''The Virgin and the Gypsy'' is a 1970 British
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Christopher Miles
Christopher Miles (born 19 April 1939) is a British film director, producer and screenwriter.
Personal life
Miles was born in London, England, the eldest of four children to Clarice Remnant (‘Wren’), a councillor, and John Miles, a consulti ...
and starring
Joanna Shimkus
Joanna Marie Poitier ( Shimkus; born 30 October 1943) is a Canadian film actress. She is the widow of actor Sidney Poitier and mother of actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
Early life
Joanna Marie Shimkus was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Jose ...
and
Franco Nero
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
. The screenplay by
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Career
Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his fami ...
was based on the novella of the same name by
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
. The film was voted ‘Best Film of the Year” by both the UK and USA critics.
Plot
Based on a 1928 novella by D. H. Lawrence, published posthumously in 1930, the film follows Yvette, who with her sister Lucille, return from the relative freedom of a French finishing school to their home, a gloomy rectory in the Midlands. There is immediate tension with her father, a pedantic country rector, her prim maiden aunt Cissie, and her aged grandmother who insidiously rules the house with a rod of matriarchal iron. Yvette’s only real contacts are with her sister Lucille, the seemingly quiet non-entity Uncle Fred and Mary the housemaid.
Yvette feels imprisoned not only by the family, but also the rather empty- headed bright young things of the parish, among whom is Leo Wetherall, an industrialist’s son who is in love with her. During a frivolous car ride with Leo and friends they encounter a gypsy on his cart, a dark arrogant man of few words, who stops the car asking if the ladies want their fortunes told. At the gypsy’s encampment his wife tells Yvette her fortune, telling her to beware of the voice of the water, this remark and the gypsy himself make a deep impression on Yvette.
Returning to the encampment the following week, she meets a neighbour Mrs Fawcett and her lover Major Eastwood; their obvious defiance of social convention appeals to Yvette, and they become close friends. This friendship creates further tensions in the rectory as her father disapproves of the Eastwoods, and refuses to admit them to a concert Yvette had organised to raise money for her father’s church. Later Yvette gives the funds raised from the concert to the gypsies in revenge.
Recognising the symptoms of rebellion in his wife before she left him, the rector threatens Yvette if she does not change her ways and forbids her to see the Eastwoods again. Temporarily defeated, Yvette says goodbye to the Eastwoods, and they discuss her relationship with the gypsy. On her way biking home, she sees the gypsy’s horse tethered to an old barn door, and on looking briefly inside she sees the gypsy and Mary making love, and for the first time is aware of the man as a reality, not part of a juvenile fantasy.
During Leo’s 21st birthday party, Yvette slaps him in front of everyone, so denying him what he thinks is his right to marry her. From here on the drama deepens, and the voice of the water delivers a surprising and liberating denouement at the end of the film.
Cast
*
Joanna Shimkus
Joanna Marie Poitier ( Shimkus; born 30 October 1943) is a Canadian film actress. She is the widow of actor Sidney Poitier and mother of actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
Early life
Joanna Marie Shimkus was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Jose ...
as Yvette
*
Franco Nero
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
as the Gypsy
*
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...
as Mrs. Fawcett
*
Mark Burns as Major Eastwood
*
Fay Compton
Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage per ...
as Grandma
*
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 ...
as the Rector
*
Kay Walsh
Kathleen "Kay" Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband film director David Lean, with whom she worked on prestige productions such a ...
as Aunt Cissie
*
Imogen Hassall
Imogen Hassall (25 August 1942 – 16 November 1980) was an English actress who appeared in 33 films during the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life
Named after Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'' heroine, she was born in Woking, Surrey, to a financially comf ...
as the Gypsy's Wife
* Harriet Harper as Lucille
*
Norman Bird
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor.
