Men of Two Worlds

Last updated

Men of Two Worlds
Men of Two Worlds (1946 film).jpg
Directed by Thorold Dickinson
Written by
  • Thorold Dickinson
  • Herbert W. Victor
Based onstory by Joyce Cary
Produced by John Sutro
Starring
Edited by Alan Jaggs
Music by Arthur Bliss
Production
company
Distributed by
  • Rank (UK)
  • International Releasing Organization (US)
Release dates
  • 9 September 1946 (1946-09-09)(UK)
  • 1952 (1952)(US)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£750,000 [1] [2] [3]

Men of Two Worlds is a 1946 British Technicolor drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Robert Adams. The screenplay concerns an African music student who returns home to battle a witch doctor for control over his tribe. [4]

Contents

The film was released in the United States as Kisenga, Man of Africa.

Plot

Kisenga is a composer and pianist from Marashi in Tanganyika who has spent fifteen years in London. He decides to return to his homeland to help the District Commissioner, Randall, in the work of health care.

Randall explains that an outbreak of sleeping sickness caused by the tsetse fly is moving across Tanganyika and has almost reached Marashi. He wants to transfer the population of 25,000 to a new settlement on higher ground and set fire to the bush to destroy the tsetse fly. Randall is helped by Dr Munro.

Kisenga arrives at Marashi. His sister Saburi is engaged to a young man named Ali, an assistant at the dispensary. Kisenga meets the Chief Rafuf, who is under the control of Margoli, a witch doctor. Rafuf does not want to move.

Kisenga decides to settle in his old home and teaches music. The tsetse fly gets closer to the village and Doctor Burton wants to do blood tests on villagers, which are opposed by Margoli.

Margoli fights the doctors and Kisenga's father dies of malaria. Margoli casts spells against Kisenga. He falls ill but recovers when the children perform Kisenga's music. The clearing of the village begins and the people leave for their new settlement.

Cast

Production

Development

The film was written by Joyce Cary who had worked in Africa as a civil servant. He and Dickinson drafted a treatment then in January 1943 they travelled from England to Tanganika, doing a first draft of the script. As soon as they arrived Dickinson fell ill with malaria.

Thorold Dickinson said: "Our picture categorically insists that witchcraft does exist; that it is suggestion, supported by all the trappings of religion, and can only be defeated by counter-suggestion. It's a struggle of mind against mind. There is a terrific blood motive running through the story. Blood drips in color. The East Africans believe that blood is the life. Blood gives power. This primitive thing – this bloodlust – is really pure fascism and has got to be killed." [6]

Esther Makumbi was the one lead actor from Africa – the rest were based in Britain. Robert Adams came to England to study law and moved into acting. [6] [7]

Shooting

Filming began in 1943, with eight months shooting in Tanganyika. A U-boat sank cameras and stock on the way out. Cameras were impounded and shooting was held up with slow convoys, bad weather, a strike of lab men in Hollywood and difficulties involved in shooting in Technicolor. [8]

Filming in Tanganyika cost an estimated £600,000. The film had to be re-done in England. [2] The replica of the concert hall built at Denham Film Studios was one of the largest sets ever built in England. [9]

Filming in England started in January 1945.

The film was part of a series of movies which cost £3 million, aimed at beating Hollywood head on. The others were London Town (£700,000), Henry V (£450,000) and Caesar and Cleopatra (£1,300,000). [10]

Music

Muir Mathieson, head of music at Denham, commissioned Arthur Bliss to compose the score. Bliss combined his own style with ethnically derived material - he used some authentic recordings of East African music to help with this. The African influence is also evident from the use of a male chorus in the score. The film opens with a performance of Kisenga's Piano Concerto - an example of what Steve Race named "Denham Concertos" - which was performed on the soundtrack by pianist Eileen Joyce. [11] It was extracted as a concert piece, Baraza (1946), and recorded in the same year on a Decca 78, with Mathieson conducting Joyce and the National Symphony Orchestra. Bliss liked the music, and described director Thorold Dickinson as "one of the nicest people (I'd) ever come across to work with". [12]

Release

The film had its world premiere at Avalon Cinema in Dar es Salaam on 16 July 1946. It then had its London premiere in front of the King and Queen. [13]

Box office

According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas. [14]

