Trailer trash

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/oct/28/trailer-trash-derek-jacobi

Version 0 of 1.

Royal album

Trash was thrilled to witness the Queen visiting BFI Southbank last week as the old place celebrated its 60th birthday. The Queen appeared to enjoy the film presentation in the venerable National Film Theatre and, dressed in elegant purple coat and hat, flashed a satisfied smile at me – or so I like to think – as she walked along the aisle to the exit. She had just been treated to some lovely stuff from the BFI archive, including Scenes at Balmoral (1896), the first known filmed images of a British monarch, which depicted Queen Victoria and Tsar Nicholas II in the grounds of the Scottish castle.

Her Majesty – it's "Ma'am as in jam", according to the protocol instructions I received – must have then been very moved to see home cine footage from her family's own Kodachrome 16mm collection. One clip showed George VI, the Queen Mother, the then Princess Elizabeth and a baby Prince Charles having an intimate and playful moment, while another showed three-year-old Charles learning to ride on a very woolly and tiny white pony, led by Princess Elizabeth.

The Queen was later presented with a 1946 photograph of her and her late sister Margaret visiting Ealing Studios' set of Alberto Cavalcanti's production of Nicholas Nickleby. The royal household has now agreed to work with the BFI archive to digitise its large collection of private films to preserve them for future generations.

Ealing dealings

As if the visit of the Queen were not enough, BFI Southbank kicked off its 10-week Ealing season with a talk from Joanna McCallum, daughter of John McCallum and British legend Googie Withers. The two stars got engaged on the set of last week's restored gem, 1947's It Always Rains on Sunday. "Much to Ealing boss Michael Balcon's relief," Joanna told me. "He thought it was most unseemly, these two conducting a love affair on his set, until John did what was in those days known as the decent thing." Joanna also confirmed the story that Coronation Street was forced to apologise after a character in the soap said in one episode that a particular event "would have Googie Withers turning in her grave". Joanna told me: "Mum was very much alive at the point and was travelling to Australia, where she lived. She was most upset to have all these calls and inquiries waiting for her when she landed. Of course, she was secretly happy people were still talking about her, but the show apologised by asking if she would like a tour of the Corrie set. She politely declined."

Turtlebaum's back

I hear Sir Derek Jacobi is about to return to a character he first played in a short film in 2008. Sidney Turtlebaum was a gay man of a certain age who gatecrashed north London shivas (Jewish funeral wakes) in order to cover up his loneliness. The delightful film was one of the first winners of funding from the Pears Foundation in the UK Jewish film festival's shorts competition and I wrote here at the time that Derek was so intrigued by Turtlebaum that he was pushing the film-maker Tristram Shapeero to develop it further, saying: "Sidney's such an original creation, so dark and full of conflict, but also charming and funny… I've sort of fallen in love with Sidney Turtlebaum."

I understand that Shapeero has now returned from directing Zooey Deschanel's TV series, New Girl, in Hollywood, and that he and Jacobi are preparing for Sidney Turtlebaum's feature debut. So, if you see a twinkly old man by the smoked salmon bridge rolls at your next shiva, keep your eye on him.

The 2012 UK Jewish film festival opens on 1 Nov