Carol at 9pm

We did several posts of Todd Haynes' CAROL here in recent years, as per labels, nice to see it is on Channel4 here in the UK tonight. My friend Martin would say "I have the blu-ray so I can watch it anytime", but it means it will be seen by a bigger audience here than on its initial rather limited release in 2015.

It has been announced that Cate will play Margo Channing in a stage production of ALL ABOUT EVE here in London next year .... lets hope its from Mankiewicz's original and not a re-working of the horrendous '70s musical APPLAUSE ! 

For the weekend 2: Samba Saravah

We always like posting items on French legend Anouk Aimee, 85 yesterday - maybe the most glamorous and mysterious of the French stars. We love her in Lelouch's UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME in 1966, here is that yummy Samba sequence again. 

Anouk was also Demy's LOLA in 1961, JUSTINE in 1969 - a favourite cult movie here - and we like her deliciously decadent Queen Bera in Aldrich's campfest SODOM & GOMORRAH in 1962 ... she also pioneered the "sunglasses at night" look with Marcello in Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, at the dawn of the Sixties. Lots more Anouk at label ...

RIP, continued ...

We love Talking Heads here and particularly the film STOP MAKING SENSE  - one of those quirky films from Jonathan Demme (1944-2017), who has died aged 73. Demme's two big hits are of course THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and PHILADELPHIA. Demme began as one of Roger Corman's proteges, and was soon directing those early items like CAGED HEAT, CRAZY MAMA, MELVIN AND HOWARD, SOMETHING WILD, MARRIED TO THE MOB, STOP MAKING SENSE in 1984, 

He clocked up 62 credits, including lots of pop videos, and was working up to the end. 
PHILADELPHIA may seem tame to us now, but was quite important back in 1993, and Hanks is extraordindary here (I never wanted to see FORREST GUMP).
 Demme's film caught the moment perfectly and remains an important keywork in representation of gays in cinema. Great soundtrack too. 
For a "merely good" director (as my pal Martin said) he drew Oscar-winning performances from Hanks, Hopkins, Foster ... 

Leo Baxendale (1930-2017), aged 86.  For the generation who grew up on comics - that's us - our childhoods were completed by THE BEANO, THE DANDY,  THE TOPPER, THE BEEZER, THE EAGLE, etc. (and I liked SCHOOL FRIEND too) ... Baxendale was the cartoonist and publisher, who drew The Bash Street Kids, Minnie The Minx and more. 

That Blow-Up bluray ...

Its better than I imagined, after only having the bog standard dvd for years. As in the recent 4-disk LUDWIG pack, there is another chunky 64 page booklet, 1960s interviews with Antonioni, two interviews with David Hemmings from 1968 and 1977, that long 2016 interview with Vanessa Redgrave, a Jane Birkin interview, a marvellous documentary featuring people involved with the making of the film, including model Jill Kennington, and more. It puts it all in proper context, and yes the park and the studio and London then in 1966 - which I knew as I was 20 there then - are all just perfect. Even the street I lived in, Draycott Place, SW3 in 1972-73, crops up, as its next to that restaurant. We return to the park and studio as they are now too. Lots more at labels ... one funny thing: the characters are never named, but Hemmings is Thomas, Vanessa is Jane, Sarah is Patricia, Castle is Bill, Bowles is Ron.
The booklet points out something I and most other viewers miss, no matter how often we have seen it. As Thomas is driving through London, after leaving the park, just as the girl puts the protest placard in his car, the car following has the Jane from the park and her accomplice (we see her in her check shirt) who are following him, which is how she is able to turn up at his studio just as he arrives back - I never got that before. They were also trying to get into his car while he is in the restaurant, but that sequence was cut short by producer Ponti. 

There were two video-cassettes of BLOW-UP, then the dvd - I always loved the soundtrack album, on vinyl and cd, and now finally the bluray - its Region 1 though, 

A movie moment ...

I love that whole montage of Astaire shooting the fashion shots of Audrey in Paris in FUNNY FACE, but particularly this: she walks down the steps of the Louvre under that statue (The Winged Victory of Samothrace) and says "shoot the picture, shoot the picture" as he tries to get the shot ... cinema captured in a moment. 

FUNNY FACE is not only the essence of 1957 it still looks marvellous now. 

