Spring in Park Lane: Difference between revisions
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
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===Box Office=== |
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Released two years after the peak year for cinema attendances in the United Kingdom,<ref>[http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/bfi100ultimate-article.htm BFI Releases list of the top 100 most-seen films] Reel Classics, retrieved 28 May 2007</ref> it nevertheless was substantially more successful than other contemporary releases, becoming the most successful film release of 1948 in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49930940 |title=THE STARRY WAY. |newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]] |location=Brisbane |date=8 January 1949 |accessdate=11 July 2012 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Screen|url=https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_32_Issue_3/page/n17|magazine=Screen|page=258|volume=32|issue=3|title=The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry|first=Janet|last=Thumim}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | In a 2004 survey by [[British Film Institute|the BFI]] it was rated 5th in the all-time attendance figures for the United Kingdom, with total attendance of 20.5 million, still the largest figure for a wholly British made film.<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/490356/index.html Screenonline, Spring in Park Lane] BFI Screenonline, retrieved 27 May 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=896270 Gone With The Wind tops the list of 100 most-watched films of all time] Yorkshire Post, retrieved 28 May 2007</ref><ref>[https://www.lff.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/methodology.html The Ultimate Film: Researching the Chart] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928195822/https://www.lff.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/methodology.html |date=28 September 2007 }} IFF, retrieved 28 May 2007</ref> Wilcox claims the film earned ₤1,600,000 at the British box office.<ref name="book">{{cite book|first=Herbert|last=Wilcox|title=Twenty Five Thousand Sunsets|year=1967|publisher=South Brunswick|page=202}}</ref> |
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===Reviews=== |
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Reviews were generally positive, [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']] said, "incident upon incident carry merry laughter through the picture".<ref>[http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117795112.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Variety review] Variety, retrieved 28 May 2007</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as "attractively witty".<ref>[http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=111446 ''New York Times'' review] ''The New York Times'', retrieved 27 May 2007</ref> |
Reviews were generally positive, [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']] said, "incident upon incident carry merry laughter through the picture".<ref>[http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117795112.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Variety review] Variety, retrieved 28 May 2007</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as "attractively witty".<ref>[http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=111446 ''New York Times'' review] ''The New York Times'', retrieved 27 May 2007</ref> |
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Revision as of 14:08, 14 April 2019
| Spring in Park Lane | |
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| Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Written by | Nicholas Phipps |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Starring | Anna Neagle Michael Wilding Tom Walls Peter Graves |
| Cinematography | Max Greene |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation |
Release date | 17 March 1948 |
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | ₤358,788 (UK)[1] |
Spring in Park Lane is a 1948 British romantic comedy film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. It was the top movie at the British box office in 1948 and remains the most popular entirely British-made film ever in terms of all-time attendance.
Plot
A footman, Richard, played by Michael Wilding, is employed by Joshua Howard (Tom Walls), an eccentric art collector. His niece and secretary, Judy (Anna Neagle), has her doubts that Richard is the footman he pretends to be. In reality he is Lord Brent, brother of one of Judy's suitors, the Marquis of Borechester (Nicholas Phipps).
Richard goes to America to sell some old paintings to restore the family fortunes, but on the way back receives a message that the cheque he was given for the paintings is invalid. He decides to hide until he can save enough money to return to America, and assumes the identity of a footman. Over time Judy notices how knowledgeable he is about many things, and begins to suspect his is not who he says he is. Things become interesting when his brother visits as one of Judy's suitors.
Through their various interactions, Richard and Judy fall in love, and as he is about to return to America they discover that the purchaser's cheque is valid after all.
Reception
Box Office
Released two years after the peak year for cinema attendances in the United Kingdom,[2] it nevertheless was substantially more successful than other contemporary releases, becoming the most successful film release of 1948 in the United Kingdom.[3][4]
In a 2004 survey by the BFI it was rated 5th in the all-time attendance figures for the United Kingdom, with total attendance of 20.5 million, still the largest figure for a wholly British made film.[5][6][7] Wilcox claims the film earned ₤1,600,000 at the British box office.[8]
Reviews
Reviews were generally positive, Variety said, "incident upon incident carry merry laughter through the picture".[9] and The New York Times described it as "attractively witty".[10]
A follow up, Maytime in Mayfair, was released the following year.
One memorable scene presents a group of elders sitting around a garden table playing cards. One, with a droopy moustache and a slow, deep voice, announces "That reminds me of a story"...and proceeds to tell an endless joke about "two chaps", during which he cannot remember which chap says what, and keeps going around in circles saying "And um..um..." and laughing aloud at the joke he will never finish.
Soundtrack
Robert Farnon provides the soundtrack, his light orchestral version of the folk tune Early One Morning proving particularly popular at the time.
References
- ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000
- ^ BFI Releases list of the top 100 most-seen films Reel Classics, retrieved 28 May 2007
- ^ "THE STARRY WAY". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 8 January 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- ^ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
- ^ Screenonline, Spring in Park Lane BFI Screenonline, retrieved 27 May 2007
- ^ Gone With The Wind tops the list of 100 most-watched films of all time Yorkshire Post, retrieved 28 May 2007
- ^ The Ultimate Film: Researching the Chart Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine IFF, retrieved 28 May 2007
- ^ Wilcox, Herbert (1967). Twenty Five Thousand Sunsets. South Brunswick. p. 202.
- ^ Variety review Variety, retrieved 28 May 2007
- ^ New York Times review The New York Times, retrieved 27 May 2007
External links
- Spring in Park Lane at IMDb
- Review of film at Variety