The Master of Ballantrae 1952

29 Sept

The Master of Ballantrae

Film - 1952

This British adventure film starred Hollywood heart-throb Errol Flynn, along with Anthony Steel and Roger Livesey, in an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1889 novel and tells the story of two sons of a laird who clash over the family estate and a lady in 18th century Scotland.

Gillian played the role of Marianne - she had been persuaded by the Casting Director to audition for the role in front of Errol Flynn while pretending to be an Italian with an appropriate accent and it was not until arrival on set in Italy that the truth was revealed and that she was in fact a girl from Bromley. Flynn laughed when he found out and it was the start of a long friendship between the pair.

Cast included: Errol Flynn, Anthony Steel, Roger Livesey, Beatrice Campbell, Felix Aylmer, Yvonne Furneaux, Sam Kydd, Francis De Wolff, Charles Goldner

It turned out that Gillian’s role as the seductress Marianne so entranced the 15th Regiment of the US Army who were fighting in Korea at that time that she became their official pin-up girl! An auspicious beginning for her first film role.