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Monitor shorts Monitor was a BBC television series of black and white arts documentaries. Huw Wheldon ran the Monitor series and was looking for a new director to join his team. Ken submitted his amateur film Amelia and the Angel and despite being a newcomer he got the job, though actually he was a contractor and was never on the full-time staff. He produced some of the best television ever made. Ken initially produced short 10-15 minute films on a range of subjects, chosen by himself but approved by Weldon. This continual stream of commissions allowed Russell to explore his ideas and develop his technical abilities. Gradually he was allowed to produce full length television films.
1956 Poets London Russell's first commission for the BBC. It is about the poet John Betjeman. Ken wanted to demonstrate his ability to Huw Wheldon, and succeeded. Though his budget hardly improved since his amateur days: £300.
Ken and Betjeman based the film around poems including Monody on the Death of Aldersgate Street Station, Business Girls, The Olympic Girl and Hertfordshire. This allowed Russell to use a string of images cut to match the poetry. Monody has images of churches and graveyards as well as the station, now without its roof. Business Girls has women in Camden Town going to work and glorious use of steam from a train- the steam rising slowly to blank out a scene. Olympic Girl has Betjeman staring wistfully at posters of women, then through railings at women, before realising he is 53 and past this sort of thing, and walking away lonely. Betjeman at his best, providing the commentary as well as reading his poetry- not taking himself seriously while at the same time bringing out the beauty of the poetry. Similar in some ways to "Night Mail" it is the start at the BBC that Russell wanted. Ken said of the imagery in the film "poems are mini film scripts, you don't mirror the words but do a running commentary" (BFI talk, 29 July 2007). One scene included actors. This scene had to be refilmed as the BBC did not want actors in a documentary. Familiar Russell images, the steam train and a body (doll) in the water appear even this early in his career. The editor is Allan Tyrer. 12 minutes. Michael Brooke in his excellent notes for the BFI season of Russell early films (July 2007) suggests because Ken wanted to ensure he got the job at Monitor, the film is his most conservative and less inventive. An interesting viewpoint, but I still would praise the film for bringing out the essence of Betjeman, as Ken said "inspirational and cosy" (BFI talk, 29 July 2007).
1959 Gordon Jacob
A genial film with the composer Gordon Jacob living a quiet life but still working on his music for many hours each day. When the film moves to ballet dancers the Russell magic enters, with the feet of the dancers echoing the music. And the best scene is of the pigs: "We both loved the forest and we both loved pigs. One movement of his New Forest Suite is called “Pannage“, which is the time of year they turn the pigs loose in the forest to forage for acorns. So there I was filming pigs going mad in the woods and cutting them to music much the same was I had cut troops running into the Basilica in the Lourdes film" (from An Appalling Talent). Huw Wheldon introduces the programme and the commentary is by Humphrey Burton. The film editor is Allan Tyrer and producer is Peter Newington. 18 minutes.
1959 Guitar Crazy (also called From Spain to Streatham)
Reflecting the craze then sweeping Britain for playing guitar. The film features guitarists John Williams and a sublime Davey Graham (above). In the opening sequence street urchins find a broken piano and hit the keys, creating their own superb music. The documentary mixes humour (the reaction of the mother and the goldfish to the poor guitar playing of the young boy practising) and insight into the passions of people. It is however marred by some racism from the time- a scene with an intelligent looking coloured boys cuts to an offensive "sambo" balloon...
... -this wasn't unusual for the time, but now it is a sad flaw in one of the best Monitor shorts. There is also a short homage to Some Like it Hot. 17 minutes. Introduced by Huw Wheldon and commentary by Frank Duncan. The editor was Allan Tyrer.
1959 Variations on a Mechanical Theme Looking at a range of mechanical musical instruments from wind up organs to a musical bustle presented to Queen Victoria. Typical scenes include the organ grinder playing as the resident of a house closes his window to keep out the noise. A monkey on an organ is shown accompanied by a speech by Mussolini, and it appears Mussolini has ordered all Italian organ grinders to leave Britain, so the grinder and his monkey leave, the money looking sad. The films moves to modern times with tape recorders playing electronic music, presumably a predecessor of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The commentary is by Frank Duncan and written by Alex Atkinson (info from BFI film notes, Jul 2007). 13 minutes.
1959 Two Painters
About the Scottish painters Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun. When Russell worked in an art gallery, one of the exhibitions was by MacBryde and Colquhoun who he met. MacBryde "was a charming chap" and Colquhoun "looked like a cold-blooded killer from a Western". The film starts with a cart being driven down a lane and on the back of the cart are the two painters. They live in a house rented for £1 a week, and paint all day. One of the best scenes is the cart moving through foliage, beautiful images, then the camera moving slowly through the village. The films ends with the same cart returning, but the back is empty, without the painters.
The commentary is by Allan McClelland, the film editor is Allan Tyrer, the producer is Peter Newington and the commentary is by Allan McClelland. 11 minutes. The b&w photo from screenonline.
1959 Portrait of a Goon Spike Milligan the comedian and member of the BBC radio series The Goons, a precursor of Monty Python. Russell later wanted Milligan to play a role in The Devils.
