1
00:00:14,714 --> 00:00:15,915
A few weeks ago,

2
00:00:15,947 --> 00:00:17,349
you received a critical
award here in London,

3
00:00:17,383 --> 00:00:19,953
the London Standard Film Award,

4
00:00:19,985 --> 00:00:21,954
which was for your
outstanding contribution

5
00:00:21,988 --> 00:00:23,389
to British filmmaking.

6
00:00:23,421 --> 00:00:25,123
There are a lot of
people who consider you

7
00:00:25,156 --> 00:00:28,860
to have kind of saved the
British filmmaking industry.

8
00:00:28,893 --> 00:00:32,064
Well, I think it
was more of the award

9
00:00:32,098 --> 00:00:36,636
for the only English-British
company that's left.

10
00:00:58,256 --> 00:01:00,159
HandMade Films to
me was a signature,

11
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this is gonna be quality stuff.

12
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For me, to make
films is my way

13
00:01:03,461 --> 00:01:05,165
to help other people.

14
00:01:07,333 --> 00:01:08,768
It was George
Harrison's company.

15
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,204
Well, it doesn't get
much cooler than that.

16
00:01:11,237 --> 00:01:14,240
I mean, I spent
25 years in this pop group.

17
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He said to me,

18
00:01:15,675 --> 00:01:16,875
"I'm so grateful that
you did this film."

19
00:01:16,909 --> 00:01:19,211
I was like, "You're grateful?"

20
00:01:20,178 --> 00:01:21,279
He came into
the entire room,

21
00:01:21,312 --> 00:01:24,150
and it was like
meeting royalty for us.

22
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That's what they always say
in the papers, "movie mogul".

23
00:01:30,255 --> 00:01:31,723
You know, there's
always this battle

24
00:01:31,756 --> 00:01:34,359
between the artists
and the money people.

25
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I can't imagine
anything more risky

26
00:01:36,696 --> 00:01:38,131
than this business.

27
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And I don't particularly
like being the money.

28
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Every film that
we've done has been rejected

29
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by everyone in the world.

30
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This was the world that
I wanted to be a part

31
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of building HandMade into,

32
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that you literally would,

33
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people would say, "I've
got another script."

34
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We'll do it.

35
00:01:58,750 --> 00:02:00,052
♪ What you dream of ♪

36
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HandMade
felt like family.

37
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They weren't a big studio.

38
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They did go with quirky,
off-beat, atypical stories.

39
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Very good films got
made in a very short time.

40
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I can't think of any other
period in British filmmaker

41
00:02:14,933 --> 00:02:16,968
which was quite so rich.

42
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It's
new, and it's news.

43
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Sheffield's ABC Cinema,

44
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the last word for picture goers.

45
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With 1,300 luxury seats,

46
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with a 60 foot screen doing
justice to the epic dramas

47
00:02:31,283 --> 00:02:33,052
of which only the
cinema is capable.

48
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It was just nice in
those post-war years

49
00:02:36,288 --> 00:02:37,724
to get out the house
and go somewhere

50
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where there's all
nice golden lights,

51
00:02:40,325 --> 00:02:43,795
and little goldfish
swimming in the foyer.

52
00:02:43,829 --> 00:02:48,266
And yeah, we had some really
neat cinemas in Liverpool.

53
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In the 50s, they
were fabulous places.

54
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Art deco, wonderful places.

55
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And generally, you know,
the screens were big,

56
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and it was something
quite different

57
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from any other sort
of entertainment.

58
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I mean, I went to see
everything, of whatever standard.

59
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It didn't
matter what is was.

60
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No matter
how good or bad it was.

61
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Where you were transported
to a different world

62
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for an hour of a half.

63
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The industry had got into
a very sorry state by 1982,

64
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under the leadership
of two major companies,

65
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Rank and EMI.

66
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When it
comes to entertainment,

67
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you can't beat a good film.

68
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I think there were
about 23 films made.

69
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Typically in the UK, we
make 90 to 120 films a year,

70
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23 films in a year was
really, really low.

71
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And at the same time, the
number of tickets sold

72
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was going down and down.

73
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The average Briton went to
the cinema 11 times a year.

74
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It was down to nought
point four visits a year.

75
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So things in the early 80s
were really, really grim.

76
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Rank and EMI famously said
no to almost everything

77
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that was interesting.

78
00:03:58,236 --> 00:04:00,438
♪ Brian ♪

79
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♪ The babe they call Brian ♪

80
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I remember exactly when
the "Life of Brian" idea

81
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rose up in our lives.

82
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We were promoting "Holy Grail",

83
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and we were on a
little pub crawl.

84
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There we were sitting, drinking,

85
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and Eric said, "Jesus
Christ's Lust for Glory",

86
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and ideas came out very quickly.

87
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Of course, we didn't
use most of them because

88
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they were too blasphemous
and we never wanted

89
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to pick on Jesus.

90
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In fact, he was okay
when you look at the Bible.

91
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It was the followers
and the churches

92
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that needed a lot of kicking.

93
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People started reading
books, the Bible,

94
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getting ready to go.

95
00:04:39,111 --> 00:04:42,414
And a man called Barry
Spikings who worked for EMI,

96
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liked the script very much,

97
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and got EMI to invest
some money in it,

98
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and the crew were sound
out to Monastir in Tunisia

99
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to start building
some of the sets.

100
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We were
leaving on a Saturday,

101
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and on Thursday we got the news

102
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that Lord Delfont,
Bernie Delfont,

103
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had got around to
reading the script.

104
00:05:03,135 --> 00:05:04,904
He said, "You can't do this,

105
00:05:04,936 --> 00:05:08,206
"we can't have EMI involved
in something like this,

106
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"it's blasphemous, it's rude,

107
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"it's shameful,
it's disgusting."

108
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And there was no way
he would be involved

109
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with this non anti
Semitic filmmaking.

110
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And ordered Spikings
to pull the plug.

111
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When we
didn't go to Tunisia,

112
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we suddenly were caught with
our pants down, nothing.

113
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So, John Golston
set off for America,

114
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and we go around all
these people in New York,

115
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and we go to meetings,

116
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and they say "What's it about?"

117
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Well, it's a sort of,
and they go, "Out."

118
00:05:36,267 --> 00:05:39,705
You know, it was like selling
springtime for Hitler.

119
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Well, thank
God that George Harrison

120
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was a big Python fan,
that's really it.

121
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And that Eric had
gotten over the years

122
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quite close to George.

123
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'Cause I met him out here,

124
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at a screening of
"The Holy Grail".

125
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Partied for days.

126
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And he was good fun.

127
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I kept calling him and saying,

128
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"We're looking for this money."

129
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And he said, "No, don't
worry, I'll get it."

130
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And I say, yeah, sure, sure.

131
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So I said I know.

132
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As a Python fan, I'd
certainly like to see it made.

133
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I asked my manager
can you think of how

134
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to get them the money?

135
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And he came back
to me in a week,

136
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he said, "I think I
know how we can do it.

137
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"We'll be the producers."

138
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George and Denis were a team.

139
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You know, 'cause after
The Beatles break up,

140
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there were all sorts of problems

141
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with all sorts of things.

142
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George had met Denis
through Peter Sellers,

143
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and Peter said,

144
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"Oh, I know the man,
you need help here,

145
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"and finances, whatever it is."

146
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Denis had done
something extraordinary,

147
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and basically put George
back on his feet financially.

148
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'Cause he's got a
vast variety of skills,

149
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as you know.

150
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I mean, he's a highly
trained lawyer.

151
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And then he's got training
as a merchant banker too.

152
00:06:45,671 --> 00:06:48,240
Denis hadn't come up
through the industry,

153
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so I think to most people he
was just a bit of a mystery.

154
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And now for something
completely different.

155
00:07:06,424 --> 00:07:08,794
The Pythons, having
been a big fan,

156
00:07:08,827 --> 00:07:10,229
and still am, really.

157
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Was that true
that you sent a telegram

158
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to the BBC?

159
00:07:13,132 --> 00:07:15,167
Mm, nobody ever reacted to it.

160
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But we never, ever
received this message.

161
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Oh, I don't remember,
something like, you know, fab.

162
00:07:24,375 --> 00:07:26,811
"Fab lads, well
done, keep doing it."

163
00:07:26,844 --> 00:07:29,381
I don't know, just some
word of encouragement

164
00:07:29,414 --> 00:07:34,419
that at least two people
out there enjoyed it.

165
00:07:35,753 --> 00:07:37,123
And you know, the classic
thing is I once said,

166
00:07:37,155 --> 00:07:40,556
"George, five million
pounds on one film?

167
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"Why?"

168
00:07:42,193 --> 00:07:44,330
He said, "Well, you know,
I just wanna see it."

169
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What we did was,
we pawned my house

170
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and the office in London,

171
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to get a bank loan,

172
00:07:55,407 --> 00:07:57,575
and that was a bit nerveracking.

173
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If I'd known that, I
would've been terrified

174
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about doing the movie.

175
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Thinking that George's
house was on the line.

176
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But fortunately, I
didn't know about it,

177
00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:10,189
so I was blissfully
unaware and I thought,

178
00:08:10,222 --> 00:08:12,258
oh, they can afford
that, so that's fine.

179
00:08:13,224 --> 00:08:14,859
Terry Jones
was an extremely good

180
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director of comedy, I mean
he knew how to shoot comedy,

181
00:08:17,628 --> 00:08:19,698
which is not lots of
cutaways and lots of fuss,

182
00:08:19,731 --> 00:08:22,201
just get a group of people,
see them interacting

183
00:08:22,234 --> 00:08:23,402
and all that, you know.

184
00:08:23,435 --> 00:08:24,837
Actually, I think
we should do it.

185
00:08:24,870 --> 00:08:27,306
And what have they
ever given us in return?

186
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The aqueduct.

187
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What?

188
00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:32,577
The aqueduct.

189
00:08:32,611 --> 00:08:34,779
Yeah, yeah, they gave us
that, yeah, that's true.

190
00:08:34,813 --> 00:08:36,282
Yeah, and
the sanitation.

191
00:08:36,314 --> 00:08:37,549
Oh yeah, the sanitation.

192
00:08:37,582 --> 00:08:39,584
Remember what the city
used to be like, Reg?

193
00:08:39,617 --> 00:08:41,152
Yeah, yeah, all right.

194
00:08:41,185 --> 00:08:42,187
I'll grant you the aqueduct
and the sanitation,

195
00:08:42,221 --> 00:08:44,289
two things the Romans have done!

196
00:08:44,323 --> 00:08:45,424
And the roads!

197
00:08:45,457 --> 00:08:47,159
Well, yeah, obviously the
roads go without saying.

198
00:08:47,192 --> 00:08:48,360
But apart from the
sanitation, the aqueduct,

199
00:08:48,393 --> 00:08:49,261
and the roads...

200
00:08:49,294 --> 00:08:50,261
Irrigation.

201
00:08:50,294 --> 00:08:51,097
Medicine.

202
00:08:51,130 --> 00:08:51,730
Education.

203
00:08:51,763 --> 00:08:52,832
Yeah, yeah, all right.

204
00:08:52,865 --> 00:08:53,933
And the wine.

205
00:08:53,966 --> 00:08:56,235
Yeah, that's the one
thing we really would miss,

206
00:08:56,268 --> 00:08:58,204
if the Romans weren't here.

207
00:08:58,236 --> 00:08:59,337
Yeah, but apart
from the sanitation,

208
00:08:59,371 --> 00:09:01,774
the medicine, the
education, the wine,

209
00:09:01,807 --> 00:09:03,509
public order, irrigation, roads,

210
00:09:03,542 --> 00:09:05,878
a fresh water system
and public health,

211
00:09:05,910 --> 00:09:09,147
what have the Romans
ever done for us?

212
00:09:09,180 --> 00:09:11,483
George played
Mr. Papadopoulos,

213
00:09:11,516 --> 00:09:12,717
the man who had the mount

214
00:09:12,750 --> 00:09:14,319
to give him the
mount for the day.

215
00:09:14,352 --> 00:09:16,888
Unfortunately, we couldn't
use his voice in the end

216
00:09:16,922 --> 00:09:18,557
because just the general noise,

217
00:09:18,590 --> 00:09:19,792
you couldn't hear anything.

218
00:09:19,824 --> 00:09:23,828
So I had to dub his
voice, unfortunately.

219
00:09:23,861 --> 00:09:25,530
"Hello, good evening."

220
00:09:25,563 --> 00:09:27,232
Once The Beatles broke up,

221
00:09:27,265 --> 00:09:28,800
it was clear that
George liked the idea

222
00:09:28,833 --> 00:09:30,236
of being part of another group,

223
00:09:30,269 --> 00:09:32,238
and the Python gang was one

224
00:09:32,270 --> 00:09:33,738
that he admired what we did,

225
00:09:33,771 --> 00:09:35,140
he thought it was wonderful.

226
00:09:35,174 --> 00:09:37,375
He got involved,
and oddly enough,

227
00:09:37,409 --> 00:09:38,878
as we were editing,

228
00:09:38,910 --> 00:09:40,411
he was there for a bit,

229
00:09:40,444 --> 00:09:43,181
and then he absented himself

230
00:09:43,215 --> 00:09:44,383
'cause he just thought,

231
00:09:44,415 --> 00:09:46,318
well, he thought these
guys were geniuses

232
00:09:46,351 --> 00:09:48,287
and they knew exactly
what they were doing.

233
00:09:48,319 --> 00:09:49,254
No, there's constant fighting,

234
00:09:49,288 --> 00:09:51,356
and that was always the
strength of the group.

235
00:09:51,390 --> 00:09:53,792
He decided maybe
it was best to know

236
00:09:53,824 --> 00:09:56,194
a little less about how
we worked as a group,

237
00:09:56,227 --> 00:09:57,962
because it was
probably as fractious

238
00:09:57,996 --> 00:09:58,963
as "The Beatles" were.

239
00:09:58,996 --> 00:10:01,900
I suppose we weren't interested

240
00:10:01,933 --> 00:10:03,802
the fights within The Beatles,

241
00:10:03,834 --> 00:10:05,203
or we didn't want to know,

242
00:10:05,236 --> 00:10:06,671
we just wanted to
know the result,

243
00:10:06,704 --> 00:10:09,207
and I think that's
what intrigued him,

244
00:10:09,241 --> 00:10:11,611
the result, not the
way to get there.

245
00:10:12,744 --> 00:10:13,646
Well, the new
Monty Python film

246
00:10:13,678 --> 00:10:15,313
is entitled "The Life of Brian".

247
00:10:15,347 --> 00:10:17,183
It is a spoof of
"The Life of Christ",

248
00:10:17,216 --> 00:10:18,650
and has managed to
offend just about

249
00:10:18,683 --> 00:10:20,818
every religious
group in the city.

250
00:10:20,851 --> 00:10:23,188
Well, today the Citizen's
Committee Against Blasphemy

251
00:10:23,222 --> 00:10:25,256
took to the streets
to protest the film.

252
00:10:25,289 --> 00:10:28,260
The rabbis and priests said
the film debases Christ,

253
00:10:28,293 --> 00:10:30,428
Judaism, and the
Holy scriptures,

254
00:10:30,462 --> 00:10:31,963
and they want the film pulled.

255
00:10:31,996 --> 00:10:33,765
The Jews were
marching against us,

256
00:10:33,799 --> 00:10:35,500
the Protestants were
marching against us,

257
00:10:35,534 --> 00:10:37,202
the Catholics were
marching against us.

258
00:10:37,236 --> 00:10:39,337
We did it all, one film.

259
00:10:40,539 --> 00:10:42,775
They were demonstrating
outside of Warner Brother Films

260
00:10:42,808 --> 00:10:45,311
in New York, and
everybody was showing

261
00:10:45,343 --> 00:10:48,213
film clips on TV saying
how rotten it was,

262
00:10:48,246 --> 00:10:50,216
but actually it was very good,

263
00:10:50,249 --> 00:10:52,017
Christ came out of it fine,

264
00:10:52,049 --> 00:10:55,020
it was completely
the point about how

265
00:10:55,053 --> 00:10:57,222
idiotic the people are.

266
00:10:57,255 --> 00:10:59,725
My mother, who's
a good Christian,

267
00:10:59,757 --> 00:11:02,961
church every Sunday,
she saw the film

268
00:11:02,995 --> 00:11:03,895
and she didn't understand what

269
00:11:03,928 --> 00:11:05,297
people were talking about,

270
00:11:05,329 --> 00:11:07,398
because it wasn't
attacking Jesus,

271
00:11:07,432 --> 00:11:10,603
it was attacking all
the fools around.

272
00:11:10,635 --> 00:11:12,837
Look, he has given us a sign.

273
00:11:12,871 --> 00:11:14,774
He has given us a shoe.

274
00:11:16,341 --> 00:11:17,775
A shoe is the sign!

275
00:11:17,808 --> 00:11:19,344
Let us follow his example!

276
00:11:19,377 --> 00:11:20,411
What do you mean?

277
00:11:20,444 --> 00:11:22,013
Let us like him,
carry one shoe,

278
00:11:22,047 --> 00:11:23,949
and let the other
be upon our foot,

279
00:11:23,981 --> 00:11:25,351
for this is his sign

280
00:11:25,384 --> 00:11:27,486
that all who follow
him shall do likewise!

281
00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:28,921
No, no, no, no!

282
00:11:28,953 --> 00:11:32,757
The shoe is a sign that we
must gather shoes in abundance.

283
00:11:32,790 --> 00:11:34,025
No, no, it is a
sign that like Him,

284
00:11:34,058 --> 00:11:36,361
we must think not of
the things of the body,

285
00:11:36,395 --> 00:11:37,829
but of the face and head!

286
00:11:37,862 --> 00:11:38,963
Give me your shoe!

287
00:11:38,996 --> 00:11:39,897
No, get off!

288
00:11:39,930 --> 00:11:40,898
It's a sandal!

289
00:11:40,932 --> 00:11:42,301
No, it's not!

290
00:11:42,333 --> 00:11:43,334
Cast it away!

291
00:11:43,367 --> 00:11:44,502
Keep one on!

292
00:11:44,535 --> 00:11:45,770
Clear off!

293
00:11:45,803 --> 00:11:46,938
Which one, this one?

294
00:11:46,972 --> 00:11:47,740
Yeah, yeah.

295
00:11:47,773 --> 00:11:48,841
Okay.

296
00:11:48,874 --> 00:11:50,609
And, action.

297
00:11:50,641 --> 00:11:52,810
George rang and said,
"What are you doing now?"

298
00:11:52,843 --> 00:11:54,879
And I said, well, I'm
not doing very much.

299
00:11:54,913 --> 00:11:57,650
He said, well, I think
I've got a film company.

300
00:11:57,683 --> 00:11:59,617
Why don't you be
me in the office?

301
00:11:59,650 --> 00:12:03,289
Ray was a very special
character in this mix,

302
00:12:03,322 --> 00:12:05,624
because he was George's
voice in many ways.

303
00:12:05,656 --> 00:12:08,326
Ray was really
the guy that knew scripts

304
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:09,428
better than anybody else.

305
00:12:09,461 --> 00:12:11,330
He was much more to do with

306
00:12:11,362 --> 00:12:12,797
picking the right
material for them,

307
00:12:12,831 --> 00:12:16,101
and you know,
selecting what to make.

308
00:12:16,134 --> 00:12:18,103
Ray's fantastic
in development,

309
00:12:18,135 --> 00:12:19,938
fantastic in post-production,

310
00:12:19,971 --> 00:12:22,073
and on the set, he
wouldn't interfere

311
00:12:22,106 --> 00:12:24,076
unless there was
creative issues,

312
00:12:24,108 --> 00:12:25,610
because he lets
the filmmakers make

313
00:12:25,644 --> 00:12:26,845
what they want to make.

314
00:12:26,877 --> 00:12:29,647
And he became a very,
very important bridge

315
00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:30,815
between the artistic,
if you'd like,

316
00:12:30,848 --> 00:12:33,919
and the sort of
financial priorities,

317
00:12:33,952 --> 00:12:35,120
which were Denis's.

318
00:12:35,153 --> 00:12:38,557
Ray Cooper is one of the
most brilliant percussionists

319
00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:41,960
in rock history, and Ray
played with Elton John,

320
00:12:41,992 --> 00:12:43,628
and played with everyone.

321
00:12:43,661 --> 00:12:45,129
If you
watch him on stage,

322
00:12:45,163 --> 00:12:48,000
the lovely thing is he's
extraordinarily diffident

323
00:12:48,033 --> 00:12:49,101
until he's actually on,

324
00:12:49,134 --> 00:12:51,003
and then he's a raving maniac.

325
00:12:57,409 --> 00:12:59,912
It seemed to us to be a
very extraordinary leap

326
00:12:59,944 --> 00:13:03,015
that suddenly Ray was
now somebody important

327
00:13:03,048 --> 00:13:04,549
in a film company.

328
00:13:09,053 --> 00:13:11,089
Originally, when we needed
a name for the company

329
00:13:13,391 --> 00:13:16,427
I thought of calling it
British HandMade Films

330
00:13:16,461 --> 00:13:18,897
because I'd seen
it on a watermark

331
00:13:18,929 --> 00:13:22,534
on a piece of paper, it
said British Handmade Paper.

332
00:13:22,567 --> 00:13:24,837
The sad thing was
George wanted to call it

333
00:13:24,870 --> 00:13:28,874
British HandMade Films,
but we weren't allowed to.

334
00:13:28,906 --> 00:13:30,375
Which is strange
because, you know,

335
00:13:30,409 --> 00:13:33,611
all the nationalized
British industries

336
00:13:33,645 --> 00:13:36,115
are all the ones that
lose a lot of money,

337
00:13:36,148 --> 00:13:37,883
so I take it that's the reason

338
00:13:37,915 --> 00:13:40,051
you have to lose a
lot of money first

339
00:13:40,084 --> 00:13:41,619
before they let you
call it British.

340
00:13:41,653 --> 00:13:44,123
So, it was HandMade Films,

341
00:13:44,155 --> 00:13:46,625
and I drew a little logo,

342
00:13:46,658 --> 00:13:48,026
and we were in business.

343
00:13:48,058 --> 00:13:50,129
I met Eric Idle at a party,

344
00:13:50,161 --> 00:13:53,698
and "Life of Brian"
had really taken off,

345
00:13:53,731 --> 00:13:55,400
and I said "Hey, you
must've made a fortune

346
00:13:55,433 --> 00:13:56,534
"out of "Life of Brian",

347
00:13:56,568 --> 00:13:58,569
"do you want to buy a film?"

348
00:13:58,602 --> 00:14:01,106
And he said, "Yeah, well,
let's have a look at it."

349
00:14:08,246 --> 00:14:11,884
I'd always loved
American gangster films,

350
00:14:11,917 --> 00:14:13,485
especially Bogart films,

351
00:14:13,518 --> 00:14:14,686
and there's a kind of fantasy

352
00:14:14,718 --> 00:14:16,154
of wanting to write a film noir,

353
00:14:16,188 --> 00:14:18,090
and if Bogart had
been a Cockney,

354
00:14:18,122 --> 00:14:19,924
if he'd of been
born in East London,

355
00:14:19,957 --> 00:14:21,226
so that was the kind
of starting point

356
00:14:21,259 --> 00:14:23,128
character like that.

357
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,595
Well, the idea
was presented to me

358
00:14:24,629 --> 00:14:25,931
in a form of a script,

359
00:14:25,963 --> 00:14:28,599
it was given to a friend
of mine, Barry Hanson,

360
00:14:28,632 --> 00:14:31,536
who had worked with
Barrie Keeffe, a writer.

361
00:14:31,569 --> 00:14:34,640
They had thought of doing
a British gangster movie.

362
00:14:35,841 --> 00:14:38,143
He gave me this early script,

363
00:14:38,175 --> 00:14:41,779
one of the first of
the many rewrites

364
00:14:41,813 --> 00:14:43,682
we actually eventually did,

365
00:14:43,715 --> 00:14:46,785
and I just thought the
central idea was great.

