My good friend Unched Bundies (the name I affectionately call him when slightly tipsy on sherry) will most likely be the only person who truly appreciates this blog post. For that, I apologize not even slightly. I am, as you may have previously gathered, in the throes of an obsession with "Withnail & I".
Disclaimer: If you have no interest in this move, or are allergic to it, please feel free to skip to the loo during this romantic interlude.
For those of you who may be interested in the recent details of my currently-under-construction "Wall-O-Withnail", here are the items I have so far collected:
IN THE MOVIE:
The kitchen curtain
MY ITEM:
After months of ebay searching,
a scrap of THE SAME PATTERN!
(so far not received, is coming to me in NY
from the UK... waiting with anticipation)
IN THE MOVIE:
A plate by Ridgway, "Homemaker" collection
MY ITEM:
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IN THE MOVIE:
Fairy Liquid Soap bottle, 1960s vintage
In the sink of doom at Withnail's apartment
A similar 1960's vintage Fairy Liquid soap bottle,
this time utilized by Danny the Drug Dealer
as a receptacle for uncontaminated urine in a
device designed to free the drunk driver from any charges.
MY ITEM:
Granted, it's not a VINTAGE Fairy Liquid bottle - it's the repro vintage version for the Queen's Jubilee... but it will have to do until I can get my mitts on a real vintage bottle resembling the one(s) from the movie.
IN THE MOVIE:
A beat-up 1961 Mark II Jaguar
MY ITEM:
A model, diecast 1960 Mark II Jaguar
Granted, it's not a 1961, and it's dark green, but that's where
THIS comes in...
Model paint - in the color of the original Withnail Jag.
I have plans to bust out the left headlight on the
model (when it arrives) and add the prerequisite rust
and damage that the Jag in the movie has...
this will be an adventure in DE-perfecting!
IN THE MOVIE:
A bottle of 1953 Chateau Margaux wine, which
Withnail declares "best of the century"
before swilling it straight from the bottle
in his angst over Marwood's imminent departure.
MY ITEM:
A print of a painting of a bottle of 1953 Chateau Margaux wine, from ebay, which I have not yet received.
Why, you may ask, did I not just purchase a bottle of the actual wine? Well, I'll tell you. The shit runs somewhere between $600 and $1,000 a bottle! So - a print of a painting of a bottle will do me very well, thanks anyhoo.
IN THE MOVIE... and MY ITEM:
This movie poster is on the right-hand side wall just next to Withnail's horrific kitchen sink in the Flat that Time Forgot. I managed to completely luck up on one on ebay... and it's ready to take its place in the Wall-O-Withnail!
IN THE MOVIE and MY ITEM:
This movie poster is on the left-hand wall just next to Withnail's horrific kitchen sink. I found a postcard-sized version of it, so that it will fit into the "Wall-O-Withnail" without requiring 32 inches worth of wall space to do so!
IN THE MOVIE and MY ITEM:
This image of Louise Brooks is "Sellotaped" to the wall just at the corner of the Charlie Chaplin poster, in Withnail's kitchen, left side wall. I printed one off on my computer and attached it with the American verison of Sellotape, "Scotch Tape". It will feature prominently in the "Wall-O-Withnail, especially since my printer sucks and printed it out in a faded and crappy way.
There are a few other items I'm still trying to locate. First, a mantel clock like the one in this photo:
... which should only cost me around $1,200 or so, according to prices of plain old antique mantel clocks on ebay. Am looking every day, and so far have not come across any with the amazing carved spindles on this baby.
Second, I'm trying like hell to find a naked lady porcelain lamp base, with said lady wearing a blue coat... like in the movie (no pic available). So far, no luck whatseover. Fingers crossed.
QUESTION FOR UNCHED BUNDIES:
There are two scenes which I suspect do not include the actors they seem to.
