1960s girls on London underground

Julie Christie of course, and below: Brigitte Bardot, circa 1955, and a guy - me, in 1966 .... thankfully the tube is more modern now, even if  more overcrowded. 

Julie, Julie

Julie (and the other one) in the Swinging Sixties... some rare shots we have not seen before,

That 1966 Royal Film Performance of BORN FREE, with Julie, Leslie Caron, Warren Beatty, Catherine Deneuve, Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee all lined-up. Perhaps the first time Warren met Julie .....

New Dr Zhivago trailer

A confession: I have never seen DR ZHIVAGO at the cinema, or all the way through on television - though I have the DVD for all those extras, including those interviews with Lean and Christie. I have though seen bits of it lots of times from various screenings 
The film has now been restored by the BFI (British Film Institute) and is the centrepiece of their latest big season, on Love. So perhaps its time to finally see it as Lean intended ...

By Royal command ...

I have written about those Royal Film Performances here before, but here's a recap for those who missed them. The British Royal Film Performance was a big event each year during those key 1950s and 1960s years, when an usually important film was chosen for the Royals to see at the Odeon in Leicester Square in London, when a motley round-up of players were lined up to meet the Queen. Everyone it seems turned up ...

I was fascinated by this photo of Julie Christie, Catherine Deneuve and Ursula Andress at some mid-60s event, and sure enough it was at the 1966 Royal Film Perf. , the girls seem engrossed in their fashions and dig those long white gloves - in 1966. It seems the gloves were de rigeur. The film that year was BORN FREE and also present were Warren Beatty with consort Leslie Caron - maybe this was where Warren and Julie first met? - plus Dirk and Deborah, Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts, and Raquel Welch and Woody Allen, James Fox and the stars of the film Virgina McKenna and Bill Travers. They also had to do rehearsals that afternoon ....  before the Royal party arrived. These events were covered by the newsreels of the time and the snippets make fascinating viewing now, a glimpse into a long gone movie world.

A decade earlier the 1956 one was the famous one when Marilyn was presented to Her Majesty - but also in the lineup was the young Brigitte Bardot and Anita Ekberg.... while the 1957 Royal film was LES GIRLS but its star Kay Kendall was detained in America, but here we have Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield (along with Michael Craig, Yvonne Mitchell, William Holden etc.) presumably before their famous encounter at Romanoffs in Hollywood in April that year.

The 1954 junket for the London premiere of A STAR IS BORN is fascinating too with Olivier as master of ceremonies, and Kay Kendall makes it to this one, as does Diana Dors and the Attenboroughs who like Kenny More and Jack Hawkins must have been regulars at these events, This is 14 minutes but worth watching - how movies where marketed and shown then ...

Another odd line-up is this 1970s one (FUNNY LADY?) where Barbra Streisand (with James Caan) broke with convention when being presented to the Queen asked why they had to wear the long gloves. Lee Remick and James Stewart (reunited from 1959's ANATOMY OF A MURDER are also in the lineup here). 

A new go-between

THE GO-BETWEEN, 2015: Yes, it begins with that famous first line: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there" .... as the older Leo Colston (Jack Broadbent) returns to Norfolk 50 years after that fateful summer he spent there in 1900 as guest of the wealthy Maudsley family as 12-year old Leo is a school friend of their son. This of course is the famous L.P.Hartley novel originally filmed by Joseph Losey in 1971 - it was an award winner at Cannes, with a razor-sharp script by Harold Pinter and a score by Michel Legrand, as Losey and Pinter dissect once again the British class system. 

It is also a ravishing period piece, with Julie Christie as Marian, the wilful daughter of the family having a clandestine relationship with tenant farmer Ted Burgess (Alan Bates). Margaret Leighton is marvellous as her mother who is determined her daughter shall marry Lord Trimingham - Edward Fox. Young Leo, too infatuated with Marian to realise how shallow and manipulative she is,  soon gets caught up in their deceit as he becomes their go-between, carrying message back and forth .... It all comes to grief before too long, it seems everyone knows what is going on but it cannot be mentioned until the cold mother has had enough.  Left: Dominic Guard as Leo and Julie Christie as Marian in 1971.

