Brian Inglis in a publicity shot for All Our Yesterdays
All Our Yesterdays is a television series, produced by Granada Television, giving an historical account of the 1930s lead-up to the Second World War and to the war itself. It relied on film footage, and may be considered a precursor to the later Thames TelevisionWorld at War production. The title of the series alludes to Macbeth's soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 5 after Lady Macbeth's death ("And all our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death").
The series ran weekly from 1960 to 1973 and from 1987 to 1989. The format was a studio commentary, supported by newsreel clips that had been shown in cinemas 25 years ago that week. The final series concentrated on 1939. The years to 1964 focused on the build-up to the Second World War, mixed with more lighthearted fare. The series continued mostly with war footage from 1964 to 1970. A measure of comic relief was provided by wartime cartoons, especially by Osbert Lancaster for the Daily Express, with captions read by actors.
One wartime newsreel which found a new audience was "Hoch der Lambeth Valk". This propaganda film of a Nazi rally, with goose-stepping parades, had been re-edited, reversing some sequences, so the marchers appeared to be dancing "The Lambeth Walk". The effect became a favourite.
Only 47 episodes of the original series (1960–1973) survive whereas the later series (1987–89) survives complete.
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, information, and entertainment for millions of moviegoers. Newsreels were typically exhibited preceding a feature film, but there were also dedicated newsreel theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and ’40s, and some large city cinemas also included a smaller theaterette where newsreels were screened continuously throughout the day.
The World at War is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000, the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produced by Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Laurence Olivier and included music composed by Carl Davis. The book, The World at War, published the same year, was written by Mark Arnold-Forster to accompany the TV series.
Nicolas Freeling, was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the "Van der Valk" series of detective novels. A television series based on the character, Van der Valk, was produced for the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s and was revived in 1991–92; a remake with new cast, characters, and storylines was launched in 2020 as Van der Valk.
Albert Geoffrey Bayldon was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle (1969–70). Bayldon's other long-running parts include the Crowman in Worzel Gummidge (1979–81) and Magic Grandad in the BBC television series Watch (1995).
Bradford Dillman was an American actor and author.
John Barry Foster was an English actor who had an extensive career in film, radio, stage and television over almost 50 years. He was best known for portraying the title character in the British crime series Van der Valk (1972–1992) and Bob Rusk in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972).
Nigel Stock was a British actor who played character roles in many films and television dramas. He was perhaps best known for his stint as Dr. Watson in TV adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories, for his supporting roles as a solidly reliable English soldier or bureaucrat in several war and historical film dramas, and for playing the title role in Owen, M.D.
Michael Anthony Robbins was an English actor and comedian best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the TV sitcom and film versions of On the Buses (1969–73).
John Woodvine is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of the second sentence of one of the most famous soliloquies in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. It takes place in the beginning of the fifth scene of Act 5, during the time when the Scottish troops, led by Malcolm and Macduff, are approaching Macbeth's castle to besiege it. Macbeth, the play's protagonist, is confident that he can withstand any siege from Malcolm's forces. He hears the cry of a woman and reflects that there was a time when his hair would have stood on end if he had heard such a cry, but he is now so full of horrors and slaughterous thoughts that it can no longer startle him.
Ronald William Lacey was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in Porridge (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy Charleston (1978), SD agent Sturmbannführer Arnold Ernst Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the Bishop of Bath and Wells in Blackadder II (1986).
Jeanette Nolan was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series The Virginian (1962–1971) and Dirty Sally (1974), and in films such as Macbeth (1948).
Marvin H. Albert was an American writer of mystery, crime and adventure novels including ones featuring Pete Sawyer, a French-American private investigator living and working in France.
Henry James Fowler, MBE was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen.
Louis Alphonse van Gasteren was a Dutch film director, film producer, and artist. He was born in Amsterdam. He is the son of actor Louis van Gasteren Sr. and singer Elise Menagé Challa, and the brother of actress Josephine van Gasteren.
Die Deutsche Wochenschau is the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II, with the final edition issued on 22 March 1945. The co-ordinated newsreel production was set up as a vital instrument for the mass distribution of Nazi propaganda at war. Today the preserved Wochenschau short films make up a significant part of the audiovisual records of the Nazi era.
Demeter Bitenc was a Slovenian film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films and television shows from 1953 to 2018. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Hans-Joachim Kasprzik was a German film and television director and screenwriter. He worked with DEFA and Deutscher Fernsehfunk in East Germany.
Our Northern Neighbour is a film produced in 1944 by Stuart Legg and directed by Tom Daly for the National Film Board of Canada series The World in Action. The film is narrated by broadcaster Lorne Greene.
Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk is a 1942 short propaganda film by Charles A. Ridley of the UK Ministry of Information. It consists of edited existing footage taken from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will to make it appear as if they were dancing to the dance style "The Lambeth Walk".
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