The Evening News dated Wednesday May 6th 1953
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British Railways passenger steamer "Duke of York"
on route from the Hook of Holland to Harwich collided with the United States
troopship "Haiti Victory" about 40 miles off Harwich. The "Duke
of York" was carrying 437 passengers and a crew of 72 and, in spite of the
remarkable success of the rescue attempts, 8 passengers lost their lives.
At a hearing in Clerkenwell Court it was found that there
was enough evidence against John Christie to warrant a charge of murder and a
trial.
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In 1949 Timothy Evans wife and daughter had been murdered at
10 Rillington Place in London. Evans was tried, found guilty and hanged.
In 1953 several bodies were found at the same 10 Rillington
Place and John Reginald Christie, who had been living in the house at the time
of the Evans’ murders, was arrested. Christie confessed to 7 murders including
that of Timothy Evans’ wife. He was tried, convicted and hung.
It is now generally accepted that Evans did not murder
either his wife or his child. Too late.
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Major Charles Wylie was in charge of the 350 porters and 35
Sherpas attached to expedition that conquered Everest on May 26th
1953 when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. Some say George
Mallory got there first in 1924 but we shall never know.
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Crime was very hands-on in the 50’s. None of your
white-collar computer fraud. Cosh gangs, murder and stealing from Churches were
the order of the day.
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1953 was of course Coronation Year and all
things Coronationy were popular. A for-runner of 'QI' perhaps?
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Names to conjure with – Eddie Fisher, Dean Martin and Jerry
Lewis, Guy Mitchell, Danny Thomas… whoa there… who was Danny Thomas? He was a
film actor, a stalwart of US TV from the 1950’s until the 90’s, a TV producer
whose credits include ‘The Andy Griffith Show’, ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ and
‘The Mod Squad’.
He also founded a children’s hospital in Memphis, won a Bob
Hope Humanitarian Award and had a US Postal Service stamp issued in his memory.
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The history of 3D cinema goes back as far as 1900 but it
wasn’t until the release of ‘Bwana Devil’ in 1952 that it became popular with
the paying public. The craze died out by 1955. In the early 1980’s there was a
small revival with films such as ‘Comin’ at Ya!’ which I saw and wished I hadn’t.
The recent revival (e.g. ‘Alice in Wonderland’) is a great improvement on the
previous incarnations of 3D but may, in the not too distant future, be replaced
by Lenticular 3D which does not require the viewer to wear glasses.
Director John Huston’s argument that effects were being used instead
of good story telling is still relevant.
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The radio adventures ‘Paul Temple’ were created by Francis
Durbridge in 1938 and continued until 1968. Some lost episodes were remade over
the last 7 years and pop up on BBC Radio 4 Extra. The amateur detective has
also appeared in films, TV and novels. This ‘Paul Temple’ strip was published
from the mid-1950’s until the early 1960’s.
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When, as a kid, I started my life long total disinterest in
football the only names I knew were Stanley Mathews and Nobby Stiles. I didn’t
know who they played for, but I knew they were footballers.
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I only include this because I recognised John Arlott’s name.
If such a thing were feasible I am less interested in cricket than I am in
football.
