The London Opening of Julie Andrews' "Duet For One" (1987)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ม.ค. 2025
- The week leading up to the opening of “Duet For One” - London, March 1987.
It had now been close to nine years since I had first seen Julie Andrews live in concert. I had then travelled by train from Sweden to see her Julie Andrews Show in Norway (1978). Now I was ready for another adventure. This time I flew to London, hoping to catch a glimpse of her at the opening of Duet For One, as I knew she was in London to promote it. I was still living in Sweden, so I asked for a week’s annual leave so I could go to the opening, hopefully catch a glimpse of Julie and meet up with fellow fans. I had already obtained a ticket for a special screening of the film through the Cannon Film Group, owner of a chain of cinemas in England.
I met up with fellow fans Jenny and Jean and we decided on the day to get Julie a bouquet of flowers (mostly yellow with a hint of blue). We wanted to bring them to the reception at The Dorchester Hotel, as that was where she usually stayed when in London. Just as we got there, we saw Julie alight from a car with her two assistants. We ran to try to catch up with her before she went up to the suite. The elevator doors went “ping” but we had caught up with her.
She was very friendly, thanked us for the flowers, chatted with us and even let us take photos with her. I once again got the chance to look into her beautiful eyes - bliss!
I would say that Julie had come straight from the taping of the Aspel & Company talk show that aired the same week, as she was wearing the same clothes and earrings as in the program. I was lucky enough to catch the program on TV later the same week. Host Michael Aspel had Tom Jones and Leslie Crowther as the other guests. At the end of the program, Leslie declares his love for Julie, saying that [in The Sound of Music] she skyrocketed out from the screen and everybody fell in love with her. I concur.
Finally, the day of the opening. It opened at what is now known as the Odeon Covent Garden. It was not what I had expected it to be, there was no red carpet, no celebrities and no Julie - just us fans and ordinary cinemagoers. As I had already seen the film I knew that paper tissues might come in handy, so I asked the cinema manager if I could hand out tissues to the moviegoers. He said yes, but only if I did it outside the cinema and not in the foyer. Though most people smiled at me as I offered them the tissues, I may have involuntarily offended some moviegoers with Multiple Sclerosis or their families. This was not my intention, so please accept my apologies for not thinking it through.
My week in London had come to an end but what a week it had been - meeting Julie, seeing her excel in what is her best dramatic role to date.
Anders
Tidbit: Julie Andrews was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress, both for Duet For One (Drama) and for That’s Life! (Musical or Comedy), but didn’t win in either category. (Source: en.wikipedia.o...)
Find the movie "Duet For One" (blocked in the USA) here: • Duet For One (1986, BL...
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Sources:
Julie Andrews Duet For One On The Set Interview • Julie Andrews "DUET FO... (you may also consider joining David McDuff’s Facebook page Julie Andrews: Her Life and Career in Pictures) / damejulieandrews )
Aspel & Co interview • Video
Julie Andrews Show - The Sound of Mysen (1978) • Julie Andrews Show - T...
Julie Andrews' magnificent, extraordinary and powerful performance in Duet for One is a triumph. She does wonders as an actress and achieves such greatness as a virtuoso facing her mortality. She should have not only been nominated for an Oscar - she should also have won one. Bravo, Julie!
Faye Dunaway was reportedly cast in the role but had to cancel for some reason. I'm so glad Julie did it instead. I can just imagine Faye overacting (a la Joan Crawford) in this film, Ugh
When I first saw this film I was overwhelmed by her performance. She was so convincing , so true as Stephanie Anderson. I cannot understand why the film did not succeed at the box office. As Shams said before I too think it 's one of Julie's finest roles. Of course I love her other movies but Duet for One is special. She is a great actress.
I saw this on the day it opened in Charleston. As a nurse, I thought Julie’s performance researched and informed with genuine sensitivity. Julie has said it was her most challenging role as well as her best dramatic performance. I concur on all levels. It premiered during the Christmas holidays which accounted for some of its lackluster numbers, but apparently the studio was going bankrupt, so there was little money spent to publicize or promote the film. Wish it could be re-released if some other studios bought the rights. Fantastic performance by Julie!! She really deserved an Oscar for this non-singing, non-Blake role.
@@rhondaferris1648 I couldn't agree more.
She did indeed rocket out of that screen and into our lives.
Great movie and Julie was was absolutely fantastic 👏👏👏👏
Awwwwwww Nooooo
Christopher Plummer has died.
The greatest movie ever made.
The Sound of Music...
R. I. P.
Kinda funny how they use background music from "Victor/Victoria" for the scene by the famous tree.