tali122

Anyone remember the titles of these 3 play for todays shown in late 70s? i distinctly remember these scenes:
1 start of film shows bespectacled elderly german nazi soldier being executed by british firing squad
2a milk float crushes a baby chick - im sure this is Penda's Fen?
3 a couple who live under a tree/cave and are witches and have a daughter?
details are a bit patchy but thats all i can remember about them
thanks

aphra

I think the third play you remember was, in fact, one of 18 SHADES OF GREENE stories that Thames Television produced around 1975/6. It was called UNDER THE GARDEN and starred Vivian Pickles and Arthur Lowe (I think). The story was taken from Graham Greene's collection of short stories called A SENSE OF REALITY (available in Penguin). I live in hopes that one day SHADES OF GREENE may be released on DVD, but I imagine that sorting out all the rights would prove very difficult.

Captain Oates

See my earlier query about this:

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ca...thur-lowe.html

tali122

Thanks , very long time ago but don;t recall lowe at all- who played witches -any idea?

aphra

UNDER THE GARDEN was the last of the SHADES OF GREENE series of short plays on Thames Television. The cast included
Arthur Lowe Javitt
Vivian Pickles, Mother/Maria
Denholm Elliott William Wilditch (the narrator)

The grotesque old couple who live under the roots of a tree on small ornamental island in the garden, talk about their daughter (who we are told was a beauty queen - Miss Ramsgate). We never actually see her. Javitt and Maria (not quite a witch, but she quacks like a duck) are from the land of nightmares. A golden po certainly figures in the narrative.
The short story by Greene is a masterpiece, very Freudian, taking the form of a sort of dream by Wilditch as he revisits his childhood home.

A propos your earlier posting, DAPHNE LAUREOLA by James Bridie was the first starring vehicle for Peter Finch when the play was put on in London in the late 40s by Laurence Olivier. The TV version was repeated not so long ago. It doesn't have anything in common with the Greene story.

Daphne Laureola (1978) (TV)