THIS WEEK IN 1981: Telly Savalas looks at Portsmouth

'˜Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth,' the Â£36,000 documentary film into which city ratepayers put Â£7,000, was announced to be appearing on Portsmouth's silver screens '˜some time in the spring.'

A confident Harold Baim, the film’s producer, told The News after the film’s preview was released: ‘I fly to Los Angeles on Saturday and I will not have any difficulty placing the film with one of the big companies.

The late Telly Savalas, narrator of the Portsmouth film, known widely for his role as US police detective Kojak (Wikipedia: labelled for reuse)

placeholder image — The late Telly Savalas, narrator of the Portsmouth film, known widely for his role as US police detective Kojak (Wikipedia: labelled for reuse)

‘With my company track record – spanning more than 300 films – this one about your city will soon be distributed worldwide, definitely linked with a picture.’

Asked why all-American ‘lollipop cop’ Savalas narrates the script to Portsmouth’s film and 11 other planned in the series on British cities, Mr Baim said: ‘It’s marketing ploy.’