Polly James

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a download from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music. The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen seventy four.

Speaker 10:15

This is a recording as it was being broadcast rather than the studio recording, and for that reason you may hear some interference and some degradation in the sound quality.

Speaker 10:26

As you

Polly James0:27

Phew.

Speaker 10:27

Well Yeah.

Polly James0:27

Castaway is introduced by Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:30

This week, our castaway is the actress Polly James. Polly, have you ever experienced loneliness?

Polly James0:37

Yes, I have. Um

Polly James0:40

I think I did as a child.

Polly James0:41

I have vague memories of not knowing at all where I was going.

Polly James0:46

And since I've been older.

Polly James0:48

I find London a very lonely place, especially if you're living on your own.

Presenter0:52

Yes, I did.

Presenter0:54

What would you be happiest to have got away from in leaving London, in leaving civilization?

Polly James0:59

Well

Polly James1:00

Um I would be happiest and I'd also ironically be

Polly James1:05

Shaft in some ways to leave the telephone. I mean aspects of the telephone I would be happiest to leave.

Presenter1:11

Yes.

Presenter1:12

Are you a musical person?

Polly James1:14

I think I am. I'm not technically uh well informed musically.

Presenter1:19

But you learned to play the piano?

Polly James1:20

Um, when I was very young, yes, but it was discarded sadly when I was

Presenter1:25

Don't you please

Polly James1:26

I can amuse myself. I I wouldn't pretend to amuse anyone else.

Polly James1:30

I can do well I would amuse them, but but I can play for my own abuse.

Speaker 11:31

Voila!

Presenter1:34

I know you went to a conference school. Did you sing in the choir?

Polly James1:37

Yeah, I did. Every day.

Presenter1:38

What do you want music to do for you on the island?

Polly James1:41

Um

Polly James1:42

Well, I mean apart from the practical things like uh building me somewhere to death it was

Polly James1:48

really do everything for me. I mean it would be a substitute for people, um places, uh times that have passed, memory. I also I want it to I want it to keep me going, I want it to um

Polly James2:02

It's gotta get me up in the morning.

Presenter2:04

What's the first one on that little pilot?

Polly James2:05

Uh

Polly James2:06

Um well the first one will get me up in the morning. It's uh Shostakovich.

Polly James2:11

Fifth Symphony.

Presenter3:12

The opening of the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony, the USSR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxime Shostakovich. What's your second disc?

Polly James3:21

Well my second disc is a piece of piano music by Eric Sarty, Les Trois Gymnopétie.

Presenter3:27

Why do you choose it?

Polly James3:28

Um this is the one piece that I've chosen simply because I would like to listen to it.

Presenter4:32

The opening of Eric Sati's Trojim Napedie, played by Frank Blaser.

Presenter4:38

You're from Lancashire, of course, Bonnie.

Polly James4:40

Yes.

Presenter4:40

From Oswald Twistle.

Polly James4:42

Yes, I'm I'm not um originally from Oswald Twistle. I was born in fact in Blackburn but my parents moved.

Polly James4:48

To Oswald Whistle and of course with a name like that it captures the imagination of anyone who

Presenter4:52

Where did you go to school?

Polly James4:55

Uh I went to school in Laban.

Presenter4:57

Did you see a lot of theatre as a child?

Polly James4:59

Uh no, I saw practically none. I think maybe the odd pantomime.

Polly James5:05

um which I don't remember awfully well. Uh but in fact we were a very theatrical family in that uh Sunday night would be a sing-song night and any other occasion, you know, that we could grasp a hold of.

Presenter5:19

What was your contribution?

Polly James5:19

What was your con

Polly James5:21

My contribution was

Polly James5:23

When I look back on it, it must have been dreadful. I used to sing a song from Anniketa Ghana. I used to sing with a terrible language or accent with the odd interspersed American word. You know, I used to sing that song, Folks Are Dar Where I Come From, They Ain't Had Any Larnin.

Presenter5:38

Yeah.

Polly James5:39

Yeah.

Presenter5:41

Oh.

Polly James5:41

Oval child.

Presenter5:42

What was your first ambition?

Polly James5:44

Um

Polly James5:46

I don't remember ever having had any.

Presenter5:49

What did you do when you left school?

Polly James5:51

When I left school I went to

Polly James5:54

Uh domestic science college.

Presenter5:55

Yes. It leads.

Polly James5:57

Yeah, I mean

Presenter5:57

And did you practise as a domestic science teacher?

Polly James6:00

I did all my teaching practice in the last year, which amounts to quite a good deal of teaching, but I never actually went out and got a job as a teacher, no, because in fact what happened was spurred on by a lecturer in the college and friend and being a member of the university drama group.

Polly James6:22

surrounded by people who were going down to Radha to try for scholarships, I suddenly found myself one day going down with them.

