Acclaimed actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne made a big impression on London's West End on November 29, having his handprints immortalised for bronze plaques.

Sir Nigel, who was attending the world premiere of his latest film The Clandestine Marriage, joins a host of celebrities in the Leicester Square Handprints venture, Britain's answer to Hollywood's golden stars.

He posed for photos as he had his hands moulded and joked that he was stuck because he had been made to wait too long and the plaster cast had set.

Sir Nigel described his character in the film, which co-stars Joan Collins, Paul Nicholls, Natasha Little and Emma Chambers and was directed by Christopher Miles, as "a dirty old man".

"He is faded aristocracy. He has got an eye for the young girls and he makes an error of judgment."

Originally a stage play, the film is set in Hogarth's England of 1776. It is centred on the intended merging of two families through marriage - the Sterlings, all money and no class, and the aristocratic Oglebys, all class and no money.

His glamorous co-star Joan Collins said on arrival at the premiere that she had not seen the film before and was excited to see the end result.

Miss Collins, whose movie Jealousy and Hate, which she wrote herself, is currently in pre-production in Hollywood, confirmed that she had to wear false teeth for her part in the film.

Both she and Sir Nigel were associate producers for the production which ran into financial difficulties and which would have floundered without the help of the two actors.

The Clandestine Marriage is released nationwide on December 3.