A star-studded cast Monkey almost stepped on the toes of Hugh Grant last night as a celebrity packed crowd moved from a champagne reception overlooking the Thames and into the Great British Movie Event dinner at Old Billingsgate to raise money for the National Film & Television School, to pay fees for the impecunious talented. Monkey also rubbed shoulders with Daniel Craig, Honor Blackman, Rowan Atkinson, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Christopher Lee, Floella Benjamin and more film producers and directors than you could shake a bottle of Krug at. The ubiquitous Peter Bazalgette, deputy chair of the NFTS, took the dress code "glamorous" as seriously as the film stars, wearing an extraordinary golden star studded Nehru-style tunic and the event, if not the venue, certainly lived up to its billing. The final total raised is said to be around £400,000, for NFTS bursaries and a new building for the organisation in Beaconsfield.
Gweat value for all Shock number one was finding our Great British Movie quiz host Jonathan Ross doing it for free. But as he said (Lord) Dickie Attenborough, president of the NFTS, rang him up to ask, and "How can you possibly say no to a big, loveable bear of talent?" "Tonight is not about knocking and sneering," Ross added, "though we're not particularly good at picking London mayors." Wossy moved on to describe himself as Britain's "best value-for-money chatshow host", adding that he never left his house without the recent BBC Trust report on the costs of BBC talent - which found any over spending was in radio and news. So there.
Magical prizes Highlight of the night, which was themed around four film franchises - James Bond, Harry Potter, Richard Curtis and Aardman - was a battle for the Harry Potter lot. This included an uncorrected proof of the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, donated, yep... by Bazalgette. The bidding for the Potter proof escalated into some serious splashing of cash, as Grant stepped in at £11,000, only to be joined by Bond man Craig. As diners held their breath the two were locked in a bidding tussle until it was knocked down to Craig, at a princely £18,000. The auction was conducted by Lord Dalmeny, deputy chairman of Sotheby's UK, with such panache that several directors were said to be eyeing him up for a character role.
Bear necessities In a separate auction Greg Dyke, new chairman of the BFI, bid a more modest £800 for framed Ground Force cartoons, while Michael Kuhn, who runs Qwerty Films, and chairs the NFTS, bought Floella Benjamin's Big Ted and Little Ted Playschool teddy bears, with a rare Playschool postcard attached, for the same price. Aw, bless. One week in a "lovely self catering Tuscan house" with pool, sleeping 12, went for £13,000. Another result for, ahem... Bazalgette, who owns the aforementioned Tuscan pad with his wife, and who confessed later that he normally rents it out for a quarter of the sum bid last night.
A lip-smacking bid Perhaps the most extraordinary bid of the evening came from Bond producer Barbara Broccoli who paid an eye-watering £19,000 to win a snog from her own Mr Bond, Craig, Robbie Coltrane and from Hugh Grant - the latter delivering a long lingering embrace on the spot. Perhaps Grant was making up for being outbid for a second time, for a walk on part in a Working Title movie. Mwoah!
