Monday 27 April 2015

OTHER NOTES:




...what else?

yesterday i was to watch TALKING PICTURE SERIES 2:8 RICHARD HARRIS documentary on the BBC iplayer...to remember a bit more, around what had happened...the day that rimington had dressed up michael richardson's gang in dresses....the dresses had been handmade..."quite a common practice in the 60s" replies BI ONLINE...and the patterns used - had been ladies' dresses...not 'little girl' dresses...go figure...see previous notes upon M&S sending me an email - advertising those very same dresses...in their summer catalogue.

well, having dressed us up in those 'summer dresses' in the back of a small theatre....was it the one that marr and his gang had identified in greenwich, near to the quay? see previous notes - richard harris used to use 'that one' quite a bit for private productions - as far as i know...."mkultra productions" replies BI ONLINE....

..all i can remember is that once 'dressed up' we were all told to go on stage 'in a line' and stand still, facing the audience...to then be subjected to the following:

those in the auditorium for that 'private showing' were relatively few...a row or two of adults...anyway, the audience was then asked by the compere, to decide:

"WHICH IS THE GIRL?"

webb and i were about the same height at that point...marr was about an inch shorter than me...baby mcgowan was tiny...and little colin was almost as small but not quite...we had been told to line up in order of height i.e. the smallest walked on first...and that had been mcgowan...i was the last to walk on stage...

and the verdict of the audience? well most of them voted for little colin...several of them were to vote for 'baby mcgowan' but seeing as he had got so annoyed with the whole thing...and was refusing to stand...mcgowan had been crouching on the stage by that point - with a grimace upon his face....well, you can see why - can't you?

oh and i am forgetting to mention why rimington had chosen that particular still of a model, in large sunglasses, wearing a sleeveless kaftan dress for the HOLIDAY slot...shot 'at an angle' I might add...




little colin had been dressed up in the above...in the back of that theatre...RICHARD HARRIS had then walked in...to see his son dressed up like that...little colin was behaving rather like he had behaved with his 'night goggles' on...the time that gill and i had painted the lens' black...see previous notes..."i can't see"...harris was to quite literally fall over laughing (he was very drunk at the time)...as rimington opined about his son "he looks just like a young audrey hepburn"...at that age - little colin had very thin legs and arms - with a rather stout body - hidden under the kaftan...

audrey hepburn...let me see...audrey hepburn singing 'blue moon' was the main zygote slavery symbol, in 1980...

anyway, marr was to prod little colin onto the stage...so there wasn't that many of us 'in the production' then...was hytner there? i cannot remember...nobody between marr and little colin, then - that is all i can say - in relation to height differential - which was really large, in relation to the pair of them - at that point in time...

rimington had given us girl's sandals to wear...little colin's were a little large...he then managed to trip up - falling over backwards, on stage...whilst wearing that kaftan, in sunglasses...oddly enough - he then won the vote for "which is the girl?"


"women fall over on stage more than men" replies BI ONLINE....and women tend to be smaller than men - hence the voting pattern towards 'the smallest on stage'?


anyway, we were then all told to do a 'song and dance number' which was uneventful..."singing in the rain" to then be told to get off stage....and off stage - richard harris was waiting in the wings...little colin had had enough by that point in time...and was to fly at him in a rage...little fists beating as well as kneeing and kicking his father....i managed to pick him up, to try and calm him down...i then told harris that his son was not well again and needed to go to hospital...harris struck me hard around the face...i dropped little colin and huddled against the wall, crying in pain....harris then collapsed - to also sit by a wall...rimington walked over to him...he was to say something around "i don't know what i'm doing nowadays..." and began to sob convulsively - he looked lost, bewildered...helpless as a child.

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