Showing posts with label Chaplin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chaplin. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Limelight


 Charlie Chaplin - Spring Song (Limelight)

Terry: 
What is there to fight for?

Calvero: 
Ah, you see, you admit it. 
What is there to fight for? Everything. 

Life itself, isn't that enough, to be lived, suffered, enjoyed. 

What is there to fight for? 

Life is a beautiful, magnificent thing, even to a jellyfish. 
Besides, you have your art, your dancing.

Terry: 
I can't dance without legs.

Calvero: 
I know a man without arms who can play a scherzo on a violin and does it all with his toes. 

The Trouble is you won't fight. 

You've given in, continually dwelling on Sickness and Death. 
But there's something just as inevitable as Death, and that's Life. Life, life, life. 
Think of all the power that's in The Universe, moving the earth, growing the trees. 
That's the same power within you if you only have Courage and The Will to use it.





Spring is here
Birds are calling
Skunks are crawling
Wagging their tails for love.

Spring is here
Whales are churning
Worms are squirming
Wagging their tails for love.

What is this thing
Of which I sing
That makes us all bewitched?
What is this thing
That comes in spring
That gives us all the itch?

Oh, it’s love, it’s love, it’s love love love love love
Love love love love love love love (etc. etc.)



“I believe that Faith is a precursor of all our ideas. Without Faith, there never could have evolved hypothesis, theory, science or mathematics. 

I believe that Faith is an extension of The Mind. It is The Key that negates The Impossible. 

To deny Faith is to refute oneself and The Spirit That Generates All Our Creative Forces. My Faith is in The Unknown, in all that we do not understand by Reason; I believe that what is beyond our comprehension is a simple fact in other dimensions, and that in The Realm of The Unknown there is An Infinite Power for Good."

Charlie Chaplin,
My Autobiography, p. 291




[as Terry dances, Calvero prays behind the stage] 

“Whoever you are, whatever it is, keep it going. Keep it going until...”
[sees someone staring at him] 
I've lost a button... one of those cheap outfits.....

Monday 31 December 2018

The Feast of Steven






I now realise what the second half of this episode was intended to be, what it would have looked like, and how they would have depicted it — Camfield would have just had all his cameras pull back and around the edges of the sets used earlier-on for the Z-Cars spoof in the first half of the episode, shot all the sets from the back (complete with all the scenery, grips, sound and lighting rigs and the normal studio floor stagehands) and, just by representing the Hollywood backlot with a chase sequence passing through and around the sets and studio floor of 

( *checks in First Doctor Handbook* ) 

Studio 3 at BBC Television Centre — he would have achieved, for many of these scenes, results that not only were both visually unique and unprecedented (Spike Milligan’s Q  was still a couple years away, with the first series of Python 5years in the future, at this point, bare in mind — ), but also, most likely, highly entertaining and amusing to a 1965 family audience.

Certainly, what Camfield, Nation, Spooner and co. were attenping (both in serial (V) overall generally, and with Episode 7 in particular, taken on its own merits) was an effort unsurpassed in its scope and originality for its time. 

By breaking all The Rules of Television.

(Which were, at the time, still brand-new — it’s an Erisian Labour of Discord-Sowing Mischief of a relative scale equivalent to that which Orson Welles achieved with his successful abuse of all of the narrative and editorial rules of Cinema (including ALL those which he himself had invented on Citizen Kane 30 years earlier, which was MOST of them) in F for Fake, a documentary film proof of the impossibility of the existence of such a thing as a documentary film....)





