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Withnail and I

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Withnail and I is a British film made in 1986 by Handmade Films. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, it is based on his life in London in the late 1960's. Withnail was Richard E. Grant's first film role and launched him into a successful career. The film featured performances by Richard Griffiths as Withnail's Uncle Monty, Paul McGann as "I" and Ralph Brown as Danny the drug dealer. The film has tragic and comic elements (especially farce), and is notable for its period music and many quotable lines.

Richard E Grant - Withnail
Paul McGann - Marwood
Richard Griffiths - Monty

Ralph Brown - Danny
Michael Elphick - Jake
Daragh O'Malley - Irishman
Michael Wardle - Isaac Parkin
Una Brandon-Jones - Mrs. Parkin
Noel Johnson - General
Irene Sutcliffe - Waitress
Llewellyn Rees - Tea Shop Proprietor
Robert Oates - Policeman One
Anthony Wise - Policeman Two
Eddie Tagoe - Presuming Ed

Withnail & I was 38 in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Films poll.

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The film cost £1.1 million to make. Bruce Robinson received £1 for the script and £80,000 to direct it — £30,000 of which he reinvested into the film to shoot scenes, such as the journeys to and from Penrith, which HandMade Films would not fund.

Synopsis

The film depicts the lives and misadventures of two "resting" (struggling and unemployed) actors in 1969 London. They are the flamboyant, hedonistic, alcoholic Withnail (Grant); and "I" (named "Marwood" in the published screenplay but never named in the film or its credits, played by McGann), his more level-headed, responsible and worrisome friend and the movie's narrator. Withnail sets the tone for the friendship with his cynicism, self-pity and constant drinking. Nevertheless, he is amusing and always ready for an adventure. They live in a filthy Georgian flat in Camden Town. Daily life revolves around getting coins to use in the meters that provide gas or electricity, going to collect Social Security payments, and waiting for the pubs to open so they can sit somewhere warm. Needing a change of scene, they decide to take a recuperative holiday in the countryside. Withnail secures the loan of a country cottage belonging to his rich Uncle Monty (Griffiths) by lying to Monty that Marwood attended Eton College and is an active homosexual. Monty is well-educated and snobbish: nostalgic for a by gone age of beauty and poetic friendship, he is fond of quoting Charles Baudelaire and reciting passages from Hamlet.

The holiday doesn't quite go according to plan; though the countryside is beautiful, the weather is cold and often inclement, the cottage is run-down and dusty, they have little food or supplies and the locals are surly and unwelcoming – in particular a threatening poacher, Jake (Michael Elphick), whom Withnail offends. In addition, Uncle Monty himself makes a surprise appearance. He suddenly arrives in the middle of the night after being stranded for "aeons" with a punctured tyre. Breaking into the cottage, he terrifies Withnail and Marwood who believe that the intruder is Jake the poacher. They greet Monty with mixed emotions. Monty brings them food and wine at the expense of making his designs on Marwood patently obvious. He bursts into Marwood's room, proclaiming his desire to "have [him] even if it must be burglary." The terrified Marwood manages to stave off Monty's overtures by saying that he has a permanent relationship with Withnail. Rebuffed, Monty leaves the cottage in the night for London. The next morning, Marwood reads aloud Monty's gracious and generous note of apology. Despite Monty's advances, Marwood feels sympathy for him. Untouched by the chaos he has caused, Withnail feels only contempt, and for the first time Marwood seems unwilling to share Withnail's point of view. Then Marwood receives a telegram that confirms that he has an audition for a part, and he insists that they go back to London immediately.

After adventures on the highway, the film returns to the Camden Town flat. Danny, a wasted-looking drug dealer who has "come up the drainpipe" to squat at the flat, opines that the oncoming end of the 1960s is the end of the "greatest decade in the history of mankind" and that "there are going to be a lot of refugees." The three, and Danny's friend Presuming Ed, get high smoking a Camberwell carrot.

Marwood calls his agent and discovers that the production company now want him to play the lead part in the play. He has his hair cut, packs his bags, and prepares to leave for the train station. Withnail insists upon going with him and taking a bottle of Monty's wine; part way there, Marwood implores him to go back as he wants to walk on alone.

In the rain, in Regent's Park, Withnail speaks sincerely for the first time, declaiming "What a piece of work is a man!" from Act 2 Scene ii of Hamlet to a pack of wolves behind a fence in the adjoining London Zoo. Then, the camera remains still as he turns and walks further and further away into the distance, swinging his bottle, as the credits start to roll.

Tagline : You are invited to spend an hilarious weekend in the English countryside.

The film also features a rare appearance of a recording by The Beatles, whose song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" briefly plays as Marwood and Withnail return from Crow Crag. Although the surviving members of the group rarely licensed the use of their original recordings for feature films (cover versions were often substituted, as in the case of The Royal Tenenbaums and I Am Sam), George Harrison happened to be one of the film's producers, and allowed its inclusion in Withnail & I.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale (live)" – King Curtis - 5:25
"The Wolf" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:33
"All Along the Watchtower (live)" – Jimi Hendrix - 4:10
"To The Crow" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:22
"Voodoo Chile (live)" – Jimi Hendrix - 4:28
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – Beatles - 4:44
"Marwood Walks" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:14
"Monty Remembers" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:02
"La Fite" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:10
"Hang Out The Stars In Indiana" – Al Bowlly & New Mayfair Dance Orchestra - 1:35
"Crow Crag" – David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 0:56
"Cheval Blanc" - David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 1:15
"My Friend" - Charlie Kunz - 1:28
"Withnail's Theme" - David Dundas & Rick Wentworth - 2:40

There is a drinking game associated with Withnail & I, which is popular amongst fans and students and frequently is the first experience some people have of the film.

The game consists of keeping up, drink for drink, with each and every alcoholic substance consumed by Withnail over the course of the film. Many see this as a dangerous game to play.

Locations

Sleddale Hall, the location used as Monty's cottageLake District
The film was shot entirely on location. There was no filming in the real Penrith, the locations used were actually in and around nearby Shap and Bampton. Monty's cottage, "Crow Crag", is actually Sleddale Hall, located near the Wet Sleddale Reservoir just outside Shap. The bridge where Withnail and Marwood go fishing is located at the bottom of the hill below Sleddale Hall, a quarter of a mile away. The telephone box where Withnail calls his agent is beside the main road in Bampton.

Hertfordshire
Although exterior and ground floor interior shots of Crow Crag were shot at Sleddale Hall, Stockers Farm in Rickmansworth was used for the bedroom and stair scenes. Stockers farm was also the location for the "Crow and Crown" pub.

Milton Keynes
The "King Henry" pub and the "Penrith Tea Rooms" scenes were filmed in the Market Square in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes at what is now the "Crown Inn" and Cox & Robinsons Chemists.

London
"The Mother Black Cap" pub is now the "Crescent House" in Tavistock Crescent. Withnail and Marwood's flat was located at 57 Chepstow Place in Bayswater. The shots of them leaving for Penrith were filmed at Ansleigh Place. Monty's house is located at Glebe Place, Chelsea. The cafe where Marwood has breakfast at the beginning of the film is located at the corner of Ladbroke Grove and Lancaster Road. The scene where Withnail and Marwood are ordered to "get in the back of the van" was filmed on the flyover near John Aird Court, Paddington. The final scene was shot in Regents Park.