Ridley Scott’s first film ‘Boy and Bicycle’ film by Ridley Scott

As one of the biggest names in the film industry, every film by Ridley Scott always gets a significant amount of attention from critics and cinephiles. While some of his more iconic works like Alien and Blade Runner will always be seen as defining works of the 20th century, some of Scott’s more recent projects, such as House of Gucci, have received less than pleasant critical receptions, raising many questions about his impending retirement.

However, Scott has refused to back away and has forged ahead with one of the most ambitious undertakings of his career: a historical epic about Napoleon. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character, Napoleon has been picked up by Apple and is set to hit the theatres later this year. While fans are understandably excited about Scott’s new movie, maybe now is the perfect time to revisit the start of his journey as a filmmaker.

For this edition of Short of the Week, we go back to the first film Scott ever made. Titled Boy and Bicycle, the 16mm black-and-white short was made in the early 1960s when he was studying photography at the Royal College of Art. Starring his brother Tony Scott as a young boy, the film is set in West Hartlepool and revolves around the adventures of Scott’s character, who decides to explore the town with his bicycle instead of attending school.

During a conversation with DGA Quarterly, Scott recalled: “I wrote a script, and they said, ‘Okay, you’ve got the camera for six weeks.’ So in the summer holidays, I went back home, and I fundamentally ruined my brother Tony’s holiday by hauling him out of bed at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning and saying, ‘Come on, I’ve got the car, let’s get going.’ He played the boy on the bicycle. We’d drive up to Hartlepool with the gear that I’d manage to rent at 12 pounds a week. Arriflex legs, no-battery stuff because it was all like winding a clock. The whole film cost 60 quid.”

While talking about the project, the director added: “It was a self-taught process, I learned with my brother. In those days, we’d be standing there smoking Woodbines. I was bitten by the bug of saying, ‘Right, Tony, shut up complaining, ready, ready, action! Next time go stand back over there. Shut up. Okay. By the way, go and get lunch while I think about what I’m going to do.’ So I’d give him money to go and get sandwiches. That’s what it was.”

With extra funding from the BFI, Scott was able to complete the editing and the sound in 1965, resulting in the release of the version we are all familiar with now. Although it would be more than a decade before he would release his debut feature, The Duellists, Boy and Bicycle is a fascinating work because it contains precursors that have only become more significant as the years have passed by.

Watch the film below.