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mariocki · 4 months

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Alfred Burke puts on his best policing face as Parisian detective Inspector Maron, in Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!: The Billion Franc Mystery (1.6, ABPC, 1957)

#fave spotting #alfred burke #overseas press club exclusive!#the billion franc mystery #1957 #classic tv #public eye #abpc #an obscure series‚ even by the standards of pre 1960s telly. OSPC was a coproduction between Ardleigh Films and Associated British Pathé #(they of the famous news reels‚ and themselves a subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation). a year or two later and this #would probably have been made in house by ABC themselves‚ but the franchise was only a year old at this point and still finding its feet #the concept is simple but promising: each week‚ a member of the Overseas Press Club of America (a real and still extant organisation) tells #a tale from their careers‚ an unusual instance or shocking event that makes for good tv. these tales are true! says the narrator in the #show's opening moments‚ and these ppl exist! frankly that's something i take with a large grain of salt; whilst some stories certainly have #direct factual origins (there's an episode about a catholic priest going undercover with a gang of street toughs which ends with footage of #the actual figure that inspired the ep) but others are highly questionable (the first‚ about a Norwegian resistance fighter who has plastic #surgery and takes the place of a relatively high ranking nazi officer; i feel like that's something that would be better known‚ yknow??)#this ep is about a nazi plot to destabilise the French franc just prior to ww2; quite believable and certainly the nazis did dabble in #producing counterfeit money‚ tho the examples i found online all relate to pound sterling or latterly the us dollar‚ not the franc)#our journalist of the week is played by Lee Patterson‚ a minor film star in british b movies at this point‚ with swooningly handsome Anton #Diffring (who had fled nazi persecution himself) as the villain. Alfie's part is pretty small‚ he's just the french cop keeping every one #in sight and letting events play out (cue some wonderful Alfie cheshire cat grins). Patterson (and maybe Diffring) got to fly out to actual #real Paris to film some location work and establishing shots (a benefit of making a series about the OSPC was that they arranged flights #for cast and crew). poor Alf didn't get a holiday tho; his scenes are conspicuously studio based‚ even when he's meant to be on the banks #of the Seine...#so yes‚ a fun little series‚ even if (so far) the wide scope of potential stories does seem to favour ww2 stuff. good luck finding a copy #tho; it took me months of trawling to find a reasonably priced 2nd hand copy (Amazon currently have a copy for £79.99 which.. for 2 discs #is kind of insane). a victim of the price gouging which seems to have affected some of the lesser known network titles since their #dissolution. sad times for the fan of painfully obscure old tv.. if I ever learn how to make things be on a computer‚ tho‚ I'll happily #share

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thisbluespirit · 1 year

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I keep talking about the truly terrible colourisation of Night Caller (1965; aka. The Night Caller From Outer Space; US The Blood Beast From Outer Space), so I’ve fished out my old screencaps. THEY DIDN’T COLOUR IN PEOPLE’S HAIR. 0_o

Alfred Burke in actual colour in the mid/late 60s:

(image nicked from somewhere a very long time ago - the Guardian obit, maybe, I have a feeling.)

#night caller #1960s #alfred burke #john saxon #john carson #maurice denham #sff #colourisation #the film wasn't colour anyway #it was b&w so why they decided to colourise it #and then get halfway and be like we can't afford to have more than three colours or bother with people's hair #is a mystery for the ages #/looks at renown dvds or whoever it was

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madelgard · 2 years

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Michael Pennington being insufferable and arrogant and also stunning in Public Eye (1971).

#he is AMAZING in this and I love him #Alfred Burke #michael pennington #public eye #strong jerjerrod vibes also tbh

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british-character-actors · 2 months

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Happy birthday, Alfred "Frank Marker" Burke.

A fantastic character actor, mournful of face, with a gaunt appearance. Aside from his career in theatre, he had the good fortune to play a career defining role for 10 years on TV.

Burke's performance as Marker, a shabby, cantankerous, belligerent, and painfully honest private enquiries agent, was glorious. A character who grew as the series went on, the writers must take much credit for Public Eye but, Burke was Marker.

He had a long career and worked with many greats, including Bette Davis, in The Nanny.

Burke ended his career in the Harry Potter universe playing Professor Armando Dippet, but it's as Marker he'll be remembered.

One other performance, which was very memorable, was in an episode of Tales of the Unexpected called The Flypaper. I won't spoil it for you. Check it out.