The Guinea Pig (film)
| Guinea Pigs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Roy Boulting |
| Produced by | John Boulting |
| Written by |
Roy Boulting Warren Chetham-Strode (play) Bernard Miles |
| Starring | Richard Attenborough |
| Music by | John Wooldridge |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Richard Best |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Pathé Pictures International (UK) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £224,694 (UK)[1] |
The Guinea Pig is a 1948 British film by Pilgrim Pictures, also known as The Outsider in the United States. The film is adapted from the 1946 play of the same name by Warren Chetham-Strode.[2]
Plot Summary
The "guinea pig" is 14-year-old Jack Read (played by 25-year-old Richard Attenborough), a tobacconist's son who, following the Fleming Report,[3] is given a scholarship to Saintbury, an exclusive public school. The school used in the film was Sherborne School in Dorset.
Only after the changes wreaked by World War II, could such a scenario be imagined. Of course, Read's uncouth behaviour causes him difficulties in fitting into the school. The film was controversial as it contains the first screen use of the word "arse".[4]
Cast
- Richard Attenborough as Jack Read
- Sheila Sim as Lynne Hartley
- Bernard Miles as Mr. Read
- Cecil Trouncer as Lloyd Hartley
- Robert Flemyng as Nigel Lorraine
- Edith Sharpe as Mrs. Hartley
- Joan Hickson as Mrs. Read
- Timothy Bateson as Tracey
- Herbert Lomas as Sir James Corfield
- Anthony Newley as Miles Minor
- Anthony Nicholls as Mr. Stringer
- Wally Patch as Uncle Percy
- Hay Petrie as Peck
- Oscar Quitak as David Tracey
- Kynaston Reeves as The Bishop
- Olive Sloane as Aunt Mabel
- Peter Reynolds as Grimmett
Critical reception
- The New York Times wrote, "the details are highly parochial, the attitudes of the characters are strangely stiff, the accents and idioms are hard to fathom—and the exposition is involved and tedious."[5]
- Time Out called it, "solid entertainment, even if barely convincing".[6]
Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1949.[7]
References
- ↑ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p487
- ↑ "The Guinea Pig | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ Public school (United Kingdom)
- ↑ "The Guinea Pig (1948) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley (1949-05-02). "Movie Review - The Guinea Pig - THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'The Guinea Pig,' English Film About Public School System, Opens at Little Carnegie". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ "The Guinea Pig | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p211
External links
- The Guinea Pig at the Internet Movie Database
- Review of film at Variety
- The Guinea Pig at AllMovie