Karel Reisz's MORGAN! is the tragic yet delirious comedy that defined Swinging London cinema with its 1966 release. While the story has serious undertones about love and loss, it does more than enough to address the universally understood need to sometimes act irrationally--if necessary, in a gorilla costume.

The wildly eccentric artist of the title (played with lunatic delight by David Warner) is driven over the edge when his ex-wife, Leonie (Vanessa Redgrave in her wickedly innocent film debut), with whom he is still smitten, announces that she plans to remarry. Manic Morgan (King Kong is his idol) desperately tries to win Leonie back from her very normal fiance Charles Napier (Robert Stephens). Morgan is also being driven mad by the other woman in his life--his mother (Irene Handl), a Trotskyite who sincerely believes that her son will be taking over the country. But even she is not blind to his mental problems, making MORGAN! even more ironic that it appears on the surface.

Theatrical release: April 4, 1966.

Vanessa Redgrave later married director Tony Richardson. Their two daughters Natasha and Joely are both actors.

Vanessa Redgrave, who had previously only worked in the theater, won the Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Actress and was nominated for Academy Awards in both the United States and Britain.

Future director Stephen Frears was assistant director on the film. He was originally recommended to Karel Reisz by fellow director Lindsay Anderson to assist with the staging of a play that fell through.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic - 1.66
Audio:
Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Text/Photo Galleries:
Biographies

David Warner: British Actor
Vanessa Redgrave: British Actress
Robert Stephens: British Actor
Irene Handl: British Supporting Actress

Karel Reisz: British Director/Writer

David Mercer: 

John Dankworth: Composer, MORGAN (1966)