366
00:14:46,818 --> 00:14:48,187
We stumbled on the
idea that usually

367
00:14:48,220 --> 00:14:50,222
it's a Mr. Peak, and
there's the young contender

368
00:14:50,255 --> 00:14:52,890
gonna overtake him, and
that's the power struggle,

369
00:14:52,924 --> 00:14:54,159
but I thought that
had been done so often

370
00:14:54,192 --> 00:14:55,928
and was kind of tiresome.

371
00:14:55,961 --> 00:14:59,031
At the same time, there was
that Easter weekend coming up,

372
00:14:59,063 --> 00:15:01,098
and on the radio they
were talking all the time

373
00:15:01,131 --> 00:15:04,035
about the quietest
Good Friday in Belfast

374
00:15:04,068 --> 00:15:05,536
since the troubles had began,

375
00:15:05,569 --> 00:15:08,140
and that started to
fall into place then,

376
00:15:08,173 --> 00:15:11,677
setting it against
not another Mr. Peak,

377
00:15:11,709 --> 00:15:13,177
but another organization,

378
00:15:13,211 --> 00:15:15,514
and the kind of theme of it was

379
00:15:15,547 --> 00:15:17,282
gangsterism versus terrorism.

380
00:15:17,314 --> 00:15:20,986
Terrorism fighting for
an ideal, in quotes,

381
00:15:21,019 --> 00:15:22,688
or gangsterism fighting
just for money,

382
00:15:22,721 --> 00:15:24,022
and who's going to win,

383
00:15:24,054 --> 00:15:26,257
so that was the kind of theme.

384
00:15:37,302 --> 00:15:40,906
Bob, was for me,
crucial to the part,

385
00:15:40,938 --> 00:15:44,208
and he gave me all the
nuances of the character

386
00:15:44,241 --> 00:15:45,977
that I really wanted.

387
00:15:47,245 --> 00:15:48,847
I suppose it was me.

388
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:50,249
The character was me,

389
00:15:50,281 --> 00:15:52,617
apart from being a gangster.

390
00:15:52,650 --> 00:15:54,051
You know, sort of
quite emotional,

391
00:15:54,084 --> 00:15:57,689
sort of always going
the stray route.

392
00:15:58,890 --> 00:16:01,058
You know, I didn't
have to work hard,

393
00:16:01,092 --> 00:16:02,260
that was who I was.

394
00:16:02,293 --> 00:16:05,264
I wanted him to be a very
three dimensional character.

395
00:16:06,364 --> 00:16:08,100
It was strange, because
I wrote it before

396
00:16:08,132 --> 00:16:10,201
Thatcher had come to power,

397
00:16:10,235 --> 00:16:12,770
but he was a very much a
Thatcherite man, wasn't he?

398
00:16:12,803 --> 00:16:15,774
A personification of
all she stood for.

399
00:16:15,807 --> 00:16:18,177
Our country's not
an island anymore!

400
00:16:19,209 --> 00:16:22,213
We're a leading European state.

401
00:16:22,246 --> 00:16:23,615
Right!

402
00:16:23,648 --> 00:16:27,753
And I believe that
this is the decade

403
00:16:27,785 --> 00:16:32,056
in which London will
become Europe's capital.

404
00:16:33,891 --> 00:16:36,361
No other city in the world

405
00:16:36,394 --> 00:16:39,331
has got right in its center,

406
00:16:39,364 --> 00:16:43,269
such an opportunity for
profitable progress!

407
00:16:45,169 --> 00:16:47,305
I agreed to do
the film because

408
00:16:47,338 --> 00:16:49,574
Barrie said he would
make my particular role

409
00:16:49,607 --> 00:16:51,142
much more interesting,

410
00:16:51,175 --> 00:16:53,844
and as often happens...

411
00:16:53,877 --> 00:16:55,112
Have a nice Easter.

412
00:16:55,145 --> 00:16:57,282
Other things were more
important at the time,

413
00:16:57,314 --> 00:17:00,952
really none of my questions
had been addressed,

414
00:17:00,986 --> 00:17:03,688
so then I was in a
very awkward position,

415
00:17:03,721 --> 00:17:05,923
because I kind of
signed up for something

416
00:17:05,957 --> 00:17:08,694
only understanding that
this would be done,

417
00:17:08,726 --> 00:17:10,161
and it hadn't been done.

418
00:17:10,195 --> 00:17:11,163
You don't get Helen,

419
00:17:11,196 --> 00:17:13,631
someone as intelligent as Helen,

420
00:17:13,665 --> 00:17:16,134
who's obviously intelligent,
to play a bimbo.

421
00:17:16,167 --> 00:17:19,705
So, basically
the role got developed

422
00:17:19,737 --> 00:17:21,273
while we shot.

423
00:17:21,305 --> 00:17:23,140
Helen's
input made the character

424
00:17:23,173 --> 00:17:24,942
a lot stronger
than she had been.

425
00:17:24,976 --> 00:17:27,044
She was classy,
and she was educated,

426
00:17:27,078 --> 00:17:31,717
and that was her
contribution to his world.

427
00:17:31,749 --> 00:17:32,950
We'll plate it up, all right?

428
00:17:32,984 --> 00:17:34,953
You went to school
with Princess Anne,

429
00:17:34,986 --> 00:17:36,188
played hockey with
her, all that.

430
00:17:36,220 --> 00:17:37,288
There's lacrosse at Benenden,

431
00:17:37,322 --> 00:17:38,823
hockey's frightfully vulgar.

432
00:17:38,857 --> 00:17:40,659
Yes, yes, plenty
of that, yeah.

433
00:17:40,691 --> 00:17:42,193
I think she would've preferred

434
00:17:42,226 --> 00:17:44,295
to have had a machine
gun at some stage in it,

435
00:17:44,329 --> 00:17:47,666
but I thought she was
absolutely wonderful,

436
00:17:47,698 --> 00:17:51,303
and she was the power behind
the throne, absolutely.

437
00:17:52,336 --> 00:17:53,671
The great organization,

438
00:17:53,705 --> 00:17:54,973
it was a subsidiary of that,

439
00:17:55,005 --> 00:17:56,775
and we had kind of
absolute freedom,

440
00:17:56,807 --> 00:17:58,342
they weren't involved
in what we were doing

441
00:17:58,376 --> 00:17:59,778
at all, actually.

442
00:17:59,811 --> 00:18:03,115
And until the film was finished,

443
00:18:03,148 --> 00:18:04,249
the rough cut of it,

444
00:18:05,283 --> 00:18:06,284
Barry Hanson was working with,

445
00:18:06,316 --> 00:18:07,685
he knew what it was all about.

446
00:18:07,718 --> 00:18:10,389
But the people that
put the money into it

447
00:18:10,421 --> 00:18:12,390
had no idea until
they actually saw it.

448
00:18:12,423 --> 00:18:15,026
I still remember being
called to a meeting,

449
00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:16,227
they said "We can't
show this film,

450
00:18:16,261 --> 00:18:18,764
"it's IRA propaganda.

451
00:18:18,796 --> 00:18:20,064
"If we show this in our cinemas,

452
00:18:20,098 --> 00:18:22,134
"the IRA will start
blowing them up."

453
00:18:22,167 --> 00:18:23,235
I remember saying,

454
00:18:23,267 --> 00:18:24,502
"Well, if it's IRA propaganda,

455
00:18:24,535 --> 00:18:26,203
"why are they going to blow up
your cinemas for showing it?"

456
00:18:26,236 --> 00:18:27,406
And they said to me,

457
00:18:27,438 --> 00:18:30,108
"Don't get fucking
intellectual with me."

458
00:18:30,140 --> 00:18:31,243
Which I took as a compliment

459
00:18:31,275 --> 00:18:32,943
poorly expressed, of course.

460
00:18:32,976 --> 00:18:34,178
Eventually they said,

461
00:18:34,211 --> 00:18:36,313
"All right, you
can buy the film."

462
00:18:36,346 --> 00:18:37,415
I thought well, yeah.

463
00:18:38,248 --> 00:18:39,217
You know what I mean?

464
00:18:39,249 --> 00:18:40,184
Yeah, thanks.

465
00:18:40,217 --> 00:18:42,787
Bob met Eric at a party,

466
00:18:42,821 --> 00:18:44,055
and Eric said "What
are you doing?"

467
00:18:44,089 --> 00:18:45,157
And he said, "I just
finished this film,

468
00:18:45,189 --> 00:18:47,058
"we can't get it shown."

469
00:18:47,092 --> 00:18:48,360
And it was obviously
a very good film,

470
00:18:48,392 --> 00:18:52,496
and it was obviously gonna
work with an audience.

471
00:18:52,530 --> 00:18:55,834
And so I just called them
up at HandMade and said,

472
00:18:55,867 --> 00:18:57,335
"Listen, you can't
lose with this one,

473
00:18:57,368 --> 00:18:58,870
"it's a winner, my boys."

474
00:18:58,902 --> 00:18:59,938
Buy this.

475
00:18:59,970 --> 00:19:00,871
I actually had
spoken to George

476
00:19:00,905 --> 00:19:02,040
about "The Long Good Friday",

477
00:19:02,073 --> 00:19:02,974
and he said

478
00:19:03,007 --> 00:19:04,241
"if I would've known
it was that violent,

479
00:19:04,275 --> 00:19:05,177
"I wouldn't of taken it on,

480
00:19:05,209 --> 00:19:06,178
"I wouldn't of paid."

481
00:19:06,210 --> 00:19:07,746
Because he never saw it.

482
00:19:07,778 --> 00:19:09,380
But, well, they bought it cheap,

483
00:19:09,413 --> 00:19:10,881
and I said well,
get this one in.

484
00:19:10,915 --> 00:19:12,050
I wasn't putting
one over on him,

485
00:19:12,082 --> 00:19:14,386
but he said, "If I would've
known it was that violent,

486
00:19:14,419 --> 00:19:15,754
"I wouldn't of bought it."

487
00:19:15,786 --> 00:19:16,921
"Chariots of
Fire" from England

488
00:19:16,955 --> 00:19:18,223
just won the Best Picture Oscar,

489
00:19:18,255 --> 00:19:20,324
and now another British
film will, I predict,

490
00:19:20,358 --> 00:19:21,927
be a very big hit in America,

491
00:19:21,959 --> 00:19:24,929
it is called "A
Long Good Friday".

492
00:19:24,963 --> 00:19:26,198
It is a gangster movie,

493
00:19:26,230 --> 00:19:28,099
and it stars Bob Hoskins,

494
00:19:28,132 --> 00:19:30,235
one of Britain's best
actors, good morning.

495
00:19:30,267 --> 00:19:32,169
Not expecting
anything from America,

496
00:19:32,203 --> 00:19:33,872
I thought they
would think it was a

497
00:19:33,905 --> 00:19:38,210
phony imitation of American
mobster and gangster films.

498
00:19:38,243 --> 00:19:41,246
Everybody's comparing
you do Edward G. Robinson

499
00:19:41,278 --> 00:19:43,547
and Jimmy Cagney, you know?

500
00:19:43,581 --> 00:19:46,150
"Little Caesar", and those
great gangster pictures

501
00:19:46,184 --> 00:19:47,085
of the 30s.

502
00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:48,153
What do you feel when
you hear yourself

503
00:19:48,186 --> 00:19:49,454
compared to those guys?

504
00:19:49,486 --> 00:19:52,423
Very, very flattered,
incredibly flattered.

505
00:19:52,457 --> 00:19:57,463
But we tried to make a really
British gangster, you know?

506
00:19:58,595 --> 00:20:00,198
It's very difficult
to do a gangster

507
00:20:00,230 --> 00:20:02,534
without slipping into
a little bit of Cagney

508
00:20:02,566 --> 00:20:04,135
and Edward G. in there,

509
00:20:04,169 --> 00:20:06,537
'cause they are the
gangsters, aren't they?

510
00:20:06,571 --> 00:20:08,140
It was an absolute surprise,

511
00:20:08,172 --> 00:20:09,207
the reaction in America,

512
00:20:09,239 --> 00:20:12,243
and it was delight
of course, yeah.

513
00:20:12,276 --> 00:20:14,211
Ladies and gentlemen,
in our brief few minutes,

514
00:20:14,245 --> 00:20:17,181
I just wanted you
to meet Bob Hoskins

515
00:20:17,215 --> 00:20:18,216
who has flown in from England

516
00:20:18,248 --> 00:20:19,583
to be on the Today program.

517
00:20:19,617 --> 00:20:21,086
I think he is an actor,

518
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,388
already celebrated
in Great Britain,

519
00:20:23,420 --> 00:20:26,257
who will become very famous
in the United States,

520
00:20:26,291 --> 00:20:27,958
and one of his reasons for that

521
00:20:27,992 --> 00:20:32,164
is his performance in
"The Long Good Friday".

522
00:20:32,197 --> 00:20:34,366
It's a terrific gangster movie.

523
00:20:34,399 --> 00:20:36,168
Thank you very much
for being with us.

524
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:37,169
Cheers.

525
00:20:41,005 --> 00:20:44,342
George's passion and
enthusiasm and support

526
00:20:44,374 --> 00:20:47,244
in the initial days were
that he would pay for,

527
00:20:47,277 --> 00:20:49,246
and-or make the money available,

528
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:50,949
which was extraordinary.

529
00:20:50,982 --> 00:20:52,217
So there was no,

530
00:20:52,249 --> 00:20:53,184
"Well, we'll look at
the script, and yeah,

531
00:20:53,217 --> 00:20:55,085
"now we've gotta go
out and get the money,

532
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:56,922
"and we have to piece that
one together and all that,

533
00:20:56,955 --> 00:20:58,122
piece of money's
fallen out a bit."

534
00:20:58,156 --> 00:20:59,491
So we did none of that.

535
00:20:59,524 --> 00:21:01,458
It was, if you got a
green light at HandMade,

536
00:21:01,492 --> 00:21:05,230
it was because it was
gonna go, it was green-lit.

537
00:21:05,263 --> 00:21:06,097
That was it.

538
00:21:06,130 --> 00:21:08,132
If you are involved
with HandMade,

539
00:21:08,166 --> 00:21:10,569
the possibilities are
quite extraordinary.

540
00:21:10,601 --> 00:21:14,104
You could just come up
with a lollipop wrapper,

541
00:21:14,138 --> 00:21:17,141
and say I want to make a
film about this character

542
00:21:17,175 --> 00:21:18,510
on the lollipop wrapper.

543
00:21:19,444 --> 00:21:20,312
Yeah?

544
00:21:21,178 --> 00:21:24,349
And then they'll listen.

545
00:21:24,381 --> 00:21:26,116
I used to come across scripts

546
00:21:26,150 --> 00:21:28,018
that were almost
car chase sequence

547
00:21:28,052 --> 00:21:30,222
from beginning to end,

548
00:21:30,255 --> 00:21:31,289
and I had no interest.

549
00:21:31,322 --> 00:21:32,623
And George wanted
to know there was

550
00:21:32,657 --> 00:21:35,260
a story being told
of human dimension.

551
00:21:36,261 --> 00:21:38,663
If I went in to
say, Universal,

552
00:21:38,696 --> 00:21:41,300
and said, "Well, I've got
this lollipop wrapper,"

553
00:21:42,332 --> 00:21:44,268
"Yeah, Bob, great.

554
00:21:44,302 --> 00:21:45,136
"Lunch?"

555
00:21:46,303 --> 00:21:47,138
You know, it's get out of here.

556
00:21:48,339 --> 00:21:49,274
George was
interested in making

557
00:21:50,140 --> 00:21:51,942
stuff that the
Pythons wanted to make

558
00:21:51,976 --> 00:21:53,945
collectively, or individually.

559
00:21:53,977 --> 00:21:56,281
All I knew was
that Terry Gilliam

560
00:21:56,313 --> 00:22:00,150
came with two sheets of
paper with this idea on it,

561
00:22:00,184 --> 00:22:03,355
and it just sounded
like a great idea.

562
00:22:03,388 --> 00:22:05,223
Terry came in and said,

563
00:22:05,255 --> 00:22:07,124
"I've got this great
idea for a film.

564
00:22:07,158 --> 00:22:09,093
"This kid is in his bedroom,

565
00:22:09,127 --> 00:22:11,263
"and then the cupboard
door bursts open,

566
00:22:11,295 --> 00:22:12,397
"a knight comes through,

567
00:22:13,965 --> 00:22:17,002
"and they go through
into a time warp

568
00:22:17,034 --> 00:22:19,170
"and they're going
from time to time."

569
00:22:21,205 --> 00:22:22,140
I said oh, that's good, yeah.

570
00:22:22,172 --> 00:22:24,008
He says, "Come, we'll
go and tell Denis."

571
00:22:24,976 --> 00:22:27,912
So, we went to Cadogan Square

572
00:22:27,946 --> 00:22:29,347
to a meeting with Denis.

573
00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:30,314
Denis looks at me and says,

574
00:22:30,348 --> 00:22:32,350
"How much will it cost?"

575
00:22:32,382 --> 00:22:34,018
There was no script,
there was nothing.

576
00:22:34,052 --> 00:22:38,255
So I invented a figure, I
said "Three million pounds."

577
00:22:38,288 --> 00:22:39,657
So he said "Okay, off you go."

578
00:22:39,690 --> 00:22:43,193
And that was it, we were
making "Time Bandits",

579
00:22:43,226 --> 00:22:44,361
we had no script,
we had no nothing.

580
00:22:44,394 --> 00:22:47,698
We just got Terry with a guy
coming through a cupboard,

581
00:22:47,732 --> 00:22:49,668
and me inventing a
budget, you know,

582
00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:51,236
and that was it, we were off.

583
00:22:56,474 --> 00:22:57,475
Come on!

584
00:22:57,507 --> 00:22:59,311
Who is that?

585
00:23:01,278 --> 00:23:04,282
Return what you
have stolen from me.

586
00:23:06,351 --> 00:23:07,185
Return!

587
00:23:08,486 --> 00:23:09,720
Return the map.

588
00:23:11,322 --> 00:23:13,525
It will bring you great danger.

589
00:23:15,392 --> 00:23:16,227
Stop now!

590
00:23:23,501 --> 00:23:25,603
It was the second
film Terry had done,

591
00:23:25,636 --> 00:23:27,138
it was a risk for you,

592
00:23:27,170 --> 00:23:28,974
and it was a risk
for Denis to take on,

593
00:23:29,006 --> 00:23:32,243
because it was the most
expensive movie that you'd done.

594
00:23:32,275 --> 00:23:33,410
Well, I think
Terry is brilliant,

595
00:23:33,444 --> 00:23:36,047
he needs to make films,

596
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:37,749
and I think we
need to make films

597
00:23:37,782 --> 00:23:39,351
with people like him.

598
00:23:39,383 --> 00:23:40,517
I wanted to make
a film with a kid

599
00:23:40,551 --> 00:23:43,288
as the main character,

600
00:23:43,321 --> 00:23:46,190
but I didn't think it could
hold the film together,

601
00:23:46,224 --> 00:23:49,159
so let's surround him with
a gang the same height.

602
00:23:49,192 --> 00:23:50,594
Oh, they used to work for God,

603
00:23:50,628 --> 00:23:53,298
who helped create the
universe, and they're bored,

604
00:23:53,331 --> 00:23:54,265
and they want to make money,

605
00:23:54,297 --> 00:23:56,333
and the idea of doing a robbery

606
00:23:56,367 --> 00:24:00,138
and then escaping before
the robbery ever happened

607
00:24:00,170 --> 00:24:01,438
just seemed a simple idea,

608
00:24:01,471 --> 00:24:04,408
and it started like that,
and then went to Mike.

609
00:24:04,441 --> 00:24:08,212
He kind of just said,
"Hey, do you want to

610
00:24:08,246 --> 00:24:09,281
"have a look at this?

611
00:24:10,848 --> 00:24:12,150
"It would be great if you
could write it with me,

612
00:24:12,182 --> 00:24:13,717
"because you know, I don't write

613
00:24:13,751 --> 00:24:15,687
"but I've got all these ideas.

614
00:24:15,719 --> 00:24:17,087
"What do you think?"

615
00:24:17,121 --> 00:24:19,190
So, we discussed it,
and I quite liked it.

616
00:24:23,527 --> 00:24:25,329
That's him!

617
00:24:25,362 --> 00:24:26,831
You're not gonna rob him?

618
00:24:26,863 --> 00:24:29,133
Yeah, every single
penny he's got.

619
00:24:29,167 --> 00:24:30,334
I think the thing is,

620
00:24:30,368 --> 00:24:32,669
we collaborated on what period
of history you would see.

621
00:24:32,703 --> 00:24:34,672
Whether that was Napoleon,
or it was, you know,

622
00:24:34,705 --> 00:24:36,608
Ancient Greece, or
Ancient Rome, whatever,

623
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,044
so I was able to
sort of create those

624
00:24:39,076 --> 00:24:41,246
and keep a sort of
serious comedy feel

625
00:24:41,278 --> 00:24:43,147
to the historical inset.

626
00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:46,050
So it worked out, and we
started writing on it.

627
00:24:46,083 --> 00:24:47,685
There was another issue,

628
00:24:47,717 --> 00:24:52,223
which was very important
at the time for HandMade,

629
00:24:52,255 --> 00:24:54,258
it was, was this a Python film,

630
00:24:54,292 --> 00:24:55,393
or was it not a Python film?

631
00:24:55,426 --> 00:24:56,628
I was involved in the film,

632
00:24:56,660 --> 00:24:58,263
so I said we must
make quite sure

633
00:24:58,295 --> 00:25:00,265
this isn't a Python
film, 'cause it isn't.

634
00:25:00,297 --> 00:25:02,099
I mean, even though
four Pythons were in it,

635
00:25:02,132 --> 00:25:03,200
I think, in the end.

636
00:25:03,234 --> 00:25:04,769
"Time Bandits", was that right?

637
00:25:04,802 --> 00:25:06,670
Denis was very excited
'cause he could see

638
00:25:06,704 --> 00:25:07,605
there were a lot of roles

639
00:25:07,638 --> 00:25:09,274
for a lot of Pythons in here.

640
00:25:09,306 --> 00:25:10,474
Like in "Holy Grail".

641
00:25:10,507 --> 00:25:12,443
So from his point of view,

642
00:25:12,476 --> 00:25:13,678
it made real sense.

643
00:25:13,710 --> 00:25:16,113
Very, very tricky area indeed,

644
00:25:16,147 --> 00:25:17,082
and you could feel
that you were being

645
00:25:17,114 --> 00:25:21,251
led down some sort of
dangerous path here

646
00:25:21,284 --> 00:25:23,287
of having to get the money
because it was Python,

647
00:25:23,321 --> 00:25:25,790
but at the same time saying
it's not a Python film.

648
00:25:25,823 --> 00:25:29,093
And so, then, the
next thing is, okay,

649
00:25:29,127 --> 00:25:30,762
now we need a part for John.

650
00:25:30,794 --> 00:25:32,796
I think it was Denis that
might've suggested Robin Hood.

651
00:25:32,830 --> 00:25:35,867
I said, well, Mike's
already playing Robin Hood.

652
00:25:35,900 --> 00:25:38,236
"Wouldn't John be a
little bit better?"

653
00:25:39,504 --> 00:25:42,307
And Mike being Mike,
being a nice guy,

654
00:25:42,340 --> 00:25:44,576
agreed that John
would be really good.

655
00:25:44,609 --> 00:25:47,245
Hello, I'm Hood.

656
00:25:47,277 --> 00:25:47,911
It's Robin Hood.

657
00:25:47,945 --> 00:25:49,313
And he was brilliant!

658
00:25:49,346 --> 00:25:51,482
Much, much better than
I could ever have done.

659
00:25:53,184 --> 00:25:55,220
And you're a robber too, how
long have you been a robber?

