Kathy Kirby. Home movie / cine film footage. Dress rehearsal for her BBC TV show 1966.

Kathy Kirby was a huge star during the 1960s and in constant demand - always on television, with hit records and sell-out summer seasons. But into the 1970s her life and career were beset with problems. In 1978 Kathy was declared bankrupt and the bailiffs seized belongings from her London flat which were subsequently auctioned off to pay her debts. Items included jewellery, fur coats, furniture, a chandelier, master tapes of recordings, unreleased records and cine films. Over forty years later, some of these items re-surfaced, which include tapes from her sessions at Orange Records, the master tapes of her recordings for President Records and 8mm home movies. At the height of Kathy's fame she was the star of her own BBC TV series 'The Kathy Kirby Show' and her manager (and as we now know, her partner) the band leader Bert Ambrose, filmed some of the dress rehearsals. Ambrose owned a cine camera and the results of the rehearsals are on two reels. Kathy spoke about these films over the years and how she would have loved to see them again, but sadly she passed away in 2011, before they were rediscovered. When these items came up for sale over 43 years later, I made an offer, which was accepted. To view what was on the reels, I set up a film projector and screen and then filmed some of the scenes with my video camera, at an angle so I wasn't in the way of the projection. But of course, the films will eventually be transferred professionally to DVD. The two reels are about 30 minutes long in total - silent - but in glorious colour - unseen for over 40 years. Hope you enjoy watching this clip and the songs I've added, which Kathy sang on her TV series ... 'I don't know why (I love you like I do) ', 'You're getting to be a habit with me' and 'You made me love you'. You must agree that Kathy looked fabulous and even more beautiful in colour - but in the days of black and white television, viewers had to be content with Kathy in monochrome.