http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/3-3.htm




Episode 7 - The Feast of Steven
(Broadcast on December 25th 1965)
[Street]
(In fact, the poisonous atmosphere is no more than 1960's urban pollution.)
SERGEANT: What in the name of?
(The Tardis looks quite at home outside a Police Station somewhere in the North of England.)
SERGEANT: Who put that there?
(Returning to the station in their car, two police officers are full of seasonal cheer, and singing carols.)
CONSTABLE 1 (the driver) + CONSTABLE 2 (the passenger): When a poor man came inside, gathering winter fuel.
CONSTABLE 1: Here, I reckon we could charm the birds of the trees.
CONSTABLE 2: I'd settle for some from the coffee bars.
CONSTABLE 1: Here, what about 'While Shepherds Watch'? do you think they'd appreciate that?
CONSTABLE 2: Hey, now here's the Sergeant. Come on.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh.
CONSTABLE 2: Hello Sergeant, what you doing out here?
SERGEANT: Hey, come and have a look at this.
(They gather around the Tardis.)
CONSTABLE 2: Well, where did that come from?
SERGEANT: You tell me.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, perhaps someone sent it to the Inspector as a Christmas box.
SERGEANT: And perhaps you'll both just stay out here and watch it.
CONSTABLE 1: Why? Do you think it's going to fly away?
SERGEANT: Just you stay there and keep an eye on it, right?
[Tardis]
STEVEN: And just why, if it isn't safe for us, is it safe for you?
DOCTOR: Will neither of you understand?
SARA: For heaven's sake, let's go and fix the scanner!
DOCTOR: No! Where you come from, in both places, the air is pure. Outside there is the worst kind of pollution I've met in years.
STEVEN: Right, then you shouldn't go out there, either.
DOCTOR: Ah, my dear boy, I'm used to all sorts of atmospheres. It won't affect me. I shall have to go out and do the repairing myself.
SARA: But suppose something happens to you?
DOCTOR: Then, and only then, can you come out. But you must be very, very careful.
STEVEN: And how are we supposed to know that something has happened to you?
DOCTOR: My dear young man, just give me a few minutes and if all is well, I shall be back inside again to tell you.
STEVEN: And if not, we come out and find you? I seem to have been through all this before.
DOCTOR: Now, look here, my boy. You will do as you're told! Now you just open the doors and remember to close them after I've gone.
STEVEN: Yes, sir!
[Street]
(The Doctor comes face to face with a policeman on guard outside.)
CONSTABLE 1: Good evening.
DOCTOR: Good evening.
CONSTABLE 1: Hey, you!
(The Doctor ducks back inside the Tardis.)
CONSTABLE 2: What's up?
CONSTABLE 1: See that?
CONSTABLE 2: See what?
CONSTABLE 1: That then.
CONSTABLE 2: What when?
CONSTABLE 1: That door,
CONSTABLE 2: That door?
CONSTABLE 1: It opened,
CONSTABLE 2: Did it?
CONSTABLE 1: There's a bloke in there.
CONSTABLE 2: Oh, aye?
CONSTABLE 1: A bloke with long white hair. I just saw him.
CONSTABLE 2: Did you?
CONSTABLE 1: Aye.
CONSTABLE 2: It's locked.
CONSTABLE 1: But I just saw him.
CONSTABLE 2: Oh, aye.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: No, police. P-O-L-I-C-E.
SARA: Oh, I see. We've landed on your own planet.
DOCTOR: Oh, nonsense, child. We're back on Earth.
SARA: But that's what's written outside the Tardis.
DOCTOR: Oh, never mind. Never mind. I shall have to go outside and try and distract them. Meanwhile, you can stay here for a while then come out and do the scanner.
STEVEN: Yes. But, you said the air out there was so bad, that if we went out
DOCTOR: Never mind what I said, my dear boy. Do as you're told. Now open the doors and remember to shut them after I've gone.
STEVEN: Yes, sir.
[Street]
(The Doctor is about to walk away when two voices stop him in his tracks.)
DOCTOR: Hmm.
CONSTABLE 2: It wouldn't be Father Christmas, would it?
CONSTABLE 1: All right lad. It's a fair cop.
(The Doctor is escorted into the police station.)
[Police station]
(The desk sergeant is dealing with another visitor.)
SERGEANT: All right. What can I do for you?
MAN: I've got a complaint.
SERGEANT: Well, the doctor's just around the corner.
MAN: No, no, no, no. I, I mean, I want to make a complaint.
SERGEANT: Oh, I see. Well, let's have your name then.
MAN: They keep moving me house.
SERGEANT: Moving your what?
MAN: House!
SERGEANT: They keep moving your house?
MAN: Yes. Me greenhouse. It's the rebels.
SERGEANT: The rebels?
CONSTABLE 1: Anyone in CID.?
SERGEANT: Oh, straight through.
CONSTABLE 1: Good. Come on.
DOCTOR: (to the man) Haven't I seen your face before somewhere?
MAN: Where?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course, I remember now, yes. The marketplace at Jaffa.
MAN: Jaffa? The young chap said I should come to see you about.
SERGEANT: Do what?
MAN: About me greenhouse. It's the rebels.
(Having seen the Doctor taken away, Steven emerges from the Tardis intent on trying to rescue him, but he's forced to hide behind the nearby police car when one of the officers reappears.)
[Inspector's office]
(The Doctor is being questioned by CID.)
INSPECTOR: I've heard of a housing shortage, but I never knew it was so bad you'd have to spend Christmas in a Police Box.
DOCTOR: Oh, Christmas. Oh, is it? Of course. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That accounts for the holly in the hall.
INSPECTOR: You mean you didn't know?
DOCTOR: Well, of course I didn't know. I travel about too much.
INSPECTOR: And why is that?
DOCTOR: Well, a quest of knowledge, dear boy. I mean, you have a saying in this country, have you not? Travel broadens the mind?
INSPECTOR: You mean you're not English?
DOCTOR: No. Gracious, no.
INSPECTOR: Scottish?
DOCTOR: No.
INSPECTOR: Are you Welsh, then?
DOCTOR: Oh, you'll have to think in a far bigger way than that. Your ideas are too narrow, too small, too crippled.
INSPECTOR: All right, all right. What are you then?
DOCTOR: Well, I suppose you might say that I am a citizen of the universe, and a gentleman to boot.
CONSTABLE 2: He's having us on a bit, isn't he sir?
INSPECTOR: Now, look lad.
(Outside, the police officer moves and Steven comes out of hiding. He seems unsure how best to proceed, but then spots the tunic of a police uniform on the back seat of the car. Making sure no one is about, Steven opens the car door.)
[Police station]
MAN: And now they've been and gone and moved it again.
SERGEANT: Oh, where to this time?
MAN: I don't know. That's why I came to see you. The young fellow.
SERGEANT: You sure it's not out there along beside the, oh, here, just a minute.
(Steven comes in, now dressed in police uniform.)
STEVEN: Er, excuse me.
SERGEANT: Ah. You must be the new bloke from G Division, come to help us out.
STEVEN: I, I beg your pardon?
SERGEANT: I said you must be the new bloke from G Division.
STEVEN: Must I? Oh! Oh, yes. Yes, that's right. Yes, I've called about the old man.
SERGEANT: Old man? What old man?
STEVEN: Well, he was brought in here a minute ago.
SERGEANT: Oh, he's with the CID. You'd better wait until they've finished with him.
STEVEN: Fine, yeah. Well, I've got to get to him.
SERGEANT: Well, you'll have to wait, lad. He'll be out here again soon. Now wait over there.
MAN: Now what about my greenhouse?
SERGEANT: Oh, yes. Now where was it you said?
MAN: Well, for a start, it's not in me garden.
[Inspector's office]
DOCTOR: I don't think you really understand. That object in the yard out there isn't really a police box.
INSPECTOR: No, no, of course it's not. It's the new Brighton ferry.
DOCTOR: It is a machine for investigating Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.
(The officers draw discreetly to one side.)
CONSTABLE 2: He's a nutter.
INSPECTOR: He's straight from a funny-farm, if you ask me.
DOCTOR: Do I take it that you gentlemen are imputing that I am mentally deranged?
CONSTABLE 2: I told you. He's a nutter.
INSPECTOR: Was he the only bloke in the box?
CONSTABLE 1: Well how should I know?
INSPECTOR: Well didn't you check? There might be a whole army of them in there, living like gypsies in one of Her Majesty's police telephone boxes.
