1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

3
00:00:20,833 --> 00:00:22,733
Well now what about
this Peter O'Toole story?

4
00:00:22,867 --> 00:00:24,567
Let's hear the beginning of it.

5
00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:28,667
I was born in Ireland and
brought up in Yorkshire

6
00:00:30,533 --> 00:00:34,967
and I was evacuated
to Gainsborough,
worked on a newspaper,

7
00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:37,700
went to the Navy, went to
RADA and became an actor.

8
00:00:37,833 --> 00:00:39,233
Well, that's one kind of story,

9
00:00:39,367 --> 00:00:40,733
now tell us the real story.

10
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:53,633
And he came back and said,

11
00:00:53,767 --> 00:00:56,367
I want you out of this
house in two hours.

12
00:00:56,500 --> 00:00:59,900
So really, I had to pack
and leave because he,

13
00:01:00,100 --> 00:01:02,767
I thought I must go now
because he said I can go.

14
00:01:02,900 --> 00:01:04,800
But it was, it was
quick, you know, it was,

15
00:01:04,933 --> 00:01:06,600
and I had to speak
to the children,

16
00:01:06,733 --> 00:01:08,133
he wrote out a script for me.

17
00:01:09,433 --> 00:01:11,067
I had to tell them,
which wasn't true.

18
00:01:11,133 --> 00:01:12,833
And I just had to leave.

19
00:01:12,967 --> 00:01:14,200
* How was I to know *

20
00:01:14,333 --> 00:01:15,800
* That this was
always only just *

21
00:01:15,933 --> 00:01:20,500
* A little game to you *

22
00:01:20,633 --> 00:01:23,467
* All the time I thought
you gave your heart *

23
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,433
* I thought that I would
do the same for you *

24
00:01:29,833 --> 00:01:32,367
* Tell the truth I think
I should have seen it *

25
00:01:32,500 --> 00:01:35,200
* Coming from a mile away *

26
00:01:35,333 --> 00:01:37,467
* When the words you say are *

27
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,967
* Baby, I'm a fool
who thinks it's cool *

28
00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:45,833
* To fall in love *

29
00:01:45,967 --> 00:01:49,300
* If I gave a thought
to fascination *

30
00:01:49,433 --> 00:01:54,300
* I would know it
wasn't right to care *

31
00:01:55,667 --> 00:01:57,533
* Logic doesn't seem
to mind to die *

32
00:01:57,667 --> 00:02:02,533
* I'm fascinated
by a love affair *

33
00:02:03,533 --> 00:02:05,467
* Still my heart would benefit *

34
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,533
* From a little tenderness *

35
00:02:07,667 --> 00:02:09,867
* From time to time *

36
00:02:10,067 --> 00:02:11,700
* But never mind, 'cause *

37
00:02:11,833 --> 00:02:13,300
* Baby I'm a fool *

38
00:02:13,433 --> 00:02:15,233
* Who thinks it's cool *

39
00:02:15,367 --> 00:02:20,300
* To fall in love *

40
00:02:21,467 --> 00:02:25,933
* Hmmm *

41
00:02:26,067 --> 00:02:28,633
* Hmm Hmm Hmmm *

42
00:02:30,067 --> 00:02:32,467
He was the most extraordinary
man I ever knew.

43
00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,400
It was phenomenal,
because of Peter.

44
00:02:35,533 --> 00:02:40,133
Whatever he did, comedy,
tragedy, farce, he could do it.

45
00:02:40,267 --> 00:02:43,567
And Peter O'Toole, which
was a wonderful experience.

46
00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:46,667
This handsome, kind
of wolf-like creature.

47
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,467
I miss him terribly
because he was just

48
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,467
such fun to be around.

49
00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,633
When I did the screen
test, he was phenomenal.

50
00:02:53,767 --> 00:02:56,933
Peter would come in and
assert his dominance,

51
00:02:57,067 --> 00:03:00,200
insisting on pissing in
their, in their basin,

52
00:03:00,333 --> 00:03:01,367
in their dressing room.

53
00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:02,900
He was full of fun.

54
00:03:03,067 --> 00:03:04,567
He was just, he
had such stature,

55
00:03:04,700 --> 00:03:06,733
he had such elegance, you know?

56
00:03:06,867 --> 00:03:09,067
I've only worked
with one other actor

57
00:03:09,133 --> 00:03:12,067
who's given me that
much freedom to play.

58
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,367
And excuse all the
other wonderful people

59
00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:17,067
I've worked with, I learned
more working with Peter

60
00:03:17,133 --> 00:03:19,833
than in the rest of my career.

61
00:03:19,967 --> 00:03:21,867
Yeah, he was quite a remark,
well, he was a genius.

62
00:03:22,067 --> 00:03:23,500
There's the way he speaks,

63
00:03:23,633 --> 00:03:26,367
which is often over-articulated.

64
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,767
* Hey your eyes of dawning *

65
00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:34,067
* Hey your eyes are open *

66
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,567
* Baby your eyes are smoking *

67
00:03:37,700 --> 00:03:40,700
* So please don't send me away *

68
00:03:40,833 --> 00:03:43,167
* You locked me up *

69
00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:47,967
* You said I'm hypnotised *

70
00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:50,200
* Whenever you look my way *

71
00:03:50,333 --> 00:03:53,533
* It's like dynamite *

72
00:03:53,667 --> 00:03:56,433
I was brought up
in a place called Hunslet,

73
00:03:56,567 --> 00:03:57,867
which is a remarkable place.

74
00:03:58,067 --> 00:04:02,867
It's about four square
miles of rabbit warrens.

75
00:04:03,667 --> 00:04:06,733
One up, one down houses,

76
00:04:06,867 --> 00:04:09,100
which were built very rapidly

77
00:04:09,233 --> 00:04:11,567
and rather badly by
the copper bosses

78
00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:13,067
in the Industrial Revolution.

79
00:04:14,333 --> 00:04:16,067
And the people who
lived there initially

80
00:04:16,167 --> 00:04:19,967
were from the Green Belt
of Yorkshire. the Dales,

81
00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:22,633
who moved in and
overnight became engineers

82
00:04:22,767 --> 00:04:27,600
and string makers and
Yorkshire Relish sauce makers,

83
00:04:28,567 --> 00:04:29,467
you know, the whole schmear.

84
00:04:30,933 --> 00:04:33,500
And they, they lived
on Yorkshire pudding,

85
00:04:33,633 --> 00:04:35,533
which was then hard tack.

86
00:04:35,667 --> 00:04:37,100
When the war started,

87
00:04:37,233 --> 00:04:40,067
much to my intense delight,
schools were closed.

88
00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,900
And I was then six, and I
was sent down to Gainsborough

89
00:04:44,233 --> 00:04:46,400
and I was sort of
in farms and things.

90
00:04:46,533 --> 00:04:48,300
And I came out to
Leeds when I was 12,

91
00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:54,300
and I went to a school
for my first time, really.

92
00:04:55,900 --> 00:04:57,600
I went for two
years or just under,

93
00:04:57,733 --> 00:05:00,267
and left joyfully whistling,

94
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:01,733
'cause I really
couldn't bear school.

95
00:05:01,867 --> 00:05:02,600
I mean, they couldn't
teach me anything

96
00:05:02,733 --> 00:05:03,767
that I wanted to know.

97
00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:05,833
I've got the kind of mind that

98
00:05:05,967 --> 00:05:08,433
rejects anything that
I don't want to know.

99
00:05:08,567 --> 00:05:10,567
And it was no, what
they could teach me

100
00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:11,500
I could get out
of books, anyway.

101
00:05:11,633 --> 00:05:13,500
And did, and have done.

102
00:05:13,633 --> 00:05:15,767
I went to the
Yorkshire Evening News

103
00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:17,200
and I asked if
they'd take me on,

104
00:05:17,333 --> 00:05:19,600
gave wrong ages and all
that terrible nonsense,

105
00:05:19,733 --> 00:05:21,167
which I'd read that
someone else had done,

106
00:05:21,300 --> 00:05:24,133
so I did it, and
they accepted me.

107
00:05:25,733 --> 00:05:29,833
Great tea maker, runner,
inquests, coroner's courts.

108
00:05:29,967 --> 00:05:31,500
But the most fun I ever had was

109
00:05:31,633 --> 00:05:33,067
in the photographer's
department.

110
00:05:33,133 --> 00:05:35,433
In fact, it's the
only thing I enjoyed.

111
00:05:35,567 --> 00:05:38,833
And I finished up as Assistant
Art Editor on the paper.

112
00:05:38,967 --> 00:05:42,067
I mean, His Majesty was
desperate for my services

113
00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:44,867
at one point, and I had
to nip into the Navy.

114
00:05:45,067 --> 00:05:47,567
I don't think he
was too grateful.

115
00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:49,533
I was very perverse,
I must admit.

116
00:05:49,667 --> 00:05:50,600
The Navy!

117
00:05:50,733 --> 00:05:52,933
Lovely, thank you, very nice.

118
00:05:53,067 --> 00:05:54,967
No, I wasn't, I couldn't do it.

119
00:05:55,100 --> 00:05:58,100
And I used to play civilian
all the time, you know,

120
00:05:58,233 --> 00:06:00,500
referring to the
funnels as chimneys.

121
00:06:00,633 --> 00:06:04,100
The two years in the
Navy are a total blank.

122
00:06:04,233 --> 00:06:05,267
It's, I've rejected it.

123
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:06,633
I've hypnotised myself,

124
00:06:06,767 --> 00:06:09,233
I've amputated the
Navy from my mind.

125
00:06:09,367 --> 00:06:10,933
But you see, this is
about becoming an actor,

126
00:06:11,067 --> 00:06:12,900
as I say, I was,
I was born a ham.

127
00:06:13,067 --> 00:06:16,067
One is, I mean, nothing
else I could do.

128
00:06:16,167 --> 00:06:18,167
So I thought, well,
the best thing to do

129
00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:20,533
is to go to a
school for a while.

130
00:06:20,667 --> 00:06:21,900
'Cause I still had a,

131
00:06:22,067 --> 00:06:23,900
this ghastly Irish
Yorkshire accent

132
00:06:24,067 --> 00:06:24,967
I thought should be ironed out.

133
00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:26,933
So I thought I'd go to school,

134
00:06:27,067 --> 00:06:28,167
but which one I hadn't
the faintest idea.

135
00:06:28,300 --> 00:06:29,900
Went to RADA and
became an actor.

136
00:06:31,567 --> 00:06:35,433
Back in the 50s, so O'Toole
was in the same acting class

137
00:06:35,567 --> 00:06:39,500
as Albert Finney, who was
offered "Lawrence" before him,

138
00:06:39,633 --> 00:06:43,800
Alan Bates, Brian
Bedford, Richard Briers,

139
00:06:43,933 --> 00:06:45,400
and Richard Briers,
who I knew well,

140
00:06:45,533 --> 00:06:48,900
said back then when O'Toole
was only in his early twenties,

141
00:06:49,067 --> 00:06:52,433
the other students
would call him "Sir".

142
00:06:52,567 --> 00:06:54,367
There was already this
sense that there was

143
00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:57,167
something exceptional
about this guy.

144
00:06:57,300 --> 00:06:58,700
And I said to Richard,
well what was it?

145
00:06:58,833 --> 00:07:00,267
What did you see
in Peter O'Toole

146
00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,933
when he was 22 years old at the

147
00:07:03,067 --> 00:07:04,867
Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art, down from Yorkshire,

148
00:07:05,067 --> 00:07:08,067
but 100% Irishman, what was it?

149
00:07:08,133 --> 00:07:10,300
And he said, well, he was
just, he was electric, love.

150
00:07:10,433 --> 00:07:11,467
It was as simple as that.

151
00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,233
O'Toole was bloody electric.

152
00:07:13,367 --> 00:07:16,300
So his reputation as a stage
actor was pretty strong,

153
00:07:16,433 --> 00:07:19,067
particularly from Bristol,
when he went to Bristol,

154
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,667
and he played up, he played
the "Hamlet" in Bristol.

155
00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:23,733
And a lot of people
who saw him there,

156
00:07:23,867 --> 00:07:25,067
people like, there was an actor

157
00:07:25,133 --> 00:07:26,200
I knew called John Phillips,

158
00:07:26,333 --> 00:07:27,533
I think was in that with him,

159
00:07:27,667 --> 00:07:29,700
and he said there
was nothing like him.

160
00:07:29,833 --> 00:07:31,967
That when he walked on
the stage in that time,

161
00:07:32,100 --> 00:07:33,733
there was nothing like him.

162
00:07:33,867 --> 00:07:37,200
I saw O'Toole at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre

163
00:07:37,333 --> 00:07:40,133
and he was playing Jimmy
Porter in John Osborne's.

164
00:07:40,267 --> 00:07:43,300
tremendous play, revolutionary
play of its time,

165
00:07:43,433 --> 00:07:45,367
and I'd never seen
anything like it,

166
00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:47,067
and he inspired
me to be an actor.

167
00:07:47,133 --> 00:07:49,867
He was one of the most
dangerous actors I've ever seen.

168
00:07:50,067 --> 00:07:52,267
He was quite brilliant on
stage, like an electric light.

169
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,100
He developed in the
most wonderful way.

170
00:07:55,233 --> 00:07:57,667
This is the bedrock
of his career, really.

171
00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,367
He went there as a
boy and out of RADA,

172
00:08:02,500 --> 00:08:04,867
not with a good
reputation at all,

173
00:08:05,067 --> 00:08:07,267
not not having
done well at RADA.

174
00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,067
And he played tiny parts,
walk-ons for a year, 18 months,

175
00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,067
and he really worked hard.

176
00:08:15,167 --> 00:08:17,933
And he finally was
playing the leading parts

177
00:08:18,067 --> 00:08:19,400
by the time he'd finished.

178
00:08:19,533 --> 00:08:22,100
So his training was immaculate,

179
00:08:22,233 --> 00:08:24,333
he did everything by the book.

180
00:08:24,467 --> 00:08:25,867
And he learned how to work,

181
00:08:26,067 --> 00:08:27,267
and he learned how to do well,

182
00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,400
and he became a star at Bristol,

183
00:08:30,700 --> 00:08:32,133
his fame was all
over the theatre.

184
00:08:32,267 --> 00:08:34,367
We all talked about
Peter O'Toole at Bristol.

185
00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:38,300
That conveys somewhat
of the Bristol days.

186
00:08:38,433 --> 00:08:40,400
On stage, he was mesmerising.

187
00:08:40,533 --> 00:08:42,333
He could do any accent.

188
00:08:42,467 --> 00:08:46,400
He was doing, "Waiting for
Godot" at one rehearsal

189
00:08:46,533 --> 00:08:49,067
and I was allowed in to watch.

190
00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:53,867
This man was overpoweringly
tense, spellbindingly powerful.

191
00:08:54,067 --> 00:08:57,533
Everyone dwarfed, disappeared,

192
00:08:57,667 --> 00:08:59,700
when he appeared on stage.

193
00:08:59,833 --> 00:09:04,067
He was like a, he was like
a wolf, foxy or a wolf,

194
00:09:04,133 --> 00:09:07,067
like there was something,
he was a canine.

195
00:09:07,133 --> 00:09:08,533
He's been described as a wolf.

196
00:09:08,667 --> 00:09:10,133
Well, he had that
look about him,

197
00:09:10,267 --> 00:09:12,800
that sort of hungry
kind of thing he did.

198
00:09:19,500 --> 00:09:22,900
Well, we met on a pavement,
the very first time.

199
00:09:23,067 --> 00:09:25,200
I went to Goodge Street
for lunch one day,

200
00:09:25,333 --> 00:09:26,800
which was an unusual thing,

201
00:09:26,933 --> 00:09:28,100
'cause we, we didn't have
any money, any of us.

202
00:09:28,233 --> 00:09:29,867
It was outside the
Spaghetti House,

203
00:09:30,067 --> 00:09:32,067
where I was a student at RADA,

204
00:09:32,167 --> 00:09:34,900
And O'Toole was a,
was a leading young,

205
00:09:35,067 --> 00:09:38,500
tearaway leading man
at Bristol Old Vic.

206
00:09:38,633 --> 00:09:41,367
And his fame had
arrived back at RADA

207
00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:43,400
and I was very impressed,
'cause there he was,

208
00:09:43,533 --> 00:09:46,533
I came out of lunch and there
he was with a few friends,

209
00:09:46,667 --> 00:09:47,800
and I was with friends,

210
00:09:47,933 --> 00:09:49,533
they knew each other
and they introduced us.

211
00:09:49,667 --> 00:09:52,567
And he looked to me like
that character in Pinocchio,

212
00:09:52,700 --> 00:09:55,467
you know, the, was
it a wolf or a,

213
00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,200
there was a man who led
the children astray,

214
00:09:58,333 --> 00:10:00,633
I haven't seen the film
for a very long time,

215
00:10:00,767 --> 00:10:04,200
and he looked like that to me.

216
00:10:04,333 --> 00:10:06,033
Kind of wolf-like creature

217
00:10:06,167 --> 00:10:10,667
in a green jacket
and curly hair.

218
00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,600
And we were introduced and
we passed a few pleasantries

219
00:10:16,867 --> 00:10:18,767
and off I went back
to be a student,

220
00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:20,200
and he went off to
Bristol Old Vic.

221
00:10:20,333 --> 00:10:22,200
And, and I thought,

222
00:10:22,333 --> 00:10:23,933
as I was walking
back, I thought,

223
00:10:24,067 --> 00:10:26,533
"Well, I'll marry him
one day, I suppose".

224
00:10:26,667 --> 00:10:28,133
And I thought no more about it,

225
00:10:28,267 --> 00:10:30,667
I didn't meet him
again for three years.

226
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,233
And we did in fact marry
in five years time.

227
00:10:33,367 --> 00:10:37,167
I just remember my
grandmother, Mamgee,

228
00:10:37,300 --> 00:10:40,000
she lived in South
Wales most of her life.

229
00:10:40,133 --> 00:10:43,600
She said, she said, when my
parents were getting married,

230
00:10:43,733 --> 00:10:46,533
she said she did have
reservations because she'd seen,

231
00:10:46,667 --> 00:10:50,033
you know, she said,
"Oh, the marriages

232
00:10:50,167 --> 00:10:53,733
between the Irish and the Welsh,

233
00:10:53,867 --> 00:10:56,100
it's like oil and water,

234
00:10:56,233 --> 00:10:58,067
they never mix".

235
00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:00,967
When we got married,
he still had brown,

236
00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:05,833
black, curly hair, and he
looked completely different.

237
00:11:05,967 --> 00:11:08,067
He looked very Irish, you know.

238
00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,900
People gave him a really
bad time in the press,

239
00:11:11,067 --> 00:11:14,833
and his friends, about the
nose, which was so ridiculous.

240
00:11:14,967 --> 00:11:18,700
And his nose had been broken
in a match with the rugby,

241
00:11:18,833 --> 00:11:21,633
Swedish police,
that his submarine

242
00:11:21,767 --> 00:11:23,067
had docked somewhere in Sweden,

243
00:11:23,167 --> 00:11:24,933
and they'd played a rugby match

244
00:11:25,067 --> 00:11:26,533
and he'd been
kicked in the nose.

245
00:11:26,667 --> 00:11:29,400
So it, nothing was
added to the nose,

246
00:11:29,533 --> 00:11:31,333
but it went sideways
at the bottom,

247
00:11:31,467 --> 00:11:33,700
and lighting men had
a terrible problem

248
00:11:33,833 --> 00:11:36,133
with this curvature of the nose.

249
00:11:36,267 --> 00:11:37,400
So all they ever did,

250
00:11:37,533 --> 00:11:38,767
'cause I was there at the time,

251
00:11:38,900 --> 00:11:42,067
was straighten it and
put it back straight.

