Book Review - Evening All by Jack Warner

Jack Warner was a familiar and comforting figure to most people born before the 1960s, but he is probably unknown to anyone younger. 

In his role as PC GeorgeDixon in Dixon of Dock Green he was the epitome of avuncularism. He was kindly, helpful and wise. 

My earliest TV memory is watching opening credits of Dixon of Dock Green. The show was still going nearly twenty years later, but by that time TV and Dixon of Dock Green were of little interest to younger people like me. When Jack Warner's autobiography was published in 1975 I didn't even bother having a TV. However, he still had many loyal followers among the older generations. This book was written for them. They could relate to anecdotes about the Great War and about Music Hall in the 1930s and 1940s. 

Jack Warner died in 1981, aged 85, and his most of his admirers have now also passed away. I suppose my second hand copy of this book came from one of those fans. Many of the other copies were thrown in bins with the other effects and rubbish accumulated over a lifetime.

Why would anyone read this book today? Well, I certainly enjoyed it and I think it would especially appeal to TV nostalgia fans, social historians and early car enthusiasts. I was surprised to discover that Julie Andrews and Tony Hancock owed their start in show business to Jack Warner. He was also very helpful to people like Reg Varney and Michael Bentine at the start of their careers.

Jack Warner was involved in the motor business as a mechanic, racing driver and as a car salesman. He moved to Paris in 1913 as a youngster and became mechanic for Sizaire-Berwick. One of the owners of that company, Maurice Sizaire (1877-1970), became a lifelong friend. A comment from Maurice's brother George encouraged Jack Warner to become a racing driver at Brooklands. The acme of his racing career was to come third in the Monte Carlo rally. His work with motor cars ended when his garage business in St John's Wood failed in 1935.

I was a bit surprised to hear PC George Dixon speaking French in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green set in Paris, but I now know that Jack Warner was a French speaking Francophile. At the start of the First World War he was as an interpreter in the French army, but he later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Maurice Chevalier impersonations were a part of his variety act. In fact, I think his 1975 version of Louise is better than Chevalier's.

The clips on Youtube of his variety act – particularly those from near the end of his career - give the impression that Jack Warner was an extremely confident and competent performer yet it is clear from the book that he was still unhappy about a Royal Command Performance in the early 1950s. Despite all his screen and stage success he still felt the need to explain why he thought his performance could have been better. Writing about it more than twenty years later he was probably the only one who remembered or even cared. It just goes to show how we magnify our petty concerns and faults.

I think Jack Warner saw himself mainly as a variety entertainer. On Desert Island Discs in 1962 he said stage variety, which was in a slump at that time, would come back and that is where he saw himself finishing his career. He did finish his career on the stage with his one man show but there is no sign of variety coming back. 

He thought young people would turn away from pop music, which he regarded as “rubbish”, and return to the 1930 to 1950 era songs and light music he preferred. He also thought that the standard of TV comedy would go downhill “as the available material is gobbled up.” He seemed to thing this would lead to a revival of vaudeville. In 1975 when he wrote this he seems to have been a man out of his time.

The monologues and songs of his variety act now seem passé, but that could be said of nearly all comedy from that era. Of the British acts only Will Hay makes us laugh today. It is Jack Warner's films and TV work that endure. Films and programmes like The Huggetts and Dixon of Dock Green are a gold mine for those like me who are interested in how Britain has changed since the war.

Watching the films of The Huggetts I was struck by how deferential Jack Warner's character – a factory foreman - was towards his boss. When I started work about twenty years after the films my bosses would never have got the “Yes, Sir” treatment. That was only still going in the services. I thought I was being extremely polite by addressing him as “Mr”. Some of my contemporaries wouldn't even have bothered with that.

Huggetts Holiday camp was filmed in 1947 at Butlins Holiday Camp at Filey. I worked for a short while at Butlins in Skegness 25 years later and the rooms looked just like the ones in the film. The only difference was that we had bunk beds. There film is open about some campers going there in search of romance. That was probably a bit risqué in 1947, but by 1973 sexual mores had changed completely. Early one morning the drunken lout who bunked above me staggered into the room with some woman he had just picked up. If I hadn't been woken by their giggling I couldn't help have been woken by their subsequent antics. They weren't in any way inhibited by my presence in the bed below.

Esma Cannon played one of the characters in Holiday Camp who was looking for romance. I had noticed this strange looking actress in a few films but I didn't know anything about her. When I watch an old film I'm more interested in the locations and the actors then the story. I like to find out what became of the actors. Checking Esma Cannon on the net I could see that she retired early to live in a St Benoit-la-Forêt, which is just a little village. That surprised me. I only know a handful of places in France but I'd spent half a day wandering around that village a few years ago. Jack Warner doesn't mention her in his autobiography. In fact, he says he only worked with four actresses who “know their job backwards and yet are entirely free of conceit” : Gwen Watford, Celia Johnson, Edith Evans and Kathleen Harrison.

