In case you don’t know LCL is back in the ‘hot’ news 🤪. Netflix are the latest to tap into this D H Lawrence bonkbuster with a very sexy version of country life in the 1920s. The actual story by one of our great British classic authors has a lot going for it: First World War and its effects, politics, class wars, upstairs/downstairs, love, passion – and a lot more.
The two main actors are young and largely unknown – but they won’t be after this ‘exposure’. For inside, outside, in milady’s chamber read in the gamekeeper’s hut, outside it, running around the fields naked in the rain and everywhere else it seemed. There are some very graphic sex scenes. Question: where do entertaining classics and explicit raunchiness part company? Incidently ‘the end’ in the book and this film strangely differ – should that be allowed? But hey, all in all this is a fascinating story of illicit love, suspense and impending doom. It’s well worth a watch – but Scouts honour – be prepared…
D H Lawrence was born in Nottinghamshire, my own home county. My particular story of Lady Chatterly’s Lover concerns the period shortly after the book’s clearance for publication in 1960, following its court case for obscenity. Pan Books had published Lawrence’s last novel in the UK thirty-two years after it was published in Italy where Lawrence was living with his family. In 1962 aged thirteen I went on a school trip from Nottingham to London for the day. The purpose of the visit was to go to the Science museums and we went on the train and the Underground. From memory we enjoyed the travel and the museums but we found ourselves with some spare time before the return journey.
I should add at this point that although I went to a good grammar school some of my fellow schoolmates had quite surprising ‘talents’. I was no angel but I was out of my depth sometimes. On this occasion my mate Steven and I found ourselves outside a posh London bookshop. Steve instructed me to engage the man in the shop in literary conversation while he had a look round. After a few minutes of discussing my favourite author, Richmal Crompton of ´Just William´ fame I noticed Steve going out of the shop. I thanked the helpful assistant and followed my friend down the road.
When we were well out of sight of the shop Steve pulled a brand new copy of Lady Chatterly´s Lover from under his coat. For the rest of the trip until well under way on the return train we pored over the book and digested the naughty bits. My only memory is of Mellors, the gamekeeper explaining the ´f´ word to Lady Chatterly during intercourse – both verbal and sexual. As we neared our home city Steve nonchalantly went down the corridor train and returned ten minutes later with two pounds. He had sought out some likely looking candidates and it didn’t take him long to sell the book. So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Netflix did you say? Well, I´ve started wading through the modern classic called Megan and Harry. As I get older in life the maxim ´There’s two sides to every story´ seems to make more sense. I’m only half-way through the six part saga of our new Kings younger sons meeting and betrothal to a young American actress and all the brouhaha that went with it. Watch this space…
By John McGregor