252
00:11:42,167 --> 00:11:44,500
And you would've thought
that he'd had major surgery,

253
00:11:44,633 --> 00:11:46,467
you know, the way
people went on about it,

254
00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:48,767
it was really bad, the
way to they treated him,

255
00:11:48,900 --> 00:11:51,467
and he was very, very
mortified about that,

256
00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:52,800
but he didn't complain.

257
00:11:52,933 --> 00:11:54,833
He said, "Well, when I was doing

258
00:11:54,967 --> 00:11:57,833
"The Day they Robbed
the Bank of England",

259
00:11:57,967 --> 00:11:59,467
I said, you know,
'I want a car'".

260
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,900
They said, oh no,
no, Mr. O'Toole,

261
00:12:02,067 --> 00:12:04,433
this is your first film,
your first big film, no car.

262
00:12:04,567 --> 00:12:06,733
Oh, how am I supposed
to get there?

263
00:12:06,867 --> 00:12:09,433
Well, there's public transport,
you know, you'll be fine.

264
00:12:09,567 --> 00:12:11,667
First day of filming,
he didn't turn up.

265
00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,400
Where's Peter?
Where's Mr. O'Toole?

266
00:12:14,533 --> 00:12:15,767
Not there.

267
00:12:15,900 --> 00:12:17,300
They rang, "Where are you?"

268
00:12:17,433 --> 00:12:19,067
He said, "Well,
where's the car?"

269
00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,233
He said, "No car, no me".

270
00:12:21,367 --> 00:12:22,733
And that was it.

271
00:12:22,867 --> 00:12:24,700
So from then on, he
always got his car.

272
00:12:40,300 --> 00:12:42,200
Well, "Lawrence of
Arabia" came along

273
00:12:42,333 --> 00:12:45,133
after he'd had a misstep
in his career, actually.

274
00:12:45,267 --> 00:12:47,433
Things did not go
well for him after

275
00:12:47,567 --> 00:12:49,733
"The Long and the
Short and the Tall".

276
00:12:49,867 --> 00:12:52,300
The movies that he made
were not successful,

277
00:12:52,433 --> 00:12:55,567
though it was wonderful to be
paid a little bit of money.

278
00:12:55,700 --> 00:12:57,800
We had a talk about
it and, and I said,

279
00:12:57,933 --> 00:13:00,167
"Look, I think you
should go back to basics

280
00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:03,700
and start again in the
theatre if you can".

281
00:13:03,833 --> 00:13:06,367
So he said yes, and
Stratford came up,

282
00:13:06,500 --> 00:13:08,767
"Merchant of Venice" and
"Taming of the Shrew"

283
00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:11,200
and "Troilus and Cressida".

284
00:13:11,333 --> 00:13:12,933
So I thought, we both thought,

285
00:13:13,067 --> 00:13:15,533
this would be a
wonderful thing for him.

286
00:13:15,667 --> 00:13:18,233
And we went back and it was
a wonderful thing for him,

287
00:13:18,367 --> 00:13:20,200
he was a magnificent Shylock

288
00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,633
and he was a
wonderful Petruchio.

289
00:13:22,767 --> 00:13:27,333
And Peggy Ashcroft adored him
in that particular season.

290
00:13:27,467 --> 00:13:29,733
They were doing
"Taming of the Shrew",

291
00:13:29,867 --> 00:13:31,933
and she didn't know
how to do the business.

292
00:13:32,067 --> 00:13:32,933
"Sit here, Peggy",

293
00:13:33,067 --> 00:13:34,067
"Stand there, Peggy",

294
00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:35,300
"Put your leg there, Peggy",

295
00:13:35,433 --> 00:13:37,067
"Kick there, I won't fall down".

296
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,467
So, that's what the comedy,

297
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,333
it's circus, it's slapstick.

298
00:13:40,467 --> 00:13:42,067
"Come here, Peggy, come here".

299
00:13:42,133 --> 00:13:44,233
And he taught her all the
movements of the whole play.

300
00:13:44,367 --> 00:13:46,333
They still have those
movements at Stratford.

301
00:13:46,467 --> 00:13:49,067
They still have them
in the curriculum.

302
00:13:49,167 --> 00:13:51,833
They refer to
O'Toole's movements

303
00:13:51,967 --> 00:13:53,733
for "The Taming of the Shrew".

304
00:13:53,867 --> 00:13:58,267
And then Peggy adored him
for his greatness and talent.

305
00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,467
When he had made one film
that was kind of okay

306
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:03,800
for his new business
manager, who happened to be

307
00:14:03,933 --> 00:14:06,333
an American film producer,

308
00:14:06,467 --> 00:14:09,467
and he, it was "The Day They
Robbed the Bank of England".

309
00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,767
And he played an Englishman,
a very clipped officer.

310
00:14:12,900 --> 00:14:15,767
And that was the film
that David Lean saw.

311
00:14:15,900 --> 00:14:20,600
An assistant of David
Lean spotted O'Toole in

312
00:14:20,733 --> 00:14:22,400
"The Day they Robbed
the Bank of England"

313
00:14:22,533 --> 00:14:24,067
and got David Lean to see it,

314
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,633
and then took David Lean up
to Stratford to see him play

315
00:14:27,767 --> 00:14:29,867
either Petruchio or Shylock,

316
00:14:30,067 --> 00:14:32,733
and he said "He's the man".

317
00:14:32,867 --> 00:14:35,067
And David wanted
him for "Lawrence",

318
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,633
and Sam Spiegel did
not want him at all,

319
00:14:38,767 --> 00:14:40,633
'cause he'd just
finished doing a film,

320
00:14:40,767 --> 00:14:42,433
I think with Monty Clift,

321
00:14:42,567 --> 00:14:44,133
and he'd had enough
of the drinkers,

322
00:14:44,267 --> 00:14:46,900
he didn't want
another one.

323
00:14:47,067 --> 00:14:49,167
This has three
keys, so I'm told,

324
00:14:49,300 --> 00:14:50,533
each kept by a
different official

325
00:14:50,667 --> 00:14:52,200
on the person, as it were.

326
00:14:52,333 --> 00:14:54,167
There had apparently been
a meeting with Sam Spiegel

327
00:14:54,300 --> 00:14:56,067
and Peter O'Toole previously
about something else,

328
00:14:56,167 --> 00:14:59,433
and O'Toole had referred
to him as Mrs. Spiegel,

329
00:14:59,567 --> 00:15:01,833
which rankled with Sam Spiegel,

330
00:15:01,967 --> 00:15:03,900
who didn't think that
was funny at all,

331
00:15:04,067 --> 00:15:06,133
and was very much against it.

332
00:15:06,267 --> 00:15:08,167
And I think David
Lean, rumour has it,

333
00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:10,333
had to fight a
bit to get O'Toole

334
00:15:10,467 --> 00:15:12,467
into playing Lawrence because

335
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,533
Spiegel was not very pleased.

336
00:15:14,667 --> 00:15:18,067
Also, he knew of a reputation
of being a wild boy.

337
00:15:18,167 --> 00:15:20,100
'Cause Albert was gonna
play it, you know,

338
00:15:20,233 --> 00:15:22,733
Well, it's very interesting
about Albert, and,

339
00:15:22,867 --> 00:15:24,800
you know Albert and Peter
were at drama school together.

340
00:15:24,933 --> 00:15:28,200
So in the end, David prevailed.

341
00:15:28,333 --> 00:15:31,467
But the film helped a
lot, helped enormously.

342
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,433
It was huge, it was
absolutely huge.

343
00:15:33,567 --> 00:15:35,100
Every, it was undeniable.

344
00:15:35,233 --> 00:15:37,733
We all knew that we were in
the presence of, of stardom.

345
00:15:37,867 --> 00:15:40,400
And David Lean, probably
his finest picture.

346
00:15:40,533 --> 00:15:42,233
I think that's where
he was so sharp.

347
00:15:42,367 --> 00:15:44,867
He knew how he wanted to look.

348
00:15:45,067 --> 00:15:46,933
It's called the, Stanislavsky
calls it "The Mask".

349
00:15:47,067 --> 00:15:48,733
Where you, you know,
you put on the clothes,

350
00:15:48,867 --> 00:15:49,767
or you put on this, and suddenly

351
00:15:49,900 --> 00:15:50,967
you become the part.

352
00:15:51,100 --> 00:15:52,533
And I think O'Toole did that.

353
00:15:52,667 --> 00:15:55,300
I don't know, so I
can't say it precisely,

354
00:15:55,433 --> 00:15:58,067
but I suspect that's
it, he knew how to look,

355
00:15:58,167 --> 00:16:00,433
he knew how to shape himself.

356
00:16:00,567 --> 00:16:04,067
What Peter did was he
found the core of the man.

357
00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,300
That was the great thing,

358
00:16:05,433 --> 00:16:07,067
I mean, I'll never
forget that performance.

359
00:16:07,167 --> 00:16:08,400
I think it's one
of the truly great

360
00:16:08,533 --> 00:16:10,533
film performances,
actually, I really do.

361
00:16:10,667 --> 00:16:11,600
What is your name?

362
00:16:13,233 --> 00:16:15,067
My name is for my friends.

363
00:16:21,067 --> 00:16:22,767
None of my friends
is a murderer.

364
00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:25,533
My name is for my friends

365
00:16:25,667 --> 00:16:29,167
and none of my
friends are murderers.

366
00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:31,633
You know, I mean I was just,
it was electric, doing that.

367
00:16:31,767 --> 00:16:33,600
And he had this kind of,

368
00:16:33,733 --> 00:16:35,600
there was something
about Peter, he had this,

369
00:16:35,733 --> 00:16:36,867
in that role, he
had this sort of

370
00:16:37,067 --> 00:16:39,233
thwarted spirituality about him.

371
00:16:39,367 --> 00:16:41,667
He looked sensational.

372
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,333
He had this wonderful ability.

373
00:16:44,467 --> 00:16:46,667
He was, he was
also a great actor,

374
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,067
and he was mesmeric on screen.

375
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,433
Two large glasses of lemonade.

376
00:16:53,567 --> 00:16:57,967
In "Lawrence of Arabia",
Peter O'Toole speaks slow,

377
00:16:59,333 --> 00:17:00,667
and you feel that he
doesn't speak much,

378
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,967
but when he asks, when
he walks into that club,

379
00:17:05,100 --> 00:17:09,233
for "Two glasses of lemonade".

380
00:17:09,367 --> 00:17:10,167
It's for him.

381
00:17:11,133 --> 00:17:13,900
It's for him, it's for him.

382
00:17:14,067 --> 00:17:15,333
You think, well you
can't say "It's for him"

383
00:17:15,467 --> 00:17:16,733
any slower than that,

384
00:17:16,867 --> 00:17:19,467
but frankly, the "It's for him"

385
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,967
has underneath it
hand grenades, mines,

386
00:17:23,100 --> 00:17:27,067
a minefield of, you feel as
though he's gonna reach across

387
00:17:27,133 --> 00:17:29,467
and pull that barman the
other side of the bar.

388
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,100
And that and that
sense, you know,

389
00:17:31,233 --> 00:17:33,200
O'Toole's performances of,

390
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:35,600
and maybe it seems
a bit clichéd,

391
00:17:35,733 --> 00:17:39,200
but this sort of contained rage.

392
00:17:39,333 --> 00:17:40,800
Not a club boy at all,

393
00:17:40,933 --> 00:17:42,800
all that stuff when he
goes to the Officer's Mess,

394
00:17:42,933 --> 00:17:44,433
it was clearly, he
did all of that,

395
00:17:44,567 --> 00:17:45,800
and that's all Peter.

396
00:17:45,933 --> 00:17:47,167
That's all of him, you know,

397
00:17:47,300 --> 00:17:48,500
I mean Lean, of course,
director, was brilliant.

398
00:17:48,633 --> 00:17:50,667
And then the
wonderful thing when

399
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,067
he has the dagger and
he sees his own image

400
00:17:53,167 --> 00:17:56,433
and he does that
incredible, his vanity.

401
00:17:56,567 --> 00:17:58,533
And then he gets shot and
he goes, "Good, good, good",

402
00:17:58,667 --> 00:18:01,433
you know, I mean, yeah, it's
a great, great performance,

403
00:18:01,567 --> 00:18:03,233
it's a really great performance.

404
00:18:03,367 --> 00:18:07,067
The quietest of pieces in
something like "Lawrence",

405
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,267
to use that as an example,

406
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,867
that the sense of
an inner turbulence

407
00:18:13,067 --> 00:18:15,400
that either, I dunno,

408
00:18:15,533 --> 00:18:16,833
maybe he's just the
greatest actor in the world

409
00:18:16,967 --> 00:18:18,467
and he could flick it on,

410
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,200
or he opened up his own
access to something truly,

411
00:18:24,467 --> 00:18:27,067
yeah, turbulent is
the impression I have.

412
00:18:27,167 --> 00:18:29,267
And it made you feel uneasy.

413
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,367
His performances made
you feel unsettled,

414
00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:37,067
and it made you generally
feel that he was dangerous.

415
00:18:37,133 --> 00:18:40,200
And in the presence of
an O'Toole performance,

416
00:18:40,333 --> 00:18:42,733
what you were aware of was that

417
00:18:42,867 --> 00:18:45,800
the unexpected was
possible at any time.

418
00:18:45,933 --> 00:18:48,100
Never seen a man killed
with a sword before.

419
00:18:49,067 --> 00:18:50,967
Why don't you take a picture?

420
00:18:51,100 --> 00:18:53,800
It was in his contract that
I would fly out every month.

421
00:18:53,933 --> 00:18:55,300
Well, I couldn't
fly out every month,

422
00:18:55,433 --> 00:18:57,267
it was impossible
over two years.

423
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,900
So I used to, sort of,
put the time together

424
00:19:01,067 --> 00:19:03,400
and go and live
there in the desert.

425
00:19:03,533 --> 00:19:05,367
And David was such
a perfectionist,

426
00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:07,933
he would look through his,
whatever you look through,

427
00:19:08,067 --> 00:19:12,567
you know, and say, "No, not
quite right, we'll wait a bit",

428
00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:14,933
wait a bit, he could wait a
day, he could wait two days,

429
00:19:15,067 --> 00:19:16,133
he could wait a week.

430
00:19:16,267 --> 00:19:18,467
But then he, he liked to become,

431
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,867
to break actors down completely

432
00:19:22,067 --> 00:19:23,933
and then rebuild them completely

433
00:19:24,067 --> 00:19:26,100
so that he was
responsible for them

434
00:19:26,233 --> 00:19:27,733
and he would be
wonderful to them.

435
00:19:27,867 --> 00:19:29,933
Well, I can't see anyone
breaking Peter,

436
00:19:30,067 --> 00:19:32,733
I think anyone
trying to break Peter

437
00:19:32,867 --> 00:19:34,733
would just, he'd
go the other way.

438
00:19:34,867 --> 00:19:36,600
And one day he tried
that with O'Toole,

439
00:19:36,733 --> 00:19:40,567
it was the day they,
that O'Toole sang

440
00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:43,733
"The Man Who Robbed the
Bank at Monte Carlo",

441
00:19:43,867 --> 00:19:46,200
it was a long tracking shot,

442
00:19:46,333 --> 00:19:49,200
and they started first
thing in the morning,

443
00:19:49,333 --> 00:19:51,633
127 degrees, no shade,

444
00:19:51,767 --> 00:19:54,500
O'Toole in khaki up to there
with a hat and everything,

445
00:19:56,133 --> 00:19:59,233
and he would sing the song
and ride along, very slowly,

446
00:19:59,367 --> 00:20:00,633
until he was out of shot.

447
00:20:00,767 --> 00:20:05,633
And David just said,
"Mm, another one".

448
00:20:06,633 --> 00:20:09,033
And they did it all day.

449
00:20:09,167 --> 00:20:11,667
The crew were dropping
'cause there was no shade,

450
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,100
it was intolerably hot.

451
00:20:14,233 --> 00:20:17,800
I was miles away,
sitting on a box,

452
00:20:17,933 --> 00:20:19,933
watching in horror,
you know, at this,

453
00:20:20,067 --> 00:20:22,367
and I realised this was the day

454
00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:25,500
that Lean was going
to break Peter down

455
00:20:25,633 --> 00:20:28,500
and he was going to
build him up again.

456
00:20:28,633 --> 00:20:30,733
And I looked and I thought,
this is never gonna happen,

457
00:20:30,867 --> 00:20:34,267
he's not gonna break down,
he's not gonna do it.

458
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:35,800
So, and he didn't.

459
00:20:35,933 --> 00:20:37,800
I don't know why a
man like David Lean

460
00:20:37,933 --> 00:20:40,633
or any other man or any
other woman for that,

461
00:20:40,767 --> 00:20:44,267
has this, this desire
to break people down.

462
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:45,900
Lean wouldn't break him down

463
00:20:46,033 --> 00:20:47,933
'cause he wouldn't put up
with that English bollocks.

464
00:20:48,067 --> 00:20:50,933
That's what, you
know, his Celtic soul

465
00:20:51,067 --> 00:20:54,100
would not put up with
that English imperialism.

466
00:20:54,233 --> 00:20:56,867
So I suspect that was
a real clash of wills.

467
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,967
If a director knows what
he's about, then do 50 takes.

468
00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:02,833
And someone like John
Huston would do two takes,

469
00:21:02,967 --> 00:21:06,167
or David Lean would do 25.

470
00:21:06,300 --> 00:21:11,067
* I'm the man who broke
the bank at Monte Carlo. *

471
00:21:12,567 --> 00:21:14,533
It was a wonderful, wonderful
period in our lives.

472
00:21:14,667 --> 00:21:17,700
We'd not been getting along
very well before that.

473
00:21:17,833 --> 00:21:20,367
And the birth of my
first daughter seemed to

474
00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:22,767
trigger off something
horrible in him.

475
00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:24,967
I don't know, it was
some huge crisis,

476
00:21:25,100 --> 00:21:28,267
although he was the one that
was keen to have a child.

477
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,500
It, he wasn't ready for it
at all, he wasn't prepared.

478
00:21:31,633 --> 00:21:35,367
So he was insistent
that life should go on

479
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,067
exactly the same as when
we didn't have a child.

480
00:21:38,133 --> 00:21:40,433
Well, that is very,
very difficult.

481
00:21:40,567 --> 00:21:43,267
Some of our great
contemporary filmmakers,

482
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,967
Scorsese and Spielberg
and those sort of figures,

483
00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:49,300
the very famous directors
of the last 30 or 40 years,

484
00:21:49,433 --> 00:21:52,500
all rate "Lawrence" as
one of the great movies

485
00:21:52,633 --> 00:21:55,700
of the 20th century, one
of the very, very best.

486
00:21:55,833 --> 00:21:58,567
He got paid £19,000
for doing "Lawrence".

487
00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:00,233
And Jules advised
him to take it,

488
00:22:00,367 --> 00:22:02,100
because he said
it'll be worth it.

489
00:22:02,233 --> 00:22:04,067
And it clearly was, of
course, because the next,

490
00:22:04,133 --> 00:22:06,333
then he went into
the big paycheck.

491
00:22:06,467 --> 00:22:08,933
He did it for very, he was
the lowest paid actor on the,

492
00:22:09,067 --> 00:22:10,967
on the whole picture,
I would think.

493
00:22:12,333 --> 00:22:14,633
It didn't change him
fundamentally, no.

494
00:22:14,767 --> 00:22:16,933
He was exactly the same O'Toole

495
00:22:17,067 --> 00:22:18,200
that he'd been before, you know,

496
00:22:18,333 --> 00:22:20,300
at home, he was just the same.

497
00:22:20,433 --> 00:22:23,767
And he didn't really buy
into the stardom business,

498
00:22:23,900 --> 00:22:26,133
for instance, he would never
travel with an entourage.

