Alfie (Burt Bacharach song) song, which was only a moderate hit in the US at #32. Interest in any one recorded version of "Alfie" was dissipated by the plethora of easy listening-oriented covers which were in release by the summer of 1966. Cilla Black titled her 2004 autobiography "What's It All About?", a reference to the opening phrase of the song. The grave marker beneath the headstone on her burial plot in Allerton Cemetery is inscribed with four lines taken from the bridge and the third verse of "Alfie". Lyrics from Black's hits "Step Inside Love" and "You're My World" also appear on the
Lewis Gilbert Sky" (1956) (based on the life of air ace Douglas Bader), "Carve Her Name with Pride" (1958) (the story of SOE agent Violette Szabo) and "Sink the Bismarck!" (1960). Gilbert directed "Alfie" (1966) starring Michael Caine. Gilbert's wife Hylda discovered the play by Bill Naughton when she visited the hair salon and sat next to an actress who was in a production. Upon seeing the play, Hylda urged Gilbert to make it into a film. Gilbert used the technique of having the lead character speak directly to the viewer, a technique he later also used in "Shirley Valentine" (1989). Gilbert