Editing Lady Caroline Lamb (film) (section)

==Background==
The film was the directorial debut of screenwriter [[Robert Bolt]] and starred his wife [[Sarah Miles]] in the title role. Bolt said he was attracted to the story of Lamb because it "was funny, touching and entertaining" and felt the movie was about "the struggle between the romantics of the world and the classicists.... The classical, ignoble view of life, as espoused by Wellington in the film, keep society going... but it's the romantics, like Caroline, who drive life, who instigate new ideas, and who often are the true geniuses."<ref>'Movies: Bolt of lighting hits the screen...' Martin, James. ''Chicago Tribune'' 4 Mar 1973: e10.</ref>

Bolt wrote the script as a vehicle for Miles and decided to direct himself. [[Fernando Ghia]] agreed to produce. Bolt said it was difficult to raise finance because people said they had not heard of Lady Caroline Lamb. In July 1971 it was announced the film, then called ''Lamb'' would be the first film financed by Tomorrow Entertainment, a subsidiary of [[General Electric]], in association with Pulsar Productions and Vides Cinematographa of Rome. Richard Chamberlain and Sarah Miles would star, with cameos from Laurence Olivier, Margaret Leighton and John Mills.<ref>"BOLT WILL DIRECT G.E.'S FIRST FILM: Also Wrote Script for New Subsidiary's 'Lamb{{'"}}
A. H. Weiler. ''The New York Times'', 28 July 1971: 21.</ref>

However these plans fell through. Eventually finance was raised from Anglo-EMI and General Electric, along with Franco Cristaldi in Italy. Bolt had to waive all his fee in order to keep artistic control.<ref>Miles dressed up as Lamb: Robert Bolt has gone to Italy to complete work on the first film he has directed. BARRY NORMAN talks to him about the problems of embarking on a new career The Guardian 25 Mar 1972: 10.</ref> EMI's investment, through [[Nat Cohen]], was reportedly £250,000 and was covered by pre-sales overseas.<ref>{{cite book|title= Enigma : David Puttnam, the story so far ...|last=Yule|first= Andrew|year=1989 |publisher=Sphere Books |page=409|isbn=978-0-7474-0107-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/enigmadavidputtn0000yule/page/n7/mode/2up?}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-nat-cohen-part-five-1971-1988/|access-date=5 February 2025|date=5 February 2025|title=Forgotten British film moguls – Nat Cohen: Part Five (1971-1988)}}</ref>

[[Timothy Dalton]] was originally cast as Lamb. However Bolt then decided to cast Jon Finch in the role. Dalton sued and won damages.<ref>Turner p. 324</ref>

"I've been playing zanies and eccentrics for the past few years," said Chamberlain, "so Byron is new for me. He was like this incredible pop star."<ref>Chamberlain Career Surgery a Success Haber, Joyce. ''Los Angeles Times'' (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]19 Nov 1972: w21.</ref>