Aesthete did the film clip that generated these captures from Act of Will (1989). By coincidence, as I downloaded his clip for tonight’s Fun House, I was just starting to re-watch The Winds of War, in which she played a prominent role.
You may remember that she was Mrs. Steve Martin for about a decade. I think she’s semi-retired now.
Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango.
Her first film appearance was in a film called “The Ragman’s Daughter”, filmed on location in Nottingham in 1971 (ish).
I recall this because I remember walking through the city and stumbling over the location filming one day (I was a schoolboy at the time).
Victoria Tennent was only around twenty-one years old at the time with long blond hair. A real stunner.
When the film came out I managed to sneak into a cinema to see it. It was an “X” certificate and you had to be eighteen years old to see it so I was there underage.
I was very pleased to see that Victoria had a topless scene in the movie where she was riding a horse half-naked (a reference to Lady Godiva).
I was just sorry I hadn’t stumbled on the filming of that scene. It would have fed my schoolboy fantasies for years.
“The Ragman’s Daughter” was based on a book written by Alan Sillitoe who was a famous Nottingham author. He also wrote “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning” and “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. Two novels that were also made into great films if you can catch them.