3:40pm Tuesday 20th July 2010
By Rhian Morgan
When the Croydon Guardian received a press release about the premiere of a film called Last Tango In Croydon, we were expecting a saucy treat, writes Rhian Morgan.
However, what we were greeted with was a 15-minute short featuring 80s TV favourite Keith Barron tangoing down the corridor of an old people’s home in just a bathrobe – not a particularly alluring sight, I think you’ll agree.
Add to this mix a cameo from the former lover of Mavis from Coronation Street, Derek (aka Peter Baldwin) and I found it hard to see a connection between this short and the film it referenced, Last Tango In Paris, featuring the dashing Marlon Brando and his ground-breaking butter scene.
Even stranger, despite whetting our appetite for a titilating time, the film is actually meant to publicise a children’s charity. You cannot argue that this is an unique, attention-grabbing approach.
Last Tango In Croydon is the brainchild of Danny Somekh, of design company Huddle Creative, who came up with the idea of making a film to publicise The Place2Be, a school-based counselling service.
Before the screening, The Place2Be’s chief executive, Benita Refson, told us why the film referenced Croydon in its title – something we were wondering ourselves...
“I am particularly fond of Croydon,” she said. “It was where The Place2Be was conceived.
“I was contacted by a teacher in New Addington a while back. The parents were worried as it was a very deprived area and their children were troubled.
“More than a million children in this country have mental health problems and so we decided to talk to pupils about their problems in their lunch time or over the longer term, after school.
“Then we expanded after working with other Croydon schools. Now 60,000 children will have access to our support nationwide by September.”
The film itself is a quirky story centred around two frustrated people – Old Joe (Barron) and Young Joe. Neither is having a good day. They meet at Old Joe’s nursing home and, after sharing a daydream or two (including a wonderfully eccentric sequence where Barron robs a bank with a pair of purple tights on his head), life doesn’t seem that bad after all.
The film shows that young people and old can share ideas and resolve problems together.
After the film, I asked the star of TV’s Duty Free why he had decided to take part.
“I thought it was quite brilliant,” said Barron.
“When you get a group of people giving their time for free who come together with the same dream, you get the best results.”
I then talked to Somekh about his reasons behind making Last Tango.
He said: “I stumbled across a really great cause called The Place2Be through the Quintessentially Foundation and wanted to do something for them.
“I went to see the work they did and was very moved. I’m not the type to run a marathon plus I wanted to create something with long-term value.”
Somekh sent out a call through website cowsgomoo.org.uk and film-maker Armand Attard got in touch, as did Bafta-nominated writer Simon Riley.
“It has been a roller-coaster ride,” added Somekh. “In some ways, it’s a big experiment – we could be creating an alternative to the cap-in-hand approach most charities take. Film is the perfect medium when trying to grab attention.”
I asked Somekh what his next step would be in promoting the film. Somekh said he wasn’t sure but wanted to raise the charity’s media profile.
I nearly suggested getting Barron to participate in a celebrity egg and spoon race (after witnessing his sprint to the bar after I told him I worked for the Croydon Guardian, I reckon he would certainly out-perform Jordan’s rather dismal effort in the London Marathon), but then remembred Somekh is not particularly fond of athletic pursuits....
n For more on The Place2be, visit theplace2be.org.uk. More information on Last Tango In Croydon is available on Facebook at facebook.com/lasttangoincroydon
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