Bright shiny Sixties people

Fab pic of some groovy 60s people: theres Susannah York, Joe Orton, Tom Courtenay, Twiggy and more ..... must find out who the others are. 

The photo is by the Earl of Lichfield, and the others are Miranda Chiu, Michael Fish, Lucy Fleming and Peter S. Cook. Thanks, Colin. 

Sixties rarity: The Day The Fish Came Out, 1967

There MAY be a more bizarre 1960s movie than THE DAY THE FISH CAME OUT, unleashed in 1967, but I can hardly think of one, apart from THE TOUCHABLES in 1968, or JOANNA or HEROSTRATUS or LEO THE LAST or MYRA BRECKINRIDGE or BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS in 1969 ...

FISH is Michael Cacoyannis's followup to his huge hit ZORBA THE GREEK in 1965 - 20th Century Fox were hardly expecting the madly camp, if not gay, mishmash he produced next .... We were dazed by it at the time (it was taken off after two weeks and never seen again, until dvd arrived), as Candice Bergen in some bizarre outfits and pretty young Ian Ogilvy danced with the beautiful gay people on a Greek island, contaminated by some nuclear waste material dropped into the sea from a plane piloted by Tom Courtenay and Colin Blakely - who spend most of the time in their underwear as the pilots tried to hide, and the locals try to increase their tourism trade and anxious government officials try to cover up the disaster and locate the radioactive material .... Mikis Theodorakis adds another Greek score, and it is all delirious fun. 

Here is what we said some years ago: 

Life on a remote Greek island is forever changed when two atomic bombs are accidentally dropped in the sea there when a NATO plane flies overhead. This so-called comedy chronicles these changes. When the pilots Tom Courtenay and Colin Blakely realise they have lost their cargo, they bail out and land on the island - dressed throughout in their underwear - and try to get help without being found. The government has beaten them to the punch and has already sent an agent disguised as a resort developer. All of them are busy looking for the missing weapons when the island is suddenly filled with hedonistic tourists, all looking very gay, who believe the developer is going to build the best resort in the area. The locals are also overjoyed, thinking their quiet little village is finally going to be a tourist resort. When the Agean fish being to mysteriously die (hence the title?) everyone realises that the jig is up and so they give into their wildest desires...

add in Candice Bergen and lots of pretty unisex people, the pilots in their skimpy briefs and it all adds up to one pretty bizarre movie !

The Tom boys

This glut of new Toms on the acting scene makes one think any young actor starting out should change his name to Tom. Early Toms were Tom Courtenay and singer Tom Jones and Tom Wilkinson. Then we had that run of posh actors (Benedict, Eddie, Damian), while Tom Hardy was on the rise, getting his kit off a lot and getting covered in tattoos as he essayed various hard men, culminating in the two Krays last year (LEGEND) and taking on the MAD MAX mantle as well as leaving Leonardo in the wilderness in THE REVENANT .... no doubt he has more of the same lined up this year. 

Meanwhile, Tom Daley dived, Toms Hanks and Cruise became veterans, Tom Hollander kept being busy, being DOCTOR THORNE and joining Tom Of The Year, Hiddleston in THE NIGHT MANAGER. Hiddles also had HIGH RISE, a film on Hank Williams and currently back in superhero mode (THOR) after his summer romance with Taylor Swift. 

Now there is Tom Hughes - Albert in the new hit British series VICTORIA, we have not quite got used to him yet; Tom Sturridge is getting the breaks too (THE HOLLOW CROWN, Sgt Troy in the recent FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD), and Tom Riley seems the latest Tom on the block (DA VINCI'S DEMONS, THE COLLECTION). 
Tom Colley was also eye-catching as the Italian fisherman in the recent revival of THE JUDAS KISS. 
Then there's playwright Tom Stoppard, and singer Tom Chaplin from Keane back in the limelight. Meanwhile, Tom Bradby reads the London ITV news, and more Tom actors are Tom Ellis and the busy Tom Goodman-Hill.
Meanwhile Tom Ford has a highly-praised new film NOCTURNAL ANIMALS coming up at the LFF and opening here shortly. Thats about 20 Toms ....

