by martcaster » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:38 am
I'd so looked forward to the film of Telstar, having seen the play with Con O'Neill in the lead role. We went with Ray Randall, Heinz's successor; and he was transfixed that not only the 'geography' of the flat was so accurate, but, as he said, Con O' Neill wasn't like Joe, he WAS Joe! The film, for me, was just as good, and, like Mike, I heartily recommend it to anyone who can remember those wonderful pre-Beatles days. Of course there are deviations from the strictly accurate, but I wouldn't let that put anybody off giving themselves a good 90 minutes of pure nostalgia and particularly top notch acting from O'Neill.
Ray tells me he went to Holloway Road one day and Joe shouted down.."Who's that?" "It's me, Ray!" "Wait there on the stairs, and when I shout Start! stamp up on and down on them", at which point a mike was lowered over the banister rail. "Right, start! and keep going till I tell you to stop!" Thud, thud, thud etc......"Right, stop!" Ray says that when he went upstairs, Joe told him he was going to use it at the beginning of the new single by The Honeycombs (Have I The Right?) Nice to think it was true, I loved that record (both sides)
Anyway, if you haven't seen it, and you're at all interested in Joe's music/life, give it a whirl. I especially thought the bloke who played "Man in shop window" was outstanding! He certainly showed Kevin Spacey a thing or two about standing still. Wonder if he went on to do anything else??
Love to all,
Mart (see you all in few weeks!)