Peter Duffell

Playing Piano in a Brothel - M E M O I R S O F a F I L M D I R E C T O R Peter Duffell

"In my opinion Peter Duffell is the most under-rated director we have had in Britain for a very long time. I am sure this book will be a great success and will help people to understand how films are made, particularly when the result is clearly the work of a highly skilled hand." - Christopher Lee British Academy Award-winning director and writer Peter Duffell has made films in many countries. His account of his life as a film director - and his road thereto - take us on a fascinating journey through years' worth of tales of the films and TV shows he worked on, alongside some of the leading lights of the entertainment world. Duffell's first feature, a horror movie that has become an all-time cult favourite, mirrored his future work in that it starred some of the great stars of the era, inc. Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliot, Peter Cushing and Ingrid Pitt. He moved on to write the script of a book by one of his great heroes, Graham Greene, which he shot in Yugslavia starring Peter Finch, Michael York and Michael Hordern - and although Greene famously loathed almost every production of his work he was delighted with Duffell's England Made Me and the two became lifelong friends. Berlin beckoned, alongside Telly Savalas, Robert Culp and James Mason, in the shape of a Warner Bros caper movie set on both sides of the Wall. Then followed plans for a prestigious thriller set in Istanbul with agreed international top name billing. Back in Germany Duffell makes the beautifully interpreted Caught On A Train with Peggy Ashcroft and Michael Kitchen that earns him the great admiration of peers like Fred Zinneman, together with a coveted BAFTA for Best Director. He shares highly entertaining stories of off-screen drama whilst filming the epic movie "The Far Pavilions" - a brilliantly directed love story set in India among racism, violence, heat and dust, featuring many of the major stars of the time, including John Gielgud and Omar Sharif.