john audley

Well, if we are stuck with Damian we had better stick with Brown

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

penfold

Would that have been the legendary (And later Lord) George Brown, whose fondness for a tipple at the wrong time, well, actually, any time, led to a harassed civil servant inventing the phrase 'Tired and emotional' ??

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

john audley

No doubt old boy - anyone for a tipple

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

stevie boy

Steve,see watched last night. One thing Mr. Bean is no Roger Livesey

suzepulcheria

David Niven films are heaven. I once met him- well sort of- I stood behind him in the queue in Fortnum & Mason. He was with his (adopted) teenage daughter (which dates it). It was at the time of the cornflake shortage- remember those days when sugar and loorolls and cornflakes just disappeared from th shelves and there was a run on them? He had obviously taken his daughter to F&M to show her how a film star could achieve the impossible. He schmoozed the elderly lady assistant, saying "It's the darnedest thing, but I don't seem able to find any cornflakes". She fluttered "Oh Mr Niven, there aren't any etc etc etc" but a strangely cornflakes-shaped box (closely wrapped) was produced from a back room! Sad to read the recent biography which shows him (in my judgment) not to have been a nice man.

Steve Crook

Which biography is that? Sheridan Morley's "The Other Side of the Moon" treats him quite gently, and fairly I think. It points out that a lot of the stories he told about himself actually happened to other people. But as he's not usually the hero of those stories, more often the fall-guy, that's OK. It also pointed out that the greatest role he ever played was that of the actor/raconteur/writer called "David Niven"

Steve

suzepulcheria

It was "Niv, the authorised biography" by Graham Lord (2003). It is quite adulatory but I found the justifications repellent, and I have always adored him. What charm!

Steve Crook

Stick to Sheridan Morley's "The Other Side of the Moon"

Steve

suzepulcheria

OK I will try it (Sheridan Morley), thanks for the tip. But the problem is that I now know what a satyr David Niven was and how poorly (in my view, not Graham Lord's, who puts all the blame on her) he treated his wife Hjordis and his poor old friend Trubshaw.
Suze

Steve Crook

Sheridan doesn't hold back about Niven's philandering. But he doesn't condemn it either.

Steve

suzepulcheria

Thanks, Steve. I don't look for condemnation (although I consider the word 'philandering' a bit mild for DN's excesses- sorry to sound po-faced) but Lord's slamming of Hjordis was so one-sided that I got very cross. Being a woman I could completely see why she excluded DN from her bedroom and took to the bottle!!! I have hidden the book from my 16 year old daughter as I think she would be very disappointed in her hero.
Suze

Steve Crook

Well the Lord book was written with the authorisation and assistance of the children. Maybe they didn't like Hjordis and that slanted the book

Steve

suzepulcheria

Yup. I prefer to remember him as per my Fortnum and Mason encounter!

batman

It's Mrs Bat's birthday today and she wants to watch the Foyle's War that we recorded last week .... however, if she passes out after drinking too much of the single malt The Boy Wonder gave her, it may be the remake of Halloween.

Bats.

Having pain is the worst thing in the whole world!

Lord Brett

Actually, it's not a bad Foyle's War. The show had gotten quite dull previously, so let's hope this final season is back on track.