12 O'Clock High (the film)
Fonsini, hope this won't bust your sphygmomanometer:
That scene didn't make the final edit; I guess that it was a bit too much for the films of those days, if they weren't to be X-rated...
That scene didn't make the final edit; I guess that it was a bit too much for the films of those days, if they weren't to be X-rated...
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Not quite a leadership exercise BUT:-
In 73 the 30 odd Sqn Ldrs on my 4 week Basic Staff Course at Bracknell were shown a 30 minute clip of 12 o' clock high and then asked to write a 1369 on all three main characters. All of the numerical assessments for character qualities were then dissected.
Between the 30 odd results the course individuals had managed to score at least once from 1 to 9 for every characteristic. What price promotion prospects from that range of assessments?
In 73 the 30 odd Sqn Ldrs on my 4 week Basic Staff Course at Bracknell were shown a 30 minute clip of 12 o' clock high and then asked to write a 1369 on all three main characters. All of the numerical assessments for character qualities were then dissected.
Between the 30 odd results the course individuals had managed to score at least once from 1 to 9 for every characteristic. What price promotion prospects from that range of assessments?
I leave mine unlocked in the hope that someone might leave me a better one.
Never got stolen, and I came to the conclusion that not even the joyriders of West Cornwall were that desperate!
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Shy Torque I once had an old tatty Escort (I think it was) and I couldn't get the key out of the ignition. Solution, I just left it there for the year or so I owned the car, and never locked it.
Never got stolen, and I came to the conclusion that not even the joyriders of West Cornwall were that desperate!
Never got stolen, and I came to the conclusion that not even the joyriders of West Cornwall were that desperate!
Definitely a girl that would stop traffic, including air traffic.
Of course - in the original book 'Ice Cold in Alex' - the lovely nursing orficer fell for the Sergeant Major - but that would not have been 'cricket' for the cinema in those days - 'What'
In the past few weeks I've seen John Mills doing his chirpy cockney corporal in Dunkirk, his posh naval officer in Morning Departure and his flawed alcoholic officer in Ice Cold in Alex, and of course he got an Oscar for playing the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter, showing what a versatile actor he was. Definitely more likely to get the girl than craggy Harry Andrews playing the RSM as a father figure.
Absolutely TTN - perhaps with wartime promotion Chris Landon had a somewhat younger and better looking MSM in mind
I cannot find our copy of the book (it might not have survived the last move).
Great Film and book - possibly one of the rare occasions where the film is better than the book in some ways!
Authentically written by an ex RAMC and RASC Major who obviously had experience with alcohol.
From Bear Alley
Christopher Landon Bio
I cannot find our copy of the book (it might not have survived the last move).
Great Film and book - possibly one of the rare occasions where the film is better than the book in some ways!
Authentically written by an ex RAMC and RASC Major who obviously had experience with alcohol.
From Bear Alley
Christopher Landon Bio
He was educated at Lancing College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied medicine. However, after working in a hospital and facing the realities of a medical career, he gave up the idea of becoming a doctor and found work as a journalist until 1936 when he entered the Stock Exchange.
In the early months of the Second World War, Landon was a 2nd Lieutenant with the R.A.M.C. (T.A.). He served with the 51st Field Ambulance in the Western Desert and with the 1st S.A. Division. With the Royal Army Signal Corps in Persia, he commanded the first native company raised for the aid-to-Russia trans-Persian route. He left the army with the rank of Major and relinquished his commission in 1951.
Landon returned to the Stock Exchange but subsequently resigned membership and became the licensee of a country pub. He also became a thriller writer using his experiences in war and civilian life to ground his novels in reality. A Flag in the City, his first novel, was set in wartime Persia; his second, Stone Cold Dead in the Market, was a crime novel with the Stock Exchange as a backdrop.
Landon co-wrote the screenplay for Ice Cold in Alex and also wrote short stories; the listing of the latter below is probably incomplete and the IMDB notes that an episode of The Errol Flynn Theatre entitled "The Ordeals of Carol Kennedy", broadcast in 1957, was based on one of his stories.
