No one was saved? Made (1972)

Anyone in any doubt about the stunning consistency and sheer ability of Carol White need look no further than this overlooked yet viscerally affecting film. Until this 2k restoration and release on DVD from Network, Made had been little seen since its original theatrical release and subsequent mixed reviews with the Time Out review from Geoff Andrew noting “moments of acute perception” but also accusing it of “a typically British glamorisation of seedy lives…”; it’s hard not to agree with the former and to completely disagree with the latter. There’s a Loachian reality to the film, a freshness to the, partly improvised playing and these lives are recognisably un-glamorised and far from seedy.

The person holding this all together is Carol White and performance is very much in the style of her films made with Ken Loach, Cathy Come Home and Poor Cow. In his superb essay in the 28 page booklet accompanying the DVD, film historian Neil Sinyard quotes White in saying she found the part exhausting because she identified so much with her character Valerie, “Nothing goes right… it’s just not fair.” Sinyard’s booklet is one of the best you’ll find and adds so much context to the film and I apologise for any snippets I’ve lifted*! He is right to describe White as luminous as Valerie and, as she is in virtually every scene, she carries the whole enterprise on her shoulders with a vital grace and balance that brings the best out of even the untrained but charismatic Roy Harper.

Carol White

In White’s eyes Valerie’s trials are all too believable, there’s an intelligence and vulnerability as well as a working-class resilience that leaves you hope even with a scenario every bit as brutal as a Zola novel. Most things, as Carol said, “go wrong” for our Val, but she faces up to it all and, unlike Howard Barker’s play, No One Was Saved (1970), you can believe, as with Giulietta Masina’s character in Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria (1957), that she may yet prevail. Part of the reason for this is that Valerie is not the source of her bad luck, that is very much the men in her life and others too; at the end of the day, she’s too strong to be undermined by their attempts to control and to use her. Down but not out in London and Brighton…

Barker’s play was partially a reaction to The Beatle’s Eleanor Rigby in which he saw a rare concern with despair and defeat from a group he wasn’t always convinced by, especially Lennon. In this case the song was McCartney’s and all the more remarkable for that given his supposed fondness for the sweet stuff... Barker’s screenplay for Made was, written in collaboration with the producer, Joseph Janni, and director John Mackenzie, no relation to Father Mackenzie obviously, who had directed the excellent Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) and would go on to give us The Long Good Friday (1980).

Title sequence showing priest, mother and musician: the forces shaping Valerie's life

The film has cracking opening credits, shot in shadowy black and white with White’s character and Ray (Richard Vanstone) looking up to the night sky as they play on a roundabout in a children’s playground. Other characters are featured in this inspired entre and it sets the mood of dislocation and loneliness from the get-go as well as kicking off the narrative as soon after Valerie gives Ray the knock back when he expects more of her in the back of his van; he calls her frigid and all the usual seventies expressions of frustrations at women who don’t go “all the way” (back to The Beatles and John’s original lyric of “she’s a pr*ck teaser…” for Day Tripper).

Valerie is a single mother working as a switchboard operator in London with her best mate, June (Doremy Vernon) who is altogether more relaxed in her attitude to relationships, she even agrees to go out with Ray later in the film. In the office one of the managers, Mahdav (Sam Dastor) has a crush on Valerie but she doesn’t see him as serious or authentic enough. Mahdav puts Valerie on a pedestal and will even write poetry for her…

Roy Harper's minstrel in America

Valerie is a doting mother to her baby son whilst her own mother, played by the excellent Margery Mason, has MS and wants more attention from her girl than is healthy. Mackenzie doesn’t necessarily judge but observes and there’s tragedy in this relationship as the mother cries wolf and the daughter just wants some joy.

Valerie is a member of a youth club run by Father Dyson, John Castle, who is always so good in conveying artifice and the disconnects between sincerity and anterior motivations, he likes Valerie and yet he also likes her too. The group travel down to Brighton for a day out and whilst he stands up for their misbehaviour, asking for understanding, he is quite judgemental himself and when it comes to Valerie, he thinks he knows best, couching his guidance in terms that seem to support her need for freedom and yet which leave us in no doubt as to his desire to possess.