The adventures of Gerard - 1970

This was one of those throwaway movies we enjoyed at the time - like De Broca's THAT MAN FROM RIO, dubbed and released as a supporting feature in 1964 and became a cult favourite over time. GERARD is maybe quite not in the same league, but is an amusing diversion to see now, a swashbuckling period piece about Napoleonic times it is at times brilliant in its comedic delivery, from quirky Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, from stories by Conan Doyle, fleshed out by Peter McEnery as Gerard, Claudia Cardinale, Eli Wallach as a rather camp Napoleon, Jack Hawkins, Mark Burns and more. It is brash, colorful (all those red costumes), looks good in widescreen, Claudia dances up a storm (but I think only Visconti and Zurlini have really showcased her properly).

Other notable Hussars include David Hemmings as Captain Nolan in the 1968 CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, and Malcolm McDowell in Lester's ROYAL FLASH in '75. GERARD in fact play like a Lester film, full of amusing moments and asides to the camera. We like of course Skolimowski's other films like DEEP END and KING QUEEN KNAVE, as per previous posts on them, (Jane Asher label). 
GERARD reminds me of another madcap comedy from that 1969-1970 era, which I will have seek out again: START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME, Bud Yorkin's delirious costume comedy set in the French Revolution, with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland as twins, Hugh Griffith as Louis XIV and Billie Whitelaw as Marie Antoinette! Another fond memory ...

McEnery is ideal here. He seems to have stopped working in 2008 (according to IMDB) Born in 1940, he had a small part in the 1960 TUNES OF GLORY and was then Boy Barrett setting the plot of VICTIM in motion in 1961. He did two Walt Disneys: giving Hayley Mills her first screen kiss in  the very entertaining THE MOONSPINNERS (where he also tussled with Eli Wallach's panto villain, in 1964) and that FIGHTING PRINCE OF DONEGAL in 1966, long unseen now. Jane Fonda gets him in Vadim's oddball LA CUREE (THE GAME IS OVER) in 1966, and he is with Glenda and Diane Cilento in NEGATIVES, one I did not see, in 1967. Then he was the very entertaining MR SLOANE in the 1970 film of Orton's hit play. 

A lot of television followed, and I saw him on the stage three times: he was the first HAMLET I saw in Leicester, in maybe 1969, followed by SHADOW OF A GUNMAN by O'Casey at the Old Vic in the early 70s, and a rather good LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in 1989, with Dorothy Tutin, Susan Hampshire and Lila Kedrova. 

Like John Stride and those other British actors of his era, one would like to see more of him, 

If its Tuesday this must be Belgium - 1969

A friend who works in travel wanted to re-see this, so I got a copy for him - its passably amusing, dealing with a coach tour of Europe in the Sixties, taking in nine countries in eighteen days. The usual predictable comedy situations take place, ticking off each nation's stereotypes. The American tourists are mainly schlubs married to nagging wives, or rampant lechers .... at least Mildred Natwick, Murray Hamilton, Norman Fell try to create characters, while the leads are tour guide Ian McShane who of course has a girl in every country, and Suzanne Pleshette, looking and sounding marvellous here, as the romantic interest on the trip. The movie is Suzanne's all the way. 

Directed by Mel Stewart, the only point of interest here is the endless walk-ons by assorted European stars who turn up for a minute or less each. There's Anita Ekberg, Elsa Martinelli, Virna Lisi, Senta Berger, Catherine Spaak, Joan Collins (whom I did not even spot so tiny is her appearance), at least Vittorio De Sica gets a few minutes as a wily shoemaker. and Donovan sings the drippy theme song, and Patricia Routledge is the bossy London guide. 

There is one shot at the start of Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes playing cards - why? it is like they are in a different film, Its hippies and mini skirts all the way, made palatable for the great family audience, 

It catches that late Sixties look and would actually be a good double bill with BUONA SERA, MRS CAMPBELL, that other late 60s look at American tourists in Europe ..... but its hardly essential cinema.

For a dull bank holiday .....

While we wait for FEUD here in the UK .... (thanks to Dan-O-Rama).

The Pass

An odd little drama that barely got a look in last year. My movie buff pal Martin hated it with a vengance .... 