Presenter6:30

And you've got a scholarship.

Polly James6:31

And I suddenly found myself with a scholarship, yes.

Presenter6:33

You did very well at Radha, you got gold medal.

Polly James6:36

Yes, I did.

Presenter6:38

Did you work at all while you were at Radda to supplement your

Polly James6:42

Yes, yes, I was uh allowed t to work during the holidays.

Presenter6:42

Bruh.

Polly James6:46

Um

Polly James6:47

I think this is quite an unusual thing, but we were very poor. You know, the people who were on scholarships were very poor.

Polly James6:54

Um, having only five pounds a week to live on.

Polly James6:57

And this job came up and I was allowed to do it.

Presenter6:59

Where was it?

Polly James7:00

It was in Folkestone, uh the repertory theatre there with the off of Bruff.

Presenter7:04

And when you will have products?

Polly James7:06

When I left rather.

Polly James7:08

I think first of all I went to Ipswich for a couple of weeks and then I went to the Royal Court.

Polly James7:14

to do a revival of a cookle in the mess.

Presenter7:17

More or less straight into the west end, within two or three hundred yards of the west end.

Polly James7:20

That's right, that's right.

Presenter7:22

Benny, let's have record number three.

Polly James7:23

Um number three is uh Gracie Fields please.

Polly James7:27

Singing, sing as we go.

Presenter7:29

Why do you choose Gracie?

Polly James7:30

Um

Polly James7:32

Because she comes from Lancashire and because she is, I think, one of the greatest female artists.

Polly James7:40

And because she does

Polly James7:42

sum up everything that I think the northern quality as I know it is about.

Presenter7:48

Bye tomorrow, then always tomorrow, to sing of today, sing as we go, although the skies are grey.

Presenter8:00

Beggar or king, you've got to sing a gay tune, a song and a smile making love.

Presenter8:08

Uh

Speaker 38:08

Yeah.

Speaker 38:11

And we both come.

Presenter8:19

Grazy Field.

Presenter8:21

Now, what was the next job, Polly, in the West End as well?

Polly James8:24

Uh where are we? We're we're at the Royal Court. Oh no, no, after that I went over to America.

Polly James8:30

onto Broadway to do have a sixpence.

Presenter8:32

Oh yes, with Tommy Steel.

Polly James8:33

Yeah.

Presenter8:34

How long did it run in New York?

Polly James8:35

We we did exactly a year.

Presenter8:38

Did you enjoy New York?

Polly James8:39

Very, very much. Yeah.

Polly James8:41

Very much. At that time it was very exciting. The theatre there was exciting.

Presenter8:41

Game

Presenter8:45

Special.

Polly James8:45

Especially the musical theatre.

Presenter8:47

And when you came back?

Polly James8:49

And when I came back I went into a play called Bevert in the Park.

Presenter8:54

An American player.

Polly James8:55

Yes, an American play. I think I just had the accent off rather well.

Presenter8:58

Yeah.

Polly James8:59

That's a gay.

Presenter9:00

And then what?

Polly James9:01

And then I well I had come back from America really, having it in mind that I would go into repertory theatre to do

Polly James9:10

As I thought of it, my basic training. Everything seemed to have happened very quickly.

Polly James9:15

And I really didn't feel that I had

Polly James9:17

much under my belt, as it were, you

Presenter9:19

You haven't suffered?

Polly James9:20

I had to.

Presenter9:22

So where did you go to supper?

Polly James9:24

I went to I went to Exeter.

Polly James9:27

I didn't suffer at all. I played great zonking lead parts in wonderful productions. I didn't suffer at all.

Presenter9:34

There's a lot of money.

Polly James9:34

I stayed up late at night, but that wasn't

Presenter9:38

And then you did a musical in the West End.

Polly James9:40

And then I came yes, I came back to London to do Anne of Being Gables.

Presenter9:44

Yes, which was a great success.

Polly James9:46

Which was a great success and which is very dear in my memory.

Presenter9:49

and a T V series.

Polly James9:51

The T V series came almost yes, they came together, in fact.

Presenter9:56

The liver bird.

Polly James9:56

Gliverboard.

Presenter9:57

Now Anne of Green Gables was a success and The Liver Birds has run for what, five years?

Polly James10:02

I think almo yes, almost about five years now.

Presenter10:06

You did a lot of the locations, of course, in Liverpool.

Presenter10:09

Yes, whenever we

Polly James10:10

Yes, whenever we could, yes, weather permitting.

Presenter10:12

Okay.

Polly James10:14

Yeah.

Presenter10:14

Yes, I remember seeing you cruising backwards and forwards on the ferry boats once.

Polly James10:17

Yes, yes, we I think we did some of the titles on the ferry boats and I remember when we went to do those I was um always I'm always extremely nosy about what everybody else is doing and I was so anxious to get everybody onto this ferryboat and uh not you know not not content with leaving it to the person that should do it.

