Those old black-and-white movies

This is a belated thank-you to BBC-2 for its Saturday and Sunday morning showings of films from the pre-widescreen and -stereo era. Not only are they exploiting their library of RKO movies but also include in the series some Ealing Studio classics. What inspired this post was seeing San Demetrio London in the listings for tomorrow morning. It was the first film that I remember my father taking me to see (not the first one I saw with both parents; I remember crying during Anna Karenina and having to be taken out). The fact that I was absorbed in the first as my father was suggests that I was already developing a critical faculty. The film's grip was due largely to a screenplay by Robert Hamer, who went on to achieve fame with Kind Hearts and Coronets. There are also some familiar faces among the cast, including the first film appearance of Robert Beatty who as a Commonwealth citizen was able to play Americans in UK productions without upsetting British Actors Equity.

Here's hoping I can wake up in time to see it again.