499
00:22:26,267 --> 00:22:29,867
You know, everybody, every movie
star like Harris or Burton,

500
00:22:30,067 --> 00:22:33,800
they had people, you
know, secretaries,

501
00:22:33,933 --> 00:22:37,300
hairdressers, people
who fixed things.

502
00:22:37,433 --> 00:22:38,633
O'Toole, never.

503
00:22:38,767 --> 00:22:40,700
He would travel
with a stunt man,

504
00:22:40,833 --> 00:22:42,167
usually made friends
with the stunt man

505
00:22:42,300 --> 00:22:44,167
and they would
shack up together.

506
00:22:44,300 --> 00:22:47,067
And that was his
team, as it were.

507
00:22:47,133 --> 00:22:49,733
And that's remained so
all the time I knew him.

508
00:22:49,867 --> 00:22:51,800
And I think he deeply
respected David Lean,

509
00:22:51,933 --> 00:22:54,800
perhaps more than almost
any other director,

510
00:22:54,933 --> 00:22:57,867
and later turned
down "Dr. Zhivago",

511
00:22:58,067 --> 00:22:59,433
which rankled with Lean,

512
00:23:00,833 --> 00:23:02,200
but O'Toole said, "It
didn't speak to me,

513
00:23:02,333 --> 00:23:03,700
it didn't say anything.

514
00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:06,567
I couldn't get my head
into this character".

515
00:23:06,700 --> 00:23:08,533
In later years they
became friends again,

516
00:23:08,667 --> 00:23:11,633
and he was with Lean
when Lean passed away.

517
00:23:13,300 --> 00:23:17,067
I don't think there can be
people like him anymore.

518
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,967
I mean, it used to, I remember
doing a film years ago,

519
00:23:21,100 --> 00:23:22,967
the first film I
did virtually with,

520
00:23:23,100 --> 00:23:25,467
which Kenneth Branagh directed.

521
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,867
And I remember we were sitting
around at the time saying,

522
00:23:29,067 --> 00:23:31,867
no one is ever going to
tell stories about us

523
00:23:32,067 --> 00:23:34,167
in 50 years' time.

524
00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:35,767
"Oh, and do you remember
that was the time

525
00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:37,900
that Ken Branagh
dropped his teaspoon?".

526
00:23:38,067 --> 00:23:39,867
I mean that's about
all that happens.

527
00:23:40,067 --> 00:23:43,900
We are so bloody
ordinary, our generation,

528
00:23:44,067 --> 00:23:47,133
compared to that
remarkable group of people

529
00:23:47,267 --> 00:23:52,067
who were not only just more
daring as actors and performers,

530
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,067
who were more, more
sort of prepared to,

531
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,967
to strip themselves
of any dignity

532
00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:01,433
and to throw
themselves into a role,

533
00:24:01,567 --> 00:24:04,600
and yet annoyingly
retain that sexiness

534
00:24:04,733 --> 00:24:07,100
and that extraordinary charisma.

535
00:24:07,233 --> 00:24:10,133
But they also lived a
life that was richer

536
00:24:10,267 --> 00:24:12,067
and more careless.

537
00:24:12,133 --> 00:24:13,633
We were in Arles one day,

538
00:24:13,767 --> 00:24:18,067
and I used to go to a little
restaurant up the hill there,

539
00:24:18,167 --> 00:24:19,967
quite simply
to avoid the bar,

540
00:24:20,100 --> 00:24:23,600
because when we got
together it was chaos.

541
00:24:23,733 --> 00:24:27,200
And I sneaking in one night
and he was being helped out.

542
00:24:29,233 --> 00:24:31,633
He was fine, he wasn't too
drunk, but he was, you know,

543
00:24:31,767 --> 00:24:33,067
he liked to drink and so on.

544
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,267
But next day on
set, I'd never seen

545
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,933
a blistering performance,
a great performance,

546
00:24:38,067 --> 00:24:40,733
and nothing seemed
to affect him.

547
00:24:40,867 --> 00:24:45,700
And he was, he had
tremendous recovery in him,

548
00:24:47,067 --> 00:24:51,200
because he was dedicated
and he was focused.

549
00:24:52,567 --> 00:24:54,167
And we Celts have been
buggered for so long.

550
00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:56,833
We really have, we've
been treated so badly.

551
00:24:58,133 --> 00:25:00,400
I mean, the Irish,
don't get me started.

552
00:25:00,533 --> 00:25:02,500
I mean, we were
treated like shit,

553
00:25:02,633 --> 00:25:05,733
I mean, and, and that's a
thing that, it's in our DNA.

554
00:25:05,867 --> 00:25:10,367
We carry this sense of defeat,
we have to get over it.

555
00:25:10,500 --> 00:25:12,333
But it's a tough one.

556
00:25:12,467 --> 00:25:14,333
But that's what's so
extraordinary about that,

557
00:25:14,467 --> 00:25:16,900
that the Irish have learned,

558
00:25:17,067 --> 00:25:20,367
that it's about how do
I deal with control?

559
00:25:20,500 --> 00:25:22,500
I'll get pissed,
'cause I don't wanna be

560
00:25:22,633 --> 00:25:24,667
controlled by anybody,
I'll just get pissed.

561
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,067
I'll, I'll drink.

562
00:25:26,133 --> 00:25:28,733
And Richard had
it, Peter had it.

563
00:25:28,867 --> 00:25:30,567
Albert never had it, you know.

564
00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:32,433
Donal McCann had it.

565
00:25:32,567 --> 00:25:34,633
Donal McCann was one
of the great actors,

566
00:25:34,767 --> 00:25:36,500
really another great actor.

567
00:25:36,633 --> 00:25:39,867
He had it, and it,
it destroyed him.

568
00:25:40,067 --> 00:25:41,833
And that's, that's
a historical thing

569
00:25:41,967 --> 00:25:43,100
that's happened again and again

570
00:25:43,233 --> 00:25:44,967
and again and again and again.

571
00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:47,367
And I think Peter was
walking a tightrope

572
00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:49,367
through all of
that in order to be

573
00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:52,600
the classical actor that I
think he really wanted to be,

574
00:25:52,733 --> 00:25:54,833
and he certainly was
and certainly could be.

575
00:25:57,900 --> 00:25:59,400
Because I find when I play it,

576
00:25:59,533 --> 00:26:02,067
and I don't want to
talk about it, really,

577
00:26:02,133 --> 00:26:06,867
I am most moved in the
play with the ghost.

578
00:26:07,067 --> 00:26:09,467
Because the ghost is
the key to that play.

579
00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:12,500
I've often felt that the
best actor in the company

580
00:26:12,633 --> 00:26:14,300
ought play it, and
the up-and-comer

581
00:26:14,433 --> 00:26:15,867
ought to be Hamlet, you know.

582
00:26:16,067 --> 00:26:18,133
And people like
O'Toole, I think,

583
00:26:18,267 --> 00:26:22,367
and Welles always brought
to any kind of story,

584
00:26:22,500 --> 00:26:24,533
any sort of genre story,
including a revenge story,

585
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:26,367
including their dalliances with

586
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:29,633
something like "Hamlet",
this complexity.

587
00:26:29,767 --> 00:26:34,633
I was playing Laertes,
he was Hamlet,

588
00:26:36,333 --> 00:26:38,233
our relationship was purely
professional to start with,

589
00:26:38,367 --> 00:26:40,200
and then we, we became friends.

590
00:26:40,333 --> 00:26:42,567
I was in awe of
him, I admired him.

591
00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:46,667
He had the pzazz
that I didn't have.

592
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:48,467
I can't tell you what
pleasure it was to me

593
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,100
to hear that from Peter O'Toole,

594
00:26:50,233 --> 00:26:51,733
because people always talk about

595
00:26:51,867 --> 00:26:54,833
what Hamlet is, as though
he were a universal man,

596
00:26:54,967 --> 00:26:57,567
or as though he were a figure
in a 19th century novel.

597
00:26:57,700 --> 00:26:59,867
I mean as a young actor, I'd
never seen anything like it.

598
00:27:00,067 --> 00:27:01,867
I just thought,
this man is amazing.

599
00:27:02,067 --> 00:27:03,367
And I remember
seeing the "Hamlet",

600
00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:04,667
the dress rehearsal of "Hamlet",

601
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,833
which was pretty
chaotic actually.

602
00:27:06,967 --> 00:27:08,633
Sure, I think he's
perfectly capable of murder.

603
00:27:08,767 --> 00:27:11,733
What he's not capable
of is performing

604
00:27:11,867 --> 00:27:15,067
a lead role in a
revenge tragedy.

605
00:27:15,133 --> 00:27:17,533
I remember when we rehearsed

606
00:27:18,867 --> 00:27:22,133
the fight scene, for
instance, in "Hamlet",

607
00:27:22,267 --> 00:27:26,367
an Olympic swordsman
teaching us this routine.

608
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:29,333
And then one day
Peter said to me,

609
00:27:29,467 --> 00:27:31,433
"Look, let's go up
to the rehearsal room

610
00:27:31,567 --> 00:27:33,333
and work out another routine,

611
00:27:33,467 --> 00:27:37,467
because the routine he's
given us isn't gutsy enough,

612
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:42,400
you know, it's not spectacular,
not swashbuckling enough".

613
00:27:42,533 --> 00:27:45,400
So we went up to
the rehearsal room,

614
00:27:45,533 --> 00:27:50,367
and worked out a much
more swash and buckle.

615
00:27:52,067 --> 00:27:55,567
But then we opened the show
and it got reasonable reviews,

616
00:27:57,267 --> 00:27:59,767
but not spectacularly
good reviews.

617
00:27:59,900 --> 00:28:03,333
And Peter, who'd been on the
waggon all through rehearsals,

618
00:28:03,467 --> 00:28:04,933
he'd been such a good boy,

619
00:28:06,933 --> 00:28:10,867
because it wasn't hailed as
the great, the great "Hamlet",

620
00:28:11,067 --> 00:28:14,233
he went back on the booze a bit.

621
00:28:14,367 --> 00:28:19,267
And so sometimes, not always,

622
00:28:20,933 --> 00:28:24,300
but often, when we got to the
duel at the end of the show,

623
00:28:25,633 --> 00:28:26,867
he would wink at me
across the stage,

624
00:28:27,067 --> 00:28:29,767
which meant, "Fight for
your life tonight, Sam,

625
00:28:29,900 --> 00:28:32,900
because I'm not sticking
to any routine".

626
00:28:33,067 --> 00:28:36,600
And he used to swish at the
front row, you know, and,

627
00:28:36,733 --> 00:28:39,400
but it ended up with
him getting hurt,

628
00:28:39,533 --> 00:28:44,333
because I cut his finger and
he had a scar on it for life.

629
00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:51,667
And every time we met, he would
do that to me to remind me.

630
00:28:53,067 --> 00:28:54,567
I mean, after
"Lawrence of Arabia",

631
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,700
he goes back on the stage
to be in Brecht's "Baal",

632
00:28:57,833 --> 00:29:00,167
he does "Ride a Cock
Horse" on stage,

633
00:29:00,300 --> 00:29:02,100
with Siân Phillips at
the Piccadilly Theatre,

634
00:29:02,233 --> 00:29:03,500
the David Mercer play.

635
00:29:03,633 --> 00:29:06,633
So he constantly goes
back to the stage after,

636
00:29:06,767 --> 00:29:09,300
and I think he admired actors,

637
00:29:09,433 --> 00:29:11,767
this is why he didn't
like the Peter Halls

638
00:29:11,900 --> 00:29:14,833
and the John Bartons of the
Royal Shakespeare Company,

639
00:29:14,967 --> 00:29:18,433
because that was the director's
theatre running the company.

640
00:29:18,567 --> 00:29:23,067
And with Keep Films he can
well, a, keep all the money,

641
00:29:23,133 --> 00:29:25,800
that's what what it
was about, as a joke.

642
00:29:25,933 --> 00:29:27,833
Jules Buck, Jules
and Joyce Buck became

643
00:29:27,967 --> 00:29:29,800
very important figures
in our lives, obviously.

644
00:29:29,933 --> 00:29:31,233
And we used to love
to listen to Jules

645
00:29:31,367 --> 00:29:33,367
talking about Hollywood.

646
00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:35,067
He was, he knew the
great days of Hollywood

647
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,167
and he'd worked
there all his life.

648
00:29:37,300 --> 00:29:38,867
One night we were
there for dinner

649
00:29:39,067 --> 00:29:42,500
at Jules and Joyce's lovely
new house in Belgravia,

650
00:29:42,633 --> 00:29:45,800
and I fell asleep, of course,
on the couch, eventually,

651
00:29:45,933 --> 00:29:47,700
round about four in the morning.

652
00:29:47,833 --> 00:29:50,067
And I woke and they said,

653
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,667
"We formed a company, a
film company, Keep Films".

654
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:55,733
But he can have
greater influence

655
00:29:55,867 --> 00:29:57,500
on which material will he pick.

656
00:29:57,633 --> 00:29:59,233
This is why we have
"The Ruling Class",

657
00:29:59,367 --> 00:30:01,267
"Country Dance",
"The Lion in Winter",

658
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,000
is all the choices of things
that he wants to make.

659
00:30:05,133 --> 00:30:08,000
We were four directors,
George Buck and his wife

660
00:30:08,133 --> 00:30:09,533
and myself and O'Toole.

661
00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:12,300
He was an American producer.

662
00:30:12,433 --> 00:30:14,700
You know, he was,
he was a nice man.

663
00:30:14,833 --> 00:30:18,467
They fell out in the end,
but that was after I'd left.

664
00:30:23,500 --> 00:30:26,967
I remember Richard Burton,
he was around all the time.

665
00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:30,133
I remember having to step
over his drunken corpse

666
00:30:30,267 --> 00:30:32,667
to get my school
bags in the morning,

667
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,467
creeping around with,
the record player

668
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,233
would still be
playing at the end.

669
00:30:36,367 --> 00:30:37,567
Remember?

670
00:30:37,700 --> 00:30:39,200
When they'd just
go, tch-ch, tch-ch,

671
00:30:39,333 --> 00:30:41,300
there'd be that sound and
the air in the sitting room

672
00:30:41,433 --> 00:30:44,433
would be full of smoke
from the cigarettes

673
00:30:44,567 --> 00:30:47,100
and dead people all
over the floor, snoring.

674
00:30:47,233 --> 00:30:49,967
Produced all of this,
produced "Becket" as well.

675
00:30:50,100 --> 00:30:52,033
He got Burton and the
whole cast together.

676
00:30:52,167 --> 00:30:52,967
Yeah, it was quite a remarkable,

677
00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:54,533
well, he was a genius.

678
00:30:56,300 --> 00:30:57,000
It happened
in Canterbury, England,

679
00:30:57,133 --> 00:30:58,433
eight centuries ago.

680
00:30:59,733 --> 00:31:01,700
A story is ageless
as time itself.

681
00:31:03,067 --> 00:31:05,400
The immortal story of
a man called Becket

682
00:31:05,533 --> 00:31:08,067
who earned a king's
most trusted friendship.

683
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:09,767
Business, My Lord.

684
00:31:09,900 --> 00:31:12,633
Who shared
his most intimate secrets.

685
00:31:12,767 --> 00:31:14,800
I must say, I
adore my French possessions,

686
00:31:14,933 --> 00:31:16,400
they're certainly
worth recapturing.

687
00:31:16,533 --> 00:31:20,067
Then I saw "Becket" just
after "Lawrence of Arabia",

688
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,133
I hadn't, still hadn't met him.

689
00:31:22,267 --> 00:31:23,800
And that was another
extraordinary performance.

690
00:31:23,933 --> 00:31:26,167
The end of it, of that
film is extraordinary,

691
00:31:26,300 --> 00:31:29,900
he and Burton
together, wonderful
performance, wonderful.

692
00:31:30,067 --> 00:31:30,967
And I think that's
what O'Toole did,

693
00:31:31,100 --> 00:31:33,433
that he hit the ceiling, bam!

694
00:31:33,567 --> 00:31:34,333
And he did it.

695
00:31:34,467 --> 00:31:36,233
I would've gone to war

696
00:31:36,367 --> 00:31:38,200
with all England's
might behind me

697
00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:41,067
and even against England's
interest, to defend you, Thomas.

698
00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:47,067
I would've given away my
life, laughingly, for you.

699
00:31:47,133 --> 00:31:50,067
Only I loved you and
you didn't love me.

700
00:31:51,067 --> 00:31:52,267
That's the difference.

701
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:53,633
And again, beautifully shot,

702
00:31:53,767 --> 00:31:56,067
Peter Glenville, an
actor's director.

703
00:31:57,700 --> 00:32:00,800
And you can see Burton

704
00:32:00,933 --> 00:32:03,133
holding back a lot
in his performance.

705
00:32:03,267 --> 00:32:08,067
Gentlemen, it is a supreme
irony that the worldly Becket,

706
00:32:09,067 --> 00:32:10,467
the profligate and libertine,

707
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:13,433
could find himself standing
here at this moment.

708
00:32:13,567 --> 00:32:15,067
The two of them going out there,

709
00:32:15,167 --> 00:32:19,467
and he's sometimes again,
almost electrifying in energy.

710
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,233
And then also the vulnerability.

711
00:32:22,367 --> 00:32:24,367
Get out, the pair of you!

712
00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:26,733
I'm actually bored
with the sight of you!

713
00:32:26,867 --> 00:32:30,133
'Cause I'm bored with my
whole family, he can have you.

714
00:32:30,267 --> 00:32:33,467
It was very gritty,
it was very dark.

715
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,067
And all of the Hollywood
tinsel, if I may,

716
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:37,067
no disrespect to Hollywood,

717
00:32:37,133 --> 00:32:38,500
but it was polished away,

718
00:32:38,633 --> 00:32:40,533
so we could see the
real characters.

719
00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:43,833
And I think Peter, on that
film, said "No drinking".

720
00:32:43,967 --> 00:32:45,633
Him and Burton had to come
up to an agreement and say,

721
00:32:45,767 --> 00:32:48,533
"Look, no drinking,
let's get through this".

722
00:32:50,333 --> 00:32:51,500
The story
of Becket is recorded here,

723
00:32:51,633 --> 00:32:54,067
right up to the last,
brutal, bloody act.

724
00:33:09,633 --> 00:33:11,433
A curse and a blessing, the
alcohol and all that stuff.

725
00:33:11,567 --> 00:33:14,867
That's a big blessing and a
curse as well, it'll kill you.

726
00:33:15,067 --> 00:33:16,267
Or it'll make you
survive and it gives you

727
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,467
the drive and the
danger to move on,

728
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,100
gives you a sort
of false courage.

729
00:33:20,233 --> 00:33:21,167
And for a while, it works.

730
00:33:21,300 --> 00:33:22,267
And then you get
to a point when,

731
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:23,867
it'll take you down.

732
00:33:24,067 --> 00:33:25,700
And I think that's what
happens to many people,

733
00:33:25,833 --> 00:33:27,633
you know, no one's perfect.

734
00:33:27,767 --> 00:33:29,833
But what was
extraordinary about him

735
00:33:29,967 --> 00:33:30,867
was that he was
that magic person.

736
00:33:31,067 --> 00:33:33,333
He had that muscle inside him,

737
00:33:33,467 --> 00:33:36,067
which was part of his
drinking and his passion.

738
00:33:36,167 --> 00:33:39,967
I would label Peter as a man
who enjoyed having a drink.

739
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:44,900
He really liked it, and he
had a good time drinking.

740
00:33:45,867 --> 00:33:47,400
That's how I would label him.

741
00:33:47,533 --> 00:33:51,133
I would never have, I wouldn't
have said he was an alcoholic

742
00:33:51,267 --> 00:33:55,600
because he could, I mean,
he apparently could stop.

