TCM REMEMBERS LEO MCKERN, 1920-2002
The recent death of Leo McKern, 82, marked the passing of one of Britain's finest and most respected character actors. He was suffering from ill health in recent years and was moved to a nursing home a few weeks before his death on July 23 2002 in Bath, England. An actor of commanding presence with a deep-throated voice, the portly, bulbous-nosed McKern had a long, distinguished career spanning more than half a century, earning numerous plaudits along the way in all major mediums: theatre, film and television.
Born Reginald McKern on March 16, 1920 in Sydney, Australia; he served with the Australian Army during World War II and worked in regional theatre in his native Sydney before immigrating to England in 1946. It was a slow start, but after a three-year apprenticeship of painting scenery, stage-managing and acting, McKern eventually joined the celebrated Old Vic theatrical company in 1949 and proved one of the more versatile actors in the troupe tackling diverse roles in comedy, the classics and serious contemporary parts.
His film debut came in Murder in the Cathedral (1952) but it took a few years before he made his mark in cinema. Some of his best film work included roles as Peter Sellers' comic henchman in the classic satire The Mouse That Roared (1959); a bungling train robber in the charming Disney film The Horse Without a Head (1963); a nefarious professor who kills off his colleagues for amusement in the brilliant black comedy A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964); Clang, a cartoonish villain in the Beatles' pop film Help! (1965); Cromwell, the persecutor of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966) and as Thomas Ryan in the David Lean drama, Ryan's Daughter (1970).
Yet despite all the accolades McKern earned in theatre and films, it was television where he foundinternational fame as the wily, irascible barrister Horace P. Rumpole in John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey in 1975. Infusing the character with beguiling skill and energy, McKern made the acerbic, wine swilling, Tennyson-quoting Rumpole a much loved figure that was adored by critics, audiences and even its creator Mortimer. Perhaps Mortimer offered the most fitting tribute when he once referred to McKern - "His acting exists where I always hope my writing will be: about two feet above the ground, a little larger than life, but always taking off from reality." Enough said.
By Michael T. Toole
Katy Jurado, an Oscar nominee and major actress in Westerns, died July 5th at the age of 78. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico on January 16th 1924 as Maria Cristina Estella Marcela Jurado Garcia, daughter of a cattle rancher and an opera singer. Jurado started to appear in Mexican films in 1943. After 15 films in her native country, director Budd Boetticher saw Jurado attending a bullfight (Jurado wrote about the subject for Mexican newspapers) and cast her in his Bullfighter and the Lady (1952), her Hollywood debut. For much of her career Jurado alternated between the two film industries. In the US, she was memorable for the sensual energy she brought to roles in High Noon (1952), One-Eyed Jacks (1961) which was directed by Marlon Brando, Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) and John Huston's Under the Volcano (1984). She was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for Broken Lance (1954). Jurado's Mexican films were in a broader range of genres and included Luis Bunuel's El Bruto (1952), Ismael Rodriguez's We the Poor and Miguel Littin's The Widow Montiel (1979). She won three Ariel Awards (Mexican equivalent to the Oscars) and one special award. She was married to Ernest Borgnine from the end of 1959 to summer 1963. One of her final films was The Hi-Lo Country (1998), a contemporary Western directed by Stephen Frears and co-starring Woody Harrelson, Billy Crudup and Penelope Cruz.
by Lang Thompson
DOLORES GRAY, 1924 - 2002
Broadway and nightclub star Dolores Gray died June 26th at the age of 78. Her movie career was brief but consisted of high-profile MGM musicals which guaranteed her a place in film history. Gray was born in Chicago on June 7th, 1924 (and where, according to a common story, she was accidentally shot by a gangster as a child and had a bullet in her lung her entire life). As a teenager she began singing in California until Rudy Vallee featured her on his radio show. Gray moved to Broadway in 1944 and then to the London stage in 1947, solidifying her reputation as a singer/actress while constantly giving the gossip columnists plenty to write about. She had two small singing roles in Lady for a Night (1941) and Mr. Skeffington (1944) but didn't really light up the big screen until It's Always Fair Weather (1955) even though Gray reportedly didn't much care for the role. Her rendition of "Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks," which has her gunning down a slew of male dancers on-stage and kicking them through trap doors, is a genuine showstopper. Three more unforgettable musical roles quickly followed: Kismet (1955), The Opposite Sex (1956, which Gray turned down Funny Face to do) and Designing Women (1957). That was it for Gray's film career. She kept busy with TV appearances (mostly singing though she did one 1988 episode of the cult show Dr. Who) and a busy recording and nightclub schedule. In 1987, she appeared in a British production of Follies at Stephen Sondheim's request.
by Lang Thompson
Help!
