The Admirable Crichton (1957)

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1. 

   ClassicLady

   See the silent original MALE AND FEMALE (1919) for comparison. The silent version displays much more emotion and interaction between characters than this version does. However, if you're not a silent movie fan, this talkie version isn't all that bad. 11 years 2 months ago
2. 

   dombrewer

   J.M. Barrie's improbable but witty examination of the British class system gets a solid film version with ever reliable Kenneth More as the eponymous unflappable butler who swaps roles with his master Lord Loam (Cecil Parker) when he and his whole family are ship-wrecked in the South Seas, presumed dead. The snobbishness and uselessness of the upper classes dissolve as the practical man naturally takes the lead and becomes the master of the island. Where the story stumbles, and does so seriously, is in the end:

   where the party are rescued and return to their respective places in society - the toffs resort to their traditional feckless and self-serving behaviour and Crichton, who had fallen in love with Loam's eldest Mary (lovely Sally Ann Howes) and vice versa, gives her up and leaves service, marrying instead his "second choice" the simple maid Eliza (Diane Cilento) mainly because they belong in the same social sphere. If Barrie had been braver he would have bucked convention and proven that love can, and should, transcend boundaries of class. Perhaps he was hoping his audiences would feel that injustice the same way... either way it makes for a very unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise very enjoyable comedy drama.

   12 years 2 months ago

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