Ann, The Queen, And Narnia

Ann, one of my oldest friends, is in London with her husband and two daughters for the world premiere of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." The Queen attends and Ann's daughter gives her a bouquet of flowers, pictured (Ann behind her). My photo taken from the Big Screen inside the Odeon Theatre where the Queen's greeting line transmuted. Narnia the child of CS Lewis and everything about it is English : the author, the story and setting, the actors and the Director Michael Apted who is from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. While Narnia may be a prototypical Hollywood blockbuster, it is also important for British film which struggles despite its creative talent and recognised actors. I cannot think of the last successful British export - "Shaun Of The Dead" or "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" maybe? Trainspotting, certainly, but that was 1996. Soo .. Leicester Square red-carpeted and blocked off for security; we pass inside along a row of 100 or so paps snapping away. The Queen and Prince Philip enter the theatre last, as is the custom, and enjoy a four-trumpet salute and the national anthem "God Save The Queen." We are twenty-feet from her and ze Prince who, as ever, is dashing and typically bemused - he is always smirking it seems. Sonnet thinks the Queen "regal;" me - I think she looks like a sweet grandmother. And, yes, she is moral backbone and guiding compass of the nation. May she live as long as the Queen Mum.

Afterwords there is a small post-screening party at the Sanderson and we admire the movie's stars : Ben Barnes (dreamy); Georgia Henley (lovely dress, nice legs); Will Poulter (friendly, expressive). I find interesting the money men - clearly identifiable with wavy white hair, nice tans, funky glasses. Unlike my industry, they are less formal (even in tuxedos) and why not? given they are financing fantasy. Money may be a driver but it is not the only driver. These guys retain their inner child.

So here is the plot, which gets a five-star review in today's Daily Mail : "Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world."

"Rosebud."

--Charles Foster Kane

“Do you still throw spears at each other?”

--Prince Philip to an Aborigine in Australia