Songs from "Call the Midwife" - Christmas Special 2018

The Trailer

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home" by Darlene Love. It was included in the 1963 compilation album "A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records". Written by Ellie Greewich and Jeff Barry with  a co-creditation for producer Phil Spector. It has been covered many times by artists  on their own Christmas recordings.

The Christmas Special

"It's the most wonderful time of the year" by Andy Williams. Written by Edward Pola and George Wyle, it was recorded by Andy for his first Christmas Album called "The Andy Williams Christmas Album" released in, yes, 1963. It wasn't until a re-release in 2017 that the single reached the charts in the USA (No 10) and the UK (17),

"He's So Fine" by The Chiffons. Written by Ronald Mack, it was in the spring of 1963 that the record made the very top of the Billbard 100 Chart for four weeks.  However it only reached No 16 in the UK.

"Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt. It was in 1953 that this Joan Javits and Phillip Springer composition was released and earned the singer a Gold Record.

I have yet to determine the song on the radio in Fred's home around the 25/26 minute mark. Any help would be appreciated  .............

I now know it was "A Marshmallow World" by Bing Crosby It was included in "The Complete  Decca Christmas Songbook". Written in 1949 by Carl Sigman (lyrics) and Peter DeRose (music), Bing recorded the song in 1950, The extract on "Call the Midwife" starts halfway through the recording with the Lee Gordon Singers who provided the backing. Many thanks to Vicki Williams for her help.

The next song took some finding (I never use song recognition software). There was something familiar about the simple melody and beat, something in a faraway corner of a memory bank from well over 50 years ago. I heard the word "bird" in the lyric and trawled through novelty songs of the early sixties. And here was "The Bird is the Word" by The Rivingtons. (1963 was fine). But comparing their song on YouTube with that on the TV soundtrack, it didn't quite fit. Their almost identical recording of "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" (1962) seemed a better, but not a perfect fit (Nothing about a bird). And there was no drum solo on either recording as there was on the soundtrack. And then ...... I found The Trashmen and their recording of "Surfin' Bird", a compilation of both the previously described songs along with that drum solo. This recording reached an unbelievable position of No 4 in the USA charts but only No 50 in the UK. Drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer was originally credited with the composition, but this was changed after The Rivingtons successfully sued for plagiarism to that band's Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris and Turner Wilson Jr. So "Surfin' Bird" it is.

Not a song, but I have included the "Animal Magic" theme tune "Las Vegas" composed by Laurie Johnson.

"My Baby Just Cares For Me" by Nina Simone. Written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn, it originally featured in the 1930 movie version of the musical "Whoopee". But it was a UK 1987 perfume commercial that projected Nina Simone's 1958 cover version into the limelight when she sang the accompanying song.

"Frosty the Snowman" by Gene Autrey and the Cass County Boys. Written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, this was the original 1950 recording that reached No 7 in the USA charts.

Apparently there is an extract from "You're all I want for Christmas" by Frankie Lane, but I missed that completely.

Ever, Dirk - The Bogarde Letters - Edited by John Coldstream

I started this book many months ago. At over 600 pages of letters written by Dirk Bogarde from 1969 to 1997, this is a book to dip into now and again. I had already read most of his autobiographies from "A Postillion Struck By Lightning" to "Cleared for Take-Off". I tried one of his novels ("Jericho") and gave up after only a few pages. One of the first films I can remember I saw at the cinema was "Campbell's Kingdom" where Dirk played the lead, having already starred in a number of the "Doctor" comedies which I may have seen but cannot recall.

So, having read his autobiographies, I was familiar with a lot of the stuff he includes in his letters to friends, family and colleagues at his publisher. The time he lived in France at Le Pigeonnier in Provence is vividly portrayed in his correspondence. I found the comparison of his writing about his time with the Rank Organisation before he left England, and the movies he made afterwards ("Victim", "Accident", "Death in Venice" etc) was quite enlightening.

It is in France that he begins to write those memoirs. About "Postillion" he writes "I'll really crumble when the critics bosh me this time". But of course it was a big success. He describes a trip back to the UK for a book signing at Hatchards as "probably the most important day of my life ...… to be still remembered ...... kindness shown ...... being thanked". As an actor he had no interaction with his public. But at his book readings and signings he came into personal contact with his fans and, mostly, revelled in the feedback he received from them all over the country.

There is one particular brilliant piece from 1981 about his return to making a movie for Hollywood. "The Patricia Neal Story" stars his great friend Glenda Jackson in the title role and Dirk plays her husband Roald Dahl.

