Having been a trainee assistant film editor (in Tony Woolard's cutting room) at the time, I have an alternative view to most of the reviews. Horace, affectionately I believe, called me "Heeb" (I'm Jewish). I made some very small contributions (I have additional lines of voice over dialogue) and aided the dubbing editor Danny Nissim in track-laying. I recently saw the film on TV again, the previous time was a celebration of Play For Today. I found the acting rather poor by nearly all involved especially the "Italians" & T-Bone (Frank). Floella Benjamin & Carmen Munroe were fine in their all too brief single scenes. The film, understandably controversial at the time (and possibly still is) is not great viewing anymore (if it atually ever was) and the recent showing reinforced my view. It is clunky and disjointed and despite what Indra Ové said in her short opinion piece screened before the latest showing of A Holw In Babylon, the original newsreel footage sticks out like a sore thumb. I know why it was used - no budget and used for verisimilitude - but it just doesn't work. They guys were indeed criminals albeit petty ones (and not "criminals" as Indra said using "air quotes"). Yes Frank had been very badly treated in Nigeria and the cultural opression was all to real but the trio's ineptitude and utter incompetence (at least as shown in the film) was all too palpable. All that being said, I enjoyed my time working on the film and I learnt a lot from Tony, Danny and Sir Horace.
Review of A Hole in Babylon
