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Withnail & I: From Cult to Classic
Authorised by author and director Bruce Robinson, Withnail & I: From Cult to Classic charts the extraordinary journey of a beloved cult film from being ‘just thoughts really’ to becoming a permanent feature in any list of the Best British Films ever made.
For the first time all of the surviving players have been interviewed for this book about their parts in the making of the movie, and the lasting effect it had on their lives. Bruce Robinson offers detailed insights into his creative process and influences, while new interviews with the film’s stars Richard E Grant and Paul McGann provide personal insights into the impact that making and living with Withnail & I had.
Illustrated throughout with never-before-seen photography and archive material, and featuring contributions from famous fans like Sam Bain, Margaret Cho and Charlie Higson, this is the definitive, must-have book on Withnail & I.
For the first time all of the surviving players have been interviewed for this book about their parts in the making of the movie, and the lasting effect it had on their lives. Bruce Robinson offers detailed insights into his creative process and influences, while new interviews with the film’s stars Richard E Grant and Paul McGann provide personal insights into the impact that making and living with Withnail & I had.
Illustrated throughout with never-before-seen photography and archive material, and featuring contributions from famous fans like Sam Bain, Margaret Cho and Charlie Higson, this is the definitive, must-have book on Withnail & I.
- GenresNonfictionFilm
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2023
1 person is currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Toby Benjamin
4 books4 followersToby Benjamin co-authored three sell-out editions of the celebrated ‘Spirit of Talk Talk’ book, 'My Eyes Have Seen The Glory' Spurs Legends, and 'Withnail and I' From Cult to Classic.
Toby's 'Withnail and I' book out on Titan in Sept '23. Foreword by writer / director Bruce Robinson & in-depth interviews with cast & crew.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Withnail-I-C...
'Spirit of Talk Talk.' Rocket 88 ( 1st Edition 2012, 2nd 2015, 3rd 2019, reprint 2023)
‘Wonderfully evocative.’ The Independent.
www.talktalkbook.com
'My Eyes Have Seen The Glory' Tottenham Hotspur Legends. Published 2019 Lambert and Mooney.
This well received book was the result of six years work interviewing forty Spurs legends.
Toby is currently writing / illustrating a picture book for ages 4-7, and a near future Sci Fi YA book.
He lives by the sea in Sussex with his wife, and two daughters.
Toby's 'Withnail and I' book out on Titan in Sept '23. Foreword by writer / director Bruce Robinson & in-depth interviews with cast & crew.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Withnail-I-C...
'Spirit of Talk Talk.' Rocket 88 ( 1st Edition 2012, 2nd 2015, 3rd 2019, reprint 2023)
‘Wonderfully evocative.’ The Independent.
www.talktalkbook.com
'My Eyes Have Seen The Glory' Tottenham Hotspur Legends. Published 2019 Lambert and Mooney.
This well received book was the result of six years work interviewing forty Spurs legends.
Toby is currently writing / illustrating a picture book for ages 4-7, and a near future Sci Fi YA book.
He lives by the sea in Sussex with his wife, and two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 26, 2023
I received a copy of this book from the man, the legend, the genius who wrote and directed the film. Spent a few hours devouring it cover to cover today, and this is my unvarnished opinion. I have not been paid nor otherwise compensated for this review, nor did anyone actually ask my opinion - I just like to write book reviews, I guess.
Let's start out with the good points.
1. The photos are EXCELLENT. There are good quality photos from the making of this film that, to my knowledge, have never appeared in print anywhere before. Yes, there are a bunch that have been printed many times, but there's a nice smattering of "new" gems to enjoy here. Well done!
2. The interviews with the surviving cast and crew are very well done, and interesting to read. However... when REG gets hold of this book and finds out that his "spread" is only six pages long, and McGann gets twelve, and Brown gets nine? He is going to feel slighted, and rightly so. HE WAS WITHNAIL. Giving him only six pages (two of which were just full page photos) is just egregious. Richard E. Grant is one of the most generous interviewers and conversationalists in the performance world, don't try and kid me that he didn't give you more than that...
