[bomp] TILL DEATH US DO PART (the 1969 Movie)

[PsychoPunk1966@xxxxxxx]

Good Day Everyone,  

Some of you might have read my blog already about a BBC TV series entitled  
"Till Death Us Do Part" which was aired from 1965-1975.  It was the show  which 
became the inspiration for the hit American TV series "All in the Family"  
which lasted from 1970-1983.  Of course, I do own the 1972 season of "Till  
Death Us Do Part."  Now, I also own the 1969 make of the movie.  I  highly 
recommend *you* getting this movie.
 
This movie is starred by Warren Mitchell, who played the character of  Alfred 
Garnett.  Alfred Garnett is a racist uneducated dockworker living in  London. 
 He hates everyone.  This includes Blacks, Jews, Gays &  Lesbians, 
Pakistanis, Indians, Arabs, Roman Catholics, trade unionists, and  socialists.  He is a 
member and supporter of the British Conservative Party  (or the Tories).  His 
heroes are Winston Churchill, the Royal Family, Sir  Osmond Mosely, and the 
West End Football (Soccer) team.  Dandy Nichols  plays Alfred's wife, Elsie.  
She is a traditional British housewife.   Unlike Edith Bunker's unconditional 
love for Archie Bunker in "All in the  Family," Elsie usually ignore Alfred's 
extreme right-wing tirades.  Alfred  usually put her down and mostly call her 
"you silly moo."  When Elsie  finally gets fed up with Alfred on occasion, 
she'll call him a "pig" or a  "swine."  Una Stubbs plays Alfred and Elsie's 
daughter, Rita (Garnett)  Rollins.  Rita is a liberated woman, and she is 
understandably very  sarcastic toward her father (Alfred) at times.  She loves her 
father;  however, she is disconcerted by his extreme right-wing tirades.  Anthony  
Booth plays the character of Michael Rollins, who is an Irish young  immigrant. 
 Michael is member of the (socialist) British Labour  Party and admires Prime 
Minister Harold Wilson's government.  
 
The movies begins in London in the late 1930s when young Alfred and young  
Elsie are newly weds.  They bought a modest two up two down house.   There's a 
lot of talk in Whoppin about a possible war with Germany.  Alfred  builds a 
bomb shelter for the backyard.  The first half of the movie  evolves around the 
daily and nightly German bombings in London, the Garnett's  backyard bomb 
shelter, the birth of their daughter Rita in the early 1940s which  Alfred tells 
Elsie that "she (Rita) is ugly," the food and tobacco rationing,  and Alfred 
frustration with the war itself.
 
After World War II, the movies goes forward almost 20 years later for  the 
1965 British election.  Rita starts romantically seeing Michael.   Michael 
influence her to become a *socialist* and campaign for Harold Wilson and  the 
British Labour Party.  Alfred gets really upset because he despises  trade unions, 
socialists, and the British Labour Party itself.  When he  finally meets Mike, 
they would argue about politics and football.  Michael  and Rita marries 
anyway, and they had a Roman Catholic wedding in spite of  Alfred's objections.  
By the time of the late 1960s, Alfred and Michael get  along only when England 
contends with Germany at the World Soccer  Cup.  They are both drunkards.  The 
movie also gets to the point when  the Greater London Council buys up many of 
the two up-two down flats for  the building up affordable high rises for the 
people.   
 
What can I say?  I love this movie.  Of course, this is  because I am a 
sucker for British movies about daily life.  The movie is  loaded up with politics 
and highly critical of capitalism.  In some  fundamental ways, I see Alfred 
Garnett as a frustrated man that's been  had by the system.  In that sense, it 
is easy to feel sort of sorry  for him.  On the other hand, he is one of the 
most abrasive, mean  spirited, angry, negative, and selfish persons you'll ever 
see on  screen.  The theme song "Till Death Us Do Part" was composed by Ray  
Davies of The Kinks and sang by Chas Mills.  It is a very catchy  jingle.  Then 
again, I love everything that The Kinks ever recorded.   Just like "All in 
the Family," you have a frustrated working class bigot that's  been had by the 
system focus his anger and stupid bigotry at the  wrong people.  Here's a man 
(Alfred) that's faithfully devoted to  the very economic system (capitalism) 
and to the political party  (those Tory swines) destined to keep him down.  
Alfred is sort of a  mirror of many Americans today being had by extreme pro 
market/anti-worker, pro  "family values," pro-war (without respect for 
international law) political  movement which caused the unfortunate outcome of the 
American 2004  Election.  I highly recommend this movie now that's it is  available 
on DVD.      

Cheers,
Melvin Little

"In Beverly Hills... they  don't throw their garbage away. They make it into 
television shows."
---Woody  Allen

Check Melvin Little @ MySpace.Com by logging onto:  
(http://www.myspace.com/melvinlittle)

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