This 27-minute color silent short follows the trials of a young man as he builds his own car from spare parts which he finds at a junkyard. Observing his efforts is a little girl who, at first, looks on with curiosity but later lends him a helping hand. He also gets a hand from the local garage owner who, naturally, runs a BP station. Actress Caroline Mortimer has a brief uncredited role as a young woman who works at the garage. Our hero likes her but a man in a flashy Austin Healey takes her out most evenings, so he feels he doesn't have much of a chance of dating her, at least, not until he gets his own car built.
The film was shot in and around Farnborough and Cove in Hampshire and we get a glimpse of the beautiful English countryside as he test drives his finished car, which happens to be a Morris Oxford dating from the 1920s. With its bright blue paint job, it looks like Val Biro's Gumdrop come to life ( if only James Hill had made a CFF serial on the adventures of Gumdrop! )
The Home-Made Car is available as an extra feature - along with Guiseppina - on the DVD Lunch Hour ( also directed by James Hill ).
Back in London, British intelligence officer Jack Loder ( Anthony Quayle ) and Home Secretary Fergus Stephenson ( Daniel O'Herlihy ) are curious as to why Feodor is in Barbados and decide to keep surveillance on him and his, supposedly, coincidental encounter with Judith. Loder believes Feodor is conspiring to win Judith over "to the other side" so that the Russians could use her as an inside agent.
Judith thought she met a kind and understanding friend on her holiday but when Loder approaches her with his suspicions of Feodor's motives for meeting her, she begins to wonder if she is indeed being used as a pawn in a political chess game between the East and the West.
The Tamarind Seed is an engrossing romantic espionage drama from director Blake Edwards. It is a long picture ( 125 minutes ) and the pace is slow, yet the story is riveting and the film never becomes tiresome. This is due to the fine performances of all the principal players and Edwards' compelling script, which was based on Evelyn Anthony's 1971 bestselling novel.
Julie Andrews, who was married to Edwards at the time, delivers an excellent performance as the bewildered Ms. Farrow. Andrews portrays Judith as a woman of intelligence and strength, lost and confused though she may be. Judith follows her heart, in spite of being warned against doing so. "He's going to recruit you, isn't he?" Loder tells her. "You're wrong. He'll never do anything like that. I know him." "Do you? I doubt that, Mrs. Farrow"...."If you are right and he tries to involve me in anything, I will tell you, but I will not be used to spy against him," she replies.
Judith has no taste for these Soviet cat-and-mouse games and yet she finds herself embroiled in them through her relationship with Feodor, a relationship she has no intention of pursuing since he is a married man and decidedly Marxist. "It is a good sign that we have many dialectic disagreements and yet get along so well together", Feodor exclaims. Perhaps so, but when Feodor's life becomes endangered, Judith must weigh her feelings for him against her loyalty to her own values.
Freddie Young's beautiful cinematography elevates the film beyond a standard espionage drama and makes you feel like you are watching an epic. Indeed, with location filming in London, Paris, Barbados, and Switzerland and John Barry's lush score ( not to mention Wilma Reading's wonderful rendition of "Play it Again" ), it could very well be classified as a dramatic spy epic.
Also in the cast are Sylvia Syms, Bryan Marshall, Kate O'Mara, and Celia Bannerman.
The Tamarind Seed is currently available on DVD and via streaming on Tubi.
What a cute kid! He's not Spanky and he probably made only one film in his whole life but we noticed him...and if you did too, you may remember what film he appeared in. Test your memory and give a guess.
Several people commented that they would like to own the portrait of Captain Gregg but, if you read the article, you will see that it no longer exists as it was seen in the film, having been painted over with the likeness of Edward Mulhare for use in the 1968 television series The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
It took a few days to make and, after the painting was finished, I scanned it. Then, with the magic of Picasa ( Google's now-obsolete photo editing software ), I enhanced the portrait. You can buy it now on Etsy as a digital download for $6.99. The resulting file size is large enough to make a 36" x 45" print from, so anyone can print it on canvas and have their very own "Portrait of Captain Gregg" hanging in their seaside retreat.
There is no guarantee that the ghost of Captain Gregg will emerge when you hang it up, but it will make a nice conversation piece nonetheless.
Click here to view the listing on Etsy.
Margaret Leighton and Julie Christie have a slight difference of opinion as young Dominic Guard looks on in this scene from The Go-Between ( 1971 ), a beautifully filmed adaptation of L.P. Hartley's 1953 novel about a schoolboy who spends his summer at an English estate and acts as a messenger for Julie Christie and Alan Bates while they have a secret romance. The Go-Between won the Palme D'Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store : http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures
We generally do not write about music on Silver Scenes ( unless, of course, it is film music ), but a legend in the music industry passed away yesterday - Judith Durham. This lovely woman was one of the founding members of The Seekers, a group that had hits in the 1960s with "Georgy Girl", "I'll Never Find Another You" and "A World of Our Own".
The Seekers were comprised of Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley, Athol Guy, and Durham. They formed as a group in 1962 and catapulted to stardom in 1964, becoming the first pop band from Australia to achieve international success. In 1968, Judith Durham launched a career as a solo performer while Keith Potger went on to form and manage The New Seekers. The group reunited in 1992 and continued to perform in concerts throughout the world. 2022 marks the 60th anniversary of the group.
Judith Durham had such a beautiful voice that truly captured the spirit of Australia, especially in all of the traditional folk songs she performed. Judith passed away at age 79 from complications from a chronic lung disease.