DB7

Good evening John,



I'm sure we all recall you but the penny didn't drop immediately until City of the Dead sprung to mind. Were you invited to be involved with the dvd release? (Christopher Lee provides a short introduction on the extras)

Hope you're keeping well.

theuofc

Splendid news. I cannot wait to read your biography of Dennis Price. Well done in interviewing the imposing list of Price's contemporaries. Would that other biographers had been able to do that as well.

Best,

Barbara

Steve Crook

I wouldn't want to put you off trying, but others have tried ... and given up because of that sealing.
He was a great actor, but he doesn't seem to have made many friends.

Steve

Elliot J Huntley

Barbara,

Thanks for your kind words. I just thought I'd add some of the other names I was privileged enough to interview, hopefully to whet your appetite further: George Baker, Ian Carmichael, Peter Sallis, Guy Hamilton, Miriam Karlin, John McCallum, Paddie O’Neil, Peter Graham Scott, Mary Stone, Dick Vosburgh and Michael Winner. Peter Wyngarde, Janette Scott, Sgt John Sweet, James Fox, Freddie Francis, Maurice Roëves and Freddie Jones also all wrote me some wonderful and informative letters.

Elliot

Elliot J Huntley

Thanks for the heads up Steve. It certainly is a tempting challenge nonetheless.

theuofc

Hello, EJH,

I hope you give it a try. Since you have been able to secure interviews from a truly admirable lineup for your Price biography, I suspect you will have the persuasive determination it will take to ferret out information on Portman. No matter how discreet or seemingly well hidden, if material is there at all, an ingenious, untiring researcher will find it. It may take some time, but no doubt you will be preoccupied with the release of the Price bio and signings. Perhaps you can test the depth of the Portman pool merely with your toes and then plunge in later. We readers will certainly be here waiting if you do.

Much good luck to you.

Best,

Barbara

Jonathan

I'd like to volunteer Judy Geeson for a biography. She was beautiful, talented and deserved far better material than she usually received. I often feel that the British film industry let her down as it descended into shlocky rubbish rather than carrying on making films of the quality of Three into Two won't go and Here we go round the Mulberry bush. A great shame that she was forced to move to America to sustain her career where she was successful in a number of TV series and the occasional film - but that move would be very interesting to read about - the motivations behind it etc.

If the material had been there she might have become the English equivalent of Nicole Kidman - playing intelligent character roles as the thinking man's crumpet.

Brg,

Jonathan

theuofc

Dear Elliot,

I admit to being excited about the Price biography and even more so in light of the personalities you managed to interview while they are still alive. Invaluable! I'm particularly interested in the comments of film people behind the camera like Freddie Francis and Guy Hamilton, et al who often give a very different and fascinating perspective.

It has to be gratifying to see this come to fruition and be published after living with the subject for...several years?

Congratulations!

Barbara

alan gowdy

Elliot, I would be most interested to read the book. Please post publishing details when it becomes available.

Alan

"Don't forget... one of petrol, two of meths"

David Brent

Great work Elliott, I too look forward to reading your book.

There are also many biographies that I wish were reissued. Many old titles are very difficult to get.
Amongst those I'd really like to read -

'Good Morning Boys : Will Hay Master Of Comedy' - Ray Seaton & Roy Martin

'What A Performance - Story Of Sid Field" - John Fisher.

Like Smudge I'd also like to see a biography detailing the turbulent life of Susan Shaw.

Dave.

John Llewellyn Moxey

No I wqs not involved. I do have a good DVD copy. I am well, thank you and I hope ypu are too. i always wanted a DB7. Settled for Bristols.

smudge

There used to be a Bristol showroom on the corner of Warwick Road and Kensington High St, where they had some gorgeous cars on display and my friend would always press his nose against the window whenever we passed...

Welcome to the board Sir (tugs forelock) ; the name rang an immediate bell, but as people use favourite cast/crew for aliases here, I wasn't sure till DB7's post.

The Edgar Wallace film series is very popular here ; I hope this means we may get an anecdote or two from time to time.

I have always been amused by the fact that CITY OF THE DEAD was first to do the shocking 'kill the heroine quickly' bit back then, but Hitch got all the publicity for PSYCHO. 'Twas ever thus !

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Elliot J Huntley

Barbara,

Guy Hamilton was without one of the best interviews I conducted for the book - he had some wonderful stories and insights which I hope I managed to transpose on to the printed page. I don't know how long I worked on the book - I shudder to admit that it was probably in the region of eighteen months (I obviously work slowly) - though this did allow me the necessary time to track down several of his Sarkese neighbours, obsucre interview materials and all but a handful of his films. I am pleased with the finished results and hope fans of Dennis will be too. I certainly have always regarded myself as a Dennis Price fan and it was the criminal lack of a biography celebrating his life that prompted me to write this book. It was meant as a tribute and I sincerely hope that will comes across upon reading it. The book is in production and I am expecting it to be out in the next six weeks (fingers crossed).

Elliot

theuofc

Dear Elliot,

I'm delighted to read that about Guy Hamilton...am truly looking forward to his comments. Actually 18 months isn't long including interviews, travel time, etc. Some scholarly biographies will take years in completion, so you've polished it off in admirable time. May I ask if you had any difficulty finding unpublished photos, and which Price films could not be tracked down.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. Much enjoy the details.

Best,

Barbara

Elliot J Huntley

Barbara,

I had no difficulty tracking down photographs although a well known provider of photographs who had several I wanted to use just couldn't get their act together in time. Another clutch of photographs I opted not to use because I simply couldn't track down the rights holders and I didn't want to take the risk. As a result it might disappoint people to know that my book only contains a few photographs - five to be exact, including the cover portrait.

The films I couldn't find were No Parking (in which Price has one line), The Tall Headlines, Noose for a Lady, Don't Panic Chaps, Watch it Sailor and Just Like a Woman. I was also unable to get personal copies of The White Unicorn and The Lost People although the BFI do have viewing copies of those. The rest, without exception I have - a collection I could not have acquired without the help of the Britmovie gang, with special thankyous due to Aphra, Smudge and, in particular, Jeffrey Lague who not only shared his own DP collection with me without charge but also proofread my book - an undertaking he carried out with a dedication and generosity that I doubt I could ever repay.

Elliot