Speaker 110:33

I didn't know.

Polly James10:37

I was anxious that the cameraman got on with his camera and his equipment and the sound and everything. And in fact, the boat sailed off without me.

Polly James10:44

It did, it did, and I was left on the quayside standing there, and they were actually they'd gone out to film me and Larris, fil film us both, on the boat, and there I was standing there. I think it's probably funnier than anything we ever did in any episode.

Presenter10:58

Uh

Presenter10:59

Let's have record number four. What's that?

Polly James11:01

Um well, it's the area from Nabo M.

Polly James11:05

Sung by UC Building.

Polly James11:08

I want to take with me a really, really great voice.

Polly James11:12

And uh this is what this man has. I'm very very interested in singing.

Speaker 311:20

Goodbye.

Presenter12:12

You see Piori.

Presenter12:13

You had a season at Stratford on Avon three years ago.

Polly James12:16

Yeah, I did.

Presenter12:17

What did you play?

Polly James12:17

I played Narissa in The Merchant of Venice.

Polly James12:21

I played Margaret in Much You Do About Nothing and I played I had a most wonderful experience in Henry V. I played uh The Princess Catherine and I doubl it was doubled with The Boy, the boy that goes you know, the young boy that goes through. Yes, Henry V.

Presenter12:34

That's true.

Presenter12:37

And uh, well, Catherine, of course, became a queen, and you and you played another queen in a musical immediately afterwards, almost immediately afterwards.

Polly James12:44

Yes. I'm very bad at fixing the times. I mean, if you were to say to me, when did you do this? And when I can't remember at all. But if you say that that followed, yes. Well, um, yes, yes, we did the musical I am now.

Presenter12:52

Yeah.

Presenter12:58

Yes. And you had to cram sixty years into two hours.

Polly James13:03

Crammed sixty years into two hours and we came off after I think three and a half months.

Presenter13:08

No. How long did you rehearse?

Polly James13:11

We rehearsed it for, I think

Polly James13:14

Nine weeks

Polly James13:16

You see

Polly James13:17

This is what is in a way s so sad and yet so wonderful about the theatre. I mean this was a sad, a sad event in in in my theatrical experience. But um at the same time it was one I wouldn't have missed.

Polly James13:30

It's very exciting.

Polly James13:32

Um and

Polly James13:34

I don't know, God only knows what goes into a musical to make it a success. I think it is the most elusive of all theatrical experiences.

Polly James13:43

Um and I don't think looking back one can say why one

Polly James13:47

fails and I don't even think you can

Polly James13:50

Really say why one succeeds.

Presenter13:52

A tremendous part for you.

Polly James13:55

Um

Presenter13:55

So many changes, so many themes, so many songs.

Polly James13:58

Seven wigs.

Presenter14:02

And recently you've been up in Blackpool playing a stage version of The Liverboat.

Polly James14:06

Yes, which was great fun. A whole summer in Blackpool.

Presenter14:09

You've decided to turn in the live a bird. After five years you think you've had enough.

Polly James14:14

Yes, s sadly in many ways. But I I couldn't I found I there was nothing else I could

Polly James14:21

give to it. I could do nothing more with the with the party.

Presenter14:25

Say what you want to do next.

Polly James14:26

I'm very bad at planning.

Polly James14:28

And so

Polly James14:30

I know in my mind that I want to do something very different.

Presenter14:34

Musical or straight, classical or modern.

Polly James14:37

I don't mind.

Presenter14:38

Or whatever it is, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Presenter14:41

Let's have record number five.

Polly James14:43

It's a piece by Ravel, it's the Pavan for the dead infant.

Presenter15:46

A closing passage of Bravelle's Padan for a dead infanta, Giolini conducting the new Philharmonia Orchestra. Let's go straight into your next record.

Polly James15:54

Um well can I have for my next record uh the opening number from the musical Pippin, please.

Presenter16:01

Uh

Polly James16:02

Uh

Polly James16:02

Uh because I I um have been very much associated with musicals in my career. Um

Polly James16:10

As I told you, one of my first experiences was in the American Musical Theatre. And I uh

Polly James16:16

I believe very much that they

Polly James16:19

really know how to to make a musical. I also wanted to take with me something, um something modern, something of nineteen seventy four.

Polly James16:29

And I think this

Polly James16:30

It should be a little bit more.

Speaker 316:32

You are A garden review We've got magic to do just for you We've got miracle play to play

Presenter16:46

Beat the f

Speaker 316:46

Uh

Presenter16:46

Pods to perform, parts to warm, kings and things to take by storm as we go along our way.

Presenter17:02

The opening number from Pippin, Ben Vereen and The Cast.

Presenter17:07

What are your occupations outside the theatre, Polly? What do you like to do?

