For the love of lost films
QUESTION In 2010, the BFI published a list of the 75 most wanted lost films. Have any been found?
The BFI 75 Most Wanted are soughtafter British films not held in the national archive and classified as ‘missing, believed lost’.
The earliest dates from 1913 and the latest from 1984. The holy grail of the list is Alfred hitchcock’s 1926 second film as director, The Mountain eagle.
The good news is that 18 of the 75 films have been found in their complete form.
The earliest is 1923’s Love, Life And Laughter, directed by George Pearson, a silent film in which a chorus girl (Betty Balfour), who dreams of being a music hall star, falls for an impoverished author.
Other gems include Deadlock, a 1943 crime drama starring John Slater in a dual role as twin brothers.
The Golden Madonna was a BritishItalian drama film directed by Luigi Carpentieri in 1949. The heiress of an Italian villa (Phyllis Calvert) throws away a painting that is the village’s good luck charm and has to go to extreme lengths to get it back.
Double Confession is a 1950 thriller that paired William hartnell, the original Doctor Who, with horror star Peter Lorre as a lover suspected of murder in a seaside resort.
Small Town Story is a 1953 football film, directed by Montgomery Tully, with appearances from Denis Compton, commentator Raymond Glendenning and Arsenal, Millwall and hayes players.
The Diamond is a 1954 film noir that has the distinction of being Britain’s first 3D movie.
The Promise, a 1969 drama based on a play by Russian playwright Aleksei Arbuzov, is a love triangle during the Siege of Leningrad in which Sir Ian McKellen made an appearance.
The 1984 comedy Where Is Parsifal? has a remarkable cast including Tony Curtis, Peter Lawford, Ron Moody, Donald Pleasence and Orson Welles.
The other recovered films are This Man Is Dangerous (1941); Welcome, Mr Washington (1944); Kiss The Bride Goodbye (1945); The World Owes Me A Living (1954); hammer The Toff and Salute The Toff (both 1952), which are crime films featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson aka The Toff; Three Steps In The Dark (1953); Second Fiddle (1957); Crosstrap (1962); and Symptoms (1974), a horror film starring Angela Pleasence.
Martin Cross, Rotherham, S. Yorks.
QUESTION What was the fate of the Rhodesian branch of the SAS?
The Rhodesian SAS, a little known but deadly special operations unit, began life fighting communist forces in British Malaya (now Malaysia). It was officially disbanded in 1980 following the establishment of Zimbabwe.
In 1950, with forces committed to the Korean conflict, there was a recruiting drive for men in the colonies to try out for the SAS.
A group from Southern Rhodesia volunteered to go to Malaya to combat the communist insurgency. These were known as the Far east Volunteer Group and were later designated C Squadron (Malayan Scouts).
The remnants became the Rhodesian SAS in April 1961, stationed in Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. Brian Robinson, who was serving with 22nd SAS, returned to Rhodesia to take command.
In 1964, the unit took part in operations in Aden in the Middle east alongside 22nd SAS and gained valuable experience in the desert.
In 1963, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland had splintered into Malawi, Zambia and Southern Rhodesia. Ian Smith declared Rhodesia independent from Britain in 1964.
This sparked the Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, which pitted the black majority against the ruling white elite.
The SAS took part in operations at Kariba against insurgents from Zambia, in the Zambezi Valley and along the border with Mozambique.
In 1978, the squadron was infamously involved in the attempted assassinations of the heads of the rival factions in the war, Joshua Nkomo of Zapu in Lusaka, Zambia, and Robert Mugabe of Zanu, based in Maputo, Mozambique.
The conflict raged until 1980 when white minority rule ended and the country was renamed Zimbabwe with a black majority government under Robert Mugabe. The SAS was disbanded the same year.
Liam Armstrong, Loughborough, Leics.
QUESTION What is parasitic castration?
PARASITIC castration, the blocking of the host’s reproduction, is common to many invertebrates, particularly crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms such as sea urchins.
The key motives are the reallocation of resources and minimising predation risk. If their reproductive organs have been destroyed, the host can devote more energy to growth. A stronger, larger animal provides a more protected environment for the parasite.
Trematodes, a class of parasitic flatworm, are known to castrate snails, creating a mobile fortress.
The reproductive behaviour of castrated hosts can be used in the care of the next generation of parasites. Nematodes infect various species of fly so the females deposit larval nematodes, instead of fly eggs, into manure.
The most celebrated case of parasitic castration is that of Sacculina carcini, a species of barnacle known to marine biologists as the body snatcher.
The larva transforms itself into a living hypodermic syringe that injects the next stage of the parasite — a microscopic blob called the vermigon — into a crab’s bloodstream.
This grows into a parasite that takes over the crab’s body and mind. It castrates the crab, then turns it into a doting babysitter that grooms and aerates the barnacle’s brood, tending the next generation of baby snatchers as if they were its own.
Coco Lehman, Southampton.
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