Elvis Presley - Love me Tender (1956)

Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black and white Cinema Scope motion picture directed by Robert D Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with musical numbers. Because it was Presley's movie debut, it was the only time in his acting career that he did not receive top billing. Love Me Tender was originally to be titled The Reno Brothers, but when advanced sales of Presley's "Love Me Tender" single

passed one million—a first for a single—the film title was changed to match

Presley plays Clint Reno, the youngest of the four Reno Brothers who stays home to take care of his mother and the family farm as older brothers Vance, Brett and Ray fight in the American Civil War for the Confederate Army. The family is mistakenly informed that eldest brother Vance has been killed on the battlefield. After four years of war, the brothers return home and find that Vance's girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. Although Vance accepts this wholeheartedly ("We always wanted Cathy in the family"), the family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. As a Confederate soldier, Vance is involved in a train robbery in which he steals Federal Government money. A conflict of interest ensues when Vance tries to return the money against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates. The film reaches its tragic conclusion with a gunfight between the two Reno brothers, ironically ending with Clint's murder.

Elvis plays around with a prop knife during the filming of 'Love Me Tender'

Elvis signs an autograph on the set of 'Love Me Tender'.

Relaxing on the set of, "Love me Tender."

Richard Egan, Debra paget and Elvis Presley on the set of 'Love Me Tender'.

Elvis always had a love for animals. Here, he and co-star Debra Paget take a break from filming 'Love Me Tender' in 1956 to pet some calves from the set.

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

The first colour Ealing comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt (d. Charles Crichton, 1953) marked the beginning of the end of the classic cycle, although there was one more glorious success - The Ladykillers (d. Alexander Mackendrick, 1955) - still to come. It was also the last of the three film partnership between director Crichton and writer T.E.B. Clarke.

The film was a moderate success on its release, but it has not aged well. Alexander Mackendrick put his finger on the problem when he told Clarke:

Just about everybody would secretly like to rid themselves of tiresome relatives as in Kind Hearts and Coronets, or get hold of unlimited free whisky [Whisky Galore!], or remove a fortune in gold bars from the Bank of England [The Lavender Hill Mob]. But not so many people have any great desire to run a railway.

Titfield is the mildest of the major comedies, lacking even a hint of the mischief in the previous Crichton/Clarke collaboration The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) or Clarke's earlier Passport to Pimlico (d. Henry Cornelius, 1949). It is Ealing at its most parochial, celebrating an England which has lost the will to rebuild and renew itself which carried the country through the immediate postwar years.

The rural England of the film is one in which the old 'natural order' is restored, with leadership of the countryside back in the hands of the country squire and the vicar, to the satisfaction of all. Its enemies are commercial interests, as represented by the bus company Pearce and Crump Ltd, and, implicitly, the newly nationalised British Rail, which wants to close down Titfield's tiny branch line.

In place of these twin threats, the film prefers the villagers' genial but aimless eccentricity and spirit of plucky amateurishness. The film's triumphant climax comes when the villagers are allowed to run the railway themselves - precisely because their antique steam engine is so slow that it doesn't contravene safety regulations.

With its images of steam trains, country squires, warm beer and village-green cricket, the film seems now like a Party Political Broadcast for the Conservative Party under John Major. Perhaps the then Prime Minister even had the film in mind when, in the mid-1990s, his government rushed through the deeply unpopular re-privatisation of British Rail, the disastrous results of which mean that Britain's trains, like Titfield's, run slowly.

THE

MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN

Published by

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Volume 20, No.231, April 1953, page 51

TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT, THE (1953)

The picturesque village of Titfield is linked to a nearby town, Mallingford, by a single track railway. Unfortunately, the railway loses money and is closed down. The villagers' pride is aroused, and, led by the Reverend Weech, a train enthusiast, plans are laid to run the line independently. A rich, drunken eccentric called Valentine provides the money, and against much jealousy and opposition from the local bus company the new line is opened. The bus company attempts various acts of sabotage, but without success, and are finally driven to wreck the train itself at night. Weech, however, is not to be outdone. The original Titfield Thunderbolt is brought out from the museum, and, with Weech as driver and a visiting Bishop as engine-firer, makes a successful run to Mallingford, passing the approval of the British Railways inspector, who gives this sanction to the line's continuance.

