Showing posts with label violent playground. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violent playground. Show all posts

Sunday 1 December 2019

SOCIAL UNREST GANGS AND GUNS : IVESON REVIEWS THE 1958 BAKER : CUSHING AND MCCALLUM DRAMA 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND'


EVERY CITY HAS ITS DANGEROUS YOUTH! Stark explosive drama - as the CAMERAS LAY BARE the heart of a big city and probe the secrets of its Violent Playground  . . . 

MARK IVESON REVIEWS 
Starring Stanley Baker, Anne Heywood, Peter Cushing, David McCallum Directed by Basil Deardon
 


IT IS ALWAYS a pleasure to watch a Peter Cushing film for the first time, especially if it’s not horror related, and this gritty, if dated slice of social commentary is an interesting part of the actor’s movie portfolio.  


AFTER HIS TELEVISION success, Cushing’s burgeoning film career quickly gathered momentum with several high profile supporting roles. Had Hammer not intervened to make Cushing a star in The Curse of Frankenstein (1956), he would have still commanded some excellent film work throughout the late fifties, and in a variety of cinema genres.



VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is a British attempt to imitate the style of America’s popular juvenile delinquent films that included The Blackboard Jungle (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Crime in the Street (1956). It’s an important movie because it effectively presents the struggles of post war Britain, and is further emphasised by the striking use of locations, in this case the city of Liverpool. Val Guest later made excellent use of Manchester in Hammer’s Hell is a City (1960), and Sidney Hayers did the same for Newcastle in Payroll (1961). Interestingly enough, none of these films feature regional accents! 



THE SOCIAL REALISM in Violent Playground also pre-dates Jack Clayton’s Room at the Top (1959), a pivotal film that created the documentary style ‘kitchen sink’ drama that was influential in British cinema during the early sixties, and was followed by Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1961), John Schlesinger’s A Kind of Loving (1962) and Lindsay Anderson’s This Sporting Life (1963).




THE PLOT:
DETECTIVE SERGEANT Jack Truman (Baker) is investigating the activities of an arsonist known as ‘Firefly.’ He is suddenly dropped form the case to be appointed juvenile liaison officer at a local inner city estate populated by mainly Irish families. Truman does not relish his new job because, being a bachelor, he knows nothing about kids.



A MEETING WITH twins Patrick and Mary Murphy (Fergal and Brona Boland, in their only film together) brings him to the attention of older brother Johnny (McCallum), leader of a street gang whose own activities seem to run parallel with his earlier investigation into arson attacks. The situation is further complicated by Truman’s emotional involvement with the twins’ older sister and guardian Cathie (Heyward). Also on hand is the tough but kindly priest (Cushing), who is aware of Johnny’s traumatic early life. This chain of events soon spiral out of control.


VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is a film of its time. It has dated, and some scenes are melodramatic, but it pulls no punches in showing the gritty realism of a working class area, and the increasing criminal activities of a younger generation left with no direction in life.  


THERE IS NOTHING feel good about the subject matter, and it is all down to producer Michael Relph and director Basil Deardon, who would later tackle the taboo subjects of racism in Sapphire (1959) and homosexuality in Victim (1961). The film has a nostalgic feel; all plain clothes cops wore trench coats and trilbies, the delinquents are a tad too well scrubbed and the ladies wore headscarves, but there are no stereotypes. 


THE CHINESE brother and sister (brilliantly played by real life siblings Michael Chow and Tsai Chin) are not ‘me so solly, no speaky English’ characters; it’s actually quite refreshing to see Tsai Chin not playing a double-agent or sinister daughter of a master criminal! Everyone is clearly defined and this is further enhanced by excellent performances from a well chosen cast.


PERHAPS THE MOST DISTURBING scene is where Johnny (why are all bad boys called Johnny in these movies?), armed with a machine gun, takes a class of school kids hostage. This uncomfortably echoes the recent shootings that have occurred in the States. It still makes for a tense and uncompromising climax. Basil Deardon directs with a sense of unease, and had it not been for the studio insisting on a happy ending, it could have ranked as a classic piece of British cinema. 



AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, the performances are excellent. Stanley Baker is his usual charismatic self, showing typical urban intensity mixed with the quiet authority of his position within the community. There is also a genuine chemistry between Baker and Anne Heywood, who is equally compelling in a somewhat underwritten role. 




SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES are of a typical high standard. Clifford Evans provides a nice touch of humour as the understanding headmaster, with John Slater being well served as Baker’s colleague. The Boland twins are a creepy pair; I wonder if they inspired Stanley Kubrick when he made The Shinning (1979)!
 


THE REAL STAR is David McCallum, who had previously worked with Baker in Hell Drivers (1955). At 24, his is a tad too old for Johnny, but his youthful good looks and fierce intensity makes him a passable teenager. As one of the new angry young men of British cinema McCallum shows real star promise with an aggressively powerful performance. Sadly future films failed to make use of his unique presence, and he subsequently got blander with each role, despite his major success in Hollywood in the mid sixties. 




WE NOW COME TO PETER CUSHING. As versatile as he was in period roles, it is difficult to place the actor in this kind of film as his classical approach could not be further away from the modern method acting style seen in Violent Playground. That said he gives a first rate performance. Moving away from the Miles Malleson ecclesiastical bumblers from previous British films, Cushing’s priest is convincingly street wise, and looks at home in the surrounding area. Although understanding of Johnny’s problems, he becomes a more forceful presence when confronting the boy during the climax. It is a winning turn, and one regrets Cushing not having more screen time. 



LOWER DOWN THE CAST we have Young Frankenstein himself, Melvyn Hayes, and comedian Freddie Starr, under his real name Freddie Fowell, as members of Johnny’s gang. You can’t miss Freddie; he’s the only one with a Scouse accent!
 




RELEASED IN 1958, Violent Playground did well in the UK and Europe, although it failed to do much business in America as the market for juvenile delinquent movies had pretty much been flooded by their home grown efforts. The success of The Beatles, and David McCallum’s TV popularity in The Man From UNCLE a few years later made Liverpool a popular city world wide, and as a result, the film got a belated Stateside release to reasonable box office success.




VIOLENT PLAYGROUND, is by no means a classic British movie, but it holds enough interest and does require repeated viewings. Of course it’s always wonderful to see Peter Cushing doing something against his usual style, and his performance here remains one of his best non horror efforts.


Saturday 12 January 2019

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MELVYN HAYES : THE YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN OF 1957!


JOIN US IN WISHING MELVYN HAYES a VERY Happy Birthday today. Melvyn was born today January 11th 1935, and since 1950 when he was "disappearing twice daily for £4 per week" performing the indian rope trick in Maskelyne's Mysteries at the Comedy Theatre in London! A very long and accomplished career on stage, tv and the big screen. Melvyn is quite an institution in the UK, having appeared in many TV dramas, soaps and comedy shows, the most successful probably being 'It Aint Half Hot Mum' in the 1970's. The show is now banished to 'Room 101' at the BBC, being considered like many shows from that era, quite UN-PC... you decide?


MELVYN WORKED WITH Peter Cushing as the young Baron Frankenstein in Cushing's first film for Hammer, 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) he appeared as Daft Jamie in the brilliant 'Flesh and the Fiends' (1960) and with Cushing in 'Violent Playground' (1958) His last appearance with Peter was in the doomed 'A Touch of the Sun' in 1979 with Oliver Reed..



HAYES, MCCALLUM and ONE OTHER Brit comedian, in the middle! Can you name him?


A VERSATILE ACTOR, who stays young at 84, who will no doubt be having a real knees up and party as we wish him, Many Happy Returns Today 😉 Happy Birthday Melvyn and many more to come!



Sunday 28 January 2018

CRACKING THE TOP FIVE NON HORROR MOVIES OF PETER CUSHING FOR OUR BEST OF LIST!


THESE DAYS IT CAN quite often appear to ‘Joe Public’ that the name Peter Cushing is tied to three things; Star Wars, some quirky Doctor Who off shoots and a number of Gothic Horror pictures from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Of course as fans we know this not to be true, though even then it appears that most of the aficionados of his work tend to admire his horror performances most. That’s unsurprising and personally I’m as guilty of this as anybody else, particularly as I am a horror fan first and foremost. That said, I thought I’d break away from the spooky and the space age this week and instead compile a handy list of the ‘best of the rest’ as it were. Some of the performances listed here are some of the finest throughout Cushing’s entire career and I’ve compiled this as a hand starting point for anyone thinking to check out his work, away from crypts and castles. As with my other lists this is unashamedly personal and is in no order. BY THE WAY, some of the films I have chosen for my list, can also be watched in their ENTIRETY on the PLAY LISTS at our  Peter Cushing Appreciation Society YOU TUBE Channel!


