LAST OF THE BLONDE BOMBSHELLS, THE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film follows an elderly widow's attempts to reassemble the members of her World War II-era swing band. The story begins in England as septuagenarian Elizabeth is struck with inconveniently pleasant memories during her husband George's funeral, and though she assures her adult children Patricia and Edward that her quiet life will remain largely the same, she soon finds her old saxophone and tells her young granddaughter Joanna all about playing in nightclubs with her fellow "Blonde Bombshells" during the "upside-down world" days of WWII. She begins playing music on street corners with a young guitarist, Paul, and is surprised by a visit from Patrick, who played drums with the Bombshells while dressed in drag. They reminisce about their time in the band as Patrick introduces her to his eccentric lodgers, and Elizabeth recalls the day the band was "discovered" by a man from BBC radio.
Patricia and Edward are highly dismayed by their mother's new hobby, despite her explanation that she plays with Paul for "art," not for money, and all the more so by her new gentleman caller, Patrick. Elizabeth and Patrick then begin to wonder if they can reassemble the Bombshells to play at Joanna's school dance, though one member, Evelyn, turns out to be in prison, while another, Annie, has turned her focus solely to Christian music. Betty, however, is still playing music professionally and reveals that she kept all of the Bombshells' old 1940s-style costumes, but two others have died, Madeleine is "missing in action," and Dinah has moved to the States. Another Bombshell, Gwen, calls and reveals that she has taken up singing in place of the trumpet and now lives in Wolverhampton, and Patrick manages to persuade Annie to join them with the promise of a sizable donation to her religious charity. Elizabeth finds that Dinah has returned to the U.K. and lives in Scotland, and in the past, the BBC man notices that one the Bombshells is decidedly not female and has Patrick arrested for dodging his military service.
Patrick tries to win over Elizabeth's skeptical children by assuring them of his good intentions, though Elizabeth is annoyed to discover that he has been using her own money to woo her and refuses to accompany him to Scotland to visit Dinah, taking a luxury train instead. Dinah, now a wealthy divorcée and alcoholic, wonders if Patrick has "completed the set" by bedding Elizabeth, revealing that the many roses painted on his drum set represented the many Bombshells that he had successfully romanced, including herself. Patrick admits to many past mistakes and declares that he has fallen in love with Elizabeth, though she is doubtful. Dinah accompanies the pair back to London, and Evelyn is soon released from prison with her friends' help and happily rejoins the band. The other Bombshells tell Elizabeth, who was a mere 15-year-old schoolgirl at the time, about the day that their plans to play for "the Yanks" went awry when the nightclub was bombed and the ladies belatedly realized that Patrick had proposed to nearly all of them – and in fact married one woman – leading to an argument and several resignations.
The first rehearsal goes badly and the remaining Bombshells seem prepared to abandon the venture, though Joanna sternly shames them into continuing with the gig. Everyone is amazed when the glamorous Madeleine reappears and explains that she joined the French Resistance during the war, and in the past, Elizabeth receives her first "grown-up kiss" from Patrick as he is shipped off to join the fight. On the day of the school dance, the Bombshells are taken aback by their opening act, a loud and raucous punk band called Open Wound, but Joanna then proudly introduces her grandmother and Elizabeth takes the stage and highlights her fellow Bombshells' unusual and colorful lives. Edward watches with pride as his mother and her friends play a few impressive tunes, and Gwen, arriving late, notices that Patrick has added another rose to his drum, meaning that he has indeed finally "completed the set." Elizabeth then describes the Bombshells' exciting post-gig lives, noting that she herself still refuses to marry her rascally paramour.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 26, 2000 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:23:16
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 100161
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Musicians; World War II; Swing music; Romance
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Simon Wright … Executive Producer
- Su Armstrong … Producer
- Olive Segré … Producer
- Analisa Barreto … Co-Producer
- Steve Garrad … Digital Effects Producer
- Gillies MacKinnon … Director
- Alan Plater … Writer
- John Keane … Music by
- Quinny Sacks … Choreographer
- Judi Dench … Cast, Elizabeth
- Ian Holm … Cast, Patrick
- Leslie Caron … Cast, Madeleine
- Olympia Dukakis … Cast, Dinah
- Cleo Laine … Cast, Gwen
- Joan Sims … Cast, Betty
- Billie Whitelaw … Cast, Evelyn
- June Whitfield … Cast, Annie
- Thelma Ruby … Cast, Vera
- Millie Findlay … Cast, Joanna
- Felicity Dean … Cast, Patricia
- Nicholas Pallister … Cast, Edward
- Valentine Pelka … Cast, Leslie
- Carla MacKinnon … Cast, Carol
- Dom Chapman … Cast, Paul
- John Warnaby … Cast, Hibbert
- James Cosmo … Cast, McNab
- Romola Garai … Cast, Young Elizabeth
- Saskia Vale … Cast, Young Betty
- Grant Ibbs … Cast, Young Patrick
- Ria-Belinda Mundell … Cast, Young Gwen
- Patricia Valentine … Cast, Young Annie
- Laura Crossley … Cast, Young Evelyn
- Lucy Voller … Cast, Young Dinah
- Kate Maberly … Cast, Young Madeleine
- Clemency Burton-Hill … Cast, Young Vera
- Lucy Pawlby … Cast, Young Joan
- Harry Jones … Cast, The Wee Man
- Peter Youngblood-Hills … Cast, Al
- Kathryn Pogson … Cast, Young Elizabeth's Mum