Okay. That's the praise. Now we enter into the arena of the critique.
1. I was very excited when I read, at the beginning of the book, the following sentence, by the author Toby Benjamin:
"It was the film's audience that helped to keep this slow-burning classic alive as it gained cult status, and I felt it was vital that Withnail fans had a voice in this book."
It got steadily clearer as I wove my way through the pages that the only people the author considers "fans" of any note are actors, comedians, writers, and producers. Where were the REAL fans? The everyman, the everyfan, the people NOT in "the industry"? Not a single "audience" section was an interview with a real boots-on-the-ground fan... just industry people trying to get their name in print again.
For example, I know of one American woman who has seen the film 244 times (at the writing of this review), who has curated a collection of 90 vintage items seen in the film (and counting) and published that collection at https://wall-o-withnail.blogspot.com/
Her collection started in 2012, the year she first saw this film, and over the years she has met the lead actor, and begun a long-distance friendship with the writer and director.
I think this book could have really been improved by interviews with "regular folks" like this woman, whose life has obviously been greatly affected by the film, and whose breadth and depth of knowledge stems from a real love of the film as a long-time and loyal fan.
2. It irritated me that the film quotes posted by small photos throughout the book did not match the scene portrayed in the photo. For example: The quote for the photo on pg. 57 should be "I feel sick as a pike. I'm gonna have to sit down." (A REAL Withnail fan would have known this.)
3. On page 114, "audience" member (ie: writer/radio show host) Iain Morris says:
"The opening scene where Marwood repeats Withnail's 'Why can't I get a cigar commercial' is a perfect example. We know Marwood and Withnail are close because Marwood repeats the line before Withnail has finished it. He's clearly heard this a hundred times recently because he knows 'Why can't i get' - which could be followed by anything - is only ever followed by 'a cigar commercial'."
THIS IS PATENTLY INCORRECT. ALL OF IT.
Firstly, the words "the opening scene" are wrong. The conversation he is trying (and failing) to reference is not the opening scene of anything.
Secondly, Marwood does not repeat any line before Withnail has finished it. This does not happen. The scene about the cigar commercial OPENS with a monologue by Marwood, which starts with "Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day..." and then a page and a half later, the actual conversation goes like this:
Marwood: What happened to your cigar commercial?
Withnail: That's what I wanna know. What happened to my cigar commercial? What happened to my agent? Bastard must have died.
As you can see, no one here is finishing anyone's sentence. And the first sentence about a cigar commercial was from the mouth of Marwood - so he was clearly not finishing Withnail's sentence. Technically, Withnail repeats Marwood's question, after Marwood had completely finished uttering it.
"Audience" member (cough) Morris also says that the only thing that ever follows "Why can't I get" is "a cigar commercial". Wrong again. A mere three pages before the "cigar commercial" conversation has Marwood and Withnail wandering through Regent's Park, and Withnail says "Why can't I get on television?"
This whole mishmash of information is what happens when someone who likes a film but hasn't actually watched it in a very long time tries to come off as an authority. See, if Mr. Benjamin had interviewed actual full-on FANS of this film, he wouldn't have wasted pages on tripe that can so easily be disproven by just watching the film! I happen to know first-hand that the American woman with the Wall-O-Withnail collection carries around a copy of the film script on her person everywhere she goes, and has read it cover to cover nearly as many times as she has seen the film. Someone like that would have made a much better "audience" section than Morris.
On the whole, I like this book because I love "Withnail & I". I think there are some good bits, but sadly the book is shadowed by the shallow attempts by people who are already somewhat famous to get their names mentioned in print when they are clearly not the deeply devoted or knowledgeable fans they pretend to be.
In closing, I think it would have been a really nice touch to end the book with an "In Memoriam" section, for all those cast and crew members of "Withnail & I" that have died.
