Jack Smith (2 of 3)

Disclaimer: This interview was conducted in 1995 and concerns memories of 1930s life; as such there may be opinions expressed or words used that do not meet today's norms and expectations.

********************************************************

* Transcript ID: JS-95-223AT001

* CCINTB Transcript ID: 95-223-12a-ar

* Tapes: JS-95-223OT001

* CCINTB Tapes ID: T95-147

* Length: 0:36:33

* Fakenham, Norfolk, 21 November 1995: Valentina Bold interviews Jack Smith

* Transcribed by Joan Simpson/Standardised by Annette Kuhn and Julia McDowell

* JS=Jack Smith, OP=Other person, VB=Valentina Bold

* Notes: Solo interview with Jack Smith at Cranmer House; Mr Smith was previously interviewed with three other clients of Cranmer House on 24 October 1995 and was later interviewed with his wife on 2 May 1996; Sound Quality: Fair; this interview was originally transcribed in a phonetic manner; the original phonetic version can be accessed through our physical collection - please contact Lancaster University Library for details.

********************************************************

[Start of Tape One] [Start of Side A]

VB: That's a bit of a coincidence then--

JS: Yeah.

VB: After you saying. 'Cause I was going to ask you about Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge.

JS: He had a big chin. More like erm, Bruce Forsyth.

VB: Aw. [laughs] Were they particular favourites of yours then?

JS: Pardon?

VB: Were--

JS: Yes, I believe they was. 'Cause I think them two was my favourites. 'Course Jack Hulbert had a brother and all. I can't think what his name was [referring to Claude Hulbert]. But he-- [tape cuts out]

VB: [tape restarts] Ah. What was it about Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge?

JS: Well, his it was the comedy things really.

VB: Yeah. So did they particularly appeal to your--

JS: Yeah.

VB: Sense of humour.

JS: Mhm. Well then another one at that time I seem to remember is erm, Harker, Gordon Harker. [That's years ago?].

VB: Mhm. 'Cause I made a list of some of the people you mentioned.

JS: Yeah.

VB: Erm, that I was wanting to ask you some more about. Erm, I mean you also mention stars like Charles Boyer, Charles Boyer. Was he someone you liked particularly?

JS: Well, no, I don't think so.

VB: A-ah.

JS: I wasn't one to go to the, only time I went to the pictures was 'cause we ain't got a cricket match or something like that.

VB: [laughs]

JS: [laughs]

JS: But erm-- [pause 4 seconds] There was another one I was thinking about. We did mention Harold Lloyd, didn't we?

VB: Yes, we did.

JS: With his big glasses. Well then there was erm, [pause 3 seconds] Jack, [pause 2 seconds], Jack Warner. And his sisters, they made some films, didn't they. Elsie and Doris Waters, Gert and Daisy [referring to Gert and Daisy 00:02:00Waters]. They made some films.

VB: Did you like their films.

JS: Yes. I was--

[door opens; OP brings some tea or coffee]

OP: There you go.

VB: Oh that's great. Thanks very much. That's lovely thanks.

OP: Right. See you later.

VB: Great. Right.

JS: They didn't do many films, but they did do some. Jack Warner. Well, he was on the television a lot.

VB: Yeah. 'Cause I was wondering actually, how you actually got to the cinema. When you went.

JS: We cycled.

VB: You cycled!

JS: Ah, I lived at Wighton in them days.

VB: Ah, I see.

JS: In fact, now, in fact, I'll be honest, we used to walk sometimes.

VB: Really?

JS: Yes! Often pass the time away.

VB: How long did that take you?

JS: Well, I suppose really about three quarters of an hour.

VB: Mhm. You weren't bothered by the weather or--

JS: No.

VB: My.

JS: I still cannot think of, [pause 3 seconds] that little boy who used to be with erm, [pause 3 seconds] Jackie Coogan with erm, [pause 2 seconds] Charlie Chaplin.

VB: Mhm.

