Bernard Hill: Titanic and True Crime actor dies aged 79

Bernard Hill: Titanic and True Crime actor dies aged 79

It was sad to hear that British actor Bernard Hill has died aged 79. He played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic and King Théoden in the Rings trilogy.

His breakout role was in BBC TV drama Boys from the Blackstuff, where he portrayed Yosser Hughes, a character who struggled - and often failed - to cope with unemployment in Liverpool. He died early this morning, his agent Lou Coulson confirmed.

In Boys from the Blackstuff, Hill drew praise for his gritty portrayal of Yosser Hughes, an intense and memorable character.

That show won a Bafta for best drama series in 1983, and in 2000 it was ranked seventh on a British Film Institute list of the best TV shows ever made.

Another of Hill's memorable BBC TV performances came in the 2015 drama series Wolf Hall, adapted from Hilary Mantel's book about the court of Henry VIII. Hill portrayed the Duke of Norfolk - an uncle of Anne Boleyn and an enemy of Cardinal Wolsey.

In 1999, Hill starred as Warden Luther Plunkitt in Clint’s tense thriller, True Crime. Hill lived with his wife, High Plains Drifter actress Marianna Hill, with whom he had a son named Gabriel.

RIP Sir, our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends. 

Early Eastwood: February 1957

Early Eastwood: February 1957

It’s fair to say that in 1957 Clint was still a struggling, but jobbing actor. While under contract at Universal, he had appeared in several bit parts between 1955-56 which included, Revenge of the Creature, Francis in the Navy, Lady Godiva, Tarantula! Never Say Goodbye, Star in the Dust and Away All Boats. 

He was also appearing in several Television series which included Highway Patrol, Death Valley Days, TV Reader's Digest and The West Point Story. Universal terminated his contract on October 23rd, 1955.

Clint joined the Marsh Agency. Director Arthur Lubin landed him his biggest role to date in the film The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) and later hired him for Escapade in Japan (1957), without a formal contract. On his financial advisor Irving Leonard's advice, he switched to the Kumin-Olenick Agency in 1956 and Mitchell Gertz in 1957. 

Next up was Lafayette Escadrille, also known as C'est la Guerre, Hell Bent for Glory (UK) - an American war film produced by Warner Bros. It starred Tab Hunter and features David Janssen and Clint in an early supporting role. Clint worked on the movie between October 19th to December 8th 1956 and pretty much rounded off the year for Clint. In January and February 1957, he obviously found some time to sit down and return some of the fan mail that continued to arrive. Of course, it would only be a year or so later that Clint would be offered a supporting role in a little up and coming TV series called Rawhide. 

Below: Clint at home contemplating his future and addressing some fan mail

Below: One of Clint’s original letters to a fan, dated February 25th 1957. Clint had just completed filming of Lafayette Escadrille. 

 

Photo Opportunity #49

Photo Opportunity #49

The first of the month already! How can that be? Our May Photo Opportunity ties in nicely with the current Where Eagles Dare retro vibe here on the Archive. 

Here’s a very rare photo featuring Clint taken in London during 1968. It is believed to be taken at a gala party held on May 7th 1969. There seems to be conflicting reports regarding this photo. Some suggest it was an after party for the London premiere of Rosemary’s Baby - but most sources suggest that wasn’t until January 23rd, 1969? Plus, by Feb 1969 – Clint was already on his way to Mexico to begin filming Two Mules for Sister Sara – so I suspect that would have been cutting it a bit too fine. 

I did a bit of further research based on the fact that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Ringo Star of The Beatles was also in attendance, and eventually discovered that this was the launch party for Rosemary's Baby held in London. It was quite a gathering with Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, David Bailey, Robert Mitchum and of course Roman Polanski. 

Clint was obviously still in London concluding the filming of Where Eagles Dare at the MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood. He is seen here chatting with actress Mia Farrow who was also filming in London with Richard Burton’s then wife Elizabeth Taylor in the film Secret Ceremony. 

Farrow’s hair was growing back from the extreme Vidal Sassoon cut which she wore in Rosemary’s Baby. Rosemary’s Baby had concluded filming in the December of 1967. Her hair is much darker here, which probably blended in better with the longer dark wig she wore in Secret Ceremony. 

