the brother from another planet is a 1984 science fiction film written , directed and edited by john sayles .

it stars joe morton as " the brother " , an alien and escaped slave who , while fleeing " another planet " , has crash-landed and hides in harlem .

it has been also described as a film in the afrofuturism genre .

the brother from another planet

the brother from another planet . 1984 . written and directed by john sayles | moma
featured in brother from another planet ( 1984 ) ( 2011 ) . see more »
' ' the brother from another planet ' ' opens today at the embassy 72d street theater .
the brother from another planet . 1984 . usa . written and directed by john sayles . courtesy of photofest
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sayles is no storyteller ; despite the verve of its language ,
the brother from another planet
eventually sags of its own weight .
featuring director john sayles trademark humanity and an expressive performance from joe morton , the brother from another planet is an observant , dryly comic sci - fi gem .
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' ' the brother from another planet , ' ' written , directed and edited by john sayles , is an extremely low - key comedy about the adventures of a black extraterrestrial - the ' ' brother ' ' of the title - come to earth to escape slavery on planet x .
the brother from another planet . 1984 . usa . written and directed by john sayles . with joe morton , daryl edwards , david strathairn . 35mm preservation print from ucla film & television archive ; courtesy of ifc films . 108 min .
the brother from another planet places writer / director john sayles’ commentary on race relations in the 1980s up to bat in this science - fiction flick that evidences the dangers of mixing classical themes with bad writing and half - baked ontology and sociology .
still john sayles ' s most provocative work , the brother from another planet blends a stock satirical premise - - a look at the world through the eyes of an alien - - with a runaway slave narrative , rendering a loosely constructed but keenly observed allegory of race and class in america . the brother ( joe morton ) is an escaped slave from an unnamed planet who crash - lands . . . read more
the brother from another planet wasn’t diminished by age in the slightest , in fact the opposite , my admiration for it has grown . i highly recommend you catch it on u . s . netflix while it’s still available . i don’t think you’ll regret it .
however it is the end of the brother from another planet that holds sayles’ punchline to his sociocultural joke , his little tale of the damned . when the ‘brother’ finds ‘the man’ deemed responsible for the cocaine epidemic that ravaged harlem in the 1980s , ‘the man’ is scared , dismissive and naive . in encountering this lone , silent ‘brother’ , who he openly disrespects and fears , he bargains ; reinforcing a violent intent that has not been issued .
joe morton is marvelous as the brother , using only his face and gestures to communicate a variety of emotions . in the end , he must call upon fellow blacks in harlem to fend off slave dealers from his home planet . his new friends risk their lives helping him , even as he served them by getting rid of the heroin chief . the brother from another planet ends by affirming the triumph of conscience and community over death dealers of all stripes .
it is at these turns where the brother from another planet becomes irksome in its linear , romantic and ill - conceived interpretation of not the ills but the people of the community and then seeks to infect its audience with the very same ignorances all under the guise of satire and soft comedy .
in order to direct ' ' the brother from another planet , ' ' mr . sayles was forced to resign from the directors guild of america . the directors guild requires that any member working on a movie hire other guild members as assistant directors and production managers , something mr . sayles said he could not afford to do .
four months later , on may 15 , 2009 , the usda approved another grant : $ 24 . 6 million for planet aid projects in malawi .
one of the many revelations in the brother from another planet is its presentation of how most people in the story are so wrapped up in themselves that they don ' t really need the brother to talk to them at all . the most blatant narcissist is the wall street dope dealer ( edward baran ) whom the brother eventually confronts about the death of the boy in harlem . for the dealer , dealing in heroin is simply a means of coping with
some cash flow problems .
as for the trees supposedly planted with funding from the u . s . department of agriculture and funneled through planet aid , most had been there long before planet aid took credit for them .
brother from another planet
is not an important film or one that should even be sought out . but it ' s clever , well - made , and well - written , and if you have the time to watch a good movie , you ' ve got my recommendation .
a few years before the usda began funding planet aid , another branch of the u . s . government was raising alarms about this practice of siphoning off salaries .
two examples of the sci - fi slave ' s silence come to mind . in planet of the apes ( 1968 ) the apes refuse to believe that humans they have captured can use language , the silence of the slave being one of their main rationalizations for keeping humans in slavery . in enemy mine ( 1985 ) , alien being lou gosset , yet another
brother from another planet
who has also experienced slavery , cannot speak to the audience because of the barrier of his exotic language .
the film is about a
brother
who escapes slavery on another , more technologically advanced , planet and takes refuge in harlem with the active support of its black , latino and welfare white inhabitants . while the brother ( who cannot speak but has miraculous and psychic powers ) goes through a series of adventures and interactions with various people in harlem and the surrounding city , slave catchers , sent from his planet , track him , interrogate his friends and attempt to recapture him .
the brother from another planet charts the experiences of a mute alien slave on the run , played by joe morton ( terminator 2 ) . when the alien , referred to only as ‘brother’ crashes to earth in the new york borough of harlem in the form of an african - american , he seeks refuge while being tracked down by two intergalactic bounty hunters , played by sayles and good night , and good luck’s david strathairn .
the discovery of life on another planet might seem incompatible with faith in a deity . yet many theologians are already open to the existence of extraterrestrials , argues the writer brandon ambrosino .
by the end of september 2012 , the money was flowing again : the usda had signed another agreement with planet aid , allocating $ 21 . 4 million for programs in mozambique .
the first invoice is from planet aid’s massachusetts headquarters , dated jan . 28 , 2014 . the invoice billed dapp’s malawi office for $ 4 , 725 . 40 . the following day , jan . 29 , there is another invoice from planet aid to dapp malawi . this one was for $ 32 , 095 . 75 and requested that checks be made payable to planet aid . the total of the two bills was $ 36 , 821 . 15 .
the brother from another planet , directed , written and edited by john sayles ; director of photography , ernest dickerson ; score by mason daring ; produced by peggy rajski and maggie renzi ; released by cinecom internatonal films . at embassy 72d street , at broadway . running time : 110 minutes . this film has no rating .
usda money was transferred from one teachers group charity to another , they said , in exchange for goods and services that may or may not have been provided .
kicking off with some unforgettably cheap spaceship interiors , the brother from another planet finds a nameless alien ( human - looking in form , except for huge feet that look like a cross between mickey mouse and a chicken ) crash landing between ellis island and the statue of liberty . standing in the then - neglected main hall of the ellis island immigrant processing facility the brother hears the murmurs of the generations of tired , poor huddled masses that also found entry way to a new world there .
. ” it gets worse . west is losing touch with black youth . “west can’t mention black kids , ” brother lott tells us from the grassy ‘hood at the university of virginia , “without disclosing his sense of distance from them . ”
police were last night also quizzing his brother ismail , 23 , on suspicion of involvement in the bombing .
' ' the brother from another planet ' ' is mr . sayles ' s fourth movie . he followed ' ' the return of the secaucus seven ' ' with ' ' lianna , ' ' a $ 340 , 000 movie about a lesbian , and ' ' baby , it ' s you , ' ' a $ 3 million film about high school lovers from different social milieus who are parted by the inexorable demands of the class system .
the brother
( joe morton ) is an alien and escaped slave on the run from his home planet . after he lands in new york city , he tries to adapt to life on the streets of harlem . although the brother is mute , he does have great abilities at fixing machines , and he gets a job . as the brother tries to blend in with his new culture , he finds an apartment and gradually makes friends . meanwhile , he is pursued by two agents from his home world who are intent on returning there with him .
it was not the first time croushorn had been alerted to troubling information about planet aid .
another $ 100 , 000 is spent on a “dapp malawi membership fee . ” dapp malawi is a member of the federation . and $ 53 , 131 . 78 was transferred to a hong kong - registered trading company run out of the shanghai offices of simon lichtenberg , the brother of chief planet aid fundraiser marie lichtenberg .
salman and his brother ismail worshipped at didsbury mosque , where their father is a well - known figure .
while considering the range of possible manifestations of this concept , i will focus on two recent films , brother from another planet ( 1984 ) and the color purple ( 1985 ) , which are important not only for their sedimentations of the slavery motif , but also because they are popular commercial productions that attempt to articulate black story lines acted by black casts for consumption by a general mass media audience .
the brother from another planet is a slyly endearing and moral story . it touches upon such diverse themes as extra - terrestrial life , narcissism , drugs , slavery , technology , conscience , and community . in the opening scene , a spaceship crashes and a black man ( joe morton ) struggles out of new york harbor onto ellis island . he possesses some psychic gifts ; when he touches the walls in the famous entry hall , he can hear the voices of immigrants from years gone by .
mr . sayles described the theme of ' ' the brother from another planet ' ' as ' ' forcing people to look at racial and power relations they take for granted . ' ' ' ' brother is an escaped slave from outer space who serves as a pair of eyes , ' ' he said . mr . sayles has spent his own money to make his film about a mute alien because ' ' it ' s the only way i can get creative control . ' ' ' ' i ' m not somebody who ' s good at compromising the movie , ' ' he added .
s it continues to pursue grants from the u . s . government , planet aid is outspoken about promoting its work in africa . its livelihood depends on it .
as it continues to pursue grants from the u . s . government , planet aid is outspoken about promoting its work in africa . its livelihood depends on it .
i remember catching john sayles ' the brother from another planet back in the 80’s , and being thoroughly charmed by it’s silent , three toed , protagonist , it’s blacksplotation trappings , and rather obvious allusion to immigration and overtones of the christ story . when we stumbled across it on netflix the other night ( my wife , who hadn’t seen it , made the suggestion ) , i was a bit worried about tarnishing a sweet memory .