This new BBC version looks great capturing that lazy hazy summer at the end of the Victorian era with croquet on the lawn, tea parties, the toffs playing cricket on the village green against the locals, and the suspicious mother keeping an eye on her daughter .... The new version (directed by Pete Travis and scripted by Adrian Hodges) plays like a retread of the Losey film but with subtle differences - the wealthy family are now portrayed in a more human light.  Young Leo is delightfully played by Jack Hollington, and Ben Batt (more naked swimming) is not quite the equal of Bates, while  Joanna Vanderham is a younger Marian. Above: Margaret Leighton and Lesley Manville as Mrs Maudsley.

Lesley Manville (so good in Mike Leigh's ANOTHER YEAR) is absolutely marvellous as the mother, certainly the equal of Margaret Leighton, and a shrewd piece of casting has Vanessa Redgrave as the older Marian confronting Broadbent - as her father Michael Redgrave played the older Leo in the Losey film, which brings it to a nice conclusion. That final sequence worked better though in the Losey film. In all much better than the BBC's by all accounts tepid and dismal retelling of LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER which I did not bother with, all part of their current new versions of classic British literature, and now for the final series of DOWNTON ABBEY. Right: Vanessa Redgrave and Jim Broadbent.

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.

Dirk and Capucine in 1960 ...

Dirk Bogarde and Capucine posed for a lot of photos circa 1960, they year they made SONG WITHOUT END that ritzy biopic about Franz Liszt, as per this catche of photos by Peter Basch, which I had not seen before. 

It probably suited them to be seen as an item at the time, good publicity for both. She did spend some time at his country home of the time, as per his books including "Snakes and Ladders". They remained friends (though he was not very kind about her in his "Cleared For Take-Off" which covered her suicide in 1990), She was involved with William Holden by 1962 and they made two films together (THE LION in 1962, and THE SEVENTH DAWN in '64), there is also a photo of her here (Showpeople label) showing her visiting Holden and Audrey Hepburn on the set of PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES, filmed in 1962 but not released until 1964 - I saw it the other day and its terrible, not even worth commenting on. Audrey had also been close with Holden during their SABRINA a decade earlier, but he was heavily drinking during their PARIS film. Audrey and Capucine were also friends ... 

And for more glamour here's Dirk with Julie in DARLING, 1965, and with Monica as MODESTY BLAISE ..... there's also pictures of Dirk with Julie AND Monica at that DARLING premiere in 1965, again see labels. 

and I had not seen this shot of Dirk as Gabriel in MODESTY BLAISE before either - in that op art cell!

Julie and the fish ....

An astonishing photograph of Julie Christie, astonishing at a mere 74, posed naked in a fishing net and covered in fish. The shoot was so cold her temperature got very low ....

Part of an eye-catching campaign to highlight the perils of overfishing. Its called Fishlove. and you can read more about it at the link:

The photos are by John Swannell, and the various naked celebrities draped in sea creatures include Dane Judi Dench with a lobster, Katy Lette, Helena Bonham-Carter, Fiona Shaw, Zoe Wannamaker and others, and Hugh Bonneville ! 

Fishlove aims to promote sustainable fishing. The photos certainly get our attention. Lots more Julie at label. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11641951/Judi-Dench-as-you-have-never-seen-her-before.html

Modesty, again.

More 1966 - to complement the documentary on BLOW-UP locations, below, from yesterday, here is the trailer for Losey's misunderstood op-art pop-art spy spoof MODESTY BLAISE (which some consider dated now), a key movie for me when I was 20 in 1966 and had discovered Monica Vitti in those early '60s Antonioni films - 
Monica was actually a comedienne which she returned to successfully during the '60s and '70s - as per my other posts on her. Add in Dirk Bogarde being screamingly camp as arch-villain Gabriel with the blonde wig and those sunglasses, and Terry Stamp as that bit of rough Willie Garvin and all those wonderful moments, a lot of which are captured here. 
I was at the premiere in Leicester Square and saw Bogarde with Rosella Falk (Mrs Fothergill!) on his arm - Monica was not there, but was at the premiere of DARLING with Dirk and Julie Christie in 1965 (above), when they were filming MODESTY. We love this Losey with the Dankworth score, and the full movie is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BpC0NatYqU

Far from the madding crowd, again

Its back: FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, John Schlesinger's ravishing 1967 film from the Thomas Hardy classic - despite liking all four leads: Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch and dashing (very) Terence Stamp I have not seen this for decades, though have the dvd filed away, its now on re-release and is one to see on a giant screen, before the new version arrives shortly. So - Julie Christie or Carey Mulligan?  hmmmmmm. 

