Susan George, in Eastenders, with her reputation! (Eastenders)

Member Name: Yermansays

Product:	Eastenders
Date:	17/06/01 (1801 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Susan George

Disadvantages: Susan George

Susan George appeared in Eastenders recently and I must admit I had mixed feelings about it. She was one of the original Babes of the 70’s, having appeared in a string of movies. Some of them were very controversial, the most notable being Straw Dogs in which she played Amy Sumner. Dustin Hoffman played her husband David. The movie was directed by Sam Peckinpah and is still banned in this country. It featured some very graphic violence and in particular a controversial rape scene. Believe it or not, I got in to see this movie when I was 12 years old (a Dublin cinema). The chap who was on the door knew my Dad and every Saturday I would walk straight in watch whatever was showing. This included Le Mans, Little Big Man and Straw Dogs.

I sat through it twice before being chucked out. My only memory of this is being surrounded by adults who kept looking at me as if I didn’t belong. I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. There was no nudity during the rape scene but it was violent. The only bit of nudity was a scene where George takes off her sweater whilst being watched through a window by one of the locals. I’m sure that was the reason I stayed behind to watch it again and in truth I would have stayed there all night. If my mother had known where I was at the time and who had let me in, the two of us would have been killed. Little did I know then but 29 years on, I still haven’t had the chance to give a more mature opinion on Straw Dogs.

Susan also starred in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry opposite Peter Fonda, Mandingo with James Mason and Ken Norton, Spring and Port Wine also with James Mason and Twinky with Charles Bronson. She also appeared on a chat show (The Late Late Show) many years ago with Oliver Reed who was drunk as a skunk. It ended with him making a lunge for her and falling over the back of a couch.

Susan was the Babe, Barbara Windsor the saucy seaside card girl and did I mention Wendy Richards?
No? Oh well, that’s okay then. The most recent episode introduced Margaret (Susan George) as a prospective new tenant for Janine and Terry. It didn’t take long for Janine to give her opinion on Margaret. She described her as “a right old battle axe.” How times have changed, grown men must have wept when they heard those words. Personally I still think she looks great for a fifty year old, not that it matters very much.

Eastenders may as well go the whole hog and bring Dustin Hoffman in as Susan’s American Husband. They could play a couple that refuse to leave the Queen Vic after drinking up time and are attacked by all the Eastender regulars. The series could end in a glorious bloodbath with Hoffman going berserk and blasting all the cast with a double-barrelled shotgun. What a tremendous finale that would be.

Failing that, they could bring in Julie Christie and Jenny Agutter as rival wine bar owners who like a bit of rough. Enter Phil Mitchell and Nick Cotton. I enjoyed writing this; I hope you enjoyed reading it.

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