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final thoughts : a personal favorite and a stand - out in sayles ' impressive filmography , the brother from another planet has long deserved the treatment it gets here . this cheap dvd doesn ' t overload on extra features but it does offer a quality commentary and , most importantly , a beautiful print of this important and unique film . hopefully this quiet , soulful movie can gain a new audience on dvd .
when the movies started to talk , they began to lose the open - eyed simplicity with which they saw the world .
the brother from another planet
tells the story of a man who cannot talk , but who can read minds , listen carefully , look deep into eyes , and provide a sort of mirror for our society . that makes it sound serious , but like all the most serious movies , it ' s a comedy .
the brother is an alien who has crash - landed on earth , in new york city . while mute , strongly empathic , and able to fix things , he resembles a black man with strange feet . his attempt to make a place for himself in harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the united states . meanwhile , two bounty hunters from the brother ' s home planet arrive and try to capture him .
it would be easy to dismiss the brother from another planet as a tragic and ill - conceived b - movie or as a valiant fictionalised insight into race relations and identity in 1980s america . that would be a mistake , as sayles’ creation is near affirmation of edward said’s orientialism hypothesis , that ‘european culture gained in strength in setting itself off against the orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self . ’
the usda’s foreign agricultural service allocates funds – with the mission to improve the lives of southern africans – to benefit its relief partner in the group , planet aid . records show that planet aid then uses a subcontractor , development aid from people to people in malawi , widely known as dapp .
still , the brother from another planet came together in a matter of months , while sayles regrouped after initial investments in matewan fell through . most helpful in realizing this goal was the macarthur grant  the so - called
genius
grant  that sayles received in 1982 . the award of $ 33 , 000 a year  tax - free  for five years was what enabled him to make as seemingly noncommercial a film this one .
a black extra - terrestrial , escaping from his galaxy , is pursued to earth by two bounty hunters , who track him down to harlem where he is accepted as just another black man in the street .
the brother is an alien who has crash - landed on earth , in new york city . while mute , strongly empathic , and able to fix things , he resembles a black man with strange feet . his attempt to make a place for himself in harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the united states . meanwhile , two bounty hunters from the brother ' s home planet arrive and try to capture him . written by reid gagle
review :
acid was conflict - 7th city classics volume 1
is an absolutely essential techno release . this is the first record in a series of three limited edition re - issues , with selected tracks from the legendary 7th city detroit catalogue . this monumental re - release features the amazing
acid wash conflict
by the master claude young under his brother from another planet alias . this has long stood as a blueprint for minimal music of today , played regularly by the likes of richie hawtin , ricardo villalobos and dan bell etc .
alonge did not give up . over the next three years , she continued to research planet aid and repeatedly sent documents and information to usda officials , among them the fbi report from 2001 .
mr . sayles works best in the quietly realistic , comic style of ' ' baby it ' s you , ' ' ' ' lianna ' ' and ' ' the return of the secaucus seven . ' ' ' ' the brother from another planet , ' ' set in major part in harlem , means to be fantastic as well as funny and satiric , and from time to time , it is each of these things . mostly , though , it ' s a nice , unsurprising shaggy - dog story that goes on far too long .
another set of spreadsheets that reveal obtained show quarterly transfers totaling nearly $ 2 . 7 million from the teachers group charity dapp malawi to the zimbabwe humana federation , the teachers group’s headquarters in zimbabwe that charges fees as a subcontractor to dapp .
do you have experience with the teachers group or affiliated organizations such as planet aid ? are you a current or former u . s . government employee who has come into contact with planet aid fundraising efforts ?
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the brother from another planet alludes to making many socio - political commentaries but then has chosen to perpetuate the same imagery so prevalent in media . it finds no place for insight into a harlem of homes , love , light , schools and families living out their lives , raising their children despite the scourge of crime and poverty around them . even in world - renowned , bad ol’ harlem the people living that life exist and did so before jamba juice and starbucks ever arrived .
because the film ' s narrative unfolds outside the south ( slavery and the south being displaced to
another planet
) the film focuses its attention on the trials and adventures of a
runaway
in the north , and his resistance to slavery and slave catchers . because few films articulate the perspective of the runaway slave facing an uncertain and problematic future in the north , brother broadens the filmic mediation of slavery into significant new political dimensions and narrative terrain .
' ' lianna , ' ' which was released by ua classics , and ' ' secaucus seven ' ' earned about $ 2 million each , excellent results for low - budget , independent films . because approximately half of each movie ' s ticket sales were at theaters in new york , maggie renzi , co - producer of ' ' the brother from another planet , ' ' is considering making a direct distribution deal with a manhattan theater owner for the new movie .
darsbo was listed as a 1998 director of planet aid and was a controlling officer of the humana federation . according to knud haargaard , the danish investigator , the federation provided about $ 500 , 000 to fund the launch of planet aid in 1997 .
farmers who were promised help from planet aid say they have been shortchanged yet were told to put a happy face on their projects . interviews in africa show a planet aid subcontractor controlled by teachers group members would steer visiting auditors to potemkin village farms that looked prosperous but were merely for show .
cg : you financed brother yourself . how does it feel to make films without anybody looking over your shoulder giving you unwanted input ?
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the brother from another planet was partially filmed in hoboken , nj at
mister bigs super heroes
( a sandwich shop . ) john sayles likes to film around there since it is near his home . i happened to be at mr . bigs , and asked around to see if i could be an extra . i waited around & they shot me in two scenes ( i appear - for maybe 25 seconds - in the scene where the brother is repairing / souping up the video games for ace . ) i forgot about it until i saw the movie 2 years later . of course , i think it is a good movie . . .
js : yeah , and the statue of liberty is pretty impressive . you know , if you landed on another planet and there was a statue that big you ' d be worried ,
oh my god , i hope the people aren ' t that big !
while our gentle ‘brother’ ( he has no other name ) from another planet ( which also has no other name ) is completely endearing in his telepathic and empathetic way , and his one particularly remarkable gift , it’s the characters that populate 80’s harlem are the real stars of the show . each character completely realized , and darkly funny in their diatribes . the real scene stealers , though , are sayles himself and david strathairn as the mysterious and lizardry men in black , hot in pursuit of the brother . a worthy entry in the annals of mibdom , their awkwardly fluid movements , and attempts at linguistic intimidation in a language they obviously don’t fully comprehend is a special kind of funny .
after little earl takes off his band - aid , and the brother heals his knee , the band - aid reappears where his cut was . see more »
jackson mtimbuka , a former usda planet aid farmers program manager in southern malawi , left his job in 2009 after a dispute over expenses . like many others , he now is disillusioned with the usda program that funded planet aid .
victim mr atkinson , from radcliffe , was leaving the concert at the venue when it was targeted by the suicide bomber .
the upshot is that the more we’re able to peer into space , the more certain we become that our planet isn’t the only one suitable for life .
' ' although the other two films did very well in new york for the distributor , we didn ' t get any of the money , ' ' said miss renzi , who co - starred in ' ' return of the secaucus seven ' ' and who shares mr . sayles ' s hoboken house . she plays a role in ' ' the brother from another planet , ' ' as does mr . sayles . the approximately 35 actors in the film , most of them unknown members of the screen actors guild , are the movie ' s single biggest expense , she said .
ris alonge began looking closely at planet aid while helping her daughter with a homework assignment on charities . they had seen planet aid clothing donation boxes popping up in their hometown of lawrence , kansas . their curiosity was piqued .
kris alonge began looking closely at planet aid while helping her daughter with a homework assignment on charities . they had seen planet aid clothing donation boxes popping up in their hometown of lawrence , kansas . their curiosity was piqued .
“they will take people from the usda to africa , and when they visit , they will be taken around by people from the teachers group , ” she said . “and they will find nothing wrong . ”
' the joint terrorist analysis centre has concluded that the threat level should be increased for the time being from severe to critical .