Like Zeffirelli's ROMEO & JULIET and Tony Richardson's THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, and OLIVER! and THE LION IN WINTER, all 1968, its a great 1960s period film that remains fascinatingly of its era with great casts and production values, scripted by Frederic Raphael, and of course lensed by Nicolas Roeg ...

The new version, below, should be interesting too with Matthias Schoenaerts,  Martin Sheen and Tom Sturridge. 

McCabe & Mrs Miller,1971, again

Staying with westerns, a blissful another look at Robert Altman's McCABE & MRS MILLER, that dreamy but very realistic western from 1971, it is still unlike any other western - maybe only the comic John Wayne NORTH TO ALASKA in 1960 conveys the same idea of what living in a gold rush frontier town would be really like - and that was played for laughs. 

Few laughs here in this bleak Pacific Northwest mining town as winter sets in .... Altman's regulars are present and correct and Leonard Cohen's songs like "Travelling Lady" and "Sisters of Mercy" add an extra layer of lament and regret, as does Vilmos Zsigmond's photography. Keith Carradine is the young cowboy who does not last long here, and Shelley Duvall is the widowed wife who has to turn to prostitution, working for Mrs Miller - the laconic madam played by Julie Chrstie. Warren Beatty is John McCabe the gambler and businessman who thinks he can make it big in this bleak western community, with its half built church. He goes into business with the enterprising Mrs Miller who knows how to run a decent brothel and keep the girls clean and in order. Soon they have a thriving business as the miners settle in for the long winter, but their whorehouse/tavern attracts big business who want to take over the mining interests of the town and buy out McCabe, but on their terms, and then when he refuses, their gunmen are let loose, as the snow blankets everything and Mrs Miller is taking opium to blank out her bleak life ...

It is not a traditional western but is one to cherish and return to, and maybe Altman's most accessible film after MASH or NASHVILLE where his overlapping dialogue fits in perfectly here, and it remains a key Seventies movie. It is a study of place and character rather than a typical western - no redskins attacking forts or stagecoaches in Monument Valley here! but the bleak and grubby west as it must have been as the miners, the women and the gold-diggers made the best of it. Beatty and Christie are in their element and have a lot of fun creating these characters of the two-bit gambler and realistic madam as they and Altman subvert the Western genre as the wind howls through the trees and the snow and rain endlessly fall ... 

Now for 2 other top westerns: Clint Walker in YELLOWSTONE KELLY, 1959 and Budd Boetticher's 1960 classic COMANCHE STATION where Randolph Scott as Jefferson Cody (a perfect Western name) searches for his missing wife, abducted by Comanches ...

RIP continued ....

The new year kicks off with:

Rod Taylor (1930-2015), aged 84. Rod was a Person We Like, as per my post on him last year - see label. I always liked seeing Rod, an amiable, charming guy - like James Garner who departed last year. For me Rod centres Hitch's THE BIRDS making that flirting banter with Melanie Daniels believable - nice to hear he and Tippi Hedren remained good friends. He was certainly lucky to go from a forgotten swashbuckler (SEVEN SEAS TO CALAIS where he wore the doublets with ease) to being summoned to Bodega Bay for a film that is always on show somewhere (and a perennial favourite here at The Projector). I was trying to get a copy of his 1960 peplum COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN recently, but the supplier couldn't provide it ....  (PS: It is now on You Tube).

 

Its a fascinating career for an Australian: in Hollywood in the mid-50s, with small parts in GIANT and RAINTREE COUNTY, Debbie's beau in THE WEDDING BREAKFAST and the young husband in SEPARATE TABLES, then the perennial TIME MACHINE and stealing THE VIPs from the bigger names, along with Maggie Smith. YOUNG CASSIDY is a particular favourite, with Maggie Smith again, plus Julie Christie and Edith Evans. FATE IS THE HUNTER and 36 HOURS are fascinating thrillers; and also his romcoms like ASK ANY GIRL in 1959, SUNDAY IN NEW YORK in 1963 and those two lesser Doris Day films. He also did some rather good actioners like THE MERCENARIES and NOBODY

RUNS FOREVER. 

I puzzled a movie buff friend recently (the kind of buff who only sees 'important' films) by asking: Which actor has worked for John Ford, Hitchcock, Antonioni and Tarantino - he was stunned to hear it was that "lightweight" Rod Taylor. 
Rod was also in Antonioni's ZABRISKIE POINT and popped up as Churchill in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. We also saw him a few times on shows like MURDER SHE WROTE. 84 years is a good run and I am sure he enjoyed it all. RIP indeed. 

