Two For The Road
Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney during the filming of Two for the Road photographed by Terry O' Neill.
Two for the Road
D: Stanley Donen
S: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, William Daniels, Eleanor Bron
Now a successful and wealthy architect, Mark Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife Joanna (Jo) Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) fly their white Mercedes 230SL roadster to Northern France, in order to continue driving to Saint-Tropez to celebrate the completion of a building project for a client, Maurice. Tensions between the couple are evident, and as they journey south they both remember and discuss several past journeys along the same road.
The earliest memory involves how they first met on a ferry crossing when Mark was travelling alone and Joanna was part of a girl’s choir. They meet again when Joanna’s choirbus goes off the road and Mark helps get them back on the road. When the other girls get chickenpox, Joanna and Mark unexpectedly wind up hitchhiking south together.
The next story tells how the two newlyweds are travelling with Mark’s ex-girlfriend Cathy Manchester (Eleanor Bron), husband (William Daniels) and daughter Ruth ‘Ruthie’ (Gabrielle Middleton) from the USA. Ruthie is not given any limits, and her behaviour frustrates Mark and Jo. Eventually Ruthie reveals the unkind descriptions of Joanna her parents have made in private. At this point Mark and Joanna decide to travel alone.
Next the pair drive a new MG which begins to have exhaust troubles, finally catching on fire. On this journey Joanna announces that she is pregnant. They also meet the wealthy Maurice Dalbret (Claude Dauphin) and his wife Francoise (Nadia Gray). Maurice becomes a generous but demanding client for Mark.
The next story shows them travelling with their young daughter Caroline (Kathy Chelimsky).
Another time shows Mark travelling alone and having a fling with another motorist, but which is shown to be fleeting and unserious in nature. Later Joanna has an affair with Francoise’s brother David (Georges Descrières), which is portrayed as much more serious than Mark’s and threatens to end the marriage; however, while Joanna dines with David and they witness a couple eating together without saying a word, David asks, offhandedly, “What kind of people can eat an entire meal together and not talk?” Joanna replies, enthusiastically, “Married people!” and, realizing she misses Mark despite their faded passion, runs back to him.
At the end of the film, the Wallaces manage to end their long-term relationship to Maurice and find a new client in Rome. They honestly analyse their fears and insecurities which have plagued them throughout the film. Finally, they cross the border from France into Italy. This is new ground for them as well as for the audience, signalling a move beyond the old issues into a more mature future.
**Picture shown is available in limited edition print of only 50 in different sizes, signed and numbered by Terry O’ Neill and is available to purchase here.
Two for the Road (1967)
Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road photographed by Terry O' Neill
Two for the Road (1967)
D: Stanley Donen
S: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Gabrielle Middleton, Claude Dauphin, Nadia Gray
Joanna is in a touring girl’s choir and Mark is a struggling architect. when they first meet on the road in Europe. The film follows their life together — through courtship and marriage, infidelity and parenthood — all on the road in a variety of cars through a score of time-shifting vignettes.
**Picture shown is available in limited edition print of only 50 in different sizes, signed and numbered by Terry O’ Neill and is available to purchase here.
The Graduate
1967 by Bob Willoughby
The Graduate (1967)
D: Mike Nichols
S: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katherine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson, Buck Henry
Benjamin Braddock returns home to California after successfully completing college. He gets a hero’s welcome from his parents but Ben isn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of his life. He is soon seduced by Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s partner, who methodically pursues the inexperienced young man. Soon, they are meeting regularly in hotel rooms. Warned by her to stay away from her daughter Elaine, his father goads him into taking her out on a date. He finds he quite likes Elaine but when she learns he’s been having an affair with her own mother, she’ll have nothing to do with him. He’s smitten however and pursues her.
*Picture shown is available in limited edition print of only 50, signed and numbered by Bob Willoughby and is available to purchase here.
