Rope

 

Yes this is still unsettling after decades. The original murder scene with the body of the victim just going limp and then nothing. 

I think John Dall's Brandon bears a  resemblance to Ben Affleck I think  this actually added to the unease I felt.  Rope felt more contemporary than Rear Window

The  actor ( Cedric Hardwicke)  who plays the father of the young man who is killed. Also caught my eye - he speaks against Brandon's rant about unworthy life. Stewart as the ex prep  master who joked about killing Hotel clerks and finally realizes the horror of what has happened

There is no reward for the murder except a sense of pride. Not sex, or money 

I note two bachelors can afford a maid, and also the maid wears her apron tied in a bow. Which would draw attention to her rear- The two bachelors were also expected to neck chickens  

We see something of the military man in Stewart- you don't miss from that far.

The Oral History of Cheers

 https://www.gq.com/story/cheers-oral-history-extended

Article from 2012. Shawn Ryan from Angel and the Shield talk about the sitcom 

George Wendt

 October 17, 1948 - May 20, 2025

Father, Economics Student Actor

Norm

This stings a bit

https://www.gq.com/story/cheers-oral-history-extended

QPR Beat Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League Cup

The first trophy I have ever seen lifted at Loftus Road

Last night I went to a football match at my local stadium. The team I favour is called Queens Park Rangers. They play in blue and white horizontal stripes.  There stadium is Loftus Road stadium in Shepherds Bush . It is actually just behind the BBC studios and offices at Television centre. So even though you may not have heard of the team you perhaps have seen the stadium being used by the BBC to film a drama or such. Or if you know the video to Bittersweet symphony by the verve, it is a little up the road from there  . The football season is drawing to a close.  So the two teams I watched were under 21 teams. They were my team Queens Park Rangers and Brentford FC. Brentford are probably more famous now as they play in the Premier League- The top competition of English football along with Chelsea and Manchester Utd . When I was a lad, the opposite was true QPR were in the top group and Brentford below them

. This was a cup final match- the under 21 teams in London have their separate competitions - I believe it is the case that only 10 percent of young men playing professional football at 21 are doing so at 25 years old.  As Queens Park Rangers and Brentford are local rivals the grounds are less than 3 miles apart. There was a lot of interest in this game.  3 quarters of the stadium had been filled by fans from both teams.  There were many banners and flags. One celebrating Kiyan Prince a former youth player for QPR who was murdered  a few years ago.  It was an exciting match but not a skillful one. There was a lot of chanting - The  QPR fans chant at the Brentford fans You're just a bus stop in Houslow. Hounslow is the name of the borough Brentford play in 

 My team ended up winning 3 goals to Brentford's one. 

 Some young fans invaded the pitch. We then had a pyrotechnical display as QPR lifted a trophy. To think I should live to see such a day

 

Happy Birthday to my nephew

 

The Battle of Britain

I saw this years ago on ITV on a Saturday... I was surprised to see John Savident in a guest role- and Iain McShane. McShane is a bit working class here As compared to Eddie Fox, and Trevor Howard Oh the German Peace feelers in Switzerland are depicted here- We see France fall, and then those few desperate days The beginning of the Blitz. The incorporation of the Free Poles, and Free Czech. We see Easgle day, Hitler and Goering appear on the screen Again- like in Von Ryan's Express there is a lot of German language here. Dowding is played as I belive he was a somewhat dour professional- worrying about his young men. Matter of factually telling the press that if the Germans are not in London by Sunday than he has won Then there is the wealth destroyed- human and physical. The RAF base which is destroyed. The aircraft- a glasshouse in an suburban garden. The young men who have had less then a days training in a Spitfire And they are young men. There is some for the time- strong language. There is a mural of a naked woman on a barracks wall. A young flier being scolded for doing a victory roll everytime he returns to base A german officer being told to keep away from the wine cellar Those fragile planes and the fragile bodies- We see one RAF officer who had been horribly burned and returned to work- dead WRAFS covered up in a blanket. On the other side the German's officers dinner table with only a handful of people left Christopher Plummer's marriage suffers during the war- a subplot I did not find particularly interesting This film a great spectacle- Probably the last time I think Spitfires flew en masse. I think it's worthy rather than wonderful

Round Up 13.05.2025

QPR finished the 15th in the Championship beating Sunderland in their last game. There will probably be a new manager My Niece has her birthday= My nephew was christened Celtic won the Scotish Treble I have been invited to a wedding in Miami- by my friend Robyn who has had her birthday lately

Pope Leo 14th

The Vicar of Christ Robert Prevost- Former Bishop of Chiclayo Peru

Von Ryan's Express

Did Dad have the book of this? 

 I saw the ending of this years ago.. I had tried to watch it and someone else had changed the channel So I knew how the film ends- Indeed I once had an extended dream of Frank Skinner playing Ryan, and suffering the same fate. Spoiler it's a gut punch 

I have more and more time for Frank Sinatra as an actor. Desmond Mulhane- is great as the parson 

Oh quite a lot of this film is in German or Italian. We are treated to the beauties of the Italian peninsula. The final scenes in the Alps are a verdant wonder- I have since learned it is actually Spain Like with Sink the Bismarck, you get a sense of just how destructive World War Two was- a footbridge blown up over the Alps. A visual display wall which would allow you to follow rail traffic into Milan-destroyed. 

 It is messy world we enter.... A gestapo officer trying to trade nylons and cigarettes to obtain a watch. 

A girl who lost her virginity before she was confirmed.... The young lad seeing a beautiful woman murdered by what he assumes is a German officer- ...The killing of the wounded... Tit for tat beatings, theft of supplies

 Trevor Howard is playing a ruthless British Major - A long way from Brief encounter I am glad I made time for this. This film is something which I think would be worth remaking I am surprised Clooney never took a crack at such

Sink the Bismark!

The past really is a different country - The lead character is introduced and asks that a WRN is not to be addressed by her christian name. Anyway the RN campaign to intercept and sink the Bismark. I have been interested by this story since I saw the Extra History video about it This is very dated no mention of Bletchley Park- Enigma. No mention of the Polish destroyer, or the American Catalina You get a sense of the sheer wealth lost and destroyed in WW2. There are scenes of the battleships Prince of Wales, and King George loading their guns. In Bletchley there is a computer. Its a nice Easter egg for James Bond fans-to realise that's M Its frailer world. The torpedo bombers look so flimsy- The Bridge staffed by men in duffelcoats. The flight crew who must have been near dead of thirst The poor doomed civilian workers on the Hood. Working on Turbines in suits, and triblys Oh and 20000 men in a convey left defenceless to booster the home fleet. A football stadium of people, wtih wives, and children and parents and friends