This latest in the succession of Ealing comedies written by T. E. B. Clarke starts, as usual, from an ingenious and attractively anarchistic idea, and from the further advantage that most people enjoy playing with trains. The genial and whimsical characterisations of the villagers, the affectionate gibes at British customs and rituals, are other familiar elements, and here the invention is unfortunately below par. The script itself is disconcertingly short on wit, and some of its invention appears forced, and Crichton's handling fails to supply the charm that could still have been the film's justification. There are amusing moments, the Titfield Thunderbolt itself is a splendid and touching contraption, there are good performances by Holloway, Relph, Tearle, Wayne and the immortal Edie Martin, the Technicolor photography offers some pleasing landscapes, but the total result remains thin.

---

The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the British Film Institute between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was absorbed by Sight and Sound magazine.

Brotherhood of Man - 1983

This album from the corny Brotherhood of Man was released back in 1983 and contains 12 tracks, including, 'Angelo' a song I refer to as the poor man's 'Fernando!'

Angelo
Cry Baby Cry
I Don't Need It
I Love Everybody
Run Like Hell
Too Late The Hero
When The Kissing Stops
It Is Love
What More Can I Say
Heartbreaker
Jukebox Serenade
Hanging On

Sons and Daughters - Episode Three

Fiona arranges for John to take on a new identity. She introduces him to a doctor who comes to remove a plaster cast from her leg, as her nephew, "Scott Edwards". In Melbourne, David thinks John should return to face the music - it's the day of John's birthday, but he isn't with his family to celebrate it. Bill tells David that he has been questioned by the police several times, and he keeps telling them he can't believe John would kill someone. Bill says he almost went back to the warehouse, but didn't because his Mum was ill. Fiona offers to buy John some new clothes, but John doesn't like being a charity-case. Fiona reads John's palm, and John wants to know about his real mother, but Fiona sidesteps the issue.

Angela Hamilton is also celebrating her birthday, at the party organised by her mother.

Fiona cuts John's hair, and gives him a new top as a birthday present. She tells him to remember he's innocent. John goes out to buy some food, and, on Fiona's suggestion, rings his parents from a 'phone box to let them know he is safe. Beryl and David try to persuade John to return home, but he refuses. A policeman appears outside the 'phone box, but he is looking for a lost child, and John heaves a sigh of relief.

The next morning, Wayne reads a newspaper report about Angela's party. There is a picture in the paper of Angela, Patricia and Gordon. Angela asks Wayne when he's going to leave again, and wants to know how Wayne could cheat on Gordon. Wayne says noone will ever know, if Angela doesn't say anything...

John has another dream about the girl on horseback. He is woken up by Jill Taylor, who rents a room in Fiona's boarding house. Jill cooks breakfast and gives John the paper. John spots the picture of Angela and sees that she lives at 'Dural'. He wants to go there.

Kevin Palmer is upset by other kids at school giving him a hard time about John. He asks Beryl why John ran away if he was innocent. He refuses Beryl's offer of some tea, and says he is going next door to see Lynn.

John and Jill are out in the countryside, when John suddenly spots a girl on a horse. He quickly realises it's Angela Hamilton, but Jill doesn't believe him and teases him about it. John starts to tell Jill about his dreams, but suddenly realises Angela has disappeared. He senses that Angela is hurt, and suddenly sees a riderless horse bolting across the field. John and Jill run across the field and find Angela lying on the ground, motionless.

Cat Stevens - The First Cut Is The Deepest (1981)

Cat Stevens earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for "The First Cut is the Deepest", which has been a hit single for four different artists. "The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by Cat Stevens, originally released by P.P. Arnold in the spring of 1967. Stevens' own version of the song is technically a cover, and originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967.