Early life
Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...
as Uncle Fred
*
Jeremy Bulloch
Jeremy Andrew Bulloch (16 February 1945 – 17 December 2020) was an English actor. In a career that spanned six decades, he gained recognition for originating the physical portrayal of Boba Fett in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, appearing as th ...
as Leo Wetherall
*
Roy Holder
Roy Trevor Holder (15 June 1946 – 9 November 2021) was an English film and television actor who appeared in various programmes including '' Ace of Wands'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Spearhead'', the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Caves of Androzani''. His f ...
as Bob
* Margo Andrew as Ella
*
Janet Chappell as Mary
Production
In 1967 Kenneth Harper, the producer, worked with director Christopher Miles and screenwriter Alan Plater on the script of “The Virgin and the Gypsy” and their first draft was discussed with John Van Eyssen, Chief Production Executive at Columbia Pictures in the UK, who although he had read Lawrence’s story and commissioned the script, wanted the gypsy to appear in the first reel. This Miles felt would not work, as the whole point of the start of the film was to establish the virgin in relationship to her family, and the rectory, and to feel the frustration of the young girl. Also he thought the film would fail unless these elements from Lawrence’s own story were not supported. The producer agreed and so Columbia withdrew their support, costing the film makers two years in their search for alternative finance.
During this time the producer and director had also been considering the problems of casting the two leads, as the word ‘virgin’ had multiple interpretations, which in the new permissive 1960s had become a distraction. Various actors were considered for both leading roles, but on hearing about a new young actress in a French film 'Tante Zita', Miles went to Paris to see the film, and despite another offer Joanna Shimkus accepted the role of Yvette.
In 1969 Miles was introduced to Dimitri de Grunwald, who had set up London Screen, whose method of film financing was based on the European model rather that the American one. This meant that the leading actress, Joanna Shimkus, a Canadian who had just started her film career in Paris, along with Franco Nero, who by then was well known in Italy, fitted into Dimitri’s plans for Pan-European production finance. Dimitri was prepared to finance the film with the 29 year old director, as he had seen his first short Oscar nominated film 'The Six-sided Triangle' at his local cinema.
Finding the right locations also proved a problem, as no rectories were built near river banks in the locations Lawrence wrote about, but while searching near Matlock they found ‘Raper Lodge’ a smallish stone built house belonging to the water bailiff of the Duke of Rutland. As this was before the days of CGI an extension was built onto the house which could also be partly destroyed for the flood scene, which was also filmed later in a London studio.
The film was completed on budget in 8 weeks, but during the editing a new UK Film Censorship Category was introduced of a double A - which meant that no one under 14 could see the film. This caused Miles to have a dispute with the censor, but a compromise was reached and an AA certificate was finally granted.
“The Buttercup Chain” a co-production between Columbia Pictures and Columbia British Productions was entered as the official British entry to the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, with huge publicity buttercups shimmering along the Croisette, causing some critics to wonder why Christopher Miles’ “The Virgin and the Gypsy” which was shown out of competition, had not been chosen.
Critical reception
From the opening credits of a gentle river flowing under the rectory bridge, to the last shot of the dying embers of the gypsy’s fire, it was clear to some critics that the elements of earth, fire and water had a meaning more than their simple images "...the sterile stuffy heat from the rectory fire, against the warmth of the gypsy’s encampment fire - the tranquility of life giving water, which can suddenly become a destructive life changing force. Some also recognised the almost fable-like quality of the main characters, which were archetypes of the weak father and uncle, against the malevolent strength of the grand-mother, all trying unsuccessfully to dominate and stop the flowering of the young virgin herself. Nothing can stop her,” said Miles, “She is like a crocus that unerringly and inevitably finds its way up though a road’s tarmac”.
The film critic of the
London Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (f ...
