the Lost Empires

[armourersergeant]

Seeing a thread on concert parties etc and not wanting to high-jack the topic i was thrown back to a programme and then a book i read by Preistly. the show a Tv adaption starred Colin Firth, he of Pride and tight wet rousers fame ( wife swoons )

and Beattie Edney ( Arm swoons).

this programme had a great efffect on a young lad as i was then some twenty years ago i think and really kick started the intrest i have in the subject, even though it doesn't cover much of the war but i can still hear John Castle giving Firth his 'war is a killer boy' speech and Firth saying 'i want to do my bit'.

I have the book and the record of the songs etc sung in the programme i must look it out and listen to it.

Any way a question amongst the rambblings, did the Music halls die after the war i seem to remember a reference to this in the book and i was wondering why? Was it because of the moving pictures that came along or alonging for something that did not remind people of the past and what had happened but more to look for a newer future?

Anyway i have had a love of Beattie Edney ever since and the song she 'sung' at the end which i can not remeber the name but it contained 'they didnt believe me' which i am sure someone out there more knowledgable than me will recognise and be able to tell me the nameof.

As another aside and again i watched also at much the same time the adaption of RF Delderfields 'To serve them all my days' this deals with the aftermath of the war and the rehabilitation of a teacher but also got me interested in the topic. Surprising that given i had a hankering for the army in those days that these two works should get me intersted rather than accounts of the boys going over the top. Delderfields book is one of the best novels i have ever read and if any one has not read it do so its brilliant!

deep sigh,back to old age , come to think of it i fell in love with Belinda Lang in that one, obviously had to much spare time on my hands.

Arm.

Arm

[Kate Wills]

Hi Arm,

'They didn't believe me' is the final song from Oh What a Lovely War - "and when they ak us, as they're certainly going to ask us...'

I picked up a copy of Lost Empires in a charity shop recently, and I'm glad you recommend it. That should chivvy me into getting it read. Succinct title, Lost Empires.

As for the demise of music hall, a number of factors were at work. First of all, musical fashion. Ragtime and jazz had come into the mainstream, neither of which lent themselves to audience participation.

Then there was the gramophone, which before the war had been a wealthy man's toy. Post war, most homes could have one, and tailor their own evening's entertainment according to taste.

If you have seen that great film 'Singing in the Rain' you will have had a glimpse into the rise of the 'talkie'. Technological advances in cinematography meant that films could also be longer, giving the writers and directors unlimited scope for dramatic nuance and musical extravaganzas. Suddenly, 'live' theatre had a serious rival. Esther Williams would never had had a stage spectacular in a paddling pool, would she?

But the real knock-out blow to music hall (or variety, as it is otherwise known) was the 'wireless'. Mass broadcasting was one of the great legacies of the war years. The BBC was born in 1922, and suddenly it didn't matter if you were living in a glen or the middle of London; everyone, everywhere could just sit back and savour a far greater range of entertainment in one evening than the music halls could provide, and all by your own fireside. Soon, radio in the home was universal, and in the depressed 30s a far cheaper option than a night out.

[armourersergeant]

Kate,

Is the song an original from pre war times or a more modern mock up that was designed to seem from that time , ie for the film you mentioned.

I have seen singing in the rain and i thought that Eric and Ernie were brilliant

The reasons for the demise of the music hall variety seem all too obvious now you list them

thanks

Arm.

[ianw]

Arm,

If "wet rousers" was a typo error , it was a particularly apt one !

[armourersergeant]

OOOOOOOOOOOOPS