The song has been widely covered and has become a hit single for four different artists: P.P Arnold (1967), Keith Hampshire (1973), Rod Stewart (1977) and Sheryl Crow (2003).

The song concerns someone apprehensive about entering a new romantic relationship because he is still suffering from being hurt by his first love: However, the song continues:

The first cut is the deepest, Baby I know —

The first cut is the deepest

'Cause when it comes to being lucky, she's cursed

When it comes to lovin' me, she's worst

But when it comes to being loved, she's first

That's how I know

The first cut is the deepest.

I still want you by my side

Just to help me dry the tears that I've cried

'Cause I'm sure gonna give you a try

And if you want I'll try to love again

Television Weekly News - April 18th 1931

Television Weekly News began life in America back in 1931 and could probably have been America's version of Radio Times. This particular cover is actually the first cover from April 1931 and features as its cover, Greta Garbo.

The F.A. Cup on the Radio Times (1961)

I do love a good Radio Times cover from the past. This particular cover celebrates the 1961 F.A. Cup Final between Tottenham Hotspur & Leicester City.

Cloppa Castle: Episode Three - The Bruda Banger

Queen Ethelbruda is in her chariot but it is being pulled by two of the castle soldiers. As they get to the castle they are worn out and so the Queen demands they be replaced. Elbow goes to speak to the King as he is concerned that his men will be unfit to defend the castle against the Hasbeenes. Mudlin remembers a four legged animal that used to pull chariots but he does not know where to find one. He suggests that the Queen go and see Cue-ee-dee and get him to make a special machine to pull the chariot. Cue-ee-dee sets about the planning and construction of such a device. He works on into the night and all the noise keeps the castle residents awake. The noise is so bad that it keeps up the Hasbeenes as well. The leader Beosweyne is not very happy but goes off to investigate and the next morning he plans an attack on the castle. That very same morning, however, Cue-ee-dee as completed his task and presents his new chariot to the Queen. She is overjoyed and takes it out for a spin. The castle doors open just as the Hasbeenes charge with their battering ram. Well you can guess the outcome of this story.

The Picture goer - Bing Crosby

Check out these excellent front covers of crooner Bing Crosby on the Picture goer magazine from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s.

This edition dates back to 1944

Dear old Bing on a 1948 cover.

This cover dates back to 1950

With Bob Hope from 1952

Soldier Boy - Elvis Presley (1960)

March 20, 1960 - At noon Elvis, his entourage, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana (But not Bill Black, who never plays with Elvis again) take a charted bus to Nashville for a session at RCA's Studio B, whose recoding facilities have been upgraded with a three track machine. The are joined by all the musicians from the June 1958 session, the Jordanaires, Colonel Parker and RCA's new chief studio engineer, Bill Porter.

Elvis records six songs (In true stereo for the first time) including 'Stuck On You' 'Soldier Boy' and 'Fame And Fortune' which will be pressed and shipped within two days as an urgently need new single.

Soldier boy why feel blue
Don't you believe that she will be true
It's written in the blue
That she was meant for only you

Soldier boy tell me why do you cry
When you return she'll rush to your side
It's written in the book
That she was meant for only you

So prove your love is true
She'll be there to say "I do"
And if you go o'er sea or land
She'll make you understand

While you're gone oh try to believe
Her love for you is really for real
It's written in the book
That she was meant for only you

So prove your love is true
She'll be there to say "I do"
And if you go o'er sea or land
She'll make you understand

While you're gone oh try to believe
Her love for you is really for real
It's written in the book
That she was meant for only you.

Sons and Daughters - Episode Two

In Sydney, a young man and woman leave a restaurant in a sports car. As they are driving along, they start kissing, totally oblivious to the fact that a lorry is heading straight towards them! At the last moment, the woman notices the lorry, and her companion swerves and avoids an accident.