Nineteen-year-old Jason (Russell Tovey) and Ade (Arinze Kene) have been in the Academy of a famous London football club since they were eight years old. It's the night before their first-ever game for the first team - a Champions League match - and they're in a hotel room in Romania. They should be sleeping, but they're over-excited. They skip, fight, mock each other, prepare their kit, watch a teammate's sex tape. And then, out of nowhere, one of them kisses the other. The impact of this 'pass' reverberates through the next ten years of their lives - a decade of fame and failure, secrets and lies, in a sporting world where image is everything.

It began as a play a few years ago, with Russell Tovey who must have had faith in the project as he leads the cast here (and shows off his buff bod), and it does raise important point on the closeted lives some professional sportspeople (not just footballers) must lead, at what cost to themselves, as they marry and create sex-tapes to avoid the rumours, then there are those eager hotel bellboys .... It gets rather tedious as one waits for something to happen, and its not very enjoyable - Tovey's character is totally repellant. Directed by Ben A Williams and script by John Donnelly. 

He is still Warren Beatty ...

Fascinating to see Warren Beatty a day or two ago on Graham Norton's sofa on Norton's UK chatshow here. After the debacle of that Best Picture wrong envelope at the Oscars, Warren was witty, amusing and erudite here. After 15 years or so since his last film and not a regular on the celebrity circuit, it was good to see him up close and well in his 80th year .... perhaps having Annette Bening at home and four children helps keep him young. Just saying ... Warren played along gamely with Norton  - well he did have a film to promote -  denying all those rumours about him and his legendary lifestyle ...

What a fascinating career its been, with just a few duds, the new film is RULES DON'T APPLY, in which he plays Howard Hughes - perfect casting! - and he also directs and co-wrote the screenplay. Great cast in it too, including Bening, Candice Bergen, Steve Coogan, Alec Baldwin, Hart Bochner and another new favourite Alden Ehrenreich (from HAIL CAESAR!). This may be one to match Scorsese's THE AVIATOR ?

Beatty was a star from the start, at the dawn of the 1960s, having impressed the likes of Tennessee Williams, William Inge and Kazan, in the bland era of Troy Donahue and the others, he stood out for his spectacular looks and quirky movie choices - it must be the longest star career of his generation. We like those early ones like THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS STONE, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, and our particular favourite then, Frankenheimer's ALL FALL DOWN (left). Followed by Rossen's interesting misfire LILITH in 1964, and Penn's oddball MICKEY ONE in 1965, Then came two forgettable comedies: PROMISE HER ANYTHING with Leslie Caron and KALEIDOSCOPE with Susannah York in Swinging London, 1966, followed by the game-changer BONNIE AND CLYDE in 1967, to be followed in 1969 by another dud, George Stevens' last film THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, perhaps he did it to work with Stevens and co-star Elizabeth Taylor - they both looked good, but she was really too old and chubby then to be a Las Vegas showgirl. 

The Seventies saw those classics like Altman's McCABE & MRS MILLER with Julie Christie, and Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW in 1974 - both still very powerful; and two more with Christie SHAMPOO in 1975 and HEAVEN CAN WAIT in 1978. REDS was another powerful one in 1981, gathering those Awards. Less successful - we did not want to see them - were ISHTAR and BUGSY. THE FORTUNE wasn't all that, LOVE AFFAIR seemed a vanity project, DICK TRACY amused for a while, and we did not want to see the later BULWORTH or TOWN & COUNTRY. It will be interesting to see how RULES DON'T APPLY fares. Not too many other actor-directors his age out there .... Only Beatty and Orson Welles (for CITIZEN KANE) have been nominated by the Academy as an actor, director, writer, and producer for the same film, and Beatty has done it twice,  Beatty reviews at label.

The Viking Queen, 1967

Here's a doozy from that groovy year 1967 - a Hammer Film with an imported American star - just like their 1966 THE WITCHES with Joan Fontaine in her last film. This one has Don Murray, a decade or so after his BUS STOP breakout role, he hardly stands out here in this farcical setting. First of all there are no Vikings here - it is set in Roman Britain - the vikings came much later. 

To honour her father's dying wish, Queen Salina shares the rule of Icena with Justinian, a fair and just Roman. This displeases the bloodthirsty Druids on one side and the more hard-line Romans on the other. As Salina and Justinian fall in love their enemies start to plot, and blood soon stains the green hills of Britain.

