445 Playhouse : Crest of a Wave

First  viewed  :  20  June  1980

This  is  another  near-forgotten  little  playlet  I  watched  with  my  Gran  on  a  Friday  night. It  was actually  a  repeat,  having  first  been  shown  in  1978  under  the  Premiere  banner  ( for  the director ;  writer  Douglas  Livingstone  already  had  a  long  string  of  credits  in  a  40  year  career as  a  screenwriter ) .

It  starred  Denholm  Elliott  as  Jim  a  middle  aged  man  who , accompanied  by  his  wife , drops in   on  an  old  friend  Nifty  ( Ian  Hendry )  who  was  in  the  Scouts  with  him. Jim  is  gregarious and  rather  full  of  himself  , Nifty  rather  tongue-tied  and  awkward . Jim  wastes  no  time  in dredging  up   embarrassing  memories  for  Nifty  and  flashbacks  reveal  young  Jim  as  something of  a   self-aggrandising  bully  who  takes  advantage  of   Nifty's  mildness  and  lack  of imagination. Once  that's  over  though  Jim, recently  made  redundant,  wonders  if   Nifty  can  find him   a  job. After  he's  gone,  Nifty's  wife  asks  if  he's  really  going  to  help  Jim  . Nifty,  now completely  secure  and  unruffled  by  Jim's  desperate  attempt  to  restore  the  old  pecking  order , nonchalantly  says  yeah  he  can  probably  find  something. Water  off  a  duck's  back.

Needless  to  say  Denholm  Elliott  was  excellent.