Getting noticed at work with Doremy Vernon

Part of the group is a girl called Ann played by the excellent Sara Clee, it’s only a bit part but she is always a good addition to any film!

In Brighton Valerie wanders on her own and comes across a young Bob Harris interviewing folk-pop wonderkid Mike Preston (Roy Harper). Whispering Bob does rather well with his twiddling pen and questioning as does Mr Harper – hats off to both! I wonder how much of this section was scripted or whether they were both given free reign to elaborate on familiar themes. Roy Harper is one of our great lyricists and over a fifty-year career has written some classics, especially When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease and Twelve Hours of Sunset, yet he is not known for his acting. Mike Preston is Roy’s only role and he does a decent enough job as Mike/Roy, responding well to the performers around him. 

Bob interviews Roy

Mike and Valerie begin a relationship and there are some good exchanges as the anti-establishment creed of the folk singer chimes with the young mother’s desire to be accepted as an equal yet Valerie doesn’t agree with Mike’s ideas of free love and she still carries the idea of a long-lasting monogamous commitment. Harper’s instinctive playing also goes well against his ostensible rival, Father Dyson, contrasting with John Castle’s more layered and controlled style.

As events unfold, Mother deteriorates and horrible tragedy intervenes, the worth of Valerie’s suitors is to be fully revealed and, it seems, her only chance is to “make” herself for herself and not to be made in their image. 

John Castle and Carol White

Dusty Verdict: Made is a flawed and fascinating film that deserves to be more widely seen. The Network DVD is out of print now – which is especially a shame for Sinyard’s notes – but you can stream it on Amazon Prime and copies are available on eBay: don’t hesitate!

It’s a really strong performance from Carol White who develops on her previous roles with very strong improvisations that, for me, place her high in the British actors of this era; she was called the Battersea Bardot, but she’s far more of a metropolitan Jeanne Moreau. She conveys natural emotion through the believable veneer of everyday emotion and always draws the eye and sympathy, a true star.

*Neil Sinyard is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at the University of Hull and has published over twenty books on film, he also has a wonderful blog, Sinyard on Film.

 

 

 

 

 

Sara Clee, second row, on the right!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pool of life… Violent Playground (1958)

In Mathew Street, just past The White Star pub and before you come to The Grapes, Eric’s , the rebuilt Cavern and that statue of Cilla, there’s a quote from psychologist Carl Gustav Jung underneath a small bust saying that Liverpool was the “Pool of Life”. Jung had never been to the city and yet he had a vivid dream about it in 1927 which stuck, like so many other myths and legends, largely because the locals wanted it to and, as it turns out, it was true. This is a city where all is possible if unlikely.

Back in the late 1950’s Liverpool was on the turn, still carrying the scars of World War Two and starting the nosedive that would see it’s population halve in my lifetime. By the time of this film my Dad was still a policeman there and I couldn’t help thinking of how he’d deal with some of the situations Stanley Baker encounters as Juvenile Liaison Officer, Sergeant Truman. Probably, and I can’t be certain on this, but I’m pretty sure that David McCallum’s delinquent Johnny Murphy would have dealt with a little more direct and tougher love.

My Dad’s no longer around but I can see him wince at some of the situations and dialogue in Violent Playground, especially those Baker has to say. He’s a well-regarded bobby who, for some reason, is sent to work in youth liaison, and then proceeds to go a little quiet and thoughtful. I’m not arguing for a tougher stance but for whatever reason, Baker seems to have his hands tied by the role and just lets too much go, not that he doesn't deliver his usual high-quality of performance.

Stanley Baker just ahead of the 27 on Stanley Road

Clearly the main objective for the film was to highlight social issues rather than to necessarily offer solutions and I supposed Baker’s cop can’t very well stand in the way of this by solving the situation through the usually-expected mix of moral certainty and physical bravery, but there are ways and ways.

Another issue is with McCallum’s part, his Johnnie is a mix of rebel without a cause and yet still an intelligent young man who seems determined to deny himself the escape route his athletic abilities might allow as well as the consolations of faith and the support of his family's priest, played by Peter Cushing . He’s cock of the thirties council block where he lives but he can’t seem to convert this into a successful "business" enterprise in spite of the loyalty of young Tommy played by Freddie Starr, just about the only one authentic of accent and attitude! Still, Melvyn Hayes is in the gang, what are you gonna do?!

