British Movie
Entertainments
on VHS and DVD
A Classic Movie Fan’s Guide
by
John Howard Reid
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 John Howard Reid
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Other Books in This Series by John Howard Reid
Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan’s Guide
Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills
WESTERNS: A Guide to the Best (and Worst) Western Movies on DVD
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the Admirable Crichton
Kenneth Moore (Crichton), Diane Cilento (Tweeny), Cecil Parker (Lord Loam), Sally Ann Howes (Lady Mary), Martita Hunt (Lady Brocklehurst), Jack Watling (Treherne), Peter Graves (Brocklehurst), Gerald Harper (Ernest), Mercy Haystead (Catherine), Miranda Connell (Agatha), Miles Malleson (vicar), Eddie Byrne (captain), Joan Young (Mrs Perkins), Brenda Hogan (Fisher), Peter Welch (Rolleston), Toke Townley (Lovegrove), Roland Curram (Thomas).
Directed by LEWIS GILBERT. Screenplay by Vernon Harris. Based on the 1902 play by J.M. Barrie. Adapted by Lewis Gilbert. Second unit director: Ronald Spencer. Assistant director: Frederick Slark. Music score by Douglas Gamley; conducted by Muir Mathieson. Waltzes composed by Richard Addinsell. Color by Technicolor. Director of photography: Wilkie Cooper. Production supervisor: Victor Lyndon. Film editor: Peter Hunt. Production designed by William Kellner. Costume designer: Bernard Nevill. Devices by Emett. Special effects: Wally Veevers. Camera operator: Harry Gillam. Set decorator: Freda Pearson. Set continuity: Shirley Barnes. Assistant art director: W.E. Hutchinson. Sound supervisor: John Cox. Sound recording: George Stevenson, Red Law. Sound editor: John Glen. Make-up: Neville Smallwood. Hairdressing: Joan Smallwood. Wardrobe supervisor: Jean Fairlie. Stills cameraman: Eric Gray. Associate producer: Dennis Van Thal. Produced by Ian Dalrymple. A Modern Screen Play Production. A Columbia Picture.
New York opening at the Fine Arts: 14 December 1957. U.S. release: April 1958. U.K. release: 21 July 1957. Australian release: 27 February 1958. 8,399 feet. 93 minutes.
Alternative U.S. release title: PARADISE LAGOON.
SYNOPSIS: Butler takes charge of a shipwrecked yacht party.
NOTES: Other film versions of the Barrie play: In addition to Cecil B. De Mille’s Male and Female (1919) [see “Other Views” below], there’s also a British silent directed by G.B. Samuelson, released early in 1918, using the play’s original title. Basil Gill starred as Crichton, Mary Dibley was Lady Mary, while Lennox Pawle played Lord Loam. [Sony market an excellent DVD of this 1957 version].
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: Reasonably entertaining. The screenwriter no doubt realized that the satire was somewhat dated so the comedy aspects are not stressed. Romance and the making-do Robinson Crusoe desert island adventures are uppermost in the writer’s mind and the players play it that way with even the climactic Martita Hunt inquisition acted out more for its drama than comedy.
More is looking a little old, but the girls are attractive, the cast competent and the direction capable if somewhat unimaginative. Aside from some rather obvious special effects and process work, credits are likewise capably serene.
OTHER VIEWS: Back in 1919, Cecil B. DeMille made a silent version of Barrie’s play with Thomas Meighan as Crichton, Gloria Swanson as Lady Mary, Lila Lee as Tweeny, Theodore Roberts as Lord Loam and Raymond Hatton as Ernest. It proved to be one of his greatest box-office hits. After that, disregarding the abortive 1939 version, the play was neglected, although its central idea (the social order reversed when masters and servants are cast ashore on a desert island) was used in such Paramount films of the 30’s as Four Frightened People and We’re Not Dressing, and Rainbow Island (1944). Well into the 1950’s, the then top team of English film-makers, Kenneth More and Lewis Gilbert, fresh from their hit movie, Reach for the Sky (1956), are able to do nothing with the idea that doesn’t make it appear dated and unfunny. Theatrical lines are emphatically delivered and Gilbert’s stylistic mannerisms are no help. His device of panning from the action to a piece of picturesque scenery to conclude the scene, is particularly irritating. Even the set-piece when Crichton re-appears in uniform as the sailors arrive, has an uneasiness which takes the bite out of its surreal quality. Still, the colour is attractive.
— B.P.
The best qualities of the film derive from Barrie — solid construction, a sense of fun, and well turned phrases at the expense of the British aristocracy. However, director Lewis Gilbert works somewhat heavily for rather boisterous effects, as if Barrie’s gentle expert style could be updated by noise.
— Pauline Kael.
Not the definitive version, but a most enjoyable one. Mere froth and bubble, it is all most stylishly played (especially by More and Miss Howes), directed with wit, and beautifully in period.
— E.V.D.
the Adventures of Jane
Christabel Leighton-Porter (Jane, the cartoon girl), Stanelli (hotel manager), Michael Hogarth (Tom Hawke), Ian Colin (Captain Cleaver), Wally Patch (customs officer), Sonya O’Shea (Ruby), Peter Butterworth (drunk), Sebastian Cabot (foreign traveller), George Crawford (Freddie), Joan Grindley (maid), Sidney Benson (Sneyed), Charles Irwin (Lew).
Director: EDWARD G. WHITING. Co-director: Alf Goulding. Screenplay: Alf Goulding, Con West, Edward G. Whiting. Based on the Daily Mirror comic strip by Norman Pett. Photographed in black-and-white by Jackson Rose. Film editor: Edward Scott. Music composed by Stanelli. Art director: Jack Floyd. Producer: Edward G. Whiting. [Available only on VHS].
A New World—Keystone Production. Not copyrighted or theatrically released in the U.S.A., but available to television through both Hyams and UCC Films. U.K. release through Eros: floating from January 1950. Never theatrically released in Australia, but issued in New Zealand through British Empire Films. 5,061 feet. 56 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Jane is a cartoon character who comes to life and gets involved with diamond smugglers in Brighton.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: In the days of my picturegoing childhood, I always imagined that every English-language film newly made would sooner or later find its way to my suburban picture palace, the Epping Empress. It took six or seven years for the fact to penetrate my youthful brain that some films shown in capital cities were never going to make it to neighborhood cinemas. So I was forced to amend my hypothesis by substituting Sydney generally for Epping in particular. It wasn’t until I found work that I realized there were films screening in the world’s other big cities that were never going to alight in Sydney at all. It never occurred to me, however, that there existed a whole group of British movies, distributed by an Australian company, that never surfaced in Australia. Held in bond at Australian customs, these movies, accompanied by Australian-printed daybills and one-sheets, were eventually shipped to New Zealand, where they were received, if not with acclaim, then certainly with profit.
All Mancunian Productions were included in this group of all-British product. So Kiwis had a chance to admire the work of many music-hall-type comedians whose very names (aside from avid readers of the weekly Film Fun comics) were completely unknown to Australians. And still are. I’ve never seen Frank Randle or Jimmy Jewel or Ben Warriss or Nat Jackley (though Jackley did play on the stage in Sydney and Melbourne) or Harry Korris or Robby Vincent or “Two-Ton” Tessie O’Shea. The loss of Frank Randle from my picturegoing experiences is one I especially regret. Gracie Fields once described Frank as “the greatest character comedian that ever lived!” Certainly, he had an adoring public. In Northern England, he was a bigger box-office draw than Stewart Granger or James Mason or Errol Flynn, let alone Anna Neagle and Margaret Lockwood.
