Everything is serious (1952)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Being serious is everything |
| Original title | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| Country of production | GB |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1952 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Anthony Asquith |
| script | Anthony Asquith based on the presentation by Oscar Wilde |
| production | Teddy Baird |
| music | Benjamin Frankel |
| camera | Desmond Dickinson |
| cut | John D. Guthridge |
| occupation | |
| |
Being serious is everything (Original title: The Importance of Being Earnest ) is a film directed by Anthony Asquith in 1952 based on the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde .
action
Friends, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, both assume the identities of a fictional man named Earnest in an attempt to escape social obligations and win the hearts of two women, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, who have both decided to have just one man named Earnest marry. A meeting of Gwendolen and Cecily leads to a series of mix-ups. Gwendolen's mother, Lady Bracknell, meanwhile wants to prevent Jack and Gwendolen from getting married because Jack, who is a foundling, does not appear worthy to her. Finally, after numerous misunderstandings, it turns out that Jack is Lady Bracknell's nephew and Algernon's brother and that his real name is actually Earnest. Nothing stands in the way of the wedding of both couples.
Relationship to the literature
The film sticks closely to the play in its plot. The order of the scenes has been changed and the dialogue has been shortened, but most of the text is taken verbatim for the most part.
The style of the film also resembles a theatrical performance, which is supported by the rising and falling of the curtain at the beginning and the end of the film.
reception
The magazine Film-dienst judged that “to call this comedy [...] a film would almost be tantamount to betraying the art of film. [...] But you have a great chat in this filmed theater that doesn't pretend to be anything else. [...] Michael Redgrave and Michael Denison play the two 'serious ones' with charm, elegance and playful ridicule, polished down to the last nuances. Her two abundantly quirky brides are in equally good hands with Joan Greenwood and Dorothy Tutin. Edith Evans is almost too pointedly pointed as an energetic, strict lady who is equally concerned with decency and wealth growth, who bursts the soap bubble. "The lexicon of international film considers the" tricky, socially critical comedy by Oscar Wilde "also to be" more filmed theater than cinema, nevertheless intelligent and amusing entertainment. "
The film is highly regarded in English-speaking countries. In particular, the portrayal of Lady Bracknell by Edith Evans - who had previously played the role in the theater for years - is still considered authoritative today. Her exclamation "A handbag ?!" when she learned that Jack was found in a handbag as a baby became particularly famous and served as a point of reference for actresses in later productions.
Awards
Dorothy Tutin was nominated for a British Academy Film Award for Best Newcomer for her performance in film . The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and won the award for best equipment.
Web links
- Being Earnest is in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Munzinger archive, accessed on May 18, 2011
- ↑ a b Being serious is everything. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed May 18, 2011 .
- ^ Peter Raby: The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde. Cambridge University Press, 1997, p. 270.
- ^ Philip Barnes: A Companion to Post-War British Theater. Routledge, 1986, p. 77.