''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'' (also called ''Morgan!'') is a 1966 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Satur ...

and starring David Warner,

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...

, and Robert Stephens, with

Irene Handl Irene Handl () (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films; she also wrote novels. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Aus ...

and Bernard Bresslaw. It was made by British Lion and produced by Leon Clore from a screenplay by David Mercer, adapted from his BBC television play ''A Suitable Case for Treatment'' (1962), in which the leading role was played by Ian Hendry. A film poster for the film is prominently shown in '' High-Rise'' (2015) .

Plot

Morgan Delt is a failed working-class London artist, who was raised as a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

by his parents. His

upper-class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

wife, Leonie, has given up on him and is in the process of getting a divorce in order to marry Charles Napier, an art gallery owner of her own social standing. Locked into a personal world of fantasy, Morgan performs a series of bizarre stunts in a campaign to win back Leonie, including putting a skeleton in her bed and blowing up the bed as her mother sits on it. When these stunts fail, Morgan secures the help of Wally "The Gorilla", a pro wrestler friend of his mother, to kidnap Leonie, who still nurtures residual feelings of love tinged with pity for Morgan. Leonie is left with Morgan and Wally in the British countryside (clips from ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'' (1943) are cut into the film). Leonie soon gets rescued, and Morgan is arrested and imprisoned. After escaping, he dresses as a gorilla and crashes the wedding reception of Leonie and Charles. (Clips from ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' (1933) are used to illustrate Morgan's fantasy world). Morgan flees the wedding on a motorcycle, his gorilla suit on fire, and subsequently is committed to an insane asylum. Later a visibly pregnant Leonie visits him. With a wink, Leonie tells him he is the child's father. Morgan returns to tending a flowerbed, as the camera pulls out to a longshot of the entire circular flowerbed with the enclosed flowers arranged into a

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

Cast

* David Warner as Morgan Delt *

as Leonie Delt * Robert Stephens as Charles Napier *

as Mrs. Delt * Bernard Bresslaw as policeman * Arthur Mullard as Wally * Newton Blick as Mr. Henderson * Nan Munro as Mrs. Henderson * Peter Collingwood as Geoffrey *

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Early life C ...

as counsel * John Garrie as Tipstaff * John Rae as Judge *

Peter Cellier Peter Cellier (born 12 July 1928) is an English actor who has appeared on film, stage and television. He is known for his role as Sir Frank Gordon in ''Yes Minister'' and then '' Yes, Prime Minister'' in the 1980s. Early life Cellier was born ...

as second counsel

Critical reception

''The

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

Guide to Films'' gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Angry young men were abundant in the British cinema of the 1960s, but they were never so irate as working-class artist David Warner, who tries to sabotage the second marriage of his middle-class ex-wife Vanessa Redgrave to art dealer Robert Stephens by rewiring their house and dressing in a gorilla suit. Adapted from David Mercer's television play, it's really a fable about the class society. Yet its dream sequences and surreal touches make it more odd than meaningful, and it now feels dated."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Archetypal sixties marital fantasy, an extension of '' Look Back in Anger'' 959in the mood of swinging London. As tiresome as it is funny – but it ''is'' funny."

Accolades

The film was nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for

Best Actress in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

(Vanessa Redgrave) and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White ( Jocelyn Rickards). It was also nominated for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

(Golden Palm) at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and Redgrave was awarded Best Actress.

References

External links

* * *
''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment''
a
ReelStreets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment 1966 films 1966 comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films British independent films British black-and-white films Films based on television plays Films directed by Karel Reisz Films set in London 1966 independent films Films scored by John Dankworth 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films