Tasmania generally, plus Adelaide and Perth, were often cited in my youth as Australian centers where British films were dominant. Where picturegoers were such rabid adherents of all things British, they far preferred British to Hollywood movies. Where citizens saw themselves primarily as Britishers. Although living and toiling in far-flung outposts of the Empire, they could still shed tears for Old Blighty, laugh at British jokes and appreciate the topical and topographical references of British music-hall humor.
My informants were wrong. Just across the Tasman Sea were two little islands packed to the shores with Anglophiles who made British-to-the-bootstraps Tasmanians seem weak sisters by comparison.
You can add to the Frank Randle-and-his-cohorts list, movies like The Adventures of Jane, which I eventually caught on VHS. From memory, the buxom brunette of the comic strip was forever getting involved in sexually innocent escapades where she was forced to strip down to her lingerie. This propensity, alas, was not fully transferred to the film, which is further negated by miserable production values, including fuzzy camerawork and poor sound recording.
OTHER VIEWS: This quota quickie emerges as a below-standard comedy-drama in all departments except brevity.—Eric Sarten.
the Amorous Prawn
Joan Greenwood (Lady Fitzadam), Cecil Parker (General Fitzadam), Ian Carmichael (Corporal Sidney Green), Robert Beatty (Larry Hoffman), Dennis Price (Prawn), Liz Fraser (Suzie Tidmarsh), Bridget Armstrong (Biddy O’Hara), Derek Nimmo (Willie Maltravers), Harry Locke (Albert Huggins), Robert Nichols (Sam Goulansky), Roddy McMillan (Mac), Ex-R.S.M. Brittain (parade sergeant major), Patrick Jordan (sergeant of guard), Godfrey James (sergeant at exchange), Gerald Sim (1st operator), Geoffrey Bayldon (2nd operator), Eric Woodburn (landlord), John Dunbar (1st man in bar), Jack Stewart (2nd man in bar), Sandra Dorne (Dusty Babs), Finlay Currie (Lochaye), Eric Francis (postman), Reg Lye (Uncle Joe), Michael Ripper (Angus), Drew Russell (airman), Michael Hunt (R.A.F. sergeant), Russell Waters (McLeod), Robert Desti (jeweller’s assistant).
Directed by ANTHONY KIMMINS. Screenplay by Anthony Kimmins, Nicholas Phipps. Based on the stage play by Anthony Kimmins. Director of photography: Wilkie Cooper. Film editor: Thelma Connell. Production manager: John Pellatt. Art director: Albert Witherick. Music composed and conducted by John Barry. Assistant director: Douglas Hermes. Camera operator: Peter Allwork. Make-up: George Partleton. Hairdressing: Eileen Bates. Sound recordists: H.L. Bird, Red Law. Dubbing editor: Michael Hart. Set continuity: Eileen Head. Miss Greenwood’s costumes by Hardy Amies. Casting director: Paul Sheridan. Produced by Leslie Gilliat. [Although widely known as the director of the disastrous Bonnie Prince Charlie, director Anthony Kimmins made a remarkable recovery from that 1949 setback. His stage play, The Amorous Prawn, enjoyed a most successful West End run].
A Miller-King Production for Covent Garden Films, distributed in the U.K. by BLC/British Lion, in Australia by B.E.F., in the U.S.A. by Medallion. No New York opening. U.S. release: November 1963. U.K. release: 25 November 1962. Australian release through British Empire Films: 1 February 1963. 8,066 feet. 89 minutes.
Alternative U.S. titles: the Amorous Mr Prawn, the Playgirl and the War Minister. [Available on an excellent DD Home Entertainment VHS tape as we go to press. A DVD is set for release in 2011].
SYNOPSIS: Cash-strapped general’s wife converts his home into a hotel for American tourists.
COMMENT: A really funny and altogether delightful farce, which moves at a fast and hilarious slip thanks to the able talents of a splendid cast and the comic expertise of director/writer Anthony Kimmins.
OTHER VIEWS: A most enjoyable light comedy with Joan Greenwood playing the lady in her inimitable style and Cecil Parker in fine form as the general. As with most British comedies, a great deal of the fun depends upon the supporting cast’s ability to lend distinction to farcical character roles — and all is fine here. Kimmins the director gives his script plenty of pace and excellent timing.
— E.V.D.
Angels One Five
Jack Hawkins (Group Captain “Tiger” Small), Michael Denison (Squadron Leader Peter Moon), Andrew Osborn (Squadron Leader Bill Ponsford), Cyril Raymond (Squadron Leader Barry Clinton), Humphrey Lestocq (Flight Lieutenant “Batchy” Salter), John Gregson (Pilot Officer “Septic” Baird), Ronald Adam (group controller), Dulcie Gray (Nadine Clinton), Veronica Hurst (Betty Carfax), Amy Veness (Aunt Tabitha), Philip Stainton (police constable), Richard Dunn (John Barry), Russell Hunter (Elwyn Daniel), Richard Levin (Douglas Hurn), Donald McLisky (Terence Longden), Harold Siddons (Bryn Roberts), Norman Pierce (“Bonzo”), Anthony Moore (Squadron Leader Marlow), Gordon Bell (Ops. B.), Thorp Devereux (sergeant), Neil Wilson (army liaison officer), Rosemary Lomax (Ops. A.), Colin Tapley (adjutant), John Sharp (“Soss’’), Ewan Roberts (medical officer), Hugh Moxey (intelligence officer), John Phillips (engineer officer), John Harvey (station welfare officer), Harold Goodwin (Air Craftsman 2 Waites), Geoffrey Keen (company sergeant-major), Harry Locke (look-out), Sam Kydd (mess waiter), Peter Jones (sentry), Harry Fowler, Russell Waters, Victor Maddern (airmen), Vida Hope, Josephine Douglas, Freda Bamford, Karen Grayson, Joan Sterndale Bennett, Wendy Remington, Marianne Stone, Gillian Maude, Vari Falconer, Ann Lancaster, Helen Stirling (W.A.A.F.s).
Directed by GEORGE MORE O’FERRALL from a screenplay by Derek Twist, based on an original story by Pelham Groom. Photography: Christopher Challis. Aerial photography: Stanley Grant. Art director: Fred Pusey. Supervising film editor: Derek Twist. Film editor: Daniel Birt. Scenario editor: Frederick Gottfurt. Miniatures: Gordon Blackwell. Travelling matte: Brian Langley. Music composed and conducted by John Wooldridge. Production supervisor: Wilfred G. Eades. Recording supervising: Harold V. King. Sound engineer: H. L. Bird. Producers: John W. Gossage, Derek Twist.
A Templar Production, released in the U.K. by Associated British. Released in Australia by 20th Century-Fox on 25 November 1953. Released in the U.S.A. by Stratford, May, 1954. Copyright in the U.S. by Stratford Pictures Corp., 25 February 1953. New York opening simultaneously at the Beekman, Gramercy and 8th Street Playhouse: 29 April 1954. U.K. release: May 1954. Sydney opening at the Embassy. Location scenes filmed at Kenley Aerodrome, Surrey. 98 minutes. 8,820 feet. [Available on an Optimum DVD].
SYNOPSIS: See below.
NOTES: Number ten at British ticket windows for 1952.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: Far above Mr O’Ferrall’s usual standard, thanks to solid acting and an interesting script that provides plenty of action. Some of the miniature work (particularly the closing shot) is not the best but generally special effects and production values are first-class.
OTHER VIEWS: Despite the high-sounding title (it means that aircraft are flying at a height of 15,000 feet), this is a routine drama of the wartime R.A.F.
— G.A.
Better films have been made about war in the air, but rarely have I seen one which is more sincere.To an ex-serviceman the feeling is there, strong and indefinable, that these were the men he knew, fought with and laughed with. The sensation of reality is well maintained throughout the film with the exception of the few air combat scenes which were rather artificial.
