What do such classic films as The Third Man, The African Queen, The Misfits and Labyrinth have in common? Present during the filming of all of them was Angela Allen, acting as “continuity” – noting every shot and memorising all the details before her, working closely with the director, crew and actors to achieve a consistent and convincing world in front of the camera. She is one of the last witnesses to a truly golden age of cinema. Angela – who celebrated her 97th birthday in February 2026 – began her career as a 19-year-old on several British films, and then in 1948 was assigned to the second unit in Vienna for Carol Reed’s The Third Man. She subsequently became a regular aide to three great directors in particular, John Huston (with whom she made 14 films), John Frankenheimer and Franco Zeffirelli, as well as working with such diverse filmmakers as Tony Richardson, Ken Russell, Roman Polanski and Sidney Lumet. In a career spanning over a hundred films, Angela was brought into close contact with many famous stars, among them Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Sean Connery. As might be expected given her profession, her memories of everyone she encountered, and just what happened on the set, remain as sharp as ever. In this special film portrait, in-depth interviews with Angela are accompanied by many clips from the films she worked on as well as rare archive of behind the scenes. We also see Angela in relaxed conversation with colleagues in the industry, among them the directors Stephen Frears and Dominic Cooke, as well as fellow “continuity girls” Ann Skinner and Annie Penn, whom Angela mentored. A once invisible but extraordinary presence in the making of films, Angela’s status as a cinema legend has finally been honoured by a documentary in which she tells her remarkable story in her own words.

David Thompson