Discovering this was a lucky fluke. Scene (1968 - ) was a collection of 225 short films aimed at school and college students. Many deal with serious, dare I say preachy sounding topics like homophobia, racism, women's liberation. Others probably have not aged well, especially one presented by Jimmy Savile. As far as I can tell without wasting too much time, very few can be seen online, probably no great loss. But at the time of writing this one can, and it has the feel of a short play.
Peter Firth play Ben Bagot, a teenage Walter Mitty whose humdrum job in a shoe shop contrasts with his dreams of greatness. There are occasional flashes of the wide-eyed enthusiasm he would bring seven years later to The Flipside of Dominick Hide. Clare Sutcliffe gives a sweet, poignant performance as his pregnant, more down to earth girlfriend Laura. Optimistically she suggests practical endeavours like night school, but he yearns to be James Bond. Ben and Laura are supposed to be 17, probably few would have guessed Clare was 30 in 1973 - being just 5 foot 3 with cherubic looks made her a natural for youthful roles. Of the other characters Jack Shepherd is the most memorable as Ben's former English teacher who he mercilessly humiliated, if only in his daydreams.
I assume the educational purpose of this entertaining playlet was to warn young girls against getting involved with idle dreamers.
Peter Firth play Ben Bagot, a teenage Walter Mitty whose humdrum job in a shoe shop contrasts with his dreams of greatness. There are occasional flashes of the wide-eyed enthusiasm he would bring seven years later to The Flipside of Dominick Hide. Clare Sutcliffe gives a sweet, poignant performance as his pregnant, more down to earth girlfriend Laura. Optimistically she suggests practical endeavours like night school, but he yearns to be James Bond. Ben and Laura are supposed to be 17, probably few would have guessed Clare was 30 in 1973 - being just 5 foot 3 with cherubic looks made her a natural for youthful roles. Of the other characters Jack Shepherd is the most memorable as Ben's former English teacher who he mercilessly humiliated, if only in his daydreams.
I assume the educational purpose of this entertaining playlet was to warn young girls against getting involved with idle dreamers.