660
00:25:55,253 --> 00:25:55,919
4'1.

661
00:25:55,953 --> 00:25:57,755
Good Lord!

662
00:25:57,787 --> 00:25:59,423
Jolly good, 4'1?

663
00:25:59,457 --> 00:26:00,658
Yes.

664
00:26:00,690 --> 00:26:02,794
Well, that is a
long time, isn't it?

665
00:26:02,826 --> 00:26:06,196
And then Denis, "Oh,
we can't lose Michael,

666
00:26:06,229 --> 00:26:07,364
"he's a Python.

667
00:26:07,398 --> 00:26:08,867
"He's got it on his name tape."

668
00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:12,169
So, I wrote myself in as one
of the starstruck lovers,

669
00:26:12,203 --> 00:26:14,172
along with Shelley Duvall.

670
00:26:14,205 --> 00:26:15,573
With memorable lines like...

671
00:26:15,605 --> 00:26:16,807
I must have fruit!

672
00:26:16,841 --> 00:26:19,577
Now we've got
three Pythons now,

673
00:26:19,610 --> 00:26:20,879
we're not doing badly.

674
00:26:20,911 --> 00:26:23,581
And maybe that Beatle
will get a song or two

675
00:26:23,613 --> 00:26:25,249
in there somewhere.

676
00:26:25,283 --> 00:26:27,952
There weren't any big stars
in it really, wasn't there?

677
00:26:27,985 --> 00:26:28,887
Sean Connery.

678
00:26:28,919 --> 00:26:30,255
Sean Connery.

679
00:26:30,287 --> 00:26:32,323
But he's only bout
5'6, isn't he?

680
00:26:33,791 --> 00:26:36,895
John Cleese was the
biggest star of the film,

681
00:26:36,928 --> 00:26:38,330
but he's 6'5.

682
00:26:39,362 --> 00:26:41,298
Thank you very much.

683
00:26:41,332 --> 00:26:43,368
Thank you very much!

684
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,571
Thank you very, very,
very, very much!

685
00:26:48,805 --> 00:26:50,440
Awful people.

686
00:26:50,474 --> 00:26:51,576
I don't know how
you got those people

687
00:26:51,609 --> 00:26:53,878
to be in the film,
apart from offering them

688
00:26:53,910 --> 00:26:56,680
probably ludicrous
rewards just for show.

689
00:26:56,714 --> 00:26:58,783
Money is the usual thing.

690
00:26:58,815 --> 00:27:01,619
That's why most of our
films don't have big stars,

691
00:27:01,651 --> 00:27:05,157
is 'cause we don't
give them enough money.

692
00:27:06,923 --> 00:27:08,325
Money is honey.

693
00:27:12,028 --> 00:27:14,398
Well, the Gods must
have given you a name.

694
00:27:14,431 --> 00:27:17,235
Oh yeah, Kevin.

695
00:27:17,267 --> 00:27:18,269
Kevin?

696
00:27:19,470 --> 00:27:21,638
Each of these "Time Bandits"
had different characters.

697
00:27:21,671 --> 00:27:25,209
One was the bossy one, one
kept eating everything.

698
00:27:25,243 --> 00:27:27,712
Terry really fancied
me for the part of Og,

699
00:27:27,745 --> 00:27:31,983
so I read for him, so he
thought go a bit stupid tonight.

700
00:27:32,015 --> 00:27:35,253
I've got an idea
forming in my head.

701
00:27:35,285 --> 00:27:38,222
You haven't had an idea
for thousands of years!

702
00:27:38,255 --> 00:27:39,957
I learned a lot from it,

703
00:27:39,990 --> 00:27:43,026
and that's not to go
near water or let people

704
00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:44,396
hang you upside down.

705
00:27:46,764 --> 00:27:49,300
They were very dangerous scenes.

706
00:27:49,332 --> 00:27:51,236
Off with safety, it was gone.

707
00:27:52,370 --> 00:27:53,303
Oh, Pansy.

708
00:27:53,336 --> 00:27:55,372
No more what ifs now, Pansy.

709
00:27:56,474 --> 00:27:58,275
I remember just another
instance of that.

710
00:27:58,309 --> 00:27:59,677
There's a scene
where the Bandits

711
00:27:59,709 --> 00:28:01,411
fall on top of a coach

712
00:28:01,445 --> 00:28:03,581
which Shelley and
myself were in.

713
00:28:07,485 --> 00:28:08,820
Shelley was very
worried, you know,

714
00:28:08,852 --> 00:28:10,321
about where they're gonna fall,

715
00:28:10,353 --> 00:28:11,288
how they're gonna fall.

716
00:28:11,322 --> 00:28:13,257
So Terry sort of showed her

717
00:28:13,291 --> 00:28:14,226
how they were gonna fall,

718
00:28:14,258 --> 00:28:15,892
and he sort of jumped
off onto the coach.

719
00:28:15,926 --> 00:28:16,861
And as I demonstrated this,

720
00:28:16,893 --> 00:28:21,031
as I fell on top of the
wagon, I fell wrongly.

721
00:28:21,064 --> 00:28:25,068
But fell through the roof,
and knocked Shelley sideways.

722
00:28:25,101 --> 00:28:27,272
I think I almost
broke her neck.

723
00:28:27,304 --> 00:28:30,341
I think a few
vertebrates popped.

724
00:28:30,373 --> 00:28:32,576
And that was an
embarrassing moment.

725
00:28:32,610 --> 00:28:35,313
And she was then off
filming for about two days

726
00:28:35,345 --> 00:28:37,681
while they got her
better.

727
00:28:37,715 --> 00:28:39,417
And dear Terry was
trying to do his best.

728
00:28:39,449 --> 00:28:41,451
"It's not gonna hurt,
it's gonna be like this!"

729
00:28:41,485 --> 00:28:42,786
Ahh, crack.

730
00:28:44,421 --> 00:28:46,423
But at least I
showed what not to do,

731
00:28:46,457 --> 00:28:47,691
which is as important as showing

732
00:28:47,725 --> 00:28:48,793
what to do in life.

733
00:28:50,727 --> 00:28:52,029
It was stressful
because Terry Gilliam

734
00:28:52,063 --> 00:28:53,698
is very demanding.

735
00:28:53,730 --> 00:28:56,534
You're trying to achieve
what he's got in his head,

736
00:28:56,566 --> 00:28:59,303
and nobody can achieve it
because it's not possible.

737
00:28:59,336 --> 00:29:00,438
And that's the way
he works, really,

738
00:29:00,470 --> 00:29:01,705
and sort of pushing the limits,

739
00:29:01,738 --> 00:29:02,640
saying I could do this,

740
00:29:02,672 --> 00:29:03,473
and you say no you can't,

741
00:29:03,506 --> 00:29:04,808
no one can ever do that.

742
00:29:04,842 --> 00:29:06,044
And he does it.

743
00:29:06,076 --> 00:29:07,644
Oh, Terry Gilliam
falls out with almost

744
00:29:07,678 --> 00:29:09,680
everyone he's ever met,
and doesn't speak to them

745
00:29:09,714 --> 00:29:11,749
for three years, you know?

746
00:29:11,782 --> 00:29:13,083
This is part of Terry's life.

747
00:29:13,117 --> 00:29:14,919
We had a few rows with Terry,

748
00:29:14,951 --> 00:29:19,656
but very small compared
to the trouble he's had

749
00:29:19,689 --> 00:29:20,924
with recent films.

750
00:29:20,957 --> 00:29:22,627
Terry Gilliam is never
satisfied with anything.

751
00:29:22,659 --> 00:29:24,762
He just made a 45
million dollar film

752
00:29:24,794 --> 00:29:26,630
and he's still complaining.

753
00:29:27,598 --> 00:29:28,765
Didn't have enough money.

754
00:29:30,034 --> 00:29:31,669
He's just a silly
old bitch, I mean...

755
00:29:33,070 --> 00:29:34,839
He's very sweet, I took him
out to dinner last night.

756
00:29:34,871 --> 00:29:37,140
I paid, of course.

757
00:29:37,173 --> 00:29:39,409
Tight little American git.

758
00:29:39,442 --> 00:29:40,844
During all this time,

759
00:29:40,878 --> 00:29:45,049
I was having this little
fight with Denis, as it were.

760
00:29:45,082 --> 00:29:47,351
And this is one I think
George has decided

761
00:29:47,384 --> 00:29:50,721
at that point I was a
complete, impossible asshole.

762
00:29:50,755 --> 00:29:52,622
Because I said, "Now, Denis,

763
00:29:52,656 --> 00:29:54,392
"Denis, you tried to change
the end of this film,

764
00:29:54,425 --> 00:29:56,094
"you cannot change
the end of this film.

765
00:29:56,127 --> 00:29:57,794
"The parents blow up,

766
00:29:57,828 --> 00:30:00,531
"because they didn't listen to
good advice from their child.

767
00:30:00,563 --> 00:30:02,132
"The parents must be punished."

768
00:30:02,166 --> 00:30:04,034
"There's no way you can
have a children's film

769
00:30:04,067 --> 00:30:05,569
"where the parents
blow at the end."

770
00:30:05,602 --> 00:30:07,004
I say, "Ah, kids will love it."

771
00:30:07,036 --> 00:30:08,939
And Denis wouldn't stop,

772
00:30:08,973 --> 00:30:11,442
and I became the brick
wall that he kept

773
00:30:11,475 --> 00:30:12,976
banging his head against,

774
00:30:13,009 --> 00:30:14,444
to the point that
I finally said,

775
00:30:14,477 --> 00:30:16,781
"Denis, you see
this piece of film?

776
00:30:16,813 --> 00:30:18,749
"That's the negative,
I made that.

777
00:30:18,783 --> 00:30:20,418
"See this 10 penny nail?

778
00:30:20,450 --> 00:30:21,518
"I bought that.

779
00:30:22,486 --> 00:30:23,454
"I could do that.

780
00:30:23,486 --> 00:30:25,489
"If I made it, I
can destroy it."

781
00:30:26,923 --> 00:30:28,058
It did stop him for a bit.

782
00:30:29,759 --> 00:30:32,096
But George thought I was
completely out of control.

783
00:30:32,963 --> 00:30:34,799
Mom, Dad, it's evil!

784
00:30:37,001 --> 00:30:38,403
Don't touch it!

785
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,175
At the end of "Time Bandits",

786
00:30:45,208 --> 00:30:46,576
we did have a song by George,

787
00:30:46,610 --> 00:30:48,513
and it was a lovely song,

788
00:30:48,545 --> 00:30:50,046
and then Ray Cooper said,

789
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,418
"You know, have you really
listened to the lyrics?"

790
00:30:53,450 --> 00:30:55,685
I said, "No,
they're lovely, why?"

791
00:30:55,718 --> 00:30:58,155
"Those are George's
notes to you,

792
00:30:58,188 --> 00:30:59,489
"and it's all about time,

793
00:30:59,523 --> 00:31:00,858
"don't take up too much time."

794
00:31:00,890 --> 00:31:02,726
Ie, the length of
the film is too long.

795
00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:05,429
I should apologize because
of my bad behavior.

796
00:31:05,463 --> 00:31:07,498
It was absolutely brilliant.

797
00:31:07,531 --> 00:31:10,101
A typical way of being as
tough as George can be,

798
00:31:10,133 --> 00:31:13,570
and very direct and
very honest and open,

799
00:31:13,603 --> 00:31:15,238
but being clever
at the same time,

800
00:31:15,272 --> 00:31:17,508
disguising it amongst
beautiful sounds.

801
00:31:19,109 --> 00:31:21,913
♪ Lucky you got so far ♪

802
00:31:21,946 --> 00:31:25,550
♪ All you owe is apologies ♪

803
00:31:28,084 --> 00:31:31,021
We made the film, and the
studio saw the finished film,

804
00:31:31,054 --> 00:31:33,024
and said no.

805
00:31:33,056 --> 00:31:35,058
The executives in Hollywood
had all got together

806
00:31:35,092 --> 00:31:36,794
and said, oh it doesn't
work, because of this,

807
00:31:36,826 --> 00:31:38,161
because it's got small people.

808
00:31:38,195 --> 00:31:40,063
They couldn't understand
who the audience would be.

809
00:31:40,096 --> 00:31:42,199
It wasn't just for kids,

810
00:31:42,233 --> 00:31:45,069
it wasn't an adult film.

811
00:31:45,101 --> 00:31:48,171
Python fans, they're only
a small number of people.

812
00:31:48,205 --> 00:31:50,707
They had no intention
of releasing it.

813
00:31:50,740 --> 00:31:52,976
Denis decided to
release it himself.

814
00:31:53,009 --> 00:31:55,145
Him and George would
pay for the release.

815
00:31:55,178 --> 00:31:59,550
He decided to do what
became called in the industry,

816
00:31:59,582 --> 00:32:01,084
the Time Bandits Deal.

817
00:32:01,118 --> 00:32:03,521
He did a deal with a
company called AVCO Embassy

818
00:32:03,553 --> 00:32:05,089
who didn't have much
of a slate at the time.

819
00:32:05,121 --> 00:32:07,691
Which were the
smallest of the majors.

820
00:32:07,725 --> 00:32:10,495
They hadn't had a
hit in 10 years,

821
00:32:10,527 --> 00:32:14,564
but they had a machine that
could deal with distribution,

822
00:32:14,598 --> 00:32:16,767
and so we went with them,

823
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:21,205
George guaranteed five million
dollars prints and ads,

824
00:32:21,237 --> 00:32:23,073
so off we went.

825
00:32:23,107 --> 00:32:25,643
And for Sean
Connery to find out

826
00:32:25,676 --> 00:32:27,745
that not only had we
financed the film,

827
00:32:27,777 --> 00:32:31,548
but we're now putting up an
addition 5.5 million dollars,

828
00:32:31,582 --> 00:32:32,783
wherever he was in the world,

829
00:32:32,815 --> 00:32:33,717
he quickly grabbed the
phone and called me,

830
00:32:33,751 --> 00:32:34,952
and he said, "You can't do this,

831
00:32:34,985 --> 00:32:36,487
"I mean you're absolutely mad.

832
00:32:37,621 --> 00:32:39,223
"No one does this."

833
00:32:39,255 --> 00:32:41,958
Well, everyone was looking
at the big Christmas movies.

834
00:32:41,992 --> 00:32:43,861
And suddenly, there's a
bit of a gap in November,

835
00:32:43,893 --> 00:32:45,662
no one has the big movies yet,

836
00:32:45,696 --> 00:32:47,164
and the summer
movies have all gone.

837
00:32:47,197 --> 00:32:49,600
And into that gap, Denis managed

838
00:32:49,632 --> 00:32:51,869
to get "Time Bandits" inserted.

839
00:32:51,901 --> 00:32:53,938
No competition, nothing.

840
00:32:53,970 --> 00:32:55,205
We were on our own.

841
00:32:55,238 --> 00:32:56,873
The film was huge.

842
00:32:56,907 --> 00:32:59,210
We went to number one,
and we sat there for weeks,

843
00:32:59,243 --> 00:33:01,212
and it was fantastic 'cause

844
00:33:01,245 --> 00:33:05,181
we just showed all you
professionals are wrong again.

845
00:33:15,159 --> 00:33:17,661
And so the money
just rolled in.

846
00:33:17,695 --> 00:33:18,796
Those were heady days,

847
00:33:18,829 --> 00:33:20,665
it was heady time at HandMade.

848
00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:23,668
Last week however, HandMade
hit the box office charts

849
00:33:23,700 --> 00:33:26,069
with two films in the
top five in London.

850
00:33:26,102 --> 00:33:27,871
We had "Life of
Brian", a success,

851
00:33:27,905 --> 00:33:29,740
and "Time Bandits",
bigger success,

852
00:33:29,773 --> 00:33:31,342
there was no way to stop us.

853
00:33:31,374 --> 00:33:32,676
What HandMade was doing

854
00:33:32,709 --> 00:33:35,313
with those two
films in particular,

855
00:33:35,345 --> 00:33:38,114
we're showing people
there's other ways

856
00:33:38,148 --> 00:33:40,751
to make films and succeed.

857
00:33:40,784 --> 00:33:43,053
Until Mike started making films.

858
00:33:43,086 --> 00:33:44,387
Oh sorry, what'd I say?

859
00:33:50,761 --> 00:33:52,964
So, Michael Palin,
he'd done a TV show

860
00:33:52,996 --> 00:33:54,731
called "Ripping Yarns",

861
00:33:54,765 --> 00:33:56,967
and I was a big
fan of that show,

862
00:33:57,001 --> 00:33:58,235
and I once said to him,

863
00:33:58,267 --> 00:34:00,103
why don't you write
a big "Ripping Yarn"?

864
00:34:00,137 --> 00:34:02,974
I'd sort of felt it was time

865
00:34:03,006 --> 00:34:04,240
to try and write a film,

866
00:34:04,273 --> 00:34:07,210
and I had this idea
about "The Missionary".

867
00:34:07,244 --> 00:34:09,412
It's a story
about a missionary,

868
00:34:09,445 --> 00:34:11,648
and he decides to look
after fallen women,

869
00:34:11,682 --> 00:34:13,785
or prostitutes, on the
East End of London.

870
00:34:14,918 --> 00:34:17,153
So, what do you want
me to do, my Lord?

871
00:34:17,186 --> 00:34:20,757
Go amongst
prostitutes, Fortescue.

872
00:34:20,791 --> 00:34:22,426
Go to the filthiest
streets of London

873
00:34:22,459 --> 00:34:25,863
into the back alleys, and
behind the workhouses.

874
00:34:25,896 --> 00:34:27,832
Seek out the harlots
and the street walkers,

875
00:34:27,865 --> 00:34:29,834
get to know them, get
to understand them,

876
00:34:29,867 --> 00:34:32,035
win their confidences.

877
00:34:32,068 --> 00:34:35,139
Find out why they
do what they do,

878
00:34:35,171 --> 00:34:36,374
and stop them doing it.

879
00:34:38,242 --> 00:34:39,744
Richard and I
got on quite well.

880
00:34:39,776 --> 00:34:42,713
The idea of working with
Michael was just a joy.

881
00:34:42,746 --> 00:34:44,749
We worked on the
script together.

882
00:34:44,782 --> 00:34:46,751
I should think I probably
contributed half a percent.

883
00:34:46,784 --> 00:34:48,251
Yeah, it was
quite collaborative.

884
00:34:48,285 --> 00:34:50,388
And you cast actors
like Maggie Smith,

885
00:34:50,421 --> 00:34:52,223
you just know they're
gonna deliver.

886
00:34:52,256 --> 00:34:54,358
Well, England's very
liberal after Africa,

887
00:34:54,390 --> 00:34:55,291
I assure you.

888
00:34:55,325 --> 00:34:57,093
Oh, do you really think so?

889
00:34:57,126 --> 00:34:59,896
I find it very stifling.

890
00:34:59,930 --> 00:35:00,698
Really?

891
00:35:00,731 --> 00:35:01,932
In what way?

892
00:35:01,965 --> 00:35:04,168
Well, I mean,
well for instance,

893
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,237
I couldn't just go
around saying that

894
00:35:08,405 --> 00:35:10,740
I find you very attractive.

895
00:35:10,773 --> 00:35:12,108
There are many
wonderful sequence.

896
00:35:12,142 --> 00:35:13,744
The sequence where Michael goes

897
00:35:13,776 --> 00:35:16,213
to try and raise some
money from this old Duke,

898
00:35:16,246 --> 00:35:18,282
and he goes in and the
Duke's sitting there,

899
00:35:18,314 --> 00:35:20,251
and Michael's just
pitching him this idea

900
00:35:20,284 --> 00:35:22,452
of raising money
for his mission.

901
00:35:22,485 --> 00:35:23,853
It's all very well
sending out missions

902
00:35:23,887 --> 00:35:26,756
to Indo-China, the
Gambia, Somaliland,

903
00:35:26,789 --> 00:35:28,291
when the real problems are here,

904
00:35:28,325 --> 00:35:29,727
under our very noses.

905
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:30,461
Three quarters of
the way through it,

906
00:35:30,494 --> 00:35:31,961
Michael's going, it's one take,

907
00:35:31,994 --> 00:35:34,297
suddenly a maid comes in.

908
00:35:34,331 --> 00:35:35,365
Emote in other's eyes,

909
00:35:35,398 --> 00:35:37,801
but not the beam in our own.

910
00:35:37,834 --> 00:35:39,403
Unless we can take up the battle

911
00:35:39,436 --> 00:35:43,307
to save and enlighten
these wretched souls now,

912
00:35:43,340 --> 00:35:44,408
then the darkness of ignorance

913
00:35:44,441 --> 00:35:45,976
we see so clearly in others

914
00:35:46,008 --> 00:35:47,343
will engulf us all!

915
00:35:47,376 --> 00:35:49,447
And then a doctor comes in.

916
00:35:49,479 --> 00:35:51,081
To ignore what is going on,

917
00:35:51,115 --> 00:35:53,450
to pretend nothing is happening.

918
00:35:53,483 --> 00:35:55,985
We can begin the moral revival.

919
00:35:56,019 --> 00:35:57,455
The only line for
anyone else is...

920
00:35:57,488 --> 00:36:00,291
I'm awfully sorry,
but my husband has died.

921
00:36:02,191 --> 00:36:03,260
Died?

922
00:36:03,293 --> 00:36:04,361
Wonderful scene
that Michael wrote

923
00:36:04,394 --> 00:36:06,796
and acted amazingly well.

924
00:36:06,829 --> 00:36:08,898
I'm most frightfully
sorry, I shall be going.

925
00:36:08,932 --> 00:36:11,135
Oh no, it's I who
should be sorry.

926
00:36:11,168 --> 00:36:14,204
It was really a
breach of manners.

927
00:36:14,238 --> 00:36:15,106
I think "The Missionary"

928
00:36:15,139 --> 00:36:18,108
was pretty much how
I wanted it to be,

929
00:36:18,142 --> 00:36:20,444
but I realized there was
sort of weakness at the end

930
00:36:20,477 --> 00:36:21,846
where they all go
off to Scotland.

931
00:36:21,878 --> 00:36:24,547
It wasn't quite as
light and as fluent

932
00:36:24,581 --> 00:36:25,950
as it should be.

933
00:36:25,983 --> 00:36:27,218
You know, you need
to get off screen

934
00:36:27,251 --> 00:36:28,452
better than you
do anything else.

935
00:36:28,485 --> 00:36:29,986
It doesn't matter what
the first 10 minutes

936
00:36:30,019 --> 00:36:31,155
of a movie are like really,

937
00:36:31,188 --> 00:36:32,155
most people won't walk out.

938
00:36:32,189 --> 00:36:35,126
And the last 10 minutes,
I think 15, I got wrong,

939
00:36:35,159 --> 00:36:36,260
I would say.

940
00:36:36,293 --> 00:36:38,294
Fortescue returned
to the mission he loved,

941
00:36:38,327 --> 00:36:39,530
and which had loved him.

942
00:36:40,863 --> 00:36:43,199
So successful was he at
filling it with girls,

943
00:36:43,233 --> 00:36:47,403
that in March, 1907, the
bishop of London himself

944
00:36:47,436 --> 00:36:48,271
closed it down.

945
00:36:49,972 --> 00:36:52,242
HandMade started out
with a talent group

946
00:36:52,276 --> 00:36:54,145
which was the
Monty Python group,

947
00:36:54,177 --> 00:36:55,378
and I think that was the model

948
00:36:55,412 --> 00:36:58,015
that HandMade really
tried to follow,

949
00:36:58,048 --> 00:36:59,550
which is to back talent,

950
00:36:59,582 --> 00:37:01,285
which is a great model for
independent production companies,

951
00:37:01,318 --> 00:37:03,586
it's a really good
model if you can do it.

