Screen legend and 'Easy Virtue'

There is a joke in Easy Virtue that may alarm animal lovers and not knowing if it is in the Coward play, I will tell the story actress Elizabeth Spriggs told me about Ralph Richardson and the same unfortunate 'dog event'.

I met Lizzie working on Bruce Beresford's 'Paradise Road' where, from the start she seemed to be a character straight out of Dickens. Large and jocular, she was a fountain of theatrical stories from her years on the English stage - principally the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She told me that as a young man Richardson had a friend with a large country house. He was asked to stay and arrived in time for a long and intoxicating dinner. Afterwards he was shown up to a beautiful bedroom with long heavy curtains but woke later that night confused about his surroundings. Disorientated for the moment, he had patted around his bedside table to find the lamp and knocked something over. He got out of bed and headed for the curtains which he wrenched open with both hands. A little wintry shaft of moonlight came in and satisfied, he stumbled back to bed.

When he failed to turn up for breakfast the next morning - his hosts went up to find him. The bedroom was a riotous mess. Richardson had knocked over an ink pot which stood by a writing pad, wiped his hands on the bedclothes, opened the curtains with ink stained hands and dripped more ink over the carpet as he went. Waking early in the morning, he had slipped quietly out of the house - too mortified to face anyone.

And now the sequel : Decades later, after he had been knighted, Sir Ralph was was filming near his old friend's house, when a note arrived asking him to dinner again. Feeling all had been forgiven he turned up and was shown in to the front hall where he stood while his host was called. Noticing a narrow bench by the wall, he sat down wearily. When his friend arrived to greet him, once again...no Richardson. But the small family terrier was lying on the hall bench dead as a doornail - with his back broken. Sir Ralph never returned.

Elizabeth Spriggs was an animal lover of the highest order but even she told this story with some enjoyment.


To see Elizabeth Spriggs photo gallery, click on:

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&lr=&ei=WRTLSYCkLIzo6QPeqa2wBw&resnum=1&q=elizabeth+spriggs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=bBXLSdeIPIuYkQW98qjsCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Not so Easy Virtue

It was interesting to see Stephan Elliott's production of Noel Coward's play 'Easy Virtue' but it reminded me of the Irish saying 'That's the Why of it.' I wasn't sure what it was about. In a short sequence near the end it became clear but this was so out of context with the rest of the film, it felt like an interruption. Noel Coward is good at sugaring some pretty bitter pills and I would have preferred more darkness underlying this beautiful frothy movie. Jessica Biel is a revelation in it and she carried the film for me.



Alfred Hitchcock directed a silent film of this play in 1928 - when memories of the War to End All Wars were still sharp and biting. It would be interesting to see it now and possibly find out where the 'Why of It' truly is.

Mao's Last Dancer, part of the Australian Film "Feast"

Todays SMH article by Garry Maddox is a great summary of all the Australian films coming out during the next 12 months.

I really enjoyed working with Bruce Beresford again on Mao's Last Dancer and was wrapped that Scott Hicks also made it to the "notable directors" list. We had a great time when I worked with him on "Down The Wind" when we were both starting out in 1975.

"Three notable directors are returning with highly touted Australian films (or co-productions) - Jane Campion with Bright Star, about the romance between the poet John Keats and his mistress Fanny Brawne, Bruce Beresford with Mao's Last Dancer, based on the bestselling memoir by the Chinese dancer Li Cunxin, and Scott Hicks with The Boys Are Back In Town, a drama with Clive Owen as a single father."

Reference:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/homegrown-cinema-forges-ahead/2009/03/20/1237526328001.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap3

More Chandon Reviews!

Champagne comedy
Author: Ruth RitchieDate: 28/02/2009Words: 669Source: SMH

Publication: Sydney Morning HeraldSection: SpectrumPage: 10

The best local drama on TV is a satire in disguise.

Chandon Pictures ABC, Wednesday, 9pm
The Cut ABC, Monday, 9.35pm

...

Digging a little deeper, the excellent Chandon Pictures is a comedy disguised as a drama full of wry smiles. Tom Chandon's (Rob Carlton) delusions of grandeur are funny and tragic.

He is never going to make a good documentary but don't tell him that. As this series has developed, the arc of Chandon's dismal failure has become obvious and complete. Of course he is going to sleep with a much older woman with a dead dog so that she'll invest in his film.

The pathos and humour work in equal measures because Penne Hackforth-Jones is wonderful and the script is believable. All the guest roles are plums. Jessica Napier was never better. Rob Carlton is a real talent and this ensemble deserves more air time for delivering something very fresh. The ABC needs to just keep repeating this until a critical mass has seen it.

TV programs, Pages 50-51.

Chandon Reviews!!

The Age Newspaper

Chandon PicturesABC1, 9.05pm
WITH the motto "We film anything", it is clear from the outset that Chandon Pictures is the kind of outfit not overly represented at the AFI awards.

A struggling production company run by inept aspiring filmmaker Tom Chandon (Rob Carlton), Chandon Pictures is this week hired by dog tragic Helen (a wonderfully overwrought Penne Hackforth-Jones) to make a film tribute to her canine best friend Champion Charles.

Born out of a Tropfest short film by series creator and star Carlton, this 2007 series has all the tics of modern spoof documentary-making, including the deadpan delivery and its blessed freedom from laugh-track hell. It's easy to see where the narrative is heading but the ride has moments of comedy bronze nonetheless.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/tv--radio/tv-reviews/tv-highlights-wednesday-11th/2009/02/05/1233423321444.html