743
00:33:55,733 --> 00:33:58,567
He did stop through
most of "Lion in Winter"

744
00:33:58,700 --> 00:34:02,067
because of what Kate
had said to him.

745
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,733
There's a story of the,
of the pub in Dublin

746
00:34:04,867 --> 00:34:08,700
where he and Peter
Finch buy the bar,

747
00:34:08,833 --> 00:34:12,100
because the barman wants
to close up and they say,

748
00:34:12,233 --> 00:34:13,900
"Come on we've gotta
stay, gotta drink more.

749
00:34:14,067 --> 00:34:15,500
Well, how much?

750
00:34:15,633 --> 00:34:18,200
We'll buy the bar off
you", they said,

751
00:34:18,333 --> 00:34:19,600
buy it, and then the
next day they rush over

752
00:34:19,733 --> 00:34:21,733
to try and get that check back.

753
00:34:21,867 --> 00:34:24,633
It was a generation
that had grown up

754
00:34:24,767 --> 00:34:26,567
at the very end of the war,

755
00:34:26,700 --> 00:34:28,633
Peter used to say, he
used to say, you know,

756
00:34:28,767 --> 00:34:30,800
"As soon as the war ended,

757
00:34:30,933 --> 00:34:33,233
we just thought, we
are gonna have fun now!

758
00:34:34,767 --> 00:34:38,500
And of course there was
rationing for another 15 years,

759
00:34:38,633 --> 00:34:40,500
but we could drink".

760
00:34:40,633 --> 00:34:43,300
And he said, that's why our
generation drank in public

761
00:34:43,433 --> 00:34:45,667
and in pubs and in the open

762
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,667
because it was
something to celebrate.

763
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,233
And it was a, a pub, an act.

764
00:34:52,367 --> 00:34:54,600
He said, "Your generation,
you go and you drink

765
00:34:54,733 --> 00:34:58,200
in private bars and in
private clubs and at home,

766
00:34:58,333 --> 00:35:00,633
you're ashamed, aren't you?"

767
00:35:00,767 --> 00:35:02,167
And was so right.

768
00:35:03,833 --> 00:35:05,567
I mean, yeah, he, he'd say
in the middle of the day,

769
00:35:05,700 --> 00:35:06,900
"Oh, it was an easy day".

770
00:35:07,067 --> 00:35:09,133
There were maybe not
a lot of dialogue,

771
00:35:09,267 --> 00:35:10,100
"Let's have a
bottle of shampoo!"

772
00:35:10,233 --> 00:35:11,200
He'd call champagne "shampoo",

773
00:35:11,333 --> 00:35:13,367
so he'd call up for a bottle of,

774
00:35:13,500 --> 00:35:15,733
but it wasn't because he
was sitting there thinking,

775
00:35:15,867 --> 00:35:18,500
"Oh God, I've gotta have a
drink, I've gotta have a drink".

776
00:35:18,633 --> 00:35:21,367
He could take it or
leave it as he wanted to.

777
00:35:21,500 --> 00:35:24,467
Boozing like that,
and the thing was

778
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:25,767
that going out with Peter,

779
00:35:25,900 --> 00:35:28,233
I would always finish up tiddly,

780
00:35:28,367 --> 00:35:31,900
not drunk, but quite tiddly.

781
00:35:32,067 --> 00:35:34,267
I think he was a tormented man.

782
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,267
Yeah, he was that.

783
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:39,433
I didn't know him that
well in those post years.

784
00:35:39,567 --> 00:35:41,900
But whenever I saw
him, I remembered

785
00:35:42,067 --> 00:35:45,767
what a great
tempestuous man he was.

786
00:35:45,900 --> 00:35:47,867
He had packed up drinking

787
00:35:48,067 --> 00:35:49,867
because of an
operation he'd had,

788
00:35:50,067 --> 00:35:52,167
and he wasn't on, he stopped
taking cocaine and stuff,

789
00:35:52,300 --> 00:35:54,767
which I think had
ruined most of his nose.

790
00:35:55,867 --> 00:35:57,367
But he was quite a character.

791
00:35:57,500 --> 00:35:58,933
Crazy, yeah.

792
00:35:59,067 --> 00:36:00,833
And when he stopped
drinking as much in the 70s,

793
00:36:00,967 --> 00:36:02,467
he did become a
bit of a cokehead,

794
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,267
which is quite surprising
for his generation.

795
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,733
Dear oh dear, as if
he needed it, I mean,

796
00:36:08,867 --> 00:36:10,500
good lord, but then
who am I to speak?

797
00:36:10,633 --> 00:36:13,333
So he didn't live like a
rockstar in his private life,

798
00:36:13,467 --> 00:36:16,333
but yes, in his public life
he had to a bit, you know,

799
00:36:16,467 --> 00:36:17,900
people would be
too disappointed.

800
00:36:18,067 --> 00:36:20,667
I think it's that he
never really felt alive

801
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,167
unless he was on a tightrope.

802
00:36:23,300 --> 00:36:25,967
And that's what made his
theatre acting so exciting,

803
00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:28,633
was that, this sense that
it could fail at any minute,

804
00:36:28,767 --> 00:36:31,333
that he was pushing it and
that it was an adventure

805
00:36:31,467 --> 00:36:34,133
and he wanted you all to be
a part of that adventure.

806
00:36:34,267 --> 00:36:36,067
And that's quite hard for
other actors to cope with,

807
00:36:36,167 --> 00:36:38,967
because how do they
live up to that?

808
00:36:39,100 --> 00:36:41,367
Peter O'Toole, going out
with a friend of his,

809
00:36:41,500 --> 00:36:43,333
having a few drinks and
going to the theatre

810
00:36:43,467 --> 00:36:45,633
and saying to him, "This
should be interesting,

811
00:36:45,767 --> 00:36:46,733
this is where I come on".

812
00:36:46,867 --> 00:36:47,667
All right?

813
00:36:48,867 --> 00:36:49,967
It's funny,

814
00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:52,233
I'd heard that 50 years ago,

815
00:36:52,367 --> 00:36:55,233
attributed to Wilfrid Lawson,

816
00:36:55,367 --> 00:36:59,133
and some old actor said it could
even have been Edmund Kean,

817
00:36:59,267 --> 00:37:01,833
like in 1800s or something.

818
00:37:14,267 --> 00:37:16,067
So the agent gave me
the script and said,

819
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:17,967
"There's a good part
for you in this film".

820
00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:20,567
O'Toole's manager sort
of saw it and said,

821
00:37:20,700 --> 00:37:21,900
"What is this?"

822
00:37:22,067 --> 00:37:22,867
And I said, "Well,
it's this film

823
00:37:23,067 --> 00:37:24,333
they think I'd be right for,"

824
00:37:24,467 --> 00:37:26,567
and I was to play
Capucine's part in it.

825
00:37:26,700 --> 00:37:29,700
And, and he said, "Could
I have a look at it?"

826
00:37:29,833 --> 00:37:31,300
And he had a look at
it and I didn't hear

827
00:37:31,433 --> 00:37:33,433
anything about it for a few
weeks until I discovered

828
00:37:33,567 --> 00:37:35,233
that O'Toole was
going to make it

829
00:37:35,367 --> 00:37:39,767
and Capucine was going to
play her part.

830
00:37:39,900 --> 00:37:41,067
Love scene 2A, take 4,

831
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:42,867
Peter Sellers, Peter
O'Toole, Capucine.

832
00:37:43,967 --> 00:37:44,867
Action!

833
00:37:45,833 --> 00:37:47,633
Hello, good morning!

834
00:37:48,767 --> 00:37:49,600
Hello!

835
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:51,667
Can't you knock?

836
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,200
Knock? But I'm in dire need!

837
00:37:53,333 --> 00:37:54,200
So am I.

838
00:37:54,333 --> 00:37:55,533
What do you think I am, human?

839
00:37:55,667 --> 00:37:56,967
Bring it up at the next
group analysis meeting.

840
00:37:57,100 --> 00:37:58,667
Something like that.

841
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,067
Not, not now!

842
00:38:01,133 --> 00:38:01,833
Cut, cut!

843
00:38:01,967 --> 00:38:02,767
Print it!

844
00:38:20,133 --> 00:38:21,533
"How to Steal a Million".

845
00:38:21,667 --> 00:38:24,533
Ah, tall and slender
Audrey Hepburn, beautiful.

846
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:27,700
Tall and slender,
beautiful Peter O'Toole.

847
00:38:27,833 --> 00:38:29,900
And they're great together.

848
00:38:30,067 --> 00:38:30,700
A heist.

849
00:38:30,833 --> 00:38:31,667
A heist?

850
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,067
Oh, you mean a burglary?

851
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:35,500
What's the score, baby?

852
00:38:38,333 --> 00:38:39,900
The Cellini Venus.

853
00:38:40,067 --> 00:38:41,433
Working with Audrey Hepburn,

854
00:38:41,567 --> 00:38:43,833
the chemistry is perfect,
it's a gentle comedy

855
00:38:43,967 --> 00:38:46,367
directed by William
Wyler who did "Ben Hur".

856
00:38:46,500 --> 00:38:47,733
Why not?

857
00:38:49,267 --> 00:38:50,233
Henry?

858
00:38:50,367 --> 00:38:51,167
Madam?

859
00:38:52,300 --> 00:38:54,067
Did you ever love me?

860
00:38:55,167 --> 00:38:55,967
No.

861
00:38:58,067 --> 00:38:59,267
Good.

862
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,567
That will make this pleasanter.

863
00:39:08,067 --> 00:39:10,167
And "Lion in Winter",
"Lion in Winter"

864
00:39:10,300 --> 00:39:12,067
it's a great, great movie,

865
00:39:12,167 --> 00:39:13,933
and it's a wonderful
performance.

866
00:39:14,067 --> 00:39:18,767
And the chemistry between
them both is just amazing.

867
00:39:18,900 --> 00:39:23,767
Hepburn is wonderful
and iconic, as is Peter.

868
00:39:25,367 --> 00:39:28,700
And he, he just
blossomed on film.

869
00:39:30,067 --> 00:39:34,467
The thing about Peter
was that on stage,

870
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:39,467
his personality was big,
and theater-filling,

871
00:39:41,067 --> 00:39:44,333
in films, with the
camera able to get there,

872
00:39:44,467 --> 00:39:49,067
he could pull it
all back, all back,

873
00:39:49,133 --> 00:39:53,067
and still be
sensationally powerful.

874
00:39:53,167 --> 00:39:55,133
I taught you prancing, lamb,

875
00:39:55,267 --> 00:39:57,600
and lute and flute.

876
00:39:57,733 --> 00:40:01,633
That's marvellous.

877
00:40:01,767 --> 00:40:04,033
It's absolutely me.

878
00:40:04,167 --> 00:40:07,233
In "Lion in Winter",
he didn't overact,

879
00:40:07,367 --> 00:40:11,767
but he was big, I mean,
he he filled that space.

880
00:40:11,900 --> 00:40:13,467
I don't have to fight to win.

881
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,367
Take all your want,
this county, that one,

882
00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:16,600
you won't keep it long.

883
00:40:18,533 --> 00:40:21,000
What kind of courage
have you got?

884
00:40:21,133 --> 00:40:22,933
One night on the
dress room door,

885
00:40:23,067 --> 00:40:26,433
knock on the door, it's
Peter O'Toole.

886
00:40:26,567 --> 00:40:28,633
And he'd done a
few little tipples,

887
00:40:28,767 --> 00:40:31,667
and he was wearing his green
cap, green Irish jacket,

888
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,267
and he said, "I want
you to do a film test".

889
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:35,933
so I did the scene.

890
00:40:36,067 --> 00:40:39,633
"It's alright", he said,
"ah, do that improvisation

891
00:40:39,767 --> 00:40:40,633
I've heard about".

892
00:40:40,767 --> 00:40:42,000
So I gave some improvisation,

893
00:40:42,133 --> 00:40:44,067
which had shocked
people, I guess.

894
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:45,700
He said, "Right,
you've got the part".

895
00:40:45,833 --> 00:40:48,100
So they sent me the script,

896
00:40:48,233 --> 00:40:50,167
and I read the
script, and I thought,

897
00:40:50,300 --> 00:40:53,467
"If I don't get this part,
I'm gonna kill myself".

898
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,333
It was such a,
such an extraordinary script.

899
00:40:56,467 --> 00:40:57,767
Where have you been all night?

900
00:40:57,900 --> 00:40:59,533
Making us an entourage.

901
00:40:59,667 --> 00:41:00,967
What for?

902
00:41:01,100 --> 00:41:02,800
We're off to Rome
to see the Pope.

903
00:41:02,933 --> 00:41:04,433
He's excommunicated you again?

904
00:41:05,433 --> 00:41:06,967
No, he's going to set me free.

905
00:41:07,100 --> 00:41:08,467
I'm having Eleanor annulled.

906
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,700
The nation will be
shocked to learn

907
00:41:09,833 --> 00:41:11,100
our marriage wasn't consummated.

908
00:41:11,233 --> 00:41:12,900
And Peter was
there, and I met him

909
00:41:13,067 --> 00:41:14,233
and "How do you do?"

910
00:41:14,367 --> 00:41:16,933
and all of that,
nice man, et cetera.

911
00:41:18,567 --> 00:41:21,533
He said, "Well let's do a little
scene from "Country Dance".

912
00:41:21,667 --> 00:41:23,267
He said, "Let's do
a little of that".

913
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:25,700
I said, "Oh, that's
gonna be easy,

914
00:41:25,833 --> 00:41:27,167
because I'm doing
it every night".

915
00:41:28,467 --> 00:41:30,433
So we started into the scene,

916
00:41:30,567 --> 00:41:33,133
and he said, "Stop, stop, stop!"

917
00:41:33,267 --> 00:41:34,800
I thought, "Oh God,
what's going on?"

918
00:41:34,933 --> 00:41:38,400
He said, "I don't believe a
fucking word you're saying".

919
00:41:38,533 --> 00:41:41,233
And I, I froze.

920
00:41:41,367 --> 00:41:44,100
I thought, "Oh God,
I've blown this".

921
00:41:44,233 --> 00:41:46,200
You know, there's no way
I'm gonna get this part.

922
00:41:46,333 --> 00:41:47,067
You mean it?

923
00:41:48,300 --> 00:41:49,067
Shall I kneel?

924
00:41:52,067 --> 00:41:53,467
It's not another trick?

925
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:55,833
The bridal party's drilling
on the cobblestones.

926
00:41:55,967 --> 00:41:57,667
I thought this, if
I get this part,

927
00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,700
this is gonna be the
thrill of my life.

928
00:41:59,833 --> 00:42:01,400
Would you like a
formal declaration?

929
00:42:01,533 --> 00:42:04,200
There, my finest angle,
it's on all the coins.

930
00:42:04,333 --> 00:42:07,067
He was really a force
to be reckoned with.

931
00:42:07,167 --> 00:42:09,333
And I really don't
remember very much else

932
00:42:09,467 --> 00:42:11,567
about anything except him.

933
00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:13,433
And then with Katharine Hepburn,

934
00:42:13,567 --> 00:42:17,500
who was a legend at that
time as a film actress.

935
00:42:17,633 --> 00:42:18,900
Execute him.

936
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:23,833
They're assassins, aren't they?

937
00:42:23,967 --> 00:42:26,433
It was called presence.

938
00:42:26,567 --> 00:42:28,067
And he always had
that dangerous quality

939
00:42:28,167 --> 00:42:30,200
and that's what made him
the great star that he was.

940
00:42:30,333 --> 00:42:32,733
If you want to know my
plans, just to ask me.

941
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,400
Conquer China, sack the
Vatican, or take the veil.

942
00:42:36,533 --> 00:42:38,500
I'm not among the
ones who give a damn.

943
00:42:38,633 --> 00:42:41,700
It's theatricality
is probably the thing

944
00:42:41,833 --> 00:42:45,567
that drew it back
from the Oscars.

945
00:42:45,700 --> 00:42:47,267
You don't?

946
00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:49,667
Dear God, the
pleasure I still get

947
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,167
from goading you.

948
00:42:51,300 --> 00:42:53,067
He was quite extraordinary.

949
00:42:53,167 --> 00:42:55,067
Yes, he controlled
that whole film.

950
00:42:55,133 --> 00:42:58,300
And Spencer Tracy just
died and Katharine Hepburn,

951
00:42:58,433 --> 00:43:00,300
he got her out of retirement,

952
00:43:00,433 --> 00:43:01,767
she didn't wanna work anymore.

953
00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:04,967
So he cast her, he
managed to cast her.

954
00:43:05,100 --> 00:43:07,600
And I think he may have
come in for some criticism,

955
00:43:07,733 --> 00:43:09,067
but he encouraged us,

956
00:43:09,133 --> 00:43:12,067
and that's what I will
never forget about him.

957
00:43:12,133 --> 00:43:12,933
Beautiful.

958
00:43:14,167 --> 00:43:15,767
Don't know how I did it.

959
00:43:16,733 --> 00:43:17,733
No! It wasn't like that!

960
00:43:19,167 --> 00:43:20,200
But it was.

961
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:23,500
But at the same time, you know,

962
00:43:23,633 --> 00:43:27,533
in terms of O'Toole,
Hepburn, of course,

963
00:43:27,667 --> 00:43:29,067
and John Barry for the score,

964
00:43:29,133 --> 00:43:31,367
brilliant score,
that got the Oscar,

965
00:43:31,500 --> 00:43:33,967
one of three of the
five nominations.

966
00:43:34,100 --> 00:43:36,467
So it did get recognised.

967
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:38,133
And she was pretty
formidable as well,

968
00:43:38,267 --> 00:43:42,067
but also, like O'Toole,
a great egalitarian.

969
00:43:42,133 --> 00:43:43,300
They knew the crew's names,

970
00:43:43,433 --> 00:43:45,200
she was always
wonderful with the crew.

971
00:43:45,333 --> 00:43:46,767
And there's the family there,

972
00:43:46,900 --> 00:43:49,233
Timothy Dalton, John
Castle, Nigel Terry,

973
00:43:49,367 --> 00:43:51,167
Katharine Hepburn and O'Toole.

974
00:43:51,300 --> 00:43:53,833
and I had a little,
little speech too,

975
00:43:53,967 --> 00:43:57,367
an angry speech, and I
did it and I had no fear.

976
00:43:58,500 --> 00:43:59,800
The arrogance of youth.

977
00:44:00,067 --> 00:44:00,733
I'll have the Aquitaine

978
00:44:00,867 --> 00:44:02,367
and Alais and the crown.

979
00:44:02,500 --> 00:44:04,533
I'll not give up one
to get the other.

980
00:44:04,667 --> 00:44:05,867
I won't trade off Alais or the

981
00:44:06,067 --> 00:44:08,167
Aquitaine to that
walking pustule!

982
00:44:08,300 --> 00:44:11,100
And he came over, and
he said, "That's it!"

983
00:44:11,233 --> 00:44:12,533
He gave me such
encouragement, he said

984
00:44:12,667 --> 00:44:15,433
"That's, that's
Richard the Lionheart".

985
00:44:15,567 --> 00:44:17,267
What's wrong?

986
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:18,967
You're Richard, aren't you?

987
00:44:19,100 --> 00:44:20,600
But you're Henry.

988
00:44:20,733 --> 00:44:23,467
Kate would not have any
visitors on the set at all

989
00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,300
from outside unless they had
something to do with the film,

990
00:44:26,433 --> 00:44:27,433
because she said
they're bringing

991
00:44:27,567 --> 00:44:29,200
the wrong energy onto the set,

992
00:44:29,333 --> 00:44:30,700
they're not part of the family.

993
00:44:30,833 --> 00:44:32,100
She wouldn't have it.

994
00:44:32,233 --> 00:44:34,800
Did your father sleep
with me or didn't he?