, John Russell Taylor, asked Christopher Miles at the press screening if he had seen the USA Trade reviews. Miles said he hadn’t, and Russell Taylor told him not to worry as he had made a “film of much quiet distinction, a highly literate and sympathetic adaptation of the original... excellent performances... as the period background is beautifully, because unobtrusively, captured”. The USA trades predicted poor Box Office, but the following weeks proved them wrong as the film broke Box Office records at both the London Odeon Haymarket and New York’s 68th Street Playhouse Theatre, and continued to earn millions throughout the world. The rest of the press were also enthusiastic, which helped promote a film not made by a major US studio.
Vincent Canby of
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
wrote “An immensely romantic movie with style and critical intelligence. ‘The Virgin and the Gypsy’ is satisfying because it realises its goals". Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard said “It makes a refreshing change to find a film today directed with taste and grace. Director Christopher Miles debut as a feature director reveals a flair for composition, proportion and craftsmanship. I can confidently recommend Kenneth Harper’s production”. News Week said “A finely etched portrait of the quiet renegade girl played with erotic daydreams in her eyes by Joanna Shimkus: Franco Nero’s snake-eyed gypsy, all purpose and passion... a finely made film filled with the kind of information only art can provide about a time passed”.
Ian Christie of the
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
wrote, ”Christopher Miles has turned this short novel into a work that distils visual poetry” and Judith Crist of the New York Magazine wrote “The screenplay by Alan Plater is nothing short of masterly in putting those ‘final revisions’ on Lawrence’s sketchy story... and the director has an outstanding gift for visual summation... besides Miss Shimkus, who loveliness has a unique and penetrating quality, there are fine performances from Honor Blackman and Mark Burns who know the difference between appetite and desire... and Franco Nero, as the outrageously handsome gypsy the embodiment of every girl’s dream of the noble savage”. While Ernest Betts of The People wrote, “I thought it was impossible to translate D.H.Lawrence to the screen, but with “The Virgin and the Gypsy” I take it all back. This is a perfect screen adaptation and the best sex film we’ve had”. Time Magazine thought “No story - and no film - better reveals Lawrence’s moral absolutism than “The Virgin and the Gypsy”... At 29 Miles knows everything worth knowing about actors... he makes his cast function with the proficiency and timing of a London rep company”.
[Time Magazine USA (13th July 1970) Stefan Kanfer - “Fast Company”]
Awards
References
Further reading
* Bryson, Bill. Doubleday Inc/ Transworld Publishers. ‘The road to Little Dribbling’ - The Peak District chapter - ‘The Virgin and the Gypsy’
* Butler, Ivan. A.S.Barnes and Co. Inc/The Tantivy Press, London W1Y OQX “Cinema in Britain - 1970 The Virgin and the Gypsy”
* Gontarski, S.E. Ed. Michael Klein & Gilian Parker. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co / New York "The English Novel and the Movies" - "The Virgin and the Gypsy" - An English Watercolor
* Greiff, Louis K. Southern Illinois University Press. "D.H.Lawrence - Fifty Years on Film" 'Foxes and Gypsies on Film’
* Lawrence, D.H. "The Virgin and the Gypsy" First Published (single volume) Martin Secker Ltd. 1930. Single volume paperback - Penguin Books
* Vermilye, Jerry. Published by Citadel Press - Lyle Stuart Inc. “The great British films” - 244 ‘The Virgin and the Gypsy’
* Gilliat, Penelope. "The England, this Past" New Yorker, 4 July 1970, p. 71
* Hart, Henry. "1970's Ten Best" Films in Review - Feb. 1971 p. 63
* Kauffman, Stanley. "Stanley Kauffman on Films" New Republic, 1 August 1970, p. 24.
* Moore, Harry T. "D.H.Lawrence and the Flicks" - Literature/Film Quarterly Southern Illinois University. Vol 1 No 1 1974
External links
*
Youlgrave Bugle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin And The Gypsy, The
1970 films
1970 drama films
British drama films
Films based on short fiction
Films based on works by D. H. Lawrence
Films about virginity
Films directed by Christopher Miles
Films set in the 1920s
Films about Romani people
Films about sisters
1970s English-language films
1970s British films