The White Unicorn
The White Unicorn | |
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Directed by |
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Screenplay by | Reginald H. Wyer |
Edited by | Robert Johnson |
Music by | Bretton Byrd |
Production company | |
Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release dates | 30 October 1947 (London)(UK) June 1948 (US) |
Running time | 97 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £150,000 (approx)[2] |
The White Unicorn is a 1947 British
Plot
At a home for delinquent girls, a troublesome girl, swaps reminiscences with the warden, who recounts her own unhappy marriage, divorce and tragic death of her second husband.[5]
Cast
- Margaret Lockwood as Lucy
- Joan Greenwood as Lottie Smith
- Ian Hunter as Philip Templar
- Dennis Price as Richard Glover
- Eileen Peel as Joan
- Guy Middleton as Fobey
- Catherine Lacey as Miss Cater
- Paul Dupuis as Paul
- Bryl Wakely as Matron of Remand home
- Joan Rees as Alice Walters
- Mabel Constanduros as Nurse
- Lily Kann as Shura
- Valentine Dyall as Storton
- Julia Lockwood as Norey
- Vernon Conway as Son of Pompous Matron
- Kyra Vayne as Singer
- Cecil Bevan as Clerk to the Assizes
- John Boxer as Bill
- Dorothy Bramhall as Parlourmaid
- Clifford Cobbe as Drunken Father
- Amy Dalby as Landlady
- David Evans as Ted – Parcels Boy
- John Howard as Kaarlo
- Noel Howlett as Sir Humphrey Webster
- Elizabeth Maude as Mrs. Madden
- Robert Moore as Clerk to the Judge
- Thelma Rea as Pompous Matron
- Desmond Roberts as Elderly Roue
- Stewart Rome as Charles Madden
Production
In December 1946 Phyllis Calvert was scheduled to play the lead.[6]
Filming began in March 1947.[7] The film was made at Nettleford Studios.[8] It was used to help build up Joan Greenwood who Rank were trying to make a star.[9]
Some scenes had to be re-cut for release in the US, notably when Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Prices's characters went on honeymoon together – their twin beds were too close together.[10] Lockwood's daughter had a small role.[11]
Reception
Box office
According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.[12]
Critical
AllMovie called it "A "woman's picture" if ever there was one";[13] but Bosley Crowther in The New York Times was less sympathetic, calling it "...not an especially dramatic or otherwise appetizing serving of entertainment";[14] whereas Variety wrote "...his romantic melodrama will have rough handling by the highbrows, but should prove a box office winner. Story is on hokey side, but a tearjerker."[15]
References
- ISBN 9783110951943– via Google Books.
- ^ Lawson, Alan (21 August 1995). "Gerry Humphreys". British Entertainment History Project.
- ^ a b "The White Unicorn (1947)". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016.
- ^ Schallert, Edwin (9 March 1947). "British Film Star Irked by Censors: 'Silly,' Says Margaret Lockwood in Trans-Atlantic Phone Chat". Los Angeles Times. p. B1.
- ^ "The White Unicorn". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 16, no. 10. 14 August 1948. p. 26. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "British Film Briefs". Variety. 4 December 1946. p. 16.
- ISBN 9781852271800.
- ^ "Old-time players at studio party". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 15, no. 7. 26 July 1947. p. 36. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "BRITISH FILMS". The Sun. No. 2326. Sydney. 9 November 1947. p. 17. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Margaret Lockwood's fame brings problems". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 15, no. 23. 15 November 1947. p. 32. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Lockwood, Margaret (1955). Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood. Odhams Press Limited. p. 132.
- ISBN 9781134901500.
- ^ "The White Unicorn (1947) - Bernard Knowles - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
- ^ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 27 August 2021.
- ^ "Variety (November 1947)". Variety. November 1947.
External links
- The White Unicorn at IMDb
- The White Unicorn at the better source needed]
- The White Unicorn at Silver Sirens
- Review of film at Variety