952
00:37:03,619 --> 00:37:08,358
Denis wanted to
basically use the Pythons

953
00:37:08,392 --> 00:37:10,528
and control the Pythons,

954
00:37:10,561 --> 00:37:12,930
and provide for the Pythons.

955
00:37:12,963 --> 00:37:16,200
I do remember him entertaining
us all one summer,

956
00:37:16,233 --> 00:37:18,169
and he was going to do his pitch

957
00:37:18,202 --> 00:37:20,504
for managing the
Pythons, really,

958
00:37:20,537 --> 00:37:22,907
and taking over the Pythons.

959
00:37:22,939 --> 00:37:24,108
And we had a very
nice time then,

960
00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:25,909
he was very generous, and we
had his pool, and all that,

961
00:37:25,943 --> 00:37:27,878
and then we sat down
with his great board,

962
00:37:27,910 --> 00:37:31,115
and Denis drew lots
of sort of arrows

963
00:37:31,148 --> 00:37:32,582
and names on the board,

964
00:37:32,615 --> 00:37:37,086
which was sort of mainly
consisting of small islands

965
00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:39,255
in the Caribbean region
that no one ever heard of,

966
00:37:39,289 --> 00:37:41,624
and this is where Python
was gonna be based.

967
00:37:41,657 --> 00:37:43,893
Well, who do we talk to there?

968
00:37:43,927 --> 00:37:46,130
"Oh, don't worry about that,
don't worry about that."

969
00:37:46,162 --> 00:37:48,264
And it looked as
though by imposing

970
00:37:48,298 --> 00:37:50,301
a sort of structure
which meant that Python

971
00:37:50,334 --> 00:37:53,102
had to make this many
films over the years,

972
00:37:53,135 --> 00:37:55,639
he couldn't see really that
the creative side of Python

973
00:37:55,671 --> 00:37:57,440
was a very messy business.

974
00:37:57,474 --> 00:38:00,244
It wasn't something
where you just sat down

975
00:38:00,276 --> 00:38:02,146
and wrote a film like that.

976
00:38:02,178 --> 00:38:04,180
It took a long time for
ideas to come through,

977
00:38:04,213 --> 00:38:06,182
a long time for
them to be debated,

978
00:38:06,215 --> 00:38:09,252
and the one thing we
didn't want to see

979
00:38:09,285 --> 00:38:11,521
in any shape or
form was control,

980
00:38:11,555 --> 00:38:13,624
creative control of our work.

981
00:38:13,657 --> 00:38:15,892
When we did discuss
all this together,

982
00:38:15,925 --> 00:38:18,294
and do we want Denis
to be our manager,

983
00:38:18,327 --> 00:38:20,030
and we decided no,

984
00:38:20,063 --> 00:38:23,166
we didn't want Denis
to be our manager.

985
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,169
So that was the kind
of crunch point where

986
00:38:26,202 --> 00:38:31,208
HandMade Films really ceased
to be a Python company.

987
00:38:32,476 --> 00:38:35,211
Are you sad
to have lost Monty Python?

988
00:38:35,244 --> 00:38:37,113
I haven't lost Monty Python,

989
00:38:37,146 --> 00:38:39,349
they're still good
friends of mine.

990
00:38:39,383 --> 00:38:42,653
If you mean the fact
that we didn't produce

991
00:38:42,686 --> 00:38:44,321
their last film, I'm not sad.

992
00:38:44,354 --> 00:38:46,290
I didn't produce the first two.

993
00:38:47,724 --> 00:38:50,026
It was a pleasure to be
able to, at that time,

994
00:38:50,059 --> 00:38:51,996
bail them out of that situation,

995
00:38:52,028 --> 00:38:55,967
and come out of it with
a film that was funny.

996
00:38:57,566 --> 00:39:00,103
You know, I'm happy whichever
way things turn out,

997
00:39:00,137 --> 00:39:02,073
I don't try to hang onto it.

998
00:39:03,173 --> 00:39:06,677
I'd rather hang onto
friendships than business deals.

999
00:39:06,709 --> 00:39:08,177
Are you ready?

1000
00:39:08,211 --> 00:39:09,647
And mark it.

1001
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,317
It was an idea for a film
about a Caribbean island

1002
00:39:13,349 --> 00:39:16,019
that discovers Perrier water.

1003
00:39:16,052 --> 00:39:17,487
She's gonna blow!

1004
00:39:20,523 --> 00:39:22,226
It all sounded terribly funny

1005
00:39:22,258 --> 00:39:24,561
over a second bottle of wine.

1006
00:39:24,593 --> 00:39:27,331
We've struck fucking Perrier!

1007
00:39:29,066 --> 00:39:30,567
Because of our
relationship with HandMade,

1008
00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:34,537
we mentioned the idea to
Denis, and he liked it.

1009
00:39:34,570 --> 00:39:37,273
And then basically,
now Denis was saying,

1010
00:39:37,307 --> 00:39:39,642
"Well, we can do
this if you got,

1011
00:39:39,675 --> 00:39:41,678
"you know, a bankable cast."

1012
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,416
Our first thought for the
lead was Michael Caine.

1013
00:39:45,448 --> 00:39:46,684
We managed to get
the script around,

1014
00:39:46,717 --> 00:39:48,686
I won't forget
some of those days.

1015
00:39:48,718 --> 00:39:50,421
I'd been asked to a party,

1016
00:39:50,454 --> 00:39:52,256
and it was in Beverly Hills,

1017
00:39:52,289 --> 00:39:54,291
so the whole Brit
community was there,

1018
00:39:54,323 --> 00:39:56,026
including Michael and Shakira.

1019
00:39:56,059 --> 00:39:58,128
And my wife and I walked
in, we're saying hi,

1020
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,264
and Michael looked at
me from across the room,

1021
00:40:01,298 --> 00:40:02,600
and he went...

1022
00:40:04,166 --> 00:40:05,668
And I went, "Shit."

1023
00:40:05,702 --> 00:40:07,104
I didn't stay at the party,

1024
00:40:07,137 --> 00:40:08,572
I went straight back
up to Dick's house,

1025
00:40:08,604 --> 00:40:11,140
which was up the
street, and told him.

1026
00:40:11,173 --> 00:40:13,076
So, Michael made it happen.

1027
00:40:13,110 --> 00:40:14,010
What's this now?

1028
00:40:14,044 --> 00:40:16,479
It's the Cascaran
national anthem sir.

1029
00:40:24,220 --> 00:40:26,023
What are you all doing?

1030
00:40:26,055 --> 00:40:27,224
The breast stroke, sir.

1031
00:40:27,256 --> 00:40:29,159
You see, these people
are all descended

1032
00:40:29,191 --> 00:40:30,360
from shipwreck victims.

1033
00:40:34,363 --> 00:40:37,034
I'm trying to remember at
what point we cast Brenda.

1034
00:40:37,066 --> 00:40:38,401
Are you ready, honey?

1035
00:40:39,635 --> 00:40:42,805
Brenda was a bit
of a name for us.

1036
00:40:42,838 --> 00:40:43,640
It's me.

1037
00:40:45,275 --> 00:40:46,577
Brenda Vaccaro.

1038
00:40:46,610 --> 00:40:47,410
Let's go.

1039
00:40:48,611 --> 00:40:50,247
I mean, she's a
force of nature.

1040
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:51,582
Okay, so where was I?

1041
00:40:51,615 --> 00:40:53,017
Brenda knew the
difference between

1042
00:40:53,050 --> 00:40:55,285
the Guatemalan accent
and the Mexican accent,

1043
00:40:55,318 --> 00:40:57,421
so she prepared in that respect.

1044
00:40:57,454 --> 00:40:59,055
I didn't.

1045
00:40:59,088 --> 00:41:01,224
And I had it made,
actually, from Guatemala.

1046
00:41:01,258 --> 00:41:04,328
Who would say, instead
of "Get me some pins."

1047
00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,263
she would say, "You
know, I need the pins."

1048
00:41:09,066 --> 00:41:11,668
I'd say, well honey, we all do.

1049
00:41:11,700 --> 00:41:14,338
And I thought
this is the only accent

1050
00:41:14,371 --> 00:41:15,572
I want to do.

1051
00:41:15,604 --> 00:41:19,476
You lied to me when I
was a girl in Guatemala!

1052
00:41:19,508 --> 00:41:21,711
You weren't a
girl, you were never a girl!

1053
00:41:21,744 --> 00:41:23,479
I was, you lie!

1054
00:41:23,512 --> 00:41:24,648
Let's
face it, Delores,

1055
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,682
you never fitted
into diplomatic life.

1056
00:41:29,452 --> 00:41:31,822
You say
I embarrassed you.

1057
00:41:31,854 --> 00:41:33,389
You're ashamed by me?

1058
00:41:33,423 --> 00:41:35,258
I am just saying that things

1059
00:41:35,291 --> 00:41:37,260
might have turned
out differently

1060
00:41:37,293 --> 00:41:39,862
if you hadn't danced
the "Cucaracha" topless

1061
00:41:39,896 --> 00:41:43,133
at the reception for
the Duke of Edinb...

1062
00:41:43,166 --> 00:41:44,135
He loved it!

1063
00:41:45,336 --> 00:41:47,204
I was worried, because I
was worried about the script.

1064
00:41:47,236 --> 00:41:50,307
This is not to say there's
not many things I like in it,

1065
00:41:50,340 --> 00:41:53,477
but I just don't
think it pulls it off

1066
00:41:53,510 --> 00:41:55,145
as a cohesive whole.

1067
00:41:55,177 --> 00:41:56,813
Creatively, it
just doesn't add up.

1068
00:41:56,847 --> 00:41:59,316
It's not a tone
Dick and I use to,

1069
00:41:59,349 --> 00:42:02,086
I don't know what film
it's trying to be.

1070
00:42:02,119 --> 00:42:03,586
Is it trying to be a farce?

1071
00:42:03,619 --> 00:42:05,621
Is it trying to be a satire?

1072
00:42:05,655 --> 00:42:09,258
Is it trying to be a
character driven comedy?

1073
00:42:09,291 --> 00:42:12,795
It's a bit of all three,
and it falls short.

1074
00:42:12,829 --> 00:42:16,265
We were preparing
the shoot the anthem

1075
00:42:16,298 --> 00:42:18,802
in the United Nations, you know,

1076
00:42:18,834 --> 00:42:23,840
and the idea was to get a
stellar ensemble to sing.

1077
00:42:32,749 --> 00:42:35,886
Suddenly, it became
the music, the hangout,

1078
00:42:35,918 --> 00:42:37,787
because there was
Eric, and George,

1079
00:42:37,820 --> 00:42:41,190
there was John Lord
from Deep Purple,

1080
00:42:41,224 --> 00:42:44,128
Ray Cooper, and Ringo.

1081
00:42:45,162 --> 00:42:46,063
Every time I looked around,

1082
00:42:46,097 --> 00:42:47,398
one of my heroes was
looking back at me,

1083
00:42:48,631 --> 00:42:50,200
in my backing band,
it was like a dream,

1084
00:42:50,233 --> 00:42:51,568
it was extraordinary, really.

1085
00:42:51,601 --> 00:42:52,903
I'm sure everybody
thought this was

1086
00:42:52,936 --> 00:42:54,303
gonna help sell the movie.

1087
00:42:54,336 --> 00:42:56,305
It didn't really, did it?

1088
00:42:56,338 --> 00:42:59,375
♪ There was a freedom ♪

1089
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:04,680
I don't want to sound
totally negative about it,

1090
00:43:04,713 --> 00:43:06,315
I want people to
go out and buy it

1091
00:43:06,349 --> 00:43:08,318
and see it for themselves
if they agree or not.

1092
00:43:08,351 --> 00:43:10,220
Go and have a look at it.

1093
00:43:10,253 --> 00:43:12,756
I know that if you
smoke a very large joint,

1094
00:43:12,789 --> 00:43:14,258
it's really a fun movie.

1095
00:43:15,691 --> 00:43:18,861
I know that most people who
enjoyed it have been high.

1096
00:43:18,894 --> 00:43:22,298
"Oh man, that film
was so awesome."

1097
00:43:22,331 --> 00:43:24,634
And then I thought
yeah, he's a smoker.

1098
00:43:26,336 --> 00:43:27,871
Denis kept going
on to me about,

1099
00:43:27,903 --> 00:43:30,240
"Michael, Michael,
you gotta be in Water.

1100
00:43:31,707 --> 00:43:32,608
'You know, it's the Caribbean."

1101
00:43:32,642 --> 00:43:33,777
I said, "Well I've got this film

1102
00:43:33,809 --> 00:43:35,244
"in which I play a chiropodist."

1103
00:43:35,278 --> 00:43:36,647
He said, "Will
you come out here?

1104
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,582
"I've got all these stars,
and all that sort of thing."

1105
00:43:38,615 --> 00:43:40,817
And Denis really
wouldn't let me go,

1106
00:43:40,849 --> 00:43:43,319
kept ringing up when I'd
come in late at night,

1107
00:43:43,352 --> 00:43:44,820
and Helen would say
"Denis is on the phone."

1108
00:43:44,854 --> 00:43:46,256
"Hello, Denis, hello."

1109
00:43:46,289 --> 00:43:48,492
"Michael, we've written
four more lines for you.

1110
00:43:48,525 --> 00:43:49,459
"We'll get you out there,

1111
00:43:49,492 --> 00:43:50,894
"we really want you to do it."

1112
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:53,197
I said "Denis, no."

1113
00:43:54,296 --> 00:43:55,965
It was nice to be
asked, but in the end,

1114
00:43:55,999 --> 00:43:57,301
I got really fed up with this,

1115
00:43:57,334 --> 00:43:59,236
and you know, I got a new cat,

1116
00:43:59,269 --> 00:44:02,439
and we called the cat Denis,

1117
00:44:02,472 --> 00:44:05,842
so that when I come home
late in the evening,

1118
00:44:05,874 --> 00:44:09,278
Helen would say "Denis
has been on the phone."

1119
00:44:09,311 --> 00:44:12,548
I would transfer all
my sort of tension

1120
00:44:12,581 --> 00:44:13,784
and anger onto the cat.

1121
00:44:13,816 --> 00:44:15,885
And I'd think oh, that
lovely cat, that Denis.

1122
00:44:15,918 --> 00:44:17,621
Jason Gilbert Chilvers.

1123
00:44:17,653 --> 00:44:18,722
This country has just emerged

1124
00:44:18,755 --> 00:44:19,923
from a Second World War,

1125
00:44:19,956 --> 00:44:20,856
a war where millions
of people died,

1126
00:44:20,890 --> 00:44:23,427
most of them killed
by their fellow men.

1127
00:44:23,459 --> 00:44:25,294
Not with chiropodist tools.

1128
00:44:25,327 --> 00:44:27,331
It's not the
tools, it's the will.

1129
00:44:28,264 --> 00:44:29,465
He's doing his business again!

1130
00:44:29,499 --> 00:44:32,002
I'll trust you to
pick up the diarrhea.

1131
00:44:32,035 --> 00:44:33,637
Strange place, strange people.

1132
00:44:35,271 --> 00:44:36,407
They can understand it.

1133
00:44:37,307 --> 00:44:39,042
We ought to let it settle down.

1134
00:44:39,075 --> 00:44:40,377
Settle down?

1135
00:44:42,345 --> 00:44:43,347
Kill it.

1136
00:44:44,548 --> 00:44:47,284
You know, that how I remember
"Private Function" happening

1137
00:44:47,316 --> 00:44:50,519
was that Alan Bennett rang
me up and said, you know,

1138
00:44:50,552 --> 00:44:52,355
that he got a film
he'd like me to do,

1139
00:44:52,389 --> 00:44:53,557
and it sounded very good,

1140
00:44:53,590 --> 00:44:55,292
so I went along to a meeting.

1141
00:44:55,325 --> 00:44:59,029
And Alan said, "Right, where's
the money coming from?"

1142
00:44:59,061 --> 00:45:01,297
and I said "Me,
you're looking at me?

1143
00:45:01,331 --> 00:45:02,466
"You've only asked
me to do a part."

1144
00:45:02,499 --> 00:45:05,269
So I said, "Well, I'll ask them.

1145
00:45:05,302 --> 00:45:07,271
"I'm not sure if it's
what they'd want to do."

1146
00:45:07,303 --> 00:45:08,405
For you, Michael.

1147
00:45:08,438 --> 00:45:11,508
I remember asking
George about it,

1148
00:45:11,541 --> 00:45:13,043
and I said, you know,

1149
00:45:13,075 --> 00:45:16,045
"So, was it the script that
persuaded you then, George?"

1150
00:45:16,079 --> 00:45:17,347
He said, "No, no.

1151
00:45:18,347 --> 00:45:21,050
"I only got up to page four."

1152
00:45:21,084 --> 00:45:24,053
And he says, "Just
'cause you were in it,

1153
00:45:24,086 --> 00:45:26,856
"I thought it must
be all right."

1154
00:45:26,889 --> 00:45:29,825
It's about a pig, it's
about a very unpleasant part

1155
00:45:29,858 --> 00:45:32,094
of British history after
the Second World War,

1156
00:45:32,128 --> 00:45:35,298
where there was a lot of
very nasty behavior going on,

1157
00:45:35,331 --> 00:45:39,035
people being sort of
cheating, and lying,

1158
00:45:39,068 --> 00:45:40,570
and almost shining a light

1159
00:45:40,602 --> 00:45:43,307
on a very dark corner
of British history.

1160
00:45:43,340 --> 00:45:46,343
So, it had a real dark
comedy feel to it.

1161
00:45:46,376 --> 00:45:49,313
You got something we want.

1162
00:45:51,447 --> 00:45:55,451
Something that belongs to us.

1163
00:45:57,419 --> 00:46:01,392
Something with four legs,

1164
00:46:02,492 --> 00:46:07,497
and a little curly tail.

1165
00:46:08,097 --> 00:46:09,632
There were three pigs,

1166
00:46:09,666 --> 00:46:11,501
because they were all
supposed to have different...

1167
00:46:13,135 --> 00:46:16,105
They were all supposed to have
different talents, you know.

1168
00:46:16,139 --> 00:46:18,075
One could sing, one could dance,

1169
00:46:18,108 --> 00:46:19,743
the other one...

1170
00:46:19,776 --> 00:46:20,811
Well, I mean, this is how
it was put to us really

1171
00:46:20,843 --> 00:46:22,079
by the trainers.

1172
00:46:22,111 --> 00:46:23,680
In fact, only one
of them could act

1173
00:46:23,713 --> 00:46:25,048
to any standard at all.

1174
00:46:25,081 --> 00:46:26,883
The other two were
completely hopeless.

1175
00:46:26,916 --> 00:46:28,452
It was very hard
working with the pig

1176
00:46:28,485 --> 00:46:30,153
because it would be
brought onto the set,

1177
00:46:30,186 --> 00:46:32,155
and at some stage
it would defecate,

1178
00:46:32,188 --> 00:46:33,622
usually just before the take,

1179
00:46:33,655 --> 00:46:35,157
so we'd have to
get everyone out,

1180
00:46:35,191 --> 00:46:37,828
clean the carpet, and
there was a young lad

1181
00:46:37,860 --> 00:46:40,996
who was at the film
location every morning

1182
00:46:41,030 --> 00:46:42,733
saying "I'd love
to get into films.

1183
00:46:42,765 --> 00:46:44,367
"Any chance of me
getting into films?"

1184
00:46:44,401 --> 00:46:45,135
And "No, no, no, no."

1185
00:46:45,168 --> 00:46:46,736
And then somebody said,

1186
00:46:46,769 --> 00:46:48,871
"Oh, by the way, actually
there is something you can do."

1187
00:46:48,905 --> 00:46:51,173
And they gave him
a bucket, and said,

1188
00:46:51,206 --> 00:46:53,042
"When you're on the
set, the pig comes on,

1189
00:46:53,075 --> 00:46:55,811
"as soon as you
see anything appear

1190
00:46:55,845 --> 00:46:58,615
"from the pig's backside,
get the bucket under there."

1191
00:46:58,648 --> 00:47:01,517
And he did, and because
of the predictability

1192
00:47:01,550 --> 00:47:04,520
of the pig's bowel
movements, he could do that.

1193
00:47:04,553 --> 00:47:06,423
It saved us an
awful lot of time,

1194
00:47:06,456 --> 00:47:07,791
and he's the only person I think

1195
00:47:07,823 --> 00:47:09,092
on any credits anywhere

1196
00:47:09,124 --> 00:47:11,894
who's just been given the
credit of "Bucket Boy"

1197
00:47:11,927 --> 00:47:13,063
on the film.

1198
00:47:13,095 --> 00:47:16,465
No, it's rather nice that
on such a public occasion,

1199
00:47:16,499 --> 00:47:18,435
the Peter Sellers
Award for comedy

1200
00:47:18,468 --> 00:47:22,773
will go to a man from "A Private
Function", Michael Palin.

1201
00:47:26,242 --> 00:47:27,843
I must say, there was
considerable friction

1202
00:47:27,876 --> 00:47:29,746
between the creative side,

1203
00:47:29,778 --> 00:47:31,715
represented by Alan
Bennett, the writer,

1204
00:47:31,747 --> 00:47:32,948
particularly with Denis.

1205
00:47:32,981 --> 00:47:34,517
It was a difficult relationship.

1206
00:47:34,550 --> 00:47:36,819
We got the film
made, but there was

1207
00:47:36,852 --> 00:47:39,423
all sorts of problems
over payments

1208
00:47:39,456 --> 00:47:40,624
and all that sort of thing.

1209
00:47:40,657 --> 00:47:43,226
But anyway, the Evening
Standard Film Awards

1210
00:47:43,258 --> 00:47:47,063
of 19 whatever it
was, '85, or whatever,

1211
00:47:47,095 --> 00:47:48,697
won most of the awards,

1212
00:47:48,731 --> 00:47:50,566
and it won an award
for Denis and George,

1213
00:47:50,599 --> 00:47:53,002
who went up and sort of slightly

1214
00:47:53,035 --> 00:47:54,537
embarrassingly collected it,

1215
00:47:54,570 --> 00:47:57,506
and George called the
Duchess of Kent...

1216
00:47:57,539 --> 00:47:58,207
Your Majesty.

1217
00:47:59,642 --> 00:48:00,744
Your Royal Highness.

1218
00:48:00,776 --> 00:48:01,912
You're going one too high.

1219
00:48:01,945 --> 00:48:03,180
Oh.

1220
00:48:03,213 --> 00:48:04,981
Nothing's too good for you.

1221
00:48:05,014 --> 00:48:07,117
She's a bit of a boo.

1222
00:48:08,852 --> 00:48:12,088
So, it was all done,

1223
00:48:12,121 --> 00:48:13,523
and actually in the end,

1224
00:48:13,555 --> 00:48:15,124
it was much more
successful I think

1225
00:48:15,157 --> 00:48:18,727
than "Water", which
disappeared without trace,

1226
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,130
it dried up..

1227
00:48:22,030 --> 00:48:23,532
Really, it's Mr. O'Brien,

1228
00:48:23,566 --> 00:48:26,903
the brains behind
HandMade Films.

1229
00:48:32,008 --> 00:48:34,511
A few years later,
I was with Alan,

1230
00:48:34,543 --> 00:48:36,579
and our cat had
sadly passed away,

1231
00:48:36,613 --> 00:48:38,582
and I told him that
I'm a bit sad today,

1232
00:48:38,615 --> 00:48:40,250
'cause Denis had died.

1233
00:48:41,617 --> 00:48:43,219
And Alan said just direct,

1234
00:48:43,253 --> 00:48:47,224
something about his heart
rose with elation, the news.

1235
00:48:47,256 --> 00:48:49,126
"Oh, your cat, oh the cat, oh.

1236
00:48:51,227 --> 00:48:52,295
"Oh, I didn't know that.

1237
00:48:52,327 --> 00:48:55,097
"Oh, I'm very sad,
that's terrible."

