Film tells of former Beatle’s involvement with film company

Press, 25 July 1989, Page 11

Film tells of former Beatle’s involvement with film company

When George Harrison financed Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” in 1978, because he wanted to see the film, people said it was the most expensive cinema ticket in the world. But it led to the formation of one of Britain’s most interesting independent film companies — Handmade Films. “The Movie Life of George” (tonight at 8.30 on One) tells the story of Handmade through interviews with a variety of the company’s stars including Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Billy Connelly, Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine. There is also a rare interview with George Harrison.

The documentary features film clips, music and a glimpse of Handmade’s lavish tenth anniversary party, held last year, at which George Harrison joined Carl Perkins and his band to form the house band. Some of the film clips include "The Life of Brian,” “Time Bandits,” “The Missionary,” “A Private Function,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Withnail and I,” and there is also a sneak preview of five of the company’s yet-to-be-released films.

The story of the birth of George Harrison’s involvement is traced back to Eric Idle’s first approach for finance to produce the “Life of Brian.”

“I kept calling George and saying we were looking for this money and he’d say, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get it.’ I didn’t believe him because I didn’t believe you could just pick up a film like that for four million,” says Idle. “I didn’t know just how loaded he was,” he says. “I just wanted to see the film,” says Harrison. “What we did was we pawned my house and the office in London to get a bank loan and that was a

bit nerve-racking,” says Harrison. The film went on to become a huge success and George Harrison was even persuaded to appear in a short cameo in it in the sought-after role of the 314th Jewish man in the kitchen.

“It marked the beginning and end of George Harrison’s film career as an actor. I think for George, the shock of finding himself in a crowd mobbing somebody else was too much and he took a well earned retirement and went back to his previous career as a musician,” says Michael Palin. However, businessminded Harrison is realistic about his involvement in the film industry.

“It’s made me a movie mogul. That’s what they say in the papers, movie mogul. I don’t see any big mystique about the film industry, as I have another job you see. This to me, this film business, is just something on the side,” he says. Handmade has a reputation for being slightly quirky and not afraid to take risks. Their policy has been to encourage and nurture fresh talent, whether it be producer, director or actor.