The Peaches

Last updated

The Peaches is a 1964 British short film, narrated by Peter Ustinov.

Contents

In 1964 the film was the British choice for the Cannes Film Festival and is a sensual, surreal fantasy about a beautiful woman and her passion for peaches. The 15-minute story, which opens with a woman splayed on a bed rubbing her face with a ripe peach.

Directed by Michael Gill and written by Yvonne Gilan, his then wife, it stars Juliet Harmer as the Very Beautiful Girl, Tom Adams as The Boy Next Door, and is narrated by Peter Ustinov. It also features an appearance from the nine-year-old A. A. Gill, son of the director and writer.

The film charts the coming of age of this clever and beautiful girl and her fetish for fruit. In search of kindred spirits of like intellect, she goes to live in the city, but finds herself cleaning in "the Ministry". She then falls in love, and the peaches become less important as her love grows. Bizarrely she transfers her craving to pickled onions. [1]

The film won several awards and made Michael Gill consider working in Hollywood. Instead he chose to remain at the BBC, where he later approached Sir Kenneth Clark to make the television series Civilisation.

The film was funded by the BFI’s Experimental Film Fund, established by Sir Michael Balcon.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Topkapi</i> (film) 1964 American film directed by Jules Dassin

Topkapi is a 1964 American Technicolor heist film produced by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. The film was produced and directed by the émigré American film director Jules Dassin. The film is based on Eric Ambler's novel The Light of Day (1962), adapted as a screenplay by Monja Danischewsky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Redgrave</span> English actor (1908–1985)

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ustinov</span> British actor, director and writer (1921–2004)

Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Redgrave</span> British-American actress (1943–2010)

Lynn Rachel Redgrave was a British-American actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards during her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet Mills</span> British-American actress (born 1941)

Juliet Maryon Mills is a British-American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley Mills</span> British actress (born 1946)

Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performance in the British crime drama film Tiger Bay (1959), the Academy Juvenile Award for Disney's Pollyanna (1960) and Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress in 1961.

<i>Mary Poppins</i> (book series) Series of childrens books by P. L. Travers

Mary Poppins is a series of eight children's books written by Australian-British writer P. L. Travers and published over the period 1934 to 1988. Mary Shepard was the illustrator throughout the series.

Juliet Linda Harmer is an English artist, children's author and actress who was best known in the role of Georgina Jones in the BBC TV series Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–67).

<i>Evil Under the Sun</i> (1982 film) 1982 film by Guy Hamilton

Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie and directed by Guy Hamilton. Peter Ustinov stars as Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective whom he had previously played in Death on the Nile (1978).

<i>Quest for Love</i> (1971 film) 1971 British science fiction film by Ralph Thomas

Quest for Love is a 1971 British romantic science fiction drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Joan Collins, Tom Bell and Denholm Elliott. It was written by Terence Feely based on the 1954 short story Random Quest by John Wyndham.

<i>The Snow Queen</i> (2005 film) 2005 British TV series or programme

The Snow Queen is a 2005 BBC television film commissioned by Michael Carrington that is based on the 1844 Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of The Snow Queen. Directed by Julian Gibbs, it stars Juliet Stevenson as Gerda's mother and the voice of Patrick Stewart as the raven.

<i>A Walk with Love and Death</i> 1969 film directed by John Huston

A Walk with Love and Death is a 1969 American historical-drama film directed by John Huston and starring Anjelica Huston and Assi Dayan.

<i>Hotel Sahara</i> 1951 British comedy film

Hotel Sahara is a 1951 British war comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Peter Ustinov and David Tomlinson. It was produced and co-written by George Hambley Brown.

<i>Thirteen at Dinner</i> (film) Television mystery film

Thirteen at Dinner is a 1985 British-American made-for-television mystery film featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted by Rod Browning from the 1933 Agatha Christie novel Lord Edgware Dies, it was directed by Lou Antonio and starred Peter Ustinov, Faye Dunaway, Jonathan Cecil, Diane Keen, Bill Nighy and David Suchet, who was later to play Poirot in the long-running television series entitled Agatha Christie's Poirot. The film first aired on CBS Television on October 18, 1985.

<i>Nor the Moon by Night</i> 1958 film

Nor the Moon by Night is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Belinda Lee. It was based on the novel by Joy Packer and partly filmed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The title is a quote from the Old Testament passage ; "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."

Tanya Halesworth was best known as an Australian television personality, but was also a teacher, actor, public relations adviser and manager, and psychologist. She won the 1961 TV Week Logie Award for Most Popular Female in New South Wales. Tony Stephens wrote in his obituary that "during her time on television, hers was one of the most recognisable faces in Australia".

<i>Lady L</i> 1965 French film

Lady L is a 1965 comedy film based on the novel by Romain Gary and directed by Peter Ustinov. Starring Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven and Cecil Parker, the film focuses on an elderly Corsican lady as she recalls the loves of her life, including an anarchist and an English aristocrat. The ending of the film is very different from the ending of the novel.

<i>Romanoff and Juliet</i> (1961 film) 1961 film

Romanoff and Juliet is a 1961 American Technicolor romantic comedy film adaptation of the play Romanoff and Juliet, which was itself loosely based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, released by Universal Pictures. Peter Ustinov wrote the screenplay, directed, and starred in the film. It co-starred John Gavin as Igor and Sandra Dee as Juliet. The film was shot in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Jones (actor)</span> English actor (1920–2000)

Peter Geoffrey Francis Jones was an English actor, screenwriter and broadcaster.

<i>The Falling</i> (2014 film) 2014 film by Carol Morley

The Falling is a 2014 British mystery drama film written and directed by Carol Morley. It stars Maisie Williams and Florence Pugh as best friends at an all-girls school. The film also stars Greta Scacchi, Monica Dolan, Maxine Peake, and Mathew Baynton. Production began in October 2013. The film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October 2014 and was released theatrically on 24 April 2015 in the UK.

References

  1. The Times/BFI download, accessed 1 August 2009.