JS: Then there was another one, had, [inaudible] had another little boy with him. You know, he always had a boy with him. [pause 3 seconds. But erm, no I wasn't one. I only used to go to the pictures, well, if there was a young lady going, that was different matter. Now, I might take her. [laughs]

VB: [laughs] But it wasn't something then that was a--

JS: I wouldn't say [inaudible] on a Saturday night [inaudible].

VB: Mhm. How did you feel when you were at the pictures?

JS: Well, I used to like 'em, some of 'em, yes. I used to, [pause 2 seconds] well George Formby, he was a comedy. There was a comedy with him. But erm-- [pause 4 seconds] Well now, James Mason. Is he alive or dead?

VB: Oh erm. I'm not sure actually. I'm not sure. I think he probably is dead actually.

JS: Because eh-- [pause 3 seconds] Just after the war I went to London for a holiday. We stayed, we had the [inaudible], we stayed with her parents. And I went to the pictures while we was up there. And he was on then! So he must be a 00:05:00terrifically old man.

VB: Yes. Yeah. Did you like him? Did you like his films?

JS: Oh yes! He was good.

VB: Yeah. 'Cause you mentioned some of the musical stars as well.

JS: I wasn't too crazy on the, some of them was all right.

VB: Mhm.

JS: It was erm, what was the name of that one that erm, Gracie Fields made? [pause 3 seconds]

VB: Oh, films like Sing As We Go!?

JS: Yes.

VB: Yeah.

JS: That's right.

VB: Did you like Gracie Fields?

JS: Well to me, she wasn't really what I would call a first-class singer. But I know, I can't sing at all--

VB: Yeah.

JS: But she had the personality.

VB: Yeah.

JS: I couldn't say, you know to myself, I couldn't say she was a good singer. I 00:06:00like erm, Vera Lynn. I like Vera Lynn. She's good but I still think, Ann Shelton, I like a little bit better.

VB: Mhm.

JS: 'Cause she-- [pause 3 seconds] [inaudible].

VB: Mhm. Were there other film stars that you liked as singers?

JS: I was trying to think.

VB: Yeah.

[pause 7 seconds]

JS: No, I can't think, you see, now. [inaudible] I'd be thinking of them.

VB: Sure.

JS: That's the thing.

VB: I know. [laughs] 'Cause you mentioned some of the dancers as well like Ginger Rogers,

JS: Oh yes!

VB: And Fred Astaire and--

JS: Oh I like them.

VB: Yeah. What was it about them, do you think?

JS: I don't know. Really but, they was good though.

VB: Mhm. Very different from Gracie Fields. I mean--

JS: Yeah. Oh yes. Different altogether. Well then there's in them days what you're talking about, you were getting eh, the French films.

VB: Mhm.

JS: Erm-- [pause 5 seconds] I was trying to think of some more.

VB: What about people like erm, Maurice Chevalier?

JS: That's the one I'm thinking of.

VB: Yeah.

JS: Yes.

VB: Do you think he was good?

JS: No, I wasn't too--

VB: Ah.

JS: [laughs] [inaudible]

VB: What was it about him that put you off a bit?

JS: I don't know. [laughing] But that was, how he could always be so smart and dapper and that sort of thing.

VB: 'Cause he made films with Jeanette MacDonald as well, didn't he?

JS: Oh yes. Yes.

VB: Did you like her?

JS: Yes. And erm-- [pause 5 seconds] I was trying to think of some more about that age group. [pause 4 seconds] I did mention erm, one.

VB: Mhm. 'Cause we talked--

JS: Stanley Lupino.

VB: A-ah. Yes.

JS: I did mention that before, didn't I?

VB: Yeah.

JS: He was in comedy.

VB: Yeah. What was it about him that you liked?

JS: Well, he done some soft things. That sort of suited me, [inaudible].

VB: Mhm.

JS: I member one, he was going somewhere on a big boat for a cruise, you know. He fell over the side of the boat and all that sort of thing [possibly referring to Honeymoon for Three].

