In the early 1970s, Norman Hudis – who had written 6 of the first Carry On ... scripts – wrote a play entitled Dinner with Ribbentrop which was based on events in the life of Eric Portman.
The premise of the film is based on a conversation between Portman and Hudis during which Eric said that, in 1937, having met at a dinner, Ribbentrop discussed collaboration and assured Portman that, after winning the war which seemed increasingly imminent, the Nazis would make Portman the greatest English star in the New Europe.
The play maintains that Portman was a bigot who disliked the Irish, blacks, the Labour Party, and the Jews who controlled everything from the economy to the theatre and the film industry.
The play is set in 1951, when Portman wrestles with his conscience after he is offered a rôle in a film produced by a Jewish film producer
The play also addresses Portman's hidden homosexuality
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©
Malcolm Bull 2017 /
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Revised 12:20 on 3rd February 2017 / p112_4 / 4