Say Hello To Yesterday, 1970

Say hello also to tedium and annoyance as this twee 1970 'romance' unfolds ..... I intially thought I would not mention it, but I have covered some other 1970 Trash Classics here, like GOODBYE GEMINI and DORIAN GRAY (see 1970 label), and its a fitting companion piece in that cinematic junkyard - its a fascinating era really as the British Cinema deteriorated into tat after those great decades of the 1940s and 1960s, and the 1950s were not too bad either!

Lets look at the blurb for this effort:

One of the most under-rated British films that was produced between the end of the swinging sixties and the beginning of the hippie seventies. Leonard Whiting plays a young dreamer who is trapped in a working class existance: living in a council house with a father who has no  horizon higher than working in the local factory. Jean Simmons is the mature woman living in a leafy Surrey house with her stockbroker husband and two children, but is desperately unhappy with her life.

When the two unlikely lovers meet on a train to London, Whiting begins his charm offensive of the older woman across London's 1970s landscape. this is one of the most insightful films to deal with the thrill and inevitable puncturing of the balloon that signifies the love affair between these two unikely protatonists. Directed and co-written by Alvin Rakoff, music by Riz Ortolani. 

It is always nice to see Jean Simmons and she tries her best here in this underwritten role. Whiting is beyond annoying as his "charm offensive" in 1970 looks like sexual harrassment and he would be arrested these days as he keeps bothering her on the train full of stuffy commuters. And the horror - his family live in a council house! where his salt-of-the-earth dear old Mum (Constance Chapman) slips him a fiver as he heads off to Cobham station where Jean is boarding the first class compartment.  Our leads have no names here, they are listed as just Woman and Boy. He finally wears her down and yes they end up in bed but not for long. She flees back to her Surrey estate and he is left with those balloons which can signify whatever one wants .... Evelyn Laye appears as her wise mother. If Jean is the older woman here, then her mother must be ancient! 

There was a vogue for older woman/younger man romances, like the play and film of FORTY CARATS which was rather amusing, as per my review (Liv Ullmann label), but that was a well-written Broadway play. This suffers by comparison. Whiting may have been right for Zeffirelli's ROMEO & JULIET, but seems quite ordinary, if annoying, here. He wears a nice velvet suit of the period, not the same one he wore when I saw him at the BFI later that year. The dvd has a useful interview with Simmons, from sometime in the 80s. 
Thanks to Colin for this Twitter photo of Leonard in San Francisco recently for a showing and Q&A on ROMEO & JULIET in January. 

Magazines 1: 'Honey' 1971 hunks calendar

Thanks to Colin for sending me this spread from a vintage magazine - girls' magazine HONEY, popular in the 1970s. I have not seen any of these before, not being a "Honey" kind of guy - I was more TOWN and all those movie magazines.....

Here though is their ad/order form for their calendar for 1971 (click to enlarge) with a hunk a month - its interesting seeing who is on it, and who are still here and still working. 

The surprise here is the inclusion of the young Ian McKellen, who seems an odd choice here, was he on the "Honey" girl's radar then? as in 1970 he had only really done a small part in ALFRED THE GREAT (with my favourites David Hemmings and Michael York, neither chosen here), A TOUCH OF LOVE with Sandy Dennis, and several television roles including a David Copperfield and Hamlet. Not quite in the same league as Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Terence Stamp, or the popular boys of the time like Leonard (ROMEO) Whiting, Martin (FELLINI SATYRICON) Potter, or Helmut Berger (Visconti's THE DAMNED and DORIAN GRAY)! Pop boys Marc Bolan, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones and Elvis also made the cut. 

Well, Sir Ian is probably the busiest name here now, Sir Tom now judges the BBC talent show "The Voice", Sir Mick does his thing, Terence looks great in the new VANITY FAIR Hollywood issue, and a weather-beaten Redford was terrific in ALL IS LOST last year. Leonard, Martin and Helmut are still here too having long shed their pretty boy images.... More hunks at Hunks label.

(I've been accused of name-dropping - thank you, Martin in Derry - when I mention I have met people, but I was chatting with Ian when out clubbing over a decade ago (at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern pub and Crash club in London); we used to see Terence around town a lot as his then apartment at The Albany in Piccadilly backed onto my office in Regent Street; Marc Bolan guested at one of the early Elton John shows I saw at Croydon in 1973, and Leonard relieved himself next to me at the Gents urinal at the BFI back in 1970, in a blue crushed velvet suit ... it didn't seem appropriate to speak though! - we were both attending a discussion on nudity in the movies (with Billie Whitelaw among others - oops there I go again), a hot topic then as actresses - and actors (as Leonard had to for Zeffirelli) - had to get their kit off for those daring new movies of the era.).

A cache of new old movie magazines !

