WEIRD WORLD

PICTURE PERFECT:

An “exceptional” collection of starstudded photographs showing movie icons like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are going up for auction. Muchloved comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise also feature in the unique set of about 50 images, many autographed, along with Hollywood legends like Telly Savalas, Bette Davis, Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. The collection was the result of 20 years work by George Ruff during his time as official photographer in first class aboard the Cunard cruise ship line.

COMMON MAN:

Man is the most common word in British film titles, new research has revealed. The British Film Institute (BFI) has compiled an archive of 10,000 UK films, from the first released in cinemas in 1911 to the present day. It found that 221 films have man in the title, with everything from The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970), The Straw Man (1953), Man About Dog (2004) and The Railway Man (2014), starring Colin Firth. Only 71 films have woman in the title, including A Woman Of No Importance (1921), The Invisible Woman (2014) and The Impossible Woman (1920).

IN THE RED:

France’s Socialists - who are reeling from this year’s damaging electoral defeat - are so broke they are putting their famed Paris headquarters, the opulent Left Bank townhouse known as “Solferino”, up for sale. A historic loss of power - the Socialists lost the Elysee to centrist Emmanuel Macron in May - meant a drop in public subsidies for the party equivalent to tens of millions of euros each year. The party is deep in debt and its presidential candidate, Benoit Hamon, quit the party in July.