The Farmer's Wife (1941 film)

Last updated

The Farmer's Wife
The Farmer's Wife (1941 film).jpg
Original trade ad
Directed by
Written by
Based on The Farmer's Wife
by Eden Phillpotts
Produced by Walter C. Mycroft
Starring
Cinematography Claude Friese-Greene
Edited by Flora Newton
Music byGuy Jones
Production
company
Distributed byPathé Pictures
Release date
  • 24 January 1941 (1941-01-24)
Running time
81 minutes
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Farmer's Wife is a 1941 British comedy drama film directed by Norman Lee and Leslie Arliss and starring Basil Sydney, Wilfrid Lawson and Nora Swinburne. [1] [2] It was written by Arliss, J. E. Hunter and Lee based on the 1916 play The Farmer's Wife by Eden Phillpotts which had previously been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for a 1928 film of the same name. [3] [4] It was produced by ABPC at Welwyn Studios, at a time when the company's main Elstree Studios had been requisitioned for wartime use. The film is not widely known. [5]

Contents

Synopsis

Farmer Samuel Sweetland, a widower with two daughters, buys a large neighbouring farm that he has coveted all his life. Now convinced that he needs to remarry, he draws up a list of three possible candidates with the assistance of his housekeeper Araminta Grey. They are Louisa Windeatt, a wealthy and spirited fox-hunting widow; Thirza Tapper, a prim unmarried lady who owns a nearby cottage; and Mary Hearne, an attractive barmaid from London.

Meanwhile, Sweetland's daughters, the forceful, coquettish Petronell and the shyer Sibley, have their own romantic entanglements with the young men of the area. Petronell tips her hat at Richard Coaker, only to discover that he is in love with her younger sister, and she finds eventual comfort in the arms of another suitor, George. Sweetland's own courtships go badly as each of the women reject his offer of marriage. Dejected, it is only then that he realises it his faithful housekeeper Araminta whom he really loves.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "For those who have seen both, the film suffers by comparison with the play, but the directors have been at pains to make the plot move as best they might, and in doing so have got some lovely exteriors of the English countryside and have made an excellent job of the local Show. Basil Sydney makes Sam Sweetland a very boorish figure, always behaving like a bull in a china shop, Wilfrid Lawson gives an impression of the cunning, poaching old farm hand, and there is one notable scene where he is dressed up as a coachman butler at a garden party. Nora Swinburne makes a pretty mouse of Araminta and Betty Warren is a breezy Widow Windeatt." [6]

Kine Weekly wrote: "The humour in this British comedy rests securely on its neat bucolic wit and the accuracy of its female psychology. Exaggeration is, of course, evident in the characterisation, but caricature is skilfully avoided. Friendly and versatile detail – the stormy love affairs of Sam's daughters are, for instance, amiably imposed on the central theme – is yet another happy factor. Natural, spicy dialogue and authentic and pictorially effective background give the final touch to a picture that is every bit as entertaining and diverting as its successful stage progenitor." [7]

Variety wrote: "Lightweight fare, this modestly budgeted feature from Pathe is unlikely to make much stir at the boxoffice. Eden Philpotts' comedy has retained too much of its stage attire, receiving little decisive action to give it screen momentum and is held down throughout by an ultra talky script." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Wilding</span> English actor (1912–1979)

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.

<i>The Farmers Wife</i> 1928 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Farmer's Wife is a 1928 British silent romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis and Gordon Harker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitty Kelly</span> American actress (1902–1968)

Kitty Kelly, was an American stage and film character actress.

<i>The Citadel</i> (1938 film) 1938 British film by King Vidor

The Citadel is a 1938 British drama film based on the 1937 novel of the same name by A. J. Cronin. The film was directed by King Vidor and produced by Victor Saville for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British at Denham Studios. It stars Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell. The film and book helped the creation of Britain's NHS in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enid Stamp Taylor</span> British actress (1904–1946)

Enid Georgiana Stamp Taylor was an English actress. Her childhood home was 17, Percy Avenue, in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, in what is now Tyne and Wear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Sydney</span> English actor (1894–1968)

Basil Sydney was an English stage and screen actor.

