''Pretty Polly'' (also known as ''A Matter of Innocence'') is a 1967 British
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Guy Green and based on the short story ''Pretty Polly Barlow'' by
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
. It stars
Hayley Mills
Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
,
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
,
Trevor Howard
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
and
Brenda De Banzie. The film is largely set in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
Plot
Miss Polly Barlow (
Hayley Mills
Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
) decides to leave
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and spend a few months with her wealthy spinster aunt as a traveling companion. While in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, the sudden demise of her aunt (
Brenda De Banzie) leaves her alone to pursue her freedom and explore an arms'-length romance with a local
Indian Singaporean
Indian Singaporeans (Tamil language, Tamil: ') are Singaporeans of Indian people, Indian or South Asian ancestor, ancestry, who constitute 9.0% of the country's citizens, making them the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in Singapore.
Wh ...
tour guide, Amaz (
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
).
Cast
*
Hayley Mills
Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
as Polly Barlow
*
Trevor Howard
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
as Robert Hook
*
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
as Amaz
*
Brenda de Banzie as Mrs. Innes-Hook
*
Dick Patterson as Rick Preston
*Kalen Liu as Lorelei
*Peter Bayliss as Critch
*
Patricia Routledge
Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award f ...
as Miss Gudgeon
*Dorothy Alison as Mrs. Barlow
*David Prosser as Ambrose
*Toni Murphy as Lady Tourist
*Ric Young as Lim Kee (as Eric Young)
*Sarah Abdullah
*Anthony Chinn as Japanese Proprietor
*S.Y. Han as Oculist
Original story
The film was based on ''Pretty Polly Barlow'', a short story by Noël Coward. It was published in 1964 in a three-story collection titled ''Pretty Polly and Other Stories''.
Coward wrote in his diary on 27 December 1964 that the collection "has not received one really good notice. A few quite good, a lot very bad and all brief and patronising. It is foolish for a writer constantly to decry the critics; it is also foolish, I think, for the critic to so constantly decry anyone who writes as well as I do." Coward admitted the story ''Pretty Polly Barlow'' was "conventional in theme, but it is at moments very funny and eminently readable."
1966 British television version
The story was sold to British television. On 21 March 1965, Coward wrote that William Marchant, who adapted it "has done a fine job on the television script of ''Pretty Polly'', so good is it that I would like him to do the movie script as well."
The British televised film of the short story, starring
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career.
A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...
and
Donald Houston
Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and ''A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...
, aired in July 1966 as part of ''Armchair Theatre''.
Bill Bain directed it.
Cast
*
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career.
A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...
as Polly Barlow
*
Donald Houston
Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and ''A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...
as Robert Hook
*
Zia Mohyeddin
Zia Mohyeddin (; born 20 June 1931) is a British-Pakistani actor, producer, director and television broadcaster who has appeared in both Pakistani cinema and television as well as in British cinema and television throughout his career.
Zia M ...
as Amaz
*Stuart Cooper as Rick Barlow
*Vincent Harding as Gunther
*
Dandy Nichols
Dandy Nichols (born Daisy Sander; 21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress best known for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the character Alf Garnett who was a parody of a working class Tory, in the BBC sit ...
as Mrs. Innes Hook
*
Leon Sinden
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
as Archie Critch
*
Derek Smee
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name are ...
as Ambrose
*
Lillias Walker as Miss Gudgeon
Film production
On 16 May 1965, Coward wrote "there have been great complications over the ''Pretty Polly'' film deal but we hope that everything will be straightened out."
In November 1965, it was reported that the film rights had been purchased by the Broadway producing team of George W George and Frank Granat, who would make the movie in association with
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
. Filming was to start the next June in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
with interiors shot in London. Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall were signed to write the screenplay, and Coward would write a title song.
The film was part of a slate of four movies that Universal was making in Britain under the auspices of
Jay Kanter
Jay Ira Kanter (born December 12, 1926) is an American film producer. He is best known for his long association with Alan Ladd Jr. He was a talent agent at MCA for a number of years. He is known for his biographical works such as ''Grace Kelly: ...
, the studio's head of operations there. The other films were ''
The Countess from Hong Kong'', ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...
'' and ''
Charlie Bubbles
''Charlie Bubbles'' is a 1968 British comedy-drama film directed by Albert Finney in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Finney alongside Billie Whitelaw and Liza Minnelli. It was screened at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival on the 11th, ...
''.
Filming was delayed a number of months. In June 1966, it was announced that
Sidney J. Furie
Sidney Joseph Furie (born February 28, 1933) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his extensive work in both British and American cinema between the 1960s and early 1980s. Like his contemporaries Norman Jewison ...
may direct. In September 1966, it was announced that Noël Coward would direct the film, which would star
Carol Lynley
Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) was an American actress known for her roles in the films ''Blue Denim'' (1959) and '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972).
Lynley was born in Manhattan to an Irish ...
, who had just made ''
Bunny Lake is Missing
''Bunny Lake Is Missing'' is a 1965 British-American psychological drama film, directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Filmed in black-and-white widescreen format in London, it was based on the 1957 novel ''Bunny Lake Is Missing'' by Merriam ...
'' (1965) with Coward. However, by December
Hayley Mills
Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
was signed to star, with Guy Green to direct.
Mills had recently done a nude scene for ''
The Family Way
''The Family Way'' is a 1966 British comedy-drama film about the marital difficulties of a young newlywed couple living in a crowded house with the husband's family. Based on Bill Naughton's play '' All in Good Time'' (1963), the film began life ...
'' and formed a relationship with that film's director,
Roy Boulting
John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
. Of her ''Pretty Polly'' role, she said, "No nude scenes but it's pretty sexy."
The male lead went to
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
on the strength of his performance in ''
Shakespeare Wallah
''Shakespeare Wallah'' is a 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film. The story and screenplay are by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, about a travelling family theatre troupe of English actors in India, who perform Shakespeare plays in towns across India, amid ...
''. He was the first Indian to play the lead in an international film.
Shooting
Filming began in Singapore in February 1967. The cast and crew were based at
Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern S ...
. After six weeks in Singapore, the unit relocated to
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
in London. The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Peter Mullins
Peter Mullins (9 July 1926 – 13 April 2012) was an Australian decathlete and basketball player. He competed in the decathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics. As a basketball player, he played at the 1959 FIBA World Championship on the Cana ...
.
The title song was composed by Michel Legrand and sung by Matt Munro.
Reception
On 22 June 1967, Coward wrote in his diary:
I... watched, with mounting irritation, the film of ''Pretty Polly'' which, as I deduced from the first script, was common, unsubtle and vulgar. Nobody was good in it and Trevor Howard was horrid. When I think of his charm and subtley in ''Brief Encounter''. Hayley, poor child, did her best, but there was no hope with that script and that director. Guy Green should have remained a cameraman.
''Filmink'' argued the film "all seems very slight. It lacks something – extra characterisation, location footage, a plot twist" adding Mills was "actually quite good in the part, incidentally – better than the film, something that would become a recurring theme in her later career."
Notes
*
See also
*
''Pollyanna'' (1960 film)
References
External links
*
1966 TV versionat
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Extended review of film{{Guy Green
1967 films
1960s English-language films
Films directed by Guy Green
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films set in Singapore
Films based on short fiction
British comedy films
1967 comedy films
1960s British films