A Fine and Private Place (film)

Last updated
A Fine and Private Place
Directed by Paul Watson
Written by Paul Watson
Based onstories by A.E. Coppard
Produced byW.A. Whittaker
Starring Edward Woodward
Nanette Newman [1]
Production
company
Release date
1971 (intended)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

A Fine and Private Place was a proposed feature film from Paul Watson that was abandoned during filming, ostensibly due to poor weather. [2]

Contents

Premise

A love story set in the 1920s between a loner schoolmaster, Jones, and the married, privileged Judith Leeward.

Production

Paul Watson was a documentary filmmaker who had written the script. Bryan Forbes, head of EMI Films, greenlit the film and announced it as part of his slate in August 1969. [3] It was one of several films Forbes financed from inexperienced directors (some of these out worked well, others badly). [4] He later wrote he felt Watson's "enthusiasm and approach merited the risk; the screenplay contained all the ingredients for a compelling film and I gave him the go-ahead." [5]

Production began in Cornwall in late April 1970, with plans to complete the film at Elstree Studios. [6] [7] Female lead Nanette Newman had just completed The Raging Moon written and directed by Forbes, who was her husband. [8] [9]

The film soon fell behind schedule, forcing Forbes to visit the set. He claims that after two weeks of filming a third of the budget had been spent for only ten minutes of screen time. Forbes also felt the footage would not cut together and was unimpressed with how Watson planned to film other scenes; he says when he raised his concerns with the director he was not reassured. Forbes shut down the production and fired Watson. [10] The delay was blamed at the time on the weather in Cornwall. [11] An EMI spokesman said "location work was stopped because it was going beyond its budget. If sites closer to Elstree cannot be found work on the film could be abandoned." [12]

Forbes later called it "the most agonising decision I ever had to take on a film. I felt sorry for everybody concerned and I knew that I would come in for heavy criticism. But everything is relative and this was my Heaven’s Gate. I did not have the luxury of increasing the budget and, even if I had, I had lost confidence in the ability of the director to deliver. It was a tragedy of good intentions, a blight on Nanette’s and Edward’s careers and a sad loss of income for the crew." [13]

Over the next two weeks Forbes attempted to resuscitate the project with director John Hough but he eventually decided not to proceed and the film was abandoned. [14] Filming ceased for good in mid-May 1970. [15] Forbes publicly blamed the cancellation on bad weather, which he said would make the film £70,000-£80,000 over budget, saying "this is too much to get back in the English market it was made for. One film today, just one, which runs into budget trouble and has to have endless money poured into it can bring a studio to its knees." Forbes added another factor was Woodward had to start rehearsals for a play at the National on June 30, saying the film "was built around its star Edward Woodward to take advantage of his popularity as Callan on TV and his prestige at the National Theatre." [16]

Watson subsequently went on to a highly successful career as a documentary filmmaker. [17]

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References

  1. ↑ Picture of lead actors accessed 26 May 2014
  2. ↑ Walker, Alexander, Hollywood England, Harrap and Stein, 1974 p433
  3. ↑ Day-Lewis, Sean (13 August 1969). "British finance backs plans for 15 new films". The Daily Telegraph. p. 17.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (October 10, 2021). "Cold Streaks: The Studio Stewardship of Bryan Forbes at EMI". Filmink.
  5. ↑ Forbes, Bryan (1993). A Divided Life:Memoirs. p. 175.
  6. ↑ "The shining stars of Cornwall" By Cornish Guardian January 29, 2014 Archived May 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine accessed 26 May 2014
  7. ↑ In the Picture Sight and Sound; London Vol. 38, Iss. 4, (Fall 1969): 181.
  8. ↑ "Actress who is in love with her director". Lincolnshire Echo. 7 April 1970. p. 6.
  9. ↑ "TV Callan takes film role as schoolmaster". Thanet Times and East Kent Pictorial. 21 April 1970. p. 10.
  10. ↑ Moody, Paul (2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 25.
  11. ↑ "Not such a fine place". The Birmingham Post. 2 May 1970. p. 31.
  12. ↑ McGowan, Robert (6 May 1970). "'Callan's film may be abandoned". Evening Standard. p. 12.
  13. ↑ Forbes p 179
  14. ↑ Bryan Forbes, A Divided Life, Mandarin, 1993 p 174-179
  15. ↑ "Production of new AB Picture film halted". The Daily Telegraph. May 15, 1970. p. 22.
  16. ↑ Walker, Alexander (26 May 1970). "The film man who refused to get the jitters". Evening Standard. p. 13.
  17. ↑ Chris Tryhorn, 'Watson scoops top documentary awards', The Guardian, 26 November 2007 accessed 30 July 2012
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