Greetings to all family – Charlie Hi – friends and neighbours
Until this weekend my opinion was that television isn’t worth switching on – except for The Repair Shop but then along came sport and politics with sports winning the race. The Commonwealth Games are gearing up to an exciting week and later today thousands will be glued to the screen when England play Germany.
I wish them success, England that is, I’ll even be watching! Makes a change from Love Island which is going off the boil although a little twist when, tomorrow evening, two more couples will be sent home with their tails between their legs. It really is puerile stuff and actually quite pornographic at times but then that’s par for the course these days. Very unlike The Repair Shop
It’s extraordinary how women’s football has appeared from nowhere to having the top sport in the news. It puts the man’s game in the shade, all the bickering, the racism, the brutality, perhaps they will learn. I doubt it thought.
Recently I have turned to Netflix and Prime with three recommendations I was given resulting in terrific viewing. Deliverance starred four unknowns when it was made in 1972. These American’s are on a dangerous adventure canoeing down the swollen river and shooting the rapids. It features Jon Voight, Bert Reynolds, Ned Beattie and Ronny Cox and they refused stunt men, the result was lasting injuries to them all and very terrifying viewing. They weren’t even insured.
This is a boys-own story directed by John Boorman and I’d love to know how he did it, the scenes of the canoes careering down the raging torrent are brutal and the strain on the faces and the banging off rocks is obviously real. The film is famous for three things, the actual journey, the music and the scene when one of the men is raped by a backwoodsman, be warned this is very terrible but it’s woven into the story and is an important inclusion. Before the men actually take to the water they come on a farmhouse where there’s a strange young man sitting, a banjo on his knee. He doesn’t speak but when one of our heroes starts strumming on his guitar the build up between the two ends in the famous Duelling Banjos. The boy is actor Billy Redden who actually couldn’t play the instrument and so he wore a special shirt which allowed a real banjo player to hide behind him with his arms slipped around Redden’s waist to actually play the tune. In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’. Well worth watching.
70 Years Old And Still Going Strong.
Having read about Eamonn Holmes passion for The Quiet Man I gave it an airing and it was refreshing and lovely; from the first scene as the train steams into Castletown station you know you’re going to be delighted with the next hour or so. Shot in County Galway and County Mayo the scenery is stunning when the action is out and about, especially during the fight scene when Sean Thornton, (John Wayne) pulls Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara) across fields and ditches to their little cottage in Innisfree. O’Hara broke a bone in her hand and was badly bruised – yet again no stunt doubles. It’s obvious, however, that some of the outdoor scenes were shot in the grounds of Ashford Castle as it’s all too manicured whilst other scenes were against what looks like a painted backcloth, something that Wayne criticised. There are stars galore but they are headed by delightful Barry Fitzgerald as the match maker, he has some choice asides! There has always been chat about this being a film that shows brutality towards women, but the matchmaker sums it up during a tempestuous fight between the two lovebirds. “Have the good manners not to hit the man until he’s your husband.”
When I first saw The Quiet Man very many years ago, I was entranced by Mary Kate and would sit on a rock by Belfast Lough and practice saying out loud, “Indeed I will not” just as she did in her rich brogue.
John Wayne is a brooding hero with a heart stopping smile who smokes non stop although, for some reason only takes three puffs before chucking it away! For me wonderful memories although I still haven’t perfected “Indeed I will not!”
Quarter Of A Century On
This time 25 years ago Steven Spielberg was making Saving Private Ryan and I had the pleasure of being on set for two days thanks to associate producer Mark Huffam. Since then this film producer from Ballyclare and living in Holywood, Northern Ireland, has made almost 40 films including Mamma Mia, Games of Thrones, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and this year is producer of The Northman. He’s top notch now but in 1998 Mark was working on his first major film and he was kind enough to make my visit to the set possible. What an experience. 45 minutes north of London lay the French village of Ramelle a scene of carnage, ravaged by a fierce battle between American and German troops in the later stages of World War 11. The actual battle was played out before me as two Mustang fighter aircraft skimmed overhead at almost 200 miles an hour just 50 fee above the ruined cathedral and shaking what buildings were still upright, apparently many were constructed from Oasis used for dried flower displays. They blew apart very realistically.
I was the only reporter granted permission to be on set on the condition no camera, no notebook, no pen. So what I saw and heard is etched on my memory. The set had been built at the vast British Aerospace airfield at Hatfield in Hertfordshire and, just as on that day in 1944, the ground was saturated and the sky was grey. I stumbled over a man’s body, leg gone, no head, chest lying open exposing his windpipe, bluebottles crawling through the bloody insides. I had to keep reminding myself that this gruesome scene had been made nearby by the special effects departments, 86 special experts including a corpse and animals effects artist. I was lucky to meet Spielberg and then the armorer who gave me a tour of the vast array of weaponry and then on to the prosthetic technicians.
Privilege is an overworked word but in this case I use it with feeling.
Lunch in the canteen, surrounded by American and German soldiers in various states of bloody injury, a man in uniform smiles over and says hello. I asked Mark, “is he from Northern Ireland, I know his face but can’t place him?”
“No,” he said, “he’s Tom Hanks!”
These films will live on for ever, few made today can make that boast.
HOT AIR
Having fun with my new Air Fryer purchased yesterday. My cooker gave up the ghost so within 3 days my new machine turned up on the doorstep. So many of my friends had raved about their Air Fryers that I was delighted when I unpacked it and this shiny black space aged thing appeared. I have been coming to terms with it since! So far chips (quite nice but needed a little more looking) a piece of bread and butter with cheese on top, tasty but must see if I can achieve the same with bacon on top! Tea last night was chicken legs, and potato and cauliflower with cheese sauce, which was easy as it was a microwave job! Chicken took much longer to cook than I reckoned but the little potatoes I cooked along side them were perfect. This is obviously what’s known as a learning curve but if all my friends think it worth while, I will live in hope!
