ffranc Reviews

Fields of Gold (2002 TV Movie)

Negative.

[29 December 2003]

Pseudo-scientific scaremongering rubbish, only made faintly plausible by Anna Friel and by Phil Davis's turn as a veteran journalist. The dialogue is crude and, once it gets away from the newspaper office, incredible.

If an unknown writer had turned up at the BBC with this, he would have been shown the door sharpish.

After Henry (1988–1992)

Better in its original form as a BBC radio series.

[21 October 2002]

Television chiefs in Britain, desperate for new comedy ideas, seize on any successful radio series. When it first appeared, the idea of three generations of women under the same roof, and the sympathetic depiction of a gay man not in the first flush of youth were quite fresh. "After Henry" lost something in the transfer to TV, possibly because on TV it made fewer demands on the imagination. The cast, principally Joan Sanderson (qv) as Prunella Scales's mother and Benjamin Whitrow (qv) as the bookshop owner, were fresher, too.

The Man from Morocco (1945)

A romantic adventure with an anti-fascist message which only occasionally gets in the way of the story.

[8/10 · 8 August 2000]

An enjoyable romantic adventure set in the period between the defeat of the Spanish Republic and just before America entered the war. One or two idealistic speeches hold up action occasionally, but the film is refreshingly free of jingoism.

Echo of Diana (1963)

Above average British B-movie

[7/10 · 24 June 2000]

In the days of the cold war, many films and TV series were based on the themes of espionage and mysterious disappearances. It was unsurprising that second-feature specialists Butcher's would produce one in this genre.

However, this is well-plotted and genuinely suspenseful in parts, with a good twist in the tail. If the low budget is obvious in the production values, the acting is solid, especially Vincent Ball as the journalist who is more than he appears and Betty MacDowall in her specialist rôle as the grieving widow.

Night of the Prowler (1962)

Moderate, average Butcher's "thriller"

[5/10 · 24 June 2000]

With better direction and editing, this could have been a neat mystery-thriller. The experienced leads turn in professional performances - especially John Horsley as the detective - but the minor characters and the production values are well down to the standard of the budget.

"Quincy" and "Ironside" did this sort of thing much better a decade later.

Dilemma (I) (1962)

Unthrilling short "thriller".

[5 April 2000]

Cheapo British B-picture which does not live up to its description. The initial premise is interesting enough, but any "thrills" are dissipated by the slack plotting. The "surprise" ending is signalled well before the end.