''The King's Breakfast'' is a 1963 British

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

directed by

Wendy Toye Beryl May Jessie Toye, (1 May 1917 – 27 February 2010), known professionally as Wendy Toye, was a British dancer, stage and film director and actress. Life and career Toye was born in London. She initially worked as a dancer and choreographer ...

and starring

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...

, and

Reginald Beckwith William Reginald Beckwith (2 November 190826 June 1965) was an English film and television actor, who made over one hundred film and television appearances in his career. He died of a heart attack aged 56. Beckwith was also a film critic and ...

. It was based on the poem '' The King's Breakfast'' by A.A. Milne.

Plot

The king of an unnamed country is annoyed after he finds that there was no butter available for spreading on his morning toast. His staff try to find him some butter, which they eventually do.

Production

After the failure of their chaotic and pointedly literal illustrating of the lyrics to the traditional Christmas carol "The Twelve Days" (1953), British film director and choreographer

and satirical-cartoonist-turned-set-designer

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...

teamed up with composer

Ron Grainer Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...

to create a film adaptation of the Milne poem. The result was a hyperactive 28-minute slapstick, ballet and mime featurette that was deemed impressive enough to be invited for screening at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. The film's success led the producer

Jack Le Vien Jack Levin (born John Douglas Le Vien; 17 July 1914 – 9 November 1999) was an American television producer, active in British and American television. Early life Le Vien was born in New York City in 1914. In 1930, he was employed by Pathé ...

to offer Grainer the soundtrack for his prestigious

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

documentary '' The Finest Hours'' (1964). Colour photos taken on the set give a guide to the original appearance of the film. During production, the poem was expanded to other ideas and story lines relating to interpersonal relations within a castle environment. The characters of the Master of the King's Music, the magician, the chamberlain, the gym instructor, the serpent player, the musicians, and the Tweeney were all created for the film.

Cast

as the King *

as the Master of the King's Music *

as Magician *

Robert Flemyng Benjamin Arthur Flemyng (3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995), known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory th ...

as Chamberlain *

Lally Bowers Kathleen "Lally" Bowers (21 January 1914 – 18 July 1984) was an English actress. Bowers was born in Oldham, Lancashire, where she was educated at Hulme Grammar School. She worked as a secretary before walking-on and understudying at the ...

as the Queen *

Warren Mitchell Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was a British actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner. In the 1950s, Mitchell appeared on the radio programmes ''Educatin ...

as Gym instructor *

Maryon Lane Maryon Lane (15 February 1931 – 13 June 2008) was a South African ballet dancer who became well known in Britain as a ballerina of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and as a soloist with the Royal Ballet. Early life and training Maryon Lane w ...

as the Dairymaid * Richard Pearson as Violinist *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ap ...

as Cellist *

Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and Allo 'Allo!''. Ear ...

as Clarinettist * Bart Allison as Serpent player * Beryl Kaye as Kitchenmaid *

Una Stubbs Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...

as the Tweeny * Jean Telfer as the Pantrymaid *

Richard Hearne Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the son ...

as 1st Footman *

Philip Locke Roy James "Philip" Locke (29 March 192819 April 2004) was an English actor who had roles in film and television. He is perhaps best known for his part in the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' as Largo's personal assistant and chief henchman, Var ...

as 2nd Footman

References

External links

*
''The King's Breakfast'', YouTube
1963 films British musical films Films about royalty Films directed by Wendy Toye Films based on works by A. A. Milne Films scored by Ron Grainer 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language musical films {{1960s-UK-film-stub