 A brazen, against-the-odds ambition, an old-fashioned - some would say reactionary - world view, aged stars
and a journeyman crew of familiar names who returned with each production: these
are the characteristics of a 'Euan Lloyd Production'. Lloyd stood alone within
the depressed British film industry of the late 1970s and early 80s as a
producer with the self-belief, charisma and bluff to mount large-scale independent action-adventure
films, such as The Wild Geese (Switzerland/UK, d. Andrew McLaglan, 1978) and Who Dares Wins (d. Ian Sharp, 1982). His films
sometimes made a loss but, as a recognised stalwart of the industry, he always
managed to get the next project off the ground, even re-mortgaging his house for
funding in one instance.
Born in Rugby in 1923, he worked during the war as a publicist for J. Arthur
Rank's Eagle-Lion Films, then, in 1951, for the newly-established Variety Club.
Through his friend Alan Ladd, he got a job as a production assistant at Cubby
Brocolli and Irving Allen's Warwick Films, working on such
productions as Cockleshell Heroes (UK/US, d. José Ferrer, 1955) and Zarak (d. Terence Young, 1956) and writing,
directing and producing several travelogue films.
After a short stint as production assistant to Carl Foreman, he received an
offer from Richard Widmark to co-produce the espionage story The Secret Ways
(US, d. Phil Karlson, 1961). This in turn led to associate producer roles on two Irving Allen
productions: Genghis Khan (UK/W. Germany, d. Henry Levin, 1965) and Murderers'
Row (US, d. Levin, 1966).
Another former Warwick man, director Terence Young, invited Lloyd to
co-produce Danger Grows Wild (France/Austria/USA, 1966), an anti-drugs film based on a story by Ian
Fleming and funded by the United Nations. Lloyd managed to assemble a striking
cast, including Rita Hayworth, Eli Wallach, Yul Brynner, Omar
Sharif, Trevor Howard, Anthony Quayle and Jack Hawkins, all of whom agreed to a
12-week shooting schedule for $1 apiece.
Lloyd made his way to Hollywood, where he acquired the rights to Louis
L'Amour's popular Western novel 'Shalako', a tale of Europeans on a Wild West
hunting safari who stray into an Apache reservation. Lloyd boldly cast Sean
Connery in the lead, alongside Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, Woody Strode and
Honor Blackman, with veteran Edward Dmytryk directing. Shalako (UK/W.Germany, 1968) was funded
by no less than 36 independent distributors from territories around the world,
with Connery, in his first post-Bond role, securing his first $1 million salary.
Lloyd followed Shalako with two further L'Amour adaptations: the MGM-financed
comedy western Catlow (US, d. Sam Wanamaker, 1971) starring Richard Crenna,
Leonard Nimoy, and Yul Brynner; and the independent Italian/Spanish/British
co-production The Man Called Noon (d. Peter Collinson, 1973), again starring
Crenna, this time alongside Farley Grainger and Stephen Boyd.
Lloyd's next production, Paper Tiger (UK/US, d. Ken Annakin, 1975), was an
unusual family film with thriller elements set in the Far East and starring
David Niven, Toshiro Mifune and Hardy Kruger. But it was the much-loved 'Boy's
Own' adventure The Wild Geese (Switzerland/UK, d. 1978) that would give him his
biggest success. Adapted by Reginald Rose from an unpublished war adventure
about mercenaries in Africa, The Wild Geese harked back to the classic Alistair
MacLean adaptations The Guns of Navarone (UK/US, d. J. Lee Thompson, 1967) and Where
Eagle's Dare (UK/US, d. Brian G. Hutton, 1968). The cast
included Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore and
Hardy Kruger. On John Ford's recommendation, Western veteran
Andrew V. McLaglen was hired to direct.
Despite controversially being filmed in apartheid South Africa (which led to the
international premiere being picketed), and with only a limited theatrical
release in America (due to the collapse of distributor Allied Artists), The Wild
Geese was a huge worldwide hit, becoming the 14th highest grossing film of 1978.
He followed The Wild Geese with the similarly-styled adventure The
Sea Wolves (UK/US, d. McLaglen, 1980) which tells the true story of the Calcutta
Light Horse, a reserve British Indian Army regiment who came out of retirement
during WWII to perform one last daring mission. The film saw Lloyd team David
Niven and Gregory Peck with much of the cast and crew of The Wild Geese.
His next production, the controversial action film Who Dares Wins (d. Ian
Sharp, 1981), starring Lewis Collins (then known for ITV's The Professionals,
1978-83), was made in the wake of the Iranian embassy siege of 1980. Within an
hour of watching events unfold live on TV, Lloyd had registered several
potential names for a film about the SAS. Although the sixth-highest grossing
film at the UK box office of 1982, the film's depiction of a militant
anti-nuclear terrorist group drew condemnation from critics and anti-nuclear
activists, and reinforced Lloyd's reputation as a right-winger. However defense came from an unlikely quarter; within days of the films release Lloyd received a personal call from none other than Stanley Kubrick, who praised the film, adding that casting Judy Davis was nothing short of inspirational.
The Wild Geese II (d. Peter Hunt, 1985), about a fictional attempt to break
Rudolf Hess out of Spandau Prison, would prove to be the producer's last film;
the production was thrown into chaos when star Richard Burton died shortly
before shooting began. Widely regarded as inferior to the first film, The Wild Geese II suffered at the box office and, in light of the ever more depressed state of the UK film industry, Lloyd subsequently retired. His work was
appraised in the short documentary The Last of the Gentlemen Producers (d. Simon Sprackling, 2004).
James Blackford
Photograph courtesy of National Media Museum
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