I had the pleasure to visit Pinewood Studios last week to meet a couple of friends and it was very pleasant sitting on the terrace enjoying the sun.

I first visited that studio back in the early 1970s to call in on the set of a television series called Space 1999 and it has certainly expanded over the years.

I always enjoy watching old British black and white movies from the 1950s, now available on DVD, as they are rarely shown on the main channels. That is a pity, as some have good plots, were tightly shot and contain a lot of atmosphere from a bygone era.

These films were populated by a raft of great character actors like Sydney Tafler, Alfie Bass, Sam Kydd, Percy Herbert or Victor Maddern. Never heard of them? I suspect you would recognise them if you are of a certain age or a film buff.

The stars of these movies were of that post-war generation who were eventually swept away by the changing tastes of the 1960s and 1970s.

Some turned to theatre to prolong their careers, such as Donald Sinden and Richard Todd, while others like Jack Hawkins went to Hollywood, but he first suffered from throat cancer and later sadly died after an unsuccessful operation to insert an artificial voice box.

Dirk Bogarde tired of being “the darling of the Odeons”, moved to France and into less mainstream films.

Kenneth More unwisely told the head of Rank films what he thought about him, so he lost a role in The Guns of Navarone and saw his movie career fade away, although in the 1960s he enjoyed success on TV in The Forsythe Saga.

Laurence Harvey seemed to make a great deal more enemies than friends, so few mourned his death from cancer at an early age and Stanley Baker was also lost to the same disease.

Stanley is probably only remembered today for Zulu, but he made a great screen villain and it was sad they only gave him a knighthood when he had just a few months to live.

There was a policy in the 1960s and 1970s not to give knighthoods to actors who moved abroad, often for tax reasons. Hence the likes of David Niven and Richard Burton were never honoured, but oddly enough they knighted Anthony Hopkins, even though he had renounced his citizenship.

In those days,  you could drive anywhere in London and always find a parking space and often the villains were cockneys who would exclaim when caught: “It’s a fair cop guv, you’ve got me bang to rights so I’ll come quietly.”

Of course, many of these films would be deemed non-PC today, as the characters were often drinking and nearly always smoked.

The police were usually comprised of pipe-smoking CID officers or beat patrolmen like Jack Warner, who would give naughty kids a clip round the ear. In those pre-mobile phone days, the police either had to rush to a Dr Who box or use their whistle.

It is funny the public often ask for the return of police officers on the beat as in The Blue Lamp and other films of that era.

The accountants don’t agree as they seldom make arrests and the number-crunchers think it’s not value for money.

I’m not sure they’re right, but then again, society and sense of community has changed a great deal.

While I enjoy black and white movies, my younger friends, having been raised on colour,  would never consider watching one.

I think they are missing a treat. Somehow Village of the Damned or The Cruel Sea would not be the same in colour, and who would make a great crime thriller like League Of Gentlemen today as it mainly relies on dialogue and character development rather than car chases and special effects?

I’m off to watch A Prize Of Arms starring Stanley Baker, made in 1962 and a darn sight better than anything on television tonight.