GB
1970
1hr 29mins
Dir: Andrew Sinclair
Starring: Joanna Lumley and Richard Warwick
A newly commissioned Fusilier Guards Ensign learns the facts of life from his new girlfriend in Swinging London
This somewhat satirical comedy was updated from Andrew Sinclair’s 1959 novel of the same name, but it is quite bizarre at times, and its attempt to portray a sort of tourist image of swinging London seemed rather outdated for the period. It had a couple of preview screenings only for its release to then be cancelled, and it was never distributed in the UK. It was Joanna Lumley’s first on-screen appearance but as it was never shown it did little for her career at the time, which is just well really. It features a good shot of 1938-built tube stock arriving at the southbound Bakerloo Line platform of Embankment Underground station. The shot appears as part of a montage during the title sequence showing ‘red’ icons associated with London such as buses, phone boxes, Fusilier Guards etc, but it has no relevance to the story. The shot is in fact stock footage taken from the classic 1963 British Transport Films production, All That Mighty Heart. Later, there is a brief sequence filmed on Hungerford Bridge and the elevated signal box at Charing Cross is clearly visible, though the train on the bridge itself is less so.
