0:00:17 > 0:00:19He wasn't an actor.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21He wasn't a director or producer.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But for many years, Barry Norman was one of the key figures
0:00:24 > 0:00:28in British cinema, helping to bring films to the masses.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30The man who millions would turn to every week
0:00:30 > 0:00:33to find out what he thought was worth watching.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36But let's begin with Grease, which is nothing more or less
0:00:36 > 0:00:38than a very old-fashioned Hollywood musical,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and a very badly-made one at that.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Star Wars is a phenomenon.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44It only opened in America at the end of May,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47but already it's the biggest box-office hit in cinema history.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49It somehow combines elements of all the best-loved themes
0:00:49 > 0:00:52of Romantic adventure, from the Arabian Nights to the Western,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56from the Knights of the Round Table to science fiction and space fantasy.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It's a very thin list of new releases this month,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02none of which I could, with hand on heart, recommend, so I won't bother.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Armed with one of the best theme tunes ever,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Barry presided over the BBC's Film... series
0:01:16 > 0:01:18for more than 25 years,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21from Film 72 right through to Film 98.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23With, as we'll discover,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26a few memorable detours and distractions along the way.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30He was in the front row for all the films of the time,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32had a personal audience with all the stars,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35and became one of television's most familiar faces.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Good evening. Well, as you can see, I'm not quite myself this evening.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Indeed, I'm still positively recuperating from a week
0:01:43 > 0:01:46at the Rude Film Festival, where a huge entry, if that's the word,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48and often it was,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51of rude films kept an enthusiastic audience on the edge of each other's
0:01:51 > 0:01:54seats. And if any of those films hit your local cinema,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56I can promise you there is enough fun and games to keep the
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Festival Of Light foaming at the fritillaries for a fortnight.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05Yes, like all the big names of the day, Barry was frequently imitated.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08He even had his own special catchphrase,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10which is where I enter the picture.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11"And, why not?"
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Tonight, we have Robert Altman's jazz opus, Kansas City.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Dustin Hoffman stars in American Buffalo,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and we look at the world of the film extra,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22as we watch some of them at work on Oscar Wilde.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25And we have an Australian film, Mr Reliable.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Good evening. And, talking of Mr Reliable,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32your very own Mr Reliable himself, Bazza Norman, is here once again.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Hold on, hold on, who are you, and why are you sitting in my chair?
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I didn't realise I was down to review The Three Bears, as well.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41You are not reviewing anything.
0:02:41 > 0:02:42And what do you mean by coming in here
0:02:42 > 0:02:44with your impersonation of Richie Benaud?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Actually, it's supposed to be you. And, in a sense, why not?
0:02:47 > 0:02:49I never said that! I have never said that!
0:02:49 > 0:02:52It's all down to that bloke who impersonates Des Lynam.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Be that as it may, let bygones be bygones, and let Cecil B DeMille.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Despite eventually using the phrase as the title for his memoirs,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Barry always insisted that he never once uttered the words
0:03:04 > 0:03:06"and why not".
0:03:06 > 0:03:08..otherwise Rory Bremner will say it's my catchphrase!
0:03:08 > 0:03:10- It was Rory Bremner did it! - I know it was, yes.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12- I'm going to kill him! - But eventually you have to say it!
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- No, I'm not, no!- And why not?
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I want to avoid it! I've never said it.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19And now there's no way I ever will.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Naturally, we've scoured the BBC archives to prove that he did...
0:03:24 > 0:03:25..and we failed,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28but we have uncovered a wealth of material
0:03:28 > 0:03:32that shows Barry at his best, and demonstrates why we trusted him
0:03:32 > 0:03:34and his opinions for all those years.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37The first obligation is to the people who
0:03:37 > 0:03:40are watching the programme, and, on my say-so,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42might be going out to spend actually quite a lot of money
0:03:42 > 0:03:44to take the family out to the movies.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47So if they do that, even if they don't like it,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50I want them to know that I believed it was good, and truly believed it,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52cross my heart and hope to die.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59From the start, a career associated with cinema in some way always felt
0:03:59 > 0:04:03inevitable. Barry's parents both worked in the film industry.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08His father, Leslie Norman, was one of the country's finest editors,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11and played an important role in the golden age of British cinema,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14producing, amongst many films, The Cruel Sea,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and directing the 1958 version of the story of Dunkirk.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22All of which actually had the effect of putting Barry off entering the business altogether.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Well, when I was a kid, I used to go to Ealing with my father,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32and sit around the set and watch. If you've ever been on a film set,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35it's the most boring place in the world to be,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37unless you're the director, the actor or the cameraman,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and I used to get really fed up just sitting around.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43And my father could never quite understand it, you know, because
0:04:43 > 0:04:46he was the director, so he was right in the thick of the action.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48And I would say, "God, that was a boring day, Dad",
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and he'd be really quite upset. But I think that was the main reason.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53I just haven't got the patience to make movies.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57And then journalism changed me completely anyway because, you know,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00in journalism you do a job, you forget it, you move on to another
0:05:00 > 0:05:03one, forget that, move on...and that suits my temperament much
0:05:03 > 0:05:07better than months and months of ploughing through the same stuff.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12As a journalist, Barry eventually ended up working for The Daily Sketch
0:05:12 > 0:05:16and The Daily Mail on the gossip pages, interviewing the famous,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19but also covering the occasional quirky story,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22like this one from 1968.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25A bizarre re-enactment of Sherlock Holmes's battle with Moriarty
0:05:25 > 0:05:29at the Reichenbach Falls, which features the earliest
0:05:29 > 0:05:32of Barry's BBC appearances that we could find.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37What do you think of this assignment?
