The Rainbow Jacket [DVD]

Product Information

JamesNewspaper reports say that his real first name was Edwin and that his father was from New Zealand. Network release this on Blu-ray in The British Film, with two featurettes, an image gallery and subtitles as extras.]

Fella Edmonds did not have a long or prolific career in films. He was born in 1940 so was a young teenager here – and in most of his films. Newmarket – ABOVE. A scene from the film of the High Street in Newmarket – I just love the Standard Vanguard parked there as I used to part own one of these with my brother a lot of years ago. The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 27 May 1954, [1] and the reviewer for The Times wrote that, "It is, then, an entertaining film, a film in love with racing and yet not quite so devotedly so as to refrain from suggesting that in the running of the St. Leger there can be some very queer goings-on indeed." [5] This charming film in stunning Technicolor – was shown on Talking Pictures yesterday. My wife latched on to it by chance and really enjoyed it. Made by Ealing Studios and released in 1954 it starred Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Edward Underdown, Wilfrid Hyde-Whyte, Bill Owen, Sid James and many more – almost a Who’s Who of British character actors of the day. Horse racing does not occupy the movies too often, not as the sole focus of a plot at any rate, so this Ealing drama from the last couple of years of the studio's heyday has always held interest for those with a passion for the gee-gees. It certainly came across as the work of filmmakers who knew what they were talking about with regards to the subject, and screenwriter T.E.B Clarke, the studio's brightest writing talent, evidently threw himself into making this as authentic as he possibly could, so the only reason this did not look like a collection of cliches was that he was inventing a bunch of tropes on the spot. Even the most popular form of horseracing movies, the biopics like Champions, Seabiscuit and Dream Horse, tend to follow the same pattern, and they were based in truth.We get to see both sides of the racing world. The patronising arrogance of the toffs who run it will drive any egalitarian up the wall. In the scene where Crain is up before the Stewards, one half-expects them to produce a cane and tell him to bend over. By their own lights, they are decent enough, but even this lifelong Conservative voter found their attitude hard to stomach. Perhaps they are best summed up as "honourable but insufferable".

One of the later ones was ‘The Stolen Airliner’ which sounds exciting – it was a Children’s Film Foundation production – but after that I know very little about it or him for that matter. On the third race and for his mother’s sake, Sam persuades Georgie to take a fall to throw the race but when Sam visits in the first aid area their connection is exposed. Sam faces another ban but Georgie’s staunch defence of his character to the stewards eventually leads to Sam having his license renewed. Sam’s actions of course mean he is finally banned from racing and after a final piece of illicit betting he retires to live with Georgie’s widowed mother, with the intention to buy his friend's sandwich van. Fella Edmonds takes a wonderful part as Crain. There is a really touching scene where he chooses to take a fall (breaking his arm in the process) rather than mistreat a horse. Later, he takes an even greater risk to save Lillee from losing his last chance of returning to the sport they both love. Lillee, sensing that something ain't right, and that the boy may be about to lose his racing career almost before it has begun, finds that he can save it only at a terrible personal price.