I told Albert Finney "Two for the Road" was my favorite movie . . .

In 1982, I was working as a staff publicist for MGM/UA at their NYC offices. The company's first release that year was "Shoot the Moon" with Albert Finney and Diane Keaton. It was generally well-reviewed (I hated it) but was not doing so well at the boxoffice, so MGM suddenly flew Albert Finney in for a day to promote it. I spent the day with him, accompanying him from one interview to the next. He had always been my favorite actor, and I was delighted that he turned out to be a terrifically nice guy--friendly, highly intelligent, down-to-earth, and hysterically funny. The last interview was at his hotel room late in the afternoon, and the interviewer was a critic friend of mine, so it turned into a relaxing 3-way conversation. After Finney called Room Service and ordered double alcoholic drinks for the 3 of us, I finally mustered up the courage to tell him that he was in my favorite movie ever made. He suddenly became serious and asked me which movie. When I answered "Two for the Road", he gave me a quizzical look and said "I've been all over the world, and whenever someone recognizes me and tells me I'm in their favorite movie, I always expect them to say it's 'Tom Jones'. But they never do. It's always 'Two for the Road' which is curious because it was not a success when it was released." I told him I thought that was because the movie was way ahead of its time and probably still is, some 15 years later. He asked me what it was about the movie that I thought was so special, and I struggled to find the words to convey my feelings about it. He seemed pleased by what I'd said (I felt like a fool) and I asked him what he thought about "Two for the Road". He admitted that he liked the film very much, had great fun making it, was disappointed when it lost money, but was pleased that now it seemed to have turned into a "cult" film. He added: " And Audrey was fantastic."