A Feast at Midnight

Last updated

A Feast at Midnight
Directed byJustin Hardy
Written byJustin Hardy
Yoshi Nishio
Produced byYoshi Nishio
Jonathan Hercock
Starring Christopher Lee
Robert Hardy
Edward Fox
Freddie Findlay
Aled Roberts
Julie Dreyfus
CinematographyTim Maurice-Jones
Edited byMichael Johns
Music by David Hughes
John Murphy
Release dates
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

A Feast at Midnight is a 1994 British comedy family film directed by Justin Hardy and starring Christopher Lee, Freddie Findlay, Robert Hardy, Samuel West, Edward Fox and Julie Dreyfus. The film is notable for being the feature film debut of future Conservative politician Michael Gove, as the chaplain. [1]

Contents

Plot

Dryden Park, a prep school in the remote English countryside, welcomes a new boy, Magnus (Freddie Findlay) whose father is convalescing in Paris, and whose mother has a new life elsewhere. Magnus, a small boy with no sporting aspirations, is immediately targeted by Bathurst and other bullies, getting no support from his housemaster, professor Longfellow (Christopher Lee), who is the sports master and "Raptor" to the students. The headmaster is sympathetic however, no doubt appreciative of another paying pupil. Magnus seeks solace in letters from his father (Edward Fox), with whom he shares a love of fine food, but the school follows a strict diet, so Magnus organizes two fellow-victims into a secret society, "The Scoffers", [lower-alpha 1] who invade the (out of bounds) school kitchen after "lights out" to prepare sweet treats and consume their handiwork. Raptor and the cook know something is afoot but fail to catch the culprits.

Others have their own guilty secrets, which help to complicate things - the headmaster has a fondness for peanut butter sandwiches as a late night snack, and Raptor and Miss Plunder, the house mother, have their own private parties. Both entail sneak visits to the kitchen.

One by one other boys are inducted into the "Scoffers", and they become more audacious as their cooking proficiency increases, culminating in a midnight birthday party for nurse Charlotte, Raptor's painfully shy but beautiful daughter. The party, at the school's indoor pool, is interrupted by the class bully, and by Raptor, who is furious, ordering his daughter back to her room. Outraged, she finally rebels.

In the final scene Magnus is picked up by his beloved father; they plot gastronomic adventures. Charlotte is hitch-hiking her way to London — or anywhere. Raptor has married Miss Plunder and softened somewhat — he gave his daughter a small wad of banknotes as a parting gift.

Cast

Release

The film was shown at the London Film Festival in November 1994. [2]

Reception

Empire said of the film: "Nothing about it suggests that it should have been made for the big screen, so modest is its scope."

Home media

A Feast at Midnight has been released in Australia as a DVD by Flashback Entertainment.

Notes

  1. ↑ Partly an homage to Auguste Escoffier, but mostly from the verb "scoff" — to consume voraciously.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Wicker Man</i> 1973 film by Robin Hardy

The Wicker Man is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee. The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual, and Paul Giovanni composed the film score.

This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The following is an overview of 1928 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Although some films released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent. This year is notable for the introduction of the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey Mouse, in the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first film to include a soundtrack completely created in post production.

This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

This is an overview of 1922 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

This is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Fox (actor)</span> British actor (born 1937)

Edward Charles Morice Fox is an English actor and a member of the Fox family.

<i>Evangeline</i> Epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windlesham House School</span> Preparatory school in Pulborough, West Sussex, England

Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory school in the United Kingdom. In 1967 it became the first IAPS co-educational school. The school moved to its current location in 1934. It caters for over 300 pupils. Children aged 4 to 7 are taught in the pre-prep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George B. Seitz</span> American film director

George Brackett Seitz was an American playwright, screenwriter, film actor and director. He was known for his screenplays for action serials, such as The Perils of Pauline (1914) and The Exploits of Elaine (1914).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Hardy</span> British actor (born 1977)

Edward Thomas Hardy is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001). He had supporting roles in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and RocknRolla (2008), and went on to star in Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Lawless (2012), This Means War (2012), and Locke (2013). In 2015, he starred as "Mad" Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road and both Kray twins in Legend, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Revenant. He has appeared in three Christopher Nolan films: Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Bane, and Dunkirk (2017). He has since starred as Eddie Brock/Venom in the film Venom and its 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He also portrayed Al Capone in the film Capone (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highgate School</span> Private school in Highgate, London

Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparatory School, Highgate junior school and the senior school (11+) – which together comprise the Highgate Foundation. As part of its wider work the charity was from 2010 a founding partner of the London Academy of Excellence and it is now also the principal education sponsor of an associated Academy, the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which opened in September 2017. The principal business sponsor is Tottenham Hotspur FC. The charity also funds the Chrysalis Partnership, a scheme supporting 26 state schools in six London boroughs.

<i>A Little Princess</i> (1995 film) Film by Alfonso Cuarón

A Little Princess is a 1995 American fantasy drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Loosely based upon the 1905 novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the film stars Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Liesel Matthews, Vanessa Lee Chester, Rusty Schwimmer, Arthur Malet, and Errol Sitahal. Its plot, heavily influenced by the 1939 cinematic version, focuses on a young girl who is relegated to a life of servitude at New York City boarding school after receiving news that her father was killed in combat.

Scots All Saints College is a multi-campus independent Presbyterian Church co-educational early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school, with two campuses in Bathurst New South Wales, Australia. Formed in 2019 through a merger of The Scots School, Bathurst which was founded in 1946, and the former All Saints' College in Bathurst which was founded in 1874. The college provides a religious and general education to approximately 800 children covering early learning through Kindergarten to Year 12.

<i>Charlottes Web 2: Wilburs Great Adventure</i> 2003 American film

Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure is a 2003 American animated direct-to-video musical adventure film. The sequel to the 1973 film Charlotte's Web, the film is a co-production between Universal Home Entertainment Productions and Paramount Pictures Corporation, with Nickelodeon Animation Studio handling production services, and Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Video respectively handling North American and overseas distribution.

Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story is a 2002 Canadian drama television film directed by John L'Ecuyer, based on a true story about Jonathan Wamback who, in 1999, was beaten by a group of teenagers and left to die near his Newmarket home. The film stars Tyler Hynes, Christopher Jacot, Ron White, Marnie McPhail, Janet-Laine Green, and Charlotte Sullivan.

St. Peter's School is a private all-boys boarding school located in the town of Panchgani in Satara, Maharashtra, India. Founded in 1902, it ranks among the top ten boarding schools in India. The school campus covers an area of approximately 58 acres (23 ha) in the hilly countryside of Western India. It is essentially a boarding school, but a few day scholars are also admitted.

Michael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director. He was a founding director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

References

  1. ↑ BFI.org
  2. ↑ Elley, Derek (3 October 1994). "London focuses slate on more populist fare". Variety . p. 20.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.