The plot featured a stern headmistress (Anne Reid) getting home from work to be greeted by her terminally ill partner Geraldine (Frances de la Tour).
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In the end, the worst does happen – and the scene concludes with Emma Thompson’s character sending her condolences to the bereaved headmistress at the infamous school concert.
As the headmistress tells her visibly sick partner about her day, it’s clear that Geraldine is full of spirit despite her illness.
At this stage, we can all easily accept that Love Actually is up there with the classics when it comes to Christmas movies. Curtis explains his reasons for not including them in his finished product – but we can’t help but wish the storyline had made the cut.
The second scene shows Geraldine coughing in bed before being comforted by the her pertner.
But although Hugh Grant’s character insists from the first scene that “love is everywhere”, the movie isn’t as inclusive as that line suggests.
Director Richard Curtis has revealed the long lost deleted scenes and his upset at cutting them.
Emma Thompson stars in Love Actually. Curtis said the idea was “that you just casually met this very sort of stern headmistress”.
Bill Nighy also plays a washed-up singer whose single miraculously manages to get to Christmas number one.
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There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who think Love Actually is a awful, hackneyed, lazily anti-American trash bin of a movie, and philistines with no taste.
