In 1937, filming began on "I, Claudius," from the Robert Graves novel, with Charles Laughton in the title role. The cast also included Merle Oberon, Flora Robson, Emlyn Williams and Robert Newton. Producer Alexander Korda hired Josef von Sternberg to direct but once the cameras started rolling it became evident that Laughton was having great difficulty in getting into his part. Matters went from bad to worse, so that when Merle Oberon was involved in a car crash and hospitalised for several weeks, it was looked on, in Emlyn Williams's words, "as a godsend" and the film was abandoned altogether. In 1965, a TV programme investigated this unfinished project in a documentary narrated by Dirk Bogarde entitled 'The Epic That Never Was.' The surviving participants (including Oberon, Williams, Robson and von Sternberg) were interviewed and several of the finished scenes were shown. Also shown were the fascinating rushes and out-takes in which Laughton forgot his lines or stormed off the set. It is clear from what has survived that had he been able to bring off another great performance, this could have been another of his classic 1930s movies. However, we must be grateful for what has survived in this excellent and remarkable documentary.

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