“when i came back , they said to submit all my papers and they would take it from there , ” she said of her bosses at planet aid . “none of them know anything about agriculture . none of them know anything from the field . they just need the materials , and they will cook it up . ”
the threat level for the uk from international terrorism is set by the joint terrorism analysis centre ( jtac ) . mi5 is responsible for setting the threat levels from irish and other domestic terrorism both in northern ireland and in great britain .
nternal financial documents from the teachers group and sources who worked in key financial positions within charities associated with planet aid and dapp said the charities also did business in ways that are highly unusual . and they resemble the operation described by danish investigators .
internal financial documents from the teachers group and sources who worked in key financial positions within charities associated with planet aid and dapp said the charities also did business in ways that are highly unusual . and they resemble the operation described by danish investigators .
an intersecting tale with a multitude of characters living lives which , in one way or another , revolve around an old apartment block scheduled to be demolished .
it wasn’t quite as romantic as when ilsa left rick alone on the tarmac in casablanca , but the parting of president trump from the paris climate accord prompted a fast and furious response from america’s major tech companies on twitter .
in another video from 2010 , a narrator extols the group’s farmers’ clubs in malawi : “eight thousand farmers are now growing more than four different types of crops , ” she says . “two hundred forty farmers’ clubs have been established with 12 , 000 members . ”
has gorgeous cinematography . yes , the movie is a character piece , but the camera takes in faces , places , and the bustle of the city with equal eye for the striking and the esthetically pleasing . the visual sense of the film is another of the subtle ways that sayles deals with
the race issue .
near the middle of the film , there ' s a lovely vignette with the brother on a subway , and a white kid is showing him some card tricks . as the train makes its last stop before harlem , the kid tells the brother that the last trick will be to make all the white folks disappear . and so they do .
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: children witherin ' away up here , brother , worshippin ' the idol of capital , lustin ' after the false salvation of here and now . black brother and sister perishin ' up here , mon , waiting for scrap from oppressor table . oppressor got us for * house pet * ; do him tricks to get reward . oppressor need a slave ; him find it here . oppressor need a harlot ; him find it here . oppressor don ' t need here at all ; him wipe it away from the map .
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as a film , it is not without its charm . joe morton and tom wright give plucky performances , but the brother from another planet is undeniably an insidious mess and not really worth your time unless you’re incredibly bored , have access to no other film , write for an awesome movie review blog ( go on , subscribe ! 🙂 ) , or study the social sciences . if you do choose to make sayles’ flick indication of your aimless life or the subject of a critical analysis , why not start with the trailer , as it alone is sardonic and sickening proof of the pudding .
megan died in last night ' s attack after watching singer ariana grande at the men arena , while her brother bradley was injured , a fundraising page has revealed .
the email outlined the links between petersen and a global network of charities that includes planet aid , and it highlighted allegations of embezzlement and tax fraud in a case brought by the danish government . it cited lichtenberg’s association with the teachers group , noting her parents joined when she and her brother , simon , were children . ( the lichtenbergs’ household records from the 1980s , obtained by reveal , show the family’s finances were managed by petersen lieutenant poul jørgensen . )
one video on the charity’s youtube site features jackson mtimbuka , the former program manager in malawi . released in 2009 , the video promotes planet aid’s partnership with the usda .
police also raided a house where abedi ' s brother ismail , lived and the 23 - year - old was arrested outside a morrison ' s in the chorlton area of manchester .
to this day , usda officials say they see nothing wrong with planet aid . reveal sent the foreign agricultural service a letter describing these investigative findings in detail and followed up with a list of detailed questions asking why the agency continued funding planet aid despite the warnings of possible fraud .
brother , then is an amalgam of displacements and sedimentations of slavery thematics figured into a unified allegory expressed in the
second cinema
style . and in a number of ways , brother goes beyond merely reversing the older hollywood hegemonic perspective on slavery as do the films of the
blacksploitation
70s , which tend to depict revolt , reversal and revenge in the relations between slave and master . brother is timely and politically relevant because its sedimented slavery motif is set in contemporary new york , thus connecting the oppression of the antebellum past with the contemporary inner - city ghetto .
internal planet aid files and former staff portray the clinton foundation as a linchpin of lichtenberg’s fundraising efforts with private and government donors . an oct . 25 , 2012 , fundraising “ master plan ” from planet aid documents cites the clintons’ nonprofit 20 times in as many pages , stating : “clinton global initiative will contribute by providing access to selected private partners and wealthy individuals . ”
“i know that marie ; her brother , simon ; and jonas lichtenberg , their father , as well as their mother – they have a great relationship with mogens amdi petersen . they have known each other maybe 40 years , ” he said . “where would marie get money to make this big operation work ? it’s tvind money , from the teachers group account . that’s how planet aid started . ”
miss renzi said she would like the ' ' luxury ' ' of making a million - dollar movie with ' ' livable salaries , ' ' of not having ' ' to race all over new york in an insanely short four weeks with everybody catching cold . ' ' when ' ' the brother from another planet ' ' was shooting on 148th street , another independent movie , cannon ' s $ 8 million ' ' ultimate solution of grace quigley , ' ' with katharine hepburn and nick nolte , was shooting on 151st street . ' ' they had winnebagos , ' ' she said enviously . ' ' our biggest truck was the size of a bread - delivery van . ' ' and she wondered , ' ' nineteen years from now , when i ' m 50 , will i still be able to enlist people for $ 250 a week ? ' '
the agency’s internal report named five charities as part of petersen’s fraud network . they included humana people to people , development aid from people to people and planet aid – the trio that a few years later would become humanitarian partners with the u . s . government .
yet the usda continued to allocate humanitarian relief funds to planet aid – tens of millions of dollars’ worth . less than six months ago , the foreign agricultural service posted a web page announcing aid programs , including $ 31 . 6 million allocated to planet aid for programs in mozambique .
harrison longwe in 2014 and 2015 was the financial controller of dapp malawi , the charity carrying out usda - funded programs for planet aid . he says he became suspicious of his employer’s financial activities after seeing unusual payments flowing from malawi relief projects to accounts outside the country .
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ms brewster died as a result of injuries suffered when she ' shielded ' her young niece from the deadly blast .
but also , the film presents the audience with a complex , double message on black solidarity . in the main , the film definitely speaks of pan african unity and struggle against oppression , as signified in the name the protagonist is given
brother ,
and the support of the blacks who so eagerly take him in . however , brother is also different from the earthlings who shelter him . the eradication of his voice denies him the solidarity and identification of learning or communicating in the afro - american or west indian idiom . brother ' s psychic powers and feet with three toes , as well as his talent for fixing electrical appliances are interesting expressions of the science fiction genre , but they also symbolize the
human capital
that allows him to succeed as a model minority .
armed officers guard a second property raided by the police today in carlton road , manchester . police were last night also quizzing his brother ismail , 23 , on suspicion of involvement in the bombing
“unless sufficient evidence of fraud or criminal activity is produced , ” he wrote , “the ( office of inspector general ) won’t make a referral to another agency regarding initiating an investigation . ”
the brother gathers a number of friends around him on his picaresque journey through harlem . some of these are stereotypes , like the men in the bar - - smokey , the man who drinks too much , for example . he also encounters a singer , with whom he falls in love . she is in the middle of a struggle with her manager , or some such scum , and the brother ' s sensitivity is very appealing to her . she hardly knows anything about him , another part of the commentary of the film . it might not be a long term relationship , but she is attracted to him because of his apparent willingness to listen ( and do so all the time ) . the brother does not seem to mind the inequality either , the joke being that the man who doesn ' t say anything is the right kind of man .
' we again discussed the callous and cowardly terrorist attack in manchester last night and the operational response from the security service , the police and other emergency services .
reveal visited the farms in malawi because , in march 2015 , planet aid had reported to the usda that those programs had produced dramatic long - term improvements .
on christmas eve 2008 , alonge’s phone rang . it was ron croushorn , a senior usda official . she recalls him telling her that the usda was “very interested in learning anything i could tell them about planet aid . ” on dec . 26 and 27 , she sent croushorn at least 11 emails with multiple attachments about planet aid and teachers group operations , including documents from the danish criminal case .
we all live on a small planet and every nation needs to work with others to protect it . we’ve been a steadfast supporter of the paris agreement , from encouraging nations to come to an agreement in 2015 to urging the u . s . to ratify the agreement in 2016 . ”
documents supplied by planet aid to the usda list chiradzulu as one of six malawi districts targeted for aid . in its 2015 report to the agency , planet aid said it installed 576 water pumps throughout malawi . mtimbuka , the farmers’ club manager , said he had thought 25 of those pumps were targeted for njuli .
another character in the 2010 video was njuli’s village chief , identified as chief mfunu mbwana . “my wife and i grew tomatoes and raised about $ 1 , 000 , ” he boasts on camera .
another friend tweeted : ' a beautiful girl with the kindest heart & soul , i ' ll miss you forever , may you rest in a better place than here . i love you . '
welcome to a world of crude beauty . . . of danger and excitement . . . of wonders , legend , and imagination . . . welcome to harlem , brother .
two women support each other as they walk away from the concert venue . the pink balloon being carried is a reminder of the huge number of children who attended the performance
certain early lessons that the brother learns ( about money , about violence ) are a bit simplistic and blatantly symbolic , but that ' s the level he ' s at . the more time he spends in harlem the more complex his world gets . by the time a well - meaning white rookie cop tries to chat him up the brother ' s world - view has been sufficiently affected by his surroundings that can only shrug him off .
one question – about whether the u . s . would continue to support planet aid – was answered toward the end of last year , when the usda announced on its website that it had allocated a new grant : $ 31 . 6 million to help planet aid support education , child development and hunger reduction in mozambique .
