Dead Guitarist Sketch: How George Harrison Saved Monty Python

Beyond his contribution to the world of music, George Harrison - who passed away 20 years ago today - also contributed greatly to the film industry as a fan of the Monty Python band he invested millions of pounds and housed his home - to enable the production of "Top Star Brian".

He had only one demand in return

Living Room Fellow

29/11/2021

Monday, 29 November 2021, 13:04 Updated: 13:24

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Today, 20 years ago, George Harrison passed away. It seems that there is no need to expand on his contribution to the world of music, so we will refer to his contribution in another field - cinema. In 1978, George bought "The Most Expensive Movie Card in History", and quietly and modestly, as the "Shy Cancel" did, contributed cinematic classics to our lives.

It all started when the BBC aired the first episode of Monty Python.

George saw the episode at his home, when he was one of the only people in the world who knew the secret: the Beatles broke up.

It was October 1969, and the episode aired two weeks after the Beatles released Abbey Road.

In a joint business decision the band members have not yet announced a farewell, but the spoils have already fallen.

Watching Monty Python delighted George.

He saw in them the successors of the Beatles.

Although it is not a musical work, in his eyes the humor of "The Flying Circus" presented the creative and adventurous spirit that was in the music of the Fantastic Four.

For the first time in his life he wrote a fan letter, sending it to the BBC offices.

The British Broadcasting Authority thought it was an unsuccessful prank by someone impersonating Harrison, and shredded the letter.

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admirer.

Harrison (Photo: imdb)

In 1978, after having already released the big hit "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", the members wrote the movie "Life of Brian". A satire on the world of religion, which the world has not yet seen until then (and the truth, even since). All production companies rejected the script, until it was finally purchased by EMI. Just before the production of the film began, the chairman of the company, a member of the British House of Lords, took the time to read the script and vetoed the whole business.

Monty Python members already realized that the movie would not happen, until Eric Eidel remembered that they had a fan named George Harrison, who was supposed to be worth a few pennies. They approached him and explained to him that they needed a £ 2 million investment. George immediately said yes, and went with the idea to his business manager, Dennis O'Brien. The financier was not a man in the ranks: in order to obtain the financing, George would have to mortgage his house, and even then it would not be enough, because a production company had to be set up out of nothing. The adventure will cost well over £ 2 million. Harrison insisted, and eventually O'Brien himself set up his London office and the two set up the production company HandMade Films.

"Can you imagine how crazy it is?", Eric Eidel writes in his autobiography, "he got up in the morning and said to his wife: 'Good morning my dear, I have rented our house and I am going to put all our money on some film that no one wants to produce.'

In his 2018 book, Eidel reveals that the inspiration of O'Brien and Harrison was Mel Brooks' film "Producers."

In one of his lectures he elaborated: "No one thought the film would succeed. In America they did not agree at all to distribute it. The idea was to present it as a loss for tax purposes. The problem was that the film succeeded, it was 'Springtime for Hitler', and George was in Bloom's role." .

Harrison is injured in a guest appearance on "Upper Star Brian":

This is not the first time Monty Python has enjoyed the money of rock stars. They also made the "Holy Grail" with the help of donations from bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jetro Tal and Genesis, whose members donated an average of £ 10,000 each. The emphasis is on "donation", they never asked for the money back and certainly not interested in profits, they just wanted to be a part of history. Monty Python members themselves tell of the strange feeling of working with other people's money, which does not come with any demands. It was the first time they felt so free and independent.

Well, George actually had one "requirement." He wanted to be in a movie. Indeed, several million pounds credited him with the role of superintendent for 15 seconds. And so, George was part of not only some of the greatest musical moments in history, but also one of the funniest and daring films in history.

George's production company went on to produce a number of other important British films, which apparently no one else would have produced.

Bruce Robinson's Whitail and I, Jonathan Lynn's Male Nuns, Jonathan Terry Gilliam's Pirates of Time, Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa, John McKenzie's Long Friday, and Late More also the company was involved in the films "Look, Stoke and Two Smoking Reeds" by Guy Ritchie and "127 Hours" by Danny Boyle.

In between was a huge financial dispute between Harrison and O'Brien, which robbed him of tens of millions of dollars, but that's probably the fate of each of the Beatles' members who have always been more powerful in creation than in managing their finances.

Hydrogen from his pocket.

Harrison (Photo: mBox)

At a ceremony in memory of his friend George Harrison, Eric Eidel said: "If George had been alive, he would not have come here tonight. He has never been in a section of ceremonies in his honor. He was one of those weird people who believed life was more important than the entertainment business. ... George loved comedians because they have - as he had - the ability to say the wrong thing at the right time.This thing we call 'humor' ... George financed out of his pocket the movie 'Brian Superstar' "Just because he wanted to see it. It's still the largest amount anyone has ever paid for a movie ticket."

George passed away today, 20 years ago, at the home of Paul McCartney. This is a small, sad and heartwarming trivia fact about two friends who went through a lot of ups and downs during their friendships, but stayed together until the end. "Not many people know that George died in bed in Paul's house," Eric Eidel praised him, adding: "That's why I'm never going to sleep with John Cleese. ”If he were alive, George would have died for it.

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