According to one report, it was the 17th most popular film at the British box office in 1946 after The Wicked Lady , The Bells of St. Mary's , Piccadilly Incident , The Captive Heart , Road to Utopia , Caravan , Anchors Away , The Corn is Green , Gilda , The House on 92nd Street , The Overlanders , Appointment with Crime , The Bandit of Sherwood Forest , Kitty , Spellbound , and Scarlet Street . [15]

Kinematograph Weekly reported that the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1946 Britain was The Wicked Lady, with "runners up" being The Bells of St Marys, Piccadilly Incident, The Road to Utopia, Tomorrow is Forever, Brief Encounter, Wonder Man, Anchors Away, Kitty, The Captive Heart, The Corn is Green, Spanish Main, Leave Her to Heaven, Gilda, Caravan, Mildred Pierce, Blue Dahlia, Years Between, O.S.S., Spellbound, Courage of Lassie, My Reputation, London Town, Caesar and Cleopatra, Meet the Navy, Men of Two Worlds, Theirs is the Glory, The Overlanders, and Bedelia. [16] The film however unlikely recouped its enormous cost.

US release

The film had trouble being seen in the US due to censor concerns over its depiction of black people. [17] It was not released in the US until 1952.

Reputation today

BFI Screenonline later said the film was "a creditable effort to tell an African story from the point of view of an African. The story only makes sense if we identify with Kisenga's dilemmas. Only he can resolve a situation in which the African and the European world views are at loggerheads, and he is prepared to give up his life in the struggle. The film gives us unusually authentic-seeming pictures of village life and ritual, and invests the people with a certain dignity and sensibility, even if ultimately they prefer superstition and fear to science. The photography is slow-moving and beautifully composed; African faces appear on screen distinct with emotion and individuality." [18]

Martin Scorsese, an admirer of Dickinson, later said: "He didn't make many films, but each is a fascinating project. Even when the movie doesn't work, like Men of Two Worlds or The Prime Minister, you're struck by the choice of subject matter, by the vivacity of the film-making, the intelligence of the approach." [19]

Dickinson and Carey travelled to India in January 1946 to research a film to be made there. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rank Organisation</span> British entertainment conglomerate

The Rank Organisation, was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937, Rank also served as the company chairman. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities as well as manufacturing projection equipment and chairs. It also diversified into the manufacture of radios, TVs and photocopiers. The company name lasted until February 1996, when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured Rank Group plc. The company itself became a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox and was renamed XRO Limited in 1997.

Amicus Productions was a British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Calvert</span> British film actress (1915–2002)

Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.

<i>The Arsenal Stadium Mystery</i> 1939 film by Thorold Dickinson

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery is a 1939 British mystery film and one of the first feature films wherein football is a central element in the plot. The film was directed by Thorold Dickinson, and shot at Denham Film Studios and on location at the original Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. It was written by Dickinson, Donald Bull, and Alan Hyman, adapted from a 1939 novel by Leonard Gribble.

<i>The Happiest Days of Your Life</i> (film) 1950 British comedy film by Frank Launder

The Happiest Days of Your Life is a 1950 British comedy film directed by Frank Launder, based on the 1947 play of the same name by John Dighton. The two men also wrote the screenplay. It is one of a stable of classic British film comedies produced by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat for British Lion Film Corporation. The film was made on location in Liss and at Riverside Studios, London. In several respects, including some common casting, it was a precursor of the St. Trinian's films of the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Kent</span> English actress

Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field was an English film and television actress.

<i>The Next of Kin</i> 1942 film by Thorold Dickinson

The Next of Kin, also known as Next of Kin, is a 1942 Second World War propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios. The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government message that "Careless talk costs lives". After being taken on by Ealing Studios, the project was expanded and given a successful commercial release. After the war and up until at least the mid 1960s, services in British Commonwealth countries continued to use The Next of Kin as part of security training. The film's title is derived from the phrase "the next of kin have been informed" as used by radio announcers when reporting on the loss of personnel in action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Wright</span> English documentary filmmaker

Basil Wright was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.

<i>Millions Like Us</i> 1943 film

Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It starred Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Moore Marriott and Eric Portman.

<i>The Queen of Spades</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

The Queen of Spades is a 1949 British fantasy-horror film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell. It is based on the 1834 short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorold Dickinson</span> British film director, screenwriter, film editor and film producer

Thorold Barron Dickinson was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow director Martin Scorsese describing him as "a uniquely intelligent, passionate artist... They're not in endless supply."

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). Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry" and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money." In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had. Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."

