Ken Hutchison
Birth : 1943-11-24, Leslie, Fife, Scotland, UK
Death : 2021-08-09
History
One of the most brilliant character actors of his generation, Hollywood's loss was British television's gain with Ken Hutchison. Born in Scotland, his handsome features and cheeky expression guaranteed him a career in character roles, but his dangerous streak led him early in his career into dark, villainous roles. He was cast by Sam Peckinpah as one of the sinister villagers of Straw Dogs (1971), raping Susan George and participating in the film's closing violent siege. Peckinpah took to the actor, and the pair indulged in their love of drinking throughout the shoot, often to the frustration of those around them. Hutchison was soon offered a role in the Robert Mitchum film The Wrath of God (1972) but this was his one and only shot at the big time. Quite what went wrong is open to debate. Some say he was wary of success and got cold feet. Whether that is true or not, what certainly didn't help was his unruly behaviour which made studio execs nervous of casting him again. He returned to Britain and continued his career as an anonymous but astounding character actor. He appeared in two of John Mackenzie's Play For Today films based on Peter McDougall scripts. In Play for Today: Just Another Saturday (1975) he played the head thug of the Orange Lodge, and in Play for Today: Just a Boys' Game (1979) he played Dancer Dunnichy, an irresponsible rogue who lived for drinking and dodging responsibility, a character that seemed to echo his offscreen persona. Hutchison was a stalwart of British TV crime series at this time, appearing in series such as Shoestring (1979), Target (1977) and Jemima Shore Investigates (1983) as well as The Sweeney (1974). In fact he also played the lead villain in the movie Sweeney 2 (1978), but the script allowed him precious little opportunity to shown off his skills as an actor. In 1978 the BBC cast him as Heathcliff in a serialisation of Wuthering Heights (1978) and he brilliantly captured the rough magic of the character. In the 80s he was seen less, although he had a regular role as the boss in children's series Murphy's Mob (1982). Since then he has appeared inevitably in shows like The Bill (1984). His great strength is an incredible ability with accents, and super comic timing, but he is also excellent at conveying menace. A riveting screen presence, Hutchison is long overdue for recognition as a treasure for British drama, a talent which his own country has rarely recognised.
Self - Actor / Norman Scutt
Documentary about the making of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film "Straw Dogs."
Ronald Jesson
Stephen Milner is a solicitor, but he fits uneasily into the world of Lewis Strange and Partners, who are an upmarket firm of solicitors.The film follows Milner's fraught relationship with a lucrative client, Ron Jesson. When one of his offices goes up in flames, the press are convinced that Ron arranged the fire for insurance purposes.Milner also has to cope with an estranged wife, batty mother and debt ridden younger brother.
MacAlasdair
The story, which is set in a small village on a remote Scottish Island, centres around the gifted Callum who is in his final year at school and preparing to go to University in Aberdeen on the mainland. He receives private tuition from Charles McAllister a former Headmaster at the village school who has become bitter since the death of his wife. McAllister coaches Callum in French and Poetry. When he is not coaching Callum he is compiling a photo biography of the characters in the village. The wedding of the young village nurse is to form the centre piece of his biography. The story traces the life of characters in the village as recorded by McAllister, but seen through the eyes of Callum. It is the story of the life, loves and motivators in the life of young man in the process of breaking free from the place where he grew up.
John O'Dowd
A woman attempts to escape her domestic problems by fleeing to New York in search of her father. She finds him, and also new problems, some friendship, a romance, and an unexpected career as pro-boxer, to make ends meet.
Marquet
Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.
Police Sergeant
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
Jimmy Dickenson
The true story of the First world football competition, won by a team comprised of miners from Durham.
Eddie Cameron
"You've been a good man with us, Eddie. Made a lot of contacts. But two things you'd better realise. One: a salesman who doesn't sell is a liability. Two: don't charge your private life to our account." Salesman Edie Cameron experiences setbacks in his work and personal life.
Dancer Dunnichy
Jake lives in the shadow of his dying grandfather, who was once the town's toughest hard man. Despite their hatred of each other, Jake's sole aim is to be as tough as the old man was. One day in Jake's life, as he drifts, drinks and fights, leads to a bleak realisation.
Hill
The plot is set on a group of bank robbers, who are both violent and successful, strangely getting away each time with an amount around the £60,000 mark, and often leaving behind cash in excess of this sum. The robbers are willing to kill their own team, to get away. As Jack Regan himself puts it after the first raid in the film: "I've never seen so many dead people". Armed with gold-plated Purdey shotguns, they evaded Regan and the Flying Squad for quite some time, before Regan finds encouragement from his Detective Chief Superintendent who was sent down for corruption because Jack wouldn't testify in court for him.
Logan
Three men at three different times in history come to Mow Top hill in search of sanctuary from their troubles. A Roman soldier, a medieval rebel and a 1970s young man. Somehow they seem linked through an energy within the hill and an axe. Is history doomed to repeat itself or can loving another person free them?
Rab
It's the day of the Orange Parade in Glasgow, but for Jon, the thrill of leading the parade and swinging the mace soon turns to horror as he learns the truth behind the costumes and songs.
Jim Nicholls
After she misses her train, a young woman is forced to hitch a ride back to town. After managing to get away from a lecherous trucker, she is given a ride by a good-looking but somewhat mysterious young man, who she comes to suspect may be a dangerous escapee from a mental asylum.
Emmet Keogh
Set in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.
Norman Scutt
David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate, and two of the locals rape Amy. This sexual assault awakes a shockingly violent side of David.
Macey
The first Play for Today is the story of one man's obsession (to win the world long distance piano playing record) and the battle for good (his wife) and evil (his agent) that rages around him.
