Wee Geordie Throws a Hammer!

Bill Travers as the adult Geordie.

Young Geordie MacTaggert doesn't like to be called "wee' by the other lads in his rural Scottish community. Yet, it's accurate to say that he's decidedly short for his age. It's a sore point, though, and comes to a head when he and childhood playmate Jean visit an eagle's nest. Jean is tall enough to see the baby birds, but Geordie is neither tall enough nor strong enough to view the nest.

That night, he sees a newspaper ad that will change his life. In the advertisement, bodybuilder Henry Samson asks: "Are you undersized? Let me make a different man of you!" Geordie sends off for Samson's exercise program and soon becomes obsessed with physical fitness. He eventually grows into a 6' 6" muscular young man! (As one character notes, the exercises can't have accounted for his growth spurt.)

Unfortunately, Geordie's focus on building his muscles has come with a cost. Jean, now an attractive young woman, feels ignored. The situation doesn't improve when Samson recommends that Geordie take up a sport like hammer throwing--at which he excels. Indeed, his hammer throwing attracts the interest of officials organizing Britain's team for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

Norah Gorsen as Jean and Travers.

Made in 1955, Geordie (aka Wee Geordie) is a heartfelt film brimming with Scottish charm. Despite a handful of rear projection shots, it's one of those movies that will make you want to move to the Scottish glen--or at least take a vacation there. In the title role, Bill Travers makes a charming, reluctant hero who has to be convinced to participate in the Olympics. His Geordie has no desire to leave his beloved home and see the rest of the world. Why would he--when everything he loves is right there in the glen?

Indeed, Geordie works best when staying in Scotland and focusing on the Geordie-Jean relationship. One of the best scenes has Geordie floundering in his first hammer throwing competition until he hears Jean calling out to him from a nearby hill. Later, when the plot relocates to Melbourne, it becomes a conventional fish-out-of-water story.

Alastair Sim as the Laird.

Travers gets wonderful support from Norah Gorsen as Jean, Paul Young as the young Geordie, and Alastair Sim as The Laird. While it's true that Sim frequently portrayed quirky British gentlemen, that doesn't take away from his typical amusing performance. Paul Young, who made his film debut in Geordie, had a long television career (that's still ongoing). In contrast, the fresh-faced Norah Gorsen retired from acting in the mid-1960s.

Upon its release in Great Britain, Geordie quickly became a box office hit. Hollywood took notice of the ruggedly handsome Bill Travers and cast him opposite established stars in movies like Footsteps in the Fog (1955) and The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957). His biggest success, though, didn't come until 1967 when he appeared with his wife Virginia McKenna in Born Free (1966). That film and Ring of Bright Water (about an otter) transformed the couple into animal rights activists. It was a passion that Travers pursued until his death in 1994.

Ring of Bright Water: An Otter Delight

Mij the otter.

In 2005, the newspaper The Daily Telegraph called Ring of Bright Water “one of the best-loved British films of all time.” And yet, this unusual, charming 1969 tale about a man and an otter remains an obscurity in the U.S.

Bill Travers stars as Graham Merrill, a London resident who spots a playful otter in a pet store window on his way to work. Over the next few days, an inexplicable bond forms between the two and Graham winds up with a pet otter he names Mij. Otters and city life do not mix, so Graham makes a major life decision and moves to rural Scotland.

Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna.

Graham befriends Mary (Virginia McKenna), a small town doctor, and lives a quiet life with his otter along the coast. His tranquility, though, comes to a crashing end when tragedy strikes.

Ring of Bright Water was loosely based on Gavin Maxwell's autobiographical book of the same title. A colleague gave Maxwell an otter in 1956 and he raised it in rural Scotland. He became close friends with poet Kathleen Raine; she wanted a romantic relationship, but he did not. It was one of her poems that inspired the title of Maxwell's first work about living with otters. That book, Ring of Bright Water (1960), was a hugely popular and critical success. Maxwell wrote two sequels: The Rocks Remain (1963) and Raven Seek Thy Brother (1968).

Gavin Maxwell and otter.

