Sixties journey leaves Hurt sympathetic

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 29

Sixties journey leaves Hurt sympathetic

By

JAMES ASHWOOD

John Hurt made his own trip back to the sleazy side of the Swinging ’6os to uncover the truth about the society osteopath, Stephen Ward, whom he portrays in "Scandal,” which will start at the Savoy today. As a result, he believes that Ward was sacrificed by the establishment when it closed ranks to protect itself as the Profumo scandal broke. After weeks of research, Hurt said “As far as I’m concerned, Ward is still unvindicated. He was a weak man emotionally and politically, but he wasn’t evil. I have a lot of sympathy for him. “He just loved to have fun. Don’t we all? He may have taken it to an extreme. So what? His only crime was being a social snob. But many of the people throwing stones at him were ‘guility’ of abuses of power.” Ward, who introduced Christine Keeler to both the British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, and the Soviet naval attache and spy, Eugene Ivanov, died from a drug overdose hours before a jury found him guilty in his absence of living off immoral earnings. One by one, his friends in high places had abandoned him. "It will be interesting to see what the establishment makes of the film,” said Hurt. The attraction in the movie for Hurt lay in the fact that “It isn’t a documentary. Hopefully, it works as a piece of drama. I wasn’t attempting to do an impersonation of Stephen Ward; what I found fascinating is that it is a strange love story. I think Stephen and Christine did love each

other and the tragedy is that they were never able to cross a barrier between them.” Although he was urged by some not to take on the role, he said, ‘l’ve been advised against taking roles throughout my career. There were people who told me I shouldn’t play Quentin Crisp, who told me I shouldn’t play John Merrick (‘The Elephant man’), people who told me I shouldn’t do ‘Alien.’ Since producers never think of me as a romantic lead I would have missed some very challenging work had I taken all that advice.” Stephen Ward, Hurt said was a very difficult character to get a feel for, “particularly as we started with tough scenes, there was no easing gently into it.” Without wishing to mimic Ward, Hurt spoke to a number of people who had known him to get an impression of what he was like. “He may not have been a particularly nice person, but I certainly don’t think he was evil. As for the charges against him, the trial was a complete mockery. He was a scape-

goat. Virtually everyone I spoke to who knew Stephen said that he was a charming man. It’s hard to find anyone who wasn’t always pleased to see him,” said Hurt. Hurt met Christine Keeler when she visited the set. “To be honest I can’t remember if we spoke about Stephen or what we spoke about at all. Even today I though her powerfully attractive. I was very impressed by her.” Hurt was not worried about the scenes of nudity in the film. “I had to take my clothes off for an orgy sequences, but I don’t think anyone is going to get a thrill out of that,” he says, laughing. Bridget Fonda, who plays Mandy Rice-Davies, also used humour to cope with her nude scenes. Fonda, aged 25 and niece of Jane Fonda, had to appear in three sex scenes, including a three-in-a-bed orgy. “I just thought of Benny Hill,” she said. “I realised that if I could image it all being naughty rather than passionate the whole thing could work for me. “I think that is how the British prefer their sex anyway. In America, a sex scandal is not such a terrible thing. In Britain, people are shocked but read all about it.” The fact that she did not have to look like herself helped too. “Once I put on a blonde bouffant wig, false eyelashes and ’6os clothes, I felt a completely different person,” she said. “Suddenly, I could be outrageous and do outrageous things. As myself, I could never dare act that way.

“I tried to get a dirty look in my eyes and flirted with the camera.”

CHRISTCHURCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Regent 2): See story. DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (Westend): Steve Martin and Michael Caine play two confidence tricksters on the luxurious French Riviera. One of the top comedies of the year (GY). DANGEROUS LIAISONS (Avon): The battle of the sexes is played as a boudoir game in this black comedy set in preRevolutionary France,

starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer (GA). A SUMMER STORY (Academy): Based on John Galsworthy’s romantic short stories, it is one of the loveliest and yet most heartrending films in a long time (GA). A HANDFUL OF DUST (Academy): Evelyn Waugh’s tale of the break-up of a marriage and its ironic ending. Sumptuously filmed and

well acted by Kirstin Scott Thomas, Alec Guiness and Judi Dench (GA). SCANDAL (Savoy 2): See story (RPI6). BEACHES (Savoy 1): Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey star as two lifelong friends, from opposite sides of the tracks, who share moments of grief and happiness. Take along your handkerchiefs (GA). THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (Metro):

Ken Russell’s psychedelic adventures of a serpentine vampire, based on a Bram Stoker novel. Leave your finer sensibilities at home and it can be loads of fun (RPI6). HIGH SPIRITS (Midcity and Hollywood 1, Sumner): See story (GA). WITHOUT A CLUE (Pantages, Hornby, and Hollywood 2, Sumner): Michael Caine plays a bogus Sherlock Holmes and Ben Kingsley the

mastermind Dr Watson in this period comedy which does not quite ring true (GY). SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL (Regent 1): Gene Wilder plays a deaf man end Richard Pryor a blind one who are hunted by both sides of the law after having been present at a murder. (GA). THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY II (Metro): Very much the same formula that made the original so popular (GY).