tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post4266732739618919542..comments2024-03-26T05:01:57.793-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: SEPARATE TABLES 1983Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-56240680179063809422023-03-09T17:53:03.527-08:002023-03-09T17:53:03.527-08:00It's nearly a decade later, but here is an unl...It's nearly a decade later, but here is an unlisted link to the film:<br /><br />https://vimeo.com/806565681/7f4cf73686Morricone1900https://www.blogger.com/profile/08206688507888641939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50611222440934893542014-03-29T10:57:40.699-07:002014-03-29T10:57:40.699-07:00That's very kind of you to leave a comment af...That's very kind of you to leave a comment after stumbling upon this post. 30 years is a very long time not to have seen this wonderful TV film. Given its cast I'm rather surprised some distributor hasn't released it on DVD or that it hasn't shown up on cable in the wee small hours. Simply criminal.<br />Had I any equiptment to render a copy of this, I would gladly whisk it off to you. But I'm learning things all the time an perhaps I will find a way of posting it on YouTube (copyrights providing) and you'll be the first on my list to send a link. <br />Still, you're one of the lucky few to have seen it when first aired, so you at least know of its pleasures, performance wise. Thanks for commenting and stopping by my blog!<br />Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-44018335172531563802014-03-29T08:21:42.231-07:002014-03-29T08:21:42.231-07:00I just stumbled across your finely-written piece a...I just stumbled across your finely-written piece about Separate Tables. Thank you so much! It pains me that this fine (film? theater piece?) is still unavailable on DVD or BluRay or On-Demand. I haven't seen it for 30 years and would LOVE to welcome it back into my home.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10989472020457911266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-16122039477662958662013-06-30T08:07:23.530-07:002013-06-30T08:07:23.530-07:00Hello Wille!
I have to say, I've read biograph...Hello Wille!<br />I have to say, I've read biographies of John Schlesinger (the one you mention) and one of Julie Christie, and I forgot this film because in both tomes, "Separate Tables" rated barely a mention. <br />It wasn't a BBC movie but for America's HBO financed by this terrific producer (Ely Landau) who brought classic films to the screen. <br />I've no real-time recollection of it at all, but its unknown status is puzzling. As talented as John Schlesinger was he was plagued by doubts about his talents and was perhaps sucked into the Hollywood thinking of "You're only as good as your last picture." In reading the book it seemed as if he was unduly concerned with making "hits" and felt that by taking on behemoths like "Honky Tonk Freeway" (which, in my opinion IS a mess) prospective employers would no longer see him as the British director of small independents.<br />It seemed to me that he was a real artist and ill-suited to the braggadocio world of Hollywood where people are proud of crap if it's moneymaking crap, and small films of excellence (like this) are judged by their ratings (I'm not sure how it did ratings wise. Bates and Christie won Cable awards -this was before the Emmys integrated cableTV into it- but I have a hard time imagining American households settling in for a night of British theater) and moneymaking potential. <br />If you get a chance to see this or perhaps rent it from a library, I encourage you to do so. And thanks for the compliments on my writing. I'm working at it! <br />PS- Glad to know you're familiar with "Heat and Dust"!<br />Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-48754035003360058352013-06-30T07:43:55.424-07:002013-06-30T07:43:55.424-07:00I'm so glad you've unearthed a forgotten f...I'm so glad you've unearthed a forgotten film with Julie Christie. How wonderful that it also turns out to be her best performance! It's a shame that such a good film can become so forgotten, that even a film lover like you didn't know about it. <br /><br />Was this a BBCTV- movie? Why was it not released in cinemas? Maybe it was because both Christie's and Schlesinger's film careers languished in the 1980s. This fine film could have sparked some well deserved interest for them. <br /><br />Have you read the biography about Schlesinger? I enjoyed it a lot but I can't remember what it said about the decline in his film career. It seems strange that he would direct a car chase film like "Honky Tonk Freeway" and that such an action film would flop! It seems light years away from "Separate Tables". <br /><br />You are such a skilled writer. You brought this little known film to life with your review! I hope it will get released on dvd some day. I'm also looking forward to read your review of "Heat and Dust" (one of my film favourites). <br />-WilleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-19107555508684495352013-06-30T07:12:45.627-07:002013-06-30T07:12:45.627-07:00It's really a crime this isn't on DVD. Sho...It's really a crime this isn't on DVD. Shot on video, I'm sure the film won't look like much on HD TVs, but the incredible performances are worth the poor quality. And indeed, both Lancaster and Hayworth had more than they could handle in a single role. A dual role for the pair is unimaginable by me, as well.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-10000641605148576532013-06-29T13:25:04.666-07:002013-06-29T13:25:04.666-07:00Wow, I haven't heard of this '83 version, ...Wow, I haven't heard of this '83 version, but it sounds magnificent. I recall the '58 version (which can be seen on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmvDE-B2Fbk ) and had not been impressed, especially with Lancaster's clunky performance and his lack of chemistry w/Hayworth (I actually found myself rooting for Wendy Hiller). I think the '58 version attracted attention because of the atypical role for dapper David Niven; the Academy, true to form, gave him an Oscar for his efforts. I have to admit that, had the 58 movie been done true to the play's structure, trying to imagine Lancaster and Hayworth in the roles essayed by Niven and Kerr is beyond my feeble mental capacity!Grand Old Movieshttp://grandoldmovies.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-91889499283771503262013-06-24T23:24:19.952-07:002013-06-24T23:24:19.952-07:00Hi Poseidon!
