Cinema, the most potent of all the art forms – simply because it could reach more people than any other medium – was in crisis. As well as the TV threat there were other plausible reasons to consider.

From the middle thirties to the early fifties Hollywood excelled in many genres; the western, thrillers, high drama, screwball comedy, and the musical. This was due to the combination of highly talented artists, writers and technicians, the combination of which never seemed to dry up. The year 1939 is acknowledged to be the high point of Hollywood films The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach et al. The coming war years saw the highest cinema attendances ever recorded. People wanted entertainment more than ever during that bleak period. Hollywood, because of its vast production was unsurpassed in supplying that need. They virtually monopolised lock stock and barrel everything shown in cinemas.

The English film industry didn’t pose a threat, their film output could not match that of Hollywood’. Added to that it was in a moribund state of inertia, a ‘tendency to remain unchanged’ as the Oxford dictionary succinctly puts it. There were exceptions. Some British war movies in the early days of the war were very well made: In Which we Serve, Pimpernel Smith, and my particular favourite, Went the Day Well (based on a story by Graham Greene) British movies of the thirties were notorious for actors speaking with plummy voices, usually referred to as Oxford accents. It was the British war movie that began the trend for more natural (heard in the street) voices. A classic contrast would be in the movie…IN WHICH WE SERVE; hear Noel Coward, then John Mills.

What British films lacked, but what Hollywood had in abundance, was dynamism. A kind of tortoise and hare situation. There were of course exceptions, Alfred Hitchcock being the most notable….but his first outstanding contributions were made in the thirties; The 39 Steps, Sabotage, The Lady Vanishes, The Man who Knew too Much including the last film he made in England 1939, before leaving for America –  Jamaica Inn - agreed by the critics as one of his worst films. How ironic the first picture he directed in America, Rebecca, won a best picture Oscar.

It would be the middle forties before the British Film Industry found their feet and began to turn out movies that captured the public imagination. Another development in the forties that began to accelerate was technicolour which added extra enjoyment when watching a Hollywood musical.

The end of the war brought little change in cinema-going habits both here an in America. There were still queues outside cinemas waiting to go in. Then a number of things began to happen not only relating to films but to popular music. The 1940s also saw the rise of the big swing bands. In this too America led the way. Dance halls like the cinemas were packed. The two most popular bandleaders were Glenn Miller and Harry James. James in particular was an astounding trumpet player and featured in many of Hollywood’s top musical films. He went on to marry the 40s top pin-up girl, Betty Grable. It was around 1947 when cinema audiences began to drop; the swing bands sounded dull . Be-bop music made its appearance but mainly played in clubs and not in dance halls because of its complex harmonies and rhythm structure, therefore only appealing to a small minority.

The film world came under the scrutiny in 1947 of the House Un-American Activities, who swooped into Hollywood to hound anyone suspected of being a member of the Communist Party. At first there was an outcry by the major studios who deemed the investigations unconstitutional. This heartfelt cry by the likes of Louis B Mayer of MGM, and Jack Warner of Warner Bros, sounded very hollow from studio chiefs who ruled their studios like personal fiefdoms, and could say to any star who caused them displeasure ‘I’ll make sure you’ll never work in this town ever again”. But of course they eventually gave their blessing to the inquisitors. The blacklist, as it was called, claimed many victims, those found guilty were sacked by their studios, and just as the studio bosses threatened to do to those who stepped out of line, lost their livelihood, never to work in Hollywood again; though as we shall see there were ways and means getting around the blacklist.

One of the most despicable questions put by the Committee was “tell us the names of others you know to be a party member”. In order to prompt answers the Committee would offer names known to the person being questioned. The playwright Arthur Miller was one of those brought in for questioning. He went on to write a play – The Crucible – about the Salem witch hunts of the 1600s where people were naming those they thought, without a shred of evidence, to be witches, and consequently burned at the stake, and the parallels with the Communist witch hunt of the 1940s and 50s. This modern-day witch hunt ran true to form with informers naming names, ratting on friends, in order to save their own skins and keep their jobs.


One of the most tragic episodes was that of Larry Parks, a minor B movie actor who shot to fame when brilliantly playing the role of the famous singer Al Jolson, in The Jolson Story in 1946. In fact to say he was marvellous would be an understatement (according to me, of course). Parks was one of the first actors to be called before the inquisitors for questioning about his political beliefs. Despite admitting he was for a time a member of the Communist Party, that was not enough for his interrogators who wanted him to name names. At first he refused, saying it was not something he could ethically do because of the harm it would bring on those people. Nevertheless he was brought back for further interrogation and unfortunately not being made of sterner stuff (unlike many others particularly the screen writers who when questioned, stood up to the Committee and gave as good as they got) Parks caved in naming names. But to no avail, his career as a top movie star – because of the Jolson role – ended overnight….he died at an early age shattered by the witch hunt.