0:05:37 > 0:05:38Oh, it's quite barmy, of course,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and everyone on the trip knows it's barmy,
0:05:40 > 0:05:45but it's an engaging kind of lunacy, and quite gloriously English.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Surely it was elementary that this was an exciting new talent
0:05:48 > 0:05:52that should have instantly been offered an on-screen contract.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Well, not quite.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Barry stayed with newspapers until 1971,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00but was eventually made redundant by the Daily Mail.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03And then came a call from out of the blue.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06How did he fancy being a TV presenter?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08It was all so much simpler in those days.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Well, it's incredible,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12because, as you know, there was no training for television,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15and this is the amazing thing for presenters on television.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17What happened was that somebody phoned me up, Ian Johnston, indeed,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20who was the producer of the programme, phoned me up and said,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22"Would you like to come and try your hand at presenting Film 72".
0:06:22 > 0:06:25And I said, "Hold on, I've never done anything like this".
0:06:25 > 0:06:26And he said, "Well, it's easy".
0:06:26 > 0:06:29And, of course, it's not easy. But he conned me into believing it was
0:06:29 > 0:06:32going to be easy. And so, without any kind of training whatsoever,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35he just kind of stuck me down in front of the autocue and said,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38"Go to it". I had a three-week contract.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40And, you know, I'm still on trial!
0:06:41 > 0:06:43You'd think that for a film-lover,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47presenting a movie review show would be the ultimate job.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48Well, you'd be wrong.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Barry would much rather have been a professional cricketer,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53for cricket was his real passion,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57way ahead of films. Eric Morecambe once described him as the biggest
0:06:57 > 0:07:00cricket nut in the country, and there is evidence of that here.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04A clip from Nationwide, featuring Barry and reporter James Hogg.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10Every lover of Lord's remembers certain days when the sun shone
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and the immortals were at the crease.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29It so happens that writer and broadcaster Barry Norman and I
0:07:29 > 0:07:31share such a memory.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Of an August day in 1948 when Don Bradman's Australians,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39perhaps the strongest team that ever played,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42made hay with the gentlemen of England.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And I got here about half past nine.
0:07:44 > 0:07:45I was queueing up outside there,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47and it was raining, and in those days,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51you got crowds of about 30,000, you actually had to get tickets...
0:07:51 > 0:07:55- Oh...- Phil Edmonds.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58How did he get it, we missed that!
0:07:58 > 0:08:00- Missed it completely! - Talking about old matches,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02we're missing the present one!
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- Anyway, go on.- So, yes,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07you used to get crowds of about 30,000 people in those days.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10And I got here and it was raining, and I remember praying, you know,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12because I was very young at the time,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14I remember praying, "God, please stop the rain".
0:08:14 > 0:08:16And it did, you know, it was one of those magical days of childhood
0:08:16 > 0:08:21when the sun shone, and, of course, I remember Bradman vividly.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23I remember him coming up there before the first wicket,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and we applauded him all the way to the wicket.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And then he got this marvellous 150.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32It was not exciting, in a curious way.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34It was terribly interesting,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36because you knew he wasn't going to get out until he wanted to.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38And when he got 150, he lobbed the ball in the air,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40and it went to Martin Donnelly, the New Zealander.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42It was off Freddie Brown - I remember all this -
0:08:42 > 0:08:46and, to my recollection, Bradman was already halfway back to the pavilion
0:08:46 > 0:08:50before the catch was taken, but he decided, that was it, 150 was enough.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Would you have liked to have been a cricketer of some substance,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54a county player or something?
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Oh, Lord, yes! Not just a county player...
0:08:56 > 0:08:57- Oh, it's England for you, is it? - Oh, yes!
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I was going to open the batting and the bowling.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02And it's an awful sort of tragedy really,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05an accident of birth that I didn't.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08I was born without any discernible talent for the game at all,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11you know. Sometimes, when I used to watch England playing against
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Pakistan, I'd say to the selectors, what difference does that make?!
0:09:14 > 0:09:16But they'd never have chosen me.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18But, yes, that's what I would like to have been.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22So, not a natural cricketer,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26but definitely a natural when it came to presenting television programmes.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30His skills as a wordsmith, the wit that he put into every script,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and his laid-back manner meant that he had that rare ability to make
0:09:33 > 0:09:36viewers feel that they were enjoying a conversation with a friend.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Many of the period's biggest films - well,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43the chances are that we first heard about them from Barry.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Here we find him looking back on the cinema of the 1970s,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and looking forward to the new decade ahead.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53And so the decade ends as it began - with a notable war film -
0:09:53 > 0:09:54MASH, remember, in 1970,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Apocalypse Now in 1979.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59And, curiously enough, the 1980s are also likely to start with a
0:09:59 > 0:10:01blockbusting war movie.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02Steven Spielberg's 1941 -
0:10:02 > 0:10:04a satirical view, so I gather,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07of the aftermath of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10So, has anything really changed in the cinema in the last ten years?
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Well, yes. Violence became fashionable.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The brutal violence of films like Straw Dogs
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and the glorified violence of Taxi Driver and Dirty Harry.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Such pictures did at least have strong central themes.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22But what they spawned were cruder,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25uglier rip-offs in which there was virtually no theme except violence.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Disaster stories flourished, too.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30We were subjected to earthquakes and towering infernos.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33We were menaced at one time or another by sharks, killer whales,
0:10:33 > 0:10:34piranha fish and even bees,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37while the interminable airport series gave the impression
0:10:37 > 0:10:40that planes were falling out of the sky like hailstones.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41The British film industry,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45which had thrived in the 1960s on vast injections of American capital,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47went into such a decline when the Yanks took their money home
0:10:47 > 0:10:50that at one point we were about to read the last rites over it.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52No, it is picking up a little now.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Individual Britons, however, did well.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Glenda Jackson won another Oscar.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Sean Connery played James Bond,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00became rich, and stopped playing James Bond.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01Roger Moore played James Bond,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04became rich, and carried on playing James Bond.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07And let's not forget the enormous contribution made by British
0:11:07 > 0:11:09technicians to the current boom in science fiction movies.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Where would Star Wars and Superman have been without them?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15If only we had a bit of money, our film-makers could rule the world.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Ah, well. So much, then, for the past.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19What does the future hold?
