Late Flowering Lust is a television film starring Nigel Hawthorne, based on the poetry of John Betjeman. Produced by Caroline Speed and directed by David Hinton, it first aired on BBC2 on 8 May 1994. The film features performances by the dancers of Adventures in Motion Pictures, set to the music of Jim Parker.
When Cousin John is invited to a pre-War weekend house party in Home Counties Betjeman land, he is taken aback by the beauty of the gels. His hosts, the Faircloughs, are of the older generation and the daughter and all her friends are of the younger one.[1] The bright young things cavort through their social litany: tennis, golf, swimming, cycling, even a pheasant shoot. Cousin John is left on the fringes of the activity, watching wistfully.
Rosemary Allen, Scott Ambler, Matthew Bourne, Ally Fitzpatrick, Maxine Fone, Andrew George, Etta Murfitt and Simon Murphy from Adventures in Motion Pictures portray the bright young things.
Production
Late Flowering Lust arose from Nigel Hawthorne's appreciation for Betjeman's poetry[2] and was originally conceived as a theatre production by Hawthorne and his partner, Trevor Bentham. However, when approached by producer Douglas Rae, they opted for a film version to keep open the possibility of a later stage run.[3] They proposed involving Adventures in Motion Pictures and inviting Matthew Bourne to choreograph the film.[2] Hawthorne, portraying Cousin John, described the character as "an amalgam of Betjeman, myself and my father".[4]
Filming took place over two weeks in the summer of 1993.[5][2] The house featured was Benington Lordship, near Stevenage in Hertfordshire.[2] The park and gardens of Benington Lordship and the 19th-century gatehouse also featured in the production.
Jim Parker's music, originally composed for the albums Banana Blush, Late Flowering Love (both 1974) and Varsity Rag (1981),[6] was performed by the Nash Ensemble under Parker's direction.[7] Hawthorne recited the poetry of John Betjeman.
Hawthorne mentioned in a 1994 interview that a stage version was planned for the following February,[8] but it never came to fruition.
Late Flowering Lust received widespread praise following its initial broadcast.[9]
Max Davidson notes that "the point about lust for Betjeman was that it was real and potent and ubiquitous", while saying that "Hawthorne simpering at a girl in tennis shorts was experiencing nothing stronger than the humiliation Sir Humphrey Appleby might feel if his secretary turned up in a short skirt."[10]
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