Depending on one’s definition of “first,” this 52 minute drama can be viewed as the first real film directed by the late Tony Scott (following the short ONE OF THE MISSING and TV movie LOVING MEMORY). Based on an 1884 novella by Henry James, THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (L’auteur de beltraffio) was commissioned for a short-lived French TV series consisting of James adaptations (that Tony Scott got the job was allegedly the result of a coin toss with his brother Ridley). Lensed in English, it was initially broadcast in a French dubbed version in 1976, and in its original form by the BBC the following year (with the French version being easier to find).
THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (1976) Introduced by Ridley Scott
The setting is late 19th Century England, where the American writer James Sinclair (Michael J. Shannon) is paying a visit to his favorite author Mark Ambient (Tom Baker), who resides in a country villa together with his wife Beatrice (Georgina Hale), sister Gwendolyn (Catherine Willmer) and young son Dolcino (Stefan Gates). Tensions between Mark and his spouse are immediately apparent, with she being a religious fanatic who strongly distrusts her husband’s agnosticism, and claims never to have read any of his writing. Beatrice also exerts an unnaturally protective hold over Dolcino, who she’s worried will be corrupted by his father.
Stefan Gates, Georgina Hale
The familial conflict reaches a boiling point when Dolcino falls gravely ill with diphtheria. Gwendolyn calls a doctor but Beatrice won’t allow him near the boy, who she insists on keeping sequestered. Sinclair comes to suspect that this woman’s near-hysterical rejection of modernity might be having a negative, and perhaps deadly, effect on her offspring.
Tony Scott’s visualization of this dark tale is, in keeping with his later films (which included THE HUNGER, TOP GUN and TRUE ROMANCE), extremely lighting-conscious. The fact that his training was in commercials is evident in the painstakingly achieved burnished illumination, which is quite redolent of 1970s TV ads. That meticulousness extends to the production design, which conveys rugged authenticity in addition to pastoral lushness, and also the performances, with Ken Russell regular Georgina Hale’s subtly demonic villainess being the standout.
The film overall is distinguished by two things Tony Scott was definitely not known for in his later years: subtlety and intellectual refinement, manifested in magisterial pacing and lengthy conversations about Shakespeare and the nature of religion. Ultimately, though, it’s the psychologically fraught core that takes center stage, just as it did in the James text and just as it should.
Vital Statistics
THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (L’auteur de beltraffio)
Scott Free/Technisonor/Cosmovision
Director: Tony Scott
Producer: Stephen Bayley
Screenplay: Robin Chapman
(Based on novella by Henry James)
Cinematography: David MacDonald
Editing: Pam Power
Cast: Tom Baker, Georgina Hale, Catherine Willmer, Michel J. Shannon