A love story set in the 1920s between a loner schoolmaster, Jones, and the married, privileged Judith Leeward.
Productionedit
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 (of 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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A Fine and Private Place was a proposed feature film from Paul Watson that was abandoned during filming ostensibly due to poor weather 2 A Fine and Private PlaceDirected byPaul WatsonWritten byPaul WatsonBased onstories by A E CoppardProduced byW A WhittakerStarringEdward Woodward Nanette Newman 1 ProductioncompanyEMI FilmsRelease date1971 intended CountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Premise 2 Production 3 References 4 External linksPremise editA love story set in the 1920s between a loner schoolmaster Jones and the married privileged Judith Leeward Production editPaul 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 of 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 References edit Picture of lead actors accessed 26 May 2014 Walker Alexander Hollywood England Harrap and Stein 1974 p433 Day Lewis Sean 13 August 1969 British finance backs plans for 15 new films The Daily Telegraph p 17 Vagg Stephen October 10 2021 Cold Streaks The Studio Stewardship of Bryan Forbes at EMI Filmink Forbes Bryan 1993 A Divided Life Memoirs p 175 The shining stars of Cornwall By Cornish Guardian January 29 2014 Archived May 27 2014 at the Wayback Machine accessed 26 May 2014 In the Picture Sight and Sound London Vol 38 Iss 4 Fall 1969 181 Actress who is in love with her director Lincolnshire Echo 7 April 1970 p 6 TV Callan takes film role as schoolmaster Thanet Times and East Kent Pictorial 21 April 1970 p 10 Moody Paul 2018 EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema Palgrave MacMillan p 25 Not such a fine place The Birmingham Post 2 May 1970 p 31 McGowan Robert 6 May 1970 Callan s film may be abandoned Evening Standard p 12 Forbes p 179 Bryan Forbes A Divided Life Mandarin 1993 p 174 179 Production of new AB Picture film halted The Daily Telegraph May 15 1970 p 22 Walker Alexander 26 May 1970 The film man who refused to get the jitters Evening Standard p 13 Chris Tryhorn Watson scoops top documentary awards The Guardian 26 November 2007 accessed 30 July 2012External links editA Fine and Private Place at BFI Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Fine and Private Place film amp oldid 1156241945, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