995
00:44:34,933 --> 00:44:37,867
But they both said, if you
want to come on and watch,

996
00:44:38,067 --> 00:44:39,767
well I did, I wanted to watch,

997
00:44:39,900 --> 00:44:41,467
'cause I knew I
could learn a lot.

998
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:43,367
Ask for something.

999
00:44:43,500 --> 00:44:44,567
Eleanor, we're past it,

1000
00:44:44,700 --> 00:44:46,400
-years past.
-Test me, name an act.

1001
00:44:46,533 --> 00:44:47,767
There isn't one!

1002
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:49,933
About my fornication
with your father.

1003
00:44:50,067 --> 00:44:51,367
Yes, there is, you can expire.

1004
00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:52,400
You first, old man.

1005
00:44:52,533 --> 00:44:54,067
I only hope I'm there to watch.

1006
00:44:54,167 --> 00:44:57,433
You're so afraid of dying,
you're so scared of it.

1007
00:44:57,567 --> 00:44:59,167
And there was this
one scene that

1008
00:45:00,567 --> 00:45:04,400
O'Toole has with
Katharine Hepburn,

1009
00:45:05,767 --> 00:45:08,633
where she's goading
him and teasing him

1010
00:45:08,767 --> 00:45:10,333
and taunting him
and everything else,

1011
00:45:10,467 --> 00:45:14,200
and it's just driving
him completely mad.

1012
00:45:14,333 --> 00:45:18,567
I loved your father's
body, he was beautiful.

1013
00:45:18,700 --> 00:45:20,900
-It never happened.
-I can see his body now,

1014
00:45:21,067 --> 00:45:22,567
shall I describe it?

1015
00:45:22,700 --> 00:45:24,333
-Eleanor, I hope you die!
-His arms were rough,

1016
00:45:24,467 --> 00:45:26,433
-with scars here.
-No!

1017
00:45:26,567 --> 00:45:28,067
I can feel his arms.

1018
00:45:28,133 --> 00:45:29,667
The scene was so intense,

1019
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,467
I mean it was just,
it was so raw.

1020
00:45:32,833 --> 00:45:34,633
And when it was over
and there's "Cut!",

1021
00:45:34,767 --> 00:45:37,867
Peter turned around to side
of the bed and vomited.

1022
00:45:38,067 --> 00:45:40,433
For my first film to
be the film with him,

1023
00:45:40,567 --> 00:45:44,100
a great star like
that was, you know,

1024
00:45:44,233 --> 00:45:45,733
that was a red
letter day for me.

1025
00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:51,600
Oh, he hated working
with me, he hated it.

1026
00:45:51,733 --> 00:45:53,300
If someone gave me a part,

1027
00:45:53,433 --> 00:45:55,867
so I got, I got a part at
"Goodbye, Mr. Chips" because

1028
00:45:56,067 --> 00:45:58,633
I was in Paris when the
student revolution was on.

1029
00:45:58,767 --> 00:46:01,067
And I got stranded with
the director and he said,

1030
00:46:01,133 --> 00:46:03,200
"You know, you'd be perfect
for the, the actress

1031
00:46:03,333 --> 00:46:05,233
in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips".

1032
00:46:05,367 --> 00:46:06,500
And I said, "Oh, would I?"

1033
00:46:06,633 --> 00:46:09,600
And he said, "Yes, come
down to the studio".

1034
00:46:09,733 --> 00:46:11,367
So I went to the
studio and he said,

1035
00:46:11,500 --> 00:46:12,933
"Yeah, yeah, you've
got it", he said,

1036
00:46:13,067 --> 00:46:14,333
"that's it, you do it".

1037
00:46:14,467 --> 00:46:15,867
I said, "Wonderful!"

1038
00:46:16,067 --> 00:46:18,600
I went home and I didn't
say anything to O'Toole,

1039
00:46:18,733 --> 00:46:21,333
'cause we were
also the producers.

1040
00:46:21,467 --> 00:46:24,367
And then one day he found
out and he was furious.

1041
00:46:24,500 --> 00:46:26,233
He said, "No, you've
got to sack her".

1042
00:46:26,367 --> 00:46:27,800
They said, "But
she's got a contact".

1043
00:46:27,933 --> 00:46:29,700
He said, "I don't care,

1044
00:46:29,833 --> 00:46:31,367
I don't want to work with her".

1045
00:46:31,500 --> 00:46:33,933
He didn't tell me that, but
they said there's a problem.

1046
00:46:34,067 --> 00:46:36,267
I said, "Well look, if it's
a problem, then let it go,

1047
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:37,867
that's all right".

1048
00:46:38,067 --> 00:46:40,567
And they said, "No, no, it
won't be that bad, just come".

1049
00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:43,733
So I went to work and
he wouldn't speak to me

1050
00:46:43,867 --> 00:46:45,900
and he wouldn't
rehearse with me.

1051
00:46:46,067 --> 00:46:48,067
Three times you've
made me laugh.

1052
00:46:48,133 --> 00:46:49,400
And only this morning
I really did think

1053
00:46:49,533 --> 00:46:51,267
I'd never laugh again.

1054
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,333
I suppose it's your
being a school master.

1055
00:46:55,067 --> 00:46:58,100
I fail to see what's so
laughable about that.

1056
00:46:59,700 --> 00:47:01,333
Well,

1057
00:47:01,467 --> 00:47:04,267
Of course he's very tall,
and I'm, I'm sort of petite,

1058
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:07,867
but that didn't
seem to bother him.

1059
00:47:09,833 --> 00:47:12,067
And he was lovely and generous

1060
00:47:12,133 --> 00:47:14,300
right from the first
moment I met him.

1061
00:47:14,433 --> 00:47:17,500
He wasn't sort of like the
great actor, or, you know,

1062
00:47:17,633 --> 00:47:20,667
I know when we were doing
"Goodbye, Mr. Chips" in Italy,

1063
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:23,600
he used to have every
morning a Fernet Branca.

1064
00:47:23,733 --> 00:47:28,167
He had to have it every morning
to cope with the hangover.

1065
00:47:32,900 --> 00:47:36,667
* Step on up, the
question is how *

1066
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:38,600
* I can feel it but
you know I don't... *

1067
00:47:38,733 --> 00:47:42,433
She well, had been George
Jamieson in the Navy,

1068
00:47:42,567 --> 00:47:45,067
and she was the most
beautiful girl, I mean,

1069
00:47:45,167 --> 00:47:49,267
she was just, she was tall
and statuesque, and gorgeous.

1070
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,500
And she had a very deep voice
and she dressed beautifully.

1071
00:47:52,633 --> 00:47:55,067
She became a top model
and she worked at the club

1072
00:47:55,200 --> 00:47:56,900
of transvestites in Paris,

1073
00:47:57,067 --> 00:48:01,500
a very famous one where the
girls were so beautiful.

1074
00:48:01,633 --> 00:48:04,233
And April turned up
in Spain at one point,

1075
00:48:04,367 --> 00:48:08,133
and that was where she
met Omar and O'Toole.

1076
00:48:08,267 --> 00:48:10,200
O'Toole knew she
was George Jamieson.

1077
00:48:10,333 --> 00:48:13,833
April Ashley, one of the
very first transgender,

1078
00:48:13,967 --> 00:48:17,133
but I think she was
visiting the, she was in,

1079
00:48:17,267 --> 00:48:19,667
they were shooting
"Lawrence of Arabia"

1080
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:22,933
and Peter set her
up with Omar Sharif,

1081
00:48:23,067 --> 00:48:25,233
and Omar Sharif got quite
a long way with her,

1082
00:48:25,367 --> 00:48:27,500
was very entranced, and
then when he discovered

1083
00:48:27,633 --> 00:48:29,567
he chased Peter with a knife

1084
00:48:29,700 --> 00:48:32,767
round and round the
hotel, he was furious.

1085
00:48:32,900 --> 00:48:34,800
There's a place called Lebeaux.

1086
00:48:34,933 --> 00:48:36,600
We were drinking Vinyac.

1087
00:48:36,733 --> 00:48:38,900
I dunno what the
hell we were drinking,

1088
00:48:39,067 --> 00:48:40,833
we were drinking something.

1089
00:48:40,967 --> 00:48:43,333
Oh, I was with them, it was
the three boys and Peter,

1090
00:48:43,467 --> 00:48:45,267
and we were all
out and drinking,

1091
00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:47,433
and they were,
they were drinking.

1092
00:48:47,567 --> 00:48:50,600
And he got into an
argument with Nigel Stock,

1093
00:48:50,733 --> 00:48:53,267
and Nigel had been
in the Chindits

1094
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:57,300
in Malaya, during the
war with Colonel Wingate.

1095
00:48:57,433 --> 00:49:00,967
He was stalwart, whatever
he was, a military man.

1096
00:49:01,100 --> 00:49:02,867
But he was very proud
of his army background,

1097
00:49:03,067 --> 00:49:04,600
'cause he'd seen
a lot of action.

1098
00:49:04,733 --> 00:49:06,567
And O'Toole started
needling him.

1099
00:49:06,700 --> 00:49:09,167
And Peter, frankly, you
know, I don't think,

1100
00:49:09,300 --> 00:49:12,967
no surprise, secret,
he was very left wing.

1101
00:49:13,100 --> 00:49:17,867
So, you know, army, all of
that, that establishment stuff,

1102
00:49:18,833 --> 00:49:19,500
he didn't like any of it.

1103
00:49:19,633 --> 00:49:21,067
And plus, he was Irish.

1104
00:49:21,133 --> 00:49:23,900
And I can't remember
the words he used,

1105
00:49:24,067 --> 00:49:28,067
but he used something
that really got Nigel.

1106
00:49:28,167 --> 00:49:33,067
And he started to goad
Nigel about Wingate.

1107
00:49:34,667 --> 00:49:38,200
And there was a big fight,
a big threat of a fight.

1108
00:49:38,333 --> 00:49:40,200
I thought, "What are we into?"

1109
00:49:40,333 --> 00:49:43,200
But the two stuntmen that were
with him, grabbed him back.

1110
00:49:43,333 --> 00:49:45,800
But O'Toole like to provoke,
he was a provocateur,

1111
00:49:45,933 --> 00:49:49,633
he was, he loved to provoke
you, get the best outta you.

1112
00:49:49,767 --> 00:49:52,267
Both O'Toole and Brando, what
you learn at drama school,

1113
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,400
the first thing, is to
do animal impressions,

1114
00:49:54,533 --> 00:49:59,200
and learn to take away all
the inhibitions we have,

1115
00:49:59,333 --> 00:50:02,833
to be naked as an actor
and express, yeah.

1116
00:50:02,967 --> 00:50:05,300
And I think they
had this innately,

1117
00:50:05,433 --> 00:50:10,067
almost childlike quality
of curiosity about life.

1118
00:50:11,700 --> 00:50:16,000
Ruling class is astonishing
film. I absolutely love that.

1119
00:50:32,333 --> 00:50:35,567
"The Ruling Class" is
an astonishing film,

1120
00:50:35,700 --> 00:50:37,433
I absolutely love that.

1121
00:50:37,567 --> 00:50:39,833
He plays an English aristocrat

1122
00:50:39,967 --> 00:50:41,200
who thinks he's Jesus Christ,

1123
00:50:41,333 --> 00:50:43,700
but I mean, really
thinks it, he lives it.

1124
00:50:43,833 --> 00:50:45,633
And he's a beautiful Jesus,

1125
00:50:45,767 --> 00:50:49,000
I mean in a Holman Hunt, sort
of auburn-haired kind of,

1126
00:50:49,133 --> 00:50:53,933
almost blonde, and just his
family are brilliant as well.

1127
00:50:54,900 --> 00:50:56,267
And there's sexual depredation,

1128
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:57,933
there's all kinds
of weird things.

1129
00:50:59,733 --> 00:51:02,567
He allowed me to play and
be free and to do things,

1130
00:51:02,700 --> 00:51:05,633
and I thought, "Oh my God,
this is such a huge part,

1131
00:51:05,767 --> 00:51:07,900
this is going to be just
lovely to work with".

1132
00:51:08,067 --> 00:51:09,433
Darling, I'm waiting.

1133
00:51:12,733 --> 00:51:15,100
Why, it's ridiculous!
It's not dignified!

1134
00:51:15,233 --> 00:51:17,100
Dignity has nothing
to do with divinity.

1135
00:51:17,233 --> 00:51:18,567
O no, not here, not now!

1136
00:51:18,700 --> 00:51:19,867
A bike? You're mad.

1137
00:51:20,067 --> 00:51:21,067
Don't be frightened.

1138
00:51:21,167 --> 00:51:22,767
I'm not frightened.

1139
00:51:22,900 --> 00:51:24,533
I just didn't expect
to see my husband

1140
00:51:24,667 --> 00:51:26,333
riding a three-wheeled
bike on his wedding night.

1141
00:51:26,467 --> 00:51:27,867
It's the only way to travel.

1142
00:51:30,367 --> 00:51:32,700
I think Peter was
used to getting perks

1143
00:51:32,833 --> 00:51:36,400
with his leading ladies,
and I was with the director,

1144
00:51:36,533 --> 00:51:39,167
so I wasn't interested
in, you know, part.

1145
00:51:39,300 --> 00:51:41,400
So I didn't, and we didn't.

1146
00:51:41,533 --> 00:51:43,833
And I think he went into
a big snitch about it.

1147
00:51:44,767 --> 00:51:45,667
Come to me.

1148
00:51:49,967 --> 00:51:52,067
Because he never looked
at me in the eyes again.

1149
00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:54,300
Every scene that we
did was on an angle

1150
00:51:54,433 --> 00:51:58,167
so we could pretend he was
looking at me, but he wasn't.

1151
00:51:58,300 --> 00:52:00,067
Eventually I dragged Peter

1152
00:52:00,167 --> 00:52:02,967
to see "Ruling Class", the play.

1153
00:52:03,100 --> 00:52:07,467
I think it was at Cambridge
theatre in London, to matinee.

1154
00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:10,800
And we went in, but Jules
Buck and Peter O'Toole,

1155
00:52:10,933 --> 00:52:14,367
Jules Buck was Peter's
agent, manager, producer,

1156
00:52:14,500 --> 00:52:17,267
father-confessor everything,

1157
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:21,600
anyhow, and to matinee
because he was already doing

1158
00:52:21,733 --> 00:52:26,500
"Country Dance" in Ireland
with Susanna York and all that.

1159
00:52:26,633 --> 00:52:28,100
Anyhow, so he had
only little time,

1160
00:52:28,233 --> 00:52:29,633
so we see the play.

1161
00:52:29,767 --> 00:52:33,500
And before the play
finished, Peter leaned over,

1162
00:52:33,633 --> 00:52:36,567
I just bought this
fucking play for you

1163
00:52:36,700 --> 00:52:40,533
to direct it and
it's my gift to you.

1164
00:52:41,867 --> 00:52:44,467
And he basically
gave me the film.

1165
00:52:44,600 --> 00:52:46,733
I think he's incredibly
good in "The Ruling Class"

1166
00:52:46,867 --> 00:52:48,067
because again, he's dangerous.

1167
00:52:48,167 --> 00:52:51,067
He plays this wacky guy,
I mean he was really,

1168
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:52,767
I mean I saw the
stage version of that

1169
00:52:52,900 --> 00:52:55,200
and it wasn't nearly as
good as what Peter did.

1170
00:52:55,333 --> 00:52:57,300
And Peter also had
great supporting actors,

1171
00:52:57,433 --> 00:53:00,933
and Harry Andrews, you know,
I mean all of them were great.

1172
00:53:01,067 --> 00:53:04,400
He was, you know, he had
incredible, he had great taste.

1173
00:53:04,533 --> 00:53:06,500
And Alistair Sim as the bishop,

1174
00:53:06,633 --> 00:53:10,600
is one of the funniest things
you will ever see in history.

1175
00:53:10,733 --> 00:53:13,600
And it's no accident that
he played these roles

1176
00:53:13,733 --> 00:53:15,200
that were very close to him,

1177
00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:18,800
slightly debauched,
over the hill,

1178
00:53:18,933 --> 00:53:21,633
lunatics, in some cases.

1179
00:53:21,767 --> 00:53:23,067
And "Ruling Class" is a lunatic,

1180
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:25,700
it's close to the
edge of normal,

1181
00:53:25,833 --> 00:53:27,267
of, you know, normal behaviour.

1182
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,067
You wouldn't want to
live with that character.

1183
00:53:30,167 --> 00:53:33,467
Happy to watch them
for 100 minutes,

1184
00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:36,300
but you wouldn't want to
go on holiday with them.

1185
00:53:36,433 --> 00:53:37,567
I wanted to apologise

1186
00:53:40,667 --> 00:53:42,367
for not being at my
son's christening,

1187
00:53:44,533 --> 00:53:46,100
The little devil stole the show.

1188
00:53:46,233 --> 00:53:48,333
Must be sure before I make
my first public appearance.

1189
00:53:48,467 --> 00:53:50,133
He never directed
a question to me

1190
00:53:50,267 --> 00:53:54,133
and he just redid the scenes,
you know, and he left.

1191
00:53:54,267 --> 00:53:56,467
Important to leave
the right impression.

1192
00:53:56,600 --> 00:53:58,233
Ignoring me, he was
making it very clear

1193
00:53:58,367 --> 00:54:01,933
that he hadn't got his toy,
he wanted his plaything,

1194
00:54:02,067 --> 00:54:02,933
and he hadn't got one.

1195
00:54:03,067 --> 00:54:04,700
Re-re-re-re relax, don't!

1196
00:54:06,300 --> 00:54:08,767
Overall impression of
superiority, and volatile,

1197
00:54:08,900 --> 00:54:11,067
farts! Whoredoms!
Bloody network!

1198
00:54:11,167 --> 00:54:13,167
That performance in
"The Ruling Class",

1199
00:54:13,300 --> 00:54:16,333
which I think was a very
brave choice, you know,

1200
00:54:16,467 --> 00:54:19,333
it's a dangerous character,
unpleasant character,

1201
00:54:19,467 --> 00:54:21,867
the tone of the movie
goes all over the place.

1202
00:54:22,067 --> 00:54:23,633
But he does that fantastic

1203
00:54:23,767 --> 00:54:26,200
soft shoe shuffle
dance number in there,

1204
00:54:26,333 --> 00:54:28,100
and then he turns
into Jack the Ripper.

1205
00:54:28,233 --> 00:54:30,600
It's, you know,
pretty extraordinary.

1206
00:54:30,733 --> 00:54:31,500
Lover.

1207
00:54:33,967 --> 00:54:37,400
The sword of the Lord
is filled with blood.

1208
00:54:40,067 --> 00:54:42,500
There was something, I don't
know what it was about Peter,

1209
00:54:42,633 --> 00:54:44,533
but there was something where,

1210
00:54:44,667 --> 00:54:47,500
I'll say it, but
it was something,

1211
00:54:47,633 --> 00:54:50,100
there was sometimes in
the middle of performance,

1212
00:54:50,233 --> 00:54:52,400
he'd just say, "Fuck it"
and went, "Okay, fuck it",

1213
00:54:52,533 --> 00:54:54,500
and then go off on something.

1214
00:54:54,633 --> 00:54:56,600
I mean, still like,
electric as an actor,

1215
00:54:56,733 --> 00:55:01,067
but he had that sort of, kind
of consistent inconsistency,

1216
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:04,467
but he was unpredictable.

1217
00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:06,100
And that's of course
what made him great,

1218
00:55:06,233 --> 00:55:08,600
'cause he was really
very unpredictable.

1219
00:55:09,900 --> 00:55:12,600
Stanislavsky always
said with actors,

1220
00:55:12,733 --> 00:55:15,733
they need plasticity,
the great teacher said.