As my friend Daryl says: Certainly, a solid career, with a number of memorable films, and an actor who could go from George Pal to Hitchcock to John Ford to Antonioni to Tarantino. And i must say that, with THE V.I.P.S and YOUNG CASSIDY, he was one of the best partners that Maggie Smith ever had!  Right; YOUNG CASSIDY.

Gerry Fisher (1926-2014), aged 88. Ace cinematographer and director of photography on quite a lot of movies I like. He worked several times with Joseph Losey, on ACCIDENT, DON GIOVANNI, SECRET CEREMONY, THE GO-BETWEEN, A DOLL'S HOUSE and Losey's French films MR KLEIN and ROUTES TO THE SOUTH, plus THE ROMANTIC ENGLISHWOMAN'; Lumet's THE SEA GULL, Richardson's HAMLET, BUTLEY, thrillers JUGGERNAUT and BRANNIGAN, Wilder's FEDORA, and HIGHLANDER among many others.

Lance Percival (1933-2015, aged 81. Lance with that funny face, seems rather a forgotten figure lately but like the recently gone Jeremy Lloyd (RIP below), was also an essential 1960s face, and part of the David Frost set on those satire shows and he also popped up in so many films, including a moment on THE VIPs, TV shows like SHOESTRING, some CARRY-ONs, and Beatles documentaries. 

Julie and Away From Her again ...

It was on again last night, so I had to tune in again. We like Sarah Polley's 2006 film AWAY FROM HER a lot, with Julie Christie in what would seem to be her last great role, luminous as the heroine. We wish she had won the Best Actress Oscar, it would have been ideal, 40+ years after her first win in 1965 as DARLING - so I have not even watched LA VIE EN ROSE yet, though I have the dvd and I imagine Cotillard (who did win) is stupendous too as Edith Piaf. 

I have written about AWAY FROM HER here before - see Julie Christie label - so I will just say, that looking at it again now, maybe it should really be AWAY FROM HIM, as one could also see it as the wife taking her revenge on her husband's infidelities by moving away from him into that nice nursing home, as her Alzheimers takes effect ... she is happy there and even finds a new attachment, to the disquiet of her husband and the other man's wife - Olympia Dukakis. Its certainly another way of looking at the film. 

October Trashfest

The IMDB Classic Film Board people are having their annual October challenge, seeing and reviewing the obscurer-the-better horror films for the Halloween season. I’ve rustled up my own October Trashfest, with some choice doozies:

Paul Schrader in 1982

CAT PEOPLE. The glossy 1982 remake from Paul Schrader (of DeWitt Bodeen’s story as filmed by Jacques Tourneur in 1942, a '40s classic) after his AMERICAN GIGOLO (which defined the early '80s), where he continues exploring his Calvinist background (he couldn't see any films until he was 18) and attitudes to sex and violence (as in his terrific script for TAXI DRIVER and early films HARDCORE and BLUE COLLAR, and his later LIGHT SLEEPER). Schrader certainly liked getting his attractive leads out of their clothes – as in GIGOLO and here, where leading lady Nastassja Kinski is starkers for the closing scenes …. I can’t imagine it being shown on TV uncut!

SPOILERS AHEAD:First thing, it looks terrific of course, shot by John Bailey (who lensed GIGOLO), and again Ferdinando Scarfiotti (1941-1994) is “visual consultant” (presumably like Hoyningen–Heune used to be for Cukor), the score is again by Giorgio Moroder, and David Bowie contributes that dynamic song “Putting Out Fire with Gasoline” – which leads us to the subject matter. Brother and long lost sister re-unite in suitably spooky New Orleans (OBSESSION, ANGEL HEART) – Irina (Kinski) though turns into a black panther when erotically aroused – brother Malcolm McDowell, who also transforms, wants her to sleep with him so they can protect each other, but she falls for a zoo director (John Heard). The copious amounts of nudity and the erotically charged story and the stunning visuals keep one watching, but the ending is problematic. We get a man tying a naked woman with rope to the four corners of a bed (which will be a turn-on for some people) before having sex with her – to save himself when she transforms into the panther! – and then the last scene has her as the panther in her cage at the zoo, as he looks at her wistfully and pets her and gives her treats, his pet captive. 

