#old britain

[bonfires-n-hares]

‘Christmas Time’ Artist: Ronald Lampitt (source)

[boxcarwild]

Bob Dylan visits Camden, London. 1993.

[sirenscurse]

The Lady of Shalott, circa 1875

Painted by John Atkinson Grimshaw

[boxcarwild]

The Stalls of Barchester is the first of the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas strand, first broadcast on BBC 1 at 11.00pm on 24 December 1971. Based on the story "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" from the 1911 collection More Ghost Stories by M. R. James, it was adapted, produced and directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.

[boxcarwild]

Kes is a 1969 drama directed by Ken Loach (credited as Kenneth Loach), based on the 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines. It follows the story of Billy Casper, who comes from a dysfunctional family and is a no-hoper at school, but discovers his own private means of fulfillment when he adopts a fledgling kestrel and proceeds to train it in the art of falconry.

The film has been much praised, especially for the performance of the teenage David Bradley, who had never acted before, in the lead role, and for Loach's compassionate treatment of his working-class subject; it remains a biting indictment of the British education system of the time as well as of the limited career options then available to lower-class, unskilled workers in regional Britain. It was ranked seventh in the British Film Institute's Top Ten Films. This was Loach's second feature film for cinema release.

[boxcarwild]

Portraits of Cecil Beaton and Edith Maude Olivier by Rex Whistler (24 June 1905-18 July 1944). Whistler was a British artist, who painted murals and society portraits, and designed theatrical costumes.

He was killed in Normandy on 18 July 1944, killed by a mortar bomb after he left his tank to go to the aid of other men in his unit. His body now lies in Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery, 10 kilometres east of Caen. Reportedly, The Times newspaper received more letters about Whistler's death than for any other war victim.

Afterwards, Sir John Gielgud wrote to the actor Alec Guinness, telling him that “Whistler's death is a major tragedy” adding that “He wanted to prove that 'artists can be tough' and alas, he has done so - but the world is greatly the poorer for his sacrifice”.

[boxcarwild]

Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 American film co-adapted and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. The film, which has film noir elements, depicts an English courtroom drama. Set in the Old Bailey in London, the picture is based on the 1953 play of the same name by Agatha Christie and deals with the trial of a man accused of murder.

[boxcarwild]

Kes is a 1969 drama directed by Ken Loach (credited as Kenneth Loach), based on the 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines. It follows the story of Billy Casper, who comes from a dysfunctional family and is a no-hoper at school, but discovers his own private means of fulfillment when he adopts a fledgling kestrel and proceeds to train it in the art of falconry.

The film has been much praised, especially for the performance of the teenage David Bradley, who had never acted before, in the lead role, and for Loach's compassionate treatment of his working-class subject; it remains a biting indictment of the British education system of the time as well as of the limited career options then available to lower-class, unskilled workers in regional Britain. It was ranked seventh in the British Film Institute's Top Ten Films. This was Loach's second feature film for cinema release.