'70s British cinema & the curious case of Barry Evans

Today we look back at Seventies British cinema - which brings to mind that famous quote from THE GO-BETWEEN: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there". 70s British cinema began quite well with those well-regarded films like SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, THE GO-BETWEEN (an award winner at Cannes) and DON'T LOOK NOW, as directors like Schlesinger, Losey and Roeg were at their peaks; and there were cult hits like THE WICKER MAN (originally sent out on release as supporting feature to DON'T LOOK NOW)..  British television was also good then in the early '70s, with series like COUNTRY MATTERS, WESSEX TALES, the BBC's TAKE THREE GIRLS and the hit ITV series UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS (the DOWNTON ABBEY of the era). 
The UK still only had three television channels (BBC1, ITV and BBC2, Channel 4 did not start until late 1982), video had yet to arrive - I got my first recorder in December 1979, so one either saw things at the time or missed them. BBC had a great series of sitcoms, we loved HI-DE-HI, ARE YOU BEING SERVED? and DAD'S ARMY. ITV sitcoms were generally weaker, and seen as a bit dim or low rent. I have to admit I did not bother with series like those spin-offs like DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE, DOCTOR AT LARGE or the later MIND YOUR LANGUAGE which ran from 1977 to 1986, all featuring Barry Evans (1943-1997), today's subject, or those series with Richard O'Sullivan, a spin-off from GEORGE AND MILDRED, though that may be my loss.

HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH 

As the Seventies wore on British cinema still turned out some interesting films, usually featuring Glenda Jackson (probably England's busiest actress then)  with either Oliver Reed, Alan Bates, Michael Caine or Peter Finch - titles like TRIPLE ECHO, STEVIE, RETURN OF THE SOLDIER - she is terrific leading that cast in NASTY HABITS, and there's the dreadful THE INCREDIBLE SARAH - Glenda kept churning them out; I saw her on stage too in THE MAIDS with Susannah, which was also filmed (and in THREE SISTERS at the Royal Court in 1968 - Glenda label).
People still went to the cinema a lot, the 70s was a great decade for European cinema and that new American cinema of Altman, Scorsese, Coppola, De Palma etc The CARRY ONs and Hammer Films were still going too even if getting tattier by the day, soft porn was invading them too ..... which brings me to a double bill I recorded the other day, which was on sometime during the night on one of those cable channels: ADVENTURES OF A TAXI DRIVER and ADVENTURES OF A PRIVATE EYE, dating from 1976 and 1977, when the tat really hit the fan.

Now lets go back to 1968, when the two Swinging London films we loved (being in our early 20s at the time) were SMASHING TIME (Rita Tush and Lynn Redgrave come down from the North to wreck havoc in George Melly's delightful script as directed by Desmond Davis - see label) and Clive Donner's HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH set in Stevenage New Town with a great cast of new faces (Barry Evans, Judy Geeson, Adrienne Posta, Angela Scoular) and that Traffic score - it caught the scene perfectly, my pal Stan and I loved it. The brief nudity in it was fresh and engaging too - not cheap and tatty as in those later films.

Smut though was coming to the fore by the early 70s - kinky as in DORIAN GRAY or GOODBYE GEMINI (see Trash, 70s, British labels for more on these) but generally cheap and unfunny as in those CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER and others featuring the charmless chump Robin Askwith (still going now, as in the BENIDORM series which seems to have lost the plot completely). Then there was PERCY in 1971 and those Hywel Bennett films, like the mess they made of Joe Orton's LOOT .... Then there was that spate of '70s British gangster movies (covered here already, British label), like ALL COPPERS ARE, THE SQUEEZE, VILLAIN, SITTING TARGET, HENESSEY etc. and John Wayne (with toupee) taking on the '70s London underworld in the very enjoyable BRANNIGAN.

