Three Litre
Producer
Oscar 24
Posts: 3,418
Online Status:
|
Post by Three Litre on Oct 11, 2019 19:35:08 GMT
A terrific British actor. Sometimes compared to the likes of Lee Marvin because of his reputation as a hard man and all-out tough guy. Actor Tony Pitts reminds me slightly of Baker and I reckon he himself would be a great lead in an action film or crime thriller (he played the dodgy Hargreaves in Line Of Duty). I still have the fecking awesome Hell Drivers in my DVD collection - a much better film than the slow Wages Of Fear. I remember watching Campbell's Kingdom on BBC2 in 1998 and Hell Is A City is also a top film with Stanley going after an American villain. I saw Innocent Bystanders again last year on DVD (saw it back in '99) and that was good fun too. Interesting locations, solid action and a fair plot. Zulu is probably my favourite British film of all time with a relentless pace and I wouldn't mind watching Sands Of The Kalahari (saw a bit of it on BBC2 in 2000). I also think Baker could have been an interesting 007 had Connery not been cast. Maybe they would have filmed the stories more closer to the novels. Just imagine more true to the book versions of Doctor No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice then Connery picks up the baton with Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun after spending the '60s doing gritty character parts like Woman Of Straw, The Hill, The Offence, etc. Then along comes Roger Moore for TSWLM till AVTAK and Dalton takes over. I love Zulu as well, great acting and very watchable. The "form 3 ranks!" scene is superb. Not that you would be allowed to say that in public anymore. Or probably even like the film.
|
|
Dickie Cork
AWOL
Remembering those who fought in WWI and WWII today
Posts: 36
Online Status:
|
Post by Dickie Cork on Nov 8, 2020 13:09:03 GMT
I was going to start a thread on Stanley Baker, so I'm pleased to see there already is one.
After Sean Connery's passing I opted to watch him in Hell Drivers but was really taken with Stanley Baker's performance as the leading man. The extras in the DVD were informative and interesting. In a contemporaneous interview Baker talked about making a film in my neck of the woods, Liverpool, called Violent Playground. So I've bought that to watch.
I watched Zulu again last night and it was even better than I remembered. There's absolutely no way it glorifies war, celebrates British imperialism or denigrates the Zulu people. Quite the opposite in every respect. Which is one of the reasons it has stood the test of time so well.
Not bad for a directorial debut from Stanley Baker.
He smoked himself into an early grave, passing away at the age of 48 from lung cancer.
Dickie
|
|
Three Litre
Producer
Oscar 24
Posts: 3,418
Online Status:
|
Post by Three Litre on Nov 8, 2020 13:36:24 GMT
I really like Zulu. You're right about it not glorifying war.
One thing it does it demonstrate is how to be a good leader in very difficult circumstances.
Baker is being denigrated by Caine but largely ignores it and gets on with the job and is rewarded with Caine's eventual support.
I know that doesn't always happen but it's worth a try before you end up butting heads.
|
|
|
Post by Arthur Pringle on Nov 23, 2020 18:05:08 GMT
Stanley Baker stars in 'Checkpoint' on talkingpicturestv this Wednesday at 7.20pm. Not a film I can remember seeing, it's directed by Carry On's Ralph Thomas- "After killing a few Italian cops during a burglary, a thief hired by a British car racing company must flee to Switzerland disguised as a race car driver during a rally"
|
|
|
Post by Steve Austin on Nov 23, 2020 19:00:26 GMT
Thanks Arthur, I've set the box to record that. Stanley Baker & David McCallum are reunited again on TPTV this Saturday at 6pm in the film "Violent Playground".
|
|