Maxwell's life would make an interesting film biography, but that's not the purpose of the movie adaptation. It focuses on the otters (there are some wild ones in addition to Mij) and they make for fascinating subjects with their canine-like muzzles, grunting sounds, and graceful movements when swimming. The rural countryside and windswept beaches are picturesque as well. The whole visual experience comes across as incredibly idyllic.

Of course, it doesn't always make sense. After Graham quits his London job, it's unclear how he makes a living in Scotland. At one point in the film, Graham becomes concerned with being able to feed Mij, but wouldn't that have been an even bigger problem when they lived in the city? And while I am no expert on aquariums, I'm not sure one could make one big enough for a swimming otter out of driftwood and scrap pieces of glass.

A curious Mij examines a suitcase.

Stars Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who were a real-life married couple, made a more renowned animal film three years earlier with Born Free (1966). That picture provided a juicy role for McKenna, so it's Travers who gets the spotlight this time around. A tall, rugged actor, Travers knows how to play off the adorable otters...I mean, you can't upstage a playful otter slithering in the sand or cavorting with a dog. Travers also co-wrote the screenplay and, in real life, he and his wife became great animal preservation activists.

Ring of Bright Water pales next to Born Free--but there's no shame in that, as the latter ranks among the finest films ever made about the bond behind humans and animals. Taken on its own, Ring is a rewarding look at one man's fascination with one of nature's most fun-loving creatures.

James Garner and Sidney Poitier Host a Duel at Diablo

James Garner as Jess.

From the opening strains of Neal Hefti's guitar-driven theme, it's apparent that Duel at Diablo (1966) wants to break from the conventional Western movie mold. Its acting credits confirm that, with an eclectic cast headed by James Garner, Sidney Poitier (in his first Western), English actor Bill Travers (Born Free), and Swedish star--and Ingmar Bergman favorite--Bibi Andersson.

The central premise is straightforward: A Cavalry troop must transport ammunition from Fort Creel to Fort Concho, even as renegade Apaches threaten to attack and steal their cargo. However, this basic story gets flushed out with more details than the average Western. The Apaches are on the warpath because of poor living conditions on their reservation. The Cavalry unit is commanded by an experienced leader (Travers), but his soldiers are fresh recruits ill-equipped for combat.

Poitier in his first Western.

Jess Remsberg (Garner) wants to reach Fort Concho to exact revenge on the man who killed his Comanche wife. Meanwhile, Ellen Grange (Andersson), who was just awkwardly reunited with her husband, wants to return to the Apaches who kidnapped her. Her reason? To care for her Apache baby, who happens to be the grandson of the renegade tribe's leader. Got all that?

Duel at Diablo marks the reunion of Sidney Poitier with producer-director Ralph Nelson, following the duo's 1963 hit Lilies of the Field. It's quite a change of pace, but both men handle it well. Nelson effectively stages the action scenes against the stunning backdrop of Kanab, Utah (a popular locale for movie Westerns). Poitier brings grit and easygoing charm to his role as a former Cavalry sergeant who now sells horses and dresses in dandy duds. It's worth noting that no one comments on his race.

Swedish actress Andersson.

James Garner's role doesn't require much acting, but his always likable screen persona is put to good use. Dennis Weaver, who was then known mostly for playing Chester on TV's Gunsmoke, has a meaty role as Ellen's husband, who can't cope with what has happened to his wife. (This was one of two Weaver movies with "duel" in the title...the other being Steven Spielberg's Duel.)

Composer Neal Hefti's opening theme probably ranks in my Top 10 for Western movies. The rest of his score is pretty good except for a downright funky theme for the Apaches. Hefti was a prominent arranger, composer, and trumpet player from the Big Band era long before he began writing music for movies and television. However, TV fans probably remember him best for his memorable themes to The Odd Couple and Batman. The latter was a Top 20 Billboard hit for The Marketts.

Duel at Diablo was Garner's first Western since departing from Maverick. It's a solid, if unexceptional, contribution to the genre. Garner would fare better three years later in the lighthearted Support Your Local Sheriff. As for Poitier, his next three films would cement his status as an iconic star: To Sir With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.