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Well, more of the same, probably. Probably culminating in a movie
0:11:22 > 0:11:25about some violently sexual disaster engineered by
0:11:25 > 0:11:26the devil in outer space.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29But it will also, I hope, bring forth new ideas and new talent.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30It's worth remembering, after all,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33that the hottest director in the world at the moment,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Stephen Spielberg of Jaws and Close Encounters fame,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37was quite unheard of in 1970.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39So, come to that, was this programme.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42There's a thought to take with you into a new decade.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Over the years, Barry sat through many, many thousands of films.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Even when he wasn't being paid.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I must be out of my mind, actually.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53There's been occasions when I've gone to see four films in a day.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56One in the morning, two in the afternoon, one in the evening.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59I've had to do this. And then I've gone home and got inside,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02put on the kettle, made a cup of coffee, made a sandwich, sat down,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04turned on the telly to see what's on the news.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07A film is just starting, and I'm sat there watching that until after midnight!
0:12:07 > 0:12:10You know, you have to be crazy to do this.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12- Keen.- No, no, crazy, crazy is the word.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Do you go along with the rest of us to the cinema and watch it?
0:12:15 > 0:12:17You obviously go to a viewing cinema, do you?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20No, I hate watching...
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Well, listen, would you want to go to a cinema
0:12:22 > 0:12:25with this lot behind you?! I mean, would you really?!
0:12:25 > 0:12:27These are my people!
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Later on, we drink and eat together!
0:12:29 > 0:12:32No, they're nice! No, I wouldn't mind going to the cinema
0:12:32 > 0:12:33with this lot...but...if you...
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Well, I don't know how often you go to the cinema, Terry,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38but people's manners in the cinema are appalling now.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Television has done this.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Because of television, they are all sitting, even now, even with you on,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45people at home are chatting to each other.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46- Never!- Oh, I'm afraid so!
0:12:47 > 0:12:49You're not, are you?!
0:12:49 > 0:12:50Shut up!
0:12:51 > 0:12:53And they do this in the cinema.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56They start chatting to one another, and then they start
0:12:56 > 0:12:58eating hamburgers and frankfurters behind you.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00They're opening crisp packets and peanuts.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Some of them are sitting here eating each other's faces!
0:13:02 > 0:13:04You know, it's very disturbing!
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I just like to go and concentrate on the film,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09because, you know, I want to see and hear it all,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11so that I can deliver my polished judgment.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15As well as avoiding other cinema-goers
0:13:15 > 0:13:17for fear of being distracted,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Barry was also careful not to compromise himself
0:13:20 > 0:13:22by getting too matey with the big names.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Do you worry, though, about offending some of the big directors,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30producers, maybe some of your friends in the movie business?
0:13:30 > 0:13:35No, I don't, because I have made a point of not making friends!
0:13:35 > 0:13:36No, this is true. I mean,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I don't imagine many of these people
0:13:38 > 0:13:41want to make friends with me, either!
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But I don't make friends with actors and directors, because,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48if I did, and they'd made a film which I didn't like and I panned it,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51they would think they'd been betrayed by a mate.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53And now nobody has the right to think that now.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I have a very friendly acquaintanceship with a lot of people, but,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59you know, I don't go to their homes and they don't come to mine.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03But, almost despite himself,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06there were many stars with whom he got on famously.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07And, why not?
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- Sorry!- I'm unemployable, actually!
0:14:10 > 0:14:12I can't get a gig. Do you think I would have done this
0:14:12 > 0:14:15if I could have gotten a real job?! Forget it!
0:14:15 > 0:14:17- Seriously?- I'm dead serious.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19Really?
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Give me that again, take two, turn this around!
0:14:22 > 0:14:24We want to see the "Really"!
0:14:24 > 0:14:25Do the "Really"!
0:14:25 > 0:14:26There are two lobbies.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29There's the pro-Costner lobby, and the anti-Costner lobby.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30What does that mean? Anti...?
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Who would lobby against me and about what?
0:14:32 > 0:14:35- Let me explain! - I'm dying to hear this!
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Since Coppola was the producer, did he interfere much?
0:14:40 > 0:14:42No, no, he was a great supporter.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Interfere - what am I going to say, "Francis, sorry,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47"what have you ever done, how dare you?!
0:14:47 > 0:14:51"Interfering on a Kevin Brannanagan movie here, how dare you?!"
0:14:51 > 0:14:53What was the thing he did, The Godmother or something,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55The Fairy Godmother?!
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Of course, Barry will forever be associated with film criticism,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02but over the years, he did branch out,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and once he got his foot in the BBC door,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07it was almost a Norman conquest.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11He was, for a time, a presenter on Radio 4's Today programme, and,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14on the same station, the first host of The News Quiz.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16And, with his love of words,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19he was an obvious guest booking for the popular panel game
0:15:19 > 0:15:20Call My Bluff.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26Well, Zakawinki is a drink made in Hawaii.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27It's an alcoholic drink.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30It's not made there any more, actually, because of the Americans,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32who were very puritanical,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34discovered that though, like absinthe,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37it makes the heart grow fonder, it also makes people very drunk.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41It is... Perhaps this will help Patrick Campbell,
0:15:41 > 0:15:42it's a bit like poteen,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45it's made from yams, and poteen is made from potatoes.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47So it's a bit like poteen.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49It's called "Pot-ee-en".
