mike-1828
Joined Aug 2004
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mike-1828's rating
I remember watching this when I would have been around 11 or 12. And I still remember how creepy it was. Brilliantly done with just 2 actors, George Coulouris and Patrick Barr. Just in case it is still around somewhere, I won't give details of the plot, but the fact that I remember it so clearly after 50 years must say something! I'd love to get hold of it. I assume I must have also watched other episodes, but I can't remember them. Douglas Fairbanks Junior's team was also behind the film 'Chase a crooked shadow' which is another apparently forgotten gem. That was the first 'grown-up' film I was taken by my parents to see!
I was lucky enough to see the original cast production at Her Majesty's Theatre a couple of months after it opened in 1986, and I remember it as the most spectacular and exciting theatre production I've ever seen. The film captures the glorious spirit of the original, and I've been saddened to read a few negative reviews of the film on other sites, notably the BBC site. Where does the BBC get these people? The voices are a little weak in places, so even that aspect matched the theatre production! We're talking musical theatre here people, not the Royal Opera House!
The one thing I regret is that the film version of the Masquerade sequence musically doesn't match the original. This had a magical arrangement starting using drums and mediaeval instruments, building to the full climax, but it's set up more conventionally on the film. Spectacular sets, fluid camera work, a joy from start to finish. Forget the critics: you know they are usually jaded and bored people. See it and make up your mind yourself (and note the high rating here on IMDb!)
The one thing I regret is that the film version of the Masquerade sequence musically doesn't match the original. This had a magical arrangement starting using drums and mediaeval instruments, building to the full climax, but it's set up more conventionally on the film. Spectacular sets, fluid camera work, a joy from start to finish. Forget the critics: you know they are usually jaded and bored people. See it and make up your mind yourself (and note the high rating here on IMDb!)
In 1975, the BBC made a film version of Cider with Rosie, also approved by Laurie Lee, and featuring Rosemary Leach as the mother. The earlier production is a triumph compared to this one, with a wonderful semi-impressionistic view of this dramatisation of English village life after the first world war.
In the 1975 version, look for example at the final shot where we see the young Laurie passing the real life elderly Laurie. What a glorious touch! Fortunately I have the first version on tape (and now preserved on a DVD!).
This later version, sadly, is strictly run of the mill made-for-TV drama compared to the 1975 one, which was produced by Eileen Diss and scripted by Hugh Whitemore, 2 of the BBC's greatest!.
In the 1975 version, look for example at the final shot where we see the young Laurie passing the real life elderly Laurie. What a glorious touch! Fortunately I have the first version on tape (and now preserved on a DVD!).
This later version, sadly, is strictly run of the mill made-for-TV drama compared to the 1975 one, which was produced by Eileen Diss and scripted by Hugh Whitemore, 2 of the BBC's greatest!.