The End of Arthur's Marriage
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"The End of Arthur's Marriage" is a television satirical musical drama that was an episode in ''
The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramati ...
'' series first broadcast on 17 November 1965. It was an early work of director
Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
, and the script was written by poet
Christopher Logue Christopher Logue, CBE (23 November 1926 – 2 December 2011)Mark EspineObituary: Christopher Logue ''The Guardian'', 2 December 2011 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, and a pacifist. Life Born in Portsmouth, ...
. It is unusual in Loach's catalogue for the
surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, and the director later said that he believed himself to have been "the wrong man for the job". Main actor Ken Jones had previously worked with Loach on '' Wear a Very Big Hat'' and '' 3 Clear Sundays'' and later featured in the controversial 1969 play ''
The Big Flame ''The Big Flame'' is a 1969 BBC television play by socialist playwright Jim Allen, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. The play tells the story of 10,000 dockworkers occupying the Liverpool docks in a "work-in". Filmed in a gritt ...
''. It has never been repeated on the BBC since the showing on 17 November 1965, and the film was rare until its release with the ''Ken Loach at the BBC'' DVD box-set in 2011.


Plot

Mavis and Arthur are a married couple with a daughter, Emmy. Mavis's father gives his full life savings, £400, which he says that he had worked so hard to earn that he had never been to a cinema. The agreement is that Arthur and Mavis will use the money as a deposit for a house, although Mavis's parents distrust Arthur and refer to him as a "dreamer". Arthur and Emmy view a prospective house at the same time as the Thurloe family. After the Thurloes discuss the noises from their bedroom that might disturb others (the dialogue contains a large amount of innuendo), Mr. Thurloe pulls Arthur to one side and begs him to buy the house so that he would not be trapped with Mrs. Thurloe and their son Mark, who tries to proposition Emmy, but she slaps him. Arthur makes an offer for the house, but is rejected as he lacks any documentation to prove that he has the necessary finances. Mrs. Thurloe then makes an offer, which is accepted. In a park Arthur worries that Emmy will never enjoy being spoiled and resolves to treat her to a trip to the
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...
. He takes Emmy to Fortnum and Masons. After a sales pitch (in song) by a salesman, Arthur buys Emmy an expensive gold watch with a strap made of elephant hair. Meanwhile, Mavis's parents become concerned at Arthur's disappearance with the money and ring the police to report him and Emmy missing. After visiting a cafe, Arthur takes Emmy to the zoo. As the five-millionth customer, Emmy is rewarded with a free visit escorted by the zookeeper Bent, and Arthur and Emmy are given a free ride on an elephant. When Emmy tells Bent that her new watch is made of elephant hair, Bent says that elephants do not have hair and that the alleged hair on her watch is a piece of wire. Arthur's conversation with Bent shows concern about the treatment of the animals in the zoo, who were born in captivity and given euthanasia when no longer of use. Emmy becomes very attached to the elephant. When Bent says that the elephant is due to be put down soon (referred to as "going into the gas chamber"), as a new shipment of elephants is expected, Emmy asks Arthur to buy her the elephant, and he eventually does. Arthur and Emmy are joined by a group of young people. (The elephant disappears without explanation at this point in the film, which Loach later said he regretted.BFI Screenonline - The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965) - Synopsis
/ref>) The group are shown riding down the canal on a barge and a dance begins with a singer named Lily who strips her top half so that only her bra remains. Arthur dances with her and, in his excitement, throws his remaining money into the canal. Emmy tells him to behave better, and the party ends with two of the young people criticising Arthur as irresponsible. Arthur asks Lily if she would like to come home with him, but she turns him down. Arthur and Emmy return to Mavis's parents' house, where Mavis and her parents seem to know what has transpired. After Arthur admits that he has used all the money that was given to him, he is prevented from entering and given his belongings in a suitcase, but Emmy is brought inside before the door is closed. Arthur then leaves the suitcase in the garden and walks away. As the end credits roll, some quotes from the film are repeated before Lily's song from the barge is played again.