0:15:52 > 0:15:55He even turned his hand to medical science,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58trying acupuncture as a cure for his heavy smoking habit
0:15:58 > 0:16:01for a programme entitled Medical Express.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04There was no getting away from Barry Norman.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Whenever there's time in his busy life as a TV presenter,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Barry Norman starts the day by jogging 3.5 miles.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20He plays a lot of cricket, too, and keeps his weight down.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23All in all, he's pretty fit.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Well, yes, I am, but when I finish jogging, what do I do?
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Well, I have a shower and I change and I have a cup of coffee,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31and then I sit down and light a cigarette,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and that undoes all the benefit of the jogging.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37There are times when I think I must be keeping fit solely in order to
0:16:37 > 0:16:39carry on smoking, and that's ridiculous.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Essentially, I earn my living by writing,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and that's when the pressure is greatest.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52I can't seem to think straight without the aid of tobacco.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58A business lunch, and by the coffee stage,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01a cigarette is both a necessity and a pleasure.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04At the end of the day, there is probably another meeting in a bar
0:17:04 > 0:17:06with a glass of wine, and, of course, a cigarette,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08and by that time I'll have got through a full packet.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11On a really bad day, maybe even a few more.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13And I'm really fed up with it.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16My problem is that though I genuinely want to be a non-smoker,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19I actually enjoy tobacco, nicotine.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21But tomorrow I'm going to start on a course of treatment
0:17:21 > 0:17:24which I hope will take away the desire to smoke.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Once the needle is in, it must be stimulated.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30In classical acupuncture, each needle is twisted by hand,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33but nowadays, the job is done by a weak electric current.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34..current, a little bit.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38- Can you tell me if you feel that? - Oh, yes, I can feel that.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40The constant tingling.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Now I shall increase the frequency.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Until it feels like a continuous jab.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- Right.- Right, I shall have to leave you for ten minutes.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Like this?! Help!
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Yes, you must feel totally relaxed.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55I'll relax as much as I can.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00- Thanks a lot.- Thank you. - I just hope he doesn't forget me!
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And such was the success of that experiment that,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08just two years later, Barry was named Pipe Smoker of the Year.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13As he grew older, Barry realised that it wasn't just anyone he wanted
0:18:13 > 0:18:17to interview, but the stars of the great Hollywood films of the time.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Barry was a phenomenon,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23a megastar, but the public intrusion into his personal life,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26which such a lifestyle predicates, irritated him.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31All Barry ever wanted was to settle down,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33clean the house and cook meals!
0:18:33 > 0:18:34He was that sort of man.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39But the media were constantly harassing him.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41I remember one time in particular
0:18:41 > 0:18:43when he was standing over an air vent,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47and the wind blew his dress up over his ears.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54But the photographers blew it up out of all proportion.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Yes, that was indeed a young Emma Thompson,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01then a member of The Cambridge Footlights,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04who weren't, of course, the first to see Barry's comic potential.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Do you know, I didn't realise you were so athletic, to tell you the truth!
0:19:32 > 0:19:34You know, people used to come up to me afterwards and say,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36"How did you do that?" And I would say, "Well, the thing is,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38you've got to get the height". They'd say,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41"How do you do that?" And I'd say, "You've got this little springboard,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44you see? And if you hit the springboard, you can do anything."
0:19:44 > 0:19:46They would say, "Oh, is that it?" And I'd walk away and I'd think,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49"Oh, God, they might go and try this and break their necks!"
0:19:49 > 0:19:50Brilliantly put together, that, wasn't it?
0:19:50 > 0:19:53How long did it take to put all those bits together
0:19:53 > 0:19:54with the acrobats?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56We did the whole thing in an afternoon.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58And do you realise that half the population
0:19:58 > 0:20:02of the country watched that show? It really was incredible.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06That's why we all did it, because when the best come along and say,
0:20:06 > 0:20:07"Do you want to be on our show?"
0:20:07 > 0:20:11you don't stop to say, "Why should I?" You say, "Yes, please."
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And Morecambe and Wise, for my money, were the best.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Now here's another example of Barry performing rather than presenting,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21sort of - he appears opposite the great Diana Rigg
0:20:21 > 0:20:25in a sketch that has her playing an over-the-top, over-the-hill
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Hollywood nightmare, and Barry playing a version of himself
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and, I might add, rather well.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37The critic of the New York Times said you were a great performer.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Yeah. He said I wasn't bad in the movie, either.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Miss Scarlet, what are your ambitions?
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Well, right now, I'd like a drink from that cute little jug there.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Well, of course, yes, awfully sorry.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51I should have offered you before.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54- It's only water. - I love your English water.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- What the hell is this?!- It's water. - Water?
0:21:02 > 0:21:07What kind of dumb show am I on here anyway?
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Diana Rigg was an actress that Barry revealed he'd once had a bit of a
0:21:12 > 0:21:16crush on. In his memoirs he admitted it was fun meeting the film world's
0:21:16 > 0:21:18great beauties - his wife, Dee,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22apparently complaining that he once went on a bit too much
0:21:22 > 0:21:24about just how lovely Michelle Pfeiffer was.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31You and the rest of the world seem to be in some kind of conflict
0:21:31 > 0:21:34over the question of your appearance.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37The rest of the world regards you as an extremely beautiful woman,
0:21:37 > 0:21:38and you think you look like a duck.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Now, how on earth did you come to that conclusion?
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Well, I don't think that ducks are unattractive.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48I don't know many ducks who look like you.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Ducks would have a very hard time if they looked like you, I promise.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Well, there are some people who disagree with you.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58People who are very close to me, who know me very intimately.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01However, you know...
0:22:02 > 0:22:03I guess if there were...
0:22:04 > 0:22:08..you know people say, "Well, if you were an animal, what would you be?"
0:22:08 > 0:22:10And I kind of feel like a duck.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Where does the duck analogy come from?