1221
00:55:15,867 --> 00:55:20,233
O'Toole had that quality,
he's like treble-jointed.

1222
00:55:20,367 --> 00:55:22,133
He could bend his arms here and

1223
00:55:22,267 --> 00:55:24,567
make his eyes move
there, and so forth.

1224
00:55:24,700 --> 00:55:26,833
* Dem bones, dem
bones, gonna walk around, *

1225
00:55:26,967 --> 00:55:29,600
* Dem bones, dem bones,
gonna walk around *

1226
00:55:29,733 --> 00:55:32,067
* Dem bones, dem bones,
gonna walk around *

1227
00:55:32,200 --> 00:55:34,100
* I hear the word of the Lord! *

1228
00:55:34,233 --> 00:55:36,367
Now you also see
the tension between

1229
00:55:36,500 --> 00:55:39,067
a fellow with great
intelligence, great charisma,

1230
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,633
who is, if not trapped,
at least he's the bearer

1231
00:55:41,767 --> 00:55:44,067
of this weird body that
doesn't seem to want it to do

1232
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:45,933
all the things he wants to do.

1233
00:55:46,067 --> 00:55:49,067
So you sometimes see the
rage about his bloody limbs

1234
00:55:49,167 --> 00:55:52,267
are not in the, in the way he
wants them to, sort of work.

1235
00:55:52,400 --> 00:55:54,900
But for us, of course
it's, it's fascinating.

1236
00:55:55,067 --> 00:55:56,967
And he, he seemed
to begin to realise,

1237
00:55:57,100 --> 00:55:58,633
"Oh no, this is gold".

1238
00:55:58,767 --> 00:56:00,600
All of this, all
of this mixture,

1239
00:56:00,733 --> 00:56:02,667
nobody's got this mixture.

1240
00:56:02,800 --> 00:56:07,300
He's so impressive,
Your Ladyship, isn't he?

1241
00:56:07,433 --> 00:56:10,533
For a few bob, we raced
across the suspension bridge

1242
00:56:10,667 --> 00:56:13,700
into Leigh Woods, then back
again over the suspension bridge

1243
00:56:13,833 --> 00:56:16,467
and then up into Clifton.

1244
00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:18,567
And we came across
two professors,

1245
00:56:19,900 --> 00:56:21,900
Professor Joseph and
Professor Murray,

1246
00:56:22,067 --> 00:56:23,300
Legends!

1247
00:56:23,433 --> 00:56:25,733
They would come and
lecture at the school,

1248
00:56:25,867 --> 00:56:27,400
and they were crying
their eyes out.

1249
00:56:27,533 --> 00:56:28,800
And O'Toole said, "What's
the matter?" said O'Toole.

1250
00:56:28,933 --> 00:56:30,567
"We've just been to
see Sir John Gielgud

1251
00:56:30,700 --> 00:56:33,533
in 'The Seven Ages of
Man', he's amazing.

1252
00:56:33,667 --> 00:56:36,833
Yes, a phenomenal grasp
of the verse, huh?

1253
00:56:36,967 --> 00:56:39,633
You must go and see it",
and they walked off.

1254
00:56:39,767 --> 00:56:42,633
And O'Toole said to me,
"It's amazing, isn't it?

1255
00:56:42,767 --> 00:56:47,300
They're so enamoured of Sir
John, they failed to realise

1256
00:56:47,433 --> 00:56:50,100
that both you and I
are bollock naked".

1257
00:56:53,367 --> 00:56:58,167
I was invited to speak at
Spike Milligan's Memorial

1258
00:56:59,800 --> 00:57:02,167
at St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
off Trafalgar Square in London.

1259
00:57:02,300 --> 00:57:06,467
There was some, oh, Sykes
and, and Eddie Izzard and,

1260
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:08,433
and Peter with his son Lorcan.

1261
00:57:08,567 --> 00:57:10,667
Now bear in mind,
this is a church,

1262
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:12,600
and it's getting
more and more crowded

1263
00:57:12,733 --> 00:57:15,067
as actual guests
who are not speaking

1264
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,733
turn up for the proper hour.

1265
00:57:17,867 --> 00:57:19,567
And he starts to
tell me, he says,

1266
00:57:19,700 --> 00:57:23,300
"You know, there's such
shit," he said, "such shit".

1267
00:57:23,433 --> 00:57:25,300
He said, "Did you know,
who's that awful old fraud?

1268
00:57:25,433 --> 00:57:26,767
That dreadful man?

1269
00:57:26,900 --> 00:57:28,567
Tolkien! Tolkien!

1270
00:57:28,700 --> 00:57:31,767
You know him, he wanted me
to play a fucking wizard.

1271
00:57:31,900 --> 00:57:33,167
A wizard!

1272
00:57:33,300 --> 00:57:34,433
I don't wanna play
a fucking wizard.

1273
00:57:34,567 --> 00:57:35,967
And they said, you'll
love the script.

1274
00:57:36,100 --> 00:57:38,367
I said, I won't love it
'cause I won't read it".

1275
00:57:38,500 --> 00:57:41,133
He said, "And one day this boy
comes around on a motorbike

1276
00:57:41,267 --> 00:57:43,067
and he's got these scripts".

1277
00:57:43,133 --> 00:57:44,500
He said, "What are you doing?"

1278
00:57:44,633 --> 00:57:47,300
He said, "Well, I'm told
that I have to give you

1279
00:57:47,433 --> 00:57:49,067
the scripts and and wait here,

1280
00:57:49,167 --> 00:57:50,100
and that when you've read them,

1281
00:57:50,233 --> 00:57:51,400
you'll so love them".

1282
00:57:53,367 --> 00:57:54,533
And Peter said,

1283
00:57:54,667 --> 00:57:56,133
"I'm not gonna
fucking read them,

1284
00:57:56,267 --> 00:57:59,067
by the way, they're blue,
why're are they on blue paper?"

1285
00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:01,767
And the boy biker said,
"Well, I think it's

1286
00:58:01,900 --> 00:58:03,533
so you don't photocopy them."

1287
00:58:03,667 --> 00:58:05,267
"Photocopy them!

1288
00:58:05,400 --> 00:58:07,667
Why would I photocopy them?

1289
00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:09,367
Pompous cunt!"

1290
00:58:09,500 --> 00:58:12,633
And this, this was ringing
around the church.

1291
00:58:12,767 --> 00:58:16,067
And then he said,
with a fabulous wave
of the hand, he said,

1292
00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:18,300
"Anyway, I think they've
offered it to Ian,

1293
00:58:18,433 --> 00:58:19,867
he'll be brilliant".

1294
00:58:20,067 --> 00:58:21,500
And I remember my
father being like,

1295
00:58:21,633 --> 00:58:23,900
"This is all
fucking gobbledygook

1296
00:58:24,067 --> 00:58:27,067
and I'm not gonna spend four
years in fucking New Zealand,

1297
00:58:27,167 --> 00:58:29,567
and this is all
nonsense", et cetera.

1298
00:58:29,700 --> 00:58:31,500
So it was, it was
quite a funny moment.

1299
00:58:32,733 --> 00:58:35,067
Oh, Peter was born in Leeds

1300
00:58:35,200 --> 00:58:40,067
to Patrick and
Constance in 1932.

1301
00:58:41,733 --> 00:58:44,933
Well, he wasn't, I
don't believe he was Irish,

1302
00:58:45,067 --> 00:58:47,767
I mean, I would, it
never occurred to me

1303
00:58:47,900 --> 00:58:48,800
that he was actually Irish,

1304
00:58:48,933 --> 00:58:50,233
he just had an Irish name.

1305
00:58:50,367 --> 00:58:53,100
Well, because he was
so frightfully British.

1306
00:58:53,233 --> 00:58:55,300
I mean, it was an
accent he'd acquired.

1307
00:58:55,433 --> 00:58:57,533
I think his accent
would've been made in RADA,

1308
00:58:57,667 --> 00:58:59,133
because it wasn't
the RADA voice.

1309
00:58:59,267 --> 00:59:01,200
I mean, there's never
been a RADA voice,

1310
00:59:01,333 --> 00:59:03,567
but they definitely
did teach you to speak

1311
00:59:03,700 --> 00:59:06,533
standard English
clearly and loudly.

1312
00:59:06,667 --> 00:59:08,800
He was very proud
of the name O'Toole.

1313
00:59:08,933 --> 00:59:10,867
And he was very
happy with the fact

1314
00:59:11,067 --> 00:59:14,233
that his father had been a
bookmaker and was from Ireland.

1315
00:59:14,367 --> 00:59:17,400
I think it started
when he became famous.

1316
00:59:17,533 --> 00:59:19,967
It didn't start before,
he didn't, I mean,

1317
00:59:20,100 --> 00:59:21,900
everyone knew he came from Leeds

1318
00:59:22,067 --> 00:59:24,900
and it was when he made his name

1319
00:59:25,067 --> 00:59:26,667
in "The Long and the
Short and the Tall"

1320
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:29,100
and then "Lawrence
of Arabia" happened.

1321
00:59:29,233 --> 00:59:32,733
But, you know, the minute
he became successful,

1322
00:59:32,867 --> 00:59:36,067
obviously the press
starts to make stories.

1323
00:59:36,167 --> 00:59:40,600
And somehow, I don't
know how it became known

1324
00:59:40,733 --> 00:59:43,133
that he was born in Ireland.

1325
00:59:43,267 --> 00:59:46,100
My father never claimed
to be born in Ireland

1326
00:59:46,233 --> 00:59:48,367
because he wasn't,
he was born in Leeds,

1327
00:59:48,500 --> 00:59:50,067
as the records show.

1328
00:59:50,167 --> 00:59:52,767
He was born in Leeds
in an Irish ghetto

1329
00:59:52,900 --> 00:59:56,067
to an Irish father
in an immigrant city.

1330
00:59:56,200 --> 00:59:58,467
So he was Irish
through and through.

1331
00:59:58,600 --> 01:00:00,400
Well, he certainly regarded
himself as Irish, didn't he?

1332
01:00:00,533 --> 01:00:04,333
And he was, he was, he
was Celtic of personality,

1333
01:00:04,467 --> 01:00:07,467
it would seem, a
lover of the romance

1334
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:09,600
and the Celtic
twilight and the poets.

1335
01:00:09,733 --> 01:00:12,533
I have never revealed his
life before he met me,

1336
01:00:12,667 --> 01:00:16,767
although he did slowly and
painfully confide in me

1337
01:00:16,900 --> 01:00:19,200
bit by bit over the years.

1338
01:00:19,333 --> 01:00:22,100
And I've never been able
to repeat any of that

1339
01:00:22,233 --> 01:00:24,167
because it's his business.

1340
01:00:24,300 --> 01:00:25,933
I don't think he
understood it even.

1341
01:00:26,067 --> 01:00:30,833
But I imagine, like you, that
it was a traumatic childhood.

1342
01:00:32,167 --> 01:00:33,933
I don't know if
Siân feels the same,

1343
01:00:34,067 --> 01:00:36,367
but that's what I've
certainly felt coming off him.

1344
01:00:36,500 --> 01:00:39,033
That there was this
real conflict that,

1345
01:00:39,167 --> 01:00:41,067
that had never been resolved,

1346
01:00:41,200 --> 01:00:46,067
between his roots and
his Anglophile element.

1347
01:00:47,033 --> 01:00:48,067
He had a bully of a father.

1348
01:00:48,200 --> 01:00:49,467
Yes, he did, he did.

1349
01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:51,500
His father said, "Jump
off the mantelpiece".

1350
01:00:51,633 --> 01:00:54,833
And he had no trust,
you know, he didn't know

1351
01:00:54,967 --> 01:00:56,333
what was gonna happen to him.

1352
01:01:06,933 --> 01:01:08,467
He said, I've got to
have a place in Ireland.

1353
01:01:08,600 --> 01:01:11,233
So, I was delighted.

1354
01:01:11,367 --> 01:01:15,200
And we found a place in
Renvyle, on the clifftop,

1355
01:01:15,333 --> 01:01:17,167
and that fell through
for some reason.

1356
01:01:17,300 --> 01:01:19,700
And we found a place somewhere
else, and that fell through.

1357
01:01:19,833 --> 01:01:21,167
And then suddenly somebody said,

1358
01:01:21,300 --> 01:01:24,067
"There's a little place
going on the Sky road".

1359
01:01:24,200 --> 01:01:25,967
And I didn't know
what the Sky road was,

1360
01:01:26,100 --> 01:01:28,500
so we said we'd buy it.

1361
01:01:28,633 --> 01:01:30,400
So we bought it and then
we went to look at it

1362
01:01:30,533 --> 01:01:31,733
and it was lovely.

1363
01:01:31,867 --> 01:01:34,533
It was a little cottage
with a lot of land.

1364
01:01:34,667 --> 01:01:36,533
It's, I think, about
70 acres of land

1365
01:01:36,667 --> 01:01:38,933
and a little forest
and a little beach.

1366
01:01:39,067 --> 01:01:40,533
And it was just lovely.

1367
01:01:40,667 --> 01:01:42,567
One of the earliest
memories of mine is

1368
01:01:42,700 --> 01:01:46,067
being with him in Clifton
and Connemara in Ireland

1369
01:01:46,133 --> 01:01:48,367
and him walking me to the sea,

1370
01:01:50,133 --> 01:01:52,067
and putting me
into the cold water

1371
01:01:52,167 --> 01:01:55,300
and giving myself a wild
experience of nature.

1372
01:01:57,667 --> 01:01:59,733
To actually walk
out onto a stage

1373
01:01:59,867 --> 01:02:03,133
in front of 1,000 people,
you have to be a bit crazy.

1374
01:02:03,267 --> 01:02:06,567
So the kind of wild
guys, they weren't real,

1375
01:02:06,700 --> 01:02:09,633
except O'Toole, he
was the real McCoy.

1376
01:02:09,767 --> 01:02:11,800
He was wild, he was dangerous.

1377
01:02:11,933 --> 01:02:14,267
He could fight, he
had imagination.

1378
01:02:14,400 --> 01:02:17,267
So I did this film and
when I arrived in Ireland,

1379
01:02:17,400 --> 01:02:21,900
Lee J Thompson directing,
the film "Country Dance",

1380
01:02:22,067 --> 01:02:24,567
and when I got there,
there's O'Toole in a ditch,

1381
01:02:24,700 --> 01:02:28,867
and he'd got manacles
marks bleeding on each arm,

1382
01:02:29,067 --> 01:02:30,600
he'd been fighting
the police all night

1383
01:02:30,733 --> 01:02:32,100
and they'd had him in cells.

1384
01:02:32,233 --> 01:02:35,367
When O'Toole saw me
arrive on the set,

1385
01:02:35,500 --> 01:02:37,333
"Ah, ya big boy! God!"

1386
01:02:37,467 --> 01:02:40,133
He charged at me and I had to
kind of do a cross-buttock,

1387
01:02:40,267 --> 01:02:42,900
bring him down, onto his
back, and pin him down.

1388
01:02:43,067 --> 01:02:45,267
And Lee J Thompson
thought, "What, who in hell

1389
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:48,800
have I bloody employed?

1390
01:02:48,933 --> 01:02:50,500
He's worse than O'Toole!"

1391
01:02:50,633 --> 01:02:53,700
And we had a little clash
over now and again,

1392
01:02:53,833 --> 01:02:56,433
I was in a restaurant
in Carcassonne,

1393
01:02:56,567 --> 01:02:59,067
we wrapping up the
film, and he came in,

1394
01:02:59,167 --> 01:03:00,733
and he wanted to start trouble.

1395
01:03:00,867 --> 01:03:04,433
I mean, without making,
the Welsh and all that,

1396
01:03:04,567 --> 01:03:06,367
"You devious Welshman!"

1397
01:03:06,500 --> 01:03:08,133
And I suddenly, I'd had a
couple, I said "Come on!

1398
01:03:08,267 --> 01:03:10,867
Let's go outside
and fight, right?"

1399
01:03:11,067 --> 01:03:13,533
Went outside the back,
I was gonna deck him.

1400
01:03:13,667 --> 01:03:16,700
I said, "Give us
a kiss".

1401
01:03:16,833 --> 01:03:18,967
And before we started filming,

1402
01:03:19,100 --> 01:03:23,067
dear Boris Sagal and
his lady companion,

1403
01:03:25,233 --> 01:03:29,733
well, Boris decided that they
should have a readthrough,

1404
01:03:29,867 --> 01:03:33,267
just Peter O'Toole
and Peter Strauss,

1405
01:03:33,400 --> 01:03:37,400
and they would do it calmly,

1406
01:03:37,533 --> 01:03:39,600
just go through the
script and so on.

1407
01:03:39,733 --> 01:03:43,100
Peter O'Toole arrived absolutely
dead punctual on time,

1408
01:03:43,233 --> 01:03:47,567
but Boris and his lady
were a little alarmed

1409
01:03:47,700 --> 01:03:50,633
that he did not have
a script with him.

1410
01:03:50,767 --> 01:03:54,567
And Boris said, "Peter,
we we were going

1411
01:03:54,700 --> 01:03:56,833
to do a read through".

1412
01:03:56,967 --> 01:04:01,300
And Peter said, "Oh,
do I have to read?"

1413
01:04:01,433 --> 01:04:03,800
And Boris said, "Well of
course, unless you know it all".

1414
01:04:03,933 --> 01:04:06,867
And he said, "Well,
I hope I do".

1415
01:04:07,067 --> 01:04:09,733
And I said, "Do you know it?"

1416
01:04:09,867 --> 01:04:12,067
He said, "Well, I hope so".

1417
01:04:13,133 --> 01:04:14,433
"Are you sure?"

1418
01:04:14,567 --> 01:04:15,433
He said, "Well, we'll see.

1419
01:04:15,567 --> 01:04:17,067
Shall we start?"

1420
01:04:17,167 --> 01:04:21,600
And he knew all the
lines as they went along,

1421
01:04:22,967 --> 01:04:24,200
he knew them all.

1422
01:04:24,333 --> 01:04:27,267
And his memory was formidable.

1423
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:30,133
His memory was
absolutely terrifying.

1424
01:04:30,267 --> 01:04:33,433
Once he'd learned something,
it was there forever.

1425
01:04:33,567 --> 01:04:36,067
And O'Toole said, "No, you've
got to know your lines.

1426
01:04:36,133 --> 01:04:39,067
If you don't know your
lines, you can't even start".

1427
01:04:39,167 --> 01:04:42,067
And he said to me once,
"It's like learning to dance.

1428
01:04:42,167 --> 01:04:44,300
If you don't know the
dance steps, you can't go".

1429
01:04:44,433 --> 01:04:46,567
Yes, you can improvise,
but it all falls apart.

1430
01:04:46,700 --> 01:04:47,867
And I think what O'Toole did,

1431
01:04:48,067 --> 01:04:50,333
he would examine
underneath each line.

1432
01:04:50,467 --> 01:04:52,133
And I learned that from him,

1433
01:04:52,267 --> 01:04:54,400
and to dig under the text,

1434
01:04:54,533 --> 01:04:57,333
dig under it to find
new meanings in it.

1435
01:04:57,467 --> 01:05:01,200
He could remember poetry that
he learned when he was five,

1436
01:05:01,333 --> 01:05:03,067
little pantomimes that
he might have been in

1437
01:05:03,133 --> 01:05:07,300
at school when he was
six, every single line.

1438
01:05:07,433 --> 01:05:08,933
And you cover the first line,

1439
01:05:09,067 --> 01:05:10,967
"Hail Alexander,
when do we meet?"

1440
01:05:11,100 --> 01:05:13,467
And you say, "Hail
Alexander, when do we meet?"

1441
01:05:13,600 --> 01:05:14,333
Hail Alexander, when do we meet?

