Jassy

Jassy (1947)

In 19th century England, Jassy is a young Gypsy girl blessed with the gift of second sight. Pursued by superstitious villagers, she is rescued by the son of the owner of Mordelaine, a vast stately home. Unfortunately, his father's drinking and gambling threaten the very ownership of the house. Despite her humble origins as a servant girl, Jassy must try to use her talents to climb the social ladder and save Mordelaine for the man whom she loves.

Date of release
1947-08-13
TMDB
5.2 / 10 (12)
Runtime
1h 40m
Genres
Adventure, Drama, Romance
Director
Bernard Knowles

Casting

Interesting facts

Jassy is a 1947 British colour film historical melodrama directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc and Dennis Price. It was written by Dorothy Christie, Campbell Christie and Geoffrey Kerr based on the 1944 novel by Norah Lofts. Set in the early 19th century, it is a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in Technicolor, and was the last "official" Gainsborough melodrama.

Production

The film was based on a novel by Norah Lofts, originally published in 1944. Film rights were bought by Gainsborough Pictures who in 1946 saw Maurice Ostrer replaced as head of production by Sydney Box. In his last years, Ostrer had specialized in making melodramas that had been highly lucrative to the studio, many of which starred Margaret Lockwood.

By this stage Gainsborough had lost the services of a number of people crucial to the success of the Gainsborough melodramas, including Leslie Arliss, Ted Black, Maurice Ostrer, Harold Huth and R. J. Minney.

John Cromwell was originally announced as director.

The film was given a large budget. It was considered a "special", i.e. one of the most expensive made by Gainsborough, and the first film shot in Technicolor there.

According to Dermot Walsh "they offered the part of my father to Peter Graves who turned it down on the grounds that playing father to a twenty one year old boy would make him look too old. So poor old Denis [Price] was trundled out."

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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