After MULBERRY BUSH Barry Evans had a small part in Donner's next, the interesting ALFRED THE GREAT in 1969 (David Hemmings and Michael York leading), and he was busy in television including those series mentioned. However in 1976 he starred in a CONFESSIONS OF ... rip-off titled ADVENTURES OF A TAXI DRIVER, which was an interesting view to flick through quickly (one would hardly want to see them in real time) with its follow-up ADVENTURES OF A PRIVATE EYE - Barry bailed out of that one, the lead was a charmless nonentity called Christopher Neil. There was even a CONFESSIONS OF A PLUMBER'S MATE, but we were spared that - all directed by one Stanley Long - dare one mention him.

What was so depressing about these apart from they being desperately unfunny was seeing Barry and the MULBERRY BUSH girls (Geeson, Scoular, Posta) re-united a decade later but now given nothing to do apart from situations where their clothes fall off, and seeing the likes of Diana Dors (cheerfully playing the blowsy, harridan mother in both epics), Suzy Kendall, Liz Fraser, Harry H Corbett, Fred Emney, Irene Handl, Ian Lavender, Julian Orchard, Jon Pertwee, Anna Quayle, William Rushton etc roped in and given nothing to do. It may have been the only work going, but they would hardly have earned much for doing a day or two on poverty row productions like these. It must have been a lean time for comedians and young actors when the British cinema - so prolific in the '50s and '60s - was now on its knees and just producing smutty rubbish. At least the guys had to strip off too, as Barry or Chris had to run naked from various ladies' bedrooms as the husband returned ... presumably that had them rolling in the aisles. 

Barry's MIND YOUR LANGUAGE series ran until 1986 and his last credit was in 1993. By then he was a taxi driver in real life, in Melton Mowbray, where he was found dead in 1997, aged 53, in rather mysterious circumstances. 

The circumstances of his early death remain a mystery; He was found dead in his bungalow in Leicestershire, England with bottles of whiskey and aspirins nearby. A youth was charged with his murder, but acquitted on lack of evidence. A local coroner later recorded an open verdict.

There was also some story about him being involved with a rentboy, and having had a blow to his head - maybe by the youth mentioned above. A sorry end to when he was 18 and won a scholarship to train for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama. 

Sad how some actors' careers and lives pan out .... some die too young (Stanley Baker), some careers are over before the actor dies (Stephen Boyd, Laurence Harvey), some simply vanish - like the interesting case of Jeremy Spenser (see label), a 1950s actor who was the young prince in THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, and in SUMMERTIME, THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS STONE, FERRY TO HONG KONG etc, which shows that acting with Monroe, Olivier, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Orson Welles is no guarantee of a long career. As I have said before, most personable actors though if they are fortunate get ten good years and can usually parlay that into smaller roles as they get older: Michael York, Terence Stamp etc. 

Next: a look at those pals Oliver Reed and David Hemmings and how their careers intertwined and changed over the years, as they did ...  

RIP, continued ....

A last batch of the year? 2 popular actresses, a singer, 2 musicians, a photographer, and 2 Sixties Scandal-makers - and 1 more: actor and comedy writer, and a cinema legend ! 

Billie Whitelaw (1932-2014). Acclaimed British actress Billie Whitelaw, famous for her roles on stage and screen, has died at the age of 82. The Coventry-born star, who was made a CBE in 1991, worked in close collaboration with playwright Samuel Beckett, who described her as a perfect actress. As I said on IMDB: 

I am really sad to hear of the death of actress Billie Whitelaw. Billie seemed to have been rather neglected in recent years, or maybe she was just retired. She will probably be best known now for her role as the demonic nanny in THE OMEN in 1976 (pushing Lee Remick out the window and sinking her teeth into Gregory Peck's leg...), but she was one of England's premier actresses, starting out in comedy films like MAKE MINE MINK in 1960, thrillers like 1960's HELL IS A CITY and PAYROLL in 1961 and Hammer films like THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS. Among her odder films was Boorman's LEO THE LAST opposite Marcello Mastroianni in 1970. 

