This Irish-French-Italian oddity directed by Yves Boisset is based on the book by French author Michel Deon and the star studded cast includes Peter Ustinov, Charlotte Rampling, Fred Astaire and Philippe Noiret. The ageing Astaire plays a village doctor who drives the brightly painted London taxi of the title, manipulating the fate of everyone around him. The film explores the tangled relationships of a group of disaffected people against the backdrop of the windswept scenery of the West of Ireland.
It was shot in twelve weeks, with the film unit travelling to counties Dublin, Wicklow, Galway, Kerry and Mayo. Boisset summarised the film thus: ‘It’s about justice, man’s search for the true meaning of his life and his relationship with others. It’s a universal theme.’