Unseen Images Of Cult Classic Withnail And I

March22

From Mail Online, 22nd March 2009

After two decades of cult worship, we thought we knew all there was to know about Withnail And I – until the on-set photographer dug out these unseen images from the back of Uncle Monty’s sofa…

‘HandMade Films couldn’t afford someone for the full six-week shoot of Withnail And I,’ says photographer Murray Close.

‘So I only went on the shoot for three weeks.’

His photos from the set of Bruce Robinson’s cult film – which stars Richard E Grant, Paul McGann and Richard Griffiths – are being shown at the Proud Camden gallery for the first time.

‘When I arrived, I immediately got the sense this film was different. It was ultra-low-budget – everyone eating off paper plates on the side of a mountain.

‘But Bruce’s script was fantastic. The actors were mostly first-timers, but they threw everything they had into the film.’

From April 1-June 7, proud.co.uk

‘I’d worked with Richard Griffiths before the shoot. He was the one movie star in Withnail – the RSC member and the most expensive of the cast.’

‘Grant in between takes. He can’t drink – not in a reformed-drinker way; he’s medically allergic. Bruce got him drunk once, for the film, so he’d know what it was like – but in all the scenes in the film where he’s drunk, he’s sober as a judge.’

‘Withnail was made by HandMade Films, George Harrison’s company. Ringo Starr (centre, with Paul McGann and Bruce Robinson) popped down one afternoon. It wasn’t like this was a big film – everyone was saying, “Oh my God, Ringo’s coming to see us…”‘

‘One of the very few scenes in Withnail that they shot but then cut out was the sword fight. It happens at night, when they arrive at the house. Bruce (Robinson) had such tight budgets that he had to get it right. These days, a lot of directors shoot, then decide what to put in their film later. Bruce didn’t have that luxury.’

‘Grant and McGann in the Cumbrian cottage, where much of Withnail And I was filmed. The guy in the dark glasses is Bruce. He still looks like that. The man hasn’t aged a day in his life – I think he has a Dorian Gray picture in his attic.’