- The Admirable Crichton (film)
Infobox Film
name = The Admirable Crichton
caption =
director =Lewis Gilbert
producer =Ian Dalrymple
writer =J.M. Barrie (play)Lewis Gilbert (adaptation)Vernon Harris (screenplay)
starring =Kenneth More Diane Cilento Cecil Parker Sally Ann Howes Martita Hunt
music =Douglas Gamley Richard Addinsell (waltzes) (uncredited)
cinematography =Wilkie Cooper
editing =
distributor =
released = 1957
runtime = 94 min.
country = UK
awards =
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:83135
imdb_id = 0050100
"The Admirable Crichton" is a 1957 motion picture directed by
Lewis Gilbert and starringKenneth More ,Sally Ann Howes andCecil Parker . The film was based on the 1902 comedy byJ. M. Barrie , "The Admirable Crichton ".Kenneth More stars as Crichton, the highly efficient butler for a family of upper class British aristocrats. Though More is true master of the household, he knows his place, honouring the tightly regulated social structure of turn-of-the-century England. After the family, and its servants, are shipwrecked and marooned on a desert island, only Crichton has the skill and resourcefulness to keep everyone alive. Once a few months has passed, the social order has been reversed: Crichton takes control affectionately known as ‘’Guv’’, while his former employers, including a masterful performance byCecil Parker as Lord Loam are his willing and eager servants. Lady MarySally Ann Howes , assuming that she will never be able to return to her proper fiancé, falls in love with Crichton. However once the castaways are rescued and returned to their London estate, the original master-servant status quo is restored. His marriage to Lady Mary now an impossibility-a fact stressed in no uncertain terms by the young lady herself-Crichton calmly packs his bags and leaves, in the company of maidservant TweenyDiane Cilento , who has loved him all along. Barries' satirical jab at class consciousness (notably in the closing "interrogation scene", conducted by the imperious Lady Brocklehurst, played byMartita Hunt ) were not actually relevant in 1957; thus, The Admirable Crichton concentrates on the property's farcical and romantic elements.Other film adaptations
Other film versions of Barrie's play include a 1918 film adaptation directed by
G. B. Samuelson ,Cecil B. De Mille 's "Male and Female " (1919) and "We're Not Dressing " (1934), aBing Crosby vehicle. The play was also filmed twice for television, in 1950 and 1968.References
External links
*imdb title|id=050100|title=The Admirable Crichton
*amg movie|id=1:83135|title=The Admirable Crichton
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.