45 years

A married couple preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary receive shattering news that promises to forever change the course of their lives.

Well yes, that is the basic plot of this highly-regarded indie British flick - but it is a slow-moving, leisurely paced examination of a marriage which may be coming apart at the seams, just as the couple - Kate and Geoff - are holding a party to celebrate their 45 years - he was ill for their 40th and may not be around for the 50th .... We see their contented life in retirement in Norfolk: that idyllic cottage, walks with the dog in the country, boat trips. Suddenly though Geoff gets a letter - something from the past has come back. 50 years earlier he and his then girlfriend Katya were holidaying in the Alps when she fell into a glacier and was killed. Her body has now been found preserved in ice. This is unsettling for Kate as she sees how it affects her husband, who is now up in the loft in the middle of the night, digging up old letters and photos. Then it is revealed that he is listed as her next of kin, as they had pretended to be married (it was 50 years ago) ...

Kate becomes unsettled by it all as she slowly thinks their 45 years is all a sham, that she has been second best all along, which is unbearable to her, as Geoff confesses he would have married Katya if the accident had not happened..She braves the ladder to the loft herself and sees all the slides of a maybe pregnant Katya - but Kate and Geoff had never bothered taking pictures of themselves By the time the party comes round, there may not be a marriage to celebrate .
.. 

It is virtually a two-hander for Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as we get absorbed in their lives and wonder how it is going to pan out. We grew up watching them in screen since their early '60s triumphs (BILLY LIAR, GEORGY GIRL). Sir Tom has quietly excelled over the years on film, stage and television. Charlotte was 'The Look' as directors like Visconti, Woody Allen, Sidney Lumet wanted her for their films, then came the controversial THE NIGHT PORTER, as she settled in France and became (like Romy Schneider before her) a fixture of French cinema, with some adventerous choices (MAX MON AMOUR, HEADING SOUTH) and she excelled in those Francois Ozon films like the unsettling UNDER THE SAND and SWIMMING POOL. Lately she has been back on British television in the underwhelming second series of BROADCHURCH and LONDON SPY. Here, she mesmerises under Andrew Haigh's direction as Kate reacts to Geoff and what she finds out about him. 
We leave them at the party with that long close-up showing emotional devastation as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" plays on and on ...

I was not too enthusiastic about Haigh's previous film: the 2011 gay romance WEEKEND, which seemed too contrived, but 45 YEARS is something else indeed - a melancholy chamber-piece as the ghost of Katya hangs over this troubled marriage. At least Rampling got an Oscar nomination which will boost the film's visibility, after being snubbed by BAFTA. It is certainly worth 90 odd minutes of your time. There is a sense of Antonioni alienation here too, particularly as Kate wanders around that market town .... 

Julie goes shopping, plus ...

I came across this a few weeks ago in a British paper I will not name, and I felt I should ignore it, but it ties in with some other stuff. Julie Christie, now 75, was snapped on her way going to the shops and the dry cleaners, near where she lives when in London, so of course the paper had to compare this with her DARLING and DR ZHIVAGO heyday, it was all rather snarky. But you know what, people, even screen icons, age and get older - deal with it. I think Julie looks mighty fine here and is ageing wonderfully, how do they expect a 75 year old to look?, when 80 is the new 70 it seems. 

