Into the Blue (1950 film)

Last updated

Into the Blue
"Into the Blue" (1950).jpg
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Written by
Produced by
  • Herbert Wilcox
  • Michael Wilding
Starring
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Edited by Bill Lewthwaite
Music by Mischa Spoliansky
Production
company
Imperadio Films
Distributed by British Lion Films
Release date
  • 27 December 1950 (1950-12-27)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Into the Blue is a 1950 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Michael Wilding, Odile Versois and Jack Hulbert. [1] It is also known as Man in the Dinghy. [2] In the film, a couple hire a yacht for what they hope will be a relaxing cruise to Norway, but instead become involved with smugglers and end up going up the River Seine to Paris.

Contents

It was shot at Isleworth Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director William C. Andrews. Made by Wilcox's independent production company Imperadio, it was distributed by British Lion Films.

Plot

The story opens with Bill, the Skipper, (Edward Rigby), on holiday fishing, as he reminisces about when he once piloted a yacht for a Mr. and Mrs. Fergusson (Jack Hulbert & Constance Cummings). He muses upon how different people all choose their own ideal holiday, (during which re-used scenes with Michael Shepley playing golf, (from an unknown film), and Kathleen Harrison and Jack Warner (actor), both exercising from 1947's Holiday Camp (film)), appear. He remembers that the Fergussons were relaxing on board, and bound for Oslo, Norway; but after leaving England they discovered they had a stowaway, Nicholas, (Michael Wilding), who was on the run from the police. He was asked to take two suitcases to Monte Carlo, but on examination at the airport they contained stolen watches, so he grabbed the cases and ran. All attempts by the couple to remove him from the yacht failed, and they ended up going to Rouen, Paris, and finally Monte Carlo. In the meantime, romance blossomed between Nicholas and Jackie, (Odile Versois), the adopted daughter of the skipper. They eventually planned to marry, but first, Nicholas decided to confront the smugglers, and to turn himself in to the police. Unknown to him, the police had tailed him ever since he left England, and followed him to the hotel, where they overheard him speaking with the head of the smugglers, whom they were trying to capture for years. The smugglers received a prison sentence, but Nicholas, being merely their unwitting pawn, just a caution, so was free to catch up with the yacht, now on its way back to England, and to become his son-in-law. [3]

Cast

Critical reception

In The New York Times Bosley Crowther wrote, "Let's be truthful about it: Herbert Wilcox has never been renowned for qualities of wit and humor in his eminently proper British films. And his "Man in the Dinghy," which became beached at the Sixtieth Street Trans-Lux yesterday, will do nothing to enhance his reputation in this particularly tough and ticklish line. It is a dismally unfunny fable about the pains to which a man and wife are put by a repulsively debonair fellow who stows away on their vacation yacht"; [4] whereas more recently, TV Guide wrote, "There's nothing new about this film, but it's ample entertainment"; [5] and Allmovie wrote, "Into the Blue is enhanced by the presence of two veteran British movie favorites. Jack Hulbert and Constance Cummings ...the film's real strong suits are its stars and its location photography." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Neagle</span> English stage and film actress and singer

Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Wilding</span> English actor

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Ensign</span> British ensign with white field and St Georges cross

The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign because of the simultaneous existence of a crossless version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field, identical to the flag of England except with the Union Flag in the upper canton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Cummings</span> American actress (1910–2005)

Constance Cummings CBE was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years.

<i>Passport to Shame</i> 1958 British film by Alvin Rakoff

Passport to Shame, is a 1958 British drama film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Diana Dors and Herbert Lom. It was written by Patrick Alexander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Wilcox</span> Film producer and director from Britain

Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE was a British film producer and director.

<i>I Live in Grosvenor Square</i> 1945 British film

I Live in Grosvenor Square is a British comedy-drama romance war film directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox. It was the first of Wilcox's "London films" collaboration with his wife, actress Anna Neagle. Her co-stars were Dean Jagger and Rex Harrison. The plot is set in a context of US-British wartime co-operation, and displays icons of popular music with the purpose of harmonising relationships on both sides of the Atlantic. An edited version was distributed in the United States, with two additional scenes filmed in Hollywood, under the title A Yank in London.

<i>Forever and a Day</i> (1943 film) 1943 drama film

Forever and a Day is a 1943 American drama film, a collaborative effort employing seven directors/producers and 22 writers, with an enormous cast of well-known stars.

William Percy Lipscomb was a British-born Hollywood playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He died in London in 1958, aged 71.

<i>Derby Day</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Herbert Wilcox

Derby Day is a 1952 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Googie Withers, John McCallum, Peter Graves, Suzanne Cloutier and Gordon Harker. An ensemble piece, it portrays several characters on their way to the Derby Day races at Epsom Downs Racecourse. It was an attempt to revive the success that Neagle and Wilding had previously enjoyed on screen together. To promote the film, Wilcox arranged for Neagle to launch the film at the 1952 Epsom Derby.

<i>Checkpoint</i> (1956 film) 1956 English film

Checkpoint is a 1956 British crime drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker, and James Robertson Justice.

<i>Elizabeth of Ladymead</i> 1948 British film

Elizabeth of Ladymead is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Hugh Williams, Isabel Jeans and Bernard Lee. It charts the life of a British family between 1854 and 1945 and their involvement in four wars - the Crimean War, Boer War, First World War and Second World War. In each era a Beresford is in the army and dresses in the uniform of the age in most scenes, even at home.

<i>Piccadilly Incident</i> 1946 British film

Piccadilly Incident is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer.

<i>Maytime in Mayfair</i> 1949 British film

Maytime in Mayfair is a 1949 British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Nicholas Phipps, and Tom Walls. It was a follow-up to Spring in Park Lane.

<i>Trents Last Case</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Herbert Wilcox

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 produced by Wilcox as part of a distribution agreement with Republic Pictures. 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>Trouble in the Glen</i> 1954 British film

Trouble in the Glen is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, Forrest Tucker and Victor McLaglen. It is loosely based on Maurice Walsh's 1950 novel of the same name. It was filmed in Trucolor for Republic Pictures.

<i>Act of Piracy</i> 1988 American film

Act of Piracy is a 1988 American/South African thriller film directed by John Cardos and starring Gary Busey, Belinda Bauer and Ray Sharkey. While enjoying an exotic cruise to Australia, a family yacht is taken over by terrorists. It is also known as Barracuda.

<i>The Young Lovers</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Anthony Asquith

The Young Lovers is a 1954 British Cold War romantic drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Odile Versois and David Knight. The film was produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan, with cinematography from Jack Asher and screenplay by George Tabori and Robin Estridge. It was shot at Pinewood Studios with sets designed by the art directors John Box and John Howell. At the 1955 British Film Academy Awards, The Young Lovers picked up the prizes for Best Screenplay and Most Promising Newcomer to Film.

Everything Happens at Night is a 1939 American drama-comedy film starring Sonja Henie, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings.

<i>Heads We Go</i> 1933 film

Heads We Go is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Constance Cummings, Frank Lawton and Binnie Barnes. It was produced at Elstree Studios by British International Pictures.

References

  1. "Into the Blue (1950)". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Into the Blue (1951) - Herbert Wilcox - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  3. "What did you see last on 16mm? » Into the Blue (1950)".
  4. "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 14 February 2022.
  5. "The Man In The Dinghy".