News
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April 2023
With the last of the Smiler books, I have completed my readings
of all thirteen Canning books published by Farrago, all of which are now
available via audible.com and other outlets.
February 2020
I have been engaged to record audionbook versions of all the Canning books
released by Farrago Books. Made a start with the
Minerva Club stories.
April 2018
April 2018: Met Pete Duncan, MD of Farrago Books who has bought the rights
to the pre-war and Smiler books and plans to republish them. I
was able to provide him with scans of the texts, for which I was rewarded
with a very pleasant lunch.
Penzance Litfest 9 July 2015
I gave a presentation at the Penzance Literary Festival on 9 July under
the title "Victor Canning: resurrecting a reputation". The audience was
small but appreciative.
Death of Kate O'Mara, 30 March 2014
Kate O'Mara was best known for her television work, especially in
Dynasty, but she also had many film roles including the lead in the
1968 film of The Limbo Line from
Canning's 1963 novel. She devoted two pages of her
memoirs to this experience: Vamp Until Ready (Robson Books, 2003,
p. 47-49):
“On completion of Great Catherine I was put forward for
another film, an adaptation of a novel by Victor Canning,
The Limbo Line. It was the story of a Russian ballerina who
defects to the West, falls in love with the American hero and is hotly
pursued across England and Europe by KGB agents. … I read for
[the producers] in my newly acquired Russian accent—I had already
secured the services of a Russian student to ensure that my accent was
authentic—and was passed as competent by the choreographer who was
in charge of the dance sequences. I secretly blessed the tortuous hours
I had spent in ballet class. I was to perform the ‘Dance of the
Little Swans’ from Swan Lake with members of the Royal
Festival Ballet and had to be seen in the final moments of
Stravinsky’s Firebird. … My leading man in the
movie, Craig Stevens, was an American who had been very popular on
American television in a series called Peter Gunn. He was
married to the actress Alexis Smith, for whom Cole Porter had written
Night and Day. Filming was to take place at Pinewood Studios
with locations at Littlehampton, Marlow and Burnham Beeches, the last
named being a favourite location spot for countless films. Craig Stevens
turned out to be the most charming and urbane of men. I couldn’t
have wished for better. Also in the film was Robert Urquhart, Vladek
Sheybal and Moira Redmond. Moira and I immediately chummed up and had
great fun. … I enjoyed making the film, but the producers made
the mistake of giving it an unhappy ending, contrary to the
author’s intentions. So, instead of wandering off into the sunset
with the hero, the last shots of me were of being bundled into the hold
of a Russian boat and taken back to the Soviet Union. The audience
didn’t like the unconventional ending one bit and it was booed
wherever it was shown. I have to say I agreed with them. I love happy
endings. I think it gives one hope for the future and it’s partly
why people go to the cinema, most particularly if it is a romantic
adventure story. I suppose the audience felt cheated and I don't blame
them.”
Death of Richard Griffiths, 28 March 2013
Just four months after the death of Mrs Finchley (Dinah Sheridan), radio's
Mr Finchley has also died. Best known for his roles in
Withnail and I, The History Boys and the Harry Potter
films, the voice of Richard Griffiths captured the quintessence of Mr
Finchley in the two radio adaptations,
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris and
Mr Finchley Takes the Road. Thankfully the BBC is providing occasional re-runs of the programmes on
its digital channel Radio 4 Extra. Another peripheral link is that Griffiths
made a television series called
Pie in the Sky, about a part-time policeman who also runs a small restaurant. The site
used for the restaurant itself was in Hemel Hempstead, within a hundred
yards of the home of Jean Tearle, Victor Canning's sister.
Death of Dinah Sheridan
25 November, 2012: Dinah Sheridan, known chiefly for her roles in
Genevieve and The Railway Children, has died at the age of
92. She played Mrs Crantell, later to be Mrs Finchley, in the radio
adaptations of
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris and
Mr Finchley Takes the Road, made by the father and son team of Eric and Andrew Merriman, and
originally broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1990, repeated in 2005, 2009 and 2012
on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
September 2012 saw us off to Majorca for a week's holiday, during which we
took a boat trip round Cape Formentor where the main part of
The Manasco Road is set, as well as
visitng Palma where I photographed places mentioned in the novel.
In June 2012 my wife and I visited Tuscany to explore the background to
Canning's 1947 novel The Chasm. We walked the routes in Florence taken by Edward Burgess, and talked to
staff at the British Institute Library and the English Department of the
University of Florence about the likely originals of "Cappa" and
"Montefalcone". I have added images of the two paintings Burgess describes
and a picture of the Nazi destruction of the Arno bridges.
