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Abstract
This article explores the problematic production history of Golden Rendezvous (1977), an action-adventure film based on a novel by Alistair MacLean. It draws upon the archive of the completion guarantor Film Finances to document the complex international financing arrangements that exemplified the practice of distribution pre-sales in the 1970s. Golden Rendezvous is a highly revealing case study of financial mismanagement and political controversy. The film overran its schedule due to troubles on location, the financing arrangements fell apart, and the subsequent revelation that the South African government had secretly invested in the film made it a toxic product that struggled to find a distributor for the all-important US market.
Acknowledgements
My thanks as ever to the London office of Film Finances for generously allowing access to their archive, especially to David Korda (chairman), James Shiras (co-managing-director) and Thoko Malvene (PA to the managing directors). An earlier version of this article was presented as part of a pre-constituted panel at the conferences of the British Association of Film and Television Studies (University of Birmingham) and the International Association of Media and History (Northumbria University) in 2019: thanks to my fellow panellists Llewella Chapman and Jenny Stewart and to the conference participants.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 The Film Finances Archive was the subject of a special issue of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television (volume 34, no. 1) in 2014.
2 ‘This Guarantee Means Delivery’, Kinematograph Weekly, 18 December 1952, p. 23.
3 Action of the Tiger (MGM, dir. Terence Young, 1957) exceeded its budget of £187,734 by £60,649; Lancelot and Guinevere (Universal, dir. Cornel Wilde, 1963) was budgeted at £494,746 and exceeded that figure by £196,224; The Bobo (Warner Bros, dir. Robert Parish, 1967) went £131,139 over its budget of £986,061; and Lock Up Your Daughters (Columbia, dir. Peter Coe, 1969) cost £878,986 against a budget of £755,423 which had been adjusted upwards from the original estimate submitted to Film Finances. Film Finances did not necessarily pick up the entirety of the budget overage – this would depend on which items were deemed legitimate additional costs rather than so-called ‘improvements’ made by the producer or director that had not been included in the original budget – though in each of these cases it contributed the larger part of the over-costs.
4 The Guns of Navarone (Columbia, dir. J. Lee Thompson, 1961), The Satan Bug (United Artists, dir. John Sturges, 1965), Ice Station Zebra (MGM, dir. John Sturges, 1968), Where Eagles Dare (MGM, dir. Brian G. Hutton, 1968), Puppet on a Chain (Scotia-Barber, dir. Geoffrey Reeve, 1970), When Eight Bells Toll (Rank Film Distributors, dir. Etienne Perier, 1971), Fear is the Key (Anglo-EMI Film Distributors, dir. Michael Tuchner, 1972), Caravan to Vaccares (Rank Film Distributors, dir. Geoffrey Reeve, 1974), Breakheart Pass (United Artists, dir. Tom Gries, 1975), Force 10 From Navarone (Columbia, dir. Guy Hamilton, 1978), and Bear Island (Columbia-EMI-Warner, dir. Don Sharp, 1979).
5 ‘The Mystery of Movie Financing’, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 1968, p. F1.
6 ‘Euan Lloyd’s link with Louis L’Amour’, CinemaTV Today, 28 October 1972, p. 6.
7 Film Finances Archive (hereafter FFA) General Correspondence Box 43: Robert Garrett to Kingston Film Productions, 12 September 1967.
8 ‘Financial Close-Up of a Movie Cliff-Hanger’, New York Times, 1 April 1968, p. 69.
9 ‘Financing the Films’, New York Times, 2 July 1970, p. 100.
10 Perfect Friday (Chevron Pictures, dir. Peter 1970), The McMasters (Chevron Pictures, dir. Alf Kjeli, 1970) and Murphy’s War (Paramount, dir. Peter Yates, 1971)
11 The Last Grenade (Cinema Releasing Corporation, dir. Gordon Flemyng, 1970), Say Hello to Yesterday (Cinema Releasing Corporation, dir. Alvin Rakoff, 1971) and The Statue (Cinema Releasing Corporation, dir. Rod Amateau, 1971).
