The Boy Friend [Boyfriend]

Ken Russell (director, screenwriter)
Sandy Wilson (musical)
Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian (starring)

London: Russflix / MGM, 1971. Vintage photograph on the set of the 1971 musical, with director Ken Russell staring intently at stars Twiggy and Christopher Gable. With manuscript annotations on the verso.

Based on the 1953 West End musical by Sandy Wilson, about a mousy stage manager forced to take the lead in a touring musical after the lead actress breaks her leg. While Wilson's original is a straight forward pastiche of 1920s musicals, Russell's adaptation is a full blown parody of 1930s musical films, particularly Busby Berkeley, with heavy metatextual elements, as the more lavish numbers take place in the imagination of a Hollywood producer watching the simple touring stage show.

10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.


[Book #143084]