Dionne Warwick & The Wolfman At A Lockdown Concert In Belgium Plus 3 Amazing Walk On By’s

Not going out on a Friday night has made me improvise. I was determined to go out-out but obviously I was, in-in. The Friday of this event had me flying off to Belgium onboard a DC10! No quarantine for me. Dressed up smart I walk through the charming town of Knokke with a groove in my step towards the small gathering of people. The doorman nods as he unclips the VIP red rope whilst opening the door for me. A few heads turn as the manager welcomes me with a “Bonjour Monsieur” and guides me to my seat for the evening. I order a cognac on the rocks with a bottle of Bières de Chimay Trappist monk beer. He smiles as he lights my cigarette. I settle down into the comfy boxed shaped sofa in the front row of this small night club called the 27 club. They were filming you know? Because tonight a special young lady was about to start performing and the camera’s were ready to roll. It was New Years Eve at the end of 1964. This beautiful regal, slender 24 year old lady with killer cheekbones and electrifying eyes enters the room. She was Dionne Warwick and the entertainment for tonight. An intimate concert for the few lucky customers and myself…

I press pause…

Forgot my snacks! I run off to the fridge a little annoyed at myself. Olives, crackers, some meat and cheeses. Yeah it was worth the disruption. Luckily the bouncers didn’t see and, well, Dionne was just preparing to start. She was in the zone…

I press play…

Right back in the world. I’m sat with four speakers behind my head with the sound turned right up. The elegant, classy ladies eyes light up when she sees me sat there, I receive a cute little smile as she cheekily takes one of my olives. I smile back as she does a playful “meow”. She begins to sing and I’m transfixed for the amazing 27 minutes and 20 seconds. She gives a majestic performance. I’m transported to the era. Fully absorbed in this historic moment, I found myself clapping along with the audience. It felt magical. Just like that special part of the evening spent with the beautiful Dionne. “Hey Wolfboy what goes on tour stays on tour” she purrs. A few years later we would do a duet together but that’s another story…

I press stop…

Ok, so yes I might be going somewhat doolally during these times. It’s just for fun, seriously. No need to call the psychiatric nurse this time, not just yet! Haha I’ve been doing this sort of thing for many Fridays during lock-down. Fully immersing myself into concert performances, whether new or old. Don’t tell the brain but I’ve been trying to fool it into creating new memories. To feel like you actually done something. It does work, honestly. You feel brighter and a little more refreshed the next morning. Ok, yes, that might of been the back rub from sweet Dionne but you get the picture.

I’ve also been enjoying myself at the famous London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. A place way out of my normal price range, however, during the pandemic, they have been putting on weekly live performances. They start at 8pm so you have structure, though, you can pick them up on YouTube after. Besides, getting ready and waiting for the act to begin live is the exciting part. It’s been a routine I’ve very much enjoyed. Once you get past the no audience and kind of imagine it’s a private performance put on just for you, yeah you are that special, you find yourself fall into the whole atmosphere. Lights off, sound up, drinks on the go. I’ll miss that live aspect of Ronnie Scott’s Lock-Down gigs when they finish but hopefully, soon I will be able to attend upcoming concerts in their realness. So very exciting. However in the meantime…….. Lets get back to our Dionne.

Here’s the full show filmed at the ’27 Club’ in Knokke, Belgium. The filming is beautifully done especially of the track Walk On By.

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Three Walk On By’s in row…

So to wrap things up here are three wonderfully different performances of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David piece sang, exquisitely, by the one and only Dionne Warwick.

• 1) From that Knokke live performance. The way the camera moves around with her and she sings directly to you. So beautiful and wonderfully 60s. Knocks me for six every single time.

• 2) I don’t know where this one was filmed? So cool to see the band jamming along with her.

• 3) This one was performed at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire UK in 1967

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A little departure from the films today with a little update to how I’ve tried to deal with not going out-out. I’m back to Ronnie’s on Monday with a band called The Scientists. No idea who they are, part of the excitement. A jazz and fusion band with influences with Chick Corea and a gorgeous young lady called Rouhangeze Baichoo enchanting us with vocals, in her own style, a la Flora Purim and Ursula Dudziak.

I’m very excited, I’m going out-out again, just please don’t tell my brain as it’s already picked what it’s wearing…

Feel free to let me know, if you wish, of ways you’ve tried to “jazz” things up to make life still exciting.

Best wishes

Mikey Wolf

Johnny Nobody (1961) Priest Nigel Patrick Investigates Blasphemy & Divine Intervention

• 

James Ronald Mulcahy (William Bendix) was a successful author. Was this quiet and quaint Irish village actually his birth place? I wasn’t sure. He was an American, maybe the returning prodigal son? With his newest book flying off the shelves he had money to flash. To the dismay of the local residents he had decided to settle within the community and they weren’t practically best pleased. James Mulchay’s mouth was as big as his personality, HUGE!. A thuggish man, large and obnoxious. You see, the village was centered around the parish church and the locals were all God-fearing Catholics. Mulchay’s book on the other hand was centered directly against the Church and the belief of an all seeing and powerful God. He was an atheist and extremely opinionated about it. You didn’t need to ask him or listen to him, he would bulldoze his thoughts onto you as loud as he possibly could. So one thing you didn’t want to see was James Mulchay matching down the road heading for the local pub. Sober he was unbearable but filled with whisky he became the most loathsome, offensive, man on Earth.

