Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Lucky Star wrote:Some of the cast have spoken at The day and in the Journal. Did they ever say what they thought of meeting Enid Blyton?
I wasn't at that EB Day (I wonder how many people here were?) but Darryl Read says in Journal 14:
It was going on towards Christmas and nearing the end of filming, when Ernie announced that Enid Blyton would be paying a visit to the set. She arrived the next day to be greeted by a slightly nervous crew and cast. However I was not nervous, but just like Dick - inquisitive. When introduced to Enid, I promptly took her hand and guided her around for a tour of the studios and our sets and this seemed to ease the tension. As I knew all the stage hands and technicians I managed with their help to get Enid to ride on one of the large camera crane dollies, taking her up for a bird's eye view. I remember Enid to have been casually elegant and charming, and of course I was quietly in awe of this lady genius who had written these marvellous classics that had transfixed us all as open minded children, inquisitive of adventure and magic.
Most of the filming took place in the autumn and the rainy weather caused a few problems. It must have been cold too!

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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Lucky Star »

Very interesting Anita, that Journal was before my time with the society so thanks for posting some of the article. The explanarory notes sheet available at the cinema states that the filming of the dungeon scene took two days during which time the cast were often up to their necks in water. They must indeed have been absolutely frozen.

By the way I was googling and found this small review of the film showing.

http://famousfivestyle.wordpress.com/20 ... -to-solve/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder whose blog it is, the author, on the About page, mentions Anita and the Society. :?
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Moonraker »

Lucky Star wrote: I wonder whose blog it is, the author, on the About page, mentions Anita and the Society. :?
I see he (she) has taken some of Tony's scans!

Thanks to the lovely Enid Blyton Society who have uploaded images of the evocative illustrations Eileen Soper’s produced for Hodder & Stoughton. I use a number of these here as it seems silly to rescan them from my own copies as I collect them so I hope they don’t mind.


Hmm. :shock:
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Fiona1986 »

I think she has saved the pictures to her pc then uploaded them to her own server..... and at least she gives credit for them but its still a touch underhand!
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Ming »

Thanks for the pictures and the bit from the Journal, Tony and Anita. Is it just me, or do those little statues in the second picture look strangely Indian? I'm sure at least one of them is a Hindu god. :?
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Interesting about the film review on the blog, Lucky Star. I wonder whether the blogger is known to us?

Do you think they would have done any research on the "treasure," or simply put together an assortment of items that would look good on camera?

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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Lucky Star »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: Do you think they would have done any research on the "treasure," or simply put together an assortment of items that would look good on camera?

Anita
In the book The Five briefly discuss some golden statues and Dick says "Queer faces they have though, not like ours. And look how their slanted eyes gleam when we shine our torches on them." That reference to slanted eyes would seem to imply an Eastern origin for the statues so the film producers got it right there although whether by accident or design is anyones guess.
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Viking Star »

Thanks to everyone who has shared their reviews of the day. In particular thanks to Anita for digging out articles from old journals, and to Tony for the photos.

As I mentioned briefly in an earlier post, I (and I think the whole audience) found the film hugely enjoyable and compelling.

What I can’t put my finger on is why I found it so enjoyable. In introducing the film, Norman Wright was perhaps too honest in commenting that the book wasn’t one of Enid’s most exciting. At which point the NFT guy next to him dropped a huge stage whisper and Norman attempted to redress the comments he had just made. :)

As Kate Mary said there were quite a few unintentional hilarious moments. The first of which was when, as Anita has reported, the Five turned up at the beginning of the film to have tea at the cottage with Mrs Layman, only to be told they would be staying there for a few days! This was immediately accepted without question and Mrs Layman left. :lol:

This odd moment was at least redressed a little later when it was agreed that some of them should go back to Kirrin to get some clothes etc!

As regards casting, Julian wasn’t that great in my opinion, and played a minor role (he possibly said less than any of the other children). Dick certainly sounded a bit cockney, a bit as if he had just walked out of Oliver Twist. I exaggerate a little. But apart from the scenes about the well, throughout the film he talked about little else than food (food, glorious food). At one point he stuck four currant buns up his jumper (another incident which raised a laugh from the audience), and then, when they were marooned on Whispering Island miraculously retrieved them from under his jumper. He was also easily the smallest of the children. George was too old and the least boy-ish George I’ve seen. I wonder what Enid thought when she met her? :shock:

Anne played a major role, as indeed she does in the book. I wonder how familiar the writer of the screenplay was with the Famous Five series, given Julian’s rather subdued role and the part that Anne played. If he had simply read the book then it is perhaps more understandable to explain the weighting given to the characters. However the script, amendments and all was certainly in the spirit of Enid so presumably he had done his research. As Anita commented, I thought the script was better than the book, so one might assume he was familiar with Enid’s writing. Perhaps even Enid herself would have written something not too dissimilar if she had not been ill? :(

Like George, the actress playing Anne was a bit too well developed physically for someone of Anne’s age. Early on in the film it seemed to me her jumper could not have been much tighter, and her shorts could not possibly have been any shorter (very 60’s/twiggy like). She did have a young face reminiscent of Anne and was quite sweet but….