Cash on Demand (1961)
A tense two-hander between Cushing and another Hammer regular, Andre Morell, the film is a clever re-working of the Scrooge story within a ‘thriller’ context. Set in a bank, Cushing plays the tough and austere Manager who undergoes rigorous psychological torment by Morell’s Colonel Gore-Hepburn. 


HEPBURN ARRIVES AT THE BANK and announces to Cushing that he intends to rob him and has his wife and child hostage. Should he not comply, Hepburn will be forced to send the signal that will lead to their termination. Cushing’s portrayal of a man undergoing unbelievable stress and torment manages to be one of the most horrifying things the actor has ever produced. 



CONTRASTING THIS is Morell’s performance as the sadistic but undeniably charming Hepburn who manages to remain calm, whilst breaking PC down piece by piece. Set mostly within the one room the film can be incredibly uncomfortable at times, with Morell’s calmness bouncing well off of Cushing’s hysteria.


1984 (1954)
Ok so an obvious one and one that some may consider science-fiction, though I would wholeheartedly disagree. Similar to the above, this performance showcases the softer side of Cushing and again features Morell as his tormenter, giving the two an odd similarity. 

HOWEVER WHEREAS Cash on Demand still has elements of a moral superiority in its message, inherent in any Scrooge adaptation, the message of Orwell’s novel is far darker and depressing. Again Cushing astounds as a man put through unspeakable psychological tortures but this time the result proves far more terrifying than before. Lacking a proper DVD release, it’s a real shame that such a classic of British TV has yet to be given even this simple treatment. 



Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death (1984)
Ok, ok this is certainly an odd one I would never deny that. Cushing’s role as ‘the great detective’ is one that spans a number of portrayals but most notably Hammer’s Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and the BBC series in 1968. 



UNFORTUNATELY THIS MEANS that Masks of Death is more often than not, overlooked. Admittedly it suffers from a somewhat plodding script and perhaps fails to get any attention at all, due to its unavailability on DVD or Blu-Ray. What really makes this odd little TV-movie however, is Cushing’s portrayal of a much older Holmes builds on his earlier performances but manages to provide something…softer, gentler. John Mills plays his Watson this time and the two work wonders together, making one wish for a mini-series or something of the sort. The plot attempts to root itself firmly in history, though the details are a little shaky…to say the least but it’s an interesting little film and a fun example of Cushing’s Holmes work.


The Violent Playground (1958)
Another somewhat bleak film, Peter Cushing provides a memorable turn as a Priest attempting to heal the social ill’s surrounding a Liverpool street gang led by David McCallum. 



THE HIGHLIGHTS are doubtless the sequences in which Cushing attempts to reason with McCallum who appears to have some sort of a bond with the Priest. This builds to a superb climax in which McCallum takes a number of school children hostage with a machine gun and Cushing attempts to talk him down. Brutal, gritty and uncomfortable the least said about this one before watching the better.


Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) 
Considering that (bar the one entry) this list has so far been made up mostly of quite depressing drama fare, it seemed right to end it on a good old fashioned swashbuckler. In Sword of Sherwood Forest, Cushing takes on the role of the Sherriff of Nottingham and clearly has a whale of a time. 

WHILST I WOULD HATE to describe any of Cushing’s performances as ‘Pantomime’ that’s the word that comes to mind here, but not through insult, through the sheer amount of fun he is clearly having. The biggest disappointment is admittedly Cushing’s death scene, which whilst firmly cementing his as the secondary villain is particularly lacklustre and seems an unfair dispatch for the character. Sharing the screen with such celebrated actors as Richard Greene, Oliver Reed, Nigel Green and Niall MacGinnis the film may not be wholly successful but is the perfect Saturday afternoon entertainment.  
 


WELL I HOPE you enjoyed my list.Of course the great shame with much of PC's early non-horror work is that a great deal of it was for the BBC, who either wren't in the habit of recording or later decided it would be fun to burn the few recordings they had. Although pieces like this won't make the list for obvious reasons, I sure would have loved to have seen his Pride and Prejudice. It may be an odd choice from these lost days but I'd give my left arm to see the 1953 adaptation of Number Three. As for my list here, I am sure there are a couple you may disagree with! Over at the facebook fan page, many are sharing THEIR TOP FIVES. It's lively! Maybe you'd like to join the thread? That's it for this week, more next week, I hope you join me!  Callum McKelvie



REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA 
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