Ludwig of Bavaria
Russell wanted to make "Little Sparrow", a film about Edith Piaf, or a biopic of King Ludwig of Bavaria but neither was made. Instead he himself provided most of the financing for "Savage Messiah" (1972). The film is a biopic of the painter and sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, who died fighting for France at age 23, in 1915, in the trenches during the First World War. The film stars Dorothy Tutin, Scott Antony, and Helen Mirren.