The Dancing Years (film)
| The Dancing Years | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Argentine poster | |
| Directed by | Harold French |
| Produced by | Warwick Ward |
| Written by |
Warwick Ward Jack Whittingham |
| Based on | the play by Ivor Novello |
| Starring |
Dennis Price Gisèle Préville Patricia Dainton |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
Production company | |
Release date | 1950 |
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £205,868 (UK)[1] |
The Dancing Years is a 1950 musical British film based on the musical by Ivor Novello.[2]
Production
Dennis Price was loaned by the Rank Organisation to ABPC to play the lead role.[3]
Plot
A pre-First World War love affair between a young composer (Dennis Price) and a star of the musical stage (Giselle Preville) falters through a misunderstanding which causes her to leave him and marry a prince (Anthony Nicholls).[4]
Cast
- Rudi Kleber - Dennis Price
- Maria Zeitler - Gisèle Préville
- Grete - Patricia Dainton
- Prince Reinaldt - Anthony Nicholls
- Franzel - Grey Blake
- Hatti - Muriel George
- Frau Kurt - Olive Gilbert
- Tenor - Martin Ross
- Rudi's secretary Gerald Case
- Head Waiter - Carl Jaffe
- Maria's son - Jeremy Spenser
Critical reception
In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote, "the British obviously spared no expense in bringing Ivor Novello's "The Dancing Years" to the screen. For, in the operetta, which came to the Little Carnegie on Saturday, Vienna, before and after the first World War, was never lovelier than it is in the panchromatic shades of Technicolor; the singers, ballet corps, sets and staging are as handsome as any conjured up in a fairy tale; and the scenarists have not missed a cliché in recounting the bittersweet saga of lovelorn artists' lives...Mr. Novello's music is pleasing but his plot is painfully transparent...Dennis Price, as the minor-league Johann Strauss of the piece, ages gracefully and is appropriately glum throughout the proceedings. As the operetta star and his opposite number, Giselle Preville is attractive, wears the clothes of the period (1910-1926) with distinction and does well vocally by a lilting number titled, "Waltz of My Heart." One of Miss Preville's lines, however, is not quite pointed. "Vienna", she says at the beginning of this yarn, "needs a new composer." Judging by "The Dancing Years", Vienna could use a new story." [5]
Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1950.[6]
References
- ↑ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p493
- ↑ The Dancing Years at BFI
- ↑ "NOVELLO HIT TO BE SCREENED.". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 23 April 1949. p. 3 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ↑ "The Dancing Years | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley (1951-01-29). "Movie Review – The Dancing Years – THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'The Company She Keeps,' With Lizabeth Scott Playing a Parole Officer, Arrives at Loew's Criterion At the Little Carnegie At the Stanley". NY Times. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ↑ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p212