The Return of '60s British Cinema - part II Quiz

Answer: Borstal

The first line of the short story by Alan Sillitoe, on which the film is based, states: "As soon as I got to Borstal they made me a long-distance cross-country runner."

Colin, the long distance runner of the title, is caught stealing and goes to Borstal, a young offenders' institution. His ability as an athlete is spotted by the Governor, played by Michael Redgrave. He is chosen to run in the annual cross-country championship against Ranley, the local public school, and its privileged students from wealthy, upper-class families. Colin is clearly going to win, but he deliberately loses to Ranley's champion (played by James Fox) to annoy the Governor, thereby maintaining his sense of independence in his battle against the system.

Answer: A homosexual writer

At the time the film was considered risque but the passage of time has made it seem almost cliched. One of the great things about the early '60s films was that they brought previously neglected groups onto the screen and treated them as real people, rather than as figures of fun or ridicule.

The main character, Jane, is pregnant but unmarried and has been thrown out of home by her father, hence her arrival in the boarding house. In the next room on the top floor is Johnny, a black man who befriends her. The landlady is generally a very unpleasant person, but she seems without prejudice, which could not be said of many landladies at the time, who often refused to rent rooms to blacks. Jane eventually has a relationship with Toby, who wants to be a writer. In the original novel he is Jewish, but no reference is made to this in the film. Cicely Courtneidge plays Mavis, whose long-dead partner turns out to be a woman.

Answer: The Dave Clark Five

The title song from the film, 'Catch Us If You Can', got to number 5 in the UK charts. The film is very different from the Beatles' films, in that the group do not play themselves and are not musicians. In 'Catch Us If You Can' they are stunt men, one of whom runs off with a successful model, played by Barbara Ferris, who feels pressurised by company executives.

The film's plot involves a chase to bring the couple back, but it is not played for comedy and indeed the film has a melancholic feel about it, with much to say on commerce vs art, and the commercialisation of youth.

Answer: The System

'The System', directed by Michael Winner and starring Oliver Reed as Tinker, was actually filmed in Torbay on the English Riviera. Reed gives an excellent performance as Tinker, the leader of the group, with a very young David Hemmings as one of the gang.

'The Party's Over', also starring Reed, is a much darker and disquieting film about a similar group of drifters. Ann Lynn, one of my favourite actresses (who is much underrated), is one of the co-stars.

'Saturday Night Out' and 'A Place to Go' are two other British '60's films from 1964, both well worth watching.

Watching these earlier films it is notable how good an actor Reed actually was, before the drink and the antics took over.

Answer: Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford played a character similar to Frank Spencer from his later TV success 'Some Mothers do 'ave 'em', although he wins out in the end. This was one of Crawford's earliest film roles, although he had been on the stage from an early age; he went on to record many stage successes, including the title roles in 'Barnum' and 'The Phantom of the Opera'

Ray Brooks played Tolen (Brooks is now fondly remembered for voicing 'Mr Benn', the children's cartoon series) whilst Donal Donnelly played Tom, who moves in to the flat during the course of the film.

Michael Caine played 'Alfie' in another famous 'Swinging London' film, Alfie being another character who definitely had 'The Knack'.

Answer: Roman Polanski

Polanski made his name with 'Knife in the Water' and then made his first English-language film, 'Repulsion', starring Catherine Deneuve, in 1965. Jerzy Skolimowski also made a film in the UK in the 1960s, 'Deep End' starring Jane Asher, in 1969. Wajda and Kieslowski are also distinguished Polish directors.

Answer: Modesty Blaise

Michael Caine starred in all three 'Harry Palmer' films, based on the Len Deighton novels, starting with 'The Ipcress File' in 1965, followed by 'Funeral in Berlin' and finally 'Billion Dollar Brain', both released in 1967. Harry Palmer was a kind of down-market James Bond, although I always found these films preferable to the 'Bond' movies, due to their more realistic nature (apart from 'Billion Dollar Brain' perhaps). 'Modesty Blaise' is almost unwatchable these days, an embarassing example of what happens when you throw too much money at a film, despite the presence of stalwarts such as Dirk Bogarde and Terence Stamp.

Answer: Jim Dale

Jim Dale, for me, is the unsung hero of the 'Carry On' series; he was in almost all the best films ('Cleo', 'Cabby', 'Cowboy', 'Screaming', 'Spying' etc). In fact arguably the best 'Carry On' film that he wasn't in was 'Carry on Up the Khyber'. After missing that one and 'Carry on Camping' he returned for 'Carry on Again Doctor' and then that was it, apart from 'Carry on Columbus', although I don't really regard that as a 'Carry On' film. Sid James and Kenneth Williams, stalwarts of the series in many ways, ended up in dross such as 'Henry', 'Dick' and 'Behind' which are just embarrassing in my view.

I never could stand Barbara Windsor in anything, and for me she normally ruins any half-decent 'Carry On' film, such as 'Spying', single-handedly.

Answer: They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Christie allegedly turned down the role of Gloria in 'They Shoot Horses Don't They?', a role which eventually went to Jane Fonda. She also turned down a starring role in 'Anne of a Thousand Days', preferring to appear in less commercial roles.

'Darling' is probably the most famous of her 60s roles, playing a thoughtless and shallow woman who wants fame by any means.

Christie played Bathsheba in John Schlesinger's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 'Far From the Madding Crowd' in 1968, opposite Terence Stamp, another Sixties icon - indeed The Kinks' song 'Waterloo Sunset' allegedly refers to the couple in lines such as "Terry and Julie cross over the river/Where they feel safe and sound...", although Ray Davies himself denies this.

She also played Lara in David Lean's 'Doctor Zhivago', another of her most famous roles.

Answer: Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger was inspired casting in the role. He knew Donald Cammell through an American agent, Sandy Lieberson, who represented The Rolling Stones' film and TV interests, and Cammell and Jagger had been looking around for a suitable script for the latter from as early as 1967. Originally the gangster was envisaged as an American gangster from Brooklyn, with Marlon Brando penned in to play the part, although he dropped out. Brando of course went on to play a much more famous gangster...

The chapter on 'Performance' in 'Your Face Here: British Cult Movies since the Sixties' by Ali Catterrall and Simon Wells has a wealth of information on the film, most of it more interesting than the finished product to be honest.

Roger Daltrey of The Who later appeared in a number of films, including the title role in 'McVicar' in 1980.

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and Ian Gillan of Deep Purple have so far confined their thespian efforts to appearances in their own live performances connected with their bands.