A film scene rewritten

Rather than Shakespeare, this one is from a 1960s film: (Carry On) Don’t Lose Your Head. Most people are probably familiar with the early scene in which Sir Rodney ffing, who is the Black Fingernail, interrupts le Duc de Pommes Frites’ execution, overseen by Camembert, to try to sell him life insurance. Pommes Frites escapes…

Plus ca change …

Here is an Evening Standard article about Clauvino da Silva (left), a Brazillian gang leader who tried to escape from prison disguised as his own daughter, but his “feminine walk” was unconvincing and he didn’t leave the prison. He seems to have hanged himself the following day. Things turned out differently for William Maxwell, the…