1238
00:48:58,334 --> 00:49:00,070
What we have done basically

1239
00:49:00,102 --> 00:49:02,606
is simply to take
whatever retained earnings

1240
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:04,073
there have been over the year,

1241
00:49:04,106 --> 00:49:07,142
and simply re-invest those funds

1242
00:49:07,175 --> 00:49:09,078
into an expanded portfolio

1243
00:49:09,111 --> 00:49:11,548
so that we went from
making one film a year

1244
00:49:11,581 --> 00:49:12,816
to three films a year,

1245
00:49:12,849 --> 00:49:14,284
and finally up to
five films a year.

1246
00:49:14,316 --> 00:49:16,887
You know, Denis is
into this thing of well,

1247
00:49:16,919 --> 00:49:19,122
if we can produce more films,

1248
00:49:19,155 --> 00:49:20,957
we can get better
distribution deals,

1249
00:49:20,990 --> 00:49:22,959
or people will take
you more seriously.

1250
00:49:22,992 --> 00:49:26,662
Denis was very much
wanting to build a studio,

1251
00:49:26,695 --> 00:49:28,864
certainly a production entity.

1252
00:49:28,898 --> 00:49:30,033
It was driven by him.

1253
00:49:30,066 --> 00:49:32,535
It was as if Denis
was going off on his own.

1254
00:49:32,568 --> 00:49:35,271
There was an aspect
of selecting the projects

1255
00:49:35,305 --> 00:49:39,809
which was as much money as
it was the project itself.

1256
00:49:39,842 --> 00:49:42,077
When the company
starts getting bigger,

1257
00:49:42,110 --> 00:49:43,313
you take on more staff,

1258
00:49:43,345 --> 00:49:45,148
and you need to pay more staff,

1259
00:49:45,180 --> 00:49:47,550
you need to feed the beast,

1260
00:49:47,584 --> 00:49:50,253
and you need them
to buy films in

1261
00:49:50,285 --> 00:49:51,887
that perhaps you
wouldn't normally buy.

1262
00:49:51,921 --> 00:49:53,123
You need to make films,

1263
00:49:53,155 --> 00:49:54,858
because you gotta keep
that wheel turning.

1264
00:49:54,890 --> 00:49:56,992
They became just a system

1265
00:49:57,026 --> 00:49:59,629
that needed to keep
feeding itself.

1266
00:49:59,662 --> 00:50:01,798
Sometimes we'll
make films which

1267
00:50:03,198 --> 00:50:06,570
I go along with because
it's the company's decision

1268
00:50:06,602 --> 00:50:08,938
that this would be a good film,

1269
00:50:08,972 --> 00:50:12,008
but I don't particularly
like the script

1270
00:50:12,041 --> 00:50:14,577
or the film.

1271
00:50:14,610 --> 00:50:17,947
♪ I'm ready ♪

1272
00:50:17,981 --> 00:50:21,685
♪ You must be crazy ♪

1273
00:50:21,718 --> 00:50:24,387
We went after
"Shanghai Surprise"

1274
00:50:24,419 --> 00:50:26,856
because I believed
that we were playing

1275
00:50:26,889 --> 00:50:29,392
the Hollywood game
out of London,

1276
00:50:29,425 --> 00:50:30,327
and that this would be something

1277
00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:32,861
that would be a huge success.

1278
00:50:32,894 --> 00:50:34,229
It was
a couple of days

1279
00:50:34,262 --> 00:50:36,632
away from just shelving
the whole thing,

1280
00:50:36,666 --> 00:50:39,135
and then suddenly
the producer came up

1281
00:50:39,168 --> 00:50:42,171
and said "Oh yeah, Madonna's
agreed to be in the movie,

1282
00:50:42,204 --> 00:50:45,976
"and her husband, Sean
Penn, is also gonna be."

1283
00:50:46,008 --> 00:50:49,211
And at that time, it sounded
like quite a good idea.

1284
00:50:49,244 --> 00:50:51,013
I think really
"Shanghai Surprise"

1285
00:50:51,046 --> 00:50:55,084
was made with the intention
of making a blockbuster.

1286
00:50:55,117 --> 00:50:57,253
This is a new
direction for HandMade.

1287
00:50:57,285 --> 00:50:58,787
Because the
business side of it

1288
00:50:58,820 --> 00:51:00,155
got very excited by it.

1289
00:51:00,189 --> 00:51:03,059
It was pre-sold, and
it was big business.

1290
00:51:03,092 --> 00:51:07,063
I suppose on
somebody's decision was,

1291
00:51:07,095 --> 00:51:10,166
well, it's probably,
this could be good,

1292
00:51:10,198 --> 00:51:12,968
from a greed point
of view, I think.

1293
00:51:13,001 --> 00:51:15,170
The idea, "Hehe, we're
gonna have a big hit

1294
00:51:15,204 --> 00:51:17,039
"with this famous pop star."

1295
00:51:17,072 --> 00:51:17,940
I thought you were a bit hasty

1296
00:51:17,974 --> 00:51:20,176
doing a second film
about a missionary

1297
00:51:20,209 --> 00:51:22,212
before you've got the
money from the first one.

1298
00:51:22,244 --> 00:51:23,246
We like missionaries.

1299
00:51:24,814 --> 00:51:27,250
Two missionaries and a
glow in the dark tie salesman

1300
00:51:27,282 --> 00:51:29,218
do not just stroll
up to people and ask

1301
00:51:29,251 --> 00:51:31,987
if they've seen a thousand
pounds of opium lying around.

1302
00:51:32,021 --> 00:51:34,189
John Kohn, who
is quote on quote

1303
00:51:34,222 --> 00:51:36,325
the producer in the film,

1304
00:51:36,358 --> 00:51:38,061
really hadn't produced films,

1305
00:51:38,093 --> 00:51:40,362
he was a writer more
so than a producer.

1306
00:51:40,396 --> 00:51:41,898
Well, I read this book,

1307
00:51:41,930 --> 00:51:43,332
and the book wasn't very good,

1308
00:51:43,365 --> 00:51:46,268
but I thought that the
book had a kind of,

1309
00:51:47,803 --> 00:51:49,405
a Humphrey Bogart-Katherine
Hepburn relationship

1310
00:51:49,439 --> 00:51:51,274
like in "African Queen".

1311
00:51:51,307 --> 00:51:53,276
And I thought it
was good ingredients

1312
00:51:53,309 --> 00:51:58,081
and the script
wrote pretty easily.

1313
00:51:58,113 --> 00:51:59,249
The script was terrible.

1314
00:52:00,215 --> 00:52:01,351
It was absolutely terrible.

1315
00:52:01,383 --> 00:52:03,152
It was not a good script,

1316
00:52:03,186 --> 00:52:04,754
and that's where it starts.

1317
00:52:04,787 --> 00:52:06,689
That's the foundation of
which everything else is done,

1318
00:52:06,722 --> 00:52:08,224
that's the structure.

1319
00:52:08,256 --> 00:52:10,293
And if that's not
right, it's pointless.

1320
00:52:10,325 --> 00:52:12,961
Jim Goddard mostly
directed television

1321
00:52:12,994 --> 00:52:15,431
and on sets, and
mostly in the UK.

1322
00:52:15,465 --> 00:52:17,033
You know, this was a big film,

1323
00:52:17,066 --> 00:52:19,302
and that's why Sean could
walk right over him,

1324
00:52:19,334 --> 00:52:20,936
you know, basically.

1325
00:52:20,970 --> 00:52:24,506
Definitely the problem
was a clash of personality,

1326
00:52:24,539 --> 00:52:26,308
both very strong characters,

1327
00:52:26,342 --> 00:52:29,746
they both wanted the
film to look differently.

1328
00:52:29,778 --> 00:52:32,247
Jim tried to make
it as a comedy,

1329
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:35,250
and Sean was hoping to make it

1330
00:52:35,284 --> 00:52:37,253
a dramatic escapism.

1331
00:52:37,285 --> 00:52:39,421
But he questioned
Jim all the time.

1332
00:52:39,454 --> 00:52:42,124
"Why is that, why
is it not that way?"

1333
00:52:42,157 --> 00:52:45,894
Jim thought that he
can tame the stars,

1334
00:52:45,927 --> 00:52:47,896
and eventually he couldn't.

1335
00:52:49,499 --> 00:52:52,102
Sean Penn has his issues,
Madonna had her issues,

1336
00:52:52,135 --> 00:52:53,503
the press, they're
having a field day,

1337
00:52:53,535 --> 00:52:55,438
because I think a lot
was going on there.

1338
00:52:55,470 --> 00:52:57,139
On the one hand in film,

1339
00:52:57,173 --> 00:52:58,374
all publicity is good publicity,

1340
00:52:58,407 --> 00:53:01,811
because then everyone's
heard of the movie.

1341
00:53:01,843 --> 00:53:03,880
On the other hand,
should you worry I think,

1342
00:53:03,912 --> 00:53:05,115
that it might be
interfering with

1343
00:53:05,148 --> 00:53:06,349
the business of
making the movie,

1344
00:53:06,381 --> 00:53:08,184
which in the end,
it clearly was.

1345
00:53:08,217 --> 00:53:09,952
When it comes
down to the wire,

1346
00:53:09,985 --> 00:53:12,454
there's only one person
who can solve problems,

1347
00:53:12,488 --> 00:53:15,091
and that's why we're
sending him off to Hong Kong

1348
00:53:15,124 --> 00:53:17,327
to see if he can deal
with Sean Penn and Madonna

1349
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:18,861
in one week's time.

1350
00:53:18,894 --> 00:53:20,530
Well, "Shanghai
Surprise" unfortunately

1351
00:53:20,563 --> 00:53:22,965
got George involved as well,

1352
00:53:22,999 --> 00:53:26,002
and he was brought
in to sort of try,

1353
00:53:26,035 --> 00:53:27,270
and that was
terrible for George,

1354
00:53:27,302 --> 00:53:28,237
he didn't want to do that.

1355
00:53:28,271 --> 00:53:30,173
He went to Hong Kong,
he didn't want to do it.

1356
00:53:30,206 --> 00:53:31,274
I mean in some respects,

1357
00:53:31,307 --> 00:53:35,445
the press were sort of
right saying certain things.

1358
00:53:36,845 --> 00:53:38,447
But, they were a
bit over the top.

1359
00:53:38,481 --> 00:53:42,852
Well, you know, because the
stories were getting out,

1360
00:53:42,885 --> 00:53:44,821
Sean was not
shooting certain days

1361
00:53:44,854 --> 00:53:46,189
because he was
uptight by something

1362
00:53:46,222 --> 00:53:49,859
he read in the paper,
so I felt the only way

1363
00:53:49,892 --> 00:53:52,529
to smooth things over is
to try and get the press

1364
00:53:52,561 --> 00:53:54,029
to not get in their head.

1365
00:53:55,197 --> 00:53:56,431
Your
management contract

1366
00:53:56,465 --> 00:53:58,133
is up for sale,
did you know that?

1367
00:53:58,166 --> 00:54:00,002
And George, would
you like to buy it?

1368
00:54:02,070 --> 00:54:03,273
I don't know.

1369
00:54:03,305 --> 00:54:04,506
You're a little
troublemaker, aren't you?

1370
00:54:04,539 --> 00:54:05,507
I'm
not the only one here,

1371
00:54:05,541 --> 00:54:06,943
there's a room full of them.

1372
00:54:06,976 --> 00:54:09,044
I mean, the result of
the press conference was

1373
00:54:09,077 --> 00:54:11,413
they all stopped
slagging them off.

1374
00:54:11,447 --> 00:54:13,916
But it did have terrible affect

1375
00:54:13,950 --> 00:54:15,919
on the film and the crew.

1376
00:54:16,651 --> 00:54:20,322
♪ You got into my life ♪

1377
00:54:20,356 --> 00:54:24,593
♪ I don't know
how you found me ♪

1378
00:54:24,626 --> 00:54:26,929
♪ But you didn't stop ♪

1379
00:54:26,963 --> 00:54:28,064
Did you
get involved in

1380
00:54:28,097 --> 00:54:29,399
music in the films?

1381
00:54:29,432 --> 00:54:31,901
I got really
involved with "Shanghai",

1382
00:54:31,934 --> 00:54:35,205
which was another
reason it was personally

1383
00:54:36,305 --> 00:54:38,241
a sad situation,
because I put so much

1384
00:54:38,273 --> 00:54:40,576
of my own time into it.

1385
00:54:43,345 --> 00:54:44,246
So how
do you feel now

1386
00:54:44,280 --> 00:54:46,149
that it's more or less finished?

1387
00:54:46,182 --> 00:54:47,283
How do I feel?

1388
00:54:47,316 --> 00:54:48,885
Shocked and stunned.

1389
00:54:48,918 --> 00:54:50,486
And the film
didn't do very well,

1390
00:54:51,553 --> 00:54:53,956
and I think we have had a bit

1391
00:54:53,990 --> 00:54:55,392
of a disaster on our hands.

1392
00:54:56,559 --> 00:54:58,528
The problem I have
is when we make films

1393
00:54:58,561 --> 00:55:00,129
with people who I
don't particularly

1394
00:55:00,162 --> 00:55:02,232
want to make a film with,

1395
00:55:02,264 --> 00:55:06,602
and that's where HandMade
has become something else.

1396
00:55:06,635 --> 00:55:08,371
It was really
not what he wanted.

1397
00:55:08,403 --> 00:55:10,273
Madonna, Sean Penn thing,
the celebrity thing.

1398
00:55:10,305 --> 00:55:12,608
It was one, George wasn't
interested in that,

1399
00:55:12,642 --> 00:55:14,143
he wanted to see a good comedy

1400
00:55:14,175 --> 00:55:17,980
that was sort of played by
people he liked and knew.

1401
00:55:18,014 --> 00:55:20,550
And preferably,
something British

1402
00:55:20,582 --> 00:55:22,885
rather than something American.

1403
00:55:30,226 --> 00:55:31,126
You know, the beauty of it is

1404
00:55:31,160 --> 00:55:33,296
is that we had "Mona
Lisa" at the same time,

1405
00:55:34,463 --> 00:55:37,166
and quite honestly,
one negated the other.

1406
00:55:37,198 --> 00:55:38,967
They were so busy
making this other

1407
00:55:39,001 --> 00:55:40,236
big, huge film,

1408
00:55:40,269 --> 00:55:42,472
I just took the time
to make "Mona Lisa"

1409
00:55:42,505 --> 00:55:45,108
while they were doing
this huge thing, you know.

1410
00:55:45,140 --> 00:55:46,441
Mona Lisa was a story about

1411
00:55:46,474 --> 00:55:48,277
the hypocrisy of SoHo.

1412
00:55:48,311 --> 00:55:50,546
How those guys in
suits were probably

1413
00:55:50,579 --> 00:55:52,282
contributing to the Tory party

1414
00:55:52,314 --> 00:55:54,517
who were dealing in
drugs and prostitution,

1415
00:55:54,550 --> 00:55:56,385
who were actually
much bigger criminals

1416
00:55:56,418 --> 00:56:00,122
than guys walking around with
a swag sack on their back,

1417
00:56:00,155 --> 00:56:01,323
you know, if there
is such a thing,

1418
00:56:01,356 --> 00:56:03,159
a good old honest criminal.

1419
00:56:03,191 --> 00:56:05,260
I began to sketch
it out about this character

1420
00:56:05,293 --> 00:56:06,161
who came out of prison

1421
00:56:06,195 --> 00:56:08,398
and the world had
changed around him.

1422
00:56:08,430 --> 00:56:11,668
Neil had a stab
at writing a script,

1423
00:56:13,336 --> 00:56:15,171
and he kinda got stuck on it,

1424
00:56:15,204 --> 00:56:17,039
wasn't sure where to go.

1425
00:56:17,072 --> 00:56:18,640
So I had asked David if he could

1426
00:56:18,673 --> 00:56:20,008
have a look at the script

1427
00:56:20,041 --> 00:56:22,244
to see if there's
anything he could do.

1428
00:56:22,278 --> 00:56:24,147
And I was given a treatment,

1429
00:56:24,180 --> 00:56:26,182
and it was a third of a page,

1430
00:56:26,215 --> 00:56:28,084
it was just that much writing,

1431
00:56:28,117 --> 00:56:29,352
and I worked on that.

1432
00:56:29,385 --> 00:56:31,387
David wrote this really
hard-boiled script,

1433
00:56:31,419 --> 00:56:33,555
it was quite savage.

1434
00:56:33,588 --> 00:56:35,424
I then thought
long and hard about

1435
00:56:35,457 --> 00:56:36,659
who could play the part,

1436
00:56:36,691 --> 00:56:38,660
discussed it, of
course, with Neil,

1437
00:56:38,693 --> 00:56:42,398
and Bob's was the
name that was noted.

1438
00:56:43,566 --> 00:56:45,368
Bob wasn't 100% sure
about the script,

1439
00:56:45,401 --> 00:56:47,070
so I had to engineer a meeting

1440
00:56:47,102 --> 00:56:48,470
between Neil and Bob,

1441
00:56:48,503 --> 00:56:50,272
and they hit it
off straight away.

1442
00:56:50,305 --> 00:56:51,640
The minute I
met Bob I said okay,

1443
00:56:51,673 --> 00:56:53,141
I'm gonna rewrite
this whole thing,

1444
00:56:53,175 --> 00:56:54,443
the whole story for this man.

1445
00:56:54,477 --> 00:56:56,245
I mean, I really
wanted to make a movie

1446
00:56:56,278 --> 00:56:59,282
about how man deeply
misunderstood women.

1447
00:56:59,314 --> 00:57:01,184
I suppose I genuinely
didn't understand women

1448
00:57:01,217 --> 00:57:02,485
any more than the
central character did,

1449
00:57:02,517 --> 00:57:04,786
and I wanted to make a
film about that, you know?

1450
00:57:08,657 --> 00:57:09,492
Yeah?

1451
00:57:12,695 --> 00:57:14,197
Do you want mom?

1452
00:57:20,202 --> 00:57:21,337
Mom?

1453
00:57:21,369 --> 00:57:23,105
What is it, love?

1454
00:57:23,805 --> 00:57:25,474
Julie, get inside.

1455
00:57:25,508 --> 00:57:26,676
Just...

1456
00:57:26,709 --> 00:57:27,510
No you can't.

1457
00:57:27,543 --> 00:57:28,745
Listen!

1458
00:57:28,778 --> 00:57:29,611
You've been away
too fucking long!

1459
00:57:29,644 --> 00:57:30,679
Mom, no!

1460
00:57:30,713 --> 00:57:31,680
Wait, no, just a minute!

1461
00:57:31,713 --> 00:57:32,614
That's all I'm asking for!

1462
00:57:32,648 --> 00:57:33,548
She don't know you, George,

1463
00:57:33,581 --> 00:57:34,784
and she don't want to know ya!

1464
00:57:34,816 --> 00:57:35,617
I don't want to
fucking know you!

1465
00:57:35,651 --> 00:57:36,452
She's my daughter!

1466
00:57:36,485 --> 00:57:37,452
You can't do this to me,

1467
00:57:37,485 --> 00:57:39,588
I only came to see her.

1468
00:57:39,622 --> 00:57:40,457
Stop!

1469
00:57:41,624 --> 00:57:43,059
I'm sorry.

1470
00:57:43,092 --> 00:57:43,760
I'm sorry!

1471
00:57:45,293 --> 00:57:46,395
Mom!

1472
00:57:46,428 --> 00:57:47,764
I loved the script.

1473
00:57:47,796 --> 00:57:49,365
And I took it to EMI,

1474
00:57:49,398 --> 00:57:52,135
they suddenly decided
not to make films,

1475
00:57:52,168 --> 00:57:54,303
they weren't into
production anymore,

1476
00:57:54,336 --> 00:57:56,171
and we were left a
bit high and dry.

1477
00:57:56,204 --> 00:57:58,106
And there weren't
that many stops then.

1478
00:57:58,139 --> 00:57:59,474
With EMI going down,

1479
00:57:59,508 --> 00:58:01,110
it wasn't like there
were a load of places

1480
00:58:01,142 --> 00:58:02,010
we could've gone,

1481
00:58:02,043 --> 00:58:04,312
and that's what made
HandMade special.

1482
00:58:04,345 --> 00:58:06,282
He got me the script
I think that day,

1483
00:58:06,314 --> 00:58:08,316
and I read it overnight,
and said this is great,

1484
00:58:08,349 --> 00:58:10,052
we've gotta do this movie.

1485
00:58:10,086 --> 00:58:12,622
Ray had set up a lunch for
George to meet with Neil,

1486
00:58:13,789 --> 00:58:16,191
and George had said
at the lunch that

1487
00:58:16,224 --> 00:58:18,860
this wasn't the kind of
script that he liked.

1488
00:58:18,894 --> 00:58:21,296
Basically, I would
like to keep it comedy,

1489
00:58:21,329 --> 00:58:26,335
or films that have some
sort of hope, you know?

1490
00:58:27,336 --> 00:58:29,405
But he trusted Ray 100%,

1491
00:58:29,438 --> 00:58:32,608
and George basically said
"Whatever you guys want."

1492
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:34,577
The biggest thing
was casting Simone,

1493
00:58:34,610 --> 00:58:36,144
the title part of "Mona Lisa",

1494
00:58:36,177 --> 00:58:38,713
and we went to see a
play that Cathy was in

1495
00:58:38,747 --> 00:58:39,615
at the Barbican.

1496
00:58:39,648 --> 00:58:41,184
We then met with Cathy,

1497
00:58:41,217 --> 00:58:43,753
and she seemed amazing,

1498
00:58:43,785 --> 00:58:45,822
and Neil was
completely sold on her.

1499
00:58:45,854 --> 00:58:48,157
So we sort of offered her up

1500
00:58:48,189 --> 00:58:49,825
as the final piece
of the jigsaw.

1501
00:58:49,858 --> 00:58:54,496
Cathy was rejected by Denis.

1502
00:58:54,530 --> 00:58:57,200
And the suggestion from Denis,

1503
00:58:57,233 --> 00:59:00,303
he had seen a poster
for a James Bond movie

1504
00:59:00,336 --> 00:59:02,505
with Roger Moore, and
thought that Grace Jones

1505
00:59:02,537 --> 00:59:05,273
would make a fantastic
choice for the film,

1506
00:59:05,307 --> 00:59:07,276
which was a little horrific.

1507
00:59:07,309 --> 00:59:08,477
Cathy was wonderful,

1508
00:59:08,510 --> 00:59:10,545
and she was right for the role.

1509
00:59:10,579 --> 00:59:12,682
I mean, it could've
been a named person,

1510
00:59:12,715 --> 00:59:14,450
nobody really knew
Cathy at that point,

1511
00:59:14,483 --> 00:59:15,517
but this is what you have to do,

1512
00:59:15,550 --> 00:59:18,320
you have to support that chance.

1513
00:59:18,354 --> 00:59:22,325
And Denis says, "Well, all
right, if you think so."

1514
00:59:22,358 --> 00:59:23,493
Neil Jones said to me,

1515
00:59:23,526 --> 00:59:26,796
I'm gonna try and
get Michael Caine

1516
00:59:26,829 --> 00:59:28,397
to play the boss.

1517
00:59:28,430 --> 00:59:30,300
And I said, you've
got to be kidding.

1518
00:59:31,499 --> 00:59:34,402
HandMade's doing it, you're
never gonna afford those wages.

1519
00:59:34,436 --> 00:59:36,671
Usually I play leading
men in a picture,

1520
00:59:36,704 --> 00:59:39,275
and if you do, even though
the man is villainous,

1521
00:59:39,307 --> 00:59:42,210
you have to give him
some sort of sympathetic,

1522
00:59:42,244 --> 00:59:44,247
or nice, or kindly side.

1523
00:59:46,314 --> 00:59:47,582
But with Mortwell,
I didn't have to,

1524
00:59:47,615 --> 00:59:50,686
because I was only a small
part, so I enjoyed it.