1442
01:05:15,667 --> 01:05:17,200
Hail Alexander,
when do we meet?"

1443
01:05:17,333 --> 01:05:20,067
And then you move it over
the next line, and so on,

1444
01:05:20,133 --> 01:05:22,600
all through the script.

1445
01:05:22,733 --> 01:05:26,067
And they looked at him and said,

1446
01:05:26,133 --> 01:05:27,800
"Learn the whole
script like that?"

1447
01:05:27,933 --> 01:05:30,600
"Yes", he said, "it is
a very boring process,

1448
01:05:30,733 --> 01:05:33,067
but I mean, you have to
know the lines, don't you?"

1449
01:05:35,533 --> 01:05:38,433
But there was, yes,
there was a sort of

1450
01:05:38,567 --> 01:05:41,367
desperation in that
sense, I think,

1451
01:05:42,667 --> 01:05:45,333
and I know Siân Phillips
still speaks of him

1452
01:05:45,467 --> 01:05:47,167
with enormous love
and affection.

1453
01:05:47,300 --> 01:05:49,167
And there was clearly,
it was a marriage

1454
01:05:49,300 --> 01:05:50,933
that was impossible for her,

1455
01:05:51,067 --> 01:05:52,733
and on many occasions.

1456
01:05:52,867 --> 01:05:56,267
But you know, he
was, as charismatic

1457
01:05:56,400 --> 01:05:58,933
as a figure within
a family as he was,

1458
01:05:59,067 --> 01:06:02,767
as a figure on a
stage or on a screen.

1459
01:06:02,900 --> 01:06:06,833
He was the love of my life
and I was of his, I know.

1460
01:06:06,967 --> 01:06:09,200
And we had a wonderful
relationship.

1461
01:06:09,333 --> 01:06:12,867
You know, it was difficult
from time to time as well,

1462
01:06:13,067 --> 01:06:16,567
but it was, it was
also wonderful.

1463
01:06:16,700 --> 01:06:19,067
* If I gave a thought
to fascination *

1464
01:06:19,200 --> 01:06:24,067
* I would know it
wasn't right to care *

1465
01:06:25,367 --> 01:06:27,200
* Logic doesn't seem
to mind to die *

1466
01:06:27,333 --> 01:06:32,200
* I'm fascinated
by a love affair. *

1467
01:06:33,200 --> 01:06:35,200
* Still my heart would benefit *

1468
01:06:35,333 --> 01:06:40,133
* From a little tenderness
from time to time *

1469
01:06:41,367 --> 01:06:43,100
* But never mind,
cause baby I'm a fool *

1470
01:06:43,233 --> 01:06:47,700
* Who thinks it's
cool to fall in love *

1471
01:06:48,833 --> 01:06:50,833
He had been on a bender with,

1472
01:06:50,967 --> 01:06:52,667
with a journalist
friend of ours,

1473
01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:54,533
and they came back and he said,

1474
01:06:54,667 --> 01:06:56,267
"I don't feel good".

1475
01:06:56,400 --> 01:07:00,500
And he went to bed and, and
they diagnosed pancreatitis.

1476
01:07:02,133 --> 01:07:06,067
So it was the Royal Free in
Hampstead, down the road,

1477
01:07:06,133 --> 01:07:08,367
that was able to take
him in, an NHS hospital,

1478
01:07:08,500 --> 01:07:10,800
and they had all
the equipment there,

1479
01:07:10,933 --> 01:07:12,700
they told me to
expect the worst.

1480
01:07:12,833 --> 01:07:14,233
And there was nobody there,

1481
01:07:14,367 --> 01:07:16,833
my mother and the
children were on holiday,

1482
01:07:16,967 --> 01:07:19,133
nobody knew that
he was in there,

1483
01:07:19,267 --> 01:07:21,533
but the press gradually
got hold of it

1484
01:07:21,667 --> 01:07:24,567
and they would ring up
and, to check the obit.

1485
01:07:24,700 --> 01:07:27,833
And one day he opened his
eyes and he was better.

1486
01:07:28,833 --> 01:07:30,600
And it was against all the odds.

1487
01:07:30,733 --> 01:07:34,533
And we went home
and he went to bed

1488
01:07:34,667 --> 01:07:37,367
and the children came back, my
mother came back from holiday

1489
01:07:37,500 --> 01:07:39,467
and everything went on as though

1490
01:07:39,600 --> 01:07:41,633
it had not happened, almost.

1491
01:07:41,767 --> 01:07:44,067
But I had nearly died myself

1492
01:07:44,200 --> 01:07:46,100
when I mourned him
for four weeks.

1493
01:07:46,233 --> 01:07:48,967
I was heartbroken
for four weeks.

1494
01:07:49,100 --> 01:07:51,900
And he said, "We
must go on holiday".

1495
01:07:52,067 --> 01:07:54,600
So we went, we could
only find, out of season,

1496
01:07:54,733 --> 01:07:57,900
one hotel in Italy.

1497
01:07:58,067 --> 01:08:00,733
We had the best, we
were there for a month

1498
01:08:00,867 --> 01:08:03,967
and then out of season
there was nobody else there.

1499
01:08:04,100 --> 01:08:06,367
And then we were there
for another few weeks

1500
01:08:06,500 --> 01:08:09,167
'cause we liked it so
much, it was wonderful.

1501
01:08:09,300 --> 01:08:12,067
And he recovered, and
we came back to England,

1502
01:08:12,167 --> 01:08:16,533
and I thought, I really did
think that our life had turned,

1503
01:08:16,667 --> 01:08:19,433
taken a turn for
the better somehow,

1504
01:08:19,567 --> 01:08:22,333
that we, I felt I was different,

1505
01:08:22,467 --> 01:08:25,267
having lived through his death.

1506
01:08:25,400 --> 01:08:27,533
And I thought he must
feel different as well.

1507
01:08:27,667 --> 01:08:29,767
But he didn't, he nearly died,

1508
01:08:29,900 --> 01:08:33,733
but he wasn't aware
that he'd nearly died.

1509
01:08:33,867 --> 01:08:36,067
So to him, he was just better.

1510
01:08:36,200 --> 01:08:37,800
So he said, "No,
no, no, we'll go on

1511
01:08:37,933 --> 01:08:40,600
just as we did before, I'll
go away and I'll come back,

1512
01:08:40,733 --> 01:08:43,367
you come out with
me and settle me in

1513
01:08:43,500 --> 01:08:44,600
and then fetch me back".

1514
01:08:44,733 --> 01:08:47,067
And I said, "No, I have to be,

1515
01:08:47,133 --> 01:08:47,967
I have to travel with you",

1516
01:08:48,100 --> 01:08:50,167
'cause he was frail still.

1517
01:08:50,300 --> 01:08:51,867
He said, "No, no,
no, not at all".

1518
01:08:53,833 --> 01:08:55,800
So I'd realised actually
that we'd reached

1519
01:08:55,933 --> 01:08:57,333
the end of the road.

1520
01:08:57,467 --> 01:09:01,500
After this idyllically
happy time, this awful time,

1521
01:09:01,633 --> 01:09:03,533
and then this wonderful time.

1522
01:09:04,867 --> 01:09:07,133
And then it couldn't
go back to square one.

1523
01:09:07,267 --> 01:09:08,433
So whenever the buzzer went,

1524
01:09:08,567 --> 01:09:10,267
it was always a bit
of a tense moment.

1525
01:09:10,400 --> 01:09:12,167
So the buzzer went,
"eeh", and it was,

1526
01:09:12,300 --> 01:09:15,333
"Could you please come
down to the living room,

1527
01:09:15,467 --> 01:09:16,633
we need to have a family talk".

1528
01:09:16,767 --> 01:09:19,633
And I knew in my
bones what it was.

1529
01:09:19,767 --> 01:09:23,633
I'd tried to help my sister
by preparing her for it,

1530
01:09:23,767 --> 01:09:25,933
but she didn't want
to hear it, really.

1531
01:09:26,067 --> 01:09:29,067
She was just that bit too
young, I think, at the time.

1532
01:09:29,133 --> 01:09:30,733
And I said, "But
I want to leave,

1533
01:09:30,867 --> 01:09:33,333
I want to start my life again".

1534
01:09:33,467 --> 01:09:36,300
I don't know
about the speech

1535
01:09:36,433 --> 01:09:37,667
having been written
for my mother,

1536
01:09:37,800 --> 01:09:40,300
but she did announce
that she was leaving.

1537
01:09:40,433 --> 01:09:43,600
And she said, "Does anybody
have anything to say?"

1538
01:09:43,733 --> 01:09:47,100
And of course, Mamgee was
there, my, our grandmother.

1539
01:09:47,233 --> 01:09:50,367
And she said, "I
have plenty to say

1540
01:09:50,500 --> 01:09:53,567
and I am not going to say it".

1541
01:10:00,833 --> 01:10:05,700
It is one of the more
mighty and vehement

1542
01:10:06,533 --> 01:10:08,667
and sublime vehicles

1543
01:10:10,100 --> 01:10:11,767
that Shakespeare wrote.

1544
01:10:11,900 --> 01:10:14,567
I dragged him onto the stage.

1545
01:10:14,700 --> 01:10:19,567
Silence, shock,
couldn't believe it.

1546
01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:23,200
Terrible. Horror.

1547
01:10:23,333 --> 01:10:24,533
They thought they
were being conned.

1548
01:10:24,667 --> 01:10:26,633
It was sad really, because

1549
01:10:26,767 --> 01:10:30,533
he should have been,
could have been,

1550
01:10:30,667 --> 01:10:32,633
ought to have been
a wonderful Macbeth,

1551
01:10:35,200 --> 01:10:38,767
but something went wrong,
and I think, dare I say it?

1552
01:10:38,900 --> 01:10:40,833
I think it was the
drink, you know,

1553
01:10:40,967 --> 01:10:43,300
there was always drink
in the dressing room,

1554
01:10:43,433 --> 01:10:45,733
and so when Peter came on,

1555
01:10:45,867 --> 01:10:49,233
he thought he was going
at the speed of light,

1556
01:10:49,367 --> 01:10:53,733
but actually he was going
so slowly that "Macbeth",

1557
01:10:53,867 --> 01:10:58,300
which is a fairly short
play, became endless.

1558
01:10:58,433 --> 01:11:02,767
And that's what the
critics picked up on.

1559
01:11:02,900 --> 01:11:04,467
Speak if your can.

1560
01:11:06,933 --> 01:11:08,067
What are you?

1561
01:11:09,100 --> 01:11:11,533
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee,

1562
01:11:11,667 --> 01:11:13,833
-Thane of Glamis!
-All hail Macbeth,

1563
01:11:13,967 --> 01:11:16,267
hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!

1564
01:11:16,400 --> 01:11:19,567
All hail Macbeth, that
shalt be king hereafter!

1565
01:11:21,100 --> 01:11:23,067
On the front page of
"The Sun" newspaper,

1566
01:11:23,200 --> 01:11:24,867
the most popular tabloid,

1567
01:11:25,067 --> 01:11:27,067
the least associated
with Shakespeare

1568
01:11:27,133 --> 01:11:29,533
of any of our
national newspapers,

1569
01:11:29,667 --> 01:11:34,167
on the front page the next day
the headline was, "Macflop".

1570
01:11:34,300 --> 01:11:36,067
On the front page of "The Sun".

1571
01:11:36,133 --> 01:11:38,833
If chance will have me king,

1572
01:11:38,967 --> 01:11:43,633
why, chance may crown
me, without my stir.

1573
01:11:43,767 --> 01:11:46,300
And he completed
the performance,

1574
01:11:46,433 --> 01:11:49,200
which lasts for
probably six hours.

1575
01:11:49,333 --> 01:11:52,733
And I stayed on the stage
after I was dead, as Banquo,

1576
01:11:52,867 --> 01:11:55,700
holding onto him,
waiting for him to die.

1577
01:11:57,633 --> 01:11:59,433
Well, he didn't die.

1578
01:11:59,567 --> 01:12:03,600
And he completed
the performance, he
completed the tour,

1579
01:12:03,733 --> 01:12:07,167
he saw the job through.

1580
01:12:10,067 --> 01:12:13,133
I said to my dad, the
coal miner, my dad,

1581
01:12:14,500 --> 01:12:16,933
I have never seen
courage like that.

1582
01:12:17,067 --> 01:12:21,467
Whatever he did worked,

1583
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:24,433
the only time it didn't
work was the "Macbeth".

1584
01:12:24,567 --> 01:12:28,533
And I think that was because
he wasn't in control.

1585
01:12:28,667 --> 01:12:30,700
He was half Scots, half Irish.

1586
01:12:30,833 --> 01:12:34,133
So there was a, there was
a unity and a conflict

1587
01:12:34,267 --> 01:12:36,400
at the same time, you know,

1588
01:12:36,533 --> 01:12:38,933
and I think that
was what was really,

1589
01:12:39,067 --> 01:12:40,967
that was really
what his skill was.

1590
01:12:41,100 --> 01:12:42,700
But he also had
this sort of very,

1591
01:12:42,833 --> 01:12:45,533
he could do the British
thing very well.

1592
01:12:45,667 --> 01:12:46,967
He could do it much better
than any of the others.

1593
01:12:47,100 --> 01:12:49,400
He could do it much
better than Albert,

1594
01:12:49,533 --> 01:12:50,667
much better than Tom or Alan,

1595
01:12:50,800 --> 01:12:51,800
or even Richard.

1596
01:12:51,933 --> 01:12:53,067
He could do that.

1597
01:12:53,133 --> 01:12:55,400
Rugby may make more row,

1598
01:12:56,767 --> 01:12:59,700
but we'll row, row, row forever,

1599
01:12:59,833 --> 01:13:03,533
steady from stroke to bow,

1600
01:13:03,667 --> 01:13:06,900
and nothing in life
will sever the chain

1601
01:13:07,067 --> 01:13:08,967
that is round us now.

1602
01:13:15,967 --> 01:13:19,200
O'Toole, in this total
way, somehow understands

1603
01:13:19,333 --> 01:13:22,467
that it's about a whole period
in Hollywood filmmaking,

1604
01:13:22,600 --> 01:13:24,933
that that performance
is embodying,

1605
01:13:25,067 --> 01:13:28,233
as well as a kind
of down and dirty

1606
01:13:28,367 --> 01:13:32,233
sort of comic ruthlessness
about what gets a laugh.

1607
01:13:32,367 --> 01:13:33,967
He had a great
comic skill as well,

1608
01:13:34,100 --> 01:13:37,133
he was a very, his timing
was pretty amazing at times.

1609
01:13:37,267 --> 01:13:39,533
And that was one of the
things that was kind of,

1610
01:13:39,667 --> 01:13:41,467
again, compelling
about him, really.

1611
01:13:42,533 --> 01:13:46,233
* Others may fill our places *

1612
01:13:46,367 --> 01:13:50,467
* Dressed in the
old light blue *

1613
01:13:50,600 --> 01:13:54,767
* We'll recollect our races. *

1614
01:13:54,900 --> 01:13:57,600
Winning an Oscar
is very much about

1615
01:13:57,733 --> 01:14:00,667
what campaign are you running
in Hollywood to win this?

1616
01:14:00,800 --> 01:14:03,667
And what interviews are
you doing, what chat shows?

1617
01:14:03,800 --> 01:14:05,400
I don't think he
cared about that.

1618
01:14:05,533 --> 01:14:07,267
I went to the Oscars
twice with him,

1619
01:14:07,400 --> 01:14:11,367
once when he was
nominated for "Venus",

1620
01:14:12,700 --> 01:14:15,933
I think it was 2007, and
the other time in 2004

1621
01:14:16,067 --> 01:14:18,800
when he was nominated
for his, not nominated,

1622
01:14:18,933 --> 01:14:22,267
he was given his Lifetime
Achievement Award,

1623
01:14:22,400 --> 01:14:26,600
which he highly
resented to begin with,

1624
01:14:26,733 --> 01:14:29,067
and actually turned
it down to the Academy

1625
01:14:29,167 --> 01:14:31,400
and said, "You know,
you're retiring me.

1626
01:14:31,533 --> 01:14:32,900
I don't want any
of this at all".

1627
01:14:33,067 --> 01:14:34,800
And they said, "Well,
it's a miscommunication.

1628
01:14:34,933 --> 01:14:36,633
We really want you to
accept this award".

1629
01:14:36,767 --> 01:14:41,133
And after a little
bit of debate,

1630
01:14:42,200 --> 01:14:43,400
he decided to go for it.

1631
01:14:43,533 --> 01:14:45,933
He hated all that, he
he called the Oscars,

1632
01:14:46,067 --> 01:14:48,200
"The dog and pony show".

1633
01:14:48,333 --> 01:14:51,233
And he didn't want to go
and he certainly didn't want

1634
01:14:51,367 --> 01:14:54,100
an honorary Oscar,
which is what he got.

1635
01:14:54,233 --> 01:14:58,233
And he objected to that, he
wanted to win one outright.

1636
01:14:58,367 --> 01:15:01,800
you want to have an Oscar,
you have to go to LA,

1637
01:15:01,933 --> 01:15:04,500
and you have to do a
lot of publicity work,

1638
01:15:04,633 --> 01:15:07,767
a lot, you have to
campaign for it, you know,

1639
01:15:07,900 --> 01:15:10,600
it takes months
out of your life.

1640
01:15:10,733 --> 01:15:13,367
And he was never
prepared to do that.

1641
01:15:13,500 --> 01:15:15,500
He wouldn't go, he
never went to Hollywood.

1642
01:15:18,367 --> 01:15:20,533
And seeing him in
"Jeffrey Bernard",

1643
01:15:20,667 --> 01:15:24,067
on stage this 16 times,
couldn't take my eyes off him,

1644
01:15:24,200 --> 01:15:25,833
because you need to
follow every move.

1645
01:15:25,967 --> 01:15:27,133
Has he forgotten his line now?

1646
01:15:27,267 --> 01:15:30,600
Is he just wobbling
or no, no, no.

1647
01:15:30,733 --> 01:15:35,567
This one man holds the
entire 1,100 audience

1648
01:15:36,533 --> 01:15:38,067
at the Old Vic in a vice.

1649
01:15:38,133 --> 01:15:41,300
But I saw "Jeffrey Bernard
is Unwell" many times.

1650
01:15:41,433 --> 01:15:43,933
That was fantastic.

1651
01:15:44,067 --> 01:15:46,533
Some, I mean really fantastic.

1652
01:15:46,667 --> 01:15:49,700
Some people say the
greatest comic performance

1653
01:15:49,833 --> 01:15:52,933
of the 20th century, and
I'd be inclined to agree.

1654
01:15:53,067 --> 01:15:55,333
It really was spectacular.

1655
01:15:55,467 --> 01:15:56,767
I had highlights as well.

1656
01:15:56,900 --> 01:15:58,400
I remember going to
the theatre one night

1657
01:15:58,533 --> 01:16:00,633
and Jeff was actually
there, Jeffrey,

1658
01:16:00,767 --> 01:16:02,300
he was still alive at the time

1659
01:16:02,433 --> 01:16:04,467
and he was absolutely
drunk out of his mind,

1660
01:16:04,600 --> 01:16:07,100
and he was at the bar
refusing to leave.

1661
01:16:07,233 --> 01:16:08,600
And the bar staff
didn't know what to do

1662
01:16:08,733 --> 01:16:10,633
'cause the curtain was going up.

1663
01:16:10,767 --> 01:16:12,567
And so I was telling
my dad about this

1664
01:16:12,700 --> 01:16:14,167
and he said, "Oh,
what they should have

1665
01:16:14,300 --> 01:16:16,933
just put a velvet rope around
him and charged tickets".

1666
01:16:17,067 --> 01:16:18,800
Couldn't
you have telephoned?

