in a pair of far-out films, the comely and contentious miss redgrave plays a kinky art collector and a free-loving queen of modern dance
In A Quiet Place in the Country, Vanessa's a Psychotic painter's scheming art-collector mistress; and in Isadora, she flawlessly re-creates the erotic life and times of Isadora Duncan, the archbohemian creator of modern dance. Unconventional, as these parts in her latest films suggest, the elegantly elongated Miss Redgrave has come a long way since the time she sobbed about her height to her mother and listened to her father, the world-famous Sir Michael, advise that she try musical comedy--a gentle hint that her lithe 5'11" frame disqualified her as a leading lady. But then, after garnering extensive critical praise in Shakespearean roles, the erstwhile gangly teenager was cast as the long-suffering ex-wife in Morgan!, and the new Vanessa was launched. Along the way, she had earned a reputation as a political activist by joining ban-the-bomb rallies and lecturing Hyde Park crowds. After Morgan!, she continued her political pursuits and further surprised everyone by taking a part in Blow-Up that called or a topless seduction scene. Though demurely shielded by carefully placed arms in Blow-Up, Vanessa in Quiet Place and Isadora suffers no such restraints. "One spends an awful lot of one's life naked," she says, "so what's extraordinary about spending a little bit of film naked?" Nothing, say we.