• 

The landlord had barred him many times. Mulchay didn’t care. He orders a whiskey. The landlord refuses. He reached for the bottle and slaps some cash on the table. The pubs patrons look on, knowing what was to come. When he arrived at the local pub you could see the fear on their faces of what had become a recurring scene of events. Knowing full well that when the booze hits his stomach the shouting and offensive blasphemy will begin, tenfold. Sacrilege and profanity would drive these normally happy drinkers to the wild side. They had to group together to teach this atheist that he wasn’t welcome disrespecting their beliefs. Hollering, loud, drunken words created a ruckus as the warring group centered around this one man. Attacking from all corners they tried to teach him a lesson. However, he just got fired up more, enjoying every second if the riot he made. Like a fullback he bashed his way through, lashing out at the locals, whilst still shouting blasphemous comments and phrases. “Get Father Carey!” someone shouted as the crowd scrummed it’s way to the church at the center of town. When word arrives to Father Carey (Nigel Patrick) he sighs “Oh not again! Look I’m a priest not a policemen.” Before setting off to try clear up the mess for the umpteenth time.

• 

Local Lady – “Shame on you and your blaspheming tongue it’s a wonder how it doesn’t wither in your mouth!“

Mulchay – “Who’s to make it wither? YOUR GOD? You superstitious fools. I tell you there is no God. I set out to enjoy myself today and by the suffering Moses I have. I had the laugh of my life. You’ll the biggest set of clowns I ever put eyes on.“

Father Carey – “Why don’t you go home and sober up Mulchay and leave these decent men and women in peace.“

Mulchay – “I take no orders from you or any man!“

Father Carey – “You might not believe yourself but you might respect the beliefs of others?“

Mulchay – “Beliefs? Superstition you mean? I despise them.“

Father Carey – “I’m sorry for you, by heaven help you.“

Mulchay – “I need no help from heaven. I rely on only myself.“

Villager – “Stop his dirty mouth for good father!”

Father Carey – “Now Michael no one is to lay a figure on him. God will punish him in his own good time.“

Mulchay – “You can’t frighten me with the fire of hell there is no hell or heaven. Neither is there a God!“

Father Carey – “You don’t know what you are saying.“

Mulchay – “I do and I’ll say it again. There is no God! And if there is one then strike me dead. He knows everything doesn’t he? He hears everything? He supposed to know every sparrow that falls to the ground. Alright then if he is so almighty then…..“

“LET HIM STRIKE ME DEAD..“

“In fact I’d say if he didn’t send a lightning bolt or two I’d say it was decided negligence on his part, wouldn’t you? Let’s see if we can persuade him a little.“

“GOD! I INVITE YOU TO DESTROY ME!“

• 

Will God send down a volley of lightning bolts to teach this loud and obnoxious, blaspheming man a lesson? To strike him down at the very gates of the church he stands. Will he show his all powerful wrath and punish this man for his sins? Or would he use other means like divine intervention? To whatever event is to transpire on those steps of Father Carey’s church, it will begin with a trip to the City of Dublin and the beginning of a grand court case. A case Father Carey finds himself deeply embroiled in as he investigates his own findings for the court. Could he unravel this celestial conundrum?

• 

A Few Things…

• Johnny Nobody was the star, Nigel Patrick’s second film in the director chair. A comedy crime thriller starring himself, Charles Coburn and Wendy Hiller in How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) was his first.

• Is it just me or does Nigel Patrick have a bit of a Bill Murray look about him?

• The film is based on a story by Albert Z. Carr called The Trial of Johnny Nobody. I just looked up the author and read he was an economist and a consultant to two Presidents, Franklin D Roosevelt and Harry S Truman.

• Nigel Patrick and Yvonne Mitchell had worked together before on the truly brilliant Basil Dearden crime thriller centered around race, which I have reviewed if you fancy a look, Sapphire (1959)

• A standout little part comes from Dublin born Noel Purcell who plays Brother Timothy. He’s so happy to see his old friend Father Casey and is determined to get him down in the cellar to try his new homebrew beer. I’d of taken up Brother T on his offer, I bet it tasted divine.

• Aldo Ray plays the mysterious man going by the movie title name of Johnny Nobody. Aldo Ray was very new to me when I started my movie site. With the excellent Men In War (1957) starring Robert Ryan leading me on to Nightfall (1956) that got me intrigued to him.

• There’s a bit part from Bernie Winters as a photographer. Bernie was famous to many Brits for his adorable comedy partner. The St Bernard dag called Schnorbitz.

