Western Daily Press (Saturday)
All-American hero is still soldiering on
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPTAIN AMERICA. MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT THE SUPERHERO WHO IS TURNING 80
HE wasn’t bitten by a spider, pounded by gamma radiation or born with the power of a Viking god.
Steve Rogers was just a skinny kid from Brooklyn with no super-power whatsoever until he was injected with a secret serum that led to him becoming Captain America.
He made his first appearance in 1941, in Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics, and the patriotic super-soldier was the creation of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.
Joe, who passed away in 2011 at the age of 98, once explained: “I was 24 when I started creating Captain America. It’s been a guardian angel hanging over my whole life.
“Everywhere I went, in the service or wherever, I wasn’t Joe Simon. I was Captain America.”
Co-creator Jack, who also brought to life comic favourites like the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Fantastic Four, Black Panther and the X-Men, was 22 when he introduced Steve Rogers to the public for the first time. He explained the appeal of the character, saying: “I don’t think Captain America would do anything wrong. He wouldn’t... even at the cost of his life.”
Captain America proved a hit with fans from the very start, with the first March issue selling nearly a million copies. The front cover of the launch issue saw him punching Hitler in the face and standing up for all-American virtues. The comic has since become a highly-prized collectors item and a few years ago was fetching £278,142.
Stan Lee began working on the comic from the third issue, with a story called Captain America Foils The Traitor’s Revenge, which saw Captain America throwing his shield and using it as a weapon for the first time.
You can’t keep a good superhero down, and Stan Lee and Jack revived the character once more in 1964. “I found a way to help the war effort by portraying the times in the form of comic characters,” said Jack. “I was saying what was on my mind. I was extremely patriotic.”
It was not long before Captain America made the move to TV and cinema. Dick Purcell played him in the 1944 cinema serial, which changed the comic book story, so that a city district attorney by the name of Grant Gardner put on the star-spangled costume to tackle a villain called the Scarab.
Marvel Comics gave Republic Pictures the rights for free in the hope that it would boost sales of the comic. The cliffhanger movie episodes featured titles like The Purple Death, Scarlet Shroud and The Avenging Corpse before
Captain America finally triumphed in Toll Of Doom. The city commissioner ended up saying: “Thanks to Captain America, who we now know to be our fighting district attorney, the Scarab and his murderous gang will pay the supreme penalty in the electric chair at the stroke of midnight.”
A TV movie followed in 1979, with Reb Brown in the title role. He would go on to star in Captain America II: Death Too Soon the same year.
His version of Steve Rogers rode on a gadget-packed motorcycle and so he
wore a helmet instead of the traditional mask, and sometimes he used his shield as a windshield while driving.
Matt Salinger took on the mantle next, in 1990.
The movie saw Captain America freed from the ice after decades, to tackle arch villain the Red Skull and stop him kidnapping the US president. “I want to get back into the fight, sir, “he says.
Matt beat Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the role and filming took place in Yugoslavia.
Chris Evans has appeared as Captain America in 11 films, but turned down the role three times because of worries about the impact it would have on his private life. Robert Downey Jr, who plays Iron Man, eventually convinced him to take the part and much of the filming took place in Britain.
Chris, who also played comic book character the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies, said: “Even if it wasn’t a comic book, I think the story of Steve Rogers is great. He’s a great guy. He’s a great character to play. He just happens to be a comic book character.”
The comic book that appears in the movie also harks back to the birth of Captain America and features a modified version of the original front cover from 1941. Stan Lee also made one of his famous cameo appearance in the 2011 film, as a general, and the officer sitting next to him was none other than actor Reb Brown from the 1979 films.
Screenwriter David Self who wrote a draft of Captain America: The First Avenger admitted the character had been his favourite superhero as a child. He said: “My Dad told me I could one day be Captain America.”
I found a way to help the war effort in the form of comic characters Co-creator
Jack Kirby
FEW comedies captured the imagination of the British public quite like The Goodies. The zany, slapstick antics of Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor became a decade-defining series of the 1970s.