Carita - an international model apparently - has her sole movie role as the queen of the title, but the fun in this cheapo peplum is the British supporting cast, and those County Wicklow, Ireland locations. 

Adrienne Corri and Nicola Pagett are her contrasting sisters, annoyed that her father (Wilfrid Lawson) named her as his heir. Donald Houston overacts wildly as the druid leader, and my favourite DR WHO - Patrick Troughton - is on hand, as are Niall McGuinness (a long way from HELEN OF TROY), and Sean Caffrey (from another favourite, I WAS HAPPY HERE in 1966). 

It is standard fare - there was a rumour one of the extras in the few crowd scenes is wearing a watch - hilariously awful now, no where near the standard of Hammer classics like BRIDES OF DRACULA or SHE. Murray was selective about his film projects so why on earth did he choose this? Perhaps offers were less by the time this went into production; proof of my idea that most actors if lucky get ten good years .... This one will pass a rainy afternoon nicely. We didn't bother with rubbish like this in 1967 when hip groovy folk were going to BLOW UP and BONNIE & CLYDE etc 

Where are they now? Missing 1960s movies .....

THE FIGHTING PRINCE OF DONEGAL - I saw this when a teenager back in 1966, maybe as a supporting feature. One of those Walt Disney adventures, made in England, like his Fifties films on ROB ROY and THE TUDOR ROSE, and the early 60s ones like GREYFRIARS BOBBY, THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA, IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS and THE MOONSPINNERS. 

This one has Peter McEnery as Hugh O'Donnell, an Irish rebel fighting the English back then (that might have been a hot potato durng the "Troubles" years of the 1970s, hence it not being in circulation then) - and Susan Hampshire, plus a host of Irish players, including Marie Kean. It would be fun to see again at this remove, but does not seem available at all now.

OH DAD, POOR DAD, MAMA'S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET, AND I'M FEELING SO SAD .... was an oddball Sixties play, we never got a chance to see the movie, perhaps one of Roz Russell's over the top roles - we may never know now. 

Another McEnery title I saw at the time has finally resurfaced: Jerzy Skolimowski's 1970 caper THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD, with Claudia Cardinale plus Jack Hawkins and Eli Wallach, it was a fun romp, as I recall, so more on that when the dvd arrives ...

Brian sings Joni

One of our favourite singers Brian Kennedy sings Joni Mitchell songs on a recent CD (which I had to acquire on eBay from Australia) A LOVE LETTER TO JONI. 

Great to hear a (gay) man singing "Night Ride Home", "A Strange Boy", "Michael From Mountains", "Free Man in Paris", "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio", "Amelia", "River", "A Case Of You" etc.

Other Joni songs that would work well in this context would include "Be Cool", "Man to Man", "Night in the City", "Chelsea Morning", "Car On A Hill", "Talk To Me", "Barangrill" etc. 

Good to hear Brian is well again after cancer treatment, and it was enjoyable hearing him on Michael Ball's radio show last week. He has a new 2 CD compilation out too. His "On Song" CDs are good too on current and old Irish songs I know well, he has of course also toured extensively with Van Morrison. His Joni tribute disk is as good as Ian Shaw's Joni disk DRAWN TO ALL THINGS, or Herbie Hancock's THE JONI LETTERS, or George Michael's great version of "Edith and the Kingpin".  

Two other CDs I had to get recently (not being on Spotify, Martin!) are a brilliant new recording of Tchaikovsky's PATHETIQUE by Seymon Bychkov, and, on its way to me, Daniel Hope's FOR SEASONS, a new take on Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and with songs for each month - Weill's "September Song" for instance. Can't wait to hear it. 

Male Hunt, 1964

Here's a rarity indeed - I had not even heard of it until pal Jerry found it - AND it features a lot of those European favourites early in their careers back at the dawn of the 1960s. LA CHASSE A L'HOMME (MALE HUNT) features Belmondo, Brialy, Claude Rich, Catherine Denueve and her sister Francoise Dorleac (their only other teaming apart from LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT in 1967), as well as marvellous Marie Laforet, plus Bernadette Lafont and Micheline Presle, Michel Serrault.