1525
00:59:50,718 --> 00:59:52,454
Jesus Christ, George.

1526
00:59:52,488 --> 00:59:53,956
What am I doing here, right?

1527
00:59:53,988 --> 00:59:54,789
I didn't say that.

1528
00:59:54,822 --> 00:59:56,158
I'm sorry.

1529
00:59:56,191 --> 00:59:57,793
Don't be sorry,
it's bad to be sorry.

1530
00:59:57,825 --> 00:59:58,628
Hello, mate.

1531
00:59:58,660 --> 00:59:59,561
Hello.

1532
00:59:59,595 --> 01:00:00,630
Raschid, this is George.

1533
01:00:00,662 --> 01:00:01,863
Of course, we have met.

1534
01:00:01,896 --> 01:00:03,165
How did you get
on the other night?

1535
01:00:03,198 --> 01:00:03,832
Was she good?

1536
01:00:03,865 --> 01:00:05,300
Come on, George.

1537
01:00:05,334 --> 01:00:07,336
I'm sorry, but I've been
trying to contact you.

1538
01:00:07,369 --> 01:00:08,204
Wasn't Dudley
looking after you?

1539
01:00:08,236 --> 01:00:09,572
Well, yeah, yeah, he is,

1540
01:00:09,604 --> 01:00:10,505
but I mean, it's nothing like

1541
01:00:10,539 --> 01:00:11,607
the personal touch, is there?

1542
01:00:11,639 --> 01:00:12,440
Seven years.

1543
01:00:12,474 --> 01:00:13,575
This isn't the time.

1544
01:00:13,608 --> 01:00:14,876
This is business, George.

1545
01:00:14,910 --> 01:00:17,246
Yeah, but we've got
a lot to talk about.

1546
01:00:17,278 --> 01:00:18,414
So we have, I'll ring you.

1547
01:00:18,447 --> 01:00:19,247
You promise?

1548
01:00:19,280 --> 01:00:20,282
I promise.

1549
01:00:21,784 --> 01:00:23,153
Did you get the rabbit?

1550
01:00:24,352 --> 01:00:26,988
Cathy and Bob were
terrific together,

1551
01:00:27,021 --> 01:00:29,324
and Bob gave Cathy so much.

1552
01:00:29,358 --> 01:00:30,860
Because we had to do the scene

1553
01:00:30,892 --> 01:00:35,898
on the pier, and he
said to me very gently,

1554
01:00:37,265 --> 01:00:39,367
"You can do that
again, can't ya?"

1555
01:00:39,401 --> 01:00:41,236
And it wasn't the
director that said that,

1556
01:00:41,269 --> 01:00:42,505
but he said it, and I did,

1557
01:00:42,537 --> 01:00:45,307
and I started to
cry in the scene,

1558
01:00:45,340 --> 01:00:48,243
and I thought I can remember
distinctly thinking,

1559
01:00:48,276 --> 01:00:50,313
"My God, is that
what acting's about?

1560
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:53,715
"It's about pain?"

1561
01:00:53,749 --> 01:00:55,351
And that's what it involves.

1562
01:00:55,383 --> 01:00:57,320
So I really, really
do credit him

1563
01:00:57,352 --> 01:01:02,224
for gently encouraging
me to go there.

1564
01:01:02,258 --> 01:01:03,660
I didn't want to go there.

1565
01:01:04,827 --> 01:01:06,729
Really, I think I
wanted to play safe,

1566
01:01:06,762 --> 01:01:09,765
and that's the first time
I'd ever cried in work.

1567
01:01:11,032 --> 01:01:12,334
You like her, don't you?

1568
01:01:13,668 --> 01:01:14,871
Of course I like her.

1569
01:01:16,671 --> 01:01:19,943
Yeah, but you like
her in that special way.

1570
01:01:21,543 --> 01:01:22,678
In the songs.

1571
01:01:24,380 --> 01:01:25,381
What songs?

1572
01:01:26,782 --> 01:01:29,285
Well, I've sold myself
for a couple of dykes.

1573
01:01:30,485 --> 01:01:32,354
She needs me, George.

1574
01:01:33,322 --> 01:01:35,258
And you needed me to get her.

1575
01:01:36,057 --> 01:01:37,726
You ever need someone?

1576
01:01:40,829 --> 01:01:42,331
All the time.

1577
01:01:42,363 --> 01:01:43,197
When you think of it,

1578
01:01:43,231 --> 01:01:44,800
that's a very
difficult thing to do,

1579
01:01:44,832 --> 01:01:46,068
'cause I had them both
wearing ridiculous glasses.

1580
01:01:46,101 --> 01:01:47,769
In a context, that
could almost be comic,

1581
01:01:47,802 --> 01:01:49,337
but actually in a situation

1582
01:01:49,371 --> 01:01:50,539
where they're crying
to each other,

1583
01:01:50,572 --> 01:01:51,807
they played it like a love story

1584
01:01:51,840 --> 01:01:53,042
that never actually
had a chance to happen

1585
01:01:53,075 --> 01:01:54,644
which I thought was marvelous.

1586
01:01:54,677 --> 01:01:56,412
So we got it into
Cannes Film Festival,

1587
01:01:56,445 --> 01:01:59,914
and Bob won the
prize for Best Actor,

1588
01:01:59,947 --> 01:02:01,750
and then they had to
fly him out there.

1589
01:02:01,784 --> 01:02:05,053
They were sort of announcing
on stage, Bob's progress,

1590
01:02:05,086 --> 01:02:08,090
so they were like "Monsieur Bob
has arrived at the airport."

1591
01:02:08,122 --> 01:02:09,557
They called him Monsieur Bob.

1592
01:02:09,590 --> 01:02:10,558
And then they were
like, 10 minutes later,

1593
01:02:10,592 --> 01:02:11,894
"Monsieur Bob is on the car."

1594
01:02:11,927 --> 01:02:12,861
And then 10 minutes later,

1595
01:02:12,894 --> 01:02:14,329
"Monsieur Bob is on the quaset."

1596
01:02:14,363 --> 01:02:16,065
And the audience would clap,

1597
01:02:16,097 --> 01:02:18,300
it was like Bob was
the star of the show.

1598
01:02:19,702 --> 01:02:21,070
Well, at the time Bob arrived,

1599
01:02:21,102 --> 01:02:21,936
the whole place was standing up.

1600
01:02:21,970 --> 01:02:24,340
It was an absolutely
lovely evening,

1601
01:02:24,372 --> 01:02:26,909
and what Cannes set off for Bob

1602
01:02:26,941 --> 01:02:30,746
was this sort of avalanche
of nominations and awards.

1603
01:02:40,988 --> 01:02:42,557
And I had done
"The Killing Fields",

1604
01:02:42,590 --> 01:02:44,326
and I showed "Withnail and I"

1605
01:02:44,360 --> 01:02:47,630
to an old friend
of mine in L.A.,

1606
01:02:47,662 --> 01:02:49,931
and I said I'd love
to get this made.

1607
01:02:49,965 --> 01:02:52,434
We took the script
into HandMade,

1608
01:02:52,468 --> 01:02:56,072
where Denis sort of spat
on it and handed it back,

1609
01:02:56,104 --> 01:02:58,807
but Ray Cooper, he
read it and loved it,

1610
01:02:58,840 --> 01:03:02,143
and gave it to George who was
flying to New York that night,

1611
01:03:02,177 --> 01:03:03,479
and George read it on the plane,

1612
01:03:03,512 --> 01:03:05,414
arrived in New
York, phoned Ray up,

1613
01:03:05,447 --> 01:03:07,149
and said "We're making this."

1614
01:03:07,182 --> 01:03:09,118
And so Denis was overridden.

1615
01:03:09,151 --> 01:03:10,486
It was a funny story,

1616
01:03:10,519 --> 01:03:12,354
and we tend to do things which

1617
01:03:13,389 --> 01:03:14,523
other companies don't do,

1618
01:03:14,555 --> 01:03:15,890
because first of all,

1619
01:03:15,923 --> 01:03:17,959
they're not really
that commercial,

1620
01:03:17,992 --> 01:03:20,628
and yet, I think if
something's really good,

1621
01:03:20,662 --> 01:03:22,098
it deserves to be made.

1622
01:03:24,133 --> 01:03:25,134
Have you got soup?

1623
01:03:26,401 --> 01:03:28,604
Why didn't I get any soup?

1624
01:03:28,637 --> 01:03:30,072
Coffee.

1625
01:03:30,104 --> 01:03:31,907
Why don't you use a cup
like any other human being?

1626
01:03:31,939 --> 01:03:33,142
Why don't you
wash up occasionally

1627
01:03:33,175 --> 01:03:34,843
like any other human being?

1628
01:03:34,876 --> 01:03:36,177
How dare you!

1629
01:03:36,211 --> 01:03:38,046
How dare you!

1630
01:03:38,079 --> 01:03:40,548
How dare you call me inhumane.

1631
01:03:40,581 --> 01:03:41,750
I didn't call you inhumane.

1632
01:03:41,784 --> 01:03:43,651
You merely imagined
it, calm down.

1633
01:03:43,684 --> 01:03:44,887
Right, you fucker.

1634
01:03:44,919 --> 01:03:45,820
I'm gonna do the washing up.

1635
01:03:45,854 --> 01:03:47,156
No, no, you can't!

1636
01:03:48,157 --> 01:03:49,725
It's impossible, I swear!

1637
01:03:49,758 --> 01:03:50,659
I've looked into it.

1638
01:03:50,691 --> 01:03:52,193
Listen to me, listen to me!

1639
01:03:52,227 --> 01:03:53,129
There are things in there,

1640
01:03:53,162 --> 01:03:54,864
there's a teabag growing!

1641
01:03:54,896 --> 01:03:56,965
And you haven't
slept in 60 hours,

1642
01:03:56,999 --> 01:03:58,834
you're in no state to tackle it.

1643
01:03:58,867 --> 01:04:00,569
Wait 'til the morning,
we'll go in together.

1644
01:04:00,602 --> 01:04:01,804
This is the morning!

1645
01:04:01,836 --> 01:04:02,737
Stand aside.

1646
01:04:02,771 --> 01:04:03,606
Okay.

1647
01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:07,709
My agent at the time
was Michael Whitehall,

1648
01:04:07,742 --> 01:04:09,945
and he called me up,

1649
01:04:09,977 --> 01:04:12,615
and I'd only been with him,
I think, for two months.

1650
01:04:12,648 --> 01:04:15,751
And he said, "I've
read this script,

1651
01:04:15,784 --> 01:04:18,153
"the people in the office
think it's quite funny,

1652
01:04:18,186 --> 01:04:19,822
"and it has an
unpronounceable title."

1653
01:04:19,854 --> 01:04:21,890
The reason I call
him Fatty Grand,

1654
01:04:21,923 --> 01:04:23,892
and still do call him Fatty,

1655
01:04:23,925 --> 01:04:25,894
when he came in for the job,

1656
01:04:25,927 --> 01:04:29,697
he was like a porky, 50s face,

1657
01:04:29,731 --> 01:04:32,700
Dirk Bogarde, but very
porky Dirk Bogarde,

1658
01:04:32,733 --> 01:04:35,804
who was clearly pretty
desperate to work.

1659
01:04:35,838 --> 01:04:37,807
He said, "Can you
read the first page

1660
01:04:37,840 --> 01:04:39,775
"of the kitchen scene?"

1661
01:04:39,807 --> 01:04:42,577
It came to a line
where Withnail says

1662
01:04:42,610 --> 01:04:44,179
"Fork it!" about matter
that's growing out

1663
01:04:44,213 --> 01:04:45,548
of the kitchen sink.

1664
01:04:45,581 --> 01:04:46,981
I had the script in one hand,

1665
01:04:47,014 --> 01:04:50,718
and with this had an
imaginary fork in my hand,

1666
01:04:50,751 --> 01:04:51,519
and I went...

1667
01:04:51,552 --> 01:04:52,755
"Fork it!"

1668
01:04:52,787 --> 01:04:53,988
Like that, and threw
the script at me.

1669
01:04:54,021 --> 01:04:55,590
And he said, "Have
you ever attacked

1670
01:04:55,624 --> 01:04:56,859
"any other directors before?"

1671
01:04:56,892 --> 01:04:58,127
And I said, "No, not yet."

1672
01:04:58,160 --> 01:05:01,063
And I thought, Christ,
you've got that line

1673
01:05:01,095 --> 01:05:02,931
so 100% right.

1674
01:05:02,965 --> 01:05:04,499
If you can do that,
you can do the rest,

1675
01:05:04,532 --> 01:05:05,733
so you got the part.

1676
01:05:05,767 --> 01:05:07,169
But I knew that
if I got this part,

1677
01:05:07,202 --> 01:05:09,238
it would literally
change my life,

1678
01:05:09,271 --> 01:05:11,907
and when I did get it, it did.

1679
01:05:11,939 --> 01:05:13,608
Keep back, keep back.

1680
01:05:13,642 --> 01:05:15,010
The entire sink's gone rotten.

1681
01:05:15,043 --> 01:05:16,445
I don't know what's in here.

1682
01:05:18,146 --> 01:05:19,148
Ah, ah!

1683
01:05:20,249 --> 01:05:21,684
I told you,
you've been bitten!

1684
01:05:21,717 --> 01:05:24,086
Burned, burned, the
fucking kettle's on fire!

1685
01:05:24,119 --> 01:05:25,287
There's something floating up.

1686
01:05:25,320 --> 01:05:26,255
Fork it!

1687
01:05:26,287 --> 01:05:27,856
Slate one.

1688
01:05:27,889 --> 01:05:29,657
My audition for it
was in Kensington,

1689
01:05:29,691 --> 01:05:31,126
and I was like an hour early.

1690
01:05:31,159 --> 01:05:33,729
I was all gypsyish
and nail varnished up

1691
01:05:33,762 --> 01:05:34,530
and stuff like that,

1692
01:05:34,563 --> 01:05:35,764
but I had the script.

1693
01:05:35,796 --> 01:05:36,999
And my first line is,

1694
01:05:37,032 --> 01:05:38,834
"You're looking very
beautiful today, man."

1695
01:05:38,867 --> 01:05:40,269
And I just thought, right,

1696
01:05:40,302 --> 01:05:41,269
you're looking very
beautiful today, man.

1697
01:05:41,302 --> 01:05:43,204
And I was like, no,

1698
01:05:43,238 --> 01:05:45,073
you're looking very
beautiful today, man.

1699
01:05:45,106 --> 01:05:47,942
I was like, no, I honestly
said that one line to myself

1700
01:05:47,976 --> 01:05:49,845
over and over again for an hour,

1701
01:05:49,878 --> 01:05:51,046
until I said...

1702
01:05:51,079 --> 01:05:52,715
You're looking very
beautiful, man.

1703
01:05:52,747 --> 01:05:53,916
Have you been away?

1704
01:05:53,948 --> 01:05:57,086
I was like yeah, that's
it, just that line.

1705
01:05:57,119 --> 01:06:00,523
And I always attribute
that to why I got cast.

1706
01:06:00,555 --> 01:06:05,561
It was my first movie,
and Richard's, and Paul's,

1707
01:06:06,160 --> 01:06:06,794
and Bruce's.

1708
01:06:06,827 --> 01:06:07,697
And so...

1709
01:06:09,164 --> 01:06:10,599
Nobody knew what the
fuck they were doing.

1710
01:06:10,631 --> 01:06:12,934
Suddenly I'm up a
hill with 80 people,

1711
01:06:12,968 --> 01:06:15,805
you know, not knowing
my ass from my elbow

1712
01:06:16,704 --> 01:06:18,139
as a film director.

1713
01:06:18,173 --> 01:06:20,943
I know Bruce got up on a
little stool on his first day

1714
01:06:20,976 --> 01:06:22,912
which was somewhere
in the Late District,

1715
01:06:22,945 --> 01:06:24,313
and said, "Hello,
I'm Bruce Robinson."

1716
01:06:24,345 --> 01:06:27,315
"I know nothing,
you all know about

1717
01:06:27,349 --> 01:06:28,950
"camera moves and lenses."

1718
01:06:28,983 --> 01:06:30,184
He said, "I'm not
gonna be one of those

1719
01:06:30,218 --> 01:06:31,052
"who walks around
going, you know,

1720
01:06:31,086 --> 01:06:33,155
"give me a 50, give
ma 35 on this."

1721
01:06:33,188 --> 01:06:33,988
He said, "I'm not
gonna do any of that,

1722
01:06:34,021 --> 01:06:35,157
"because I don't know."

1723
01:06:35,189 --> 01:06:36,958
"So any help you give me
will be gratefully received,

1724
01:06:36,992 --> 01:06:38,193
"thank you very much."

1725
01:06:38,226 --> 01:06:39,193
And everyone just
went like that,

1726
01:06:39,227 --> 01:06:40,729
and it was just the best
thing he could've done.

1727
01:06:40,762 --> 01:06:42,831
Which made everybody feel that

1728
01:06:42,863 --> 01:06:44,132
they were prat of a team.

1729
01:06:45,666 --> 01:06:47,903
Stop, please, please stop!

1730
01:06:51,072 --> 01:06:52,140
Please, stop.

1731
01:06:53,374 --> 01:06:54,275
Are you the farmer?

1732
01:06:54,309 --> 01:06:55,878
Shut up, I'll deal with this!

1733
01:06:55,910 --> 01:06:58,079
We've gone on
holiday by mistake.

1734
01:06:58,113 --> 01:06:59,648
We're in this cottage here.

1735
01:06:59,680 --> 01:07:00,582
Are you the farmer?

1736
01:07:00,615 --> 01:07:02,117
Stop saying that, Withnail.

1737
01:07:02,150 --> 01:07:04,653
Of course he's the
fucking farmer!

1738
01:07:04,686 --> 01:07:06,287
The thing about
making movies is that

1739
01:07:06,320 --> 01:07:09,123
no matter how good
the weather is to you,

1740
01:07:09,157 --> 01:07:11,059
how good the crew is,
how good the script is,

1741
01:07:11,093 --> 01:07:14,063
how good the actors
are, how good you are,

1742
01:07:14,095 --> 01:07:17,198
if you haven't got luck,
you're fucked, you know?

1743
01:07:17,231 --> 01:07:19,101
And "Withnail" is the
only thing I think

1744
01:07:19,133 --> 01:07:21,269
I've ever done in my
life where we had luck.

1745
01:07:21,302 --> 01:07:23,204
First day of filming
was on a Monday,

1746
01:07:23,238 --> 01:07:24,406
and the generator broke down,

1747
01:07:24,439 --> 01:07:26,207
so that was a delay.

1748
01:07:26,240 --> 01:07:28,242
Then Denis O'Brien,
one of the producers,

1749
01:07:28,276 --> 01:07:30,379
announced that we were
over-schedule already,

1750
01:07:30,412 --> 01:07:32,047
the title had to be changed.

1751
01:07:32,079 --> 01:07:33,815
It seemed like everything
that could go wrong

1752
01:07:33,849 --> 01:07:36,852
the first day was dooming us.

1753
01:07:36,885 --> 01:07:37,986
There's two of
them here, look.

1754
01:07:38,019 --> 01:07:40,222
I knew I was
getting what I wanted.

1755
01:07:40,255 --> 01:07:43,358
I absolutely knew that what
we were doing was right,

1756
01:07:43,392 --> 01:07:47,096
and here comes Denis, he hates
everything to do with it.

1757
01:07:47,128 --> 01:07:48,930
It just isn't funny,

1758
01:07:48,963 --> 01:07:50,666
"There's nothing funny in it."

1759
01:07:50,698 --> 01:07:52,133
He was awful to this film,

1760
01:07:52,166 --> 01:07:54,302
he thought it was funny
as bloody lung cancer,

1761
01:07:54,336 --> 01:07:56,939
you know, he hated
everything about it.

1762
01:07:56,972 --> 01:07:58,006
Then I said, "All
right, fuck it,

1763
01:07:58,039 --> 01:07:59,974
"get somebody else, I'm off."

1764
01:08:00,008 --> 01:08:01,710
You know, I do it the
way I'm gonna do it

1765
01:08:01,742 --> 01:08:02,710
or I'm not doing it,

1766
01:08:02,744 --> 01:08:03,946
what do you want me to do?

1767
01:08:03,979 --> 01:08:05,747
And I literally did
say "Where's the bus?"

1768
01:08:05,780 --> 01:08:07,115
And I nearly had a thrombosis.

1769
01:08:07,148 --> 01:08:08,750
I said, you can't,
I've told everybody.

1770
01:08:08,784 --> 01:08:10,119
"It's my only chance
to be in a film,

1771
01:08:10,152 --> 01:08:11,120
"I'll never be in
another in my whole life,

1772
01:08:11,152 --> 01:08:12,153
"I've told..."

1773
01:08:13,088 --> 01:08:16,058
'Cause it's his
only job since 1956.

1774
01:08:16,090 --> 01:08:18,861
And he said "Oh, just calm
down, I'm grandstanding."

1775
01:08:18,893 --> 01:08:21,195
So he called Denis
O'Brien's bluff on this.

1776
01:08:21,228 --> 01:08:22,997
Ray Cooper, who was up there,

1777
01:08:23,031 --> 01:08:26,068
got ahold of Denis, and
walked him round the block

1778
01:08:26,101 --> 01:08:27,670
on this mountainside.

1779
01:08:27,702 --> 01:08:30,039
It was muddy and sloshy
and everything else,

1780
01:08:30,071 --> 01:08:33,141
and I don't think Denis
was very comfortable

1781
01:08:33,174 --> 01:08:35,710
in that environment
particularly.

1782
01:08:35,744 --> 01:08:38,112
With George behind me,
I could stand my ground,

1783
01:08:38,146 --> 01:08:39,747
probably knowing that
Denis could've fired me

1784
01:08:39,781 --> 01:08:42,251
and then George would've
re-established me the next day.

1785
01:08:42,284 --> 01:08:44,219
And he came back
here and he said,

1786
01:08:44,251 --> 01:08:47,055
"Okay, okay, I'm off."

1787
01:08:47,089 --> 01:08:49,692
It immediately galvanized
us into a kind of

1788
01:08:49,724 --> 01:08:53,161
us against the bad
authoritarian ogre,

1789
01:08:53,195 --> 01:08:55,331
Denis O'Brien looming over you.

1790
01:08:57,198 --> 01:08:58,933
I must have some booze.

1791
01:08:58,967 --> 01:09:01,202
I demand to have some booze!

1792
01:09:04,272 --> 01:09:05,506
I wouldn't drink
that if I was you.

1793
01:09:05,540 --> 01:09:06,442
Why not, why not?

1794
01:09:06,474 --> 01:09:08,110
Because I don't advise it.

1795
01:09:08,143 --> 01:09:09,745
Even the wankers on the
site wouldn't drink that,

1796
01:09:09,777 --> 01:09:10,512
that's worse than meths.

1797
01:09:10,545 --> 01:09:11,847
Nonsense!

1798
01:09:11,879 --> 01:09:13,715
This is a far superior
drink to meths.

1799
01:09:13,749 --> 01:09:14,849
The wankers don't drink it

1800
01:09:14,883 --> 01:09:16,285
because they can't afford it.

1801
01:09:22,223 --> 01:09:24,125
Have we got anymore?

1802
01:09:24,159 --> 01:09:26,260
Liar, what's in your toolbox?

1803
01:09:26,294 --> 01:09:27,196
No, we have nothing.

1804
01:09:27,228 --> 01:09:28,262
Sit down.

1805
01:09:28,295 --> 01:09:29,263
Liar!

1806
01:09:29,296 --> 01:09:30,965
You've got antifreeze.

1807
01:09:30,999 --> 01:09:31,967
You bloody fool.

1808
01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:33,936
You should never
mix your drinks!

1809
01:09:38,807 --> 01:09:42,344
I knew that the film was
the story I had in my head,

1810
01:09:42,376 --> 01:09:45,080
and we couldn't get
a release on it.

