''Never Let Me Go'' is a 1953 British

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' film review; 28 March 1953, page 51. starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and Gene Tierney. The

picture An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimension ...

, directed by

Delmer Daves Delmer Lawrence Daves (July 24, 1904 – August 17, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He worked in many genres, including film noir and warfare, but he is best known for his Western movies, especially '' Broke ...

and produced by

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...

, was from a screenplay by

George Froeschel George Froeschel (9 March 1891 – 22 November 1979) was an Austrian novelist and screenwriter. In 1943, he received two Academy Award nominations for co-writing screenplays for ''Mrs. Miniver'' and ''Random Harvest''. He won the Academy Award f ...

and

Ronald Millar Sir Ronald Graeme Millar (12 November 1919 – 16 April 1998) was an English actor, scriptwriter, and dramatist. Life and career After attending Charterhouse School, Millar studied at King's College, Cambridge for a year before joining the ...

, based on the 1949 novel ''

Came the Dawn ''Came the Dawn'' is a 1949 thriller novel by the British writer and journalist Paul Winterton under the pseudonym of Roger Bax. Set in the Soviet Union it drew on Winterton's experience as Moscow correspondent for the ''News Chronicle'' and BBC. ...

'' by

Roger Bax Paul Winterton (12 February 1908 – 8 January 2001) was an English journalist and crime novelist. During his career he used the pseudonyms Andrew Garve, Roger Bax and Paul Somers. Winterton was born in Leicester, the son of Ernest Winterton, ...

. The supporting cast includes

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...

Richard Haydn Richard Haydn (born George Richard Haydon, 10 March 1905 – 25 April 1985) was a British-American comedy actor. Some of his better known performances include his roles as Professor Oddley in '' Ball of Fire'' (1941), Roger in '' No Time for Lo ...

Belita Belita Jepson-Turner (21 October 1923 – 18 December 2005), known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress. Biography Born at Nether Wallop, Hampshire,Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy '' Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this per ...

Karel Štěpánek Karel Štěpánek (29 October 189925 December 1980) was a Czech actor who spent many years in Austria and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he moved to Britain and spent much of the rest of his career acting there. Partial filmo ...

, and

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...

. The movie was shot at MGM's British

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 ...

and on location in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Alfred Junge Alfred Junge (29 January 1886, Görlitz, Silesia (now Saxony), Germany – 16 July 1964, London) was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry. Junge had wanted to be an artist ...

Plot

Moscow based newspaper reporter Philip Sutherland (

) is in love with Marya ( Gene Tierney), a ballerina. He and radio broadcaster Steve Quillan (

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy '' Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this per ...

) go to see her perform ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' with the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to internat ...

, and a pleased Philip learns that Marya wishes to marry him and accompany him home to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. They are married in the U.S. embassy, where they are warned that obtaining an exit visa is often quite difficult. On their honeymoon, they meet Christopher Denny (

), an Englishman married to Marya's good friend Svetlana (Anna Valentina), who is pregnant. But when he is seen taking innocent photographs, Denny is taken into custody and banished from Russia. Svetlana gives birth to a son in Philip and Marya's apartment. Cold War tensions are heightened, and when the Sutherlands attempt to leave, Marya is detained. Philip flies home alone and is unable to get permission to return. He travels to London, where he and Joe Brooks (

), an experienced boatman, hatch a scheme to sail to

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

where the Bolshoi is scheduled to perform, in order to clandestinely leave with Marya. At first, he asked Christopher to sail with him so that they could also spirit away Svetlana. But, Christopher declines, as he does not want to subject his young son to the rigors of the sea. Before sailing off, Christopher shows up at the dock ready to join the journey, explaining that his son died after becoming ill with a fever just a few weeks prior. Quillan offers to help by giving them coded instructions on his radio broadcasts as to what time they will meet Marya and Svetlana in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and ...

. At their rendezvous point, Svetlana swims out safely to the boat, but says an added ballet performance has forced Marya to stay behind. Philip swims ashore. Stealing a medical officer's clothes, he attends the ballet. During the bows at the end of the ballet, Marya pretends to faint after seeing Philip in the audience. After examining her in a backstage room, Philip departs with her (apparently to the hospital). But, dancer Valentina Alexandrovna (

Belita Belita Jepson-Turner (21 October 1923 – 18 December 2005), known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress. Biography Born at Nether Wallop, Hampshire,Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

as Philip Sutherland * Gene Tierney as Marya Lamarkina *

as Joe Brooks *

as Christopher Wellington St. John Denny *

as Steve Quillan *

as Commissar *

as Lieutenant * Anna Valentina as Svetlana Mikhailovna *

Frederick Valk Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British cit ...

as Kuragin *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * '' Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * '' The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono Filmography * '' The S ...

as N.K.V.D. Man * Robert Henderson as U.S. Ambassador *

Stanley Maxted Stanley Maxted (21 August 1895 – 10 May 1963) was a British-Canadian soldier, singer, radio producer, journalist and actor. He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and later for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a ...

as John Barnes * Meinhart Maur as Lemkov * Alexis Chesnakov as General Zhdanov *

Anton Diffring Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...

as Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,482,000 in the US and Canada and $936,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $86,000.

Notes

External links

* * * {{Delmer Daves 1953 films 1953 romantic drama films British black-and-white films British romantic drama films Cold War films 1950s English-language films Films based on British novels Films based on romance novels Films directed by Delmer Daves Films set in the Soviet Union Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1950s British films

Plot

Reception

See also

Notes

External links