Quartet (1948)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 120m
Director: Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree, Ken Annakin
Cast: Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, George Cole, Cecil Parker
Synopsis:
Four stories by Somerset Maugham, realised with greater or lesser finesse: The Facts of Life sees a tennis player fall foul of Mai Zetterling's grifter; The Alien Corn has Bogarde as an ambitious but frustrated classical pianist; in The Kite, George Cole stands up to his overbearing mother; and Nora Swinburne is The Colonel's Lady, who scandalises her husband by publishing erotic poetry.
Review:
One of the most successful portmanteau films of the period, this Gainsborough production assembles a marvellous cast, virtually a who's-who of British acting talent of the day, and has Maugham himself introduce the stories. The keynote in all is an ironic detachment that lovers of Maupassant will relish, and which perfectly serves the short story format, making up for the tendency of films of the time to sentimentalise their subjects. The less successful Trio followed a couple of years later.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 120m
Director: Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree, Ken Annakin
Cast: Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, George Cole, Cecil Parker
Synopsis:
Four stories by Somerset Maugham, realised with greater or lesser finesse: The Facts of Life sees a tennis player fall foul of Mai Zetterling's grifter; The Alien Corn has Bogarde as an ambitious but frustrated classical pianist; in The Kite, George Cole stands up to his overbearing mother; and Nora Swinburne is The Colonel's Lady, who scandalises her husband by publishing erotic poetry.
Review:
One of the most successful portmanteau films of the period, this Gainsborough production assembles a marvellous cast, virtually a who's-who of British acting talent of the day, and has Maugham himself introduce the stories. The keynote in all is an ironic detachment that lovers of Maupassant will relish, and which perfectly serves the short story format, making up for the tendency of films of the time to sentimentalise their subjects. The less successful Trio followed a couple of years later.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 120m
Director: Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree, Ken Annakin
Cast: Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, George Cole, Cecil Parker
Synopsis:
Four stories by Somerset Maugham, realised with greater or lesser finesse: The Facts of Life sees a tennis player fall foul of Mai Zetterling's grifter; The Alien Corn has Bogarde as an ambitious but frustrated classical pianist; in The Kite, George Cole stands up to his overbearing mother; and Nora Swinburne is The Colonel's Lady, who scandalises her husband by publishing erotic poetry.
Review:
One of the most successful portmanteau films of the period, this Gainsborough production assembles a marvellous cast, virtually a who's-who of British acting talent of the day, and has Maugham himself introduce the stories. The keynote in all is an ironic detachment that lovers of Maupassant will relish, and which perfectly serves the short story format, making up for the tendency of films of the time to sentimentalise their subjects. The less successful Trio followed a couple of years later.