A fellow blogger asked recently about a family name, and I asked my sister who is the family genealogist to dig into it. In the process she reminded me of a visit by one of my paternal, maternal, great grandmother, sister's son to the farm some time in the mid 1970's. It was before my grandfather died, in 1976.
Donald had been in the USA for a few weeks. He had sold a movie script, and had been in California doing last minute re-writes. Donald was an intellectual, a writer, a british judge. A couple of years earlier he had sent his mother to visit her sister on the farm. I got the feeling he had money. A visit to his mother's relatives must have been a bit of an anthropological adventure for him. I have sometimes wondered if we were the subject of one of his later scripts. I went looking for information on him one night, the internet is a tremendous source of information. I found that he had died a few years after his visit.
In the process I found some interesting details on his brother Derrick. Donald had told us his brother was also a writer and a movie producer. What he didn't tell us was what kind of movies. Apparently he would do "romantic comedies" with a general audience version, and a - well there is no polite way of putting this, the director's cut or second version of the movie was X rated. Same actors and actresses, same film crew, both filmed at the same time. A family friendly version for wide release, and a porn version for more selective audiences.
Families, you never know what you are going to find, if you go looking.
My father did his family history on his mother and father side. Because we had already family journals kept from past family members passed down ,we knew some stories. Some of where we came from blows my mind sometimes. For example one of my grandfather's ancestors was an aid to Queen Willamina of the Netherlands. Apparently one of our family books was actually in her private Library. But just why I couldn't tell you.
ReplyDeleteThere was another of Donald's generation who captain of the queens guard.
DeleteI am so envious. Fancy having a porn maker in the family tree. I think you need to do more research for an example.
ReplyDeleteSpice up my search history for shure.
DeleteDigging deeper in my roots never brings up anything like that! Have you tried to find copies of his films?
ReplyDeleteNot yet
DeleteAlways something interesting lurking in the lineage.
ReplyDeleteSo far, no axe murderers.
DeleteSounds intriguing, doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteMore to get to know.
DeleteThat must have been a surprise to learn.
ReplyDeleteMade me chuckle, I wonder what other secrets are hiding in plain sight.
DeleteI wonder if they do that with all films. A family friendly version of "The Sound of Music" and a secret porn version for private adult consumption. The familiar version of "Titanic" and a separate X-rated version in which passengers fulfil their sexual fantasies as the ship is sinking.
ReplyDeleteTitanic would have been an easy one to do a second version of.
DeleteIf it weren't for families I would be out of a job.
ReplyDeleteDysfunctional families keep attorneys and psychiatrists busy
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