David Lean (1908-1991) Part I - the little films
I intend this post to be a very long... one I can add to and invite discussion.
For the past few weeks, outside my novel writing, I have been reading about the life and work of David Lean. After examining several works (I shall post those below), I have found Mr. Lean somewhat a paradox. From one biography, I discovered he had a religious upbringing, and that he did not see his first film before the age of 18. In another biography, they stated he spent numerous hours hanging out in movie theaters as a boy, watching films. I also find his relationship with Noel Coward puzzling. After he worked in various jobs (clappor and so on) Lean started work as an assistant director and then changed over to editing. He seemed content with that career, working for eleven years (1930-1941). In 1941, he worked as a production assistant on "Major Barbara."
However, his first big break came in 1942, when he met Noel Coward. Coward's painting partner was Winston Churchill. The soon to be Prime Minister persuaded Coward to write a screenplay based on the heroics of Captain Lord Louis Mountbattan, which later became "In which we serve," written, produced, and co-directed by Coward. He even wrote the score! The film was so popular, Coward won an honorary Oscar.
This introduction of the two men resulted in a four film collaboration that took Lean from obscurity into the limelight. Of these four films, only "Blithe Spirit" and "Brief Encounter" are still played on outlets such as Turner Movie Classics. "This happy breed," has not been shown for years. "Blithe Spirit" became so popular in the West End, that it broke all box office records which stood for forty years. "Brief Encounter," based on another play by Coward called "Tonight at 8:30" an ambitious cycles of ten plays where he and Gertrude Lawrence shuffled the bill each night, offering up three (that's some memorization!). One of these cycles, called, "Still Life" Coward expanded into a screenplay that became "Brief Encounter."
Lean and Coward were friends, and stayed in close contact for many years until Coward moved away to Jamaica due to illness.
BLITHE SPIRIT (1945) - Adapted from the play by Noel Coward, he claimed he wrote the entire play in five days start to finish and cut only two line before the production premiered to sell out crowds. Kay Hammond as Elvira and Margaret Rutheford as Madam Arcati became so associated with the roles on stage, they repeated their parts in the film, with only a dissappointing Rex Harrison to replace Cecil Parker as Charles, the beleaguered husband haunted by the ghost of his first wife, Elvira. The film is a rather straighforward presentation of a stage play, with many sets resembling those of the original production. Lean did not venture too far from Coward's vision, as the playwrite practically directed this film, too.
The basic premise begins with the death of Charles' first wife, Elvira, shortly after their marriage, in a motor car accident. Charles goes on to marry a second wife, Ruth, played by Constance Cummings. Ruth is persuaded one night to bring in a soothsayer to perform a seance, during which the madam accidentally ressurrects the spirit of Charles first wife, Elvira. She seems bent on destroying Charles second marriage, and in the end causes another accident resulting in Ruth's death. The two women then haunt Charles who isn't long for this world when he brushes them off believing he is glad to be rid of them both.
The real star is the eccentric and comical Madam Arcati, a role invented on stage by Margaret Rutherford, latter known for her role as Miss Marple. Many great actresses have played this part. Mildred Natwick played it twice in New York and on television with Coward; Geraldine Page played her in the revival on Broadway in 1987 with my old school chum Judy Ivey, for which Page received a Tony nomination.
Lean is not known for his comedies, and this film seems to be the only time he ventured down this path, sort of cutting his teeth at the helm, mind you.
It is Lean's next film, "Brief Encounter" that Lean finally begins to show substantially more substance in his choice of shots, as the work is also darker and more subtle, allowing Lean greater latitude, which eventually leads to some of his best work of this period.
Biographical works on Lean:
DAVID LEAN: A BIOGRAPHY BY KEVIN BROWNLOW
DAVID LEAN: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT BY LADY SANDRA LEAN
BEYOND THE EPIC: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF DAVID LEAN BY GENE PHILLIPS
DAVID LEAN AND HIS FILMS BY ALAIN SILVER
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