Melvyn and the gang get told to lay off Primrose and Alexander

Liverpool was and is a hard city but even in the playground in the middle of Gerard Gardens does indeed look violent, as Johnnies' boys hang around and a heirarchy built through delivering on threats is maintained. Gerard Gardens is just off Scotland Road, near where my mum first lived and where my Grandad used to cycle up and down collecting the insurance pennies when times got tougher pre-war.

Stanley Baker’s Detective Sergeant Jack Truman is clearly a good policeman beginning to intuitively piece together a pattern for the Firefly arson attacks in the city, when he’s inexplicably placed into crime prevention with the Juvenile Liaison team. His first “case” is to intervene when two young scallywags get caught robbing from Lipton’s’, a minor incident but he walks them back to where they live at Gerrard Gardens only to find their older sister is disarmingly attractive Catherine 'Cathie' Murphy (Anne Heywood) whilst their older brother is the cool nihilistic Johnny (McCallum).

Stanley Baker and the rather nice Anne Heywood

As Jack leaves the estate, he sees Johnnie’s power over the other youths and two Chinese youngsters do anything to avoid conflict as the boys push people around (yes, even Mr Hayes!). The theory of crime prevention is to catch them young, as with Johnny’s sister and brother, but with the future all sown up by a choice of low-paid drudgery or unemployment and crime, it’s a tough cycle to crack. Cathie is the moral centre of the household and is a good catholic girl who also wants to protect her family, which leads her to be suspicious of Jack who is simply spellbound…

It’s a situation we’ve seen many times since and so perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on the film. Johnny has the choice of keeping his ill-gotten social standing or trying to go straight. He’s torn and his residual faith has him almost convinced by Peter Cushing’s Priest, but in a superbly visceral performance, McCallum convinces in his inability to escape the fate marked out for him. One moment he's showing his talent as a runner for sports teacher Mr Heaven (Clifford Evans) and a few hours later he and Jack return to his flat to find the gang all there, making a mess. Johnny decides to revert to type and leads them into a threatening dance towards Jack.

The impressive Freddie Starr aka Fred Fowell

As Jack tries to help his siblings he starts to fall for Chrissie and this perhaps alienates Johnny even more, he starts to think big and looks for a way to really make his mark. But the danger here is what if his febrile plans fail, what will he do then. Baker even though subdued, is playing a quitter man than usual and one who is trying to find a way into trust. This will be sorely tested.

No spoilers, but whatever happens at the end the film does hold up hope, if not for all the characters but certainly some and even Jack and Chrissie: both win our sympathy in the end and deserve a break!

Keep on runnin' Johnnie!

Dusty Verdict: Over-mannered and predictable perhaps but there are some good performances here and this is a tale which has only got more relevant. Freddie Starr’s loyal teen is a sign of things to come once drugs turned city centres into even harsher environments for violence and destitution.

BFI Screen online wrote that, "it's hard to deny its rousing effectiveness as a high-powered melodrama…” whilst TV Guide noted, "A tautly scripted effort is given a realistic bent through the atmospheric photography and the subtle handling of the children."

There’s some good support from John Slater (later to star in Z-Cars) as Detective Sergeant Willie Walker; a street smart copper, Vincent Price is superb as usual and  it’s worth noting the presence and performances of Michael Chow as Alexander and Tsai Chin as Primrose. Liverpool has Europe’s oldest Chinese community and so it is good to see this being represented in 1958.

Butter wouldn't melt: Fergal and Brona Boland

The kids are great too: Brona and Fergal Boland playing Mary and Patrick Murphy, Johnny, and Chrissie’s younger siblings.

There are some fascinating location shots in the city and I especially liked one shot of the kids running down from Lime Street Station as well as the genuinely tense van and car chase through town, down to the Pier Head, the Three Graces and the gone and much missed overhead railway. Some of these buildings have now gone and Liverpool, after years of progress, now stands at a crossroads after the Covid pandemic, it’s to be hoped we are ready for what will follow.

You can order the DVD of Violent Playground from Amazon.