In Melbourne, John and Bill are at work, loading some delicate china onto a lorry, using a pulley system. At the exact moment the near-miss takes place in Sydney, John 'sees it' in his mind and lets go of the pulley, causing the china to smash to the ground. Both he and Bill are given the sack. Bill goes home and talks to Susan about what happened. He decides to return to the warehouse to plead for his job back, but Selmar says he's hired two new workers. In a fit of rage, Bill picks up a crowbar that's lying nearby, and strikes Selmar with it.

John also decides to ask for his job, but when he gets to the warehouse, he finds Selmar lying on the ground and thinks he's dead. He picks up the crowbar, then hears the police arriving and runs away. He is spotted, though.

John goes home and tells David what happened. The police turn-up, asking to speak to John, and they tell David what they think happened. David has a showdown with John in his bedroom, and appears not to believe John is telling the truth. When David leaves the bedroom, John leaps out the window. He sneaks onto the back of a lorry and makes his way to Sydney. While he's on a boat, he thinks back to when he was a little child, being taught by Fiona to remember her address. He makes his way to the address - 22, Manly Terrace - and finds Fiona still lives there. He tells her what has happened and she believes him.

Elsewhere in Sydney, the girl from the car accident turns out to be Angela Hamilton, the daughter of Patricia, and her husband, Gordon. Patricia is organising a birthday party for Angela, but Angela is not happy. She thinks something is 'wrong', but doesn't know what exactly.

Gordon and Patricia give Angela a horse for her birthday. The horse is in the grounds of their garden, and so is someone else - Wayne Hamilton - who has flown home for Angela's birthday. Patricia is less than pleased to see him.

A Kid for two Farthings - 1955

Adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel, A Kid for Two Farthings was Carol Reed's first colour production, and his last wholly British film until Oliver! some thirteen years later. It's also a very rare example of a genuine Anglo-Jewish film, partly filmed on location in Petticoat Lane in London's East End, at the heart of what was still a thriving Jewish community (whose decline would be recorded a few years later in Robert Vas' 1962 documentary (The Vanishing Street), happily coexisting cheek by jowl with more traditional East End elements.

Much of the film's fascination today comes from this background detail, the street market (the location was renamed 'Fashion Street' for the film) being packed with memorable characters: the affectionate Mrs Abramowitz (Irene Handl), blowsy fashionista Lady Ruby (Brenda de Banzie) crooked jewellery salesman Ice Berg (Sid James), finicky tailor 'Madam Rita' (Sidney Tafler) and decrepit shopkeeper Mr Kandinsky (David Kossoff).

It's in the latter's shop that young Joe (Jonathan Ashmore) sees his imagination most heavily stimulated, taking Mr Kandinsky's fables all too literally when he buys a young goat in the mistaken belief that it's a magical unicorn whose powers will transform the lives of Joe and his mother Joanna (Celia Johnson) and grant Mr Kandinsky his longed-for steam-powered trouser-press. That this ultimately fails to happen underscores one of the film's key themes: the loss of innocence that Reed had earlier explored so memorably in The Fallen Idol (1948)

Joe's adventures are counterbalanced by the equally childlike romance of Sonia (Diana Dors) and her body-building boyfriend Sam (Joe Robinson), the latter's misguided involvement with crooked wrestling promoter Blackie Isaacs (Lou Jacobi) adding a further injection of local colour. Like Joe, Sam has a specific material goal in mind, the funding of an engagement ring for Sonia, and while his ambition is somewhat more practical at base, it's also prone to fanciful idealism: the fact that Sam and Sonia have been engaged for four years hints at earlier schemes that have failed to come off.

A Kid for Two Farthings is not one of Reed's more successful films: Joe's fantasies are ultimately more cloying than cute, and neither Ashmore nor Johnson make especially convincing working-class East Enders. But Dors and Robinson are an appealingly convincing couple, and the background detail ensures that the film will last, if only as a whimsical curiosity.