One: The scene where Marwood and Withnail are in the Jag, headed to Monty's cabin (Crow Crag), taking the exit off the highway. Jimi Hendrix music on full bore. The person in the passenger seat, ostensibly Withnail, is obviously turned completely toward the window, giving us only a glimpse of the back of their head. The hair is sticky-out, like Withnails, but the shape of the head is different. Plus, there is nothing out the passenger window of note that would induce anyone to turn completely to one side to stare at it. I propose that it's actually Bruce Robinson, playing Withnail, trying to sneak into his own movie.
Two: The scene (again in the Jag) where Withnail lists the instructions for Danny's drunk driving avoidance device (a Fairy Liquid bottle with tubes and straps). The scene is shot from the back seat. The character we suppose is Marwood, driving, upon closer inspection seems to be someone wearing a very carefully curled wig - and as their upper forehead and eyebrows are visible in the rear view mirror, it's obviously (to me) not Paul McGann. I propose that it's actually Bruce Robinson, playing Marwood, trying to sneak into his own movie.
Bunched Undies, you're hereby challenged to re-watch the movie (if necessary) and provide your opinions on these scenes, since I know for a fact you're a complete Withnail addict, as I am.
Anyone else reading this who happens to also be a Withnail addict: feel free to respond and weigh in on these two scenes.
If you're not (yet) a Withnail addict, grab a copy of the movie and watch the hell out of it. Get back to me on these scenes.
P.S. Why does Marwood say "You'd lose a leg" to Withnail when they're in the pub just prior to invading the Penrith Tea Room? This is something else I'd dearly love to know. As far as the movie tells, Withnail has only been considered as an understudy for Konstantin in "The Seagull"... and that character does not lose a leg. So what the hell is Marwood on about?
Goodness girl, with this eye for detail you are wasting your time yelling at airline pilots. You should to Hollywood and be a set designer. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs for your other queries, I will have to pop in the DVD again and check them out. I always thought the leg reference concerned the prrroooooper rrrrrubber boots Monty wanted them to buy. But I'll review. Until my head goes numb. Cheers
Unched Bundies
Well, I have always said that being a "locations and set" person for movies was one of my dream jobs. You have just given me reaffirmation. In my next life, I shall get an early start on it and put a foot in the door before grey hairs set in.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "You'd lose a leg" comment, it happens nowhere near the rubber boots. Marwood has just phoned his agent, who's told him there might be a smallish part opening up in a local theater, where he'd be playing a soldier. Withnail, shooting him down immediately, says he wouldn't think Marwood would want such a paltry part, adding the comment "they'll make you cut your hair" - as if that's a deal breaker. Marwood answers in turn, "Well, you'd lose a leg". The way the scene is phrased, it makes it sound as if Marwood is referring to some part that Withnail had been hankering for, or maybe was offered in the past. If that's the case, it's a part we the viewers were never privy to. The only acting job that was referred to where Withnail was concerned was the understudy for Konstantin in "The Seagull". I actually watched the movie version of that play, just to see if anyone lost a leg, or if there were women staring out of windows whining about ducks going to Moscow. There weren't.
And so, I go on wondering.
Made up youve got curtain. I can stop looking in charity shops now. Still hopefully of fairy liquid bottle - visiting dirty old men this week (and clearing out my kitchen).
ReplyDeleteIve heaard of breaking a leg but not losing one.
Cant wait to see end result.
Clearly I am going to have to screen Withnail and I for everyone else here at Christmas - my girls haven't ever seen it (horrors!) and I think my oldest, at least, will like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see your Withnail display! You are awesome, finding all these cool things :)
I have compeleted my homework assignment and if homework was this pleasurable when I was in school, I would now be the holder of several advanced degrees.
ReplyDelete1. If you are referring to the shot of the back of Withnail's head just prior to him shouting at the schoolgirls, that is clearly Withnail's head with Richard E. Grant's corporeal being attached to it. I'm not sure what makes you think it is another's cranium for it is most certainly Withnail's noggin.