Angels One Five tells the story of some of the “Few,” the men who flew the Hurricanes and Spitfires during the Battle of Britain in 1940. These were the men, who, outnumbered six to one by the Germans, managed to stave off the Luftwaffe.
The Air Force types are true to life. The girls in the operations’ rooms aren’t Hollywood models in lieu of the real thing. But the real weakness of the film is the badly developed love interest. Producers should do a job of it — or eliminate romance completely.
The best roles are played by Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Cyril Raymond and Humphrey Lestocq — all typical R.A.F. types.
Newcomer John Gregson as a young pilot officer is strongly reminiscent of the Scots laird in The Hasty Heart.
This is not a woman’s picture, but to the men it recalls memories (no matter what the service) and has that unforgettable feeling of comradeship that comes with war.
The film’s makers, Associated British-Templar, perhaps had sincerity in mind when they killed off the hero. This is always a big film risk, but in war films it underscores the reality.
To sum up: Timely reminder of a still unpaid debt.
— Leo Basser in The Sunday Telegraph.
the Angel Who Pawned Her Harp
Felix Aylmer (Joshua Webman), Diane Cilento (the angel), Robert Eddison (the voice), Jerry Desmonde (Parker), Joe Linnane (Ned Sullivan), Sheila Sweet (Jenny Lane), Philip Guard (Len Burrows), Genitha Halsey (Mrs Burrows), Edward Evans (Sergeant Lane), Elaine Wodson (Mrs Lane), Alfie Bass (Lennox), Thomas Gallagher (Boyd), Phyllis Morris (Mrs Trap), David Kossoff (Schwartz), Raymond Rollett (Stillvane), June Ellis (Sally), Herbert C. Walton (Mr Meek), Freddie Watts (bookmaker), Cyril Smith (dog owner), Jean Aubrey (Sue), Maurice Kaufman (Reg), Thomas Moore (small boy), “Nelson’s Gift” (“Spiderflash”).
Directed by ALAN BROMLY. Screenplay by Charles Terrot and Sidney Cole. Based on the 1954 novel by Charles Terrot. Photographed by Arthur Grant. Film editor: John Merritt. Art director: Ray Simm. Sound mixer: Len Page. Production manager: Pat Morton. Assistant director: Denis Johnson. Camera operator: Ken Hodges. Set continuity: Shirley Barnes. Make-up: Kenneth Mackay. Hairdresser: Betty Sheriff. Music composed and conducted by Anthony Hopkins. Dance numbers composed and arranged by Lou Preager. Produced by Sidney Cole.
A Group 3 Production. New York opening at the Symphony (on a double bill with Make Me An Offer): 28 February 1956. U.S. release (through Associated Artists): February 1956. U.K. release (through British Lion): 11 April 1955. Australian release (through London Films/Universal): 11 August 1955. 6,694 feet. 74 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: This is the story of a female angel — a beautiful captivating blonde young angel to be sure — who descends from the upper reaches of the atmosphere to practise the gospel of love through word and deed.
Appropriately enough, she selects the area known as The Angel, Islington, for her goodwill tour, and it is to that not-too-endearing part of London she is suddenly deposited from the Celestial Regions. Unfortunately, her flight from above was hurried to an extreme and she is forced to pawn her harp in order to raise money for her subsistence in the more material world she finds herself. As luck, or shall we say heavenly direction, would have it, she deposits the instrument in the very pawnshop her superiors had planned her work should commence.
Here, our damsel finds work a-plenty. Old Mr Webman, the owner of ‘Uncle’s’, the pawnshop, becoming crotchety in his old age and only worrying about his priceless collection of music boxes, Len, his young assistant, who loves Jenny Lane and fears for his chances; there is Jenny herself, really in love with Len but not quite ready to admit it; and Mr Lane troubled by his wife’s never-ending toil, while Len’s widowed mother, an vitriolic friend, a hard-hearted bookmaker, two gentlemen crooks and some boon drinking companions ensure that Angel shall never be at a loss for good words and deeds.
COMMENT: A British “B” movie that earned plenty of money in Diane Cilento’s home country, Australia. True, Miss Cilento is certainly a rather fetching angel, but the rest of the players (and characters) are more routine and make little impression. Dull direction doesn’t help either. Presumably Diane still has lots of fans in England, as the movie is currently available on a good quality (but by no means perfect) Simply Media DVD.
OTHER VIEWS: Diane Cilento has a definite personal success... perfectly charming... I enjoyed it.
— Jympson Harman in The Evening News.
Innocent and appealing... Diane Cilento — a find if ever there was one.
— John Gay in Empire News.
The week’s most charming offering... pleasant and heartwarming.
— Peter Burnup in News of the World.
Enchanting comedy... A film to strum your heart-strings.
— Ross Shepherd in The People.
This is an endearing film. ...Diane Cilento is enchanting.
— Harris Deans in Sunday Dispatch.
What a pleasant surprise... out-of-this-world charm... delightful.
— Robert Ottaway in Sunday Graphic.
Full of wonderful character actors and good humour.
— Bernard McElwaine in Sunday Pictorial.
Anna Karenina
Vivien Leigh (Anna Karenina), Sir Ralph Richardson (Count Karenin), Kieron Moore (Count Vronsky), Hugh Dempster (Prince Stepan Oblonsky), Niall MacGinnis (Levin), Michael Gough (Nicolai Scherbatsky), Sally Ann Howes (Kitty Scherbatsky), Mary Kerridge (Dolly Oblonsky), Frank Tickle (Prince Scherbatsky), Marie Lohr (Princess Scherbatsky), Martita Hunt (Princess Betsy), Helen Haye (Countess Vronsky), Mary Martlew (Princess Nathalie), Ruby Miller (Countess Meskov), Austin Trevor (Colonel Vronsky), Ann South (Princess Sorokina), Guy Verney (Prince Makhotin), John Longden (General Serpuhousky), Leslie Bradley (Korsunsky), Heather Thatcher (Countess Lydia Ivanovna), Beckett Bould (Matvey), Judith Nelmes (Miss Hull), Valentina Murch (Annushka,), Theresa Giehse (Marietta), Michael Medwin (Kitty’s doctor), John Salew (lawyer), Patrick Skipwith (Sergei), Gino Cervi (Enrico), Jeremy Spenser (Giuseppe), and Helen Campbell.
Directed by JULIEN DUVIVIER from a screenplay by Jean Anouilh, Guy Morgan and Julien Duvivier, based on the 1877 novel by Count Leo Tolstoy. Photographed by Henri Alekan. Production design: Vincent Korda. Art directors: Andre Andrejew and Wilfred Shingleton. Costumes: Cecil Beaton. Film editor: Russell Lloyd. Music composed by Constant Lambert and directed by Dr Hubert Clifford. Casting director: Bill O’Bryen. Special effects: W. Percy Day and Cliff Richardson. Music played by the London Films Symphony Orchestra. Production manager: Ronald Kinnoch. Camera operator: Robert Walker. Assistant director: Michael Delamar. Set continuity: Maisie Kelly. Make-up: Harold Fletcher. Hairdressing: Helen Penfold. Dialogue advisor: Elizabeth Montagu. Period advisor: Vladimir Wiazemsky. Sally Ann Howes appears by permission of the J. Arthur Rank Organization. Sound supervisor John Cox. Sound recording: Bert Ross and Red Law. Producer: Herbert Mason. Associate Producer: Sir Alexander Korda. [Available on an excellent Manga DVD].
London Films. Released in the U.K. through British Lion, in Australia through B.E.F., in the U.S.A. through 20th Century-Fox.
Not copyrighted in the U.S.A. New York opening at the Roxy: 27 April 1949. U.S. release: May 1949. U.K. release: 27 September 1948. Australian release: 21 October 1948. 12,544 feet. 139 minutes. Ruthlessly cut to only 10,122 feet (112 minutes) in both Australia and the U.S.A.
