Change Your Image
anthony-55
Reviews
Mine Own Executioner (1947)
I once met Nigel Balchin
Interesting a previous reviewer said it might be the first film to feature psycho therapy. When I was invalided out of the army through Northfiuelds Hospital not long after the war my psychiatrist recommended I should read the book. Don't think I did. I worked in the Pinewood Story Department later and met Nigel Balchin. He had been in the army but had done better than me - rising to Brigadier General I think. Booze got him alas.
In this or one of his other books he used the words 'Boffin' for scientist and 'back room boys' - words that have gone into the language.
ABC Stage 67: Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn? (1966)
An interesting film of the Cold War era.
I was the producer of this one hour film made for a British TV company but budgeted on a sale to ABC in America. It was based on a five page original story by Le Carre for which we paid an unreasonably large fee and scripted by Stanley Mann, a Canadian writer. It was directed by Ted Kotchef who went on to create the character RAMBO with Sylvester Stallone.
It was quite good and might stand up to a TV showing even now - but, of course, the Cold War background is very dated.
Anthony Perry
Anyone interested e-mail me.
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986)
quite superb. One of TV's best.
This was novel writing at its best and became TV at its best. I knew Phillip Saville, the director, and this was his best but the hard centre of sheer quality came from Fay Weldon, a friend then and still a friend. She is a really nice woman but deploys a brilliant venom in the interests of her art. She is currently (July 2001) writing her autobiography and it will be interesting to see how closely she admits to connections to her then husband Ron's behaviour.
In a Land of Plenty (2001)
superb - real quality.
This was an almost perfect work - the writing and the acting but also the camera work, the production design and the directing. It is a pity that the BBC didn't promote it more vigorously. They must bring it back soon and make sure a much wider audience see it. You simply don't get TV of this quality any more. It sets a yardstick by which all other TV drama will be judged for the next few years.
It is extraordinary that all those concerned suddenly appeared - and produced this beacon in a sea of TV dross. The only previous credit I recognised was the Cameraman for the hugely underrated film "Ratcatcher" - which I also recommend.
ANTHONY PERRY