Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) is often described as the greatest Hollywood star of all time. On screen he was the cynical tough guy in the trench coat, the flawed hero. Off screen his life was the stuff of legends. Stephen Bogart guides viewers through this revealing account of his father’s life and examines Bogie’s screen performances in the light of his own intimate knowledge. Lauren Bacall – Bogart’s fourth wife – is among the contributors to the programme.
Aldous Huxley
The author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) is one of the best-known twentieth-century novelists. Filmed in California – where Huxley spent most of his life –, Maryland and the UK, and featuring numerous extracts from the writer’s major works, this documentary re-evaluates his writing and reveals the thoughts, concerns and passions of this fascinating man. Along with contributions from family and friends, it includes archive interviews with Huxley himself.
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is undoubtedly one of the supreme operatic sopranos of the post-war era and her association with the late Freddie Mercury and Queen brought her a huge new audience. This film portrait celebrates her long, distinguished and uniquely varied career. It centres on a major interview with Caballé and features numerous performance extracts. There are also contributions from some of opera’s biggest names, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo and José Carreras.
Noel Coward
Noel Coward (1899-1973) left a legacy of more than fifty plays, four hundred songs, several volumes of prose and verse and twenty film appearances. Appraising the work of this consummate theatrical artist, this portrait includes contributions from friends and colleagues, and specially-staged excerpts from his best plays. Extensive interviews with Coward are featured, recorded at his homes in Jamaica and in England, and material from his private archive illustrates his story.
Roy Lichtenstein
Filmed in New York, this profile centres on a rare interview with the influential American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97), who became famous in the 1960s for his enormously enlarged frames from comic strips. It surveys the work he went on to produce, which confirmed his position as one of the world’s foremost contemporary artists, and shows him at work on a painting. The late Leo Castelli, the dealer who launched Lichtenstein’s career, is among the contributors to the programme.
Christopher Hogwood on Haydn
Haydn (1732-1809), the ‘Father of the Symphony’, spent his most creative years as Kapellmeister at the Esterháza Palace in Hungary. Conductor Christopher Hogwood travels to Esterháza with his orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, and leading Haydn authority H. C. Robbins Landon, to explore the composer’s life and his music. Musical illustrations recorded at Esterháza raise questions about the authentic style of rendition championed by Hogwood and his musicians.
Evelyn Glennie in Rio
Evelyn Glennie is a unique phenomenon. She is profoundly deaf and yet is recognised as one of the world’s top percussionists. This programme follows her to Rio de Janeiro in search of new percussion techniques. She learns the samba rhythms and participates in the famous Rio Carnival. Back in the UK, she incorporates the experiences of her trip into her repertoire as she plays two Brazilian pieces, one with the London Symphony Orchestra.
The History of Hamlet
Hamlet is among Shakespeare’s most perennially popular plays and the complex title role is regarded by actors as one of the supreme challenges of their profession. Talking to leading stage directors and actors, this programme looks at the particular appeal of Hamlet. Archive footage shows some of the great Hamlets in action – Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, even Sarah Bernhardt in 1899.
Haydn at Esterhaza
Haydn wrote most of his symphonies while he was in the employ of the Esterházy family, whose palace in Hungary was known as the ‘Versailles of the East’. Filmed in the magnificent mirrored great hall of the palace, this programme records a unique attempt to recreate a performance of Haydn’s music as close to the original as possible, Christopher Hogwood conducts the Academy of Ancient Music playing the composer’s Symphonies No. 23 in G, 28 in A, and 29 in E.
Late Shakespeare
Peter Hall ended his distinguished fifteen-year reign as director of Britain’s Royal National Theatre by staging three of Shakespeare’s last plays – Cymbeline, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. This programme follows Hall and his actors from the first read-through up to the dress rehearsal, sharing the discoveries they made about Shakespeare’s plays along the way.