Little Malcolm


Little Malcolm is a 1974 British comedy drama film directed by Stuart Cooper and starring John Hurt. It is based on David Halliwell's stage play Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs. The play's full name is used as the film title on the BFI Flipside 2011 DVD release.

Plot

Malcolm Scrawdyke, a fascist political figure, plots revenge against the college that expelled him by forming the Party of Dynamic Erection, a right-wing political movement, with three acolytes.

Cast

Background

An Apple Films project, Little Malcolm was the first feature film executive produced by former Beatle George Harrison.
Like many of Apple's film and recording projects, production on Little Malcolm was then jeopardised by lawsuits pertaining to Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr's severing of ties with manager Allen Klein. Speaking in 2011, Cooper said that Harrison "fought for a very long time to extract Little Malcolm from the official receivers", adding that its entry in the Berlin festival was only possible because the festival was an artistic forum and not finance-related.

Shooting

The film was shot primarily in Lancashire, in the north of England, during February and March 1973.

Soundtrack

Harrison supplied incidental music for the soundtrackMichael Simmons, "Cry for a Shadow", Mojo, November 2011, p. 85. and, after being introduced to the duo Splinter by their manager Mal Evans, produced their song "Lonely Man" for inclusion in a pivotal scene. The soundtrack also featured the band Harpoon singing "Not With You".

Release

Once the Beatles' partnership had been formally dissolved, in January 1975, the film received a brief run in London's West End. In February 1983, Harrison donated his personal copy of Little Malcolm to a New York-based company for screening at a local film festival.

Accolades

After what Cooper described as an "incredible" reception at Berlin for "this very British film", Little Malcolm won a gold medal at the Atlanta Film Festival in August 1974. It was entered into the 24th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear.

Home media

In 2011, the British Film Institute released the film on DVD as part of their flipside strand.