In his fine obituary of Dame Maggie Smith, Michael Coveney includes many of the names of the film directors she worked with. However, for her “iconic performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, there is no mention of Ronald Neame (about whom I am writing a book).
Smith acknowledged the debt she owed to Neame in directing her to her first Oscar – though they did not always agree on interpretation. A climactic moment has Jean Brodie calling her pupil Sandy (Pamela Franklin) “Assassin!” in response to a betrayal. Smith wanted to say this to herself once Sandy has departed but Neame insisted she bellow the accusation from the top of a staircase at Sandy’s retreating figure.
She “relented with dignity”, as Neame described it, and created an undeniably powerful moment.