1811
01:09:45,112 --> 01:09:48,416
And finally, they
did get a release,

1812
01:09:48,450 --> 01:09:50,152
and I think it only played
for a couple of weeks

1813
01:09:50,184 --> 01:09:51,786
and vanished, and that was it.

1814
01:09:51,820 --> 01:09:53,054
The whole cult thing of it

1815
01:09:53,088 --> 01:09:55,823
didn't happen for a good
10 years after release.

1816
01:09:55,857 --> 01:09:57,192
It was like the
mid-90s when it started

1817
01:09:57,224 --> 01:10:00,461
picking up steam, started
getting passed around colleges.

1818
01:10:00,495 --> 01:10:04,166
It became this film that
was a rites of passage.

1819
01:10:04,198 --> 01:10:07,369
You had to go to
university, get pissed,

1820
01:10:07,402 --> 01:10:10,806
eat a curry, and watch
"Withnail and I", you know?

1821
01:10:11,505 --> 01:10:12,874
Very weird.

1822
01:10:12,907 --> 01:10:15,943
I think Bruce has
immodestly thought

1823
01:10:15,977 --> 01:10:17,112
he's written a masterpiece,

1824
01:10:17,144 --> 01:10:18,813
and directed a masterpiece,

1825
01:10:18,847 --> 01:10:21,082
and I don't think
there's any change

1826
01:10:21,116 --> 01:10:25,854
in that sensibility
or viewpoint of his.

1827
01:10:27,289 --> 01:10:28,823
And people keep telling him so.

1828
01:10:28,857 --> 01:10:30,125
We went out one
night in London,

1829
01:10:30,157 --> 01:10:33,227
me and Bruce were
absolutely assholed drunk,

1830
01:10:33,260 --> 01:10:34,862
and we was out on the
pavement at one point

1831
01:10:34,896 --> 01:10:38,400
having a joint, and Bruce said,

1832
01:10:38,433 --> 01:10:41,903
"I don't care what
the fuckers do to us,

1833
01:10:41,937 --> 01:10:44,140
"we'll always have
"Withnail", Ralph!"

1834
01:10:46,006 --> 01:10:47,910
And he fucking meant it.

1835
01:10:47,942 --> 01:10:50,478
Because he kinda knew
that that was gonna be it.

1836
01:10:52,246 --> 01:10:53,214
You know?

1837
01:10:53,247 --> 01:10:54,183
And that he would then
have to have a career

1838
01:10:54,215 --> 01:10:55,150
for the next 25 years,

1839
01:10:55,183 --> 01:10:57,520
but that was gonna be it.

1840
01:10:58,920 --> 01:11:00,055
Yeah.

1841
01:11:00,088 --> 01:11:03,025
And what's
your ambition for HandMade now?

1842
01:11:03,058 --> 01:11:04,326
HandMade?

1843
01:11:04,358 --> 01:11:06,160
I don't have many
ambitions at all,

1844
01:11:06,193 --> 01:11:08,397
not for HandMade, not
for anything really.

1845
01:11:08,429 --> 01:11:09,430
I think ambition is something

1846
01:11:09,464 --> 01:11:11,567
you have to try and get rid of.

1847
01:11:16,937 --> 01:11:17,905
As time went on of course,

1848
01:11:17,938 --> 01:11:19,374
and the business got bigger,

1849
01:11:19,406 --> 01:11:23,077
we were moving into
transatlantic filmmaking.

1850
01:11:23,111 --> 01:11:25,479
Certainly, one
cannot make films today

1851
01:11:25,513 --> 01:11:27,649
without being aware of eventual

1852
01:11:27,682 --> 01:11:29,318
exploitation in
the United States.

1853
01:11:29,351 --> 01:11:30,251
And I don't
know if this didn't

1854
01:11:30,285 --> 01:11:32,120
have a lot to do with that.

1855
01:11:32,152 --> 01:11:35,189
George became uneasy
as it got bigger

1856
01:11:35,223 --> 01:11:37,226
because that wasn't
the philosophy.

1857
01:11:37,259 --> 01:11:39,061
They seemed to
go off the rails a bit.

1858
01:11:39,094 --> 01:11:42,931
They were pushing
into Hollywood without talent.

1859
01:11:42,964 --> 01:11:46,168
Without the ideas, or
the risks that they took.

1860
01:11:46,201 --> 01:11:49,304
It got too big, perhaps,

1861
01:11:49,336 --> 01:11:52,674
and really didn't
take George with it.

1862
01:11:52,706 --> 01:11:54,142
In my talks with him, I'd say,

1863
01:11:54,174 --> 01:11:56,110
"Well, we're doing
this in America."

1864
01:11:56,143 --> 01:11:57,111
And he would say, "Why?"

1865
01:11:57,144 --> 01:11:59,348
I said "Well, I don't
know actually, George.

1866
01:12:00,281 --> 01:12:01,482
"And I've read the script,

1867
01:12:01,515 --> 01:12:04,318
"and I really don't
know what we're doing,

1868
01:12:04,352 --> 01:12:06,088
"but there must be a
good reason for doing it,

1869
01:12:06,120 --> 01:12:08,289
"there must be a business
reason for doing it."

1870
01:12:08,322 --> 01:12:10,358
Which is actually not the
right reason to do it.

1871
01:12:10,392 --> 01:12:14,162
I think it only
makes good sense for us

1872
01:12:14,195 --> 01:12:17,131
to diversify our portfolio,

1873
01:12:17,165 --> 01:12:19,635
and to take on as many
different things as we can.

1874
01:12:19,668 --> 01:12:22,304
I think we can still
play a contribution

1875
01:12:22,336 --> 01:12:25,006
to the film business
by going to the States.

1876
01:12:25,040 --> 01:12:26,341
I mean, I think we
should be open enough,

1877
01:12:26,374 --> 01:12:28,477
and certainly
geographically open

1878
01:12:28,509 --> 01:12:30,945
to go wherever it
makes sense for us.

1879
01:12:35,349 --> 01:12:36,951
I tried to figure out a way

1880
01:12:36,985 --> 01:12:39,353
to do "Powwow Highway"
completely independently.

1881
01:12:39,387 --> 01:12:42,357
I put together pieces of money,

1882
01:12:42,389 --> 01:12:47,396
so I contacted HandMade, I got
a response from Denis O'Brien

1883
01:12:49,563 --> 01:12:52,733
to say they are very
interested in the project,

1884
01:12:52,767 --> 01:12:57,104
and meet him at the
Bel-Air Hotel next week

1885
01:12:57,138 --> 01:12:59,707
to discuss HandMade
making the movie.

1886
01:12:59,741 --> 01:13:01,644
And I went "Holy shit!".

1887
01:13:06,714 --> 01:13:10,184
♪ Well, it's all right ♪

1888
01:13:10,218 --> 01:13:11,119
♪ Riding around ♪

1889
01:13:11,152 --> 01:13:12,554
Island had "Checking Out",

1890
01:13:12,586 --> 01:13:15,557
but it got then
passed on to HandMade.

1891
01:13:15,589 --> 01:13:17,959
I guess the honeymoon
period of that

1892
01:13:17,992 --> 01:13:21,028
was meeting Denis and
being taken out to dinner,

1893
01:13:21,062 --> 01:13:24,433
and how HandMade could
best facilitate the film.

1894
01:13:24,465 --> 01:13:26,668
On the surface, "Powwow
Highway" is a story

1895
01:13:26,701 --> 01:13:30,171
about Buddy Red Bow gets
a call from his sister

1896
01:13:30,205 --> 01:13:33,207
who's been setup
in a marijuana bust

1897
01:13:33,241 --> 01:13:35,310
to come and get
her and her kids.

1898
01:13:35,343 --> 01:13:38,647
He and his buddy,
Philbert, who has a car,

1899
01:13:38,679 --> 01:13:43,451
travel down to Santa Fe and
manage to solve the problem.

1900
01:13:43,485 --> 01:13:46,054
Jeff Daniels
plays a junior exec

1901
01:13:46,086 --> 01:13:48,189
for Bonair, an airline company,

1902
01:13:48,223 --> 01:13:52,693
and a senior exec in that
company played by Allan Havey,

1903
01:13:52,727 --> 01:13:54,796
has a heart attack and dies.

1904
01:13:54,829 --> 01:13:58,733
This eventually released
the hypochondriac in Daniels

1905
01:13:58,767 --> 01:14:02,737
and he becomes convinced
that maybe he's next in line.

1906
01:14:04,272 --> 01:14:06,140
So, it's about panic attacks,

1907
01:14:06,174 --> 01:14:07,075
it's about what he goes through

1908
01:14:07,108 --> 01:14:10,245
and how that disrupts
the whole family.

1909
01:14:10,277 --> 01:14:13,180
The fact that it was
about two Native people

1910
01:14:13,214 --> 01:14:15,784
in a context which had
not been tackled before

1911
01:14:16,718 --> 01:14:18,120
made me very excited.

1912
01:14:18,152 --> 01:14:20,222
Well, I was astonished
when I read the script.

1913
01:14:20,254 --> 01:14:23,457
Stories like this just
don't get told very often,

1914
01:14:23,491 --> 01:14:24,693
especially back then.

1915
01:14:24,726 --> 01:14:26,628
You know, you're talking
close to 30 years ago.

1916
01:14:26,661 --> 01:14:30,365
In the United States, it
was kind of groundbreaking

1917
01:14:30,397 --> 01:14:31,799
in that way.

1918
01:14:31,832 --> 01:14:33,535
But a lot of people
seemed to be still surprised

1919
01:14:33,567 --> 01:14:35,736
at the exploitation that is like

1920
01:14:35,769 --> 01:14:39,473
the daily reality of people
who live on reserves, you know.

1921
01:14:39,506 --> 01:14:42,643
We were filming a
sequence in heaven,

1922
01:14:42,677 --> 01:14:45,647
the reception for heaven
we filmed at Union Station

1923
01:14:45,679 --> 01:14:48,616
in Los Angeles, and George
was there on that day.

1924
01:14:48,650 --> 01:14:50,552
And he said, "Ah, come on,
I want to be in the film,

1925
01:14:50,585 --> 01:14:52,120
"I want to be in the film."

1926
01:14:52,152 --> 01:14:54,155
So, there's this character
in the background

1927
01:14:54,188 --> 01:14:57,058
who is mopping the
floor, and that's George.

1928
01:14:57,092 --> 01:14:58,293
I don't think anybody...

1929
01:14:58,326 --> 01:15:01,262
And if they didn't know, they
wouldn't know it was George,

1930
01:15:01,295 --> 01:15:02,463
but he's in the shot.

1931
01:15:02,496 --> 01:15:06,267
I had not had any
contact with HandMade

1932
01:15:06,300 --> 01:15:07,768
during the shooting of the film.

1933
01:15:07,802 --> 01:15:11,072
They left us alone until we
got into the cutting room.

1934
01:15:11,106 --> 01:15:13,508
I don't remember
getting notes or anything

1935
01:15:13,540 --> 01:15:15,776
to tell me how to shoot
and make the film.

1936
01:15:15,809 --> 01:15:17,879
That only started when
we were cutting the film,

1937
01:15:17,911 --> 01:15:19,780
when we started editing.

1938
01:15:19,813 --> 01:15:21,415
Shortly before we got done,

1939
01:15:21,448 --> 01:15:26,254
producer Jan Wieringa got
a call from Denis O'Brien

1940
01:15:26,286 --> 01:15:31,293
to say, "You need to send
me a VHS copy of the film.

1941
01:15:32,293 --> 01:15:33,628
"I will sit down with my editor,

1942
01:15:33,661 --> 01:15:36,198
"and let you know what
changes you need to make."

1943
01:15:36,231 --> 01:15:39,835
So, a VHS copy was
shipped off to London,

1944
01:15:39,867 --> 01:15:43,838
and then we get notes back,

1945
01:15:43,871 --> 01:15:46,842
saying, with a list of all
the changes to be made.

1946
01:15:46,875 --> 01:15:50,245
There was a lot of discussion

1947
01:15:50,277 --> 01:15:55,284
that turned into arguments
that I had with Denis O'Brien.

1948
01:15:56,550 --> 01:16:00,287
He suggested the cut for a
particular scene or scenes,

1949
01:16:00,321 --> 01:16:04,358
and I said "I've tried that,
I don't think that works."

1950
01:16:04,392 --> 01:16:06,661
He would wag his finger.

1951
01:16:06,693 --> 01:16:07,829
And I said, "Well,
how do you know?"

1952
01:16:07,862 --> 01:16:08,997
He said, "Oh,
because I've cut it,

1953
01:16:09,030 --> 01:16:12,701
"and I know it works, and
that's what you should do."

1954
01:16:12,733 --> 01:16:13,869
And that's when I realized

1955
01:16:13,902 --> 01:16:16,638
he had his own cutting
room in London.

1956
01:16:16,670 --> 01:16:18,305
I looked at this thing,

1957
01:16:18,339 --> 01:16:20,609
and the first cut was like
so absurd and so wrong.

1958
01:16:20,642 --> 01:16:22,244
I called the producer
over and I said,

1959
01:16:22,277 --> 01:16:23,778
"Jan, I can't make this cut,

1960
01:16:23,811 --> 01:16:25,447
"it just doesn't
make any sense."

1961
01:16:25,479 --> 01:16:27,581
And we didn't get back to them,

1962
01:16:27,615 --> 01:16:30,652
he just assumed that this
was what would happen.

1963
01:16:30,684 --> 01:16:33,287
That led to a lot of conflict,

1964
01:16:33,321 --> 01:16:36,457
but I didn't involve
George in that.

1965
01:16:36,491 --> 01:16:39,227
I didn't want that to
spoil the friendship

1966
01:16:39,259 --> 01:16:41,396
that I had with George.

1967
01:16:41,429 --> 01:16:43,431
And it wasn't until one day

1968
01:16:43,464 --> 01:16:45,634
I got a phone call
from Denis O'Brien,

1969
01:16:45,666 --> 01:16:48,402
it was at least an hour
on the phone arguing,

1970
01:16:48,436 --> 01:16:50,438
a fiery argument with O'Brien,

1971
01:16:50,470 --> 01:16:53,842
that Olivia,
George's wife Olivia

1972
01:16:53,875 --> 01:16:57,212
overheard the conversation
at the end of the phone call.

1973
01:16:57,245 --> 01:16:59,581
She said, "What was
all that about?"

1974
01:16:59,613 --> 01:17:01,683
And I explained, and she said,

1975
01:17:01,715 --> 01:17:02,851
"Does George know about this?'

1976
01:17:02,884 --> 01:17:05,287
And I said, "No, she doesn't
know anything about this."

1977
01:17:05,320 --> 01:17:08,557
And she said, "Well,
George must know."

1978
01:17:08,589 --> 01:17:11,192
And she then told him.

1979
01:17:11,226 --> 01:17:12,727
So then we get a call to say

1980
01:17:12,759 --> 01:17:14,762
that Denis is coming to town,

1981
01:17:14,795 --> 01:17:16,764
and he wants to see the film.

1982
01:17:16,798 --> 01:17:17,698
Okay.

1983
01:17:17,732 --> 01:17:19,401
So, we're all kinda like, hm,

1984
01:17:19,433 --> 01:17:20,534
this is gonna be interesting.

1985
01:17:22,704 --> 01:17:25,273
And you know, set it up,

1986
01:17:25,305 --> 01:17:27,342
we went into this
screening room,

1987
01:17:27,375 --> 01:17:29,244
and lo and behold, you know,

1988
01:17:29,277 --> 01:17:31,646
Denis comes in,
followed by George,

1989
01:17:31,679 --> 01:17:33,515
and we sat down and George said,

1990
01:17:33,548 --> 01:17:35,015
"Well, let's take a look."

1991
01:17:35,049 --> 01:17:37,552
We rolled the film,
and I knew exactly

1992
01:17:37,585 --> 01:17:38,787
where all the places were,

1993
01:17:38,820 --> 01:17:40,688
and as we sort of got
to one of those places,

1994
01:17:40,722 --> 01:17:44,291
I sort you know, waited
for some response.

1995
01:17:44,325 --> 01:17:45,227
Nothing.

1996
01:17:45,259 --> 01:17:47,329
Got to another place, nothing.

1997
01:17:48,062 --> 01:17:49,598
And the film ended,

1998
01:17:50,798 --> 01:17:52,500
George immediately
started clapping,

1999
01:17:52,532 --> 01:17:53,934
he just sat in his
seat and clapped,

2000
01:17:53,968 --> 01:17:56,470
and his wife clapped,
and he got up,

2001
01:17:56,504 --> 01:17:57,872
and he turned to me and he said

2002
01:17:57,905 --> 01:18:00,608
"Great, don't change a thing."

2003
01:18:00,642 --> 01:18:03,445
And Denis, who was
sitting further down,

2004
01:18:04,545 --> 01:18:06,582
got up and just walked
out of the room.

2005
01:18:07,682 --> 01:18:09,951
You know, cold, out of the room.

2006
01:18:09,983 --> 01:18:11,652
Never heard from the guy again,

2007
01:18:11,686 --> 01:18:14,322
never saw the guy
again, that was it.

2008
01:18:14,354 --> 01:18:15,589
You know, I'm not
interested in telling

2009
01:18:15,622 --> 01:18:16,758
somebody what to do.

2010
01:18:16,790 --> 01:18:18,259
It's like, what's the point

2011
01:18:18,293 --> 01:18:21,729
of having a bass
player on a session

2012
01:18:21,763 --> 01:18:23,865
and then telling him what to do?

2013
01:18:23,897 --> 01:18:25,933
I'd rather keep
away from that side.

2014
01:18:25,967 --> 01:18:28,469
And that culminated
in a screening

2015
01:18:28,503 --> 01:18:32,340
of Denis's cut to
which George arrived

2016
01:18:32,372 --> 01:18:35,309
right on the end of an
awful emotional dilemma,

2017
01:18:35,343 --> 01:18:38,313
and he sat down next to
me before the screening.

2018
01:18:38,345 --> 01:18:40,314
He said, "I don't know
what to do about this.

2019
01:18:40,348 --> 01:18:42,317
"If this doesn't work,
it's gonna cost me

2020
01:18:42,349 --> 01:18:43,785
"at least a million."

2021
01:18:43,817 --> 01:18:45,586
And that was clearly as a result

2022
01:18:45,620 --> 01:18:47,722
of whatever
discussion or pressure

2023
01:18:47,754 --> 01:18:49,957
that had been put on
him by Denis O'Brien,

2024
01:18:49,991 --> 01:18:51,660
to get his cut of the film

2025
01:18:51,692 --> 01:18:53,762
as opposed to the
director's cut.

2026
01:18:53,795 --> 01:18:54,696
George actually said,

2027
01:18:54,728 --> 01:18:56,097
"I don't think it's as good,

2028
01:18:56,129 --> 01:18:58,332
"but I don't know
what else we can do."

2029
01:18:58,366 --> 01:18:59,701
You know, there's
always this battle

2030
01:18:59,733 --> 01:19:03,071
between the artists
and the money people,

2031
01:19:03,103 --> 01:19:06,640
and I don't particularly
like being the money.

2032
01:19:06,674 --> 01:19:08,677
The first thing
we did actually,

2033
01:19:10,077 --> 01:19:12,479
is we tried to get it
into Sundance, and we did,

2034
01:19:12,513 --> 01:19:14,416
it was accepted into Sundance.

2035
01:19:14,448 --> 01:19:16,617
And yeah, and then they
announced that the film

2036
01:19:16,651 --> 01:19:18,086
had won the Filmmaker's Trophy.

2037
01:19:18,119 --> 01:19:20,722
Sundance was great, and it
kind of put us on the map,

2038
01:19:20,754 --> 01:19:23,991
and then Denis sold the
film to Warner Brothers,

2039
01:19:24,025 --> 01:19:25,326
and they blew it.

2040
01:19:25,360 --> 01:19:26,228
Warner Brothers played
it for one week,

2041
01:19:26,260 --> 01:19:28,062
you know, obviously
in, I don't know,

2042
01:19:28,095 --> 01:19:30,098
some suburb of St.
Louis, Missouri,

2043
01:19:30,130 --> 01:19:32,066
nobody was gonna go
and watch the movie,

2044
01:19:32,099 --> 01:19:34,134
and then they pulled it.

2045
01:19:34,168 --> 01:19:36,603
When it was all
finished and locked,

2046
01:19:36,637 --> 01:19:38,139
Jeff Daniels summed it up.

2047
01:19:38,171 --> 01:19:41,608
He said, "Well, I think
we made a good film,

2048
01:19:41,642 --> 01:19:43,711
"you think we made a good film,

2049
01:19:43,745 --> 01:19:45,814
"but somewhere
between us making it,

2050
01:19:45,847 --> 01:19:49,017
"and them showing
it, it got fucked."

2051
01:19:59,861 --> 01:20:04,765
As it went on, and Denis
became more convinced

2052
01:20:04,799 --> 01:20:06,601
of his creative skills,

2053
01:20:06,634 --> 01:20:09,537
his creative skills were
financial, and legal.

2054
01:20:09,570 --> 01:20:12,974
They weren't creative in
what we did, artistic.

2055
01:20:13,006 --> 01:20:16,143
Denis, certainly, I know
he's got the wrong nature

2056
01:20:16,177 --> 01:20:18,045
to understand watching a film

2057
01:20:18,079 --> 01:20:19,647
over and over again.

2058
01:20:19,679 --> 01:20:21,615
One of the gifts
of being an editor

2059
01:20:21,648 --> 01:20:24,785
is if you can, remember
what was funny.

2060
01:20:24,818 --> 01:20:27,522
Because it's not funny
after the fifth of, or,

2061
01:20:27,554 --> 01:20:29,624
to me, or 500th viewing.

2062
01:20:29,656 --> 01:20:31,726
I remember, he
watched something,

2063
01:20:31,759 --> 01:20:32,994
he laughed all the
way through it.

2064
01:20:33,027 --> 01:20:35,163
Next time we ran it, I
had changed something,

2065
01:20:35,196 --> 01:20:37,165
and that was the only
place he laughed.

2066
01:20:37,197 --> 01:20:40,168
He was only interested
in what was new

2067
01:20:40,201 --> 01:20:41,569
that made him laugh.

2068
01:20:41,602 --> 01:20:43,972
In the early days,
there were discussions,

2069
01:20:44,004 --> 01:20:46,039
but they were
collaborative, everyone.

2070
01:20:46,072 --> 01:20:48,675
You know, Denis
could have a say,

2071
01:20:48,709 --> 01:20:50,945
or your ideas were
put onto a table,

2072
01:20:50,978 --> 01:20:52,947
and given a fair shake.

2073
01:20:52,979 --> 01:20:55,215
But then it becomes
this is what we want,

2074
01:20:55,249 --> 01:20:57,117
this is not a suggestion,

2075
01:20:57,151 --> 01:20:58,753
this is actually what we want.

2076
01:20:58,786 --> 01:21:00,155
I really don't
think that Denis

2077
01:21:00,187 --> 01:21:01,822
ever had a bad
intention, you know,

2078
01:21:01,856 --> 01:21:05,026
I just think he really
wanted to build a company.

2079
01:21:05,058 --> 01:21:06,093
None of this would've existed

2080
01:21:06,126 --> 01:21:07,728
if Denis wasn't around,

2081
01:21:07,762 --> 01:21:09,764
but maybe it went too far.

2082
01:21:09,796 --> 01:21:12,933
George didn't mind
if a film was a flop.

2083
01:21:12,967 --> 01:21:14,235
What he was unhappy with,

2084
01:21:14,268 --> 01:21:16,838
people that he had a
great deal of respect for

2085
01:21:16,870 --> 01:21:19,106
in the artistic world coming in,

2086
01:21:19,139 --> 01:21:21,175
and then sending them
out of the door unhappy

2087
01:21:21,209 --> 01:21:23,044
with their experience.

