Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

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Late November 2016: Going on my first big night out with a friend,we walked passed a cinema in Birmingham called The Electric,which had a sign up for being the oldest working cinema in the UK (it opened in 1909!) Finding that we had missed all showings,I made a note of the place. Planning to see England is Mine (which by coincidence, is another bio-pic) when I went to gather birthday presents for a pal in July 2017,I accidentally left my map at home,and thanks to running into no one but clueless locals,was unable to find the place. Early December 2017: Weeks before setting off to do some Christmas shopping in Birmingham, I made extensive notes/directions for places that I wanted to go to take with me. Despite the poor reviews it has got,I decided that I would see Suburbicon at the Electric Cinema,due to it being the only screening that would give me plenty of time to catch the train home. Finally arriving at the cinema, I found out that a mistake had been made on their site,and that a very interesting- sounding Gloria Grahame bio- pic was being shown instead,which led to me entering the screening with an electric atmosphere. View on the film: Walking down the cobbled streets of late 70's/early 80's Liverpool, director Paul McGuigan (former bass player with Oasis!) & cinematographer Urszula Pontikos grab handfuls of grit from the British New Wave/ Kitchen Sink works of the era, with dour browns covering the rising damp of the Turner household, and thick smog on the streets casting an earthy drama atmosphere. Going with Grahame back to Hollywood, McGuigan sharply contrasts the humble time in Liverpool with stylised glamour of excellent camera tricks that bring to life a dream factory version of Hollywood-complete with colourful overlaps and fade ins/fade outs,that keep Grahame's past of her name up on billboards flickering. The first non-Bond movie produced by Eon since 1963's Call Me Bwana, the screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh brilliantly keeps this adaptation of Peter Turner's book as far removed from 007 as possible. Greenhalgh gives the May-December romance between Turner and Grahame a passionate rawness, (cleverly expressed by events being played out twice,from Turner and Grahame's perspectives)where their moments of breezy romance can turn with ease into abrasive doubt. Reunited with a very good Julie Walters as his mum Bella, Jamie Bell gives an excellent performance as Peter Turner, lit by Bell taping into the Angry Young Man of the British New Wave, that Bell keeps from becoming overpowering,by neatly softening the edges of Turner's frustrations with a romantic warmth. Bringing the bad and the beautiful sides of the Hollywood icon to Liverpool, Annette Bening gives an incredible performance as Grahame, thanks to Bening crossing a feisty determination over how Grahame wants to live her life, with a delicate touch that makes the romance between her and Turner sparkle,in the place where film stars don't die.

Oscar winner Gloria Graeme, no longer an in demand Hollywood star, spends her last years appearing in plays in the UK where she falls in love with a young Liverpudlian. Very sad, moving film about love and death with a fine performance by Bell. It is though Bening's film, who is absolutely on top form. Not getting an Oscar nod was very strange, particularly given some of the nominees in 2018. Worth seeing if you're up for it - but be warned, not a lot of laughs.

In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool," there is an extended interview with the actors, the director, and Peter Turner, the author of the memoir on which the film is based. At one point in the interview, it is revealed that 98% of the film is true, based on Turner's recollections of his romantic relationship as a young man with the much older actress Gloria Grahame. Clearly, the film was intended as a biographical portrait of the actress best remembered for "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "A Lonely Place." Unfortunately, the film fell flat in developing what was intended as a combination biography, romance, and depiction of a tender relationship of the aging film star and with a young actor from Liverpool. Much of the film sounded "scripted" with references to films and plays. The one allusion that worked effectively was when Gloria in her late '50s mentioned to Peter that she wanted to audition for Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Peter corrected her by saying, "Shouldn't you be auditioning for the Nurse?" Of course, that response led to one of their torrid arguments. It also resulted in one of the best emotional moments in the film when the Peter and Gloria read the scene of the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet. The film also was not served by a structure that skipped around extensively in time. Instead of developing the relationship of Gloria and Peter in a linear way, the audience was jolted in and out of the past. It was especially confusing as the drama was toggling between Liverpool, New York, and Los Angeles. This is really not the way to write a screenplay of a biographical romance. In the bonus segment of the DVD, actress Annette Bening described the life of Gloria Graham as "tempestuous." Bening's interpretation was mostly a one-dimensional version of "tempestuous." The film was also manipulative of audiences in presenting a crucial scene about the "break-up" of Gloria and Peter in New York. The audience had to endure two rendition of the exact scene with the exact dialogue, before the truth is revealed about Gloria's visit to her physician. The authors of the script do not receive a passing grade in Screenwriting 101. In the final analysis, the film seemed exploitative in its depiction of a deeply personal relationship that often came across as unflattering. In the extended interview with the performers and the director, it was never once mentioned what Gloria Graham might have felt about this cinematic portrayal of her life. In all likelihood, Graham would have preferred to have been remembered as an Academy Award-winning film artist, as opposed to a "has been" with a youthful, bisexual paramour in a film with too many similarities to "Sunset Boulevard." Are you ready for your close-up, Miss Grahame?

Based on a true story, this biographical drama follows the romance between a younger man, Peter Turner played by Jamie Bell, and 1950's black and white former A-list Hollywood star, now aging actress Gloria Grahame, played by Annette Benning. Set between 1978 – 1981 in Liverpool and USA. The lead actors meet and there is an immediate chemistry, Grahame is diagnosed with cancer and she turns to the Bell family for comfort in Liverpool, where she is welcomed. She wanted to build her strength and recuperate, although the cancer has taken hold and obviously progressed too far. Their romance only lasts for a few years, we see how this develops into a deep passion through some very clever and well done flashback sequences. This is a very emotional love story. Jamie Bell provides a standout, convincing award winning performance. Highly recommended.

It's practically a given that when a Hollywood actress reaches a certain age range, Hollywood no longer wants her, and she has to pursue other endeavors. This is one element of Paul McGuigan's "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool", about Gloria Grahame's romance with a young Englishman while she was performing on the stage in the port town towards the end of her life. An Oscar-winner in her heyday, Grahame had all but disappeared from the screen and was now battling breast cancer. Annette Bening puts all her energy into the role of the beleaguered Grahame, while Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, King Kong, The Adventures of Tintin) is quite fine as her young lover. I guess that a person still needs to feel connected at any age, especially after getting treated as "past her prime". I recommend the movie. Also starring Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Walters (Educating Rita) and Stephen Cranham.