The Secret of the Forest

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The Secret of the Forest
The Secret of the Forest film Opening titles (1956).png
Film titles
Directed by Darcy Conyers [1]
Written byDarcy Conyers
George Ewart Evans
Gerard Bryant
Produced by Anthony Gilkison [1]
Starring Kit Terrington
Jacqueline Cox
Cinematography Sydney Samuelson
Edited by John Reeve
Music by DeWolfe [1]
Production
company
Distributed by British Lion Film Corporation
Children's Film Foundation
Release date
  • March 1956 (1956-03)
Running time
61 minutes [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Secret of the Forest (also known as Ship inthe Forest) in a 1956 children's fim directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Kit Terrington and Jacqueline Cox. [2] It was produced by Ryant Pictures for the Children's Film Foundation. The storyline was developed by George Ewart Evans following a formula already developed by the CFF. [3]

Contents

Plot

Spoilt children Henry and Caroline are excavating an ancient burial site when two crooks, having stolen a gold cup and hidden it in the site, return to retrieve it. Johnny and Mary, children of the local chief forester, see the trouble from a forest fire-watch tower and send for help.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by the late 1930s archaeological discovery of Sutton Hoo. [4] The film was made on location in Suffolk including scenes in Ipswich Museum, Rendlesham Forest and on the Deben River. [5]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An adequate children's film which makes occasional breaks with the traditional pattern. The plot is contrived and becomes somewhat confused through the introduction of incidents relatively unimportant to the main story-line – for instance, the overemphasis on the inconsiderate nature of Henry and Caroline, already established as spoilt children. The chase sequence makes an exciting climax, compensating for some slow development in the early stages." [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Secret of the Forest - Production & Contact Info | IMDbPro". pro.imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. "The Secret of the Forest". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  3. Strobel, Hans; Strobel, Christel (1987). "DER KINDERFILM IN GROSSBRITANNIEN" (PDF). Sonderdruck der Jugend Kinderfilm I Korrespondenz (in German). ISSN   0175-0933 . Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. "Films made to entertain children - East Anglia Film Archive". EAFA. East Anglian Film Archive. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. Markham, R. A. D. (1990). A Rhino on High Street : Ipswich Museum, the early years. Ipswich: Ipswich Borough Council. ISBN   0-906688-12-4.
  6. "The Secret of the Forest". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 23 (264): 49. 1 January 1956 via ProQuest.