12 FFA General Correspondence Box 76: Cinerama News press release: ‘Fourteen Million Dollar Boost for British Film Production’, no date (c. January 1970).
13 Ibid: Robert Garrett to Peter Hope, 26 April 1962.
14 FFA General Correspondence Box 43: Robert Garrett to Denis Holt, 25 January 1967.
15 Ibid: Note – ‘Battle of Britain’, 9 September 1966.
16 FFA Realised Film 503: Cabaret: Robert Garrett to Lee Steiner (ABC), 20 August 1970.
17 Ibid: John Croydon to Garrett, 6 August 1970.
18 Gold (Allied Artists, dir. Peter Hunt, 1974), The Wind and the Lion (Columbia, dir. John Milius, 1975), The Man Who Would Be King (Columbia, dir. John Huston, 1975) and Shout at the Devil (Hemdale International, dir. Peter Hunt, 1976).
19 FFA Realised Film 558: Gold: Michael Klinger to Robert Garrett, 29 January 1974.
20 FFA Realised Film 579: The Man Who Would Be King: Richard McWhorter to Richard Soames, 17 March 1975.
21 FFA Realised Film 583: Shout at the Devil: Garrett to Bernard Smith, 17 June 1975.
22 Ibid: R. G. Anticoni to Ron Smith, 20 June 1975.
23 ‘MGM-Filmways Acquires “The Golden Rendezvous”’, Boxoffice, 6 May 1968, p. 12.
24 ‘All-Time Rental Champs’, Variety, 11 May 1977, p. 8.