Yes, after seeing Christie maintain h...Hi Poseidon!<br />Yes, after seeing Christie maintain her mod 60s bangs and neutral lipstick throughout "Doctor Zhivago" and "Far from the Madding Crowd," it's wonderful to see her look so terrific in period-appropriate makeup and hairdo.<br />In the second act, it literally took me a second to recognize her. I think you would love this TV play and I hope it gets a DVD release sometime. <br />Ely and Edie Landau, the couple behind The American Film Theater series, produced this film. They were like the last of the great patrons of the arts to think it valuable to commit great plays to film. More's the pity for us these days.<br />Hope you get to catch this sometime. Thanks for the kind words!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-3966002405045322152013-06-24T05:20:59.794-07:002013-06-24T05:20:59.794-07:00I have never heard of this production either and a...I have never heard of this production either and am very impressed by the cast that was put together. Christie is unrecognizable in some of the caps above. I love that '50s look on her, a vague resemblance to Jill Ireland that I would likely never have noticed before this. When I was a kid, HBO and Showtime would occasionally have these filmed plays on and I wasn't interested in them at all. Now that I'm older, I'm sure I would appreciate them a lot. How great that they exist as a record of the acting performances contained within. Thanks for sharing. Interesting reading, as always!Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-39840011147698579842013-06-23T00:00:43.300-07:002013-06-23T00:00:43.300-07:00I enjoyed your post on this film very much. I was ...I enjoyed your post on this film very much. I was surprised to find that you wrote about it just a month or so ago. And here I hadn't even heard of it until my friend brought it up!<br />I guess I'll never know how I might have felt about the 1958 version had I am with you in finding that some of the changes in the structure and the handing over of bits of dialog to other characters winds up cutting the heart and poignancy out of Rattigan's play.<br />(Hated them having Lancaster be the first to speak to the disgraced Major in the film. By not having one of the lesser hotel guests speak first, it feels like a simple act of human decency was turned into a Hollywood-style act of Yankee heroism.) Thanks for commenting and stopping by, Michael!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-83478440878822571852013-06-22T23:52:57.044-07:002013-06-22T23:52:57.044-07:00You would certainly like this version. The differe...You would certainly like this version. The difference from the 1958 film is so marked as to make this one feel like an different story.<br />I am with you on "The Prince and the Showgirl." I find it thoroughly charmless. You are on the money in describing it as flat. I am a big fan of Rattigan's "The Browning Version", especially the 1994 Albert Finney adaptation.<br />I hope this version of "Separate Tables" gets a DVD release. Irene Worth and Claire Bloom are spectacularly good.<br />Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-22918065378227867852013-06-22T09:46:21.746-07:002013-06-22T09:46:21.746-07:00Sorry, I had not seen your mention of my blog post...Sorry, I had not seen your mention of my blog post on it, before I posted my reply! Michael O'Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17820802843771524920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-31493628177737681472013-06-22T07:31:30.576-07:002013-06-22T07:31:30.576-07:00Marvellous stuff - I also recently re-saw this and...Marvellous stuff - I also recently re-saw this and got a vhs cassette edition (which I have now copied to dvd), its even better than I remembered. I too like Julie Christie and Alan Bates and Claire Bloom and they are all terrific here - as per my own blog report:<br />http://osullivan60.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/separate-tables-for-return-of-soldier.html<br /><br />It is a fascinating contrast too with the popular 1958 film where Kerr is terrific but I never liked Niven's bogus major, while Lancaster and Hayworth just don't fit in to this essentially british milieu. That film dovetailed both acts into one narrative, thus trimming some of the text and inserting other bits (like where Sybil comforts Mrs Shankhill, which could not happen in the original text). The 1983 version is more of a plea for tolerance too for people who are "different", we also see more of Miss Cooper, the manager, and there is more of the young husband (Brian Deacon) arguing with Mrs Railton Bell. Interestingly in this correct version of the play in 2 acts, the young couple of the first act now have a baby who gets all the wife's attention and she sides with Mrs Railton Bell whereas he doesn't. Irene Worth here makes a splendid suburban bully in her tweeds and twinsets, unlike the icy malice of Gladys Cooper in the '58 film. So, lots of different contrasts, its is good though to have a good record of the play with all these players in their prime. Bates and Christie in their 4th outing together have seldom been better, as directed by John Schlesinger. Michael O'Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17820802843771524920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-14523687468752556152013-06-22T07:22:04.896-07:002013-06-22T07:22:04.896-07:00What a wonderful cast! I too was underwhelmed by t...What a wonderful cast! I too was underwhelmed by the 1958 version, but to see Christie and Bates together, along with the rest of this stellar cast, would shed an entirely new light on the proceedings. <br /><br />Not that I am a big Rattigan fan - (What a huge, huge disappointment The Prince and the Showgirl is, not because both Sir Larry and MM aren't fantastic, which they are, but the script is as dull as flat champagne.) - but this 1983 cast seems very promising. I LOVE Claire Bloom and Irene Worth...and am a huge Julie Christie and Alan Bates fan. <br /><br />angelman66https://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.com