Of all those called before the Committee for interrogation, the screenwriters, as quoted above were the most articulate and not in any way intimidated by the proceedings and ran rings round the inquisitors. There are many amusing ripostes to some of the questions. When the writer Ring Lardner was asked to name names, he replied “I could but I’d hate myself when I wake up in the morning”. Ironically almost all the film screenplays of distinction that came out of Hollywood were written by Communist screenwriters, eg Casablanca, Laura, The Little Foxes, The Philadelphia Story, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, A Place in the Sun, to include, would you believe, the Abbott and Costello and Lassie movies.

The Hollywood inquisition is long gone. There were some writers who were able, by using another name to submit scripts that were accepted for the movies, but they were few compared to others who were not so fortunate. The Hollywood studios did themselves irreparable harm by condoning the blacklist. Writers of great talent who could have gone on to write stimulating movies for the post-war audiences might have saved Hollywood from the impending disaster looming in the near future. It was left to the emerging European cinema to fill that need: the neo realism Italian movies, the French New Wave, East European cinema, and even Russia, who produced a movie The Cranes are Flying, the ending of which provoked the most tear-breaking moment in screen history (in fact tears are coming from my eyes as I write this)…light pause while I pull myself together… Need I say catch that movie, it’s available on DVD.

As a footnote to highlight the absurd but tragic farce of the Hollywood witch hunt, I refer you to ….Tender Comrade (1943), one of the movies most often attacked during the McCarthy era. Ginger Rogers plays a woman newly married to a soldier who, soon after, is shipped overseas with his regiment. Ginger moves into a collective household of women in a similar situation. The script contains a line, which Ginger has to say “share and share alike, that’s the American way”. Ginger’s mother, Lela, who was a right-wing reactionary, put herself forward as a friendly witness for the prosecution, and stated that line her daughter had innocently uttered was blatant communist propaganda. The writer of that script, Dalton Trumbo, a communist but also acknowledged as Hollywood’s number one scriptwriter, incredibly inserted at the film’s end the most subversive message which was overlooked by nearly everyone looking for communist propaganda in films. In a closing monologue, Ginger addresses the cinema audience “the social gains in American society secured by the sacrifices of my husband and others in the war against fascism would have to be protected after the war by continuing the struggle against domestic reactionaries”. That deliberation was possibly purposely overlooked by the witch hunters, who probably thought it struck too close for comfort.

END OF PART 1

I’m reminded of that great movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers; people erupting from pods…

Why is it I never see any of them, let’s say, in Tesco? Could be some of the creations they display prancing down the cat-walk might call for a comment or two at the check-out…..”allo darlin’ where did you get that, the local charity shop”?

No doubt they end up marrying bankers and spend their days staring into space, or maybe what to wear at the Royal Hunt Ball…mmm…

I’ll get myself a pair of bicycle clips and wangle an invitation ……I can picture it now…”may I have this dance”… gliding round the floor, uttering in her ear ” my family own anything you care to mention… from bordellos to clip joints. Marry me and I’ll buy you your own cat walk”, which I think is a good chatting-up approach. Something tells me I’m getting carried away by my own chutzpah, but as that popular song from the 40s goes… I can dream can’t I?

Photograph courtesy david_shankbone

Cinemas everywhere

There was no shortage of cinemas in Stepney (now Tower Hamlets) during that period, all boasting classical names; Rivoli, Olympia, Paragon, Luxor, Troxy, Ben Hur, etc. This last cinema was unique because of its tin roof, which was a target for stones thrown on it by local kids. I remember being there on one occasion, watching a Roman epic – The last days of Pompeii – when the pelting started. It was well timed to coincide with a big battle in progress on screen. The clash of swords together with stones landing on the roof gave the film a more realistic look. My favourite moment at the Hur occurred whilst watching the movie She, about a group of adventurers discovering a lost city. A popular song of the 50s was…If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake …the title was not lost on the Hur audience when the adventurers entered the lost city and was greeted by its Queen with the words “If I knew you were coming…” the rest of what she said was drowned out by everyone shouting – in perfect unison – the last five words of the song.

Mayfair Tales

Audience participation also came to the fore at the Mayfair, when showing a film version of a 40s BBC radio programme The Brains Trust, a static movie consisting a group of intellectuals sitting round a table discussing subjects ranging from, according to its blurb, ‘the most erudite and serious to the most irreverent and comedic’. One item under discussion was ‘How does a fly land on a ceiling?’ silly I know, but just think about it… HOW DOES IT?

