Alma Cogan

Alma Cogan was one of the brightest stars of music and television during the 1950’s. Her glamour and dresses were legendary, capturing the desire of a nation to escape from the austerity of post-war Britain. She was the most successful female recording star of the decade with hits such as: Dreamboat, Bell Bottom Blues, Twenty Tiny Fingers and I Can’t Tell a Waltz from a Tango. Her personal life was just as glamorous with celebrity gossip columns following her every relationship with stars such as Cary Grant. For the very first time, this programme has uncovered and re-mastered full live performances of Alma at the pinnacle of her career in colour! In addition, there is also a new documentary charting the story of her life, career, famous parties and romances. This is Alma Cogan’s Fabulous Story!

A short documentary about Alma Cogan's life.

P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.

In postwar London a young graduate and his girlfriend decide to marry. Her well-to-do parents are not convinced, but they agree once he has got a £5.10.0 job and a 30/- a week single-room flat. The newly-weds find money fearfully tight, the flat cramped, the neighbours a trial, and her parents always hovering. Can faith conquer all? Is there some way of getting rid of tea-leaves except down the sink?

Episodic tale of four factory girls and their various romances at the local dance hall in Chiswick, London. Unusual at the time, the film tells its story from a feminine perspective. Today, it is mainly recognised for its post-war London atmosphere, with bomb sites, trolleybuses and rationing.

Band leader Eric Winstone and his guests perform a variety of compositions including comical numbers.