JasonC-4 Reviews

The Dame of Sark (1976 TV Movie)

Beautiful Performances

[9/10 · 25 January 2022]

This is a really lovely television production of the original play anchored by a lovely performance from Celia Johnson as Sibyl Hathaway, Dame of Sark. For those unaware the island of Sark is a fiefdom granted to Dame Sibyl's family by the Crown, in an n arrangement which dates back to Elizabeth I.

This made the Dame a kind of absolute ruler at the time. (Democracy has evolved since on Sark - her great-grandson is the current Seigneur but with far more limited powers). The island is one of Britain's Channel Islands and geographically closer to France than the UK which is why they were occupied by the Germans during the Second World War.

This program is basically of series of vignettes showing how the Dame coped leading her people while under German occupation. As I said it is Celia Johnson who makes this worthwhile. Yes it is a performance of the stiff upper lip kind, full of English reserve but in Johnson's hands you can easily feel the depth of feeling that is really there and the journey she makes from thinking all Germans are Nazis to finding that some of them are decent human beings caught up in a Nazi nightmare. Tony Britton also gives an excellent performance as an honourable German officer, a career soldier, who has a distaste for Hitler and the Nazis and only wants to do his job as Commandant while at the same time knowing he needs to be aware of the Nazi true believers among his forces. Patrick Ryecart is also moving as an inexperienced German soldier of whom the Dame becomes fond but whose death she inadvertently causes.

This is not a drama about the hardship of daily life under occupation although that is certainly referred to. It is more about the interactions between a proud lady forced to live in changed circumstances under an occupying force and her own evolving attitudes as they become more familiar.

The program while very good is not without flaws. The news of the death in air raid in Liverpool of the Dame's son and heir is treated perfunctorily. The fact that his wife, British stage and screen actress of the 1920s and 30s, Mary Lawson, died with him is not even mentioned and there is no concern for their orphaned son (who eventually succeeded the Dame on Sark on her death in 1974). There is also no reference at all to any of her other seven children. The unseen Mr and Mrs Brownrigg whose fate is central to one of the sequences deserve more plot exposition as well.

Very worthwhile viewing for anyone interested in this part of history and admirers of Dame Celia Johnson.

Good Morning World: The Wedding Present (1968) Season 1, Episode 19

Herb Edelman Makes this Episode

[7/10 · 6 May 2021]

Without the guest spot by Herb Edelman this episode would barely scrape a 5 from me. It's just a pity it's well past half way before Mr Edelman shows up.

Band of Angels (1957)

Improves with Age

[7/10 · 14 February 2021]

I have to say this film was much better than the civil war potboiler I was expecting. Yes it definitely has overtones of Gone With the Wind but if you put Clark Gable in a Civil War movie that's what you are going to get. Warners have obviously spared no expense with this one and the money shows on screen. Gable's salary would have been a part of that and frankly he is too old for the role of a slave trader turned plantation owner in the old south but he brings a legacy with him that is there on the screen. His big scene where he comes clean to Yvonne De Carlo about his slave trading past could almost be paraphrased as "Frankly my dear you really shouldn't give a damn" and it's almost as if Gable knows it. De Carlo is also too old for her part by at least 10 years but she does some her best work here. The trouble is that her best work can only be described as competent when the part of Amantha requires more fire than De Carlo can offer. The real acting pleasures here are provided by some of the supporting players. Carolle Drake, in her only screen appearance, gives a cool and knowing performance as Gable's housekeeper and former mistress who still loves him. Likewise Juanita Moore makes something out of the nothing the script gives her in a brief appearance as a maid on a steamboat. Andrea King leaves you wanting more as Miss Idell who seemingly ends up with Amantha's inheritance. King's exit scene (quite early in the piece) as she walks away towards the plantation house with her back to the camera is beautifully shot. Sidney Poitier on the other hand seemed a little self-conscious to me as the educated slave (and by proxy Gable's adopted son figure). Overall this is a film that has improved with age and deserving of a re-evaluation today.

