Part of the BBC Noel Coward collection, "Me & the Girls" opens with a man ("George", played by Tom Courtenay) in a hospital bed, reminiscing about the days gone by with his dance troupe. Then we're back in the hospital room, with a man saying good night to him, and his various friends pop by to say hello and catch up, like Mavis (Nichola McAuliffe). She was also the voice of James Bond's car, and was in Dr. Who. Lots of flashbacks going on, like with ex-lover Robert Glenister ("Harry" ), who was ALSO in the Dr. Who series. Another friend who stops by is Catherine Rabett (Sally), who had actually dated Prince Andrew for a bit. Open, honest, early British story of a charming gay man, dying in the hospital, remembering the highs and lows of his life. Too bad they don't list the music used in this - there is a beautiful classical piece they use over and over, but I can't place it - hopefully someone else can....?
Add a Review
-
ksf-231 October 2008
-
Dick-10819 November 2001This is a quite beautiful story of a gay man dying of cancer. He thinks back on his life with "the girls" (the dance group of which he is the manager and single male performer) and with the love of his life, Harry, tragically killed. A great performance by Tom Courtenay that should be on tape. One of the few stories by Noel Coward that features an openly gay leading character.
-
bgray319 April 2003If anyone is not aware, the entire STAR QUALITY series is now available on DVD on the BBC NOEL COWARD COLLECTION. This is a seven-disc set but well worth the cost. Perhaps one could find it as I did on an eBay auction. It's wonderful to have them. In addition to the STAR QUALITY short story sequence there's a grand PRESENT LAUGHTER starring Donald Sinden in the leading role originally played by Coward himself. There's also the complete TONIGHT AT 8:30 series of one-act plays written for himself and Gertrude Lawrence. The current series stars Joan Collins playing the Lawrence roles and she's quite good in some of them. There's also a PRIVATE LIVES, HAY FEVER, SUITE IN TWO KEYS -- everything, in fact, except BLITHE SPIRIT. Thank you, BBC!
-
writers_reign31 December 2013I've been working my way through a 7-disc set of Noel Coward plays and short stories adapted for and transmitted by(mostly) the BBC and I saved disc 6 for the last because I remembered how impressed I was by Tom Courtney's outstanding performance in Me And The Girls, and, having watched the other six discs I was ready to award Me And The Girls the best thing in the set but then I watched the other two short stories adapted for TV on the same disc and conclude that disc 6 is THE disc in the set. Me And The Girls is the first playlet and my memory had not played me false; Tom Courtney is Magnificent as George, a gay song and dance man looking back over his life as he lies in a Swiss hospital bed suffering from terminal cancer. Because of the setting, the time-frame (1938) and George's job - he is touring with a group of girls in Switzerland - there are echoes of Robert E. Sherwood's Idiot's Delight at the outset but only briefly. I've never been a particular fan of Tom Courtney but this is light years ahead of anything in which I have seen him on stage or screen and his performance complements perfectly Coward's exceptional writing. A real gem.