anthony chubb

talking of old sit coms
why dont they repeat mrs thursday itv network 1966
also in oct 1963 a comedy playhouse i/2 play SHAMROT starring dermot kelly k harrison a mullard writtern by johnny speight

anton

Hackett

Just brought the complete first series "THE SWEENEY" on DVD. The extras are fantastic and include the pilot episode of "THICK AS THIEVES" which is worth the money on its own. Bob Hoskins, John Thaw written by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais the "HOMECOMING" just gives you a real taste to see the whole series. Other gems are the commentary over episodes (i.e "GET CARTER" 1971 DVD) by stars, crew and writers. Also cameo forwards to most shows by the likes of Dudley Sutton and John Forgeham. We should have Extras like this on all DVD's. Great value.

Lord Brett

Sorry if this has been discussed before (couldn't find anything using the search function), but I bought this weekend at a book fair a copy of the BFI/National Film Archive's book Missing Presumed Lost, published as part of a search for missing British films from 1914 to the 1940s.

Does anyone know if there were any positive results from the appeal? Many of the films looked fascinating, including a missing Hitchcock, some early Michael Powell films and several starring Max Miller.

penfold

Two of the Powell Quickies, His Lordship and Man Behind The Mask, turned up almost immediately, the latter in its much-cut US version, but it's a start....the former is a cracker, a real find. Also the Novello/Brunel Constant Nymph emerged on 16mm, a gorgeous film, and has prompted a bit of a reappraisal on Brunel's career; it was so much better than the rest of his surviving work. George Pearson's Reveille is believed to survive, somewhere in private hands, as a clip from it - a deliberately chosen clip, not just a fragment, - in a programme on Pearson called Yesterday's Witness, as recently as the 1970's.
A few fragments from the Ultus films turned up abroad...not anywhere near complete, just enough to be tantalising...
There may be more, these are just the ones I know of...and of course, the book was only a sample of the 'Holy Grail' films....many more 'lost' films have been located since. I think I'm in double figures now..... : :) :

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Lord Brett

Thanks Penfold, it's good to know that some items turned up. I imagine His Lordship was in good condition, as I was reading that it was booed off the screen on initial screenings, so print wear probably wasn't an issue!

I was able to find absolutely nothing via the internet about the search, but then Missing, Presumed Lost was published back in 1992.

howard 65

Please see my post on CLASSICS ON TV to read about my thoughts.

Is there a list of those now found?

penfold

No...but a quick search of Screenonline found that 'Money For Speed' (1933), directed by Bernard Vorhaus and featuring Ida Lupino, edited by David Lean, turned up in French and German versions...

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

orpheum

Remember that the Army Kinematograph Corps showed 16mm prints of features to troops thoughout the war and after.Up till video came along there was a roaring trade in 16mm feature prints.I remember all sorts of titles being for sale..So there are probably 16mm prints lurking around in attics just waiting to be discovered.

penfold

Indeed, and were available for sale to the wealthier film enthusiast via the Kodascope Library pre-war....a copy of the otherwise unreleased silentversion of Young Woodley has only just recently made it to the archives from such a source.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

His Lordship is quite wonderful - but more so to a modern viewpoint.
It was Michael Powell's one attempt at a full musical and even has a chorus line of cleaning girls, complete with mops & buckets. It also has a heroine called Lenina and two comedy Bolsheviks! The main story is about a plumber who inherits a peerage and is embarassed to have done so. His dear old Cockney Mum comes out with an accent and some expressions that even Dick van Dyke would have found to be extreme. The plumber is ensnared by a Hollywood starlet trying to find some class, but he really loves Lenina. There's also interesting use of an autogyro towards the end.

As with so many of his films, it was just ahead of its time

Steve

Steve Crook

That glosses over your own sterling work in finding a film that wasn't only "Missing, believed lost", but wasn't even on the filmographies.
See The Story of Smith

Steve

Lord Brett

I haven't seen the film in question, but I quite agree with your point. One of the great pleasures of film research is finding undiscovered gens which weren't appreciated in their day. In the case of His Lordship, a modern audience has no expectation of what a Jerry Verno film should be, so can appreciate it on its own terms.

Sometimes putting a film in it's original context can be illuminating, but in many cases being from its context by the passage of time can really free a film up to be truly enjoyed.

Bloody hell, that's academic for me... I need a lie down!

orpheum

There are so many first rate British films of the 30s but many still seem to be tainted as being a quota quickie.I just wishthe BFI would have a regular season of these films not just special seasons or to coincide with a book launch.The only alternative is to trawl through amazon and ebay and sites such as movies unlimited to buy these films.They might as well be lost the lack of interest shown in them.

foha80

Thanks Steve for drawing my attention to this link and thank you Penfold for your work in locating this film.I found your account inspirational and a reminder that these films are truly our heritage.

Terry

Steve Crook

Steve Chibnall of De Montfort University has written a great book called Quota Quickies : The Birth of the British 'B' Film (BFI, London. 2007. ISBN: 1844571556 (pbk): £16.99) which goes a long way towards rescuing the idea that all "Quota Quickies" should be dismissed as cheap and bad. And of course not all British films made in that period were Quota films

Available from Amazon.co.uk and other good booksellers

Steve