<i>Betrayed</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Gottfried Reinhardt

Betrayed is a 1954 American Eastmancolor war drama film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, and Louis Calhern. The screenplay was by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. The musical score was by Walter Goehr and Bronislau Kaper, and the cinematography by Freddie Young. The picture, Gable's last for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was filmed on location in the Netherlands and England, and was based on the story of turncoat Dutch resistance leader Christiaan Lindemans, also known as "King Kong". The supporting cast features O. E. Hasse, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ian Carmichael, Niall MacGinnis, and Theodore Bikel. Betrayed was the fourth and final movie in which Gable played opposite Turner, and their third pairing set during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfrid Lawson (actor)</span> English actor (1900–1966)

Wilfrid Lawson was an English character actor of screen and stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Swinburne</span> British actress (1902–2000)

Leonora Mary Johnson, known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English actress who appeared in many British films.

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>The Perfect Woman</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

The Perfect Woman is a 1949 British farce comedy film directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Patricia Roc, Stanley Holloway and Nigel Patrick. It was written by George Black Jr, Knowles and J. B. Boothroyd, based on the play by Wallace Geoffrey and Basil Mitchell. The screenplay concerns a scientist who creates a robotic woman.

Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938).

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

Jassy is a 1947 British colour film historical melodrama directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc and Dennis Price. It was written by Dorothy Christie, Campbell Christie and Geoffrey Kerr based on the 1944 novel by Norah Lofts. Set in the early 19th century, it is a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in Technicolor, and was the last "official" Gainsborough melodrama.

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

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>Now and Forever</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Mario Zampi

Now and Forever is a 1956 British drama film directed by Mario Zampi and starring Janette Scott, Vernon Gray and Kay Walsh. It was written by R.F. Delderfield and Michael Pertwee based on the 1953 play The Orchard Walls by R.F. Delderfield, and was Scott's first adult role after a career as a child star in Britain. The screenplay concerns an upper-class girl who becomes romantically involved with a garage mechanic, and they head for Gretna Green to elope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Marlowe</span> American actress (1915–1977)

Nora Marlowe was an American film and television character actress.

The Farmer's Wife is a romantic comedy play by the British writer Eden Phillpotts, based on the scenario of his novel Widecombe Fair (1913). It was first staged in Birmingham in 1916. Its London premiere was at the Royal Court Theatre in 1924. By 1926 when Laurence Olivier went on tour in the lead role, the play had already been performed 1,300 times.

<i>It Happened to One Man</i> 1940 film directed by Paul L. Stein

It Happened to One Man is a 1940 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Nora Swinburne and Marta Labarr. The screenplay was by Paul Merzbach and Nina Jarcis, based on the play of the same name by John Hastings Turner and Roland Pertwee. Produced by Victor Hanbury's British Eagle Productions, it was distributed in the United States by RKO Pictures, and premiered in New York City at the Little Carnegie Playhouse on 22 February 1941.

<i>Tower of Terror</i> (1941 film) 1941 British film

Tower of Terror is a 1941 British wartime thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Michael Rennie and Movita. It was made at Welwyn Studios with location shooting on Flat Holm off the Welsh coast.

<i>Counterspy</i> (film) 1953 British film by Vernon Sewell

Counterspy is a 1953 British second feature comedy thriller film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Dermot Walsh, Hazel Court and Hermione Baddeley. An accountant comes into possession of secret papers sought by both the government and a spy ring.

References

  1. "The Farmer's Wife". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  2. "The Farmer's Wife (1941)". BFI. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
  3. Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   9783110951943 via Google Books.
  4. Strauss, Marc Raymond (2015). Alfred Hitchcock's Silent Films. McFarland & Company. p. 123. ISBN   9780786481927.
  5. Vagg, Stephen (25 March 2023). "A Brief History of Hitchcock Remakes". Filmink.
  6. "The Farmer's Wife" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 8 (85): 13. 1 January 1941 via ProQuest.
  7. "The Farmer's Wife" . Kine Weekly . 287 (1763): 20. 30 January 1941 via ProQuest.
  8. "The Farmer's Wife" . Variety . 141 (11): 18. 19 February 1941 via ProQuest.