAKERS") is the wife. Alvys Maben is the social secretary with the most obvious motive. She's a dead ringer for my aunt, and considering when she was born, she could have been her under a stage name (an idea that seems more intriguing than the film itself--HEH!). Both Goddard & Maben turned up on the Ronald Howard "SHERLOCK HOLMES" series, Goddard in 1, Maben in 3 episodes. I was shocked to read Maben passed away at age 41. Nobody seems to know much about her.

I agree with others who said Russell Napier as the Inspector was the most interesting character. There's a moment of humor to break the tension when his assistant suggests a maniken is "modest", the kind of thing Hammer would regularly include in many of their films. Nice photography, and a mystery that held my attention and kept me guessing. Funny thing-- the one scene where someone tries to blackmail someone else, the would-be blackmailer's dialogue made me think, "George Sanders should have played that part." It reminded me, if only for a moment, of his role in "REBECCA".

[Captain Audio]

THE STRANGER CAME HOME   (1954)
With "friends" like these...!     ******

I watched this film months ago, under its American release title. Found it on YouTube.
I enjoyed it though it dragged a bit and the overall feel was as if nothing could go right for anyone in the end.

[profh0011]

the overall feel was as if nothing could go right for anyone in the end

Yep.  As I said, it kept me guessing.  It was a surprise it had any kind of happy ending at all.

It really polarized opinions among the IMDB reviewers.  About half hated it, half liked it. I liked it, so I wanted to find something to say about it that nobody else did.  I think I succeeded.  (I've been doing that a lot lately if I'm writing my own IMBD reviews.)

[profh0011]

Tonight's film is ABSOLUTELY INSANE BAT-SHIT CRAZY from start to finish!!



KING KONG  (1933)

[The Australian Panther]

Captain Audio said,

"Thunderball" is by far the best Bond Film ever. The sound track alone is a masterpiece. The underwater battle hasn't been matched yet that I know of.

And that's why I namechecked 'Never say Never again' It was based on the same book. Also, when Connery started working on it, he was appalled at the incompetence.  He wasn't going to be in a flop, so he took over and most of the production was under his sole control. Well, they weren't going to fire him, were they? A much better film that it ever deserved to be.