It seemed like the ideal combination, a Noël Coward play, fresh from Broadway, the internationally acclaimed actress, Vivien Leigh and the equally acclaimed British stage actor, Anthony Quayle. But it was not to be.
Noël Coward’s stage farce, Look After Lulu! is based on the French comedy, Occupe-toi d’Amélie by Georges Feydeau. Set in Paris during 1908, the story centres around an attractive young prostitute whose lover takes the curious decision to entrust her to a friend, while he goes into the army. His so-called-friend, soon takes advantage of the situation and attempts to trick her into a mock wedding. Continue reading “Noël Coward’s Look After Lulu! ‘About as necessary as a Peach Melba at the North Pole’”
When I think back and try to work out a personal short list of the greatest British films of the twentieth century and the directors and performers that made them special there’s quite a few names that keep cropping up. Lewis Gilbert, David Lean, Peter O’Toole, Richard Burton, the list is almost endless. But if I had to pick one, someone who was an all-rounder, someone who has written, directed and performed on stage, on both the big and small screens, someone who became the backbone of British film and theatre, then there would be few who could claim to have the same résumé as the late Sir Anthony Quayle. 
We’ve been delving into the Delfont-Mackintosh archives to find material for inclusion in our new documentary,