So Long at the Fair

So Long at the Fair

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Terence Fisher
Antony Darnborough
Produced by Betty E. Box
Sydney Box
Written by Hugh Mills
Anthony Thorne
Starring Dirk Bogarde
Jean Simmons
Music by Benjamin Frankel
Edited by Gordon Hales
Release dates
  • 31 May 1950 (1950-05-31)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
French
Box office £132,000 (by 1953)[1]

So Long at the Fair (US re-release title The Black Curse) is a 1950 British thriller film directed by Terence Fisher and Anthony Darnborough, and starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde. It was adapted from the 1947 novel of the same name by Anthony Thorne. The general story is a version of what appears to be a 19th-century urban legend, which has inspired several fictional works. "Maybe You Will Remember" told in Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories 3 and the episode "Into Thin Air" of the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents were based on the same tale. The German film Verwehte Spuren (Covered Tracks) was also based on the story, and produced in 1938, with a script by Thea von Harbou.

The title derives from the nursery rhyme "Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?"

Plot

In 1889, young Englishwoman Vicky Barton (Jean Simmons) and her brother Johnny (David Tomlinson) arrive in Paris to see the Exposition Universelle. This is Vicky's first time in Paris, and after checking into a hotel, she drags her tired brother to dinner and the famous Moulin Rouge. She finally retires for the night, while Johnny has a late-night drink. When English painter George Hathaway (Dirk Bogarde) drops off his girlfriend, Rhoda O'Donovan (Honor Blackman), and her mother (Betty Warren) at the hotel, he asks Johnny for change for a 100 franc note to pay a carriage driver; Johnny loans him 50 francs and gives him his name and room number.

The next morning, Vicky finds a blank wall where Johnny's room used to be. When she questions hotel owner and manager Madame Hervé (Cathleen Nesbitt), the latter claims she arrived alone. The room number now adorns the common bathroom. Madame Hervé's brother Narcisse (Marcel Pontin) and the day porter (Eugene Deckers) back up her story.

Frantic, Vicky goes to see the British consul (Felix Aylmer), followed secretly by Narcisse. She has no proof of her brother's existence, so the consul can only suggest she find a witness, Nina (Zena Marshall), the hotel maid who attended her. Nina had informed her that she was going up in a balloon with her boyfriend at the Exposition that day, so the consul takes her there. Tragically, she is too late. Before she can talk to Nina, the balloon ascends, bursts into flames, and plummets to the ground, killing the two passengers.

Vicky tries the French police commissaire (Austin Trevor). He questions Madame Hervé and her brother, but can find nothing amiss in their story. Since her room has been reserved for only two nights, Vicky has to leave the hotel. Madame Hervé offers her a ticket home to England, which she is forced to accept, as she has little money left. However, unbeknownst to either party, Rhoda O'Donovan has been asked by George Hathaway to deliver a letter containing his loan repayment to Johnny. Not finding his room, Rhoda slips the envelope under Vicky's door, where she finds it.

Vicky goes to see George. When he confirms having met her brother, she bursts into tears. He offers his assistance. George notices there are six balconies, but only five rooms on the floor, and finds the missing hotel room, the entrance having been covered over to be part of the wall.

Under questioning by the police, Madame Hervé reveals where Johnny has been taken. It turns out that he became sick with the Black Plague during the night. The news would have been disastrous for the Exposition, so he was secretly taken away to a hospital. George brings along Doctor Hart (André Morell), who tells Vicky her brother has a chance of living.

Cast

Music

The music, by Benjamin Frankel, includes a sequence accompanying a ride in a carriage which went on to become a popular light concert item under the title Carriage and Pair.

Trivia

Production

Betty Box was appointed producer at the last minute when Antony Darborough was held up on The Astonished Heart. The film was to cast Francoise Rosay but she dropped out to go to Hollywood.[2][3]

Reception

The film performed solidly at the box office.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211
  2. ↑ "FILM NEWS.". Bruce Rock-Corrigin Post, Narembeen-Kondinin Guardian (WA : 1948 - 1954). WA. 11 August 1949. p. 6 Supplement: MODERN WEEKLY News. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "FEMININE INTEREST.". Warwick Daily News (Qld. : 1919 -1954). Qld.: National Library of Australia. 19 September 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.