Elizabeth of Ladymead

Last updated

Elizabeth of Ladymead
"Elizabeth of Ladymead" (1948).jpg
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Written by Frank Harvey
Nicholas Phipps
Produced byHerbert Wilcox
J.D. Wilcox
Starring Anna Neagle
Hugh Williams
Bernard Lee
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Edited by Frank Clarke
Music by Robert Farnon
Production
company
Herbert Wilcox Productions
Distributed by British Lion Film Corporation
Release date
22 December 1948
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£298,654 [1]
Box office£154,864 (UK) [2]

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. [3] 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. [4] [5] In each era a Beresford is in the army and dresses in the uniform of the age in most scenes, even at home.

Contents

It was shot at Shepperton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director William C. Andrews. The drama was remade by the BBC as a TV production in 1949, with Patricia Burke as Elizabeth, John Robinson as John Beresford and Cathleen Nesbitt as Mother.

Plot

Four generations of women (all played by Anna Neagle in the film) have lived in Ladymead, a Georgian mansion, while their husbands are away at war. From the Crimean War to the Second World War, in each case the husband returns home to find his wife more independently minded: the Crimean War wife inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale, the Boer War wife a suffragette and peace activist, and the Great War wife a Jazz Age flapper.

The film begins in the Second World War with her officer husband, John Beresford, returning in a Short Sunderland. One evening at Ladymead House she faints, suffering concussion after imagining that she is trying to go through a door which is not there.

The story jumps to 1854 and a celebration following the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. John Beresford gives a speech. Elizabeth expresses a notion to help as a nurse with Florence Nightingale. They dance to the Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II (not actually written until 1866). Once alone Elizabeth plays Greensleeves on the piano for John. He explains the Charge of the Light Brigade to a friend. In the bedroom Elizabeth asks John to leave the army. He says the war is over (?) so there is now no risk. She presses him to run the estate instead. He refuses to change and says he will sleep in the dressing room. Elizabeth weeps next to the four-poster bed.

The story moves forward to 1903 as Elizabeth awaits the return of her husband from the Second Boer War. This time John is upset that Elizabeth has been managing the estate better than he did. Elizabeth sings Love's Old Sweet Song ("Just a Song at Twilight") as she plays the piano. Elizabeth shows an interest in politics and suffrage.

The story then switches to 1919, after the end of the First World War. John attends major celebrations in the city with crowds singing Auld Lang Syne before going back to Ladymead, which on arrival he finds unoccupied. His wife, who arrives shortly afterwards with a friend, Wrigley, does as she wishes: smoking cigarettes and dressing as a flapper. Wrigley explains how he avoided enlistment. Beresford, infuriated, throws him out. He and Elizabeth argue. John leaves the room and, in despair at his wife’s attitude, shoots himself.

The story reverts to 1945 and Elizabeth wakes from her faint. They go out dancing and she remembers the women in her dream.

Cast

Box Office

As of 30 June 1949 the film earned £129,700 in the UK of which £84,073 went to the producer. [1]

Critical reception

TV Guide wrote, "the stories are interesting at first, but by war No. 4 the film becomes pretty dull. Nice to look at, with lavish settings"; [6] while Leonard Maltin found Anna Neagle "charming as English lady-of-the-manor with mind of her own," and described the film as a "star vehicle, unsuccessful when released, quite intriguing today for its depiction of woman's role in English society"; [7] and Allmovie wrote, "Whenever the film becomes too repetitious, Elizabeth of Ladymead scores on the charm of Anna Neagle and her attractive deportment while wearing period costumes." [8]

US Release

The film received a limited release in the United States, where it was notable for doing exceptionally well in certain small media markets. In particular the film was the sixth most watched movie in every media market in the American state of Wyoming in 1948. Similarly, it was the tenth highest grossing movie in the state of Tennessee that year, if all media markets in Tennessee were combined. [9] Henry Wriston commented on the film's success in the south saying "Usually, when it comes to who is watching what, the state of Georgia is divided into three separate markets, those being: Atlanta, Savannah and the rest of it. That picture, Elizabeth of Ladymead, was one of the most watched pictures in the rest of it. If you didn't count the markets in Atlanta and Savannah it was in the top five highest grossing pictures in Georgia...it performed very well there." [10] Film critic Parker Tyler wrote in reference to the work of Ernest Dichter that "In New York and New Jersey nobody even heard of it, but, as we learned from Dichter's people, in Virginia people couldn't get enough of it. People in Virginia went back to see it again and again. It was in the top ten down there." [11] The quoted work in question showed that in western Pennsylvania the film was as widely watched as Easter Parade, which was one of the highest grossing films in the United States that year. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Neagle</span> English stage and film actress and singer

Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billie Burke</span> American stage and film actress (1884–1970)

Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musical The Wizard of Oz (1939).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Wilding</span> English actor

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; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, Under Capricorn (1949) and Stage Fright (1950); and he guest starred on Hitchcock's TV show in 1963. He was married four times, including to Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he had two sons.

