Lejink

I wasn't surprised to learn that this contemporary procedural thriller set in Scotland, principally Edinburgh but also the fictional island of Mhor, was based on the works of a Danish novelist which have indeed previously been made into movies in that country, as the whole enterprise has a distinct Scandi-noir feel to it. The maverick cop leading the investigation, the sinister kidnappers of the imprisoned barrister, her cruel and unusual punishment and naturally the tortuous plot stretched out over nine twisty-turny episodes are all recognisable tropes, in fact all it was lacking was Matthew Goode's Carl Morck character wearing a big stripey jumper.

It starts with a bang, literally as we see Morke and his partner Hardy attend the murder in the flat of an old man alongside a young plain-clothes cop only to be disturbed by a gunman who kills the policeman and whose next shot, like the bendy-bullet in the JFK assassination manages to simultaneously paralyse Hardy and shatter Morck's jaw.

This, however, is only a sidebar to the main plot-point which concerns a rising female barrister, Chloe Pirrie's Merritt Lingard, who whilst on a ferry with her mentally disabled younger brother, is abducted and incarcerated in a hyperbaric chamber where she's kept for four years. Her captors are a bewigged older woman with a nasty tongue and a younger man with violent tendencies who are determined to make her recall an incident in her past which caused the death of, as we later learn, the son and brother of her jailers.

Missing, presumed dead, Merritt's disappearance becomes the first assignment of a new cold-case unit set up to rehabilitate Morck on his return to work by his gruff female boss. He's joined by two very disparate colleagues, one a quiet-spoken Syrian immigrant ex-detective and the other an enthusiastic young spiky-haired female, herself coming to terms with a recent on-the-job trauma.

Morck fits the classic anti-hero detective mould we've been watching on film and television since the year dot. He's taciturn, moody and single-minded, definitely not a team-player but underneath his tough-guy exterior, he's loyal, certainly to his hospitalised former partner and later to his erstwhile subordinates who both however have to work extremely hard to win his grudging recognition and respect.

Much of the action, or inaction in point of fact, takes place in the prison-chamber where Merritt is kept in what must have been a physically demanding part for the actress to play. Gradually, Morck and his team untangle the various strands which will lead them to her which coincides almost exactly with her finally learning why she's been taken and so identify her tormentors.

Matthew Goode is very good(e) as the only Englishman on the force. With more sharp edges than a chainsaw, we see these gradually dulled in his interaction with his rebellious stepson with whom he shares his flat, the female psychiatrist Kelly McDonald, assigned to his rehabilitation and to his two eager assistants. For me, Alexej Manvelov, who has actually starred in previous Nordic noir productions, stole the acting plaudits and I also commend the work naturally of Pirrie, but also Leah Byrne as Goode's other gopher although I was less taken with the showy acting of McDonald and especially that of Kate Dickie as Goode's hectoring CO.

With other familiar Scottish faces in the cast like Mark Bonnar as Merritt's boss and Sanjeev Kohli, as Morck's new-age lodger, this high quality production, with, let me add, impressive background music, led my wife and I a merry dance before arriving at its exciting conclusion.

Let's hope we see Morck and his misfits in action again around Edinburgh. And can someone please have him adopt a dog called Mindy next time just to put a smile on my face.

Badfinger is one of my favourite bands and their "Straight Up" album is in my all-time top ten. A super-talented band with three fine songwriters, they got their start from being affiliated with the Beatles. Signed to their Apple label, it was McCartney who rechristened them and also wrote and produced their debut hit "Come and Get it" while they played on Lennon's "Imagine" album and participated at Harrison's Bangla Desh concert, with the latter also producing four of the tracks on "Straight Up".

Footage of them playing truly live is rare so I was delighted when this popped up in my YouTube recommendations this morning, and I eagerly watched it all the way through. I don't remember this particular programme probably due to its being shown only in the local Granada region, but this is a real find.

The format is a simple one, just film a group live in a TV studio to a small audience, playing a set of six songs. Five of the selections are indeed from "Straight Up", the mini-set closing with a rendition of their smash hit from the previous year "No Matter What".

I'm a big admirer of Pete Ham and his three tunes, their then current hit, the stunningly beautiful "Day After Day", where he challenges my perception that Harrison played the terrific solo, stately piano-led "Take it All" and the power-pop heaven of "No Matter What" naturally shine out, but there's also a blistering, extended run-through of Joey Molland's "Suitcase", a sweet take of his acoustic-flavoured "Sweet Tuesday Morning" whileTom Evans gets to unfurl his good-timey "Better Days".

The studio set itself is basic, the camera angles are a bit random and there are few audience reaction shots but the picture and sound quality is excellent and for a fan like me, getting to see them at their creative peak like this is pure gold.

I'm sure most people know the tragic back-story to the band who were completely ripped off by an avaricious manager which led to the early deaths by suicide of Ham and Evans, the group's last surviving member Joey Molland passing away earlier this year.

They've been called the unluckiest band in rock history and it's hard to argue with that assessment. What's inarguably true however is how good they were as this brief but bright showcase amply demonstrates.

Clark Gable and a young Lana Turner star in this melodrama set way out west at the end of the 19th century. He's Candy Johnson, a fast-talking, fast-palming con man who with his sidekick, the curiously named Sniper ends up on a train for Yellow Creek where he encounters Turner's seemingly prim and proper Miss Elizabeth Cotton who's on her way to see her old pa, played by Frank Morgan. Little does she know that her old man is a recovering alcoholic who has a past with Candy, but now reformed, he's built up the respect of the local townsfolk, who are growing ever more restive about life under the corrupt sheriff, Brazos Hearn, played by Albert Dekker.

From that premise, it's no great stretch to imagine that Candy will rub up against the corrupt sheriff, challenging his position at the top of the greasy pole, that he and Miss Cotton will soon be making their own cotton candy together, thus upsetting her dad and that there will be reckonings, some fatal, for some of the major participants in the drama.

There was much to like in the movie with Gable his usual charismatic self, and yes, he's duly fed another assertive Rhett-like line to further bolster his image, Turner makes the most of her mostly simpering part and Morgan garners sympathy in his part of protective father and concerned citizen. It's no surprise to see Claire Trevor in the mix in another tart-with-a-heart part and Marjorie Main is a real scene-stealer as the obdurate old Mrs Varner.

The film suffers from overloading the narrative and for me, going too lightly on shady Candy's graft operations, even as I appreciate a star of Gable's magnitude was hardly going to get his just desserts. It also suffers from a slow mid-section but certainly benefits from the chemistry between Gable and Turner which legend has it caused Gable's wife Carole Lombard to speed up her return to him with as it turned out, tragic and disastrous personal consequences for her.

All told, it's a solid piece of work, if barely credible and two-paced at times, made watchable principally by the interaction of the mature Gable and emergent Turner.