CONSTABLE 2: And just how many people do you expect to come out of one box?
[Street]
(Sara comes out of the Tardis, considering how she might climb up to fix the scanner eye, and rather concerned that the Doctor and Steven have not yet returned. SARA: Where have they got to?
CONSTABLE 1: Hello, Hello. What are you doing hanging around here on Christmas Day?
SARA: Nothing.
CONSTABLE 1: Surprised to see a police box here, I suppose?
SARA: Oh! You think it's yours?
CONSTABLE 1: Well, not mine exactly. Well, let's say it belongs to us, eh? So why don't you leave it where it is and just move along, eh?
SARA: I've got to fix it.
CONSTABLE 1: Fix what?
SARA: The scanner eye.
CONSTABLE 1: The scanner eye?
SARA: Yes.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, you do?
SARA: Yes.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh. Well, we usually get the jokers around here at Christmas time, but we have to be lenient. So, just move along, eh?
SARA: I can't.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, yes you can, young lady. That's enough of joking. I'm sure you're going to enjoy yourself at that party you're going to, so why not go down there now.
SARA: I'm not going to a party.
CONSTABLE 1: Well, wherever you are going dressed up in them fancy clothes, you leave now and there won't be no trouble.
SARA: I've got to stay here.
CONSTABLE 1: Now you take my advice, young lady, and leave now. Otherwise, I might have to run you in for loitering or something like that. I wouldn't like to have to do that. We've had a bit of trouble like that already tonight. You see, we don't like people hanging around. But at Christmas time we have to be lenient, and we don't want to be too difficult for you.
SARA: But. Oh, very well.
CONSTABLE 1: Have a, have a, have a swinging time. Funny girl.
SARA: The idiots. They've obviously got themselves into some kind of trouble.
[Police station]
SERGEANT: Why don't you sit down, lad. You're making the place look untidy.
(At that moment, the Doctor is brought out of the interrogation room.)
STEVEN: It's all right?
DOCTOR: Of course, of course. And what are you doing here?
INSPECTOR: Who are you? Do you know this man?
STEVEN: Yes. I, I mean, aye.
SERGEANT: He's the extra bloke from G Division, sir.
STEVEN: Oh, yeah. It's all right. I'll look after him.
INSPECTOR: Well, if you know him, perhaps you can tell us what he's doing in a police box.
STEVEN: A what?
INSPECTOR: That police box across the yard. He claims to live in it.
STEVEN: Hold on, just a minute. It'll be all right. Just a minute. Oh, er, it's all right, er, you see, he's a funny fellow but I know how to handle him. We're used to him down in G Division.
INSPECTOR: Very well. Well, get him out of here, and see that he steers clear of that police box.
STEVEN: Right. I'll do that, sir. Right. Er, come on then, old man.
DOCTOR: Enough of the old man either. What's all this funny accent?
STEVEN: Everybody else is doing it.
SERGEANT: I'll come with you, make sure you can manage.
(Steven makes a great show of manhandling the Doctor out into the street.) 
[Street]
CONSTABLE 2: Hey, you! Hey you, what you playing at?
STEVEN: We've got to reach the Tardis, and hurry.
(Now Sara has been apprehended.
CONSTABLE 2: I don't know what it is about that police box, but first of all, the old bloke comes out of it. Now I catch this lass climbing about on it.
SARA: Please let me go!
STEVEN: It's all right. I know her too.
SERGEANT: Aye. You seem to know all the queer people. Well, who is she?
STEVEN: Well, she's a, she's a friend of the old man's.
SARA: Let me go! Come on, Steven.
(With a well-aimed elbow, Sara struggles free, and she and Steven slip into the Tardis after the Doctor. It dematerialises.)
CONSTABLE 1: Hello. hello. What's up with you? 'ere, 'ere, it's gone.
CONSTABLE 2: What?
CONSTABLE 1: That telephone box, it's gone. Weren't it meant for us? 
[Tardis]
STEVEN: I found this jacket, so they thought I was one of their group. And when you appeared on the scene they were completely mystified.
DOCTOR: Well, even I, dear boy, must admit that I enjoyed myself. Did you fix the scanner?
SARA: I did. And no help from either of you.
DOCTOR: Oh.
STEVEN: At least it's working.
DOCTOR: Have you checked it?
SARA: Of course not. After that man grabbed me I didn't have a chance.
DOCTOR: Never mind, never mind. Is the taranium safe?
STEVEN: Yes. Over there.
SARA: Oh, I'd forgotten about the Daleks.
DOCTOR: Now, that's one thing you mustn't do, my dear. Remember, they have the same type of machines and they can follow us.
STEVEN: Yes. But, they won't have found out about the switch yet.
DOCTOR: No, I sincerely hope not.
SARA: While we have the taranium their plan cannot work.
DOCTOR: I don't think the Daleks will attack the Solar System until they've checked their Time Destructor.
STEVEN: Then what can we do?
DOCTOR: Well, I think we might, perhaps, be able to destroy the taranium before they catch us up.
SARA: I think we've stopped again.
DOCTOR: Yes, we might, we might still be on Earth. Wait a minute.
DOCTOR: Oh, no. The atmosphere has improved considerably. Yes, let's have a look at the scanner. It might tell us something.
(The Tardis appears to have materialised inside a wood mill. A woman screams.)
DOCTOR: The door!
(A tall man in a long dark cape comes into view, dragging a young girl across the barn towards a huge circular saw.) 
[Wood mill film set]
(There's a piano playing in the background.)
BLOSSOM: (screaming) Oh, No! No! No!
TRANTON: And then my secret will be safe forever. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
BLOSSOM: (screaming) No! Help me! Somebody help me!
TRANTON: Your cries cannot be heard. The sawmills are miles from anywhere. Ha, ha.
(Steven, still dressed as a policeman, dashes from the Tardis and attacks the man, knocking him over. Sara rushes forward and unties the girl. But all is not as it seems. The Tardis has landed on a Hollywood movie set in the early days of film.)
BLOSSOM: Oh! Somebody! Oh! Stop! Oh! Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!
GREEN: Cut! Cut! Who let those bums in here?
BLOSSOM: Steinberger, they've ruined my scene! Oh!
GREEN: It's that guy, DeMille. He's trying to sabotage me! Get those bums out of here!
(Several cameramen move in to overpower them. Sara uses her combat skills to decimate the opposition, Steven helping as best he can. In the melee they manage to escape.)
GREEN: Did you see those two? Wait. I want them back here.
BLOSSOM: Oh, Steinberger, what are you going to do about it?
(Steinberger P Green is delighted with their performance, Blossom LeFevre and the leading man less so.)
GREEN: Pipe down now. There's no camera running now. Save it for later.
TRANTON: Steinberger, look at my eye.
GREEN: (to a crewman) Hey you!
TRANTON: Look what they've done to my eye.
GREEN: I want those two back here. He's great!
TRANTON: Am I, or am I not, the star of this picture?
GREEN: bigger than Fairbanks! Well, don't just stand there,
TRANTON: Look what they've done to my eye. Look at my eye! Look at my eye!
GREEN: Go get them!
(And so the hunt was on.)
[Studio corridor]
(Running down the corridor between two studios Steven meets the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Where's Sara?
STEVEN: I must've lost her. Where are we?
DOCTOR: In here quick.
(They pass a small figure that looks suspiciously like Charlie Chaplin then dive through a door into a vast room full of costumes.)
[Sheik's tent set]
SHEIK: And then I will come to you on my camel, and sweep you away across the desert.
INGMAR: No. No. Terrible!
ASSISTANT: OK, Harry. Cut that at 23 (other words are drowned out as he continues the stage instructions)
INGMAR: You've got to give it more feeling. She's not a sack of potatoes.
VAMP: No. He is the sack of potatoes. Where did you find him, on a rubbish dump?
SHEIK: I resent that!
GREEN: Iggy. Iggy! Did you see them?
INGMAR: Who? Who?
GREEN: A guy and a gal. They just beat the living daylights out of my camera crew. It was great!
INGMAR: Perhaps you like your film interrupted, but I do not. Please do not interrupt me when I am creating.