The panel were actually limited in what they discussed; religion and politics were banned because of complaints from the Church and the Government – so much for free speech. However, free speech was not on the mind of the audience the evening I was present. We were there to see the latest Hollywood musical, not some egg-heads pontificating on flies landing on ceilings. So we showed our distaste by continuously booing till the film was stopped before it could finish. How I wish that audience was around today, just to se their re-action to the stultifying Pearl & Dean ads we have to sit through before the big film… Oh well, I can dream can’t I.

As a footnote, one of the intellectuals round the table, Professor Joad, the most famously known because of his quirky personality, and becoming what we now call a personality, became overnight a tragic figure in April 1948 when he was caught travelling on a Waterloo-Exeter train without a valid ticket. Apparently he was a consistent fare dodger. It made front page news in all the newspapers; he was fined £2 (today worth £54) it proved the end of his career, drastically affecting his health, becoming confined to his bed plus being fired from the BBC. He died April 1953, a sad end to a colourful character.

A favourite sport at the Mayfair was local kids ‘bunking’ in through a side door without paying. Despite a warning light that flashed every time the young scamps bolted in, very few were caught by the attendants, who were much slower in the running stakes. Sometimes, if the film was very dire, the chasing round the stalls was a pleasant distraction.

I remember going one afternoon to the Mayfair to see Hamlet, starring Laurence Olivier. I sat in the circle; looking around I observed there was no one up there except me. I wondered if that Brains Trust audience were frightened into thinking another dose of culture was in the offing and decided to give it a miss . Such a shame they were missing a landmark film. It would be a shame to say their loss was my gain… well at least I could watch the film without any distraction around me, and looking over the balcony into the stalls, I couldn’t believe my good luck, that too was deserted. Silence all around…

The lights went down, the curtains parted, unfortunately I had to sit through the boring ads, eventually the film started, then up came the credits accompanied by the cries of a baby completely overwhelming the film sound track. I thought the cinema, except for me, was empty, how did I not see this interloper giving a reaction to the film before it got started? I stopped speculating and attempted to discover where the screams were coming from. Certainly not in the circle. I looked over the rail down into the stalls, and sure enough there was the culprit, held by mother, I obviously overlooked them earlier. They were the only ones down there. As far as I could see in the semi-darkness mother was oblivious to the little one’s anguish. I remember calling out “why don’t you stop your baby crying”, back came a reply “why don’t you mind your own bloody business”. I would like to have added “you’ve made a mistake, Mickey Mouse is on all next week”. Meantime there was no appearance by any attendant, the film was still running, and there I was calling out can anyone do something about that baby down there. An attendant then came in flashing a torch and began talking to the woman, after what seemed like eternity the crying stopped. But despite that, I was still fuming for missing the opening of the film. As a dedicated filmaholic (something tells me I just invented a word) I want to see a film from beginning to end. My afternoon with Hamlet was ruined by a tiny tot – who may very well have grown up to be a great actress and played the mother of Hamlet. Of course I did go again to see the movie, but not at the Mayfair.

Queuing Up

Its very rare, if it happens at all, to see queues waiting to enter a cinema. Years ago it was the norm. People lined up in an orderly fashion; if you were waiting outside a West-end cinema in central London you were usually entertained by street buskers, some of whom were very talented. After their performance they would walk along the queue with a tin cup hoping you’ll give a little contribution. One such performer was Mutton Eye who played a harmonium and accompanied his playing with aside comments, my favourite was “I’m playing for a good cause ladies and gentlemen… save me from getting up early in the morning”.

Another busker would walk along the queue, playing a violin, and a sign round his neck with the word BLIND in large capital letters printed on it. He would go along the queue again with his tin cup, and do quite well . One would notice he seemed to know his way around without stumbling……a closer look at the sign revealed the word ‘nearly’ in extremely small letters above BLIND.

For stories about cinema queues – one particular afternoon outside the Mayfair must take pride of place. I can vouch for it, being there at the time. It was usual for many London cinemas to show different films on Sunday other than those shown during the week. Unlike today when you only get one film, back then it was always two films; the second feature referred to as a ‘B’ movie. Most times the ‘B’ stood for, to put it mildly, bad, and I mean bad, though many of them still have a cult following. (Probably the most famous is Detour made on the cheap but full of movie magic… catch it on DVD) So, back to that Sunday outside the Mayfair, there were two queues – those for the dearer seats at one end, and those for the cheaper seats the other end. Wolfie the doorman resplendent in his uniform, peak hat, long coat, and white gloves was at the ready to let us in. When opening time arrived it reminded me of Henry the fifth’s speech to his troops at Agincourt ….I see you strain like greyhounds at the slip….there was a mad rush to get to the box office a la charge of the light brigade.

