Didn't recognize a young Sebastian Cabot and he was in a bunch of television series besides Family Affair like the Beverly Hillbillies and Gunsmoke. I remember spotting him in The Time Machine. (One of my faves growing up) He had a great voice and was a narrator in quite a few films.
I developed an early fondness for the B movie detective serials of the 40's and 50's and would scour the TV Guide every week looking for late night UHF airings. My favorites were the The Falcon and The Saint serials.
These remind me off the 1940's Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. I really enjoy watching them and will have to give these a look. Thanks for some more great recommendations and I hope you have a great Birthday Month.
There were great Saturday matinee films when I saw them. I watched the old TV series, I have the books. In NZ used play them during school Holidays on the radio.
Interesting. I've heard a couple of episodes of the radio show, but I've never seen any of the movies. Sounds as though they might be worth seeking out.
Thanks for the vid on these! Gotta check these out, being a Hammer fan and all. Never saw Cabot without the beard, before. I only remember him as far back as "The Time Machine" and the TV series "Checkmate". I have seen a young Patric MacNee the 1951 "A Christmas Carol". Happy Birthday month!
How very entertaining! I had no idea that there was a film with Blackpool Tower as both focus and weapon. This matters to me quite a bit as the weapon's range would have meant I, as a humble pupil, would have been sonic fodder thanks to attending school in Kirkham nearby.
Thank you for another fab and funny episode from Ned n Janet in sunny Spain. Really interesting to get into the pre horror Hammer studio films. These and other UK studio " quota quickies " can be a lot of fun, like their counterparts the US poverty row films. It also reminds me of the funny parody by the Comic Strip " Five Go Mad in Dorset ". We're gonna to start with the 3rd one to get our feet wet and try to get through the rest. BTW what kind of pops or ice lollys did you go for back in the day ???
My Dad used to talk about the radio show sometimes. And the films. I suppose he was a young boy of *exactly* the right age when they came out. Sadly he's no longer with us From what i recall they're quite fun films. The sinister ice cream truck is a nice touch.
Those early Hammer efforts are quite entertaining. I also liked their crime dramas such as Cash on Demand. Out of curiosity - are you using new camera or editing settings? Just seem to be low res interlace lines in your camera video. It could just be RU-vid misbehaving maybe.
I think either Carlos Clarens's CRIME MOVIES or Wlliam K. Everson's THE DETECTIVE IN FILM that briefly discussed the Dick Barton movies done by "Exclusive Films", which the author calls a forerunner to Hammer Films, but it seems it was more of a pre-horror distributor. By the time of 1957's THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, the first of what we mean when we say "Hammer Films", the studio was able to secure major Hollywood distributors like Warner Brothers or Universal-International.
It's been some decades since I first saw these films, but I'm pretty sure "Dick Barton Strikes Back" was the first one I'd tracked down. I thought at the time that the apocalyptic sci-fi atmosphere of the climax anticipates "The Quatermass Xperiment". I'll have to check it out again to see if that idea holds. I remember the scene of the villain ranting away at a deafened Dick Barton hit me creepy as hell. And yeah, it's easily the best of the bunch. The first one really seemed to be a "Bulldog Drummond for Kids" storybook movie - if I had seen it first, I may not have moved onto the second. I had high hopes for "...at Bay" after seeing "...Strikes Back", but memories are that it was a bit turgid. Just didn't have the zip of "...Strikes Back". Still, I get the feeling I'd enjoy another look at trio - thanks for the nudge.
@@terrytalksmovies Watched the second one, yesterday. It was a lot of fun and the climax was really exciting! I'll definitely watch the others. Thanks for the turn on!
How did Jerry Seinfeld say it: "Ah Mr. Bond, I've caught you at last. Now I'll tell you my whole evil plot and put you in a death machine that doesn't work." I read German films at that time were called "rubble films". I wonder if UK films in this era has a nickname. In my day we had Mr. Softie ice cream, their trucks played the "Mr. Softie" theme song.
@@terrytalksmovies I always trust your reviews and taste Terry so will definitely put them back on my Amazon wishlist. I used to listen to cassettes of the radio show before bed often growing up. So I can at least recommend that from memory :) 📻
I saw Dick Barton Special Agent for the first time quite recently. Found it slow and too cartoony (not in the good way), so decided to pass on the other two. Now, I'm curious about Strikes Back.
That first Dick Barton film you describe reminds me a bit of THE WHIP HAND, especially as it WOULD have been in its original "Nazi" (rather than "Commie") version. Thanks for these obscurities (relatively speaking).
Seems like Hammer movie scripts have always been hit and miss followed by WTFs and nice surprises. I wonder if they considered restarting the franchise with the success of the James Bond movies.
@@terrytalksmovies I googled one from 1979. I guess that's ...moderately recent(?) Can't find if Hammer studios was involved. I probably would have loved it as a 9 yr old, but there doesn't seem to have been a german version. Preferred tag line: "Like Bond, but more of a Dick" 🙂
Would these three make a decent box set, or would that be a bit much? I’ve never seen them, but think they get shown by our UK oldies tv network, Talking Pictures TV, which specialises in old films and tv series. I’ve found some decent old gems on there, like Hell is a City (Stanley Baker); Jigsaw (an early British police procedural with a, for once, decent Jack Warner); and Smokescreen (an early turn from later tv favourite Peter Vaughan).
I remember seeing DICK BARTON STRIKES BACK years ago in the 1960's on--I think--Channel 8/WFAA in Dallas on their afternoon movie. It was a fun flick for its time.
Jock.....the go to stereotypical Scotsman's name - or Scotchmen as they like to call us. I've never met a Jock in my life - or Scotchman for that matter 🤔
My Glaswegian dad did his National Service stint in the RAF, and was posted to an airfield in England. Guess what the mainly English lads in his barracks nicknamed him? Jock! Cheers
Forgot to mention Sir Cabot's fantastically wrong headed " Sebastian Cabot actor, Bob Dylan poet, a dramatic reading with music" LP which I scored many many years ago. A savory delight as are the ones by Telly Savalas, Gomer Pyle, Shatner and others
The actor who played Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors, was a really good singer. There are some clips of him singing on American Television variety shows. So, Gomer Pyle singing Bob Dylan sounds about right.
The ice cream trucks in New York played a kiddie sounding song for decades that recently was revealed to be a horribly racist song from way back. So that got changed. I've seen some of the Hammer noirs films from the early to mid-50s which usually had an American actor in the lead. I've heard of Dick Barton or Bulldog Drummond but never seen any of the films. Of course MacNee indulged, that's all he did in The Avengers when not fighting someone.
@@terrytalksmovies I wanted to write more but I'm a post heart attack weakling right now. I'm a huge Hammer fan and the fact that I got to run dailies for Freddie Francis on Scorsese's Cape Fear always places high on my career highlights list.
