Being a child of the 60s – yes, I know you all thought I was only in my 30s – it’s surprising that I have never smoked.
Back then smoking was everywhere On the telly, in the pictures, ads on buses, newspapers, magazines. Smoke not only got in your eyes, but also up your nose and clung to your clothes.
It was the decade that swung, when the world was urged to turn on, tune in, drop out and people smoked like lums. God, makes me feel old.
One of my small screen heroes was perhaps THE coolest smoker ever. Some people of a certain vintage talk about Bette Davis and Paul Heinreid sparking up each other’s woodies in ‘Now Voyager’. For me, the actor who comes to mind is Richard Bradford, a Texan method actor who in 1967 took the lead in a British series originally intended for Jack Lord, the original Steve McGarrett in ‘Hawaii 5-0’.
He played McGill (small c, big G), a disgraced CIA agent who became something of a knight errant, righting wrongs and helping people across the globe. The show was ‘Man in a Suitcase’, one of those fast-moving shows from the Lew Grade ITC stable that also gave us ‘The Saint’, ‘The Baron’ and ‘Dangerman’, which it replaced in the schedules when Patrick McGoohan went off to mystify the world with ‘The Prisoner.’
Back then, much of TV drama was studio-bound with occasional forays on location. These series were shot on film and often out of doors, although there was still a great deal of studio work, with Pinewood Studios doubling for foreign parts.
But inside or outside, Bradford’s smoking style was very unique, even though I’ve read he was a non-smoker. The coffin nail would perch at the corner of his mouth and remain there throughout the dialogue and the occasional fight scene. It was an amazing thing to watch and something my pals and I tried to emulate. Not with real smokes, you understand, but with sweets dressed up to look like them. We’d let them dangle there until the sugary confection became too soggy and threatened to drop off.
He also would prop them up on the filter tip on a table while discussing plot points with guest stars.
There was only one season. If you’re not familiar with the show, you may know Ron Grainer’s theme tune which was purloined by Chris Evans in the 90s for TFI Friday. The tune remains one of my favourites. As does Grainer’s theme to ‘The Prisoner’, which also had only one – curtailed – series.
I recently watched the entire season on DVD. It was kind of downbeat for its day, with some grit uncommon in the high-gloss ITC productions of the day, and without a doubt there are elements that have crept into my own writing. Bradford’s method acting style irritated many but I liked it. We also used to copy his walk, by the way.
I don’t think it’s ripe for a remake, either as a TV show or a movie. It was of its day and, anyway, they’d probably make a hash of it.
But if it ever does happen, you can bet you last packet of butts that McGill won’t be smoking.
Nobody else could pull it off with such style.