The Loves of Robert Burns

Last updated

The Loves of Robert Burns
"The Loves of Robert Burns" (1933).jpg
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Produced byHerbert Wilcox
Written by Reginald Berkeley
Maclean Rogers
Herbert Wilcox
Based ona story by Reginald Berkeley & Herbert Wilcox
Starring Joseph Hislop
Dorothy Seacombe
Eve Gray
Music by Leslie Heward (music arranger / musical director)
CinematographyDavid Kesson
Freddie Young
Edited by Duncan Mansfield
Production
company
Distributed by Ideal (UK) (theatrical) (as Ideal Films Ltd.)
Woolf & Freedman Film Service (UK)
Release date
3 March 1930 (London) (UK)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

The Loves of Robert Burns is a 1930 British historical musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Joseph Hislop, Dorothy Seacombe and Eve Gray. [1] It depicts the life of the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Contents

Cast

Production

The film was the first joint production between Herbert Wilcox Productions, and His Master's Voice gramophone company. The aim of this was to give Wilcox access to their celebrity recording stars such as Chaliapin, John McCormick, Galli-Curci, Yehudi Menuhin and others. For the lead he cast the Scottish tenor Joseph Hislop. [2] [3]

Reception

Wilcox later wrote it was "a good film, I thought, but not commercially successful" which led to the gramophone company ending the relationship with Wilcox. "Had I chosen a less indigenous subject and a greater name star, the story might have been vastly different," wrote Wlcox. [4]

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote, "another film which was manufactured with a particular eye to American consumption has on its showing here fallen far short of standards set by British critics...It was thought that the story of the Scottish poet whose fame has been spread throughout the world by his fervently admiring countrymen would command a certain amount of universal appeal. An undoubted opportunity has been missed in that respect. Joseph Hislop, a well-known and popular tenor, was selected for the rôle of the poet, and he does his part, so far as the rendering of a series of Burns's famous songs is concerned, as well as could be desired. On the other hand, the photographic work is much below the standard and the character of Bobbie is divested of most of those qualities which endeared him to his readers as a man as his verse commended him to them as a poet. "The Loves of Robert Burns," indeed, was so unsatisfactory to the London public that it was withdrawn at the end of one week's trial at a central cinema, although it had been largely advertised in advance. Herbert Wilcox was the producer and apparently he fell between two stools—that of finding a singer who could do justice to Bobbie Burns's "Comin' Through the Rye" and other equally famous ballads, and an actor who could present an adequate picture of Robbie the man" ; [5] and more recently, TV Guide called it a "poorly produced life of the famed writer that is short on fact and long on fancy. Hislop, a noted operatic tenor, is about the best thing the film has going. He gives a fairly good performance and handles the songs well. However the script is a joke. Though the title implies that several affairs will be dealt with, in reality there are only two. Gray and Seacombe are Hislop's two lovers, both historically inaccurate. The film shows Seacombe being seduced and being made into "an honest woman" by Burns, when in reality they married and had several children. This story gives them no family at all. The Scottish settings are used nicely, but the actors keep forgetting what country they are in and their accents change from scene to scene. Better to buy an anthology of Burns' work than to deal with the mess here." [6]

Related Research Articles

Dorothy Fields

Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), "Don't Blame Me" (1948), "Pick Yourself Up" (1936), "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935), "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (1938) and "Big Spender" (1966). Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, and Jimmy McHugh. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters.

The Scots song "Ae fond kiss and then we sever" by the Scottish poet Robert Burns is more commonly known as "Ae fond kiss". It is Burns' most recorded love song.

<i>Night and Day</i> (1946 film)

Night and Day is a 1946 Technicolor Warner Bros. biographical and musical film starring Cary Grant as American composer and songwriter Cole Porter. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Arthur Schwartz, with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend and William Bowers.

Herbert Wilcox Film producer and director from Britain

Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE, was a British film producer and director who was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife Anna Neagle.

