A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Heaven scene
Flying Officer Trubshaw (Bob Coote) is waiting in the ante room of heaven for his skipper Peter Carter (David Niven), who is supposed to have died when he bailed out of his burning Lancaster without a parachute. But the heavenly WAAF "angel" (Kathleen Byron) has no record of him ["There hasn't been a mistake here for over a thousand years ...') Has he been missed? Great visual design in this scene (spot a young Dickie Attenborough), and the portals looking down from the heavens inspired the design of a Midlands bus station!
david niven kathleen byron powell pressburger matter of life and death stairway to heaven 1946 RAF richard attenborough mutikonka
They Were Expendable - final scene.
The last plane out of the Philippines. Scene from the John Ford movie where PT boat captain Robert Montgomery and his second lieutenant John Wayne take their seats on the final flight out of the islands besieged by the Japs. Some other crew members are bumped off the flight at the last minute to face incarceration and probably death at the hands of warriors of Nippon.
robert montgomery john wayne philippines 1945 ford mutikonka
Pygmalion 1938 - "Not bloody likely - I'm going in a taxi"
It must have been shocking to hear the b word in the more respectable era of the 1930s. Leslie Howard is quite sinister and misanthropic in this movie and Wendy Hiller is hilarious as the cockney girl trying to become a lady. This is the classic speech where she tries to sound posh but just ends up using a posh voice and common vocabulary to regale the vicar's tea party with tales of her dissolute family life: "It was them who pinched it what done her in"...
leslie howard wendy hiller pygmalion 1938 george bernard shaw mutikonka
The Third Man - kidnap scene
1948, Vienna: Paperback writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is abducted by a crazy driver and taken to a fate worse than death - to give a talk on the state of the modern novel at the British Council. Great performances too by Wilfred Hyde White and the Austrian kid who thinks he is the murderer.
joseph cotten alida valli wilfred hyde white vienna third man mutikonka
Colonel Blimp - "This is not a Gentleman's War"
A clip from the Powell and Pressburger classic of 1943, in which Anton Walbrook makes his brilliant speech about Blimp's reluctance to engage in "dirty fighting". Quite thought provoking in this age of the so-called War on Terror. And I just love Anton Walbrook's accent.
colonel blimp anton walbrook deborah kerr roger livesey powell pressburger 1943 mutikonka
They Were Expendable
Touching scene where nurse Sandy (Donna Reed) visits the doomed PT boat Unit for dinner, just before Bataan is overrun by the Japs. They are all so formal, even though they know they are all likel to be captured or killed. Like the bit where she adds a bit of jewelry to her drab military uniform to make the evening special.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: Duel Scene
The slow build up of tension as Clive Candy prepares to fight a dawn duel with Theo Kretschmar-Shuldorf in Berlin in 1903. One of the best scenes from this Powell and Pressburger movie, admired by the likes of Scorsese.
Life Death Colonel Blimp clive candy anton walbrook roger livesey powell and pressburger mutikonka
An interview with Dr Ho in Yuhu, Lijiang, Yunnan 云南丽江白沙
This is a short video of a visit I made to Dr Ho in the Naxi village of Yuhu, near Lijiang. This is the village where Dr Joseph Rock lived in the 1920s and 30s (then known as Nguluko). Dr Ho knew Joseph Rock when he was a boy and claims to have learned English from him.
云南丽江白沙Lijiang China joseph rock Naxi Dr Ho Chinese medicine Yunnan mutikonka
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: War Starts at MIdnight
This is the classic scene where the ageing Colonel Blimp is arrested in a Turkish Bath by modern young soldiers [motto: "Brute force and ruddy ignorance"] who are launchig a pre-emptive attack ahead of the official start of a wargame that is supposed to start at midnight. This clip is interesting because it is gives a rare colour view of wartime London and of British uniforms of the period [albeit worn by actors].
life and death of colonel blimp powell pressburger roger livesay james mckechnie deborah kerr ww2 color colour mutikonka
Deqin: Buddhist monk ceremony on the upper Mekong
Thic clip was taken in a Tibetan house at Yangtza, a small hamlet along the upper reaches of the Mekong (Lancang) river in NW Yunnan just south of Deqin. The monks were performing some kind of blessing with their drums, cymbals and horns. The valley also contains many people from the Lisu mminority. Taken in April 2004.
Mekong Deqin monks buddhist tibetan ceremony lancang diqing yunnan mutikonka
The three sacred peaks of Yading (亚丁Konkaling) Sichuan
This is a trek through a wintery looking landscape around the three peaks of Jambeyang, Shenrezig and Chandorje. They are in the Yading Nature Park of Daocheng, Sichuan province, China. I made the trip in the spring of 2003, so this is late snowfall. The site was first described to the outside world by the explorer and botanist Joseph Rock. Read more about it at drjosephrock.blogspot.com
yading Sichuan China mountains alpine trekking hiking (亚丁Daocheng mutikonka
Summer Palace (Yiheyuan） 北京winter 颐和园
These are some pictures of the New Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) taken during a visit at New Year 2002/3, when the Kunming Lake was iced up. For more info see beijingobserver.blogspot.com
The Way to the Stars
A 1945 film about a British airfield and the RAF/USAAF crews that flew from there. Starring John Mills.
Road of death: Bingzhongluo 丙中洛to Chawalong, Nujiang, Tibet
Some of the scariest bits of the trip from Chawolung in Tibet back to Bingzhongluo in Yunnan, along the Nujiang river gorge. Christmas 2007.
怒江Nujiang Tibet China Bingzhongluo 丙中洛Chawalong 4WD mutikonka
Crossing the Mekong by cable in NW Yunnan
Some Lisu people cross the wide Mekong {Lancang} river by means of a cable and runner. There are few bridges along this stretch of the Mekong south of Deqin in Yunnan so local communities use thick wire cables to cross the river on a kind of flying fox.
Mekong Deqin lisu cable river tibetan lancang diqing yunnan mutikonka
Winter at the Gugong (Forbidden City 北京故宫) Beijing, China
A tour round the Forbiden City (gugong 北京故宫) in December 2002 with my kids Andrew and Paul
beijing gugong forbidden city china temple family winter 北京故宫mutikonka
