Withnail and I

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Withnail and I
Region 2 DVD cover (Copyright © 2001 Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Directed by	Bruce Robinson
Produced by	Paul Heller
Written by	Bruce Robinson
Starring	Paul McGann Richard E. Grant Richard Griffiths
Music by	David Dundas Rick Wentworth
Distributed by	Handmade Films
Release date(s)	1986
Running time	108 mins
Country	UK
Language	English
IMDb profile

Withnail and I is a British film made in 1986 by Handmade Films. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, it was Richard E. Grant's first film role and launched him into a successful career. It also featured performances by Richard Griffiths as Monty, Paul McGann as Marwood (the titular "& I") and Ralph Brown as Danny. The film has spawned many popular quotations.

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Withnail and I the 3rd greatest comedy film of all time. In 2004 the same magazine named it the 13th greatest British film of all time. Withnail & I was 38th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Films poll.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production details 3 Background 4 "I"'s name 5 DVD 6 Soundtrack 7 Trivia 8 Drinking Game 9 Locations 10 Cast 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links

[edit] Plot

The film details the lives and misadventures of two 'resting' (struggling and unemployed) actors in 1969: The flamboyant and alcoholic Withnail (Grant) and '...& I' (named "Marwood" in the published screenplay but never named in the film or its credits, played by McGann), his more level-headed and worrisome friend and the movie's narrator. The two are confined to a shambolic and filthy Georgian flat in Camden Town owing to their financial difficulties. Ailing and seemingly perpetually unemployed, they decide to take a recuperative holiday in the countryside in order to gather themselves, and thus secure the loan of a country cottage belonging to Withnail's Uncle Monty (Griffiths) in order to do so. Monty is nostalgic for a by-gone age. He is fond of quoting Charles Baudelaire and reciting passages from Hamlet. He often reminisces about his studies at Oxford. He is well-educated and elitist. On a drive into town, he berates Withnail and Marwood for "looking like a couple of farmhands." He offers his cottage only after Withnail wins him over with several acts of subterfuge. He tells Monty that Marwood attended Eton College and that he is an active homosexual.

The holiday doesn't quite go according to plan—the run-down and dusty cottage is little better than the flat they have just left, the weather is often inclement, they have little of food or supplies and the locals are surly and unwelcoming - in particular a threatening poacher, Jake (Michael Elphick), whom Withnail manages to offend. Added to this, Uncle Monty himself makes a surprise appearance, with amorous intentions towards Marwood. Monty comes in the middle of the night after being stranded for "aeons" with a punctured tire. He is forced to break into the cottage, which terrifies Withnail and Marwood who believe that the intruder is Jake the poacher. They greet Monty with mixed emotions. Monty brings them food and wine at the expense of making his designs on Marwood patently obvious. He demonstrates his intentions on Marwood by bursting into his room and proclaiming his desire to "have [him] even if it must be burglary." The terrified Marwood manages to stave off Monty's overtures of unrequited affection, causing the latter to leave the cottage in the night and return home. Marwood receives a telegram that confirms that he has another audition for a part.

The film returns to the Camden Town flat. Danny, a drug dealer, who has "come up the drainpipe" to squat at the flat, pines that the oncoming end of the 1960s is the end of the "greatest decade in the history of mankind" and that "there are going to be a lot of refugees." Marwood calls his agent and discovers that the production company now want him to play the lead part. He has his hair cut and prepares to leave the flat for the train station. Withnail walks with him partway but Marwood implores him to go back as he wants to walk on alone.

The last scene is of Withnail in a park, in the rain, quoting from Act 2 Scene ii of Hamlet to a pack of wolves^[1] over a fence, before walking home.

