''Midshipman Easy'' is a 1935

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

adventure film directed by

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...

and starring

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, Order of the British Empire, 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 ...

and

Harry Tate Ronald Macdonald Hutchison (4 July 1872 – 14 February 1940), professionally known as Harry Tate, was an English comedian, who performed in the music halls, in variety shows, and in films. Career Born in Lambeth, the son of a Scottish tea m ...

. The screenplay concerns a young man who runs away from home, joins the navy and goes to sea in the 1790s. He rescues a captive woman from a Spanish ship and battles pirates and smugglers. The film was based on the novel ''

Mr Midshipman Easy ''Mr. Midshipman Easy'' is an 1836 novel by Frederick Marryat, a retired captain in the Royal Navy. The novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Marryat himself served with distinction. Plot summary Easy is the son of foolish parent ...

'' (1836) by

Frederick Marryat Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel ...

Production

The film was made at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, after organising unof ...

's Associated Talking Pictures. The film was a moderate success on its initial release in Britain. It was first released in the United States in 1951 by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently ma ...

. The cliff top action sequences and rocky shore scenes of the film were shot on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct fr ...

. It was an early role for Margaret Lockwood and the first of several collaborations between her and Carol Reed.

Cast

- Midshipman Easy *

- Donna Agnes *

- Mr Biggs * Robert Adams - Mesty *

Roger Livesey Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'', '' ...

- Captain Wilson *

Dennis Wyndham Dennis Wyndham (15 January 1887 – 19 August 1973) was a South African born stage and film actor. Long based in Britain, he appeared in more than 40 films between 1920 and 1956. He was born in Natal, South Africa. On 23 May 1917, he marrie ...

- Don Silvio *

Lewis Casson Sir Lewis Thomas Casson MC (26 October 187516 May 1969) was an English actor and theatre director, and the husband of actress Dame Sybil Thorndike.Devlin, DianaCasson, Sir Lewis Thomas (1875–1969) ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ...

- Mr Easy * Tom Gill - Gascoine *

Frederick Burtwell Augustus Frederick Burtwell (23 December 1894 – 16 November 1948) was an English actor, on stage from 1914, who featured in supporting roles in over 40 British films of the 1930s and 1940s. Partial filmography * ''Other People's Sins'' ( ...

- Mr. Easthupp *

Desmond Tester Sydney Desmond Tester (17 February 1919 – 31 December 2002) was an English film and television actor, host and executive. He was born in London, England, and started his career as child actor, among his most notable roles, was that of the ill ...

- Gossett * Dorothy Holmes-Gore - Mrs Easy

Critical reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

praised Carol Reed on his directorial debut, noting that he had "more sense of the cinema than most veteran British directors". Greene described the film as "simply and dramatically cut", and commented that it contained "the best fight e couldremember on the screen". Greene "unreservedly recommended

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

to children". '' Allmovie'' noted "a ripping yarn" ; and ''Britmovie'' noted, "a great work of popular entertainment in its own era, Captain Marryat’s novel is a logical subject for the mass audience that attends films," but concluded, "the film’s budget was as limited as other British movies of the period, and most of it was shot at the

in London. A minor financial and critical success in England, ''Midshipman Easy'' did not even strike the British as more than a spirited bit of ephemera and there is very little about the picture to change anyone’s mind today" and ''NitrateVille'' wrote, "a rather remarkable little British film, a sort of boy's view of going to sea, that boasts several excellent performances and one that is downright astonishing...a remarkable performance by Robert Adams, a black actor, who plays Mesty. Mesty's job onboard the ship is rather vague, but he becomes Early's 'sic''protector and right-hand man. He's promoted to the rank of corporal and later saves Early's 'sic''life by fighting the Italian desperado and throwing him over a cliff. The class and bravery of this black character in a 1935 British film outpaces anything I can think of in an American film of the era."

References

External links

*
''Midshipman Easy''
at Britmovie
''Midshipman Easy''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

{{Carol Reed 1935 films 1935 adventure films Associated Talking Pictures British adventure films British black-and-white films British war films Films based on British novels Films based on works by Frederick Marryat Films directed by Carol Reed Films set in England Films set in Italy Films set in the 1790s French Revolutionary Wars films Napoleonic Wars films Seafaring films Films set on ships 1930s English-language films 1930s British films