Evensong (film)

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Evensong
"Evensong" (1934).jpg
Directed by Victor Saville
Written by Dorothy Farnum
Based onplay Evensong by Edward Knoblock and Beverley Nichols
novel Evensong by Beverley Nichols
Produced by Graham Cutts
Starring Evelyn Laye
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Edited by Otto Ludwig
Music by Hubert Bath (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed by Gaumont British
Release date
September 1934 (London) (UK)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Evensong is a 1934 British musical film directed by Victor Saville and starring Evelyn Laye, Fritz Kortner and Emlyn Williams. [1] It is loosely based on the story of the singer Nellie Melba. It was shot the Lime Grove Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfred Junge.

Contents

This movie was the first film of Alec Guinness, who appears as an uncredited extra. [2]

Cast

Critical reception

The New York Times found the film "politely dull in its reverent examination of a songbird's career. But in its sober way it emerges as a superior musical entertainment...Victor Saville tells the story with tenderness, intelligence and skill and his method is technically invigorating in one lengthy sequence which he develops through the use of musical pantomime" ; [3] while Allmovie noted "Evelyn Laye made only a handful of film appearances, of which Evensong was arguably her finest" ; [4] and Time Out found it "a touch more sophisticated than the usual run of homegrown '30s musicals, genre specialist Saville's film benefits no end from the commanding and courageous central performance." [5]

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References

  1. "Evensong". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009.
  2. "Evensong". TVGuide.com.
  3. "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 23 July 2021.
  4. "Evensong (1934) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  5. "Evensong". Time Out London.