As George@Kirrin mentioned the water throwing incident was very amusing “Well you did ask for it/I never thought you’d give it to me”. What was especially funny was that Anne immediately mopped up the mess afterwards. :lol:

Like Lucky Star I thought it very amusing the way poor Anne was sent out in the wind/down the tunnel while the rest of them sat there and awaited her return with wood to keep them warm. But good point LS, maybe it was a plot device. One of the other moments that raised a laugh around the auditorium was when, as Anita has mentioned, Anne and George were told by Sir Hugh to make some cocoa for everyone. Sexism well and truly alive in 1964!

Two or three scenes were, for me, quite hilarious because they were very reminiscent of the spoof “Five go mad in Dorset”. I can’t remember them all, but for example when Mrs Layman’s maid looks out of the window and talks about Whispering Island, it was so like Robbie Coltrane in the ice cream shop talking about “strange goings on....signs…threats”. Similarly the dumber of the two villains reminded me of one of the villiains in Five go mad “those kids have outsmarted us good and proper”.

The only consolation I can offer Moonraker is that the script was quite different from the book (much more so than Five on a Treasure Island), so I’m not sure whether you would have overcome this and enjoyed the film.

Ming, yes I agree one of the statues does look like a Hindu god. When the Five first come across the statues in the garden, for me the images were quite obscure. If I hadn’t already known about the statues from the book, I’m not sure that I would have immediately understood what the children were talking about.

Overall a hugely enjoyable film. The whole audience, whether old or new, seemed quite enthralled by it all. There was no fidgeting or indication of children being unsettled through the whole showing. For example there were some abrupt endings of episodes (which we had been warned about) and there was the repetitive CFF opening shots (Trafalgar square with bells ringing and pigeons taking to flight, which I really enjoyed from Five on a Treasure Island as well).

As with the Enid Blyton days, a huge contribution to the whole experience was meeting and chatting with forumites. At one point after the film when I went in search of George@Kirrin, I received a text message from her “seem to have lost you…are you down a well?"

Despite the miserable weather we then went on to have a hugely enjoyable ‘Wonderful time’ in a nearby riverside café. Thanks to all.

:D :D
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Moonraker »

Viking Star wrote: The only consolation I can offer Moonraker is that the script was quite different from the book (much more so than Five on a Treasure Island), so I’m not sure whether you would have overcome this and enjoyed the film.
Had I been free, I would certainly have had a last minute change of mind, and accompanied Tony to the Southbank. You're right, Rob; I hate script updates - even more when the updates are made soon after the book was written! It would have been good to have met up with you all again.
the actress playing Anne was a bit too well developed physically for someone of Anne’s age. Early on in the film it seemed to me her jumper could not have been much tighter, and her shorts could not possibly have been any shorter (very 60’s/twiggy like).
That would have made up for everything!
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by George@Kirrin »

Well, now I guess it’s time for my review.

I’ll start by my thoughts on the cast

Mrs Layman – no real problems there, though as already said, she did rather adruptly drop the children in it re looking after the cottage

Sarah, the cleaner – very minor part.

Julian – as said by others his part seemed very small, and didn’t have any sort of leadership role, nice choice of actor though I thought, looked a Julian…

Dick – Again agreeing with others, Dick was too small, and rather cockney

Anne – A little old for the role perhaps but a good casting, I have to feel for the poor lass though, seeing as it was filmed in the autumn and winter – I mean, come on – How short were those shorts?!?!

George – Too old for George, not tomboyish and too much eye makeup.

Timmy – No probs there

Wilfred – A little old, very well acted, I wonder if swapping him and Dick would have made the ages fit for them better

Carlo – The baddy with the heart, typical villain

Emilio – A bit more of a sinister baddy, quite happy to let the Children and Sir Hugo drown – I did love his line when putting Hugo in the dungeon and Hugo said something along the lines of “If I was 20 years younger I’d give you a thrashing” and Emilio just replied “Well you’re not” shoving him in…

Sir Hugo – I really liked this new wheelchair bound character, very well acted, shouting for hot drinks and telling everyone to ‘Jump to it”

The Duke of Wellington – He added a little humour to the plot and was a nice addition.

Fishing boat chap – background character

Ok, onto the show

I thought the first scene seemed a little stilted, perhaps it was the first shot, I don’t know, but the 5 didn’t seem relaxed around each other as they did later in the film
Mrs Layman dashing off, and Anne having her encounter with Wilfred was good and quite true to the book.

So Wilfred took Tim and Mrs Layman’s boat while the others got their clothes and Anne was hard at work doing house work and went to the island, finding trapped stripped bunnies and getting himself caught. I think, in one shot as he asks Tim to run one way so he can get to the castle, Tim is still in shot as the shotgun wielding villains run past, though I’d have to watch again…

Sir Hugo having none of it orders Wilfred to be locked up and it’s the turn of a tiny mouse and his pipe to rescue him. Lots of running round on the island bow happening with the four now on the island having been thrown overboard in their boat by the storm, which still managed to generate enough sunlight to light a fire in a cave with the aid of a lense – marvellous!

