Richard Todd

Thank you to Neil and Robin for their comments on yesterday’s news of the passing of film legend Richard Todd aged 90.

Yesterday my blog had an incredible 594 visitors, but it is a shame that it was on such a very sad occasion.

To read more about the life of Richard Todd please click on the 'Richard Todd' Label below.

Richard Todd (1919-2009)

It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce the death of Richard Todd aged 90. He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday night (3rd December 2009) at his home in Grantham in eastern England.

“He had been suffering from Cancer,” his spokeswoman said, “an illness he bore with his habitual courage and dignity. His family were with him throughout.”

It is those two words, Courage and Dignity, which sum up for me this iconic film legend. He represented, as Michael Winner has said, “the best example of classic British film acting. He was a very fine actor but his style of acting went out of fashion, which was a pity because his contribution to British movies was enormous."

"Richard was also a very, very nice person. He was a good friend and wonderful to work with, utterly professional, very quiet, just got on with it. He was just a splendid person and a very, very good actor."

Born Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Todd at first hoped to become a playwright but discovered a love for acting after helping found the Dundee Repertory Company in Scotland in 1939.

He volunteered for the British Army and graduated to the position of Captain in the 6th Airborne Division and took part in the famous D-Day landings of 1944 and was one of the first paratroopers to meet the glider force commanded by Maj. John Howard at Pegasus Bridge; he later played Howard in The Longest Day.

After being discharged in 1946, he returned to Dundee. His role as male lead in Claudia led to romance and then marriage to his leading lady, Catherine Grant-Bogle. A Scottish accent mastered while preparing for his role in The Hasty Heart proved a useful skill in his later film career.

He won praise for his performance in the film of The Hasty Heart, which included Ronald Reagan and Patricia Neal in the cast. The New York World-Telegram hailed Todd as "a vivid and vigorous actor" and the New York Herald Tribune said his performance "combined lofty stature with deep feeling, attracting enormous sympathy without an ounce of sentiment." Todd and Reagan later became close friends.

Todd was nominated for an Academy Award for the 1949 film A Hasty Heart and starred as U.S. Senate chaplain Peter Marshall in A Man Called Peter (1954). Marshall's widow Catherine said Todd "was just about the only film actor whose Scottish syllables would have met (her husband's) standards."

He also teamed up with legendary director Alfred Hitchcock to star in the thriller Stage Fright and went on to play Robin Hood and Rob Roy for Walt Disney’s live-action film productions in England. His portrayal as the outlaw Robin Hood will certainly never be forgotten on this web site.

Then came one of his best-known roles, playing Royal Air Force pilot Guy Gibson, in the classic war film The Dam Busters and later the epic The Longest Day in 1962, in which he relived the D-Day landings.

In Britain, James Bond author Ian Fleming picked Todd as his first choice to play 007 - but the actor turned down the role because of other commitments and it went to Sir Sean Connery instead.

The veteran star continued to act in the 1980s with roles in British TV shows including Casualty, crime series Silent Witness and sci-fi classic Doctor Who.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1993. Although many of us on this site believe a Knighthood would have been more appropriate.

Todd had a son and a daughter from his first marriage, and two sons from his marriage to Virginia Mailer. Both marriages ended in divorce.

His son Seamus from the second marriage, killed himself in 1997, and his eldest son also killed himself in 2005 following the breakdown of his marriage.

Todd said dealing with those tragedies was like his experience of war.

So how do I finish this short obituary to someone I have admired all my life. I suppose the only way is to use a line from Disney’s Story of Robin Hood which sums up for me the character of the great man.

His like you are not like to see,

In all the world again.

To read more about Richard Todd please click on the Label below.

Patrick Barr as King Richard I

Patrick Barr (1908-1985) as King Richard I in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). To read more about Patrick Barr please click on the label below.

The Robin Hood Bank Manager

In these days of fat-cat bankers and recession it was some-what amusing to read this story in the newspapers. I am sure our Lincoln Green hero would have laughed merrily to hear of his modern day German re-incarnation.

