.gif)
If... (film)
Encyclopedia
if.... is a 1968 British drama film
produced and directed by Lindsay Anderson
satirizing English public school
life. Famous for its depiction of a savage insurrection at a public school, the film is associated with the 1960s counterculture
movement because it was filmed by a long-standing counter-culture director at the time of the student uprisings in Paris in May 1968. It includes controversial statements, such as: "There's no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts". It features surrealist
sequences throughout the film. Upon release in the UK, it received an X certificate.
The film stars Malcolm McDowell
in his first screen role and his first appearance as Anderson's "everyman" character Mick Travis
. Richard Warwick
, Christine Noonan, David Wood
, and Robert Swann also star, and Rupert Webster is featured as the young boy Bobby Phillips.
if.... won the Palme d'Or at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
. In 2004, the magazine Total Film
named it the sixteenth greatest British film of all time. The Criterion Collection
released the DVD on 19 June 2007.
in Gloucestershire
, with the remainder at Aldenham School
in Hertfordshire
). Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell
) is one of three non-conformist boys among the returning class. They are watched and persecuted by the "Whips", senior boys given authority as prefects over juniors. The prefects are entitled to the services of "Scum", who are first-year boys assigned to run errands, make tea and generally act as unpaid servants. This refers to the old tradition of "fagging
" which still persisted in many British independent boys' schools.
The early part of the film shows scenes in the school as the pupils return at the start of a new term. Mick Travis, the protagonist, arrives with a suitcase on his shoulder, wearing a black hat, with a black scarf across his face to hide his moustache. Stephans comments, "God, it's Guy Fawkes
back again", hinting at the conclusion of the film. Rowntree (Robert Swann) is the Head Whip, and he revels in his power, ordering the junior boys to "Run! Run in the corridor!"
After the first evening meal, the Whips conduct some of the more mundane business of the school, signing up boys for "Confirmation class" and "VD
clinic". Each boy has to lower his pants so the school nurse can inspect his genitals.
These early scenes show the school's customs and traditions. The Headmaster (Peter Jeffrey
) is somewhat remote from the boys and the House Masters. Arthur Lowe
, as Mick's House Master Mr. Kemp, is told "I'll have to get back to you on that" when he brings things to the Headmaster's attention. Kemp himself is easily manipulated by the Whips into giving them a free hand in enforcing discipline.
Mick steals a motorbike from a showroom and has an affair with a local waitress; and Wallace finds adolescent romance with Bobby Philips, a junior boy, whom he takes to bed. They indulge in self-inflicted ordeals, such as seeing how long they can hold a plastic bag over their faces.
As the film progresses it concentrates on Mick's group and their clashes with the school authorities. Mick and his friends are subject to punishments, and eventually they are sentenced to corporal punishment in the form of a severe "beating" (i.e. a caning
) by the Whips. The caning is administered by Rowntree in the gym with a long run-up (this scene is said to be based on traditional practice at Tonbridge School
, where scriptwriter David Sherwin
was a student in the 1950s). The three boys are left with bleeding buttocks
. Mick's punishment is especially brutal (10 strokes), yet tradition demands that he shake hands with Rowntree when it is over and say, "Thank you, Rowntree".
Scenes are shot through with surreal elements, such as some scenes being shot in black and white. This was not for dramatic emphasis, as people presumed, but simply because the huge windows at the college gave off obstructing light that affected the camera lenses. Another explanation given later by Lindsay Anderson is simply that the production was running out of money.
At the end, in a surreal sequence, they discover a cache of automatic weapons, and revolt
against the establishment. On Founders' Day, when parents are visiting the school, they start a fire under the hall, smoke out the parents, staff and boys, and open fire on them from a rooftop. Led by the visiting General
who was giving the speech, the staff and boys break open the Combined Cadet Force
armoury and fire back.
The Headmaster tries to stop the firefight and calls for peace. Mick's girl, who is on the roof with them, produces a revolver
from her belt and shoots the Headmaster through the forehead. The battle continues, and the camera closes in on Mick's face as he keeps firing, ending the film with a blackout and an echo of gunfire with the film's title "if...." emblazoned in red on the screen.