In the cast and crew section of the screenplay that I carry with me, I have the page marked:
MONTY, played by RICHARD GRIFFITHS (R.I.P. 2013)
JAKE, played by MICHAEL ELPHICK (R.I.P. 2002)
MRS. PARKIN, played by UNA BRANDON-JONES (R.I.P. 2010)
GENERAL, played by NOEL JOHNSON (R.I.P. 1999)
WAITRESS, played by IRENE SUTCLIFFE (R.I.P.2019)
TEA SHOP PROPRIETOR, played by LLEWELLYN REES (R.I.P. 1994)
CO-PRODUCER: DAVID WIMBURY (R.I.P. 2009)
EXEC. PRODUCERS: GEORGE HARRISON (R.I.P. 2001) and DENIS O'BRIEN (R.I.P. 2021)
PRODUCTION DESIGNER & ART DIRECTOR: MICHAEL PICKWOAD (R.I.P. 2018)
Let's start out with the good points.
1. The photos are EXCELLENT. There are good quality photos from the making of this film that, to my knowledge, have never appeared in print anywhere before. Yes, there are a bunch that have been printed many times, but there's a nice smattering of "new" gems to enjoy here. Well done!
2. The interviews with the surviving cast and crew are very well done, and interesting to read. However... when REG gets hold of this book and finds out that his "spread" is only six pages long, and McGann gets twelve, and Brown gets nine? He is going to feel slighted, and rightly so. HE WAS WITHNAIL. Giving him only six pages (two of which were just full page photos) is just egregious. Richard E. Grant is one of the most generous interviewers and conversationalists in the performance world, don't try and kid me that he didn't give you more than that...
Okay. That's the praise. Now we enter into the arena of the critique.
1. I was very excited when I read, at the beginning of the book, the following sentence, by the author Toby Benjamin:
"It was the film's audience that helped to keep this slow-burning classic alive as it gained cult status, and I felt it was vital that Withnail fans had a voice in this book."
It got steadily clearer as I wove my way through the pages that the only people the author considers "fans" of any note are actors, comedians, writers, and producers. Where were the REAL fans? The everyman, the everyfan, the people NOT in "the industry"? Not a single "audience" section was an interview with a real boots-on-the-ground fan... just industry people trying to get their name in print again.
For example, I know of one American woman who has seen the film 244 times (at the writing of this review), who has curated a collection of 90 vintage items seen in the film (and counting) and published that collection at https://wall-o-withnail.blogspot.com/
Her collection started in 2012, the year she first saw this film, and over the years she has met the lead actor, and begun a long-distance friendship with the writer and director.
I think this book could have really been improved by interviews with "regular folks" like this woman, whose life has obviously been greatly affected by the film, and whose breadth and depth of knowledge stems from a real love of the film as a long-time and loyal fan.
2. It irritated me that the film quotes posted by small photos throughout the book did not match the scene portrayed in the photo. For example: The quote for the photo on pg. 57 should be "I feel sick as a pike. I'm gonna have to sit down." (A REAL Withnail fan would have known this.)
3. On page 114, "audience" member (ie: writer/radio show host) Iain Morris says:
"The opening scene where Marwood repeats Withnail's 'Why can't I get a cigar commercial' is a perfect example. We know Marwood and Withnail are close because Marwood repeats the line before Withnail has finished it. He's clearly heard this a hundred times recently because he knows 'Why can't i get' - which could be followed by anything - is only ever followed by 'a cigar commercial'."
THIS IS PATENTLY INCORRECT. ALL OF IT.
Firstly, the words "the opening scene" are wrong. The conversation he is trying (and failing) to reference is not the opening scene of anything.
Secondly, Marwood does not repeat any line before Withnail has finished it. This does not happen. The scene about the cigar commercial OPENS with a monologue by Marwood, which starts with "Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day..." and then a page and a half later, the actual conversation goes like this:
Marwood: What happened to your cigar commercial?
Withnail: That's what I wanna know. What happened to my cigar commercial? What happened to my agent? Bastard must have died.
As you can see, no one here is finishing anyone's sentence. And the first sentence about a cigar commercial was from the mouth of Marwood - so he was clearly not finishing Withnail's sentence. Technically, Withnail repeats Marwood's question, after Marwood had completely finished uttering it.
