‘Julie Christie is magnetic': on the set of party girl classic Darling

The Guardian

28-05-2025

Julie Christie had made little headway as an actor until she was cast in the comedy Billy Liar (after Topsy Jane, the original choice, had to pull out). The film's director John Schlesinger (pictured, right) was impressed with her performance and offered her the lead role in his next film. All images: © 1965 StudioCanal Films Ltd. Images preserved and supplied by the BFI Archive
Darling was a then-daring account of a 1960s party girl, Diana Scott, and her seemingly effortless rise to the top – only to find emptiness and disillusion there. Christie was reportedly incredibly nervous about her first lead role, and was often found asleep on the set, exhausted by the demanding schedule
Christie got on well with Dirk Bogarde, right, who played her lover, TV presenter Robert Gold. In his memoir Snakes and Ladders, Bogarde wrote: 'She has more magnetism or, if you like, star quality than any actress I have worked with'
Laurence Harvey, pictured right, was the film's other male lead, playing sleazy adman Miles Brand, who picks Scott as the 'Happiness girl' and takes her to a live sex show in Paris. Harvey, who had become a major star in 1958 with Room at the Top, was the first big name to commit to the film, ensuring the production could get off the ground
Paul Newman, Gregory Peck and Cliff Robertson had already turned down the role of Gold, which was originally written as an American journalist before Bogarde, left, came aboard
Schlesinger had a handful of substantial films under his belt before Darling, and was very much identified with the British new wave of the early 1960s. After a brief acting career, he emerged from the BBC as a documentary-maker, winning a Bafta for Terminus, his short film about Waterloo station. A Kind of Loving and Billy Liar were successful examples of the 'kitchen-sink' style, and he would go on to work with Christie again on Far From the Madding Crowd in 1967
Producer Joseph Janni, left, is one of the unsung heroes of the British new wave; born in Italy, he made a string of films with Schlesinger (including Billy Liar, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Yanks) and gave Ken Loach his feature film directing debut with Poor Cow in 1967
Christie went on to win the best actress Oscar in 1966, beating (among others) Julie Andrews for The Sound of Music. Frederic Raphael won the best original screenplay Oscar, and there was a third Oscar for costume designer Julie Harris. The Sound of Music, however, triumphed in its other contests with Darling, winning best picture and best director for Robert Wise
Roland Curram (far right at front, in sunglasses) was cast as gay photographer Malcolm, whom Diana takes to Italy when she shoots a chocolate commercial – and they each spend a night with the same good-looking waiter
Darling contains some fun casting, including Schlesinger himself as a theatre director auditioning Scott, and academic Hugo Dyson as a writer interviewed by Gold. But possibly the most intruiging is José Luis de Vilallonga, AKA the 9th Marquess of Castellbell (pictured, in tie), a real-life Spanish aristocrat, who played the Italian prince whom Scott eventually marries. Vilallonga had a decent acting career, appearing in Les Amants, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cléo from 5 to 7, and Juliet of the Spirits among many others
Production was nearly abandoned when funding dried up, forcing Janni to ask Bogarde to take a pay cut. However, the shoot was kept afloat after David Lean decided to cast Christie, on the strength of a private viewing of Darling's footage, in the much sought-after role of Lara in Doctor Zhivago. As Christie was under contract to Janni, the producer received 50% of the fee and channelled the money straight back into Darling, thereby saving the day. Bogarde, right, (with Schlesinger, middle) was also up for a role in Zhivago, but wasn't cast
Christie was reportedly unhappy at the prospect of the film's climactic nude scene, in which she was called on to smash up the living area of the Italian castle where her character lived, and then throw off her jewellery and clothes. She eventually agreed after both Schlesinger and Raphael convinced her it was necessary