Polly James17:11

I like to sew.

Polly James17:12

I like very much going to the theatre of course, although at the moment I do feel that there really isn't that much to see.

Presenter17:20

I quite agree. No, there really isn't.

Presenter17:22

What about useful desert island occupations? Camping out? Ever been a girl guide?

Polly James17:27

I was a brownie. I was never I never made the girl girl.

Presenter17:30

It was a start.

Presenter17:32

We know from your domestic science studies that you can cook.

Presenter17:36

Um, done any fishing?

Polly James17:39

No, I've never done any fishing.

Polly James17:41

Yeah.

Presenter17:41

Good swimmer?

Polly James17:41

Good swimmer? I can't swim at all.

Presenter17:43

Can't swim at all.

Polly James17:44

So there's no chance of my getting all.

Presenter17:45

Heaven.

Presenter17:47

Four months in Blackpool and you can't swim at all.

Polly James17:49

No, I can't swim at all.

Presenter17:51

You'd better do something about that.

Presenter17:53

A little light building.

Polly James17:55

Oh I'll have a go at that, yes.

Polly James17:57

Yes. And and I think um

Polly James18:00

I'll be very good at um

Polly James18:02

Idling my time away making

Polly James18:05

things out of nothing.

Presenter18:07

Yeah.

Polly James18:07

Um well I

Presenter18:08

Kettle holders or

Polly James18:09

Yes, yes, that's the sort of yes, that's very much the sort of thing that I'm likely to make.

Presenter18:12

Likely to

Polly James18:14

Um useless, useless things, but I think that when if I'm eventually found, I think you'll be you'll be amazed at my injury.

Presenter18:22

Would you try to escape?

Polly James18:26

Uh no, I've no I've no intention of escaping. I'm looking forward to going.

Presenter18:30

Let's have record number seven.

Polly James18:32

Well, number seven, I'd like to have an Old West Country song.

Polly James18:37

It's uh

Polly James18:39

Arranged and sung by Martin Best, it's called The Streams of Lovely Nancy.

Presenter18:48

All the streams of Loveland and Sea are divided in three parts.

Presenter18:55

Where the young men and maidens later meet their sweetheart.

Speaker 319:02

It is drinking of good liquor caused my heart oh to sing and

Presenter19:09

Uh

Speaker 319:09

Yeah.

Presenter19:10

The noise in yonder village made the locks for to ring.

Presenter19:17

Martin Best singing the West Country song The Streams of Lovely Nancy. And now we come to your last record.

Polly James19:25

I would like for my last record um

Polly James19:29

A piece of Noel Coward's poetry, The Boy Actor, recited by John Moffat, please.

Speaker 319:36

Opening performance.

Speaker 319:38

Legs a bit unsteady.

Speaker 319:41

Dedicated tension.

Speaker 319:42

Shivers down the spine.

Speaker 319:45

Powder, grease and eye black. Sticks of makeup ready. Leischener number three and number five and number nine.

Speaker 319:52

World of strange enchantment.

Speaker 319:55

Magic for a small boy dreaming of the future, reaching for the crown.

Speaker 320:00

Rigid in the dressing-room, listening for the callboy.

Speaker 320:04

Over to our beginners.

Speaker 320:07

Everybody.

Speaker 320:08

Stop.

Presenter20:10

John Moffat, Nero Cards, the boy actor. If you could take just one of your eight discs, which would it be?

Polly James20:16

But it's awfully hard. I take the

Polly James20:18

Moem.

Presenter20:19

You see purely.

Polly James20:20

Yeah.

Presenter20:21

And one luxury to take to the islands were you

Polly James20:23

Um, I'd like to take a photograph.

Polly James20:27

That's everybody I know. I don't know how you're going to manage that.

Presenter20:31

You mean in a big group?

Polly James20:32

Yes, I want no, I want one of those long school photographs. With a camera that goes around on it, that's right, and then I can pin it to one end of a tree and the other to another.

Presenter20:34

With a camera that goes around on its own.

Presenter20:40

Yes. Well somehow we'll get everybody together.

Polly James20:43

Let that I know.

Presenter20:43

I want to be the one kneeling in front with a football.

Polly James20:46

The fuck up?

Polly James20:47

You will be, I promise you that.

Presenter20:49

And one book, apart from the Bible, Shakespeare and Big Encyclopedias,

Polly James20:52

Um

Polly James20:54

My book I'd like to take um Elizabeth Longford's biography of Queen Victoria.

Presenter20:59

Right. And thank you, Polly James, for letting us hear your desert island dissipation.

Polly James21:04

Thank you very much indeed.

Presenter21:05

Goodbye, everyone.

Speaker 121:10

You've been listening to a download from the Desert Island Discs archive.

Speaker 121:14

For more dialects, please visit the Radio4 website.