“a lot of the money comes from external foundations , ” he said . “the profit in the related companies would in the end go to the teachers group and not to the project in malawi . ”
harrison longwe in 2014 and 2015 was the financial controller of dapp malawi , the charity carrying out usda - funded programs for planet aid . he says he became suspicious of his employer’s financial activities after seeing unusual payments flowing from malawi relief projects to accounts outside the country . credit : eldson chagara for reveal
is therefore subversive and radical , but it ' s yet another way that film pleased me , with its insistence of story and substance over gloss and big buildings blowing up . and despite the low budget ,
in may 2011 , ahmed was hired in maryland by planet aid as the manager of strategic partnerships , agriculture and food security , according to her online résumé . soon afterward , she was sent to africa on a monthlong fact - finding tour of planet aid’s usda - funded projects in mozambique and malawi .
if you don’t want to view your watch list right now , you can access your list anytime from your profile .
mr hall said abedi lived in a housing association owned home about two miles from the scene of monday night ' s terror attack .
“am departing presidential councils . climate change is real . leaving paris is not good for america or the world , ” tesla and spacex founder elon musk tweeted . disney ceo bob iger quickly followed : “as a matter of principle , i’ve resigned from the president’s council over the # parisagreement withdrawal . ” a more detailed statement followed shortly : “protecting our planet and driving economic growth are critical to our future , and they aren’t mutually exclusive . i deeply disagree with the decision to withdraw from the paris agreement and , as a matter of principle , i’ve resigned from the president’s advisory council . ”
this plan – that is definitely from the level of amdi ( petersen ) – ( was ) to generate more income to the teachers group . ”
' it has now concluded , on the basis of today ' s investigations , that the threat level should be increased for the time being from severe to critical .
in an economically devastated alaskan town , a fisherman with a troublesome past dates a woman whose young daughter does not approve of him . when he witnesses the murder of his shady brother , he , the woman and the kid run to the wilderness .
in denmark , ongoing support for planet aid and its linked organization , humana people to people , is baffling to officials involved in the government investigation of the teachers group and petersen .
welcome to a world of crude beauty . . . of danger and excitement . . . of wonders , legend , and imagination . . . welcome to harlem , brother . see more »
it took more digging to find out that last april , the usda’s brian dutoi traveled from washington to malawi to check on the dapp projects planet aid had funded six years earlier . at the time of his visit , dutoi had been employed by the usda for nine months after serving as an intern at the u . s . embassy in nairobi .
cg : but i think the brother senses the magnitude of what he ' s looking at . i mean , he hears the voices of all the past immigrants at ellis island . on some level he understands that it ' s a place of importance .
certainly one of the brother ' s most peculiar experiences is with several white , middle - class men from indiana who get lost in harlem while on their way to a
self - actualization
conference . in the bar , they blab to the bemused alien , ending their monologue with the quip :
communication , that ' s what it ' s all about !
guarantee the perfect movie night with tickets from fandango . find theater showtimes , watch trailers , read reviews and buy movie tickets in advance .
in a 1966 new jersey high school , jill and new student sheik from the other side of the tracks make their way in a first love romance .
in a statement , lichtenberg’s pr spokesman , andrew rice , wrote : “planet aid has a long and successful track record managing u . s . government projects in africa . government agencies continue contracting with planet aid precisely because they have seen the positive results in the field , and they have conducted extensive financial reviews of these programs . ”
marie lichtenberg is a fundraiser for two africa - focused charities , planet aid and humana people to people , and has been the main contact between the charities and the u . s . department of agriculture . she also has close ties to mogens amdi petersen , an international fugitive from denmark wanted for embezzlement and tax evasion .
lichtenberg’s strategy involves presenting herself to african leaders as a longtime partner of the u . s . government . the resulting african alliances then become leverage to push for more u . s . funds , allowing her to pitch herself as the person with a finger on the pulse of african political leaders , according to internal memos from planet aid .
“we hired local planes to transport the local currency every week , ” she said of her time in angola . “i had to organize transport for local currency in two , three suitcases from huambo to luanda , from the airport to the exchange house , to transfer local currency to hard currency . ”
writer - director john sayles plays with gentle irony on conventions of the american slave narrative in chronicling the adventures of “the brother , ” a mute alien who comes to harlem by way of ellis island ( and outer space ) . the brother’s seriocomic encounters with barflies and junkies , racist cops and street preachers—as well as ordinary folks just trying to get by—offer a timeless tale of two cities , segregated as always by race and class yet pulsating with immigrant life .
edward monster , the u . s . embassy spokesman in malawi’s capital , referred questions about planet aid to kate snipes with the usda office in nairobi , kenya , over 1 , 000 miles away . snipes , in turn , said the usda has no monitoring and evaluation staff in malawi . she said it is washington’s responsibility to monitor planet aid projects there .
records show that $ 100 , 000 was taken from total control of the epidemic , an anti - aids program in africa also run by the teachers group .
ms brewster , an office worker from sheffield , was said to have shielded her niece , hollie , 11 , when the bomb went off .
collect bonus rewards from our many partners , including amc , stubs , cinemark connections , regal crown club when you link accounts .
eighteen months later , the usda’s foreign agricultural service received an email from a u . s . freight agent working with the usda , warning about a court case in denmark against petersen and his associates . the subject line in the email chain , shared with multiple officials within the foreign agricultural service , contained a clear warning : “troubling news – planet aid – usda . ”
the film ' s closure builds when the slave catchers trap brother at odell ' s bar , and the black patrons are able to resist long enough to allow brother to make his break . later , he is apprehended but manages to escape down an alley with slave catchers in pursuit . here brother encounters the underground of runaways , and they make a stand , surrounding the slave catchers . shocked into immobility by the sight of dozens of ex - slaves gathered in collective resistance , the slave catchers pause in bewildered contemplation of their situation and then self - destruct by vaporizing themselves . this resolution clearly privileges the value of collective organization and resistance to oppression and has an allusive validity to the collective resistance of afro - americans , abolitionists and others to historical slavery .
amid the craggy rolling hills of chiradzulu district in southern malawi lies one such planet aid “demonstration plot , ” where the u . s . - based nonprofit promised villagers would learn advanced farming techniques .
in 2012 , malwaian vice president khumbo kachali ( right ) cuts a ribbon during the opening ceremony for a dapp teachers training college in malawi . standing alongside him are longtime teachers group member marie lichtenberg ( second from left ) and kate snipes ( third from left ) of the usda office in kenya .
junge said that when she belonged to the teachers group in the early ’90s , the group was piling up so much money from used clothing and donations that cash became difficult to transport .
the prime minister is understood to be reviewing a wider intelligence assessment from officers at the joint terrorist analysis cell , before making any decision on the deployment of armed soldiers on mainland britain .
an alien in the guise of a mute african - american man lands in harlem and tries to fit into the neighborhood , but also discovers how difficult people of his color have it on this planet .
a year and a half later , planet aid posted a celebratory video featuring a usda official . it’s croushorn , with a trim salt - and - pepper beard in blue shirtsleeves , surrounded by noisy mozambican children happily eating . he praises planet aid as a trusted partner who “makes sure u . s . resources are used well . ”
marie lichtenberg is a fundraiser for two africa - focused charities , planet aid and humana people to people , and has been the main contact between the charities and the u . s . department of agriculture . she also has close ties to mogens amdi petersen , an international fugitive from denmark wanted for embezzlement and tax evasion . credit : matt smith / reveal
that case implicated the teachers group in fraud , but it did not stop the usda’s foreign agricultural service from funding total control of the epidemic programs . records show a 2004 usda grant , which involved the allocation of $ 8 . 5 million to planet aid , includes money to “educate 200 , 000 people in hiv / aids - affected communities about the disease and prevention methods” using total control of the epidemic .
for more than a decade , the u . s . government has been warned repeatedly about planet aid and its ties to petersen ; again and again , those warnings have been overlooked .
1 . ed guerrero ,
from birth to mandingo : hollywood ' s inscription of slavery 1915 to 1975 ,
ethnic studies occasional papers series , 1 : 1 ( s . f . state university , fall 1986 ) . here , i discuss the overt inscription of slavery as divided into three phases : 1 . the hegemonic phase running from 1915 to ww ii and exemplified by birth of a nation ( 1915 ) , 2 . the revised phase running from ww ii to the 60s and exemplified by the foxes of harrow ( 1947 ) , and 3 . the reversed phase running from the late 60s to the early 80s and exemplified by mandingo ( 1975 ) . the present article continues this discussion .


john gilbert esmonde ( 21 march 1937 – 10 august 2008 ) and robert edward " bob " larbey ( 24 june 1934 – 31 march 2014 ) , better known as esmonde and larbey , were a successful british television comedy scriptwriting duo from the 1960s to the 1990s , creating popular sitcoms and hit comedy shows , such as please sir !