Landon was married twice—to Isabella C. Campbell in 1935 and to Agnes G. T. Murphy in 1947—and had three children. He died at his home in Frognal, Hampstead, from barbiturate and alcoholic poisoning on 26 April 1961. An inquest was held a few days later, on Monday, 1 May 1961, at which a doctor stated that Landon had taken 35 sleeping tablets over a period of five days. Agnes Landon revealed that Landon, who suffered from thrombosis in the legs and had been ill for many years, would drink heavily whilst writing his books. He often worked late and would sleep in his study; she had left him working at 11 pm but found him dead when she went to his study the next morning.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
In the early months of the Second World War, Landon was a 2nd Lieutenant with the R.A.M.C. (T.A.). He served with the 51st Field Ambulance in the Western Desert and with the 1st S.A. Division. With the Royal Army Signal Corps in Persia, he commanded the first native company raised for the aid-to-Russia trans-Persian route. He left the army with the rank of Major and relinquished his commission in 1951.
Landon returned to the Stock Exchange but subsequently resigned membership and became the licensee of a country pub. He also became a thriller writer using his experiences in war and civilian life to ground his novels in reality. A Flag in the City, his first novel, was set in wartime Persia; his second, Stone Cold Dead in the Market, was a crime novel with the Stock Exchange as a backdrop.
Landon co-wrote the screenplay for Ice Cold in Alex and also wrote short stories; the listing of the latter below is probably incomplete and the IMDB notes that an episode of The Errol Flynn Theatre entitled "The Ordeals of Carol Kennedy", broadcast in 1957, was based on one of his stories.
Landon was married twice—to Isabella C. Campbell in 1935 and to Agnes G. T. Murphy in 1947—and had three children. He died at his home in Frognal, Hampstead, from barbiturate and alcoholic poisoning on 26 April 1961. An inquest was held a few days later, on Monday, 1 May 1961, at which a doctor stated that Landon had taken 35 sleeping tablets over a period of five days. Agnes Landon revealed that Landon, who suffered from thrombosis in the legs and had been ill for many years, would drink heavily whilst writing his books. He often worked late and would sleep in his study; she had left him working at 11 pm but found him dead when she went to his study the next morning.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
I'm surpised Beagle hasn't sparked on Tunes of Glory. After all, it was Susannah York's first major film, I think, playing Col Jock Sinclair's (Alec Guinness at his very best) daughter. John Mills plays Col Barrow, retuning having spent the war as guest of the Japs, to take command of the regiment. The ever loyal Gordon Jackson as the Adj and Dennis Price as the Brigade Major (try writing a 1369 on him, particuarly the boxes for "loyalty" and "sense of duty")!
Another terrific film, and I wish it would get a showing from time to time in the "old British black and white" slot. What a choice casting directors had in those days with the likes of Mills, Guinness, Olivier and many other huge talents. I suppose I am just prejudiced on account of my age, but I can't put any of today's actors in the same league.
'Tunes of Glory' was surely made in colour, not B&W?
For another very good B&W military movie, there's the excellent 'Guns at Batasi' with a brilliant performance by Richard Attenborough as RSM Lauderdale:
For another very good B&W military movie, there's the excellent 'Guns at Batasi' with a brilliant performance by Richard Attenborough as RSM Lauderdale:
Last edited by Senior Pilot; 17th Jan 2017 at 06:22. Reason: Fix YouTube link
You are right, I stand corrected - its so long so I saw it that I automatically assumed it was in b & w like so many excellent films of what I consider to be the golden age of British cinema.
Attenborough's brilliant RSM in Guns at Batasi became the definitive portrayal of the army WO/SNCO and was subsequently much imitated by other actors. Even Windsor Davies's BSM Williams in It Aint Half Hot Mum is obviously influenced by Attenborough's RSM Lauderdale.
Attenborough's brilliant RSM in Guns at Batasi became the definitive portrayal of the army WO/SNCO and was subsequently much imitated by other actors. Even Windsor Davies's BSM Williams in It Aint Half Hot Mum is obviously influenced by Attenborough's RSM Lauderdale.
Thread Starter
I always thought "Flying Leathernecks was in B&W, as it was the first film I saw on our monochrome TV as a teenager. Much better in colour though. Sylvia Simms "whoooorrrrr!!!!!"
PS "Tunes of Glory" - brilliant and "The Black Bear", which we played in our school pipe band (of which another poster on here was a member) still makes my hair stand on end
PS "Tunes of Glory" - brilliant and "The Black Bear", which we played in our school pipe band (of which another poster on here was a member) still makes my hair stand on end
Guns at Batasi, an RSM done right - I doubt any officer ever forgot to remove his hat in the Sergeant's Mess after seeing that.
For an RSM gone wrong there is always "The Hill".
For an RSM gone wrong there is always "The Hill".