Photo Opportunity #49

Photo Opportunity #49

The first of the month already! How can that be? Our May Photo Opportunity ties in nicely with the current Where Eagles Dare retro vibe here on the Archive. 

Here’s a very rare photo featuring Clint taken in London during 1968. It is believed to be taken at a gala party held on May 7th 1969. There seems to be conflicting reports regarding this photo. Some suggest it was an after party for the London premiere of Rosemary’s Baby - but most sources suggest that wasn’t until January 23rd, 1969? Plus, by Feb 1969 – Clint was already on his way to Mexico to begin filming Two Mules for Sister Sara – so I suspect that would have been cutting it a bit too fine. 

I did a bit of further research based on the fact that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Ringo Star of The Beatles was also in attendance, and eventually discovered that this was the launch party for Rosemary's Baby held in London. It was quite a gathering with Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, David Bailey, Robert Mitchum and of course Roman Polanski. 

Clint was obviously still in London concluding the filming of Where Eagles Dare at the MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood. He is seen here chatting with actress Mia Farrow who was also filming in London with Richard Burton’s then wife Elizabeth Taylor in the film Secret Ceremony. 

Farrow’s hair was growing back from the extreme Vidal Sassoon cut which she wore in Rosemary’s Baby. Rosemary’s Baby had concluded filming in the December of 1967. Her hair is much darker here, which probably blended in better with the longer dark wig she wore in Secret Ceremony. 

Also clearly seen in the picture is actor Yul Brynner who was also in London filming the neo noir thriller, The File of the Golden Goose. I’m still not sure where this party was held, but should the information materialise, I will update this post. 

My kind thanks to Graham Rye for suppling this photo and Kevin Wilkinson for helping ease the headache!