The Oldie, November, 2024 By Nathan Morley In late1959, Jack Hawkins was a worried man. Britain’s most famous stiff‐upper‐lip hero – and star of The Cruel Sea, Bridge on the River Kwai and Ben-Hur – was suffering from a persistent, vicious cough. Across three decades, he’d appeared in nearly 50 films and countless stage shows […]
Success came late… then throat cancer silenced one of our film greats The Daily ExpressBy Nathan Morley 21 November 2024, The living embodiment of resilience, ruggedness and old-fashioned British decency, Cruel Sea and Bridge On The River Kwai star Jack Hawkins heroically fought back after losing his famous voice, as every bit as stoic in real-life as he […]
Jack Hawkins was the living embodiment of British ruggedness, resilience, humour, uprightness, and compassion on and off the screen. ‘The Cruel Sea’, ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Mandy’ and ‘Ben-Hur’ were just a few of the scores of films which made him a top star. He built his fame not only […]
By Nathan Morley Nowadays, the plight of Jewish detainees in Cyprus is a popular theme. So popular, in fact, that a few years ago, a half-cylindrical Nissen hut was hoisted into the courtyard of the Jewish Centre in Larnaca, a genuine relic salvaged from a 1940s internment camp. As the living memory of that period […]
By Nathan Morley An ancient shipwreck off the southern coast is yielding fascinating artefacts that provide a remarkable record of ancient sea trade between the Aegean Sea and Cyprus. It’s like excavating a time-capsule”, says director of the project, Dr Stella Demesticha, associate professor at the University of Cyprus, describing the Mazotos shipwreck and the […]
Recently, I read and reread A Traveller’s Guide to Cyprus, the third edition published in 1971, by Hazel Thurston. As is known, the island’s spotlight brightened after the troubles of the early 1960s and dimmed again in 1974. Though the unrest kept some holidaymakers away, the beaches and legendary hospitality lured others and by the […]
One of the untold stories of cinema is how the Guns of Navarone was nearly shot in Cyprus, as was an abandoned Kenneth More epic on the EOKA struggle. However, as Nathan Morley reveals, a young British soldier did manage to reach Hollywood, thanks to a kiosk in Larnaca… In the past year or so, […]
by Nathan Morley VIENNA, Oct. 17, 2018 — In Europe, Austria remains one of the last bastions of free, unhindered smoking, despite a plethora of legislation regarding tobacco in neighbouring countries. In the eyes of many tourists, seeing customers incessantly puffing, creating a bluish-gray haze of smoke in the thriving cafes on the famous Herrengasse […]
By Nathan Morley 30 December 2008 THERE was a gloomy mood last night at Larnaca port as the Free Gaza Movement prepared to set sail on what they described as an “emergency mission” to Gaza. After days of Israeli strikes into the Hamas controlled territory, which has left over 300 people dead, the organisation mobilised […]
By Nathan Morley 20 January 2009, FORMER British Cabinet Minister and veteran Labour peace activist Tony Benn has told the Cyprus Mail that British forces based on the island should be helping in the effort to ferry in humanitarian aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip. His comments came a day after 3,500 people gathered in […]
