Young Winston (1972)

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Carl Forman, whom I've not met but had seen Oh! What a Lovely War, asked me to direct the picture. Carl and I had different ideas on how to shoot the film so we agreed to try both ways. As he was the producer, the boss, when he eventually said he preferred his way, that's what we did. So the picture was a compromise to a certain extent. But I owe Carl a huge debt of gratitude because people might have said Oh! What a Lovely War was a one-off and it was Carl who immediately gave me this opportunity without hesitation.

The one thing I did insist on was the casting. I thought Simon Ward was not only visually terrific as far as Winston was concerned, but I believe that he had the stature and the stubbornness within his character that was required. When we came to the very last scene with the young Winston in parliament, I knew he would come up with a speech that you could really believe that the old man had given. It was triumphant.

With Annie Bancroft, Robert Shaw and Simon, I couldn't have found a better trio. It was also in this film that I'd seen a young Welsh actor do a couple of things and cast him as Lloyd George. He had only three or four lines but I thought, "My God, you are a bloody miracle on the screen". I was determined that one day I would find a major part for Anthony Hopkins to play.

Lord Attenborough