0:22:12 > 0:22:16- I can look at you as closely as I like, and I can't see ducks there. - I don't know!
0:22:16 > 0:22:17No, there is.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19There is a resemblance!
0:22:21 > 0:22:22It's kind of the way I walk, too.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25I have a little bit of a waddle.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29People always say to me, "I loved your walk for that character you played."
0:22:29 > 0:22:31And I didn't do anything.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33That's my walk.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37And from one of his favourite actresses,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41to a moment from one of Barry's personal favourite interviews -
0:22:41 > 0:22:44an exchange with the great director, Sir David Lean.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47It shows how Barry's hard-earned reputation as a film lover
0:22:47 > 0:22:51meant guests sometimes opened up a little bit more with him
0:22:51 > 0:22:52than they might have with others.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58You know, for somebody who says, and, indeed, I believe you,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01that you love making movies, you've made very few.
0:23:01 > 0:23:0316 films in 46 years, I think.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Why is that?
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Oh, it scares me stiff.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09You know? I suppose...
0:23:12 > 0:23:14If I take on a movie,
0:23:14 > 0:23:19I'd want terribly to do it frightfully well.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22So therefore,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24one's got to have a very, very good script.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28So I spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the subject
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and then working on the script.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37And...I suppose it's fear, really, to put your foot in the water.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Well, after all this time,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42a couple of Oscars and several nominations,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45I would have thought you could have done without the fear,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47that you would have got rid of that by now?
0:23:47 > 0:23:48It doesn't work like that, does it?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Do you ever get nervous?
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- All the time, yeah.- When you're doing this job, you do.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Yes, well there you are. That's the answer.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58It's a sort of a...
0:23:58 > 0:24:00It's a difficult job.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02I feel fairly at home with you here,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05because I sort of feel in my element, too,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and I know you like movies,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13but when you see that eye boring into you, it is difficult,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and at this minute my lips are rather dry.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18It's very difficult.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22There were, of course, plenty of stars who left Barry
0:24:22 > 0:24:24rather less impressed - notably Peter Sellers,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27who got himself into Barry's bad books several times.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32John Wayne once called him a "Pinko liberal" after a row over politics.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35And Madonna managed to really wind him up, too.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39MUSIC: Vogue by Madonna
0:24:43 > 0:24:45We went to Paris to do an interview with her,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and she kept us hanging around for an hour and 40 minutes,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52and I was steaming mad by the time her PR woman turned up and said,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56"I don't think I want to bring my artiste into all this hostility",
0:24:56 > 0:24:57and went off, and I said,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59"Well, don't bother, because I'm not going to be here."
0:25:01 > 0:25:04But Barry's favourite bust-up involved a real Hollywood superstar.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11Robert De Niro and I almost came to blows in the Savoy Hotel.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13He is really quite peculiar because,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15I think he comes from another planet, frankly.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19I mean he's the best actor in the world on-screen at the moment.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Gerard Depardieu is up there with him,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23but there's nobody better. Anyway,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26I'd always heard that De Niro was a very difficult man to interview,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30so I'd never tried, and then one day the film company phoned up,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33very excited. They said, "De Niro is in town, his new film, Goodfellas,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36"is opening next week. He's agreed to do one television interview
0:25:36 > 0:25:38"and he wants to do it with you." I thought, OK, fine.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40You know, a nice compliment,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and if he wants to do it, it's going to be good,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46so we went along to the Savoy Hotel, which is where he was staying,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48and we set up in a room on the second floor.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51His room was above us on the third floor.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54It took him an hour to get from the third floor to the second floor,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56and then the reason given was that he was waiting for his shirt
0:25:56 > 0:25:58to come back from the cleaners.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00You know, Robert De Niro has got one shirt?!
0:26:00 > 0:26:04So he turns up, he was reluctantly introduced to me,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07because we had never met, and to my producer.
0:26:07 > 0:26:08Didn't want to meet anybody else.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Then spent five minutes wandering round wondering where he could
0:26:11 > 0:26:14leave his newspaper so nobody would steal it. Then he sat down.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18I thought, "Well, this is fun, and now he's going to talk."
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Nothing. It was all monosyllables.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22And he didn't look at me, he didn't look at the camera.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25I would ask him a question and he would sort of look over there
0:26:25 > 0:26:27and wave and say about three words,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29and most of it was sort of muttered into his shoulder.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30I was like, "What, sorry?"
0:26:31 > 0:26:34It just went from bad to worse.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37I was really getting quite cross, actually,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40because it was a waste of my time apart from anything else,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and then I asked him a final question -
0:26:43 > 0:26:45it's really too complicated to go into here, but
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I could see he didn't like this question,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and at the end of it, I said, "Thank you very much",
0:26:50 > 0:26:52went to shake his hand... He got up, ignored me,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and he said, "You had to get that one in, didn't you?"
0:26:55 > 0:26:56I said, "What are you talking about?"
0:26:56 > 0:26:58He said, "That last question, you had to get that in."
0:26:58 > 0:27:00And then he walked out, and by this time I was furious.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03I said, "What is your problem?" I chased after him.
0:27:03 > 0:27:04"You know what my problem is."
0:27:04 > 0:27:07I said, "I don't know what your problem is. Tell me!"
0:27:07 > 0:27:10And we stood there, you know, nose-to-nose, snarling at each other.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13I mean, it was ludicrous - this great star and me.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16And in the end it sort of died away,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18and he grinned and finally offered to shake hands himself,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and we shook hands twice, so I thought that was all right.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25I hated the interview, but I loved the quarrel.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27All the adrenaline came out.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30- So that was the best part of it? - Easily the best part of it.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33If only the camera had been rolling then, it would've been good stuff.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Barry also wasn't that fond of Hollywood's most desirable figure,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42otherwise known as Oscar.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44He found covering the ceremony an annual nightmare.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Too much hype, too many crowds of reporters fighting for
0:27:48 > 0:27:51bland comments, from overprotected stars.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54You get a sense of his disdain in this clip from 1982.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57This is what all the fuss is about.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59This is Oscar. So-called, according to legend,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02because soon after it was designed, somebody at the Academy said,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04"Why, that looks just like my Uncle Oscar."
