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Unmade Movies: Harold Pinter's The Dreaming Child
Unmade Movies: Harold Pinter's The Dreaming Child
Nov 15, 2024 3:20 PM

Author:Harold Pinter,Karen Blixen,Full Cast,Lydia Leonard,Bertie Carvel,Rose Leslie,Anne Reid

Unmade Movies: Harold Pinter's The Dreaming Child

Harold Pinter's unproduced screenplay of Karen Blixen's intriguing short story of love and loss

'An important addition to the Pinter canon' The Stage

The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks.

The Dreaming Child, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, is an eerie, enigmatic drama set in Bristol in 1868. Emily Carter, married to a wealthy man, is haunted by her first love, who died at sea. Unable to have children, she and her husband Tom adopt a young slum child - but Jack is no ordinary boy, and seems to have an uncanny knowledge of his new home and family...

Renowned for his critically-acclaimed plays, Harold Pinter also wrote many outstanding film scripts, including Accident, Betrayal and The Pumpkin Eater. The Dreaming Child was commissioned in 1997 by actress Julia Ormond, who wanted to produce and direct, but the project never got the green light - until now.Lydia Leonard (Last Christmas) stars as Emily, with Bertie Carvel (The Sister) as Tom, Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) as Peggy and Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax) as the narrator, who provides the 'establishing shots' - the stage directions and descriptions from the screenplay. Moving, mesmerising and mysterious, this remarkable production is a triumphant fulfilment of Pinter's great artistic vision.

Production credits

Written by Harold Pinter

Based on 'The Dreaming Child' by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

Adapted by Joanna Hogg and Laurence Bowen

Directed by Joanna Hogg

Produced by Laurence Bowen

Sound design: Wilfredo Acosta

A Feelgood Fiction production for BBC Radio 4

Cast

Narrator - Anne Reid

Emily - Lydia Leonard

Tom - Bertie Carvel

Charlie - Joshua Silver

Mrs Jones - Joanna Scanlan

Miss Scott - Susan Woolridge

Jack - Jack Hollington

Peggy - Rose Leslie

Bess - Bryony Hannah

Mr Rudd - Karl Johnson

Mr Carter - Malcolm Sinclair

Children - Flynn Allen, Esme Allen-Quarmby, Isabella Blake-Thomas & Joey Price

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 March 2015

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Reviews

An important addition to the Pinter canon

—— The Stage

This new book of conversations, photos and speeches is a beautifully presented, coffee table-friendly smorgasbord of uplift . . . Annotated versions of Obama speeches on their original notepaper, most movingly his passionate and compassionate eulogy for civil rights activist John Lewis ("like John, we have to keep getting into good trouble"), feel like a window on to history, as, to a lesser extent, do rather more pristine, handwritten Springsteen lyrics

—— iNews

One may be a songwriter and the other a politician but Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama are both gifted storytellers who have crafted a story about themselves and their nation . . . Renegades reminds us that despite the hardness of the world and the challenges that demand to be faced there still exists the promise of better days

—— Sarfraz Manzoor

In this beautifully curated coffee-table book, which bulks up the extended podcast transcripts with photographs, annotated speeches and handwritten song lyrics to lend a degree of polished intimacy, these American heavyweights find the silver linings adorning even the darkest of clouds

—— The Times

Renegades: Born in the USA is human, vulnerable, smart, and passionate . . . Obama and Springsteen admire their country while considering its shortcomings and still come out the other side with a sense of patriotism and hope that spills over the bounds of a book

—— Associated Press

A collection of intimate and thoughtful conversations between the President and the Boss

—— Los Angeles Times

Do you dream of scoring an invitation to Springsteen's Colts Neck compound? Maybe strumming on those guitars, riding horses, riffing on the American experiment in the recording studio? Unless you're an American president, you're going to have to get in line. But in between daydreams, pick up Renegades. It's the closest thing to being a fly on the wall of an incredible friendship