SYNOPSIS: Anna Karenina is a young society woman who prefers a romantic entanglement with a dashing officer to life with her staid husband and querulous child.
NOTES: A huge hit with Miss Leigh’s legions of British fans, the film was less successful in America where her triumphs in Gone With The Wind and Waterloo Bridge were largely forgotten.
Director/writer Julien Duvivier had actually contemplated a French film version of the novel to star Danielle Darrieux. However, when contacted by Alexander Korda of London Films, Duvivier agreed to make over his adaptation for Vivien Leigh, because Korda had financed the director’s previous film, Panique.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: A classy production. Oddly, it has improved greatly with time. It no longer seems such heavy going. Indeed, even Kieron Moore’s performance appears less gauche, whilst Miss Leigh’s is more sensitive and Ralph Richardson’s more impressive than ever. Duvivier’s superb mise-en-scene and Henri Alekan’s lustrous photography capture sets and costumes of such beauty and attractiveness, we are never likely to see their like again.
OTHER VIEWS: Fine photography, beautiful costumes, sensitive direction and some excellent performances but the film remains a sad second-best when compared with the earlier Garbo version. The fault lies in the rather ponderous script which tends to make it all a wearisome and heavy-going affair. But there’s no denying it’s a beautiful production.
— E.V.D.
Kieron Moore was clearly miscast as Vronsky. Actually, we decided to put him in the part as a last resort. Our director had arrived, cameras were ready to roll — with no leading man. Kieron was at hand and under contract to us. We decided to risk it.
Through no fault of his, the part did him more harm than good.
— Bill O’Bryen.
Anouilh wrote the original script, transposing the story to France. This wasn’t at all what Korda wanted and he brought in Guy Morgan to work on the screenplay with Duvivier . . . The film turned out to be too long, had to be cut drastically and this, with some miscasting, turned into a comparative failure something that should have been a triumphant success . . . The railway stations, the opera, the parties, the balls of upper-class Russian society created a crowded, bustling, vivid pattern that in Duvivier’s hands was extremely attractive . . . Where the film’s weakness lay was in the acting — with some notable exceptions. Vivien Leigh presented a pictorially perfect Anna, but too cool, too self-possessed. She remained aloof as if viewing her part from the outside and made it impossible to believe her jealousy and despair. Only in the last scenes did she come to convincing life. Kieron Moore — and he was Korda’s choice [hardly a choice as casting director Bill O’Bryen points out above] — was stiff, gauche, unconvincing as Vronsky. The real star of the film was Sir Ralph Richardson, whose tortured Karenin acquired a far greater significance than his lines.
— Paul Tabori in his biography of Alexander Korda.
Vivien Leigh is a beautiful but withdrawn Anna. Kieron Moore is sadly miscast as Vronsky and the all-important relationship between the two is never even vaguely realised, so that Karenin, strongly played by Sir Ralph Richardson, strangely emerges with an heroic, and not a pathetic reference. The heavy yet graceful elaboration of the interior sets and — a vivid memory this — the wintry scenes within the railway station show the sensibilities of the art director and costume designer at their best.
Denis Forman.
the Baby and the Battleship
John Mills (Puncher Roberts), Richard Attenborough (Knocker White), Bryan Forbes (Professor), Harold Siddons (Whiskers), Clifford Mollison (Sails), Lionel Jeffries (George), Gordon Jackson (Harry), Michael Howard (Joe), Michael Hordern (captain), Ernest Clark (Commander Digby), John Forbes-Robertson (gunnery officer), Duncan Lamont (master-at-arms), Harry Locke (CPO Blades), Cyril Raymond (P.M.O.), Andre Morell (Marshall), John Le Mesurier (aide), Ferdy Mayne (interpreter), Lisa Gastoni (Maria), Martin Miller (Paolo), D.A. Clarke-Smith (the admiral), Martyn Garrett (the baby), Jacenta Dicks (Mama Vespucci), Thorley Walters (Lieutenant Setley), Patrick Cargill (navigation officer), Michael Dear (S.B.A. Nightingale), Rebecca Birken (Ginny), Leigh Christian (Marilyn), Norma Donaldson (Dr Bryce), Jim Henderson (bartender), Brandon Jones (bobby), Charles Lucia (Rick), Niles McMaster (Derek), Shelley Taylor Morgan (Barbara), Judith Penrod (Charlene), Yvonne Romain (Italian girl), and Roy Purcell, Kenneth Griffith, Carlo Giustini, Vince Barbi, Vittorio Vittori, Barry Foster, Vincent Ball, Robert Ayres, Mark Sheldon, Sam Kydd, Lori Lethin, Cindy Fisher, Harrigan Logan.
Directed by JAY LEWIS from a screenplay by Jay Lewis and Gilbert Hackforth-Jones, based on the novel by Anthony Thorne. Additional scenes: Bryan Forbes. Photographed in Eastman Colour by Harry Waxman. Art director: John Howell. Film editor: Manuel Del Campo. Music: Billy Goldenberg, James Stevens and Humphrey Searle, conducted by Muir Mathieson. Assistant editor: James Galloway. Camera operator: Ronnie Taylor. Costumes: Bridget Sellers. Make-up: Dave Aylott. Hair styles: Ida Mills. Production manager: Roy Parkinson. Assistant director: Jack Causey. Sound editor: Teddy Darvas. Sound recording: Bob Jones and George Stephenson. Set continuity: Yvonne Axworthy. Technical advisor: Captain J.E. Broome. Assistant to the producer: Douglas Gosling. Sound supervisor: John Cox. Producers: Antony Darnborough, Jay Lewis and Robert A. Papazian.
A Jay Lewis Production, released in the U.K. by British
Lion on 1 October 1956. Released in Australia by 20th Century-Fox: 25
April 1957. U.S. release by Hal Roach Distributors. Sydney
opening at The Embassy. New York opening at The Guild: 30 September
1957. 8,609 feet. 95 minutes. [An excellent Optimum DVD].
SYNOPSIS: Two sailors, Puncher, ex-lightweight boxing champion of the Navy, a simple sort of chap (John Mills), and Knocker, the bright boy of the ship (Richard Attenborough), go ashore when H.M.S. Gillingham puts into Naples. Knocker knows an Italian baker who they go to see because he remembers the baker had the prettiest daughter in Naples. Knocker wants to take the eldest daughter, Maria (Lisa Gastoni), out for the evening, but Papa will only agree if she takes the youngest child, a six-month old baby boy, with them. Late that night they all become involved in a spot of bother with the police, and Puncher is left with the baby.
Puncher expects that Knocker and Maria will meet him at the quayside when their leave expires and relieve him of the baby... but he waits in vain, and, not quite knowing what to do, smuggles the baby aboard. When he awakens in the morning, H.M.S. Gillingham is at sea — the ship has sailed to take part in a N.A.T.O. exercise, and to complicate Puncher’s life, the Marshal (Andre Morell), head of a friendly Ruritanian State, is the guest of honour on the ship.
COMMENT: A pleasantly diverting light comedy. An attractive tiny tot is the centre of the action and the by-play when a group of sailors set about the task of baby care provides some amusing scenes. True, the stratagems employed to keep the baby concealed do lead to some repetitious racing around corridors, but the direction is reasonably brisk and there are some bright and engaging performances not only from the principals but from a host of minor players as well.
E.V.D.