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Richard Lester
John Lennon
Paul Mccartney
Ringo Starr
George Harrison
Leo Mckern
Photos & Videos
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As High Priest Clang and Priestess Ahme are about to make a human sacrifice to Goddess Kaili, they notice that they cannot perform the ceremony because the red sacrificial ring is missing. In London, Ringo has received the ring from an admirer, and he wears it, unaware of any danger. When Clang and Ahme try to obtain the ring from him, Ringo finds that he is unable to take it off. After Clang and his henchman Bhuta try to murder Ringo, he goes to see Foot, a scientist, and Foot's assistant, Algernon, to have the ring removed. Foot covets the ring, which will help him control the world, and, with Algernon, he joins the pursuit. Ahme befriends Ringo, and with the other Beatles--John, Paul, and George--they go to the Alps for a vacation. Their pursuers find them; and, following a chase in the mountains, the Beatles return to London and ask Scotland Yard for aid; then, with the British Army performing maneuvers around them on the Salisbury Plain, the Beatles record their music. After a near war between the Army and Clang's followers, the group goes to the Bahamas where they are still harried. As Ringo is about to be sacrificed, however, he learns the secret that allows the ring to slide easily off his finger.
Director
Richard Lester
Cast
John Lennon
Paul Mccartney
Ringo Starr
George Harrison
Leo Mckern
Eleanor Bron
Victor Spinetti
Roy Kinnear
John Bluthal
Patrick Cargill
Alfie Bass
Warren Mitchell
Peter Copley
Bruce Lacey
Ronnie Brody
Bob Godfrey
Louis Mansi
Rupert Evans
Andreas Malandrinos
Golda Casimir
Deborah Du' Lacey
Gai Wright
Zorenah Osborne
Eve Eden
Zienia Merton
Marie-lise
Durra
Danny Almond
Edith Savile
Vera Cook
Joe Gibbons
Sue Reid
Stewart Guidotti
Wally Shufflebottom
Blake Butler
Ian Wilson
Jenny Till
Mary Ford
Jenny Landry
Glenda Warrington
Alex Macintosh
Pat Roberts
Thomas Baptiste
Dandy Nichols
Jeremy Lloyd
Gretchen Franklin
Crew
Jack Atchelor
Marc Behm
Marc Behm
H. L. Bird
Bill Blunden
Don Challis
Stephen Dalby
Rita Davison
Robert Freeman
Robert Freeman
Betty Glasow
Dinah Greet
Julie Harris
George Harrison
John Lennon
Paul Mccartney
Arthur Newman
John Pellatt
Clive Reed
Cliff Richardson
Walter Shenson
Ray Simm
John Victor Smith
Ken Thorne
Barry Vince
David Watkin
Roy Whybrow
Freddie Williamson
Paul Wilson
Charles Wood
Photo Collections
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
TCM Remembers - Leo McKern
TCM Remembers - Leo McKern
Quotes
Without the ring, there is no sacrifice, with out the sacrifice there is no congregation, without the congregation there'll be no...more...me.- Clang
We must find the ring.- Clang
Has nobody looked in the wash basin?- Bhuta
Hey someone's got hold of me finger!- Ringo
Are you trying to attract attention again?- John
Stop dragging things down to your own level, it's immature son.- John
Well I.. Well I thought she was a sandwich, 'til she went spare on me finger.- Ringo
It's cold, it's a cold place.- Bhuta
Trivia
In the final "I'm going to miss the sacrifice" scene where Klang's men, The Beatles, Ahme, and the good police of the Bahamas are on the beach where they are rolling around in the sand fighting, a strange shot of a pair of very feminine legs and skin covered with sand is inserted for a flash of a second.
One scene cut from the movie had 'Harrison, George' , disguised as Ringo Starr, sitting in a tree house.
In the beach scene towards the end of the film, John Lennon had an appointment and could not be present. Another actor stood in for him.
The swimmer who pops up twice asking for the White Cliffs of Dover, once in the Alps, and once in the Bahamas, is none other than the Beatles' road manager Mal Evans.
The song "A Hard Day's Night" can be heard instrumentally throughout the movie.
Notes
Location scenes filmed in the Bahamas, Obertauern (Austria), and on the Salisbury Plain. Opened in London in July 1965; running time: 92 min. The working title of this film is Eight Arms To Hold You.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States October 1998
Released in United States September 2007
Released in United States Summer August 9, 1965
Shown at Hamptons International Film Festival (Archival Film Series) in East Hampton, New York October 14-18, 1998.
Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (Zabaltegi - Pearls) September 20-29, 2007.
Released in United States September 2007 (Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (Zabaltegi - Pearls) September 20-29, 2007.)
Released in United States October 1998 (Shown at Hamptons International Film Festival (Archival Film Series) in East Hampton, New York October 14-18, 1998.)
Released in United States Summer August 9, 1965
