This week I thought I would transport us back to 1962 and to concentrate on just one film for a change. What were you up to back then? I was still playing hopscotch with chalked out squares on the pavement and challenging others to a game of marbles. I had conquered the new dance craze of the twist. Then there was that game where you stood by a lamp post and counted to 100 while all your friends ran away. Then you had to track them down, and once caught each person joined hands until you eventually had this unwieldy mob interlinked chasing the last person. Ok, it may have seemed odd by today's standards of entertainment but I still reckon was more fun than sitting looking at a screen, and healthier.

Now, back to the subject and this week I recall the film Billy Budd, set aboard a Royal Navy frigate in 1797, shot on location with the interiors at Elstree Studios.

It was based on a novel but came to the screen via the efforts of the great Peter Ustinov, who co-wrote it, produced and directed it, and starred in it! Now that is something few actors have done before or since. Peter was a great character and won two best supporting actor Oscars during his lengthy career but perhaps is best remembered today for playing the role of Poirot several times on screen in the 1970s and 80s. He was awarded a knighthood in 1990 and left us in 2004. I have still kept the kind note he sent me when I got my award in 1997.

The film had a great cast and the villain of the story was veteran Hollywood actor Robert Ryan, who also worked twice later in the decade at MGM in Borehamwood in The Dirty Dozen and Captain Nemo and the Underwater City, but sadly died of lung cancer at an early age in 1973.

The old veteran sailor on board the ship was Melvyn Douglas, who is a forgotten name today but enjoyed a remarkable career. In 1930s Hollywood he was a big star and appeared opposite the legendary Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, but in the 1950s was blacklisted by the McCarthy communist witch hunts of Tinseltown. Billy Budd saw his big return to the screen, somewhat older but now as a great character actor. He went on receive two Oscars before his death.

Two young British stars of that era were in the film but shared different fates in the decades to come. David McCallum, now aged 84, is still acting in the hit American television series NCIS but his career goes back to 1953. I met him in the late 1970s when he was making a series called Sapphire and Steel at ATV in Borehamwood, but I guess he will always be remembered for the classic 1960s series The Man From Uncle.

By contrast Ronald Lewis had also been a rising actor in the 1950s and 1960s, starring in a number of British films like Twice Round The Daffodils and Robbery Under Arms. Off screen he was not popular with some in the business and sadly at a young age he was reduced to poverty and committed suicide.

Finally I must mention Terence Stamp, who played the title role of the innocent young sailor who is hanged. This was his first big screen break and it led to him becoming one of the hottest stars of the swinging sixties. Still starring in new productions aged 79, he became a great character star in such diverse movies as Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and Star Wars The Phantom Menace. I had the pleasure of meeting Terence about 30 years ago but sadly our paths have not crossed again.

I think Billy Budd is ripe for a remake and would be an excellent launch vehicle for a new young star and a showcase for some veteran stars, especially as costume drama is in fashion. Meanwhile I recommend watching this film if you get the chance as it remains entertaining, which at the end of the day is what showbiz is all about.

Lastly, do you remember when this page would have been used as fish and chips wrapping the next day? Well I am off for a cod and chips with lashings of salt and vinegar and to hell with my doctor. Hopefully we will meet again next week.