1960 Marie Rambert Remembers His first film about a dancer- Marie Rambert who founded Ballet Rambert (now Rambert Dance Company). The editor was Allan Tyrer, photography was by John McGlashan. Huw Wheldon does the commentary and also interviews Marie Rambert- at times he draws out Marie Rambert but there is no real insights into her character- she preserves her inner self, he does not probe.
1960 Architecture of Entertainment/ Journey into a Lost World
Another film with the poet John Betjeman. Betjeman looks at sites of entertainment in the past from the Festival of Britain to the National Film Theatre (which is where I saw it!). There is nostalgia for the past as well as insights such as film of the entertainment centres such as ice rinks turned into hospitals in the war- crammed with beds. The film is at its most stunning when Betjeman goes to the site of Crystal Palace where there is a park with model dinosaurs and snakes. Betjeman goes by boat and seems like an unlikely Indiana Jones going through the mist and bushes to confronted with the demons. The producer is Peter Newington, the editor is Allan Tyrer and Betjeman provides the commentary. 22 minutes.
1960 Cranks at Work
Another dance film, this time on John Cranko. Probably this film no longer exists, the only one of the Monitor films to be lost. Any info is welcome.
1960 The Miners“ Picnic
Brass bands from the coal-mines. John Gibson, one of the miners who plays in one of the brass bands, introduces the film and gives the commentary. Russell portrays the musicians with fingers scarred and grained from work down the mines. A film of humour and compassion. The early Ken Russell had the social conscience of a Ken Loach. When Russell later filmed Women in Love he went back to film the mines and the bands. The mines were closed and the bands had stopped playing music. John McGlashan and Alan Pearce are the cameramen. 16 minutes.
1960 Shelagh Delaney's Salford The writer Shelagh Delaney. Her 1958 play A Taste of Honey is one of the National Theatre's 100 plays of the century.
Russell took Delaney back to her home town. It was filmed as her second play was about to be released. Along with The Miners Picnic it shows compassion reminiscent of Ken Loach. Here Shelagh talks of the high rise flats being built without any amenities such as theatres, and so destroying communities. The editing is by Allan Tyrer and camerawork by Tony Leggo. 15 minutes.
1960 A House in Bayswater/ Mrs Stirling of Old Battersea House Russell films the inhabitants of a house in London. Russell himself had lived there once. The inhabitants include dancers, a painter and a photographer. This wasn't for Monitor but for the BBC Film Department, as Monitor was between series. This was his first full length programme for the BBC.
1960 The Light Fantastic Just as he had filmed the guitar craze, Russell now covered a dance craze in Britain. The film starts with market worker Ron Hitchins who transforms himself into a flamenco dancer and conveys his passion for dance. He then provides the voice over for the rest of the film, which covers a wide variety of dance styles including a group of male Latin dancers air-dancing without female partners. Allan Tyrer edits and the director of photography is Tony Leggo. 23 minutes.
1961 Antonio Gaudi About the Spanish architect. Huw Wheldon gives the commentary and it is a reasonable documentary with good photography of his buildings. There are interesting facts mentioned- Gaudi's hatred of flying buttresses, and that all his building were merely experiments for his cathedral. But it lacks any bite or excitement. 15 minutes.
1961 London Moods A disappointing film. There is no dialogue or commentary, rather music and images combine to evoke London. But there is little depth and the images or film chosen is poor, often simply postcards. Compare with his later Planets. 10 minutes.
1962 Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill Russell directs the outdoor scenes and Humphrey Burton the studio scenes. This was broadcast live.
Lenya sings songs by Kurt Weill her husband, the composer who worked with Bertolt Brecht- Mack the Knife, Pirate Jenny, Sarabaya Johnny and Alabama Song. Huw Wheldon introduces each song, then Lenya sings. Sometimes she is singing against a background of Nazi power, in others she is in a bedroom. Russell says "it was in the early 60s that I met the legendary Lenya herself and was able to talk her into appearing on the BBC Arts programme Monitor. I staged four numbers for her, including Surabaya Johnny and The Alabama Song of which I still have dazzling memories". Huw Wheldon says the film shows the first ever performances from Mahagonny in Great Britain. The film is on interest in capturing Lotte Lenya singing, but it is disappointing with little imagery or inventiveness. The editor is Allan Tyrer. 16 minutes. Lenya would later appear in From Russia with Love with Sean Connery, just as Ken Russell later appeared with Sean Connery in The Russia House. Russell later directed a play about Lenya and Weill. The play is written by and stars Judith Paris and marks the centenary of Weill's birth.
1961 Old Battersea House The Pre-Raphaelite museum. Russell says: People are always saying my films are bizarre but they pale beside reality...she was ninety-nine then, dripping with white furs and jewels, and wearing an enormous hat. She could only walk with two sticks, and the place was so dark a servant followed her around with a lamp. She said...“my sister was at work on this painting of Azrael and the Angel of Death when a frog hopped in and looked at it and hopped out again“. Russell would also make Dante's Inferno about the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti. |
