{"id":778,"date":"2016-07-22T20:39:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T20:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=778"},"modified":"2018-08-07T02:50:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T02:50:13","slug":"theatre-in-film-series-the-boy-friend-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-boy-friend-1971\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Film Series: The Boy Friend (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-header-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h3>Theatre in Film Series:\u00a0<em>The Boy Friend<\/em>\u00a0(1971)<\/h3>\n<font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-1 hover-type-none author-image\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/authorimage.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>July 22, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though theatre was my first love, film has stolen my heart in recent years. In Part II of our ongoing Theatre in Film series, we explore the latter years of Classical Hollywood Cinema when Technicolor was new and movie musicals, filled with rich color and vibrant acting, lifted off the screen. For our fourth film in Part II, we feature <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Boy Friend<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from 1971.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>The Boy Friend<\/em> (1971)<\/h4>\n<br><div align=\"center\"><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3GcdLVpQ5V0?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>Director: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ken Russell<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Starring: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leslie Lawson (aka \u201cTwiggy\u201d), Christopher Gable, Antonia Ellis, Caryl Little, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vladek Sheybal, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moyra Frasier, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and Glenda Jackson<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">What happens:<\/h4>\n<br><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the south of England in the 1920s, a lowly assistant stage manager, Polly (Twiggy), must step into the lead role after the starring actress (Glenda Jackson) gets into an accident. The plot exists on three tiers: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first deals with the struggling theatre, its inner drama, and the love that Polly has for the show\u2019s leading man Tony (Christopher Gable).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second deals with the plot of the play, which takes place in the south of France at a finishing school for young women. Polly Browne, a shy girl, doesn\u2019t have anyone to go to the carnival masked ball with, and when Tony Brockhurst shows up, the two fall in love. Later, when both of them are unmasked in front of their parents, the parents, both rich, agree that Polly and Tony are fit to marry each other.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third deals with a vast array of dream sequences in which the characters live out their fantasies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because Polly, as ASM, must understudy on a whim, she must step in and perform, albeit <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improv<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, most of the lines and blocking. What\u2019s worse, producer De Thrill (Vladek Sheybal) is scheduled to visit the theatre that evening, so everything <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">must <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">go right. She also endures passive aggressive bullying from Maisie (Antonia Ellis) and Dulcie (Caryl Little), the girl who may or may not be dating Polly&#8217;s beloved Tony. In what could be a recipe for disaster, Polly manages to power through the performance with the help of Moyra (Moyra Frasier) and Fay (Georgina Hale).<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Why it matters:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, the trailer doesn\u2019t do the quality of the film (or its plot) any justice. What looks like a fun romp through a musical is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">actually <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a carefully orchestrated film successfully juggling a heavily layered plot. I would venture to say that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Boy Friend<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> isn\u2019t even necessarily about the\u00a0responsibility of an ASM. Sure, it\u2019s about that at surface level, but, honestly, it\u2019s more than that. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Boy Friend <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">captures what it\u2019s like to have your real life intersect with your role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lead characters use their own names for the production: ASM Polly is Polly Browne and handsome Tony is Tony Brockhurst in the musical. So, when the lovers are onstage, Polly calls Tony by <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> real name, and Tony calls Polly by <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">her <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">real name. It\u2019s no wonder Polly becomes so intent on winning Tony\u2019s heart &#8212; her brain fuses the relationship they have onstage with a relationship she imagines for her own reality. Polly becomes unable to focus in most scenes because she\u2019s so smitten with Tony. This often happens with film and theatre actors, though we try to curb the cross-pollination of our own personalities with the personalities of our characters. Our roles and the world of the play become real to us despite being completely fictional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other than the \u201cstep in when you\u2019re needed\u201d and psychological lessons this film offers, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Boy Friend <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chronicles the (very short, one-night) journey of a terrified theatre professional who, though totally unprepared and unqualified for the role, steps in and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grows as a performer. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hidden lesson in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Boy Friend<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? When an opportunity comes our way, we should take it, no matter how terrified or underqualified we think we are. We may discover hidden talents &#8212; and make a few friends along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Below is a preview scene from the Warner Archives depicting Polly and Tony onstage as well as in a dream sequence. Like the duet? Find the sheet music <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/product\/18556\">here<\/a><\/span> on PerformerStuff.com.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3FSVwAudhkU?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This film is the first featured in Part II of \u201cTheatre in Film\u201d. See below for the others in Part II.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-band-wagon-1953\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>The Band Wagon<\/em> (1953)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-the-good-companions-1957\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>The Good Companions<\/em>\u00a0(1957)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-producers-1968\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>The Producers<\/em>\u00a0(1967)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Opening Night<\/em>\u00a0(1977)<\/strong>\u00a0<em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Want to start with Part I? Check out\u00a0<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=133\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">42nd Street\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(1933)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com\u2019s Editor.\u00a0<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5>Thumbnail\u00a0image from\u00a0<em>The Boy Friend<\/em>. Copyright \u00a9 1971\u00a0Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<\/h5>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[259,265],"tags":[6,106,352,319,107,82,132,80,14,105,366],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}