( 1968 – 72 ) , the good life ( 1975 – 78 ) , get some in !

( 1975 – 78 ) , ever decreasing circles ( 1984-89 ) and brush strokes ( 1986 – 91 ) .

esmonde and larbey

a look at the john esmonde and bob larbey - penned sitcom ever decreasing circles .
on radio , esmonde and larbey moved into the world of television sitcom . their first effort was called
together and solo , the work of john esmonde and bob larbey has made the world of british comedy a much richer place .
the good life , 1975 , written by bob larbey and john esmonde . photograph : allstar collection / bbc / sportsphoto
it was two years before esmonde and larbey collaborated on another sitcom on television . once again the series failed to score a hit and
john esmonde and bob larbey have unquestionably been responsible for some of british comedy ' s best loved programmes . from the comfort of suburbia in
, starring george baker , a series that ran for 13 half - hours . that same year esmonde and larbey wrote another one - off sitcom ,
for their next sitcom esmonde and larbey referred back to their national service days . the subject had already been covered successfuly in the granada produced sitcom ,
the good life : v . 5 : wind - break war by bob larbey , john esmonde ( cd - audio , 2008 )
larbey ' s solo successes included a fine romance and as time goes by .
the good life : v . 5 : wind - break war by bob larbey , john esmonde ( cd - audio , 2008 ) | ebay
bob larbey ( author ) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer . for over 30 years , he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles . larbey ' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes by . he died in 2014 . john esmonde ( author ) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey . the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school , and both shared an interest in radio humour . together , they created several hit sitcoms including please sir ! , the good life and ever decreasing circles . john esmonde died in 2008 .
john esmonde ( author ) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey . the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school , and both shared an interest in radio humour . together , they created several hit sitcoms including please sir ! , the good life and ever decreasing circles . john esmonde died in 2008 . bob larbey ( author ) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer . for over 30 years , he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles . larbey ' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes b y . he died in 2014 .
bob larbey ( author ) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer . for over 30 years , he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles . larbey ' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes b y . he died in 2014 . john esmonde ( author ) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey . the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school , and both shared an interest in radio humour . together , they created several hit sitcoms including please sir ! , the good life and ever decreasing circles . john esmonde died in 2008 .
, the writers have given us some of the most memorable characters on television . but success for esmonde and larbey didn ' t come easily and their story is one of how persistence and talent paid off .
, esmonde and larby wrote another series for richard briers in which he starred alongside michael gambon . in
penelope keith pays tribute to comedy writer bob larbey . he and his writing partner john esmonde wrote some of britain ' s best - loved comedies , including the good life .
what do you think was the best esmonde and larbey sitcom ? here ' s a list of their collaborations i found on this site - ( note some might not be sitcoms ) .
bob larbey , right , with his writing partner john esmonde . they first met at their grammar school in clapham , south - west london . photograph : writer pictures
failed to capture the affection of the british viewing public and was deemed one of esmonde and larbey ' s first failures . in 1977 the duo collaborated on a one - off sketch for diana rigg ' s series
larbey and esmonde teamed up a number of times with richard briers . as well as ever decreasing circles , the good life and down to earth , they also wrote 1970s sitcom the other one for the actor .
as you may have read , bob larbey died last week . the co - creator of some of britain ' s best - loved sitcoms , often alongside writing partner john esmonde , larbey helped keep the nation laughing for well over 30 years .
starring bernard holley , jill kerman and marc gilbey faired a little better extending to two series in 1983 and 1984 . however , the series that followed became a big hit . it teamed esmonde and larbey up with richard briers once more .
larbey , who died on monday , was born in 1934 in south london .
born in battersea , south london , in 1937 , esmonde attended the henry thornton school , in clapham , where one of his fellow pupils was bob larbey and they shared a similar schoolboy humour . after national service in the raf , esmonde worked in the offices of a paint company , then as a journalist writing about food processing and packaging , while larbey had a job in a foundry .
larbey and esmonde also created ‘brush strokes’ and ‘pleas sir ! ’ while bob also experienced solo success , giving dame judi dench two of her most significant tv roles , the first in ‘a fine romance’ and the second in ‘as time goes by’ .
bob larbey married patricia ( trish ) marshall , a script - reader for lwt , who predeceased him in 2006 . their son survives him . john esmonde died in 2008 .
esmonde & larbey ' s last major project together was the 1995 bbc one sitcom down to earth in which richard briers played a character trying to set up a landscape gardening business . john esmonde died three years later , in august 2008 , at his retirement home in spain .
it all began in 1966 with room at the bottom , a vehicle for kenneth connor 1 which lasted just one series . esmonde and larbey had learned , though , and their next foray into television would be a stunning success .
still friends , they met regularly for lunch and chatted about local revues and their favourite radio shows . as a result , esmonde and larbey started writing sketches themselves and sent them to the bbc , which eventually accepted one for a programme that included cyril fletcher and paid them a joint fee of two guineas .
bob larbey ( 1934 - 2014 ) . image courtesy of the huffington post uk .
bob larbey was responsible for some of the most popular and enduring television comedies of the last half - century .
bob larbey , who was born in lambeth , south london on june 24 , 1934 , died , aged 79 , on march 31 . john esmonde died in 2008 and larbey’s wife , patricia marshall , a london weekend television script - reader , died in 2006 . he is survived by his son .
( he ) and co writer john esmonde would go off in a room and write another two minutes worth of comedy gold ,
she said .
i thought i would instead spend the time away from my exams and endless revision exploring the underrated gems esmonde and larbey gave us , some of which have recently been repeated such as brush strokes on the drama channel . then my good friends at the sitcom club reminded me of mr . larbey’ solo sitcom ; a fine romance .
portrayed tom good , who suffers a midlife crisis and decides , with the help of his plucky wife , to turn his suburban home into a self - sufficient farm . briers worked again with larbey and esmonde on three of their later series ,
in 1995 , esmonde and larbey decided to make down to earth , with briers once again , a final effort before they parted company professionally . esmonde retired to la herradura , on the southern spanish coast , with the intention of writing novels . he is survived by his wife , gina , whom he married in 1960 .
while the good life was attracting some 15 million viewers a week on the bbc , larbey and esmonde were enjoying further success on itv with their raf sitcom get some in ! ( 1975 - 78 ) . starring robert lindsay in his first important television role , and featuring tony selby as the drill instructor barking orders at 1950s national service “erks” , the series drew on the writers’ own experiences ( larbey had been in the army , and esmonde in the raf ) .
alongside the good life on the bbc , esmonde and larbey had another itv hit , the raf sitcom get some in ! ( 1975 - 78 ) , featuring tony selby as the drill instructor corporal marsh barking orders at national service recruits in the 1950s and based on the writers ' own experiences ( larbey had been in the army ) .
having decided that down to earth would be their last series together , esmonde and larbey went their separate ways . esmonde retired to the coastal village of la herradura , in the granada province of spain , and concentrated on writing novels .
i haven ' t had one published yet , but being rejected makes me feel young again ,
he said .
bob larbey , who has died aged 79 , co - wrote with his professional partner john esmonde some of britain’s most popular television sitcoms , most memorably the good life ( 1975 - 78 ) .
friends since childhood , john esmonde and bob larbey began writing comedy material together as a means of escape from the dull routine of their office jobs . four years of effort and rejection ensued , but by 1965 a number of their jokes and sketches began to appear on bbc radio shows .
, which ended in 1992 . but in 1991 larbey teamed up with his old partner again for
bob larbey , one of britain ' s most prolific sitcom writers , has died aged 79 .
the youngest son of a carpenter , robert edward john larbey was born on june 24 1934 in lambeth , south london , and educated at the henry thornton school in clapham , where he was captain of tennis and became friends with john esmonde , two years his junior .
after the good life larbey and esmonde went on to write three more sitcoms for richard briers , starting with the other one , which ran from 1977 to 1979 . briers also starred in ever decreasing circles ( 1984 - 89 ) and down to earth ( 1995 ) .
in larbey and esmonde’s last series together , down to earth ( 1995 ) , briers played tony fairfax , an expatriate struggling to adapt after returning to britain from south america ; but once again viewers did not warm to his character , and it ran for just seven episodes .
esmonde and larbey ' s last series together , again starring briers , was down to earth ( 1995 ) . they tried to make his character of an expat readjusting to life in britain after many years in south america interesting , and failed ; it evaporated after seven episodes .
john gilbert esmonde , television scriptwriter : born london 21 march 1937 ; married 1960 gina barton ; died 10 august 2008 .
the 1970s show about a self - sufficient couple and their suburban neighbours was among a string of hits written with john esmonde , who died in 2008 .
the times accurately but incompletely eulogized larbey as the
king of the gentle sitcom .
the program for which larbey was best known was the good life , which he wrote with john esmonde during the 1970s . i never saw that program , but for me and millions of other americans , bob larbey was the sole writer of as time goes by , which ran on bbc one in england from 1992 to 2002 . it still runs weekly in the us on pbs , and i still watch it .
bob larbey , who has died aged 79 , was renowned as a television sitcom and screenplay writer with his professional partner john esmonde for 30 years : they wrote the good life ( starring richard briers , felicity kendal , penelope keith and paul eddington as the surbiton neighbours ) and a second briers vehicle , ever decreasing circles .
