''The Snow Goose'' is a 1971 British television drama film based on the 1941 novella '' The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk'' by

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Film and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Production. It was also nominated for a nine

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s, winning one for

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Drama. The film was shown in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 15 November 1971 as part of the anthology series

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in t ...

Plot

The film follows the relationship between Fritha (

), an orphaned young girl, and Philip Rhayader (

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

), a lighthouse keeper in the fishing village Great Marsh in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The two meet as Rhayader helps Fritha care for a

snow goose The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...

she has found, despite his solitary lifestyle. The bird has been injured by hunters shooting at it. Set at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the film uses the backdrop of the ongoing political events and battles throughout the narrative. As the goose heals, Fritha and the goose leave Rhayader. Rhayader once again becomes reclusive and confines himself to his lighthouse lodging. As Germany invades Poland and the war begins, Rhayader applies to the

Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...

, but is denied due to his disabilities. Fritha and the goose eventually return to Rhayader, but Rhayader ventures out to help rescue the British Expeditionary Force, trapped on the beaches of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

, and the goose returns to Fritha, who is now grown up. She realises she had come to love Rhayader and is able to save one of the paintings he had made of her, as a child with the wounded goose, before the lighthouse and all other artwork are obliterated by a German pilot.

Cast

as Philip Rhayader *

as Fritha *

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Ea ...

as the recruiting officer *

Julian Somers John Julian Somers (12 November 1903 – 11 November 1976), known as Julian Somers, was a prolific English stage and screen actor. Career By 1934, Somers was appearing in rep at Croydon. In 1937, he was on stage in Jeffrey Dell's play ''Night Al ...

as Jim * Freda Bamford as the postmistress *

Noel Johnson Noel Frank Johnson (28 December 1916 – 1 October 1999) was an English actor. He was the voice of special agent Dick Barton on BBC Radio and Dan Dare on Radio Luxembourg. Life Johnson was born 28 December 1916 in Birmingham, England and at ...

as the naval captain *

Gary Watson Gary Watson (born Garrowby Watson, 13 June 1930) is a British retired actor. Early in his career he appeared in Friedrich Hebbel's 1962 play '' Judith'' at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, with Sean Connery. He made more than 40 appearances i ...

as the narrator *

William Marlowe William Marlowe (25 July 1930 – 31 January 2003) was a British theatre, television and film actor. He served in the Fleet Air Arm and hoped for a career as a writer before training as an actor at RADA. He was cast in '' A Family at War'' (1970 ...

as a soldier

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* 1971 television films 1971 films Films based on works by Paul Gallico British television films Dunkirk evacuation films Best Miniseries or Television Movie Golden Globe winners Films scored by Carl Davis {{UK-tv-film-stub