At the Royal Command Performance of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969, my late grandfather Ronald Neame (1911-2010) was admonished by the Duke of Edinburgh.
As the film’s director, he had been instructed only hours earlier to cut a scene deemed to be unsuitable. The scene in question involved the actor Robert Stephens, in the role of art master Teddy Lloyd, and three of Miss Brodie’s girls admiring a sketch of a nude male torso. It wasn’t the image that was thought inappropriate, but Stephens’s dialogue which involved the words ‘pectoral muscles’.
‘Do you think we’re all children?’ barked the Duke as he passed my grandfather in the receiving line.
Brodie is one of the most celebrated films in Ronnie Neame’s long and illustrious career as a director, producer, writer and cinematographer. In one of her most memorable performances, Maggie Smith received her first Academy Award.
The film also marked my first foray into showbusiness. Another featured painting was of Teddy’s family: to expose his obsession with Jean Brodie, his wife and five children all resemble her. The children are depicted in descending order of age with me at the end sitting on a potty. As the producer of Downton Abbey, I have a working connection with Dame Maggie that continues over half a century later.
This story is from the July 2021 edition of The Oldie Magazine.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
This story is from the July 2021 edition of The Oldie Magazine.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Travel: Retreat From The World
For his new book, Nat Segnit visited Britain’s quietest monasteries and islands to talk to monks, hermits and recluses
What is... a nail house?
Don’t confuse a nail house with a nail parlour. A nail house is an old house that survives as new building development goes on all around it.
Kent's stairway to heaven
Walter Barton May’s Hadlow Castle is the ultimate Gothic folly
Pursuits
Pursuits
The book that changed the world
On Marcel Proust’s 150th anniversary, A N Wilson praises his masterpiece, an exquisite comedy with no parallel
RIP the playboys of the western world
Charlie Methven mourns his dashing former father-in-law, Luis ‘the Bounder’ Basualdo, last of a dying breed
Arts
Arts
My film family's greatest hits
Downton Abbey producer Gareth Neame follows in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandmother, a silent-movie star
Books
Books
A lifetime of pin-ups
Barry Humphries still has nightmares about going on stage. He’s always admired the stars who kept battling on
Andrew Jacked the Genetic Wonder!
It's extremely rare for a bodybuilder to win his first pro contest. Stars like Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates, Lee Haney, Dexter Jackson and Jay Cutler did not. A few who did were Flex Wheeler, Phil Heath and Big Ramy.
JERSEY SHORE RONNIE FACING NEW ABUSE RAP
LIFE’S no picnic for Jersey Shore: Family Vacation star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro — cops arrested the reality beefcake after they responded to a 911 domestic violence call and say they found bruises on his girlfriend, Saffire Matos!
WHO IS THE KING OF ALL FREAKS- RONNIE OR RAMY?
When Big Ramy was crowned Mr. Olympia last December, it was the first time a man over 250 pounds had held that title in over a decade. At 290 pounds, we hadn’t seen such a mass monster rule the sport since the days of Ronnie and Jay. Ronnie Coleman remains the heaviest man to ever win the Mr. Olympia at a bodyweight of 296 in 2004. Comparisons between the two colossal men, Ramy and Ronnie, soon sprung up everywhere online and in social media. Who is the king of all freaks? To answer that, we sought out the best-qualified men to answer that question: Giles Thomas, Ronnie Coleman himself, and the only man to coach both champions to Mr. Olympia wins, Chad Nicholls.
AUCTION OF A RONNIE VAN ZANT PORTRAIT
MICHAEL CARTELLONE has given his musical talent to many a band in need of a professional drummer. He toured and recorded for acts as varied as Cher, Freddie Mercury, Adrian Belew and John Fogerty. He is the former drummer of ’90s hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees and German metallers Accept, and he is currently the drummer for Southern rock stalwarts Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The Right Move
New shops and showrooms bring exciting opportunities for local designers, makers, and arts organizations to sell their wares to home enthusiasts here and everywhere.
Think Like a Dog, and “Shhh!”
Meemo’s Farm, a prime bird hunting destination in north-central Michigan, was the setting for dog trainer Ronnie Smith’s “Foundation Seminar,” a two-day introduction to the “Silent Command System” of dog training. Participants ranged in experience from those working with their first dogs to professional handlers/guides to veteran trainers with more than 40 years of experience.
WHAT BODYBUILDING IS ALL ABOUT?
Bodybuilding is a highly demanding sport. Disciplined diet, exhaustive exercise, sacrifices in personal matters, and financial demands make the iron sport an extreme one.
BIG IRON
With Big Ronnie Coleman, Eight-Time Mr. Olympia
ENTERTAINMENT
JERSEY SHORE FAMILY VACATION - Thurs., Nov. 19 on MTV
1968 Chevelle SS396 Vintage Drag Test!
As the lights come down, you squeeze the engine toward six grand, slide your leftfoot off the clutch, stab the loud pedal between the last yellow and the green, and bang!— 375 horses (a 425 Performance Rating via NHRA’s new system) launch you off the line for a near record run. Right? Wrong! At least that’s the way it was on every run we made with this month’s drag test vehicle, a ’68 Chevrolet SS396 Chevelle hardtop.”