Two of her contemporaries (following on from Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave teaming up the other year) Tom Courtenay (78) and Charlotte Ramling (a mere 69) have been gathering widespread rave reviews for their new film 45 YEARS directed by Andrew Haigh of gay romance WEEKEND acclaim - one expects Bafta nominations at least. Great to see them back in quality stuff 

Now that we have slid into autumn here in the UK after a washout summer, at least that backlog of interesting new movies are on their way to screens, a lot of them are screened too in the upcoming London Film Festival (I expect the brochure today) with gala screenings for Todd Haynes's CAROL, finally unveiled here (It was shot last year), it was a sensation at Cannes back in May, from Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking lesbian romantic novel of the early Fifties (so Cate Blanchett will have to have another stunning dress for the red carpet - she already has two Oscars but it looks like her next campaign is underway, that new Armani advertisement should be a plus too); also opening in November John Crowley's BROOKLYN from Colm Toibin's marvellous novel finally arrives too, and then there is Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy as the Kray Twins, in LEGEND, which should be at least fascinating for seeing how it is done, and we also finally get Maggie Smith in that role she initally played on stage, THE LADY IN THE VAN by Alan Bennett, and directed by Nicholas Hytner. Bring them on. Awards season should be hotting up this year.

The Dresser, 1983

Finally, THE DRESSER from 1983, a successful play and film, which somehow I never saw until now - this is a feast of acting and another great British film of its era.

In a touring Shakespearean theater group, a backstage hand - the dresser, is devoted to the brilliant but tyrannical head of the company. He struggles to support the deteriorating star as the company struggles to carry on during the London blitz. The pathos of his backstage efforts rival the pathos in the story of Lear and the Fool that is being presented on-stage, as the situation comes to a crisis

The 1940s wartime era is perfectly evoked, and a great cast headed by two star turns from Albert Finney as Sir, and Tom Courtenay as Norman, the gay dresser, with Eileen Atkins as Madge, the long-suffering stage manager, and with Edward Fox, Zena Walker, Michael Gough, the great Betty Marsden and Sheila Reid rounding out the cast. Sir is surely based on Sir Donald Wolfit who not only was a tour de force, but was forced to tour endlessly with his gallant troupe, especially during those war years boosting morale. The author Ronald Harwood was in fact a dresser to Wolfit ... so all this feels even more authentic and one feels the love for the theatrical life.

Finney (an actor, like David Hemmings, with no vanity whatsoever) commands the screen as usual -not least when he stops that train!, matched every step of the way by Courtenay as the camp dresser, endlessly fussing and looking after Sir, helping him to keep going, but Sir's tyrannical rule over the company is beginning to crack under the strain of age and illnesss as he prepares to tackle KING LEAR. The fastidious and fiercely dedicated dresser, copes with Sir's unreasonable demands, tends to his health and reminds him of what role he is currently playing. Its a mutual double act. It is a story rich in detail, comedy, compassion and love for the theatre. 
Courtenay also essayed another gay theatrical gentleman in a Noel Coward play ME AND THE GIRLS, in 1985 which is part of that BBC NOEL COWARD COLLECTION, and of course Albert went gay as that Dublin bus conductor in A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE in 1994 (gay interest label). Albert and Tom also co-starred in another fascinating television production A RATHER ENGLISH MARRIAGE in 1998. 

Peter Yates (BULLITT) directs with a sure hand and THE DRESSER was nominated for 5 Oscars. Harwood's script (as with his THE PIANIST) is rich in detail, and great acting does not come much better than this. Glad I finally saw it.  The BBC are showing a new version later this year, where Sir and Norman are - who else? - Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ian McKellen. 

Tom and Pattie ...

Here's a terrific photo from a 1963 fashion shoot with rising young actor Tom Courtenay, for one of those glossy fash mags like VOGUE or the stylish London magazine TOWN -  I used to like that one when I was 16. But who is the girl? No, it is not Julie Christie but teenage Pattie Boyd, who was on film herself the next year in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, where she met George Harrison ... Tom's BILLY LIAR had probably just opened - its a perfect early '60 shot, which I had not seen before, so thanks to Colin for sending it. No idea who the photographer was. 

