MAD ABOUT THE BOY: THE NOEL COWARD STORY is a documentary feature from

director and producer Barnaby Thompson (Pixie, St. Trinian’s).

2023 is the 50th anniversary of Noel Coward’s death so it seems the right moment to look

back at his extraordinary life. He grew up in poverty and left school when he was only nine

years old. He was queer in a very straight world. And yet by the age of 30, he was the

highest paid writer in the world, and a star on the Broadway stage.

He wrote, directed, and acted in some of the finest plays and movies of all time, including

Private Lives, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter and In Which We Serve. He also became a

world-renowned songwriter and performer of whom Frank Sinatra said, ‘If you want to hear

how a song should be sung, go see Mr Noel Coward’.

And if that wasn’t enough, he discovered John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and David Lean

and was a spy in the Second World War! Against all odds, Noel Coward became the most

successful multi-talented artist of the Twentieth Century. He was the epitome of selfinvention

and defined an era. This is his inspirational story told in his own words and music,

and unique home movies.

The film features Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Peter O’Toole, Harold Pinter, Frank

Sinatra, Lauren Bacall, Michael Caine, and Lucille Ball. It is narrated by Alan Cumming and

Rupert Everett is the voice of Noel Coward. Adam Lambert has recorded a new version of

the title track, which has already had over a million hits on Spotify.