BOOK REVIEW: THE OCEAN FELL INTO THE DROP - A MEMOIR BY TERENCE STAMP

I recently reviewed a fine book on the great actress Gloria Grahame. I will do this quite regularly, and to my great satisfaction I have read an even better book by the great British actor Terence Stamp. Now aged 79, Stamp's faculties are as sharp as ever, combined with a great joy for life and great humour. The reason I admire Terence is because he's always been motivated by great scripts and quality directors, rather than by the quest for monetary gain. This is consistent with all great actors and if one looks at his body of work his place in the pantheon of great actors is assured!

As detailed in the book, he came from a modest working class family. Stamp was strongly influenced by the great actor Cary Grant (born Archie Leech) who was a working-class lad from Bristol! He asked his father that he wanted to act to which his father responded that "Son, people like us don't do things like that". Terence left home shortly after which was rare in those days and followed his dream! We then get an immensely entertaining chronicle of many great movies he acted in. Of particular importance for a young actor was his role in the John Fowles book "The Collector" which was filmed by William Wyler and which he won an Academy Award!

A really interesting fact in the book that I knew little about was his adherence to Indian mysticism. He remains a massive believer in yoga and the power of spiritual healing! There are many hilarious anecdotes, some ribald such as his near-death experience with a horse whilst filming "The Devil's Harvest" in 2013.This fine movie details Stalin's attempt to exterminate the Ukrainians - and despite the terrible accident Stamp sees the funny side of it all - "aging movie star killed by horses arse" as he envisaged the tabloids writing, in the wake of his demise!

Terence Stamp

Stamp points out his movie hero's -many of them mine as well. The first was Gary Cooper, and then he admired Brando, Burt Lancaster and John Hurt! My fiancé Lena and I had the privilege to see 2 years at the British Film Institute one of his greatest films, "Far from the Madding Crowd" at the BFI (British Film Institute) which looked resplendent on the big screen. I’ve seen most of his films, although I haven't seen two of his grittier gangster roles in "the Hit" and "the Limey" which testify to the range of his acting.

All in all a fantastically entertaining and cerebral read, one of the best movie autobiographies I've read in a long time. Stamp is an excellent writer and a marvellous storyteller. I leave this review with two very fine and thought provoking quotes that he treasures that attest to his humanity!

Socrates -the great Greek philosopher, "first is beauty, victory is secondary" -emphasizing the importance Stamp sees in craft over money and

Rumi - the Shakespeare of Persia, "In the silence of love can be found the spark of love".