''England Made Me'' is a 1973 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

Peter Duffell Peter Duffell (10 July 1922 − 12 December 2017) was a British film and television director and screenwriter, born in Canterbury, England. The British actor Christopher Lee called Duffell Britain's "most under-rated director." Biography Duffe ...

, starring

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

Hildegarde Neil Hildegarde Neil Blessed (born 29 July 1939), also credited as Hildegard Neil, is an English actress. Career Born in London, and raised in South Africa, she first appeared on television in a BBC schools' television production of ''Julius Caesar ...

, and

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

, and based on the 1935 novel '' England Made Me'' by

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 ...

. Tony Wollard's

art direction 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 visi ...

was nominated for a British BAFTA Award. The film changes the novel's setting from Sweden to Nazi Germany. Duffel explained that he changed the location due to his lack of knowledge of Sweden in the 1930s, the use of imagery the audience would recognise and the growing menace in Europe of the time.

Plot

Anthony Farrant (York) is a naive 1930s businessman who pays a visit to Germany on the way home from a business trip, and falls under the politically dubious spell of charismatic financier Erich Krogh (Finch). While Anthony was taught to value fairness and decency, in Erich's world opportunism, corruption, and decadence hold sway.

Main cast

- Erich Krogh *

- Anthony Farrant *

- Kate Farrant *

Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE (born 29 February 1928) is an English retired actor who has appeared in more than 130 film and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock Del ...

- Haller *

- F. Minty *

Tessa Wyatt Tessa Wyatt (born 23 April 1948) is an English actress best known for her role as Vicky Tripp (née Nicholls) on the ITV sitcom '' Robin's Nest''. Early life Wyatt was born in Woking, Surrey in 1948 and attended Elmhurst Ballet School. She was ...

- Liz Davidge *

Michael Sheard Michael Sheard (18 June 1938 – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish character actor who featured in many films and television programmes, and was known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Mauric ...

- Fromm *

Richard Gibson Richard Gibson (born 1 January 1954) is an English actor, best known for his role as the archetypal Gestapo Officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC hit sitcom series, '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. Career Gibson was born in Kampala, Uganda, before the countr ...

- Young Tony *

Lalla Ward Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981. Career Early career Ward's stage na ...

- Young Kate *

William Baskiville William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

- Stein *

Demeter Bitenc Demeter Bitenc (21 July 1922 – 22 April 2018) was a Slovenian film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films and television shows from 1953 to 2018. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Selected filmography * ''Sinji galeb'' (1953) * ''Pu ...

- Reichsminister *

Vladan Živković Vladan Živković (15 December 1941 – 3 January 2022) was a Serbian actor, perhaps best known outside Yugoslavia for his work in Sam Peckinpah's '' Cross of Iron''. Vladan Živković was born on 15 December 1941 in Belgrade, Territory of the Mi ...

- Heinrich *

Vlado Bacic Vlado () is a Slavic masculine given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Vlado Babić (born 1960), Serbian politician * Vlado Badžim (born 1964), Slovenian football player and football coach *Vlado Bagat (1915–1944), Croatian and ...

- Hartmann *

Mirjana Nikolic Mirjana (; ) is a Slavic feminine given name meaning ′''mir''′ ("peace, world, prestige, area, space"). The name is widespread throughout Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. Mirjana is possibly a form of Miriam a ...

- Nikki

Critical reception

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 of the film, "''England Made Me'' might have worked, were Mr. Duffell and Mr. Cory less superficial movie makers. They've retained a surprising amount of the Greene plot, even a lot of original dialogue, but the story is no longer comic and rueful, just wildly melodramatic"; whereas

Film 4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

called it "an underrated adaptation of Graham Greene's novel...Although it received little attention when first released, this fascinating character study is ripe for reappraisal now, with the relationship between the two men making for quietly gripping viewing."http://www.film4.com/reviews/1973/england-made-me

References

External links

* 1973 films Films directed by Peter Duffell 1970s historical drama films Films based on works by Graham Greene Films based on British novels British historical drama films Films set in Germany Films set in the 1930s Films about businesspeople Films scored by John Scott (composer) 1973 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{1970s-UK-film-stub