THE D.H.LAWRENCE ARCHIVE OF FILM DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER MILES
Both the life and work of film and television director Christopher Miles are steeped in the work of D.H. Lawrence. Vice President of the D.H. Lawrence Society, Miles was also the director of The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970) and Priest of Love (1981). Two other Miles/Lawrence projects, The Plumed Serpent and The Woman Who Rode Away, were never filmed.
Christopher Miles was born in London in 1939, and died in 2023 at the age of eighty-four. He made his first film, the 30-minute A Vol D’Oiseau (1962), while studying film direction at the IDHEC (now Le Fermis) in Paris. The La Ronde-like story of a day in the life of a Parisian umbrella, A Vol D’Oiseau attracted the attention of John and Roy Boulting, then at British Lion Films. The Boultings provided Miles with partial funding for his first professional film, The Six-Sided Triangle (1963); the raising of the rest of the budget was Miles' first foray into film production. A comic take on how six different cinematic styles might treat the same eternal triangle scene, The Six-Sided Triangle starred Christopher’s sister Sarah Miles and Nicol Williamson, and was nominated for an Academy Award.
Two films made for the teen market followed (Rhythm ’n’ Greens (1964) and Up Jumped a Swagman (1965)). Miles then spent the next five years getting The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970) into production. The first of his films to be based on the work of D.H. Lawrence, it was shown out of competition at Cannes and was a huge critical and box office success on both sides of the Atlantic.
After an adaptation of Jean Genet’s The Maids (1974) and a flirtation with Hollywood (That Lucky Touch (1975)), Miles returned to his favourite subject matter. Priest of Love (1981) tells the story of the writing of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Lawrence’s lifelong fight against suffocating artisitic censorship. The film gave an early starring role to Ian McKellen, and co-starred Janet Suzman as Freida, Ava Gardner as Mabel Dodge Luhan and John Gielgud as Lawrence’s nemesis, Herbert G. Muskett. Like The Virgin and the Gypsy the screenplay was by Alan Plater, and filming took place in Cornwall, Nottingham, Mexico, France and Italy, often in the actual locations where the events took place, including the Villa Mirenda, near Florence, where Lawrence wrote Chatterley. Priest of Love was given a Royal Premiere in 1982, and was the closing film at that year’s London Film Festival.
Two other Miles/Lawrence projects, an adaptation by Robert Bolt (and another screenplay for the same project by Nigel Kneale) of The Plumed Serpent, and Gavin Lambert’s screenplay of The Woman Who Rode Away, were never made, although preparations for The Plumed Serpent, as this collection shows, were very far advanced when the film fell through.
Miles often produced as well as directed, and his working archive — heavily annotated scripts, drafts, lighting charts and design documents, and hundreds of photographs documenting all phases of the films’ production process — is supplemented by a comprehensive archive of production correspondence and documentation from all phases of the film-making process. The collection is a large, research-rich resource of hitherto unseen material, and one which meticulously charts the path of Lawrence’s work from page to screen.
THE ARCHIVE
THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY
The Director’s Archive
[LAWRENCE, D.[avid] H.[erbert]] [dir. MILES, Christopher] PLATER, Alan
The Virgin and the Gypsy: A Complete Production Archive from the Collection of the Film’s Director Christopher Miles
V.p.: V.p., 1967-70
A comprehensive collection of material relating to the making of the film, from all phases of production. Wear to many items as a result of extensive use during production, but a very well preserved collection.
A COMPREHENSIVE PAPER ARCHIVE OF THE PRE-PRODUCTION, FILMING AND POST-PRODUCTION OF THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY (1970), INCLUDING SCRIPTS IN VARIOUS DRAFTS AND FORMATS, DESIGN DOCUMENTS, AND PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHS, AND WITH AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF CORRESPONDENCE AND DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE FILM’S PRODUCTION.
The Virgin and the Gypsy first went into production in 1967, but funding fell through. The film was remounted in 1970, with Joanna Shimkus and Franco Nero in the title roles, and Honor Blackman, Maurice Denham and Fay Compton among the supporting cast.
The archive comprises:
SCRIPTS:
i) First draft screenplay by Alan Plater. N.d. [1967] 124pp. Annotated and revised by Miles;
ii) Technical shooting script. N.d. [1969] 151pp. Miles’ ownership signature to front wrapper, heavily annotated and revised, and with hand-drawn shooting diagrams to some reverse blanks. Call sheet No. 37 (2 September 1969) laid in;
iii) A second copy of (ii). Miles’ ownership signature to front wrapper. Very heavily used, with tape strengthening to spine, and heavily annotated and revised, with several hand-drawn shooting diagrams to reverse blanks. Variegated pages, indicating the later insertion of rewritten scenes and-or camera plots;
[Both (ii) and (ii) are laid out in the French double-column style. (Miles studied at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques (now La Fémis) in Paris, and made his first film there (A Vol D’Oiseau (1963).) In screenplays laid out this way the left hand column carries the camera shots and stage directions, while the right hand column has the dialogue. The call sheet laid in to (ii) shows the day’s work not referred to by scenes but by shots, in the French style.]
iv) Release (post-production) script, 1970. Unpaginated, variegated pages. Unannotated.
