Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 5

by Brent Reid
Brent Reid
Post Views: 173

1948–1958

  • Flag waver: Continues to pick projects highlighting the best of British
  • The theatre, radio and film star expands into still-new medium of TV
  • However, despite best heroic efforts his work rate began to slow down
  • Lifetime’s ill health eventually brought his glittering career to an end
  • But his legacy lives on, inspiring new generations of fans and actors

Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 2: 1932–1934, 3: 1935–1939, 4: 1942–1947, 5: 1948–1958

Maria Schell and Robert Donat in The Magic Box (1951)

Maria Schell and Robert Donat (source)

Contents

This Modern Age (1948)

Donat appears at the 17-minute mark in “The British – Are They Artistic?“, episode 15 of “monthly film review” cinemagazine This Modern Age (1946–1950), and it can be viewed for free at the BFI Mediatheque and BFI Player alongside five other episodes if you’re in the UK or have a decent VPN.

The Winslow Boy (1948)

The Winslow Boy aka Tutto mi accusa (1948) Italian poster by Anselmo Ballester

Italian poster by Anselmo Ballester. Its title translates as “Everything accuses me”.

Screenonline | Alamy | clip/#2 | CUNY TV

Terence Rattigan adapted his own drama [a 1946 play] for this distinguished film feature about a young boy unjustly accused of theft, and the effect his case has on a wide circle of complacent aristocrats. Based on a true incident that occurred a century ago, The Winslow Boy deftly dramatises the potential destruction of young Ronnie Winslow and his family after his wrongful expulsion from school. His father, firmly determined to vindicate Ronnie, hires an attorney, whose brilliant defense is the core of the story. The unravelling of a mystery begins with the attorney’s cross- examination of the boy, as Rattigan’s screenplay dextrously weaves in elements of poignant grace and comic relief. The result is a classic entertainment with fresh rewards on every viewing. – US Thorn EMI VHS (1980)

“…the most dazzling and thrilling demonstration of English cleverness, tenacity and restraint… a striking and inspiring picture.” – The New York Times

“Superior courtroom melodrama.” – Leonard Maltin

Amazingly, this makes two straightforward Donats in a row, following Captain Boycott: this Anthony Asquith-helmer’s uncut, transferred from the best archival materials possible and even, as far as I can see, has no mass-produced bootlegs. Of course, there are the usual crappy homemade DVD-Rs on eBay et al, falsely claiming it’s in the public domain. The number of releases is small but perfectly formed and bolstered by a specially adapted suite of Alwyn’s score:

There have been more than a dozen film and TV remakes, and BBC Radio adaptations in 1951, 1953, 1965 (audio) and 1981 (cass/alt, CD, MP3), in addition to two American recordings:

Lastly, an abbreviated version of the actual film soundtrack was broadcast in 1958 as a BBC Radio ‘play’, as happened with Goodbye, Mr. Chips and The 39 Steps.

The Cure for Love (1949)

Robert Donat and Renée Asherson in The Cure for Love (1949)

Husband and wife-to-be: Robert Donat and Renée Asherson (source)

Picturegoer | Screenonline | Alamy, Bridgeman

In addition to being its star, this was written, produced, directed and financed by Donat, based on Walter Greenwood’s hit 1945 play in which Donat also starred throughout its lengthy West End run, so this was clearly a project close to his heart. Drawing it even closer was the fact he and his play and film co-star was Renée Asherson, who also featured in The Magic Box; the pair would marry two years after the latter’s release. The screen version mirrored the play’s glowing reviews and was one of the year’s major box office hits, so it’s especially unfortunate there have been no official releases whatsoever so far. As a British Lion Films production, its rights are now held by Studiocanal. The BBFC passed it uncut at 99:17 and there are plenty of original film materials at the BFI Archive, and… you can see it for free anytime you’re in London!

