A charming chap after all
Lloyd Evans
WINNER TAKES ALL by Michael Winner Robson Books,f1 7.95, pp. 360, ISBN 1861057342 6 £15.95 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 Sad to report, but this book is a gem. Why sad? Because Michael Winner, a sensitive, witty and extremely gifted artist, has made such a cock-up of his personal PR that to praise him in public is like applauding the Holocaust. There are nasty silences. Faces go white. Plates drop. The man is not well liked. But he deserves to be. This is one of the hooks of the year.
It's easy to forget that in the late Sixties Winner was the most enterprising young director in Britain, popular with audiences, loved by stars and saluted by critics on both sides of the Atlantic. This book is the story of his 30-year career as a producer and director, His style is lucid, chatty, aphoristic and acutely observant. Working with Burt Lancaster, he notes the star's 'wonderfully lilting, melodious but highly dangerous voice', which captures it perfectly. Lancaster had a volatile temper, and on a mountainous filmset during the making of Lawman he attacked Winner over some trifle. 'You cock-sucking arse-hole moron, don't you dare fucking tell me what to do!' He grabbed Winner and threatened to throw him off a 1,000-foot cliff. 'The British crew were enjoying this greatly,' adds Winner. After recovering from the attack he was consoled by someone who knew Lancaster well. 'It was a very good sign. Burt only threatens to kill his friends.'
On the shooting of The Nightcomers Marlon Brando insisted on dining with the cast and crew rather than in his private room with 'proper cutlery'. But no one wanted to eat their lunch sitting next to the greatest actor of the century, except Thora Hird. Brando asked, 'What do you do in your acting?' That opened the floodgates, says Winner: 'You don't know me, Marlon, but I'm very famous in England. I do this TV series, I've done that TV series, my daughter Janette was a lovely girl and she was married to Mel Torme. I got up this morning and I had one red sock on and one blue sock' ... and on and on, A glazed look came over Marion's face. After that he ate in his dressing room.
Winner has never hung around waiting to be 'anointed with work'. As a teenager he
had a showbusiness column on the Kensington Post that was syndicated to 17 papers around London. He was never paid. 'When I mentioned money they made me a cup of tea.' Perhaps he was driven by a fear of ending up like Victor Mature whom he employed on a film in the 1970s. The washed-up idol took his $5,000 fee in a carrier bag. A bank cheque would have affected his pension rights.
Whatever you think of his films, Winner has plenty of shrewd advice for directors: `You're a mix of butler, cheerleader, Hitler, psychiatrist and artist.' His aim is to create a comfortable and jokey atmosphere on set. Halfway through Death Wish Three the ageing Charles Bronson started to complain about noisy guns and having to run up steps and leap over fences. 'But, Charlie,' said Winner, 'you've still got to kill 36 muggers. You'll have to open a hot-dog stand and food-poison them.'
His fabled impatience is always pointed and often entertaining. Making a film in Rome, he reels off a list of desirable street closures including the Trevi fountain and all roads around the Colosseum. 'Fine,' say the location managers. 'What are the alternatives'?' There are no alternative streets but there are alternative location managers.' The streets were closed, he adds drily. There are gags like that on every page. This book is heading for the top of the charts. Deservedly.
Previous page
