Priest of Love is a 1981 British biographical film about D. H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda (née Von Richthofen) played by Ian McKellen and Janet Suzman. It was a Stanley J. Seeger presentation, produced and directed by Christopher Miles and co-produced by Andrew Donally. The screenplay was by Alan Plater from the biography The Priest of Love by Harry T. Moore. The music score was by Francis James Brown and Stanley J. Seeger, credited jointly as "Joseph James".
The film was first released by Filmways in New York on 11 October 1981 and then by Enterprise Pictures Ltd in London with a Royal Premiere on 18 February 1982.Daily News NYC (8.7.1981)The Times (19.2.82)
The film was then re-cut in 1985 by the director for the centenary of D. H. Lawrence's birth, and was re-released in cinemas by Enterprise Pictures to greater commercial and critical success. All copies of the 1981 original version were legally withdrawn and are no longer available. The world rights are now owned by Milesian Lion and distributed by Screenbound International Pictures.Letters by Simkins LLP between Milesian Film Productions and Christopher Cone 30.1019: Between MFPL and the BFI National Archive(9.1.91)
This 1985 Centenary Version was then remastered in 2011 for a new DVD release in the United States (Kino International – standard DVD and Blu-ray) and in the UK (Odeon Entertainment – standard DVD, 2012). The extras on both DVDs include interviews with Ian McKellen and Christopher Miles, and Penelope Keith narrates "The Way We Got It Together", on the making of the film.
Plot At the start of the Great War in 1914, Lawrence and his new wife Frieda are living a bohemian life in rural Cornwall. There is great hostility towards Frieda because she is a German, and Lawrence feels persecuted by the authorities, who claim his books are obscene. A year later on 13 November 1915, 1,011 copies of his book The Rainbow were seized for obscenity by the censor Herbert G. Muskett and burnt in front of the Royal Exchange in the city of London. At the same time, following the invitation of the wealthy American art patroness Mabel Dodge Luhan, Lawrence, Frieda and their loyal friend, the Hon. Dorothy Brett, leave for New Mexico. There, Lawrence reluctantly accepts an old ranch from Mabel in exchange for the manuscript of Sons and Lovers, while Brett continues to work on her painting and typing out Lawrence’s novels.
Frieda tells Mabel the story of her romance with Lawrence. Although Frieda is from an old German aristocratic family and has left her husband and children behind in England in order to elope with Lawrence, she firmly believes she is the right woman for the man she affectionally calls "Lorenzo" and considers a literary giant. Lawrence bluntly tells her before the start of their life as a couple: "There will be no fear, but there will be pain".
Always looking for new material, the Lawrences and Brett head further south to Oaxaca in Mexico, where Lawrence's fascination for the ancient Mayan "Dark Gods" cannot hide his health problems from Frieda, who insists on taking him to Mexico City to see a good doctor. The prognosis is bad: he has tuberculosis and is given a year or two at the most. Frieda crumbles at this terrible news, and they return to England.
Back in Lawrence's native Nottingham, the couple revisit the places of his childhood, which had so influenced his early writing; Lawrence exclaims: “Twenty-eight books and still no peace...”. Lawrence's restless search for both peace and inspiration, and for sunnier lands to ease his tuberculosis, drives them to take up their travels once more and return to Italy, where they lived once.
The couple move to Tuscany and rent the top floors of an old villa. Lawrence, who had been suffering from a long and tormented fallow period as a writer, finds inspiration once more. He resumes his work to write again what is to become his most controversial novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Lawrence confides in Frieda that the description of the protagonist's feelings was based on Frieda's: "Since I met you, every woman I’ve ever written about has been you. And a little bit about me", he tells her. The years in Tuscany become Lawrence's final period of great creativity, and in between writing he also finds time to paint using the canvasses Aldous and Maria Huxley left behind.
Lawrence finds an Italian printer for Lady Chattersley's Lover who lives nearby in Florence and, predictably, when the published book arrives in London it's quickly labeled obscene, and banned by the authorities. An exhibition of Lawrence's paintings is later mounted in a London gallery, and Frieda travels to England "to protect them" as she explains to Lawrence. The exhibition draws huge crowds, but Lawrence's old nemesis Herbert G. Muskett, the public censor who has been responsible for the banning and burning of so much of his works, steps in and has the gallery raided by the police. Frieda telegraphs the news to Lawrence, who suffers a debilitating fit of coughing and is moved to a sanitarium near Nice.
On Frieda's return to France, she is upset to find Lawrence so weak. He begs her to move him from the sanitarium and "find a house" for his final days. This she does, along with friends and family who nurse and implicitly say goodbye to Lawrence. As the end approaches, Frieda urges Lawrence to let go and find in death the peace that so eluded him in life.Plot synopsis by JAC for 1985 centenary version.
