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philipjetsimpson
Reviews
The Wednesday Play: Who's a Good Boy Then? (1966)
I ahhhhhhhhhm!
I remember seeing this "Wednesday Play" way back in the 1960's when I was a lad of 15.
If the BBC still have a recording of this play, then they certainly should put it out on DVD because in my opinion it is a true classic, which is the reason I remember it so well.
The story concerns a middle-aged couple played so very well by Ron Moody and Thora Hird who happen to be childless. They decide to put a card in the local newsagent's window for a lodger. Hey presto! Along comes evidently 'down-and-out' Ronald Lacey, the perfect 'child'. He arrives with battered old suitcase and is promptly welcomed in by this very odd couple. I can remember this play so vividly because it was so unusual and the characters so oddball, all three actors performing so superbly well together.
I won't give the whole of the story away just in case, and in the unlikely event, that it is put out on video, suffice to say if it is, see it! A great black comedy right up to the end when one sees poor old Ron Lacey from the outside of the house, high up in the attic, hands clutching at his prison-like bars at the window screaming, "I am, I am, I ahhhhhhm! (remember the title) whilst a very loud train roars by outside, almost drowning the poor young man's screams.
Great acting from all three, especially the hugely underrated Ronald Lacey.
Bond of Fear (1956)
Hook up the caravan and get more than you bargain for
I remember seeing this film on TV when I was a kid and was totally absorbed. I still like this type of old British movie. I think it's the good old-fashioned storyline with lots of suspense that does it for me.
So here we have good old Dermot Walsh minding his own business, taking his family on a trip with the caravan in tow and ending up with a wanted criminal holding them hostage whilst on the move with their trailer. For me, the acting is more than decent and for anyone like me who has a penchant for rather cheaply made, but nonetheless good, black and white British second features of this era, it would be a very decent purchase if only it were available on DVD or VHS (hint, hint).
Yes, it's a pity that - ahem - Amazon don't have a great many of this type of good old British black and white on either DVD or VHS.