2088
01:21:23,076 --> 01:21:25,713
Because after all, I mean,
George and Denis were partners,

2089
01:21:25,745 --> 01:21:28,849
but it was George
Harrison, he was the name.

2090
01:21:28,883 --> 01:21:30,084
So
how would you account

2091
01:21:30,116 --> 01:21:33,487
for HandMade's success?

2092
01:21:33,521 --> 01:21:35,557
Has it been successful?

2093
01:21:37,592 --> 01:21:39,527
It's done all right, 10
years, George, 18 films.

2094
01:21:40,995 --> 01:21:43,064
I think that's the main
criteria for its success,

2095
01:21:43,097 --> 01:21:45,233
is the fact that
it's still here now.

2096
01:21:47,235 --> 01:21:50,938
But, you know, have a
look at my bank balance.

2097
01:21:52,240 --> 01:21:54,576
It's not really that successful.

2098
01:21:54,608 --> 01:21:56,210
These films were
costing too much,

2099
01:21:56,244 --> 01:21:58,780
and they're just
not going anywhere.

2100
01:21:58,812 --> 01:22:00,180
The key question was like,

2101
01:22:00,214 --> 01:22:02,082
how can you afford it?

2102
01:22:02,116 --> 01:22:04,786
How can you afford
making all these movies

2103
01:22:04,818 --> 01:22:08,188
and not making any
money back on them?

2104
01:22:08,222 --> 01:22:10,090
At some point, these
things implode.

2105
01:22:10,124 --> 01:22:14,062
All that we knew was
that HandMade needed

2106
01:22:15,862 --> 01:22:17,164
an injection of capital,

2107
01:22:17,197 --> 01:22:20,200
they needed a deal to put
them back on their feet.

2108
01:22:20,233 --> 01:22:21,602
As far as I'm concerned,

2109
01:22:21,635 --> 01:22:23,638
it's just the risk
that's involved,

2110
01:22:23,670 --> 01:22:26,740
the amount of money and
the nerveracking experience

2111
01:22:26,773 --> 01:22:28,675
of wondering if
you're ever gonna

2112
01:22:28,709 --> 01:22:30,945
be able to pay the bank back.

2113
01:22:30,978 --> 01:22:32,079
And if they were put
back on their feet,

2114
01:22:32,112 --> 01:22:35,849
then they needed to re-think
their creative strategy

2115
01:22:35,883 --> 01:22:37,585
in order to get
talent back on board.

2116
01:22:37,617 --> 01:22:42,624
Leading up to the 10th
anniversary party...

2117
01:22:44,090 --> 01:22:47,961
George was very unhappy
with the whole situation.

2118
01:22:47,995 --> 01:22:49,531
He wasn't very pleased,

2119
01:22:49,563 --> 01:22:52,032
he was showing
his disenchantment

2120
01:22:52,066 --> 01:22:53,768
with what was going on.

2121
01:22:53,800 --> 01:22:55,269
I don't see any big mystique

2122
01:22:55,303 --> 01:22:57,772
about the film
business, in fact,

2123
01:22:57,804 --> 01:22:59,573
I don't really think
the film business

2124
01:22:59,607 --> 01:23:02,110
is all it's cracked
up to be, really.

2125
01:23:06,880 --> 01:23:09,116
I've been asked to explain why

2126
01:23:09,150 --> 01:23:11,186
we're all here at Shepperton.

2127
01:23:12,119 --> 01:23:13,254
We're here, of
course, to celebrate

2128
01:23:13,286 --> 01:23:15,322
10 years of HandMade Films.

2129
01:23:16,656 --> 01:23:18,759
So many of you may
not be aware of it,

2130
01:23:18,793 --> 01:23:20,661
the real founder
of HandMade Films

2131
01:23:20,695 --> 01:23:23,097
is sadly not with us tonight.

2132
01:23:24,098 --> 01:23:27,135
I refer of course, to
Sir Bernard Delfont.

2133
01:23:30,670 --> 01:23:32,205
Known to his friends as "Sir".

2134
01:23:36,777 --> 01:23:40,782
Be it was, one spring
morning in 1978,

2135
01:23:41,982 --> 01:23:45,285
decided on an impulse to
read one of the scripts

2136
01:23:45,318 --> 01:23:46,754
this company was filming.

2137
01:23:52,125 --> 01:23:53,927
Something which
George has never done.

2138
01:23:57,231 --> 01:24:00,101
Anyway, Sir didn't
like what he read.

2139
01:24:02,135 --> 01:24:03,838
It was called "The
Life of Brian",

2140
01:24:04,905 --> 01:24:06,941
and he thought it blasphemous.

2141
01:24:06,973 --> 01:24:09,177
I was given the job
of making a speech

2142
01:24:09,210 --> 01:24:12,146
to celebrate 10 years
of HandMade Films,

2143
01:24:12,179 --> 01:24:14,115
and you know, you meet
so many interactions

2144
01:24:14,147 --> 01:24:17,217
within the company,
within the organization,

2145
01:24:17,250 --> 01:24:21,155
and the stresses and strains
were definitely there.

2146
01:24:21,187 --> 01:24:24,658
It was not an absolutely
easy to thing to do.

2147
01:24:24,692 --> 01:24:27,128
But to know that one
of the driving forces

2148
01:24:27,161 --> 01:24:28,663
behind the company
is someone who knows

2149
01:24:28,696 --> 01:24:30,231
all about the trials
and tribulations

2150
01:24:30,263 --> 01:24:33,101
of showbiz from the
artist's point of view,

2151
01:24:33,134 --> 01:24:34,869
is actually one of
the great attractions

2152
01:24:34,902 --> 01:24:36,170
of working for HandMade.

2153
01:24:36,202 --> 01:24:37,338
And then George's speech,

2154
01:24:37,370 --> 01:24:41,942
which I really thought that
was terrific, what he did.

2155
01:24:41,976 --> 01:24:43,143
Got my speech here.

2156
01:24:43,177 --> 01:24:45,746
Thank you all for
coming, now fuck off.

2157
01:24:49,150 --> 01:24:50,652
How shall we fuck off?

2158
01:24:50,684 --> 01:24:52,085
Oh, yes.

2159
01:24:52,119 --> 01:24:53,920
Just fuck off, I don't care,

2160
01:24:53,954 --> 01:24:55,122
just get out of here.

2161
01:24:56,823 --> 01:24:59,126
Anyway, I'd like to thank
all the staff you see,

2162
01:24:59,160 --> 01:25:00,995
because all the
cripples who work

2163
01:25:01,027 --> 01:25:03,764
in those little boxes
for tons of months.

2164
01:25:03,798 --> 01:25:06,733
When they get home,
Denis dances up and down

2165
01:25:06,767 --> 01:25:09,004
on their graveyard
singing "Hallelujah".

2166
01:25:10,170 --> 01:25:12,005
Especially Ray.

2167
01:25:14,140 --> 01:25:15,942
I think it was a wake.

2168
01:25:17,244 --> 01:25:18,912
I think it was a
wake, but it was fun,

2169
01:25:18,946 --> 01:25:19,881
it was a fun wake.

2170
01:25:19,914 --> 01:25:21,683
I'd like to thank the Pythons

2171
01:25:21,715 --> 01:25:23,217
for getting me
into all this mess,

2172
01:25:23,250 --> 01:25:25,119
another fine mess
you got me into.

2173
01:25:25,152 --> 01:25:28,156
But really, I love them so much,

2174
01:25:28,188 --> 01:25:30,791
they'd be embarrassed
if they ever realized.

2175
01:25:30,825 --> 01:25:32,360
It felt like the
end of something.

2176
01:25:32,393 --> 01:25:37,098
You know, feeling that
this was an elegy.

2177
01:25:39,733 --> 01:25:41,169
Very well, that'll be all,

2178
01:25:41,201 --> 01:25:42,969
and it's a pleasure to pretend
to be in the film business

2179
01:25:43,003 --> 01:25:44,338
in this stupid life.

2180
01:25:44,370 --> 01:25:46,940
The cartoon world
we're living in.

2181
01:25:46,973 --> 01:25:48,275
After the HandMade party,

2182
01:25:48,308 --> 01:25:52,079
everybody started seeing
the separation happening.

2183
01:25:52,112 --> 01:25:54,981
You know, George was not
enjoying himself anymore.

2184
01:25:55,014 --> 01:25:57,151
"Nuns on the Run"
was one last glimpse

2185
01:25:57,183 --> 01:25:59,387
of HandMade Films, you know, so.

2186
01:25:59,420 --> 01:26:01,522
Like, it was great to
be involved with a film

2187
01:26:01,554 --> 01:26:03,890
that actually was fun.

2188
01:26:03,924 --> 01:26:06,227
Just hold it up, is
that in the right place?

2189
01:26:07,260 --> 01:26:10,231
The idea of the plot is
that these two criminals

2190
01:26:10,263 --> 01:26:12,432
work for a gang when
they're stealing money

2191
01:26:12,465 --> 01:26:13,867
from a rival gang.

2192
01:26:13,901 --> 01:26:15,369
They decide instead of
giving it to the boss,

2193
01:26:15,402 --> 01:26:17,371
they're gonna go off
with it themselves.

2194
01:26:17,403 --> 01:26:19,874
It all misfires,
and then a chase,

2195
01:26:19,906 --> 01:26:21,108
and in a hail of bullets,

2196
01:26:21,142 --> 01:26:22,043
they run into the
nearest building

2197
01:26:22,076 --> 01:26:23,911
which turns out to be a convent.

2198
01:26:23,943 --> 01:26:26,179
They realize that if
they put on nun's habits

2199
01:26:26,213 --> 01:26:27,081
they can lie low,

2200
01:26:27,113 --> 01:26:29,150
as long as they can
get away with it.

2201
01:26:29,183 --> 01:26:32,453
♪ Hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

2202
01:26:32,486 --> 01:26:34,122
And so I sent it to Eric,

2203
01:26:34,155 --> 01:26:36,823
and said would you like to
do this with Michael Palin?

2204
01:26:36,857 --> 01:26:38,025
Well, Eric said he would.

2205
01:26:38,058 --> 01:26:41,462
Michael Palin passed, but Eric
suggested Robbie Coltrane,

2206
01:26:41,495 --> 01:26:44,165
and I thought Robbie
was a brilliant idea,

2207
01:26:44,197 --> 01:26:45,098
and Robbie liked it,

2208
01:26:45,131 --> 01:26:46,768
so then we said what do we do

2209
01:26:46,800 --> 01:26:48,503
about getting us financed?

2210
01:26:48,536 --> 01:26:51,773
So, Eric said, "Well, I'll
give it to my friend George."

2211
01:26:51,805 --> 01:26:53,573
And I knew they were friends.

2212
01:26:53,607 --> 01:26:56,110
But you know, I'm friends
with lots of people,

2213
01:26:56,143 --> 01:26:58,012
but most of them won't
give me three million quid

2214
01:26:58,045 --> 01:26:58,846
if I ask for it.

2215
01:26:58,879 --> 01:27:00,548
And George said, "Yeah."

2216
01:27:02,183 --> 01:27:03,852
Explain the Trinity.

2217
01:27:04,951 --> 01:27:07,120
Well, it's a bit of a bugger.

2218
01:27:07,153 --> 01:27:09,022
It was a big
success in America

2219
01:27:09,055 --> 01:27:10,258
in terms of the critics,

2220
01:27:10,290 --> 01:27:12,994
and it would've been a
huge box office success

2221
01:27:13,027 --> 01:27:15,596
but for one thing that
nobody reckoned on.

2222
01:27:15,629 --> 01:27:18,366
We had a limited
opening for two weeks

2223
01:27:18,398 --> 01:27:21,035
and a few screens,
and amazing reviews.

2224
01:27:21,067 --> 01:27:22,235
And then they said,

2225
01:27:22,268 --> 01:27:23,170
"We're going to
expand it to a large

2226
01:27:23,204 --> 01:27:24,339
"number of screens next week."

2227
01:27:24,371 --> 01:27:26,206
And I said, "Oh great, what
are we competing against?"

2228
01:27:26,240 --> 01:27:27,809
They said, "Nothing,
nothing at all,

2229
01:27:27,842 --> 01:27:29,544
"there's just this
children's film called

2230
01:27:29,576 --> 01:27:31,344
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles",

2231
01:27:31,378 --> 01:27:33,214
"nobody's gonna go see that."

2232
01:27:33,246 --> 01:27:34,948
Unfortunately, everybody
went to see that.

2233
01:27:34,982 --> 01:27:37,218
It was a colossal hit.

2234
01:27:37,250 --> 01:27:40,053
So, we didn't do so
well when we expanded.

2235
01:27:40,086 --> 01:27:42,055
Let me try and summarize this.

2236
01:27:42,089 --> 01:27:45,359
God is his son,
and his son is God,

2237
01:27:45,392 --> 01:27:48,496
but his son moonlights
as a holy ghost,

2238
01:27:48,528 --> 01:27:50,964
a holy spirit, and a dove,

2239
01:27:50,997 --> 01:27:52,532
and they all sent each other,

2240
01:27:52,566 --> 01:27:55,036
even though they're all
one in the same thing.

2241
01:27:56,202 --> 01:27:57,004
Got it.

2242
01:27:57,036 --> 01:27:57,938
What?

2243
01:27:57,972 --> 01:27:59,173
You really could be a nun.

2244
01:27:59,205 --> 01:28:00,040
Thanks.

2245
01:28:01,308 --> 01:28:02,577
Wait a minute.

2246
01:28:02,610 --> 01:28:05,246
What I said, does that
make any sense to you?

2247
01:28:05,278 --> 01:28:07,514
Well, no.

2248
01:28:07,548 --> 01:28:09,517
No, and it makes no
sense to anybody.

2249
01:28:09,549 --> 01:28:11,351
That's why you
have to believe it,

2250
01:28:11,384 --> 01:28:12,919
that's why you
have to have faith.

2251
01:28:12,952 --> 01:28:14,187
I mean if it made sense,

2252
01:28:14,220 --> 01:28:15,857
it wouldn't have to be
a religion, would it?

2253
01:28:16,589 --> 01:28:18,159
"Nuns on the Run", yeah.

2254
01:28:18,192 --> 01:28:19,994
It was a nice film.

2255
01:28:20,027 --> 01:28:20,928
I suppose I'd look at it,

2256
01:28:20,960 --> 01:28:22,362
because it was the last film

2257
01:28:22,396 --> 01:28:23,563
I was involved in,

2258
01:28:23,597 --> 01:28:25,532
but it's the last film
that HandMade made

2259
01:28:26,467 --> 01:28:28,402
under George's regime.

2260
01:28:28,434 --> 01:28:31,272
I almost lost sense that
this was a HandMade film.

2261
01:28:32,473 --> 01:28:34,140
And it was a HandMade
film in the old sense,

2262
01:28:34,174 --> 01:28:35,643
but it didn't feel like it,

2263
01:28:35,675 --> 01:28:40,481
but it just was this cloud
over HandMade at that point.

2264
01:28:41,648 --> 01:28:43,116
It must've been
in the early 1990s,

2265
01:28:43,150 --> 01:28:47,254
I think George told
me that HandMade

2266
01:28:47,287 --> 01:28:48,955
was gonna be closed down.

2267
01:28:48,988 --> 01:28:50,124
The first thing I
say about HandMade

2268
01:28:50,156 --> 01:28:52,125
is it wasn't a failure,
it was a success,

2269
01:28:52,159 --> 01:28:54,161
which like all independent
production companies,

2270
01:28:54,193 --> 01:28:55,562
without exception,

2271
01:28:55,595 --> 01:28:57,365
there isn't a single
exception to this rule,

2272
01:28:57,397 --> 01:28:59,900
neither here nor in the States

2273
01:28:59,933 --> 01:29:02,135
that lives beyond
a certain lifespan.

2274
01:29:02,169 --> 01:29:04,939
10 or 11 years is
good enough, you know?

2275
01:29:04,972 --> 01:29:06,139
And I would say they
were successful.

2276
01:29:06,173 --> 01:29:08,142
They ran out of money,
they ran out of road.

2277
01:29:08,174 --> 01:29:09,409
Well, that happens
to all of them.

2278
01:29:09,442 --> 01:29:10,343
It would've
been nice to think

2279
01:29:10,376 --> 01:29:12,178
that we could've remained small.

2280
01:29:12,211 --> 01:29:15,215
That would've been the
perfect HandMade Films.

2281
01:29:15,249 --> 01:29:17,652
Making you know, one
or two films a year,

2282
01:29:17,684 --> 01:29:20,955
but gems that people would
put in their back pocket

2283
01:29:20,987 --> 01:29:22,656
and always want to
see again and again.

2284
01:29:22,689 --> 01:29:26,693
If you analyze the output
of HandMade over 11 years,

2285
01:29:26,727 --> 01:29:31,900
I think you would say that
the talent quotient decreased,

2286
01:29:33,267 --> 01:29:35,135
and the enterprise quotient
kind of had to increase,

2287
01:29:35,169 --> 01:29:38,139
and the fortunes of
the company suffered.

2288
01:29:38,171 --> 01:29:40,473
But at least films got made,

2289
01:29:40,506 --> 01:29:43,110
and I can't think
of any other period

2290
01:29:43,143 --> 01:29:47,448
in British filmmaking
which was quite so rich.

2291
01:29:47,481 --> 01:29:49,183
It's a kind of
signature, HandMade Films

2292
01:29:49,215 --> 01:29:50,651
to me was a signature,

2293
01:29:50,683 --> 01:29:52,186
this is gonna be quality stuff,

2294
01:29:52,219 --> 01:29:53,654
this is gonna be
interesting stuff.

2295
01:29:53,687 --> 01:29:56,256
It's gonna be breaking barriers.

2296
01:29:56,290 --> 01:29:59,527
George understood passion.

2297
01:29:59,559 --> 01:30:01,963
If he was here today,
and I wish he was,

2298
01:30:01,995 --> 01:30:04,230
he'd be listening
to your stories,

2299
01:30:04,263 --> 01:30:06,232
and if he thought that

2300
01:30:06,265 --> 01:30:09,236
you're absolutely
passionate about something,

2301
01:30:09,268 --> 01:30:10,204
your dream would come true,

2302
01:30:10,237 --> 01:30:11,772
he would make it come true.

2303
01:30:11,804 --> 01:30:14,441
Without HandMade,
very few of the films

2304
01:30:14,474 --> 01:30:16,744
that the all of us
here tonight have made

2305
01:30:18,012 --> 01:30:19,313
would ever have happened.

2306
01:30:19,345 --> 01:30:22,683
I ask you to raise your glasses,

2307
01:30:22,715 --> 01:30:24,684
or contact lenses
if you wear them.

2308
01:30:26,652 --> 01:30:29,323
Drink a toast to HandMade Films.

2309
01:30:30,323 --> 01:30:32,994
HandMade films.

2310
01:30:34,193 --> 01:30:34,995
Cheers, everybody.

2311
01:30:35,028 --> 01:30:35,696
Chin chin.

2312
01:30:39,165 --> 01:30:41,001
And that's it, really.

2313
01:30:41,035 --> 01:30:42,635
End of story.

2314
01:31:14,468 --> 01:31:18,104
My favorite HandMade
film and why...

2315
01:31:18,138 --> 01:31:18,805
Um...

2316
01:31:20,174 --> 01:31:21,308
"The Long Good Friday".

2317
01:31:21,340 --> 01:31:23,143
My favorite HandMade film?

2318
01:31:23,177 --> 01:31:24,411
"The Long Good Friday".

2319
01:31:24,445 --> 01:31:26,447
Because I love that Genre.

2320
01:31:27,380 --> 01:31:28,481
Start shooting us, Harold.

2321
01:31:28,514 --> 01:31:30,217
Oh, don't be silly.

2322
01:31:30,250 --> 01:31:33,254
When I come running for
you with me fingers.

2323
01:31:33,286 --> 01:31:34,421
My favorite HandMade film

2324
01:31:34,455 --> 01:31:36,157
is the first one they made,
"Life of Brian", I think.

2325
01:31:36,189 --> 01:31:39,226
What have the Romans
ever done for us?

2326
01:31:39,259 --> 01:31:40,628
World peace.

2327
01:31:40,661 --> 01:31:41,529
What?

2328
01:31:41,562 --> 01:31:42,363
Peace?

2329
01:31:42,396 --> 01:31:43,264
Oh, shut up!

2330
01:31:44,598 --> 01:31:45,533
I love "Mona Lisa",
I thought "Mona Lisa"

2331
01:31:45,566 --> 01:31:47,300
was absolutely wonderful.

2332
01:31:47,334 --> 01:31:48,135
Well, what do you do?

2333
01:31:48,168 --> 01:31:49,170
Melt it down and eat it?

2334
01:31:49,202 --> 01:31:50,604
No, they're
ornamental, George.

2335
01:31:51,705 --> 01:31:53,073
Ornamental spaghetti?

2336
01:31:53,107 --> 01:31:55,142
I loved "The
Long Good Friday",

2337
01:31:55,174 --> 01:31:57,210
and "Time Bandits".

2338
01:31:57,244 --> 01:31:58,746
Do you want to be
leader of this gang?

2339
01:31:58,778 --> 01:31:59,612
No!

2340
01:31:59,646 --> 01:32:00,814
We agreed no leader.

2341
01:32:00,848 --> 01:32:02,616
Right, so shut
up and do as I say.

2342
01:32:02,648 --> 01:32:05,486
"Private Function"
is the funniest

2343
01:32:05,518 --> 01:32:08,521
of the HandMade films.

2344
01:32:08,554 --> 01:32:10,825
I liked "Private Function".

2345
01:32:12,226 --> 01:32:14,161
I can put the hounds on
two turkeys in Bradford.

2346
01:32:14,193 --> 01:32:15,129
Two?

2347
01:32:15,161 --> 01:32:16,396
Two?

2348
01:32:16,429 --> 01:32:19,532
We have got 150 people coming,

2349
01:32:19,566 --> 01:32:21,302
and Jesus isn't one of them.

2350
01:32:21,335 --> 01:32:23,370
"Mona Lisa" I like,
because Bob Hoskins

2351
01:32:23,402 --> 01:32:24,571
is in that, wasn't he?

2352
01:32:24,604 --> 01:32:26,674
"Long Good Friday"
is my favorite,

2353
01:32:26,706 --> 01:32:28,409
and I loved the last shot

2354
01:32:28,442 --> 01:32:31,645
of Bob Hoskins driven off
to his impending death

2355
01:32:31,678 --> 01:32:33,247
at the hands of the IRA,

2356
01:32:33,280 --> 01:32:35,116
and it's probably
Bob's finest moment.

2357
01:32:35,148 --> 01:32:36,383
"Shanghai Surprise"
was one of the

2358
01:32:36,415 --> 01:32:38,251
worst things I've ever seen.

2359
01:32:38,285 --> 01:32:40,254
I mean, that was abomination.

2360
01:32:40,286 --> 01:32:42,755
And of course,
"Withnail and I".

2361
01:32:42,789 --> 01:32:45,492
I think it's "Withnail and I".

2362
01:32:45,526 --> 01:32:50,197
It's just absolutely
iconoclastically a brilliant movie.

2363
01:32:51,165 --> 01:32:51,932
I have a heart condition,

2364
01:32:51,964 --> 01:32:53,833
if you hit me, it's murder.

2365
01:32:53,866 --> 01:32:55,835
The performance
of Richard E. Grant,

2366
01:32:55,869 --> 01:32:57,938
and just everything
about "Withnail" actually

2367
01:32:57,970 --> 01:32:59,506
was just fantastic,

2368
01:32:59,540 --> 01:33:00,640
and it was a great movie.

2369
01:33:00,674 --> 01:33:02,510
I'm gonna be a star!

2370
01:33:04,811 --> 01:33:07,247
HandMade made that movie.

2371
01:33:08,615 --> 01:33:12,452
♪ So you take me, maybe, sure ♪