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As promised, some entertaining distraction for Film Buff Twitter (I asked @HollywoodComet what do with this stuff, and she said to let her know, and she'd RT it, so here goes) ----->
As promised, some entertaining distraction for Film Buff Twitter (I asked @HollywoodComet what do with this stuff, and she said to let her know, and she'd RT it, so here goes) ----->
To non-UK residents, this may seem odd, but: we took a *long* time to go big on the idea of having TV broadcast all day. The BBC thought it was a downright loony idea, so it took the commercial TV companies in Britain - collectively known as ITV, the 3rd channel - to go first. ->
And that wasn't until 1972, when they unveiled a schedule of shows for those at home from 12pm.
In amongst them was a show aimed at a 50/60-something demographic, called Looks Familiar.
It was devised & compiled by pop culture historian, Denis Gifford. --->
In amongst them was a show aimed at a 50/60-something demographic, called Looks Familiar.
It was devised & compiled by pop culture historian, Denis Gifford. --->
While the format had worked well enough on BBC radio, its TV iteration was built around clips of 1930s & 40s movies, discussed & reminisced over by a well-chosen panel. Chairing proceedings was one of our finest comedy writers - & one of the few to become a 'celebrity' himself ->
-> Denis Norden.
His introductions - generally prefaced with the question, 'Are you one of those people...' - became nationally imitated.
His introductions - generally prefaced with the question, 'Are you one of those people...' - became nationally imitated.
To an eager young film & telly nerd such as myself, this show sounded like the best thing ever, but I was far from old enough to have caught the show during its original 15-year run, and so I assumed I may never see it.
Until fairly recently, that is... --->
Until fairly recently, that is... --->
There are several bits & pieces of Looks Familiar floating about on YouTube now; here from 1981 is a complete edition with the biggest of star guests, Miss Gloria Swanson, here flanked by professional film buff Peter Noble and comedy star Bob Monkhouse:
In his memoir, Norden recalls one little titbit from Gloria that appears not to have made the broadcast edit:
Denis' book also provides some background to what was evidently a personal crusade for him: getting Alice Faye as a guest, all to herself.
Apologies for the poor quality of these photos, by the way - I'm useless with a camera:
