Arabesque

Stanley Donen is probably a household name in America but he’s only just come on the radar in Margravine Gardens.

As there is nothing on TV these days and we are getting close to finishing The Avengers, on Sunday evening we watched Arabesque, directed by Stanley Donen. But we are getting ahead of ourselves as it is one of his less well known films and one with which he wasn’t entirely happy. I will let Wiki introduce him:

Stanley Donen, born April 13, 1924, is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin’ in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with actor and dancer Gene Kelly. Other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn Yankees!, Charade, and Two for the Road.

I need to investigate a couple of those titles I don’t remember seeing and some others. As a genre comedy/caper always hits the spot and only rarely (if ever) crops up as opera. Arabesque has all the right ingredients, vigorously shaken: Sophia Loren, Gregory Peck, a fast-moving but not entirely coherent plot and some great locations: Eton stands in for St James’s Palace, Tyringham Hall near Newport Pagnell and the Crumlin Viaduct in Wales. The railway viaduct was closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts and was demolished in mid-1966, leaving a window for the final chase scene to be filmed there. There is a wonderful twelve minute film on YouTube showing scenes of the film being made. The locals are loving it and Peck and Loren seem tolerant of their intrusiveness. The caravans are truly deplorable, even for 1965.

The exterior of Tyringham Hall only appears briefly although the gardens and surrounding countryside get plenty of exposure and interiors supposedly in Regent’s Park are shot at Tyringham.  It was built by Sir John Soane and the gardens were embellished by Sir Edwin Lutyens. I believe it has been on the market since 2013 with an asking price of £18 million. It would be in the spirit of the film to dress up as a Sheikh and ask Savills to show me round especially if I could lay my hands on the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV that also features in the film. Only eighteen were made and Donen borrowed the one that had belonged to Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

And what were Donen’s reservations about Arabesque?

“Cary Grant didn’t want to be in it .. It wasn’t a good script and I didn’t want to make it, but Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, whom I loved, wanted to be in it and the studio implored me to make it, because, they said, ‘It’s ridiculous not to make a film with Peck and Sophia.’ They said it would make money, and they were right.”