1. Fade To Black: Harrison's Film Empire Ends In Debt, Embezzlement And Lawsuits
However much heart that Harrison and the risk-taking studio put into their projects, the box office returns seldom redeemed them. By 1991, the company had registered losses of £10m and ceased making films. If that wasn't bad enough, Handmade would end on an even worse note with Harrison suing business partner Dennis O'Brien over allegedly embezzling funds, claiming that he had stolen £16m over a period of 12 years. O'Brien was ordered to pay his former friend £6.7m in damages. The company was sold in 1994 and was revived to occasionally produce further British flicks including, most notably, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In all, Harrison was credited as executively producing some 23 films with Handmade many of which wouldn't have stood a chance elsewhere.
Despite a fear of using plastic cutlery and drinking overly milky brews, Dave is open to indulging in most other things at least once especially when it comes to movies and music.
10 of his favourite films are: Masaki Kobayashi's Hara-Kiri, Ingmar Bergman's Persona, Martin Brest's Midnight Run, Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill, Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, Peter Medak's The Ruling Class, H.G. Clouzot's Les Diaboliques, Hector Babenco's Kiss of the Spider Woman, Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse and Sidney Lumet's Network.