It seems it is her choice to be captured and sacrifice her freedom and he goes along with it, but will she turn back into human form again? There are gruesome scenes along the way, as well as Annette O’Toole’s topless swim in the pool, and some terrific special effects. Kinski (TESS), McDowell, Heard and Ruby Dee all do as their director requires and the Bowie song rounds it off nicely. Its certainly a fascinating, offbeat, cult movie that bears a rewatch. Interesting features on the dvd have interviews with Schrader (now married to Mary Beth Hurt) on set discussing Scarfiotti and the cast. Bowie of course went on to THE HUNGER with Deneuve, the next year in 1983, another stylish horror movie (as per my review Deneuve label).

THE KILLER NUN.  This is the real eurotrash treat, from 1979.

A demented nun sliding through morphine addiction into madness, whilst presiding over a regime of lesbianism, torture and death. Sister Gertrude is the head nurse/nun in a general hospital, whose increasingly psychotic behavior endangers the staff and patients around her.Or as the blurb says:

Legendary Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg (LA DOLCE VITA) stars as Sister Gertrude, a cruel nun who discovers depraved pleasure in a frenzy of drug addiction, sexual degradation and sadistic murder. Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro (ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN), Alida Valli as the mother superior, Lou Castel, Massimo Serato co-star in this notorious “Nunsploitation’ branded as obscene around the world and banned outright in Britain, but now available in a new restored transfer …

Well, yes, it’s a lot of fun, Trash Heaven in fact. Anita still has that Ekberg magnetism here (see label for my other reviews on her classics like SCREAMING MIMI or ZARAK), hilarious moments include her stamping on false teeth and having some hot girl on girl action. Directed by one Giulio Berruti.

THE NUN OF MONZA, 1969. “The Nun of Monza” by Mario Mazzuccheli was a respected Penguin paperback in the ‘60s which I remember enjoying reading. The film, by Epirando Visconti (a nephew of Luchino), finally turns up, a 1969 romp from that era of nun exploitation cinema. The story is based on real events emphasizing on the hypocrisy and abuse of power of the Catholic Church in 17th Century Italy. 
It all looks great of course, the buildings and the costumes. Anne Heywood is the Mother Superior who against her will has to give shelter to handsome Antonio Sabato who soon has those nuns all aflutter. Hardy Kruger is the priest who wants him protected. Soon though Sabato and Anne have a passionate affair resulting in a baby. Then they have to go on the run due to various plot twists and turns. It all ends with her being walled up alive for 10 years …. A fate worse than death, probably. Not as lurid as THE DEVILS it still packs a punch and looks great. Good score too by Ennio Morricone. 

RED RIDING HOOD, 2011. The classic fairly tale re-imagined for the TWILIGHT generation, as its director Catherine Hardwicke fashions a marvellous village and forest setting for more werewolf mischief … This time, Amanda Seyfried is Valerie (and she seems as vapid as she was in MAMMA MIA!) the girl torn between two men, the man she loves and the one her parents want her to marry. Gary Oldman on autopilot is Solomon, the werewolf hunter brought in to aid the villagers as it seems the wolf who prowls the forest is actually one of them in daylight hours … Julie Christie (right) is the grandma with her cottage in the woods who gives Valerie her scarlet cloak. I would not really bother with this, apart from Christie, who has some good moments. The ending though is rather a mystery as Riding Hood kills the werewolf (her own father!) but does not mind that the man she loves will also become one, as she takes grandma's place and waits for him. It has moments of campy fun but left a lot to be desired, some of it looks so murky one can hardly see what is going on – I was wishing I was back at Neil Jordan’s THE COMPANY OF WOLVES in 1984. 

I KILLED RASPUTIN. A rather tatty entry in the Rasputin stakes, this 1967 farrago is directed by actor Robert Hossein, who also appears. Hossein did some neat French thrillers I like a lot, but this one is not in those league. Peter McEnery is young Prince Yusupof , with Geraldine Chaplin as one of Rasputin’s devotees. Rasputin though is Gert Froebe – perfect as GOLDFINGER but all wrong here (Christopher Lee was a much more compelling Mad Monk for Hammer Films). Hossein’s father Andre did the music score. The real aged Prince Yusopov appears in person at the start, a few months before he died, which is the only fascinating thing here. We like Peter McEnery too, the first HAMLET I saw on stage about that time, in 1968, but wasted here. 

