RIP, continued ....

Roy Barraclough (1935-2017), aged 81. Sad indeed to read of the passing of another British television legend, Roy Barraclough, from the golden age of CORONATION STREET when his devious Alec Gilroy presided over the Rovers Return pub
 with his wife Bet Lynch. Roy and Julie Goodyear were a priceless double act. Roy was also a panto dame, had a long career on stage and television, and was also equally memorable with the late Les Dawson as that gossiping double act Ada and Cissie. Glory days indeed (unlike now with those dismal characters and storylines).

Peter Sallis (1921-2017), aged 96. Another veteran of British theatre, film and television. In a long career he clocked up over 150 credits, from all those early films roles and television series like THE PALLISERS, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, FIRST OF THE SUMMER WINE, the WALLACE & GROMIT cartoons, LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE. He also did a lot of theatre appearing with all the great names of his era. 

RIP, continued ....

Andrzey Wadja (1926-2916), aged 90. The venerable Polish director whose ASHES AND DIAMONDS was an international arthouse sensation in 1958, as successful as those early Fellini and Bergman classics. He won  awards like an Honorary Oscar and the Palm D-Or, A GENERATION and KANAL were also early films, and his later films included MAN OF MARBLE, MAN OF IRON, DANTON among his extensive credits in that long career. Another of the great European directors departs ....

Jean Alexander (1926-2016), aged 90. The veteran British actress who was a mainstay on television's CORONATION STREET for decades as the busybody Hilda Ogden, complete with her hair in curlers, a turban and a pinny as she cleaned the Rovers Return pub, and berated her workshy husband Stan, a role she played from 1964 to 1987. She later did a long stint in LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE from 1988 to 2010. The extensive tributes show how well-loved she was. We always relied on Hilda for a laugh among the ongoing drama on the cobbles, Jean's creation was the equal of those other great Northern Women who dominated CORRIE in its Golden Age; Vera Duckworth, Annie Walker, Ena Sharples, Elsie Tanner, Bet Lynch, Rita and Mavis etc. and dare one say Ivy Tilsley. Now we are stuck with the endless sagas of the boring Platts, Steve McDonald et al. At least Mary and snobby Sally and fab Tim provide some relief. Ta ra chuck, as Hilda would say. 

Peggy Spencer (1920-2016), aged 95. For decades the doyenne of ballroom dancing, Perhaps the current hit STRICTLY COME DANCING would not exist without her laying the groundwork through her dance competitions and ballroom teaching. She also choreographed a video for The Beatles ("Your Mother Should Know") and for Nureyev in VALENTINO. Her formation dance teams were often on television and danced for royalty and all those years of the earlier COME DANCING television shows.

Vintage Magazine Shop. We are sad to see the demise of another London legend, Brewer Street in Soho is certainly falling to the developers with a vengance. This massive store was a marvellous place to browse, buy current movie memorabilia, and their basement held an incredible stock of vintage movie and fashion magazines, (Thanks again Colin, for finding a 1959 number of "Films & Filming" which I needed to complete my collection). The shop is continuing on line, Here are some comments:

This is one of the most unusual shops in London. Perfect if you want to get a quirky gift.
As its name suggests, this is a shop selling vintage stuff but it doesn't just stop at magazines. You'll find posters, books, music, mugs and little gifts. The shop is a slightly messy treasure trove and you can lose yourself just browsing. 
It is with serious regret that on Thursday, 29-September-2016 that this Soho gem has finally closed down their doors for good. It has become yet another causality for independent shops in central London, due to the landlords obviously increasing rents, which go up every year.      

The Vintage Magazine shop will be missed immensely, and I have to say it had quite a few interesting things on offer for film fans, cinema goers and media & arts researchers, and people who simply browsing.

Something for the weekend ....

How about a nice game of bingo, sometime back in the 1960s, with a special guest star appearance from none other than Elsie Tanner herself, direct from CORONATION STREET, England's top long-runnng soap set oop north. Pat Phoenix of course was marvellous as Elsie - like Diana Dors Elsie/Pat remains a British Icon.. Here she is also having a tussle with battle-axe Ena Sharples (Violet Carson, that was, as they said then.). All we need now is for the queen of the Rovers Return, Doris Speed as snooty Annie Walker, to turn up.

Here's Victoria Wood's priceless CORRIE spoof, with Julie Walters as the unfortunate Martha .... and also that perfect BRIEF ENCOUNTER parody, with sublime Celia Imrie ...

RIP, continued

Anne Kirkbride (1954-2015), aged 60. Much lamentation at the rather sudden death of Anne, who memorably played Deirdre Barlow in England's long running (since 1960) soap CORONATION STREET. Deirdre was a staple of the Street, like those other great characters Ena Sharples and Annie Walker, Elsie Tanner, The Duckworths, The Ogdens, Fred the butcher, Raquel the barmaid, Rita and Mavis, Emily, Norris, Gail and her annoying family, Bet Lynch and Alec Gilroy and lots more. 
We laughed at Deirdre scoffing at husband dreary Ken's intellectual pretentions, as she served her stuffed marrows and made awful pottery, and indulged her vile daughter Tracy and her acid-tongued mother Blanche, and wore those glasses with aplomp. Deirdre was quite a racy lady too during her 44 years on the soap - 4 husbands including dodgy Ray Langton, unfortunate Samir, and Ken twice! Then there was the romance with Mike Baldwin and also that fake airline pilot who got her involved in a fraud scam which saw poor Deirdre banged up in prison and having to share a cell with nightmare Margi Clark! But through it all Deirdre kept going and triumphed. We liked her and missed her when she had to leave the show suddenly some months ago due to illness. Unlike the also recently-departed popular tv actress Lynda Bellingham (1948-2014) who talked about her cancer openly, Anne preferred to keep it secret to the end. 

For the weekend 3

A blast from the past: 1960s CORONATION STREET, Britain's longest runnng soap (it began in that seminal year 1960), and its still going now with great characters and story lines. Here's veteran battle-axe Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) having a slight argument with the brassy Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix). Its those early '60s in aspic ....