I came across a fantastic website selling all kinds of vintage magazines, including lots of film mags, like "Films & Filming", "Sight & Sound", "Films Illustrated", "Film Comment" etc. As a magazine junkie from way back, this was too good to miss. My first consignment of 10 "Films & Filming" from the late '50s arrived a few days ago, in great condition, so its money well spent. I have the magazine's issues from 1960 onwards, but those '50s ones are marvellous too (it began in 1954, but of course all magazines have their day, and it  was finished by 1980 - I worked there for a year in the '70s and knew the owner and staff, and did some reviews for them myself, as per my other posts at F&F label).

I am getting another lot this week, a few more "F&F"s, two "Plays & Players" one with Bacall in APPLAUSE and the other with Jonathan Pryce as HAMLET in 1980, both of which I saw, on the covers), and 5 early "Sight & Sounds" also from the early 60s, with Belmondo, Christie, Lee Remick etc on the covers, .... so, lots of nostalgic catching up.

There is another Italian issue here too, with features by Fellini on his forthcoming LA DOLCE VITA, and by Antonioni also ...

Another fascinating feature is a three-page piece on Ingrid Bergman (back in big movies again in 1958) by no less than Kenneth Tynan.

It also ran a monthly feature 'Person of Promise' and these particular magazines feature Lee Remick, James Garner, Gena Rowlands and Renato Salvatori among other up and coming players. Other Persons of Promise I remember were Tony Perkins and Jane Fonda. Some of the Persons (Dolores Michaels, Patricia Owens) though did not last very long ...
This is their rather nice feature on Lee Remick, in August 1958:

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"Lee Remick looks like a nice girl, yet she has the most sex-appeal I've ever seen turned loose on the screen" says THE LONG HOT SUMMER's producer, Jerry Wald. Director of SUMMER, Martin Ritt, adds: "She is the most exciting new personality I've seen; she jumps at you from the screen". And to round off the quotes on the bright Miss Remick, Orson Welles quite simply says: "... she's the greatest".

Lee Remick made her film debut eighteen months ago as the drum-majorette bride of Lonesome Rhodes in Kazan's A FACE IN THE CROWD. Her second film THE LONG HOT SUMMER is at present making the rounds in Britain. Her work in Kazan's CROWD won her critical recognition, although she was seen for only ten minutes on screen. In SUMMER, after studio executives had seen the rushes, she was given star billing. Lee Remick is a name to conjure with.

Born in Boston, she and her brother, Bruce, were the two children of a successful department store owner, Frank Remick. When his only daughter decided on a stage career, papa did not object - in fact he went as far as financing her dramatic and dancing lessons. After schooling at Thayerland College, she went to Miss Hewitt's fashionable institute of learning. The plays that Miss Hewitt chose for her students to exercise their dramatic abilities on were also fashionable, but little else. Lee longed to have a stab at the real thing.

She graduated to Barnard College, and theatricals took on a more professional tone. After months of training she went into the American equivalent of repertory: summer stock. On tour, she appeared with Rudy Vallee in JENNY KISSES ME, with Art Carney in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, and singing and dancing in PAINT YOUR WAGON. 

On her sixteenth birthday, in December 1953, Lee arrived on Broadway as Lois, in BE YOUR AGE. To put it mildly, the play was a colossal flop. Then she went into TOP MAN, which also folded in double quick time. Forsaking the stage for television, she appeared in many of the top dramatic shows. 

20th Century Fox have ambitious plans for the new girl on the lot. Her name has been mentioned for the lead role in THE JEAN HARLOW STORY, which Fox plans to make later this year. And she is set for THESE THOUSAND HILLS, and for astute producer Wald in THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. 

Well, thank goodness Lee did not get tarnished with those Harlow films, and of course those big roles kept coming with ANATOMY OF A MURDER, WILD RIVER, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES etc. - as per other posts here, at Remick labels. After her parents divorced, she became a Park Avenue girl, as her mother moved to New York. Another Remick interview I quoted from had her telling of her first meeting with Hepburn and Tracy, when she was up for a small part in DESK SET; 6 years later she and Hepburn were both competing for the Best Actress Oscar in 1962 (the year Anne Bancroft won), while a decade later they played mother and daughter in the 1973 A DELICATE BALANCE, also reviewed here.

And the magazine website: 

http://www.tilleysvintagemagazines.com/source/gallery.php?
gallery=FILMS%20AND%20FILMING&menuchoice=magazines&menuletter=F.

'60s treats (continued)

Catching up with some 1969 extravaganzas (and a '75) I didn't bother with back then...