Years and Years: Episode 3 (2019) Season 1, Episode 3

Electoral Maths

[8/10 · 23 September 2020]

I am enjoying this series but I had issues with the way the election depicted in this episode played out. The results are almost a dead heat in terms of seats between the Conservatives and Labour with Four Star party of Viv Rook (Emma Thompson) gaining 15 seats. The show makes out that the only option to get anything through Parliament is to get Four Star's support after they have said no to joining a coalition. Well no - Labour and Conservatives could cut Rook out and talk to each other. There's also no mention of any other British political parties such as the LDP, the SNP or the DUP who wouldn't suddenly have disappeared from the landscape. This series has been well written but you don't want to spend too much time thinking about or the holes start to appear.

Hidden: Episode #1.5 (2018) Season 1, Episode 5

Plot Hole or Just Lazy Writing?

[6/10 · 21 May 2020]

I've been enjoying this up until this episode which I felt was a bit of a letdown. How realistic is it that the detectives working this case have a photo of the guy they're looking for - albeit a grainy pic - and a full description of his truck complete with number plate but this isn't passed on to the uniform cops going door to door. As a result the uniforms are left saying things like "that guy seemed a bit off" about the perpetrator. This aspect was fairly lazy on the part of the writers especially after the previous episode which was great in the way it ignored the cops and concentrated on the bad guy and his crazy mother.

Van der Valk: Only in Amsterdam (2020) Season 1, Episode 2

Little Better Than the First Episode

[19 April 2020]

While a little better than the first episode this still has major shortcomings largely due to a lack of believability. While the plot starts well it becomes a confusing tale of identical twins (that old chestnut). The fact nobody, not the victim's family, employer or anybody else thought it was important to mention to the cops that she had a twin stretched credulity to breaking point. Then there's the lesbian nun with an with the erotic art fetish who seemingly belongs to an order that allows her to wander around Amsterdam at will and indulge her every whim although it has to be said that the understated performance given by Juliet Aubrey in this role is one of the few pleasures this episode provides even if, in the end, the character is incidental, at best, to the outcome. There were less picture postcard shots of Amsterdam this time around but there were more recognisably Dutch accents which is a good thing.

Van der Valk: Love in Amsterdam (2020) Season 1, Episode 1

Put the Original Out of Your Mind

[6/10 · 12 April 2020]

Passable cop mystery on its own but in comparison with the original series it's a dud. If you've never seen the Barry Foster incarnation or you can manage to push it out of your mind this is just about OK. The plot starts well in an intriguing manner but has way too many twists and turns before the ending - the final one being unnecessary in my view. Marc Warren in the title role has a ruggedly handsome charisma that carries this a fair distance but not far enough overall. His team of cops are the major failing. They just have too many quirks to be realistic. The irritating new guy has become too much of a stock character in these kinds of shows as has the grumpy pathologist. I'm not even sure why the other male cop was even on the team his being totally lacking in initiative. The office dog was a nice touch if totally unbelievable however the cops holding their briefings in a local coffee shop was just stupid. Amsterdam is a pretty city but postcard views do not a cop show make.

Maid for Murder (1962)

Just OK

[6/10 · 10 April 2020]

A fairly dull film that betrays its origin on the stage. The cast tries hard but their styles of comedy and acting don't come together and frankly clash. Alfred Marks and Bob Monkhouse don't convince as brothers although Monkhouse does show flashes of The smooth comedian he would later become. Hattie Jacques is always a welcome presence but her part here is superfluous to the plot and the fact that her character repeatedly pops up for the slimmest of reasons becomes annoying. Just when you think Miss Richards (Jacques) has a part to play by dashing off to save the heroine the film comes to an end without her. The ending it also must be said is, to put it politely, derived straight from Blithe Spirit. Anna Karina, who is given an "introducing" credit thank heavens left British cinema after this and went to France and bigger and better things.