VB: Ah. [laughs] So you liked a bit of the sort of--

JS: Yeah.

VB: Knockabout stuff then. Do you think your tastes changed from when you were 00:09:00in your early teens to your late teens?

JS: Oh yes. Yes. And that changed and all after that. [inaudible].

VB: Mhm.

JS: [pause 3 seconds] It wasn't the pictures that I remember. I went to the Palladium once when I was in London.

VB: Ah.

JS: I went to see Fantasia. Ooh, I thought it was rubbish. [laughs]

VB: [laughs]

JS: [inaudible; says something about getting out of his seat?].

VB: Did you never like the cartoons and things then very much?

JS: No, no, no. We never, 'course we never got them. [inaudible]. I remember the start of the cartoons.

VB: Mhm. What about erm, did you enjoy seeing the news and the--

JS: Oh, yes! And [laughs] when they started on the news, it was [at] the pictures at Wells [referring to Wells next the Sea], you know, they wasn't talking, they wrote it up. Well there was one man, Jimmy Land his name was, he was a baker. Well, he had, he had put it on the screen, but they got it wrong. [laughs] And they said on the screen, if you read it, "Don't go home without some of Jimmy Land's pakes and castries." They got it wrong. [laughs]

VB: [laughs]

JS: They got the two first letters wrong. [laughs] That's all the things you can remember, things like that.

VB: Yeah. Yeah. Were the cinemas quite noisy when you were a child?

JS: Yes.

VB: Yeah.

JS: Yes.

VB: 'Cause I was wondering about how you behaved, you know, when you were a boy there.

JS: Oh yeah. [pause 5 seconds]

VB: Did you mainly go at first then with a group of other boys?

JS: Well there might be one or two of us but--

VB: Yeah.

JS: Not a lot. There was several young men, I can't remember any of them would say, you know, they'd be going to the cinema nightly. Like winter time we'd walk to Wells, after tea, on a Saturday night. But, there was no lads out of any of us what we would really call cinemagoers.

VB: Yeah. So none of your, the sort of group you went around with were that interested.

JS: No.

VB: Yeah. 'Cause you mentioned there erm, if there wasn't cricket on you might think of going. Was sport something that was more of interest?

JS: Oh, [inaudible] cricket and football and--

VB: Ah.

JS: Well, I used to like boxing. We might go and see it, properly. I used to go to Norwich Corn Hall to see that--

VB: Mhm.

JS: But to see it on television, it isn't boxing. I mean, 'Cause you don't see the blood and you don't hear the blow. [laughs]

VB: [laughs] You like a bit of violence. [laughs]

JS: But eh, we're getting away from the point.

VB: Yeah. I mean did you like the sort of gangster films? The--

JS: I like some of the westerns, you know, and--

VB: Yeah. [pause 3 seconds] 'Cause I wondered there when you said that, if you liked something with a bit of adventure.

JS: Oh, I liked some of the westerns.

VB: Mhm. Any favourite western stars?

JS: Yes, well erm, Roy Rogers. And Trigger. And 'course he had an old man. Used to be with him. Gabby, didn't he [referring to George 'Gabby' Hayes]?

VB: Aw yes. Yeah. [pause 4 seconds] What was it about the westerns, do you think?

JS: Well, I don't know.

VB: Mhm.

JS: Imagination.[laughs]

VB: Ah. So was it something that you could sort of see yourself in?

JS: Yes. I did.

VB: Yeah.

JS: There was one on, well, they don't seem to be so good now but, at one time on the television erm, westerns were very good.

VB: Mhm.

JS: 'Rawhide' and erm, 'Bonanza' and all them. But--

VB: Mhm. Do you think there's a difference then?

JS: Ye-es. They had very good ones. I mean, westerns are not so good now as they was then. There was 'Rawhide' and 'Bonanza' and, can't think of the others. But there was-- [pause 2 seconds]

VB: Do you watch a lot of films and things now?

JS: No. I don't watch any.

VB: No.

JS: I've never seen a war film. I can't see nothing now.