MAN: Mister Kenoff? Mister Kenoff?
INGMAR: Knopf. Ingmar Knopf.
MAN: Mister Knopf, Professor Webster's here, sir.
INGMAR: Ah, good. Send him to me at once. I need him in this next scene.
MAN: Yes, sir.
GREEN: You should have seen him! He was great! Bigger than Fairbanks! I've got to find a name for him! Something suave!
INGMAR: No please, no please, do whatever you like, but leave me alone! Get off my set! I'm trying to make a film!
(Knopf spots Sara creeping round the back of his set.)
INGMAR: Who is this girl? If she's one of the harem, why is she wearing that extraordinary clothing? Tell her to get them off! Send her to wardrobe!
[Corridor]
(The door from wardrobe to the corridor opens and Steven and the Doctor emerge.)
DOCTOR: No, I must find Sara.
STEVEN: You think she's still in this place?
DOCTOR: I'll try out there first. You wait here.
(An assistant director spots Steven in his police uniform.)
ASSISTANT: Oh, there you are! Everybody's waiting.
STEVEN: No. Not
ASSISTANT: Don't argue. Come on.
(The Assistant Director puts a truncheon into Steven's hand and drags him to the nearby set, a Keystone Kops movie. Steven is horrified.)
STEVEN: I'm nothing to do with your film.
(Steven breaks free and dashes down the passageway closely pursued by two other Kops. A moment later he's carried kicking and shouting back the way they came.)
STEVEN [OC]: Put me down! Put me down!! I have never taken part in a scene I swear.
(Despite his protests, Steven is bundled off into the action and soon finds himself embroiled in a crazy car chase, which ends in rather inevitable disaster. As the dust settles, Steven takes his chance and runs off again.)
ASSISTANT: Now where's he got to? We need him to do that scene again. 
[Sheik's tent]
SHEIK: And then I will come to you. And then I will come to you. And then I will come to you on my camel and I will sweep you away across the desert.
INGMAR: All right. All right. Professor Webster isn't here yet, so please don't exhaust your capabilities.
SHEIK: Now look here, Mister Kenoff!
INGMAR: Knopf. Ingmar Knopf.
SHEIK: Kenerve. You can't talk to me like that. I am an actor!
VAMP: What? He is not an actor. You are a cheap pig.
SHEIK: Get lost, fraulein.
(As the crew ready themselves for the next take, the Doctor appears and enters into the spirit of things by immediately being mistaken for someone else.)
INGMAR: Professor Webster! Where have you been all this time?
DOCTOR: Hmm?
INGMAR: We've been waiting for you. As our expert on Arabian customs we need your help.
DOCTOR: Certainly, certainly. My help? Oh, I shall be delighted. Yes. (speaks arabic).
INGMAR: How very good, Professor.
DOCTOR: Doctor, please.
INGMAR: Oh, Doctor! Now this is a rich Sheik's tent.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. And who is this?
INGMAR: She is an Arabian princess.
DOCTOR: Nonsense! You put some more clothes on, child. Go along. And what's all this?
(The Doctor raps on a nearly chest. It opens and Sara climbs out.)
INGMAR: What are you doing in there? Please, get out. You are in the next scene, the harem scene, please.
DOCTOR: Come on. To the wardrobe. The wardrobe.
INGMAR: Doctor, where are you going?
(But what has happened to Steven?)
[Corridor]
(Eluding the Assistant Director, Steven takes the precaution of removing the police tunic to avoid any future misunderstandings. He's heading back to the Tardis when - )
STEVEN: Sara, where've you been?
SARA: I don't know, but a strange man kept telling me to take my clothes off.
DOCTOR: Now, come along. We must go back to the Tardis. This is a madhouse. It's all full of Arabs. Come along.
(Meanwhile, all was not well at the old barn.)
[Wood mill film set]
GREEN: Sure, baby, sure. I know it was a bit of a shock.
BLOSSOM: You're trying to get rid of me. You don't want me as your star any more.
GREEN: Of course I do, baby. You're great. I don't want those kids for your kind of a picture.
BLOSSOM: But, you said you were going to make him bigger than Fairbanks. I suppose you're going to make her bigger than (lost under background dialogue)
GREEN: No, honey, no. She's not that kind of a girl. You're the one I'm gonna make great. Now look. You're gonna, you're gonna take one more take, huh? Please?
BLOSSOM: Oh, all right. But this will be the last time.
GREEN: Sure, sure. Quiet everybody! Set up for a take!
MAN: Set up for a take!
VOICES: Set up for a take!
GREEN: Makeup!
MAN: Makeup!
(Suddenly Green spots Steven and Sara trying to sneak around the back of the set towards the Tardis.)
GREEN: Stop! Stop those two!
MAN: Hey, you two! Come back here!
GREEN: Stop those two!
BLOSSOM: No! No, no, no, no. Oh!
(The Chase was on.)
STEVEN: Come on, Sara.
GREEN: Stop those two!
(During the chase, the Doctor finds a dejected looking clown leaning against the Tardis door.)
DOCTOR: Come back, you two!
CLOWN: Typical. When you're new around here, they chase you, but after a while, you're off.
DOCTOR: What's that?
CLOWN: All the time they want something new. New jokes. There aren't any.
DOCTOR: Aren't there? Well, that's a joke in itself.
CLOWN: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ha, ha, ha, ha.
(Sara and Steven race down some stairs, once again interrupting the work of the great Ingmar Knopf.) 
[Sheik's tent]
INGMAR: What are you two doing? Get them out of here. And will you please tell those girls to get changed?
AIDE: Ya, ya, Mister Knopf.
(Meanwhile, back at the Tardis)
[Wood mill film set]
CLOWN: Custard pies have been done by Chaplin, so I'm not allowed to.
DOCTOR: Quite, quite. Now would you mind moving
CLOWN: A drink of water, done by Chaplin. Banana skins
CLOWN + DOCTOR: All done by Chaplin. 
[Sheik's tent]
(Knopf is setting up another shot.
CAMERAMAN: Now we start in close, see? And then we'll dolly back down along there.
INGMAR: Hey, where's Webster?
GREEN: Which way did they go?
INGMAR: What are you up to? Please, where's Webster?
GREEN: They came through here! Where did they go?
INGMAR: Two fools rushed over there somewhere.
GREEN: Wait!
INGMAR: Where's Webster? Where's Webster?!
[Wood mill film set]
CLOWN: They They won't even let me do the wallpaper and paste routine. You know why?
DOCTOR: Done by Chaplin.
CLOWN: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Now would you excuse me?
CLOWN: I'll tell you something. That little Englishman has done everything. I think I'll give it up and take to singing.
DOCTOR: Yes.
CLOWN: But who'd use a singer with a name like Bing Crosby?
DOCTOR: Custard pies and Bing Crosby! Ha!
STEVEN: Doctor!
(Sara and Steven finally manage to get back to the Tardis and dash inside, pulling the Doctor in after them. It dematerialises. Neither Steinberger P Green, nor Ingmar Knopf have ever seen an illusion like it.)
BLOSSOM: Steinberger, just when are we going to do my scene, huh?
GREEN: What a great trick! They just disappeared!
INGMAR: Webster! Come back! Come back, Webster! Come back!
GREEN: What a great trick. It's the greatest! How's it done?
(Fighting his way through the confusion, a little Englishman in pebble glasses approaches Knopf.)
GREEN: Hey, come back! Where is it? Come back!
WEBSTER: Excuse me.
INGMAR: What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?
WEBSTER: I'm Professor Webster.
INGMAR: Who? You?
WEBSTER: Yes, Professor Webster.
INGMAR: Darling!
(And so they all lived happily ever after)
[Tardis]
SARA: Whatever was that place?
STEVEN: Oh, I've no idea. I'm glad we got away.
SARA: What were they doing?
STEVEN: Your guess is as good as mine. Let's hope we never land there again.
SARA: Oh.
DOCTOR: Here we are.
STEVEN: What's this?
DOCTOR: Well, we so rarely get a chance to celebrate, but this time we must.
SARA: Celebrate?
DOCTOR: Yes. It's Christmas.
SARA: Is it?
DOCTOR: Don't you remember? The police station? Christmas?
STEVEN: So it was, yes.
DOCTOR: Here's a toast. A Happy Christmas to all of us.
SARA: Oh.
STEVEN: Same to you, Doctor. Sara.
DOCTOR: (direct to camera) Incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home!
Episode 8 - Volcano
[Dalek base]
(On the planet Kembel, the Daleks have completed work on the Time Destructor.)