25 FFA Realised Film 600: Golden Rendezvous: Agreement dated 23 July 1973.
26 Ibid: Agreement dated 25 September 1974.
27 Ibid: Agreement between Film Trust Overseas and Film Finances.
28 Ibid: ‘Golden Rendezvous’: Schedule of Overseas Distribution Agents.
29 Ibid: Rendezvous Film Productions: ‘Golden Rendezvous’ – Production Budget.
30 Ibid: John Croydon to Robert Garrett, 16 February 1977.
31 Ibid: Douglas Twiddy to Richard Soames, 5 March 1977.
32 Ibid: Robert Porter to Soames. 23 March 1977.
33 Ibid: Soames to Andre Pieterse, 25 March 1977.
34 Ibid: Film Finances to Pieterse, 28 March 1977.
35 Ibid: Film Finances to Pieterse, 11 May 1977.
36 Ibid: Film Finances to Rendezvous Film Productions, 19 May 1977.
37 Ibid: Bob Lasky to Ron Aikin, 19 May 1977.
38 Ibid: Film Finances to Lasky, 20 May 1977.
39 Ibid: Soames to Rendezvous Film Productions, 23 May 1977.
40 Ibid: Andre Pieterse to Film Finances, 23 May 1977.
41 Ibid: Film Finances to Bob Porter, 24 May 1977.
42 Ibid: Arthur Davey to Film Finances, 26 May 1977.
43 Ibid: Richard Harris to Andre Pieterse, 27 May 1977 (1).
44 Ibid: Pieterse to Harris, n.d.
45 Ibid: Harris to Pieterse, 27 May 1977 (2).
46 Ibid: Robert Fennell to Harris, 6 June 1977.
47 Ibid: Pieterse to Harris, 8 June 1977.
48 Ibid: Artist BV to Pieterse, 8 June 1977.
49 Ibid: Fennell to Film Finances, 9 June 1977.
50 Ibid: Robert Porter to Soames, 8 June 1977.
51 Ibid: R. G. Smithers to W. A. Coft, 8 June 1977.
52 Ibid: Baum to Ron Aikin, 10 June 1977.
53 Ibid: Pieterse to Soames, 13 June 1977.
54 Ibid: Daily Production Diary, 13 June 1977.
55 Ibid: Fennell to Film Finances, 15 June 1977.
56 Ibid: Robert Garrett to Pieterse, 15 June 1977.
57 Ibid: Wright & Webb, Syrett & Sons to Film Finances, 6 July 1977.
58 FFA Realised Film 603: The Wild Geese: Donald Barof to Euan Lloyd, 12 September 1977.
59 FFA Realised Film 600: Film Finances to Wright & Webb, Syrett & Sons, 8 July 1977.
60 Ibid: Andre Pieterse to Richard Soames, 30 June 1977.
61 Ibid: Soames to Pieterse, 30 June 1977.
62 Ibid: Film Finances to Pieterse, 23 September 1977.
63 Ibid: Arthur Davey to Pieterse, 31 October 1977.
64 Ibid: ‘Golden Rendezvous’ – Note by William Croft, 14 October 1977.
65 Ibid: Pieterse to Film Finances, 18 November 1977.
66 Ibid: Kevin Francis to Soames, 19 November 1977.
67 ‘“Rendezvous” is Golden’, Screen International, 10 December 1977, p. 2.
68 Variety, 14 December 1977, p. 13.
69 FFA Realised Film 600: Kevin Francis to Soames, 30 December 1977.
70 Ibid: Francis to Soames, 24 February 1978.
71 ‘New-look “Golden Rendezvous”’, Screen International, 4 February 1978, p. 20.
72 FFA Realised Film 600: Rank Film Distributors Ltd: ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 22 September 1978.
73 Ibid: Fred Schneier to William Croft, 5 January 1978.
74 Ibid: Pieterse to Richard Soames, 28 September 1978.
75 Ibid: Schneier to Ron Aikin, 5 October 1978.
76 ‘The Celluloid Scandal’, The Spectator, 25 November 1978, p. 8.
77 FFA Realised Film 600: William Croft to Pieterse, 14 November 1978.
78 ‘The newspaper scandal Botha cannot brush off’, The Sunday Times, 5 November 1978, p. 9.
79 ‘Pieterse in South Africa scandal’, Screen International, 11 November 1978, p. 1.
80 FFA Realised Film 600: Andre Pieterse to Quentin Falk, 15 November 1978.
81 ‘The Celluloid Scandal’, p. 8.
82 FFA Realised Film 600: Note by William Croft – ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 11 September 1979.
83 Ibid: Croft to Schneier, 14 November 1978.
84 ‘Pieterse in South Africa scandal’, p. 1.
85 FFA Realised Film 600: William Croft to Ron Aikin, 24 November 1978.
86 ‘“Golden Rendezvous” Row – Harris to issue suits’, Screen International, 2 December 1978, p. 11.
87 FFA Realised Film 600: Croft: ‘Notes of a meeting with Andre Pieterse as held on Friday 2nd June 1979’, 6 June 1978.
88 Ibid: Croft to Richard Soames, 6 December 1978.
89 Ibid: Pieterse to Croft, 24 January 1979.
90 Ibid: Croft to Pieterse, 7 February 1979.
91 Ibid: Croft to Film Finances, 2 March 1979.
92 Ibid: Croft to Schneier, 3 April 1979.
93 Ibid: Pieterse to Soames, 26 March 1979.
94 Ibid: Pieterse to Croft, 12 April 1979.
95 Ibid: Croft to Soames, 31 June 1979.
96 Ibid: Note by William Croft – ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 11 September 1979.
97 Ibid: Memo by William Croft – ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 20 September 1979.
98 Ibid: Richard Soames to Bob Lasky, 26 September 1979.
99 Ibid: Pieterse to Soames, 27 September 1979.
100 Ibid: Note by William Croft – ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 14 February 1980.
101 Ibid: Croft to Lasky, 20 February 1982.
102 Ibid: Lasky to Croft, 27 June 1980.
103 Ibid: Memo – ‘Golden Rendezvous’, 20 September 1979.
104 The Gift Horse (Independent Film Distributors, dir. Compton Bennett, 1952), The Valiant (United Artists, dir. Roy Ward Baker, 1962).
105 FFA General Papers Box 74: Chairman’s speech for the adjourned twenty-seventh Annual General Meeting, 1 September 1978.
106 Ibid: Chairman’s speech for the twenty-ninth Annual General Meeting, 12 October 1979; Chairman’s speech for the thirtieth Annual General Meeting, 3 October 1980.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
James Chapman
James Chapman is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester and editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. His book The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985 is published by Edinburgh University Press in 2022.