‘the good life’ sitcom co - writer bob larbey has passed away aged 79 , his agent has confirmed .
ran for just one series . at this point the duo decided to take a break - from each other . esmonde went to spend time in spain while larbey bought a new home and , suddenly strapped with a hefty mortgage , found himself in need of some cash . the result was that bob larbey wrote his first solo project , and what ' s more it proved to be a huge success .
above all , esmonde and larbey wrote funny lines . they had that precious knack of translating how they spoke and what they heard into comic dialogue and entertaining characters . they weren ' t tom stoppard , and they weren ' t alan ayckbourn ( whose 1973 trilogy the norman conquests provided a template for the good life ) , but they were very good indeed .
many of larbey ' s shows are still big hits in america . as time goes by , the sitcom starring judi dench and geoffrey palmer , which larbey wrote as a solo effort from 1992 to 2002 , is still regularly repeated on pbs stations .
though esmonde was the younger by two years , the pair remained firm friends and , on leaving school , found jobs in the same firm of block - makers . esmonde did his national service in the raf , worked in the offices of a paint company and made a start in trade journalism , without much success .
the good life : volume five : the wind - break war : win . . . by esmonde , john cd - audio
how interesting it is that so much of our postwar television comedy writing originated from male professional couples with deep cultural ties and friendships : david croft and jimmy perry ( dad ' s army ) , dick clement and ian la frenais ( the likely lads ) , ray galton and alan simpson ( steptoe and son ) . esmonde and larbey met at school , remained friends all their lives and tried their luck in bbc radio comedy because they loved listening to it .
in between , esmonde and larbey enjoyed success with brush strokes ( 1986 - 91 ) , starring karl howman as a womanising painter and decorator , and gary waldhorn as his boss . howman also took the title role in mulberry ( 1992 - 93 ) , playing the manservant of the crotchety old spinster miss farnaby ( geraldine mcewan ) .
on his own , and with his long - time writing partner john esmonde , he was a near - permanent presence on british screens , from their early 1960s’ debut writing sketches for radio and television’s the dick emery show to the finale of larbey’s self - scripted , judi dench and geoffrey palmer vehicle as time goes by in 2005 .
after their even bigger success with the good life , larbey and esmonde created a string of comedy series which ran for varying lengths of time . they twice teamed up again with good life star richard briers , for five series of ever decreasing circles in the 1980s and one series of down to earth in 1995
he and school friend esmonde started out writing scripts for bbc radio shows , such as i ' m sorry , i ' ll read that again and contributing tv sketches to the dick emery show .
he teamed with esmonde again for television’s ever decreasing circles ( 1984 - 89 ) , brush strokes ( 1986 - 91 ) and mulberry ( 1992 - 93 ) .
the good life : volume five : the wind - break war : wind - break war v . 5 : urltoken bob larbey , john esmonde , felicity kendal , full cast , paul eddington , penelope keith , richard briers : 9781405688871 : books
larbey and esmonde switched to a more traditional domestic setting for their other big success , the good life ( 1975 - 78 ) , but gave it a twist by making one of the two featured middle - class couples self - sufficient , with allotments of fruit and vegetables , as well as chickens , pigs , a goat and a cockerel .
, briers plays tony fairfax , an oxford graduate who , upon leaving university , immediately goes to work as a cultural adviser in south america . but a military coup leaves him exiled and penniless and forced to return to a britain he barely recognises . it was to be john esmonde and bob larbey ' s last collaboration . in 1995 esmonde and larbey decided to call their partnership quits . it was entirely amicable , due mainly to esmonde ' s desire to spend more time in spain . he still lives there and concentrates on writing novels .
it was totally amicable .
says bob larbey of the split .
we were kind of headed in different directions in our personal lives . john had bought a house in spain , and wanted to cut down on the work and spend more time there - maybe spend six months here and six months in spain , which was fine by me . some years afterward john and i just came naturally to the end of our writing together . the last series we tried was a series called
i also really like on the up , which was bob larbey on his own . even better , a fine romance and as time goes by .
with his life - long friend john esmonde , he created classic comedy series including the good life , please sir ! , ever decreasing circles , brush strokes and mulberry .
john esmonde , who has died at the age of 71 , was half of a partnership with bob larbey , who together came up with popular series including please , sir ! and the good life , but they were not established writers who had teamed up because that was the best modus operandi for sitcom - writing . they had known each other since childhood , having both been born and raised in south london - esmonde came from battersea - and been schoolboy mates at henry thornton grammar school in clapham .
bob worked with his old schoolfriend john esmonde , who passed away in 2008 , throughout his career and their ‘70s creation ‘the good life’ was one of their most phenomenal successes .
so ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls , i hope you will join me in saying a huge thank you to the one and only mr . bob larbey for everything he has given to the sitcom universe . thank sir , and may you rest in peace .
larbey was born in lambeth , south london , the son of a carpenter . he attended the henry thornton school , clapham , where esmonde was a friend – two years his junior – who shared his sense of humour . on leaving , larbey worked as a printing - block maker , then in an insurance office , before doing national service in the royal army educational corps in germany .
item 2 the good life : volume five : the wind - break war : win . . . by esmonde , john cd - audio -
item 4 the good life : volume five : the wind - break war : win . . . by esmonde , john cd - audio -
item 5 the good life : volume five : the wind - break war : win . . . by esmonde , john cd - audio -
by then , larbey and esmonde were comedy royalty , the zeitgeist - catching the good life having just ended its three - season run . however , their follow - up , the other one ( 1977 - 79 ) , which also starred richard briers , was a surprising damp squib for the duo .
amiable and easy - going , larbey was at school with esmonde in south london just after the war . the pair sought escape from their humdrum jobs by spending their evenings and weekends writing comedy scripts . by the early 1960s they had enjoyed modest success with sketches for radio programmes such as i’m sorry , i’ll read that again and , for television , the dick emery show .
, a comedy which , as its title suggests , is about a policeman . the series lasted two seasons and in the process esmonde and larbey learned a lot about how to structure thirty minutes of comedy as opposed to the short skits they ' d been doing . they also learned a lot about how to create well - rounded sitcom characters .
bob larbey , the co - writer of bbc sitcom the good life , has died aged 79 , his agent has confirmed .
larbey’s longest - running solo sitcom was as time goes by ( 1992 - 2005 ) , from an idea by colin bostock - smith . judi dench and geoffrey palmer played two old flames , jean and lionel , reunited after 38 years apart . as with a fine romance , larbey’s scripts shone with intelligence and poignancy . the sitcom also proved popular in the united states .
larbey was quintessentially experimental . he and esmonde were late bloomers . they began writing the good life when they were turning 40 :
it ' s one of those ' oh , god , what am i doing with my life times . '
when a producer first saw one of their scripts and was surprised by the absence of gags , larbey responded ,
we go for character . we can ' t write jokes . never could .
larbey was never confident in his work :
i don ' t have an inkling as to what will be a success : there is no magic formula .
the 1970s hit show about two neighbouring suburban couples was one of the prolific scriptwriter’s many successes with co - writer john esmonde , who died in 2008 .
the death of bob larbey last week received little if any attention on english television ; it was overwhelmed by such trivial stories as the downfall of yet another sleazy politician , and the first foreign trip of a royal infant . bob larbey deserved better , because he was an artist who helped transform television .
larbey married patricia ( trish ) marshall , a scriptwriter for lwt , who died in 2006 . he is survived by their son .
after the good life , larbey and esmonde wrote three further series for richard briers , starting with the other one ( 1977 - 79 ) , in which the central character could not have been more different . perhaps because briers was cast as a compulsive and unscrupulous liar , the show failed to generate any of the affection viewers had felt for the wholesome goods , and it was cancelled after only two series .
starring tom bell , holly aird and eamon boland . the series ran for two seasons but was not seen as a great success . unlike larbey ' s next solo project ,
larbey , who died on monday , was born in south london in 1934 . he attended school in the area , which was where he first met esmonde . the pair began working together on comedy scripts and by the early 1960s they had enjoyed modest success with sketches for radio programmes such as i’m sorry , i’ll read that again and television shows including the dick emery show .
comedy writers and actors have paid tribute . writer and creator of reginald perrin , david nobbs said :
imagine if bob larbey had never been born . how much less rich british tv comedy would have been .
the good life , which the bbc accepted for production in 1975 , featured richard briers and felicity kendal as a suburban couple resolved to practise self - sufficiency and live off the land without leaving surbiton , much to the scorn of their neighbours , played by paul eddington and penelope keith . again esmonde and larbey succeeded in sustaining genial life - like comedy without elaborate plot contrivances on the one hand or drifting into sitcharm , rather than sitcom , on the other .
