USTINOV AD LIB (1966) – This comedy special was first aired by BBC1’s anthology series Sunday Night at 8:10PM on April 10th, 1966. In addition to the venerable Peter Ustinov himself the special featured Dudley Moore and Antony Hopkins (NOT Anthony Hopkins).
Ustinov displayed his distinctive ad-libbing talents alongside Moore and Hopkins in this one-hour stage production. Like Victor Borge, Peter Ustinov often went in for dry, obscure humor – in this case regarding opera and classical music. Continue reading
MAD JACK aka SIEGFRIED SASSOON (April 15th) – A 1970 British telefilm about the young poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was awarded the Military Cross during World War One, but while on leave in 1917 criticized what he saw as the corporate and other vested interests behind the entire conflict. 
QUENTIN DURWARD (1971) – This French-German television series ran for 13 half-hour episodes in Germany but just 7 52-minute episodes during its initial French run. 
Amadeus August stars as Quentin Durward, a fighting young Scotsman who is the sole surviving male from his Scottish clan after a brutal clan war wiped out the rest of his family. At present he is being sheltered in a monastery where the monks have told him the only way to stop the enemy clansmen from killing him to blot out his entire bloodline is to become a monk under a vow of celibacy.
SHIRLEY TEMPLE’S STORYBOOK (1958-1961) – This time around, Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring feature Forgotten Television takes a look at this overlooked children’s series hosted by an adult Shirley Temple. Like Shelley Duvall’s 1980s series Faerytale Theatre this earlier program managed to attract some big names and soon-to-be-big names for its cast. 
Shirley Temple’s Storybook was one of Shirley’s A.J.A. (After John Agar) ventures, in fact it debuted 8 years after their divorce. The program aired from January 12th, 1958 to July 16th, 1961.
DESERT CRUSADER (1968-1969) – This French television series is also known as Thibaud, ou les Croisades, Thibaud, il Cavaliere Bianco, Thibaud, der Weisse Ritter and other variations of those titles. The color series ran two seasons of 13 episodes each, with those episodes lasting around 26 minutes apiece.
Thibaud and his sidekick Blanchot (Raymond Meunier) are part of the knightly efforts to safeguard people making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He often works alongside the Knights Templar but doesn’t seem to be an official member of their Order. 
THE KNIGHTS OF THE SKY aka The Knights of Heaven aka The Aeronauts. This 1967-1970 French series is the Forgotten Television subject this time around. The series ran for 39 episodes – 3 seasons of 13 episodes each. Episodes filled a half-hour timeslot with commercials. 
The dynamic of their relationship is that Tanguy is the serious man of action and a Casanova with women, while Laverdure, though capable in a fight and as a pilot, is the comical partner whose antics are often undignified. I like to think of Christian Marin as the French Peter Davison, so think of his character Ernest Laverdure as Davison’s hapless Tristan on All Creatures Great and Small. 
THE FLASHING BLADE (1967) – This 13-episode French adventure series was later dubbed – a bit clumsily – into English. Each English-dubbed episode was in color and filled a half-hour time slot with commercials. The French title was actually The Tempestuous Knight or The Stormy Knight but was changed to The Flashing Blade for the English dubs. The original French airings were in four 75-minute episodes.
FRANCOIS, THE CHEVALIER DE RECCI (Robert Etcheverry) – The hero of the story. He and his sidekick Guillot (Jacques Balutin) reach the Fort of Casale, which is under siege by the Spanish forces in the alps near Savoy and Monferrato. (Some reviews of the show say the castle is on the border between France and Spain, but I believe that mistake comes from the reviewers casually noting that the war is between French and Spanish forces and just assuming that meant the war was being fought along their national borders.) 
The castle garrison’s French commander, Thoiras (Gilles Pelletier), is a mopey, less than inspirational leader and our fiery hero Francois clashes with him over his lethargy and lack of initiative. Soon, de Recci disobeys a direct order from Thoiras by raiding the Spanish forces for supplies. 
HOLLYWOOD (1980) – A week ago Balladeer’s Blog took a look at the classic documentaries 
THE PIONEERS – A look at the era when movie production was predominantly in New York and New Jersey, until expenses and encroachments by organized crime forced the industry to migrate to Hollywood, CA, a place then known mostly for its lemon groves. Featuring footage from The Great Train Robbery (1903) on up through films from the mid-teens and the 1920s like Ben-Hur (1925), The Black Pirate (1926), The Fire Brigade (1927) and The Wind (1928). 
SINGLE BEDS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS – Stories from the raucous, hard-partying years of Hollywood’s silent movie era. As 
CARRY ON CHRISTMAS (1969) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 14th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this 50-minute British television version of the Carol starring most of the Carry On regulars. The Carry On movies were long before my time and weren’t my kind of humor for the most part. (I’m more of a Monty Python, Blackadder, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Absolutely Fabulous sort of guy.) 
THANKSGIVING IS ALMOST HERE! ONE OF THE GREATEST HOLIDAYS OF THE YEAR! In the midst of the travails that inevitably complicate our lives it’s a great time for taking stock of the positives that we can find. 
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