Bitter Sweet | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
Screenplay by | Lydia Hayward Monckton Hoffe Herbert Wilcox |
Based on | Bitter Sweet 1929 operetta by Noël Coward |
Starring | Anna Neagle Fernand Gravey Esme Percy Clifford Heatherley Ivy St. Helier |
Music by | Roy Robertson |
Cinematography | Freddie Young |
Edited by | Michael Hankinson |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date | 31 August 1933 |
Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | £500,000 [1] |
Bitter Sweet is a British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and released by United Artists in 1933. It was the first film adaptation of Noël Coward's 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet . It starred Anna Neagle and Fernand Gravey, with Ivy St. Helier reviving her stage role as Manon. It was made at Elstree Studios and was part of a boom in operetta films during the 1930s.
It tells the story of Sarah Linden's romance. Sarah, now a gray-haired old woman, tells her story to a girl who is on the eve of marrying an obnoxious man when she is really in love with a musician. [2]
The operetta was remade in 1940 as a film of the same name with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy; however, it was less faithful to the original story than the less censored 1933 version. [3]
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According to Wilcox the film made no profits. He later wrote "it must have been my fault, for surely a better musical play has never been written... perhaps, however, the story is rather too sad for a film." [4]
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer and dancer.
Bitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts, with book, music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The story, set in 19th century and early 20th century England and Austria-Hungary, centres on a young woman's elopement with her music teacher. The songs from the score include "The Call of Life", "If You Could Only Come with Me", "I'll See You Again", "Dear Little Café", "If Love Were All", "Ladies of the Town", "Tokay", "Zigeuner" and "Green Carnation".
Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle, for the two films he made with Alfred Hitchcock and for being Elizabeth Taylor's second husband.
The Great Waltz is a 1938 American biographical film based very loosely on the life of Johann Strauss II. It starred Luise Rainer, Fernand Gravet (Gravey), and Miliza Korjus. Rainer received top billing at the producer's insistence, but her role is comparatively minor as Strauss' wife, Poldi Vogelhuber. It was the only starring role for Korjus, who was a famous opera soprano and played one in the film.
Ivy Janet Aitchison better known as Ivy St. Helier was a British stage actress, composer and lyricist.
Fernand Gravey, also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by pioneer Belge Cinéma Film.
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE, was a British film producer and director who was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife Anna Neagle.
Bitter Sweet is a 1940 American Technicolor musical film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, based on the operetta Bitter Sweet by Noël Coward. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Cinematography and the other for Best Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons and John S. Detlie.
Elizabeth of Ladymead is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Hugh Williams, Isabel Jeans and Bernard Lee. It charts the life of a British family between 1854 and 1945 and their involvement in four wars - the Crimean War, Boer War, First World War and Second World War.
Goodnight, Vienna is a 1932 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Jack Buchanan, Anna Neagle and Gina Malo. Two lovers in Vienna are separated by the First World War, but are later reunited.
The Queen's Affair is a 1934 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Fernand Gravey, Muriel Aked and Edward Chapman. An Eastern European President falls in love with the Queen whom he had previously deposed. It was also released as Queen's Affair and Runaway Queen.
Nell Gwynn is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke, Jeanne de Casalis, Miles Malleson and Moore Marriott. The film portrays the historical romance between Charles II of England and the actress Nell Gwynn. In the opening credits, the screenplay is attributed to Miles Malleson, "in collaboration with King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwyn." It was also released as Mistress Nell Gwyn.
Limelight is a 1936 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Arthur Tracy, Anna Neagle and Jane Winton. It was released in the U.S. as Backstage.
No, No, Nanette is a 1940 American film directed by Herbert Wilcox and based on both the 1919 stage play No, No, Nanette and the 1930 film No, No, Nanette. It was one of several films the British producer/director made with Anna Neagle for RKO studios in the U.S.
London Melody is a 1937 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Tullio Carminati and Robert Douglas. It was made at British and Dominions Imperial Studios, Elstree and Pinewood Studios by Wilcox's independent production company and distributed by J. Arthur Rank's General Film Distributors. It was also released with the alternative title Look Out for Love.
The Little Damozel is a 1933 British romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, James Rennie and Benita Hume. It is based on the 1908 play by Monckton Hoffe, previously filmed in 1916. The screenplay concerns a captain who pays one of his sailors to marry a woman who works in a nightclub. Dresses for the film were designed by Doris Zinkeisen.
Wonderful Things! is a 1958 British comedy romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Frankie Vaughan, Jocelyn Lane and Wilfrid Hyde-White. It was written by Jack Trevor Story. The screenplay concerns two fishermen brothers who clash over the love of a woman.
Nell Gwyn is a 1926 British romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton and Juliette Compton. It was based on the 1926 novel Mistress Nell Gwyn by Marjorie Bowen and follows the life of Nell Gwynne, the mistress of Charles II. Wilcox later made a second version of the film in 1934, Nell Gwynn which starred Anna Neagle.
Lilacs in the Spring is a 1954 British musical film starring Anna Neagle and Errol Flynn. It was the first of two movies the stars made together, the other being King's Rhapsody. It was released in the US as Let's Make Up. It was the feature film debut of Sean Connery.
This is a summary of 1933 in music in the United Kingdom.
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