The Oracle (1953 film)
{{short description|1953 film by C.M. Pennington-Richards}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Oracle
| image = The_Oracle_(1953_film).jpg
| caption = Original trade ad by Ronald Searle
| director = C. M. Pennington-Richards
| producer = Colin Lesslie
| writer = Patrick Campbell
Anthony Steven (additional dialogue)
| based_on = radio play To Tell You the Truth by Robert Barr
| starring = Robert Beatty
Michael Medwin
Virginia McKenna.
| music = Temple Abady
| cinematography = Wolfgang Suschitzky
| editing = John Trumper
| studio = Group 3
| distributor = Associated British-Pathé {{small|(UK)}}
| released = {{Film date|1953|06|01|London, UK|df=y}}
| runtime = 85 mins
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}
The Oracle (known as The Horse's Mouth in the United States) is a 1953 British second feature ('B'){{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=The British 'B' Film |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=116}} comedy film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Robert Beatty, Michael Medwin and Virginia McKenna.{{Cite web |title=The Oracle |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150038337 |access-date=5 December 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} The film was based on the radio play To Tell You the Truth by Robert Barr.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} A journalist goes on holiday to Ireland and encounters a fortune-teller.
Plot
Timothy Blake, a British reporter holidaying on a remote island offshore of Ireland, hears a man's voice coming from the bottom of a well. The voice turns out to be a modern-day Oracle, or fortune teller, whose predictions prove uncannily accurate. Bob is determined to get a story out of this, but his editor is less enthusiastic and promptly fires him. The newfound publicity though, means the once-sleepy Irish village is now invaded by curiosity seekers, and those seeking the horse racing results.
Production
Cast
{{div-col}}
- Robert Beatty as Bob Jefferson
- Michael Medwin as Timothy Blake
- Virginia McKenna as Shelagh
- Mervyn Johns as Tom Mitchum
- Arthur Macrae as Alan Digby
- Gillian Lind as Jane Bond
- Ursula Howells as Peggy
- Louise Hampton as Miss Turner
- John Charlesworth as Denis
- Joseph Tomelty as Terry Roche
- Lockwood West as Adams
- Maire O'Neill as Mrs Lenham
- John McBride as Mick
- Derek Tansley as idiot boy
- Patrick McAlinney as O'Keefe
- Lionel Marson as announcer
- Jean St. Clair as young girl
- Jack May as old man
- Gilbert Harding as voice of the oracle
{{div-col-end}}
Critical reception
Allmovie called the film "A lesser comedy of the Ealing school (though not from the Ealing studios)".{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-oracle-v128007|title=The Oracle (1952) - C.M. Pennington-Richards, C. Pennington Richards - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|publisher=}}
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Gilbert Harding voices the oracle at the bottom of a well in this piffling comedy in which whimsy is heaped on to make up for the absence of genuine humour. Ordinarily, Harding dispenses his wisdom to the inhabitants of a small Irish island. But then journalist Robert Beatty begins using him to predict horse races and other momentous events until the British mainland is reduced to chaos. Celebrated at the time as the rudest man on TV, Harding comes over today as an irascible prig."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=690}}
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Apart from a few shafts at yellow journalism, comedy is resolutely whimsical."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=357}}
References
External links
- {{IMDb title|0045884}}
- [https://fantasticmoviemusings.com/2016/11/20/the-oracle-1953/ Review] at Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
{{C.M. Pennington-Richards}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oracle (1953 film), The}}
Category:1950s English-language films
Category:British black-and-white films
Category:British films about gambling
Category:British horse racing films
Category:British films based on plays
Category:Films about journalists