TV REVIEW : A Salute to George Harrison

When George Harrison came to the rescue of Monty Python’s beleaguered “Life of Brian” in 1978, the former Beatle commenced a second career as a film producer. In the delightful 51-minute 1989 documentary “The Movie Life of George” (on KCET Channel 28 tonight at 11:15, previously seen on cable’s Discovery channel), Harrison insists that his company, Handmade Films, for him is “something sort of on the side. I don’t take it all that seriously.”

Nevertheless, Handmade Films has emerged as one of the most venturesome film production companies. “The Movie Life of George,” which is framed by Michael Palin’s remarks as emcee at the company’s 10th anniversary party (at which Harrison performed with one of his idols, Carl Perkins), reminds us of its remarkable track record in clips, accompanied by observations of Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine as well as Monty Python stalwarts Eric Idle and the late Graham Chapman.

Among the best-known Handmade productions are “The Long Good Friday,” “Time Bandits,” “A Private Function,” “Mona Lisa,” “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne” and “Withnail and I.”

The documentary’s producer-director Charles Brand, to his credit, doesn’t skip over the rare Handmade disaster--e.g., “Shanghai Surprise.”

Hoskins says that Handmade lives up to its title--that its films, which include such made-in-America films as “Pow Wow Highway,” “Five Corners” and “Track 29”--are personal efforts, bearing the stamp of their makers. “You could go to them with an idea written on a lollipop wrapper,” says Hoskins, who got his chance to direct from Handmade with “The Raggedy Rawney” (1989). “You couldn’t do that with Universal.”