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40th Anniversary: Time Deepens Actor's Views of 'Clockwork'
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Darrin
Dec 27, 2011, 4:33:06 AM12/27/11
to
TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
By GEOFF BOUCHER
LOS ANGELES TIMES
OCTOBER 16, 2011
Excerpted
LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
Orange,
but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
"For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
way."
"Clockwork and its tale of sociopathic thugs in a futuristic England
shocked with its scenes of rape, murder and torture. It was first
released in the US with an X-rating and, amid a nasty furor in 1972,
Kubrick withdrew the film from circulation in England. For more than
25 years, it was illegal to show the film in UK theatres.
The Novel A Clockwork Orange had been published in 1962 and there
was
interest in a movie right away. Mick Jagger, eager to star, acquired
the rights for a time, but they ended up with Kubrick, who, after
2001: A Space Odyssey, was ready for something more manageable.
McDowell would suffer for his art. In the film, Alex, a prisoner of
the state, is subjected to a hideous experiment in which his eyes are
kept open by metal clips and, on the set, the actor's howls were
real.
"I ended up with scratched corneas - nasty, viciously painful,"
McDowell said. "It heals up pretty quick, but a few days later
Stanley
says he needs one more, a real close-up. The stand-in wouldn't do it;
he saw what happened to me. So it was back in the chair. It was the
last day of the shoot. I was terrified and you can see it in the
shot."
The movies long exile from the theatres of England, however,
resulted
from a decision by Kubrick, not the censors, McDowell said. Amid
incendiary reports of "copycat" crimes and death threats, the
director
consulted with Scotland Yard and then pulled the film. "It created a
kind of craze," McDowell said "People would fly to Paris and buy
these
awful videos made by people aiming cameras at some movie screen.
Stanley moved on. He just didn't think to go back to the whole
thing."
McDowell had a similar attitude, both toward the film and the
filmmaker. McDowell was vague on the specifics of the estrangement
but
spoke fondly of the "schlubby" Kubrick. McDowell said A Clockwork
Orange now feels more like a time traveler than a time capsule. That
was another insight he gleaned at the 30th Anniversary screening in
Los Angeles. "I went to the bathroom and this kid, maybe 16, walks
past and says, "Hey, Clockwork, right? I said, "Well, yes." He asked,
"Which part were you? The old guy?" He thought it was a new film. And
he thought I was the old guy. "Maybe he was right about both."
By GEOFF BOUCHER
LOS ANGELES TIMES
OCTOBER 16, 2011
Excerpted
LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
Orange,
but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
"For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
way."
"Clockwork and its tale of sociopathic thugs in a futuristic England
shocked with its scenes of rape, murder and torture. It was first
released in the US with an X-rating and, amid a nasty furor in 1972,
Kubrick withdrew the film from circulation in England. For more than
25 years, it was illegal to show the film in UK theatres.
The Novel A Clockwork Orange had been published in 1962 and there
was
interest in a movie right away. Mick Jagger, eager to star, acquired
the rights for a time, but they ended up with Kubrick, who, after
2001: A Space Odyssey, was ready for something more manageable.
McDowell would suffer for his art. In the film, Alex, a prisoner of
the state, is subjected to a hideous experiment in which his eyes are
kept open by metal clips and, on the set, the actor's howls were
real.
"I ended up with scratched corneas - nasty, viciously painful,"
McDowell said. "It heals up pretty quick, but a few days later
Stanley
says he needs one more, a real close-up. The stand-in wouldn't do it;
he saw what happened to me. So it was back in the chair. It was the
last day of the shoot. I was terrified and you can see it in the
shot."
The movies long exile from the theatres of England, however,
resulted
from a decision by Kubrick, not the censors, McDowell said. Amid
incendiary reports of "copycat" crimes and death threats, the
director
consulted with Scotland Yard and then pulled the film. "It created a
kind of craze," McDowell said "People would fly to Paris and buy
these
awful videos made by people aiming cameras at some movie screen.
Stanley moved on. He just didn't think to go back to the whole
thing."
McDowell had a similar attitude, both toward the film and the
filmmaker. McDowell was vague on the specifics of the estrangement
but
spoke fondly of the "schlubby" Kubrick. McDowell said A Clockwork
Orange now feels more like a time traveler than a time capsule. That
was another insight he gleaned at the 30th Anniversary screening in
Los Angeles. "I went to the bathroom and this kid, maybe 16, walks
past and says, "Hey, Clockwork, right? I said, "Well, yes." He asked,
"Which part were you? The old guy?" He thought it was a new film. And
he thought I was the old guy. "Maybe he was right about both."
Message has been deleted
Les Cargill
Dec 27, 2011, 12:19:23 PM12/27/11
to
Ishvara wrote:
>
> --- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
> ne...@netfront.net ---
Burgess is said to have thought the book wasn't very good.
--
Les Cargill
> On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>> TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
>> By GEOFF BOUCHER
>> LOS ANGELES TIMES
>> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>>
>> Excerpted
>>
>> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
>> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
>> Orange,
>> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
>> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
>> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
>> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
>> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
>> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
>> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
>> way."