Excerpts of both the play and film were broadcast on BBC Radio in 1945 and 1950, with the latter introduced by Donat himself. Further adaptations came courtesy of the BBC via radio in 1953 and 1966, and TV movies in 1954 and 1964, but none appear to survive. William Alwyn’s achingly sensitive film score is also deserving of long overdue attention but until we get the whole thing in situ, an extract and a couple of re-recordings are available:

Renée Asherson in The Cure for Love (1949)

Wet behind the ears: Renée Asherson has no need of The Cure for Love

Love on the Dole (1941)

 

Love on the Dole (1941) UK poster

UK poster, reused on the remastered US and UK BDs

Wonders in the Dark | Screenonline | Alamy | Kine Weekly ad

Filmed in the North Country of England, Deborah Kerr (The King and I, Here to Eternity) stars in the vividly characterised story of a penniless family struggling through the depression years. Kerr is a mill girl in love with Evans who loses his job and refuses to marry her on “dole money”. He is killed in a demonstration against conditions and unemployment, so Kerr marries an old bookie she doesn’t love in order to get jobs for her father and brother.”>[Hover for spoiler.] This picture is realistic in its portrayal of poverty-stricken families and, although a depressing subject, the writers manage to insert some well-timed humour into the script with sepia-tinted photography capturing the North Country atmosphere and its poverty. This film is one of the most moving and significant films ever made in Britain. – UK Fabulous DVD (2004)

Walter Greenwood’s best known work is his first novel, 1933’s Love on the Dole, about the human cost of poverty during the Great Depression, set in his hometown of Salford in Lancashire. Though Robert Donat doesn’t appear in the film version, there are several strong connections – he and the writer were lifelong friends and colleagues – and it’s well worthy of inclusion here. The title reflects the grim pragmatism of its heroine, who opines, “Love’s alright on t’pictures, but love on t’dole ain’t quite the same thing.” It was a critical and commercial smash, both causing an outcry and galvanising public opinion on the issue, ultimately prompting parliamentary reform (similar to the effect of Donat’s The Citadel and its source).LINK The following year, it was adapted as a even more successful reduced play (in two versions) by Greenwood with Ronald Gow and then a controversial, hard-hitting 1941 film with a teenaged Kerr; the stars were interviewed during production for the BBC Radio “filmagazine” Picture-Reporter.

Immediately following the play’s success, there were many broadcasts of various iterations of book and play on BBC Radio. One of these was a 1942 BBC Radio broadcast a special half-hour programme of excerpts from the play, featuring Donat and Wendy Hiller, who in 1936 originated the lead role of Sally Hardcastle in the West End and on Broadway, also marrying Gow in the process. Eight full length BBC Radio dramatisations aired altogether, including in 1949, 1955 (comment), 1965, 1980 and 1987 (audio); and there were UK TV movies in 1960, 1965 and 1967; sadly, only the latter TV version survives.

Bootlegs: Spain (Mon Inter Comerz DVD-R/BD-R), US (Wham! USA DVD). Extras:

But the film version has several decent releases: first was a barebones UK DVD, more recently superseded by comprehensive, remastered US and UK editions with essay booklets and three relevant, contemporary shorts totalling 22 minutes. The US has two additional extras but they’re all available separately anyway:

Lastly, Richard Addinsell’s Love on the Dole score, by turns understated then sweeping and soaring, has been reconstructed and adapted for an adeptly performed suite.

Incidentally, a few years after the novel’s publication, Greenwood penned a limited update of Sally Hardcastle and co., in much in the same vein as Anjoli Samudio’s short sequel to The 39 Steps.

The Magic Box (1951)

Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene in The Magic Box (1951)

Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene

Picturegoer | Screenonline | cuttings | at Marius Goring | RFP | Alamy | ReelStreets | Opening The Magic Box | Still Crazy After All These Years

The Magic Box tells the fascinating and affecting story of the English motion picture pioneer William Friese-Greene (Robert Donat: Goodbye Mr. Chips, The 39 Steps), a man who lived only for his work, often sacrificing himself, his family and his fortune to satisfy an obsession – to make pictures move. That he succeeded is undeniable but his strength of purpose was outweighed by his personal failings. The Magic Box is not only the story of Willie Greene the inventor, but also of the two women who loved him, played by Margaret Johnston (The Rake’s Progress) and Maria Schell (The Brothers Karamazov), who gave him the courage and inspiration to fulfil his ambitions. Made for the Festival of Britain in 1951, The Magic Box is not only a fascinating story beautifully presented, but also a piece of cinema history, with a cast that reads like a who’s-who of the British film industry of the time. The cast includes Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, Thora Hird, Sid James, Janette Scott and many, many more. – UK DVD