Beat Girl
David Farrar (Paul Linden), Noelle Adam (Nichole), Christopher Lee (Kenny), Gillian Hills (Jennifer), Adam Faith (Dave), Shirley Anne Field (Dodo), Peter McEnery (Tony), Claire Gordon (Honey), Nigel Green (Simon), Delphi Lawrence (Greta), Oliver Reed (plaid shirt), Michael Kayne (duffle coat), Anthony Singleton (green pants), Robert Raglan (F.O. official), Nade Beall (official’s wife), Margot Bryant (Martha), Norman Mitchell (club doorman), Pascaline (exotic dancer), Carol White.
Directed by EDMOND T. GREVILLE from a screenplay and dialogue by Dail Ambler, based on a story by Dail Ambler and Edmond T. Greville. Photography: Walter Lassally. Film editor: Gordon Pilkington. Art director: Elven Webb. All music composed and directed by John Barry and played by “The John Barry Seven”. Songs: “Made You”, “Beat Girl” and “I Did What You Told Me”, sung by Adam Faith, and recorded on Columbia Records. Song lyrics: Trevor Peacock. Production manager: Al Marcus. Sound supervisor: A. W. Watkins. Dubbing editor: Don Challis. Sound recording: J. B. Smith, Gerry Turner. Casting director: Harvey Woods. Make-up: Sidney Turner. Hair styles: Anne Box. Assistant director: Kip Gowan. Sound: Cyril Swern. Producer: George Willoughby. Executive producer: George Minter.
Made at Elstree Studios. Produced and released in the U.K. by Renown Pictures on 4 December 1960. Never released in Australia. Released in the U.S.A. by Victoria Films. New York opening: 20 October 1961. 91 minutes. Available on a good Cornerstone DVD.
U.S. title: Wild for Kicks. Also available on a poor Mondo Crash.
COMMENT: Even by the standards of Monsieur Greville’s English-language productions which include the Von Stroheim Mademoiselle Docteur and the Mel Ferrer Hands of Orlac, this is a weirdo. The initial plot with David Farrar and Noelle Adam trying to raise problem child Gillian Hills is straight British B-feature stuff — and not very good at that! However, once we hit the Soho teen-dives who do we find but beat teenagers Oliver Reed, a singing Shirley Anne Field, Peter McEnery, Carol White from Linda and Cathy Come Home and — taking off the prize for the least distinguished performance (which here is something) — Adam Faith as the spokesman for the group for whom music replace liquor, speed and rumbling with the Teds. Writer Ambler’s fiction runs towards the lurid and we have evidence of this in the strip-club background and lines like, “Love is the word squares use for sex”. Otherwise the dialogue is concocted from the maximum exposure of the four beat words Ambler has picked up. Faith does have one good line when he sees the slow-moving dancers in the jazz club and says, “Send for the body-snatchers!” Hammer’s renowned Christopher Lee neatly provides some unhealthy menace. As the sulky heroine, Gillian Hills adds zilch to the production, but she’s still more attractive than Noelle Adam (whom the director treats to numerous unwanted close-ups). David Farrar is undermined by his ridiculous role, but Nigel Green enjoys two or three moments that almost make the film worth seeing.
This is the first British feature to be photographed by Walter Lassally, not that there is anything distinguished about it. The settings — architect Farrar’s home and the pre-Sammy Lee studio Soho — along with one of the earliest John Barry scores, are the film’s most accomplished aspects.
— B.P.
the Black Sheep of Whitehall
Will Hay (Professor Davis), John Mills (Bobby Jessop), Basil Sydney (Costello, a reporter), Felix Aylmer (Crabtree), Henry Hewitt (Professor Davys), Frank Cellier (Dr Innsbach), Joss Ambler (Sir John, the Minister), Thora Hird (Joyce, Davis’ secretary), Leslie Mitchell (himself, a BBC interviewer), Dorothy Hamilton (Miss Rudge), Owen Reynolds (Harman), Frank Allenby (Onslow), Margaret Halstan (matron), Barbara Valerie (Sister Spooner), Agnes Laughlan (Mrs Webster), George Merritt (station master), Ronald Shiner (porter), Cyril Chamberlain (BBC sound man), George Woodbridge (male nurse), Aubrey Mallalieu (ticket collector), Brefni O’Rorke (hall porter), Roddy Hughes (official), Katie Johnson (train passenger).
Directors: WILL HAY, BASIL DEARDEN. Original story and screenplay: Angus Macphail, John Dighton. Photographed in black-and-white by Gunther Krampf. 2nd unit photography: Eric Cross. Film editor: Ray Pitt. Art director: Tom Morahan. Music director: Ernest Irving. Production manager: John Croydon. Assistant director: Jack Rix. Sound recording: Eric Williams. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: S.C. Balcon. Producer: Michael Balcon. [Available on an Optimum DVD].
Not copyrighted or theatrically released in the U.S.A. An Ealing Film, made and recorded at Ealing Studios, London. U.K. release through United Artists: 23 February 1942. Australian release through British Empire Films: 12 November 1942. Registered in the U.K. on 29 November 1941. 7,213 feet. 80 minutes. Censor cuts of approx. 150 feet in Australia.
SYNOPSIS: Muggins “professor” joins forces with rover boy civil servant to defeat a parcel of Nazi spies who have kidnapped a South American expert on manganese mines.
NOTES: Although much the same, if not better, than the usual Will Hay comedy, the film took only a moderate amount of money at British and Australian ticket windows, except in Tasmania where it rated around 29th or 30th for the year. In New Zealand, however, the film was a major success.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
COMMENT: After a slow start, Black Sheep finds Will Hay at the top of his form, including a couple of delicious impersonations (an aged ticket collector and a starchy nurse). A grand slapstick chase finale rounds out the fun. John Mills makes a surprisingly adroit stooge, contributing some riotous scenes not only with Hay but with Frank Cellier (here hiding behind bushy-black eyebrows as a goggle-eyed doctor of dementia). Other attractive performances are contributed by Felix Aylmer (as a bogus expert), Basil Sydney (as a Nazi reporter), Joss Ambler (as the flappable Minister), and Barbara Valerie (a helpful nurse). Good to see Ronald Shiner and Brefni O’Rorke in uncredited cameos.
The directors have worked smoothly together, photography is pleasingly glossy, editing deft and production values first rate. The script offers four or five times the comic opportunities of any similarly constructed Abbott and Costello picture. Thanks to the skills and talents of cast and technicians, this Black Sheep comes out at least ten times funnier.
Blanche Fury
Stewart Granger (Philip Thorn), Valerie Hobson (Blanche Fury), Walter Fitzgerald (Simon Fury), Michael Gough (Laurence Fury), Maurice Denham (Major Fraser), Sybilla Binder (Louisa), Edward Lexy (Colonel Jenkins), Allan Jeayes (Wetherby), Suzanne Gibbs (Lavinia Fury), Ernest Jay (Calamy), George Woodbridge (Aimes), Brian Herbert (Jordan), Arthur Wontner (Lord Rudford), Cherry London (Molly), Townsend Whitling (Banks), Amy Veness (Mrs Winterbourne), Lionel Grose (Mike), Margaret Withers (Mrs Hawkes), Norman Pierce (coroner), Wilfred Caithness (clerk of the court), James Dale (judge), Cecil Ramage (prosecutor), Lance George (foreman of jury), John Marquand (footman), Vivien Dillon (maid), David Ward (1st clerk), Sidney Benson (2nd clerk), R.W. Haddow (Sir Richard Waterson), M.E. Clifton-James (prison governor), Derek Birch (judge’s clerk), Roddy Hughes (master of ceremonies), J.H. Roberts (doctor), Roy Arthur (junior counsel), Hilary Pritchard (court usher), Michael Brennan (farmer), Charles Saynor (2nd farmer), Alexander Field (3rd farmer), Marie Ault (old gypsy).
