I have been hearing about this infamous falling out between Led Zeppelin maestro Jimmy Page and filmmaker, writer Kenneth Anger for decades now. Sadly the only the material I can find on the net still seems to the same variety of articles that appeared in rock fan magazines back in the seventies. This is actually one of the few great legends in the world that I have some sort of  connection with. Well, in a sort of incalculably indirect  way. I saw Page with Zeppelin back in 1977 in Ohio, and briefly met Anger at a book signing at the fantastic Scarecrow Video store in Seattle, where he signed my special copy of Hollywood Babylon with the Aleister Crowley quote Do What Thou Wilt from The Book of the Law. I had a nice little collection of Crowley books, most from Samuel Llewellyn  Press at one time, though I doubt it could compare to the collection by Anger and of course the filthy rich Jimmy Page who was reputed to have had at one time the 2nd largest collection of Crowley books and memorabilia in the world, including Crowley’s Boleskin House, perched on the cheery shores of Loch Ness in Scotland. It was one of three fantastic houses a then young Page owned (all have since been sold I believe). He also owned a house in the Kensington district of London called the Tower House, designed by Victorian architect William Burgess and formally owned by Richard Harris, and it is in this house  that the drama between Anger and Page unfolded.

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1968/Director: Roger Vadim/Producer: Dino De Laurentiis/Writer: Jean-Claude Forest, Roger Vadim, Terry Southern

Cast: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, David Hemming. Marcel Marceau

Barbarella was never a movie I was thrilled with although I’ve seen it a few times simply because Jane Fonda is so blasted sexy in it. While I am not disappointed with the sets and visuals and even the soundtrack, I just never cared for the story line which is based on the character created by French cartoonist Jean-Claude Forest. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and Fonda would marry him during production. Her character was patterned (legend has it) after Vadim’s previous wife Bridgett Bardot. Who is this guy? I would be honored to tie his boot laces though I am not worthy. I assume the story was supposed to be more tongue in cheek than it comes off as and I always felt the movie unintentionally took itself too seriously. It bombed critically and at the box office when it was released but has garnered and maintained a strong following on home video.

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PERFORMANCE

1970 / Directors: Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg / Writer: Donald Cammell

Cast: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michele Breton, Ann Sidney, John Bindon, Stanley Meadows, Allan Cuthbertson, Anthony Morton, Johnny Shannon

Amazingly this historic and influential film was not released on DVD until February of this year (2007). It stars James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Palenberg. Palenberg also helped with writing some of the film script. Prior to Performance James Fox had played mostly proper English gentlemen of one sort or another. Here he convincingly plays the viscous and violent Chas, an East side London gangster who is the enforcer for boss Harry Flowers. Fox’ s performance is chilling and has been cited as influential on the London gangster type that appear in the newer British crime movies by directors like Guy Ritchie. It is too bad Fox did not do more roles like this. In fact he would all but retire from acting after Performance and devote his energy to being an evangelical Christian, only appearing here and there over the years in films, most recently as Varuca Salt’ s father in Tim Burton’ s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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