This lovingly crafted biopic – boasting “Over Sixty British Stars!” – is based on Ray Allister’s somewhat overreaching 1948 biography, Friese-Greene: Close-up of an Inventor, which also had a tie-in reprint with foreword by Donat. Brutally edited from its original 108 minutes down to just 50, the film first saw US broadcast in 1956 as an episode of Kraft Television Theatre. There’s only a UK VHS and DVD so far which are fine, being uncut and based on BFI Archive materials, although a remastered HD release would be most welcome.

Robert Donat’s Eureka Moment | clip, #2, #3 | scene comparisons | première, B-t-S, etc: British Movietone/Pathé

Royal Heritage (1952)

This seemingly lost 28-minute, colour theatrical short was a puff piece about the pending coronation of Liz the Second with narration by Donat and accompanied by a tie-in magazine, The Imperishable Glory of Britain’s Royal Heritage. It’s quite common and cheap, with “story and pictures based on the documentary”, so gives a good idea of what the short was like, albeit missing its most interesting aspect. UK poster, insert.

Lease of Life (1954)

Robert Donat in Lease of Life (1954)

Life imitates art: Donat as the Rev. William Thorne (alt, orig)

Donat’s only film for Ealing Studios is a moving, reflective drama clearly foreshadowing his own demise and is based on Frank Baker’s eponymous 1954 novel (retitled Nearer to Heaven in the US). The gently challenging book and film must have appeared more or less simultaneously in the UK, as the former contains imagery from the latter. Baker notably saw his full length, 1936 novel The Birds (almost certainly) plagiarised by Daphne du Maurier for her own novella, on which Hitchcock’s film was based.

There’s only been one release for this underappreciated, bittersweet classic so far but it’s British so, fittingly, they actually got it right. It has an excellent transfer of the uncut version from BFI Archive materials as opposed to the retitled US edit.

Theatrical trailer

Presentation to… Churchill (1954)

Donat introduced this special programme, rather cumbersomely titled Presentation to The Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, marking the 80th birthday of the ex-British Prime Minister. It was a live BBC TV and radio simulcast, and seemingly no recordings were made.

Sir Alexander Korda (1956)

Both gone too soon: Robert Donat and Alexander Korda on the set of Perfect Strangers (alt); another; later

This hour-long documentary sees Donat interviewed alongside a host of stars to commemorate the life and work of the Hungarian-born giant of the British film industry, with whom he worked at least seven times. It was first broadcast in March 1956,  just two months after the beknighted writer-producer-director’s death of a heart attack at the age of 62. A second similar documentary, The Golden Years of Alexander Korda, was first broadcast in December 1968 and would doubtless have featured Donat, were he then still alive. Though neither are widely available, they’re safely stored in the BFI Archive here and here, and can be seen by special request. For more on the great man, see:

The Stained Glass at Fairford (1956)

St. Mary’s Church, Fairford, Gloucestershire, c.1950

St. Mary’s Church, Fairford, c.1950 (source)

This 11-minute short (9min PAL) is a look at the medieval windows of St. Mary’s Church in Fairford, Gloucestershire, with commentary by John Betjeman and some bible passages by Donat. Extensive materials are held at the BFI Archive and it’s viewable at their Mediatheque.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

Ingrid Bergman in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

Ingrid Bergman and co.

Donat’s final and appropriately poignant film in which he provides support to Ingrid Bergman and Curt Jürgens, gets its own in-depth treatment.

Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 2: 1932–1934, 3: 1935–1939, 4: 1942–1947, 5: 1948–1958

I started Brenton Film because I love film – quelle surprise! The silent era, 1930s and 1940s especially get my literary juices flowing, so you'll see a lot about those. For more, see the About page and read this before emailing.

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