The Therapy Zone

The World Premier of The Prisoner

    In 1967 The Prisoner enjoyed a premier in Canada before receiving its premier screening here in Great Britain, although it can be said of the Prisoner that is received its World Premier in Wales. To be more accurate in the Town of Portmadog in Gwynedd, North Wales, screened at the Coliseum Cinema therein.

    The 'Rushes', developed and untitled film of the Prisoner shot on the previous day at Portmeirion were then screened at the Coliseum Cinema in the nearby Town of Portmadog. This allowed the production team to judge their early footage, the silent footage of which was screened by the Coliseum projectionist Bob Piercy every night, including weekends, throughout the four week period. And Bob Piercy would again be employed to screen the 'Rushes' when the film crew paid their second visit to Portmeirion.

   The film crew would sit in the front stalls, joined sometimes by local extras who had appeared in the filming. Each day's filming was usually in the region of 5 to 8 minutes long. When it was finished it was sometime run again, and members of the film crew would watch it seven or eight times, which took anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours. Screening of the 'Rushes' began about 10pm, which sometimes meant that the cinema would not be vacated until around midnight. Patrick McGoohan would sometimes nip out to the public house and would take little Angelo Muscat-the butler, up to the projection room and ask if he could be left there. And Angelo would sit in a high chair looking out through the projection hole at the film.

   The highlight for projectionist Bob Piercy, was when Sir Clough Williams-Ellis the architect and owner of Portmeirion, organised a preview of Arrival. Although the Coliseum only had a six day licence, and was not officially allowed to show films on a Sunday, they went ahead and did so anyway. This was without too much concern, as the Chief Constable of Caernarvon was one of the invited guests! It was a great success for Bob Piercy, and it was confirmed that this was the first showing of the Prisoner anywhere. Indeed there was a note on the film canister saying something of like "Don't scratch this print as it is the only copy." Projectionist Bob Piercy had to clean the projector first and put vasaline on all the moving parts.

   As a footnote, many locals were employed as film extras for the Prisoner, one of whom was employed to retrieve the white balloons of the village guardian when they went astray. Projectionist Bob Piercy's son was employed as a double for Patrick McGoohan.

Is The Prisoner Subversive?

   There are two ways of seeing the Prisoner, as a hero who will not give in to torture, let himself be coerced, pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. Or for those very same qualities as a subversive, who will not try and settle down, who refuses to conform and join in, will not accept his number or the village and its society. And that all this that the Prisoner is, is a subversive political statement, demonstrating ways for the individual to rebel and engage in acts of revolt. Certainly in today’s society here in England there is a growing feeling that the people should rise up and say "We have had enough of what this government is foisting upon it's citizens!" I am not condoning open revolution, because to do that you would have to replace what we have with something better. But I feel that the citizens of Great Britain should speak out more, and not take things so easily, in that I think the Prisoner was showing the way. Though not leading the way to a new and better promised land as some might see it, the Prisoner as a prophet, I don't think so!

   Yet in its time the Prisoner did attack certain institutions, the courts, committees, the system in general. Democracy, the election process, seeing everyone as voting for a dictator. Citizens groups, the educational system and so on and so forth. Yet whilst the Prisoner attacks these institutions, it never really offers any real alternative. This man who has revolted, resisted, fought, held fast, maintained, destroyed resistance and overcome coercion., is he really some kind of role model? Should we really follow his example, there are few of us who can, whilst the majority cannot. For imagine how society would fair if we all turned against the hand that feeds, resigned, revolted and refused to conform. There would be anarchy, with those who would surely float to the surface, seeing themselves better than anyone else and thereby lording it over everyone else, until the time of the next revolution.

    Revolution, 'Sir' brought about a brutally violent and bloody revolution in Fall Out. There was a mass evacuation, 'Sir' and his four confederates escaped. But at the end of the day 'Sir' is still as much a prisoner as ever he was, and so must go on with his private war, a war which must end with his own destruction....... that of No.1 which is in all of us.

BCNU