If Blatty's intended message - God is in his Heaven: all's right with the world
If Blatty's intended message - "God is in his Heaven: all's right with the world" - got lost in Friedkin's film, there's no mistaking it here."Doing The Ninth Configuration, I welcomed the chance to clarify where I stood," he says. "And to show all those people who had misunderstood The Exorcist that I was not the Antichrist disguised as an author."The Ninth Configuration also gave Blatty an opportunity to reconcile, for the first and last time in film, the different strands of his career. Prior to that novel, comedy had been his forte and his first love; after it: "Nobody wanted comedy from me any more. It's as if I had landed on the planet with the manuscript of The Exorcist under my arm.. That's true even today. If I do mention that I wrote A Shot in the Dark, their eyes glaze over and 10 minutes later they've completely forgotten it."Nevertheless, Blatty still hopes that he will be asked to direct a comedy, and will not just be offered films like "Pumpkinhead 4. Or was it Pumpkinhead 3? That's the kind of offer I get."Behind this wry, self-deprecating humour, the warm and engaging Blatty is a little disappointed with the way he is perceived today.
During our conversation, he seemed almost pitifully grateful to be given the opportunity to talk about a career that has far more shading than most of us realise Once it was religious reassurance that he needed. Today, it is the reassurance that he will actually be remembered as more than just the author of The Exorcist which Blatty appears to require most.`Ninth Configuration' is released this week. What Is It? Revival of Francesco Zambello's bold production of Benjamin Britten's 1941 operetta Paul Bunyan (right), directed by Richard Hickox, and based on the myth of a Swedish lumberjack and his cronies. The absence of dramatic build is more than compensated for by magnificent singing and eminently hummable tunes. Who's In It?A strong ensemble performance includes Timothy Robinson (Hot Biscuit Slim) and Kurt Streit (Johnny Inkslinger) as the principal tenors, Jeremy White as Hel Helson, with Peter Coleman-Wright as the narrator. Superb support comes from the Royal Opera chorus and orchestra.What They Say About It"Musically a miracle, dramatically a dog," Annette Moreau, The Independent."Benjamin Britten's Paul Bunyan is a wow. Take the kids, take your parents, take anyone who thinks that they don't like opera," Rupert Christiansen, The Daily Telegraph."The closing image shows the whole company, motionless, gazing into the audience, left on their own after the abdication of their leader to build a new world Every single face on stage was saying something. Unforgettable," Rodney Milnes, The Times."...fresh and amiable and entertaining," Richard Fairman, The Financial Times.Where You Can See ItPaul Bunyan is at Sadler's Wells, London EC1 (0171-863 8000) until Saturday.
HIS FEW British concerts of 1999 sold out in less than two hours, but Elton John (below) has just announced an extra date at Leeds Castle in Kent on Monday 12 July. Booking: 0870 444 4001/ 01580 240240/ 0171-344 4040/ 0171-403 3331. THE THREAT to William Hague as Tory leader grew last night as his party's whips launched a desperate attempt to head off moves by his MPs to sack him. Mr Hague has lost the support of leading figures on the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, whose executive committee has a crucial role in deciding his fate. After two weeks of turmoil over the leadership's rejection of a Thatcherite, free-market approach to public services, Tory grandees warned they would move against Mr Hague unless the party gained more than 1,000 seats in next Thursday's local elections. The desperation in Tory ranks was shown when a member of the executive told The Independent Mr Hague could be deposed though there was no obvious successor in the wings."He is not going to make it and he has got to go," the senior Tory said "We will sort out who replaces him later.
It is like Edward Heath in 1975; no one expected Margaret Thatcher to come through."There is a haemorrhage of support for Mr Hague at Westminster despite his attempt to quell the rebellion when he made an unscheduled address to his MPs on Wednesday.The 10 Opposition whips began telephoning Tory MPs in an attempt to prevent them deserting him. One Tory insider said Mr Hague's position was worse than John Major's in 1995, when he resigned the party leadership and beat off a challenge from John Redwood "Major had a hard core of loyalist MPs; William does not He doesn't have any credit in the bank. A lot of MPs are neutral."Party rules state Mr Hague would have to lose a vote of confidence among his 162 MPs before a leadership contest was triggered. But Mr Hague's allies admit privately that his survival is threatened.Tory officials predicted the party will gain 500 seats, in line with its dismal opinion poll ratings, in next Thursday's council elections.But many Tory MPs believe the party will have to gain between 1,000 and 1,200 seats to show it is "back in the race". If the party fails to make such gains, a repeat of the results in a general election would unseat Tory MPs."This is about self-preservation," one Tory frontbencher said last night.
"If the MPs think we will do even worse than in the 1997 election, they will press the panic button." There was no sign of the Tory turmoil abating yesterday, despite Mr Hague's attempts to control the controversy provoked by Peter Lilley, his deputy, who enraged Tory MPs last week by saying the free market had only a limited role to play in health, education and welfare.There was growing speculation that Mr Lilley would lose the deputy leadership - and his responsibility for party policy-making - when Mr Hague reshuffles his Shadow Cabinet after the European Parliament elections in June.A prominent Tory grassroots activist, Eric Chalker, deputy chairman of the Charter Movement, which campaigns for greater democracy within the party, said ordinary party members "struggled" to support Mr Hague and there should be a leadership contest before the general election. He said: "It will be very difficult to summon up the belief that William Hague is ever going to be able to lead us to victory.". AS A SECOND group of Kosovo refugees arrived in Britain from Macedonia yesterday, Germany accused the UK of shirking its responsibilities in the crisis. About 160 refugees landed at East Midlands airport last night, including 18 said to be in need of medical treatment. The refugees were divided into two groups and taken by bus to two reception centres, one in Derbyshire, the other in Leicestershire.Those taken to Derbyshire were expected to be housed in a former residential special school near Chesterfield. The other group was expected to be accommodated in a hotel on the outskirts of Leicester, run by the British Red Cross.Last night's influx follows the arrival in West Yorkshire at the weekend of about 160 refugees, mostly women and children.