's original title for the screenplay was Crusaders, during the writing of which he drew heavily from his experiences at Tonbridge School
in Kent. In 1960, he and his friend and co-writer John Howlett
took it to Seth Holt
, a veteran Ealing Comedy film editor who at the time was breaking into direction with Hammer Studios, for which he would go on to direct several classics. Holt felt unqualified to direct but offered to produce Crusaders. They also took it to Sherwin's hero, Rebel Without a Cause
director Nicholas Ray
, who liked it but had a nervous breakdown
before anything came of it. Holt introduced Sherwin to Anderson in a Soho pub.
The school was Anderson's alma mater
Cheltenham College
, Gloucestershire
, but this was not revealed as part of the agreement needed to shoot there. The then Headmaster, David Ashcroft, persuaded the school governors to agree that the film could be made. As a result, shooting started in mid-March 1968 and lasted for 3 weeks during term-time. The boys who appeared in the film were actual students at the school who had time off lessons to take part. In one scene, Peter Jeffrey (as Headmaster) gives a series of speeches to the school prefects some of whom were real. The College received a facility fee of £1,000 per day over the 20 days.
Aldenham School
in Elstree
, Hertfordshire
, was used for later scenes filmed after previous summer commitments prevented further shooting at Cheltenham.
The J&H Packhorse Cafe no longer exists. It was originally on the A5 just south of Dunstable
in Bedfordshire
(near the village of Markyate
) and not in the Cheltenham
area as originally thought. The original site of the Cafe is now on the "Packhorse Place Industrial Park" behind the petrol station just south of the Kensworth turn.
The sweat room scenes were filmed in the School Room in School House at Aldenham School (though they were redesigned for the film). The dormitory scenes were also at Aldenham - specifically The Long Room for the junior boys and the room with the wooden partitions called Lower Cubs (short for cubicles). The shower scene and toilets were in School House changing rooms.
The painting in the dining hall is Aldenham School's founder, Richard Platt. The Hall scene was an amalgamation of both school halls at Cheltenham and Aldenham.
Anderson originally approached Charterhouse School
and later Cranleigh School
for permission to shoot the film; negotiations were going well until the schools discovered the content of the film and pulled out.
The outside shots of the school including the final showdown on the roof were that of Cheltenham College
. This was filmed after term ended.
The Speech Day interior was filmed inside St John's Church on Albion Street, Cheltenham. The church was eventually demolished.
The motorbike shop was filmed at the Broadway Motor Company on Gladstone Rd, Merton, London SW19. The garage is now a Wetherspoons pub.
Much is said of the film's use of black and white sequences. In the audio commentary to the 2007 DVD release, Malcolm McDowell confirmed that lighting the chapel scenes for colour filming would take much longer than they would if they were lit for black and white. The time they could use the school chapel was limited, so Anderson opted to shoot those scenes not in colour. Liking the effect this gave, he then decided to shoot other sequences in black and white to improve the 'texture' of the film. As a child, he was impressed watching a gangster film which started in black and white and then turned to colour.
The other disputed reason for the mixed use of black/white and colour was due to the film's limited budget, therefore requiring shots towards the end of filming to be done in black and white.
sequences have been compared to Jean Vigo
's French classic Zéro de conduite
(1933). Anderson acknowledged an influence, and described how he arranged a viewing of that film with his screenwriter
s, David Sherwin
and John Howlett
at an early stage in production planning, though in his view the Vigo film's influence on "if..." was structural rather than merely cosmetic. "Seeing Vigo's film gave us the idea and also the confidence to proceed with the kind of scene-structure that we devised for the first part of the film particularly."
A single piece of music recurs in the film, the "Sanctus" from the Missa Luba
. This version of the Latin Mass
in African style, sung by a choir of Congolese children, had been on the UK Singles Chart
in the 1960s.
The final gun battle was parodied in a 1970 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus
entitled "It's A Living (or: School Prizes)." The parody is presented as "if" - a film by Mr Dibley", in which Dibley is played by Terry Jones
.
The 1994 Japanese video game Shin Megami Tensei if...
was named after the movie. The game is about a school that is drawn in a realm of demons, and the game uses the same font as the movie for the If... part of its title.
