Laughing Anne is a 1953 British adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, Forrest Tucker, and Ronald Shiner. Its plot follows a sea captain who has a tempestuous affair with a French singer.
It was adapted from Joseph Conrad's short story, "Because of the Dollars" and from his 1923 two-act play, Laughing Anne.
Video Laughing Anne
Plot
A woman runs off to the South Seas with a prize fighter.
Maps Laughing Anne
Cast
- Wendell Corey - Captain Davidson
- Margaret Lockwood - Laughing Anne
- Forrest Tucker - Jem Farell
- Ronald Shiner - Nobby Clarke
- Robert Harris - Joseph Conrad
- Jacques B. Brunius - Frenchie
- Daphne Anderson - Blonde singer
- Helen Shingler - Susan Davidson
- Danny Green - Nicholas
- Harold Lang - Jacques
- Edgar Norfolk - Conrad's companion
- Sean Lynch - David
- Gerard Nolan - Davy
- Andy Ho - Chinese merchant
- Maurice Bush - Battling Brunius
- Bernard Rebel - Pianist
Production
In 1952 Herbert Wilcox announced he had signed a co production deal with Herbert Yates of Republic Pictures to make films together starring Anna Neagle and John Wayne, to be shot in color and aimed at international markets. The projects would include an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's The King's General and Joseph Conrad's Laughing Anne. Laughing Anne would instead be made with Margaret Lockwood, who had signed a long term contract with Wilcox, and two Hollywood names: Forrest Tucker and Wendell Corey. (Tucker had been under contract to Republic for six years.) As extra box office insurance, Ronald Shiner was cast in a leading role. Lockwood's performance was done in the style of Marlene Dietrich.
Release
The film had to be cut for release in the US, including removal of the word "damn" and a scene where Lockwood swam nude.
Reception
The film was not well received, critically or commercially.
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote:
"Always a man for pictorial respectability, Mr. Wilcox does quite nicely by an unelaborate budget, letting the Technicolor camera play over turn-of-the-century, gaslit rooms, shipboard and island exteriors and interiors. Several shots of a schooner braving awesome jungle waters are excellent. Furthermore, the film is based on a work by that master yarn-spinner and psychological prober, Joseph Conrad. The trimmings remain. But Mr. Wilcox's casual direction and a lusterless adaptation by Pamela Bower compress the story into a plodding reprise of thwarted love, sacrifice and skulduggery... In the most colorless casting, Mr. Corey is quietly effective, Miss Lockwood ranges from skittish to grim, and Mr. Forrest glares or snarls. As a sailor, Ronald Shiner takes care of the humor department. And in the role of Mr. Conrad, no less, a bearded, scholarly-looking actor named Robert Harris hears the story from Mr. Forrest in flashback on the sidelines. This much, undoubtedly, is as it should be."
Notes
External links
- Laughing Anne on IMDb
- Laughing Anne at TCMDB
- text of Because of the Dollars
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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