Paul and Linda McCartney at the UK premiere of “Alfred The Great”

About

On this day, Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of the film “Alfred The Great” in London.

From Wikipedia:

Alfred the Great is a 1969 epic film which portrays Alfred the Great’s struggle to defend the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex from a Danish Viking invasion in the 9th Century. David Hemmings starred in the title role. […]

Development

Producer Bernie Smith says he became interested in Alfred the Great after reading about him in Winston Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples.

The film was announced in March 1964 as A King Is Born. It was “suggested” by a novel by Eleanor Shipley Duckett from a script by James R. Webb, who had written How the West Was Won for Smith. Filming was to take place in Ireland, with MGM financing. However it took a number of years for the film to be made. Peter O’Toole was mentioned as a possible lead. In February 1967, the lead role was given to David Hemmings, who had appeared in MGM’s Blowup.

Smith said he “wanted a director who had never done a historical. That way I knew we could minimise cliches and the possibility of someone simply repeating, imitating what went before.” Clive Donner, then best known for What’s New Pussycat? was hired in September 1967, and Michael Killanin became associate producer. Donner said he wanted to make the film “because of the inherent youth problem which is so close to our so-called youth revolt; turning the destructiveness of youth into constructiveness. Like so many students today, he [Alfred] advocated peace, but at the same time proclaimed violence in order to redo the world.” […]

Last updated on December 20, 2021