The Demi-Paradise

Backstory

The Demi-Paradise (also known as Adventure for Two) is a 1943 comedy film made by Two Cities Films and distributed in the U.S. by Universal Pictures. It starred Laurence Olivier as a Soviet inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley-Ward as the woman who falls in love with him. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald and Filippo Del Giudice from a screenplay by de Grunwald. The music score was by Nicholas Brodszky and the cinematography by Bernard Knowles.

The film is a gentle satire on the values the English hold so dear. It was designed to encourage sympathy between Britain and the Soviet Union. The film's title is a reference to John of Gaunt's famous speech in Richard II which begins:

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise

Plot Summary

A Russian inventor by the name Ivan Kouzetsoff travels to England to introduce the British shipping industry to his newly invented and improved propeller blade. When he is in England Kouzetsoff meets the socialite woman Anne Tisdall, and falls head over heels for her. Meeting Anne and hearing her views turn his own previous views and conceptions about the capitalist system and its degenerates up side down. After a lovers' quarrel, Ivan heads back to Russian only to be recalled to England a year later to smooth out imperfections in his design. Despite his efforts, his modifications prove to be unsound and he seems destined to return to the Soviet Union in disgrace.

The subject of affection, Anne, convinces the local shipbuilders to work around the clock in order to realize the revolutionary propeller. Soon they solve the problem, and there is a very successful launch of the new line of propelled ships. Ivan can return to the Soviet Union to aid the war effort, enriched by Anne's love.^[1]

Cast

• Laurence Olivier as Ivan Kouznetsoff
• Penelope Dudley-Ward as Ann (as Penelope Ward)
• Marjorie Fielding as Mrs. Tisdall
• Margaret Rutherford as Rowena Ventnor
• Felix Aylmer as Mr. Runalow, a noted expert in naval engineering, head of the firm Kouznetsoff deals with, and Ann's grandfather
• George Thorpe as Herbert Tisdall
• Leslie Henson as Himself
• Guy Middleton as Dick Christian
• Michael Shepley as Mr. Walford
• Edie Martin as Miss Winifred Tisdall
• Muriel Aked as Mrs. Tisdall-Stanton
• Joyce Grenfell as Sybil Paulson
• Everley Gregg as Mrs. Flannel
• Jack Watling as Tom
• David Keir as Jordan
• Aubrey Mallalieu as Toomes
• Beatrice Harrison as herself

Miles Malleson, John Laurie, George Cole, and Wilfrid Hyde-White had minor roles.

External links

• The Demi-Paradise at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. ↑ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/21566/Demi-Paradise/