Colin McCabe looks at the quality and impact of British television in the 1960s and considers ways in which the best traditions and standards of the medium can be preserved. His specially-prepared lecture is amply illustrated with memorable clips.
Bernardo Bertolucci
Shot on location in China, this programme looks at the making of Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning epic, The Last Emperor. The director is seen filming various sequences, including the coronation scene in the Forbidden City in Beijing, for which he used thousands of extras from the Red Army. He also talks about the particuiar challenge of this huge multi-national production and his fascination with the story of Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor. An interview with Peter O’Toole, who plays the young emperor’s tutor, is included.
John Mortimer
For many years, John Mortimer ran two careers in parallel: one as a distinguished barrister, and one as a novelist and writer for stage, cinema, radio and television. This profile examines the way in which Mortimer incorporates his experience into his writing. It focuses on his popular television series, Rumpole of the Bailey, his autobiographical play, Voyage Round My Father, and his novel, Paradise Postponed, which was also made into a television series.
Julien Temple
A fascinating documentary showing the translation of Colin Mclnnes’ cult novel into a large-scale musical film starring David Bowie and Sade. Director Julien Temple and producer Steve Woolley talk about the making of the movie, which is set in teenage London in the late 1950s.
John Cleese
John Cleese’s success disproves his own Claim that he is “about as funny as the average bank manager”. Monty Python and Fawlty Towers made him Britain’s best-known comic writer and performer. In this programme, he talks about his boyhood, the creation and character of Basil Fawlty, the relative merits of comedy and accountancy, and activities into which he has diversified – politics, and writing books with his psychotherapist.
Brookside
The British television series Brookside was the first of a breed of new-look soap operas to eschew purely domestic drama and tackle contemporary social problems in a realisitc way. Major figures in the television industry, members of the Brookside production team and Phil Redmond, who devised the series, discuss wether this popular form of entertainment can make a meaningful impact through its presentation of serious issues.
Michael Powell
The films Powell made with his partner Emeric Pressburger, such as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, are classics of British cinema and he is widely considered as the most influential film-maker of his generation. This profile was made with Powell just three years before he died in 1990. He looks back over his career, which is richly illustrated by clips, and discusses his controversial dark exploration of fantasy, Peeping Tom.
John Houseman
Filmed at home in Malibu shortly before his death in 1988, Houseman talks about his life, from being a stateless Rumanian to enjoying a sixty-year career as a leading light in film, theatre and television. His achievements included seminal theatre projects with Orson Welles, with whom he also worked on Citizen Kane, a dozen memorable films of his own, founding the drama department at New York’s famous Juilliard School, and unexpectedly becoming a star actor in his seventies.
David Puttnam
This exclusive interview with producer David Puttnam was recorded just after he shocked the film industry by resigning as head of Columbia Film Studios, eighteen months after becoming only the second non-American to hold this Position since World War II. He talks candidly about his time in Hollywood and the furore caused by his conviction that Columbia could produce films that were both profitable and meaningful.
Sir Alec Guinness
Despite the towering success of his long career as a stage, film and television actor, Sir Alec Guinness remains intensely modest about his achievements and has seldom consented to talk about his life and career. In this rare television interview, he shares his thoughts and feelings about his profession and talks about many aspects of his work – from his first performances in the theatre, to his many film appearances. Guinness is seen in action in a variety of film clips.