Julie Christie

TCM is running a marathon of Julie Christie's filmography, beginning with her debut The Fast Lady and ending with 1977's Demonseed. I've always loved the actress so I have cleared out all the room on the DVR, and will be watching these films all week. I didn't record Dr. Zhivago, The Go-Between, or Shampoo; the latter because they're available through Netflix Instant, and the former because it is just too fucking long.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Don't Look Now are two of my all-time favorites, and Julie Christie is a large part of why. She's amazing. She absolutely kills in every role I've seen her, and she's truly stunning. It's a shame (but not surprising) then that her film debut isn't up to her later standards. The Fast Lady is not good. At all. The title comes from a sports car Stanley Baxter stupidly purchases to get the attention of Christie's superficial, spoiled daughter of an auto tycoon. It's an attempt at silly comedy that fails 100% at being remotely funny.

As with every character in The Fast Lady, Julie Christie's has no arc, or any seeming emotional investment in anything going on. But, wowww. In 1963, the 22 year old actress was looking good. The two scenes of Christie in a swimsuit made all 106 minutes worth it. Besides her looks though, Christie acts just like everyone else here: not very well. She doesn't embarrass herself or anything. It's more likely that director Ken Annakin (SERIOUSLY) had no interest in telling her to do anything except look incredibly sexy. She does have much more presence than anyone else onscreen. Thank God someone recognized that and gave her more and better roles.

The Fast Lady: 3.0/10
Julie Christie in The Fast Lady: 6.0/10 (expect these to always be bloated, my love is my bias)



Next: Jack Cardiff's 1965 biopic Young Cassidy