1667
01:16:18,933 --> 01:16:20,367
Now, if I
put you in a cab,

1668
01:16:20,500 --> 01:16:22,767
will you promise not to
fall out the other door?

1669
01:16:24,433 --> 01:16:25,600
You only get out of
life what you put into it.

1670
01:16:25,733 --> 01:16:27,800
Fancy a spot
of cat racing, Jeff?

1671
01:16:27,933 --> 01:16:31,133
You're a mean, alcoholic
diabetic prick.

1672
01:16:31,267 --> 01:16:32,267
And?

1673
01:16:32,400 --> 01:16:34,100
You make me sick!

1674
01:16:35,733 --> 01:16:37,267
But you're never snide

1675
01:16:37,400 --> 01:16:40,067
and you never hurt and
you wouldn't wanna win

1676
01:16:40,133 --> 01:16:42,567
on a doctored beast, and anyway,

1677
01:16:42,700 --> 01:16:46,067
the least of your pleasures
resides in paltry measures.

1678
01:16:47,633 --> 01:16:52,100
So God, great joker God, please
guard this great Bernard,

1679
01:16:53,400 --> 01:16:57,733
let him be known for
the prince of men he is.

1680
01:16:57,867 --> 01:17:02,533
A master, at taking out of
himself, and us, the piss.

1681
01:17:11,200 --> 01:17:12,667
He knew this was the last,

1682
01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:14,300
this was the one of
the greatest parts

1683
01:17:14,433 --> 01:17:16,867
you could ever have in theatre.

1684
01:17:17,067 --> 01:17:19,133
And he knew it was his.

1685
01:17:19,267 --> 01:17:22,867
The people who'd taken over
from him knew it was his.

1686
01:17:23,067 --> 01:17:25,067
They couldn't manage it.

1687
01:17:25,200 --> 01:17:27,267
It was Peter's and lots of
people have played it since.

1688
01:17:27,400 --> 01:17:30,233
But nah, it was Peter's
part and he knew it.

1689
01:17:30,367 --> 01:17:32,233
And I think taking
it to the old Vic

1690
01:17:32,367 --> 01:17:34,567
must have been balm to the soul.

1691
01:17:34,700 --> 01:17:37,367
And it was an
unofficial farewell to

1692
01:17:37,500 --> 01:17:39,533
theatre that he really loved.

1693
01:17:39,667 --> 01:17:41,467
I don't have the right to
be calling him O'Toole,

1694
01:17:41,600 --> 01:17:44,067
except he is a legend,
but I saw him in

1695
01:17:44,200 --> 01:17:46,100
"Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell",

1696
01:17:46,233 --> 01:17:51,067
the story of a Soho
literary bohemian drunk

1697
01:17:52,367 --> 01:17:55,467
of brilliance and
comic kind of delight.

1698
01:18:12,933 --> 01:18:14,867
People are always
surprised to learn

1699
01:18:15,067 --> 01:18:16,800
that I'm a domestic animal.

1700
01:18:23,333 --> 01:18:26,167
Peter did not have
his script with him.

1701
01:18:26,300 --> 01:18:28,233
He already knew it by heart.

1702
01:18:28,367 --> 01:18:30,867
It was a huge part,
he had it down,

1703
01:18:31,067 --> 01:18:32,700
I think he had in
three weeks' rehearsal,

1704
01:18:32,833 --> 01:18:34,700
he maybe had two prompts.

1705
01:18:34,833 --> 01:18:36,267
He knew exactly
what he was doing

1706
01:18:36,400 --> 01:18:38,733
and he spent rehearsals
doing something

1707
01:18:38,867 --> 01:18:41,400
I've never seen anyone doing.

1708
01:18:41,533 --> 01:18:43,200
He was working out,
he had to do a lot of

1709
01:18:43,333 --> 01:18:45,067
lighting of cigarettes,

1710
01:18:45,133 --> 01:18:47,133
lot of smoking of them,
stubbing them out.

1711
01:18:47,267 --> 01:18:51,300
He had two pour
soda into his glass

1712
01:18:51,433 --> 01:18:54,200
and find tomato
ketchup, and the vodka,

1713
01:18:54,333 --> 01:18:56,067
he had to stagger
about the stage,

1714
01:18:56,200 --> 01:18:59,833
he had to look in things,
and he worked everything out,

1715
01:19:00,067 --> 01:19:02,133
even to, when do I
take a breath in.

1716
01:19:02,267 --> 01:19:04,800
Comic timing,
including working this,

1717
01:19:04,933 --> 01:19:08,233
this now this sort of,
almost like a mime's body,

1718
01:19:08,367 --> 01:19:11,067
a long stringy Marcel Marceau

1719
01:19:11,167 --> 01:19:15,400
of slightly gangly
stuff that he could do.

1720
01:19:15,533 --> 01:19:19,400
And he became the master of it.

1721
01:19:19,533 --> 01:19:22,467
Who the hell do they
think washes my glass up

1722
01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:24,467
every morning if there's
no one else to do it?

1723
01:19:29,767 --> 01:19:30,533
I cook.

1724
01:19:32,067 --> 01:19:34,733
I sow, I reap.

1725
01:19:36,633 --> 01:19:37,933
And there's an egg trick,

1726
01:19:38,067 --> 01:19:40,167
there's a trick, a
magic trick in the show,

1727
01:19:40,300 --> 01:19:42,067
which he did, two runs of it,

1728
01:19:42,133 --> 01:19:44,633
that went on forever, months
and months and months.

1729
01:19:44,767 --> 01:19:47,500
I think the egg trick
only went wrong once.

1730
01:19:47,633 --> 01:19:49,833
And the egg trick is a strange
one, I don't understand,

1731
01:19:49,967 --> 01:19:53,067
but it involves a shoe,
a biscuit tin lid,

1732
01:19:53,200 --> 01:19:58,067
a pint mug, a
matchbox and an egg.

1733
01:19:59,367 --> 01:20:02,867
You need a good and
steady hand, Keith said.

1734
01:20:03,800 --> 01:20:04,700
Here goes.

1735
01:20:05,800 --> 01:20:09,133
One, two.

1736
01:20:12,567 --> 01:20:15,633
And the idea is you tap
with the heel of your shoe,

1737
01:20:15,767 --> 01:20:18,000
some bit of this when it's
all been set up in a tower

1738
01:20:18,133 --> 01:20:20,867
and the egg plops into
the glass of water

1739
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:22,167
when you've done it right,

1740
01:20:23,633 --> 01:20:26,233
Peter did it right
every single night.

1741
01:20:26,367 --> 01:20:27,833
Now, I once went to an
evening meeting at Windsor,

1742
01:20:27,967 --> 01:20:30,600
got absolutely asshole, lost
every penny in my pocket

1743
01:20:30,733 --> 01:20:33,800
and no idea how to get back
to London after the last race.

1744
01:20:33,933 --> 01:20:36,433
I was practically the only
person left on the racetrack.

1745
01:20:36,567 --> 01:20:39,667
And as I stood desolate
in the car park,

1746
01:20:39,800 --> 01:20:41,867
I suddenly saw this
beautiful white Rolls Royce

1747
01:20:42,000 --> 01:20:43,233
heading for the gate.

1748
01:20:43,367 --> 01:20:45,667
I stood in its path and
signalled it to stop.

1749
01:20:45,800 --> 01:20:48,533
The owner, suave as
any film star said,

1750
01:20:48,667 --> 01:20:49,900
Yes, what can I do for you?

1751
01:20:50,033 --> 01:20:50,900
I said,

1752
01:20:51,033 --> 01:20:52,767
He said, I'm pissed and potless,

1753
01:20:52,900 --> 01:20:54,533
please take me to the
Dorchester immediately

1754
01:20:54,667 --> 01:20:55,967
and buy me a drink.

1755
01:21:04,200 --> 01:21:07,433
I'd never seen him before,
and I've never seen him since,

1756
01:21:07,567 --> 01:21:11,133
but he was absolutely charming,

1757
01:21:11,267 --> 01:21:13,933
he recognised someone
who'd done their bollocks

1758
01:21:14,067 --> 01:21:15,267
and was feeling thirsty.

1759
01:21:16,700 --> 01:21:20,567
His last night, well
we were all in tears,

1760
01:21:20,700 --> 01:21:23,100
and the audience were,
as always, on their feet.

1761
01:21:23,233 --> 01:21:24,500
And he turned
around and he went,

1762
01:21:24,633 --> 01:21:26,167
having taken the curtain call,

1763
01:21:26,300 --> 01:21:30,733
he went, and Charlie came
on with a tray of glasses,

1764
01:21:32,367 --> 01:21:35,933
with champagne, and Peter then
proceeded to make a speech.

1765
01:21:42,133 --> 01:21:46,933
And spoke about each one of
us and what we had contributed

1766
01:21:48,200 --> 01:21:50,600
and how, and how well
he thought of us,

1767
01:21:50,733 --> 01:21:53,733
I mean, and, and
basically wished us luck.

1768
01:21:53,867 --> 01:21:56,267
And it was, he gave us
a handover like that,

1769
01:21:56,400 --> 01:21:58,133
which was so wonderful.

1770
01:21:59,500 --> 01:22:02,067
Last week I had an erection.

1771
01:22:04,467 --> 01:22:05,767
I was so amazed.

1772
01:22:07,367 --> 01:22:09,167
I took its photograph.

1773
01:22:10,700 --> 01:22:13,267
Life after death!

1774
01:22:13,400 --> 01:22:15,800
What more do you want?

1775
01:22:15,933 --> 01:22:17,400
Go on, Norman!

1776
01:22:25,567 --> 01:22:28,433
As O'Toole himself
described it, at the end,

1777
01:22:28,567 --> 01:22:30,700
he said he has been
fortunate enough

1778
01:22:30,833 --> 01:22:33,100
to have a standing ovation.

1779
01:22:33,233 --> 01:22:35,567
But he called this, and I
was there when it happened,

1780
01:22:35,700 --> 01:22:37,300
a jumping ovation.

1781
01:22:37,433 --> 01:22:40,500
He was so fantastic that
people didn't just stand up,

1782
01:22:40,633 --> 01:22:41,800
when the lights
went out at the end,

1783
01:22:41,933 --> 01:22:43,800
the whole audience jumped up

1784
01:22:43,933 --> 01:22:46,333
because they knew they'd
seen something which was,

1785
01:22:46,467 --> 01:22:48,200
I would say, sublime.

1786
01:22:48,333 --> 01:22:49,600
Oh, I was so proud of him.

1787
01:22:49,733 --> 01:22:51,633
I mean, he was just brilliant.

1788
01:22:51,767 --> 01:22:52,967
He was marvellous.

1789
01:22:53,100 --> 01:22:54,900
And his physical
dexterity, you know,

1790
01:22:55,067 --> 01:22:57,300
he was, he was a wonderful
Falseur, apart from anything,

1791
01:22:57,433 --> 01:22:58,933
he could do anything.

1792
01:22:59,067 --> 01:23:03,800
And his elegance and his
comic effects, and he could,

1793
01:23:05,467 --> 01:23:09,133
I just loved everything
he did, it was wonderful.

1794
01:23:11,800 --> 01:23:13,967
She doesn't belong
here, she never did.

1795
01:23:15,167 --> 01:23:17,100
I find it most odd.

1796
01:23:17,233 --> 01:23:18,667
Odd?

1797
01:23:18,800 --> 01:23:22,833
What she says about you,
despite your hatred towards me.

1798
01:23:22,967 --> 01:23:23,900
Which is?

1799
01:23:25,667 --> 01:23:26,500
Nothing.

1800
01:23:29,267 --> 01:23:32,967
He made a dried eyed
farewell to acting.

1801
01:23:33,100 --> 01:23:36,067
But as far as I know, I mean,

1802
01:23:36,200 --> 01:23:39,267
there were films coming
out with Peter O'Toole,

1803
01:23:39,400 --> 01:23:42,167
even after his death
that, you know,

1804
01:23:42,300 --> 01:23:44,233
so it didn't look
like he stopped,

1805
01:23:44,367 --> 01:23:46,633
and I wondered,
could he ever stop?

1806
01:23:47,767 --> 01:23:49,967
Katherine speaks the truth.

1807
01:23:55,733 --> 01:23:56,833
I thought, well, see if I
can get a script together,

1808
01:23:58,733 --> 01:24:01,133
and do this film
from some documents,

1809
01:24:01,267 --> 01:24:02,933
an ancient diary
they had discovered,

1810
01:24:03,067 --> 01:24:05,300
and we'd had for years.

1811
01:24:05,433 --> 01:24:06,600
To cut a long story short,

1812
01:24:06,733 --> 01:24:08,367
the diary seemed to
be quite important

1813
01:24:08,500 --> 01:24:10,700
and seemed, allegedly,
was written by

1814
01:24:10,833 --> 01:24:13,100
St. Katherine or
Katherine of Sinai.

1815
01:24:17,200 --> 01:24:18,933
And so I formed a
script from there,

1816
01:24:19,067 --> 01:24:23,067
and on a gamble sent it
to every actor I could.

1817
01:24:23,200 --> 01:24:26,167
Joss Acklin, Peter
O'Toole, Steven Burkoff,

1818
01:24:26,300 --> 01:24:29,067
Edward Fox, and so on, Brian
Blessed and Freddy Jones,

1819
01:24:29,200 --> 01:24:30,500
the great, great actors.

1820
01:24:31,467 --> 01:24:33,700
And it was just a, a gamble.

1821
01:24:35,333 --> 01:24:38,767
And then all the actors came
back and said an immediate yes,

1822
01:24:38,900 --> 01:24:41,100
which I didn't have
the budget for,

1823
01:24:41,233 --> 01:24:45,500
and Peter was the
last to come back.

1824
01:24:45,633 --> 01:24:48,067
Now I'd just assumed
that he wouldn't do it

1825
01:24:48,200 --> 01:24:50,500
because he'd retired.

1826
01:24:50,633 --> 01:24:52,600
And on the notion that
he wouldn't do it,

1827
01:24:52,733 --> 01:24:55,367
I then sent the
script to Herbert Lom,

1828
01:24:55,500 --> 01:24:57,767
and said, "Please
do this, this film".

1829
01:24:57,900 --> 01:24:59,833
And then Peter suddenly, I
think it was a phone call

1830
01:25:00,067 --> 01:25:01,667
to the studio and it was Peter,

1831
01:25:01,800 --> 01:25:03,333
and I said, "Oh, I'm
really sorry Peter,

1832
01:25:03,467 --> 01:25:06,100
I just assumed you
wouldn't be interested,

1833
01:25:06,233 --> 01:25:07,500
and I gave the part away".

1834
01:25:07,633 --> 01:25:10,933
And then another call
came and it was Peter,

1835
01:25:11,067 --> 01:25:13,767
and he said, "Well,
write me a fucking part".

1836
01:25:14,733 --> 01:25:18,133
And I, that was it, so I did.

1837
01:25:18,267 --> 01:25:21,333
Peter visits this girl
in the prison cell,

1838
01:25:21,467 --> 01:25:24,233
and I think it's a
lovely performance.

1839
01:25:24,367 --> 01:25:26,133
Beautiful, harmless child.

1840
01:25:27,967 --> 01:25:30,400
I knew then damnation
would follow,

1841
01:25:30,533 --> 01:25:34,067
having lived most of my
pitiful existence by extremes,

1842
01:25:34,167 --> 01:25:37,200
which would sicken
the learned heart.

1843
01:25:37,333 --> 01:25:41,733
He's a a Roman senator,

1844
01:25:41,867 --> 01:25:44,867
he's embarrassed by the
wealth that he's lived under.

1845
01:25:45,067 --> 01:25:48,533
And I now take my place
alongside other greedy,

1846
01:25:48,667 --> 01:25:53,500
pitiful souls in Maxentius's
great hall of shame.

1847
01:25:54,900 --> 01:25:56,600
The absolute
embarrassments on his face

1848
01:25:56,733 --> 01:25:57,900
with this young
girl, he doesn't know

1849
01:25:58,067 --> 01:26:00,367
how to approach this young girl.

1850
01:26:00,500 --> 01:26:03,800
I wrote you a cowardly letter.

1851
01:26:03,933 --> 01:26:06,433
Should you have
refused to see me?

1852
01:26:09,933 --> 01:26:13,233
Do you wonder where
the dead and buried go?

1853
01:26:15,467 --> 01:26:19,167
Does it fear you to know
nothing of all whereabouts

1854
01:26:19,300 --> 01:26:22,333
and including all spirits?

1855
01:26:22,467 --> 01:26:24,700
Their ultimate distinction?

1856
01:26:24,833 --> 01:26:28,400
And for me it's a very,
very moving scene.

1857
01:26:28,533 --> 01:26:31,767
Feel more at ease,

1858
01:26:31,900 --> 01:26:34,500
in this reckoning
of eventual death.

1859
01:26:36,133 --> 01:26:37,433
I want to go to the
pictures to see something

1860
01:26:37,567 --> 01:26:39,067
I don't see in the
rest of my life.

1861
01:26:39,133 --> 01:26:41,967
Well, I ain't seen Pete O'Toole
at the end of my street,

1862
01:26:42,100 --> 01:26:44,100
and I'm not seeing him on
the telly, I'm seeing him

1863
01:26:44,233 --> 01:26:47,633
60 foot across at the
Empire Leicester Square,

1864
01:26:47,767 --> 01:26:51,567
in parts that that unusual
poetic sensibility,

1865
01:26:51,700 --> 01:26:52,533
which you know is there,

1866
01:26:52,667 --> 01:26:54,133
you read his autobiography

1867
01:26:54,267 --> 01:26:58,300
and it's neo- Joyce-ean stream
of consciousness that is,

1868
01:26:58,433 --> 01:27:03,233
and that completely infuses
what you see on screen,

1869
01:27:04,600 --> 01:27:06,433
you know, you feel it's
a Yates-ean, Joyce-ean,

1870
01:27:06,567 --> 01:27:10,200
Wilde-ean kind of
Irish braggadaccio,

1871
01:27:10,333 --> 01:27:12,100
which is unique.

1872
01:27:14,267 --> 01:27:17,667
* I wish I was *

1873
01:27:20,433 --> 01:27:25,367
* In Carrickfergus *

1874
01:27:26,700 --> 01:27:30,133
* Only for nights
in Ballygrand *

1875
01:27:37,400 --> 01:27:42,367
* I would swim over *

1876
01:27:43,233 --> 01:27:47,800
* The deepest ocean *

1877
01:27:49,400 --> 01:27:54,300
* The deepest ocean *

1878
01:27:55,167 --> 01:27:59,500
* My love to find *

1879
01:28:00,467 --> 01:28:04,833
* But the sea is wide *

1880
01:28:05,867 --> 01:28:10,633
* And I can't swim over *

1881
01:28:11,733 --> 01:28:16,667
* I need a light *

1882
01:28:17,533 --> 01:28:22,200
* The wings to fly *

1883
01:28:23,267 --> 01:28:28,200
* I wish I knew *

1884
01:28:29,067 --> 01:28:33,700
* The handsome boatman *

1885
01:28:34,533 --> 01:28:39,500
* To ferry me over *

1886
01:28:40,333 --> 01:28:45,133
* To my love then die *

1887
01:28:46,200 --> 01:28:51,167
* Ah, but in Kilkenny *

1888
01:28:52,067 --> 01:28:56,833
* It is reported *

1889
01:28:58,200 --> 01:29:01,933
* They have marble
stones there *

1890
01:29:03,333 --> 01:29:08,267
* That's black as ink *

1891
01:29:09,100 --> 01:29:13,633
* With gold and silver *

1892
01:29:14,500 --> 01:29:19,167
* I did support her *

1893
01:29:20,533 --> 01:29:25,433
* But I'll sing no more *

1894
01:29:26,300 --> 01:29:28,867
* Till I get a drink *