VB: Ah, of course.

JS: I can see a little bit--

VB: Yeah.

JS: I listen to the, last night, Princess Di--

VB: Oh yes.

JS: She's stirred up a the hornet's nest [referring to BBC Panorama interview on 20 November 1995].

VB: Very much so.

JS: I tell you one thing, she got her, he was the one who started it, didn't he?

VB: [laughs]

JS: And she got back. [laughs]

VB: She certainly did. [laughs] Ah. Not someone to be trifled with I don't think. [laughs]

JS: No. [laughs]

VB: Ah.

JS: They'll soon be someone making a film about that.

VB: Mhm. I'm sure they will. Erm, 'Cause I don't know why it reminded me, but I also meant to ask you about comedies. 'Cause you mentioned people like Laurel and Hardy when we talked before.

JS: Yes, yes. I like comedies, yes.

VB: Mhm.

JS: But Roy Rogers and Trigger, to me they was very, very good westerns.

VB: Mhm. Mhm. What about people like Tom Mix? Did you like--

JS: Oh yes, he was another one. Yeah.

VB: Tom Mix. Yeah.

JS: You see, we're getting older, and it's if you're young-- [coughs; inaudible]

VB: That's right. That's right. 'Cause your wife was saying she wasn't very keen on films either.

JS: No. No. [pause 3 seconds] No, she's been in hospital since then.

VB: I know. I was sorry to hear that. But eh, I hear she's coming back--

JS: Today or tomorrow.

VB: That's good. Yeah. 'Cause I was sorry to have missed seeing her as well.

JS: Yeah. But there's something in the paper this morning. [inaudible] They have more things about Diana.

VB: Yeah. [laughs]

JS: I was lying in my bed, I was half awake and half asleep. [laughs] I heard 00:16:00the first news at five o'clock this morning. Then at six, again at seven, and that was all [laughs] there was. That's all I hear. [laughs]

VB: [laughs] Were you ever interested in the lives of the film stars or was that something again that--

JS: No. I never was interested me, like that.

VB: Mhm. Did you play a lot of sports yourself then, as well as watching?

JS: Oh yes. I played cricket, yes.

VB: Mhm. Did you have a local team then?

JS: We had a local team, you see.

VB: At, actually at Wighton then?

JS: Yeah.

VB: Yeah.

JS: And so that and eh, ever since more or less fourteen, fifteen, I used to go to Norwich nearly every time they was at home, football.

VB: Yeah. Well you'll have seen a lot of changes in the team over the years then.

JS: Oh yes, I have.

VB: Yeah. Was that something, did you cycle to Norwich to see that?

JS: Oh no.

VB: No. [laughs]

JS: No, [laughs]

VB: A bit far. [laughs]

JS: We used to go by train. Till I bought a motor car for ten shillings.

VB: Ah. I was going to say, I think that's a wee bit far for your walk. [laughs]

JS: Yeah. But eh, occasionally if we stopped to come home on the eleven o'clock train, we'd go to the pictures--

VB: Mhm.

JS: In Norwich.

VB: Where did you go in Norwich? What, what was the cinema you went to there?

JS: If we went to the pictures there we went to the one in Theatre Road, the Luxe [probably referring to Theatre de Luxe] or else the Haymarket.

VB: I see. Was there a difference between the cinemas there and in Wells?

JS: Oh yes. A lot.

VB: Yeah. Norwich ones a bit--

JS: Yeah. Well, Wells, well I mean, both of them was erm, ground level. What was at Wells was just near the door. In one of them, what was the Oddfellows Hall, they got where the organ disappeared when they started. [coughs]

VB: Mhm. And the ones at Norwich were they a bit--

JS: Yeah, posher.

VB: Fancier. Yeah, yeah.

JS: [coughs]

VB: Was it cheaper go to the cinema in Wells?

JS: Oh yes. I can't remember now what we used to pay.

VB: Mhm.

JS: I think that be about one and sixpence for the best seats!

