Mystery

Horror

The Ballad of Tam Lin

Commonwealth United Entertainment

Winkast Film Productions

United Kingdom

English

Ava Gardner

Ian McShane

Richard Wattis

Cyril Cusack

Stephanie Beacham

David Whitman

Fabia Drake

Sinéad Cusack

Joanna Lumley

Jenny Hanley

Madeline Smith

Bruce Robinson

Victoria Fairbrother

Rosemary Blake

Michael Bills

Virginia Tingwell

Peter Hinwood

Hayward Morse

Julian Barnes

Norman Oliver

Salena Jones

Jannice Dinnen

Andrew Grant

Don Hawkins

Delia Lindsay

Linda Marlowe

Michael Mundell

Yvonne Quenet

Erika Raffael

Jocelyne Sbath

Christopher Williams

Jimmy Winston

John Bawden

Roddy McDowall

Kip Gowans

William Spier

Robert Burns

Denis Holt

Jerry Gershwin

Elliott Kastner

Anthony B. Unger

Henry T. Weinstein

Anne Box

Mibs Parker

Ricky Rickersby

Jane Seymour

Tony Sforzini

Frank Turner

Peter Beale

David Wimbury

Billy Williams

Stanley Myers

John Victor-Smith

Donald M. Ashton

John Graysmark

Pierre Balmain

Beatrice Dawson

Colin M. Brewer

Alan Ladd Jr.

Stanley Mann

CinemaSerf

Using the baronial Traquair House in the Scottish borders and a fair smattering of Jacqui McShee's dulcet tones, Roddy McDowall attempts to re-create a story from 16th century folklore about a magical Queen of the Fairies who surrounds herself with youth and beauty. He's time-shifted the scenario to the 1960s though, and it's the enigmatic "Micky" (Ava Gardner) who is doing the alluring. Top of her target list is the handsome young "Tom" (Ian McShane) but fairly quickly you gather that his is bit of a transitory role in the life of his lover. What she isn't used to, though, is competition - and that comes in the form of local minister's daughter "Janet" (Stephanie Beacham). With most of her acolytes desperate to stay in favour and enjoy all the wealth that brings, "Tom" rather bucks the trend as he demonstrates an independence streak that evokes that even older adage: beware the woman scorned. For a time this works quite well as it marries the haunting soundtrack with a sense of the carefree existence she promotes for her "children", but after the umpteenth close up of Gardner and/or McShane whom the camera clearly love, the story grinds to an almost glacial pace with little effort made to develop the fantasy elements of the story. Richard Wattis turns in an interesting effort as the general factotum "Elroy" - a man who serves his mistress with a slightly menacing degree of loyalty, but that isn't really built upon either. The photography and limited use of visual effects can be quite effective at times, especially at the end but somehow I felt like I was watching their antics through a plate glass window. It's certainly a modernised critique on the human vices of venality and frivolousness but too much of it is padding and it's all somewhat lacking in substance.

The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970) clip - available on BFI Blu-ray from 10 October 2022 | BFI

Tam Lin (1970) Original Trailer [HD]

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The Ballad of Tam Lin

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Ava Gardner

Ian McShane

Richard Wattis

Cyril Cusack

Stephanie Beacham

David Whitman

Fabia Drake

Sinéad Cusack

Joanna Lumley

Jenny Hanley

Box office

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