The Admirable Crichton

The Admirable Crichton (1957)

The Hilarious Story of What the Girls Saw in the Butler...

Lord Loam has modern ideas about his household, he believes in treating his servants as his equals - at least sometimes. His butler, Crichton, still believes that members of the serving class should know their place and be happy there. But when the Loam family are shipwrecked on a desert island with the self-reliant Crichton and lady's maid Tweeny, the class system is put to the test.

Date of release
1957-06-11
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (35)
Runtime
1h 34m
Genres
Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Director
Lewis Gilbert

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: The Admirable Crichton

The Admirable Crichton is a 1957 British satirical comedy romantic adventure film set in the South Seas. It is directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes, and Cecil Parker. The film was based on J.M. Barrie's 1902 stage comedy of the same name. It was released in the United States as Paradise Lagoon.

Production

Rights to the play were originally owned by Paramount Pictures who made two films based on it. During World War II, Paramount transferred the rights to Alexander Korda. Korda began attempting to adapt the play in 1952, initially with Sidney Gilliat to direct and Rex Harrison to star. However, in January 1956 he optioned the film rights to Mike Todd, who intended to produce the film with Robert Newton and Cantinflas starring.

Then Korda, who had the actor Kenneth More under contract, convinced director Lewis Gilbert to make the film together as a follow up to Reach for the Sky. Korda died shortly afterwards, but Gilbert and More decided to proceed with the project. The film was produced by Alexander Korda's old company for distribution by Columbia Pictures.

Was freely adapted from the Barrie play to suit Kenny, and it was a very successful film. I don't think you owe total allegiance to the original text because you are, in a sense, making something that is very different. I was very fond of Kenny as an actor, although he wasn't particularly versatile. What he could do, he did very well.

The film was shot from September to December 1956 on Bermuda and at London Film Studios in Shepperton, England. Claremont House is used as the location for Loam Hall.

Although Australian composer Douglas Gamley is credited with most of the film's score, Richard Addinsell - who was uncredited, supplied the original dance music, including a waltz, a polka, and a galop. These pieces were reconstructed, recorded, and released on CD in 2003. The original music was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and was conducted by Muir Mathieson.

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