DALEK 1: Inform the Dalek Supreme that the Time Destructor is ready for testing.
DALEK 2: Are all circuits operational?
DALEK 1: Yes, the taranium core has been fitted. 
[Dalek Control room]
CELATION: Having had your contribution to this great weapon stolen, it must be a relief to you now that the Daleks have managed to recover it.
CHEN: Without my help, it is unlikely that they'd have got it back.
TRANTIS: At least that absurd story that it was my people from Trantis who stole the taranium has been discredited.
CELATION: Yes. They were from Earth, I believe.
CHEN: Only two of them and they are under the influence of some creature from another galaxy.
TRANTIS: He looked like an Earth creature.
CHEN: That's only a disguise. The Daleks know of him. He is some kind of time and space traveller.
CELATION: Then he is nothing to do with me. We have not yet conquered the dimension of time.
CHEN: I hear your experiments in that field are progressing, Trantis.
TRANTIS: We have not yet succeeded. Only the Daleks know how to break the time barrier.
CELATION: And this other creature, from wherever he comes.
CHEN: Oh, he's of no importance now. After all, we're here to witness the testing of the Time Destructor, are we not?
BLACK: All is ready?
DALEK: It is.
BLACK: Programme it for testing.
DALEK: All that is needed is a subject.
BLACK: The subject has been selected.
(It looks at Trantis.)
[Tardis]
(The Doctor is viewing the read out on the console with some concern.)
SARA: What do you mean, you don't know?
DOCTOR: My dear, this machine can only tell us we're being followed, ,ot who by.
STEVEN: It must be the Daleks.
DOCTOR: Yes, a hasty conclusion, but possibly right. Although I don't understand how they could have tested that taranium so quickly.
SARA: We must get back to the planet Kembel.
DOCTOR: Oh, nonsense, my dear.
SARA: We must. We've got to destroy the Daleks' invasion fleet.
[Dalek Control room]
(From the observation area, Celation and Chen watch as a petrified Trantis is forced into the test chamber by two Daleks.)
CELATION: I wonder why they chose him?
CHEN: It was his own choice really.
CELATION: What do you mean?
CHEN: He was so eager to make a contribution to the time destructor that they've let him make one. His life.
BLACK: Prepare to activate the time destructor.
DALEK: Are the other two creatures to be present at the destruction?`
BLACK: Yes. Their greed for power is so great that they can be trusted. Activate the machine.
DALEK: I obey.
(The Time Destructor is energised, humming and pulsing into life. Prepared for the worst, Trantis sinks to his knees, his face twisted in terror.)
CHEN: So that's what's supposed to happen. A kind of abject insanity.
CELATION: I do not know, though I always thought Trantis was a little unstable anyway.
CHEN: Nothing's happening to him.
CELATION: The Time Destructor does not work.
CHEN: But that's impossible. It must work. It must.
BLACK: The destructor is having no effect.
DALEK: The mechanism is functioning perfectly. The fault is in the taranium!
(The truth begins to sink in. The Dalek Supreme glides across the control room to confront Chen.)
BLACK: The taranium core has failed.
CHEN: It can't be true. There must be some mistake.
BLACK: The Daleks do not make mistakes. You have lied to us. You have not given us the taranium.
CHEN: Why should I lie? I can only benefit from my alliance with you. I brought you taranium, the real taranium.
BLACK: The core is worthless.
CHEN: No! No, it can't be. It came from Uranus. I know it did.
BLACK: We fitted the core you gave us. It has failed to activate the Time Destructor, therefore it is not taranium.
CHEN: It was the old man, that time-traveller.
CELATION: What?
CHEN: He must have changed it.
CELATION: But it was you who said that what he gave you was the taranium core.
CHEN: I know, but I didn't check. How could I? The old man fooled us. The Daleks should have checked before they fitted it, before they let the old man go.
BLACK: Report to Skaro. They must send a time machine to us immediately.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: You will both wait here.
CELATION: But this is nothing to do with me. I was invited as an observer.
BLACK: Very well, you can return to your section. You, Mavic Chen, will wait here for the arrival of the time machine.
CHEN: Yes.
DALEK: What about the subject?
BLACK: The subject? Exterminate him.
(Emerging from the test chamber, Trantis believes for a moment that he's escaped death, before he's ruthlessly destroyed. As Trantis falls to the floor, Chen tries to conceal his horror at this callous demonstration.
[Tardis]
(Steven is monitoring the time curve indicator)
STEVEN: It's still following us.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes.
SARA: When are we going to land?
DOCTOR: Pretty soon, my dear, pretty soon.
SARA: And I thought you knew what you were doing.
DOCTOR: I know full well what I'm doing, child. Now don't get so excited.
STEVEN: They're getting closer, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Hmm? Yes, I see. Yes, I must do something drastic.
SARA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Landing, my dear. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?
[Cricket ground]
(At the Oval in South London, a match is in full swing.)
TREVOR: Well, the English batsmen are really fighting against the clock now, Scott.
SCOTT: (Australian) My word, yes. Seventy eight runs in forty five minutes to win.
TREVOR: It really has been an exciting game, hasn't it, Scott?
SCOTT: Very exciting.
TREVOR: Well, let's have a look at the scoreboard, shall we? Now, you'll see. Goodness me, take a look at that, Scott.
(The Tardis materialises on the field.)
SCOTT: Take a look at what, Trev?
TREVOR: There's a police telephone box on the pitch.
SCOTT: My word, yes.
TREVOR: Well this really is extraordinary. You don't remember anything like this happening before, do you, Scott?
SCOTT: No. No.
TREVOR: Well, anyway, Ross is looking through the record books and if there has been anything like it before, I'm sure he'll find it for us.
SCOTT: You know, Trev, this puts a new light on the game.
TREVOR: What light's that, Scott?
SCOTT: Well, I know your ground staff are excellent, but even assuming they get rid of it in say, ten minutes, England will still have to get their seventy eight runs in thirty five minutes.
TREVOR: Yes. Yes, well I think we can safely say this has been a very bad break for England.
SCOTT: A very bad break. Especially as the weather's been holding off so well.
TREVOR: Yes, it has, hasn't it. Been holding off remarkably well. Well, let's have another look at the scoreboard shall we, although not very much has been happening these last few
SCOTT: It's making a funny noise.
TREVOR: What's that, Scott?
SCOTT: A funny noise coming from the police box.
(The Tardis dematerialises.)
SCOTT: It's gone again, Trev.
TREVOR: Yes, so it has. Well, that wasn't too bad was it, Scott?
SCOTT: Two and a half minutes, I make it, Trev.
TREVOR: Yes, well there's the position. England wanting seventy eight runs in forty two and a half minutes to win.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: Yes, it's definitely some sporting occasion.
SARA: Oh, I hardly think so, Doctor.
STEVEN: Was it on Earth, do you think?
DOCTOR: Oh, possibly, my dear fellow, possibly.
STEVEN: Yes, well, wherever it was, there's still someone on our tail. Here, look at this.
DOCTOR: Yes, my plan hasn't worked. Following us closely.
[Dalek Control room]
(A Dalek time machine materialises.)
DALEK: Your order has been carried out. The time machine is ready to commence operations.
BLACK: Excellent. Organise a task force for the pursuit of the time travellers.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: Ascertain their position on the space time scope.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: Mavic Chen, you will accompany the task force. You will ensure that the taranium core is returned to Kembel.
CHEN: Of course. I shall do everything in my power.
BLACK: If you fail, or if we find that you have deceived us, you will suffer the same fate as the time travellers. Annihilation!