THE

MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN

Published by

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Volume 22, No.257, June 1955, page 83-4

KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS, A (1955)

In and around the Petticoat Lane establishment of Kandinsky, a philosophical old Jewish tailor with a fanciful imagination, there moves a colourful assortment of characters. There are Joanna, who boards and works with Kandinsky, and her little boy Joe, a collector of a series of pets, who wonders at the stories Kandinsky tells him about the magic powers of the unicorn; there is Sam, Kandinsky's assistant, a "muscle man" whose ambition is to become "Mr. World", and who is loved by the pretty shop girl Sonia; there is Python Macklin, a fearful and ugly wrestler who goads Sam into a fight; and so on. The life of Petticoat Lane, with its odd mixture of strange and lovable characters, goes on quite peacefully until Joe buys a young kid from a vagrant. The new pet, which Joe, because of its single horn, assumes to be a unicorn, soon begins to exercise its magic powers. Sam fights and beats the dreaded Python and is able to buy Sonia a ring; Kandinsky gets a steam presser for his tailoring establishment; there is even a hint that Joe's father, who has been abroad, may return. When the Kid dies - Joe is unlucky with his pets - Joe quickly gets a new animal, and life in Petticoat Lane goes on as before.

In A Kid for Two Farthings Carol Reed has brought to the screen Wolf Mankowitz's little fable of East End life. Its success in creating a natural and convincing atmosphere of the locality - which is essential to the story - is unfortunately marred by two miscalculations: the colour is harsh and artificial, making the locations too often look like rather indifferent sets; and neither Celia Johnson (Joanna) nor Jonathan Ashmore (the little boy) ever begin to persuade us that they belong to this particular world. (The script explains in an aside that they have only recently moved into the neighbourhood, but this hardly justifies the importation of two such Kensington voices into this milieu.) Carol Reed's direction seems somewhat ill-at-ease with a set of characters who are presented as almost uniformly pleasant and lovable; and the handling, although showing touches of bravura in staging, fails to establish a rhythm which could provide a momentum for this whimsical and, in the context of its realistic surroundings, ambitious story. Isolated sequences-a very exciting wrestling match, a macabre night pursuit of Sonia by the dreaded Python, some casual incidental shots of Petticoat Lane-come over with effect, but the sequences never really fuse into a whole. This is perhaps partly due to a disparity in the acting styles employed. David Kossoff's Kandinsky is a performance making no concessions to the demands of the film screen; Jonathan Ashmore, the little boy, fatally lacks the streak of toughness which the part demands, and this performance shows too obviously the signs of having been pieced together in the cutting room; generally, there is a lack of balance between "natural" and "character" acting. Among the smaller parts, Vera Day makes a striking impression.

---

The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the British Film Institute between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was absorbed by Sight and Sound magazine.

Bob Dylan - Self Portrait (All the tired Horses)

It's one of rock criticism's most famous lines: "What is this s---?" So began Greil Marcus' review of Bob Dylan's 1970 album Self Portrait. The same could be asked of the record's opening track, which consists of two lines — "All the tired horses in the sun/ How'm I supposed to get any ridin' done? Hmm" — repeated over and over again by a group of female singers for just about three minutes. The singing is hypnotic enough to lure sailors to their deaths, and the instrumentation is pleasant enough. But Dylan's no-where to be seen, obviously. So forget this song.

Record One:
1. All The Tired Horses
2. Alberta #1
3. I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know
4. Days Of '49
5. Early Mornin' Rain
6. In Search Of Little Sadie
7. Let It Be Me
8. Little Sadie
9. Woogie Boogie
10. Belle Isle
11. Living The Blues
12. Like A Rolling Stone

Record Two:
1. Copper Kettle
2. Gotta Travel On (Done Laid Around)
3. Blue Moon
4. The Boxer
5. Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
6. Take Me As I Am
7. Take A Message To Mary
8. It Hurts Me Too
9. Minstrel Boy
10. She Belongs To Me
11. Wigwam
12. Alberta #2