I, Claudius (film)

I, Claudius is an unfinished 1937 film adaptation of the novels I, Claudius 1934 and Claudius the God 1935 by Robert Graves. Produced by Alexander Korda, the film was directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Charles Laughton in the title role. The production was dogged by adverse circumstances, culminating in a car accident involving costar Merle Oberon that caused filming to be ended before completion. Footage from the production was incorporated into a 1965 documentary on the making of the film, The Epic That Never Was.

The making of I, Claudius is the subject of the 1965 BBCTV documentary, The Epic That Never Was. Hosted by Dirk Bogarde, the film uses unedited rushes from the film, contemporary glimpses of the abandoned Denham Film Studios, and modern interviews with Robert Graves, Merle Oberon, Flora Robson, Josef von Sternberg, Emlyn Williams and costume designer John Armstrong. The 75minute film incorporates two extended scenes featuring Laughton briefer scenes featuring Emlyn Williams, Robert Newton, Flora Robson and Merle Oberon crowd scenes presenting 60 Vestal Virgins, a cinematic exaggeration of the traditional six and views of Vincent Kordas opulent sets.Whether this would have been one of von Sternbergs great movies, I simply dont know, wrote Roger Greenspun of The New York Times after the documentary screened as part of the 1969 New York Film Festival. Something in the controlled modeling of light over the faces of Merle Oberon and Emlyn Williams suggests that this might have been a superb film and that its loss is real and very sad. By an admirable trick of fate the 1937 von Sternberg footage has ascended into timeless light, while the style of the surrounding 1965 documentary has dated like crazy. If you have to lose your best project, maybe this is the way to do it. ........

Source: Wikipedia