Sleep Is Lovely | BFI Most Wanted BFI National Archive

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Sleep is Lovely (aka The Other People)

Directed by David Hart, 1968

The relationship between a young man and the wild daughter of a wealthy pornographer in late 60s London.

Olga Georges-Picot and Donald Pleasence as the above-mentioned wild daughter and wealthy pornographer.

Credits

Director Production Companies Executive Producer Producer Screenplay Photography Music Editor Art Director	David Hart Paramount Pictures, Oakhurst Productions, Telstar Productions Michael Deeley Harry Field David Hart, Michael Joseph Brian Probyn (Techniscope) John Dankworth Peter Pitt Peter Moll
Cast: Peter McEnery (Peter); Donald Pleasence (Clive, Elsa's father); Olga Georges-Picot (Elsa); John McEnery (John); George Coulouris (police inspector); Bruce Robinson (Colin); Colin Jeavons (butler); William Ellis (Royal Marines officer); Virginia Wetherell (girl at airport); Derek Tansley (1st policeman); Wolf Morris (2nd policeman); Neil Wilson (medical officer); Alastair Hunter (wildfowler).
89 mins, 8,043 feet, sound, colour.

Why are we so keen to find it?

It offers an intriguing portrait of late-60s London, with a strong cast (Peter and John McEnery, Olga Georges-Picot and Donald Pleasence), and was directed by David Hart, described by celebrated producer Michael Deeley as 'the English Godard'.

In its subject matter - an eccentric relationship drama with comedic overtones - the film would seem to be very much of its time (it was filmed in the summer of 1968, while the 60s were still swinging but as the innocence of the early decade was giving way to something darker) Stylistically, though, it seems to have been quite forward-looking: both Hart and Deeley commented on the director's desire to keep the camera moving at all costs.

Hart's experience working with Godard's regular cinematographer Raoul Coutard may have influenced this stylistic choice. By 1968, Hart had just a couple of films to his name: an experimental short, Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, Spring Comes and the Grass Grows by Itself, about the positive affects of Zen Buddhism on Western civilization, and the 1965 featurette A Game Called Scruggs (photographed by Coutard) about an 'intellectual gangster' and starring a young Susannah York.

What's it about?

Even though he broke up with her over a year earlier, Peter can't seem to get over the beautiful Elsa. He spends his time on a barge owned by his friend John and John's younger brother Colin. Attempts at finding another girlfriend for Peter prove futile. One morning Elsa is taking her father Clive - a middle-aged pornographer - to his office on a motor cruiser and the boys see Clive topple into the water. Unaware that he is Elsa's father, the boys rescue Clive and decide to ransom him for £1,000. As the scheme progresses, Peter and Elsa are re-united but she seems bent on destroying their relationship and embarks on an affair with Colin. When the boys arrive at Clive's office to collect their ransom, they are outwitted and lose everything. Elsa finds her relationship with the smitten Colin less than satisfactory and Peter and Colin are now rivals in love in spite of Colin's claim that they have 'shared girls' in the past. Disaster ensues.

Last seen?

Although passed to the BBFC for certification in September 1968, the film doesn't appear to have received a trade screening and it seems unlikely it was ever shown to a paying audience. There are no signs of a television screening or video release, although the film's many titles don't help to trace it: it has also been known as I Love You, I Hate You and The Other People.

What else do we know about it?

It was made by Oakhurst Productions, one of Britain's most dynamic new production companies, formed in 1966 by actor Stanley Baker and producer Michael Deeley, and also responsible for Robbery (1967) and The Italian Job (1969). Co-producer Telstar Productions was largely known for making musical featurettes, including the bizarre comedy-pop film The Ghost Goes Gear, 1966). The film was financed by Paramount Pictures; according to Michael Deeley, Paramount's new owner, Charles Bluhdorn, planned a slate of low-budget features, having hit upon the formula that since most Paramount films made at least $7 million, a slate of films budgeted at $3 million or under would guarantee a satisfactory return. Sleep Is Lovely was made for around £80,000, but presumably added to Paramount's losses.

The talent on both sides of the camera seems very promising: cinematographer Brian Probyn also shot Ken Loach's Poor Cow (1967) and Terrence Malick's Badlands (US, 1973), while the score was from jazz legend Johnny Dankworth. Peter Pitt was a highly successful television editor. As well as Pleasance, Georges-Picot, and the brothers McEnery at the height of their popularity, the cast also features Bruce Robinson, whose later cult hit Withnail and I (1986) was inspired by his own experiences as an actor during this period, also had a role.

Does anything survive?

Enquiries to Paramount, David Hart (whose own copy was lost during a move), Michael Deeley and Peter Pitt have failed to turn up any print. The BFI does hold a large number of colour transparencies, as well as a detailed synopsis written by publicist Doreen Landry. Peter Pitt kept detailed records of his work and was able to supply a list of onscreen credits - this was the first reliable source for those involved, for which we are very grateful.

Reviews

None traced.

Julian Grainger, Filmographic Services Manager, BFI National Library

You can find more about British films of the late 1960s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.