Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 16

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 16 - Index

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The red carpet at the Chicago International
Film Festival’s 2007 Summer Gala was
disappointing. It didn’t greet movie stars
emerging from limousines. It didn’t guide
them through a crowd of screaming fans.
It was a rug. A red rug underneath a white
board full of “LaSalle Bank” logos pushed
to the side of the Sheraton Hotel Grand
Ballroom. Made me think the party wasn’t
all that after all. But that changed when
Jacqueline Bisset stepped onto the thing.
She can really walk.
Her legs disappeared into a short black
cocktail dress like one of those perfect dreams
you forget the moment you wake up. That’s the
first thing you notice about the half-French,
half-Scottish brunette from Southern England
who arrived to accept the festival’s Career
Achievement award.
But before you can recreate the dream, you
get carried away by the uplifting charm of her
British accent. She interviews with more class
than anything out of Hollywood.
In fact, she spent so much time with the first
few journalists that many worried she might not
get to everybody. Tribune columnist and WCKG
host Terry Armour began to make the “pssst”
noise to get her attention. Then he decided that
might not be a great idea.
“As one of the only black people here,” he said,
“I don’t want Jacqueline Bisset to come home and
say, ‘There was some black guy yelling on the red
carpet.’”
Of course when he finally got the chance to
speak with her, his anxiety melted into the smile
of a schoolboy remembering a dream. If God
ever created eyes that truly sparkle, they are
Jacqueline Bisset’s.
Dinner took a decidedly American turn.
Bill Kurtis hosted a live auction during the
first course, filling the occasional non-bidding
silences with such jokes as, “My wife likes to
talk during sex, so she called me from the
hotel the other night.”
Following dessert, Ms Bisset received her
award. As her acceptance speech dragged on,
some guests whispered that she was rambling.
Most notable among these critics was the
actress herself. “Is this okay?” she asked at one
point. “I know that I’m rambling.”
When she finally arrived at her closing
remarks, she justified the money and praise
heaped upon actors by saying, “Everybody
really pulls their guts out to contribute to
your dreams.”
Then she mingled with the crowd long
after it had dwindled to a few dozen or so.
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