''The White Unicorn'' is a 1947 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

Bernard Knowles Bernard Knowles (20 February 1900 – 12 February 1975) was an English film director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter. Born in Manchester, Knowles worked with Alfred Hitchcock on numerous occasions before the director emigrated to H ...

and starring

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...

Joan Greenwood Joan Mary Waller Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 28 February 1987) was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', and also app ...

, Ian Hunter and

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...

. Kyra Vayne appeared as the singer. It was made at

Walton Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.John Corfield John Corfield (1893–1953) was a British film producer.MacNab, Geoffrey (1993) ''J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry''. Routledge. p.15 For more than a decade he oversaw production at British National Films. Selected filmography * ''Tu ...

, and released by

General Film Distributors General Film Distributors (GFD), later known as J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors and Rank Film Distributors Ltd., was a British film distribution company based in London. It was active between 1935 and 1996, and from 1937 it was part of the Rank Or ...

. The film's sets were designed by

Norman G. Arnold Norman G. Arnold (19 September 1892 – 7 December 1963) was a British art director who designed the sets for over a hundred and twenty films. Early life and World War I Arnold studied architecture, interior decoration & design. During the Firs ...

. It was also known as ''Milkwhite Unicorn'' and ''Bad Sister''.

Premise

At a home for delinquent girls, a troublesome girl (Joan Greenwood), swaps reminiscences with the warden (Margaret Lockwood), who recounts her own unhappy marriage, divorce and tragic death of her second husband.

Cast

as Lucy *

as Lottie Smith * Ian Hunter as Philip Templar *

as Richard Glover * Eileen Peel as Joan *

Guy Middleton Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English character actor, film character actor. Biography Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exch ...

as Fobey *

Catherine Lacey Catherine Lacey (6 May 1904 – 23 September 1979) was an English actress of stage and screen. Stage Lacey made her stage debut, performing with Mrs Patrick Campbell, in ''The Thirteenth Chair'' at the West Pier Brighton on 13 April 1925. Her ...

as Miss Cater *

Paul Dupuis Paul Dupuis (August 11, 1913 – January 23, 1976) was a French Canadian film actor who was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and who performed in British films during the late 1940s. The roles he played were mainly as the romantic leading man. ...

as Paul * Bryl Wakely as Matron of Remand home * Joan Rees as Alice Walters *

Mabel Constanduros Mabel Constanduros (' Tilling; 29 March 1880 – 8 February 1957) was an English actress and screenwriter. She gained public notice playing Mrs.Buggins on the radio programme '' The Buggins Family'', which ran from 1928 to 1948. As well as writi ...

as Nurse *

Lily Kann Lily Hertha Kann 26th. October, 1893, Peitz – 2nd. November, 1978, Sussex, was a German-born, British actress. (Though the BFI website claims that she was born in Berlin, and died in Horsham). She appeared in the West End theatre, West End in the ...

as Shura *

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

as Storton *

Julia Lockwood Julia Lockwood (born Margaret Julia Leon; 23 August 1941 – 24 March 2019) was a British actress. Daughter of Margaret Lockwood, her career began as a child actress at the age of four and spanned 30 years in film, television and the theatre. ...

as Norey * Vernon Conway as Son of Pompous Matron * Kyra Vayne as Singer *

Cecil Bevan Cecil Stuart Reginald Bevan"England and Wales Birth Registration Inde ...

as Clerk to the Assizes *

John Boxer John "Johnny" Boxer is an Australian television and film actor and commercial voice-over best known for his role as Bobo Gigliotti in '' Pizza''. Early life He grew up in Belmore, New South Wales and attended Belmore Boys High School, where he e ...

as Bill *

Dorothy Bramhall Dorothy Bramhall (1911-2004) was a British actress and former model. Selected filmography * '' Love Story'' (1944) * ''I See a Dark Stranger'' (1946) * '' Take My Life'' (1947) * ''The White Unicorn'' (1947) * ''The Clouded Crystal'' (1948) * ''A ...

as Parlourmaid * Clifford Cobbe as Drunken Father *

Amy Dalby Amy Mary Dalby (3 January 1888 – 10 March 1969) was an English actress of stage and screen, often in kindly or eccentric spinster roles. Amy first acted at the age of six. Her final performance was in the 8 March 1969 episode "The Battle of G ...

as Landlady * David Evans as Ted – Parcels Boy * John Howard as Kaarlo *

Noel Howlett Noel Howlett (22 December 1902 – 26 October 1984) was an English actor, principally remembered as the incompetent headmaster, Morris Cromwell, in the ITV 1970s cult television programme ''Please Sir!'' He was the subject of infatuation by De ...

as Sir Humphrey Webster * Elizabeth Maude as Mrs. Madden * Robert Moore as Clerk to the Judge * Thelma Rea as Pompous Matron *

Desmond Roberts Desmond Roberts (5 February 1894 – 11 January 1968) was a British stage and film actorLeibfried & Lane p. 105. who also played first-class cricket, 1913–1936, for Surrey. He was born in Hampstead, and died in Eastbourne. Partial filmography ...

as Elderly Roue *

Stewart Rome Stewart Rome (born Septimus William Ryott; 30 January 1886 – 26 February 1965) was an English actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1913 and 1950. He was born in Newbury, Berkshire in 1886 and took the stage name of Stewart Rome ...

as Charles Madden

Production

The film was made at Nettleford Studios. It was used to help build up

who Rank were trying to make a star. Some scenes had to be re-cut for release in the US, notably when Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Prices's characters went on honeymoon together – their twin beds were too close together. Lockwood's daughter had a small role.

Reception

According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947. ''

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' called it "A "woman's picture" if ever there was one"; but

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

in ''

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 ...

'' was less sympathetic, calling it "...not an especially dramatic or otherwise appetizing serving of entertainment"; whereas ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "...his romantic melodrama will have rough handling by the highbrows, but should prove a box office winner. Story is on hokey side, but a tearjerker." It is not among Lockwood's most highly regarded films.

References

External links

* *
''The White Unicorn''
at ''Silver Sirens''
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:White Unicorn, The 1947 films 1947 drama films British drama films Films set in London Films set in France Films set in Finland Films set in England Films shot at Nettlefold Studios Films directed by Bernard Knowles British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films