Escape! (film)

Last updated

Escape!
Escape (1930 film).jpg
Directed by Basil Dean
Screenplay byBasil Dean
Based on Escape by John Galsworthy
Produced byBasil Dean
Starring Gerald du Maurier
Edna Best
Gordon Harker
Madeleine Carroll
Cinematography Jack MacKenzie
Edited by Jack Kitchin
Music by Ernest Irving
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release dates
  • 28 August 1930 (1930-08-28)(London [press screening], UK)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£40,000 or $200,000 [1]
Box office$550,000 [1]

Escape! is a 1930 British crime film directed by Basil Dean and starring Gerald du Maurier, Edna Best and Gordon Harker. [2] It was based on the 1926 play of the same title by John Galsworthy, which was adapted again as a film in 1948. [3]

Contents

Plot

Captain Matt Denant (Gerald du Maurier) is a former army officer who had been pursued by Germans during the war. He is riding at a hunt and, though he enjoys the sport, he empathises with the fox who stands little chance against the hounds.

Later, after a dinner in London he decides to walk on his own through a busy Hyde Park. Denant begins talking with a girl in the park (Mabel Poulton), who reveals herself to be a prostitute. Denant declines the woman's proposition and turns to continue on his walk. At that moment a plain clothes police officer (George Curzon) accosts the woman and accuses her of harassing Denant. Denant protests her innocence, maintaining that she had committed no crime. Denant then distracts the policeman, in order to give the woman time to escape. He is then involved in a scuffle, which results in Denant punching the officer to the ground, who hits his head on a rail and promptly dies. Denant is charged with manslaughter and sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Dartmoor.

Two years later Denant is part of a prison party working on the moor when heavy fog quickly descends on the area. Emboldened by his experiences in Germany, he decides to attempt to escape in the mist. He passes the Warren House Inn, a remote country pub and sees that his disappearance has been reported by the local newspaper. Narrowly evading the local constabulary, he finds himself after two days back only a mile from the prison. Exhausted, he rests in a country house bedroom and the next morning is discovered by the lady of the house (Edna Best). Rather than report Denant, she gives him chocolate and a drink and allows him to shave. Empathising with Denant as a gentleman, she allows him to disguise himself in her husband's fishing gear and clears his path out of the estate.

Whilst fishing he is approached by another gentleman (Horace Hodges) who realises Denant's identity and, reflecting on the case, offers him a cigar and "winks the other eye". Denant later hijacks a motorcar from a picnicking party and asks two walkers for directions to Bovey. They tell a pursuing police officer that they did not suspect the man due to him being a gentleman.

Overwhelmed by his ordeal, Denant reaches a quarry where he collapses from exhaustion. He is again discovered but evades the workers, eventually making his way into an upper-class home where he is again protected, this time by two girls named Dora (Madeleine Carroll) and Grace (Marie Ney). Finally, he runs into the village church as the net closes around him. The parson (Austin Trevor) distracts the surrounding policemen, but rather than let the vicar break his honour and lie to the inspector, Denant reveals himself and surrenders. The vicar shakes Denant's hand as he is led away, reflecting that he was a "fine" and "loyal" fellow who had committed a noble act of martyrdom.

Cast

Production

Escape! was the first film produced by Associated Talking Pictures (ATP), a company formed by Basil Dean, a prominent theatre director who had recently been increasingly involved in film, enlisting the distinguished actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier as the company's chairman. ATP had been intended to capitalise on the shift from silent cinema to sound and, in January 1930, Dean announced that ATP had reached an agreement with RKO, then one of the major Hollywood film studios, to produce joined UK/US films in British studios. As well as receive national release in the UK, the agreement indicated ATP's films would also be released widely in America, benefiting from RKO's chain of cinemas. RKO and RCA technicians were dispatched to England to demonstrate to British crews how to set up sound recording equipment on location shoots. [4] Escape!, based on a John Galsworthy play, was to the first film produced under this agreement after the rights were purchased from Paramount Pictures. [5]

Dean knew this presented a major opportunity to demonstrate to the American studios that prestigious films could be produced in England, setting to work on engaging a high-profile cast with experience of the theatre. His first choice for the central role of Capt Matt Denant was Colin Clive, [6] who turned Dean down in order to travel to Hollywood where he was to star in the role of Henry Frankenstein, creator of the monster in Universal's wildly successful horror film Frankenstein. In his place, Dean persuaded his reluctant chairman of ATP, Gerald du Maurier, a pre-eminent stage actor, to take the role himself.

