I never trust anyone I do business with, and as you can see I am right.

The Avengers

2.17: Immortal Clay

A low-key, quasi-domestic setting for this one, in which Steed and Cathy investigate murder at a pottery. Immortal Clay’s heightened element involves the invention of an unbreakable ceramic, worth a fortune to future manufacturers of space shuttle thermal protection systems (or, as suggested here, high speed rockets and aircraft).

Written and directed by established contributors to the series James Mitchell and Richmond Harding respectively, the episode isn’t so big on intrigue, but quite well represented in supporting characters. Paul “Jim Hacker” Eddington is the most recognisable cast member, as pottery manager Richard Marling, but the role is less dominant than that of his inventor brother Allen (Gary Watson, Arthur Terrall in The Evil of the Daleks).

Much of the plot is preoccupied with Miller (James Bree, veteran of The War Games, Full Circle and The Trial of a Time Lord) as the little man obsessed with “glamour girl” Mara (Didi Sullivan), to the extent that he’s willing to sell the ceramic formula to De Groot (Steve Plytas, also featuring in The Tenth Planet, and as Kurt in Fawlty Towers’ Gourmet Night) to secure her engagement. Miller is a tragic, squirming figure, without a hope of winning Mara (who, pecuniary-minded, has eyes for Allen) but willing to destroy everything for the sake of his obsession. It’s a strong performance from Bree, and a convincingly excruciating character.

Steed: There are a few people who specialise in stealing other people’s ideas and selling them to whoever will pay.

When it comes down to it, though, we discover the murder (well, the first murder) was more a case of manslaughter (“Sympathetic jury, probably” suggests Steed of the likely verdict), Allen protecting Anne (Rowena Gregory), Richard’s estranged wife, from an over-amorous suitor. Nothing about the proceedings really grabs, but the soapy dramatics are at least different from the usual menu. Plytas makes a decent villain, with a voluminous henchman (Blomberg, played by Frank Olegario), whom Steed guesses is 16 stone, then later, like the one that got away, 17.

Steed: It’s bad to feel sorry for people in our business. It slows us up.

Cathy: I’m not in your business. You might as well remember that.

The regulars aren’t too prominently placed, aside from the guns-and-fisticuffs climax. As with the preceding episode, we’re reminded of Cathy’s newness to Steed’s world. One-Ten is back, in his final appearance, meeting Steed in a steam room and bemoaning Cathy’s involvement (“I don’t approve of amateurs”). She “knows all about ceramics. She’s writing a book on it”. It’s difficult to believe the breadth of Mrs Gale’s knowledge and acumen hasn’t become a running joke by this point. Amusingly, Steed, as representative of the Ceramics Research Council, has 24 hours to become an expert in the field (“It usually takes ten years”), and is surprised and delighted when he is complimented (“You really do know your ceramics”).

There’s a nominal, underlying commentary on the changing world and the difficulty of small businesses to survive in it (“People don’t want the things he makes any more” it is said of Richard); drab humdrum characters dream of winning the pools, making it big as an actress or hitting a windfall with a reality-changing invention. This being The Avengers, rather than Coronation Street, the last one can actually happen.

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They'll think I've lost control again and put it all down to evolution.

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Oh, you got me right in the pantaloons, partner.

The Party (1968) (SPOILERS) Blake Edwards’ semi-improvisational reunion with Peter Sellers is now probably best known for – I was going to use an elephant-in-the-room gag, but at least one person already went there – Sellers’ “brown face”. And it isn’t a decision one can really defend, even by citing The Party ’s influence on Bollywood. Satyajit Ray had also reportedly been considering working with Sellers… and then he saw the film. One can only assume he’d missed similar performances in The Millionairess and The Road to Hong Kong ; in the latter case, entirely understandable, if not advisable. Nevertheless, for all the flagrant stereotyping, Sellers’ bungling Hrundi V Bakshi is a very likeable character, and indeed, it’s the piece’s good-natured, soft centre – his fledgling romance with Claudine Longet’s Michele – that sees The Party through in spite of its patchy, hit-and-miss quality.

I never strangled a chicken in my life!

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You must have hopes, wishes, dreams.

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I'm an old ruin, but she certainly brings my pulse up a beat or two.

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Miss Livingstone, I presume.

Stage Fright (1950) (SPOILERS) This one has traditionally taken a bit of a bruising, for committing a cardinal crime – lying to the audience. More specifically, lying via a flashback, through which it is implicitly assumed the truth is always relayed. As Richard Schickel commented, though, the egregiousness of the action depends largely on whether you see it as a flaw or a brilliant act of daring: an innovation. I don’t think it’s quite that – not in Stage Fright ’s case anyway; the plot is too ordinary – but I do think it’s a picture that rewards revisiting knowing the twist, since there’s much else to enjoy it for besides.

A herbal enema should fix you up.

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Cuba (1979) (SPOILERS) Cuba -based movies don’t have a great track record at the box office, unless Bad Boys II counts. I guess The Godfather Part II does qualify. Steven Soderbergh , who could later speak to box office bombs revolving around Castro’s revolution, called Richard Lester’s Cuba fascinating but flawed. Which is generous of him.

Never lose any sleep over accusations. Unless they can be proved, of course.

Strangers on a Train (1951) (SPOILERS) Watching a run of lesser Hitchcock films is apt to mislead one into thinking he was merely a highly competent, supremely professional stylist. It takes a picture where, to use a not inappropriate gourmand analogy, his juices were really flowing to remind oneself just how peerless he was when inspired. Strangers on a Train is one of his very, very best works, one he may have a few issues with but really deserves nary a word said against it, even in “compromised” form.

Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know, if you ripped the fronts off houses, you'd find swine? The world's a hell. What does it matter what happens in it?

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) (SPOILERS) I’m not sure you could really classify Shadow of a Doubt as underrated, as some have. Not when it’s widely reported as Hitchcock’s favourite of his films. Underseen might be a more apt sobriquet, since it rarely trips off the lips in the manner of his best-known pictures. Regardless of the best way to categorise it, it’s very easy to see why the director should have been so quick to recognise Shadow of a Doubt 's qualities, even if some of those qualities are somewhat atypical.

Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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