[Tardis]
(The planet Tigus is riddled with volcanoes, lava running in steaming bubbling rivers. It is here the Tardis materialises on the slopes of a deep volcanic crater.)
SARA: Where are we, Doctor? Do you know?
STEVEN: It doesn't look very pleasant, does it?
DOCTOR: No, we must take off quite soon.
SARA: It's stopped.
STEVEN: What does that mean, Doctor? Have we shaken it off?
DOCTOR: No, my boy, we haven't shaken them off. Whoever it was following us has landed. They've landed out there.
(Not far away, a large boulder stands alone on the uneven volcanic ground. It appears even more odd when a door opens in the side of the boulder and the figure of a man in monk's robes appears. The Monk scans the horizon using a pair of binoculars and is delighted when he spots the Doctor's Tardis a short distance away.) 
[Planet surface]
STEVEN: You know, Doctor, it would help if we knew what we were looking for.
SARA: I still say it was madness to come out here. We should have taken off again or tried to get back to Kembel.
DOCTOR: My dear young girl, what good would it be to run away? The sooner we find who's pursuing us the better.
(Steven sits down on some rocks then stands up again hurriedly.)
STEVEN: Hey! Hey, this is hot.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I can well imagine that. This is a new planet, my boy. It's cooling down, cooling down. Fascinating. Yes, extremely fascinating. I wonder? I wonder who'd take the time and trouble to follow us? Yes, I think there is an explanation, but unlikely. Possible, very possible.
(As the Doctor and his companions widen their search, The Monk circles round behind them. He manages to avoid being spotted and at last reaches the Doctor's Tardis. Petulantly he kicks at the ship but only succeeds in hurting his foot. It's time for a more scientific approach. The Monk takes a small pencil laser from his tool bag and puts on a pair of dark goggles to protect his eyes. He applies the laser to the Tardis lock. There is no apparent damage to the Tardis, but the Monk seems delighted with his handiwork. Putting his tools away, he sets off back to his own ship.)
DOCTOR: Hello there! Hello! Don't you think we should meet and talk it over?
STEVEN: Doctor, who are we waiting for?
DOCTOR: Oh, you'll see, my boy, you'll see.
STEVEN: Oh, come on, tell us, otherwise you'll say you're right whoever we meet.
DOCTOR: You lack one quality of all the others, my boy, and that is patience.
(On a ridge above them, the Monk comes into view, a large rock raised defensively over his head.)
SARA: Doctor, look!
DOCTOR: Ah, tut, tut, tut, my dear Monk. Now don't be so ridiculous. Put that down at once.
MONK: Well, hello, Doctor. Keeping well?
DOCTOR: Oh, no complaints, no. And you?
MONK: Oh, so so, you know, just so so.
SARA: Who is it?
MONK: Delighted to see you again, young man.
STEVEN: Thanks. I wish I could say the same for you.
DOCTOR: I suppose congratulations for your escape are quite in order.
MONK: Oh, thank you. Most kind of you, Doctor. Yes, it took a bit of time, but I finally managed to bypass the dimensional controller.
DOCTOR: Yes, a very interesting solution, yes, I'm sure, though I think it would make for rather an uncomfortable ride. However, I don't suppose it affected you very much, being an amateur.
MONK: Yes, it was rather uncomfortable, but then, we can't have everything, can we? As for being an amateur, we shall see. Anyway, it was better than 1066.
DOCTOR: Yes, I suppose so.
SARA: What's he talking about, 1066?
STEVEN: It's all right. We've met the Monk once before. I'll explain later.
DOCTOR: And you returned here for one obvious reason, did you not?
MONK: I'm afraid so, Doctor. Revenge is a strange thing, isn't it?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, quite, quite. Tell me, any plans?
MONK: And all carried out as well. Oh, ho. Doctor, you remember you left me in 1066? Now I've marooned you on the planet Tigus. Look! Oh, it's funny this. Forgive me laughing, Doctor, but I don't seem to be able to control it. Well, goodbye, Doctor. Perhaps I'll come back one day and rescue you.
STEVEN: Hey, wait a minute.
DOCTOR: Don't waste your breath, young man. The most important thing is, is to find out what he's done to the Tardis. Come on.
[Outside the Tardis]
(The Doctor tries to unlock the door but his key will not work.)
DOCTOR: Reset the lock mechanism. He probably used some kind of ray.
SARA: What does that mean?
DOCTOR: That means we cannot get back into the Tardis, child!
(From a safe distance, the Monk watches gleefully as Steven tries picking the lock without success.)
DOCTOR: Oh, you will achieve nothing, dear boy, nothing.
SARA: Yes, perhaps, but it's better than just accepting everything.
DOCTOR: Yes, like I am, I suppose?
STEVEN: Well, you haven't been taking much interest have you, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, and why not, dear boy, why not? Because I am using my brain. I'm trying to solve this problem.
(The Doctor takes off his ring and looks at it thoughtfully.)
DOCTOR: Now just stand back and cover your eyes, please.
(He angles the ring so as to reflect the glare of Tigus' sun onto the lock.)
STEVEN: What does that do?
DOCTOR: Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything. Will you do as you're told at once. Cover your eyes, please.
(Sara tries the door.)
SARA: It hasn't worked.
DOCTOR: Wait a moment, child.
(The Doctor uses his key to unlock the door then stands aside.)
DOCTOR: Now try.
STEVEN: You're a genius, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, I know, my boy. I know.
(The Tardis dematerialises. The Monk can barely believe his eyes.)
MONK: Oh, no, no. Don't think I'm going to leave it at this. You haven't heard the last of me, Doctor. You haven't heard the last of me!
[Tardis]
STEVEN: If you ask me, we haven't heard the last of that monk.
DOCTOR: Quite so, dear boy. He'll be on our trail again as fast as he can get going.
SARA: Yes, but next time we'll be expecting him.
DOCTOR: Exactly, my dear, exactly. Now, Steven, there's something I want you to do. Go to that indicator and let me know the instant the Monk's Tardis registers.
STEVEN: Yes, all right, but first you tell us something. How did you break that lock?
DOCTOR: Oh, that's all very simple, dear boy. You see the sun in that particular galaxy has very unusual powers. I merely reflected its powers through that ring.
SARA: Is there something special about it?
DOCTOR: Yes, it has certain properties. The combined forces of that sun together with the stone in that ring was sufficient enough to correct the Monk's interference.
STEVEN: Yes, but what properties has it?
DOCTOR: Now, I don't want to discuss this anymore. Please, about turn, and do as you're told. Go along.
[Dalek Control room]
(The Dalek's time machine is prepared and ready to leave Kembel. A squad of Daleks files aboard, accompanied by Mavic Chen. The door closes behind them.)
DALEK: The task force is now aboard.
BLACK: Commence count down.
(In the background a Dalek counts down from 100.)
DALEK 2: The enemy ship is preparing to land.
BLACK: Compute their bearing and advise task force. Task force will use the homing beam.
DALEK: Enemy ship located. Space time bearing, planet Earth, London, 1966.
[Tardis]
(The Tardis has materialised in Trafalgar Square just before midnight, New Year's Eve 1966. Not knowing quite what to make of it, Steve observes the boisterous revelry on the scanner.)
STEVEN: Well, you won't be able to carry out your repairs here, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No.
SARA: It's some sort of celebration, isn't it?
DOCTOR: I don't quite know, you just listen, my dear, listen.
(Church bells are pealing.)
[Dalek Control room]
DALEK [OC]: Twenty two, twenty one, twenty, nineteen, eighteen 
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: It's Earth. I've seen that place before.
SARA: What do you think they're celebrating?
DOCTOR: Well, as far as I can remember, I've seen them behave in a fashion like that on a former occasion.
STEVEN: What was that?
DOCTOR: The Relief of Mafeking.
[Dalek Control room]

