Lots of stories to tell on the journey that led to LASY IN WHITE.
In 1989, LADY IN WHITE was invited to compete at the FESTIVAL OF IMAGINATION in Clermont Ferrand, France. The Samuel Goldwyn Company flew me to the French Alps to be in attendance and I spent a glorious week amongst snow capped mountains and an enthusiastic, young festival staff. I was assigned a beautiful festival organizer, KATHRYN, to hustle me around for interviews and various PR activities related to the Festival. (None of them spoke any English and I was just as ignorant of French.)
LADY had been screened for a packed crowd with French subtitles, via individual slides, projected from the booth in perfect synchronization with the english dialog. (The film hadn't been dubbed or subtitled yet for foreign distribution.) It took an enormous amount of work and dedication to match the subtitles by hand in this manner.
The president of the Jury was CHRISTOPHER LEE. Chris and his wife, BIRGIT, couldn't have been more embracing. We lunched together every day. I can recall Chris regaling me with stories about his Father's participation in the Boar War. Chris loved to “hold court” and I was thrilled to just sit back and listen to that basso profondo voice of his.
On the day of the awards presentation, that was to take place that evening, Kathryn and others on the staff suddenly seemed inordinately interested in my looking my best for the evening's awards event. They whisked me off to have my hair cut and Kathryn took me to a local shop to pick out spiffier duds. They seemed to be aware of something that was about to happen that I wasn't. They were absolutely giddy with their “secret” and I must admit, they didn't do a very good job of keeping it from me by virtue of their actions but they never “spilled the beans.”
That night, Chris presided over the awards ceremony on stage at the Cinema Palais and announced LADY the winner of the Best Film Award and the Audience Award. When I walked up onstage to accept, I remember his whispering in my ear “Just the first of many, dear Frank!” For years, I thought Chris had been wrong with his prediction but, truth is, I've been rewarded beyond belief by the fans of the film who have held it dear to their hearts and let me know their feelings.
At the cocktail reception afterwards, A Romanian writer of fiction who had also been awarded a prize that evening, came up to me and offered me words I've never forgotten: “You know what this is all good for, my dear Frank?” “No,” I replied, “Tell me, what is this all good for?” A slight pause for effect and then: “It's good for remembering when things aren't so good, anymore.”
When the festival was over, Kathryn invited me to her home in Paris and showed me her town. We spent a wonderful night at The Moulin Rouge as pictured here. Months later, she came to visit in Los Angeles and stayed with me and my significant other, David Groch Tochman, at our home in the Santa Monica mountains. Truth is, she was a little in love with me and I must admit, I was a little bit with her as well. David had nothing to worry about, though.
After her visit, we lost touch and I'm sorry for that. The days spent with her at the Festival and in Paris rivaled Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron's soirèe in “An American In Paris.” I was extended an open invitation by Chris and Birgit to visit with them at their home in England whenever I'd like. Sadly, that never happened.
AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS: THOSE MOMENTS WHEN DREAMS AND REALITY UNITE
留言