SERIAL MOM, 1994. Director John Waters puts a twist on the everyday mediocrity of suburban life in the hilarious satire SERIAL MOM. See Kathleen Turner like never before as Beverly Sutphin, the seemingly perfect homemaker who will stop at nothing to rid the neighbourhood of anyone failing to live up to her moral code. This is great fun but not quite in the same league as Waters’ HAIRSPRAY or indeed his earlier, wilder classics like FEMALE TROUBLE or PINK FLAMINGOS. Turner lets rip as people who do not recycle properly or who do not re-wind their rented video-cassettes get into a lot of trouble, as the body count piles up, even a leg of lamb can be a murder weapon! With Sam Waterston, and Waters regulars Ricki Lake, Mink Stole, Tracy Lords, Patricia Hearst and Suzanne Somers. Kitsch is the word! 

BEVERLY HILLS MADAM. I recorded this 1986 telemovie from a cable channel and foolished wiped it, I wish I had kept it now Its a kitschfest with all the requisite '80s glossy trappings and with those big hair and big shoulders, and Faye Dunaway cheerfully chomping the scenery as the Madam - hadn't she learned anything from MOMMIE DEAREST? - we are a long way from CHINATOWN here! A bordello catering to rich and wealthy clients, run by Lil Hutton (Faye) experiences a series of crises as one girl ends up pregnant, and another dead. As a subplot, a young woman, Julie Taylor, makes a trip to LA to surprise a friend, but never finds her. Julie is mugged, and seeks help from Lil. She sees how much the callgirls are making, and is tempted into the lifestyle. On her first "job" is hired by a rich father for his 18-year old virgin son as a birthday gift, and they fall in love. But the relationship comes to a quick end as soon as the son learns she is a "whore"; Julie breaks down and runs off after realizing prostitution is a cold and loveless occupation that cannot fulfill her emotional emptiness.This treat also features Louis Jourdan, Melody Anderson (those 80s names!), Donna Dixon, Terry Farrell and Robin Givens who sashay through this farrago, directed by Harvey Hart. 

LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, 1981. Sylvia Kristel is the lonely young wife of a wealthy aristocrat in this tale of love, lust and forbidden fantasies as adapted from D.H. Lawrence’s famously erotic novel, featuring the tortuous conflict between duty and desire. Paralysed from the waist down due to a war injury, Sir Clifford Chatterley urges his wife Constance to take a lover to satisfy her physical needs, but when she begins an intense affair with a man of shockingly lower class – the virile and rugged gamekeeper Mellors – the unexpected stirring of passions will spell the end of their marriage ….. 
Shane Briant makes Chatterley a nasty bore, whereas Nicholas Clay is a perfect Mellors, totally at ease washing himself au natural. I suppose Kristel is adequate as Lady C, as directed by Just Jaeckin, and Ann Mitchell scores again as that devious nurse with it seems her own plans for the estate and Lord Chatterley. It’s a Golan/Globus production with better than usual production values. I wonder how it compares to the ’93 Ken Russell version? Can I be bothered to find out?

TOO HOT TO HANDLE, 1960. Sex bomb Midnight Franklin is the star at the Pink Flamingo nightclub in London’s wild Soho district. Midnight’s lover, club-owner Johnny Solo, carefully handpicks the exotic dancers from the scores of actresses, art students and young housewives that seek to join the well-paid Flamingo strippers. Johnny and the girls are not adverse to after-hours “deals” with the club’s wealthy clientele. The cash is rolling in and life is good. So good in fact that a rival club owner wants a piece of the pie and is prepared to use violence to get it. But Johnny is not one to back down from a fight, setting off a downward spiral of events that will explode in betrayal and murder! 

Delirious blurb – delirious movie. I had thought this was a cheapo effort not worth bothering with, but it proves a delicious cocktail of 1960 tropes among the Soho stripper set, tawdry but fun, like 1958's PASSPORT TO SHAME (revew at Diana Dors label) or EXPRESSO BONGO. It is directed by Terence Young (a few years before he moved on to James Bond and DR NO) and the cast all shine. Leo Genn is just right as Solo, while Jayne Mansfield is sweet and likeable as Midnight – this may have been the start of her slide from 20th Century Fox to cheapo movies, but she shines as the den mother to the strippers, and she has a nice scene with young Barbara Windsor (right, with her own assets to the fore, well they would have to be to compete with Jayne…) as 15 year old Ponytail. (Barbara is now one of our National Treasures here in the UK, so its amusing seeing her this early in her career in this context). Carl Boehm (PEEPING TOM that same year) is also to hand with nothing much to do, and Christopher Lee is actually rather sexy with that moustache as the devious club manager. Its all a lot of fun actually.