Malcolm McDowell on Clockwork Orange at 40, Caligula at 32, and Never Looking Back

And let's not forget the Mick Travis films. Those hold up.

They're amazing. Lindsay Anderson (pictured above with McDowell) is one of the greatest directors I ever worked with -- certainly on par with Kubrick. He was a genius, to me. if...., O Lucky Man! and Brittania Hospital are three absolutely great movies that should be seen by anyone who's even vaguely interested in film. Which is, of course, is our art form. Yours and mine. Even though we're generations apart, that's the art form that we've invented in the last century. And that's it. It compasses everything -- music, paint, photography, everything -- in one art form, and it's a very special art form.

O Lucky Man! has its own 40th anniversary coming up in a couple years, right?

Yeah, and I probably will be here talking to you about that.

It deserves it!

It does. It does. It's a great film. Lindsay Anderson is great. Did they happen to send you a copy of Never Apologize [McDowell's one-man play/appreciation of Anderson]?

Indeed they did.

Well, that really... I mean, it broke my heart, because a lot of people didn't really know who Lindsay Anderson was. So when I was asked by the Edinburgh Festival if I'd introduce some of his movies there -- a retrospective for him that was basically for me, because I did most of them -- I said off the top of my head, "I'll do better than that. I'll do a show about him. A one-man show. I'll get up and tell what it was like, what he was like, what a genius he was." And of course it became something else. I managed to get the diaries and the letters that he wrote me and others -- the secret thoughts -- and try and tell people and give them this document of how these movies were made. How we did it. And the way that he was like such an Oxford don; he was such a teacher. He was an amazing man, an amusing man. He could also be very prickly, too; he had a hell of a temper. But it was always fun with him. It was amazing just to be around him and listen to him. He was an incredible guy. Incredible.

There's another infamous film of yours whose recent anniversary went relatively unheralded: Caligula. What's your relationship with that movie's legacy, legend and mythology today?

[Pauses] Well, look: I feel it's a film that is nearly, nearly good. There's a film in there somewhere that's dying to come out, and it never quite did. And for whatever reason -- whether it was the greed of the producers or... I don't know. Of course, they added all this porn stuff. But you know, OK. They paid for it; I guess they can do whatever they want with it. It was sort of a betrayal to us actors, but I suppose that's being a little bit naïve. But the thing was, it was a hell of a shoot. It was hard work, and as far as my own work goes, I was reasonably pleased. I mean, I can't say it was a great success based on everything, because it wasn't. But there are some wonderful things in it.

And it was great for me to not only work with Helen Mirren again -- whom I adore and love -- but with John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole. Two really incredible actors -- incredible talent. John Gielgud! I got to work with Gielgud, [Ralph] Richardson and [Laurence] Olivier -- three of the greatest actors who have ever lived. And when you think they were contemporaries... I mean, how long have actors been around? Certainly since the Greeks, probably before. So that's two and a half thousand years, and you've got these three in the same generation? That was lightning striking three times.

What did they impart to you? Or, perhaps, what do you think you took away from working with them?

I just loved their individuality. They were all completely different -- in style in everything else. It just shows you that great acting is really marching to your own drum and not being affected by what other people are doing. Just do your thing -- in the character, of course. But Gielgud was a charming, charming man -- and very funny. One of the funniest, most beautiful men, with of course this extraordinary voice. He came to stay with me in two weeks in Rome when we were shooting Caligula -- to save his per diem -- and I was so thrilled.

And of course Olivier is the only actor I've ever worked with where the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when he came into a room on set and did his thing. I was astounded -- frightened almost. It was just shocking. I was doing this scene with Alan Bates, and Alan felt the same thing. He said, "Did you feel that power? We're not even in the same league!" I went, "You can say that again!" But it was great. And I loved Alan Bates, too. He was a wonderful actor.

What movie was that?

It was called The Collection. It was made for television. It was a four-hander: Alan, Olivier, myself, Helen Mirren. Four people in a Pinter play called The Collection. It's very good. I think you can -- or you could -- get it on video. It's worth a look just for Olivier. In the end? When he comes back? Oh, it's fantastic.

Is there a similar dynamic at work on a fraught set like Caligula? Did you ever turn to Gielgud and say, "What the hell are we doing here?"

Are you kidding? Like every day. But at the end of the day, I have a contract to do the part the best way I possibly can. Gore Vidal yanked his name off it, and well, that was it. He can do whatever he wants. I couldn't take my name off it because it's my face, and it would be ridiculous. So I soldiered on and did the best I could, of course. It was weird, because then I went straight into a film in Hollywood after that called Time After Time, which is a charming sort of science fiction/romance film.

Of course. You played H.G. Wells!

H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper, beautifully played by David Warner. A year later I'm looking in a magazine or whatever, and they've got the best 10 and worst 10 movies of the year, and I was in both lists. And I said, "Now that is the life of an actor." You should take risks -- that's what it's about. I've always taken risks as an actor. I really don't care what people think. If you do that, then you're limiting yourself, always, to the same damn thing. And if you take risks and do something like Caligula -- and it is a risk -- then hey. At the end of the day, it's worth it.

[Top photo credits (L-R): Warner Bros.; Getty Images]

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