Director: MARC ALLEGRET. Screenplay: Audrey Erskine Lindop, Cecil McGivern. Additional dialogue: Hugh Mills. Based on the novel by Joseph Shearing (pseudonym of Margaret Irwin). Photographed in Technicolor by Guy Green. Location photography: Geoffrey Unsworth. Film editor: Jack Harris. Art director: Wilfred Shingleton. Costume design: Sophie Harris. Costume supervision: Margaret Furse. Associate film editor: Geoffrey Foot. Camera operator: Oswald Morris. Make-up: George Blackler. Hair styles: Biddy Chrystal. Music composed by Clifton Parker, played by the Philharmonia Orchestra directed by Muir Mathieson. Color consultants: Natalie Kalmus, Joan Bridge. Set decorations: Claude Mauncey. Set continuity: Margaret Sibley. Costumes executed by Motley. Assistant director: George Pollock. Production manager: Norman Spencer. Sound editors: Winston Ryder, Jack Slade. Sound recording: Charles Poulton, Gordon K. McCallum. Producer: Anthony Havelock-Allan.
A Cineguild Production, made at Pinewood Studios, released in the U.K. through General Film Distributors (presented by J. Arthur Rank) in 1948, in Australia through G.B.D./20th Century-Fox on 30 September 1948, in the U.S.A. through Eagle Lion on 16 February 1949. New York opening at the Sutton: 23 November 1948. Registered in February 1948. Copyright 28 January 1949 in the U.S.A. by Independent Producers Ltd. 8,712 feet. 96 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: The Fullers possess the Fury Estate. Thorn means to win it back — by fair means or foul.
COMMENT: In the late 1940s, British film producers, encouraged by the success of the large-budget features A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes and The Way to the Stars, began recklessly to indulge in free spending. No studio was more extravagant than Cineguild, which had provided David Lean with enormous funds for his adaptations of Dickens. By 1950 the organization — headed by John Bryan, the specialist in period decoration, and Anthony-Havelock Allan (an independently wealthy cineaste) — was going into liquidation. One of the main reasons for this financial collapse was Blanche Fury (1948), unquestionably the most elaborate production for which the group was responsible and a film which combines extreme elegance and beauty of form with an almost total disregard of the general public’s tastes.
Like Lean’s The Passionate Friends and Madeleine, Blanche Fury is a monument to the now faded skill of English technicians and designers. The novel on which it is faithfully based (by Joseph Shearing, a pseudonym for the historical novelist Margaret Irwin) tells the story (set in the years 1860-61) of a doom-laden mansion, Clare, which was once the home of the Furys, an ancient and celebrated family of noble lineage.
This plot, Ibsen-like in its unrelieved grimness and undisguised melodrama, has been admirably worked out by the script writers, but primarily this is a director’s film. Allegret, not usually an imaginative director, has realized the drama with dashing visual panache. The performances are admirable: Stewart Granger has just the right equine fervour for the hero-cum-villain of a Gothic nightmare, and Valerie Hobson, spirited at first, then depressed by the pangs of conscience into white-faced despondency, plays with a cold, level intelligence. Designer John Bryan’s Clare Hall, courtroom and fussy old lady’s bedroom are impeccable, and the photography — especially in the rich, glowing interiors and the shots of rolling downland — triumphantly asserts the superiority of Technicolor.
— Charles Higham
OTHER VIEWS: Strong on rich yet sombre period atmosphere, unmatched in the creative artistry of its camerawork and sets, rivetting in its performances (from the superbly etched characterizations of Granger, Hobson, Fitzgerald and Gough to the equally acid-sharp cameos of Amy Veness, Margaret Withers, James Dale and J.H. Roberts), powerful in plot and startling in its effects, Blanche Fury is a brilliantly realized film, — everything that Charles Higham says it is so aptly above. Oddly, when the film last screened on local TV, its presenter, Peter Thompson, seemed not to appreciate the picture at all. Indeed, he described it as a popular melodrama designed for the unlettered masses who would enjoy all its fast riding and mindless action. He implied it definitely did not rate as a film for the connoisseur, — a category in which Thompson doubtless included himself. In point of fact, as Mr Higham points out, the masses stayed away from the film in droves. Fortunately, the film’s rich production and artistic values were highly appreciated by small but influential bands of cineastes. [Available on an excellent ITV DVD].
Blind Date
Hardy Kruger (Jan Van Rooyen), Stanley Baker (Inspector Morgan), Micheline Presle (Jacqueline Cousteau), Robert Flemyng (Sir Brian Lewis), Gordon Jackson (police sergeant), John Van Eyssen (Inspector Westover), Jack MacGowran (postman), Redmond Phillips (police doctor), George Roubicek (police constable), Lee Montague (Sergeant Farrow), Shirley Davien (girl on bus), Christina Lubicz (Jacqueline), and David Markham, Tom Naylor.
Director: JOSEPH LOSEY. Screenplay: Ben Barzman, Millard Lampell. Based on the novel by Leigh Howard. Photography: Christopher Challis. Film editor: Reginald Mills. Music composed by Richard Rodney Bennett, directed by Malcolm Arnold. Art directors: Harry Pottle, Edward Carrick. Production layout and title design: Richard MacDonald. Costumes: Morris Angel. Wardrobe mistress: Vi Murray. Furs: Prager. Make-up: Trevor Crole-Rees. Hair styles: Maude Onslow. Camera operator: John Harris. Set continuity: Susan Dyson. Assistant director: René Dupont. Production manager: George Mills. Sound supervised by Malcolm Cooke, recorded by Len Page, re-recorded by Ken Cameron. Producer: David Deutsch. Executive producers: Julian Wintle, Leslie Parkyn. In charge of production: Sydney Box.
An Independent Artists Picture, released in the U.K. through Rank and Sydney Box Associates on September 20, 1959; in Australia through Paramount on June 17, 1960; in the U.S.A. through Paramount in March, 1960 (New York release: October 26, 1960). Registered in August, 1959, “A” Certificate. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 17 June 1960 (ran 3 weeks). 8,540 feet. 95 minutes. New York opening at neighborhood cinemas. The American Legion voiced objections to Paramount’s distributing the film in the U.S.A. since it was written and directed by three men the Legion considered to be subversive. In 1952 the Film Council of the American Federation of Labor and the Legion exerted their power to prevent the showing in the U.S. of the movie Encounter which Barzman and Losey had made in Italy. Lampell is the author of The Hero which was made into the film Saturday’s Hero in 1951 and was picketed by anti-Communist groups.
Australian and U.S. release title: Chance Meeting.
SYNOPSIS: Jan Van Rooyen (Hardy Kruger), a Dutch painter, stops to buy a bunch of violets on a London street as he hurries to keep a rendezvous with a woman. But Jacqueline Cousteau (Micheline Presle) is not waiting for him in the fashionable apartment to which he goes. Instead, shortly after his arrival he is confronted by Detective Inspector Morgan (Stanley Baker), who accuses him of murder. Jacqueline’s body has been found in the vestibule of the house, and according to the police doctor she was killed after the time Van Rooyen, by his own admission, entered the apartment. Morgan, a tough, efficient policeman, listens sceptically to Van Rooyen’s denials. Incredulously, the young man realizes that the circumstantial evidence against him is overwhelming. Under Morgan’s questioning he describes his relationship with the murdered woman. [Available on a very good Simply Media DVD].
COMMENT: The plot isn’t much. It’s mildly intriguing, but the solution is obvious once the central idea — borrowed from Vera Caspary’s Laura — is introduced. Losey has tried to work up some interest. Most of the first half of the film is played in dark shadows and all the players work hard to give their characters credibility, but all they have really done is to make the little asides (Police Sergeant explaining to the suspect what he thinks is wrong with the police recruitment advertising, and all the business with the old school tie) more interesting than the main plot and thus to show up its inadequacy to sustain a film of this length.