Also clearly seen in the picture is actor Yul Brynner who was also in London filming the neo noir thriller, The File of the Golden Goose. I’m still not sure where this party was held, but should the information materialise, I will update this post. 

My kind thanks to Graham Rye for suppling this photo and Kevin Wilkinson for helping ease the headache!

WHERE EAGLES DARE – The Early BBC Broadcasts

WHERE EAGLES DARE – The Early BBC Broadcasts

It’s strange how many memories are sparked by a simple reminder of a TV broadcast of a certain film, at a certain time and place. 

Just recently this month, a few friends of mine were chatting about the first ever showing on British Television of Where Eagles Dare. Perhaps it was in the fact that it was a Christmas season showing, the Christmas of 1979 in fact. In 1979 a great deal of us were of course still in our teenage years and anticipation for films on television back then almost seemed like an event. 

One has to of course remember that back in 1979 there were simply just three channels on UK Television, BBC 1, BBC 2 and the reginal ITV channel. Today – the choice is seemingly endless, but back in the day, we were far less spoilt for choice, factors which again made a TV showing something special.

(Left Christmas 1979 edition of Radio Times)

Personally, I was quite lucky to capture Where Eagles Dare on a big screen as a kid while still at school. We were fortunate enough to have a film club once every couple of weeks in the evening. A particular film was hired on 16mm (I think from Rank’s rental library) and the film was shown in an assembly hall by a teacher on a rather large screen which dropped down over the school stage. It was a nice treat, although the film was flat as opposed to scope it at least gave us an opportunity to experience the film in some sort of large-scale grandeur. Plus, I had a regular job of stacking all the chairs at the end of the evening – the reward being a quad poster for my efforts – so Where Eagles Dare was already gracing my bedroom wall! 

Nevertheless, for the film to turn up on BBC Television over the Christmas season was still a cause to celebrate. A great deal of us still have such vivid memories of this TV ‘premiere’, and the joy it provided. 

Back in 79 of course there were no 16:9 TV sets, no widescreen broadcasts, so instead we had to enjoy this film in a panned and scanned version, and if lucky, perhaps on a 25” or a monster 26” glass blown tube. But hey, we never knew any different and it really didn’t matter.

So, Where Eagles Dare premiered on British TV at 7.10pm on the 26th December 1979 – some 11 years after its original cinema release – and for the next 150mins we sat glued while no doubt rifling through a large tin of Quality Street. Thanks to the excellent TVARK, the original Christmas Day BBC promo still exists – and is archived for future generations to enjoy HERE. 

Video cassettes were still a little way off in 1979 and wouldn’t really enter the mainstream until a couple of years later in the early 1980’s. So fans would have to wait a little over a year to get a second viewing of their favourite World war II adventure. The Easter season of 1981 in fact, when the film was shown again on BBC 1 on Easter Monday, April 20th 1981 at 7.20pm. 

I remember this showing particularly well and for personal reasons. With VHS and Betamax recorders starting to appear on the market, I was getting close to putting down a deposit on my first Video Cassette recorder – a Ferguson 3V23 VHS recorder – which was an incredibly expensive bit of equipment at the time, and I think the first front loading machine. I remember Where Eagles Dare was this time being shown as part of a short Eastwood season being shown on BBC Television. The season consisted of 3 movies, starting with A Fistful of Dollars shown on Monday April 13th, Where Eagles Dare the following week on April 20th, and For a Few Dollars More concluding the season on Monday 27th April. April was my birthday month and birthday money was going towards the deposit on the Video cassette recorder – but I just couldn’t get it together in time – but it was with thanks to a lovely cousin of mine who stepped in and recorded all 3 movies for me on some brand new E-180 Scotch tapes. At last, I owned 3 great Eastwood movies, mine to watch, anytime I wished, it was the beginning of a new era! 

In preparing this little journey down memory lane, I pulled the old April 1981 edition of the Clint Eastwood Appreciation Society magazine – only to find full confirmation of these dates, thanks to our good friend Dave Turner who put these vital publications together for us back in the day, they truly were a lifeline. 

It’s funny how 1979 was such a significant year, it was also around this time, as a 15-year-old kid that I starting to attend film fairs – a pathway which began this crazy world of collecting memorabilia. Perhaps it was fate, but the very first 10” x 8” still I ever bought was… yes, from Where Eagles Dare, a simple shot of Clint and Burton in the snow during the shooting of the movie – what I paid for it now escape me, but if it was more than 20p I’d be a little surprised. Great years and great memories.  

