Tthomaskyte Reviews

The Boys (1962)

A clever concept, well worth a look.

[10/10 · 18 June 2013]

I first saw this when it came out in 1962 when I was almost the same age as the characters on trial. As the film opens we are presented with four resentful and aggressive looking young men on trial for robbery and murder. They are all wearing Italian style suits reflecting the fashion of the time and immediately give the impression of being thugs. We then hear the prosecution's case as delivered by Richard Todd and see flashbacks of the young men (well played by Dudley Sutton, Jess Conrad, Ronald Lacey and Tony Garnett) cutting what appears to be a menacing swathe through London. Next we see the all the same events but from the defendants' point of view but they are now placed in different context by the showing of what happens before and after the events described by the prosecution witnesses. It is a device that has been used before but it still grips here as we are encouraged to challenge our own prejudices. It demonstrates that whenever you see a situation you should not make judgements without knowing the entire history of events.

Foyle's War (2002–2015)

Brilliant Series

[10/10 · 7 April 2013]

While I believe everyone involved in this series is excellent, I want to concentrate on Michael Kitchen. Unlike some of those who've reviewed here I have followed Kitchen's career for many years. I have seen him in expressive parts, menacing parts, playing to perfection cockney wide boys as well as sensitive, sometimes deceitful, weak-willed characters but I believe this is his most challenging part of all. Here he displays the greatest acting technique. He does so little but conveys so much. He is a consummate actor. One of the only reasons more people do not know anything about him is because he lives his private life in private. I have never seen him give an interview on TV and in the scant press interviews he is involved in, he never discusses his family. He is a master of his craft and allows everyone's judgement to rest entirely on his performance in each role. I salute him.

Minder: Rocky Eight and a Half (1984) Season 4, Episode 1

One of the best Minders

[10/10 · 16 June 2012]

This was one of my favourites of all the Minder episodes, containing humour and action. Terry is lured back into boxing for one fight against Wilson, the opponent he was persuaded to take a dive against several years earlier, and because of which he lost his licence. The recreation of the taxi sequence from On the Waterfront is hilarious with Terry repeating all the " I coulda beena contender..." lines. The homage to On the Waterfront is taken so far that Terry's opponent even has the same name as Brando's. Then Arthur says, "you sound like that bloke from on the riverside." It also demonstrates why Waterman was such a good choice for the part of an ex-boxer. He really did know how to fight, looking accomplished both in the ring and on the speed bag. A classic.

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Unpleasant After-taste

[6/10 · 25 May 2012]

When this film first came out in the 1960s it was massively popular. There were queues all round Leicester Square in London. I queued for it twice and failed to get in and never saw it until years later on TV. When launched it was talked about as if it was a war-time version of the Magnificent Seven. It was nothing of the kind. The whole object of the mission was to kill Nazi officers and their wives and girlfriends by trapping them in a cellar, pouring down gallon after gallon of petrol on top of them and igniting it by throwing down hand grenades. There were some heroic deaths enacted by the stars, but the theme of the film seemed to be one of celebrating the burning of the Germans. Maybe things were different when the film came out, the bombing of London was still a fairly recent memory, but watching it many years later I found it left a nasty after-taste. I read that Lee Marvin who played the lead role, disliked it intensely and refused to appear in any of the sequels as he it felt the original glorified war. I think he was right.

Gunsmoke (1955–1975)

A western for grown-ups.

[9/10 · 5 May 2012]

This programme was way ahead of its time in being the first TV western made for adults. I recently saw one episode on Youtube which was thought-provoking. A father ashamed of the way his cowardly, murderer son is begging him to stave off his execution, actually tricks the son into behaving like a man as he stands on the gallows. The degree of thought that went into the scripts encouraged good actors to accept guest roles. Together with the performances from a strong regular cast, James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis and Burt Reynolds, this made Gunsmoke a rare quality programme of the time.

Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989)

An outstanding comedy series.

[10/10 · 5 May 2012]

The brilliance of this series is demonstrated by the fact that when it was shown on the same Sunday evenings as Only Fools and Horses the eminently forgettable programme sandwiched in between "Howard's Way" recorded amazing viewing figures also. The premise of the series which centred on the angst of a pedantic control freak, was hard to pull off but Richard Briers was amazing in the role which was the entire hub of the series. The support cast was also brilliant with an amazing rapport between all the players. I have to say I laughed out loud at the one damning review here which couldn't see the joke in Howard saying to Hilda:

"Come on dear, we best go home now or we'll miss the shipping forecast."

"Why do we always listen to the shipping forecast Howard?"

"Because it leads us nicely into the news dear."

If he couldn't see the humour in that he must have had a good deal in common with Briers' character Martin Brice who could never see the humour in anything. That was what made it so funny.

The Good Life (1975–1978)

Good but not quite great.

[7/10 · 5 May 2012]

I liked this much more the first time I watched it than I did on subsequent viewings. Maybe it was more to do with the way my own life had changed but as I got older, whilst I still found it funny, I found the Leadbetters played by Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington far more sympathetic that the Goods. They now come across to me as incredibly self- satisfied and self-focused. Richard Briers is a brilliant comedy actor but I preferred his other collaboration with Esmonde and Larbey, Ever Decreasing Circles. I think The Good Life was a product of it's time and though it still rates quite highly the Good's smugness grates. They and the series is saved by the generosity of spirit of their richer neighbours Jerry and Margot.

Steptoe and Son: The Desperate Hours (1972) Season 7, Episode 7

One of the best Steptoes ever.

[10/10 · 5 May 2012]

I once heard Galton and Simpson discussing this episode and they said it had always been a problem getting leading actors to appear in Steptoe as Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Brambell were such powerful performers other actors were afraid of being acted off the screen. However, Leonard Rossiter and J.G. Devlin were in the same league and this made it a cracking half-hour of brilliantly acted comedy. It was like watching a half-hour stage play with it becoming clear that the two escaped prisoners enjoyed a more comfortable life than the Steptoes. The claustrophobia of the Steptoe's main room was just as heavy as that in any prison cell. Brilliant!

Bonanza: A Rose for Lotta (1959) Season 1, Episode 1

Rough introduction to a long-runner.

[5/10 · 13 January 2012]

I saw this only recently and agree with the view that the personalities were honed as the series developed. However, I was surprised at how clumsy some of the writing and acting was. Lorne Greene and Pernell Roberts in particular were very stilted and looked uncomfortable in their roles. The only one who really hit the ground running was Michael Landon but that may have been because his part was better written. The characters of Ben and Adam were one dimensional and crudely drawn. In this opening episode Adam is no more than a disapproving older brother who clearly resents his younger brother even going as far as to insult Little Joe's mother's background in New Orleans. Ben is a bullying blow- hard who snaps out crude orders to his sons and threats to opponents. Little Joe is headstrong and wild but also a charmer. Hoss (not a bad performance Dan Blocker) is shown as a reasonable counterpoint to his father and brothers, adopting a far more fatherly approach than Ben.

It is just as well that both acting and writing improved or I doubt it would have survived 1 series let alone 14.

Minder (1979–1994)

Funny with authentic fight scenes

[10/10 · 20 December 2011]

In response to an earlier comment that Dennis Waterman was unconvincing as a former professional boxer, Waterman was picked partly for his boxing ability. He was an active schoolboy boxer who was forced to quit when acting took over his life. The directors he was working for didn't like him turning up with black eyes. Also he came from a boxing family. His brother Peter was a professional and held the European Welterweight Championship, once beating Cuban legend Kid Gavilan. Unlike say, Sylvester Stallone who had never boxed before Rocky, Waterman actually knew how to fight and it helped the series immeasurably. He was also brilliant at underplaying his role to add weight to George Cole's character, much in the same way as Richard Beckinsale did with Ronnie Barker in Porridge. The strength of Waterman's performance is demonstrated by the way the programme fell off sharply when he left. That was not entirely because of the Ray Daley character who replaced Terry McCann, but mainly because the script writers changed the character of Arthur to make him more sympathetic and less selfish in relation to the new Minder who was his nephew.

Saddle the Wind (1958)

A quality non-stereotypical western with good performances.

[27 September 2011]

What makes this western "special," is that it appears to follow the traditional lines of the genre: reformed gunfighter tries to deter his wild, younger brother from following in his path. Younger brother's fiancée attracted to elder brother: Local area dominated by powerful cattle baron. It diverts from the norm however by the reformed gunfighter refusing to revert to his violent ways, even under extreme provocation, the attraction between the fiancée and the elder brother remaining obvious but unspoken and most notably, by the the powerful cattle baron being entirely non-stereotypical. This one,is dignified and committed to non- violence and fair-mindedness. If that makes it sound like a boring western, it isn't. The acting, script and direction are first class and make it one of the better westerns of that generation.

That Was the Week That Was (1962–1963)

TW3 Ground Breaking Programme

[20 July 2011]

I was just leaving school around the time TW3 was launched and it is hard for anyone who wasn't around then to fully appreciate the impact this had on the sixties generation. I often watched it after an evening out, when my parents were turning in. This made it seem as if it was a young person's programme. Also, although it was a regular late night programme it always went out live which meant its time-slot was flexible and it occasionally appeared to over-run. No other satire/discussion/comedy programme since has even come close to the thrill this programme brought. You felt as if you were actually watching it in an intimate London night- club.

Gunsmoke in Tucson (1958)

Good solid Western

[14 July 2011]

I saw this western many years ago having already read the book "Tucson!" on which it was based. It stuck pretty close to the book's story of two brothers finding themselves on opposites sides of the law. In truth, Mark Edwards was probably a little too old to play the younger brother but the performances were good throughout. For me and my friend who saw it separately the film was dominated by the character Slick Kirby, played by John Ward. He seemed at the time the coolest person in the film, the younger brother's best friend,one of the fastest guns in the West and the archetypal laconic gunfighter. Ward doesn't appear to have made any other westerns which is surprising, neither did he play many starring roles. Also surprisingly, this appears never to be shown on TV, nor is it out on video or DVD, yet I remember it as an enjoyable oater. The shoot-out at the end was particularly well done.