Adam and Evelyne

Last updated

Adam and Evelyne
Adam and Evelyne VideoCover.jpeg
Poster with the American title
Directed by Harold French
Written by Noel Langley (story)
George Barraud
Nicholas Phipps
Lesley Storm
Produced byHarold French
Starring Stewart Granger
Jean Simmons
Production
company
Distributed byRank Films
Release date
  • 31 May 1949 (1949-05-31)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office189,023 admissions (France) [1]

Adam and Evelyne, released in the U.S. as Adam and Evalyn, is a 1949 romance film starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons. Based on a storyline written by Granger and Noel Langley, it was both directed and produced by Harold French. According to Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, the leads suited the stars, as they were romantically involved at the time, despite their age difference. They married the next year. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

When jockey Chris Kirby (Fred Johnson) is fatally injured in a horse race, he gets his best friend, gambler Adam Black (Stewart Granger), to promise to take care of his teenage daughter, Evelyne (Jean Simmons), who has been raised apart from her father. Unbeknownst to Adam, Evelyne had been led to believe that Adam is her father in correspondence between parent and child. Adam is unable to tell her the truth; his butler and friend Bill Murray (Edwin Styles) tries and fails as well. Finally, Adam's sometime girlfriend Moira (Helen Cherry) breaks the news to the girl.

Adam sends Evelyne to an exclusive boarding school. When she has grown up, she reappears unexpectedly in his life. Because of the hatred she has for gambling, Adam does not reveal that he stages illegal gambling sessions; instead he tells her that he makes his money on the stock exchange. She begins casually dating Adam's no-good brother Roddy (Raymond Young).

When Adam tells Moira that he is getting out of the business, she accuses him of being in love with his "ward". Roddy has his own grudge against his brother – Adam refuses to finance a shady deal – and the two of them tip off the police about Adam's last operation. Roddy also brings Evelyne to see what Adam really does for a living.

Shocked, she quarrels with Adam and leaves. A kindly gambler, Colonel Bradley (Wilfred Hyde-White), gives her some sage advice and persuades her to reconcile with Adam.

Cast

Production

Stewart Granger says the storyline of the film was his, based on the old silent film Daddy Long Legs , He contacted the writer Noel Langley and they wrote it as a vehicle for Jean Simmons. "It was a very good vehicle for her", he said. "It was a sweet film, a charming light comedy." [4]

Director Harold French also said he "really liked" the film.

At that stage I could pick and choose and I really liked that one. I became producer because Paul Soskin, who was to have produced it, didn’t like the fact that I had employed an actor called Edwin Styles for the part of the valet; I thought he was quite good and he got on well with Jimmy [Stewart] Granger in his first comedy role. Paul said he wanted to go back to America, and would I take over as producer? I didn’t mind... I did enjoy that film and I adored working with Jean Simmons, a lovely actress. [5]

This was the first adult role of Jean Simmons, who had become a star in Great Expectations . [6]

Simmons and Granger were rumoured to be romantically involved during filming although they denied it to the press. [7]

Production of the film was interrupted by a strike from crew members at Denham Studios in protest over recent sackings of film workers. (Others which ceased production were The Cardboard Cavalier and Tottie True .) [8]

Reception

The film was voted best comedy of the year at the International Film Festival in Locarno Switzerland. [9]

Box office

It was successful at the box office in Britain. [10] [11]

Critical

Rank and File wrote in 2013, "The audience isn't certain whether they are watching a drama or a not particularly funny screwball comedy...Despite these shortcoming the film has a certain charm and remains watchable." [12] Some time, likely in the 2000s, critic Leonard Maltin called it a "Pleasant but ordinary tale". [13] [ failed verification ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Kerr</span> British film and television actress (1921–2007)

Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE, known professionally as Deborah Kerr, was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be nominated for any acting Oscar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Simmons</span> British actress and singer (1929–2010)

Jean Merilyn Simmons was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets," she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Britain during and after the Second World War, followed mainly by Hollywood films from 1950 onwards.

<i>Young Bess</i> 1953 film by George Sidney

Young Bess is a 1953 Technicolor biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about the early life of Elizabeth I, from her turbulent childhood to the eve of her accession to the throne of England. It stars Jean Simmons as Elizabeth and Stewart Granger as Thomas Seymour, with Charles Laughton as Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, a part he had played 20 years before in The Private Life of Henry VIII. The film was directed by George Sidney and produced by Sidney Franklin, from a screenplay by Jan Lustig and Arthur Wimperis based on the novel of the same title by Margaret Irwin (1944).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart Granger</span> British actor (1913-1993)

Stewart Granger was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lockwood</span> British stage and film actress

Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74).

<i>The Blue Lagoon</i> (1949 film) 1949 British coming-of-age romance and adventure film directed by Frank Launder

The Blue Lagoon is a 1949 British coming-of-age romance and adventure film directed and co-produced by Frank Launder and starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston. The screenplay was adapted by John Baines, Michael Hogan, and Frank Launder from the 1908 novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed by Clifton Parker and the cinematography was by Geoffrey Unsworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Kent</span> English actress

Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field was an English film and television actress.