Robert Burns Scottish poet and lyricist

Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, the NationalBard, Bard of Ayrshire and the Ploughman Poet and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

<i>Nell Gwynn</i> (1934 film)

Nell Gwynn 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 Gwynn. In the opening credits, the screenplay is attributed to Miles Malleson, "in collaboration with King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwyn." It was also released as Mistress Nell Gwyn.

<i>Limelight</i> (1936 film)

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.

<i>Bitter Sweet</i> (1933 film)

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 Elstree Studios and was part of a boom in operetta films during the 1930s.

<i>Trents Last Case</i> (1952 film)

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 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.

<i>Thisll Make You Whistle</i>

This'll Make You Whistle is a 1936 British musical comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Jack Buchanan, Elsie Randolph and William Kendall. The film was based on a stage play which Buchanan had starred in.

<i>Laughing Anne</i>

Laughing Anne is a 1953 British adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, Forrest Tucker, and Ronald Shiner. It was adapted from Joseph Conrad's short story, "Because of the Dollars" and from his 1923 two-act play, Laughing Anne.

<i>Madame Pompadour</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Herbert Wilcox

Madame Pompadour is a 1927 British silent historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Antonio Moreno and Nelson Keys. The film depicts the life of Madame Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV of France. It was the first film to be shot at the newly christened Elstree Studios.

<i>Wonderful Things!</i>

Wonderful Things! is a 1958 British comedy romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Frankie Vaughan, Jocelyn Lane and Wilfrid Hyde-White. It was written by Jack Trevor Story. The screenplay concerns two fishermen brothers who clash over the love of a woman.

<i>Nell Gwyn</i> (1926 film) 1926 film by Herbert Wilcox

Nell Gwyn is a 1926 British 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.

<i>The Yellow Mask</i> 1930 film

The Yellow Mask is a 1930 British musical crime film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Lupino Lane, Dorothy Seacombe and Warwick Ward. A criminal plans to rob the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. It was based on the 1927 Edgar Wallace novel The Traitor's Gate., adapted into the play The Yellow Mask, which premiered in London in 1928.

Dorothy Seacombe

Dorothy Seacombe was a British film actress.

Janet, Jennie or Jenny Clow was a domestic servant to Mrs Agnes Maclehose, née Craig (1759-1841), the Clarinda to Robert Burns' Sylvander. She was the daughter of Andrew Clow and Margaret Inglis from Fife and was the youngest of eight children. Her mistress sent her to deliver a letter to the poet and he seduced her.

Ann Park

Helen Anne Park, known as Anna Park or Ann Park, was born in 1769 at Moffat, Scotland. She was thought to have been the daughter of Joseph Park, an Edinburgh coachmaker and Jean Dick however recent research has shown that she was actually the daughter of Walter Park and Elizabeth Blacklock. Margaret Ewing nee Park, a onetime landlady of 'The Globe', was her sister and she worked there as a barmaid. Anna bore the poet Robert Burns an illegitimate child named Elizabeth 'Betty' Burns as a result of an adulterous affair.

Agnes Maclehose

Agnes Maclehose, or Agnes Craig, known to her friends as 'Nancy' and to Robert Burns followers as Clarinda, was a Scotswoman who had an unconsummated affair with Burns during 1787-88, on which he based the song, "Ae Fond Kiss" (1791). The pseudonyms of her 'Clarinda' to his 'Sylvander' were adopted by the pair for confidential correspondence purposes. Maclehose has been various styled, including 'McLehose' and 'MacLehose'.

<i>Rookery Nook</i> (film) 1930 film

Rookery Nook is a 1930 film farce, directed by Tom Walls, with a script by Ben Travers. It is a screen adaptation of the original 1926 Aldwych farce of the same title. The film was known in the U.S. as One Embarrassing Night.

References

  1. ↑ "The Loves of Robert Burns (1930)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Wilcox p 86
  3. ↑ "NEW SOUND FILMS". The Daily News . XLVIII (16, 922). Western Australia. 29 July 1929. p. 1 (HOME FINAL EDITION). Retrieved 21 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Wilcox p 86
  5. ↑ Marshall, Ernest (23 March 1930). "Movie Review - - London Film Notes; At The Astor". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "The Loves Of Robert Burns - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
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.