Kenneth Griffith (1921-2006)
A Tribute retrospective at Chapter Arts centre.
No-one in the recent history of Welsh film and television has deserved a retrospective at the Cardiff Film Festival more than that inveterate gadfly and tempestuous maverick, Ken Griffith, who cared passionately about
A 60-year film career - from Love On the Dole (1941) onwards, is remarkable enough – and most performers might be content with his glittering acting CV, including features like his early thriller Shop At Sly Corner, a host of comedies, often as foil to Peter Sellers - notably I’m All Right, Jack Only Two Can Play, Heavens Above, and his triumphant near swansong role in The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain, directed by Chapter Arts’s own Chris Monger.
Yet Ken’s other career was even more extraordinary. His very personal television drama - documentaries in which he took (sometimes Quixotic) tilts at the English Establishment and championed those he perceived to be underdogs were testaments to his personal commitment and courage. Some of the near-incendiary ‘political’drama - docs here are outstanding examples of his ability to buttonhole us and rivet with his facts and rhetoric as he mounts anti-Colonialist crusades, often indicts the British Government and assails us with images and rhetorical flourishes which bring past deeds, however unpalatable, to life.
Griffith almost invariably played all the roles in his docs, demonstrating both his versatility and his strong attachments to his subjects, though he could occasionally be amusingly gruesome in his performances as his hated, perceived adversaries. Two programmes in this retrospective were long- banned, including a sympathetic documentary on the IRA’s Michael Collins, which should be required viewing for students of the Troubles. It was entirely typical of Tenby-born Griffith, the dauntless, thorny old trooper, that when awarded the BAFTA Cymru life Achievement in 1994 he championed the IRA in his acceptance speech.
Dave Berry