Written in 1957, this was his first full-length play.

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By 1962, he had directed his first full-length movie, Play it Cool, a pop musical starring Billy Fury, at Pinewood Studios.

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The Titanic sank in two hours and 40 minutes, the length of a classic play.

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But he clearly lacked the stamina to play for any length of time.

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In Paris, a visiting Italian theatre troupe puts on a Pirandello play (which we see at exhausting length).

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Or conversely, perhaps the length of time on court, regardless of the quality of play, gives a match added reverence.

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At the opening Requiem aeternam, plaintive strings play in short, breathless statements that grow in length and fervor before the chorus joins in, along with an array of chiming bells.

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EU, which has kept it at arm's length for nearly 40 years and includes its historic rival Greece, should play any role at all in matters of defence.

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"There was a very concerted attempt not to play this game, to keep the media at arm's length, " he told BBC Two's Newsnight.

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And those who watch the matches on television (whence arrives much of Wimbledon's income) share at an electronic arm's length the added drama of the best game in the world being played at the best place in the world to play it.

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