Christmas TV treats: Tom, the Royles, Mapp & Lucia

Here at the Projector we love Tom Courtenay as Billy and Helen Fraser as Barbara his nicer than nice, too perfect but bossy girlfriend (Billy of course has 2 other girlfriends, the cafe waitress and free-wheeling Liz (Julie Christie's breakout role)).... thats the 1963 classic BILLY LIAR, see Tom label. It was delightful therefore to see them re-united a few years ago in a Christmas edition of the hit British comedy THE ROYLE FAMILY, about that family who just sit around watching telly all the time. In this festive edition Tom and Helen play the very square parents of daughter Denise's dopey husband Dave, as they all gather to celebrate the season with dinner at Denise and Dave's,with predictably hilarious results - 

they forgot to defrost the turkey for a start! and lazy Denise's first course is 'cuppasoup' with a twist - its in a bowl instead of a cup! This hilarious series is of course written by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, who are both perfect as Denise and Dave, while Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston do sterling work as workshy Jim Royle and his put-upon wife, Barbara. Tom and Helen though are priceless in this christmas edition, with his motoring gloves and their Ford Mondeo! 
We have a couple to watch in the New Year with Tom playing gay: in THE DRESSER and a tv film from a Noel Coward tale: ME AND THE GIRLS from 1985.

A new perfect treat should be the new 3-part MAPP AND LUCIA, though (as per label) we like a lot the 1983 series which is perfectly cast with Prunella Scales as Mapp, Geraldine McEwan as Lucia and Nigel Hawthorne as her screamer friend and later husband, Georgie, with his wig (right) and his devoted servant Foljambe; that 10 part series was scripted by Gerald Savory and directed by Donald McWhinnie. 

Steve Pemberton (of BENIDORM) has scripted the new series and plays Georgie - even shaving his head so he can wear that fussy wig! Mark Gatiss is Major Benjy, and the two terrors are Anna Chancellor as Lucia and Miranda Richardson gnashing her false teeth as Mapp - and cult favourite Frances Barber plays the Italian contessa who visits and whom Lucia and Georgie have to avoid as they do not speak Italian though they pretend they do. Lets hope the other characters in their thrall are well cast too: Diva Plaistow, Quaint Irene, Mr & Mrs Wyse with their rolls royce, and the Padre and wife. It is of course set in Rye in Sussex which plays the part of that ideal village, Tilling. E F Benson fans should be in for a treat. 
Well not quite the treat I had imagined - it might have worked better if Gatiss had played prissy Georgie, and the rather beefy Pemberton played Major Benjy. No denying Pemberton's dedication to the role though, and scriptwriting as well.

Also fun for the holidays should be a new David Walliams THE BOY IN A DRESS and a new Victoria Wood comedy musical THAT DAY WE SANG, featuring Michael Ball and the stupendous Imelda Stuanton, whom I will be seeing on stage in April in the latest revival of GYPSY - yes she is Momma Rose, and she should be as wonderful as she was in GUYS AND DOLLS a decade or so ago.

British double bill

THE ANGRY SILENCE. One 1960 British film I had not seen before from that 'kitchen-sink' era, but I remember it well as it attracted a lot of publicity at the time, when I was 14. About a wildcat strike at a midlands factory and the motives of the various people involved, it plays like a serious version of I’M ALL RIGHT JACK and it’s a riveting view now, capturing as it does that lost world of busy factories, workers arriving on the bicycles, the furnished rooms and apartments they live in. Richard Attenborough is a dependable guy, married to Italian Pier Angeli, and Michael Craig lodges with them. (I remember having that "Picture Show" magazine, above).
Then unrest at the factory begins, as we see that stranger (Alfred Burke) arrive in town, is he perhaps there to stir up trouble?, we also see his leaving at the end, job done. Bernard Lee is the pushy union man looking for any opportunity to strike, Geoffrey Keen and Laurence Naismith the worried but decent factory bosses. Young Oliver Reed and Brian Bedford are among the young layabouts wanting to cause trouble.
 Attenborough gets sent to Coventry by his former workmates and friends as he refuses to join their strike, so no one will talk to him. This leads to tragedy, his son too is bullied at school, as his wife Anne gets more and more frantic. 

