Doctor Syn (film)

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Doctor Syn
Doctor Syn (1937 film) poster.jpg
DVD-R cover
Directed by Roy William Neill
Maude T. Howell (asst.)
Written byRoger Burford
Michael Hogan
Based onnovel by Russell Thorndike
Produced by Michael Balcon
Edward Black
Starring George Arliss
Margaret Lockwood
John Loder
Cinematography Jack E. Cox
Edited by R. E. Dearing
Music by Louis Levy
Hugh Bath
Jack Beaver
Production
company
Release dates
  • 25 August 1937 (1937-08-25)(U.K.)
  • 14 November 1937 (1937-11-14)(U.S.)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Doctor Syn (Dr. Syn in the United States) is a 1937 British black-and-white historical dramatic adventure film, directed by Roy William Neill for Gainsborough Pictures. It stars George Arliss (in his last feature film), Margaret Lockwood, Graham Moffatt, and Ronald Shiner. [1] The film is based on the Doctor Syn novels of Russell Thorndike, set in 18th-century Kent. The character of Syn and the events at the film's climax were both softened considerably in comparison to Thorndike's original storyline.

Contents

Plot

Led by Captain Collyer, a detachment of Royal Navy tax revenue collectors arrive in the village of Dymchurch on Romney Marsh. The area is known for liquor-smuggling, and they are on the trail of the culprits. They find a peaceful village of apparently honest, pious, and simple folk, looked after benevolently by their philanthropic vicar, Doctor Syn.

Dr Syn is in fact The Scarecrow, the leader of the band of parish smugglers. He uses his cover as a man of the cloth to run a profitable smuggling ring, whose profits are used to improve the lives of the local citizenry by paying their heavy tax burden imposed by the Crown. Collyer gradually comes to suspect what is going on, after which a series of chases and confrontations takes place. The Scarecrow and his smugglers narrowly outwit their Royal Navy pursuers on the surrounding marshlands.

Captain Collyer finally discovers that Syn is none other than the notorious pirate Captain Clegg, thought to have been hanged many years earlier and buried in the graveyard at Dymchurch. Still one step ahead of the Collyer and his men, Syn destroys all incriminating evidence, after which he and his smugglers disappear, making their escape from England by merchant ship.

Cast

Production

This was the last film of George Arliss' contract with Gaumont British. [3] According to Arliss: "He is a quite good parson and there is virtue even in his smuggling. I think we can make him quite an amusing character, and the subject is picturesque and dramatic". [4]

The film was announced in April, [5] taking place at Gaumont British's studio at Islington. [6] There was some location work in Dymchurch [7] and the marshes around Rye and Winchelsea. [8]

Anna Lee was to play the female lead. She was replaced by Margaret Lockwood who impressed with her performance so much she was offered a three-year contract by Gainsborough Pictures. [9] This was a key turning point in Lockwood's career.

Music

There are two songs used in the film:

Home media

Dr. Syn was released in the U.S. on a public domain Region 1 DVD-R in 2014.

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 South Kent and Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lockwood</span> British stage and film actress (1916–1990)

Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was a British 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>Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh</i> 1915 novel by Russell Thorndike

Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh is the first in the series of Doctor Syn novels by Russell Thorndike. The book follows Christopher Syn, the kindly vicar of the little town of Dymchurch. Syn seems pleasant but he has a sinister past. At one time he was the vicious pirate Captain Clegg and he is also the mysterious "Scarecrow of Romney Marsh", masked leader of the local smugglers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gainsborough Pictures</span> Former British film studio

Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, northeast London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The company was initially based at Islington Studios, which were built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway and later converted to studios.

<i>The Wicked Lady</i> 1945 film

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dymchurch</span> Human settlement in England

Dymchurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village is located on the coast five miles (8 km) south-west of Hythe, and on the Romney Marsh.

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Arthur Russell Thorndike was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels. Less well-known than his sister Sybil but equally versatile, Russell Thorndike's first love was writing and, after serving in World War I, he devoted himself to it.

<i>Captain Clegg</i> (film) 1962 British film by Peter Graham Scott

Captain Clegg is a 1962 British adventure horror film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, and Oliver Reed. It produced by John Temple-Smith for Hammer Film Productions. It is loosely based on the Doctor Syn character created by Russell Thorndike.

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Ronald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.

Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938). Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry" and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money." In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had. Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."

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References

  1. BFI.org
  2. "The Man Who Doubles for George Arliss". Lancashire Evening Post: 4. 1 December 1937.
  3. "SPOTLIGHT ON TODAY'S TALKIES". The News . Vol. XXVIII, no. 4, 319. Adelaide. 27 May 1937. p. 12. Retrieved 7 May 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  4. "PICTURES & PERSONALITIES". The Mercury . Vol. CXLVII, no. 20, 843. Tasmania. 11 September 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 7 May 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Flashes". The Age . No. 25, 651. Victoria, Australia. 3 July 1937. p. 6 (THE AGE HOME SECTION). Retrieved 7 May 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  6. "STUDIO AND SCREEN: A Schools Film Institute Group for Manchester--Making a Star--Some New Films". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). 29 April 1937. p. 12.
  7. "TALKIE NEWS". The Chronicle . Vol. LXXX, no. 4, 208. Adelaide. 8 July 1937. p. 51. Retrieved 7 May 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Dr Syn Unit to Film near Hastings". Hastings and St Leonards Observer: 9. 29 May 1937.
  9. "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: 'Woman Chases Man' Opens Today at Music Hall'George and Margaret' on Warner's Program News From Hollywood". New York Times. 10 June 1937. p. 27.
  10. "Heavenly Home". Hymnary.Org. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  11. "Come Landlord fill the Flowing Bowl". Classic English Folk Lyrics. Retrieved 7 May 2018.