<i>Where No Vultures Fly</i> 1951 British film

Where No Vultures Fly is a 1951 British adventure film directed by Harry Watt and starring Anthony Steel and Dinah Sheridan. It was released under the title Ivory Hunter in the United States. The film was inspired by the work of the conservationist Mervyn Cowie. The film's opening credits state that "the characters in this film are imaginary, but the story is based on the recent struggle of Mervyn Cowie to form the National Parks of Kenya." The title Where No Vultures Fly denotes areas where there are no dead animals. The film has a sequel, West of Zanzibar.

<i>Caravan</i> (1946 film) 1946 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree

Caravan is a 1946 British black-and-white drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree. It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas and is based on the 1942 novel Caravan by Eleanor Smith.

<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>Diamond City</i> (film) 1949 British film

Diamond City is a 1949 British drama film directed by David MacDonald and starring David Farrar, Honor Blackman, Diana Dors and Niall MacGinnis.

Sidney Henry Cole was a British film and television producer. Earlier in his career he worked as a film editor.

<i>Madness of the Heart</i> 1950 British film

Madness of the Heart is a 1949 British drama film directed by Charles Bennett, produced by Richard Wainwright for Two Cities Films and starring Margaret Lockwood, Maxwell Reed, Kathleen Byron and Paul Dupuis. The screenplay was written by Charles Bennett, adapted from the novel of the same name by Flora Sandström.

<i>Men of the Lightship</i> 1940 British wartime propaganda film directed by David MacDonald

Men of the Lightship is a short propaganda film produced by the Crown Film Unit for the British Ministry of Information in 1940, the year after the beginning of the Second World War. It dramatises the bombing of the East Dudgeon lightship by the Luftwaffe on 29 January 1940 and was designed to portray Germany as a barbaric enemy. An opening narration explains the traditional understanding of lightships as neutral vessels during war.

Westward Ho! is a 1940 British public information film about the evacuation of children during the Second World War, directed by Thorold Dickinson. At the time, evacuation was a controversial policy, and the film was produced with the aim of building support for it. Westward Ho! was the first of a series of five-minute propaganda films distributed weekly to cinemas between 1940 and 1942.

References

  1. ↑ Clare, John (15 February 1947). "New Super-Films Cost Too Much". Times Pictorial. Dublin, Ireland. p. 5. ProQuest   529247534.
  2. 1 2 "Noteworthy Films Made In U.K." The West Australian . Perth. 17 January 1953. p. 27. Retrieved 4 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ Geoffrey Macnab, J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry, London, Routledge (1993) p191
  4. ↑ "Men of Two Worlds (1946)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  5. ↑ Khomami, Nadia (2 October 2023). "Overlooked black actor may have been most prolific in early British cinema". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 C.A. LEJEUNE LONDON, Nov. 1 (By Mail). (19 November 1944). "QUIET FILM DAYS IN LONDON". New York Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "East African pin-up girl goes western". The Sun . No. 2213. Sydney. 9 September 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 9 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Men of Two Worlds". Variety. 24 July 1946. p. 14.
  9. ↑ "Studio Gossip About Films And Actors". The Mercury . Vol. CLXII, no. 23, 404. Tasmania. 8 December 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 9 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "BRITAIN REVISITED—XII. ENGLISH FILMES ARE ACTIVE". The Argus . No. 30, 911. Melbourne. 25 September 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 9 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Harris, Cynthia. An Interview with John Huntley (2000)
  12. ↑ Adriano. Notes to Naxos CD 8.572226
  13. ↑ "CENTRAL AFRICA HAS FIRST FILM PREMIERE". New York Times. 17 July 1946. ProQuest   107708906.
  14. ↑ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–48 2003 p209, via Google Books
  15. ↑ "Hollywood Sneaks In 15 Films on '25 Best' List of Arty Britain". The Washington Post. 15 January 1947. p. 2.
  16. ↑ Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout: reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 232.
  17. ↑ "New York Diary". The Advertiser . Adelaide. 13 December 1946. p. 12. Retrieved 9 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ Men of Two Worlds at BFI Screenonline
  19. ↑ "Moving at the speed of emotion": Martin Scorsese on Thorold Dickinson Horne, Philip. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 13, Iss. 11, (Nov 2003): 24-26,3.
  20. ↑ "British Film Team Surveys India: 12-WEEK STUDY TOUR". The Times of India. 12 February 1946. p. 4. ProQuest   499923635.
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.