For his supporting cast, Dean approached actors from the stage production, reducing the time needed to dedicate to rehearsals. Austin Trevor who had played the role of the Parson in London's West End in 1926 and New York City on Broadway the following year, reprised the role one more. The cast included Madeleine Carroll who would later become the world's highest-paid actress, George Curzon in his first film role, and Sir Lewis Casson in a rare on-screen credit.

As ATP did not yet have their own production facility (Dean would soon develop a full sound studio at Ealing Studios), Beaconsfield Studios, recently equipped to make sound films, was used instead. Dean's intention was to use Escape! to showcase England's picturesque scenery, with shoots arranged for Hyde Park Corner, a variety of locations around Dartmoor, and hunting scenes filmed in the village of Wansford. [7] The Hyde Park night shoot attracted controversy, as Dean arranged to use amateur extras to populate the busy scenes rather than pay an excess for professional artists. In the face of pressure from acting unions, Dean eventually relented. [8] The first attempt to film the Hyde Park scenes were compromised when Dean tried to record the music of the Welsh Guards band whom he had engaged for this purpose. A thrush landed on the microphone and refused to move. Frustrated, the musical director threw a piece of wood at the bird, which missed, hitting and destroying the microphone. The night's shooting was abandoned. [9] It was the first film wholly intended as a sound film to be released in the UK.

Critical response

The Bioscope declared Escape! to be a "brilliant" adaptation, but noting that it "struck an occasional theatrical note". The location scenes were also praised, with du Maurier's performance declared to be "effective", with the climax displaying "deep sincerity". However, the paper felt that "too much of his time is spent clambering over walls, hiding in barns and driving an old Ford car over the downs". Overall, the reviewer believed that the potential of the film "to be a great popular success can hardly be questioned". [10] Kinematograph Weekly believed the film was technically "flawless", acknowledging that Dean has worked hard to make the picture a success, with "imagination and good camera consciousness". However, it also noted that, though du Maurier's performance was "polished", he was "rather stilted and inclined to put too much stress on the sportsmanship, nobility, and breeding of the character that he interprets". [11]

Though the film was critical success in England, it failed to recoup its £40,000 budget. Immediately following its British release, Escape! was released in the United States, appearing in over 700 cinemas nationally. [12] This was an unprecedented release for a British film, but it ultimately failed to make any impact on American audiences. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cimarron</i> (novel) 1930 novel by Edna Ferber

Cimarron is a novel by Edna Ferber, published in April 1930 and based on development in Oklahoma after the Land Rush. The book was adapted into a critically acclaimed film of the same name, released in 1931 through RKO Pictures. The story was again adapted for the screen by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was released in 1960, to meager success.

<i>Behind the Screen</i> 1916 short film by Charlie Chaplin

Behind the Screen is a 1916 American silent short comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance. The film is in the public domain.

Commander Chambré George William Penn Curzon, known as George Curzon, was a Royal Navy commander, actor, and father of the present Earl Howe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Aherne</span> English actor

William Brian de Lacy Aherne was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.

<i>Murder!</i> 1930 film

Murder! is a 1930 British thriller film co-written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring and Edward Chapman. Written by Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville and Walter C. Mycroft, it is based on the 1928 novel Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. It was Hitchcock's third all-talkie film, after Blackmail (1929) and Juno and the Paycock (1930).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald du Maurier</span> British actor (1873–1934)

Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont, with whom he had three daughters: writers Angela du Maurier (1904–2002) and Dame Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989), and painter Jeanne du Maurier (1911–1997). His popularity was due to his subtle and naturalistic acting: a "delicately realistic style of acting that sought to suggest rather than to state the deeper emotions". His Times obituary said of his career: "His parentage assured him of engagements in the best of company to begin with; but it was his own talent that took advantage of them."

<i>The Rink</i> (film) 1916 film by Charlie Chaplin

The Rink, a silent film from 1916, was Charlie Chaplin's eighth film for Mutual Films. The film co-starred Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, and Albert Austin, and is best known for showcasing Chaplin's roller skating skills. Chaplin's obvious skill on roller skates surprised many of his fans, but Charlie was an experienced performer. As a touring vaudevillian with Fred Karno's pantomime troupe, Chaplin appeared in a roller-skating skit in which he displayed a talent for comedic falls—and the ability to cause other skaters to topple.

<i>Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue</i> 1954 film by Harold French

Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue is a 1953 adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions which is about Rob Roy MacGregor. It was the last Disney film released through RKO Radio Pictures.

