''Little Malcolm'' is a 1974 British

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Stuart Cooper Stuart W. Cooper (born 1942) is an American filmmaker, actor and writer. Career Cooper was a resident of the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s where his most notable film appearance was as one of ''The Dirty Dozen'', Roscoe Lever, in 1967. ...

and starring

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

. It is based on David Halliwell's stage play '' Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs''.Clayson, p. 370. The play's full name is used as the film title on the

BFI Flipside BFI Flipside is a series of Dual Format Editions ( DVD and Blu-ray released together) which was launched in May 2009 and is published by the British Film Institute's Video label. The series so far features a total of 65 feature and short films, a ...

2011 DVD release.

Plot

Malcolm Scrawdyke, a fascist political figure, plots revenge against the college that expelled him by forming the Party of Dynamic Erection, a right-wing political movement, with three acolytes.

Cast

Rosalind Ayres Rosalind Ayres (born 7 December 1946) is an English actress, director and producer. Active since 1970, Ayres is well known for her role in the 1997 film ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. Her husband, ...

as Ann Gedge *

as Malcolm Scrawdyke *

John McEnery John Murray McEnery (1 November 1943 – 12 April 2019) was an English actor. Early life Born in Walsall, England, McEnery was the third son of Charles and Mary McEnery (nee Brinson). McEnery's father owned a pickle factory, however whe ...

as Wick Blagdon * Raymond Platt as Irwin Ingham *

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Othe ...

as Dennis Charles Nipple

Production

Background

Apple Films Apple Corps Limited is a British multimedia company that was established in London by the members of the Beatles in the 1960s to form a conglomerate. The company's name, pronounced "apple core", is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, ...

project, ''Little Malcolm'' was the first feature film executive produced by former

Beatle The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band in Western popular ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

. Like many of

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

's film and recording projects, production on ''Little Malcolm'' was then jeopardised by lawsuits pertaining to Harrison,

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

's severing of ties with manager

Allen Klein Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 – July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased pr ...

. Speaking in 2011, Cooper said that Harrison "fought for a very long time to extract ''Little Malcolm'' from the official receivers", adding that its entry in the Berlin festival was only possible because the festival was an artistic forum and not finance-related.

Shooting

The film was shot primarily in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, in the north of England, during February and March 1973.

Soundtrack

Harrison supplied incidental music for the soundtrackMichael Simmons, "Cry for a Shadow", ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'', November 2011, p. 85. and, after being introduced to the duo

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

by their manager

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 4 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and ...

, produced their song "Lonely Man" for inclusion in a pivotal scene.Badman, p. 129. The soundtrack also featured the band Harpoon singing "Not With You".

Release

Once the Beatles' partnership had been formally dissolved, in January 1975, the film received a brief run in London's West End. In February 1983, Harrison donated his personal copy of ''Little Malcolm'' to a New York-based company for screening at a local film festival.

Accolades

After what Cooper described as an "incredible" reception at Berlin for "this very British film", ''Little Malcolm'' won a gold medal at the

Atlanta Film Festival The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia and operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a diverse r ...

in August 1974. It was entered into the

24th Berlin International Film Festival The 24th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1974. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' directed by Ted Kotcheff. Juries The following people were announced as being on t ...

, where it won the

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Home media

In 2011, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

released the film on DVD as part of their flipside strand.

References

Sources

* Keith Badman, ''The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001'', Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ). * Alan Clayson, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; ). * Peter Doggett, ''You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup'', It Books (New York, NY, 2011; ). * Bob Woffinden, ''The Beatles Apart'', Proteus (London, 1981; ).

External links

* {{George Harrison 1974 films 1974 comedy-drama films 1974 independent films British films based on plays British comedy-drama films Films directed by Stuart Cooper Films scored by Stanley Myers British independent films Apple Films films Films shot in Greater Manchester 1970s English-language films 1970s British films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films