Snakes and Ladders is the sequel to Drink Bogarde’s outstanding first volume of autobiography, A Postillion Struck by Lightning. With the same skill and humour he continues his story, from the army training camp at Catterick to the greatest challenge of his film career, the role of Von Aschenbach in Death in Venice.
There are many highlights in this second volume; the moving account of his partnership with Judy Garland; the struggle that be and Losey had to make The Servant; the agonies of playing Liszt in Hollywood; the demands and rewards of working with Visconti. It is a book rich in detail, incident and character, by a man whose many talents include a rare gift for writing.