just like any larbey ( with or without esmonde ) comedy , a fine romance boasts three dimensional characters that are charming at times , prone to flying off the handle ( i’m thinking more of laura here ) , not afraid to show their emotion when things don’t go to plan and pumped with an infectious joy when the occasion calls for it .
after down to earth , the writers ended their partnership and esmonde retired to spain . larbey had already branched out on his own with a fine romance and on the up ( 1990 - 91 ) , teaming dennis waterman’s self - made millionaire with the socially superior wife played by judy buxton , as well as writing the first four episodes ( 1991 ) of the darling buds of may .
bob larbey enjoyed 30 years as half of one of television’s most successful and prolific sitcom - writing partnerships . he and john esmonde had their first major hit with please sir ! ( 1968 - 72 ) , set in fenn street secondary modern school , with john alderton as bernard hedges , the fledgling teacher trying to keep order among the unruly pupils of class 5c , who call him “privet” .
between the good life and down to earth ( their last series together ) esmonde and larbey created nine further sitcoms . two of the most popular of these , brush strokes ( bbc , 1986 - 91 ) and mulberry ( bbc , 1992 - 93 ) , starred karl howman ( who had also appeared in get some in ! ) - as a womanising house painter in the former , and as an assistant to the grim reaper , albeit with a sentimental streak , in the latter .
robert edward john larbey was born on the 24th june 1934 in lambeth . he and esmonde met at the henry thornton school in clapham and , after national service in the army , the pair were soon writing comedy scripts together in their spare time . by the 1960s they had found jobs working on bbc radio , contributing to programmes such as i ' m sorry , i ' ll read that again .
on television , larbey and esmonde had already been writing sketches for the dick emery show when room at the bottom was given a try - out in the “comedy playhouse” slot in 1966 . given the green light for a full series the following year , it featured kenneth connor leading a factory’s maintenance workers against deryck guyler’s personnel director – but it failed to catch on .
the co - writer of classic bbc sitcom the good life , bob larbey , has died at the age of 79 , his agent has confirmed .
their neighbours are the henpecked jerry and margot leadbetter ( paul eddington and penelope keith ) .
larbey had no theatrical background , but his first stage play , a month of sundays , won the evening standard best comedy of the year award when it played at the duchess theatre in the west end in 1986 , starring george cole . the play was set in a retirement home and won praise for its humour , delicacy and humane consideration of growing older , qualities evident in all of his , and esmonde ' s , television writing , even the knockabout stuff .
when the good life was nearing its end , they wrote the other one ( 1977 - 79 ) , again starring richard briers , this time with michael gambon , playing two loners dependent on each other ' s friendship . despite esmonde and larbey ' s fondness for it , viewers were not so enthusiastic , perhaps feeling uncomfortable with briers in the role of an unscrupulous character .
feet first ( 1979 ) , just liz ( 1980 ) and don’t rock the boat ( 1982 ) were other turkeys , but now and then ( 1983 - 84 ) , starring bernard holley , ran to two series . larbey and esmonde were on a roll again with brush strokes ( 1986 - 91 ) , featuring karl howman as a womanising decorator . then , in mulberry ( 1992 - 93 ) , howman starred as the manservant to geraldine mcewan’s crotchety old spinster .
on leaving school larbey took a job in an insurance office in soho , then did national service with the army , stationed in germany with the education corps .
as larbey celebrated his 40th birthday , he and esmonde devised their most popular and successful series , the good life . in the first episode , screened in 1975 , tom good , a draughtsman for a plastics company ( played by richard briers ) , himself turned 40 , seizing this occasion to drop out of the rat - race by jacking in his job in favour of suburban self - sufficiency with his wife barbara ( felicity kendal ) .
john challis , boycie in only fools and horses , paid tribute :
first john sullivan & now bob larbey who wrote please sir , good life & ever decreasing circles . will anyone match them ?
larbey wrote as time goes by by himself , after esmonde ' s retirement . most viewers would probably attribute the show ' s success to superb ensemble acting , and the brilliance of judi dench in the lead role . but the unobtrusiveness of the scripts should not be taken for unimportance , as is often done with excellent experimental art . the actors themselves would never make this mistake . as geoffrey palmer , who starred opposite judi dench , concluded ,
you can find hundreds of actors , but you don ' t get many writers like bob larbey .
having built up a rapport with briers on the good life , esmonde and larbey recombined with the actor on three further sitcoms : the underrated the other one ( bbc , 1977 - 79 ) , with briers and michael gambon as two loners dependent on each other ' s friendship ; ever decreasing circles ( bbc , 1984 - 89 ) , with briers as the know - it - all do - gooder of his suburban neighbourhood ; and down to earth ( bbc , 1995 ) , in which briers played an expatriate returning to live in britain and finding his new situation strange and bewildering .
judi dench , british actress known for her numerous and varied stage roles and for her work in television and in a variety of films . …
this original idea evolved from the writers ' own thoughts about turning 40 and they saw the urban setting , rather than a rural smallholding , as crucial .
placing them in the avenue , where a number of margos and jerrys lived up and down the road , not just next door , provided the abrasiveness ,
explained esmonde .
in the hit or miss world of tv comedy , everything starts with the script . in america , the most successful sitcom series have used vast armies of writers , but in britain it has traditionally been a one - or two - man ( or very occasionally woman ) operation , and the writers have often become household names , almost as much as the performers . examples include galton and simpson , carla lane , marks and gran , and richard curtis . one duo , however , produced consistently highly - rated and high - quality series for more than 20 years without gaining that same level of public adulation : john esmonde and bob larbey .
bob larbey died on monday 31st march 2014 , aged 79 . his comedy legacy includes beloved titles such as please sir ! , ever decreasing circles , the good life , as time goes by , brush strokes , on the up , a fine romance , the other one , mulberry , get some in ! and many more . his writing partner for many series , john esmonde , died in 2008 .
between these series , larbey went solo on a fine romance for dench and her husband michael williams , a four - series saga ( 1981 - 84 ) of on / off social intimacy with ups and downs and looming elderly parents played by the unforgettable duo of richard pearson and lally bowers . and he rallied to the great actor again with as time goes by ( 1992 - 2002 , with
reunion
specials in 2005 ) as dench ' s jean hardcastle re - animated a long lost affair with geoffrey palmer ' s ex - army officer ; her casual brilliance and comic timing in these larbey scripts undoubtedly led to her indian summer in british films and hollywood .
robert edward john larbey , writer : born london 24 june 1934 ; married 1973 patricia marshall ( died 2006 ; one son ) ; died london 31 march 2014 .
actress jackie lye , who played sandra the secretary , described how larbey would write extra scenes for the show if their script read - through came in under time .
they were both south london boys . larbey was the youngest son of a carpenter who attended the henry thornton grammar school in clapham where he met esmonde , two years his junior , and was captain of cricket . he worked as a printing - block maker , then in an insurance office in soho , and did his national service with the education corps in germany . three years of after - hours writing with esmonde yielded a bbc joint fee of two guineas in 1965 . sketches for the comedian dick emery led to their first radio sitcom , spare a copper , starring kenneth connor ( of carry on films fame ) as a hopeless policeman and , in 1969 , just perfick , adapted from he bates ' s stories about the larkin family ; 20 years later , larbey dramatised the first television series adapted from the same source , the darling buds of may .
all four of the leads from the good life went on to their own series , and deservedly so . kendal starred in carla lane ' s solo alongside stephen moore 3 . eddington saw his finest hour in lynn and jay ' s yes minister and later yes , prime minister , reputed to be margaret thatcher ' s favourite tv programme . keith took her snobbish persona even further upmarket as audrey fforbes - hamilton in peter spence ' s to the manor born . only briers , however , had a follow - up also from the esmonde and larbey stable .
i don ' t know how many co - authored books are genuine collaborations . certainly it ' s possible to write as a partnership ( galton & simpson , larbey & esmonde , perry & croft ) but those are from tv where you can easily divide up the scenes ; it ' s harder with a novel . jamie and i co - plot the dirk lloyd and starship captain books , and leo has input into the storyline for mirabilis , but the bulk of the writing is just done by one person .
the two writers continued to work together , meeting daily in a rented office in dorking , surrey , midway between their homes , larbey still in london , esmonde now settled on the sussex coast . success continued to come their way , notably with get some in ! ( thames , 1975 - 78 ) , which drew on their national service days in the 50s .
larbey struck out on his own with a fine romance ( 1981 - 84 ) , starring judi dench in her first television sitcom , alongside her real - life husband , michael williams . “from first to last , ” one critic noted , “bob larbey’s scripts were well - written , providing not only laughs but also an underlying intelligence . ”
reunited larbey with judy dench . the idea for the series was brought to larbey by the theatre of comedy production company and they asked him to see what he could do with it . the premise - of two former lovers reuniting after almost forty years - was right up larbey ' s street and the dream casting of judi dench as jean pargetter and geoffrey palmer turned the show into a hit on both sides of the atlantic enjoying considerable success in the usa . for the first few seasons , the plot revolved around whether or not lionel and jean would get back together .
