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Title: DONALD CAMMELL: The Ultimate Performance

Reference number: 7844

Date: 1998

Director: d. Kevin MacDonald, Chris Rodley

Sponsor: BBC, Scottish Screen in association with The Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund

Producer: Kevin MacDonald, Chris Rodley

Production company: Figment Film

Sound: sound

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 70.00 mins

Description: A documentary look at the frustrated life of Donald Cammell, who wrote and partly directed the film PERFORMANCE, which starred Mick Jagger and James Fox. Cammell was hailed by some as a genius, but he only made another two films. When he decided to end his life, in 1996, he chose to do so in a manner that brought to mind the murder at the end of his most memorable work. Friends and people who worked with him discuss his life. The film traces Cammell's career from his early years as a portrait painter in 1960's London to his final days in Hollywood. Cammell himself, filmed shortly before his death, discusses his work and the constraints he faced in the film industry. [Synopsis from BFI database at http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150497956#, last accessed 04/10/2021]

Screenplay for the film PERFORMANCE is also available in National Library of Scotland's collection at shelfmark HP1.201.3685.

Credits: The BBC and Scottish Screen in association with The Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund present A Figment Film

Stills courtesy of China Cammell, Bob Whitaker, Myriam Gibril, Deborah Roberts, Linda McCartney, Nicky Samuel. Francis Bacon paintings courtesy of The Francis Bacon Estate.

Archive BBC, Rehearsal for Performance courtesy of Sandy Lieberson, Performance courtesy of Warner Bros., Demon Seed courtesy of Turner Entertainment Co., White of the Eye courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. [MGM/UA], Duffy courtesy of Columbia Pictures, Lucifer Rising courtesy of Kenneth Anger, Gimme Shelter courtesy of Maysles Films, Inc., Get Off My Cloud Memo from Turner (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction written my Mick Jagger and Keith Richards performed by The Rolling Stones. World Wide Copyright Owner: Abko Music Inc. by arrangement with Abko Music and Records, Inc. Memo From Turner cover version performed by Patty Palladin

Thanks to Kevin Jackson, London Management, Sandy Lieberson, Maria Andipa, Lindsay Hiscox, Colin McCabe, Roger Hendry, Marathon Music, Off-Line Edit Company, Iris Keitel, The Henry Cooper Gym, Eddie Dick, Christopher Gibbs, Peter Young, Steve Jenkins, John Goulandris, Mark Cousins, Erich Sargeant, Jane Balfour, Morag Myerscough, Passion Pictures, Charles Cabot

rostrum camera Ken Morse
online ed. Michael Pearce
dubbing mixer Steve Rogers
grip Mike van Dine
Los Angeles co-ordinator Alicia Alexander
archive consultant Paula Jalfon
legal services Jonathan Blair at Theodore Goddard
sd. Greg Bailey, Mike Lenouc
m. David Sinclair
camera David Scott, Adam Suschitsky, Ira Brenner, Rob Bennett
camera ass. Alan McSheehey, Pete Batten, Dan Adams
p. man. Lil Cranfield
ass. p. Alice Henty
exec. p. John Wyer
ed. Budge Tremlett
co-producer David Cammell
p. and d. Kevin MacDonald, Chris Rodley

A Figment Film in association with Illusions for the BBC and Scottish Screen in association with The Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund.

© BBC / Total Performance Ltd. 1998

[Mick Jagger, James Fox, Marlon Brando]