0:28:04 > 0:28:08A most unlikely tale since in my submission nobody ever had an uncle,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11or indeed any other relative, who looked remotely like that
0:28:11 > 0:28:13unless they belonged to a family of Martians.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The actual statuettes that are handed out to the award winners
0:28:16 > 0:28:19are 13.5 inches high, made of metal thinly-coated with gold,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22weigh about eight pounds and cost only a few dollars to make.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25But if you could buy one - if you could buy, let us say,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27the Academy Award for Best Film,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30there are people, companies, studios, who would bid millions,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33because in this town Oscar is regarded as having all the magical
0:28:33 > 0:28:36properties of Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy rolled into one.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Ostensibly he is presented as a modest reward for excellence,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42but in Hollywood, the possession of an Oscar is looked upon as
0:28:42 > 0:28:45an instant passport to everlasting fame and wealth,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48or if the new owner already has his share of these things,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50to even greater fame and wealth.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Sometimes it works out like that,
0:28:52 > 0:28:53but sometimes it doesn't.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59You may have spotted that that report didn't come from
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Barry's regular review programme.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05It's often forgotten that his run on the Film series wasn't uninterrupted.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09After Film 81, he left, and raised eyebrows by going highbrow
0:29:09 > 0:29:13and becoming the presenter of the Omnibus programme,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17covering all the arts, not just his comfort zone of cinema.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Well, I imagine they asked me to do Omnibus because they wanted me to
0:29:21 > 0:29:27bring whatever it is I bring to Film 81, and that kind of approach,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29which I suppose, I don't know, it's very hard to analyse it -
0:29:29 > 0:29:31I hate to analyse what I'm doing -
0:29:31 > 0:29:34but I suppose there is a certain irreverence in it,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37and I hope a healthy scepticism.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41I don't actually want Omnibus to fall for any hypes,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44because I've tried very hard on the Film... programme
0:29:44 > 0:29:46not to fall for any hypes either.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48I'm very interested in the theatre as well as the cinema.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50I haven't been to the theatre very much lately,
0:29:50 > 0:29:52because I've been going to the pictures
0:29:52 > 0:29:55practically every night of my life for the last eight or nine years.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57But when I was on the Daily Mail in the late 1960s,
0:29:57 > 0:29:58I was the showbusiness editor there,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00and I appointed myself deputy theatre critic -
0:30:00 > 0:30:03a perfectly arbitrary move that infuriated lots of people -
0:30:03 > 0:30:07but for the simple reason that that way I could go to the theatre
0:30:07 > 0:30:09three or four times a week,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11and I look forward to doing all that again.
0:30:11 > 0:30:16I don't claim to be an expert on very much, to be perfectly honest...
0:30:18 > 0:30:23..but I'm looking forward to learning about music, ballet, opera, art.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25I mean, I know a little bit about all these things,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28but not enough to set myself up as an expert.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30But I'm not sure that - I mean, that might be a handicap.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32I'm not sure it is,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35because it might be possible that while I am learning something about
0:30:35 > 0:30:39all these things, then people who are watching might also be learning
0:30:39 > 0:30:42something as well. So I'm quite prepared to make an ass of myself by
0:30:42 > 0:30:46asking very simple, basic questions which the experts will frown upon
0:30:46 > 0:30:48and indeed sneer at.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51I don't mind doing that because I think if I don't know the answer,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55then there's a fair chance a lot of other people won't know the answer
0:30:55 > 0:30:58either, and will be interested to find out, along with me.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01So we got reports on ballet,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Japanese art, avant-garde music,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07cutting-edge Italian furniture.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12The new role meant that our favourite critic suddenly found
0:31:12 > 0:31:16himself being judged by television reviewers, and opinion was divided.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20I wouldn't say that he gives the impression
0:31:20 > 0:31:22of being a man in an intimate
0:31:22 > 0:31:24relation to seriousness.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29I think he is not on very good visiting terms with serious themes,
0:31:29 > 0:31:34so that he doesn't quite know how to deal with them.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37But I think he seems peculiarly uncomfortable
0:31:37 > 0:31:40when a theme arises which has to be taken seriously.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44I think Barry Norman is the best TV pundit that we've ever had.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46I would go so far as to say his autocue roll should be taken
0:31:46 > 0:31:48down to the NFT and rolled down before they show
0:31:48 > 0:31:50some of the films that he's reviewed.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52They are wonderful. They are clever, they are witty,
0:31:52 > 0:31:56and when his claws are out, really savage and really good.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01But regardless of what everyone else thought, Barry himself wasn't happy,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and stepped off the Omnibus after just one series.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07It wasn't actually the smartest career move I ever made,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09but it was an interesting...
0:32:09 > 0:32:11- I've made a few of those!- You've made a few of those, have you?
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Yes, you sort of wince a bit, you know,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15and the scars still bleed occasionally.
0:32:15 > 0:32:16But, no, it was fun.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Luckily for him, and us, the BBC gave him back his old job,
0:32:24 > 0:32:25doing what he did best.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Good evening, and welcome to Film 83.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31It is a curious convention, isn't it,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33whereby people like me sit in studios like this
0:32:33 > 0:32:35and grandly bid you welcome to your own homes.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Bit of a cheek, really, I suppose.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Still, what I'd now like to say is that it's very nice
0:32:39 > 0:32:41to be back, and I hope that over the next few months,
0:32:41 > 0:32:43that feeling will become mutual.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49Of course, the feeling did become increasingly mutual
0:32:49 > 0:32:52as Barry guided us through the next two decades.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55It's a busy, busy programme tonight, so let's not hang about.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59The Shawshank Redemption is a prison drama based on a story by Stephen King.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01It's a long, sometimes violent film, which,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05while never losing sight of the main narrative, is rich in subplots.
