The Wild Story of How the Beatles Tried to Get Mick Jagger Into ‘A Clockwork Orange’
· Vice
Before Stanley Kubrick cast Malcolm McDowell as Alex in A Clockwork Orange, a few of the more prominent rock stars of the day weighed in on who they thought should get the part.
Visit biznow.biz for more information.
A 1967 letter addressed to the film’s original screenwriter, Terry Southern, reads as follows: “We, the undersigned, do hereby protest with extreme vehemence as well as shattered illusions (in you) the preference of David Hemmings above Mick Jagger in the role of Alex in [A] Clockwork Orange.” For context, Hemmings, an English actor who later appeared in movies like Gladiator and Gangs of New York, was being considered for the lead in the beginning.
You know what’s especially interesting about that letter, though? It was signed by all four members of the Beatles. That’s right, the entire quartet, which was by then made up of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr, actually petitioned to get the Rolling Stones frontman the gig. Though sources vary on whether or not Jagger was ever a serious contender for the part, he does appear to have been interested in getting involved at one point.
And what’s more, Jagger was apparently looking to bring the rest of the Stones along to play his droogs.
The Strange Connection Between the Beatles, Mick Jagger and ‘A Clockwork Orange’
While being interviewed at the Torino Film Festival for A Clockwork Orange’s 50th anniversary in 2022, Malcolm McDowell revealed that he’d spoken to Jagger about the movie prior to landing the lead role in it himself. “We used to be friends. We were hanging around in New York. At the time, we were the ‘in-crowd’ with Andy Warhol and all,” the actor explained. “One evening, we were hanging out at somebody’s apartment on the east side of Central Park,” he continued.
McDowell went on to say, “We were sitting in a window seat and talking because Jagger wanted to play Alex in A Clockwork Orange. Before Kubrick got hold of the property, Mick Jagger and the Stones wanted to do it!” However, according to the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, the rumor that Jagger purchased the rights to Burgess’s novel is unfounded. It’s also evidently untrue that the Beatles were in the running to do the soundtrack in the early stages.
The post The Wild Story of How the Beatles Tried to Get Mick Jagger Into ‘A Clockwork Orange’ appeared first on VICE.