Below: The first b/w glossy I ever bought

Coming Soon: Michal Talarek’s New Book

Coming Soon: Michal Talarek’s New Book

I wanted to give a heads up for Michal Talarek’s new book, Clint Eastwood A life on both sides of the Camera. Michal’s book was first published back in 2012, a large and impressive volume, the book was originally printed in Michal’s native Polish. It’s a factor which perhaps limited its full potential, especially in terms of reaching a wider audience. 

I was speaking to Michal (who is a regular reader of the Archive) recently, when he informed me that he has now produced an English translated edition of the book and at the same time extended its contents! I thought this was great news as it is an incredibly researched book and really does deserve to be read. 

Michal kindly sent me an early advance of this beautiful, 500-page, hardback book which arrived at the weekend and I have to say, is a really impressive read. Michal is currently adding some final touches to it and hopes it will be available to tie-in with Clint’s upcoming birthday at the end of May.

Be sure to check back here for the most up-to-date news on this as we will be helping to promote this superbly collated volume and providing links when it is available to order. Michal will also be kindly providing some copies of the book as prizes in a competition we will be running closer to the book's release. I will also provide a fuller overview on the final edition. 

Thank you and congratulations Michal on a really excellent job.

Tom Cruise rumoured to be remaking The Gauntlet for Warner Bros.

Tom Cruise rumoured to be remaking The Gauntlet for Warner Bros.

Thanks to my old friend, and former president of The Clint Eastwood Appreciation Society Dave Turner, rumours are circulating that Tom Cruise is about to remake Clint’s 1977 action thriller, The Gauntlet. 

A few months back the trades announced that Tom Cruise signed a strategic partnership with Warner Bros. to develop and produce original and franchise theatricals for Cruise to star in. At the time, what exactly he was planning to develop remained unknown. 

But the website GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT has reported that Tom Cruise will take over the role originally played by Eastwood in the movie, that of alcoholic Detective Ben Shockley. The original version of The Gauntlet was also directed by Clint Eastwood, but the website’s source also reveals that Christopher McQuarrie will direct the Tom Cruise version. Tom Cruise will, of course, produce as part of his new deal with Warners.

McQuarrie has become Tom Cruise’s go-to director over the years. He directed Tom Cruise on movies like Jack Reacher, The Mummy, and three Mission: Impossible (soon four) movies. Now Christopher McQuarrie is working with Cruise on The Gauntlet. 

Sounds interesting, watch this space. My thanks to Dave Turner and Olly Peden. 

Frank Frazetta’s early concept artwork for Paint Your Wagon

Frank Frazetta’s early concept artwork for Paint Your Wagon

Our correspondents, Kevin Wilkinson unearthed a rather interesting piece on the artist Frank Frazetta that was new to both me and several other fans. Like myself, I always thought that The Gauntlet was the only Eastwood project that Frazetta had worked on, but apparently this wasn’t the case… 

Frazetta was apparently painting and providing film poster artwork since the mid 60’s.  And we were quite surprised to learn that he had worked on early designs for the musical Paint Your Wagon. While drawing a ‘rough’ (an early concept) for the poster for the 1969 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon, Frazetta apparently got fed-up and quit the project. Ron Lesser and Peter Max eventually provided posters for the movie, neither of them producing anything that was remotely similar to the direction that Frazetta had been going. Frazetta had said that Paint Your Wagon was his last movie work, but his memory in terms of dates and details during his career, was proving somewhat varied. Frazetta actually produced the posters for Mrs. Pollifax - Spy (1971), The African Elephant (1971) documentary (unused) and Luana in 1973 and several others in the following years.

By 1977 Frazetta was comfortable financially and without having to paint movie posters and he wasn’t interested in doing any more, no matter who asked. That was until Clint Eastwood called regarding his next film, The Gauntlet. 

Below: Early artwork for Paint Your Wagon

I suppose Frank Frazetta will forever be associated with The Gauntlet’s classic poster. However, it’s great to see an early example of his Paint Your Wagon artwork – sadly, we can only imagine how the final design would have looked.

My thanks to Kevin for finding this piece.