2. Yes the car mirror reflection of Marwood is a bit dodgy, but I see nothing leads me to conclude that it is a doppleganger. Of course it could be Robinson. It could also be McGann in a wig if, for instance, the scene were shot out order after his haircut.
But granted i do not have the superhuman powers of observation you've so clearly displayed, so I may have missed something.
As for the leg thing. After much meditative reflection, I have decided that the line is intended to show just how desperate Withnail is for a role...any role. Marwood may have to cut his hair for employment, but Withnail would gladly dismember himself, what with his vanished cigar commercial, possible dead agent and all that.
I now relinquish the floor to the Meatloaf Community...
SS - YES! Just got the curtain (well, won the auction, anyhoo... haven't received it yet as it's coming from the UK). Not sure that dirty old men are the best source of Fairy Liquid bottles. Now, if they were clean old men, there might be some hope they owned soap...
ReplyDeleteB.U. - No, no, no... not the "SCRUBBERS" scene... the scene where the camera pans back and you see, from a distance, the jag taking the exit off the highway. There's just music playing and you can see the heads of the two people in the car. Marwood (driving) looks like Marwood, but the passenger (ostensibly Withnail) is hunched over and staring out the side window, away from the camera, at absolutely nothing - a hillside of grass.
As for the shots of W. and M. taken from the rear seat, "Marwood" turns his head two or three times during Withnail's monologue on how to use the drunk-driver-avoidance device. I freeze-framed those head turns, and the bloke doesn't have anything like Paul McGann's cheekbones or nose shape. Paul McGann's hair is wild and unruly, whereas the bloke in the driver's seat has something resembling pin-curls.
I do like your proposed idea that it is McGann, but in a wig, because of out-of-order shooting schedule. Still, different nose and cheekbones, methinks.
Lidian - While this is my favorite film, it's definitely not one to whip out for the family at Christmastime, unless your family is a WHOLE lot less uptight than mine. There's not a single scene in the entire movie that's not rife with profanity, drinking, and references to or actual drug use. I make this disclaimer because I realize I've been rhapsodizing at length about how much I like this movie, and I would feel awful if you brought it out for Auntie Pip and Uncle Boris and the kids and ended up embarrassed and written off everyone's will.
That being said, enjoy the (private) screening! 8-)
I have re-watched the subject scenes, and find the evidence inconclusive. However, if we accept your theory as accurate, it opens interesting avenues of speculation.
ReplyDeleteLet's suppose that Robinson was sitting in the editing room and said, "That sequence with the Hendrix music works bloody well. I do wish it were longer. We're paying a bloody fortune for the rights"
(The Hendrix family is famous for being quite stingy with licensing of Jimi's music for TV & film.)
To which his editor replied, "If you shot some scenes of the car going down road, we could intersperse them and extend the montage."
Robinson then went out with a crew and shot some scenes of the car trucking along, but they could only get Grant --perhaps McGann was vacationing in the Caribbean-- so a somewhat look alike actor, or perhaps Robinson himself, was outfitted with a curly wig,
If you look at just the car scenes, the weather is quite gray and dismal. It also must have been extremely early in the AM, as there is absolutely no traffic, which I doubt is a common state on a major London freeway.
Also, at the end of the piss device explanation scene, Withnail says, "I'm going to have a snooze." And in the next car exterior scene, there is indeed only the slightest hint of a body in the passenger seat, as though that passenger seat were reclined, maintaining the continuity. All of which supports the idea that the scenes in question were added later.
And no, Withnail is not a heartwarming holiday family film. Last Tango in Paris is a much better choice.
/geekout
For a wonderful family film, see my next post! 8-)
ReplyDeletewow you certainly are obsessed. I'll have to get the movie out again on DVD... did enjoy it but don't remember this much detail!
ReplyDeleteF.B. - YES! Obsession is a wonderful pastime. Sure beats off-track betting.
ReplyDelete