The trouble with Barry as a film critic was he seemed to think movies mostly began and ended in Hollywood, I don't think he ever watched 'foreign films' like Polish or Japanese etc.
Still, RIP Barry.
I remember one program when Norman was talking about Robert Donat. He didn't want to appear in the film The Magic Box on (feigned according to Norman) grounds of ill health, but was cajoled into playing the part by his agent who said that Donat's refusal would be interpreted as funk (there was a short scene in the film when Donat would be acting opposite Laurence Olivier who was doing a small cameo as a policeman). Donat eventually agreed to the role and this is the scene with him and Olivier shown on Norman's show:
At about 3:30 mins into the video you'll see Donat starts to ape one of Olivier's mannerisms: mouth slightly open, tongue pressed slightly against the lower teeth (remember his Othello?). Very funny a very much younger VE thought. But the professional film critic didn't notice, or, if he did, didn't allude to the cheeky parody. (I'm sure it wasn't lost on Olivier).
On another occasion he was interviewing Peter Ustinov and was congratulating him for the Oscar he won for his supporting role in Spartacus. Norman was quite fulsome, comparing Ustinov's (admittedly amusing) performance with some of the "wooden" performances by other actors. I remember two great performances from that film. One was the aforementioned Olivier as Crassus. The other was one of the finest pieces of acting I've ever seen: Charles Laughton as Tiberius Gracchus. (He was assisted by the great script of a black-listed screen-writer). As these were two of the performances Norman thought wooden I rather last respect for him as a critic.
I'm not much interested in films these days, but I was for a while and I would always watch him and find his programme entertaining and informative. He came over as a knowledgeable, friendly man. RIP
veronk; //that is not true. He once said his favourite film ever was The Italian film Cinema Paradiso//
I love that film too and watch it often, but it doesn't feature in his 'Radio Times 100 Best Films' list;