Golden Sunsets Redux - 60 Years of Memories - Part 8 - 1974

This selection may seem like a safe and obvious choice. It's not because this year is particularly lacking in things that made a lasting impression on me - just look at the "honourable mentions" section below - but more that it stands head and shoulders above everything else...

1974:

The trivia:

• Suave actor David Niven was speaking at the 46th Oscars ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and was just about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor, when a fully naked man ran past, flashing a peace sign. Streaking was a huge fad at the time and photographer Robert Opel had posed as a journalist to gain access to the stage. Niven did a double take, adjusted his bow tie and then famously quipped "Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen. Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?". When the laughter finally subsided, Taylor floated onto the stage, received a standing ovation and remarked, “That’s a pretty hard act to follow!”. Later, some evidence arose suggesting that the whole scene had been set up by the show's producer Jack Haley Jr. as a stunt, but Niven's family vehemently denied this. The streaking was commemorated 50 years later during the 96th Academy Awards when John Cena presented the award for Best Costume Design naked and covered only by the envelope. 

• At a ceremony to mark the remodelling of the Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico, the first ever interstellar radio message was sent towards the Messier 41 cluster in the Canis Major constellation, 25,000 light years from Earth. The 1,679 bits of binary data was meant as a demonstration of human technological achievement, rather than a serious attempt to enter into a conversation with possible extra-terrestrials, although it did contain information about human, DNA, the solar system and radio waves. In 2001 a crop circle appeared near the Chilbolton radio telescope in Hampshire, England which visually represented most of the information from the original Arecibo message. The SETI Institute dismissed the idea that it was a response from aliens. 

• On the night of Thursday 7th November 1974, Lady Veronica Lucan, wife of Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, burst into the local pub in Belgravia and claimed to have been attacked by her husband - who had also admitted to killing their children's nanny. In the early hours of Friday morning, having apparently penned letters protesting his innocence and accusing his wife of hiring a hitman, Lucan drove away - and vanished. Known for his expensive tastes and gambling habit, Lucan was estranged from his wife and apparently desperate to regain custody of his children. No sign of him was ever found again despite intensive investigations. The case become a bit of a media sensation for many years afterwards, with multiple theories put forward. It was not until 1999 that Lucan was declared legally dead and amazingly, a death certificate (allowing his son to inherit the title and what was left of the estate) was not issued until 2016. 

The memory:

Bagpuss

It's probably fair to say that this little show starring 'the most beautiful...the most magical...saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world'  is one of the most memorable British children's television programmes. It has gone way beyond popular culture to enter the nation's collective consciousnesses, in the same way as say, Doctor Who. 

Anyone who has ever watched an episode can remember the iconic images and characters. The series of Victorian sepia tinged photographs at the start. The shop Emily owned that did not sell anything but was full of lost property The mice on the Marvellous Mechanical Mouse organ. Gabrielle the toad. Madeleine the rag doll that never moved from her chair. Professor Yaffle the acerbic and haughty carved wooden bookend in the shape of a woodpecker. Plus of course a candy stiped cat that was baggy and a bit loose at the seams.

Each episode Emily would place a recovered broken item in front of her cat and sing the familiar song:

Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss

Old Fat Furry Catpuss

Wake up and look at this thing that I bring

Wake up, be bright, be golden and light

Bagpuss, oh hear what I sing.

As the pictures turned from sepia to full colour, Bagpuss would wake up with a huge yawn and so would all all his friends in the shop window. The toys would discuss the new object and usually tell a story or sing a song that would be illustrated by simple animation. This would appear via a thought bubble above Bagpuss's head

These tales were often taken from local Celtic folklore, but would help uncover the true nature and purpose of the thing that had been found. Then the hard-working but mischievous mice would squeak a variation on their "we will fix it" song and mend the broken item, placing it in the shop window in case whoever had lost it happened to walk past. Their task complete, Bagpuss would yawn again and as he fell asleep, the others would also turn back into immobile toys.

Across a mere thirteen episodes, the show's simple storylines, timeless stop-motion animation and lovable characters entranced multiple generations of British children. Some episodes are obviously better than others. Who can forget the classic "The Mouse Mill" where the six rodents try to convince the pompous Professor Yaffle that a wooden toy mill can make chocolate biscuits out of beans and breadcrumbs - or "Uncle Feedle" with it's charming tale of a cloth man with an inside out house. 

But others had subtle elements of the real world woven into their fabric. "The Ballet Shoe" has the mice threatening going on strike unless they are allowed to sing. Even stranger is "Ship In a Bottle" where Bagpuss reveals that he once met a topless mermaid in a bar who sat on his lap, while "The Fiddle" has dream-like layers as Bagpuss tells the story of how he met a a leprechaun  - who then proceeds to ask for his own story. This is also the one where Gabriel the toad starts to question the very nature of existence - after Yaffle extorts that leprechauns are not real, Gabriel simply states "Well perhaps we aren't real either".