The surge took two of the foyer doors off their hinges and they crashed to the floor. For some time it was called the battle of Brick Lane. When I tell you it was just to see two lousy movies one can only wonder why. I like to think tastes have changed since that inglorious day, and yet I don’t know…

One last recollection about the Mayfair; like many cinemas at that time the seating arrangements were atrocious. Seats were directly behind each other ensuring you didn’t have a clear view of the screen. The last seats one wanted to occupy at the Mayfair was sitting at either end of the first few front rows, which meant straining your face at an angle of 45 degrees to view the movie. An osteopath would have done a roaring trade setting up shop next door.

Well, those were a few memories of going to the pictures…The Mayfair and Ben Hur I’ll conclude this short series with tales of the other cinemas, very soon.

Happy Filmgoing

Needless to say she was a resounding flop in the States. They married, but it ended in failure. On his return to Britain he was blacklisted by Rank for walking out on them. He appeared in a number of films for other studios, but the glory days were over ,living in a downbeat hotel in Earl’s Court, then sheltered accommodation in Northolt, west London

His greatest success was in a wartime movie The Wooden Horse. He died March 2001 aged 81.

How can you commit the same crime and receive not only the blessing of the government, but also get a medal for doing so?

Simple – join the army.

We need look no further than the tragic episode of the Iraq war; thousands of civilians were killed, despite no evidence of that country being a threat to us. The same situation is occurring at present in Syria where their army are indiscriminately killing the civilian population. As we have heard so many times, when these moronic psychopaths are eventually brought to book…”I was acting under orders”. That being the case, if told by their masters in power, to jump off a cliff, they would readily do so? I think not…

Is it really that long ago when Nazi Germany were perpetrating the horrors of the Third Reich putting innocent women and children into the gas ovens? Without doubt a war of civil conflict is the worse scenario whereby civilian can be pitted against civilian….each side justifying their killing.

Its a mad world…

Photograph courtesy The US Army

“For years I suffered with painful feet. I tried everything to alleviate the pain; the NHS couldn’t discover anything wrong with my feet.

So I paid a lot of money to go private and see a feet consultant. He recommended a course of walking on my hands. It was difficult at first, but I very soon mastered it; now I walk on them all the time. I’m pleased to say my feet no longer give me any trouble.”

Maybe what you should really reflect on is, that the film you copied for your grandma was one of the worst in the history of the cinema…JAWS 3. When that sinks into your brainbox….whatever you do don’t start screaming, so that the warders can hear……LET ME OUT IT’S THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE FILM THAT SHOULD BE IN HERE, NOT ME. Calm down and, as you’ve seen it done may times in the movies, plan to escape. Bogart and Cagney did it in those great gangster films; Each Dawn I Die, White Heat, The Big Shot…ok, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. When they failed they got shot, and when the scene was over, got up from the studio floor and went to the commissary for coffee.

Alright but this is for real. This time it will be real bullets, but the guards will only shoot at you if you attempt to scale the prison wall. Wait a moment – didn’t James Cagney make an escape hiding in a prison washing basket? That’s right he did….now what was the name of the movie? LOOK YOU STUPID NUMSKULL YOU’RE NOT PLAYING GUESS THE NAME OF THE MOVIE…….now go and find a washing basket to hide in……… hooray…he’s found one…..quick jump in……in a few moments you’ll know if you’ve made it…or not. Good, the basket’s been loaded on the lorry…..and it whizzes out the gate.

It’s very likely you’ll become famous as the man who emulated what Cagney did. They’ll be a ticker tape parade in New York; but not only that, as your limousine drives down Fifth Avenue, the crowds will be shouting (because they’ve heard of your imprisonment for copying JAWS 3) “make Georgie Porgie (for that is you) the star of JAWS 4”. Whatever you do…don’t shout back, you can’t act. That wasn’t a set-back for Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone. In any case, Jaws could out-act those two any day of the week. A word of warning…..you may be greeted by J Edgar Hoover when you arrive at New York Town Hall; his being a cross-dresser, he may very well turn up wearing a dress. Don’t mess with the creep; kiss him on the cheek then run back to the limo.

Very soon we will see you up there on the big screen in JAWS 4 doing battle with an inflatable ferocious rubber shark. And to think there is someone out there making a pirate copy for HIS grandma…and, who will no doubt be caught, just like you were, end up in Sing-Sing, make his escape probably in a washing basket, become a celebrity, and star in JAWS 5. For how much longer can this cycle continue? Paranoia will grip readers of the tabloids, with reports of sharks popping up in peoples bathtubs. Something tells me I’d better stop right now…before I see them popping up in my bowl of soup……

The blame for this paranoia should be laid fairly and squarely on the filmmakers for making absolute rubbish and quite happy to see some poor individual go to jail just for making a copy of cinematic junk to give to his grandma.

To misquote HAMLET…..there is something rotten in the state of Hollywood.