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PARSLEY’S COMMLOCK
TV
News: Stephanie Beacham on Celebrity Big Brother
I
confess I was interested to see who was on Celebrity Big Brother, as
my mother watches it avidly, and it’s being filmed half a mile from
me. Imagine my shock when heartthrob Stephanie Beacham was one of the
celebs. Just this Christmas I bought my Mum the DVD complete box set
of Japanese female prisoner-of-war drama Tenko featuring Ms Beacham.
She was a star to me from an early age as she was one of the girls to
have had an on-screen affair with Michael Billington a.k.a. Colonel
Paul Foster in ‘UFO’, my fave TV programme ever, in 1970. If you’ve
never seen her, she could have been a classmate of Joanna Lumley with
her sexy posh voice and demure style. She also starred in a memorable
episode of downbeat TV investigator show ‘Public Eye’ with Alfred
Burke as Frank Marker. In that episode she plays a young girl who
tries to kill herself after she falls in love with an older woman.
It’s a fascinating insight into morality at the end of the sixties. I
wonder if celebrity big brother will provide a similar insight into
morality some forty years later.
The shame for me in seeing her name reported is that only her appearance in Dynasty spin-off The Colbys, seemed to be an appearance worth mentioning. I confess this was a pretty poor show for a woman with such an ample and impressive TV CV. I hope she does well.
Film
Review: Diary of a Chambermaid (Buñuel)
Checked
out this first entry in the Luis Buñuel box set. Not being
familiar with him, I was just taken by the story telling, and the
powerful strange images. However, they were hardly as surreal as
someone getting their eye shaved off, as per his earliest work.
Instead they were more eccentric/Viv Stanshall, and rather sex
obsessed, as Jeanne Moreau arrives as a domestic in a country house
in France in the thirties and finds herself tending to a foot-fetish
Dad, an obsessive daughter, and her sex-crazy husband. The weirdness
‘upstairs’ is matched downstairs by a gamekeeper that thinks that
watching Geese struggling when he slits their throats is enjoyable,
and his chum with whom he is writing pro-fascist pamphlets.
The film is a screen adaptation of a book by Mirbeau that was set some 30 years earlier, and had been banned in Buñuel’s native Spain. This was all explained in rather fanatical, and slightly pretentious obsessive detail via a bonus documentary film on the DVD. That was worth watching to get a flavour of what will apparently become the ‘themes’ of Buñuel’s work collected in this 8 DVD box set. Without it I would have thought that this was just a portrayal of one strange household. With it I learned that the aim was to critique the bourgeoisie.
Having re-watched Lindsay Anderson’s ‘If’ and ‘O Lucky Man’ recently, I was struck by the similarity of those films and this film in having a twinkling of sexual titillation in their story telling. It’s not enough that the father calls his domestic servant Marie, whatever her name is, and makes her read to him when she brings his evening herbal tea. He has to be a foot fetishist too. Every significant man in the film has to have a sexual interest in the chambermaid. The negative influence of sex gets worse with the documentary maker’s view that the occurrence of rape in the film is apparently emblematic of the barbarism returning to so-called ‘civilised’ society.
I don’t think I’m giving away too much to say that the ending is rather abrupt and slightly frustrating for anyone in search of a clear morality tale. In that regard I would have to say it is typical of French films I have seen, although no less worth watching because of it.
Overall rating: thumbs up. Not a blockbuster, or an emotional suspense film in a Hollywood way, but rather a thoughtful film that ensnares you with feelings as it unfolds, and leaves you feeling quietly unsettled and confused in a clever way.
Retail
tip#1: Lidl’s own not-from-concentrate orange juice
Tried
a ‘blind’ taste test with Tropicana Orange Juice (£1.66) and
Lidl’s own ‘Vitafit’ brand equivalent (79p). They are extremely close
in taste, with the Lidl variety actually tasting slightly richer.
I’ve long been a fan of Tropicana - bits or no bits - but I can no
longer see a good reason for paying around twice as much, even if
slightly softened by occasional 2 for £3 deals. The main
difference you’ll notice is the price.
Retail
tip#2: Film&TV Memorabilia shop, Shenley Road, Borehamwood
This
shop already had the cheapest prices for memorabilia (£19.99
for talking UFO Gabrielle Drake doll - £35 elsewhere, £29.99
for a VIP Eagle space craft - £36 cheapest online) but they’ve
got a 20% off marked price sale on. If you’re into your TV stuff, buy
it now!
Show
Review : Lady Luck and Chaz Royal New Year’s Eve Ball
Ended
2009 in Shepherds Bush at the rather wonderful, but unfortunately it
knows it is, Bush Hall. It’s a very impressive large hall with large
chandeliers in its high ceiling and dripping with character. Lady
Luck’s array of burlesque dancers were well placed to take advantage
of the style, which they did with great aplomb. I confess to
remaining staggered that entertainments that would previously have
been considered naughty are now transformed into retro chic through
such events. Last time I was at Lady Luck it was on the other side of
London, and tonight’s clientèle seemed a bit less into its
authentic style, but they gave it their all nonetheless.
parsley.L at virgin.net [http://freespace.virgin.net/alpha.moonbase/garden.records/]
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