I
read an interview the other day with Ian Botham. He was a great hero
when he played cricket for England and a sight not to behold these
days when he took his seat in The House of Lords. The interview was
published as a Q&A and when it came to the inevitable question of
Brexit his quick answer was 'Forget it mate, we won.'
First
of all 'we' and secondly he and they, didn't win.
They lost – they lost confidence in a great idea, an idea of a
peaceful togetherness with the other peoples of Europe, lost faith in
their trust of others and became suspicious of them claiming that a
non-elected body was making the rules when we actually
voted for MEPs - but all that is water under the bridge. By the time
the UK try to rejoin the EU I will be water under the bridge. So it
won't affect me at all. I don't live near a lorry park in Kent and I
can carry on making my little films and entering them in the
festivals all over the world – including Europe. The irony is, of
course, that Botham was of the opinion he was getting rid of an
unelected organisation and for this he joins another – The
House of Lords.
But
it's amazing how boyhood heroes suddenly become arseholes. I remember
Clint Eastwood at one of the 'nasty party' conventions bringing a
chair on to the stage and started talking to it, rather like someone
at a drama school audition.
'My
Lord I have letters here from France' – of course if that joke ever
travels from this page it won't be in America. You see in
Britain French Letters is another name for condoms.
Eastwood
talked to the chair pretending he was speaking to Obama telling him
where he went wrong. I loved Clint's films and love him as a
director. He changed attitudes in Hollywood as he would never shout
'action' as most of the time he would be doing horse operas or
big movie westerns. He had worked with many a director who would use
the big voiced 'Action!!!' only to see the horses bolt as soon as
they heard the clapper.
I
have to say most of the people, who were heroes to me as a child, and
whom I have met, have never let me down. I have written on here a
couple of posts about Roger Bannister and he was the nicest man you
could think of. One of my favourite actors, Tony Curtis, greeted me
as if I was an old friend, as if we had a history and it was the same
when I met Rod Stewart. He said, Chris, you were always my hero and
you haven't let me down – of course I'm kidding there, but we had a
couple of drinks together then parted company with a 'be lucky'
farewell from both of us which made me laugh at least.
By
the way I found out that one of Marlon Brando's favourite actors was
Tony Curtis. I remember telling a New York antique dealer, when we
were talking late at night over glasses on wine, and how do you learn
the lines and who is your favourite actor and I mentioned Tony
Curtis.
'Oh
you mean, my mudder and my farder, Tony Curtis?' sometimes, some
people think they know all about acting and who it
is fashionable to like and that is all they know.
I
think the reason why Brando liked him was because he could smile –
so you smile now and look in the mirror.
Does
it still look like a smile? Well fake it.
Be
Lucky.
