Painful

My then girlfriend Annie was training to be a nurse at the Middlesex Hospital in the centre of London near Oxford Circus. Mortimer Street and the surrounding area was full of film company HQ's. From time to time the hospital was given free tickets to events.

And so it was this evening. Annie had got three tickets to the Royal Premier of the Hollywood United Artists science-fiction "Rollerball" film starring James Caan. Although exclusively USA actors, the film was produced in the UK and above all in Munich at the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle  which had been built for the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball competitions.

It was only the 11th highest box office hit of 1975, the year of Jaws and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest but still big enough to be a Royal Premier in Leicester Square. I don't remember who the "Royal" was but think probably Prince Charles.

And so it was, dressed up possibly even in a dinner jacket, I joined Annie and Yodah at the nurses home, in their long evening dresses and miniature clutch handbags, to take a black London taxi the few hundred metres to the Odeon, Leicester Square. As I had jacket pockets, I was given the tickets.

The taxi made its way through the throngs of lookers-on in Leicester Square and stopped at the red carpet with all the photographers behind barriers with their flashlights popping off. Let the girls out first and seeing the security guards asking the girls for the tickets, I quickly followed to the entrance and fumbled around in my jacket. All of a sudden, I felt a big hand on my shoulder, turned around to see the taxi driver and hear "What about paying, Guv?". As he led the way, I followed down the red carpet to lean through the passenger window and pay the fee.

Did I feel a fool!