This is a list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1930s, as determined by Publishers Weekly. The list features the most popular novels of each year from 1930 through 1939.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Byron Haskin

Treasure Island is a 1950 adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel of the same name. Directed by Byron Haskin, it stars Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. Treasure Island was Disney's first completely live-action film and the first screen version of Treasure Island made in color. It was filmed in the United Kingdom on location and at Denham Film Studios, Buckinghamshire.

Edward George Turner was a British entrepreneur who operated the first company in Britain to rent films and he invented one of the earliest sound synchronization systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Konstam</span> English actress

Phyllis Esther Kohnstamm, known as Phyllis Konstam, was an English film actress born in London. She appeared in 12 films between 1928 and 1964, including four directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

In its days as an entertainment centre for London, Harringay in North London also provided more locally directed entertainment in the shape of four cinemas. The earliest was opened in 1910 and was operating as a cinema until January 2003.

<i>Frenchmans Creek</i> (film) 1944 film by Mitchell Leisen

Frenchman's Creek is a 1944 adventure film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1941 novel of the same name, about an aristocratic English woman who falls in love with a French pirate. The film was released by Paramount Pictures and starred Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Córdova, Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway, and Nigel Bruce. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen. The musical score was by Victor Young, who incorporated the main theme of French composer Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune as the love theme for the film.

<i>Up the Creek</i> (1958 film) 1958 British film

Up the Creek is a 1958 British comedy film written and directed by Val Guest and starring David Tomlinson, Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, David Lodge and Lionel Jeffries.

<i>The Scotland Yard Mystery</i> 1934 film

The Scotland Yard Mystery is a 1934 British crime film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Sir Gerald du Maurier, George Curzon, Grete Natzler, Belle Chrystall and Wally Patch. The screenplay concerns a criminal doctor who operates a racket claiming life insurance by injecting victims with a life suspending serum turning them into living dead. The film is based on a play by Wallace Geoffrey. It was made by one of the biggest British companies of the era, British International Pictures, at their Welwyn Studios.

<i>Loyalties</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Basil Dean

Loyalties is a 1933 British drama film directed by Basil Dean and starring Basil Rathbone, Heather Thatcher and Miles Mander. It is based on the 1922 John Galsworthy play Loyalties.

<i>A Honeymoon Adventure</i> 1931 film

A Honeymoon Adventure is a 1931 British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Benita Hume, Peter Hannen and Harold Huth. Written in collaboration by Rupert Downing and Basil Dean, it The film was shot at Beaconsfield Studios. Location shooting, including the railway scenes took place in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenie Thomas</span> British actress (1898–1977)

Marjorie Violet Queenie Thomas was a British actress in silent films, called "England's Mary Pickford".

<i>The Blue Lagoon</i> (1923 film) Lost 1923 British-South African film

The Blue Lagoon is a lost 1923 British-South African silent film adaptation of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's 1908 novel of the same name about children who come of age while stranded on a tropical island. It is the first screen adaptation of the story, and two additional adaptations appeared in 1949 and 1980, with both versions achieving commercial success.

References

  1. 1 2 "English Making Money". Variety. 17 September 1930. p. 57.
  2. ↑ "Escape! (1930) - Basil Dean - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. ↑ Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   9783110951943 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ ""Escape!" Basil Dean's Big Names in Galsworthy Classic". Kinematograph Weekly. 30 March 1930.
  5. ↑ "Basil Dean's Tie-Up With R.K.O. - Joint British and U.S.A. Productions". The Bioscope. 15 January 1930.
  6. ↑ "Short Shots". The Bioscope. 26 February 1930.
  7. ↑ ""Escape!" Begins: Hunting Scenes Shot". Kinematograph Weekly. 27 March 1930.
  8. ↑ "Film Artists Protest Against "Pirates"". The Bioscope. 28 May 1930.
  9. ↑ Harding, James (1989). Gerald du Maurier: The Last Actor-Manager. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 170. ISBN   034042382X.
  10. ↑ "Sound and Dialogue Subjects "Escape!"". The Bioscope. 30 September 1930.
  11. ↑ "Escape! Review". Kinematograph Weekly. 4 September 1930.
  12. ↑ "Long Shots". Kinematograph Weekly. 4 September 1930.
  13. ↑ du Maurier, Daphne (1934). Gerald: A Portrait. London: Virago Press. p. 234. ISBN   1844080668.
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.