American Friends

Francis Ashby is a senior Oxford don. He is spending his holiday alone in the Alps. There he meets two American women. One is Caroline, the other is Elinor, her companion. Caroline adopted Elinor years ago. Ashby enjoys their company. He is drawn to Elinor in particular. Both women are drawn to him too. Back home the women turn up at Oxford unannounced. That puts Ashby in a difficult position. At the college women may not even enter the grounds. Going up to the rooms is out of the question. Such a friendship is not looked on kindly there. The film began from the journals of Michael Palin’s great grandfather. Palin plays the lead alongside Trini Alvarado and Connie Booth in Tristram Powell’s British film of 1991.