Luxor4u

100 years ago, around about tea time... a boy named Mo discovered Tut.ankh.amun.
Sort of along, with Howard and George.

So, I have decided over the next few days to put pen to paper (let my fingers do the talking)
about the making of BBC's extravaganza Egypt: Rediscovering a Lost World.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483603/?ref_=wl_li_tt

A behind the scenes 'extras view on £50 quid a day including lunch and lots of fun.
And a lot of expat extras, 'You know who you are, you can add your own two penneth' ..


The 4 Mo's by Helen:

This all came about having just returned from the Egyptian Exploration Society a nice 20 minute walk
up Guildford Street past The Foundlings Hospital Coram Fields, the kids were having a funfair waiting
for the fireworks later on, the 'old bill had closed the road to traffic.

The EES is going to figure in my latest plans, seeing as Amelia lived over in the next street and I have a gaff
15 minutes from the VOK.
Oh! and at the end of Doughty Mews is The Duke PH close to the Charles Dickens museum.

A brief snippet just to wet your appetites....


Ps: 'I stuck out my head out from behind that hole in the burial chamber,
'2 minutes in, it made her jump! and laugh...
Pss: Oh Yeh! and I'm halfway through Andrew Collin's The Exodus Conspiracy 2002

I'm rather dubious that in 1922 the name of Mohamed (other spellings are available) would have been shortened to Mo? I would have imagined that it might have been frowned upon by many Muslim traditionalists, as I believe that it may still be now.

Sunday Dateline: Lundun it's raining......

Trying to locate the section where Carter 'nails his colours to the wall (notice board) actually in the old
Luxor Hotel.
The crew had built little wooden steps from the New Winter Palace to the old Luxor Hotel.

It had been empty for years, last time I saw any err guests it was aussie backpackers..
It was rumored purchased by Rocco Forte...I had scanned the whole place years before.

I did once find a dusty room full of crockery and gave Helen an embossed coffee cup and saucer.
I was actually after the beautiful antique 7 ft thermometer for Waterman's' Ink on enamel.

Back to the beeb, they had been around for sometime, so I popped into see if
they needed the services of my mate's balloon company.
The girl said 'No George' but do you want to act ?
Turns out she knew me from being a line producer back in London..

As I wasn't doing much "count me in....I flew back to London got some blue tortoiseshell
glasses and grew a 'mustache.. and flew back...

A lot of extras were needed the word went out.
We were getting £50 quid whilst the Egyptian extras were only on 50le a day.
One pal had his yard out near the airport, used as the front of Abu Simbel.
Another was running to and fro finding and using locals to build markets and usable locations.

I remember one day standing on the roof of Stoppelere House with a cold beer, amazing views..
Everybody I knew was making money from the beeb, we had 3 free dedicated motorboats 24 hrs a day.

The art of getting scenes, free lunches and £50 quid a day was not to be sneezed at.
My Brazilian pal off the balloons earnt more than me because, I that's me, became a
"Named Actor"...Weigall....which meant less scene time = less dosh.
I was getting them tourists off the balloons for one day's filming, and
getting actors and crew cheap balloon flights, the money was rolling in..

Those hands there are Howard Carter's hands, those hands are earning £50 quid..

Note: That map there is an actual copy of Carters' hand drawn Valley.
It became highly interesting..that map.

But the fun never stopped Oh! and it was getting hotter every month..
I ran a tab for sometime in the Winter Palace bar, until the accountants queried it,
'I was in cahoots with the bar manager...

Everytime one bumped into an expat, 1st question "So are you in it then ? that was on
either east & west bank.

The Metropolitan with their football screens was very popular with crew and actors.
I was trying to smooth Ferdie the director, to let me speak, he wasn't having any of it.

TBC.........

Ps: The section I am looking for has Keefy & Little Lee as journalists in a room full
with Stuart (Howard) shouting the odds,.... 'again.
I exit stage left, straight into the phone-booth......"A stunning performance by Weigall" The Baltimore Gazette.

An aside.....

Black Granite from Aswan...
Over the years I have a bit of a collection of stuff from egypt, lights, pictures, rugs, statues, coffee pots, ashrays,
bad habits, ect ect see:


The weird and wonderful...

Above a light switch a lump of black granite....."now I know where I got it and how I got it. On another excursion to
the Giza Plateau, Nick and I did a lot of excursions day & night. Sunrise, sitting half way up, pretty stunning..

I'm at the bit by Arthur Weigall on Egyptian Spirits..great stuff he writes on peoples from around the globe
returning stuff to him back in 1922 he had a warehouse full of the stuff...

He's got some hilarious, stunning, believable stories about artifacts..
'check this one out!


'Now I never knew it had been smashed, pretty good repair imho...

'ancient yobs...

Ps: This is fast becoming the best book about Egypt that I have ever read..

When the Beeb were filming on the West Bank their base was in the car park of The Ramesseum, useful
when popping into The Rest to have beer and chat with Mohammed.

They had a couple of old motor cars which I had a play with even getting a ride up to Carter's' house.
The Polish Mission's place was used as Carter's House even to the (temporarily) planting of palm trees.
All the crew were like one big family and from different countries but most had worked alongside each other
on different films.

In the evenings I would pop down to see Les in the editing room, groaning as bits of me ended up 'on the
cutting room floor'.
The day's footage was flown to the UK for developing then back again..
Me and my mate would often walk down the East Bank streets into a hotel bar dressed in our Victorian clobber.
Mind you! attired in hobnailed boots,socks, wool three piece suits, thick shirts, ties and hat, it could get pretty
thirsty work.

I found out that although the Beeb had spent millions, that it had already been pre sold worldwide.
All the ancient king tut stuff was filmed mostly up in Dr Ragab's film studios in Cairo.

Lots of the BBC props were sold off to the Cairo Museum, so I was told and that Tut-ankh-amen's Gold
Mask mysteriously disappeared from the set, never to be seen again.....


Ps: Came across this interesting bit just now:..


'sorry about the ruddy ads........

Pss: Just dug out 2nd draft of the script 30th January 2005...


At the bottom 'Monty, Mo and me.....0545hrs start.....

And one of my Brazilian mate off the balloons also called George...