Branigan and its Brit stars

[stuart.uk]

I saw this John Wayne film for the first time in such a long time. One think I noted was the dangerous driving seen in the London streets with the worst culprit being Duke himself.

It was quite a good film, but wonder if the film might have been more effective if Duke was paired with Scotland Yard detectives like Jack Regan (John Thaw) and George Carter (Dennis Waterman) from The Sweeney, as they were the kind of cops who would be involved in the capers Duke was in the film. Instead we had Richard Attenbourgh and John Stride, who admittedly were great actors and gave a good account of themselves in the film, but I wonder if they were potraying British cops in the way they were thought of in America. However, worth mentioning is Judy Geeson as Duke's driver Jennifer Thatcher (Now there's a surname that became world famous on the political stage. just a few short yrs later), who though not romatically involved with Duke, was a more than a credible leading lady.

I no Miss. G probably won't agree, but I thought Duke as a modern day American Police detective was more convincing here than in his other film of the genre MQU. I don't know, maybe his wardrobe was better in this than the American film.

It was intersting to see certain British actors involved in the film. Tony Booth (Zulu) played a featured role, but I felt at the time he was a British actor used by Hollywood when they needed someone to play an Englishman in one of their films, as IMO his later work didn't match his earlier films like Zulu, Jazz Boat and Sparrows Can't Sing.

It was nice to see Del Henney again, playing one of the bad guys. Funnily enough a day later he turned up as a brainwashed secret agent out to kill star Gordon Jackson in an old episode of The Professionals. I foundly remember Del playing a retired rugby player in the series Fallen Hero oppisite Wanda Ventham, who though not a big star, was IMHO one of the screens most beautiful women.

Also featured was Tony Booth, from the sit-com Till Death Do Us Part. In the past few yrs however, he's become better known because of who his daughter is, Cherie Blair, wife of former PM Tony Blair

Not forgetting too little Tony Robinson as a biker. He achieved global fame as Baldrick in the famous Blackadder series with Rowan Atkinson. It really was a little unfair of a big strapping guy like Duke in Branigan, to throw little Tony into the Thames LOL.

[movieman1957]

I came across this as "Brannigan" is showing on our On Demand on cable. The worst of it is they only have a 75 minute slot for 111 minute film. Seeing your comment about Tony Robinson makes me want to go see that part. Apparently, being abused is a hallmark of his career.

[stuart.uk]

Chris

Tony Robinson these days fronts a show called Time Team where experts dig up a part of land, looking for clues from the past