The Loves of Joanna Godden | |
---|---|
Directed by | Charles Frend |
Written by | |
Based on | the novel Joanna Godden by Sheila Kaye-Smith |
Produced by | Michael Balcon |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
Edited by | Michael Truman |
Music by | Ralph Vaughan Williams |
Distributed by | Ealing Studios |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Loves of Joanna Godden is a 1947 British historical drama film directed by Charles Frend and produced by Michael Balcon. [2] The screenplay was written by H. E. Bates and Angus MacPhail from the novel Joanna Godden (1921) by Sheila Kaye-Smith.
It stars Googie Withers, Jean Kent, John McCallum, Derek Bond, Chips Rafferty and Sonia Holm. [3] Some scenes were shot by director Robert Hamer when Frend was ill, though he was uncredited. The music was composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. [4]
In Edwardian Britain, a young woman has three suitors who seek her hand in marriage.
When Joanna Godden's father died, he bequeathed her a farm in Romney Marsh in Kent. Joanna is determined to run the farm herself. Her neighbour Arthur Alce (John McCallum), laughs at her ambitions, but loves her. Choosing a new shepherd, she allows physical attraction to a man to overcome her judgment as a farmer, and her scheme for cross-breeding sheep is unsuccessful. Her wealth gone, she turns to Arthur Alce for help - but not love. That she accepts from Martin Trevor (Derek Bond), a visitor from the world beyond the Marsh. But on the eve of their marriage, Martin dies. [4] [5]
and the people of Romney Marsh.
The film was based on Joanna Godden, a novel by Sheila Kaye-Smith originally published in 1921. [6] [7] The book was popular enough for Kaye-Smith to write a sequel, Joanna Godden Married, published in 1926. [8]
After World War Two, Ealing Studios decided to film the novel, with a screenplay written by H. E. Bates and Angus MacPhail. The film had an ending different from the novel.
The studio cast Googie Withers to star; she had been a hit in Pink String and Sealing Wax . Lead roles were given to Australians John McCallum, who had been put under long-term contract to Rank, and Chips Rafferty, who had just starred in The Overlanders for Ealing. [9]
The casting of Withers and Kent was announced in July 1946. [10] Filming took place in August and September 1946, with location filming in Kent. [11]
Withers and McCallum fell in love during filming and later married. They named their first child "Joanna" in honour of the film. [12]
Miranda is a 1948 black and white British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin and written by Peter Blackmore, who also wrote the play of the same name from which the film was adapted. The film stars Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, Margaret Rutherford, John McCallum and David Tomlinson. Denis Waldock provided additional dialogue. Music for the film was played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson. The sound director was B. C. Sewell.
Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO, known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. She was a well-known actress and star of British films during the Second World War and postwar years.
Sheila Kaye-Smith was an English writer, known for her many novels set in the borderlands of Sussex and Kent in the English regional tradition. Her 1923 book The End of the House of Alard became a best-seller, and gave her prominence; it was followed by other successes, and her books enjoyed worldwide sales.
John William Pilbean Goffage MBE, known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American productions, including The Overlanders and The Sundowners. He appeared in commercials in Britain during the late 1950s, encouraging British emigration to Australia.
John Neil McCallum, was an Australian theatre and film actor, highly successful in the United Kingdom. He was also a television producer.
The Overlanders is a 1946 British film about drovers driving a large herd of cattle 1,600 miles overland from Wyndham, Western Australia through the Northern Territory outback of Australia to pastures north of Brisbane, Queensland during World War II.
Traveller's Joy is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Googie Withers, John McCallum and Maurice Denham. Based on a West End play of the same name by Arthur Macrae, it was the last film released by the original Gainsborough Pictures.
Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.
Charles Herbert Frend was an English film director and editor, best known for his films produced at Ealing Studios. He began directing in the early 1940s and is known for such films as Scott of the Antarctic (1948) and The Cruel Sea (1953).
Jean Kent was an English film and television actress.
Nickel Queen is a 1971 Australian comedy film starring Googie Withers and directed by her husband John McCallum. The story was loosely based on the Poseidon bubble, a nickel boom in Western Australia in the late 1960s, and tells of an outback pub owner who stakes a claim and finds herself an overnight millionaire.
Joanna McCallum is an English theatre, film and television actress.
Eureka Stockade is a 1949 British film of the story surrounding Irish-Australian rebel and politician Peter Lalor and the gold miners' rebellion of 1854 at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, in the Australian Western genre.
Port of Escape is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Tony Young and starring Googie Withers, John McCallum, Bill Kerr and Joan Hickson.
Lee Robinson was an Australian producer, director and screenwriter who was Australia's most prolific filmmaker of the 1950s.
The Calendar is a black and white 1948 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Greta Gynt, John McCallum, Raymond Lovell and Leslie Dwyer. It is based on the 1929 play The Calendar and subsequent novel by Edgar Wallace. A previous version had been released in 1931.
The Root of All Evil is a 1947 British drama film, directed by Brock Williams for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Phyllis Calvert and Michael Rennie. The film was the first directorial assignment for Williams, who was better known as a screenwriter, and also produced the screenplay based on the 1921 novel by J. S. Fletcher.
Bush Christmas is a 1947 Australian–British comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring Chips Rafferty. It was one of the first films from Children's Entertainment Films, later the Children's Film Foundation.
The Tait Memorial Trust [TMT] is a charitable foundation, first established in the United Kingdom, with the chief purpose of providing financial support to outstanding young performing artists from Australia and New Zealand who wish to pursue post-graduate studies in leading performing arts institutions or privately with internationally recognised teachers in the United Kingdom. It also offers performance opportunities in their many concerts and events in London and advice and mentoring to awardees. The TMT was founded by Isla Baring OAM in memory of her father, Sir Frank Tait and his brothers, who played an important part in the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia. Sir Frank, the youngest of the Tait brothers, carried the firm J. C. Williamson's into its most successful years dominated by the Sutherland-Williamson opera company in 1965 which brought Dame Joan Sutherland back to her homeland.
Joanna Godden is a 1921 novel by the British writer Sheila Kaye-Smith. It is a drama set amongst the sheep farmers of Romney Marsh in Kent.