The Farmer's Wife (1941 film)
{{short description|Film by Norman Lee}}
{{For|other works by the same name |The Farmer's Wife (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Farmer's Wife
| image = The_Farmer's_Wife_(1941_film).jpg
| caption = Original trade ad
| director = {{ubl|Norman Lee|Leslie Arliss}}
| producer = Walter C. Mycroft
| based_on = {{based on|The Farmer's Wife|Eden Phillpotts}}
| writer = {{ubl|Leslie Arliss|J.E.Hunter|Norman Lee}}
| starring = {{ubl|Basil Sydney|Wilfrid Lawson|Nora Swinburne}}
| music = Guy Jones
| cinematography = Claude Friese-Greene
| editing = Flora Newton
| studio = Associated British Pictures Corporation
| distributor = Pathé Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1941|01|24|df=yes}}
| runtime = 81 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
The Farmer's Wife is a 1941 British comedy drama film directed by Norman Lee and Leslie Arliss and starring Basil Sydney, Wilfrid Lawson and Nora Swinburne.{{Cite web |title=The Farmer's Wife |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150037521 |access-date=16 October 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a9dc1a3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804062049/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a9dc1a3|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2017|title=The Farmer's Wife (1941)|website=BFI}} It was written by Arliss, J. E. Hunter and Lee based on the 1916 play The Farmer's Wife by Eden Phillpotts which had previously been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for a 1928 film of the same name.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=the+farmer%27s+wife+literary+sources+in+film&pg=PA367|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|first=Alan|last=Goble|year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book |last=Strauss |first=Marc Raymond |title=Alfred Hitchcock's Silent Films |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2015 |isbn=9780786481927 |pages=123}} It was produced by ABPC at Welwyn Studios, at a time when the company's main Elstree Studios had been requisitioned for wartime use. The film is not widely known.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/a-brief-history-of-hitchcock-remakes/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=A Brief History of Hitchcock Remakes|date=March 25, 2023}}
Synopsis
Farmer Samuel Sweetland, a widower with two daughters, buys a large neighbouring farm that he has coveted all his life. Now convinced that he needs to remarry, he draws up a list of three possible candidates with the assistance of his housekeeper Araminta Grey. They are Louisa Windeatt, a wealthy and spirited fox-hunting widow; Thirza Tapper, a prim unmarried lady who owns a nearby cottage; and Mary Hearne, an attractive barmaid from London.
Meanwhile, Sweetland's daughters, the forceful, coquettish Petronell and the shyer Sibley, have their own romantic entanglements with the young men of the area. Petronell tips her hat at Richard Coaker, only to discover that he is in love with her younger sister, and she finds eventual comfort in the arms of another suitor, George. Sweetland's own courtships go badly as each of the women reject his offer of marriage. Dejected, it is only then that he realises it his faithful housekeeper Araminta whom he really loves.
Cast
- Basil Sydney as Samuel Sweetland
- Wilfrid Lawson as Churdles Ash
- Nora Swinburne as Araminta Grey
- Patricia Roc as Sibley
- Michael Wilding as Richard Coaker
- Bunty Payne as Petronell
- Enid Stamp-Taylor as Mary Hearne
- Betty Warren as Louisa Windeatt
- Viola Lyel as Thirza Tapper
- Edward Rigby as Tom Gurney
- Kenneth Griffith as George Smerdon
- A. Bromley Davenport as Henry Coaker
- Jimmy Godden as sergeant
- Gilbert Gunn as pianist
- James Harcourt as Valiant Dunnybrigg
- Mark Daly as P. C. Chave
- Davina Craig as Susie
- Hilda Bayley as Mrs. Rundle
- David Keir as auctioneer
- Patrick Ludlow as curate
- John Salew as Mr. Rundle
- Olga Slade as minor role
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "For those who have seen both, the film suffers by comparison with the play, but the directors have been at pains to make the plot move as best they might, and in doing so have got some lovely exteriors of the English countryside and have made an excellent job of the local Show. Basil Sydney makes Sam Sweetland a very boorish figure, always behaving like a bull in a china shop, Wilfrid Lawson gives an impression of the cunning, poaching old farm hand, and there is one notable scene where he is dressed up as a coachman butler at a garden party. Nora Swinburne makes a pretty mouse of Araminta and Betty Warren is a breezy Widow Windeatt."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1941 |title=The Farmer's Wife |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305809345 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=8 |issue=85 |pages=13 |id={{ProQuest|1305809345}} |url-access=subscription }}
Kine Weekly wrote: "The humour in this British comedy rests securely on its neat bucolic wit and the accuracy of its female psychology. Exaggeration is, of course, evident in the characterisation, but caricature is skilfully avoided. Friendly and versatile detail – the stormy love affairs of Sam's daughters are, for instance, amiably imposed on the central theme – is yet another happy factor. Natural, spicy dialogue and authentic and pictorially effective background give the final touch to a picture that is every bit as entertaining and diverting as its successful stage progenitor."{{Cite journal |date=30 January 1941 |title=The Farmer's Wife |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2339700769 |journal=Kine Weekly |volume=287 |issue=1763 |pages=20 |id={{ProQuest|2339700769}} |url-access=subscription }}
Variety wrote: "Lightweight fare, this modestly budgeted feature from Pathe is unlikely to make much stir at the boxoffice. Eden Philpotts' comedy has retained too much of its stage attire, receiving little decisive action to give it screen momentum and is held down throughout by an ultra talky script."{{Cite journal |date=19 February 1941 |title=The Farmer's Wife |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1505768816 |journal=Variety |volume=141 |issue=11 |pages=18 |id={{ProQuest|1505768816}} |url-access=subscription }}
References
External links
- {{IMDb title|0033590}}
{{Leslie Arliss}}
{{Norman Lee}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer's Wife (1941 film), The}}
Category:1940s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Norman Lee
Category:Films directed by Leslie Arliss
Category:Films shot at Welwyn Studios
Category:British films based on plays
Category:Remakes of British films
Category:British black-and-white films
Category:Sound film remakes of silent films
Category:English-language drama films
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