[edit] Production details

The film cost £1.1 million to make. Bruce Robinson received £1 for the script and £80,000 to direct it — £30,000 of which he reinvested into the film to shoot scenes, such as the journeys to and from Penrith, that HandMade Films would not fund.^[2]

Paul McGann was Robinson's first choice for Marwood, but he was fired during rehearsals because Robinson decided McGann's Liverpool accent was wrong for the character. Several other actors read for the role but McGann eventually persuaded Robinson to re-audition him, promising to affect a Home Counties accent. He quickly won back the part.^[3]

The period setting of this film in 1969 is consistent, apart from Marwood packing a visibly late 1980s Penguin Classic in the penultimate scene. A much closer viewing, perhaps using the pause function of a DVD player, reveals several other, less obvious, irregularities: in the first driving scene cars from the 1980s can be seen in the background, motorway signs for roads constructed well after the sixties are also visible, including a sign clearly showing "M25" (this motorway was not opened until 1986), while barcodes can be spotted on cans in the kitchen. A possible reason for such anachronisms is the film's low budget. One less obvious piece of setting comes from the extended shots of house demolition we see in the Camden Town sequences - Robinson is on record as saying these are intended specifically to refer to the preparatory work for the cancelled London Ringways road building which would have been occurring in Camden during the Autumn of 1969.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Background

The narrative is told in the first person by the character played by Paul McGann, named just once in passing in the film (see below) as Marwood—and only credited as "... & I".

Robinson's script is largely autobiographical. Marwood is Robinson; Withnail is based on a friend he shared a Camden house with—Vivian MacKerrell—who died young; and Uncle Monty is loosely based on the unwanted attentions he received from an amorous Franco Zeffirelli when he was a young actor.^[4] He lived in the impoverished conditions seen in the film and wore plastic bags as wellington boots. Robinson threw four or five years of his real life into the script, condensing them into two weeks.

[edit] "I"'s name

Although the first name of 'I' is not stated anywhere in the film, it is widely believed that it is 'Peter'. This myth arose as a result of a line of misheard dialogue^[5] in the scene where Monty meets the two actors, Withnail asks him if he would like a drink. In his reply, Monty both accepts his offer and says "...you must tell me all the news, I haven't seen you since you finished your last film". While pouring another drink, and downing his own, Withnail replies that he has been "Rather busy uncle. TV and stuff". Then pointing at McGann he says "He's just had an audition for rep". Some fans hear this line as "Peter's had an audition for rep" although DVD subtitles, the original shooting script and all commercially published versions of the script read "he's".

Similarly, another myth has it that the name 'Marwood' can be heard near the beginning of the film. As the characters escape from the Irishman in the Mother Black Cap, Withnail shouts "Get out of my way!". Again, some hear this line as "Out of the way, Marwood!", although as before the script reads simply "Get out of my way!".

There is, however, one occasion in the film where the name 'Marwood' is given, though not stated. Toward the end of the film a telegram arrives at Crow Crag and as Withnail reads the note, the name 'Marwood' appears to be visible, upside-down, on the envelope.

[edit] DVD

The film has been released in several countries world wide.

Canada (NTSC)

The first DVD edition of the film was a 4:3 pan-and-scan version released in Canada by Seville Pictures. The film ran to 104 minutes. Although the sleeve claimed that the original cinema trailer was included as an extra, it was omitted from the disc. At the time the sleeve was printed, Seville believed they had access to the trailer but later discovered it was not in their library.

US (NTSC)

The second DVD release of the film was in North America as part of the Criterion Collection. This was the first widescreen release of the film and was remastered under the supervision of the film's Director of Photography, Peter Hannan. Although widescreen, the film was actually presented letterboxed in a 4:3 raster rather than anamorphic.

UK (1st Edition) (PAL)

The first UK release was by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001. It included a number of extras, such as the original trailer, the Channel 4 documentary Withnail and Us, a commentary by Paul McGann and Ralph Brown, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The main feature was a standards converted from the North American release and exhibited some picture and compression artefacts as a result. Like the North American release, it was also letterboxed. This edition was later re-released by Anchor Bay in February, 2007.

UK (2nd Edition) (PAL)

The second UK release was a budget edition by Anchor Bay in 2005, under their Bay View label. It featured an un-remastered version of the film, identical to the original cinema release in 1987 (later editions of film had several minutes of cut footage reinstated). No extras were included.