It’s a return to that bawdy, lusty 18th century with LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS, Peter Coe’s 1969 film of a stage show with songs, though the songs are gone here, as this vainly follows THE ADVENTURES OF MOLL FLANDERS (already reviewed here) in trying to capture the success of TOM JONES. It ramps up the squalor of the era and plays like a CARRY ON on speed – all it has going for it really is that cast. It basically follows the misadventures of three sailors on shore leave: Lusty (Jim Dale), Shaftoe (Tom Bell) and Ramble (Ian Bannen) who are all looking for some action – willing to provide it are Susannah York (Hilaret) who is rather underused here, Vanessa Howard (Hoyden) and Glynis Johns (Mrs Squeezum). Fabulous Fenella Fielding has the Joan Greenwood role as Lady Eager, allowing herself to be seduced at the theatre and ensuring her seducer has the correct window to call on later – Kathleen Harrison and Roy Kinnear are also funny as Lord and Lady Clumsey, and Roy Dotrice is the Gossip. Other familiar faces include Arthur Mullard, Peter Bull, Fred Emney and its good to see Georgia Brown (the original Nancy in the original OLIVER) as the local strumpet. Top billed though is another extraordinary performance by Christopher Plummer as Lord Fopington with a grotesque wig and what looks like a false nose and who can barely walk he is so effete. Shot in Ireland it is an amusing trifle to see at this remove.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN – this and Attenborough’s OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR must have kept the British acting fraternity busy during that busy year 1969, as again, most of them turn up here, led by Laurence Olivier as Lord Dowding. Ralph Richardson has a splendid set-to squaring up to German office Curt Jurgens, and those valiant airmen include the likes of Robert Shaw, Michael Caine, Ian McShane, and Edward Fox, with Nigel Patrick, Michael Redgrave, Harry Andrews and Trevor Howard as assorted officers. Christopher Plummer and Susannah York are the married couple of forces personnel who can never find time to be together – good to see York reunited with Kenneth More (from THE GREENAGE SUMMER) and then of course there are those planes and the dogfights in the skies over England in 1940 as airmen wait to get airborne and there is that “Battle in the Air” by William Walton for the climactic fights. As produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Guy Hamilton it is all high, wide and handsome and remains stirring stuff. Some odd lapses of period detail though – Shaw and McShane exit from a house with a very modern glass door, hardly the type used in 1940 and though the other women in the background have period hair and dress, Susannah York looks like she strolled in off the Kings Road with her very ‘60s hair and make-up. Frankly, the kind of film I did not bother with when young back in 1969 but fascinating to catch up with now, if only for that cast.



THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN cries out for the epic treatment it deserves but does not get it here, but this 1969 film of the hit Peter Shaffer play remains curiously fascinating. As the blurb puts it: “Driven with the desire to find the mythical Kingdom of Gold, conquistador Fancisco Pizarro (Robert Shaw) sets sail for the Americas seeking riches beyond any man’s dreams. Far from being a land of savages, Pizarro encounters the magical Inca empire and their fabled leader Atahualpa (Christopher Plummer). The initial mistrust and suspicion between the two men is replaced by mutual faith and respect –emotions not held by other members of Pizarro’s exploration party, who are purely intent of claiming the Inca gold for themselves”. Empires collide indeed in this telling of the epic story of civilisations and beliefs clashing during that strange period of history when the Old World discovered the wealth of the New and began to savagely convert them to the Church, while of removing all that gold.

I have a personal interest in this one, as when I was 20 and new in London in 1966 one of my first theatrical experiences was seeing the original spellbinding production up in the cheap seats at the Old Vic with Robert Stephens incredible as the Inca king Atahualpa opposite Colin Blakely’s Pizarro. It was splendidly staged with the conquest of the Inca empire suggested and mimed, which works in the theatre but the film does not have the budget to show it. It is though efficiently directed by Irving Lerner and produced by Philip Yordan. Again, the cast is the thing as here Robert Shaw is the grizzled conquistador Pizarro, with Nigel Davenport, Michael Craig, Leonard Whiting (Zeffirelli’s Romeo) as young scribe Martin, James Donald as the Spanish king, Andrew Keir as the bloodthirsty priest and topping it all a totally extraordinary performance once again by Christopher Plummer as the Inca Atahualpa. His many admirers who saw this on account of his Captain Von Trapp must have been startled by his appearance here, toned and buff and gleaming with those costumes and the birdsong way of speaking and moving. It is totally daring and compelling. It boils down to a two hander between Pizarro and the king while the rest of the conquistadors wait to loot and pillage and melt down that gold, which we see happening in the background. It does quite well actually on a budget suggesting the might and splendour and strangeness of the Inca empire which did not resist the onslaught of the ravaging newcomers. The invaders have to kill Atahualpa but he believes he will rise again from death the next morning when the sun arises and Pizarro desperately needs to believe him, so instead of being burned his body is kept whole ... this was all stunning in the theatre, but somehow less so in the film, but then it was conceived for the theatrical medium. Shaffer of course wrote AMADEUS and EQUUS and this is more of the same with great language and ideas.

CONDUCT UNBECOMING was a stage play and a talky one at that, being basically a courtroom drama concerning the honour of a regiment in India in the days of the British Empire. Michael Anderson opens it out a bit and there is some location shooting but it does get rather stodgy. Again, it is the cast that holds the attention – Trevor Howard and Richard Attenborough as senior officers, Christopher Plummer and Stacey Keach as military personnel, James Donald as the doctor, Susannah York as the widow of the regiment’s hero who claims she has been assaulted (but has she really?) by young wastrel James Faulkner who just wants to be sent home. It falls to reluctant Michael York to defend him and discover the rather laboured truth. This one sank without trace back in 1975 and now one just wanted it to hurry up and finish.