Lost Classics: Sebastian

David Greene is a British director who did a lotta TV. Like absolutely loads [iMDB]. After moving to the States, it’s pretty much all he did. He’s even credited with ‘adapting’, or rather shrinking down, a few big screen hits for the small screen including cinematic treasures such as The Night of the Hunter and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? It was round the late 60s that his work had a brief flirtation with cinema goers when he directed a series of quite quirky films that, although seemed to miss their mark at the time, are worthy of reappraisal, such as The Shuttered Room, I Start Counting and Sebastian [iMDB]. Sebastian will be of particular interest to Londonites due to a lot of it being filmed around London’s West End and the City of London. Be forewarned, there is an unfortunate misogynistic streak that runs throughout the film. It’s the story of a crack squad of code breakers who happen to be women (including an awesomely stylish Susannah York [iMDB]) routinely shouted at by regular lady slapper, Dirk Bogarde [iMDB]. Putting that aside (let’s just say we live in a much more enlightened age now and leave it at that), this is a beautifully shot peek into London life in the late 60s and what Britons considered to be ‘modern’ at the time. Awesome music and some ace 60s stores and clubs also feature throughout. Sebastian is not yet available to purchase, as with many of Greene’s films, but you can watch the whole thing on YouTube [YouTube] and the soundtrack has just been released via Harkit Records [harkitrecords.com], although it skips out on awesome tracks by The Happeners and Max Baer & The Chicago Setback.