The four Beatles were among the starry signatories of a plea to screenwriter Terry Southern
What are we bid for a petition? Nothing? What if we tell you the petition dates from 1968 and calls for Mick Jagger to be cast in the role of Alex in the film adaptation of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange? And what if we further add that it is signed by all four Beatles?
The petition, on sale through online auction site Paddle8, dates from February 1968 and was directed at novelist Terry Southern, who was working on the screenplay for the film. David Hemmings was expected to take the lead role.
“We, the undersigned, do hereby protest with extreme vehemence as well as shattered illusions (in you) the preference of David Hemmings above Mick Jaggerin the role of Alex in The Clockwork Orange,” the petition read.
Anita Pallenberg (as Anita the Heater), Donald Cammell (as Don the Drom), Peter Blake, Marianne Faithfull, James Fox and others also signed the petition.
The petition has a reserve price of $14,000 (£9,000), but is expected to sell for between $18,000 and $25,000.
At one point, Jagger owned the film rights to A Clockwork Orange, having bought them for $500 from a hard-up Burgess, before selling them to film producer Si Litvinoff. Litvinoff approached John Schlesinger to direct the film, starring Jagger, with the Beatles to provide the music.
A Clockwork Orange was eventually filmed in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick, who also wrote the screenplay. Malcolm McDowell took the role of Alex.
Via the Guardian
Well, thank heavens Terry Southern ignored their advice and got someone who really could act to play the part of Alex.
“A Clockwork Orange was eventually filmed in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick, who also wrote the screenplay. Malcolm McDowell took the role of Alex.”
And the rest is history