Pier Angeli (above) is a stand-out here, in maybe her best role. (She and Attenborough were in the 1959 programmer SOS PACIFIC (review at Pier Angeli label), which maybe led to her casting her). Craig is reliable as usual, the film is scripted by Bryan Forbes (who also appears) from an idea by Craig and his brother Richard Gregson (who went on to marry Natalie Wood). It remains a riveting slice of life from that era. Directed by Guy Green (that ace cinematographer on Lean's GREAT EXPECTATIONS, who became a director).

KING & COUNTRY. The one Joseph Losey film which never made any money, I had not seen it since its release in 1964 and it never cropped up since (outside of Losey retrospectives at the BFI),  but there it was on late night television, along with BILLY LIAR and THE ANGRY SILENCE, on a minor cable channel.

During World War I, an army private is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.

This, from a play “Hamp” scripted by Evan Jones, and it seems star Dirk Bogarde (back with Losey after THE SERVANT) also had a hand in it. It is the downbeat story of a private in the First World War, tried for desertion and executed, as he simply walked away from the guns and carnage, obviously shell-shocked. Confined to one set, we are in the muddy trenches with the common soldiers (Jeremy Spencer and gang) as officers Dirk Bogarde, Leo McKern, James Villiers prepare their case against Private Hamp – 
Tom Courtenay in another sterling performance as the innocent who does not realise the enormity of what he did and what will happen to him, in this brutal system. 
This was an ‘X Certificate’ film at the time, I cannot see why now. It is strong stuff though, bleak and unrelenting, particularly that climax when Bogarde puts the injured soldier out of his misery. Made in 18 days and for not very much money, it is certainly one rare item it is good to see again, and how it fits into the Losey canon between THE SERVANT and MODESTY BLAISE and ACCIDENT. 
KING & COUNTRY is now available on dvd, and, for UK viewers, is being screened again by Film4 this time, next Tuesday afternoon, 15th, and will be repeated the following week. 

Forgotten '60s movies: Otley

OTLEY, 1968. Another spy spoof giving Tom Courtenay one of his best roles as the drifter Otley, getting involved with spies. Alan Badel and James Villiers are suitably droll villains, Romy Schneider pops in and out as a lady of mystery, and its shot around Notting Hill and Portobello Market, so it has that '60s vibe in spades. It starts amusingly as Otley is thrown out of his room by his landlady (after she gets one last romp from him), there is a good Antonioni joke at a smart ‘60s party, and familiar faces include Leonard Rossiter, Freddie Jones, Fiona Lewis, James Bolam and James Cossins.

 
While being pursued for a crime he did not commit, Otley is kidnapped by a group of criminals who suspect him of being involved with double agents. He manages to escape, but cannot avoid getting into one near-fatal crisis after another, as police and foreign agents chase after him. Scripted by then popular television writers Dick Clement (who also directs) and Ian La Frenais (of THE LIKELY LADS fame), it climaxes with a shoot-out in Notting Hill underground station. For those like me familiar with the locations it’s a treat now seeing the London of then. A neglected ‘60s treat. 

OTLEY remains one of those fun Swinging Sixties films like DUFFY, SEBASTIAN, SMASHING TIME, BEDAZZLED, KALEIDOSCOPE, HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH, I'LL NEVER FORGET WHATS'ISNAME, UP THE JUNCTION et al, a lot of them covered here, London label, as distinct from the more 'arty' ones like MORGAN, POOR COW or BLOW-UP. Its a pity though that Romy Schneider, decorative as she is here, got roped into this rather that playing that catalyst , the Austrian princess, in Losey's ACCIDENT, where she would have been ideal. 

Quartet - and some I don't want to see ...

Finally, the dvd of QUARTET gets an airing - this is the recent one with Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay, directed by Dustin Hoffman (not Maggie's 1981 Merchant Ivory QUARTET with Alan Bates, as per review at  Bates/Smith labels).

At a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.