We hear in May 1986 that the French Odyssey may be coming to an end due to the medical problems being suffered by his partner Anthony Forwood. By August Le Pigeonnier is sold and they are soon back in London. We are now in the territory of his memoir "A Short Walk from Harrods" which is one of my favourite books of all time. In letter form, the emotions of coming to terms with Forwood's eventual death are spelt out in raw script. Not only that, but at first Dirk feels like a stranger in a London with which he is not impressed.

Gradually he comes to terms with his lot, carries on writing and begins to submit to his fame and actually starts to enjoy it. Dirk comes across as not an easy man to get to know. Those with whom he makes friends are treated spectacularly well. Others not at all. Simon Callow in his review of this book describes him as an "egregious conundrum". I find him exceedingly opinionated, sometimes downright nasty, but underneath accepting that he has flaws like any other man or woman. He was never arrogant about his work, whether that be movies or books. He cared about his friends and (some) relations. His work in the cinema and literature made him a hugely important figure of his time. 

Love and Fame, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Something to Hide

Love and Fame is a typical Susie Boyt novel, full of wit, with clever and precise writing. The words just flow from the page. When asked the question "Like when people say make your hobby your job?" the answer is "Kind of. Maybe. Not sure. I might mean the opposite of that". There are times when discussions about anxiety and grief go on too long, but then a passage just over half way when a mother puts her sad daughter straight about the after effects of death is superb.

As the story progresses, so the intensity increases. A conversation between sisters was worth the price of the book alone. It would have made a great short story. I did prefer the author's "The Small Hours" but this was close.

Right from the start of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, our eighteen year old narrator, Mary Katherine Blackwood, seems strange. She hates the people in the village (but maybe not as much as they hate her family) as she carries out the shopping duties for her older sister Constance and her infirm Uncle Julian. This is the aftermath of a family disaster, most of whom are dead. Is Constance to blame?

This is a story about sibling love, one that is incredibly powerful. We learn a lot about what happened from Uncle Julian, whose mind falters at times, but at others is a sharp as a button. The descriptions of the Blackwood House and the village are particularly good. When a visitor arrives the book "descends" into uncomfortable territory, only to be somehow resolved before the end. These are sisters I wont forget in a hurry. 

I first read a Deborah Moggach novel five years ago when, what was her latest book, Heartbreak Hotel received good reviews. So working backwards on the nineteen titles she has published so far, next came In the Dark and then Final Demand. Avoiding the two books that have been made into movies (the excellent version of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the frightfully disappointing Tulip Fever) I found her latest novel Something to Hide to be typical of her writing. Not a literary masterpiece but she does tell a really good story. 

The first half is predominantly a romantic drama, although typically the characters are mature to say the least. Chapters skip from continent to continent as other stories evolve. The pace picks up half way through as the book enters mystery thriller territory, full of twists and turns with a very strange but enthralling road trip. I would normally have avoided a novel with partly an African setting, but this author concentrates on plot and relationships and this works quite well. 

Widows, Fantastic Beasts 2 and The Girl in the Spider's Web

Widows is a  well plotted and powerful film that is never less than gripping all the way through. Steve McQueen has provided us with some terrific Chicago locations, a great score and some topical themes about corruption and abuse. Viola Davis is outstanding, Colin Farrell the best I have seen him act and a menacing Daniel Kaluuya lead a superb ensemble cast. The only reservation was the predictable and  ordinary script. Not a patch on Drew Goddard's "Bad Times at the El Royale". Gillian Flynne could learn from him.

I only went to test out the IMAX screen at the Odeon in MK as Fantastic Beasts 2 was shown in 2D. Absolutely not worth the extra cash for  a big screen and louder sound. My review for the first in this series of pre-Potter films said "not for me" and I should have taken note. The story is very simple, except when late on someone does a rushed explanation of who is who. There had been complaints about multiple characters and too many sub-plots, but I thought it was just padding out the time. Jude Law was fine as a younger Dumbledore but Johnny Depp was so lone dimensional. I thought to begin with he seemed pleasingly mortified about causing some early deaths, but then his expression never changes.Katherine Waterston is a fine actress, but here she seemed so flat. I blame the script, not her. And then that awful ending. Thanks JK for nothing. Note to self: enough's enough.

The critics were mainly unimpressed by The Girl in the Spider's Web, but I thought it was a very decent thriller. OK, there was nothing really new, but the action sequences and especially the cinematography were firs rate.Claire Foy is startlingly indestructible as Lisbeth Salander, and she needs to be. Lots of twists along the way and good use of her unbelievable hacking skills. Director Fede Alvarez has done well with half the budget of the previous movie. However we are on the third actress to play Lisbeth after Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara. Even James Bond actors nearly all got more than one film.