The Brothers (1947 film)

Last updated

The Brothers
"The Brothers" (1947).jpg
Original British 1-sheet poster
Directed by David MacDonald
Written by Muriel Box
Sydney Box
adaptation
Paul Vincent Carroll
David MacDonald
LAG Strong
Based onnovel by LAG Strong
Produced bySydney Box
Starring Patricia Roc
Will Fyffe
Maxwell Reed
Finlay Currie
John Laurie
Cinematography Stephen Dade
Edited byVladimir Sagovsky
Music by Cedric Thorpe Davie
Production
company
Triton
Distributed by General Film Distributors (UK)
Universal Pictures (USA)
Release date
7 July 1947
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£162,900 [1] [2]
Box office£110,000 (by July 1953) [1] or £107,200 [2]

The Brothers is a British film melodrama of 1947, starring Patricia Roc, Will Fyffe and Maxwell Reed, from a novel of the same name by L. A. G. Strong. [3]

Contents

Plot

In the Western Isles of Scotland, a long and murderous grudge exists between two clans, the Macraes and McFarishes. The arrival of a serving girl (Patricia Roc) to work for the Macraes reinflames the conflict and causes an internal power-struggle between two brothers in the Macrae clan (played by Maxwell Reed and Duncan Macrae).

Cast

Production

Development

L.A.G. Strong's novel was published in 1932. [4] Strong was a friend of David MacDonald and in 1936 they agreed to make a film of the novel together. Plans were delayed until after the war, during which time MacDonald established himself as a leading documentarian. MacDonald took the project to Sydney Box who was enthusiastic about making it.

Box wanted Ann Todd, star of The Seventh Veil , to play the lead, as the second part of the two-picture million dollar contract she signed in the wake of the success of The Seventh Veil. Daybreak was to be the first and in March 1946 Box said he hoped to star Todd in The Brothers after that film. [5]

Box wanted Emlyn Williams to play John and Michael Redgrave to play Fergus. Emlyn Williams dropped out and was replaced by Eric Portman. Portman refused to make a film with Todd and was replaced by Duncan Macrae. Redgrave dropped out to make Fame is the Spur and was replaced by Maxwell Reed. [6] Todd did not want to work with Reed as she had not enjoyed working with him on Daybreak [7] Patricia Roc played the role instead. [8] Roc was reluctant to take a role refused by Todd but eventually agreed. Her fee was £5,000. [7] (Roc had reportedly been kicked off Diggers Republic – which became Diamond City – because of her involvement in a divorce scandal. She made the film after shooting Canyon Passage in Hollywood.) [9]

MacDonald knew the film would be troublesome censorwise because of the material. "We hope to get by in the French way", said MacDonald. "Rape, murder and nature, that's about all." [10]

Filming

The unit moved to the Isle of Skye in July 1947. Roc ended up enjoying working on the film and said the role was her favourite, in part because of an eight-week location shoot on the Isle of Skye. [7] [11] Studio work took place at Shepherds Bush in September 1946. [12]

US Version

The film encountered censorship challenges for its release in the US, in part because of its depiction of illicit whisky manufacturing. [13] However Sydney Box managed to get the film passed by the US censors by adding some shots where detectives arrived on the island to break the operation, and filming an ending where the hero and heroine – the "good" characters – survived instead of being murdered. [14]

There were three main changes: [15]

Critical reception

Variety described The Brothers as: "Starkly uncompromising... No attempt has been made to win favor of those who cannot stomach a grim story, and even the contemplated happy ending (not in the book) has been discarded in favor of one more logical, It will not be everybody's entertainment, and will do best with discriminating au-diences here and in the U. S. Drawing cards are a fine cast, good story, grand direction and splendid camera work and music score. Patricia Roc contributes her best performance to date, and newcomer Maxwell Reed, establishes himself in a part that would have been a natural for James Mason." [16]

The New York Times wrote, "Patricia Roc is lovely in form and grace, but her hair-dos, her dresses and her expressions smack more of Elstree than of the Hebrides". [17]

Box-office

The film incurred an estimated loss of £55,700. [1]

The producer's receipts were £73,500 in the UK and £33,700 overseas. [2]