I saw her on the stage several times and literally bumped into her exiting from Sloane Square Station in Chelsea, when she was appearing at the nearby Royal Court Theatre in 1973. She specialised in Samuel Beckett plays, most famously in NOT I, which I saw at the time, where all we see of her is her mouth reciting the 15 minute play, on a black stage, it was a totally fantastic unforgettable production. I had been meaning to write on it.

She is one English actress (like Kathleen Byron) who deserved more recognition. She and Maggie Smith alternated the role of Desdemona in Olivier's acclaimed OTHELLO at the Old Vic in the mid-60s, though it was Smith who appeared in the film version. Billie was also effective in Albert Finney's 1967 CHARLEY BUBBLES and GUMSHOE. She was also a very attractive woman who had a great career on film, stage and television. 
She would actually have been a marvellous McGonagall in the HARRY POTTER films (I can just picture her in that pointed hat), better even than Dame Maggie, but it seems her career wound down in the last decade or so as those other dames went from strength to strength . RIP indeed.
The obituary in today's "Daily Telegaph" calls her "one of the most intelligent and versatile actresses of her generation. She came to prominence in the post-war fashion for social realism, though she made her name in the surrealistic drama of Samuel Beckett, for whom she was the “perfect actress”. 

Yet the bulk of Billie Whitelaw’s time in later years was spent with family and in charitable endeavours. In spare moments she would tend her garden in Suffolk, often digging with her bare hands. “I’m not really interested in acting any more”, she confessed. “I always thought it was a bit of a flibbertigibbety occupation.”

Virna Lisi (1936-1978), aged 78. Glamorous Italian actress who maintained her looks and kept working, she appeared in some American films in the 1960s: HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE with Jack Lemmon was popular, and lesser films with Sinatra, Curtis and the like. Like Loren, she returned to Italy and continued her career, winning great acclaim for her Catherine de Medici in QUEEN MARGOT in 1994. I also liked her as one of the 4 stars of LE BAMBOLE in 1964. Perhaps in the hierarchy of Italian actresses she followed on from Magnani, Valli, Mangano, Lollobrigida, Loren, Vitti and Cardinale .... 

Joe Cocker (1944-2014), aged 70. Another legendary hardman of rock departs too soon, we loved his rock and roll circus MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN with Leon Russell, which toured in the early 70s,and made a fun movie. He also performed at Woodstock in '69. Joe was a gas-fitter from Sheffield, his gritty vocals of course like on his version of The Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends" and that "You Are So Beautiful" will endure. He was still touring this year and performed in London in June. Like those other guys Jack Bruce and Ian McLagan who died recently (see above and RIP label) they crammed a lot into their three score years and ten! He was also, like Jack Bruce and Stevie Winwood, one of the great rock voices.

Ian McLagan (1945-2014), aged 69. His distinctive and evocative playing on the Hammond B3 organ and Wurlitzer piano – much influenced, as he admitted, by the R&B veteran Booker T Jones – became part of the fabric of rock’n’roll through his work with two classic British bands, the Small Faces and the Faces. We loved The Small Faces with their 'mod' look and distinctive sound n the 1960s, they were as good as The Yardbirds or The Kinks or The Who. McLagan also played on those early seminal Rod Stewart albums like EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY, and he played on several Rollings Stones hits, like that marvelous "Miss You". He later toured with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, after he moved to Austin, Texas. The Small Faces were one of those groups endlesssly ripped off by their record company, but McLagan flourished as a great rock player, like the equally marvellous Jack Bruce of Cream, who also departed this year (RIP label). 