UK (20th Anniversary Edition) (PAL)

The third UK release, again from Anchor Bay, came in 2006 to coincide with the film's 20th Anniversary. For this three-disc release the film was remastered in high definition and released for the first time in anamorphic format. It included all the extra features from the first UK edition, plus an additional commentary by Bruce Robinson, a featurette on the Drinking Game, a brand new interview with Bruce Robinson and a locations featurette called Postcards from Penrith. Aware that the soundtrack was currently out of print and difficult to find, a bonus CD was included featuring all of the music specially composed for the film.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Withnail & I, while out of print now, was available on Silva Screen Records, Silva House, 261 Royal College Street, London NW1 9LU, England.

It is claimed that the soundtrack album was discontinued and deleted by the distributors because of the actions of the estate of Jimi Hendrix whose tracks are featured in the film. The family will not allow any of his music to be used to glorify or promote the use or abuse of drink or drugs.

The film also features a rare appearance of a recording by The Beatles, whose song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" briefly plays as Marwood and Withnail return from Crow Crag. Although the surviving members of the group rarely licensed the use of their original recordings for feature films (cover versions were often substituted, as in the case of The Royal Tenenbaums and I Am Sam), George Harrison happened to be one of the film's producers, and allowed its inclusion in Withnail & I.

1. "A Whiter Shade of Pale (live)" – King Curtis - 5:25
2. "The Wolf" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:33
3. "All Along the Watchtower (live)" – Jimi Hendrix - 4:10
4. "To The Crow" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:22
5. "Voodoo Chile (live)" – Jimi Hendrix - 4:28
6. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – Beatles - 4:44
7. "Marwood Walks" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:14
8. "Monty Remembers" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:02
9. "La Fite" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:10
10. "Hang Out The Stars In Indiana" – Al Bowlly & New Mayfair Dance Orchestra - 1:35
11. "Crow Crag" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 0:56
12. "Cheval Blanc" - David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:15
13. "My Friend" - Charlie Kunz - 1:28
14. "Withnail's Theme" - David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:40

[edit] Trivia

• During the filming of the scene in which the lighter fluid is consumed, Bruce Robinson changed the contents of the can, which had been filled with water, to vinegar. While the vomiting is scripted, the facial expression is purely natural.

• Though playing a raging alcoholic, Richard E. Grant is a teetotaller, who had never been drunk prior to making the film. Robinson decided that it would be impossible for Grant to play the character without having ever experienced inebriation and a hangover, and thus "forced" the actor on a drinking binge. Grant has stated that he found the experience deeply unpleasant.

• The film is an adaptation of an unpublished novel written by Robinson in the winter of 1969. It was adapted into a screenplay in the early '80s, and finally shot in 1986. The end of the novel saw Withnail committing suicide by pouring a bottle of wine into the barrel of Monty's gun and then pulling the trigger as he drank from it. Robinson changed the ending, as he believed it was "too dark."^[6]

• Early in the film, Withnail reads from an article headlined "Boy Lands Plum Role For Top Italian Director" and then goes on to imply that the director is sexually abusing the boy. This is a reference to the sexual abuse that Robinson alleges he suffered at the hands of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli when, as a young man, he won the role of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet.

• Ralph Brown appears in Wayne's World 2, playing a veteran roadie called Del Preston — and turns in a performance that's strikingly similar to his portrayal of Danny in Withnail & I.

• The lyrics to the song "King of the Rodeo," performed and written by Kings of Leon, make obvious (but also subtle) references to Withnail & I. The most obvious is "How dare you come to me, like Withnail for a favour," whilst the more subtle ones are "you're staying for the weekend" (Withnail & I aim to have a small holiday over the weekend) and "swaying like a smokey grey, a drink in the park" (this would refer to the end of the film, which shows Withnail drunk and drinking wine in a park).