Modern reputation

The film's reputation has risen in recent years. An article in The Scotsman praised the film saying:

There is sex, there is violence, there is nudity and there is one of the most shocking killings ever portrayed in a mainstream movie. An informer, who has reported illicit whisky trafficking, is bound hand and foot, with cork floats under his armpits and a fish tied to his cap. He is then sent bobbing out to sea, to await a passing seabird that will spot the fish and dive hundreds of feet to pierce fish, cap and skull in a single fatal movement....The Brothers is... the skeleton in the cupboard no-one talks about. It bears more resemblance to a Quentin Tarantino film than one by Powell and Pressburger. [18]

Producer Christopher Young said "It's slightly bizarre, some very good performances, fantastic cinematography, but quite a strange script, really quite dark." [18]

David Parkinson, a reviewer for the Radio Times , wrote: "while Stephen Dade's images of Skye are highly evocative, precious little passion is generated by orphaned Patricia Roc and Andrew Crawford, even though she's the housekeeper of his deadliest rival (Finlay Currie). Part of the problem is the straightlaced nature of postwar British cinema, which kept emotions firmly in check.; [19] TV Guide called the film a "fair effort with technical talent outweighing the performers"; [20] but Eye for Film found the film "startlingly bold and suggestive for its time...surprisingly gripping." [21]

Related Research Articles

<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">Maxwell Reed</span> Actor from Northern Ireland (1919–1974)

Maxwell Reed was a Northern Irish actor who became a matinee idol in British films during the 1940s and 1950s.

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

The Wicked Lady is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwaywoman for the excitement. The film had one of the largest audiences for a film of its period, 18.4 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Rice</span> American film actress (1907–1974)

Florence Davenport Rice was an American film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Calvert</span> British film actress (1915–2002)

Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.

<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.

<i>The Kidnappers</i> 1953 film

The Kidnappers is a 1953 British film, directed by Philip Leacock and written by Neil Paterson.

Leslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady during the 1940s.

<i>Madonna of the Seven Moons</i> 1945 British film

Madonna of the Seven Moons is a 1945 British drama film starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. Directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures, the film was produced by Rubeigh James Minney, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by Roland Pertwee. It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas of the mid-1940s popular with WW2-era female audiences.

<i>Saraband for Dead Lovers</i> 1948 British film

Saraband for Dead Lovers is a 1948 British adventure historical drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood. It is based on the 1935 novel by Helen Simpson. Set in 17th-century Hanover, it depicts the doomed romance between Philip Christoph von Königsmarck and Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the wife of the elector of Hanover. The saraband mentioned in the title is a type of Spanish dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Roc</span> British actress

Patricia Roc was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) and The Wicked Lady (1945), though she only made one film in Hollywood, Canyon Passage (1946). She also appeared in Millions Like Us (1943), Jassy (1945), The Brothers (1947) and When the Bough Breaks (1947).

<i>Jassy</i> (film) 1947 British film

Jassy is a 1947 British colour film historical melodrama set in the early 19th century, based on a novel by Norah Lofts. It is a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in Technicolor. It was the last "official" Gainsborough melodrama.

David MacDonald was a Scottish film director, writer and producer.

<i>When the Bough Breaks</i> (1947 film) 1947 British film

When the Bough Breaks is a 1947 film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Patricia Roc and Rosamund John. It is an adaptation of an original storyline by Herbert Victor on adoption and the competing ties of one child's birth and foster family.

The Gainsborough melodramas were a sequence of films produced by the British film studio Gainsborough Pictures between 1943 and 1947 which conformed to a melodramatic style. The melodramas were not a film series but an unrelated sequence of films which had similar themes that were usually developed by the same film crew and frequently recurring actors who played similar characters in each. They were mostly based on popular books by female novelists and they encompassed costume dramas, such as The Man in Grey (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945), and modern-dress dramas, such as Love Story (1944) and They Were Sisters (1945). The popularity of the films with audiences peaked mid-1940s when cinema audiences consisted primarily of women. The influence of the films led to other British producers releasing similarly themed works, such as The Seventh Veil (1945), Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945), Hungry Hill (1947), The White Unicorn (1947), Idol of Paris (1948), and The Reluctant Widow (1950) and often with the talent that made Gainsborough melodramas successful.

<i>Bonnie Prince Charlie</i> (1948 film) 1948 British biographical film

Bonnie Prince Charlie is a 1948 British historical film directed by Anthony Kimmins for London Films depicting the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and the role of Bonnie Prince Charlie within it. Filmed in Technicolor, it stars David Niven, Jack Hawkins, and Margaret Leighton.

<i>Diamond City</i> (film) 1949 British film

Diamond City is a 1949 British drama film directed by David MacDonald and starring David Farrar, Honor Blackman, Diana Dors and Niall MacGinnis.

<i>Daybreak</i> (1948 film) 1948 British film

Daybreak is a 1948 drama by Riverside Studios – classified by some as 'British Noir' – directed by Compton Bennett and starring Eric Portman, Ann Todd and Maxwell Reed. It is based on a play by Monckton Hoffe.

<i>Dear Murderer</i> 1947 British film

Dear Murderer is a 1947 British film noir crime, drama, thriller, directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures, and starring Eric Portman and Greta Gynt.

The Company of Youth was an acting school for young contract players for the Rank Organisation who were being groomed for stardom. It was commonly known as the Rank Charm School.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 210
  2. 1 2 3 Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 353. Income is in terms of producer's share.
  3. ↑ "The Brothers". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  4. ↑ ""THE BROTHERS:" A STRIKING NOVEL BY L. A. G. STRONG". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 29, 368. New South Wales, Australia. 19 February 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 11 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ NOTED IN THE LONDON STUDIOS: Scenes From Recent Film Arrivals in First-Run Houses By C.A. LEJEUNE. The New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]17 Mar 1946: X3.
  6. ↑ "Film Stars In The News--A "Sun" Thursday Feature". The Sun . No. 11, 395 (LATE FINAL EXTRA ed.). Sydney. 1 August 1946. p. 15. Retrieved 7 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  7. 1 2 3 Hodgson, Michael (2013). Patricia Roc. Author House. pp. 104–105. ISBN   9781481769402.
  8. ↑ "Hollywood Fanfare by Pa[?]cia Clarey". Northern Star . New South Wales, Australia. 17 September 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 7 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "Studio Comeback". The Daily News . Vol. LXIV, no. 22, 294 (FIRST ed.). Western Australia. 21 September 1946. p. 23. Retrieved 7 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ Lejeune, C.A. (25 August 1946). "Busy Days in London: Film Studios Move Into High Gear, With Full Schedule of Pictures Under Way Films Coming Up In Father's Footsteps Notes in Brief". The New York Times. p. 51.
  11. ↑ "British Films Booming". The Daily News . Vol. LXIV, no. 22, 348 (HOME ed.). Western Australia. 23 November 1946. p. 10. Retrieved 7 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ FILM NOTES FROM LONDON: Epic of Resistance Busy Mr. Box Safari By C.A. LEJEUNE. New York Times 29 Sep 1946: 68.
  13. ↑ THOMAS F. BRADY (25 August 1947). "TOUCH OF VENUS' READY FOR FILMS: Artists Alliance to Produce Musical at the U-I Studios -- Star Not Yet Named". New York Times. p. 13.
  14. ↑ THOMAS F. BRADY. (31 August 1947). "RANDOM NOTES ON ACTIVITIES IN HOLLYWOOD: Capra Alters 'State of the Union' -- The Censors Satisfied -- Actors to Vote". New York Times. p. X3.
  15. ↑ THE BROTHERS Anonymous. Film History; Sydney Vol. 15, Iss. 3, (2003): 285-286.
  16. ↑ Review of film at Variety
  17. ↑ "Movie Review – The Brothers – ON THE SCREEN; 'The Brothers,' New British Film Starring Patricia Roc, Has Its Premiere at Sutton". NY Times.
  18. 1 2 "A history of violence". The Scotsman. 27 December 2007.
  19. ↑ Parkinson, David. "The Brothers". RadioTimes.
  20. ↑ "The Brothers". TV Guide.
  21. ↑ "The Brothers".
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.