Adrian Rigelsford? Ever heard of him? Me neither, back then. Funny name, eh? Sounds like someone made it up. Sounds like a character from a British comedy film of the 1950s played, perhaps, by the surly and camp Harold Lang (you'd recognise him all right)
Stanley Kubrick, my boss, died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home in Hertfordshire in March 1999 after completing the editing on what was his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. There was still much to do on the picture's post-production and this engaged us full time over the ensuing months.
(Snip)
The Durrants cover sheet to which it was attached stated: TV Times - 4 September 1999. The article was a two-page spread. In the centre was one of the photographs of the bespectacled and bearded Stanley that Christiane, his wife, had taken only a month or two before his death, while display type announced: World exclusive, Kubrick, The Last Interview. Beneath this, the text stated that Channel 4 would be profiling Stanley on the eve of the release of Eyes Wide Shut, that David Quinlan, the film editor of TV Times, was examining the man and his films and "Adrian Rigelsford and Kim Meffen, who visited Kubrick on set, uncover the truth in what turned out to be the last interview he ever gave".
The last interview he ever gave? Huh?
(Snip)
Several weeks went by as more pressing work was dealt with. Every so often I'd glance at the interview. It puzzled and intrigued me. One morning in October a meeting was cancelled and I had a spare hour. I reread the article. Did this really happen? Mmmm. I'd phone a couple of people?
Julian Senior, the head of publicity at Warner Bros in London and a close associate of Stanley's, didn't know anything about it and laughed at the suggestion. Brian Cook, the film's assistant director and co-producer, who never left Stanley's side throughout the shooting, shook his head, "Not on my watch." Jan Harlan, our associate producer, also said no. Margaret Adams, the production supervisor who had worked for Stanley on and off since 1970, knew nothing about it either. I showed the interview to Christiane Kubrick and she agreed with me. It was unlikely. Very unlikely