Talking Pictures celebrates its fifth birthday

Inside Talking Pictures, the ultimate in lock-down comfort TV

Five years ago on Tuesday saw the launch in the UK of the best TV channel to hit terrestrial television in ages, one that makes all this Freeview business worthwhile and which should be on the radar of every self-respecting vintage film buff - Talking Pictures TV.

I remember thinking when Talking Pictures was first launched in 2015 what a splendid and long-overdue idea it was and I am delighted to see how it has gone from strength to strength in the intervening time period.  What makes it even more remarkable, as the excellent Observer article explains, is that it is all run by a family of four from a house on the outskirts of Watford!  Proof that you don't need a massive budget or have to jump through loads of hoops (except maybe to placate Ofcom when it comes to the old chestnut of historic cultural norms on film) to run a successful TV station.  It is wonderful to note the obvious enthusiasm and experience running through the whole enterprise, which no doubt contributes in no small part to its success, and I am particularly pleased to read of another new Laurel & Hardy fan in the making!

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Talking Picture TV founders Neill Cronin and Sarah Cronin-Stanley

There really is something for everyone on this channel, from obscure 1930s British B-movies to classic but long-forgotten 1970s TV dramas.  Tie-ups with the Imperial War Museum have resulted in showings of some enthralling public information films and period docudramas and people even send in old home cine footage from the 1950s and beyond, to be given a whole new lease of life.  More modern but no less pertinent stuff also frequently gets an airing - TPTV recently showed the 2016 documentary film The Man Who Gave A Damn, about the life of Leslie Howard, which I had long been wanting to see.  They even sell DVDs and other merchandise through their Renown Film Club subsidiary, which also runs regular film festivals and other such events.



All in all then, a hearty "well done" and "Many Happy Returns" to Talking Pictures TV - long may it continue to grace our television screens.  It is an oasis of joy and nostalgia amid a sea of mediocrity and I am so glad to see it get some recognition in the popular press.  That Her Majesty is allegedly a fan comes as no surprise and is perhaps the greatest accolade TPTV could hope to achieve.  I for one hardly tune in to anything else these days (on the rare occasions I actually watch television - most of the time it's DVDs or some obscure thing on YouTube) and can thoroughly recommend adjusting your set to channel 81 (Freeview), 445 (Virgin), 306 (Freesat), or 328 (Sky).



*** An honourable mention should also go to Sony Movies Classic, which recently replaced True Movies on Freeview channel 50 (Virgin 424, Freesat 303, Sky 319) and which also shows some decent films from the 1940s onwards. ***

Squads & Shirts

Hello-ello, remember me?!  I wouldn't blame you if you don't!

Once again I feel I must apologise for the lack of activity hereabouts; certain factors have meant this poor little blog has been awfully neglected recently.  Until things pick up, here's the first of two or three posts related to my 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago on the 19th August - a short presentation(!) of some of the things I got that are of a vintage bent.

Beige wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

Although not properly vintage as in "old", men's shirts can have a timeless quality to them particularly if one is discerning with the cut, style and colour (no bright colours or cutaway collars here!) and as my wardrobe needed refreshing some brand spanking new ones made their way to me in the week following the 19th.  A chap doesn't turn 30 every day so I decided to treat myself with some birthday money to four shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, one of the newer (but no less worthy for that) names on London's famous Jermyn Street.

Light yellow wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

The herringbone shirts are easily equal to the two from Ede & Ravenscroft and Hawes & Curtis (both bargainous £3.95 charity shop finds from last couple of years!) that already grace my wardrobe and the poplins aren't far behind either.

Cream poplin classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

I kept largely to plain, simple shades to maximise their use (and, of course, because they suited my taste!).  I fancied a bit of a pattern for at least one, though, and the red and blue check caught my eye.  The beige shirt has also has hints of pink to it in some lights, which is a bonus.  I'd love to have been able to show you some pictures of them as worn, or at least at chez Partington-Plans, but my ancient digital camera chooses not to show them in all their glory regardless of the ambient lighting so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with these borrowed images.

Red & blue grid check classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

Likewise with the two new cravats I got from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats - two new colours/designs to add to my growing collection. 

Aubergine & mauve circles day Cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Both should go well with most of those shirts, don't you think?  I hope to be able to bring you a proper outfit post or two (with my own, better pictures!) featuring combinations of them all, plus an extra-special surprise clothing present that is still in the final stages of completion.  You'll just have to wait and see what it is!

Richmond check day cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Finally for this post, a new DVD (one of four but the only one set in the 1940s) - Gangster Squad!

I had really wanted to see this at the cinema back in January but alas it coincided with a hospital stay so it had to end up on the DVD list.  I had seen nothing of it beyond the trailers and of the four films I got this was the one I had the least expectations of, so I was more than delighted to discover that it really is a very good film that could easily stand comparison with the likes of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential.  I would certainly recommend it and, if I get my act together, it may one day feature on the currently dormant Film Friday gangster series of blog posts.  Maybe.



That's it for now, though, but I hope to be back before too long with the aforementioned extra birthday posts plus more usual fare.

Pip-pip!

The Artist pays homage to Hollywood's silent era

The Artist pays homage to Hollywood's silent era

There is a lot of anticipation surrounding this film in vintage blogdom, and rightly so.  A silent black & white film, set between 1927 and 1932 and filmed in the style of period?  Yes please with knobs on!

This could have been a big risk for French director Michel Hazanavicius but it looks to have paid off handsomely and then some.  Highly acclaimed at its premiere in Cannes, with lead star Jean Dujardin winning the best actor award, it now seems that the Oscars themselves are in this film's sights.  Could this be the first silent film in eighty-three years to win Best Picture?  It would certainly do wonders for it (not to mention the entire genre) if it did.

I've scarcely been able to contain my excitement about The Artist ever since I first heard of it a couple of months ago, but my enthusiasm has always been tempered by how these types of films (which some might call arthouse) have been treated by the large cinema chains and received by moviegoers in general.  When I tried to see film noir homage The Good German back in 2006 I was disheartened to discover that my local cinema was showing it for only one week, once, at midnight.  And that was it.  Then there was the time I had to travel 20 miles to see Flyboys and found myself the only person at the screening!  (OK, perhaps it was fun to have the whole auditorium to myself, but it was also disappointing to see such a low turnout even for the weekday matinée that it was).

So it is with some trepidation that I continue to wonder about the reception this film will receive from wider audiences both here and in the United States.  How will modern filmgoers used to 3D, not to mention colour and dialogue, take to monochrome and inter-titles?  Will it even get a full and proper nationwide release?  With luck and thanks to its success at Cannes, its overwhelmingly positive reviews and possible Oscar presence it may well break into the "mainstream".  We can only hope!

And if it does, it may mark something of a resurgence in popularity for silent movies.  If it can introduce at least one modern viewer to the delights of early cinema, it will have been a success if you ask me.  Plus with the release of Silent Life, a similar film about Rudolph Valentino, also planned for next year, 2012 could well be the year of the silent movie!

Film noir femmes fatales

Film noir femmes fatales

A set of photographs now, courtesy of the Daily Telegraph, celebrating the dark and supremely stylish genre that is film noir. Double-crosses, blackmail, murder, crime passionnel and all in gloriously intense black-and-white. A gritty, complex world full of private eyes, suspicious strangers and killer dames. These girls are beautiful, elegant but oh-so-deadly! Watch out chaps!