TV Cream

Hall of Fame

NEAGLE, Anna

neaglePlain old Marjorie Robertson to the Home Office of course, but as half of the Wilcox-Neagle dream team, she dominated British cinema around wartime. And wasn’t she needed! Churchill was a man of many parts, but his ‘come hither’ looks left something to be desired. Fortunately, enter the erstwhile Marge. Period roles as Queen Vic and Nell Gwyn vied with more contemporary heroines like plucky pilot ‘Johnnie’ Johnson and the Allied-liberating Nurse Edith Cavell. In short, you want stoic female heroism with a touch of smouldering glamour? Call Dame Anna, and set your gaze for the middle distance as the orchestra heroically swells.

FINEST HOUR: Well, take your pick, but her depiction of guess who in The Lady With The Lamp wasn’t to be sniffed at.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Glenn Aylett

    April 15, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    Odette was her most outstanding film and based on a true story about a Resistance agent in the Second World War. The scene with the Gestapo officer and the poker is still horrifying to watch and the Nazis are particularly hateful in Odette, from the spiteful prison officer to the female concentration camp guard. Also I like how Odette spins a story that she’s related to Winston Churchill to stay alive in the concentration camp and as the last laugh as she turns in the commandant to the Americans.

  2. THX 1139

    April 16, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    Last seen (on film) grooving with Frankie Vaughan at the end of The Lady is a Square.

  3. Sidney Balmoral James

    April 16, 2022 at 4:32 pm

    Wilcox bankrupted himself with his final few films, and Neagle spent years working in dross to help pay off his debts.

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