Major Barbara (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Major Barbara |
| Original title | Major Barbara |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1941 |
| length | 131 (original) 95 (German version) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gabriel Pascal |
| script |
George Bernard Shaw Marjorie Dean's Anatole de Grunwald based on the play of the same name (1905) by George Bernard Shaw |
| production | Gabriel Pascal |
| music | William Walton |
| camera | Ronald Neame |
| cut |
Charles Frend David Lean |
| occupation | |
| |
Major Barbara is a British feature film from 1940 based on the play of the same name by George Bernard Shaw , who was also involved in the script. Directed by Gabriel Pascal are a host of well-known British actors, including Wendy Hiller (in the title role), Rex Harrison , Robert Morley , Robert Newton , Emlyn Williams and the very young Deborah Kerr , who had her first speaking role in a film here .
action
Barbara Undershaft is a young woman from a good family. Her father Andrew Undershaft, a rascal, unscrupulous multimillionaire, owns an ammunition factory. Unsatisfied with her life so far, Barbara has committed herself to the welfare of humanity and the needy and now serves the Salvation Army . As Major Barbara, she begins to live out her humanistic ideals of charity. She carries out her activities with the utmost passion. Your equally clever and amoral father does not like to see this and tries everything not to lose control over his daughter and to bring her back into the bosom of the family.
He has found a worthy successor for himself and the company in the Greek professor Adolphus Cusins, Major Barbara's young, handsome fiancé. With a generous donation to the Salvation Army, Andrew plans to regain his lost influence over his daughter. When Barbara learns of this - as a Salvation Army soldier, she indignantly rejects the manufacture of alcohol and weapons - she resigns from her position. Together with Adolphus, who no longer wants to be manipulated and corrupted by Andrew, both take up the fight against evil from now on.
Production notes
Major Barbara was shot under aggravated conditions in the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain . The shooting had to be interrupted again and again when there was an air raid, but was then immediately resumed. Film critic Bosley Crowther recalled these circumstances in the context of his film review in the New York Times of May 15, 1941 on the occasion of the US performance: “This is a constant reminder of the devotion of artists who work under fire, permanent evidence for posterity that it takes more than bombs to crush English esprit. It is an ironic and bold satire about conventional morals and social beliefs, as if this had been shot in a time of carefree and carefree peace. In short, the film triumphs more than any other the British have ever sent over to us. "
Donald Calthrop died while filming, some of his scenes had to be completed with a double.
The world premiere took place on March 20, 1941 in Nassau , Bahamas . Major Barbara was first seen in the United States on May 14, 1941. In her native England, the strip first started on August 2, 1941. The German premiere was only after the war , on May 20, 1949, the Austrian premiere only around ten years after the world premiere, on January 26, 1951.
The film constructions come from the hands of Vincent Korda and John Bryan ; the costumes were designed by Cecil Beaton . Jack Hildyard was a simple cameraman; Arthur Ibbetson, only 18 years old, assisted chief cinematographer Ronald Neame . Jack Clayton , a well-known film director in the 1950s and 1960s, was one of four official assistant directors. Harold French, who is already established as a director, is said to have helped director Pascal with some scenes. The later star director David Lean ( Lawrence of Arabia ), who had edited Gabriel Pascal's first large-scale Shaw film Pygmalion in 1938 , was also involved in this Shaw adaptation as a film editor and also assisted Pascal in his function as director. Muir Mathieson served as musical director in the preparation of William Walton's film composition; Miklós Rózsa arranged the music for the US version. The Austrian exile Ferdinand Bellan assisted the film architects Bryan and Korda. The former star among Germany's screenwriters, Carl Mayer ( The Last Man ), had been hired as an unnamed script consultant for Major Barbara .
criticism
“It's definitely Mr. Shaw's film. But Mr. Pascal, who is directing, and his consistently outstanding cast gave it a lot of life. Wendy Hiller plays Major Barbara with all the naive, blue-eyed enthusiasm, grief and ultimate liberation of a girl who has to endure a truly soul-tormenting process. Robert Morley is deliciously devilish, slick through and through and also tender, as Undershaft, the devil's docile disciple. Rex Harrison plays Adolphus Cusins, Barbara's professorial groom with a buoyant sense of humor, and Robert Newton almost wins the Actor Award for his pointed performance of Bill Walker, an East End bully whose soul is too hardened for any form of rescue. "
"Excellent adaptation of Shaw's play about a wealthy girl who joins the Salvation Army (...) Excellent cast in an intelligent comedy."
"Stage-like, albeit compelling, version of a piece in which the author gives typical swipes at everything and everyone within his reach and allows wonderful acting (but also overacting) through an impeccable cast."
"The action-poor literary film adaptation lives entirely from the punchy dialogues and the art of the interpreters."
Web links
- Major Barbara at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Major Barbara in the online film database
- Major Barbara atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ In the original: “ This is a lasting memorial to the devotion of artists working under fire, a permanent proof for posterity that it takes more than bombs to squelch the English wit. It is as wry and impudent a satire of conventional morals and social creeds as though it had been made in a time of easy and carefree peace. It is, in short, a more triumphant picture than any the British have yet sent across. “In Major Barbara film review of the New York Times
- ↑ Major Barbara. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .