dremble wedge

Princess Caraboo on ITV 3.

The epitome of easy Sunday afternoon entertainment. Nothing too stretching, just an enjoyable historical yarn with some amusing supporting turns (Jim Broadbent, John Lithgow and John Sessions as the Prince Regent) and a charming lead performance from Phoebe Cates as the mysterious titular character.

MB

Me too!

Princess Caraboo - How bizarre it was!

What a cast!
Very strange performance from Eddie Tenpole I love Kevin Kline anyway and he is, of course, married to Pheobe Cates - so I wondered if it had anything to do with them...? I think they have helped push forward ideas for other productions.

I was going to look in to it..

It seemed quite low budget in places and in others it looked as though no penny had been spared. The set design and costumes were fantastic.

But the camerawork was leaden..it had a strange, almost seventies quality to it - I'm not sure if I can explain.

Apparantly, it is a true story.

I ended up fancying the Irish journalist - Stephen Rea!

I thought it was a pleasant enough little film to watch on a sunday afternoon too.

MB

Watching Joanna Lumley talking about Ian Fleming now. On BBC1

Harleybloke

It's based on truth but they've compressed about 20 stories into 1 so suspend your belief, the story as scripted is pure hokem......................BUT........it is a good film if you take each scene as a 'Vignette'.

Great period feel, some great acting, Sophie even keeps her clothes on and I still watched!

Shudder at the Gestapo scenes, oh thank God they never got to England!

Watch it with a feeling of gratitude for the agents that were sent to occupied Europe, ok, so this script is pure 'Superman' stuff, but behind that it's true to the memory of those people.

Heroes all. The special features point out, after the war France awarded several hundred medals to their resistance but only 6 to women.......................Shame on you France..........................nuff said....................

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

dremble wedge

But in real life she didn't! There was no relationship between the two. But then that's why films are better than Real Life

Phoebe Cates seems to have retired, pity, she was good here and in the two Gremlins films...

Steve Crook

We didn't do much better. Of all the women that joined SOE and operated abroad, 3 were awarded the George Cross (2 posthumously). There were some other minor decorations but many didn't get anything. But every one of them was operating behind enemy lines and was in constant danger even if they were only couriers and radio operators.

The Baker Street site used to have a large section about female SOE agents but it seems to be unavailable at the moment.

Steve

Arthur Linden-Jones

Starting to watch my newly arrived boxed set Collection No. 6 of The Bill (eps. 193 Trojan Horse (Ken Melvin's demise) to eps. 240 Effective Persuaders)

This is war Wilson, not Sainsburys!

dpgmel

Watched Oliver Parker's " Fade to Black" a tale of Orson Welles filming in post war Rome and getting involved in the murky world of murder and political intrigue.

Whilst the film is full of homages to Welles' films it was a disappointment, Danny Houston was never convincing as OW, still it did co-star the lovely Paz Vega.

MB

Oooh, I hope she didn't say that! Thats not very nice is it, to say that about your co-star! She could have kept it to herself - well, you can tell her from me that I think Kevin Kline (her husband) is very attractive and amusing at times - but his range ranges from 'completely barking to worrying Jim Carey levels'. So there!

I think Stephen Rea is a lovely solid performer with hidden depths. He was, of course, in The Crying Game (which I only have vague memories of and will have to watch again) and The company of wolves (same thing - must see it again - but I remember being quite affected by it as a teenager.)

smudge

IRON MAN - the HD image was better than when we saw it at the cinema!!

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

batman

A Night at the Museum - TBW enjoyed the SFX and general silliness but lost interest with all the chat. Mrs Bat suffered through all of it, I watched MIAS in the study.

Lord Lionheart

Rewatched McVicar for the first time in well over two decades. Must say it seemed better when I last seen it, probably when I was in my late teens. Lots of parody cockney wide boys snarling at each other and romping around in the showers. I had to laugh at the female talent on offer. In one scene McVicar escapes from prison and is hiding out a a mate's safe house. He is cooked breakfast by a moll wearing nothing but an apron, me and the Mrs. had a good laugh at the flabbiest arse we've seen on TV in a long time, but I suppose McVicar had been in prison for a while. The woman who played McVicar's wife had the frizziest 80's hairstyle I've seen in a long while. Some things are better left in the past.

wadsy

Treasure Hunt1952

Not a classic by any means but it was fun to watch a young Jimmy Edwards

blustering his way along in this tale of eccentric Irish aristocrats. Great

supporting cast with Martitia Hunt, Athene Seyler, Naunton Wayne, Miles

Malleson & Toke Townley( as an Irish servant)!

batman

The Crucifer of Blood - as Mrs Bat hadn't seen it. An oddball re-working of 'The Sign of Four' with Charlie Chestnut as Holmes. Not great but very enjoyable.

CaptainWaggett

I saw this recently - Martita Hunt plays a lady who was ditched at the altar and hasn't left the house for 30 years - but she's a lot more fun than in Great Expectations! Naunton Wayne, rather oddly, seemed to be 'greyed up' for no reason at all (Or he's dyed in The Titfield Thunderbolt). As you say, good fun for fans of undemanding 1950s comedy.