>
> Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.
>> TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
>> By GEOFF BOUCHER
>> LOS ANGELES TIMES
>> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>>
>> Excerpted
>>
>> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
>> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
>> Orange,
>> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
>> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
>> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
>> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
>> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
>> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
>> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
>> way."
>
>
> --- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
> ne...@netfront.net ---
Burgess is said to have thought the book wasn't very good.
--
Les Cargill
Darrin
Dec 27, 2011, 2:40:49 PM12/27/11
to
On Dec 27, 12:19 pm, Les Cargill <lcargil...@comcast.com> wrote:
> Ishvara wrote:
> > On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
> >> TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
> >> By GEOFF BOUCHER
> >> LOS ANGELES TIMES
> >> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> >> Excerpted
>
> >> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> >> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> >> Orange,
> >> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> >> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> >> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> >> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
> >> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
> >> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
> >> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
> >> way."
> > Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.>
> Ishvara wrote:
> > On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
> >> TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
> >> By GEOFF BOUCHER
> >> LOS ANGELES TIMES
> >> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> >> Excerpted
>
> >> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> >> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> >> Orange,
> >> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> >> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> >> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> >> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
> >> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
> >> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
> >> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
> >> way."
> > Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.>
> Burgess is said to have thought the book wasn't very good.>>
Without the film, the book would have soon been forgotten. -D, NYC
"The first female sex symbol in movie history was Jewish" - THEDA BARA
(b. Goodman).."Of course I was always proud to be a Jew, even though
it would have been easier for me not to be. I remember when I
auditioned as a young actor in a Yiddish theatre in New York. They
looked at me and
said: "If we have a part for a Nazi, we'll call you" eh - KIRK
DOUGLAS, Quoted in London's Daily Mail, Sept. 9. 1988, b. Issidur
Danielovitch Demsky, Amsterdam, aka NYC).."{I am} just a nice Jewish
girl from New York. Going back through my life now, the Jewish family
feeling stands proud and strong, and at least I can say I am glad I
sprang from that. I would not trade those roots - that identity" -
LAUREN BACALL, b. Betty Perske, from her memoirs, Lauren Bacall by
Herself, 1979.."We must study in greater detail than their neighbors,
these numerically and geographically insignificant Jews, who gave to
the world one of its greatest literatures, two of its most influential
religions and so many of its profoundest men" - WILL DURANT,
Historian, The Story Of Civilization, Volume I.."The pursuit of
knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and
the desire for personal independence - these are the features of
Jewish tradition that make me thank my stars that I belong to it!" -
ALBERT EINSTEIN.."One of the great mysteries that has always puzzled
me is how Jews, who account for such a tiny fraction of the world's
population, have been able to achieve so much and excel in so many
different fields - science, music, medicine, literature, arts,
business and more. If you listed the most influential people of the
last hundred years, three at the top of the list would be Einstein,
Freud & Marx; all were Jews. Many more belong on the list, yet Jews
comprise at most less than three percent of the United States
population. They are an amazing people. Imagine the persecution they
endured over the centuries: pogroms, temple burnings, Cossack raids,
uprootings of families, their dispersal to the winds and the
Holocaust. After the Disapora, they could not own land or worship in
much of the world; they were prohibited from voting and told where to
live. Yet their children survived and Jews became by far the most
accomplished people per capita that the world has ever produced" -
MARLON BRANDO, "Songs My Mother Taught Me"
Nusrat, Rowayton, Connecticut
Dec 27, 2011, 2:44:21 PM12/27/11
to
On Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:02:40 +0000, Ishvara <ish...@nospam.com>
classic while themselves censoring his Paths of Glory for almost 25
years.
wrote:
>On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>> TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
>> By GEOFF BOUCHER
>> LOS ANGELES TIMES
>> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>>
>> Excerpted
>>
>> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
>> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
>> Orange,
>> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
>> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
>> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
>> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
>> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
>> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
>> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
>> way."
>
>> By GEOFF BOUCHER
>> LOS ANGELES TIMES
>> OCTOBER 16, 2011
>>
>> Excerpted
>>
>> LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
>> McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
>> Orange,
>> but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
>> until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
>> "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
>> old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
>> went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
>> accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
>> Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
>> way."
>
>Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.
The Goddamn Frenchys had some nerve selling pirated videos of his
classic while themselves censoring his Paths of Glory for almost 25
years.
Paintbrush
Dec 27, 2011, 2:58:44 PM12/27/11
to
Misjudgement of the decade:
When the film came out in 1971, I took my girlfriend to the cinema.
After a few minutes she grabbed my arm and said "I thought Clockwork
Orange was a musical comedy ------------." Ooops.
When the film came out in 1971, I took my girlfriend to the cinema.
After a few minutes she grabbed my arm and said "I thought Clockwork
Orange was a musical comedy ------------." Ooops.
