Professor Spool, Author at Into The Retroscope

11 AUG

The Damned (W.Germany/Italy, 1969)

… from Professor Spool’s archive.

Same title, different film!

We now bring you a review of the second of two films released in the sixties entitled The Damned (read part 1 here.).

‘You must realise that today in Germany anything can happen, even the improbable…’

This line, spoken after about the first ten minutes, sets the scene for what you are about to see and hear – anything can and does happen.

The rich and respected Von Essenbeck family may have survived World War I and the subsequent depression, but now there is a new demand on their wealthy steel industry. As Hitler seeks to rebuild Germany’s infrastructure, munitions and its position in the world, the Von Essenbecks decide to do business with the Nazi party. However, the head of the family, Baron Essenbeck has no regard for national socialism. His murder early in the film is merely the start of this decadent, dysfunctional family’s scheming. Their plotting unfolds against the unmitigating political violence of 1930s Germany, such as the infamous ‘night of the long knives’.

11 MAR

The Damned (UK, 1963)

……from Professor Spool’s archive

Either end of the 1960s decade saw the release of films both entitled The Damned. The first was located in a contemporary England, the latter set in Nazi Germany. Into the Retroscope will provide you with a review of each film, with this initial article focusing on the earlier movie.

From the opening panoramic shots of the Southern England coastline to the closing sequences of a helicopter hovering over a doomed boat at sea, The Damned (aka These are the Damned) makes effective use of its Weymouth in Dorset seaside location.

Read more about The Damned (UK, 1963) …

31 MAY

Strange Report (1969)

……from Professor Spool’s archive.

In the late sixties Sir Lew Grade’s British based ITC company brought us the many cases that fell to war veteran and ex policeman turned criminologist Dr Adam Strange to solve. The plots of Strange Report were varied and some of them still feel very relevant today.

Strange Report main cast — Kaz Garas, Anneke Wills and Anthony Quayle.

The series was mostly filmed and located in and around sixties London. Indeed, Strange’s preferred mode of transport is his own self driven old black London taxi cab. Each of the sixteen one hour episodes is given a case reference number ranging from ‘Report 0649 to Report 8944’. The eponymous title character is portrayed by Anthony Quayle. This was his first television series – Quayle was previously well known for his theatre work (particularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company) and major films such as Ice Cold in Alex, The Guns of Navarone and Lawrence of Arabia. Read more about Strange Report (1969) …

30 APR

The Persuaders! (1971) – An Anglo American Alliance!

As soon as that distinctive theme tune commences… you know you’re in for an hour of enjoyable escapist entertainment!

……from Professor Spool’s archive

Towards the end of the 1960s, Roger Moore was hanging up his halo as Simon Templar, making a lightweight British cinema thriller Crossplot (1969) with his ‘The Saint’ (1962-1969) TV series producer Robert S. Baker – and he was being touted as the next James Bond. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Hollywood matinee idol Tony Curtis had been receiving critical acclaim for playing against type as the real life serial killer Albert DeSalvo in The Boston Strangler (1968). Little did either actor probably know at this time that media mogul Lew Grade had plans that would bring them both together in The Persuaders! It would be, in the early seventies, one of the most expensive British TV series.

11 OCT

What You Can’t See Can Hurt You!

Introducing four of the best British psychological horror films from the early 60s- The Innocents, The Haunting, 80,000 Suspects and Repulsion.

……from Professor Spool’s archive

At Halloween most television and cinema schedules will be dominated by the usual ‘scary suspects’ – Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, werewolves, Freddie, Jason and maybe even a Mummy. Such horror creations are so readily visible on the screen whether they are steeped in folklore like vampires or based on real life Jack the Ripper type serial killers.

In concentrating on these overt, bloody and often very gruesome depictions, schedulers frequently overlook the primal basis of all horror – fear itself. The very fear that lurks deep in our psyche and that can manifest itself in so many different ways. One such manifestation is that which is unseen – you may be able to sense danger, your sub-conscious may play tricks on you, the sounds you hear may add to the dread and foreboding that occupy your thoughts. What you can’t see can hurt you – it can produce irrational behaviour, questions our very sanity and understanding of what is real or a figment of our fevered imagination.

Let me now recommend four fine celluloid examples that are immersed in the very atmospheric fear I have just described. This quartet of black and white ‘mind-chillers’ were all made in Britain in the early sixties.