Withnail & I

Trivia: The bottle of lighter fluid Withnail drinks had been filled with water throughout rehearsals, but for the actual take was filled with vinegar, unbeknownst to Richard E. Grant, who plays Withnail. The director made the switch to get a good reaction from him.

Jon Sandys Premium member

Trivia: The lighter fluid scene was based on a real incident. Writer/ director, Bruce Robinson and actor Gregory Floy have both said that Vivian MacKerrell, the principal inspiration for Withnail, really did once drink lighter fluid. Gregory Floy also said that he walked round Regents Park in the pouring rain with Vivian, when he was due to go to the US for 6 months to appear in a play. Vivian was about to leave London and return to Nottingham and that it was very like the film's ending.

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Mistakes

Continuity mistake: When driving to Penrith, there is a shot of the road taken from the driving seat of the car. There are two headlight patterns on the road, but the car only has one headlight. (00:33:00)

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Quotes

Withnail: Are you the farmer?
Marwood: Shut up, I'll deal with this.
Withnail: We've gone on holiday by mistake. We're in this cottage here. Are you the farmer?
Marwood: Stop saying that Withnail, of course he's the fucking farmer!

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Questions

Question: At the pub in London, on Marwood returning from the toilet and saying "balls to Monty", Withnail says he's just spent an hour on the phone to Monty "flattering the bugger"? Surely Marwood wasn't in there for an hour and it's unlikely Withnail would have had time to phone Monty in the short while he surely must really have been in there, especially with a threatening guy sitting outside and likely to come in the longer he spent there.

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