Darrin
Dec 27, 2011, 3:25:51 PM12/27/11
to
Darrin
Dec 27, 2011, 2:21:16 PM12/27/11
to
On Dec 27, 6:02 am, Ishvara <ishv...@nospam.com> wrote:
> On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
> > By GEOFF BOUCHER
> > LOS ANGELES TIMES
> > OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> > Excerpted
>
> > LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> > McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> > Orange,> > but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> > until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> > "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> > old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I> > went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the> > accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley> > Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different> > way.">
> > By GEOFF BOUCHER
> > LOS ANGELES TIMES
> > OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> > Excerpted
>
> > LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> > McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> > Orange,> > but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> > until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> > "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> > old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I> > went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the> > accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley> > Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different> > way.">
> Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.>>
You do know that Kubrick was a sweet Jew, b. in "Da Bronx," NY! eh
Without Kubrick's brilliant screenplay vision, where would Burgess be?
Nothing beats the original, but I believe Burgess himself couldn't
have done a better job. -D, NYC "The star of the first "talkie" was
Jewish" - AL JOLSON (b. Yoelson).."Think Yiddish, dress British!" -
POPULAR MADISON AVENUE SLOGAN.."The most popular-selling Christmas
song, "White Christmas," was written by a Jew" - IRVING BERLIN.."Roses
are Reddish, violets are Blueish, if it wasn't for Christmas, we'd all
be Jewish" eh - BENNY HILL (stage name taken from his idol, Jack Benny
(b. Kubelsky, sweet Jew).."People have asked why would I, a Jewish
actor, play the part of a monstrous Jewish villain? But although
Dickens describes Fagin as a merry old Jew, there's no sign of him
being a Jew in his language and actions" - RON MOODY, sweet Yiddish-
British.."Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the right
honorable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine
were priests in the Temple of Solomon" -
BENJAMIN DISRAELI, 1804-1881, first Jewish Prime Minister of England,
responding to Irish Roman Catholic leader Daniel O' Connell, in the
House of Commons, who cast aspersions on his Jewish ancestry.."Five
Jewish men influenced the history of Western civilization: Moses said
the law is everything. Jesus said love is everything. Marx said
capital is everything. Freud said sex is everything. Einstein said
everything is relative" ehe.."What I took back, because of my exposure
to the Jewish music of the '30s and the '40s in my upbringing with my
father, was that kind of theatrical songwriting. It was always a part
of my character. This desire to make people laugh" - PETE TOWNSHEND
True Blue
Dec 28, 2011, 5:36:41 AM12/28/11
to
On Dec 27, 7:02 am, Ishvara <ishv...@nospam.com> wrote:
> On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2011-12-27 09:33, Darrin wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > TIME DEEPENS ACTOR'S VIEWS OF 'CLOCKWORK'
> > By GEOFF BOUCHER
> > LOS ANGELES TIMES
> > OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> > Excerpted
>
> > LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> > McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> > Orange,
> > but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> > until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> > "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> > old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
> > went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
> > accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
> > Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
> > way."
>
> > By GEOFF BOUCHER
> > LOS ANGELES TIMES
> > OCTOBER 16, 2011
>
> > Excerpted
>
> > LOS ANGELES - With his bloodied cane and black bowler, Malcolm
> > McDowell became a symbol of brutal youth in 1971's A Clockwork
> > Orange,
> > but the actor says he couldn't truly appreciate that angry young man
> > until he himself was old enough to comb white hair.
> > "For years, I didn't see the same film everybody saw," the 67-year-
> > old actor said recently. "It was 10 years ago in Los Angeles when I
> > went to a screening of it and I couldn't believe what I saw, the
> > accomplishment of the movie, the pure talent of (director) Stanley
> > Kubrick. In truth, that's when I began to look back in a different
> > way."
>
> Kubrick wasn't as talented as Anthony Burgess.
>
> --- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to n...@netfront.net ---
>
There speaks someone who's never read the book.
bill
Dec 31, 2011, 1:22:20 AM12/31/11
to
On Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:21:16 -0800, Darrin wrote:
> BENJAMIN DISRAELI, 1804-1881, first Jewish Prime Minister of England,
> responding to Irish Roman Catholic leader Daniel O' Connell, in the
> House of Commons, who cast aspersions on his Jewish ancestry.."Five
> Jewish men influenced the history of Western civilization: Moses said
> the law is everything. Jesus said love is everything. Marx said capital
> is everything. Freud said sex is everything. Einstein said everything is
> relative" ehe..
As Einstein was two when Disraeli died and Freud was still studying I
> BENJAMIN DISRAELI, 1804-1881, first Jewish Prime Minister of England,
> responding to Irish Roman Catholic leader Daniel O' Connell, in the
> House of Commons, who cast aspersions on his Jewish ancestry.."Five
> Jewish men influenced the history of Western civilization: Moses said
> the law is everything. Jesus said love is everything. Marx said capital
> is everything. Freud said sex is everything. Einstein said everything is
> relative" ehe..
beg leave to doubt that statement.
--
William Black
Free men have open minds
If you want loyalty, buy a dog...
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