The Terry-Thomas Collection - Make Mine Mink / Too Many Crooks / The Naked Truth (DVD)

Advantages: Strong cast, great characters, very funny
Disadvantages: The fact it's in black and white may put some people off

...with ease. Dennis Price is malevolent but always very cool as blackmailer Nigel Dennis, and he manages to keep the audience from disliking him intensely, possibly because some of the people he is blackmailing aren't too likeable either. His character is similar to that he played in "Kind Hearts & Coronets" and just as good. One suspects Price had a ball making this film. What I love about "The Naked Truth" is the characterisations - something that was always very strong in British comedies of the fifties - aided and abetted no end by some of the incredibly gifted comedic actors working in the UK at the time. It's also fun to spot the actors you recognise in these films, even if they are in "blink and you will miss them" roles. Kenneth Griffith is wonderfully camp as MacGregor's loyal dresser Porter, but in smaller roles are David Lodge as... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to read, some interesting tales
Disadvantages: It's not really an autobiography, and can be a bit confusing

...Boxing Day 1956. The title "Too Many Mothers" illustrates how the book is very much focused upon the female role in the family, and also how many of the children throughout the book seem to move between mothers. I found it very hard to keep track of who was who and what year we were in. It particularly confused me when talking about people doing various things when I had read in the previous chapter that they had died. I had to keep referring back to previous parts of the book just to get things straight in my head. A family tree with birth, marriage and death dates would have been extremely useful. Despite the confusion it does make quite easy reading. There is a degree of bad language and a few parts which were a bit crude, but this illustrates the culture of the time and place. Conclusion I had bought... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fab story, great characters, funny, well written
Disadvantages: None

...coming out. How far is Catherine willing to go to keep her past buried and all colleagues in the dark about it? And what is the big secret she's hiding? Naked Truths is the follow on from Jo Carnegie's debut novel Country Pursuits. I haven't read this yet, although I do have a copy of it on my bookshelf upstairs, so I was worried about whether I would be able to get into this having not known any of the back story or what happened in the first book. I needn't have worried though, because the book was so well written and enjoyable I felt like I hadn't missed anything and got straight into the characters without a hitch. Anything related to Country Pursuits was well explained, so this book is perfect as both a follow on for those who know the characters but it works equally well as a stand alone book too which is great! The book starts... Read review

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