McDowell's performance in if.... caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick
, who subsequently cast him in his 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess
's A Clockwork Orange
. Additionally, McDowell used his performance in if.... in his inspiration for the Clockwork Orange protagonist, Alexander DeLarge. Having been given the script by Kubrick, McDowell was unsure on how he would play the part of Alex, and so he contacted Lindsay Anderson
, asking for advice. McDowell relates the story:
if.... currently holds a 97% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes
, with the consensus "Incendiary, subversive, and darkly humorous, If.... is a landmark of British countercultural cinema."
s spawned from this, both starring Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis:
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
produced and directed by Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
satirizing English public school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
life. Famous for its depiction of a savage insurrection at a public school, the film is associated with the 1960s counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
movement because it was filmed by a long-standing counter-culture director at the time of the student uprisings in Paris in May 1968. It includes controversial statements, such as: "There's no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts". It features surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
sequences throughout the film. Upon release in the UK, it received an X certificate.
The film stars Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
in his first screen role and his first appearance as Anderson's "everyman" character Mick Travis
Mick Travis trilogy
The Mick Travis films are three films directed by British film director Lindsay Anderson and written by David Sherwin, featuring English actor Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, in which Travis features not so much as a single character with a character arc, but as an everyman character whose role...
. Richard Warwick
Richard Warwick
Richard Warwick was a British actor.He was born Richard Carey Winter, at Meopham, Kent and made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet in the role of Gregory...
, Christine Noonan, David Wood
David Wood (actor)
David Wood OBE is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times.He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and Worcester College, Oxford....
, and Robert Swann also star, and Rupert Webster is featured as the young boy Bobby Phillips.
if.... won the Palme d'Or at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival
1969 Cannes Film Festival
The 22nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 8 - 23, 1969. At this festival a new non-competitive section called "Directors' Fortnight" is added, in response to the cancellation of the 1968 festival.-Jury:*Luchino Visconti...
. In 2004, the magazine Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
named it the sixteenth greatest British film of all time. The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
released the DVD on 19 June 2007.
Plot
The film is set in a British independent school for boys in the late 1960s (most of the scenes were filmed at Cheltenham CollegeCheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, with the remainder at Aldenham School
Aldenham School
Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged thirteen to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
). Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
) is one of three non-conformist boys among the returning class. They are watched and persecuted by the "Whips", senior boys given authority as prefects over juniors. The prefects are entitled to the services of "Scum", who are first-year boys assigned to run errands, make tea and generally act as unpaid servants. This refers to the old tradition of "fagging
Fagging
Fagging was a traditional educational practice in British boarding private schools and also many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the most senior boys...
" which still persisted in many British independent boys' schools.
The early part of the film shows scenes in the school as the pupils return at the start of a new term. Mick Travis, the protagonist, arrives with a suitcase on his shoulder, wearing a black hat, with a black scarf across his face to hide his moustache. Stephans comments, "God, it's Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
back again", hinting at the conclusion of the film. Rowntree (Robert Swann) is the Head Whip, and he revels in his power, ordering the junior boys to "Run! Run in the corridor!"
After the first evening meal, the Whips conduct some of the more mundane business of the school, signing up boys for "Confirmation class" and "VD
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
clinic". Each boy has to lower his pants so the school nurse can inspect his genitals.
These early scenes show the school's customs and traditions. The Headmaster (Peter Jeffrey
Peter Jeffrey
Peter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
) is somewhat remote from the boys and the House Masters. Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...
, as Mick's House Master Mr. Kemp, is told "I'll have to get back to you on that" when he brings things to the Headmaster's attention. Kemp himself is easily manipulated by the Whips into giving them a free hand in enforcing discipline.
Mick steals a motorbike from a showroom and has an affair with a local waitress; and Wallace finds adolescent romance with Bobby Philips, a junior boy, whom he takes to bed. They indulge in self-inflicted ordeals, such as seeing how long they can hold a plastic bag over their faces.
As the film progresses it concentrates on Mick's group and their clashes with the school authorities. Mick and his friends are subject to punishments, and eventually they are sentenced to corporal punishment in the form of a severe "beating" (i.e. a caning
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
) by the Whips. The caning is administered by Rowntree in the gym with a long run-up (this scene is said to be based on traditional practice at Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
, where scriptwriter David Sherwin
David Sherwin
David Sherwin is a British screenwriter best known for his collaborations with director Lindsay Anderson and actor Malcolm McDowell on the films if.... , O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital .Sherwin attended Tonbridge School, a major British public school, which provided...
was a student in the 1950s). The three boys are left with bleeding buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
. Mick's punishment is especially brutal (10 strokes), yet tradition demands that he shake hands with Rowntree when it is over and say, "Thank you, Rowntree".
