Ojai Valley News Malcolm McDowell Interview 11/2/01

Gangster of Ojai
by Chris Wilson
OVN 11/2/01

    If you're looking for an uplifting Disney-esque movie to watch at the upcoming Ojai Film Festival, don't see this film.
    However, if you're looking for what's been called a "bright, beautifully written script, that's wonderfully directed," then get your tickets for the festival and be at the Ojai Playhouse Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. for the U.S. premiere of Malcolm McDowell's film Gangster No. 1,
    Even though the theme for the second annual Film Festival is "enriching the human spirit through film," McDowell laughs at the thought that a East London gangland film packed with violence and vulgarity will debut Friday evening.
    "You're better off going for good films, that are engaging, fulfilling and films that engage thought," he said.
    "Gangster" which can be compared to a east-end London gangland version of "Reservoir Dogs" or "Goodfellas," has already been released throughout Europe, but this will be the American debut.
Another of McDowell's films in the festival, "The Assassin of the Tsar," (1991) never made it to the movie screens of the United States.
    "It's hard enough getting a film made, but sometimes it's even harder to get it seen," he says.
He's expecting after being screened at the festival, distributors will pick up "Assassin," and get it shown in some of the larger, more sophisticated markets in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
    "But this is a chance for Ojai to see it," he says. "We've got some wonderful artistic people here," McDowell said over a latté and blueberry scone at the Café Emporium recently. "We've got great actors, writers and producers right here in town."
    Malcolm recounted the ingenuity of the crew and the oddities of the set while he was filming for five months in Russia with his wife Kelley.
    Prepping for a scene in the film, McDowell recalls sitting alone in a 50-station makeup room, a large Russian woman used a tooth brush, a bowl of some alcohol-based cologne and a sheet of used carbon typing paper to dye his hair black. And it washed right out.
    "Eat your heart out, Clairol," he laughs.
    And the cameraman used large sheets of tin foil to balance lighting.
    "It just goes to show you, you don't need million-dollar Hollywood sets to make a quality film," he says.
    Following his mesmerizing debut in Lindsay Anderson's "If" in 1969, McDowell exploded onto the screen in Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" in 1971. The actor has continued to demonstrate his talent and range in such diverse films as "Time After Time" (1979), "Blue Thunder" (1983), "Bopha!" (1994), and "Star Trek: Generations" (1994).
    His most recent film, "Gangster No. 1," is appearing in competition at the Film Festival and has been hailed by The Times of London for its "trump casting of McDowell as the grizzled (nameless) Gangster first spotted sharing an anecdote with elderly goons at an East End boxing gala. McDowell hasn't been this spiky or unhinged since 'Caligula' or even 'A Clockwork Orange.'"
Following the screening of "Gangster No. 1" at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9, McDowell will join the audience for a question-and-answer session about the making of the film and his remarkable career.