Incredibly, he had mortgaged Friar Park, his home in Henley, to pay for the entire budget. A quite extraordinary act of generosity. Denis O’Brien, his wily Bialystok, arranged for the film to become a tax loss, they formed a new company, Handmade Films, and we were on. A miracle indeed, for without George, Life of Brian would never have been made. He visited us on the set in Tunisia and when he asked me how it was going, I grumpily muttered something about how between John and Michael it was difficult getting onscreen. He said, “Imagine what it was like with Lennon and McCartney trying to get
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