There's a Pathé News clip on the net showing Jack Warner prompting Kathleen Harrison when she forget her lines so even she wasn't perfect. In his book Jack Warner said even on radio shows he preferred to learn his lines off by heart rather than reading a script. That preparation and his professional attitude allowed him to continue his career long after most of his peers had retired. After reading this book I searched for more information about his private life. Many celebrities often show an unpleasant side when they are off camera but according to people like waiters and bar staff Jack Warner was pleasant and good natured in real life as he seemed on TV.

It's a bit sad that such a nice man didn't have children. His famous sisters Elsie and Doris Waters were also childless. Jack Warner brought out a record in 1971 called “You've got the gear” in which he gives advice to his “son”. It has been ridiculed by some because Jack obviously didn't know what the phrase meant, but I find the backing track and Jack's tone rather charming.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=senj16ziSRk


 

Alfred Sisley's Hampton Court paintings - part 3

The Road to Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley 1874

Sisley's Road to Hampton Court in 2016

Sisley's viewpoint was very near the old Hampton Court bridge. Molesey Lock is in the centre of the picture. One hundred and forty two years later this view is still very pleasant and easily recognisable. This is Sisley's painting of the other lock gate.

 The Lock at Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley 1874

Molesey Lock 1883

Molesey Lock 2016

The house and the hut in Sisley's painting have both been demolished. Sisley also painted the weir which is just beyond the lock.

 Molesey Weir, Alfred Sisley 1874

Molesey Weir 1883

Molesey Weir 2016

Molesey Weir 2016

Sisley's 1874 painting of the approach to Molesey Weir

The weir has been rebuilt since Sisley painted it and the warning posts in Sisley's paintings have been removed. The building in the distance in the above painting is probably Taggs Hotel on Taggs Island which can also be seen in the following painting.

Molesey Regata, Alfred Sisley 1874

Taggs Hotel, Taggs Island c1900

Taggs Island (on the left) 2016

The hotel is now gone and the island is used to moor houseboats. The next painting was done a little further on from the Molesey Regatta painting. Sisley must have set up his easel about half way between the cricket club pavillion and the end of Taggs Island. This path is now quite narrow and trees now block the view of Hampton Church. The photo is taken from a point much nearer to the church. The building above the two figures is Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare.

This painting of the same view was probably done around the same time.

The Thames at Hampton, Edward H. Niemann

Hampton Church 2016 (panoramio.com)

The next painting seems to have been done from the same spot but this time looking in the opposite direction towards Hampton Court. Taggs Island is on the left and the building on the right is probably one of the old Molesey Boat Club buildings. This view is now obscured by trees.

The Thames at Hampton Court, East Molesey Alfred Sisley 1874

The following excellent photos capture some of the scenes painted by Sisley at Molesey.

Molesey Lock and Weir by Maxwell Hamilton

Molesey Weir and Hampton Church by Maxwell Hamilton

Alfred Sisley's Hampton Court paintings - part 2

Under the bridge at Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley 1874

View from under the old Hampton Court Bridge 2016

The three indentations in the brickwork on the opposite bank are remnants of the old bridge which was replaced in 1933. The Mitre Hotel is the main building on the other side of the bridge. It can also be seen in the painting below. The front of the Mitre Hotel looks unchanged from when Sisley painted it in 1874.  It was built in 1665.

The Bridge at Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley, 1874

Regatta at Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley, 1874

Sisley's viewpoints for the above three paintings were quite close together. This can be seen from the position of the flag pole in each of the paintings. This postcard shows that Sisley must have set up his easel in front of the Castle Hotel, which was demolished to make way for the new bridge.

The Castle Hotel and Hampton Court Bridge c1900

In the following image the overlap between two of Sisley's paintings has been removed. The merge is imperfect because of the difference in Sisley's viewpoints.

Merged paintings showing Barge Walk in 1874 

Pictures taken from Sisley's two viewpoints today would only show the underneath of the new bridge. The following is the view from a bit further along the Thames. The Mitre Hotel and the other building near the bridge in Sisley's painting can be seen just above the new bridge in the 2016 photo.

Hampton Court Bridge and Barge Walk 2016

The building next to Barge Walk in Sisley's paintings was built in 1529. It contained some of the Palace offices, kitchens and stores.  It can be seen on the following map between the labels for the The Mitre Hotel and the Cavalry Barracks, but it is not on the 1890s map.

Hampton Court 1866-68

This building was part of the Outer Green Court. It was decided in the 1840s to demolish these old buildings, but the last building - the one on the above map - was only demolished in 1879 when the occupant died. She was the widow of Nelson's Captain Hardy and had been a "grace and favour" resident, i.e. a distinguished person, or a relative of a distinguished person,  who had been granted free accommodation at Hampton Court by the monarch. The Outer Green Court is now just lawn.

Sisley moved further down the river to paint the following picture. The view of Hampton Court Bridge is blocked by trees and I presume that the white building in the distance is the Mitre Hotel or one of its neighbouring buildings. But what is the building in the foreground? It doesn't look like Hampton Court Palace to me. Perhaps it might be the Outer Green Office. Is that the flagpole Sisley painted in the paintings above ?

