The Boy Friend (1971) at NFT with Babs and Ken in person....

[julian_craster]

The Boy Friend (UK 1971)
The Boy Friend | BFI



NFT 1 London
Restored print
The screening on Friday 9 December at 8.00PM will be introduced by Ken Russell and Barbara Windsor.

Sandy Wilson, creator of 1954's smash-hit salute to innocent Twenties musicals The Boy Friend, was scandalized by Ken Russell's iconoclastic vision that put the 'vamp' into 'revamp'. Watching a clapped-out stage production, Hollywood producer Mr. De Thrill reimagines it as a Busby Berkeley spectacular. Twiggy is disarmingly charming and the supporting cast is wonderfully bizarre. Russell's jaw-droppingly over-the-top dream sequences prove that nothing succeeds like excess.

Director Ken Russell
Cast Twiggy, Christopher Gable
Country UK
Year 1971
Running time 135min
Certificate U

[didi-5]

Oh good :) I saw this was showing as part of the MGM Musicals season but restored and with an introduction is even better.

[julian_craster]

Restored........?
I am assuming that this is the same W/S print used for the US DVDR release, which is of good quality and not cut....

[didi-5]

Restored........?
I am assuming that this is the same W/S print used for the US DVDR release, which is of good quality and not cut....

Well it says 'restored' in your first post and in the information on the BFI website so we'll have to see.

[julian_craster]

Here is a taster of what to expect ......difficult to imagine that this film is now 40 years old .....

[Steve Crook]

Well it says 'restored' in your first post and in the information on the BFI website so we'll have to see.

A lot of people (distributors and publicists) now use the term "restored" when they really just mean another print struck off of the same tired old negatives (or interneg). There is very little actual restoration done on a lot of things that are advertised as being "restored"

Steve

[dremble wedge]

Restored or not it's still a fab film.

[Steve Crook]

Restored or not it's still a fab film.

But restored it might be even fabber

Steve

[julian_craster]

A nice article on the film...:
DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE BOY FRIEND 1971

Two hours of wonderful entertainment !

So sad that Ken will no longer be there

[didi-5]

Nice article. Looking forward to this despite it now being just Barbara introducing. Ken was also meant to be at a RFH screening of his Song of Summer in January but I'm sure he will at both events in spirit.

[julian_craster]

Nice article. Looking forward to this despite it now being just Barbara introducing. Ken was also meant to be at a RFH screening of his Song of Summer in January but I'm sure he will at both events in spirit.


Do let to have a report of the screening and who is there...Perhaps Murray Melvin will also pay tribute.....

Barbara's solo number has been restored for the full length version on the DVD (same as at the NFT), so she features more prominently.....

When the cast (a wonderful ensemble, and many sadly no longer with us) take their 'bows' at the end wouldn't it be wonderful if the NFT audience applauded as if they were in the theatre ?

[didi-5]

Nice article. Looking forward to this despite it now being just Barbara introducing. Ken was also meant to be at a RFH screening of his Song of Summer in January but I'm sure he will at both events in spirit.


Do let to have a report of the screening and who is there...Perhaps Murray Melvin will also pay tribute.....

Barbara's solo number has been restored for the full length version on the DVD (same as at the NFT), so she features more prominently.....

When the cast (a wonderful ensemble, and many sadly no longer with us) take their 'bows' at the end wouldn't it be wonderful if the NFT audience applauded as if they were in the theatre ?

What a lovely idea! And as you say, not that many of the cast still with us ...

[julian_craster]

Did any members attend this screening ?

I hope that it was a success, and that Barbara W was in good form with some interesting anecdotes about Ken and the film.......

Were any other celebrities there ? (ie Mark Kermode ? Murray Melvin? Twiggy ? )

[didi-5]

Hi Julian

I went. Barbara dropped out and so the intro was done by someone from the BFI who managed to call Ken Russell 'Ken Loach' (!), Mark Kermode, who talked about how Russell was a genius and would finally receive due recognition now he has died; and Twiggy, who spoke briefly about Russell being her mentor and how she learned from him about classic films. Murray Melvin and Georgina Hale were in the audience but didn't contribute.

The film print was quite badly damaged which was a shame and was a bit distacting, however it was as charming as ever and quite nice. Most musical numbers got applause which showed the film was being received well, also the many funny sequences brought laughs.

A good evening, although Mr D who was with me seeing the film for the first time said it could have been a bit shorter!

[julian_craster]

someone from the BFI who managed to call Ken Russell 'Ken Loach' (!)

I expect this was a 25 year old feminist 'Film Studies' graduate.......I hope the audience jeered and mocked this ignoramus !

If they can't tell the difference, they should be sacked immediately !

Sorry to hear about the print quality - I have the US DVD release (Warner Archive) and it looks and sounds great !

[didi-5]

LOL I think the poor chap might have been nervous but yes he got heckled :)

I have a recording from TCM that is good quality - I wonder if this is the same version as the Warner Archive release. Do you have a running time for that?

[julian_craster]

LOL I think the poor chap might have been nervous but yes he got heckled :)

I bet he was young (ish).....!

So I cannot blame those BFI young ladies fully versed in advanced feminist theory but completely lacking any intelligence or common sense outside their field !

I have a recording from TCM that is good quality - I wonder if this is the same version as the Warner Archive release. Do you have a running time for that?

136 minutes (NTSC, so need to adjust for PAL), Widescreen, Stereo

Here are some screengrabs from the DVD....:












Ken Russell regular Vladek Sheybal




For me, the real star of the show, the wonderful Antonia Ellis....Now, whatever happened to Antonia ?

[didi-5]

Lovely, thank you!

Antonia seemed to disappear after 1979. I agree with you, she was really good in this and in Mahler. Maybe she was just the wrong type for the 1980s and beyond?

I'm also amazed that Bryan Pringle was only in his thirties in this film. I wonder if he ever looked young?

[julian_craster]

I'm also amazed that Bryan Pringle was only in his thirties in this film. I wonder if he ever looked young?

He was only 25 when he appeared in Satuday Night and Sunday Morning, but he looked at least 50....... !

I saw Antonia Ellis (as Roxie, I recall? ) in Chicago in the West End around 1980.

The perfect bubbly 'flapper' type, she would have been great in any of those films/tv series set in the 1920s /30s that were produced in the 1980s following Brideshead Revisited. I think she may have moved to the USA....

[julian_craster]

The Boy Friend (1971) to be screened on BBC4 !

Sun 15th Jan.
20:00-22:20 (140 mins)

Director
Ken Russell

Starring
Twiggy
Christopher Gable
Max Adrian