''The Farmer's Wife'' is a 1941 British

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Norman Lee Norman Lee (10 October 1898 – 2 June 1964) was a British screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography * ''The Lure of the Atlantic'' (1929) * '' The Streets of London'' (1929) * ''Night Patrol'' (1930, documentary) * '' Doctor Joss ...

and

Leslie Arliss Leslie Arliss (6 October 1901, London – 30 December 1987, Jersey, Channel Islands) was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as ''The Man in Grey'' and ''The Wi ...

and starring

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in ...

, Wilfrid Lawson and

Nora Swinburne Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English people, English actress who appeared in many Cinema of the United Kingdom, British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somer ...

. It is based on the play ''

The Farmer's Wife ''The Farmer's Wife'' is a 1928 British silent romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis and Gordon Harker. It is adapted from a 1916 play of the same name by British novelist, poet an ...

'' by

Eden Phillpotts Eden Phillpotts (4 November 1862 – 29 December 1960) was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in Mount Abu, India, was educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for ten years before studying for the stage a ...

which had previously been adapted by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

for a 1928 film of the same name.Strauss p.123 It was produced by ABPC at

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make s ...

, at a time when the company's main

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

had been requisitioned for wartime use.

Synopsis

Farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

Samuel Sweetland, a

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

with two daughters, buys a large neighbouring farm that he has coveted all his life. Now convinced that he needs to remarry to provide his new estate with a proper mistress he draws up a list of three possible candidates with the assistance of his housekeeper Araminta Grey. They are Louisa Windeatt, a wealthy and spirited

fox-hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

widow, Thirza Tapper, a prim unmarried lady who owns a nearby

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

and Mary Hearne, an attractive

barmaid A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...

from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Meanwhile Sweetland's daughters, the forceful, coquettish Petronell and the shyer Sibley, have their own romantic entanglements of the young men of the area. Petronell tips her hat at Richard Coaker, only to discover that he is in love her younger sister. She finds eventual comfort in the arms of another suitor George. Sweetland's own courtships go badly as for one reason or another each of the women reject his offer of marriage. Dejected it is only then that he realises it his faithful housekeeper Araminta whom he really loves.

Cast

as Samuel Sweetland * Wilfrid Lawson as Churdles Ash *

as Araminta Grey *

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she only m ...

as Sibley *

Michael Wilding Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, ''Under Caprico ...

as Richard Coaker * Bunty Payne as Petronell *

Enid Stamp-Taylor Enid Georgiana Stamp Taylor (12 June 1904 – 13 January 1946) was an English actress. Her childhood home was 17, Percy Avenue, in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, in what is now Tyne and Wear. Taylor first became known when she won a beauty pa ...

as Mary Hearne *

Betty Warren Babette Hilda Hogan (31 October 1907 – 15 December 1990), known professionally as Betty Warren, was a British actress active from the 1930s to the 1950s, best known for her comedy roles in '' Champagne Charlie'' (1944) and ''Passport to Pimlic ...

as Louisa Windeatt *

Viola Lyel Viola Lyel (19 December 1896 – 14 August 1972) was an English actress. In a long stage career she appeared in the West End and on Broadway, for leading directors of the day, including Sir Barry Jackson, and Nigel Playfair. Her roles ranged fr ...

as Thirza Tapper *

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizab ...

as Tom Gurney *

Kenneth Griffith Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been ca ...

as George Smerdon *

A. Bromley Davenport Arthur Henry Bromley-Davenport (29 October 1867 – 15 December 1946), better known as A. Bromley Davenport, was an English actor born in Baginton, Warwickshire, England, UK. Bromley-Davenport made appearances in at least 77 films for te ...

as Henry Coaker *

Jimmy Godden Jimmy Godden (11 August 1879 – 5 March 1955) was a British film actor. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and was in the Civil Service before becoming a concert pianist. Godden later turned to the stage and made his debut in pantomime at the ...

as Sergeant *

Gilbert Gunn Gilbert Gunn (24 March 1905 – 6 December 1967) was a British screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography Screenwriter * ''Save a Little Sunshine'' (1938) * '' Me and My Pal'' (1939) * '' The Door with Seven Locks'' (1940) Directo ...

as Pianist *

James Harcourt James Harcourt (20 April 187318 February 1951) was an English character actor. Harcourt was born in Headingley, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He started work as a cabinet maker, and drifted into amateur dramatics. He appeared as a stage act ...

as Valiant Dunnybrigg * Mark Daly as P. C. Chave *

Davina Craig Davina Whitehouse (born Eileen Eliza Smith; 16 December 1912 – 25 December 2002), also known by the stage name Davina Craig before her marriage, was an English-born actress, acclaimed for her roles on stage and film in her native land in the ...

as Susie *

Hilda Bayley Hilda Christabel Bailey (29 June 1888 – 26 May 1971) was a British theatre and film actress. On stage from 1913, she was in both stage and film versions of ''Carnival'' in 1918 and 1921, respectively; and in the controversial crime film ''Coca ...

as Mrs. Rundle *

David Keir David Keir (1884–1971) was a British film actor, who also appeared on stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often ref ...

as Auctioneer *

Patrick Ludlow Patrick Ludlow (March 24, 1903 – January 27, 1996) was a British actor predominantly on stage, with his own touring theatre company from 1943. Filmography References External links * * 1903 births 1996 deaths People from Kensing ...

as Curate *

John Salew John Rylett Salew (1902 (some sources state 1 January 1897)14 September 1961) was an English stage film and TV actor. Salew made the transition from stage to films in 1939, and according to Allmovie, "the manpower shortage during WWII enabled ...

as Mr. Rundle * Olga Slade as Minor role

References

Bibliography

* Strauss, Marc Raymond. ''Alfred Hitchcock's Silent Films''. McFarland, 2015.

External links

* 1941 films 1941 drama films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Norman Lee Films directed by Leslie Arliss British drama films Films set in England Films shot at Welwyn Studios British films based on plays Remakes of British films British black-and-white films 1940s British films Sound film remakes of silent films {{1940s-UK-film-stub