Scenes are shot through with surreal elements, such as some scenes being shot in black and white. This was not for dramatic emphasis, as people presumed, but simply because the huge windows at the college gave off obstructing light that affected the camera lenses. Another explanation given later by Lindsay Anderson is simply that the production was running out of money.
At the end, in a surreal sequence, they discover a cache of automatic weapons, and revolt
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
against the establishment. On Founders' Day, when parents are visiting the school, they start a fire under the hall, smoke out the parents, staff and boys, and open fire on them from a rooftop. Led by the visiting General
General (United Kingdom)
General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....
who was giving the speech, the staff and boys break open the Combined Cadet Force
Combined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
armoury and fire back.
The Headmaster tries to stop the firefight and calls for peace. Mick's girl, who is on the roof with them, produces a revolver
Webley Revolver
The Webley Revolver was, in various marks, the standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the British Empire, and the Commonwealths from 1887 until 1963.The Webley is a top-break revolver with automatic extraction...
from her belt and shoots the Headmaster through the forehead. The battle continues, and the camera closes in on Mick's face as he keeps firing, ending the film with a blackout and an echo of gunfire with the film's title "if...." emblazoned in red on the screen.
Cast
- Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
as Michael Arnold "Mick" TravisMick Travis trilogyThe Mick Travis films are three films directed by British film director Lindsay Anderson and written by David Sherwin, featuring English actor Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, in which Travis features not so much as a single character with a character arc, but as an everyman character whose role... - Richard WarwickRichard WarwickRichard Warwick was a British actor.He was born Richard Carey Winter, at Meopham, Kent and made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet in the role of Gregory...
as Wallace - Christine Noonan as The Girl
- David WoodDavid Wood (actor)David Wood OBE is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times.He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and Worcester College, Oxford....
as Johnny - Robert Swann as Rowntree
- Peter JeffreyPeter JeffreyPeter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
as Headmaster - Arthur LoweArthur LoweArthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...
as Housemaster - Mona WashbourneMona WashbourneMona Washbourne was an English actress of stage, film and television.Mona Washbourne began her entertaining career training as a concert pianist. While performing on stage in the early 1920s, she found that she liked acting and became an actress...
as Matron - Ben ArisBen ArisBenjamin Patrick Aris was an English actor who was best known for his parts in Hi-de-Hi! and To the Manor Born, and was also very active on stage. He was often cast as an eccentric, upper-class man....
as John Thomas, Undermaster - Robin AskwithRobin AskwithRobin Askwith , is an English film actor, most famous for his role as Timmy Lea in the Confessions... sex comedies.-Confessions...:...
as Keating - Robin DaviesRobin DaviesRobin Davies was a Welsh television and film actor.-Early life:Robert Richard Davies was born in Tywyn, Wales and was educated at Gladstone Park School. He trained to be an actor at the Ada Foster Stage School....
as Machin - Rupert Webster as Bobby Phillips
- Hugh Thomas as Denson
- Michael Cadman as Fortinbras
- Martin Beaumont as Hunter
- John GarrieJohn GarrieJohn Garrie, later known as John Garrie Roshi, was a British actor who later became a respected teacher of Zen Buddhism. Born in 1924, he died in Taunton, Somerset on 22 September 1999 at the age of 75.-Acting career:...
as Music master - Philip Bagenal as Peanuts
- Charles SturridgeCharles SturridgeCharles B. G. Sturridge is an English screenwriter, producer, stage, television and film director.-Personal life:Sturridge was born in London, England to Alyson Bowman Vaughan and Jerome Sturridge. He was educated at Stonyhurst College...
as Markland - Graham CrowdenGraham CrowdenClement Graham Crowden was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric 'offbeat' scientist, teacher and doctor characters.-Early life:...
as History master - Tommy GodfreyTommy GodfreyTommy Godfrey was an English film and television actor, mostly playing working-class Cockney characters.His television credits included Love Thy Neighbour, Mind Your Language, The Avengers, Bless This House, Till Death Us Do Part, Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, The Goodies and On the Buses.His film...
as School porter - David Griffin as Willens
- Charles Lloyd PackCharles Lloyd PackCharles Lloyd-Pack was a British film, television and stage actor.He was born in London, England. He was seen in several horror movies produced by the Hammer Studios including Dracula, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Reptile and Quatermass 2, the film version of...