"Bagpuss" was developed by stop-motion animation legends Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin and originally transmitted between February and May 1974. A short run you might think, but what cemented the programme in the minds of children countrywide was the fact that it was repeated twice a year, every year until 1987 ! In the days before VHS, this exposure and the fact that the opening and closing minutes were always the same, meant that, much like repeating multiplication tables parrot-fashion, the familiar words and pictures just sunk into kids brains.

Such has been the overwhelming popularity of the show that it was once voted the favourite kids TV programme of all time. Much has been written about the underlying themes of kindness and working together - and there is even critical analysis which cast the disparate characters as somewhat mythic versions of the important people in a child's life - Madeleine and Gabriel as mother and father, the mice as siblings, Professor Yaffle as the teacher and Bagpuss himself as the grandfather figure. It's an interesting hypothesis.

What is certain is that it is extraordinary how much life Firmin and Postgate manage to imbue into these characters made of wood and cloth. The stop-motion process still allows for amazing nuance in their movements and interactions with each other. The series presented a world full of the power of storytelling where there were no limits to imagination. There were moments of education in some of the folktales and discussions about the discarded objects, but primarily it was fabulous entertainment for kids of all ages.

In the many years since, Bagpuss has received an honourary degree from the University of Kent, had a Romanian children's hospital wing names after him (funded entirely by royalties from the BBC), appeared on a Royal Mail postage stamp and even been part of a touring stage show featuring the songs from the episodes by original singers Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner.

For myself, I have always adored this little show and I bought it immediately it came out on DVD. My own children watched it. My younger nieces and nephews watched it. A small bean bag version of Bagpuss is looking down on my now as a write this - and if he could wake up and talk I am sure he would be pleased that he has brought such lasting joy to millions.

Honourable mentions:

• Hong Kong Phooey - In civilian life a mild mannered janitor, Penry Pooch jumps into a filing cabinet and emerges as a masked crime fighter and Kung-Fung “master”. While his Phooeymobile can transform into a boat, a plane or even a phone booth, his skills are from a correspondence course and are usually ineffective. Obviously an anthropomorphic slapstick spoof on the popular marital arts TV shows and films of the time, this Hanna Barbera show is pleasant enough animated fare, lifted by a few great gags and some solid voice perfomances. But it gets onto my list for the fantastic theme song. Sung by Jazz legend Scatman Crothers it perfectly explains the core concept and captures the shows goofy charm. In fact it’s fan-riffic !

• The Man With The Golden Gun - This may be the ninth Bond film, but it’s the first one I ever saw on the big screen. When I used to visit my maternal grandparents for a week in the school summer holidays, my much-loved late grandfather used to often take my brother and I to the local cinema. A single giant screen that showed modern releases and classic films for young and old. While it’s by no means the best of the Roger Moore era (that's "Live and let Die" if anyone is keeping score) it still has some iconic perfomances and images. The double whammy of Christopher Lee as elegant assassin Scaramanga and Herve Villechaize as his assistant Nick Nack. The gorgeous Hong Kong and Thailand locations. The corkscrew car jump stunt. The final funhouse duel. Yes the humour may be a bit over the top, but that was probably perfect for the younger members of the audience, like me. This film started a decades-long love affair with the franchise. Let's just not talk about Sheriff J.W. Pepper okay?

• Zardoz - John Boorman's post-apocalyptic science fiction oddity is an intriguing look at class, religion and free will. Yes it’s pretentious. Yes it’s campy. But you can’t deny the ambitious production design, even if some of it make no real sense.  It’s a true example of a cult film - bold, bizarre and unlike anything else, which is probably why I love it. It’s definitely worth a viewing,  even if it's just for the fabulous logo, the huge flying head and Sean Connery in a giant red nappy....

• Phantom of the Paradise - Another cult film, but this time it’s Brian De Palma’s satirical glam-rock mash up of Phantom of the Opera, Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s another of those movies that I was way too young to see on original release, but was introduced to it as a teenager by a friend who was a bit of a connoisseur of weird cinema. For me the big draw was Paul Williams as sinister record producer Swan. I’d seen him on “The Muppet Show” and knew that he wrote and performed songs in Alan Parker’s “Bugsy Malone”. But this was a totally different side to the folksy charm of “An Old Fashioned Love Song”. I may have come for Williams, but I fell in love with the unique costumes, quirky visuals and offbeat acting. Truly a film that defies the mold.

• Dark Star - I’m at risk of turning this post into a cult film love-fest, but there were so many good movies released this year. None more so than this counter culture SF classic. For perhaps the first time, the future was seen not as gleaming spaceships and perfect technology, but full of malfunctioning equipment, vast empty voids and most of all - boredom. I loved the deadpan delivery, the beach ball alien slapstick and the whole anti-“2001”-ness of it all. Plus who can fail to love surf-boarding through space to the strains of “Benson, Arizona” ?

• The Four Musketeers - See 1973. 'Nuff said.