Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
The film critic whose forthright and pithy comments since 1939 have profoundly influenced British cinema.
On the island
Eight records
from the film score of Oklahoma!; the guest says it 'was one of the first of the American musicals which I ever heard' and it 'has always been a memory to anybody who listens to American musicals, and has an absolutely lovely sort of love song'
London cast recording of On the Town
the guest says it 'is a record of excitement and pleasure' that 'introduces that excitement of the break of day'
reminds the guest of being a child in Bournemouth, hearing her musical brothers talk about Russian dancers; she says 'Petrushka has always stood for me for the great experience of the Russian dancers'
the guest recalls being taken to see the Russian ballet in Bournemouth as a child, seeing 'Scheherazade' as an Arabian Nights story 'translated into action, into this wonderful movement, which seemed to be absolutely ravishing'
the guest explains that in the war it became fashionable to hear Myra Hess play at the National Gallery; 'she played absolutely marvellously' and 'she used to play the Bach chorale'
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
from the original stage show production of My Fair Lady; the guest says it is 'a beautiful performance' where Rex Harrison 'speak sings absolutely wonderfully'
Duet from Act One of The Magic Flute
Anneliese Rothenberger and Walter Berry, with the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera Munich
the guest chose it 'just except that I enjoy it'; she recalls her professional musician brother preferred Mozart and 'she's always very restful and very beautiful'
I Remember It WellFavourite
Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold
from the film score of Gigi; the guest says the happiest busiest time of her life was when she and her husband would put on musicals at night, and this song is a 'delightfully ironic comment on memory'
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:08How many films have you seen in your career?
It is really impossible. I have seen thousands, of course. Some years ago … we calculated it was about eleven thousand. But it must be more like twenty thousand by now.
Presenter asks
1:39Is there still a magic for you in going to the cinema?
Well, not exactly a sense of occasion, because after all, I go I see two films on Monday, and perhaps two or three on Tuesday. So you can't make it an occasion, even if you know that by experience it's going to be a marvellous film. But it's always a pleasure. It's always a kind of excitement, you know. It's part of my life by now. I enjoy it.
Presenter asks
9:48You were talking earlier about stars. Who were the great stars in your lifetime of films?
Gary Cooper is one of the first I think of, because he was both a romantic star, and an action star. … Spencer Tracy was a both a great actor and a great star. … Greta Garbo … is out of this world. I mean, she's much more than a star. … I can't look at her. Even now, without wanting to cry. … Marilyn Munro had it [the quality of being a star].
The keepsakes
The book
Charles Dickens
I think I should have to [return] to my childhood. I was brought up on Dickens. [The] first sort of long, serious book I ever read was Oliver Twist. I still think Dickens is one of the greatest writers, absolutely the greatest.
The luxury
mouth organ with a how-to-play guide
I think it'd be rather nice to have a mouth organ. A mouth organ with a [with a] guide, because I've never played the mouth organ. I suppose on a desert island ... one might discover how to use it in time.
Presenter asks
24:51You've been in a very powerful position. Have you felt that power?
I've been rather ashamed of it. … All I can do is to speak the truth of what I think, as far as possible. … The essential thing is to say the truth your truth.
Presenter asks
29:30How do you react to modern films like The Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger?
I think there are moments, you know, when the cinema is taking a wrong turn. … Perhaps it's wrong to be so very unromantic as it nowadays is. … I think very often nowadays the cinema has become too solemn. Not too serious. Too solemn.
Presenter asks
34:32What is your favourite, all-time favourite film?
There's a Russian film which I particularly love called The Lady with the Little Dog. … It's a story of a girl who is on holiday[sic] with her little dog. And she is seduced. … She is seduced by a man. She thinks it's all over. He thinks it's all over. But it isn't. They meet again, and for no reason at all it starts again. They're both married. They can't marry again. … This is so marvellous and heart breaking story. There's no hope and no end, and that's that.
“I'm inclined to speak the truth about what I think about people. And it's very difficult to go back after seeing a film in which a star appears and meeting him, and you know that he can easily have read what you said, which said that he acts like a starfish. You know, it's it's embarrassing.”
“I was rusticated for two terms. … Some some paper [had] an account of it, I forget which it was. But I know that the principal said I dragged the name of Somerville in the dust. Which has always been a phrase in the family.”
“I've been rather ashamed of it [the power of being a critic]. … All I can do is to speak the truth of what I think, as far as possible. At the beginning one shows off. Which is disgraceful. One should never show off.”
“They [MGM] banned me because I said something nasty about [Gone with the Wind]. … I thought it was boring, massive. … I was wrong about [Clark Gable]. He was marvellous at it. I dunno why I didn't see it. I was turned blind. I didn't see it.”
“I'm shocked by the violence. The violence is really absolutely appalling. Because people say it doesn't matter that people aren't affected, but they are affected.”