Shot mainly in Paris, it includes locations at Rhodes and the ruins at Lindos - a favourite place of mine. It comes across now as an unpretentious comedy, directed by Edouard Molinaro, with a lot of attractive young players, no doubt made for the home market - which is probably why we never heard of it in London then. Belmondo has a nice bit as his usual young rascal. 

This captivating comedy has a number of amusing twists and turns. It stars Jean-Claude Brialy who is determined to get married despite efforts of some people to dissuade him including Claude Rich and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Catherine Denueve, Marie Laforet and Francoise Dorleac are some of the girls. Dorleac is extremely good here, she has never been better, and Laforet is as eye-catching as she was in PLEIN SOLEIL. 

Molinaro (who later directed LA CAGE AUX FOLLES) had a very good eye for comedy. IMDB lists it as a 1964 film but it looks earlier to me - most of the cast were firmly established by then.

Some more interesting careers ?

Another selection of thumbnail career portraits, in the style of one of our Sixties favourite magazines "Who's Who in Hollywood". 

Don Murray. In his late 80s now (born 1929), Murray started out in 1950, and got his big break co-starring with Marilyn Monroe in Logan’s BUS STOP in 1956 – he may have been fine, but it’s the character of the cowboy who is so annoying. He met his first wife Hope Lange here. He followed this with two I have not seen: BACHELOR PARTY and A HATFUL OF RAIN, and then two westerns which I liked as a kid: the engaging FROM HELL TO TEXAS in ’58, and the more sprawling THESE THOUSAND HILLS in 1959, with young Lee Remick, and that other 20^th Century Fox boy, Stuart Whitman. 
Gritty realism followed with THE HOODLUM PRIEST and the very Irish saga SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL in 1959. Maybe his last interesting role was as senator Brig Anderson in Otto’s ADVISE AND CONSENT in 1962, who commits suicide when his wartime gay affair is about to be exposed – and we get that first look at a gay bar in American film, as Brig reels back in horror, leaving his wartime buddy lying in the gutter. (review at Murray label).

He was back with Lee Remick in BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL in 1965, but now Steve McQueen was the lead, and it was the era of the new boys like Beatty and Redford. He did a rubbish British film in 1967: THE VIKING QUEEN – we avoided it at the time, but I have now ordered a copy as it seems delirious fun, a certified Trash Classic. Murray continued in a long career, in lesser films and lots of television (like KNOTS LANDING), but like many others had a good late Fifties era.

Richard Beymer, now in his late Seventies (born 1938) was a child actor – he was Jennifer Jones’ son in De Sica’s INDISCRETION OF AN AMERICAN WIFE in 1954, and then after a lot of television, came his run of 20^th Century Fox movies in the late Fifties and early Sixties: George Stevens’ THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK in 1959, WEST SIDE STORY, Fox comedies HIGH TIME and BACHELOR FLAT (which we liked at the time), THE STRIPPER with Joanne Woodward and Carol Lynley in 1963 (review at Woodward label) and the lead in HEMINGWAY’S ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN in 1962, as per recent review, below), plus FIVE FINGER EXERCISE and THE LONGEST DAY in 1962. Perhaps Beymer wasn’t distinctive enough, and Fox already had the likes of Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter under contract …. He continued keeping busy, returning to the limelight in David Lynch’s TWIN PEAKS in 1990, and it was interesting seeing him ageing well in items like MURDER SHE WROTE.

Dean Stockwell. Another child actor, born 1936, has clocked up over 200 credits according to IMDB. He was in ANCHORS AWEIGH with Gene Kelly in 1945, Losey’s THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR in 1948, KIM with Errol Flynn, then came those “sensitive” roles in COMPULSION in 1959, SONS AND LOVERS in 1960, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in 1962, RAPTURE in 1965, as well as TV roles in the likes of WAGON TRAIN, DR KILDARE. Later films include that terrific thriller AIR FORCE ONE, PARIS TEXAS, DUNE, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., BLUE VELVET, THE PLAYER and more.

Brandon De Wilde (1942-1972). Another child actor, but less fortunate, in that he was killed in a traffic accident when aged 30, after being a child actor on Broadway when aged 9 in THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, which role he repeated in the 1953 film.. We have already covered his career in detail, at label, and those films we like, such as ALL FALL DOWN and HUD, and those westerns like SHANE and NIGHT PASSAGE where he has some nice scenes with James Stewart.