The Thames at Hampton Court, Alfred Sisley 1874

Hampton Court Palace 2016

The Mitre Hotel is can be seen in the distance.  In the next photo the Mitre Hotel is blocked by trees.

 Hampton Court Palace 2016

Alfred Sisley's Hampton Court paintings - part 1

Inn at East Molesey with Hampton Court Bridge Alfred Sisley 1874

This picture puzzled me.  I thought I knew Hampton Court like the back of my hand, but I couldn't fit that Inn into my mental map of the area. I would have expected to see the Mitre Hotel there with Hampton Court Palace behind me to the right. In fact, Sisley was on the other side of the river looking in the opposite direction towards Hampton Court Palace.

This is the same view in 2016. The new bridge is on the left and Hampton Court railway station can be seen in the background. Part of Sisley's bridge can still be seen next to the tree.

The Inn in Sisley's painting was the Castle Hotel, which can be seen as the white building next to the bridge in the postcard below. The building with the conical turret in the postcard is the building in the foreground of the above photo.The cone has been removed.

 Hampton Court Bridge c1900

This map from c1890 is quite surprising for those who think they know this area. The river flowing into the Thames is the Mole. It no longer flows into the Thames. When the new bridge was built in 1933 the Mole was diverted to flow into the River Ember and the course shown on the map was filled in with rubble some of which came from the demolished Castle Hotel. The old course of the Mole is now the approach road to the new bridge.

Hampton Court Bridge c1890

On the left of the 1920 photo below you can see the old bridge and next to it the Mole flowing into the Thames. The Ember is the river in the centre and on the right of the photo. It flows into the Thames opposite Hampton Court Palace.

Britain from Above - Hampton Court 1920

The Road from Gennevilliers, Alfred Sisley 1872

The Road from Gennevilliers, Alfred Sisley 1872

This is the view from the same viewpoint in 2016.

St Denis side of the bridge at Villeneuve-La-Garenne

Sisley seemed to have painted this in a hurry. The buildings on the left of the bridge were not accurately painted. For example, the building we can see between the furthest tree and the end of the bridge is four windows wide in the painting, but photographs of that building show that it was three windows wide. This can be seen in the following postcard.

Villeneuve-La-Garenne suspension bridge c1900

The hut on the left of Sisley's painting can be seen in the postcard below. The man standing on the left pavement under the tree is probably on the spot where Sisley set up his easel.

Rue Mechin, L'Île-Saint-Denis c1910

Rue Mechin, L'Île-Saint-Denis 2016

The hut is gone but the buildings on the left look the same. In fact, judging from the photo below they seem to have benefited from far less "progress" on this side of the bridge. The green area on the right of the 1970s photo has been replaced by a large block of flats, but many of the old houses leading up to the bridge are still there.

L'Île-Saint-Denis looking towards Villeneuve-la-Garenne 1970s

Village on the Seine, Alfred Sisley, 1872

 "Village on the Seine" Alfred Sisley 1872

Sisley's "Village on the Seine" is a continuation of the view in his painting "The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne".  This can be seen when the two paintings are merged and the overlap is removed.

 Quai d'argenteuil, Villeneuve-la-Garenne 1872

 The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne Alfred Sisley 1872

This c1909 postcard shows all the buildings in the merged image of Sisley's two paintings.

 Quai d'argenteuil (now called Quai Alfred Sisley) c1909

The road in the middle of the above postcard which branches off Quai Alfred Sisley is named after Henri Barbusse,  a communist who in the 1930s wrote a ludicrous biography full of praise for the wonderful new world his hero Stalin  created in the USSR. Malcolm Muggeridge met Barbusse in Moscow in the early 1930s. By that time the scales had fallen from Muggeridge's eyes and he saw the regime for being "one of the most thorough-going, ruthless, and bloody tyrannies ever to exist on Earth".  Those like Barbusse who continued to support Stalin had in Muggeridge's words "resolved ... to abolish themselves and their world". That fairly well describes certain types today.

Naming a road after such an idiot gives one an idea about the mentality of the authorities in Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Yet despite the council's commitment to destroying their town a few of the houses in Sisley's painting are still with us in 2016.

This is the house on the far right of the  "Village on the Seine". It is also on the far right of the postcard above.

Quai Alfred Sisley 2014

This is the house shown hidden behind the trees in the postcard and the painting. In the painting the grey band can be seen around the top windows. The narrow house on the left of the photo below might also be a survivor from Sisley's painting.

Quai Alfred Sisley 2008

Some of the houses in Sisley's paintings can be see in this postcard. The tabac on the left is the cream building at the centre of his "Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne".

This was the same view in 2014. At least the trees look very nice.

This early 20th century postcard also shows some of Sisley's houses.

This was the same view in 2013.

Quai Alfred Sisley, Villeneuve-la-Garenne 2013