<i>The Weak and the Wicked</i> 1954 film by J. Lee Thompson

The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson based on the autobiographical novel Who Lie in Gaol by his wife, Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors.

<i>Madonna of the Seven Moons</i> 1945 British film

Madonna of the Seven Moons is a 1945 British drama film starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. Directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures, the film was produced by Rubeigh James Minney, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by Roland Pertwee. It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas of the mid-1940s popular with WW2-era female audiences.

<i>Blanche Fury</i> 1948 British film

Blanche Fury is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. It was adapted from a 1939 novel of the same title by Joseph Shearing. In Victorian era England, two schemers will stop at nothing to acquire the Fury estate, even murder.

<i>Footsteps in the Fog</i> 1955 British film by Arthur Lubin

Footsteps in the Fog is a 1955 British Technicolor Victorian-era crime thriller starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons, with a screenplay co-written by Lenore Coffee and Dorothy Davenport, and released by Columbia Pictures. Directed by Arthur Lubin, the film is based on the W. W. Jacobs short story "The Interruption".

<i>Fanny by Gaslight</i> (film) 1944 British film starring James Mason

Fanny by Gaslight is a 1944 British drama film, directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Gainsborough Pictures, set in the 1870s and adapted from a 1940 novel by Michael Sadleir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Roc</span> English actress (1915–2003)

Patricia Roc was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) and The Wicked Lady (1945), though she only made one film in Hollywood, Canyon Passage (1946). She also appeared in Millions Like Us (1943), Jassy (1945), The Brothers (1947) and When the Bough Breaks (1947).

<i>Caravan</i> (1946 film) 1946 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree

Caravan is a 1946 British black-and-white drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree. It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas and is based on the 1942 novel Caravan by Eleanor Smith.

The Clouded Yellow is a 1950 British mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty E. Box for Carillon Films. It stars Jean Simmons and Trevor Howard. A dismissed secret service agent falls in love with a disturbed young woman who is wrongly accused of murder and the two go on the run, pursued by the police, the secret service, and the real murderer.

<i>Affair with a Stranger</i> 1953 film by Roy Rowland

Affair with a Stranger is a 1953 American comedy-drama directed by Roy Rowland and starring Jean Simmons and Victor Mature. It was originally to be released as Kiss and Run.

<i>The Magic Bow</i> 1946 film

The Magic Bow is a 1946 British musical film based on the life and loves of the Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. It was directed by Bernard Knowles. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Kangaroo</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Lewis Milestone

Kangaroo is a 1952 American Western film directed by Lewis Milestone. It was the first Technicolor film filmed on location in Australia. Milestone called it "an underrated picture."

<i>Trottie True</i> 1949 British film

Trottie True is a 1949 British musical comedy film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Jean Kent, James Donald and Hugh Sinclair. It was known as The Gay Lady in the US, and is an infrequent British Technicolor film of the period. According to BFI Screenonline, "British 1940s Technicolor films offer an abundance of visual pleasures, especially when lovingly restored by the National Film Archive. Trottie True is not among the best known, but comes beautifully packaged, gift wrapped with all the trimmings." The film is based on a novel by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon, published in 1946. The New York Times called it "a typical Gay nineties success story" that "amuses but never convulses the reader."

<i>Woman Hater</i> (1948 film) 1948 British film

Woman Hater is a 1948 British romantic comedy film directed by Terence Young and starring Stewart Granger, Edwige Feuillère and Ronald Squire. The screenplay concerns Lord Datchett, who, as a consequence of a bet with his friends, invites a French film star to stay at his house but pretends to be one of his employees while he tries to romance her with the help of his butler. When she discovers his subterfuge, she decides to turn the tables on him.

References

  1. ↑ Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
  2. ↑ "Wedding bells mean journeys for Jean Simmons". The Australian Women's Weekly . 30 December 1950. p. 31. Retrieved 20 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Romance started for Jean Simmons when 14". Sunday Mail . Brisbane. 14 January 1951. p. 15. Retrieved 20 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Brian MacFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Methuen 1997 p 231
  5. ↑ Brian MacFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Methuen 1997 p 213
  6. ↑ "JEAN SIMMONDS TO FACE F/LIGHTS". Townsville Daily Bulletin . Qld. 16 November 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 20 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Famous stars are real-life friends". The Australian Women's Weekly . 8 January 1949. p. 32. Retrieved 20 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "FILM STRIKE". The Sunday Times . Perth. 31 October 1948. p. 12 Section: The Sunday Times Sporting Section. Retrieved 4 March 2013– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ DEVELOPMENT CHARGES. (20 July 1949). The Scotsman
  10. ↑ "FILM NEWS". South Western Advertiser . Perth. 16 June 1949. p. 15. Retrieved 20 June 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
  12. ↑ "Rank and File – A British Cinema Blog". rankandfile1.blogspot.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "Adam And Evelyne (1949) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
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.