Richardson's film, an adaptation of Marguerite Duras, seems something like a shaggy-dog story. It has a fabulous beginning with couple Ian Bannen and Vanessa Redgrave in Florence and nearby, he utterly disillusioned with life; he leaves her and hooks up with a mysterious 'American' Jeanne Moreau, who's cruising the Mediterranean trying to find a lost love. The journey takes us to Greece, then Africa, and finally Alexandria, where nothing is resolved.
It's a rare film now, for some reason, though luckily TCM had screened it at some point, in a nice clean copy, albeit at 1.6:1 cropped from a wider ratio. It looks lovely, photographed by Raoul Coutard. Tony Gibbs is the supervising editor, working with Brian Smedley-Aston and Bill Blunden, and the music's by Antoine Duhamel.
Orson Welles and Hugh Griffith pop up briefly.
Christoper Isherwood and Don Magner also worked on the script. Truffaut's Suzanne Schiffman is the script girl. No credit for whoever designed the fabulous credits scene.
Tony Richardson's autobiography 'Look Back in Anger' tells us that though he and Vanessa Redgrave were still in a relationship, he was also dating Jeanne Moreau at the same time. And that Ian Bannen was a hideous person - he couldn't act anything like an emotional or love scene, and at one point punched Moreau in the face. Unbelievable. I would have fired him. And pressed criminal charges.
Actually it's not called that - it's called 'The Long-Distance Runner'. I only bought it in the hope that I'd find out more about his relationship with Tony Gibbs - but on that subject he had nothing to say.
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