User reviews

The wonderful Derek Jacobi makes this whole episode with his brilliant performance as an eccentric magician strolling the streets of a market town entertaining everyone who happens to meet him. Most of the episode is shot on location in the bustling streets of Norwich city centre (being that Anglia Television is located nearby) and it is great to spot the shops of yesteryear. A nice twist as well that pays off beautifully.

I am currently reliving my childhood by watching the full series 1-9 of Tales Of The Unexpected on the wonderful new Sky Arts+ Channel on Freeview and I have to say this is one of the best of the series and one I must have missed when I wur a nipper.

As I have not seen the original 1952 short film on which it was based but it actually has the same director/writer, I am judging it on no pre-conceived notions of which is best other than to say the ending is most Unexpected, unlike i would say 70% of the series so far. Replete with a masterful performance by the wonderful Derek Jacobi aided and abetted my Hyacinth Buckets husband and quality actor Clive Swift, not only that but into the bargain we get a young performance by none other than Jennifer Connolly in a very, very early role.

Swirl all this together into an evocation of a past I remember as the "good old days" and it takes me back like a time machine to an era where foul language, gratuitous violence, over sex and puerile acting were not even a thought and it made my day and what a good and unexpected day it has been after watching this delightful reminder of a time when good script and ideas combined with quality actors were not in short supply as they are now!

Derek Jacobi plays a flamboyant newcomer calling himself Christopher Columbus. He dresses wildly, acts mad, does magic tricks and charms the children like a veritable Pied Piper. And he's pretty pied. But does he have an ulterior motive? Nahhh.

Jacobi's performance highlights this late entry in the series. He grips one's attention with his first line of narration. He charms the viewer as much as the children.

Clive Swift has a fairly thankless role any competent actor could play. And he has little camera time.

The resolution takes a long time but there is a nice, switch ending. The acting is never overwrought, as some of these episodes can be.

This is a nice,entertaining short that wastes little time in its telling & deserves its award. I am referring to the original Film production directed by Wendy Toye (once better known for her career as a dancer). As I recall it was released as a programme "support" & "introduced" the later versatile actor,Alan Badel( a sort of poor man's Alec Guinness) as "The Stranger" who is never identified. It also used the popular "Swedish Rhapsody" tune for the music. As a one-time minor Civil Service film society secretary in Westminster (London)in the 60s I recall I booked it for a show as a 16mm reel from the BFI. It has had one or two showings on TV - possibly BBC2 or Channel 4 way back so it could always pop up today,unexpectedly. I agree that this "Tales" version does not stand up to the former despite D Jacobi who probably is more at home as a daft Roman Emperor. If one thinks about it, the story could lend itself to both a decent little ballet or decently directed "silent" as it uses little dialogue. But whoever attempts the seemingly "odd" lead the twist to this tale should always bring a chuckle if not a few ideas....

This episode is a blatant copy of the far superior "The Stranger Left No Card" (1952) q.v. But since that award winning British short seems to be no longer available I suppose we can't fault the producers of the series 'Tales . .' for enabling its audience to experience this gem of a story of the perfect(?) crime. But once you've seen a classic original nothing comes close and although Derek Jacobi does his best he is woefully let down by a usually reliable Clive Swift in his pre 'Keeping Up Appearances' days who plays the villain more like a friendly old grandfather. And with modern police methods no way would this prank be successful today. Maybe not even then.