The Epic That Never Was (Writer/Producer Bill Duncalf, 1965)
Alexander Korda got the rights to Robert Graves' epic two-volume set, I, Claudius and Claudius the God and proceeded in the mid-1930s to hire Josef von Sternberg as director and cast the principal roles with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Emlyn Williams and Flora Robson. He bought and created a new studio and enlisted his brother Vincent to build some enormous sets for the production which he envisioned to be THE great British epic film. However, along the way, he ran into a few snags, principal of which was that Laughton was having difficulty finding the character of Claudius and basically became too self-conscious to be able to work on a daily basis. After a few weeks, Merle Oberon was injured in a car accident, so Korda & Co. used that as an excuse to pull the plug on the production and recoup their losses through insurance covered by Lloyd's of London.
I actually watched this documentary about this lost episode of cinema history back on PBS in the mid '70s at just about the time "I, Claudius" was all the rage in America on PBS. Narrated by Dirk Bogarde in a sympathetic, yet somehow still dry and acerbic style, it is worth seeing to see some extended scenes of the film which worked out quite well, as well as some rushes with blown lines all over the place, especially by Laughton. It also contains interviews with people involved with the film who were still alive in 1965, including von Sternberg, Oberon, Robson and Williams. It's a grand history lesson, not only of 1930s British film but also the filmmaking process, at least how it was done back in the day.
Alexander Korda got the rights to Robert Graves' epic two-volume set, I, Claudius and Claudius the God and proceeded in the mid-1930s to hire Josef von Sternberg as director and cast the principal roles with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Emlyn Williams and Flora Robson. He bought and created a new studio and enlisted his brother Vincent to build some enormous sets for the production which he envisioned to be THE great British epic film. However, along the way, he ran into a few snags, principal of which was that Laughton was having difficulty finding the character of Claudius and basically became too self-conscious to be able to work on a daily basis. After a few weeks, Merle Oberon was injured in a car accident, so Korda & Co. used that as an excuse to pull the plug on the production and recoup their losses through insurance covered by Lloyd's of London.
I actually watched this documentary about this lost episode of cinema history back on PBS in the mid '70s at just about the time "I, Claudius" was all the rage in America on PBS. Narrated by Dirk Bogarde in a sympathetic, yet somehow still dry and acerbic style, it is worth seeing to see some extended scenes of the film which worked out quite well, as well as some rushes with blown lines all over the place, especially by Laughton. It also contains interviews with people involved with the film who were still alive in 1965, including von Sternberg, Oberon, Robson and Williams. It's a grand history lesson, not only of 1930s British film but also the filmmaking process, at least how it was done back in the day.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page