Malcolm Venville's latest short, Remembering Miss Torso, will be screened this week in London. The film is a documentary about the actress who played Miss Torso, the dancer that caught James Stewart's eye in Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Rear Window.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the making of Rear Window, a film that strongly influenced Venville, who started his career as a stills photographer.
"Rear Window is my all-time favourite movie," he said. "It's one of the best films ever made - I'm obsessed with it. Hitchcock never got any better. I remember the first time I saw it, at La Scala in King's Cross in 1983, and it made me want to get involved with film, as well as photography."
The 15-minute short, which incorporates clips from the film with an interview with Georgine Darcy, the actress who played Miss Torso when she was only 18, gave the opportunity for Venville to pay tribute to the movie, yet also learn more about Hitchcock, a big influence on his own commercials directing. "It was like meeting the girl who sat for Leonardo's Mona Lisa," he said. "It was a way of meeting my hero. I was able to ask her all about the great man, who is one of my biggest influences."
The film will be shown at a special screening in London tomorrow (Thursday) evening, which will also be attended by Georgine Darcy herself. Limited tickets are available for the screening - contact Jess McKillop at Therapy Films on +44 20 7436 5191 for more info.