(1 August 2012)
Beggar's Bush (update)
The production took place, in spite of several hitches and late cast
changes, and drew fairly good houses at our small Shaftesbury theatre.
Charles Collingwood and his wife attended the first night. Reviews were
mixed. I wonder when the next revival is going to happen.
(31 March 2012)
New editions
There has been quite a spate of new editions in 2010/11. First there was a
very welcome reprint of
The Rainbird Pattern from Ostara Press. Then Summersdale brought out a new edition of
Everyman's England
with a preface by Charles Collingwood. Then a reprint of
The Whip Hand by Arcturus Publishing. This last is particularly welcome since it is the first in a planned run
of several of Canning's best titles. Next year should see
Firecrest and Queen's Pawn.
(19 August 2011)
Beggar's Bush
Victor Canning's 1940 stage play is to be revived by the Shaftesbury Arts
Centre in October 2011 to celebrate the author's centenary. The script of
this play seemed to be lost. The family did not have a copy. Curtis Brown,
Victor Canning's agent, did not have a copy, nor did the theatre in which
it had its only previous production. Eventually I tracked one down in the
archive of the Lord Chamberlain, to which it had been sent for censorship,
as all plays had to be until 1967. It turns out to be an accomplished and
charming comedy about a group of beggars who are forced to take up a new
profession. It is well worth a revival. After all, April 1940 was not the
best date to launch your career as a playwright.
Rehearsals have started. Performances will take place at the
Shaftesbury Arts Centre
from 12 to 15 October 2011.
(1 November 2010)
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Sad to hear of the death at age 92 of Jean Tearle. Jean was Victor
Canning's younger sister, and a strong admirer and supporter of his
work. She was married to a market gardener in Hertfordshire, and
later took up a career as a Conservative Party agent, about which
she wrote a novel,
The Blue Rosette. After Victor's death in 1986 she undertook to complete the
manuscript of
Table Number Seven, the novel that he had left unfinished. Her contribution was
roughly the last quarter of the book along with the necessary
research, editing and polishing. She was a charming and entertaining
personality who will be much missed by her daughter and
grand-daughter, as well as friends and colleagues.
(1 May 2010)
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BBC Mastermind Quiz: I took part in a round of this
quiz on 13th November 2009, taking "The Birdcage books of Victor Canning" as my specialist subject. Click on the chair to see the questions
that were set. (I only managed the first fourteen in the two minutes
and scored 12 points. See if you could have done better.)
20
November 2009
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USA: A new edition of
Victor Canning stories selected and edited by John Higgins
was released in February 2009. This comprises the five
Minerva Club stories, the seven
Department of Patterns stories, and twelve very short stories about
the mysterious Dr. Kang. The publisher is Virginia-based Crippen
and Landru, well known for publishing 'Lost Classics' by famous crime and
thriller writers. (3 March 2009)
France: Following visits to France, I have added pictures
to the entry for The Limbo Line (28 June
2008), The Melting Man (15 September
2008) and The Boy on Platform One (25
October 2008)
Italy: On a recent trip to southern Italy in search of
places mentioned in Canning's stories, I went to
Number 4, Piazza Ebalia in Taranto, Puglia.
This was an address scribbled on the back flap of Canning's officer's
identity card in 1945, not in his handwriting. Click on the address to see a
photograph. Was it a flat where he was billeted? a friend's home? an office
he had to visit? Now it is just a block of flats, the only older structure
in a square of modern buildings. Taranto is mentioned in
The Mask of Memory, where Paul Woodford, the brother one of the characters, is said to have
died "off Taranto" in 1944. If anyone reading this knows about the area or
has any suggestions, please get in touch. (18 April 2008)
Following a visit to the British Library Newspaper Division at Colindale, I
have tracked down four new stories or articles, including Canning's first
attributable story (published anonymously in a children's magazine but
mentioned by title and date in a letter) and the second story he published
for adults, a charming story called "The Lion Tamer". I have updated that
section of the bibliography. (24 February 2008)
I have just been to the Isle of Wight, the location of Parkhurst Prison
where the 1956 novel
The Hidden Face begins. Canning usually
researched his plots carefully. Have a look at the entry for photographs of
some of the island locations he mentions.
(12 February 2008)
I have visited Chilbolton, the village in which Miss Grace Rainbird lives
and calls in Blanche Tyler for seances, so I have added photographs to the
entry for The Rainbird Pattern.
(15 August 2007)
I have visited Dunster and Porlock, the setting of
Birds of a Feather, and have added photographs to the entry for that book.
(5 August
2007)
John Higgins
