What do we think about this rather strange kind of stuff?

I'm perplexed... everything seems to be dramatised these days on TV, from biographies to history, and I find it rather alarming...

Generally speaking, I much prefer a good, "traditional" documentary, but I guess the dreaded "general public" finds docs rather boring, hence the "necessity" of giving people what they apparently want, which is indeed drama, looks like...

The main problem with biopics, in my mind, is that most "real" lives aren't very "interesting" per se, so semi-fictional elements of drama have to be somewhat forcibly inserted or at least exaggerated in order to make a "good show" of it.

Have you ever seen a really good biopic?

Haven't seen that many myself, but the only one I really liked was "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers", where the mix between a "really interesting" life and the absolutely wonderful performance of Geoffrey Rush as Peter made all the difference.

Slightly less enjoyable was "Not Only... But Always", on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, which I found also rather truthful, although a bit exaggerated, again, and with good performers too, especially Rhys Ifans as Cooky, but it was all a bit too much focused on the difficult rapport between Pete and Dud, which certainly existed, but...

The one that entirely failed to impress me, for good or bad, was "Rather You Than Me", on Frankie Howerd. David Walliams gave a decent performance there, but you just can't "play" good old Francis, he was truly one of a kind and we'll never see the likes of him again, ever... besides, Frank was a rather private man, there isn't much of his life that gives scope for dramatisation, it all felt rather forced...

Now to see the recent Morecambe and Wise, I'm not expecting much out of it, which is probably the best way to enjoy these things...

Talking of biopics,there's one on tonight-
"Hattie"- 9.00pm BBC4, a drama starring Ruth Jones and Robert Bathhurst,obviously about the larger than life "Carry on/Hancock's half hour" star Hattie Jaques...........lets see if they get this right!

Gomez

I like "Hustle" too, but the last series disappointed me - they were just too weak and their scams so predictable.  Series 7 which is showing now seems a little better.  Why are the using Robert Vaughn so little now?  Is he unwell?  his contribution is very small now and there have been a few episodes without him.

An update to the main topic...

I finally managed to watch "Hattie", and hated it...

Very good performances, again, Ruth Jones was great as Hattie, and Robert Bathurst gave a very good physical impersonation of John Le Mesurier, down to little details like the tug of the ear that was so typical of him, but the writers missed the point entirely, once again...

The whole life and career of Hattie as one of the greatest comediennes of her time were downright ignored, the script only and exclusively concentrates on the sordid details of her extra-marital affair, the picture given of her by the script is that of a rather shallow middle-aged woman who falls head over heels for a young hunk just for sex, while Le Mez is seen as an uncaring, unfeeling drunken sod, and that is reductive to say the least, for the both of them...

Paradoxically, the character coming out best in the story is that of John Schofield, the ne'er do well who seduced Hattie, broke her marriage and abandoned her without a by-your-leave, while she was sick in hospital, a little detail which is only mentioned in passing, with a caption while the end credits roll...

Ugly! This is something catering just for the morbid curiosity of people who only care for scandal as entertainment, I've never seen the Steptoes film often quoted by Phil, but if this was the general "theme" of the thing, I can well understand his feelings there...

Funnily enough, this was shown by the Beeb during sort of a "Hattie Jacques Night", before a couple of "Sykes", the famous "This is Your Life" episode where John Le Mez had to play happy husband despite himself, and the only surviving episode of the "Miss Adventure" series, apparently they meant the whole lot as a hommage to Hattie, and it would have worked well, if it wasn't for the biopic itself, which ruined everything for me...


I also watched a few episodes of the "Get Well Soon" series, and I'm glad to say this is an entirely different kettle of fish, and a very tasty fish it is...

Not a "morbid" biopic at all, there sure is inspiration from Galton & Simpson's own time spent in a TBC sanatorium, but this is VERY good comedy in the first place, one can only hope it's not TOO close to their actual experience...

Written by Ray himself, along with another of ALS' finest, John Antrobus, all I can say is, heartily recommended, this is another of those things that manage to get under the radar of popularity, but is well worth watching!

I watched "Hattie",thought it was ok.I knew this part of her story so,it would have been nice to see a focus on other parts of her life,that probably wouldn't have been so sensational though would it???
Jason Isaacs played Malfoy's Father in the "Harry Potter" films,thats all i'd seen him in before.
I have a recording of the original broadcast of "Curse of Steptoe" from BBC4, a load of tripe it is too...................

Are we only talking about comedu biopics here?  I have recently watched a spate of other biopics, some good, some bad.

The most unintentionally funny was the latest smash hit american 6 episode mini series based on the early years of Elvis Presley.  Riddled with more mistakes than the Steptoe one, in one 30 minute episode I counted no less than 17 mistakes.  17 in 30 minutes?   The strangest thing is, it is the most obvious things they got wrong!

"Walk The Line" is a good film based on J.R. Cash, but quite liberal with the truth - not in a way that is is inaccurate, just that they pushed the boundaries of artistic dramatic license a little.  "Beyond The Sea" is a decent film based on the life of Bobby Darin.

I guess biopics are ticky - a movie has to have pace - drama at specific points, comedy at specific points and of course life is not like that.  I agree with artistic license - it has to gel together as a piece of cinema / television, but I guess there are also limits.  For example, if they can't actually be bothered to do the most basic research on the subject, why should we be bothered to watch?

"Chaplin" is a  great film, yes, it is a film of the book, not neccessarily a biopic.  I heard recently that Chaplin, in his early days, was once questioned as a murder suspect!  Of course they found out he had nothing to do with it, but a nice bit of trivia!