Brandy for the Parson

Last updated

Brandy for the Parson
"Brandy for the Parson" (1952).jpg
British theatrical poster
Directed by John Eldridge
Written byWalter Meade
John Dighton
Alfred Shaughnessy (additional scenes & dialogue)
Based onstory Brandy for the Parson by Geoffrey Household
Starring James Donald
Kenneth More
Jean Lodge
CinematographyMartin Curtis
Edited byJohn Trumper
Music by John Addison
Production
company
Distributed by Associated British-Pathé (UK)
Release date
20 May 1952 (London) (UK)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£50,000 [1]

Brandy for the Parson is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Eldridge and starring Kenneth More, Charles Hawtrey, James Donald and Jean Lodge. [2] It was based on a short story by Geoffrey Household from Tales of Adventurers (1952). [3] The title is a reference to the refrain of the poem "A Smuggler's Song" by Rudyard Kipling. [4]

Contents

Plot

Bill and Petronilla are a young couple on a yachting holiday. They agree to give a lift to friendly Tony and his cargo, who unbeknownst to them is a brandy smuggler. Before they know it, the couple are fleeing cross-country, chased by customs men. [5]

Main cast

Critical reception

Allmovie called it "wafer-thin comedy"; [6] and The New York Times called it "a mild but tasty distillate." [7] Picture Show magazine found it "well acted against a delightful background of English scenery, beautifully photographed", and the film's executive producer John Grierson described it as "a sweet lemon of a picture" with a feel of "old oak and seaweed". [8]

Related Research Articles

The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh was published in 1915. The story idea came from smuggling in the 18th-century Romney Marsh, where brandy and tobacco were brought in at night by boat from France to avoid the tax. Minor battles were fought, sometimes at night, between gangs of smugglers, such as the Hawkhurst Gang, and the Revenue, supported by the army and local militias in the South, Kent and the West, Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth More</span> British actor (1914–1982)

Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE was an English film and stage actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)</span> English actor, comedian, singer, pianist and theatre director

George Frederick Joffre Hartree, known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English actor, comedian, singer, pianist and theatre director.

<i>Dentist on the Job</i> 1961 British comedy film

Dentist on the Job is a 1961 British comedy film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards, the sequel to Dentist in the Chair (1960). It was released in the US with the title Get On with It!. The film was co-written by Hugh Woodhouse and Hazel Adair. It stars Bob Monkhouse, Kenneth Connor, Ronnie Stevens and Eric Barker repeating their roles from the previous film. Other actors appearing in the film include Shirley Eaton, Richard Wattis and Charles Hawtrey. Monkhouse, Eaton, Connor, Barker and Hawtrey had all previously acted together in unrelated 1958 comedy Carry On Sergeant.

James Donald Scottish actor

James Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors.

<i>Doctor in the House</i> 1954 British film

Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of students through medical school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Houston</span> Welsh actor

Donald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films—The Blue Lagoon (1949) with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in his career he was cast in military roles and in comedies such as the Doctor and Carry On series.

<i>Carry On Girls</i> 1973 film by Gerald Thomas

Carry On Girls is a 1973 British comedy film, the 25th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). The film features regulars Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butterworth. This Carry On featured neither Kenneth Williams nor Charles Hawtrey; Williams was unavailable and Hawtrey had been dropped from the series.

Geraldine Brooks (actress) American actress

Geraldine Brooks was an American actress whose three-decade career on stage as well as in films and on television was noted with nominations for an Emmy in 1962 and a Tony in 1970. She was married to author Budd Schulberg.

Geoffrey Edward West Household was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel Rogue Male (1939).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Murray</span> British screen actress (1929-2014)

Barbara Ann Murray was an English actress.

<i>She Couldnt Take It</i> 1935 film by Tay Garnett

She Couldn't Take It is a 1935 screwball comedy film made at Columbia Pictures, directed by Tay Garnett, written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne and Oliver H.P. Garrett, and starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. It was one of the few comedies Raft made in his career.

<i>Papas Delicate Condition</i> 1963 film by George Marshall

Papa's Delicate Condition is a 1963 American comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and Glynis Johns. It was an adaptation of the Corinne Griffith memoir of the same name, about her father and growing up in Texarkana, Texas. Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Call Me Irresponsible".

<i>Man of the Moment</i> (1935 film) 1935 British film

Man of the Moment is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Laura La Plante and Margaret Lockwood. It was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film's art direction was by Peter Proud.

<i>Suspect</i> (1960 film) 1960 British film

Suspect is a 1960 British thriller film directed by Roy Boulting and John Boulting and starring Tony Britton, Virginia Maskell, Ian Bannen, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. Based on the 1949 novel A Sort of Traitors by Nigel Balchin, it was filmed on a limited budget at Shepperton in seventeen days. The film was released in the United States as The Risk.

<i>Marry Me!</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

Marry Me! is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring Derek Bond, Susan Shaw, Patrick Holt, Carol Marsh and David Tomlinson.

Jean Margaret Lodge is an English stage, film and television actress.

<i>Tony Draws a Horse</i> 1950 British film

Tony Draws a Horse is a 1950 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Cecil Parker, Anne Crawford and Derek Bond. It was adapted from a 1939 play of the same name by Lesley Storm.

<i>To Dorothy a Son</i> 1954 film

To Dorothy a Son is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Muriel Box and starring Shelley Winters, John Gregson and Peggy Cummins. Known in the U.S. as Cash on Delivery, it is based on the 1950 play To Dorothy, a Son by Roger MacDougall which had enjoyed a lengthy run in the West End. It was shot at Elstree Studios near London with sets designed by the art director George Provis. It was distributed in America by RKO Pictures in January 1956.

<i>My Death Is a Mockery</i> 1952 British film

My Death Is a Mockery is a 1952 British crime film directed by Tony Young and starring Donald Houston, Kathleen Byron and Bill Kerr.

References

  1. Group Three - a lesson in state intervention? Popple, Simon. Film History; New York Vol. 8, Iss. 2, (Jan 1, 1996): 131.
  2. "Brandy for the Parson (1952)". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  3. Louis XIV, the Sun King (Nick Jones). "Existential Ennui: Tales of Adventurers: Short Stories by Geoffrey Household (Michael Joseph First Edition, 1952)". existentialennui.com.
  4. "Poems - A Smuggler's Song". kiplingsociety.co.uk.
  5. howardmorley (16 August 1952). "Brandy for the Parson (1952)". IMDb.
  6. Hal Erickson. "Brandy for the Parson (1952) - John Eldridge - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  7. "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 7 October 2021.
  8. Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, p. 116.