Eric Pavitt
1922 - 2001
My Old Dutch
Sinclair Hill
Betty Balfour, Gordon Harker
Moving family drama of the life of a working-class Hackney couple over 40 years, inspired by the famous music hall song This moving family drama - with time for some laughs - portrays the life and hardships of a working class Hackney couple over a span of 40 years. Our intrepid couple (wonderfully played by Betty Balfour and Michael Hogan) have to face everything life throws at them with fortitude, from the Great War (a son in the RAF and zeppelin raids) to a raging oil fire during the Great Strike. The inimitable Gordon Harker provides sterling support. The film the couple watch at the cinema is the 1915 version of My Old Dutch, starring Albert Chevalier (writer of the original music hall song) and Florence Turner. As the complete silent film is now believed to be lost, this 1934 version contains the only surviving footage.
My Old Dutch
Dandy Dick
William Beaudine
Will Hay, Nancy Burne
The Very Reverend Richard Jedd has a problem: the church spire, now in a parlous state of repair, will cost nearly £1,000 to fix. When various money-raising schemes go awry, he is persuaded to waive his principles and bet what’s left of his savings on Dandy Dick, a 10-1 odds-on at the local races. A simple tonic to enhance the nag’s performance seems a good idea… but when the butler decides to intervene, the respectable clergyman finds himself in the middle of a doping scandal – and worse!
Dandy Dick
My Friend the King
Michael Powell
Jerry Verno, Robert Holmes
Taxi driver Jim befriends Ruritanian child King Ludwig while the latter is on a visit to London. A plot is afoot by sinister forces to kidnap Ludwig, and Jim becomes caught up in the drama. After the child is abducted Jim uses all his ingenuity, including cross-dressing as a Countess and becoming involved in a car chase, to rescue him from his captors.
My Friend the King
Peace on the Western Front
Hans M. Nieter, Fred Swann
Moore Marriott, Eric Pavitt
A moving anti-war drama in which a father explains the futility of war to his young son. The film includes flashbacks from the father’s own nightmare experiences alongside documentary footage from Verdun, Arras and Ypres with the message that War is not a glorious adventure but ‘“a hideous ugly thing, involving sacrifices on the part of the finest manhood of every combatant nation”.
Peace on the Western Front