<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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies</span> Anglo-Irish army officer

John Graham Hope Horsley de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies PC, styled The Hon. John Beresford until 1910, was an Anglo-Irish army officer, civil servant, and polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Wharton Drexel</span> American author and socialite (1868–1944)

Elizabeth de la Poer Beresford, Baroness Decies, was an American author and Manhattan socialite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Williams</span> English actor

Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.

<i>Odette</i> (1950 film) 1950 British film

Odette is a 1950 British war film based on the true story of Special Operations Executive French agent, Odette Sansom, living in England, who was captured by the Germans in 1943, condemned to death and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp to be executed. However, against all odds she survived the war and testified against the prison guards at the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials. She was awarded the George Cross in 1946; the first woman ever to receive the award, and the only woman who has been awarded it while still alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilka Grüning</span> Austrian-Hungarian actress

Ilka Grüning was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. A respected and famous actress of her time in the German-language area, she was forced to play bit parts in Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabel Jeans</span> English actress (1891–1985)

Isabel Jeans was an English stage and film actress known for her roles in several Alfred Hitchcock films and her portrayal of Aunt Alicia in the 1958 musical film Gigi.

<i>Sunny</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Herbert Wilcox

Sunny is a 1941 American musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Ray Bolger, John Carroll, Edward Everett Horton, Grace Hartman, Paul Hartman, Frieda Inescort, and Helen Westley. It was adapted by Sig Herzig from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play Sunny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Wilcox</span> Film producer and director from Britain

Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE was a British film producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Edwards (actor)</span> English actor and film director

Henry Edwards was an English actor and film director. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1952. He also directed 67 films between 1915 and 1937.

<i>The Courtneys of Curzon Street</i> 1947 film by Herbert Wilcox

The Courtneys of Curzon Street is a 1947 British drama film starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. It is a study of class division and snobbery in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<i>Derby Day</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film

Derby Day is a 1952 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Googie Withers, John McCallum, Peter Graves, Suzanne Cloutier and Gordon Harker. An ensemble piece, it portrays several characters on their way to the Derby Day races at Epsom Downs Racecourse. It was an attempt to revive the success that Neagle and Wilding had previously enjoyed on screen together. To promote the film, Wilcox arranged for Neagle to launch the film at the 1952 Epsom Derby. In the United States, the film was released as Four Against Fate.

Dame Sarah Elizabeth Oram, became a senior member of the Army Nursing Service (ANS) and Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), and served as Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector in the QAIMNS, and was attached to the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1914–1915 and subsequently as Acting Matron-in-Chief, QAIMNS, Eastern Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 1915–1919 during the First World War.

<i>Piccadilly Incident</i> 1946 British film

Piccadilly Incident is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer. Wilcox teamed his wife Anna Neagle with Michael Wilding for the first time, establishing them as top box-office stars in five more films, ending with The Lady with a Lamp in 1951. Wilding was third choice for leading man after Rex Harrison and John Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Phipps</span> British actor (1913–1980)

William Nicholas Foskett Phipps was a British actor and writer who appeared in stage roles between 1932 and 1967 and more than thirty films between 1940 and 1970. He wrote West End plays, songs and sketches for revues, and film scripts.

<i>The Lady with a Lamp</i> 1951 film by Herbert Wilcox

The Lady with a Lamp is a 1951 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding and Felix Aylmer. The film depicts the life of Florence Nightingale and her work with wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. It was shot at Shepperton Studios outside London. Location shooting took place at Cole Green railway station in Hertfordshire and at Lea Hurst, the Nightingale family home, near Matlock in Derbyshire. The film's sets were designed by the art director William C. Andrews. It is based on the 1929 play The Lady with a Lamp by Reginald Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilda Bayley</span> British actress

Hilda Christabel Bailey was a British theatre and film actress. On stage from 1913, she was in both stage and film versions of Carnival in 1918 and 1921, respectively; and in the controversial crime film Cocaine in 1922.

References

  1. 1 2 Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 355
  2. Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p487
  3. "Elizabeth of Ladymead (1948)". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
  4. Elizabeth of Ladymead (1948) at IMDb
  5. The American Film Institute Catalog Feature: Feature Films 1941-50 by The American Film Institute, c.1993
  6. "Elizabeth Of Ladymead".
  7. "Elizabeth Of Ladymead (1948) - Overview - TCM.com".
  8. "Elizabeth of Ladymead (1948) - Herbert Wilcox - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  9. Humanities in the South: News-Letter of the Southern Humanities Conference. Ed. : Sturgis E. Leavitt. N° 4, March, 1956 - University of North Carolina., 1956
  10. Executive Agents in American Foreign Relations by Henry M. Wriston - 1967
  11. Documentary Technique in Film Fiction by Parker Tyler - Johns Hopkins University Press, 1949
  12. The Birth of a Salesman: Ernest Dichter and the Objects of Desire by Daniel Horowitz