—— Esquire

Mark that young man, he will make a name for himself in the world

—— Mozart after hearing the young Beethoven play

Tunbridge has come up with the seemingly impossible: a new way of approaching Beethoven's life and music . . . and in every chapter a superb - and accessible to non-musicians - analysis of the music . . . profoundly original and hugely readable

—— John Suchet, author Beethoven: The Man Revealed

Remarkable . . . she captures the essence of his genius and character. I'll always want to keep it in easy reach

—— Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the third Reich

Illuminating . . . deftly gathers in the connections . . . In 288 pages, Tunbridge gives us detail enough to create a rounded portrait . . . She makes us marvel at Beethoven all the more

—— Fiona Maddocks , Observer

You don't have to be a music scholar to enjoy this brilliant, and pleasingly concise book. But, if you don't love Beethoven, both the man and his music, when you start, you should by the time you finish

—— Roger Alton , Daily Mail

Cuts straight to the action . . . Tunbridge balances the traditional narrative of universal, timeless genius, of innovation before its time, with a pragmatic, jobbing musician working hard to make a living

—— Alexandra Coghlan , Spectator

Compact but also rewarding...a lot of information is packed into her musical portraits

—— Richard Fairman , Financial Times

Laura Tunbridge finds something fresh to say about Beethoven by looking at his life through nine pieces... An entertaining way to celebrate the great man's 250th birthday

—— James Marriott , Sunday Times Books of the Year

A twinkling elucidation of concert life in Vienna... fluent, concise and engaging

—— Paul Griffith , Times Literary Supplement

Laura Tunbridge, in her new biographical study, has found an elegant way to give Beethovenian heroism and struggle its due, while slyly plucking at the reverse of Solomon's martial banner... Each chapter delivers its little shock of correction

—— James Wood , London Review of Books

Laura Tunbridge offers a timely portrait of the composer in an elegant biography . . . refreshingly, [she] focuses on the man rather than the myth. Knowledgeable and humane, this is a deeply sympathetic portrait of a turbulent musical genius

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail

Tunbridge never stints on musical description, nor compromises her admirable rigour, while her prose is vivid, crystal-clear and never less than fascinating . . . a wonderfully rewarding book

—— Jessica Duchen , Classical Music Magazine

Simmering with sexual tension, this hugely enjoyable ensemble narrative turns on a raucous party.

—— Mail on Sunday

Malibu Rising is finely crafted commercial fiction, escapism in high definition, a quintessential beach read... If Nina Riva's party is the hottest ticket of the summer, then Malibu Rising is a front-row seat at the main event.

—— Irish Times

A gorgeous, sun-soaked novel that delves into the glamour and desperate hope of 1980s Malibu, and the saga of a family that will never be the same again.

—— The Skinny

The perfect summer novel, a vibrant story filled with sun, surfing, and flawed but lovable characters.

—— Daily Beast

After a year where most people stayed home, it's a great time to escape to the beach, even if only through Reid's writing.

—— Independent

This glamourous, compulsive novel is best enjoyed from your sun lounger with a cocktail in hand.

—— Good Housekeeping

A deliciously decadent tale of sex, tragedy, celebrity, surfboards and tanned skin in 1980s Malibu.

—— The Times

I absolutely loved her book.... It's an absolute blast to read

—— Alice- Azania Jarvis

JACKIE COLLINS, BUT BETTER Sacrilege to say "better", I know, but there we are. Set in the 1980s, Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising is wonderfully written, intensely evocative and concerns the model/ surfer children of a rock star. Tons of glamour, tons of sharply observed insights about sibling relationships, plus a massive party. Beach read par excellence. See also her brilliant Daisy Jones & the Six, which is heaven (more rock stars).

—— Anonymous

When we picked up Malibu Rising, the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, we could barely put it down

—— That's Life

You'll never want this book to end, it will suck you in and spit you out!

—— Muddy Stilettos
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