Film Version
Ken Russell's 1971 film version of the show, starring Twiggy and Christopher Gable, was an alternative interpretation, weaving the basic plot into a more complicated story in which a seaside dramatic company, performing the show, is visited by a film producer (Vladek Sheybal) on the very night that the leading lady (Glenda Jackson) has to be replaced by her shy understudy Polly Browne (Twiggy). It also contained references to numerous other Busby Berkeley and MGM movie musicals of the 1930s.The film marked one of the final screen appearances of actor/director Max Adrian. The National Board of Review voted Ken Russell best director, and Twiggy won two Golden Globe awards as best newcomer and best actress (musical/comedy), but the film did not make a significant impact on the American box-office, perhaps because MGM edited it down to 109 minutes. (MGM/UA Classics' Michael Schlesinger reissued the full version theatrically in 1987.) It was released to DVD on April 12, 2011, as part of the Warner Archive Collection, a series of made-to-order DVDs. The disc is remastered and is the 136-minute version.
Wilson's original score was freely adapted and augmented by Peter Maxwell Davies for the film. Davies subsequently prepared (and recorded) a concert suite based on the music
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