O talented man!

'I once asked Lindsay Anderson who he voted for, Labour or Conservative,' reveals Malcolm McDowell. 'His reply was: "I'm an anarchist."'

The actor, most famous for his performance in A Clockwork Orange, considered the late, great film director Lindsay Anderson a close friend. Today, as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, he performs a real labour of love: a one-man show to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Anderson's death.

'Lindsay was the most extraordinary artist: one of the co-founders of the Free Cinema movement and a great writer and critic as well,' says McDowell. 'I knew him better than most, so I'm in a unique position to read from his letters and diaries and tell a few stories as well.

It's no classroom rendition but something that really will be fun for me to do.'

McDowell and Anderson collaborated on three films: 1968's If..., 1973's O Lucky Man! and 1982's Britannia Hospital. 'On If... our relationship was very much master and pupil but, after I'd done A Clockwork Orange, I was older and more experienced and we were equals. We had our growing pains together, with plenty of rows that we'd patch up the next day. Lindsay wasn't a boring man to work with but a protective and fiercely loyal friend.'

Their final film together, Britannia Hospital, in which a jaded TV journalist covers a hospital riot, was probably the most controversial. 'People hated that film when it came out, they called him a traitor. But he set out to put people's backs up.

Anyone who doesn't think Lindsay's films are relevant to Britain today should take a look at that one: it's about jingoism, the National Health Service, unions, stem cell research and royalty. Films today are so formulaic and there are so many scam artists around. There's nothing going on now that comes close to what we were doing.'

Malcolm McDowell is at the Traverse Theatre today at 3pm and 8pm. www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk