Nell Gwyn | |
---|---|
Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
Written by | Miles Malleson |
Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
Starring | Anna Neagle Cedric Hardwicke Jeanne de Casalis Miles Malleson Moore Marriott |
Cinematography | Freddie Young (as F.A. Young) |
Edited by | Merrill G. White |
Music by | Philip Braham |
Production company | Herbert Wilcox Productions (for) British & Dominions Film Corporation |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Nell Gwyn is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke, Jeanne de Casalis, Miles Malleson and Moore Marriott. The film portrays the historical romance between Charles II of England and the actress Nell Gwyn. [1] In the opening credits, the dialogue is credited to "King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwyn" with additional dialogue by Miles Malleson. [2] It was also released as Mistress Nell Gwyn.
This article needs a plot summary.(January 2024) |
Herbert Wilcox had enjoyed a big success with the Nell Gwynn story in 1926 with Dorothy Gish and decided to remake it with Anna Neagle (who would become his wife in 1943). Part of the finance was raised by United Artists. The film encountered censorship difficulties in the US, insisting on the deletion of some scenes and addition of others, including a marriage between James and Nell, and an ending where Nell winds up in the gutter. [3]
The film flopped in the US but was a big success in the rest of the world. [3] According to Film Weekly it was the third most popular film in Britain in 1935. [4]
The New York Times wrote, "Sir Cedric Hardwicke's superb portrait of a monarch who combined dignity and a love of pleasure sets the tone for the entire film, its easy graciousness and its pungent humours. Anna Neagle gives us a gay and sprightly Nell, seasoning the part with wantonness and edging it with vulgarity. These two, with Herbert Wilcox's fetching production at their back, set a gallant age in motion on the screen... All of the English players wear their laces and plumes with that true nonchalance which is one of their special gifts to the cinema. This "Nell Gwyn" is a costumed comedy of grace and wit"; [5] and Graham Greene wrote, "I have seen few things more attractive than Miss Neagle in breeches." [6]
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.
Victoria the Great is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. When Laurence Housman's play Victoria Regina was banned by the Lord Chamberlain, its subsequent Broadway success prompted King Edward VIII to commission producer Herbert Wilcox to turn it into a film, commemorating the centenary of Victoria's reign. The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrates initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after Albert's death in 1861. It was released in the year of Victoria’s great-grandson King George VI's coronation, which was also the centennial of Victoria's own accession to the throne. The movie was so successful that a sequel appeared the following year, Sixty Glorious Years.
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE was a British film producer and director.
Forever and a Day is a 1943 American drama film, a collaborative effort employing seven directors/producers and 22 writers, with an enormous cast of well-known stars.
Charles II of England has been portrayed many times.
They Flew Alone is a 1942 British biopic about aviator Amy Johnson directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Robert Newton and Edward Chapman. It was distributed in the UK and the US by RKO Radio Pictures.
These are the films of Charles Laughton:
The Queen's Affair is a 1934 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Fernand Gravey, Muriel Aked and Edward Chapman. An Eastern European President falls in love with the Queen whom he had previously deposed. It was also released as Queen's Affair and Runaway Queen.
Limelight is a 1936 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Arthur Tracy, Anna Neagle and Jane Winton. It was released in the U.S. as Backstage.
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.
Bitter Sweet is a British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and released by United Artists in 1933. It was the first film adaptation of Noël Coward's 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet. It starred Anna Neagle and Fernand Gravey, with Ivy St. Helier reviving her stage role as Manon. It was made at British and Dominion's Elstree Studios and was part of a boom in operetta films during the 1930s.
Trent's Last Case is a 1952 British detective film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Michael Wilding, Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles and John McCallum. It was produced by Wilcox as part of a distribution agreement with Republic Pictures. It was based on the 1913 novel Trent's Last Case by E. C. Bentley, and had been filmed previously in the UK with Clive Brook in 1920, and in a 1929 US version.
Three Maxims is a 1936 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Tullio Carminati and Leslie Banks. It was released in the United States under the alternative title The Show Goes On. Separate French and German language versions were filmed 1935 in Paris. The film's sets were designed by Wilcox's regular art director Lawrence P. Williams.
King's Rhapsody is a 1955 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and Patrice Wymore. Wymore was Errol Flynn's wife at the time of filming. It was based on the successful stage musical King's Rhapsody by Ivor Novello.
Peg of Old Drury is a 1935 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke and Margaretta Scott. The film is a biopic of 18th century Irish actress Peg Woffington. It was based on the play Masks and Faces by Charles Reade and Tom Taylor. It contains passages of 18th century Shakespearian performance, from The Merchant of Venice, Richard III and As You Like It.
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.
Nell Gwyn is a 1926 British silent romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton and Juliette Compton. It was based on the 1926 novel Mistress Nell Gwyn by Marjorie Bowen and follows the life of Nell Gwynne, the mistress of Charles II. Wilcox later made a second version of the film in 1934, Nell Gwynn which starred Anna Neagle.
Nell Gwyn (1650–1687) was an actress and long-time mistress of King Charles II of England.
Lilacs in the Spring is a 1954 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and David Farrar. The film was made at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director William C. Andrews. Shot in Trucolor it was distributed in Britain by Republic Pictures. It was the first of two films Neagle and Flynn made together, the other being King's Rhapsody. It was released in the United States as Let's Make Up.
The Glorious Days is a 1952 British musical composed by Harry Parr Davis and Harold Purcell from a book by Robert Nesbitt and Miles Malleson. It was designed as a vehicle for Anna Neagle, showcasing her in several roles throughout history including two Nell Gwynn and Queen Victoria which she had played in films.