VB: A-ah. I wish, I wish it still was. [laughs]

JS: [laughs]

VB: It's great. Ah. What about your family? Were your parents interested in film or--

JS: No.

VB: No.

JS: No. They, well, my mother and father was erm, well they wasn't out and out but, you know, they was religious--

VB: I see.

JS: But they wasn't narrow-minded. I mean I used to go to a lot of dances as well. If I was getting ready to go out, my father'd say, "Well going out again tonight?" [inaudible; laughs]

VB; [laughs] Ah. What was it your father, what kind of work did your father do?

JS: He was a foreman on erm, two or three farms.

VB: I see. Yeah.

JS: [coughs] I don't suppose he ever seen a picture in his life.

VB: Mhm. Did the church then, did it not approve of going to the cinema?

JS: No, I don't think.

VB: Ah, I see. Yeah.

JS: But eh, mhm, another one who I thought was a good actor. What was is his name? Who done Ben Hur.

VB: Oh yes, erm, Ramon Novarro--

JS: No

VB: Did one, erm, Charlton Heston.

JS: Yeah.

VB: Yeah.

JS: I haven't been to the pictures-- That one I told you I went to see, that little girl Mandy. I haven't been for years!

VB: Yeah. Was that, was that the last one you saw?

JS: Yes, I think it was.

VB: Mhm.

JS: That was a marvellous film, I thought. [pause 5 seconds]

VB: Did you like, I mean you mentioned Jackie Coogan and child stars like that. What about Shirley Temple? Was she someone you liked or?

JS: Ooh, yes. What was that? [pause 3 seconds] It was a little bit on the-- [pause 2 seconds] I couldn't see it or hear it, on here, [inaudible; coughs] one of her things, what she was in.

VB: Mhm. It's funny that, you saying about the, just when I came in just now, about seeing Jack Hulbert and--

JS: Yeah.

VB: Cicely Courtneidge again.

JS: He had a brother. Was it Claude? I forget now what his brother's name was but, I think it was Claude.

VB: What do you think made them so good, so appealing to you?

JS: Well eh-- [pause 2 seconds] They seem to be able to put it over, you know. I wouldn't say they was brilliant but they, [pause 2 seconds] had a personality.

VB: Mhm. So there was something a bit special about them, you think?

JS: Yeah.

VB: Yeah.

JS: 'Course that was at the same time as what Gracie Fields was.

VB: Mhm. Did. did you notice a difference between the English and the American films then?

JS: No. We never took much notice of them really. We just went to the pictures.

VB: Mhm. So was it--sorry.

JS: 'Course George Formby was doing films at the time.

VB: Mhm.

JS: We was talking about Jack Hulbert.

VB: 'Cause you were saying before you mentioned George Formby. Was he someone you particularly liked then?

JS: Yes.

VB: Yeah. What was it about George Formby?

JS: Well that was another one couldn't sing.

VB: [laughs]

JS: [laughs] Not what we called sing.

VB: Mhm.

JS: [coughs] But eh, no I-- [pause 3 seconds] There was eh, Gordon Harker and-- [pause 4 seconds] Another one we saw was Harold Lloyd.

VB: Mhm.

JS: The Western Brothers. The same age group as, you know, Elsie and Doris Waters.

VB: Mhm.

JS: The Western Brothers.

VB: Did you like them?

JS: Oh yes. They was good.

VB: Mhm.

JS: They were sort of [inaudible] all the time.

VB: Mhm. [pause 5 seconds] It sounds like you remember it very well even though you didn't go so often.

JS: Mhm. [I suppose it was normal for that?] age group.

[pause 10 seconds]

VB: I mean do you think there were, of the stars that you've mentioned, were there particular qualities that you did like in a film star?

JS: Well, I suppose there was really.

VB: Mhm.

JS: Really, you know, but-- [pause 5 seconds]

VB: It's hard to put your finger on these things I think sometimes.

JS: Yes, well like erm, I have seen him one or two films here. Like erm, John Wayne.

VB: A-ah.