DALEK [OC]: Four, three, two, one, zero.
(The Dalek time machine dematerialises.)
BLACK: Report to Skaro. Our time machine is now in pursuit. Nothing can match Dalek technology. The universe shall be ours. Conquest is assured.
ALL: Conquest! Conquest! Conquest! Conquest! Conquest!

Saturday 19 March 2016

Le Pen



"Mr Le Pen’s original quoted remarks run directly counter to the official line of his daughter and his party. 

They have suggested that the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket are the final proof that France faces an  “enemy within”, which has been created by immigration and open EU borders."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-attacks-jean-marie-le-pen-says-french-terror-attacks-were-work-of-western-intelligence-9985047.html



"Was General de Gaulle more brave than Marshal Pétain in the occupied zone? 

This isn't sure. 

It was much easier to resist in London than to resist in France."

Le Pen,
1965 French Presidential Campaign


"Vote for the crook, not the fascist."

2002 Chirac Presidential Run-off Campaign Slogan

Paris attacks: Jean-Marie Le Pen says French terror attacks were work

The Charlie Hebdo massacre may have been the work of an “intelligence agency”, working with the connivance of French authorities, according to Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far right Front National.

In an interview with a virulently anti-Western Russian newspaper, Mr Le Pen, 86, gave credence to conspiracy theories circulating on the internet suggesting that the attack was the work of American or Israeli agents seeking to foment a civil war between Islam and the West.

His comments – only partially retracted in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde today – provoked outrage amongst French politicians. They will also infuriate Marine Le Pen, his daughter, and successor as leader of the FN, who has been trying to distance the party from her father’s extreme and provocative remarks.

Mr Le Pen stood down as FN leader three years ago but remains President-for-life. He made the comments in an interview with Komsomolskaïa Pravda , a newspaper which had already blamed the United States for the terrorist mayhem in France.

Charlie Hebdo: Mourning in Paris

 

“The shooting at Charlie Hebdo resembles a secret service operation but we have no proof of that,” the newspaper quoted Mr Le Pen as saying. “I don’t think it was organised by the French authorities but they permitted this crime to be committed.  That, for the moment, is just a supposition.”

To justify his comments, Mr Le Pen pointed to the fact that one of the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre, left his identity card in a crashed getaway car. He compared this to the “miraculous fact” – beloved by conspiracy theorists – that one of the passports of the 9/11 hijackers was found on the ground in New York after two planes collided with the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in 2001.

Mr Le Pen made two other provocative remarks in the interview. He said that the 1,500,000 who marched “against hatred” in Paris last Sunday were not “Charlies” but “Charlie Chaplins” (ie clowns). He also said that there were 15,000,00 to 20,000,000 Muslims in France – three or four times the generally accepted figures of 5,000,000 people who are practising Muslims or have Muslim backgrounds.

In an interview with Le Monde today, Mr Le Pen repeated his suspicions about the identity card but said he “could not recall” talking about “secret services” to the Russian newspaper.

Mr Le Pen’s original quoted remarks run directly counter to the official line of his daughter and his party. They have suggested that the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket are the final proof that France faces an  “enemy within”, which has been created by immigration and open EU borders.

Conspiracy theories of the kind espoused by the elder Le Pen sprang up on the internet within hours of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. They have been repeated in recent days by some – not all - young Muslims in France,  torn between identifying with the Kouachi brothers and insisting that they were stooges of the French authorities, Washington and Israel.

The  French “pope of conspiracy theories”, Thierry Meyssan, now based in Damascus, insisted that the Charlie Hebdo massacres were “ordered by US neo-cons and liberal hawks”. An American conspiracy site, McLatchy, has claimed that the Kouachi brothers were working for French intelligence.



Hotel Terminus is sidetracked by director Ophuls' pent-up feelings

HOTEL TERMINUS 

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF KLAUS BARBIE

Produced and directed by Marcel Ophuls. 

At the Coolidge Corner Cinema.

By MANAVENDRA THAKUR

DIRECTOR MARCEL OPHULS HAS produced in HOTEL TERMINUS: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbiea film that is as disappointing as it is successful. No one makes epic documentaries the way Ophuls does, and indeed, the highly complex film is a monumental exploration of both the Nazi past and its remnants in the present. But 18 years after Le Chagrin et la Piti'e("The Sorrow and the Pity") established his international reputation, Ophuls seems to have forgotten his famous ability for understated lamentation and downplayed the demonstrated clarity of his vision. 

And when the foremost documentarian of the past two decades forgets the virtues of patience, adopts the tone of a polemic, and ends up mocking his subjects on camera, the initial reaction of surprise can only give way to dismay and, ultimately, sadness.

Why Ophuls chose this path probably has much to do with the circumstances under which the film was made. Originally, Ophuls was to have written a series of articles for The Nation magazine about the war crimes trial of Klaus Barbie, the ex-Gestapo chief known as "the Butcher of Lyons" who was extradited from Bolivia to France in 1983. But the trial's starting date kept getting pushed back, and Ophuls grew more and more frustrated as the delays mounted. As his funds began to dwindle, Ophuls and his assistants decided to raise money for a film instead. Ophuls began filming interviews with those who had known Barbie during and after the war as a way to continue research into Barbie's past, and by the time Barbie's trial came to an end in July 1987, Ophuls had accumulated about 120 hours of footage. As the film began to take shape, Ophuls decided to make the trial into the film's logical, if somewhat anti-climactic, culmination rather than its centerpiece.

Ophuls originally intended to write a series of articles for The Nationmagazine about the war crimes trial of Klaus Barbie, the ex-Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyons." Barbie was extradited from Bolivia to France in 1983. But as delays in the trial date mounted, Ophuls grew more and more frustrated and decided instead to begin filming interviews with those who had known Barbie during and after the war. By the July 1987 end of Barbie's trial Orphuls had accumulated 120 hours of footage. 

From the final cut of the film, it is apparent that many persons approached by Ophuls would rather bury the Nazi past than address it forthrightly. Typical of the American intelligence officials who recruited and shielded Barbie from prosecution is Robert Taylor, who evaluated Barbie in 1945 as "an honest man" and "a Nazi idealist." When asked four decades later what he meant by those words, Taylor can only shrug and reply "I don't know.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party in France, even goes so far as to claim that the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust is less than the universally accepted figure of six million.

Unfortunately, Ophuls reacts to provocative remarks like these by venting his impatience and anger as he makes fun of and argues with his subjects. At one point, Ophuls even includes a mock telephone call to a prospective interviewee, with himself playing the part of the reluctant subject, to demonstrate the typical evasions, half-truths, and denials that he encountered while making the film.

Clearly, the remarks made in the film are inflammatory enough to outrage anyone, but it was precisely for transcending reactionary emotionalism that Ophuls was so widely praised in the past. Far from leading the way with wisdom and clarity as he might have done earlier, Ophuls ends up lashing out with sarcasm and bitterness instead, and it is this tendency that imbues the film with a harsher edge that borders on the polemical.

Polemical filmmaking per se is hardly something to be avoided at all costs. In the proper place and time, it can be the most effective way to call attention to a problem ignored in the past. The Holocaust, however, has been the subject of countless bombasts. In fact, there have been so many that the repeated warnings to "never forget" have begun to take on an increasingly perfunctory nature. Ophuls must be aware of this since he himself has addressed the Nazi past several times, and so one wonders why he reacts as though he were being rebuffed by interviewees for the first time. 

The answer is that Ophuls is approaching polemicism from the other side -- he told The New York Times that "I'm thoroughly fed up. I was fed up even before I started The Sorrow and the Pity." Ophuls also characterized the film's tone as "an angry flippancy," explaining that "It was one way, my way, at this stage of my life to deal with that period [the Nazi past]." One can only respect the honesty of such an admission. It is nevertheless most unfortunate that the remark also demonstrates the loss of what the film could have been, and one can only regret that Ophuls did not find the strength within himself to conquer his frustration.

