The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
Encyclopedia
The Last of the Blonde Bombshells is a 2000
British
-American
television film directed by Gillies MacKinnon
. The script by Alan Plater
focuses on the efforts of a recently widowed woman to reunite the members of the World War II
-era swing band with which she played saxophone
.
It features Carry On actress Joan Sims
in her final acting performance before her death in 2001, and Romola Garai
in her first professional role.
The film was a joint project of BBC Films
and HBO. It premiered in the US on August 26 and in the UK on September 3.
with young guitar
ist Paul in a plaza overlooking a London
ice rink
, much to the dismay of her daughter Patricia and son Edward. One day she is spotted by Patrick, who attempted to avoid enlistment during World War II by dressing as a woman and playing drums with the Blonde Bombshells, a supposedly all-female band with which Elizabeth performed when she was only fifteen years old.
The two reminisce, prompting them to begin searching for other band members for a reunion concert at a school dance organized by Elizabeth's granddaughter Joanna. At first they have little success - one has died, another is suffering from dementia
, a third is serving time - but eventually they locate piano player Betty working in a seaside saloon, singer Gwen performing in a nightclub, trombonist
Annie dedicated to the Salvation Army
, and trumpet
er Dinah, an alcoholic living in a secluded manor in Scotland
.
Early rehearsals prove to be disastrous, but encouraged by Joanna and determined to shine in the limelight one more time, the group steadily improves. On the night of the dance, they are joined by double bass
player Madeleine, who had left the band to join the French Resistance
and finally was tracked down by Joanna. Embraced by the younger generation, they relive their former glory.
The present-day story is interspersed with flashback
s to the band in its wartime heyday that capture the music and atmosphere of the period.
observed that "despite delightful performances from a star-studded cast, the film's thoroughly predictable storyline and low-key charm are ultimately more a sedative than a tonic." He added, "Alan Plater's screenplay is pretty thin ... and director Gillies Mackinnon can't manage to make the finish as feel-good as it needs to be ... The soundtrack's nice, Richard Greatrex's cinematography is nice and the acting is quite nice. But taken together, these niceties wind up as members of the bland."
2000 in television
The year 2000 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2000.For the American TV schedule, see: 2000-01 United States network television schedule.-Event:-Debuts:-1940s:...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television film directed by Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon is a Scottish film director and writer.His film credits include Hideous Kinky, Small Faces and Regeneration.-Personal life:...
. The script by Alan Plater
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
focuses on the efforts of a recently widowed woman to reunite the members of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era swing band with which she played saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
.
It features Carry On actress Joan Sims
Joan Sims
Joan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...
in her final acting performance before her death in 2001, and Romola Garai
Romola Garai
Romola Sadie Garai is an English actress. She is known for appearing in the movies Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39, and for appearing in the BBC adaptation of Emma.-Early life:...
in her first professional role.
The film was a joint project of BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
and HBO. It premiered in the US on August 26 and in the UK on September 3.
Plot synopsis
After her husband's death, Elizabeth decides to return to her musical roots and begins buskingBusking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
with young guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Paul in a plaza overlooking a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
ice rink
Ice rink
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
, much to the dismay of her daughter Patricia and son Edward. One day she is spotted by Patrick, who attempted to avoid enlistment during World War II by dressing as a woman and playing drums with the Blonde Bombshells, a supposedly all-female band with which Elizabeth performed when she was only fifteen years old.
The two reminisce, prompting them to begin searching for other band members for a reunion concert at a school dance organized by Elizabeth's granddaughter Joanna. At first they have little success - one has died, another is suffering from dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
, a third is serving time - but eventually they locate piano player Betty working in a seaside saloon, singer Gwen performing in a nightclub, trombonist
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
Annie dedicated to the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Dinah, an alcoholic living in a secluded manor in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Early rehearsals prove to be disastrous, but encouraged by Joanna and determined to shine in the limelight one more time, the group steadily improves. On the night of the dance, they are joined by double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
player Madeleine, who had left the band to join the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
and finally was tracked down by Joanna. Embraced by the younger generation, they relive their former glory.
The present-day story is interspersed with flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s to the band in its wartime heyday that capture the music and atmosphere of the period.
Principal cast
- Judi DenchJudi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
..... Elizabeth - Romola GaraiRomola GaraiRomola Sadie Garai is an English actress. She is known for appearing in the movies Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39, and for appearing in the BBC adaptation of Emma.-Early life:...
..... Young Elizabeth - Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
..... Patrick - Joan SimsJoan SimsJoan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...
..... Betty - Olympia DukakisOlympia DukakisOlympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
..... Dinah - Cleo LaineCleo LaineDame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
..... Gwen - Leslie CaronLeslie CaronLeslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...
..... Madeleine - Billie WhitelawBillie WhitelawBillie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
..... Evelyn - June WhitfieldJune WhitfieldJune Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
..... Annie - Valentine PelkaValentine PelkaValentine Pelka is an English actor who has starred in film and on television.-Biography:Pelka was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire to an actress mother and a civil engineer father. His mother is Irish, and his father is Polish. His sister is Kazia Pelka an actress who starred in Brookside, amongst...
....Leslie - Millie Findlay ..... Joanna
- Felicity DeanFelicity DeanFelicity Dean is a British film, stage and television actress.-Early life:Dean was born as Felicity Jane Dean at St George's Hospital at Hyde Park Corner London in 1959. She attended the Hurst Lodge School in Sunningdale England...
..... Patricia - Nicholas Palliser ..... Edward
- Dom Chapman ..... Paul
Critical reception
Steven Oxman of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
observed that "despite delightful performances from a star-studded cast, the film's thoroughly predictable storyline and low-key charm are ultimately more a sedative than a tonic." He added, "Alan Plater's screenplay is pretty thin ... and director Gillies Mackinnon can't manage to make the finish as feel-good as it needs to be ... The soundtrack's nice, Richard Greatrex's cinematography is nice and the acting is quite nice. But taken together, these niceties wind up as members of the bland."
Awards and nominations
- British Academy Television Award for Best ActressBritish Academy Television Awards 2001The 2001 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday May 13, 2001. The ceremony took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.-Winners:*Best Actor**Winner: Michael Gambon — Longitude...
(Judi Dench, winner) - Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Judi Dench, winner)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a MoviePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a MovieThis is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.From 1973 to 1978, the category was divided into two separate categories .Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, guest performances in regular television series were...
(Judi Dench, nominee) - Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie (Ian Holm, nominee)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting - Miniseries, Movie, or a Special (nominee)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (nominee)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (nominee)
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie (Judi Dench, nominee)
- American Comedy AwardAmerican Comedy AwardsThe American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States from 1987 to 2001 recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films...
for Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special (Judi Dench, nominee)