JS: Used to be crazy on him. But as I said, give me Roy Rogers, we used to go and see him and his horse. But other people are different from me.

VB: Of course. Yeah. I mean did you talk about films much with your friends?

JS: Oh yes. I suppose they'd say something was on and are you going this week, and something special is coming.

VB: Mhm. [pause 6 seconds] But sport was something that gave you more--

JS: Yes, we used to walk to Wells. And after that was over we used to have fish and chips and have to walk home. [laughs]

VB: A-ah. [laughs] So it must've been quite a night out then if it--

JS: Oh yes.

VB: The walk and, yeah. [pause 5 seconds] Do you think the films then were better, worse than the ones today?

JS: Oh the films, in them days the films was not put together quite so well as what they are now.

VB: Mhm.

JS: [inaudible; coughs] But they erm, [pause 2 seconds] if you looked at them 00:26:00really, you'd see several little mistakes. Well, everything got to be just so now.

VB: Yeah. That's interesting. So you don't think they were, as you say, as well put together as the ones erm, now?

JS: No.

VB: What about the acting? Do you think there was a difference there?

JS: Ooh, some of them was very very good. [pause 2 seconds] Erm, I mean I suppose they was good erm, Elizabeth Taylor and erm, Richard Burton. But to me, I wouldn't go to see them.

VB: Mhm.

JS: [coughs] But to me, you see, I couldn't see why they was worth all that money but--

VB: Yeah.

JS: But, you see, to me I'd rather see one where there's a mistake or two made 00:27:00in it. Where you'd laugh at. And I think with everything made perfect--

VB: Yeah. 'Cause I was interested as well when you were saying about going. Was it more a case of going to see a particular film or was it because you were, say, in Norwich or wanting a night out? Was it the film--

JS: Well now and again, I suppose that'd be to see a particular film. But I suppose, a lot of times we went to see who was going, who was playing the leading part.

VB: Ah, I see. Yeah. So was it the star that--

JS: Ye-es.

VB: Yeah. So a film with say Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, you would--

JS: Yeah.

VB: I see, yeah. [pause 3 seconds] How did you find out about the films? Was it--

JS: Oh they used to come round put the bill posters up in the villages.

VB: Did they?

JS: Yes.

VB: Oh that's interesting.

JS: Oh yes.

VB: So were they sort of big posters or--

JS: About that size, yes.

VB: About maybe five feet.

JS: They erm, have two or three weeks on.

VB: Ah, I see. So was there was a particular place in Wighton that they put--

JS: Oh, where they bill posted.

VB: Yeah.

JS: Yes.

VB: A-ah. I didn't realise that. That's interesting.

JS: Yeah.

VB: So that must have been quite exciting to see.

JS: Well I remember seeing a man there who used to do it. He come round with his erm, bicycle with a pail and a little brush on it. Brush on and he'd stick the bills up.

VB: Mhm. [pause 10 seconds] It is really interesting to me 'Cause it's very different from--

JS: Ooh, yes, it is. Altogether different.

VB: Erm, cinema now. What sort of size was Wighton in the thirties?

JS: Oh, about three to four hundred people, that's all.

VB: Three to four hundred?

JS: Yes.

VB: Yeah. So it must've been quite a, you know, you must have known quite a lot of the people.

JS: Oh we eh [place name?]. You take all round, there's Warham, Hindringham, Binham, Stiffkey. We sort of knew everybody in each village.

VB: Yeah.

JS: But now with all these people with holiday houses, we don't know anybody.

VB: Yeah.

JS: [coughs]

VB: Do you think, I mean, did you, was it a happy time in your life that?

JS: Oh yes.

VB: Growing up there.

JS: Yes, I had a good time.

VB: Yeah.

[End of Side A]

[Start of Side B]

VB: You were saying, community singing?

