DVD Release of the '57 and '64 Famous Five Serials

[Jack400]

Totally agree with your entire post, Katherine, (no point in quoting it -as apart from it's length- it's above), well on the previous page
Jack

[Lexie293]

I watched both of these DVDs over the weekend and I definitely preferred Treasure Island to Mystery to Solve. I just felt Treasure Island captured the right feeling of who the FF were and brought the magic and nostalgia of the books to life. I also liked that Uncle Quentin was such a crosspatch to use a Blytonism. One of the things I didn't like about the 1970s TV series was that Uncle Quentin seemed so jolly and constantly interacted with the children, whereas in the books he was always holed up in his study or barking at the children to be quiet.

As others have said in MTS the casting was totally out. The first thing I said was how Dick looked even younger than Anne, despite the fact he is meant to be the same age as George, who looked older than Julian. We actually joked about how made up and girly George appeared to be. Also in the book wasn't Wilfred Mrs Layman's nephew or something and not some random orphan? I felt MTS deviated from the book quite a bit and could have been about any group of children and not the FF.

Still I enjoyed both interpretations though.

[Katharine]

I felt pretty much the same as you Lexie. If the second film is viewed as a FF adventure, I thought it very disappointing, however if it's just taken as a children's adventure series then I actually think it's a pretty good. The 1957 version I thought well cast, and was more in keeping with the book.

I've got mixed feelings about the 1970s TV series, I have several on tape, the first few I watched I found pretty dire, but the ones I watched recently I thought much better. Although I have to say, I consider Uncle Quentin to be totally out of character, much too friendly. One interesting little point about him though. I believe in the TV series he wears glasses. The books I'm most familiar with were illustrated by Eileen Soper, who never drew him with glasses. However I've recently been reading Five on a Treasure Island and there's a comment in that about Uncle Quentin's glasses falling off, so he must have worn them at least once. I don't know if his glasses are ever mentioned again though.

[tiger76]

I ordered both of these from Amazon today, so I'll post my thoughts when I finally get round to watching them.

[FiveFanDownunder]

Looks like you’ve done a bit of shopping Sir/Madam... you’ll be busy. I have not seen these older film adaptations, nor much of the 90s series. I should probably correct both of these shortcomings. I am also going to have to read more Blyton as I was very much a F5 kid only ...

[Judith Crabb]

Looking at some old programs I came across a "Children's Film Festival" ('no crime or violence') screened in Adelaide, South Australia in the May holidays 1967. There were four screenings each of two different programs . The first program featured 'Headline Hunters' and 'Ghosts and Ghoulies', the second 'Mr. Horatio Knibbles' and 'When Knights were Bold'. Each program ended with three episodes of 'Five Have a Mystery to Solve'. Taking into account some of the opinions I've read about the latter, (e.g. 'Dire') I hope the main attractions were better. May holidays were short - you couldn't afford to waste your time.