The Rake's Progress (film)

The Rake's Progress
Directed by	Sidney Gilliat
Produced by	Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat
Written by	Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat Val Valentine (story)
Starring	Rex Harrison Lilli Palmer
Music by	William Alwyn
Cinematography	Wilkie Cooper
Editing by	Thelma Connell
Distributed by	Rank Organisation
Release date(s)	29 December 1945
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Rake's Progress is a 1945 British comedy-drama film made in 1945. In the United States, the title was changed to Notorious Gentleman.

Plot

The plot follows the career of upper-class cad Vivian Kenway (Rex Harrison). He is sent down from Oxford University for placing a chamber pot on the Martyrs' Memorial. Sent to South America, he rebels against plantation life, eventually becoming a car racing driver. He descends to a life of woman-chasing and drunkenness, which causes the death of his father, Colonel Kenway (Godfrey Tearle). The plot diverges from the theme of the Rake's Progress paintings by having him redeem himself by a hero's death in World War II.

Cast

• Rex Harrison as Vivian Kenway
• Lilli Palmer as Rikki Krausner
• Godfrey Tearle as Colonel Kenway
• Griffith Jones as Sandy Duncan
• Margaret Johnston as Jennifer Calthrop
• Guy Middleton as Fogroy
• Jean Kent as Jill Duncan
• Patricia Laffan as Miss Fernandez
• Marie Lohr as Lady Parks
• Garry Marsh as Sir Hubert Parks
• David Horne as Sir John Brockley
• Alan Wheatley as Edwards
• Brefni O'Rorke as Bromhead
• John Salew as Burgess
• Charles Victor as Old Sweat

References

• Pym, John (2002). Time Out film guide. Harmondsworth [Eng.]: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-029395-7. 

External links

• The Rake's Progress at the Internet Movie Database
• The Rake's Progress at AllRovi