ALEXIS KANNER- SOFTLY SOFTLY

[simonwells61]

Hi there,
Does anyone know if Alexis Kanner's appearances on "Softly Softly" survive? By all accounts Kanner's appearances on the show were quite explosive (to the point of "questions asked in the House Of Commons etc.) It would be good to see them.

Regards

Simon Wells

[Simon B Kelly]

According to LostShows.com:

Series 1 (1966): 24 out of 26 missing
Series 2 (1966-67): 29 out of 31 missing
Series 3 (1967-68): 21 out of 26 missing
Series 4 (1968-69): 5 out of 27 missing
Series 5 (1969): 7 out of 10 missing

So, only 34 out of the original 120 are archived.

All 8 series (149 episodes) of the revamped colour version, Softly Softly: Taskforce (1969-1976) exist. The reason there are only 10 episodes in Series 5 is because the revamp occurred mid-season.

[Alan Scott]

It was very easy to find out using imdb and the main page of this site.

Kanner appeared in 9 episodes, 2 of which survive:

26/1/1966 It Doesn't Grow on Trees(First 25 minutes only according to Wikipedia)
30/3/1966 A-Z

Wikipedia also states that he claimed he left because he didn't want to be typecast.

[simonwells61]

Thanks Alan for the info. Would love to see a copy of this some day

[Deleted]

I saw one of the existing two featuring Kanner at a screening some years ago but unfortunately he didn't appear much in that particular one! I just hope he does in the other. I would like to see one the episodes where his characters' supposed controversial nature comes to the fore!

I always felt that the later "Task Force" revision of the series was a bit dull and not as interesting as earlier on. It's a shame the harder edged first series is mainly wiped.

[Gary Robinson]

Wonder if these were conveniently wiped!

[simonwells61]

Thanks so much for this comprehensive reply. I don't know if you've seen "Six Into One - The Prisoner File"? In it, Kanner talks about Softly Softly. He makes quite a few wild claims about questions in "The House Of Commons" and how he refused to take it "Softly Softly". Kanner was renowned for his flexible approach to the truth and so am veering to the side that he was sacked rather than forced off because of his appearance. Anyway, it would be fascinating to see even a clip of him in the programme

Thanks again.

Simon Wells

[Stephen Doran]

He was also in a Love Story episode from 1965 called briefly kiss the loser like to see that too as well as the Softly,Softly ones.

[Peter Stirling]

Interesting anecdotes about Kanner thanks
I always thought he had an edgy star quality about him that would go onto greater things.However after looking to forward shows with him, often found them a disappointment.

I was expecting the UFO episode 'The Cat With Ten Lives' to be one of the special UFO episodes that were drenched in atmosphere, but on viewing found it a bit of a shambles (maybe I was watching a heavily cut version?) and dull to match which may/may not been due to Kanner's influence on the set ?

Then of course there was that dreary old pot boiler with Bette Davis of all people -which could have been great in the right hands.
but the Prisoner role is where he will be immortalised and his temperament and the production was well matched there.

PS . Does anyone know why Kanner's name was the only one 'boxed' on the Prisoner captions?

[Deleted]

Nov 29, 2011 22:12:00 GMT Peter Stirling said:

Does anyone know why Kanner's name was the only one 'boxed' on the Prisoner captions?

I've always wondered about that myself too, Peter! At the time of first transmission, I was convinced it was significant in some way to the outcome of the series (i.e. it was a veiled message to the viewer, suggesting that Kanner's character was maybe number 1! )

Seems an odd thing to do without reason though.

[simonwells61]

I seem to remember Kanner at a Prisoner convention at Portmeirion . He was asked the question and replied it was McGoohan's idea. There may have been some controversy around following the fact he did not receive a credit for his appearance in "The Girl Who Was Death".

[Ewan Montague]

I was at that one as well, I think Mcgoohan thought of Kanner as his protege and wanted to help push his career along but in the end nothing really came of it. He did consider a series based on the "Kid" character from fallout but that didn't get very far either.

[simonwells61]

There are rumours that Kanner's anarchic persona didn't endear him to the studio bosses- or some of his fellow actors. One might be interested to know he directed the legendary promo to the Small Faces last single: "The Universal."