Bobby Keyes (1943-2014), aged 70. Like Ian McLagan, above, Keys is another rock & roll legend, who also worked a lot with the Rolling Stones, and even began with Buddy Holly and Bobby Vee. Keyes was an American saxophone player who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Harry Nilsson, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison, Eric Clapton's first solo album which I like a lot, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and other prominent musicians, plus working with Elvis and John Lennon.. Keyes played on hundreds of recordings and was a touring musician from 1956 until his death. He also appears in the film of MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN – those crazy 1970s rock & roll years! – and played on the Stones “Brown Sugar” among others. A legendary wild man of rock! 

Phil Stern (1919-2014), aged 95!  Phil Stern, a renowned photographer for LIFE, LOOK and other magazines who honed his skills as a World War II combat photographer but was best known for capturing Hollywood icons and jazz legends in unguarded moments, died Saturday in Los Angeles.

Among Stern's memorable Hollywood images during the heyday of his six-decade career:  Marlon Brando on the set of THE WILD ONE, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr, Judy Garland during A STAR IS BORN, John Wayne, James Dean wearing that polo-neck pullover - right,
For several decades, Stern also shot album covers for the Verve, Pablo and Reprise record labels; he and his camera were fixtures at recording sessions with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz greats. He was another legendary photographer like Bob Willoughby, Eve Arnold, Bert Stern or George Barris. 

Mandy Rice-Davies (1944-1970), aged 70.   Respectful notices for Mandy, one of the '60s good-time girls. She was, like Christine Keeler, a key figure in the 1963 Profumo affair which rocked the British government. The former model was central to the furore which erupted after John Profumo, then Minister for War, lied in the Commons about his affair with her friend Christine Keeler, who was also sleeping with a suspected Russian spy.

The scandal contributed to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in October 1963 and the toppling of his Conservative government the following year. Mandy caused a sensation at court when being told that Lord Astor of Cliveden had denied sleeping with her, she retorted "Well, he would, wouldn't he?". Unlike Keeler, Mandy married well, several times, as she descended from notoriety to affluent respectability, even going on holiday with Mr and Mrs Thatcher and later working with Andrew Lloyd Webber on his musical about Stephen Ward, another victim of the Profumo scandal. 

Jeremy Thorpe (1929 – 2014), aged 85,  was a British politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and as Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1979. Few political careers ended in such scandal .... 

His political career collapsed when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had an affair with him in the early 1960s, when homosexual acts were illegal in Britain  - Thorpe though had been leading a double life for a long time. In 1976, the scandal forced him to resign as Liberal leader. He denied any affair with Scott, whom he was charged with conspiring to murder. He was acquitted in 1979, shortly after losing his parliamentary seat in the general election. It was a farcical situation with attempts to have Scott silenced or killed, resulting in the shooting of Scott's dog Rinka but the gun jammed before the hitman could silence Scott. Thorpe survived the scandal and had two successful marriages, both his wives pre-deceasing him. 

SMASHING TIME

Jeremy Lloyd (1930-2014), aged 84. Popular comedy actor and later scriptwriter of classic BBC comedy series like ARE YOU BEING SERVED? and 'ALLO 'ALLO which poked fun at the French resistance during WWII. ARE YOU BEING SERVED? is a particular favourite and just as funny now: Mrs Slocombe's pussy, Mr Humpries and "I'm Free" Captain Peacock, Miss Brahms and all those funny characters, which he co-wrote with David Croft; it ran from 1972-1985 Audiences also enjoyed the antics of Herr Flick, Helga, Gruber and the others in 'ALLO 'ALLO: "I shall say zis only once"!, As an actor he specialised is upper crust toffs, popping up in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, HELP!, as the pop mogul exploiting silly Yvonne (Lynn Redgrave) in SMASHING TIME, he was also a regular on ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH IN. He caught that late 60s/early 70s vibe perfectly - he was even married to Joanna Lumley (right: Lumley & Croft) for a while, and they remained friends. We would like to see his 1971 sitcom ITS AWFULLY BAD FOR YOUR EYES, DARLING (below) which featured Lumley, Jane Carr and Croft, but it has not been seen for decades, perhaps a comic version of TAKE THREE GIRLS or THE PLEASURE GIRLS ? Bottom: ARE YOU BEING SERVED?

