Wednesday, July 30, 2014

David Hemmings in Venice for the premiere of The Turn of the Screw, 1954



When I looked for some photos from the set of Blow-Up on GettyImages, I did not find any I could embed here. But the video of the film's locations then and now has proved popular.

What I did find were some embeddable pictures taken of David Hemmings when he was 12 and in Venice to sing the role of Miles in the premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw. Yes, before he was an actor he was a singer.

Though there are questions to be asked about Britten's relationships with boys, Hemmings always maintained that nothing untoward happened.

Interviewed for Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Britten, David Hemmings said:
"Did I feel that he was desperately fond of me? I suppose I did, but I must say I thought far more in a sort of fatherly fashion; and I had a a very bad father-son relationship ... There is no man in my entire life that has been more influential on my attitudes than Ben."
Oh, and nice choice of sandals, Mrs Hemmings.

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