OTHER VIEWS: Superior film . . . Filmgoers with long memories of British melodramas may complain that Losey lacks the wit of an Alfred Hitchcock or the restraint of a Carol Reed, but no one is likely to deny his flair for visual movement, his neat sense of pace or the incisive cynicism of his approach to a flashback mystery with a denouement comparable to the memorable Laura.
—Eugene Archer in The New York Times.
A modest but tightly constructed chiller that doesn’t give its gimmick away until about ten minutes from its close . . . Losey demonstrates a flair for telling detail and for obtaining good performances from all concerned. As for social content — hardly enough for the American Legion to get concerned about. Paramount has taken a courageous step in sponsoring the film’s showing here.
— Hollis Alpert in Saturday Review.
Blind Terror
Mia Farrow (Sarah), Robin Bailey (George Rexton), Dorothy Alison (Betty Rexton), Diane Grayson (Sandy Rexton), Norman Eshley (Steve Redding), Brian Rawlinson (Barker), Christopher Matthews (Frost), Paul Nicholas (Jack Osgood), Michael Elphick (Gypsy Tom), Barrie Houghton (Gypsy Jack), Lila Kaye (Gypsy mother), Max Faulkner, Scott Fredericks, Reg Harding (Steve’s men), Donald Bissett (doctor).
Director: RICHARD FLEISCHER. Original screenplay: Brian Clemens. Photographed in Eastman Colour by Gerry Fisher. Film editor: Thelma Connell. Art director: John Hoesli. Wardrobe: Evelyn Gibbs. Make-up: Stuart Freeborn. Hair styles: Betty Glasow. Set decorations: Hugh Scaife. Music: Elmer Bernstein. Camera operator: Bernard Ford. Stunt co-ordinator: Max Faulkner. Stunts: Greg Powell. Set continuity: Pamela Carlton. Foley editor: Brian Hickin. Assistant director: Terry Marcel. Production manager: Jilda Smith. Sound editor: Colin Miller. Sound recording: Ken Scrivener. Sound re-recording: Robert Allen. Associate producer: Basil Appleby. Producers: Martin Ransohoff, Leslie Linder. [Available on a superb Columbia Tri-Star DVD].
A Filmways/Genesis Production, released world-wide by Columbia. Filmed on location in Berkshire, England. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 2 September 1971 (ran 4 weeks). 7,985 feet. 89 minutes.
U.S. title and Columbia DVD title: See No Evil.
COMMENT: A remarkable return to form by director Richard Fleischer. In fact, it is his most inventively and imaginatively directed film since The Narrow Margin. The central situation, suggested by Jimmy Sangster’s Scream/Taste of Fear (1961), is really scary (this time the heroine is blind which seems even more terrifying because it makes her even more helpless than was Sangster’s crippled heroine). The mood is sustained by sharp cutting and inventive camera angles which gradually disclose the horror to the audience, plus deft camera movements (the camera very slowly tracking along the corridor to the closed bathroom door followed by the extremely fast track backwards as Miss Farrow rushes out).
One of the film’s major assets is its glowing colour photography where the autumnal beauty of the woods is so starkly contrasted with the elegant country house interiors and the horrors within (a very effective change from the usual Gothic haunted house thriller). Mia Farrow’s performance is totally engrossing and the support cast is very capable.
However, I felt the film could have retained its terror atmosphere longer. The second half of the film is less enervating for the audience, as the plot turns into a picaresque mystery thriller. Despite the trick on the audience, the identity of the killer does not really grip our imagination because he has not been worked into the plot enough beforehand (despite all the low-level shots of his boots).
Blitz on Britain
Director/film editor: HARRY BOOTH. Commentary spoken by Alistair Cooke from a script by Patrick Brawn. Research: Stella Jonkheere. Music supervision: Ken Wright. Music supplied by De Wolfe. Dubbing editor: Philip Barrikel. Associate producer: Charles De Jaeger. Producer: Roy Simpson.
An Anglo-Continental Film, released in the U.K. by British Lion 1960; in Australia by B.E.F. on 27 April 1962. Never theatrically released in the U.S.A. 6,414 feet. “A” certificate. 71 minutes.
COMMENT: A compilation of actuality material, expertly culled from such sources as Fires Were Started, Target for Tonight and The Way to the Stars, all the more impressive for being underscored with a restrained, factual commentary. [An Elevation Sales DVD].
Brandy for the Parson
James Donald (Bill Harper), Kenneth More (Tony Rackham), Jean Lodge (Petronilla Brand), Frederick Piper (customs inspector), Charles Hawtrey (George Crumb), Michael Trubshawe (Redworth), Alfie Bass (Dallyn), Wilfred Caithness (Minch), Lionel Harris (Frosst), Richard Molinas (Massaud), Reginald Beckwith (scoutmaster), Stanley Lemin (customs officer), Arthur Wontner (Major Grockleigh), Frank Tickle (vicar), Walter Hodges (Admiral Bargill), Hamlyn Benson (landlord), W. E. Holloway (chairman of the bench), Wensley Pithey (circus owner), Sam Kydd (lorry driver), Patience Rentoul (yachtswoman), Grace Arnold (landlady), Amy Dalby (postmistress), Edmund Gray (photographer), Douglas Ives (farmer), Stanley Van Beers (Lovegrove), Gaston Richer (French customs officer), John Powe (Whitey), Fred Dornom (boat builder), Robert Hay-Smith (wolf cub), Tony Lyons (boy scout), Brian Weske (Jackie), Andre Griveau (French waiter), Denzil Highmore (speed cop), E. M. Smith (maid).
Director: JOHN ELDRIDGE. Screenplay: John Dighton, Walter Meade. Story: Geoffrey Household. Additional scenes and dialogue: Alfred Shaughnessy. Photography: Martin Curtis. Music composed and conducted by John Addison. Film editor: John Trumper. Art director: Ray Simm. Camera operators: Ron Taylor, Jack Harris. Set continuity: Hazel Swift. Production manager: Bill Kirby. Assistant director: Jack Causey. Sound recording: George Burgess, Charles Poulton. Associate producer: Alfred Shaughnessy. Executive producer: John Grierson. Narrated by Kenneth More.
A Group 3 Production, released in the U.K. by Associated British, in Australia by B.E.F. (16 July 1953), in the U.S.A. by Mayer Kingsley. New York opening at the Park Avenue: 16 August 1952. Registered: February 1952. “U” certificate. 7,033 feet. 78 minutes.
COMMENT: In style, this agreeable comedy derives from the Ealing genre and although its picaresque adventures are not particularly original, the mood is fresh and bracing (thanks in part to a great deal of location filming) and the characters are engaging and likeable. One would have preferred that the script had more wit and the direction more sparkle, but the amusing situations, excellent playing and very pleasing location work carry the film through. Eldridge (Waverley Steps, Three Dawns to Sydney) is not altogether at ease with comedy and goes in for some lyrical landscape photography which is attractive but a trifle irrelevant. But he has an undoubted narrative gift and the performances he elicits are genuine creations of character. The mood is well sustained and the comedy is never pushed too far into farce. Production values are excellent and credits professionally smooth. [Available on a Slam Dunk DVD of poor sound quality (especially in the first 20 minutes), but reasonably watchable].
the Brides of Fu Manchu
Christopher Lee (Dr Fu Manchu), Douglas Wilmer (Nayland Smith), Heinz Drache (Franz Baumer), Marie Versini (Marie Lentz), Howard Marion Crawford (Dr Ronald Petrie), Tsai Chin (Lin Tang), Rupert Davies (Jules Merlin), Roger Hanin (Inspector Pierre Grimaldi), Kenneth Fortescue (Sergeant Spicer), Joseph Furst (Otto Lentz), Carole Gray (Michele Merlin), Harald Leipnitz (Nikki Sheldon), Bert Kwouk (Feng), Eric Young (Feng’s assistant), Poulet Tu (Lotus), Sulmaan Peer (Abdul), Wendy Gifford (Louise), Danni Sheridan (Shiva), Lucille Soong (Yewar), Maureen Beck (nurse), Clive Swift (porter), Kitty Attwood (cleaner), Christopher Kum (wireless operator), Tommy Yapp, Cecil Cheng (Dacoits), Denis Holmes (constable), Nicholas Courtney (sergeant), Desmond Gill (warder) and the BRIDES: Christine Rau (Austrian), Daniele Defrere (Belgian), Yvonne Ekman (Danish), Jeanette Napper (English), Evelyne Dheliat (French), Katarina Quest (German), Anje Langstraat (Dutch), Grete-Lill Henden (Norwegian), Gaby Schar (Swiss).