And finally, at the end of the year, 1930s star Luise Rainer (1910-2014), a few weeks short of her 105th birthday! She famously won the Best Actress Oscar two years in a row, in 1936 for THE GREAT ZIEGFELD and in 1937 THE GOOD EARTH. 

1960s Pop Art in movies at Barbican

To tie in with its new PopArt Design exhibition, the Barbican in London has curated an impressive state of films to reflect pop art's shiny, stylish sensibility. These range from old favourites like BLOW-UP and SMASHING TIME, to PERFORMANCE and a handful of sci-fi classics like 2001 and Godard's ALPHAVILLE as well as the '56 FORBIDDEN PLANET ! Here is what the Barbican says about it and their choice comments on those films we love here at the Projector:

Dirk Bogarde in MODESTY BLAISE

Pop artists commented on the cult of celebrity, commodity fetishism and the proliferation of media that permeated everyday life in America and the United Kingdom after the Second World War. Radically departing from all that had gone before, artists delighted in adopting the design language of advertising, television and commerce to create work that was playful but often also intentionally irreverent and provocative. In turn, designers routinely looked to Pop Art as a constant source of inspiration. Pop Art Design paints a new picture of Pop – one that recognises the central role played by design.
Bringing together more than 200 works by over 70 artists and designers, the exhibition includes iconic and lesser known works by such artists as Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, Judy Chicago, Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Joe Tilson and Andy Warhol, shown alongside objects by Achille Castiglioni, Charles and Ray Eames, Peter Murdoch, George Nelson, Gaetano Pesce and Ettore Sottsass. Pop Art Design also presents a wealth of graphic material from posters and magazines to album sleeves, as well as film,photography, and documentation of Pop interors and architecture.

The Barbican's last Pop Art in the Movies season was several years ago now, nice to see some of these back again. 

BLOW-UP

Vanessa Redgrave, David Hemmings and Sarah Miles star in Antonioni's exhilarating and enigmatic tale about a London fashion photographer who stumbles upon evidence of murder and is left wondering where reality ends and fantasy begins.
With its multi-layered meanings and rich colour symbolism, this is a hypnotic and provocative film that questions the idea that 'the camera never lies'. With evocative use of the London locations, a fabulous score by Herbie Hancock, and appearances by such 60s luminaries as Verushka, Jill Kennington and Jane Birkin.

MODESTY BLAISE

Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp and Dirk Bogarde star in the story of a female agent who becomes involved in British government espionage in order recover stolen diamonds.
Adapted from the popular comic strip stories, Modesty Blaise is at once a screwball comedy, a spoof on '60s spy films, and a pastiche of numerous other cinematic styles. With its fabulous Pop art set designs, the years have treated it kindly; it remains an irresistible comedy with a satirical bite. 

2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY

For his sci-fi extravaganza, Kubrick projected into the future an exaggerated version of the Pop Art aesthetic of the late 60s. Stark white accented with reds and burnt oranges, the interiors – then futuristic – now have a delicious retro-futuristic appeal. To achieve the look, Kubrick worked with high-profile artist and designers: Olivier Mourgue’s Djinn chairs litter the lounge of Space Station Five, the crew use cutlery designed by Arne Jacobsen.
One of the most influential of all futuristic films, its visual impact is greatest on the big screen: see it here in a new digital presentation in our glorious Cinema 1.

PERFORMANCE

James Fox plays the criminal who is forced to reappraise his moral codes when he takes sanctuary in a rock musician's Notting Hill flat.
What begins as a London gangland thriller, ends in a kaleidoscope of ideas and visual effects as Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg introduce the villain to a world beyond his own.

