The film was based on the biography by Jim Ede, who had discovered the story while working at the Tate Gallery.[4] Ede had acquired Sophie Brzeska's estate in 1927 from the British Treasury Solicitor after she died intestate. This acquisition included not only her writings, but also the estate of Henri Gaudier, with many of his works and papers. Ede drew extensively on the letters written by Gaudier to Brzeska, and her writings and other material, when he published A Life of Gaudier-Brzeska (London: W. Heinemann) in 1930; the 1931 and later editions are entitled Savage Messiah.
The book was admired by Ken Russell who said "it will ever be an inspiration to anyone down on their luck with a belief in their own talent, despite the hostility of those who should know better. Here was a tale worth telling on film... although for years it seemed to be nothing but a pipe dream."[5]
Russell had made a number of films about artists, mostly for television, starting with Two Scottish Painters. His success with feature films such as Women in Love encouraged him to turn the book into a feature.[6]
Russell says because the film was about an artist it was considered an "art film" and was difficult to finance. "I ended up double mortgaging my house and finding most of the money myself," he later wrote. "There was a chance I'd end up on the street but I felt I owed Gaudier something. It would have been so easy to go into my father's business and opted for the easy life but Gaudier taught me there was a life outside commerce and it was well worth fighting for."[6]
Russell said the project "was austere and simple... my least glamorous film. I was satiated with flamboyance."[2] He said "I wanted to show artists as workers not people who live in ivory towers."[7] Russell later wrote "it was about passion and sweat... it was about revolution and fuck the art dealers."[8]
He gave the lead roles to Dorothy Tutin, one of Britain's top stage actresses, and Scott Antony, a newcomer from drama school. Russell said Anthony "was chosen out of 300 actors I saw because he was the only one I thought could pick up a hammer and hit a stone. Being an artist is a physical thing."[2]
The production designer was Derek Jarman who had worked on The Devils and who Russell called "the last true bohemian."[8] Some of the budget was provided by the Lee brothers, who also let Russell use their studio.
Russell arranged distribution through MGM, for whom he had just made The Boy Friend. "My deal with MGM is that they'll show my version for three weeks at least," he said just before the film was released. "Then they can hack it up."[2]
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