Quote:
(Jack Gurney @ Dec 26 2005, 03:58 PM)
Ah, but have any of you heard his album LYRICS FOR LOVERS from 1960? Quite a rare gem on vinyl, thankfully now easily available on CD. It's only 25 minutes long or so, but to hear his 'Sprechgesang' treatments of 'You Go To My Head' 'The Very Thought Of You' et al (predating Telly Savalas by about 15 years) is an illuminating experience. Nowhere near as out there as Peter Wyngarde or David Hemmings' albums of course, or as masterly as Richard Harris' interpretations of the songs of Jimmy Webb, but interesting nonetheless.
I also cite VICTIM as my favourite Bogarde moment, although ACCIDENT and THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE, ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT and THE NIGHT PORTER come pretty close. The last-named was the one that probably lost him the housewife vote: many women, including my Mum, idolised him, but were not necessarily prepared to watch 'that kind of movie', especially if it was 'in foreign'. Ultimately, like the aforementioned and similarly debonair Mr Wyngarde, he 'wasn't the marrying kind'. Must have broken a few hearts when they found out. Having worked at the Beeb, my Mum knew before most people did, but she would still sigh every time he appeared on the screen. A bit like the disappointment men of my generation felt over Samantha Fox...
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Sorry to pick this up late, Jack Gurney, but I am interested to know what you mean by "out there" in relation to an album by David Hemmings (not up with the modern lingo I'm afraid). Hemmings, of course, recorded the part of Miles in Britten's "The Turn of the Screw" with the composer conducting; I had no idea that he still sang professionally in later life.
As for Bogarde not being "the marrying kind" this was an open secret for as long as I can remember. Of course, Bogarde's private life was entirely his own affair but I was surprised to hear him say in an interview given in the latter part of his life that none of the actors who appeared in "Victim" were homosexual..."Oh, except Dennis Price, who didn't mind." A rather disingenuous comment I felt.
10-01-2006, 09:29 AM
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