Director: FREDERICK WILSON. Screenplay: Diana Morgan. Based on the 1930 novel by Eric Linklater. Photography: George Stretton. Film editor: Peter Bezencenet. Music composed by Clifton Parker, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson. Song, "Half a World Away" by John Leighton and Colin Forster. Production designer: Douglas Daniels. Associate art director: Roy Oxley. Set decorator: Denys Pewitt. Camera operators: Bill Allan, Arthur Ibbetson. Special effects: Francis Carver, John Gow. Set continuity: Connie Willis. Dresses: Eve Betts Ltd. Wardrobe: Monty Berman Ltd. Transparency photography: Kenneth Danvers. Transparency projection: Charles Staffel. Production planner: John Defries. Frame supervisor: Geoffrey Woodward. Assistant producer: Ralph Nunn-May. Production manager: Denis Holt. Assistant director: Jack Martin. Sound editor: Len Trumm. Sound recording: Charles Knott, Gordon K. McCallum. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Donald B. Wilson.
Copyright 1949 by Aquila Film Productions Ltd. Presented by J. Arthur Rank. Released in the U.K. through General Film Distributors: 8 August 1949. Never released theatrically in the U.S.A. but available to television stations through Walter Reade. Australian release scheduled through British Empire Films but never released. 79 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: In spite of the fact that direction is rather ragged, this adaptation of Eric Linklater's delightful novel is really good fun.
PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Great special effects, but unless you're an expert you won't notice them-which is the way special effects should be.
COMMENT: I enjoyed Linklater's novel, but I found this movie version a little disappointing. Playing, direction and writing tend towards knockabout slapstick rather than sparkling wit, and tend to embrace conventionalities rather than try anything too fresh and original.
Nonetheless, it's a very pleasant - if highly forgettable - experience for those unacquainted with the far richer and infinitely brighter entertainment provided by the book. Fortunately many of Linklater's characters-a gorgeously bizarre bunch-are preserved to a fair degree, and the players are absolutely entrancing.
True, the director has obviously encouraged Joyce Grenfell to over-adorn her characterization, but the principals, as noted above, are a delight. Barbara Murray makes a lovely Nelly Bly, whilst John McLaren is suitably charming as an American collector and Roddy Hughes adds to the fun as a wonderfully frazzled desk clerk.
Copyright 1949 by Aquila Film Productions Ltd. Presented by J. Arthur Rank. Released in the U.K. through General Film Distributors: 8 August 1949. Never released theatrically in the U.S.A. but available to television stations through Walter Reade. Australian release scheduled through British Empire Films but never released. 79 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: In spite of the fact that direction is rather ragged, this adaptation of Eric Linklater's delightful novel is really good fun.
PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Great special effects, but unless you're an expert you won't notice them-which is the way special effects should be.
COMMENT: I enjoyed Linklater's novel, but I found this movie version a little disappointing. Playing, direction and writing tend towards knockabout slapstick rather than sparkling wit, and tend to embrace conventionalities rather than try anything too fresh and original.
Nonetheless, it's a very pleasant - if highly forgettable - experience for those unacquainted with the far richer and infinitely brighter entertainment provided by the book. Fortunately many of Linklater's characters-a gorgeously bizarre bunch-are preserved to a fair degree, and the players are absolutely entrancing.
True, the director has obviously encouraged Joyce Grenfell to over-adorn her characterization, but the principals, as noted above, are a delight. Barbara Murray makes a lovely Nelly Bly, whilst John McLaren is suitably charming as an American collector and Roddy Hughes adds to the fun as a wonderfully frazzled desk clerk.