Freddie Burretti – The Lost Show

Last night I was privileged to see Freddie Burretti – The Lost Show.  This is a brand-new take on the Freddie Burretti story.  I have seen every adaptation of the Freddie Burretti story including a musical with original songs, a radio play, a film of the musical and now for your entertainment, an AI film.  But this is no ordinary AI film.  It had real actors doing the voices.  The screenplay was written by Lee Scriven and is very entertaining.  As Lee says at the beginning of the film, this is the story of Freddie Burretti but the rest is Lee’s wild imagination thrown in for good measure.

Those who know the story of Freddie will know which bits are true but for those of you who don’t know, Fred Burrett, a boy raised in Bletchley became visionary tailor, Freddie Burretti, the man responsible for many of David Bowie’s iconic 70’s fashions.

The Lost Show is exactly that.  An imagined lost Show of Freddie is being interviewed by Russell Henlee which is a twist on the famous Russell Harty.  Freddie was never one to conform and during this film, he is upsetting all the TV bosses talking openly about being queer.  I love him so much for that.

Freddie tells Russell how he met Bowie in the Sombrero club.  Angie Bowie loved what Freddie was wearing and invited him over.  Not long after, Freddie moved into Haddon House and Bowie was keen to make Freddie a pop star.  Russell asks about the Arnold Corns project.  In real life Freddie was not comfortable as a front man and didn’t have the voice to sing.  But in this film, Freddie is brimming with confidence and has an album coming out as a successful singer and those of you who know the musical version of Freddie Burretti may recognise some of the songs in this film including, Nine Yards, English Town, Loving The Alien and Here And Now.

Freddie designs are iconic works of art in their own right.  But the two most iconic pieces are the Life On Mars suit that Freddie is wearing and of course, the Starman outfit. In the film, I loved how you could see the Starman video on one of the screens in the VT suite.  David pointing down the camera right at you and then draping his arm around Ronno.  Freddie is talking to Russell, reminiscing about that now legendary performance.  Freddie even mentions tank top boy!

There are loads of 70’s references and I loved seeing the old adverts in between the takes and the LWT sign which I can still hear the music to in my head.  The audience is clearly 1970s and everything feels so brown and orange that it make Freddie shine like a star in his blue Life On Mars suit.  By the way, it’s actually the real suit.  These images were taken from the V&A suit at the David Bowie archives.  

Let me say something about AI.  I admit I was wary about an AI film.  I have seen some truly horrid images of AI Bowie online and hoped it wouldn’t be like that.  It wasn’t.  It was beautiful.  Freddie aka Dennis French has never looked so good.  His hair is stunning and he feels and looks like a real person.  It’s a brilliant idea to have real actors playing the voices.  It brings warmth and heart to the film.

This film is a brave venture into the world of AI, and it made me want to be in that audience.  Its nostalgic for those of us who remember the 1970’s but also brave to talk about being queer in a time when you couldn’t really say it openly on national TV. Freddie is trying to get Russell to be open about his sexuality but Russell doesn’t want to risk his career. Sadly, this is how life was in the 1970’s.

What a fantastic film and what a warm and touching way to pay tribute to Freddie Burretti.  I like to think both Bowie would love this film as he was always pushing boundaries and that Freddie would love it as it shows him as beautiful and brave.

Note: This is a pilot and it is not currently available for fans of Freddie and Bowie to view, unless by invitation.  Thank you to Lee Scriven for the VIP invitation.

Cast:

Freddie Burretti - Dennis French

Russell Henlee - Sean Calvert

Verity - Caz Tricks

Screenplay - Lee Scriven

AI film techicals - Martin Christie