Themes: Social Climbing, Ladder to the Top, Playing the Field
Main Cast: Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Harvey, Roland Curram, José-Luis de Villalonga
Release Year: 1965
Country: UK
Run Time: 124 minutes
Plot
Julie Christie won an Oscar for her portrayal of a bored, amoral fashion model in this cynical melodrama from director John Schlesinger. Following the break-up of a teenage marriage, Diana Scott (Christie) drifts into the world of modeling and acting, where she meets a television news reporter, Robert Gold (Dirk Bogarde), who leaves his family for her and introduces her to a more powerful and wealthy set. Soon Diana meets somebody more attractive: public relations mogul Miles Brand (Laurence Harvey). After briefly leaving and then drifting back into Robert's life, experiencing an orgy and even getting an abortion, Diana eventually leaves the swinging London scene behind and settles down to an unfulfilling if comfortable life as the wife of millionaire Italian widower Cesare (Jose-Luis deVillalonga). Shocking in its day, Darling (1965) won Oscars for its costumes and script from Frederic Raphael. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Few films provided more accurate commentary on London's Swinging Sixties than Darling: manifesting the era's amoral, carefree hedonism in its title character, the film is a satirical stab at a time and place too often padded by the forgiving dementia of nostalgia. Under the direction of John Schlesinger, the film skewers social values and any number of social types, from BBC intellectuals to empty-headed socialites to fashion world sycophants. A sly and witty two-hour dissection of what was wrong with contemporary England, Darling found its perfect case in point in Julie Christie's titular model. Alluring but shallow, vivacious but fickle, Christie's Darling is anything but a darling, providing both a central metaphor and a lightning rod for the film's ongoing ironic commentary. The fact that Christie won an Oscar for her disturbing portrayal points to her effectiveness as an actress and the resounding chord that her character struck among viewers and critics. Social satire had rarely come in a more photogenic package and was thus all the more devastating. Although centered on a distinct era and setting, Darling's satire remains as fresh and eviscerating as it was in 1965: how many viewers can fail to recognize the hypocrisies that continue to mark modern life? Timeless on almost any level, Darling is both a glorious indictment and a calculating documentation of an unforgettable time and place. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Basil Henson - Alec Prosser-Jones; Helen Lindsay - Felicity Prosser-Jones; Peter Bayliss - Lord Grant; Tyler Butterworth - William Presser-Jones; Annette Carell - Billie Castiglione; Georgina Cookson - Carlotta Hale; James Cossins - Basildon; Hugo Dixon - Matthew Southgate; Ann Firbank - Sybil; John Heller - Gerhard; Angus MacKay - Ivor Dawlish; Umberto Raho - Palucci; Irene Richmond - Mrs. Glass; Alex Scott - Sean Martin; Lydia Sherwood - Lady Brentwood; Brian Wilde - Willett; Pauline Yates - Estelle Gold; Jean Claudio - Raoul Maxim; Marika Rivera - Woman; Ernst Walder - Kurt; Richard Bidlake - Rupert Crabtree; Sidonie Bond - Gillian; Margaret Gordon - Helen Dawlish; Carlo Palmucci - Curzio; Dante Posani - Gino; Lucille Soong - Allie
Credit
Victor Lyndon - Associate Producer, Miriam Brickman - Casting, Julie Harris - Costume Designer, Kip Gowans - First Assistant Director, John Schlesinger - Director, Jim Clark - Editor, Johnny Dankworth - Composer (Music Score), Bob Lawrence - Makeup, John Harris - Camera Operator, Ray Simm - Production Designer, Ken Higgins - Cinematographer, Joseph Janni - Producer, David Ffolkes - Set Designer, Ray Simm - Set Designer, Frederic Raphael - Screenwriter
Darling, river, 1,702 mi (2,739 km) long, rising in the Eastern Highlands, NE New South Wales and SE Queensland, Australia, and flowing SW across New South Wales into the Murray River at Wentworth. It is the longest river in Australia. Although it receives numerous tributaries in its upper course, the Darling has dried up on several occasions. The river is used extensively for irrigation, and the combined Murray-Darling basin supports more than 40% of Australia's agriculture. It was visited in 1828 by Charles Sturt, an English explorer.
Darling is a 1965British comedy/drama film written by Frederic Raphael, directed by John Schlesinger, and starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Harvey. It is considered one of Schlesinger's best films and an insightful satire of mid-sixties British culture. It was a breakout role for young actress Julie Christie, who, much like her character Diana, went on to become an international star.
Darling tells the story of a trendy young woman named Diana Scott who uses her sex appeal to achieve fame and fortune. Initially she draws the attention of a television journalist (Dirk Bogarde) and convinces him to give up his family to be with her. After growing increasingly bored with this relationship, she begins moving and sleeping around in the upper circles of society. She secures increasingly important modeling and acting roles, attracting the attention of the international nobility, but real happiness proves harder to attain.
The movie was nominated for six BAFTA Awards and won four: Best British Actress -Julie Christie; Best British Actor - Dirk Bogarde; Best British Art Direction - Ray Simm; and Best British Screenplay - Frederic Raphael.