• 

  Bernie Winters and Schnorbitz

Wrapping it up…

Swamp bogs, reporters, Romany gypsies, home brewing priests, running, lots of running and investigating priest. Johnny Nobody turns into a sort of The 39 Steps (1935). It’s a very enjoyable watch. You never really know where you are with it even though it’s not a complicated story. It runs from A to B and back again well. William Bendix is his usual boorish excellent self and a joy to watch in his small role. Aldo Ray doesn’t do a lot. It was nice to be seeing Yvonne Mitchell again after recently watching Turn the Key Softly (1953) but best of all I really like Nigel Patrick. So many films of his I really adore. The League of Gentlemen (1960) and these three great ones I did reviews of The Informers (1963) Sapphire (1959) and The Browning Version (1951) are all highly recommended. Feel free to recommend more to me.

Wolfman Rating? 7.5 blaspheming outbursts outta 10

The problem with Johnny Nobody is trying to watch it! For some reason it hasn’t had a DVD release and I don’t know if the networks have picked it up? I guess it fell into public domain? However, like with many that do fail to renew their copyright license they normally find themselves on YouTube. If like me you are desperate to see it then you can buy a DVD-R on Ebay for a few quid at the time of writing.

Keep it all filmy

Mikey

What’s Been Watched This Month – March 2021

• 

Here’s what square eyed Mikey Wolfman been watching throughout March 2021.

Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? (1964) Jazz Clubs, Delinquents & Record Shops In London Soho

• 

A friend sent me word of this once rare, and I imagine, seldom seen British film oddity called Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? (1964). I’d never heard of it, however, I knew the filming location well. Set in the early 60s in London’s Soho area. Long before I would travel there on the train from my south coast hometown every other weekend to spend my wage packet on vinyl records. From the late 80s through to the early 2000s it was a mecca to me and many music heads for its vast assemble of filled to the brim, record shops. Most famously for Berwick Street, a street lined with the holy grail of crate digging flicking fingers.

The Squeeze (1977) A Dirty Gritty London Thriller With A Drunk Ass Stacy Keach

He was an expert at standing up on moving subway trains as he swayed from side to side. His eyes half closed as the sound of sloshed, sozzled, synthesizers played inside his head. He had his very own theme tune going on. Jim Naboth (Stacy Keach) bobbed around waiting for the carriage doors to slide open. Heavy booze fumes radiated from his body. The musty aroma was laced with the smoke and ash of a box of 20 fags, and he may recall a cigar at some point during the night? He halved smiled. The stench helped to keep the commuters at bay as the waft freely spread itself about. It helped open a clear pathway for his impending mission. As the train suddenly braked to a stop at the station he gracefully bends almost in half before quickly steadied himself and stepping off onto the platform. His eyes went in many directions, however, he knew the way home. Of course, he had done this trip many times before. Last orders at the pub, get chucked out on the street, grab a bottle in the off-licence and then return home for a cheeky nightcap. Fag in mouth he tries to light it whilst moving diagonally but luckily with some form of forward motion.

The Window (1949) And The Tragic Case Of Bobby Driscoll

• 

Firstly, anyone heard “crying wolf” anywhere around me will be getting a jolly good telling off, that’s for sure. Using my esteemed name in vain, well whatever next? Further more, wolf’s don’t cry! And don’t listen to those wicked rumours about that wolf shaped ball of fluff, whimpering and sobbing at the back of the Odeon cinema in 1999 during the opening scene of Disney’s Tarzan. It simply wasn’t true, it was not! Sniffles. Oh no, I’ve just thought back to it. “Oh dang it! pass the tissues, please!“. Ok the legend of the crying wolf is true so I’ll let you use the quotation for the Aesop’s Fable to start the film.

Opening intro – “The boy cried ‘wolf’. ‘Wolf’ several times and each time the people came to help him they found that there wasn’t any ‘wolf.”

What’s Been Watched This Month – February 2021

• 

Here’s what square eyed Mikey Wolfman been watching throughout February 2021.

Night of the Juggler (1980) Thanos’s Dad Rips Through NYC To Find His Kidnapped Girl

Lieutenant Tonelli (Richard S. Castellano) raced up the steps as fast as he could for a round man like himself. Out of breath he took charge of the crime scene. What now? You could see it washed over his face, he’d seen it all, it was a constant in his life. Crime of New York City coming at him twenty four seven. “What’s it this time?” he shouts. The duty cop replies, “It’s another bomb threat from those Puerto Rican National Liberation Front lot.” “You gotta be kidding! Not them again!” He takes a deep breathe, exhales, and shakes his head whilst rubbing his temples. “I gotta feeling it’s gonna be another goddamn New York day!” He wasn’t wrong. Lt Tonelli would soon be caught up with the carnage about to hit his New York streets.

The Long Haul (1957) Truckers, Gangsters And A Smoking Hot Bombshell

• 

A review for this British fifties thriller centered around organised crime controlling the trucking industry called The Long Haul (1957)

Turn the Key Softly (1953) Joan Collins And Friends Are Released From Prison

• 

Here’s a small review for Turn the Key Softly, a British thriller from 1953 about three female prisoners released on the same day from Holloway Prison. The drama follows the three convicts on the first day of their release. Waiting patiently in their prison uniform’s for their release orders. The three are from varying backgrounds and standing in society. Each had committed a different crime but nothing that had resulted in long hard time, yet…