I loved the film and I'd seen the documentary too but watched it again. When I looked up the director, Bruce Robinson, I read he said that Zeffirelli made sexual advances to him when he acted in Romeo & Juliet and that the uncle is based on Zeffirelli. Richard Griffiths was fabulous as the uncle.
The old pervert character, Uncle Monty, in the movie is based on Franco Zeffirelli. Bruce Robinson's first big acting role just out of college was in that Zeffirelli movie, Romeo & Juliet (1968).
"Director Bruce Robinson claimed to have been the target of unwanted amorous attention from Zeffirelli during the filming of Romeo and Juliet, in which Robinson played Benvolio. Robinson says that he based the lecherous character of Uncle Monty in the film Withnail and I on Zeffirelli." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Zeffirelli)
Olivia Hussey, the star of the film, was only FIFTEEN when that movie was filmed. And they made her do a nude scene.
Zefirelli was a sick pedophile:
"In an August 2018 interview for Fox News to promote the release of her autobiography Girl on the Balcony, Hussey discussed filming the controversial nude scene: "We shot it at the end of the film. So by that time...we've become one big family. It wasn't that big of a deal. And Leonard wasn't shy at all! In the middle of shooting I just completely forgot I didn't have clothes on."[32][33] In another 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene, saying, "Nobody my age had done that before," adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. "It was needed for the film. Everyone thinks they were so young they didn't realize what they were doing. But we were very aware. We both came from drama schools and when you work you take your work very seriously."[34][35]
However, on 30 December 2022, Hussey and Leonard Whiting filed a $500 million lawsuit against Paramount Pictures for sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and fraud, regarding the scene. In their court filing, the two actors stated that they had suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades.[36][37] The complainants stated that director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially said they would wear flesh-coloured undergarments and be positioned in a way that would not show nudity, but that Whiting's bare buttocks and Hussey's bare breasts are nonetheless briefly shown during the scene, in violation of California state and federal laws against indecency and the exploitation of children.[38]
The case was dismissed in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 25, 2023.[39]"
will have a look, thanks! ... LOVE Witnail and I
OMG. This is the ONLY movie I went to see like 5 times. Now I don't feel so all alone in the world. I adore this film. I'm so excited you do too!
I loved the film and I'd seen the documentary too but watched it again. When I looked up the director, Bruce Robinson, I read he said that Zeffirelli made sexual advances to him when he acted in Romeo & Juliet and that the uncle is based on Zeffirelli. Richard Griffiths was fabulous as the uncle.
Oh, my gosh I'd forgotten about that incredibly funny movie!
An absolute gem.
Withnail & I is one of my favorite movies.
"We've gone on holiday by mistake!"
"We are not drunks! We are multimillionaires!"
"We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here, and we want them now."
In 2020, after I watched Out of Shadows by Mike Smith (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12131262/) I went down the rabbit hole of Withnail & I and Bruce Robinson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Robinson
The old pervert character, Uncle Monty, in the movie is based on Franco Zeffirelli. Bruce Robinson's first big acting role just out of college was in that Zeffirelli movie, Romeo & Juliet (1968).
"Director Bruce Robinson claimed to have been the target of unwanted amorous attention from Zeffirelli during the filming of Romeo and Juliet, in which Robinson played Benvolio. Robinson says that he based the lecherous character of Uncle Monty in the film Withnail and I on Zeffirelli." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Zeffirelli)
Olivia Hussey, the star of the film, was only FIFTEEN when that movie was filmed. And they made her do a nude scene.
Zefirelli was a sick pedophile:
"In an August 2018 interview for Fox News to promote the release of her autobiography Girl on the Balcony, Hussey discussed filming the controversial nude scene: "We shot it at the end of the film. So by that time...we've become one big family. It wasn't that big of a deal. And Leonard wasn't shy at all! In the middle of shooting I just completely forgot I didn't have clothes on."[32][33] In another 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene, saying, "Nobody my age had done that before," adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. "It was needed for the film. Everyone thinks they were so young they didn't realize what they were doing. But we were very aware. We both came from drama schools and when you work you take your work very seriously."[34][35]
However, on 30 December 2022, Hussey and Leonard Whiting filed a $500 million lawsuit against Paramount Pictures for sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and fraud, regarding the scene. In their court filing, the two actors stated that they had suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades.[36][37] The complainants stated that director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially said they would wear flesh-coloured undergarments and be positioned in a way that would not show nudity, but that Whiting's bare buttocks and Hussey's bare breasts are nonetheless briefly shown during the scene, in violation of California state and federal laws against indecency and the exploitation of children.[38]
The case was dismissed in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 25, 2023.[39]"
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Hussey)
A recurrent favorite, rented multiple times-from the local ‘hole in the wall’, back in the day (of VHS).
Excellent choice, Madam!
Can't see this without signing in to utube for age verification
Thank you for sharing, I'd never seen it.
Yes, youth! Thank You.