How can I count the ways I hated this film? It is from a play by Ronald Harwood, who scripted, but it just makes for a very dull movie. Maggie Smith seems quite muted - she and Tom Courtenay (Miss Brodie and Billy Liar) just don't look right together. Billy Connolly is as annoying as I always find him, and Pauline Collins makes up the quartet as Cissie who seems to be losing her mind.

You will never see a more opulent retirement home than 'Beecham House' here - it almost rivals Downton Abbey. So these are a very fortunate group of retired musicians, living in what seems a stately home, giving lessons and teaching the less unfortunate. The scene where Courtenay discusses opera versus rap with some inner city street kids is EX-CRU-CIAT-ING.  
Oddest of all, this lavish retirement home seems to be managed and run by young Sheridan Smith on her own, with some assistance from The Help - we see a black woman hoovering, a black waiter, and nurse. The lavish grounds too seem to be in the middle of nowhere. There also seems to be nobody gay among these elderly artistic types, unless Michael Gambon is essaying another type of vicious old queen. The likes Andrew Sachs, Michael Byrne and singers like Gwyneth Jones make up the supporting cast. One presumes Hoffman was drawn to the material by the theme of these retired performers/musicians still wanting to strive and do their best ... pity the characters are so dreary/annnoying.

We expect fireworks when diva Jean (Dame Maggie) moves to the retirement home, as her ex-husband Courtenay is still resentful and wants nothing to do with her, but that soon peters out and they are all friends again - but Jean won't sing at their annual Verdi concert, as she feels her voice is not what it was. This too of course is all sorted out before the end. One nice touch is as the final credits roll, photos of each of the supporting cast members of retired musicians is shown beside a picture of them during their performing careers. It all though is another example of movies for oldies - that growing market of older folk who want civilised movies packed with thespians (usually led by Maggie Smith) - well I loathed the previous one THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL with a vengance - as per my review at 2000s label. QUARTET is more of the same, but at a much duller pace, thankfully it runs at just over 90 minutes - it is the complete antithesis of everything I want cinema to be: exciting, vivid, artistic. We usually try to find positive things to say about movies here at The Projector, but this one defeated us. It makes one wonder did Dustin Hoffman learn nothing about drama or pacing from all those directors he worked with ?

After QUARTET what a pleasure to turn to ROMAN HOLIDAY. Wyler's 1953 classic is back in cinemas for its 60th anniversary, but was also on tv. This is the pleasure of seeing a real film, with warmth and charm, and wonderfully shot and created - so what if its not in colour, Rome looks marvellous as usual. Peck (like William Holden) is the perfect post-war leading man (as he was with Audrey, Ava, Jean, Lauren, Sophia, Ingrid etc)  and Audrey is sheer bliss. No wonder this and Wilder's SABRINA made her the new '50s star who still enchants today. It is just a total blissful experience no matter now many times one has seen it - it would be great on a big screen, preferably an outdoor one in this warm weather. I had not seen it for some time so was fascinated again by the effortless class and charm of Hepburn in her first main role. Her sightseeing tour of Rome leaves journalist Peck with a dilemma, as he - along with us the audience - has fallen in love with her.

I mentioned that Smith and Courtenay did not seem quite right together to me in QUARTET. Neither do Vanessa Redgrave with Terence Stamp in SONG FOR MARION: two more '60s icons teamed at last - which now seems to have a new title for its American release - how odd! It is now UNFINISHED SONG ! Regulars readers will know how much I like Terence and Vanessa, see labels - but they just seem another mismatched pair here. He is the grumpy old husband while she sings in the choir and is dying. Naturally he too will be coaxed into the choir .... seeing the trailer of this was enough for me. More cloying sentiment for old folk then.  

I also thought I would want to see HITCHCOCK but it turns out I don't - this total fiction about the filming of PSYCHO is another I can do without. It may be amusing to catch on television at some other date, but its not one I need to spend money on - unlike the upcoming Ozon and Almodovar releases (IN THE HOUSE, I'M SO EXCITED). Theres quite a lot on the real Hitchcock at label after our Hitchcock summer last year.