Audiences of 12 million switched them on, revelling in the unlikely spectacles of a giant kitten toppling the Post Office Tower, three grown ‘adults’ being chased around a maze by a giant Dougal (of Magic Roundabout fame), geese re-enacting The Dambusters and a house falling around Tim’s head in Keaton-esque style.
It was The Goodies’ 50th anniversary in November 2020, but it was a bittersweet landmark because of the death in April of Tim Brooke-Taylor, aged 79, after he contracted Covid19.
Tim, Graeme and Bill, whose shared love of slapstick and visual comedy shines through in their work, have been regular attendees at Slapstick Festival over the years. In 2011, all three Goodies were awarded the Aardman Slapstick Visual Comedy Legend Award for their significant contributions to the field of visual comedy they’ve made over their lifetime.
Graeme first took part back in 2007 – so what is it that brings him back year after year?
“It’s a chance to enjoy some classic comedy presented in the best possible way,” muses Graeme.
“There’s always a real buzz around the city and there are contributions from stars and experts to add to the fun.
“Founder Chris Daniels and his staff run a tight and hospitable ship, and make sure that the celebrities who take part in the festival are well looked after and enjoy their time in Bristol, so they will want to come again.
“The galas have always been special events – seeing Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd and the rest on a big screen with a live orchestra surrounded by an appreciative audience. In other words, seeing the classics in the way they were meant to be seen. It’s also great to hear contributions from legendary movie historians like David Robinson and Kevin Brownlow, and
I have many very happy memories of Tim. He was a joy to watch at work, and a delightful companion. However, I used to tease him about the fact that he was forever losing things – glasses, phone, passport, script, whatever GRAEME GARDEN
to see some forgotten treats, including some of the very funny comediennes like Marion Davies, who are rather overlooked now.”
This year, comedy legend and festival patron Graeme returns for the festival’s online offering, taking place from March 1 to 7.
“It’s a very different festival this year, for obvious reasons,” says Graeme.
“Plus it’s a little later than usual, but we’ll be putting on a typical menu of classic and forgotten gems, with contributions from a host of stars. Of course, we’ll miss the joy of enjoying the old movies with a live audience around us, but I’m sure that will return next year.”
On March 3, The Goodie, founder of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, and one of the most well-connected people in British comedy, will be discussing some of his comedy heroes with long-time friend and sometime I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue collaborator, Rob Brydon.
Graeme’s choices range from his earliest influences – The Goons and silent movie stars – right up to contemporary comedians. They take in a host of performers on the way and include a few surprises.
“I have so many comedy heroes that I decided to leave out some of the obvious ones, as everyone is so familiar with their work,” explains Graeme.
“So there’s no Morecambe and Wise, but their vintage is represented by Tommy Cooper.
“I was going to leave out Buster
Keaton as he has featured heavily in past festivals, but I found a clip of one of his later films that is very funny, so he’ll be there. Among others, there will also be Peter Sellers, Steve Martin and Victoria Wood.”
Graeme met fellow Goodies actors Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie at Cambridge University, where Graeme was studying medicine, Tim studying law and Bill studying English. It was as undergraduate students at the university that the three also met John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle, who would later become founding members of Monty Python. This group of students became close friends, and studied and socialised together.
They all became members of the prestigious Cambridge University
Footlights Club, with Tim becoming president in 1963, and Graeme Garden succeeding him as president in 1964. It was during Tim’s time as president that he introduced his fellow students to Buster Keaton, who would have a big influence on all of their future works.
Back in 2007, I interviewed the thoroughly charming Tim BrookeTaylor and the late comic, actor and presenter recalled: “As a child, I loved Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton. While at university, I was in charge of getting some stuff for the Cambridge Footlights to watch. I opted for Buster Keaton and showed a film called Sherlock Jr and a short. It was just such a clever film, which had us in fits of laughter.
“We were all won over that night