MELODY! An Evening with the Stars of This British Classic!

Mark Lester. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Sunday, October 16, I attended a rather unusual and unique movie event in Japan. Usually, the film events I attend are guested by Japanese actors or crew members. That's not a big surprise, given that this is Japan! But this event brought in two special guests all the way from Europe: Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde!

The movie screened was Melody (1971), a British flick about two preteens (played by Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde) in love and the wacky kids they go to school with. The film was written by Alan Parker, who went on to direct such classics as Midnight Express (1978) and Mississippi Burning (1988).  

I have to confess that I'd never even heard of Melody prior to the announcement of this event, but it was obviously popular enough that the stars would be flown in from a different continent for it. (It should be pointed out that they will be participating in several Melody-related events, even in other parts of Japan). 

But why Melody?

In between Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde.

Well, it turns out that Melody was a huge hit when it was released in Japan in the early 1970s, and it made instant idols of both Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde in the country. I was rather surprised to learn about the enormous popularity of the film in Japan. One attendee told me that he missed it during its original theatrical run but that he was finally able to see it a few years later. On television? I asked. No, in the theater! It turns out that Melody played in certain cinemas around Japan for years after its release! 

A female fan there traveled all the way to England to visit Mark back in June 1992 and her her photos from the meeting to show the folks in attendance. Another super-fan went location-hunting in 2019 and showed the footage he shot of all the remaining landmarks seen in the film. Devotees of the movie seemed to fall in love with the young Lester and Hyde as portrayed in the film, as well as the movie's glimpse of life in London of the time. 

So why did I, a person who had admittedly never even heard of Melody attend this event? Well, I wanted to meet Mark Lester! His biggest credit is playing Oliver Twist in the musical Oliver! (1968), which took home the Best Picture trophy at the Oscars. He also has a bit part in the sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451 (1966), a flick my cousin and I used to talk about all the time back in the day.

That's to say nothing of his starring in an honest-to-goodness Toho picture, Little Adventurer (1973), alongside the likes of Hiroshi Koizumi, Reiko Dan, and Robert Dunham. In fact, Little Adventurer likely happened at all due to Mark's sudden popularity in the wake of Melody's release here.

With Tracy Hyde.

I was fortunate to spend a lot of time speaking with the guests. I asked Tracy if she met screenwriter Alan Parker while making Melody. She did, as he was apparently present for the auditions and other such things. But, given the age gap between the two, there just weren't a lot of conversations to be had. Tracy didn't have the passion for acting, as her true calling was to work with animals, especially horses. She was also amazed to learn just how old I am, as she didn't think I looked my age. That will always be a compliment I'll never tire of!

With Mark Lester.

I also got to shoot the breeze with Mark Lester, who made a couple of funny Godzilla references during his Q&A session. In terms of Fahrenheit 451, he plays a young boy who crosses a bridge in the film. Much like Tracy with Alan Parker, he was too young (not to mention not that involved) in the film, so he had no specific memories of director Francois Truffaut. But he did mention that his dressing room was right next to Julie Christie's. Talk about prime real estate!

The conversation moved on to several other topics, such as his friendship with the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson, the current state of the Japanese movie industry, his meeting John Landis when Landis was in town shooting An American Werewolf in London (1981). Mark also said I look like Quentin Tarantino, but I hope he at least meant a young QT. 

Wow, what an evening! It far exceeded my expectations. Both guests were enormously friendly, and, as you can imagine, they're both blown away that the movie's popularity endures in Japan. 

UPDATE (3/5/2023): Having watched Fahrenheit 451 last night and this morning, I spotted Mark Lester in the movie. It seems he appears in two different scenes. In his first appearance, he's the second student at the school who runs away from Clarisse (played by Julie Christie) after she was fired from her position. He also appears a few minutes later, standing on a bridge with an actress playing his mother, as the fire truck passes below. Unlike the previous scene, he has a line here, and he says, "Oh, Mommy, look -- firemen! Mommy, there's going to be a fire."