ASSOCIATED CORRESPONDENCE:
i) Manila folder -- ‘SHOOTING SCHEDULE’ -- into which is bound in:
-- Draft shooting schedules 1 and 2, 14 July (two copies) and 19 August 1969, Miles’ ownership signature to latter and one of former;
-- 16pp. prop list, Miles’ annotations to p.1;
-- Call sheet no. 27, 20 August 1969.
Laid in are:
-- Hand-written cross plot, and a copy;
-- 2pp. typed list of photographs taken on Derbyshire location recce;
-- Typed list of anticipated activity of the Severn Bore during shooting.
ii) Second manila folder -- ‘KENWOOD FILMS - Kenneth Harper’ -- into which is bound copies of typed correspondence relating to post-production matters: grading, and editing of both film and sound. Laid in is a typed audition list, Miles’ scribbled annotations to verso, and hand-written credits panels.
iii) Third manila folder -- ‘LONDON SCREENPLAYS LTD. -- into which is bound in copies of correspondence between the press department and Miles concerning Joanna Shimkus’ refusal to allow still photographs to be taken during the shooting of the film’s love scene. Laid in is earlier casting correspondence, in which Miles makes a strong case for Oliver Tobias (then in the stage production of Hair) -- and expresses doubt about casting Franco Nero (’I do not feel [he has] the physical subtilty [sic] for the strange haunting quality this role requires.’) He argues against Charles Bronson (here typed ‘Bronston’ repeatedly) for the same reason (among others). Also laid in a TLS from the film’s cinematographer Bob Huke to Miles, 10 May 1970, complaining about the post-production facilities but full of praise for Miles’ work.
iv) Fourth manila folder: ‘THESES, RIGHTS & CONTRACTS. Includes a copy of Miles’ contract, undated and unsigned, and several DHL theses sent to Miles following the release of the film, and copies of his supportive replies.
v) Fifth manila folder: ‘CORRESPONDENCE Post Production’. 1970-2000s.
vi) Sixth manila folder: ‘SCRIPT NOTES’. Mostly correspondence from producer Kenneth Harper and screenwriter Alan Plater.
vii) Seventh manila folder: ‘FRENCH CREDIT ROW’. (Miles’ director credit seems to have been missed off all French prints of the film.)
viii) Eighth manila folder: ‘PRESS & OPENING TELEGRAMMES’. Including letters praising the film from (among many others) film critic Judith Crist, Alan Plater, and cast members Fay Compton and Margo Andrew.
ix) Yellow folder: ‘ADDRESSES V&G’. Cast, unit and location lists, and an early casting document.
PHOTOGRAPHS:
i) Yellow Kodak box of 10 x 8 b&w production photographs of cast and crew, some annotated to reverse, one marked up for cropping.
ii) A small collection of 12 x 9 colour set photographs of Shimkus and Nero, separately and together.
PRIEST OF LOVE
The Director’s Archive
[LAWRENCE, D.[avid] H.[erbert]] [dir. MILES, Christopher] PLATER, Alan
Priest of Love
V.p.: V.p., V.d. [1979-2000s]
A large collection of material relating to the making of the film, from all phases of the film’s production. Many items worn through extensive use during production, but a very well preserved collection.
A COMPREHENSIVE ARCHIVE OF THE PRE-PRODUCTION, FILMING AND POST-PRODUCTION OF PRIEST OF LOVE (1981), INCLUDING SCRIPTS IN VARIOUS DRAFTS AND FORMATS, DESIGN DOCUMENTS, PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHS, WITH AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF CORRESPONDENCE AND DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE FILM’S PRODUCTION.
Adapted by Alan Plater from Harry T. Moore’s biography, Priest of Love was directed by Christopher Miles and starred Ian McKellen and Janet Suzman, with a supporting cast including Ava Gardner and John Gielgud. First released in 1981, in 1985 it was re-cut by Miles and re-released to great critical acclaim, to coincide with the centenary of Lawrence’s birth. The film was mostly shot at the Villa Mirenda, near Florence, where Lawrence and Frieda had lived, and where Lady Chatterley’s Lover was written.
