vendredi 29 novembre 2013

Inn for trouble (1960)

( lire la version française)
For this autumn column, dear readers, let’s go back to my beloved England.



My performance alongside Daniel Massey in the television drama Women in love (1959) was very well received. A press article in the Daily Mail said that I was as bubbly as a glass of Champagne.
Before long, my agent in London, John Matters, offered me a new part in a comedy, but for the big screen this time.
Pennington Richards directed the adventures of the Larkin family, inspired by a very popular current sitcom : "The Larkins". I joined a close-knit band of wonderful actors around David Kossov (1) and Peggy Mount, the irresistible Larkin couple in this spin-off entitled "Inn for trouble".

Between takes, I have fun with the dogs of the Hooray Henrys.

I played the painter Yvette Dupres, a very independant young french girl. She lives in a room above the Larkin pub. Eddie, the youngest family son and a real simpleton, discovers her when he inadvertently enters her room. For my first scene, I am surprised in underwear, which does not fail to trouble Eddie. I quickly forget the awkwardness of his intrusion, suddenly overwhelmed by the plastic beauty of the young man’s big ears. Comedy is on its way !


Yvette Dupres surprised by Eddie Larkin


At the time, I spoke a very broken English, and the cockney accent and quick diction of the actors did not make things easier for me. I listened carefully to the director’s wishes.Pennington Richards wanted me to keep a strong French accent in order to keep the character exotic.
David Kossov and Peggy Mount were very interested in the Italian comedies I had appeared in.
Our great team maintained a cheerful complicity on the set, between takes.
This is how, during filming, I learned a typical song of the English pubs :
"Knees up Mother Brown"!


The film had a huge success.A few months later, in a very different atmosphere, a laughing Terence Fisher evoked with me the burlesque adventures of the Larkin family…
on the set of Brides of Dracula.



With David Kossov and Peggy Mount
Synopsis
After 25 years of loyal service with the Belcher brewery, Alf Larkin (David Kossov) believes he is ready to manage one of their pubs. 
Instead, the company only offers him one parting gift, a fountain pen with his initials.
Furious, his wife Ada (Peggy Mount) decides to take matters into her own hands.



Left to right, S.O'Riordan, yours truly, R.O'Casey, D. Kossov and P. Mount

The Larkins depart to manage the Earl Osbourne, a pub lost in the countryside.
Very soon, they face some problems.
For starters, the lack of customers and a disappointing turnover.
They also disrupt the life of the village, the local police and the hound-hunting community, 
the Hooray Henrys.

With Glyn Owen


Their days managing the pub seem numbered, but the Larkins have many tricks in store to correct the situation… in very unorthodox ways.
What they don’t know is that the new main road of the village will pass in front of their property and that they are sitting on a gold mine.
Unfortunately for them, a competitor has discovered it and will do anything to drive them out of town.


With D.Kossov, L.Phillips, P.Mount and Glyn Owen

1- David Kossov was directed by Terence Fisher in a Hammer film production: Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960).







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