you can do just so much with two people sort of dancing around each other - and the audience knowing that the outcome was going to be a happy one .
said larbey .
i think the reason that i went on was that they were all so good in it and enjoyed it , and i liked the characters that i ' d written . it was a happy time , and we said let ' s go on , let ' s make it a character comedy .
the show concluded in 2002 with the wedding of judith and alistair .
other series followed , including just perfick ( 1969 ) , from the larkins stories by he bates , which would not reach the tv screen as the darling buds of may for another 22 years , and then not written by esmonde and larbey . they made their television debut in 1967 with room at the bottom ( for the bbc ) , a cheery low - life series about a crew of maintenance workers - the title was a playful twist on john braine ' s hugely popular novel and movie , room at the top .
the pair first met at grammar school in clapham , where larbey was three years ahead of esmonde . in spite of the age difference the two shared a school trip to switzerland where they discovered that they shared a similar sense of humour , and it was based on this that they forged their long - lasting friendship . after military service they drifted back into a humdrum civilian life and took mundane , unfulfilling jobs just to make ends meet . they would often meet up for lunch and complain about their dead - end jobs and dream of forging a better way to make a living .
he rejoined esmonde to create another popular and long - running vehicle for richard briers in ever decreasing circles ( 1984 - 89 ) , in which the star returned to suburbia as martin bryce , an anally - retentive fusspot and do - gooder , with penelope wilton as his long - suffering wife , ann .
when the writers john esmonde and bob larbey came up with the idea for the good life , they were looking for a vehicle for briers , who’d just turned 40 . he was well established but not quite famous — the other three actors even less so . felicity kendal and penelope keith were cast on the strength of their performances in an ayckbourn play . paul eddington was a ‘first eleven light - comedy actor’ ( as briers put it ) but he was hardly a household name . in the opening credits , briers’s name was above the title , the other three were below it . briers’s tom good was the lead ; kendal was ensured a decent role as his wife , barbara , but jerry and margo leadbetter were initially conceived as supporting characters . however , paul eddington and penelope keith were so good that after the first few episodes , briers implored esmonde and larbey to write them up . the two writers needed no prompting . the good life became a quartet — a comedy of manners with a surprising political subtext .
the idea came to larbey when he was approaching his 40th birthday and recognised it as a time for people to reassess their lives – what has been and what might follow . he and esmonde had been asked to find a vehicle for richard briers , so they cast him as tom good , who gives up his job as a draughtsman at a company making plastic toys for cereal packets to go self - sufficient with his wife , barbara ( felicity kendal ) , at their house in surbiton . the goods’ antics test to the limits their friendship with neighbours jerry leadbetter and his toffee - nosed wife , margo ( paul eddington and penelope keith ) .
larbey and his wife , trish marshall , moved from london to a thatched cottage in the surrey village of ockley in 1989 and promptly got involved with the local amateurs , the ockley drama society . though larbey never repeated the success of a month of sundays , his theatre output continued and is often revived in repertory theatres and amateur companies around the world : a small affair ( 1990 ) charts the romantic perils of tv rehearsal rooms ; building blocks ( 1992 ) was written from the heart about family traumas during a domestic building extension ; and sand castles ( 2001 ) is a seaside comedy of beach - hut politics .
bob larbey has also had several solo projects worthy of note over the years - he wrote the screenplays for some episodes of the darling buds of may , and had individual sitcom successes with a fine romance , in which judi dench and her real - life husband michael williams starred as a middle - aged couple with an on - off relationship . in larbey ' s as time goes by , judi dench stars again , this time opposite geoffrey palmer . a mature couple who had fallen in love during the war , but were separated by circumstance , are reunited when lionel ( palmer ) retires back to england after a lifetime growing coffee in kenya . as time goes by is still running , and has become an enduring worldwide success - including a successful debut season on pbs in the usa in 2000 - thanks to its gentle , mature intelligence . however , it is surely for his work with esmonde that larbey will be most fondly remembered .
larbey trod his own path with a fine romance ( 1981 - 84 ) , which starred judi dench in her first ever television sitcom , alongside her real - life husband , michael williams .
in 30 years as half of a writing duo with bob larbey , john esmonde shared in creating more than a dozen television sitcoms . the most popular was the good life ( 1975 - 78 ) , which went beyond the bland , archetypal domestic setting of many such programmes by adding the twist of its leading characters opting out of the rat race to seek self - sufficiency in their middle - class , suburban home .
by then , esmonde and larbey had established themselves in television , having begun with sketches for the dick emery show , which started in 1963 . they landed their own series with room at the bottom ( 1967 ) , which followed a bbc
comedy playhouse
pilot the previous year . set among the maintenance workers at saracens manufacturing company , the comedy revolved around the confrontations between their leader , gus fogg ( kenneth connor ) , and the company ' s personnel director ( deryck guyler ) , but it did not prove a success .
unlike the relatively abrasive comedy to be found in these series ( the writers ' get some in ! ( itv , 1975 - 78 ) , based around the experiences of national servicemen in the 1950s , can also be bracketed among this group ) , the comedy of esmonde and larbey is popularly characterised as being good humoured , gentle and tasteful , populated by characters that generally match the same description . no series better embodies these characteristics than the one that saw their return to the bbc , the good life ( 1975 - 78 ) .
on demob , he had a job at a foundry while esmonde was a journalist . in their spare time , the pair submitted comedy sketches to the bbc . eventually , one was accepted for a radio programme that included cyril fletcher – and they jointly earned two guineas ( £2 . 10 ) .
larbey also enjoyed great success with his solo projects , which included writing the screenplays for the first four episodes of the darling buds of may from a novel by h . e . bates . it was a massive ratings hit for itv and provided sir david jason with his first major success away from only fools and horses .
. drawing on personal experience yet again , esmonde and larbey remembered the days when they were stuck in a dead - end job with few prospects to escape the hum - drum of everyday life .
i think it was a good idea .
said bob larbey in an interview .
we started with the premise of somebody reaching his fortieth birthday . people think of it as one of those milestone ages , the
oh , god , what have i done with my life ? what do i do about it ?
that was the premise . in their original draft tom good was going to build a yacht and sail around the world , but they then hit on a subject that was far more trendy at that time .
we added the self - sufficiency , which seemed a good idea . it started slowly - - bad reviews and low audiences , and then somewhere in the second series it just took off and flew . and it sort of passed into legend for some reason .
when he and esmonde started writing sketches , working together at nights and weekends , they submitted a few to the bbc , which eventually accepted one for a programme starring the comedian cyril fletcher , earning them a joint fee of two guineas . having saved money from their day jobs , they gave themselves three months to make a go of writing full - time .
, briers played the awful martin bryce , an anally retentive , interfering control freak who tries the patience of all his neighbours and acquaintances but non more so than his long suffering wife , anne . penelope wilton starred alongside briers as his wife and peter egan was the next door neighbour who anne should have run off with - but never did . martin wants to help his community and in his zeal heads up about every conceivable local committee . yet his singular focus on doing good causes martin to become an incredible bore . when anne wants to go to see a famed pianist martin prefers his meetings . anne may not have heard her music but the series hit the right notes with the british public and it stayed on bbc for four series and a 80 - minute special . but esmonde and larbey were not finished with successful sitcoms yet , and had another hit in 1986 with
before the good life ended , larbey and esmonde wrote the first of three more series for richard briers . the other one ( 1977 - 79 ) , featuring him as a compulsive liar , was not popular , but the role of do - gooder martin bryce , with penelope wilton as his wife , in ever decreasing circles ( 1984 - 9 ) , had writers and star back on track . later came down to earth ( 1995 ) , but briers’s unsympathetic character , an expatriate struggling to adapt after returning to britain from south america , was again shunned by viewers .
their breakthrough came with the idea for a radio sitcom , spare a copper ( 1965 - 66 ) , featuring the carry on film star kenneth connor as a bungling policeman – and enabled them to become full - time writers , although at times esmonde was kept afloat only by his wife gina ' s job selling books in offices and door - to - door .
get some in ! didn ' t set the world alight , but it achieved respectable popularity and a five - series run , even surviving lindsay ' s departure to star in john sullivan ' s citizen smith , in which he once again played a loudmouth called smith with a sidekick called ken . it was , however , another esmonde and larbey creation from the same period which was to guarantee their place in the comedy firmament , taking them to the bbc and its middle - class world from the more working - class situations of itv . the series that launched a million daydreams about felicity kendal ' s bottom was the good life .
one of the reasons the series passed into legend as larbey puts it is thanks to a brilliant ensemble cast of richard briers , felicity kendal , penelope keith and paul eddington . the show may have been intended as a starring vehicle for briers , but it was penelope keith who was soon taking all the plaudits .
margo ( played by penelope keith ) became hugely popular as a character .
said larbey .
it was always intended as a foursome , because you needed that . the goods were perfectly funny on their own and while we needed other strong characters , margo just grew and grew .