The archive comprises:
SCRIPTS:
i) First draft screenplay by Alan Plater, ‘July 1979’ to title page. 145pp. Unannotated;
ii) Third draft screenplay by Alan Plater, ‘March 1980’ to title page. Unannotated;
iii) Director’s shooting script, the third draft screenplay drawn together from different generations (mimeographed, photocopied) and with some variegated pages accommodating script revisions, and with some cut-and-paste updates by CM (e.g. p.39). Heavily revised and annotated by CM, and with 2pp. photocopied storyboard and the first six pages replaced by a photocopy of CM’s hand-written version. Call sheet no. 1, dated 9 April 1980, bound in;
iv) Three bound photocopies of (iii);
v) Two copies of revised post-production script (1981), one marked ‘OLD VERSION’ to title page. Both unannotated;
vi) Post-production script (1985), marked ‘NEW VERSION’ to front wrapper;
vii) Collection of unused scenes from 1981 version, secured with staple to top left corner;
viii) Trailer post-production script (1981). Unannotated.
WITH:
MILES, Christopher: THE PHOENIX or THE LOVE OF D.H. LAWRENCE: A synopsis for a biographical film of D.H. Lawrence during the six most important years of his life, to be made on actual locations
48pp. typescript, n.p., n.d. in blue binder, typed title label to front panel. Photographs tipped in throughout text.
A preparatory essay/script treatment for what became Priest of Love.
ASSOCIATED MATERIAL:
i) Yellow folder: ‘ACTORS CONTRACTS’:
-- SIR JOHN GIELGUD’S 12pp. SIGNED CONTRACT, 12 MARCH 1980;
-- Ava Gardner’s 2pp. typed inducement letter, undated and unsigned, and 2pp. agreement, dated 1980 but no signature page;
-- Janet Suzman’s contract, April 1980 but no signature page;
-- Penelope Keith’s contract, 1980 but no signature page;
-- Ian McKellen’s contract, 15 January 1980 but no signature page. With an amending letter of agreement, 15 January 1980 and SIGNED BY McKELLEN.
ii) Manila folder: ‘CAST & CREW LISTS’:
-- Large format cross plot;
-- Five call sheets (three of No. 45);
-- End roller credit order, and a photocopied duplicate and full cast list;
-- Cast contact list;
-- Cornwall, Mexico and Italy contact and hotel lists;
-- Unit contact lists for all location countries;
-- Scripts out list (recipients included Elizabeth Taylor, Anthony Hopkins and Liv Ullmann);
-- A card to Miles from cast member Marjorie Yates;
-- An assortment of business cards relating to the production, many stapled to the inside of the folder.
iii) Yellow folder: ‘CREDITS’. Credit obligation documentation.
iv) Manila folder: ‘ITALIAN TVA’. Documentation relating to Italian subtitling.
v) Manila folder: ‘CORRESPONDENCE’. Papers from 2000 onwards concerning re-issues, distribution rights etc.;
vi) Manila folder: ‘Income controls & expenses’. 2000s;
vii) Rust brown folder: ‘LAMY STATION’. Drawing of layout of Mexico railway station location, with a small collection of publicity material.
viii) Yellow folder: ‘PRIEST OF LOVE DVD & CORRESPONDENCE. Material relating to later rights issues, and the showing of the film at the Little Theatre, Bath in 2010. 2000s.
PHOTOGRAPHS:
A very large collection of b&w and colour images -- production and candid on-set photographs, negatives, transparencies, comparison shots and publicity stills -- covering the film’s shooting and publicity, and its appearance at the London Film Festival.
THE PLUMED SERPENT
The (Would-be) Director’s Archive
[LAWRENCE, D[avid].H.[erbert]] [MILES, Christopher] [BOLT, Robert] [KNEALE, Nigel]
The Plumed Serpent: Four Copies of Unfilmed Screenplays for The Plumed Serpent
V.p.: N.p., N.d. [c.1995]
A small collection of material relating to the (non-)production of the proposed film. A well preserved collection.
FOUR COPIES OF PROPOSED SCREENPLAYS, BY ROBERT BOLT AND NIGEL KNEALE, FOR THE PLUMED SERPENT. AN UNMADE PROJECT.
After The Virgin and the Gypsy and Priest of Love, two other D.H. Lawrence projects were begun by Miles, but remained unmade. One was The Woman Who Rode Away in an adaptation by Gavin Lambert. The other was The Plumed Serpent. Robert Bolt (Miles’ brother-in-law) wrote a screenplay for the project just before his death in 1995; although none of the scripts here bear a date, it can be safely assumed that Nigel ‘Quatermass’ Kneale (a family friend of Miles) then took over screenwriting duties. Whatever the respective merits of their screenplays, expensive Mexican locations meant that finance proved impossible to secure for the project, and the film was never made.
i) ROBERT BOLT:
-- 137pp. typescript in blue spring binder, ‘Revised Screenplay’ to title page;
-- 114pp. mimeographed screenplay, bound in orange wrappers secured with two split pins to left edge.
ii) NIGEL KNEALE:
-- 82pp. typescript secured with bulldog clip, ‘Technical shooting-script Christopher Miles’ to title page;
-- 134pp. mimeographed screenplay, bound in red wrappers secured with two split pins to left edge. HEAVILY ANNOTATED AND REVISED IN MILES’ HAND THROUGHOUT.