SMASHING TIME

A surge of Pop art colour and design surrounds Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave in the tale of two Northern girls who come to seek fame and fortune amidst Carnaby Street and trendy London town.
This ultimate Swinging London film was in fact one of the last. The optimism of earlier pictures had disappeared, and as a record of the demise of not merely a film genre but also a cultural phenomenon, this is, in terms of music, fashion and design, utterly absorbing. The script is by George Melly.

HEROSTRATUS

Helen Mirren stars in the film which opened London's ICA cinema in the heady, radical days of May 1968. An unsuccessful poet on the brink of suicide offers his death to an advertising agency, to be promoted as an act of protest against the consumer society.
Following a night of passion he changes his mind, but he is no longer in control of the situation. Experimental in form (in terms of split-screen effects, innovative sound and improvised dialogue), Levy's film was an attempt to break with the narrative traditions of mainstream cinema and reflects the development of the 'avant garde' in British film.  One of the most original oddities I have ever seen, when I saw it back then.

Other films shown included that fascinating documentary TONIGHT LETS ALL MAKE LOVE IN LONDON, and Godard's CONTEMPT.

People We Like: Michael York

I had been meaning to do a new round on 'People We Like' to cover Peter Finch, Alan Bates, David Warner, Dame Flora Robson and Vera Miles, and I can start now with Michael York.

I have just been watching an absorbing interview with Michael York, part of that dvd set of interviews BRITISH LEGENDS OF STAGE & SCREEN, which our Sky Arts channel are showing as individual programmes. As mentioned earlier they include Glenda Jackson, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Christopher Lee, Diana Rigg, Claire Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen and York. Its a fascinating set of interviews for anyone interested in actors discussing their craft ...

York, like Terence Stamp (post below) was one of those new actors who fascinated us back in the '60s. He came along at just the right time in the mid-'60s at the heyday of international cinema and, like most attractive young actors who get the breaks, had 10 good years appearing in a wide range of films, large and small - the personable young stage actor with the broken nose was soon attracting the attention of movie-makers like Richardson, Losey, Zeffirelli .... Movies did not all have to open big then, but often built up word of mouth and hung around for a while in the revival houses and got written up about in the various film magazines. York too is a fascinating example of an actor getting older and continuing to work in smaller parts and keeping going while keeping his dignity. He also had some good theatre roles including HAMLET in 1970 and Tennessee Williams plays in New York.

I had a pleasant meeting with him 5 or 6 years ago when he was signing a new book of his at a Borders bookshop (now gone) in Oxford Street in London, where I was able to tell him I saw his HAMLET in 1970 at a theatre in Surrey, which I think pleased him. Michael of course worked with a lot of people I like since his first role in Zeffirelli's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW in 1966, with the Burtons and that nice ensemble of players, it was enjoyable seeing this again recently, so stunningly visual like Franco's 1968 ROMEO & JULIET where York was the volatile Mercutio (I had a poster on my then wall..). Before that he was the young aristocrat in Losey's ACCIDENT in 1967 .... which year also saw his mod photographer in the smashing swinging comedy I like a lot, as per other posts here, SMASHING TIME.

Michael and his photographer wife Patricia liked to travel a lot, as per his interesting autobiography...
1969 was a good year: to India for THE GURU for James Ivory, as the Viking chief in ALFRED THE GREAT shot in Ireland that summer for Clive Donner, with David Hemmings, and with Anouk Aimee and Dirk Bogarde in JUSTINE shot in Tunisia and Hollywood for Cukor .... then it was off to Germany for SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE (aka BLACK FLOWERS FOR THE BRIDE, gay interest label) that cult black comedy by Hal Prince, with Angela Lansbury, and later for CABARET, Bob Fosse's still intoxicating musical and ENGLAND MADE ME with Peter Finch - with whom York teamed up again for the disaster film LOST HORIZONS in '73!

