If Sting is just a bell-boy, what's he doing with a cheque-book? This was an era when not many had them. And wouldn't the fine take a sizeable chunk out of a bell-boys wages? It says much for the much-maligned Ace Face that he would retain his bravado even when faced with such a situation.
shareWell as a Bell-boy bulk of his wages are made of tips, So before the Brighton weekend, he may of saved alot and maybe he did other jobs on side who knows and there was nothing stopping him walking into a bank and opening a bank account to receive a cheque book..
shareIn the bonus materials on the Blu-Ray there is a newspaper headline from 1964 in the Daily Express ("Sawdust Caesars") with a subheading of "I'll pay by cheque boy has no bank account".
All just part of his facade.
Nice. Thanks for that insight!
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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc
That's quality! Thanks for that, I wish it had been kept in the film. :)
"I did it for me. I liked it!"
Well look at the Hotel where he worked! It wasn't exactly a cheap 2 star place. I'm sure you make some good tips in a place like that. And all those rich old ladies must have loved Ace..I'm sure they took care of him nicely.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
The hotel is the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Its well-known to people here in the UK.
Co-incidentally its the one that was bombed by the IRA in 1984, while Margaret Thatcher was staying there. (That shows you how much a symbol of the British establishment it was/is).
In answer to the OP, the thing is that we don't really know anything about Ace. We don't see his home or his family or get any insights at all into his background. We just know that he has a bit of money (the bike, the clothes etc). So we each get to imagine his real story. I've always had the feeling that he is a spoiled rich kid from a very wealthy family. So they give him money, and this is why he turns into a rebel. But only a 'weekend rebel': he likes the adulation of being with the Mods but he doesn't really want to smash the system that cushion him so well.
After the humiliation of seeing him in court, his rich parents are outraged and they threaten to cut him off and disown him. He begs them to give him another chance, and to teach him a lesson they force him to get a job, which he feels he has to do. But not just any job; they have enough connections to get him a job at the Grand Hotel. This is what Jimmy sees when he comes back the next week.
That's all total speculation of course, but I quite like it. :)
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
That to me was my thoughts, but nothing demonstrates his 'weekend mod' attitude more than when he's in the back of the Police van with the rockers and Jimmy.
Throughout the entire riot in Brighton, Ace Face was kicking the sh!t out of any rocker or Policeman he could get to, yet when he ended up getting arrested and chucked in the back of the van, he offered Jimmmy a cigarette, used the offer to a rocker to stir up some more sh!t, but then offered a cigarette to the Policeman who was riding in the back with them, almost a "oh well, back to normality" attitude.
In the court in front of his mod 'mates', he's giving it the big one, arguably the funniest part of the movie, but when Jimmy sees him at the Grand Hotel, he realises that the Ace Face he thinks he knows is simply a flash suit and a flash Scooter, and thats the sum of it.
Ace Faces life is no better than his.
This signature has stupidity!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlgACO7ZBuw
Funny I was just wondering that. According to an inflation calculator his fine (£75)is the equivalent of £1300 quid in today's money! They must have been some amazingly generous tips he was getting!!
share£75 would had been a fortune in that mid 1960s. My dad was getting £40 a week in the mid 1970s.
Its that man again!!
Tips. A bell boy at a high end Brighton Hotel was probably bringing in (relatively) huge money compared to most working folk. Of course, he had to take a lot of crap to get it.... but that how life has always been.
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