Hi all,

A big "Thank You" to those who have contributed money towards Rita's
birthday flowers, $30 so far...

I see that the IMDB is listing Rita as one of several stars being
considered for "Poirot: Dead Man's Folly". If this comes to pass, I
shall try to get hold of a copy, and convert it for play on American DVD
players.

Rita's movie "Puffball" is listed as being complete. You may recall
that this co-stars Donald Sutherland, and that Rita filmed it last
Spring in Ireland, mostly in the area of Monaghan and the Rossmore
Forest. She said that she spent Thursday and Friday, 26 & 27 October
2006, in the ADR studio redubbing some dialogue. So far, I have no word
on when this film will be released.

I thought that you might be interested to hear some of the things that
Rita has been doing during the Winter months, so I hope you don't mind
if I bore you with some excerpts from our email correspondence.

This from Rita in early December, "...I have not been at my flat that
much, I have been in Liverpool with family, and in Germany, I was
visiting a good friend of mine who is a wonderful director, Horst
Königstein, I might be doing something with him next year, more
later. I was also in 'Chester' -Cheshire- doing a charity event for the
Neuro Muscular Centre at the Chester Cathedral, it was a wonderful
evening. In fact, someone recognized me on the street in Cheshire, then
went to your website and sent me an email asking if it was me whom he
passed by, so I've just emailed him back saying yes."

This in January, "I went to Austria, it was a friends birthday and he
and his wife invited twenty three of us to go with them to Seefeld, it
was a wonderful break, it even managed to snow which was magical as they
have had so little snow in Europe this winter."

This from February 5th, "I think I told you that I was thinking of
moving so I have been very busy running around looking at places, I want
a London base and something by the sea, fresh air and lovely light, I
will let you know how it all goes, fingers crossed, I feel this is the
right time to do it, I have had this place for 19 years and a change
will be good."

Also from February 5th, "Today I have been working with a young director
who is shooting his first short film ("Sight Test", a student film,
London Film School) so I agreed to do a day for him for free, it is
always interesting working with young directors and I feel it is
important to put something back into the business."

Since I'm trying to put together a complete collection of Rita's films,
I'll try to get a copy of this student film. As I understand it, Rita
appears in just one scene as a junk shop owner, and has just a few lines
of dialogue. The film student wrote the part with Rita in mind, but
knew that he couldn't afford to pay her (or any of the other actors, for
that matter). Kudos to Rita for donating a day for the benefit of an
up-and-coming young filmmaker.

I think it's interesting that Rita is looking for a place by the sea.
Of course, she grew up in Liverpool, and spent the 1970s raising her two
daughters in a house overlooking the bay in Polperro, Cornwall
(http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.331448&lon=-4.514652&z=20&r=0&src=msl
<http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.331448&lon=-4.514652&z=20&r=0&src=msl\
> ). Don't know if she wants to be quite so far away from London again
as the Cornish coast.

Just a miscellaneous note -- I discovered that my PAL DVD of "The Trap"
had been the victim of a subtle technical problem, which prevented it
from being as sharp as it could be. I have corrected this now, so if
you'd like a (replacement) copy, just send me an email, rjd0309@...
<mailto:rjd0309@...> .

Cheers,
Robert




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