Appointment with Venus (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Appointment with Venus

| image = Appointment with Venus.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Ralph Thomas

| producer = Betty Box
Peter Rogers (associate)

| writer = Nicholas Phipps

| based_on = Appointment with Venus by Jerrard Tickell

| narrator =

| starring = David Niven
Glynis Johns
George Coulouris
Barry Jones
Kenneth More

| music = Benjamin Frankel

| cinematography = Ernest Steward

| editing = Gerald Thomas

|studio = British Film Makers Ltd

| distributor = General Film Distributors

| released = {{Film date|df=y|1951|10|08}}

| runtime = 90 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget =

|gross = £144,000[https://books.google.com/books?id=UyYTDAAAQBAJ&dq=vincent+porter+sue+harper&pg=PA386 BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41]

}}

Appointment with Venus is a 1951 British war drama film, a film adaptation of the 1951 Jerrard Tickell novel of the same name. It was directed by Ralph Thomas, produced by Betty E. Box and its screenplay was written by the novelist Nicholas Phipps. The film was based on the evacuation of Alderney cattle from the Channel Island during World War II.[http://www.alderneysociety.org/aldcow.html Alderneysociety.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929034043/http://www.alderneysociety.org/aldcow.html |date=29 September 2007 }}

In the United States the film was re-titled Island Rescue.

Plot

In 1940, after the fall of France, the fictitious Channel Island of Armorel is occupied by a small garrison of German troops under the benign command of Hauptmann Weiss. The hereditary ruler, the Suzerain, is away in the British Army, leaving the Provost in charge.

Back in London, the Ministry of Agriculture realise that during the evacuation of the island, Venus, a prize pedigree pregnant cow, was left behind. They petition the War Office to do something urgently due to the value of the cow's bloodline, and Major Morland is assigned the task of rescuing Venus. The Suzerain's sister, Nicola Fallaize, is in Wales, serving as an Auxiliary Territorial Service army cook. She is quickly posted to the War Office so she can tell them about the island. However, when Morland finds out that Venus is practically a member of her family, he obtains permission to ask her to go along. They, radio operator Sergeant Forbes and naval officer "Trawler" Langley, who knows the local waters, are taken to the island by submarine.

They contact the Provost and discover that Weiss, a cattle breeder in civilian life, is about to have the cow shipped to Germany. Nicola persuades her pacifist cousin and painter Lionel Fallaize to disguise another cow as Venus, so they can switch them. Weiss detects the deception, and the chase is on. They are captured by Sergeant Vogel, but manage to overpower him (after Venus gives birth). They spirit the cow and her calf onto a Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat which takes them to Britain, sinking a pursuing German E-boat in the process.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51197717 |title=Appointment With Venus. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=25 June 1952 |access-date=17 December 2015 |page=29 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Cast

David Niven as Major Valentine Morland
Glynis Johns as Volunteer Nicola Fallaize
George Coulouris as Captain Weiss
Barry Jones as the Provost
Kenneth More as Lionel Fallaize
Noel Purcell as "Trawler" Langley
Bernard Lee as Brigadier
Jeremy Spenser as Georges
Martin Boddey as Sergeant Vogel
Patric Doonan as Sergeant Forbes
John Horsley as Naval Officer Kent
George Benson as Senior clerk
Richard Wattis as Carruthers
David Horne as Magistrate
Philip Stainton as Constable
Pat Nye as ATS auxiliary
Nicholas Phipps as Minister
Derek Blomfield as Admiralty Officer

Basis

The story is based on a real incident told to Tickell after the war by an army officer who had been involved.

The film follows the original novel closely with the exception of the fate of Lionel.

The fictitious island of Armorel may be based on Sark, one of the locations where the film was shot. Sark, inhabited by 500 people, had a feudal ruler, the Seigneur until 2008, as depicted in the play The Dame of Sark.The Dame of Sark a play by William Douglas Home. Like all the other Channel Islands, it was occupied by German troops 1940–1945. British commandos made two unsuccessful raids in 1942–43.

Production

The film was based on a novel. Much of the film was shot on the island of Sark.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55738372 |title=Round the studios |newspaper=The Mail |volume=41 |issue=2,061 |location=Adelaide |date=1 December 1951 |access-date=22 July 2016 |page=9 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE) |via=National Library of Australia}} The island did not allow motorised traffic. The filmmakers were allowed one Land Rover and trailer to transport their equipment. Otherwise they had to walk or use boats and horse-drawn carriages.Box p 59 The rushes were transported to the nearby island of Guernsey where they were seen weekly.Box p 61 Kenneth More's casting meant he had to turn down a role in Angels One Five.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/surviving-cold-streaks-kenneth-more/|title=Surviving Cold Streaks: Kenneth More|date=16 April 2023}}

Director Ralph Thomas later said they used twelve plain coloured cows to play the lead cow, painting them with a patch on the side. He said this "was a sod because we shot mainly on location, and every time it rained, which it did regularly, the colours would run, and you would think the cow was milking itself because drops of paint were falling on the grass. It was a difficult picture but it was fun."{{cite book |last=McFarlane |first= Brian|date=1997 |title=An Autobiography of British Cinema By the Actors and Filmmakers Who Made It |publisher=Methuen |page=558 }}

Notes

{{cite book |last=Box |first= Betty E.|date=2000 |title=Lifting the Lid |publisher=The Book Guild }}

External links

{{IMDb title|0043293|Appointment with Venus}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160807190300/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/Appointment-with-Venus_1951 Appointment with Venus] at Britmovie
Novel was serialised in the Adelaide Chroniclein 1952–53 – [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93929231 4 Dec], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93931478 11 Dec], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93927584 18 Dec], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93930032 24 Dec],[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93936517 1 Jan], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93933141 8 Jan],[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93934606 15 Jan], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93934541 22 Jan], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93935403 29 Jan], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93932321 5 Feb], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93935992 12 Feb], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93935490 19 Feb], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93932012 26 Feb] [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93933404 12 March], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93933986 19 March], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93934207 26 March], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93934881 2 April]

Category:1951 films

Category:1950s war comedy-drama films

Category:British war comedy-drama films

Category:1950s English-language films

Category:Films based on British novels

Category:Films directed by Ralph Thomas

Category:Films scored by Benjamin Frankel

Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios

Category:Films set in 1940

Category:Films set in the Channel Islands

Category:Films about cattle

Category:British black-and-white films