Brit,
Uncle Monty's London home from Withnail and I - FILM LOCATION
Goodbye Uncle Monty. Montague H. Withnail or as he is more well known as
Uncle Monty's London pad is about 5 minutes from where I live and I pass
nearby regularly, if not daily. The exact film location is on a long list of
posts that I have brewing but something always seems to get in the way of
posting about it - however its timing now makes a fitting goodbye to Uncle
Monty or rather the man who brought him to life so wonderfully - Richard
Griffiths OBE.
Of course, one role does not make or tell the story of the man who brought almost a 100 memorable and colourful characters to life in cinema, on TV as well as on stage. Despite an illustrious career spanning 5 decades and participation in productions like; Milos Forman's Ragtime, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire, Superman II, Gandhi,The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Martin Scorsese's Hugo, the role that brought him to a new generation as Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series and seeing him recently on stage with Danny Devito in The Sunshine Boys.
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| The Establishing Shot: The Sunshine Boys at The Savoy Theater - Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths |
I will always remember Richard Griffiths as Uncle Monty in the great Withnail & I. For many Withnail & I with its endearing story of two failing actors; Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and I or Marwood (Paul McGann) floundering whilst coming to terms (or not) with their career choices has come to be a, if not the, quintessential British Cult classic film of our age. As with many great cult films it is not the story that takes precedence but rather the characters (and by proxy the actors performances in bringing those characters to life), the situations they find themselves in and the personalities they encounter. So it is with Withnail & I. The film that kicked off many a student drinking game for me.
Video: Withnail and I - Original Trailer
Of course there is no home as closely associated with Uncle Monty or indeed Withnail & I as Uncle Monty's Cottage - Crow Cragg or rather Sleddale Hall where Withnail & Marwood go on holiday (by mistake) and the very reason they visit Uncle Monty at his Chelsea Pad in the first place. In this post I look at Monty's Chelsea home, visiting Sledding Hall in Cumbria will have to wait for another time.
In Withnail & I, Withnail and Marwood visit Withnail's Uncle Monty at his plush and cosy London pad for a drink and to ask Monty for permission to use his "Free to those that can afford it. Very expensive to those that can't" Cumbria holiday home to get away for the weekend.
With hilarious results as Withnail in typical fashion throws Marwood under the bus to further his own needs in the face of his Uncle Monty's advances on Marwood...
Monte's house
[A battered Jag pulls up outside Monte's house and Withnail and I get out. There is a rather flash looking open-topped Rolls parked outside. The sound of a Schubert piano sonata comes from the house.]
[A battered Jag pulls up outside Monte's house and Withnail and I get out. There is a rather flash looking open-topped Rolls parked outside. The sound of a Schubert piano sonata comes from the house.]
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| Withnail (Richard E Grant & I (Paul McGann) visit Uncle Monty |
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| The Establishing Shot: WITHNAIL & I FILM LOCATION - GLEBE PLACE WHERE WITHNAIL & MARWOOD PARK VISITING UNCLE MONTY |
Withnail: Monte's car.
[Withnail knocks on the door. Monte, a rather fat, effeminate, middle-aged gentleman, opens the door. He is holding a very large fluffy cat and a watering can.]
[Withnail knocks on the door. Monte, a rather fat, effeminate, middle-aged gentleman, opens the door. He is holding a very large fluffy cat and a watering can.]
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| Withnail and I visit Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) answers his front door |
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| The Establishing Shot: WITHNAIL & I FILM LOCATION - UNCLE MONTY'S LONDON HOME |
Monty: Oh hello. Come in.
[They enter and go into the lounge.]
[They enter and go into the lounge.]
Video: Uncle Monty in Withnail and I
Monty's absolutely stunning London home, may be a world away from Withnail & Marwood's squalid Camden bedsit, but is actually located in the tucked away elbow of the very charming Glebe Place, just off King's Road in Chelsea. Over the years many creatives have taken residence in Glebe Place and it has become a very sought after address.
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| The Establishing Shot: WITHNAIL & I FILM LOCATION - UNCLE MONTY'S LONDON HOME |
Visiting Glebe Place you may notice the neighbours fence and facade seen diagonally across from Monty's place and in Withnail & I pull up in their repaired Jag may look updated and modernised and Uncle Monty's door (and recently the knocker) has been replaced when the pad's new owner renovated his home but none of the familiarity or charm of Uncle Monty's West House, 35 Glebe Place, London, SW3 5JP has been lost. I'll add some photos of the original door and Knocker after I have located them on a hard drive I have stored offsite.
You can read more about West House and it's bookcases over on the LASSCO website here!
By the way as someone requested it - the song that Monty is playing in the scene is: Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata in B Flat Major (D960 lll Scherzo: Allegro Vivace Con Delicatezza).
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Uncle Monty's London home from Withnail & I
West House, 35 Glebe Place, London, SW3 5JP |
Withnail & I (1987)
It’s 1969 and London isn’t exactly swinging for struggling, unemployed actors Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and “I” (Paul McGann). Living amongst the crumbling squalor of a Camden flat their uneventful existence is fuelled by cheap drugs, bad booze and lighter fluid. When Withnail’s eccentric Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) offers them his cottage retreat, both Withnail and “I” decide to escape to the glorious English countryside for a carefree weekend. But what they find is less than idyllic as they’re forced to contend with disastrous weather conditions, hostile locals and the amorous motives of a certain Uncle Monty. It’s the end of the greatest decade in the history of mankind and there’s going to be a lot of refugees.
Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, this twisted, timeless and acerbic masterpiece is a genuine cult classic.
Starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann in career defining roles, Withnail and I is one of the most hilarious and iconic comedies of British cinema.
It’s 1969 and London isn’t exactly swinging for struggling, unemployed actors Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and “I” (Paul McGann). Living amongst the crumbling squalor of a Camden flat their uneventful existence is fuelled by cheap drugs, bad booze and lighter fluid. When Withnail’s eccentric Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) offers them his cottage retreat, both Withnail and “I” decide to escape to the glorious English countryside for a carefree weekend. But what they find is less than idyllic as they’re forced to contend with disastrous weather conditions, hostile locals and the amorous motives of a certain Uncle Monty. It’s the end of the greatest decade in the history of mankind and there’s going to be a lot of refugees.
Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, this twisted, timeless and acerbic masterpiece is a genuine cult classic.
Starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann in career defining roles, Withnail and I is one of the most hilarious and iconic comedies of British cinema.
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| Withnail and I Poster |
THE ESTABLISHING SHOT: UNCLE MONTY'S LONDON HOME FROM WITHNAIL & I - FILM LOCATION
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