J. B. Priestley

A portrait of Raymond Chandler, creator of the Philip Marlowe mystery thrillers, by John Foster and Fred Burnley. The film portrays Chandler's life and creative attitudes in his own words. Dramatised excerpts from his letters and novels reveal conflicting aspects: the sensitive, diffident writer - and the tough, cool private eye hero. With JB Priestley.

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and transmitters, weaving speeches, music, and outside broadcasts—featuring voices like H. G. Wells and Ramsay MacDonald—into a kinetic portrait of how the BBC’s national “voice” is made.

Courtroom account of the prosecution of Oscar Wilde for gross indecency with other men followed Wilde's disastrous libel charge against the Marquess of Queensberry, father of his lover Lord Alfred Douglas.

Alan Plater looks at the various adaptations of J.B. Priestley's 'The Good Companions', in the company of the author himself.

Wartime morale-boosting propaganda short, looking at the greatness of Britain and the efforts of all to preserve her power and integrity.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

A Swedish princess boards an ocean liner in Europe en route to an acting career in America and finds herself getting inconveniently attached to a bandleader returning home. To complicate matters, a blackmailer on board apparently knows she is not who she claims to be - and he has his sights set on other passengers with secrets of their own. In the meantime an escaped killer has stowed away under someone else's identity, and is killing again to cover his tracks; five international police detectives on board are heading the investigation to find him. When evidence points to the princess and bandleader, they must find the killer themselves - before he finds them.

George Bird is a salesman of agricultural machinery who finds out that he hasn't long to live. On his doctor's advice, he goes to an exclusive seaside resort to spend his savings on one last holiday.

George Bird is a salesman of agricultural machinery who finds out that he hasn't long to live. On his doctor's advice, he goes to an exclusive seaside resort to spend his savings on one last holiday.

An upper-crust family dinner is interrupted by a police inspector who brings news that a girl known to everyone present has died in suspicious circumstances. It seems that any or all of them could have had a hand in her death. But who is the mysterious Inspector and what can he want of them?

Three married couples discover that, through a legal technicality, they are, in fact, not actually married in the eyes of the law. This was the fifth television film version of this play by J.B. Priestley made by the BBC.

Television broadcast of Bees on the Boat-Deck by J.B. Priestley.

The Helliwells, the Soppitts, and the Parkers, old friends gathered to celebrate their common silver anniversaries. To their dismay they learn that their marriages may not be valid. On hand are an outrageous housekeeper and a photographer. This was the second television film version of the J.B. Priestley play made by the BBC.

Three married couples discover that, through a legal technicality, they are, in fact, not actually married in the eyes of the law. This was the third version broadcast by the BBC of this J.B. Priestley play. It was aired live but as the BBC very rarely recorded live transmissions prior to 1953, this programme is lost.

Gutsy lass Gracie rallies fellow stall-holders at Birkenhead Market to prevent its takeover and demolition by a department store chain. She invokes the Market's foundation by Royal Charter just before an inadvertent gas leak provides an explosive climax.

The Thorwald family is well-off and contented when a tragedy strikes: the father is killed in an accident. Miss Thorwald takes over the raising of her children, four girls and two boys with the youngest already fifteen years old. She manages to keep them together in spite of the fact that their economic situation deteriorates after World War I. Never one to look too critically upon her brood, the woman undergoes a moving and gradual transformation as the adult activities of her children bring home the fact that none of them are what she had once imagined.

A world-class painter is taken ill and lies in the bedroom of an inn, while people down below squabble over his paintings and inheritance. The wily old man is unperturbed, even regarding the infernal trumpet sound which plays throughout.

1919: the World War is over. Kay Conway celebrates her 21st birthday and all the family look forward with hope and confidence. Then Time begins to conjure with them and offers a dark glimpse of what the future could really bring.

Three long-married couples in northern England discover that their marriages are in fact invalid, causing much re-evaluation and chaos. This was the fourth television film version made by the BBC of this comedy by J. B. Priestley. It featured several actors repeating their rôles from the earlier 1951 version including Frank Pettingell, Helena Pickard and Eileen Beldon.

Guests at a small hotel are disquieted by the insistence of a mysterious doctor that he has been there before.

The Helliwells, the Soppitts, and the Parkers, old friends gathered to celebrate their common silver anniversaries. To their dismay they learn that their marriages may not be valid. On hand are an outrageous housekeeper and a photographer.

When the textile mill closes, putting her out of work, Gracie finds herself experiencing all of the amusements of Blackpool.

An unexpected suicide prompts much speculation about honesty and theft.

No synopsis available yet.

The Helliwells, the Soppitts, and the Parkers, old friends gathered to celebrate their common silver anniversaries. To their dismay they learn that their marriages may not be valid. On hand are an outrageous housekeeper and a photographer. The first play in history to ever be televised complete and unedited direct from the theatre. It is now believed to be lost. The BBC would make another television film version of this play in 1949 with several of the same actors from this film including Raymond Huntley, Ernest Butcher, Patricia Hayes, George Carney and Lloyd Pearson.

Wartime morale-boosting propaganda short, looking at the greatness of Britain and the efforts of all to preserve her power and integrity.