The Strange World of Gurney Slade (1960 Comedy)
Michael_Eve
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Just mentioned this series in another thread where great ITV sitcoms have cropped up, but thought I'd start one specifically related to it.
If anyone likes the idea of a comedy which mixes the surrealism of 'The Prisoner' and the mundane but identifiable observations of Tony Hancock at his peak, this might be the show for you. Breaking the 'fourth wall' long before other shows, IMHO this is a masterpiece by the maverick Anthony Newley as the titular character. An 'everyman' figure who breaks out of a typical sit-com to explore...well, lots of things. Very odd and I love it to pieces. (only 6 episodes and how it ends? Brrrr. Post-modern before the term was (over)used.)
It's on DVD and, um, elsewhere....is there anyone out there who remembers it at the time or has seen it subsequently?
If anyone likes the idea of a comedy which mixes the surrealism of 'The Prisoner' and the mundane but identifiable observations of Tony Hancock at his peak, this might be the show for you. Breaking the 'fourth wall' long before other shows, IMHO this is a masterpiece by the maverick Anthony Newley as the titular character. An 'everyman' figure who breaks out of a typical sit-com to explore...well, lots of things. Very odd and I love it to pieces. (only 6 episodes and how it ends? Brrrr. Post-modern before the term was (over)used.)
It's on DVD and, um, elsewhere....is there anyone out there who remembers it at the time or has seen it subsequently?
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He then wrote "Stop The World - I Want To Get Off" but after that his career seemed to fizzle out. He ended up appearing as Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" in Southampton - a year or so before his death.
Newley reminds me a bit of Orson Welles - so exciting and innovative and multi-talented at first but that initial promise never fully fulfilled. Now mainly remembered for having married glamorous women - Rita Hayworth in Welles' case and Joan Collins in Newley's.
Good comparison. Got the feeling Newley (who I also adore for the Gene Wilder 'Willy Wonka' film score...'Pure Imagination'! Part of my childhood ) gave up a bit in the 70's and became a bit transatlantic tuxedo cabaret-esque; where the money was. I know he did a sub-Fellini (? That's just going on clips. Doesn't look like a masterpiece anyway!) film with a long title in the late 60's that flopped and seemed to lose his edge. Ah well.
Fair enough, fenlander! Cool theme tune though, daddio?
jsmith99 - don't 'dare', fair enough again!
Still amazed that in Episode 4 ('round about the time ITV shunted it into a graveyard slot after a, um, 'mixed' reaction)) Gurney/Newley is put on trial for making an unfunny programme .Obviously filmed well before the series started. Maverick stuff.
I asked for the theme music for Christmas. One of the first records that I ever got,
Cool! :cool: You clearly weren't odd, just had impeccable taste from a very early age.
I love the music and the way Newley uses it so well with his 'air piano' playing. It's part of the charm of the series, daddio!
Yeah, I think that's why it ended up in the 'graveyard' slot! Apparently, it was repeated a few years later (1963?) and got a much more positive response from the critics and found a (admittedly not huge!) following. Pleased as punch that there are others out there who recall Mr Slade. My 'Mulberry' thread died on it's ar*e. :mad:
(Hope you enjoy, oldhag. The DVD is brilliantly presented...and no, I don't work for the company.)
Took me ages to find it, though!
I, too, was very much in love with Antony Newley.
When I read this thread's title the music plays in my head immediately.
But apart from the wonderful Antony and the odd music, I don't remember anything about it - except that I liked it!
Flangewick!!