That year he shot THE THREE (and then FOUR) MUSKETEERS in Spain for Richard Lester, where he was an amusing D'Artagnan with Oliver Reed, Heston, Christopher Lee and Faye Dunaway's wicked Milady ... and there was the all-star MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS in 1974, followed by LOGAN'S RUN.  Some duds were also in the mix: a royal prince in SEVEN NIGHTS IN JAPAN. I have now got his 1968 THE STRANGE AFFAIR to watch again, and a thriller with Genevieve Bujold: FINAL ASSIGNMENT. - he also of course played "himself" in Billy Wilder's fascinating FEDORA.

Alfred The Great

He continued to work throughout the '80s and '90s, with lots of television work as per his IMDB profile, has an interesting website, and several other projects, and of course those AUSTIN POWERS movies which I liked a lot. This new interview shows a more thoughtful side to him, at 70, and I liked his advice for young actors, not to be afraid to fail. He seemed fine when I met him in 2005 or 2006, but perhaps has been unwell recently. One certainly wishes him well and a full recovery.

PS: York in an interview in today's paper, 7th December, to promote the dvd BRITISH LEGENDS OF STAGE & SCREEN lists his Top 5 movies as: BRIEF ENCOUNTER, HENRY V, DR NO, ANONYMOUS and his own ENGLAND MADE ME!

[Previous 'People We Like' here include, as per labels, David Hemmings, Stewart Granger, Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, Belinda Lee, Michael Craig, Stanley Baker, Mary Astor, Anne Baxter, Capucine, Kay Kendall, Joan Greenwood, Jeffrey Hunter and all those posts on Dirk Bogarde, Anouk Aimee, Romy Schneider, Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti, Lee Remick, Susan Hayward, Alida Valli, Ingrid Thulin, Silvana Mangano, Francoise Dorleac, Jean Sorel, Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Belmondo, Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Margaret Leighton, Ann Todd etc.]

The English '60s explode into colour ....

How we lived then: I love this image from Schlesinger's A KIND OF LOVING, 1962 - 50 years ago!

One more '60s post, on how that decade began: watching just two channels on a small black and white television with one's family in the lounge, no high definition then! - as in A KIND OF LOVING above, which captures that tedium perfectly. No wonder there was an explosion in music, art, movies, as young people went out a lot to express themselves and make their own entertainment ... cue those new black and white movies for the new generation like BILLY LIAR, THE SERVANT, THE KNACK, GEORGY GIRL, MORGAN ...

Julie Christie's Liz in BILLY LIAR comes down to London where she would soon be a DARLING (left, with the boys), leaving Billy behind up north - while Rita Tushingham's journey from A TASTE OF HONEY to SMASHING TIME via A PLACE TO GO, THE LEATHER BOYS, THE GIRL WITH GREEN EYES and THE KNACK showed the '60s girl moving from grim reality to fantasy and slapstick in day-glo colours, as well as getting involved in jewellery capers with Marcello Mastroianni (DIAMONDS FOR BREAKFAST) and going to India with Michael York in THE GURU.

Michael and Rita in THE GURU.

By the mid-60s there was that explosion into colour with The Beatles in HELP!, popular movies like Clive Donner's NOTHING BUT THE BEST and WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? which we liked so much: Romy! Capucine! Paula! Peter! I had the soundtrack album by Burt Bacharach; the cult classic MODESTY BLAISE and then Antonioni gave us a different view of London in BLOW-UP - as we joined the new generation having fun in HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH and SMASHING TIME.... then we were ready for psychedelia and MIDNIGHT COWBOY and the rest as 1970 began... Donen's ARABESQUE (Sophia, Peck labels) was also a perfect mid-'60s caper with a plot that makes no sense now - a message in a microdot which would be delivered electronically now, but Loren dressed by Balmain has a lot of fun and Alan Badel is the best suave Arab villain with a shoe fetish ever.  I remember friends and I going off to the Odeon, Kensington for the first day of Visconti's THE DAMNED, one of the movies one had to see that year 1969.

The Beatles in colour - the HELP! songs are like the first pop videos

The zany climax of WHATS NEW PUSSYCAT?, so very mid-'60s