Mrs. Schmidt, 62, allegedly stole more than £1 million from her bank in Bonn because she "couldn't bear to see my less-fortunate customers go hungry," said her lawyer, Thomas Ohm.

"She did it out of compassion for people and now she is as poor as a church mouse herself," he said.

Mrs Schmidt worked for decades at a savings bank in the Rhineland city, rising from counter clerk to manageress. The fraud indictment against her says she began robbing from the rich to give to the poor in 2003.

Prosecutors say she interviewed all the people who she gave money to, checking that they were "needy cases", and insisted that they pay back the cash when they were on their feet.

In one year she handed out nearly £7 million - but only £6.5 million was paid back. All the cash for the poor was taken from the accounts of wealthy people.

By the time some of her customers noted that their deposits were not adding up the bank was short of £1.1 million.

Her house was seized and the court in Bonn was told the employee took no money for herself but was accused of allowing overdrafts for customers who would not normally qualify for them. She then used the money from richer customers to temporarily disguise the loans during the bank's monthly audit of overdrafts.

Mrs Schmidt has begun reimbursing the bank for the losses, reportedly from a small retirement pension. She could have faced a four-year prison sentence, but the German court decided on leniency. They noted that the employee did not take any money for herself, had confessed immediately, had lost her job and had started to pay the money back. It therefore gave her a 22-month suspended prison sentence.

I wonder if she is any good with a bow and arrow?

Television's First Robin Hood

Last week I posted an article about the very earliest television version of Robin Hood. It starred the late British actor Patrick Troughton (1920-1987) and only one episode, The Abbot of St Mary’s, survived from those early pioneering days. Neil has now pointed me in the direction of a wonderful website www.bbctv-ap.co.uk/robinhd.htm which covers the early days of the BBC when it was broadcast from Alexander Palace. The period covered is post-war from 1952 to 1963 and is constructed from the personal recollections and memoirs of Arthur Dungate. In addition there are some experiences of Lime Grove and Riverside Studios in the mid-1950s. His web site is worth a visit.

I hope Arthur doesn’t mind me copying part of his fascinating recollections of finding part of a Robin Hood  episode from the very first series:

"Until the late 1970s the BBC was not an archiving organisation and thus had no requirement to keep material for posterity. While at Alexandra Palace in the early 1950s, I had a key to the film vault, and often I would go and see what was to be thrown away. Amongst several things, one item I found was part of an episode of Robin Hood, a serial for children shown in March 1953.

This was a half-hour programme eminating from Studio G (I think) at Lime Grove. No film location material was used, the whole of the action taking place live in the studio.

What I had found was a 16mm reduction print of Episode 2, The Abbot of St Mary's which Kays Labs at Finsbury Park had produced from the 35mm telefilm recording made while the programme was being transmitted.

However, only the beginning two sequences and the end sequence were there. The main story sequence had been removed for some reason, leaving only 8 minutes of the programme. Thus, although the episode is titled The Abbot of St Mary's, we never get to see the Abbot himself!

I spliced the two parts of the print together and since then it had remained in my loft for about 47 years, practically forgotten.

It was not until the autumn of 1999 that I came to realise that this is probably the earliest surviving example of a BBC Television drama series as it predates The Quatermass Experiment shown in July 1953 (of which only the first two episodes were recorded) by 4 months. Thus its historical significance is greater than I had thought, and I believe a Digi-Beta copy is now in the BBC archives."

Arthur Dungate's web site is at
http://www.bbctv-ap.co.uk/bbctvp1.htm

Elton Hayes Songlist

Elton Hayes (1915-2001) played the part of the minstrel Allan-a-Dale in Walt Disney’s live action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

Today he is sadly almost forgotten, but Hayes was very well-known to radio and television audiences of the 1950’s as ‘the man with the small guitar’ and Paul McCartney recollects that it was his song Whistle My Love from Robin Hood that influenced the Beatles composition Little Child in 1963. There is also a belief by some that a certain Reginald Kenneth Dwight of Pinner, Middlesex, changed his name to Elton John in respect of the actor and guitarist.