[edit] Drinking Game

There is a drinking game associated with Withnail & I, which is popular amongst fans and students and frequently is the first experience some people have of the film. The game consists of keeping up, drink for drink, with each and every alcoholic substance consumed by Withnail over the course of the film. Most players may simply drink their beverage of choice regardless of what the characters consume, though this is viewed by the more "hardcore" Withnail & I fans as an "easy way out." All told, Withnail is shown drinking roughly nine and a half glasses of red wine, half a pint of cider, one shot of lighter fluid (vinegar or overproof rum are common substitutes), two and a half shots of gin, six glasses of sherry, thirteen glasses of whisky and half a pint of ale. Since the whisky alone would be more than enough to necessitate a trip to hospital for most people, few, if any, keep pace for the entire film.^[7]

[edit] Locations

Some prominent locations used during filming include:

• There was no filming in the real Penrith. Most of the filming locations were actually in and around nearby Shap and Bampton.
• The "King Henry" pub and the "Penrith Tea Rooms" are in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (now the "Crown Inn" and "Cox and Robinsons Chemists" on Market Square). View Map
• Monty's cottage, "Crow Crag", is actually Sleddale Hall, located near the Wet Sleddale Reservoir in Cumbria. Recent photos of the location can be found at the BBC Cumbria pages. Exterior and ground floor interiors for "Crow Crag" were shot here. View Map
• Stockers Farm in Rickmansworth was used for the bedroom and stair scenes in "Crow Crag", as well as the "Crow and Crown" pub.
• The bridge where Withnail and Marwood go "fishing" is located at the bottom of the hill below Sleddale Hall, a quarter mile away.
• "The Mother Black Cap" pub is located at Tavistock Crescent, London. View Map
• Withnail and Marwood's flat is located at 57 Chepstow Place, Bayswater, London.
• Monty's house is located at Glebe Place, Chelsea, London. View Map
• The cafe was on the corner of Ladbroke Grove and Lancaster Road in London. View Map
• The scenes of Marwood and Withnail leaving for Penrith were shot at Ansleigh Place, London. W11. View Map
• The scene where Withnail and Marwood are ordered into the "back of the van!" was filmed on the flyover near John Aird Court, Paddington, London.View Map

[edit] Cast

• Withnail - Richard E. Grant
• Marwood - Paul McGann
• Monty - Richard Griffiths
• Danny - Ralph Brown
• Jake - Michael Elphick
• Irishman - Daragh O'Malley
• Isaac Parkin - Michael Wardle
• Mrs Parkin - Una Brandon-Jones
• The General (pub landlord) - Noel Johnson
• Miss Blennerhasset - Irene Sutcliffe
• Boiler (cake shop owner) - Llewellyn Rees
• Policeman - Robert Oates
• Policeman - Anthony Wise
• Presuming Ed - Eddie Tagoe

[edit] See also

• Sherry
• Camberwell carrot
• Mauve
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Salt
• Aspirin

[edit] References

1. ^ Article in The Independent
2. ^ Owen, Alistair: "Smoking in Bed. Conversations with Bruce Robinson", page 108-109. Bloomsbury, 2000.
3. ^ Owen, Alistair: "Smoking in Bed. Conversations with Bruce Robinson", page 109. Bloomsbury, 2000.
4. ^ Withnail-and-I.com
5. ^ Hewitt-McManus, Thomas: "Twenty things you might want to know about Withnail & I", DVD insert. Anchor Bay, 2006.
6. ^ Owen, Alistair: "Smoking in Bed. Conversations with Bruce Robinson", page 128. Bloomsbury 2000
7. ^ The Withnail and I Drinking Game, DVD featurette. Anchor Bay 2006.

[edit] Further reading

• Ali Catterall and Simon Wells, Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since The Sixties (Fourth Estate, 2001)
• Richard E Grant, With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant (Picador, 1996)
• Thomas Hewitt-McManus, Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask (Lulu Press, 2006)
• Kevin Jackson, Withnail & I (BFI, 2004)
• Alistair Owen (editor), Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson (Bloomsbury, 2000)
• Bruce Robinson, Withnail & I: The Original Screenplay (Bloomsbury, 1995)

[edit] External links

• Withnail & I at the Internet Movie Database
• Full script
• Withnail's Famous Coat Is Auctioned - The Guardian Newspaper
• Criterion Collection essay by Bruce Robinson
• Image gallery on BBC Cumbria
• Useful page with help on finding the elusive Soundtrack album from Withnail and I
• Filming Locations for Withnail & I