"Audience" member (cough) Morris also says that the only thing that ever follows "Why can't I get" is "a cigar commercial". Wrong again. A mere three pages before the "cigar commercial" conversation has Marwood and Withnail wandering through Regent's Park, and Withnail says "Why can't I get on television?"
This whole mishmash of information is what happens when someone who likes a film but hasn't actually watched it in a very long time tries to come off as an authority. See, if Mr. Benjamin had interviewed actual full-on FANS of this film, he wouldn't have wasted pages on tripe that can so easily be disproven by just watching the film! I happen to know first-hand that the American woman with the Wall-O-Withnail collection carries around a copy of the film script on her person everywhere she goes, and has read it cover to cover nearly as many times as she has seen the film. Someone like that would have made a much better "audience" section than Morris.
On the whole, I like this book because I love "Withnail & I". I think there are some good bits, but sadly the book is shadowed by the shallow attempts by people who are already somewhat famous to get their names mentioned in print when they are clearly not the deeply devoted or knowledgeable fans they pretend to be.
In closing, I think it would have been a really nice touch to end the book with an "In Memoriam" section, for all those cast and crew members of "Withnail & I" that have died.
In the cast and crew section of the screenplay that I carry with me, I have the page marked:
MONTY, played by RICHARD GRIFFITHS (R.I.P. 2013)
JAKE, played by MICHAEL ELPHICK (R.I.P. 2002)
MRS. PARKIN, played by UNA BRANDON-JONES (R.I.P. 2010)
GENERAL, played by NOEL JOHNSON (R.I.P. 1999)
WAITRESS, played by IRENE SUTCLIFFE (R.I.P.2019)
TEA SHOP PROPRIETOR, played by LLEWELLYN REES (R.I.P. 1994)
CO-PRODUCER: DAVID WIMBURY (R.I.P. 2009)
EXEC. PRODUCERS: GEORGE HARRISON (R.I.P. 2001) and DENIS O'BRIEN (R.I.P. 2021)
PRODUCTION DESIGNER & ART DIRECTOR: MICHAEL PICKWOAD (R.I.P. 2018)
March 7, 2024
"We want the finest wines available too humanity, we want them here and we want them now!"
December 28, 2023
(3.75 stars) I've watched Withnail and I more than any other film, so I'm glad that someone decided to get a book together about it. There is a lot of interesting anecdotes and interviews with pretty much everyone with any importance who was involved in the production of the film, as well as reviews from a lot of different people. This is what it's comprised of, as well as photos and scans of things like tickets and scripts.
I wasn't that keen on the audience reviews and I think it would have been much more interesting and accomplished if there were only a few of those and then contextual and historical information instead, as there wasn't much of that. I also found the graphic design slightly questionable and amateurish but that's simply superficial criticism (although there were a couple of grammar and punctuation errors and a particular paragraph that made me sigh deeply regarding whether the film would survive 'woke culture' and 'being cancelled'....people do not care about that stuff in the real world...) and artistic preference.
Overall, it was nice to hear from the cast and crew on one of my favourite films of all time. Plenty of good photos.
I wasn't that keen on the audience reviews and I think it would have been much more interesting and accomplished if there were only a few of those and then contextual and historical information instead, as there wasn't much of that. I also found the graphic design slightly questionable and amateurish but that's simply superficial criticism (although there were a couple of grammar and punctuation errors and a particular paragraph that made me sigh deeply regarding whether the film would survive 'woke culture' and 'being cancelled'....people do not care about that stuff in the real world...) and artistic preference.
Overall, it was nice to hear from the cast and crew on one of my favourite films of all time. Plenty of good photos.
December 14, 2024
Heartwarming fun. Benjamin seems to have found every living person involved in the making of the film and squeezed all he could out of his conversations with them. The best are with Robinson and McGann, who are both the most detailed (Grant's are fast and quippy). There's some excellent photograhs and behind the scenes revelations. There's a bunch of fan responses, many (maybe all) from people involved in the industry (actors, comics, writers) and for me those were really hit or miss, because they feel like something you could get from any conversation with another fervent fan. But, the book's a treat for those very same fans (like me).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews