kwalstedt-1

Rosemary Clooney may not have been drop dead gorgeous, though she was quite attractive, but damn did she have a sexy presence. Absolutely mesmerizing and a fantastic voice. I could not take my eyes off her. I really regret the way I completely overlooked her before because when I was growing up she was in her later years and had taken on a kind of glitzy, loud sort of...falseness? Not quite sure how to put it. And she became kind of buxom and booming and I really didn't appreciate her.

This special showed you exactly where Clooney's legend and huge fan base love her for. Her songs were also quite sophisticated and subtly done. No overdone Vegas style singing here. All just exquisite line readings, nuance and passionate interpretation. Due to this show I have become her newest and greatest fan!

In an odd coincidence, I also saw this film at what I am sure is the same out-of-the-way cinema in Berkeley, CA in 1987 or 1988 that was mentioned above. (It was in North Berkeley I believe on Euclid Avenue just off of Hearst St. and round the corner from LaVal's pizza.)

I have been looking for this film ever since and also had the thought that perhaps I had imagined seeing it and it never really existed. Well, not really. But it did appear to completely disappear from the face of the earth after that.

I just loved the puppet sequences and creepiness of Tom Bell and his toyshop. I remember when one of the children accidentally broke a pull toy the deliciously weird way he spoke directly to the toy, "We'll have to get you a new leg, will we?" I also like the oddly positive form of the tag question ("will we?") and wondered if that came from a particular English dialect.

It's funny how much good press her other film The Company of Wolves got compared with this one (I didn't like it that much.) But I'd be quite surprised if this turns out to be an act of censorship. I think it's more likely the lack of an interested distributor that is holding it back.

As someone mentioned above they actually got a copy of this in the U.S. I hope that means I can find one, too. Good luck to everyone else.

I know this will sound stupid, but I don't understand who Erol is to Nicky. His brother? His father? Why do they live together with Mattie? I missed the beginning of the series and any explanations they might have given.

I am enjoying the broadcasts of this on the BBC America channel, though with British series I am never sure how much delay there has been since the episodes were shown in the U.K.

The actors are quite good and although the episodes are fairly plot driven, there aren't as many clichés as I might have feared.

Don Gilet brings a real subtlety to the role, and I find his interactions with Dervla Kirwan to be some of the more interesting of the show. George Harris provides a sort of moral weight and depth to the series. I hadn't seen either of these actors before and I am quite impressed.