Me and the Girls

This 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.

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....?

If 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!