Director's Comments

Dimitri de Grunwald, after the success of the 'Virgin & the Gypsy' was keen that we worked together again, and as he had 'Time for Loving" already in preparation, he showed me the screenplay, which had been written in 1966 by Jean Anouilh for Anatole de Grunwald a year before he died.

Although written by one of France's leading playwrights, for Dimitri's esteemed producer brother, I felt it's charm was rather old-fashioned, and that the story-line which linked the episodes in the Parisian studio were hardly there. Admittedly it was written before 'Plaza Suite', but events had somewhat over taken the subject by then. Mel Ferrer, whom Dimitri had entrusted with producing the film, was an old Hollywood veteran. I told them both that the screenplay needed a lot of work, and decided to start on another idea of my own.

One of the rare advantages of being a producer is that you can set up a project while the director is slaving away on your present film. My own project floundered, my wife was expecting - so we had to move from a one-bedroom small mews house to something a little bigger, the bank manager was getting anxious.

Christopher Miles with Jean Anouilh

Dimitri and Mel agreed with most of my script points, so as we all spoke French reasonably well, Jean Anouilh agreed to meet us in the South of France for discussions. The wheels were already in motion, the finances from the bankers Morgan Grenfell and the European Consortium were in place; all they needed was an agreement between Anouilh and myself.

Rooms were booked at the great Hotel Provençal in Cap d'Antibes, and Anouilh agreed to re-read his script and see us over cocktails before dinner. With slight trepidation I waited at the bar that evening to discover the great man's opinion of his past work - looking at me over his dry martini he said in French 'Well, Christopher, I have re-read my script and I find it absolutely enchanting!'

Although being skewered in the South of France is not unusual, this proved a rather devastating line of argument to a young director who wanted some re-thinking from a great writer!

How I managed to persuade Anouilh to make a few changes, and how Ferrer managed to launch the project before it was ready, and then tried to replace my first assistant by accusing him of being a Maoist; is all revealed in 'Carrying the Can'… along with some surprising revelations from Audrey Hepburn's chauffeur.

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