But Ophuls' awareness of the complexity of reality remains as sharp as ever, and that alone is enough to carry the film far beyond the simplifications found in television documentaries. Ophuls' films are four and a half hours long precisely because he refuses to insult the intelligence of the audience by packaging decades of history into ready-made and predigested chunks. The thematic issues that underlie Barbie's story are as rich and complex as the geographic and historical span is broad, and Ophuls' film rises to the occasion.

This is most apparent in the film's last hour, where Ophuls concentrates on Jacques Verg'es, the left-wing lawyer who vehemently defended Barbie inside and outside the courtroom. Like the strong-willed defense counsel in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremburg (1981), Verges argued that the atrocities Barbie was accused of committing were necessary to ensure the success of the Nazi regime. Verges brilliantly underscored his arguments by reminding the French prosecutors and public that France justified its own tortures and atrocities in Algeria with precisely the same claim. This one issue alone immediately raises wrenching dilemmas about moral relativism, historical accuracy, personal motivations, legal precedents, and a host of others. Ophuls, to his immense credit, presents the vast complexities involved without exaggerating or simplifying any of them. 

Ophuls also has a startling ability to foster debate among people who are not directly speaking to each other. His technique is to ask penetrating questions to one person, ask similar or follow-up questions to another person, and then feed the answers back to the original person to compare responses. This is, of course, the classic role of a moderator, but there is a crucial difference between Ophuls and, say, Ted Koppel. That difference is the power of editing afforded by the medium of the film, an ability which is considerably more flexible than cutting off a speaker or interrupting a heated discussion. This difference has the direct and immediate result of introducing an added element to the criteria by which Ophuls' work should be judged: the ability to edit the large amount of footage into a coherent, meaningful whole.

On this score, Ophuls is most successful on a micro level, i.e. editing within a single conversation rather than among them. If a typical television news reporter wishes to edit a person's statement by removing, say, the second sentence, the standard practice is to show the person speaking the first sentence, then cut to a brief reverse-angle shot of the reporter nodding or listening intently as the interviewee starts the third sentence in voice-over, and finally cut back to the interviewee completing the third sentence. As those who saw Broadcast News might recall, this technique is nothing but pretense since the shots of the reporter are filmed after the interview is over and the camera has been moved to the other side of the room. Ophuls, to the other hand, just cuts to a shot of a building or location that is relevant to the topic under discussion. This not only is more honest, it actually helps to reinforce the points being made by either the speaker or by Ophuls. This is such a simple way to avoid deceiving viewers that it is astounding that television news reporters did not adopt the technique years ago.

In terms of macro or structural editing, Ophuls is not always as successful, since much of the film was shot while waiting for the trial to begin. For instance, Ophuls devotes considerable time near the beginning of the film to a discussion of whether a man named Ren'e Hardy was the one who betrayed French Resistance leader Jean Moulin to the Nazis. While the issue presents fascinating insights into the inner circle of Resistance leaders, the only connection it has with Barbie is that Barbie was the officer whose unit arrested Moulin in what came to be known as the Caluire incident. One senses that Ophuls was unable to probe beyond the factual details of Barbie's actions and therefore focused on a peripheral, if still-raging, debate about Hardy's guilt or innocence. Similarly, Ophuls opens the film by interviewing some elderly residents of Lyons as they leisurely play billiards, of all things. 

But these opening moments are deceptive since, four hours later, the film often proceeds at such a furious pace that one is forced to focus on what is being said instead of worrying about the speaker's identity. And when Ophuls travels to South America and finds a thoroughly familiar indifference to the Nazi past among Barbie's neighbors, one begins to understand why many in the Third World, victimized by superpower colonialism and facing the pressures of day-to-day survival, respond strongly to Verges' trial defense of Barbie. "I wanted to show what violins Verg'es was playing on," said Ophuls to The New York Times. "Very potent, aren't they?" 

It is reassuring to realize that Ophuls' expertise in knowing what to film remains intact after all these years. It is that ability, after all, which brings so many fascinating points to light and fuels the film's progress toward artistic success. That is why it is so unfortunate that the film became sidetracked by Ophuls' pent-up feelings. One can only hope that his resort to didacticism was cathartic enough to allow Ophuls to reach in his next film the moving and inspiring heights he was known for in the past.

BARBIE IS A SPECTER IN A CABINET RIFT IN FRANCE

PARIS, May 19— With Klaus Barbie's trial in its second week, the former Gestapo official's name has been invoked in a dispute within France's governing conservative coalition. 

The dispute involves cooperation with the extreme-right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen, which has called for the expulsion from France of illegal immigrants, primarily North Africans.

Prime Minister Jacques Chirac summoned Cabinet ministers to an informal meeting today in a bid to smooth over the rift opened up within the Cabinet last week by Michel Noir, the 43-year-old Minister of Foreign Trade.

Mr. Noir comes from Lyons, where Mr. Barbie is being tried for crimes against humanity as the city's wartime Gestapo chief. Mr. Noir's father was deported to a Nazi concentration camp. Toleration of Fascism

In a front-page article in Le Monde, Mr. Noir, who belongs to Mr. Chirac's neo-Gaullist party, asserted that the lesson of the Barbie trial is that the Government should accept defeat in next year's presidential election rather than join with the National Front.

Mr. Noir said France collaborated with Nazi Germany after its defeat in 1940 because of the ''feebleness'' of prewar leaders who tolerated the spread of fascist ideas.

Such ideas are on the increase again in France, he wrote, citing renewed signs of racism, anti-Semitism and glorification of the Nazi movement. He cautioned that the Government should fight extremism, avoid using immigration as a gimmick to win votes, and refuse any electoral alliance with the National Front. ''Are we ready to sacrifice our soul so as not to lose the elections?'' he asked.

Mr. Noir's appeal, some political analysts said, may partly have been an effort to capitalize on public interest in the Barbie trial to discredit the National Front by identifying its racial policies with those of the Nazis. Support Is Needed

But it embarrassed many Government members. While opposed to the National Front, they recognize that Mr. Chirac will need its support if he is to capture the presidency from the Socialists in next year's elections, and favor a more subtle approach.

In particular, France's tough-minded Interior Minister, Charles Pasqua, has been trying to counter Mr. Le Pen's appeal by taking an equally firm attitude on questions like illegal immigration and pornography.

Mr. Le Pen has announced that he will run for the presidency and has embarked on a vigorous campaign, under the slogan ''French people first,'' that centers on the issues of North African immigrants and acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

He is calling for the expulsion of illegal immigrants and immigrants without jobs as well as the quarantining of AIDS patients in special detention centers, asserting that the fatal disease can be transmitted through sweat.

The chances of Mr. Le Pen winning power himself are negligible. But his National Front has 35 seats out of 577 in the French Parliament and a steady 10 to 13 percent in public opinion polls. So it could decide the result of the presidential contest in the runoff between the two most popular candidates.

At today's Government meeting Mr. Chirac appealed to Ministers to close ranks and end the dispute, saying the Government must be true to its own ideals but not reject those who sympathize with the National Front. MAN HELD IN PLOT ON BARBIE

LYONS, France, May 19 (Reuters) - A gunman disguised as a doctor was detained by the police today after he slipped into St. Joseph Prison in an attempt to assassinate Mr. Barbie, the police said.

The man, carrying an old revolver, gained entry to the jail by showing guards medical orders issued by a Paris hospital to take urine samples of the prisoner, the police said. Mr. Barbie has boycotted his war-crimes trial since last Wednesday.