“You’ve spelt me name wrong”

An amusing story from Sir John Mills about the precocious cherub Alan Barnes who played the little brother Charles Bostock.

On arriving for the first days filming the little “thesp” was being shown around the set when he spotted three “directors type” canvas chairs set up in a row for the director and the two lead actors, each complete with their name printed on the back.

“You’ve spelt me name wrong, ” he announced loudly, while pointing to the chair reserved for Alan Bates. Without missing a beat, Mills apologised profusely for the oversight and promised a remedy by the very next day. Sure enough, by the start of filming the next morning the tree chairs had been joined by a fourth, child sized replica, complete with the correct spelling of Alan Barnes.