0:33:05 > 0:33:06Some obvious, others much less so.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Four Weddings is the kind of film they just don't make any more.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13A delightfully feel-good movie that feels good because it is crammed
0:33:13 > 0:33:15with believable people whom you grow to like and care about.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Huge credit for this goes to Richard Curtis for his clever
0:33:18 > 0:33:22and original script, to Mike Newell for the delicacy with which
0:33:22 > 0:33:24he directed it all, and especially, Hugh Grant.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28And then also opening on January 8th, there's Reservoir Dogs.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32Which marks the astounding debut of writer-director Quentin Tarantino.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34It's about as violent a film as I've seen in years,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and is simply not to be missed.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Local Hero is that rare thing - a life-enhancing film.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43It contains no big dramatic conflict and no villains, and you come away
0:33:43 > 0:33:46from it feeling that there may yet be hope for the human race.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47What happened?
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Well, he wants some whisky,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54and Ben wants some beef sandwiches with mustard and no salt.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57- Did Happer say anything?- Oh, he doesn't want any mustard at all,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00- he just wants the salt. - Nothing else happened?
0:34:00 > 0:34:02- I asked them if they wanted water for the whisky...- OK!
0:34:04 > 0:34:07And Local Hero remained one of Barry's favourites
0:34:07 > 0:34:09joining Citizen Kane and The Searchers
0:34:09 > 0:34:13as rare constants on his list of best-ever films.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18One of the things viewers liked about Barry was that you didn't just get straight reviews -
0:34:18 > 0:34:21you got background, context,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23the facts behind the gossip,
0:34:23 > 0:34:24and some strong opinions, too.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29I don't wish to linger much longer on Beverly Hills Cops II,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32but I must point out one aspect of it that I found deeply offensive.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35The young, naive policeman, Judge Reinhold, has, we are told,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38become a gun freak, turning up in scene after scene
0:34:38 > 0:34:40with a terrifying collection of lethal weapons.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42And this is treated as a joke.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44We, like Mr Murphy and Mr Ashton,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46are expected to laugh at this appalling obsession,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48but surely a character whose ambition is to blow
0:34:48 > 0:34:51other people away with anything from bullets to guided missiles
0:34:51 > 0:34:54is not funny, and shouldn't be treated as such at any time,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57especially, I would have thought, in a country like America,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59with its frightening history of psychopathic snipers.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Anyway, that's the end of the moralistic bit.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10In the nonstop, fast-changing world of cinema, Barry was our inside man,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13shedding light on Hollywood's internal workings.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15As he does here, talking to Rob Reiner,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18the director of Spinal Tap and A Few Good Men,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22about the power, even then, of Tom Cruise.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Are actors pricing themselves more reasonably these days?
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Yes, I think they are.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32I think there will always be a handful of actors
0:35:32 > 0:35:35who actually can open a picture - and by that I mean,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39the first weekend will be a sizeable box office
0:35:39 > 0:35:42by virtue of their presence in the film.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44And there's always a handful of those actors
0:35:44 > 0:35:47who can do that in certain kinds of films, and for that,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49the studios are willing to pay a lot of money,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51because it's like an insurance policy.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54For instance, somebody like Tom Cruise, the minute you say you have
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Tom Cruise in the film, all of a sudden, your deal
0:35:57 > 0:36:00with the cable company is a little bit better.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02They'll pay you a little bit more upfront for
0:36:02 > 0:36:06a Tom Cruise picture than they will for somebody else.
0:36:06 > 0:36:07As long as Tom Cruise can command that,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11as long as by him being in a picture in the opening week...
0:36:11 > 0:36:12Look at Far And Away, you know,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15the opening week in Far And Away was 14 million.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17But it was only the opening week, wasn't it?
0:36:17 > 0:36:19- It faded after that. - It doesn't matter.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Tom Cruise can't guarantee the picture's going to be a hit.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26I mean, what guarantees a picture to be a hit is that it's a good quality
0:36:26 > 0:36:30script, that there is, you know, a great story,
0:36:30 > 0:36:32that the film works on all these other levels.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36The only thing a star can do is hopefully guarantee the first weekend.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39He can get the people in the theatre that first weekend.
0:36:39 > 0:36:40Then the film has to perform.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43If the film performs, then the word-of-mouth is good.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47So, if Tom Cruise doesn't open this picture big for you on the first
0:36:47 > 0:36:49weekend, you're going to take all of the money away from him?
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Yes. We're going to come to his house,
0:36:52 > 0:36:57we're going to strap him down and we're going to rummage through his
0:36:57 > 0:37:01jewellery, and take some of Nicole's stuff, too.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Even though she's not in the film, but she's married to him, so we
0:37:03 > 0:37:06feel like we have a right to take any kind of jewellery or furs
0:37:06 > 0:37:08that she might have. She probably doesn't have any furs,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11because it's California, but I bet she's got some good jewellery.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Well, when you do that, let us know, and we'll come and film it.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18- OK!- You know, it's very interesting, just before A Few Good Men opened,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20I was talking to Rob Reiner,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22and he expected you to open that film.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24He didn't expect Jack Nicholson to open it,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27he certainly didn't expect Demi Moore to open it,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30and what he actually said to me was that if, because of Tom,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33that film takes less than 15-20 million in its first weekend,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I'm going to send men round to his house to get his fee back and hurt him!
0:37:37 > 0:37:41- That's what he said!- Did he?!
0:37:43 > 0:37:45This puts a big responsibility on you, doesn't it?
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I mean, you must be aware of that!