as Classics master - Richard Everett as Pussy Graves
- Ellis Dale as Motorcycle salesman
- Peter Sproule as Barnes
- Sean BurySean BurySean Bury is a British television and film actor, best known for his lead role as Paul Harrison in Lewis Gilbert's 1971 film Friends and the 1974 sequel Paul and Michelle.-Films:...
as Jute - Brian PettiferBrian PettiferBrian Pettifer is an actor who has appeared in many television shows. Pettifer was born in Lower Durban, South Africa, and briefly brought up in Glasgow and London. He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career as an actor...
as Biles - Mary MacLeod as Mrs. Kemp, housemaster's wife
- Geoffrey ChaterGeoffrey ChaterGeoffrey Chater is a British actor who was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. He has starred in both film and television projects...
as Chaplain - Anthony NichollsAnthony Nicholls (actor)Anthony Nicholls was an English film, television, and stage actor.-Life and career:Nicholls was born Sydney Horace Nicholls on 16 October 1902 in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the son of Florence and photojournalist Horace Nicholls. He served in the Royal Artillery...
as General Denson - Michael Newport as Brunning
Production and locations
David SherwinDavid Sherwin
David Sherwin is a British screenwriter best known for his collaborations with director Lindsay Anderson and actor Malcolm McDowell on the films if.... , O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital .Sherwin attended Tonbridge School, a major British public school, which provided...
's original title for the screenplay was Crusaders, during the writing of which he drew heavily from his experiences at Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
in Kent. In 1960, he and his friend and co-writer John Howlett
John Howlett
John Howlett is a renowned writer and director living in Rye, East Sussex. He started his writing career by co-writing the screenplay of the 1968 feature film, if..... Website: -Education:He attended Jesus College, Oxford and studied history....
took it to Seth Holt
Seth Holt
Seth Holt was a British film director, producer and editor.Originally a film editor, he worked on a number of Ealing comedies before directing a number of features for Hammer Studios...
, a veteran Ealing Comedy film editor who at the time was breaking into direction with Hammer Studios, for which he would go on to direct several classics. Holt felt unqualified to direct but offered to produce Crusaders. They also took it to Sherwin's hero, Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
director Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
, who liked it but had a nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
before anything came of it. Holt introduced Sherwin to Anderson in a Soho pub.
The school was Anderson's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, but this was not revealed as part of the agreement needed to shoot there. The then Headmaster, David Ashcroft, persuaded the school governors to agree that the film could be made. As a result, shooting started in mid-March 1968 and lasted for 3 weeks during term-time. The boys who appeared in the film were actual students at the school who had time off lessons to take part. In one scene, Peter Jeffrey (as Headmaster) gives a series of speeches to the school prefects some of whom were real. The College received a facility fee of £1,000 per day over the 20 days.
Aldenham School
Aldenham School
Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged thirteen to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England...
in Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, was used for later scenes filmed after previous summer commitments prevented further shooting at Cheltenham.
The J&H Packhorse Cafe no longer exists. It was originally on the A5 just south of Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
(near the village of Markyate
Markyate
Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.-Geography:Having a number of former names, including Markyate Street and Mergyate, it has been a part of all three counties since it was first founded as the county...
) and not in the Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
area as originally thought. The original site of the Cafe is now on the "Packhorse Place Industrial Park" behind the petrol station just south of the Kensworth turn.
The sweat room scenes were filmed in the School Room in School House at Aldenham School (though they were redesigned for the film). The dormitory scenes were also at Aldenham - specifically The Long Room for the junior boys and the room with the wooden partitions called Lower Cubs (short for cubicles). The shower scene and toilets were in School House changing rooms.
The painting in the dining hall is Aldenham School's founder, Richard Platt. The Hall scene was an amalgamation of both school halls at Cheltenham and Aldenham.
Anderson originally approached Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
and later Cranleigh School
Cranleigh School
Cranleigh School is an independent English boarding school in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. It was founded in 1865 as a boys' school and started to admit girls in the early 1970s. It is now co-educational. The current headmaster is Guy de W...
for permission to shoot the film; negotiations were going well until the schools discovered the content of the film and pulled out.
The outside shots of the school including the final showdown on the roof were that of Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
. This was filmed after term ended.
The Speech Day interior was filmed inside St John's Church on Albion Street, Cheltenham. The church was eventually demolished.
The motorbike shop was filmed at the Broadway Motor Company on Gladstone Rd, Merton, London SW19. The garage is now a Wetherspoons pub.
