Spring in Park Lane
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| Spring in Park Lane | |
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| Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Written by | Alice Duer Miller (Novel) Nicholas Phipps (screenplay) |
| Starring | Anna Neagle Michael Wilding Tom Walls Peter Graves |
| Cinematography | Max Greene |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 1948 — United Kingdom September 20, 1949 — USA |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Spring in Park Lane is a 1948 romantic comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox.
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[edit] Synopsis
Based on the novel Come Out of the Kitchen by Alice Duer Miller, it tells the story of a footman, Richard, played by Michael Wilding, who is employed by Joshua Howard (Tom Walls), an eccentric art collector. His niece and secretary, Judy (Anna Neagle), has her doubts that Richard is the footman he pretends to be. In reality he is Lord Brent, brother of one of Judy's suitors, the Marquis of Borechester (Nicholas Phipps).
He went to America to sell some old paintings to restore the family fortunes but on the way back receives a message that the cheque he was given for the paintings is invalid. He decides to hide until he can save enough money to return to America, and assumes the identity of a footman. He and Judy fall in love, and as he is about to return to America they discover that the purchaser's cheque is valid after all.
[edit] Reception
Released two years after the peak year for cinema attendances in the United Kingdom,[1] it nevertheless was substantially more successful than other contemporary releases, becoming the most successful film release of 1948 in the United Kingdom, and in a 2004 survey by the BFI it was rated 5th in the all-time attendance figures for the United Kingdom, with total attendance of 20.5 million, still the largest figure for a wholly British made film.[2]
Reviews were generally positive, Variety said, "incident upon incident carry merry laughter through the picture".[3] and The New York Times described it as "attractively witty".[4]
A follow up, Maytime in Mayfair, was released the following year.
Despite the film's enormous success it is largely forgotten nowadays[5][6], as witnessed by the small number of votes for it on IMDb and the fact that is unavailable on DVD.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Robert Farnon provides the soundtrack, his light orchestral version of the folk tune Early One Morning proving particularly popular at the time.
It was mentioned in an article written by restaurant critic Michael Winner in his regular column in The Sunday Times on 5 June 2005.
[edit] References
- ^ BFI Releases list of the top 100 most-seen films Reel Classics, retrieved May 28, 2007
- ^ Screenonline, Spring in Park LaneBFI Screenonline, retrieved May 27, 2007
- ^ Variety review Variety, retrieved May 28, 2007
- ^ New York Times review The New York Times, retrieved May 27, 2007
- ^ Gone With The Wind tops the list of 100 most-watched films of all time Yorkshire Post, retrieved May 28, 2007
- ^ The Ultimate Film: Researching the Chart IFF, retrieved May 28, 2007
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