Director: DON SHARP. Screenplay: Harry Alan Towers (under the pseudonym “Peter Welbeck”). Based on characters created by Sax Rohmer, the pen-name of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (1883-1959), who wrote thirteen novels outlining the battle of wits between Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu). Photographed in Eastman Colour by Ernest Steward. Art director: Frank White. Production supervisor: John Comfort. 2nd unit director: David Eady. 2nd unit photography: John Kotze. Music composed and directed by Johnny Douglas. Location manager: Bruce Sharman. Assistant director: Barrie Melrose. Make-up: George Partleton. Film editor: Alan Morrison. Hairdresser: Ann Box. Camera operator: Dudley Lovell. Wardrobe supervisors: H. Haynes, T. Haynes. Assistant art director: George Lack. Set continuity: Josie Fulford. Sound mixer: John Brommage. Sound recordist: Ken Cameron. Producer: Harry Alan Towers. Executive producer: Oliver A. Unger.
A Hallam Production, released in the U.K. by Anglo-Amalgamated (16 December 1966), in the U.S.A. by Seven Arts (14 December 1966). No New York opening. Registered: August, 1966. 94 minutes (U.S.A.); 91 minutes (U.K.). Sydney opening (Capitol): 2 June 1967.
COMMENT: Made by almost exactly the same team as The Face of Fu Manchu, it is pleasing to report that this second venture is equally as good — though in a different way. What strikes one about this film is the subtle use of colorr. From the first entrance of Fu Manchu wearing a green tunic against a background of reddish statuary to the climax of exploding machinery with a red light blinking in the gloom and a red handle shaking in its slot, the film is always visually striking. The director keeps the story moving at a fast clip and the action scenes are convincingly handled. The only jarring element is some unfortunate back projection in the outdoor scenes at the climax. Cast is adequate. One misses Nigel Green who played Nayland Smith in the first film and who then achieved such acclaim for his portrayal in The Ipcress File, he has priced himself out of this film’s budget.
See The Face of Fu Manchu in this book for an account of this series. [Brides is a very good quality Momentum DVD].
Brothers in Law
Richard Attenborough (Henry Marshall), Ian Carmichael (Roger Thursby), Terry-Thomas (Alfred Green), Jill Adams (Sally Smith), Miles Malleson (Kendall Grimes), Raymond Huntley (Tatlock), Eric Baker (Alec Blair), Olive Sloane (Mrs Newent), Nicholas Parsons (Charles Poole), John Le Mesurier (Judge Ryman), Irene Handl (Mrs Potter), Basil Dignam (Judge Emery), Henry Longhurst (Roger’s father), Edith Sharpe (Roger’s mother), Kynaston Reeves (Judge Lawson), Michael Ward (photographer), Everly Gregg (Mrs Barber), Robert Raglan (Cleaver), Kenneth Griffiths (undertaker), Ian Wilson (undertaker’s assistant), John Schlesinger (solicitor’s clerk , Assize Court), Margaret Lacey (villager), John Boxer (Mr Johnson), John Warren (Mr Venner), George Rose (Mr Frost), Leslie Phillips (shop assistant, legal supplies), Norma Shebbeare (fashion editress), Peggy Ann Clifford (Mrs Bristow), Stuart Saunders (Major Biddle), Penny Morell (Rosalie Biddle), Maurice Colbourne (official referee), Wyndham Goldie (Sally’s father), Rolf Le Feuvre (County Court judge), Ian Colin (County Court counsel), Brian Oulton (County Court client), Brian Fox (Herbert), Ronald Cardew (clerk, Old Bailey), John Van Eyssen (barrister, Old Bailey), Bob Gregory (Hallfield), John Welsh (Judge Fanshawe), Llewellyn Rees (Farrant), Bob Vosler (warder, Old Bailey), Jack McNaughton (robing room attendant), Susan Marryott (barmaid).
Directed by ROY BOULTING. Screenplay: Frank Harvey, Jeffrey Dell, Roy Boulting. Music composed and directed by Benjamin Frankel. Director of photography: Max Greene. Production supervisor: Henry Passmore. Art director: Albert Witherick. Film editor: Anthony Harvey. Assistant director: Philip Shipway. Camera operator: Cyril Gray. Set continuity: Beryl Booth. Sound recordist: Sid Wiles. Sound editor: James Shields. Make-up: Eric Aylott. Hairdressing: Polly Young. Costumes: Messrs Berman Ltd. Produced by John Boulting.
A Tudor Production (by arrangement with Charter Films), released in the U.K. by British Lion on 1 April 1957, in Australia by 20th Century-Fox on 18 July 1957, in the U.S.A. by Continental in October 1957. New York opening at the Guild: 19 August 1957. Registered: February 1957. “U” certificate. 8,470 feet. 94 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Roger Thursby (Ian Carmichael), called to the Bar, takes his first step up the legal ladder — a precarious ladder as he soon discovers. Parents expect him to follow in the distinguished footsteps of a late Uncle. Fate seems to plan otherwise. [Available on an excellent Optimum DVD].
COMMENT: Delightful collision of a nervous young barrister with supercilious colleagues and sarcastic judges, splendidly acted and zestfully directed. The script bubbles along from one amusing situation to the next, never once losing momentum thanks to the clever characterisations of a first-rate cast, including a heavily-disguised Terry-Thomas as a loquacious spiv.
Broth of a Boy
Tony Wright (Tony Randall), Barry Fitzgerald (Patrick Farrell), June Thorburn (Silin Lehane), Harry Brogan (Willie Farrell), Eddie Golden (Martin Lehane), Maire Kean (Molly Lehane), Godfrey Quigley (Desmond Phillips), Bart Bastable (bank manager), Dermot Kelly (Tim), Cecil Barror (O’Shaughnessy), Josephine Fitzgerald (Mrs O’Shaughnessy), Philip O’Flynn (Father Carey), Dennis Brennan (Bolger), Bill Foley (Connolly), Jack Cunningham (superintendent), Christopher Casson (district judge), Seamus Kavanaugh (Dowling), Geoffrey Golden (O’Driscoll), Annie D’Alton (Mrs O’Toole), Donald Bisset (Newcome), T.P. McKenna (assistant TV producer), John Hoey (caretaker), Vincent Dowling (Seamus), Charlie Byrne, James Tinkler (offenders), Cecil Nash, Desmond O’Neill (pub customers).
Director GEORGE POLLOCK. Screenplay: Patrick Kirwan, Blanaid Irvine. Based on the stage play “The Big Birthday” by Hugh Leonard. Photography: Walter J. Harvey. Camera operator Eric Besche. Film editor: Henry Richardson. Art director: Allan Harris. Assistant director: John “Pinky” Green. Music composed and conducted by Stanley Black. Production supervisor: Robert C. Liles. Sound recording: L. B. Bulkley. Producer: Alec C. Snowden. An Emmet Dalton Production, filmed at Ardmore Studios, Eire.