George Harrison’s Least Favorite HandMade Film: ‘It’s a Bit Freaky’
George Harrison‘s least favorite HandMade film wasn’t one of his production company’s biggest flops, Shanghai Surprise. It was a movie that freaked him out.
The former Beatle should’ve hated this film the most
George’s least favorite HandMade film should’ve been Shanghai Surprise, the production company’s biggest flop featuring then-couple Sean Penn and Madonna.
HandMade Films thought it was a good idea to greenlight the movie once the high-profile couple signed on. However, they were sorely mistaken. The British press hounded Penn and Madonna on set, which made Penn get aggravated and violent. Despite George’s advice to keep cool and not read the newspapers, Penn’s attitude wrecked the film.
It was a disaster on set and in the theaters. Shanghai Surprise tanked, and it personally saddened George. The former Beatle told Film Comment, “I was dubious from the first. I get afraid by things like that. And a lot of others at HandMade didn’t want to make that film. Denis himself was just a couple of days away from just shelving the whole thing when suddenly the producer informed us that Madonna and Sean had agreed to be in it. At that time, it sounded like a good idea.
“But when we went ahead with it, it proved to be very painful for most of the people involved—the technicians as much as anyone, because of the attitudes of the actors. It was like ‘Springtime for Hitler’ in The Producers: we got the wrong actors, the wrong producer, the wrong director. Where… did… we… go… right??? It wasn’t easy, but I was determined not to let it get me depressed.”
Shanghai Surprise was HandMade Films’ most notorious film, but another ranked higher as George’s least favorite.
George Harrison’s least favorite HandMade film
During a 1988 interview with MTV, George talked about HandMade Films’ recent movies, including their newest film, Track 29. The film stars Gary Oldman, Colleen Camp, Sandra Bernhard, Seymour Cassel, and Christopher Lloyd. However, the movie’s cast list couldn’t redeem it for George.
“‘Track 29,’ I like the writer a lot; I like Dennis Potter,” George said of his production company’s newest release. “I’ve seen quite a few things he’s done. As a film, I don’t know. It’s a bit freaky. For me, it’s not my favorite HandMade film. I think it’s well-acted, but the story is not my favorite.
“It’s a bit sort of-it’s a bit strange.”
George’s passion was HandMade comedy films
Track 29 would’ve departed from HandMade Films’ specialty: comedy. George’s passion was HandMade comedy films, not the strange and freaky ones.
Part of the reason George kept HandMade Films was that all his comedian friends kept coming to him with great scripts. “One thing led to another, and our films just kept happening,” George said.
So, it’s no wonder George only wanted to make comedies with HandMade Films. George also wanted to stick with the genre because he didn’t want to get carried away with how many projects the production company did. To cut down, he wanted to stick with comedies only.
“The logistics of it all makes it very difficult to get all those movies going at the same time,” George said. “These plates you’re trying to spin are big, heavy things, you know. It’s good that he’s [O’Brien] going for it in some ways, though.
“I would have been content just to do Life of Brian and Time Bandits—much happier just doing comedies. But, then, if I was in charge of this company I don’t think it would have gone on as long or gone as far, really. I probably would have encouraged us to have made even crazier films than we’ve made.
“I know I wouldn’t have been as adventurous in some areas. But at the same time, I don’t want to get too adventurous. I like to be safe and sure, you know.”
One of George’s dreams was to make a “silly comedy movie full of silly music.”