Recently I posted a list of Elton Hayes’s songs that have been released on record down the years. I knew it was incomplete and asked for help. Luckily I was contacted by our regular visitor Geoff Waite.

A while ago Geoff sent me a wonderfully detailed obituary of Elton Hayes by Evelyn Branston which is available to be read on this blog. Geoff is a fan of the film and has extensively researched Elton Hayes’s back catalogue. He has now very kindly helped me update my list of Elton’s recordings and sent some interesting facts to go with it.

Many of my readers have complained that there is no CD collection of Elton’s songs available and Geoff agrees:

“Except for two tracks, none of Elton’s recordings ever made it from 10 inch 78rpm and 45 rpm vinyl to CD. ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ continues to feature on an EMI ‘Hello Children Everywhere’ compilation CD whilst ‘Whistle my Love’ the only other Elton Hayes track to reach CD (again on an earlier ‘Hello Children Everywhere’ compilation) has not been available for some years now to my knowledge.

When I contacted them about the possibility of an Elton Hayes compilation, EMI told me that they now only own these two recordings, so a CD release of Elton’s Parlophone songs is sadly out of the question. It really is a great shame that his recorded music which amounts to some forty plus songs, not including the Robin Hood album, should be so shabbily overlooked by the CD generation.”

It certainly is a great shame that today’s children are unable to hear the wonderful songs of ‘the man with the small guitar.’ Surely something could be done to put some of his music onto CD!

ELTON HAYES SONGLIST

THE TABLE AND THE CHAIR / THE JUMBLIES

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1950

THE WILD COLONIAL BOY/ BACK TO HILO

78 RPM Melodisc Records 1950/51

JUST A WEARYIN’ FOR YOU/ THE PHANTOM

STAGE-COACH

78 RPM Melodisc Records 1950/51

‘Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood’

78 RPM 2LP Capitol US Released 1952

(Included 20 page colour story book)

(Included songs by Elton Hayes)

WHISTLE MY LOVE / RIDDLE DE DIDDLE DE-DAY

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1952

THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER / SPINNING WHEEL

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1952

I PASS ALL MY HOURS / COURTIN' IN THE KITCHEN

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1952

THE BROOM, THE SHOVEL, THE POKER AND THE TONGS / THE QUANGLE WANGLE'S HAT

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1952

THE LITTLE BLACK HORSE / NOT THE MARRYING KIND

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1953

LITTLE MOHEE / THE PHANTOM STAGE-COACH

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1953

THE DUCK AND THE KANGAROO / THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1953

ALL AROUND MY HAT/ THE UNQUIET GRAVE

78 RPM HMV B1052 Released 1953

(Recorded under the auspices of the English Folk Dance and Song Society)

A FROG HE WOULD A WOOING GO/OH THE CUCKOO SHE’S A PRETTY BIRD

78 RPM HMV B1053 Released 1953

GREENSLEEVES / JOE THE CARRIER LAD

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1953

I HAD A HIPPOPOTAMUS / ADELPHI ARCHES

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1954

MY HEART IS LIKE A NIGHTINGALE / BOLD BLACK KNIGHT

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1954

‘FOR THE CHILDREN’

EP Parlophone UK Released 1955

The Table and the Chair/ The Jumblies/The Broom, the Shovel, the Poker and the Tongs/ The Quangle Wangles Hat / The Duck and the Kangaroo / The Owl and the Pussycat.

JAQUELINE / LITTLE BRIDGET FLYNN

78 RPM Parlophone UK Released 1956

‘Folk Songs’

EP 45 World Record Club 1956/57

SWEET MAID IF YOU MARRY / OH GOOD ALE / I PASS ALL MY HOURS/ THE LONDON BEAU/

’TISS TRUE I NEVER WAS IN LOVE/ THE VAIN DREAMER

‘Songs for Children’

EP 45 World Record Club 1956/57

THE CUCKOO CLOCK / THE SOLDIER /THE HOUSEWIFE AND THE HIGHWAYMAN / TWO PIRATES

‘Elton Hayes Sings to his Small Guitar’

EP 45 Parlophone UK Released 1959

JOE THE CARRIER LAD / THE MILLER’S DAUGHTER

THE PHANTOM STAGE-COACH / RIDDLE DE DIDDLE DE DAY

‘The Story of Robin Hood’

LP 33 RPM EMI Music for Pleasure MFP 1285

UK Released 1963

(Movie Soundtrack)

RIDDLE-DE-DIDDLE-DE-DAY

COME SING LOW, COME SING HIGH

‘The Story of Robin Hood’

LP 33 RPM Disneyland DQ-1249 USA Released 1963

(Alternative Cover)

(Movie Soundtrack)

RIDDLE-DE-DIDDLE-DE-DAY

COME SING LOW, COME SING HIGH

‘Disneyland Doubles’

45 RPM Disneyland Doubles UK Released 1971

THE BALLAD OF ROBIN HOOD

(Reverse side was the Ballad of Davy Crocket)

‘Hello Children Everywhere Volume 4’

(Various Artists)

CD Disc EMI Released 1991

WHISTLE MY LOVE

‘Hello Children Everywhere’

(Various Artists)

CD 3 Discs EMI 6999605 Released 2005

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT

If you see any errors or have any more information that can be added to the Elton Hayes Songlist please get in touch and if you are a CD producer how about releasing some of these gems!


Please click on the Label Elton Hayes to read more about his life.

Disney's 'Story of Robin Hood' Letter Heading

I was interested to see this letter heading (above) on Ebay a while ago. I am not sure if it is authentic-I did feature last year, what was described as ‘News Flash Lettering’ (below) for Disney’s Story of Robin Hood which certainly looked more genuine.

Is the coloured one original? What do you think?

Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood

Neil recently reminded me of the earliest television serial of Robin Hood. It was written by Max Kester and broadcast over six weeks, in 30 minute live transmissions from the Gaumont-British Studios in Lime Grove, London, between the 17th March and April 21st 1953.

Fans of the recent BBC series of Robin Hood might be surprised to read that it was Sam Troughton’s (Robin’s manservant, Much) Grandfather Patrick, who was the very first actor to play the part of the legendary outlaw on the television of the 1950’s. Sam was ten years old when his Grandfather died.

Patrick Troughton (1920-1987) is probably best remembered for being the second Dr Who in the cult Sci-Fi series, which was his favourite role. But he was one of Britain’s most versatile, recognisable and finest dramatic actors, with a career that lasted 40 years in films and television. Which incidentally included a short part in Walt Disney’s Treasure Island (1950) as a pirate called Roach.

Television was Troughton’s favourite medium and as a very fine swordsman, this made him an ideal choice for the part of Robin Hood. Alongside him was Kenneth Mackintosh as Little John, Wensley Pithey as Friar Tuck, Philip Guard as Will Scarlet, John Brestin as Alan A Dale and Dudley Jones as Much. An interesting choice for the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham was David Kossoff, with Maurice Jones as his evil side-kick Guy of Gisbourne.

Sadly it has been reported recently that only one episode of this historic series has survived. At that time, most live shows were broadcast and discarded, with most of them being lost forever. But fortunately the BBC was starting to experiment with a specially adapted monitor that recorded televised material. As a result of this experimentation, an entire episode of Robin Hood, (Episode 2, The Abbot of St Mary’s) survives in the BBC Archives. This is probably the earliest example of those pioneering ‘telerecording’ experiments.

Rusell Crowe on making Robin Hood

The internet is buzzing lately with interviews and snapshots of the filming in England of the latest Russell Crowe movie, Robin Hood. We all have to wait until May for its release, but here is another interview with the man himself on his decision to make the film and his opinions on earlier productions. The interview is split into two parts.




I would be interested to read your opinions.