The Love Lottery
| The Love Lottery | |
|---|---|
 Original UK film poster | |
| Directed by | Charles Crichton |
| Produced by | Monja Danischewsky |
| Written by |
Harry Kurnitz Monja Danischewsky |
| Story by |
Charles Neilson-Terry Zelma Bramley Moore |
| Starring |
David Niven Peggy Cummins Anne Vernon Herbert Lom |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | Seth Holt |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | GFD |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 89 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Love Lottery is a 1954 Ealing Studios comedy film, directed by Charles Crichton and starring David Niven. The film examines celebrity and fan worship with an international setting including Lake Como, ambitious dream sequences, and an uncredited cameo appearance at the end by Humphrey Bogart as himself.[2]
Plot
A celluloid heart-throb, who is haunted by dreams and hounded by fans, is coerced into taking part in a lottery to find a wife.[3]
Cast
- David Niven as Rex Allerton
- Peggy Cummins as Sally
- Anne Vernon as Jane Dubois
- Herbert Lom as André Amico
- Charles Victor as Jennings
- Gordon Jackson as Ralph
- Felix Aylmer as Winant
- Hugh McDermott as Rodney Wheeler
- Stanley Maxted as Oliver Stanton
- June Clyde as Viola
- John Chandos as Gulliver Kee, Chinaman
- Theodore Bikel as Parsimonious
- Sebastian Cabot as Suarez
- Eugene Deckers as Vernet
- Nelly Arno as the Russian woman[4]
Release
The film was first shown at the Regent Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21 January 1954, as a royal performance during the New Zealand visit by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.[5][6] The UK premiere was at the Gaumont Haymarket in London on 30 January 1954.[1]
Critical reception
The reviewer for The Times expressed mixed views after the UK premiere: "The construction of The Love Letter is deplorably weak ... and Mr. Charles Crichton, who directs the film for Ealing Studios, is left to make what he can of an idea which could branch out in a number of directions. ... Yet, even if catches are dropped, there is much in The Love Letter which beguiles and entertains, The satire at the expense on film publicity methods and of the mentality of the film-fan is, in the Ealing tradition, so mild that a writer such as Mr. Clifford Odets would not recognize that it was there, but it is there, nevertheless, and it scores som palpable, if gentle, hits."[7]
Many years later, the US edition of the TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, calling it a "clever British satire on the Hollywood star system."[8]
References
- 1 2 The Times, 30 January 1954, page 2: Picture Theatres, Gaumont, "The Love Lottery" Linked 2015-11-24
- ↑ "The Love Lottery". britmovie.co.uk.
- ↑ "The Love Lottery". BFI.
- ↑ "Nelly Arno". BFI. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ↑ The Times, 7 October 1953, page 10: Royal Film Shown in New Zealand Linked 2015-11-24
- ↑ The Times, 22 January 1954, page 5: Quiet Weekend for the Queen Linked 2015-11-24
- ↑ The Times, 1 February 1954, page 10: A Subject for Film Satire Linked 2015-11-24
- ↑ "The Love Lottery". TVGuide.com.