The Mudlark
| The Mudlark | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Jean Negulesco |
| Produced by | Nunnally Johnson |
| Written by |
Theodore Bonnet (novel) Nunnally Johnson |
| Starring |
Irene Dunne Alec Guinness Andrew Ray Beatrice Campbell Finlay Currie |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Georges Périnal |
| Editing by | Thelma Connell |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release dates |
30 October 1950 (United Kingdom) November 28, 1950 (United States) |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country |
United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1 million (US rentals)[1] |
The Mudlark is a 1950 film made in Britain by 20th Century Fox, a fictionalized account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Prince Albert. It was directed by Jean Negulesco, written and produced by Nunnally Johnson and based on the 1949 novel of the same name by American artillery sergeant and newspaperman Theodore Bonnet (1908–1983). It starred Irene Dunne, Alec Guinness and Andrew Ray.
"Mudlarks" were street children who survived by scavenging and selling what they could find on the banks of the River Thames. The film was a hit in Britain and made an overnight star of Andrew Ray, who played the title character.
Plot
A young street urchin (Andrew Ray), half-starved and homeless, finds a locket containing the likeness of Queen Victoria (Irene Dunne). Not recognizing her, he is told that she is the "mother of all England". Taking the remark literally, he journeys to Windsor Castle to see her.
When he is caught by the palace guards, the boy is mistakenly thought to be part of an assassination plot against the Queen. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Alec Guinness) realizes that the boy is innocent and pleads for him in Parliament, delivering a speech that indirectly criticizes the Queen for withdrawing from public life. The Queen is infuriated by the speech, but she is genuinely moved upon meeting the boy for the first time, and once again enters public life. Disraeli's long speech in the House of Commons (lasting 6½ minutes) appears to be uninterrupted by cutting – a remarkable feat by Guinness.
Cast
- Irene Dunne as Queen Victoria
- Alec Guinness as Benjamin Disraeli
- Andrew Ray as Wheeler
- Beatrice Campbell as Lady Emily Prior
- Finlay Currie as John Brown, Queen Victoria's servant
- Anthony Steel as Lieutenant Charles McHatten
- Raymond Lovell as Sergeant Footman Naseby
- Marjorie Fielding as Lady Margaret Prior
- Constance Smith as Kate Noonan
- Edward Rigby as The Watchman
- Ernest Clark as Hammond
- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Tucker
Award nomination
The Mudlark was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design in a black-and-white film (Edward Stevenson and Margaret Furse).
Historical inspiration
In the semi-historical novel upon which this film was based, the story of the young mudlark Wheeler (aged ten in the film, but seven in the book) sneaking into Windsor Castle in 1875 to see Queen Victoria was inspired by a 14 December 1838 incident involving Edward Jones. A boy was discovered in Buckingham Palace. At first mistaken for a chimney-sweep, until he ran off across the lawns, he was apprehended by a policeman. (Sweeping of chimneys by boys was not made illegal until 1840.) The boy gave his name as Edward Cotton and said that he had been born in the palace; later he claimed to have been living there for only a year, after having come from Hertfordshire. In fact, his name was Edward Jones, the 14-year-old son of a tailor who lived in Bell Yard, some 300 yards distant from the palace, who had turned him out for ill conduct. He had been employed as an errand boy by a carver and gilder in Coventry Street, but had disappeared three days previous to his arrest after saying that he wanted to see the palace's Grand Staircase to sketch it and also to see the Queen (who was actually then at Windsor). At the Westminster Sessions on 28 December, the magistrate's court jury found him not guilty of theft and he was taken back by his employer, who described him as an extremely good lad. (Some details were taken from contemporary reports in the London newspapers The Times, The Sun and The Standard.) The full history of the intruder has been revealed in Jan Bondeson's book Queen Victoria's Stalker: The Strange Story of the Boy Jones (2010).
References
- ↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
External links
- The Mudlark at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mudlark at allmovie
- The Mudlark at the TCM Movie Database