Steve Crook

It was even worse than just the disease (cancer of the bowel).
Roger & his wife, actress Ursula Jeans, didn't have any children and as they were approaching old age Roger developed the cancer.

To avoid the swingeing death duties (taxes) imposed at the time they transferred everything to Ursula's name so that she wouldn't have to pay too much when Roger died which they expected to happen fairly soon from what the doctors told them.

But Roger didn't die quickly. And then Ursula developed a cancer and died quite quickly - so Roger got hit with all the taxes and had to live for the last few years in relative poverty. He outlived Ursula by three years so what with the cancer attacking him and the extra expenses necessary to look after him in those years, it was quite tough.


A sad end for both of them.
But they were (according to everyone that knew them) such a lovely couple. As I said, they had no children of their own although they had a few nieces & nephews by Roger's brothers. They stayed happily married for 36 years until Ursula's death with not a hint of scandal and nobody having a bad word to say about them. So of course no publisher is interested in a biography!

Steve

Jim

There you are Fred, there's always someone who knows!!!

Good morning boys.

Mark Lewis

Marvellous film - not my favourite P&P, as A CANTERBURY TALE takes that honour, but can't be far off...

Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent

MikeA

Yes, I love the P & P films all so much I find it very difficult to name a favourite. There are at least half a dozen which are potential all-time favourites - it all depends on what mood I'm in when I'm watching! But I Know Where I'm Going! is certainly in that half-dozen, along with A Canterbury Tale, Colonel Blimp and Black Narcissus.

.....mine has gin in it.....

PS68060

This is spooky.

I was just about to ask in the other section if someone could name the film in which the Corryvreckan whirlpool features.

I've been to Mull a few times, diving, but not yet had chance to dive the fearsome whirlpool. I knew one of the first people to dive it, Keith Morris, better known for his photos of the famous.

I've not seen the film for a long time but now I can keep an eye out for it.

Peter

"Oh! Pete!"

Steve Crook

The whirlpool is quite fierce. But isn't really as fierce as they make it appear in the film. A lot of what you see in the film is footage of the real whirlpool, but there is also some clever model work done in the tank.

When you take a boat out there, the boat's crew will often rock the boat from side to side to make it appear more dramatic!

There's not a vast amount to see from sea level anyway. If you can, you probably get a better view of the whole thing from Scaba.

If you do dive on it, they say that you know something's happening when the bubbles start to do down instead of up!

Steve

PS68060

Rocking the boat isn't likely to impress divers. I've sat in the middle of the English Channel for hours or surfaced to find 10 feet high waves.

I've done a couple of dives where the bubbles went down, it's not a fun experience.

I'll sneak in a plug for my diving club hugsac online | Main / Hertfordshire Underwater Gogglers :-) It's non-profit
so I hope that's ok.

I love P&P films. You first see one or two a few years apart and like them and then notice a pattern emerging. The number of times I've channel hopped and bumped into that classic opening credit. Time to put my feet up.

"Oh! Pete!"

Steve Crook

That's just for the tourists :
It sometimes takes a while to notice the pattern, they are usually so varied and different. But once you recognise that arrow thudding into the target (like in my avatar) then you know you're in for an interesting time

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Steve Crook

P.S. If you're ever diving around Mull, there are some nice wrecks off there. Like off Duart Castle (which appears in IKWIG as the Castle of Sorne). Cromwell sent some ships up to Mull to take Duart Castle which was a Royalist stronghold. But a storm blew up and The Swan was sunk in Duart Bay.

But it is a protected wreck and nobody can dive there without a special licence

Steve

PS68060

I've dived in the Sound of Mull on 4 or 5 trips. You are right the "Swan" is a protected site but the Hispania, Thesis, Rondo and Breda are all great dives
with a history behind each sinking.

IIRC the Rondo steamed over a small island in thick fog and was perched on it
for a while before succumbing and sliding off into the deep. The bow is at
about 50m and the stern at about 6m. It makes an unusual dive.

The Sound is beautiful and I can see why they wanted to film there. I want
to see IKWIG again now.

"Oh! Pete!"

ChristineCB

Another bump up...

vaggmk1938

I also love IKWIG and was intrigued by the Corryvreckan whirlpool. The following URL contains more than you probably want to know!

The Corryvreckan Whirlpool - Facts and Information | Corryvreckan DVD Sales

Please don't tell us that the scenes in the film were the result of bathwater going down the drain!

Gillian

Steve Crook

Slight spoilers ahead
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about how they filmed the whirlpool sequence
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It's a clever combination of shots in and around Corryvreckan and the whirlpool between Scarba & Lunga. That's to the north of Scarba. Corryvreckan itself being to the south, between Scarba & Jura. Those shots were cleverly merged with some shots in the tank with models with gelatin added so that it looked better when scaled up. Water being notoriously difficult to model, the splashes and the way the waves form are usually a dead giveaway.

Then the close-ups of Torquil, Joan & Kenny in the boat were shot in a boat set on gimbals in the studio with some hefty studio hands rocking it in all different directions at once - and some other studio hands throwing bucket-fulls of water over the very brave Wendy Hiller. Note the clever way that Torquil ducks one wave and Joan gets it full in the face. Well Torquil is a sailor and can read the water better so he know when the waves are coming

A travel book of the area produced after the war included photos of the "famous whirlpool of Corryvreckan". It claimed to show the only authentic picture of Corryvreckan at it's most powerful. Michael Powell never had the heart to tell the author that it was actually a shot from the tank at Denham Studio and that it had cost him £40,000 (£1.2m in today's money) to get those shots on the screen.

As well as the link you gave, you might like to also check out:
The Legend of the Corryvreckan
Ditto
Article in The Scotsman
Details of tours

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Ljelja

Great info, Steve. Thanx for that. Shots are marvelous on screen, as well as similar situation wonderfully executed for Dieterle's "Portrait of Jennie" (1948). Pre-Titanic era certainly had its way of capturing splashes and waves...

vaggmk1938

Steve:

Actually you didn't spoil it for me--I did have the slightest suspicion!

Gillian