I’m trying hard now, not to repeat what’s said earlier, so do excuse me if this seems a little brief…

I thought the well scene was done brilliantly, though the magic self-repairing and then twine snapping rope every time a child got on it, made me giggle. The secret door through to the cellar worked well, back to more bunnies in cages…

As everything started to look dire for the 5, Wilfred and Sir Hugo, I liked the contrast in baddies, with Carlo having doubts and Emilio remaining resolute on drowning the lot of them.

The chair scene with Sir Hugo behind the door and another member dressed as him was good fun and looked to be going so well for a while there for the five…

Wilfred’s pipe and the badger, along with two of the sharpest penknives in history (more of them later) meant that two of the group could escape and save the others, just as they were about to reluctantly leave Sir Hugo to ‘Stare at the water’ until he drowned (in 2 hours time according to him)

The end I thought was fitting, with the battle of consciousnesses between the two baddies, and a nice punch up – all it needed there was a few POW! And BIFF! And WALLOP! Flashing up on the screen and it would have been worthy of Batman acting…

I enjoyed the film and looking back on it, keep remembering different bits which I’ve lodged somewhere in the old grey matter.

The meet up afterwards was lovely to be able to just sit and natter about what we liked etc, I thoroughly enjoyed navigating the tube with Lucky Star, ensuring that this carrot crunching numpty found her way back to the sticks! A great day in all, my only regret is that I’ve not really the spare cash to fund putting this into DVD production… Let’s just hope someone who watched it has!

Now…


Here are a few unknown facts which I feel I must share in a public service way, should you ever find yourself in the predicaments the five did…

Waterproof Jumpers and waterproof newspaper with salt repelling properties – a little known about invention, but wrap four buns in these and they will survive being tossed into the sea, remaining perfectly edible (I think the worst they get is a little damp)

Pocket knives that house tiny but super powerful pneumatic drills – every house should have one, these enable the user to quickly, easily and safely cut through dungeon walls that were prisoner proof and had stood there for centuries, withstanding countess tides, allowing for escape from apparently doomed situations.

Magical recorder / pipe thing – A device that talks to the animals when you blow it – which in itself is nothing special, after all, it featured in the book, what’s special about this one is, no matter what fingers you waggle on it, the same tune comes out!

I think that’ll do for now, if I think of any other bits I’ll add another post later.

Now, Where’s my hot drink?
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Great reviews everyone. Looks like I missed a really good film. :(

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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Eddie Muir »

I've also enjoyed reading the reviews and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to travel to London to see the film. :(
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Lucky Star »

Great reviews VS and G@k, they brought back a couple of scenes I had forgotten like the one where Wilfrid (or was it Julian) impersonates Sir Hugo. I had to laugh out loud as the wheelchair came flying out of the kitchen containing a person holding a coat over their face. :lol:

This film was a very rare instance of a film being better than the book its based on. Normally I distrust film adaptations of favourite books as they tend to ruin them but this was, perhaps, the book Blyton should have wrote. And I say that as one who has always liked this particular book. I was surprised that they left out Lucas but then having watched the rest of it I realised that it didn't matter. I was also surprised when they reversed the order of the children's arrival on the island. In the book Wilfred set out to rescue The Five, who had landed first, and in the film it was the other way round. Again though, it made perfect sense as the plot unfolded.

Castwise I thought Anne was very good indeed and Dick and Wilfrid were the two stars of the show. Julian didn't have as much screen time as the others and tended to fade into the background for long periods. I thought George was good. I may be alone in this but I thought she captured George's personality and spirit very well even if she was a bit too old for the role.

Now I just have to try to see their version of Five on a Treasure Island. :D
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by George@Kirrin »

As yes, apologies Lucky - I did say I'd lend you it - pm me your address and I'll get on to it on my next day off :)
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Re: Five Have a Mystery to Solve Film Show

Post by Petermax »

It looks as if I have missed a good film. :( I have recently returned (recovered!) from a grand drinking tour of Belgium, Germany, Austria and Slovakia. Much as I enjoyed the trip, I also found the clash of dates very annoying. When will be the next rare opportunity to to see Mystery, another 45 years time perhaps? :lol: At least the excellent reviews give me some indication as to what I have missed.

I am very pleased to see that everyone behaved themselves and watched the film quietly, believe me this was never the case at my local cinema and probably countless other A.B.C's across the UK on Saturday mornings throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's. :D

Now dare I ask if Norman Wright can be press ganged into securing a DVD release of Five Have a Mystery To Solve? Somehow I doubt it, but at least he has already done a great service back in 1993 with the VHS release of Five On a Treasure Island. This was the only official video release of a Childrens Film Foundation serial, although other C.F.F films have since made available on DVD.
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