This is my friend George expressing wonder and delight at a wedding vehicle in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I met him in Boston before he moved west, and he kindly hosted me when I hit SFO for the first time. (He was a better host than I was a guest, I’m afraid.) He was also a big Mia Farrow fan, and back in Boston in 1979, when I was working at WGBH-TV, l learned that Farrow and Anthony Perkins (they were then starring onstage in the Boston tryout of Romantic Comedy) were coming into the station for an interview. I arranged for us to sit in. And then, in the lobby as they were leaving, I decided, now or never, to introduce my friend to the actress. “Miss Farrow, I’d like to introduce George Hatzis, a big fan of yours. He’s seen everything from Guns at Batasi to Hurricane.” George, never shy, blurted out, “No I haven’t. I don’t even know what Guns at Batasi is.” She smiled, looked at me and kindly said, “But you do.”
Okay, I LOVE this photo. The gamin face, girlish hair and incongruous leather duds. The hands which shriek "Che teatro?" Soft-focus lights reflecting off a boxy car. And that curious crutch. Until now I didn't even know what "Guns at Batasi" was either. But it has the extraordinary line, "I've seen Calcutta, I've eaten camel dung, my knees are brown, my navel is central, my conscience is clear and my willie's with my solicitors Short & Curly." Now I've gotta see this flick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u23WcWVU3lA
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