Much is said of the film's use of black and white sequences. In the audio commentary to the 2007 DVD release, Malcolm McDowell confirmed that lighting the chapel scenes for colour filming would take much longer than they would if they were lit for black and white. The time they could use the school chapel was limited, so Anderson opted to shoot those scenes not in colour. Liking the effect this gave, he then decided to shoot other sequences in black and white to improve the 'texture' of the film. As a child, he was impressed watching a gangster film which started in black and white and then turned to colour.
The other disputed reason for the mixed use of black/white and colour was due to the film's limited budget, therefore requiring shots towards the end of filming to be done in black and white.
Sources and influence
The film's surrealistSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
sequences have been compared to Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo was a French film director, who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s and was a posthumous influence on the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
's French classic Zéro de conduite
Zéro de Conduite
Zéro de conduite is a 1933 French film directed by Jean Vigo. It was first shown on 7 April 1933, and was subsequently banned in France until 15 February 1946....
(1933). Anderson acknowledged an influence, and described how he arranged a viewing of that film with his screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
s, David Sherwin
David Sherwin
David Sherwin is a British screenwriter best known for his collaborations with director Lindsay Anderson and actor Malcolm McDowell on the films if.... , O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital .Sherwin attended Tonbridge School, a major British public school, which provided...
and John Howlett
John Howlett
John Howlett is a renowned writer and director living in Rye, East Sussex. He started his writing career by co-writing the screenplay of the 1968 feature film, if..... Website: -Education:He attended Jesus College, Oxford and studied history....
at an early stage in production planning, though in his view the Vigo film's influence on "if..." was structural rather than merely cosmetic. "Seeing Vigo's film gave us the idea and also the confidence to proceed with the kind of scene-structure that we devised for the first part of the film particularly."
A single piece of music recurs in the film, the "Sanctus" from the Missa Luba
Missa Luba
The Missa Luba is a version of the Latin Mass based on traditional Congolese songs. It was arranged by Father Guido Haazen, a Franciscan Friar from Belgium, and originally performed and recorded in 1958 by "Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin", a choir of Congolese children from...
. This version of the Latin Mass
Latin Mass
The term Latin Mass refers to the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass celebrated in Latin.The term is frequently used to denote the Tridentine Mass: that is, the Roman-Rite liturgy of the Mass celebrated in accordance with the successive editions of the Roman Missal published between 1570 and 1962...
in African style, sung by a choir of Congolese children, had been on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in the 1960s.
The final gun battle was parodied in a 1970 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
entitled "It's A Living (or: School Prizes)." The parody is presented as "if" - a film by Mr Dibley", in which Dibley is played by Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
.
The 1994 Japanese video game Shin Megami Tensei if...
Shin Megami Tensei if...
is a Japanese console role-playing game that was released for the Super Famicom in 1994. It is a side story to the Shin Megami Tensei series, rather than a direct sequel, and is part of the larger Megami Tensei series...
was named after the movie. The game is about a school that is drawn in a realm of demons, and the game uses the same font as the movie for the If... part of its title.
McDowell's performance in if.... caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, who subsequently cast him in his 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
's A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
. Additionally, McDowell used his performance in if.... in his inspiration for the Clockwork Orange protagonist, Alexander DeLarge. Having been given the script by Kubrick, McDowell was unsure on how he would play the part of Alex, and so he contacted Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
, asking for advice. McDowell relates the story:
if.... currently holds a 97% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with the consensus "Incendiary, subversive, and darkly humorous, If.... is a landmark of British countercultural cinema."
Sequels
Two sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s spawned from this, both starring Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis:
- O Lucky Man!O Lucky Man!O Lucky Man! is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderson's...
(1973) - Britannia HospitalBritannia HospitalBritannia Hospital is a 1982 black comedy film by British director Lindsay Anderson which targets the National Health Service and contemporary British society...
(1982)
External links
- If... Behind The Scenes at Gloucestershire On Screen
- Lambert, Gavin (15 February 2002). "Anarchy in the UK", (review on the occasion of release of restored print of the film). The Guardian (London).
- UK Critic review
- Russell, Jamie (26 February 2002). "if...", BBC movies: Film reviews.
- Lindsay Anderson Archive, Stirling University
- Lindsay Anderson Memorial Foundation
- DVD Beaver review