0:37:48 > 0:37:49Uh...
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Come on, Tom, it wasn't that funny, was it?
0:37:57 > 0:38:01Now, we've already mentioned how Barry wasn't a massive fan of the Oscars.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05By contrast, the Cannes Film Festival was an event he seemed to enjoy.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10Yes, it was an opportunity for some serious discussion with some people he respected,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13but he also revelled in the sheer ludicrousness of it all,
0:38:13 > 0:38:17the levels of which seemed to increase every year, with
0:38:17 > 0:38:20the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a dunderhead in Barry's books,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and Bruce Willis, who he considered a plonker.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Excuse me! Can we have one here, please?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32- Thank you.- You may be wondering what's going on here.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Well, to put it simply, the Cannes Film Festival is going on here.
0:38:35 > 0:38:36In there is Phil Collins,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39but it wouldn't really matter if it was Joan Collins,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41because in a Cannes, if it moves and it's in a movie,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43this kind of thing happens.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46The most blatant publicity, was a huge, inflated
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Arnold Schwarzenegger doll in the middle of the harbour.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52I tell you, the temptation to let the hot air out of it was enormous,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and, glory be, that's what somebody did!
0:38:57 > 0:38:59It's nice here, isn't it? Right, well,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01in there is Arnold Schwarzenegger,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03come to talk not about his latest film,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05but about 15 minutes of his latest film -
0:39:05 > 0:39:09I'll explain later. What I have here is a letter from Columbia Pictures
0:39:09 > 0:39:13which says, "Your appointment with Arnold Schwarzenegger is for 2:28pm.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Did you get that?! Not 2:27pm, not 2:29pm, but 2:28pm.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19I mean, how precise can you be?
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Well, Arnie is the executive producer of the film, so I suppose
0:39:22 > 0:39:25he is trying to inject a little Teutonic thoroughness
0:39:25 > 0:39:29in the proceedings. Anyway, it's 2:25pm now, so I'd better be going.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31I mean, I don't want to turn up at 2:28 and 30 seconds and
0:39:31 > 0:39:33be kicked out for being late!
0:39:37 > 0:39:38But look at this.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41I'm on time, but Arnie's strutting his stuff elsewhere.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43It's really not good enough!
0:39:56 > 0:39:58You know, Arnie, I'm a little bit disappointed.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00I had a letter from Columbia Pictures telling me that
0:40:00 > 0:40:02you and I had an appointment for 2:28pm prompt!
0:40:02 > 0:40:04And look at it now, it's well after three o'clock!
0:40:04 > 0:40:07What do you think, who else is disappointed!
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Have you been waiting with bated breath?!
0:40:09 > 0:40:11I'm disappointed
0:40:11 > 0:40:14because Columbia made me wait that long to see you!
0:40:14 > 0:40:18My desire to see you was tremendous, right from the beginning,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21right from 9am in the morning I said I've got to see you right away,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and they made me wait! But you know something...
0:40:24 > 0:40:28- We're here!- Any time, I'm happy to wait for something good.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33We all have our magic Cannes moment,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36and my came at the end of the 15-minute show reel
0:40:36 > 0:40:38for Bruce Willis's Armageddon,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41when a deeply emotional and tearful scene between
0:40:41 > 0:40:45an amazingly brave Willis and his on-screen daughter, Liv Tyler,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49so moved the entire audience they fell about in helpless mirth.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51So much for the hubris of those who seek to hijack
0:40:51 > 0:40:55the Cannes Film Festival for their own purely commercial ends.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58That was an interesting experience yesterday,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00that 15-minute showreel that you showed,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03because it was part extended trailer, and part sneak preview.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Yes, that's a good way to put it.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07I think it's a little bit of both.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11I've never been involved with a film where they've done that,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15where they've shown a 15-minute commercial for a film.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18- No, I've never heard of it before. - No, it's interesting.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21But you must have been disconcerted when they started laughing
0:41:21 > 0:41:24- during your big emotional scene! - Not really.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28You take any film and chop it up like that
0:41:28 > 0:41:31and you put scenes that don't necessarily follow
0:41:31 > 0:41:33as they would in the film,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37it's taken out of context.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39You could take any film.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Take, you know, The Godfather,
0:41:42 > 0:41:44chop it up like that and move scenes around
0:41:44 > 0:41:48and people would laugh at inappropriate times.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55That last report was made during Barry's final visit
0:41:55 > 0:41:57to Cannes for the BBC, in 1998.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00That same year, he was made a CBE.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04But after more than a quarter of a century at the corporation,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07he'd become disillusioned with the management
0:42:07 > 0:42:09and decided it was time for a change.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13When he accepted an offer to up sticks and join Sky television,
0:42:13 > 0:42:14it was a real end of an era.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18Barry stayed at Sky for three years,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20and when he left, well,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23he did what any self-respecting ex-presenter would do,
0:42:23 > 0:42:27and became a successful purveyor of his own brand of pickled onions.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29The obvious career path.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Barry also continued writing -
0:42:32 > 0:42:36books, columns, and, of course, reviews.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39In June this year, the release of Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk
0:42:39 > 0:42:42led to a piece for the Radio Times looking back affectionately
0:42:42 > 0:42:44on the film of the same story that
0:42:44 > 0:42:47his late father had directed 59 years earlier.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51It would turn out to be his final column for the magazine.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56A few days after submitting it, Barry died in his sleep.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57He was 83.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02The tributes from the worlds of film,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06television and journalism were unanimous in describing him as
0:43:06 > 0:43:09a great communicator and a lovely man.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11As a critic and presenter, he'll be remembered
0:43:11 > 0:43:13as one of the untouchables,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16a top gun, the godfather,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21and, in an industry dominated by Hollywood and America,
0:43:21 > 0:43:22a real local hero.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24And, why not?