After his death and burial, Lawrence appears in a flashback, writing in a letter: "I shall always be a priest of love. And a glad one".
Cast
Production In 1972, Christopher Miles wanted to make a biographical film about a writer who wouldn't compromise, D.H. Lawrence, and met the writer's agent, Laurence Pollinger, who was then still alive. However, in order to quote from the writer's many novels, poems and letters in the film, Pollinger's huge asking price was more "Lawrence of Arabia" than "Lawrence of Nottingham" so Miles dropped the idea.The Times. John Preston interviews the director (19.11.81)
Five years later, Pollinger's son Gerald, contacted Miles asking if he was still interested and suggested a meeting with Professor Harry Moore to discuss his biography The Priest of Love, this time more reasonable deals were discussed, and Miles commissioned a screenplay from Alan Plater, whom he had worked with on The Virgin and the Gypsy.The Times. John Preston interviews the director (19.11.81)Daily Record (Baltimore). "Significant Epitaph for D. H. Lawrence" (30.10.81).
Casting and finance were the next hurdles. Miles had always wanted Suzman for Frieda Lawrence, as she represented for him the life force of the woman behind the great man,Los Angeles Times. Calendar. Frieda Lawrence a personal memoir (8.11.81) but the casting of Lawrence was more problematic. The first financier, a German film investor and producer, wanted other actors for the two main roles, but Miles rejected them. Although McKellen's film career had been minimal up to then, Miles went to see him in a play and was convinced he'd make a good Lawrence. The big US studios were unwilling to proceed; nor were any of the UK producers. In the meantime a couple of friends whom Miles had approached for a musical theme for the film asked about progress.The Times. John Preston interviews the director (19.11.81)
Hearing it was going badly, one of the composers, Stanley Seeger, asked Miles to see his solicitor and discuss the project. From that moment, Miles was able to cast the film as he wished, as Seeger had just come into an oil inheritance and decided to finance the production. Miles felt that McKellen not only had the talent and looks, but the vibrant irascible humour of Lawrence, and McKellen delightedly accepted the role,Wolf, William. "Twixt stage and screen". New York (16.11.81) after which Ava Gardner accepted the role of Mabel Dodge Luhan, the wealthy art patroness. Miles decided from then on to cast actors who resembled the real people in the script, as there were too many portraits and photographs of the main protagonists and their friends to ignore the public's expectations. So he was glad Penelope Keith agreed to play the Hon. Dorothy Brett, and John Gielgud, who had worked with Miles previously, to play Herbert G. Muskett, the formidable British censor, who loathed Lawrence and all he stood for.Odeon Entertainment. Christopher Miles interview. DVD 2012
Through his Italian co-producers, Miles also found good look-a-like Italian actors for Angelo Ravagli and the local gamekeeper, who resembled the portrait Lawrence painted of him later, and while in Italy, Miles was amazed to see how little the Villa Mirenda, near Florence, had changed since Lawrence's day. During the shooting, an old retainer at the villa cried out "Lorenzo!" on seeing McKellen, who felt as if he had been applauded. Both he and Suzman said that filming in the place where Lady Chatterley's Lover was actually written gave a frisson lacking on a film set. The superb location also helped inspire the director and crew.New York Post. "Ian McKellen looks like the real thing" (13.10.81).
Other locations where the Lawrences lived were found in Cornwall, London, Nottingham, France, New and old Mexico and their beloved Italy. Some interiors were filmed at Shepperton Studios for a total ten-week shoot, which came in on schedule and on budget.Bergson, Philip. "Another Look at Lawrence". What's On (London) (8.11.85).
1985 re-release The two main reasons for re-cutting were that Miles and Seeger were soon aware that although the film had gone down fairly well, however at 125 minutes it needed shortening, and there were also complaints about the Shepperton soundtrack, which needed remixing.New York Post Archer Winsten - D.H.Lawrence in the flesh (12.11.81)
The fact that scenes in the film actually happened in reality, such as Lawrence meeting a film star on his boat to Capri, or the Zapotec prophesies on his health at the temple of Mitla, are interesting, but their inclusion destroyed the film’s emotional narrative drive. The same often applied to flashbacks, which were changed to their correct chronological order.Odeon Entertainment. Christopher Miles interview. DVD 2012
The soundtrack was remixed by Dean Humphreys, and the film restoration was supervised by John Pegg.Odeon Entertainment. Christopher Miles interview. DVD 2012The Times (19.2.82)
The present - and now only - cut of 98 minutes has gone down better, and as Miles told Phillip Bergson in a ‘What’s On’ Cinema Interview: “It was good to come back to the film after the dust had settled and re-edit this version for Lawrence’s centenary. I put back a couple of scenes, and tightened others. I reckon we should all leave a film for a while and look at it afresh later... if we can”.What’s On (London). Another Look at Lawrence. Phillip Bergson (8.11.85)
1985 critical reception