The London Collection

London Nobody Knows - 1967

This is a remarkable documentary for any Londoner, or indeed non-Londoner. (I grew up in London through the early 70s onwards, and distinctly have the memories that this film throws at you).

This was London largely before any gentrification and mass immigration tempered it. It doesn't take much imagination that one could be viewing the human condition from Victorian times; grime, roughly cut, half-spirited, nostalgic, resigned. For that reason, of many, this is poignant footage.

James Mason informs the audience with charm, repose and sensitivity to its subject. The film is juxtaposed with typical late 60s quirkyness in places - which largely works as it soon smacks you back with a jolt at times.

Bicycles of Belsize, 1969 (on the same disc) -

this is a short musical themed piece/fantasy, it passed the time pleasantly away - again it has scenes (as varied as London is) of a softly green and elegant Hampstead. The sound track's of a typical 60s popular idiom, easy listening. The plot being innocent and of no consequence.

A film of super quality. Great direction and cinematography but probably a nightmare for the sound crew doing London location shooting…must have required extensive post-production work in the studio.

The actors are all well chosen in that they are totally believable…even down to Michael Ward's camp cameo pianist '…who ME?'.

There are usually complaints about women with cut-glass accents appearing in films of that era and sounding out of place, but this was post-WW2 and lots of young, and not so young women who'd earned independence in the services or the war factories, or had become war-widows weren't quite ready to go back to mummy…so they got city jobs and lived in or shared bed-sits and tried to enjoy life in Austerity Britain.

This film shows that in spite of what hindsight historians would have us believe, not everyone went round looking glum. They still wanted pleasure in life in spite of severe rationing...and in spite of the five and a half- to six-day working week. In the absence of TV, with only the radio to rely on, people went out to pubs, clubs, dance-halls, variety shows, the theatre and the cinema. They didn't embrace austerity, they needed a break from it.

All of which is beautifully reflected in this film. The plot is no real surprise, the acting is more than adequate for a low-budget film, but the addition of location filming around the city streets, the bomb sites, the wharfs, the cobbled alleys, the dockyard taverns and the hustle and bustle of a busy port give this film a sheen that makes it rise above expectations.

A long overdue release, that finally came in 2009, the film is a face-spotters delight.

Well crafted rainy Sunday afternoon film. Excellent ensemble acting and a lovely snapshot of post war London. Good to be reminded of what a good actor Andrew ray was too.

Interesting curiosity. Admittedly, this is not a great film; content is flimsy, with virtually no narrative, it's brief, arguably pretentious and self-indulgent. However, it still has some charm and is worth a look for its stylistic quirks.

It's a through-sung musical romantic fantasy (in the vein of a cut-price Umbrellas of Cherbourg - even the music is sub Michel Legrand), which follows the quest of a young man on a bicycle, as he pursues a beautiful but vacuous model through her 'gilded cage' existence on various photo shoots around Hampstead.

Visually charming, particularly for anyone who recognises the Hampstead locations, and historically quirky for its record of late 60s hippy style in the north London context.

This is a big screen version of a BBC play. Anthony Newley plays Sammy Lee the strip club compère whose gambling debts land him in trouble with gangsters. Newley was a quirky actor and takes some getting used to. Always nice to see Julia Foster who plays a doting innocent, and there are good cameos from Warren Mitchell and Miriam Karlin as his brother and his sister-in-law. Set before strip clubs and gambling were entirely lawful, the film is in black-and-white which enhances the period atmosphere. Jazz fans may care to note that the original music is by Kenny Graham.