MovieChat Forums > The Epic That Never Was (1965) Discussion > Too bad it was never finished

Too bad it was never finished

posted 19 years ago by voyageur0713
15 replies | jump to latest

Having just watched "The Epic That Never Was", I can only say it was a shame that I, Claudius (1937)was never completed. Despite it's initial difficulties, particularly in regard to Laughton, it was coming together well, indeed, and the bits that survived were very well done and still hold up 70 years later.

I do believe the film could have been continued. As I understand, all the footage printed survives and was in the documentary. If that is true, than I do not see why Merle Oberon could not have been replaced. While she was competent in the small bits she was in, there was nothing so special or spectacular about it. Nor had she filmed so much that reshoots would have cost a fortune. And in an era when there were tons of highly skilled, strong actresses working - many with equal or greater marquee value, I don't think a replacement would have been hard to find.

They said, Oberon's accident was the excuse used to halt filming. But what was the real reason?

[–] Uberhamster 18 years ago

It's funny that they do not really tell. They only insinuate it had something to do with tension / friction on the set. Perhaps there were a lot of arguments?

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 18 years ago

How is yer brother Spanny doing?

Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.

[–] spocktom 17 years ago

There is something quite magical to watching the surviving footage of this epic that never was. Filmed with the same sort of grandeur and money Korda spent on "The Thief of Bagdad (sic)" without the benefit of the three strip Technicolor process that was still probably too new for this film.

Merle Oberon was a bit of an enigma and there's lots in her background that doesn't quite make sense, including her claim that she was born in Tasmania. One could well imagine that, perhaps, there was more to the film being abandoned apart from the proffered reason of her illness. So much money had been spent on the film that the loss was catastrophic. Strangely enough, a leading actress's illness was almost the cause of another epic production almost being shut down years later...can you guess which one?

[–] bruceybonus3002 16 years ago

How did you come to see this documentary, I have the dvd of I Claudious(70s version) but its not on their as an extra.

ARH!, SHarK!

(shark attack 3 MEGALODON)

[–] Mike-957 15 years ago

I think the USA version has this documentary. I have a set from Holland which doesn't. I have had to search for it elsewhere.
Having read a biography on Alexander Korda, it would appear that Merle's illness was a handy excuse for Alexander Korda to close down a production that was getting out of control financially as well as artistically. I think he had issues with the director too. Still, a great pity. Being a fan of Laughton, Robson and especially Robert Newton, I'd have loved to have seen the finished product! Still, we have the excellent Jacobi mini-series for compensation.

[–] tomtac 12 years ago

spocktom's post mentioned the black-and-white photography.

I am wondering if this era was the time when that kind of technology reached its peak. What I see of this film really impressed me, and I saw the 1935 version of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and that B/W film had an intense magic about it.

Some of I, Claudius's scenes have an incredible clarity like that.

[–] tomtac 10 years ago

It's funny that they do not really tell. They only insinuate it had something to do with tension / friction on the set. Perhaps there were a lot of arguments?

I would direct you to the board for "I, Claudius (1937)", where there is a thread on 'what really happened'.

Also, I'll point out that Oberon recovered really nicely (see how she looks in this documentary), so it was not 'impossible' that they could have shot the rest of her scenes a couple of years later. They'd just have to have the rest of the film ready. Not easy, but it could be done. ... The fact is I don't necessarily accept the official story.

[–] Uberhamster 10 years ago

The documentary acknowledges that Oberon's accident was a welcome excuse for everyone to quit.
I am not so sure of the other explanation, about the stutter and the new king. The Epic That Never Was documentary was made 13 or 14 years after the death of George VI, if it was that then why would they not admit it by then?

There is an "I, Claudius" (2013) marked as "in production" too... It remains to be seen if that will come through, if you ask me.

This is nøt å signåture!

[–] tomtac 10 years ago

I am not so sure of the other explanation

Well, I posted there that I am "not so sure" either -- The strongest thing I've said is that I don't "buy" the official explanation.

As for the 1960s, having put the whole thing a couple of decades in the past, there is no win in them resurrecting it and admitting it, and there was, and still is, a risk, as the posts point out that George VI is the present queen's father.

[–] Uberhamster 10 years ago

As for the 1960s, having put the whole thing a couple of decades in the past, there is no win in them resurrecting it and admitting it, and there was, and still is, a risk, as the posts point out that George VI is the present queen's father.

But a risk of what exactly?

As for resurrecting it, isn't that exactly what the documentary is doing? If I remember correctly, the narrator starts by saying that it caused such a stir at the time that the mystery continued. Of course, he may've been simply presenting it all very dramatic. But there was enough mystery to make a documentary about it 29 years later. When the BBC started recording there was even the rumour of a curse! Most abandoned film projects are quickly forgotten and end up as footnotes in biographies or something.

I'm willing to consider that the story about the abdication speech should be taken to mean George VI, and they didn't want to say that but one could read it between the lines. (Although both brothers were unwilling but forced to be kings, so both could have inspired the actor's interpretation of Claudius.)
Sometimes the sixties were very audacious but in this case they were still very roundabout about the friction on the set. We're used to a much blunter style that would gossip about the director spitting in the producer's coffee and the producer in turn stabbing the tires of his car.

[–] tomtac 9 years ago

Heck, you raise some great points. Both brothers being forced to be kings, and how most abandoned projects get forgotten. Yes, Bogarde was being dramatic.

The risk I mentioned would be from lack of funding, either from an angry government, or from potential business shying away if the film company was under disapproval, or some other sources I haven't named. (Happily, that didn't happen. The film company finished out the century with some really good projects. http://www.imdb.com/company/co0103018/?ref_=ttco_co_1 )

I still sit on the fence, and haven't committed to either side of the question. There is so much speculation to it.

[–] InfoBabe 11 years ago

It should have been finished. It hard to understand why they couldn't shoot around Merle Oberon.

However, it was dated and I think the TV version is better. In the movie, Caligula was shot as a girlie boy, not the actor's fault as he was directed that way, but a bit flamboyant and predictable. The TV Caligula was much more interesting. Livia was about the best role a woman could have and.Sian Phillips was perfect, and a more evil person than the old movie.

I am glad they remade it. I would like to read the book now.

[–] tomtac 11 years ago

I read the books and they were well worth the read.

The thing about the Charles Laughton film is it was trying to tell the story in 90 minutes. So it was horribly compressed - As we first see Caligula mock Claudius, Lydia starts explaining everything by saying "Claudius is perhaps the only good man in Rome and here is this prophecy and I want you to see it and it says I will die tonight and ..."

Everything was going to happen way too fast. In comparison, the ten hour miniseries was, naturally, almost life-changing. You had a whole hour, then a whole week to think and talk about it, and then another hour....

[–] marktayloruk 9 years ago

Was the script ever published?

[–] tomtac 9 years ago

Good question. I only found this, which looks like a transcription of the 1976 series. http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/episode_scripts.php?tv-show=i-claudius-1976