JS: Singing, yeah. That started erm, just after eh, Wembley Exhibition, 1924 and 00:30:00'25. Because the tattoo on the nights, they always finished up with 'Abide With Me'. But then they had the Cup Final. That's when they started erm, eh, community singing. Only about one song, you see. Till they got properly going and eh, well I remember the song was erm, 'There's a Long Long Trail A-winding'. And that was all on there and there was a little ball going along, all along to the eighth word. [pause 3 seconds] And that was the same tune all over the country.

VB: Mhm. That's interesting. So you had a , you participated in the entertainment as well.

JS: Yeah, [laughs] yeah.

VB: Ah. Did they ever play The National Anthem then?

JS: Oh always played that.

VB: Yeah.

JS: And you always tried to get out.

VB: [laughs]

JS: You know, they got two people to go up and they'd have this about a minute before they come on. But in them days, [laughs] you'd try to get out.

VB: [laughs]

JS: 'Course, they had the door locked. You wouldn't get out.

VB: Ah, I see. Ah. It does sound like a very good night out. Evening out.

JS: Yes.

VB: Yeah. [pause 3 seconds] So did you, I mean would you see, when you went to the cinema in Wells, would there be a quite a lot of people from Wighton?

JS: Well, Bedford. And there'd be some from Warham, you know.

VB: Yeah.

JS: All these surrounding villages. Who we knew.

VB: Yeah.

JS: But now and again if there was a special film, it might be full up!

VB: Yeah. It must've been quite a good place to, as you say, see the people you 00:32:00knew and--

JS: Oh yes.

VB: Yeah.

JS: In them villages. There's Stiffkey, [inaudible], Stiffkey, Warham, Hindringham, Walsingham. Well we knew everybody as well as we knew them in our own village!

VB: Mhm.

JS: Now we don't know nobody.

VB: Mhm. And I suppose with the cricket matches--

JS: Yeah.

VB: And things as well, you must've got to know people.

JS: We eh, we're leaving the ground now. In the cricket matches during the wartime, we managed to keep it going all the wartime. We kept it going all the wartime. So we were playing against some of the first-class cricketers really.

VB: I don't know much about cricket--

JS: No.

VB: So I wouldn't, I probably wouldn't know who you were talking about but--

JS: No see they was in erm Stiffkey or Langham and Snoring and Creake airfields. [pause 3 seconds] I was trying to think, I went to Stiffkey 00:33:00camp, during the wartime to see one film. [pause 2 seconds] We wanted something to do one night and we went there. And erm, Beryl Reid was in it. I know. And erm, [pause 3 seconds] Kenneth, not Kenneth More. Erm, his first wife. Dorothy Squires.

VB: Ah.

JS: She was in it. I know. [pause 8 seconds] I'm trying to think what-- [pause 2 seconds]

VB: Oh. As you say, these are things that'll come back [laughs] later today. [pause 4 seconds] I mean it's been very good of you to talk to me again. I really appreciate that. [pause 4 seconds]

JS: Yeah well, Carter, he was the same age group as practically all in erm, Carry On films.

VB: Mhm. Was that something you enjoyed? 'Cause you mentioned, as I came in.

JS: Some of them I liked. But some of them I didn't like.

VB: Mhm.

JS: I didn't like the sort of foreign ones and all that. Suppose there aren't many of them alive now--

VB: Mhm.

JS: What was in that.

VB: Mhm. That's true. [pause 8 seconds]

JS: [laughs] Can't think any more.

VB: [laughs] Ah. Well as I say, I mean, you've told me a lot more and thanks for helping me like that. That's very very good of you.

JS: I don't mind. Nice to talk to you.

VB: 'Cause it's interesting as I say, for me to hear about erm, your way of life really then as well.

JS: Yeah. [laughs softly]

VB: 'Cause it's eh, certainly is different I think to, to life today--

JS: Yeah.

VB: Erm, to hear about that. [pause 4 seconds] And eh, as I say, I'm sorry to have missed your wife--

JS: Yeah.

VB: 'Cause I'd liked to have said hello.

JS: Yeah, as I say, she should be here today or tomorrow.

VB: Yeah. Yeah.

[End of Side B]

[End of interview]