Pamela Tiffin. Pamela, born 1942, was the delightfully daffy and attractive alternative to those blondes like Sandra Dee or Carol Lynley, and had some good years in the early Sixties. She started as a model and came to attention in SUMMER AND SMOKE in 1961, when we loved her in Billy Wilder’s ONE TWO THREE. Some zany comedy roles followed in COME FLY WITH ME, THE PLEASURE SEEKERS, STATE FAIR, THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL and HARPER in 1966. She the decamped to European comedies in Italy, co-starring with the likes of Marcello Mastroianni, before giving up acting to concentrate on family life.

Carol Lynley. Another young model, also born 1942, had a longer career, starting with Walt Disney in THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST in 1958, and then at Fox in that favourite, HOUND DOG MAN with Fabian and Stuart Whitman, THE STRIPPER, HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS, BLUE DENIM with Brandon De Wilde, RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE, THE LAST SUNSET. I did not want to see UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE where she co-stars with Jack Lemmon, and she was also in Otto’s THE CARDINAL in 1963, and the lead in his BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING in 1965, with Olivier (right) and Keir Dullea (also featured here, see label). She was later in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE in 1972 in hotpants, and was a long time companion of David Frost’s. She kept busy in lesser films (THE SHUTTERED ROOM wasn’t too bad), but then there was that 1965 cheapo version of HARLOW … reviews of some of these at Lynley label.

Vera Miles. Now in her late 80s and retired for years, Vera Miles is probably the biggest name featured here – it was a long if fairly ordinary career but her two each for John Ford and Hitchcock will ensure she is long remembered, as THE SEARCHERS, THE WRONG MAN, PSYCHO and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALLANCE will always be screened somewhere. She began in 1950 and early roles included some routine westerns, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS television shows (he had her under personal contract – like he had Tippi Hedren – and was building VERTIGO for Miles, but she had got pregnant by husband Gordon Scott – she had done one of his TARZAN pictures. She wears that unflattering wig in PSYCHO as she had done a downbeat war movie FIVE BRANDED WOMEN for Martin Ritt in Italy and had her head shaved for it. She is glamorous though in A TOUCH OF LARCENCY in 1960, and suitably nasty in AUTUMN LEAVES with Crawford in 1956, and BACK STREET in ‘61. Other leads included 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET, HELLFIGHTERS with Wayne in 1968, and lots more television.  

Next lot to include Tuesday Weld, Carolyn Jones, Paula Prentiss, Barry Coe, Farley Granger, Earl Holliman,  and some Europeans and British ....

Jane

In the pantheon of 1960s British actresses (led by Julie Christie, Susannah York, Sarah Miles, Rita Tushingham etc), Jane Asher was the posh one, with that standout long red hair. A child actress, she was Susannah York’s young sister in THE GREENGAGE SUMMER in 1961, and we liked her in Roger Corman’s 1964 THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH –she was interesting on radio recently saying she enjoyed working on it and with Vincent Price. 

She was also one of ALFIE’s girls in 1966, and went on to a lot of interesting items like Skolimowski’s DEEP END in 1970 – now on Bluray with lots of extra interviews, where she is the perfect 1960s dolly bird with those white boots and yellow PVC mac setting off the hair. She also did a lot of television and stage (I saw her with Laurence Harvey in Shakespeare’s THE WINTER’S TALE in 1967), and she is currently part of the hit musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS ensemble., 
and I am watching a boxset of the 1980s war drama WISH ME LUCK, which we enjoyed at the time, where she is ideal as Faith Ashley, organiser of the secret agents operating in France during World War II. She was also in BRIDESHEAD REVISTED among others, and er, the short-lived rebooted CROSSROADS.

She was of course famous in the 1960s as also being Paul McCartney’s girlfriend – he lived for a time with her parents at their Wimpole Street address. Her brother Peter was part of  Peter & Gordon and later record producer for the likes of James Taylor. She has though never capitalised on her Beatles connections, and was also later famous for her cakes and baking, Perhaps she should take over THE GREAT BRITSH BAKE-OFF ? She is married to cartoonist Gerard Scarfe and it is always a pleasure to see her. She even tackled Lady Bracknell a few years ago. We should have seen that. 

More on Jane and DEEP END at label ...