Style

The play is unusual for Ken Loach, a director known for
social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
, in that it has elements of fantasy and surrealism. Some breakaway scenes fit with the theme of the plot. After the Thurloes beat Arthur and Mavis for the house up for sale, a large football crowd is jubilant in applauding the Thurloes for their success and cease applauding for Arthur. Many couples are shown arguing throughout the film as a constant theme. However, other scenes appear for no apparent reason. The more obscure scenes include reports of the death of tourists in a plane crash, an interview on the history of gas works, a man shaving, two prostitutes' discussing a solicitor who role-plays as Mr. Universe (a dialogue that includes a large amount of
sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
) and a police officer's jumping out of his moving car to ask Arthur for a light for his cigarette. The use of nudity in the play was unusual on the BBC during the period this drama was broadcast. In 2011, the film was given a 12 certificate by the
British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
for "brief sexualised nudity". Shortly after Arthur and Emmy leave Fortnum and Masons, there is a brief scene in which a cafe worker named Harry Otana remembers his home in Africa that contains full frontal nudity. In addition, the scene in the zoo is interrupted by an enactment of the eating of
forbidden fruit Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden. As a ...
in the
Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
, in which Adam and Eve are naked, and a close-up of Eve shows her winking at the camera seductively. This scene ends with Adam and Eve as a modern, clothed couple walking from their house to their car. An interpretation of the Garden-of-Eden scene, which comes after a discussion on the ethics of zoos, is that ownership of animals by humans came after the eating of the forbidden fruit, and led to the caging and eating of animals by humans. This links with the fetishisation of ownership, which is a theme of the film. There are cameo appearances in the play by BBC journalist
Kenneth Allsop Kenneth Allsop (29 January 1920 – 23 May 1973) was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. Early life Allsop was born on 29 January 1920 in Holbeck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was married in St Peter's Church, Ealing, i ...
and by Loach himself in the same scene outside Fortnum and Masons. Allsop is interviewing members of the public on whether they prefer working or spending money, when Loach interrupts him to say that his interviews are interfering with the picture that he is trying to film. As in Loach's earlier work, ''Three Clear Sundays'', an earlier ''Wednesday Play'' broadcast the previous April, songs are used both as part of the dialogue and as commentary on the plot. For example, in Fortnum and Masons, a salesman sings about the merits of a particular watch. In an earlier scene of Mavis's parents, a song describes them as fearful, boring and obedient. As with the breakaway scenes, there are songs that appear for no apparent reason, such as '' Aunty Mary''.


Cast

* Ken Jones as Arthur * Maureen Ampleford as Emmy *
Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...
as Dad * Winifred Dennis as Mum *
Robert Dougall Robert Dougall, MBE (27 November 1913 – 18 December 1999) was an English broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer. Early life and radio broadcasting Dougall was born and educated in Croydon, Surrey. He a ...
as newsreader * Janie Booth as Mavis *
Hugh Paddick Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and " Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He a ...
as house agent *
Joanna Dunham Joanna Elizabeth Dunham (6 May 1936 – 25 November 2014) was an English actress, best noted for her work on stage and television. She also appeared in several major films. Career Dunham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, the daughter of Peter Bro ...
as Mrs Thurloe *
Edward de Souza Edward James de Souza (born 4 September 1932) is a British character actor and graduate of RADA, who is of Portuguese-Indian and English descent. Early life De Souza was the only child of Annie Adeline Swift (née Calvert) and Edward Valentine De ...
as Mr Thurloe * Ian Ellis as Mark *
Derek Royle Derek Royle (7 September 1928 – 23 January 1990) was a British actor born in London, England. He graduated from RADA in 1950. His face was probably better known than his name to British viewers, but he acted in films and TV from the early 196 ...
as taxi driver *
Howell Evans Howell Albert John Evans (3 March 1928 – 9 September 2014) was a Welsh actor, comedian, and singer who worked extensively in television and theatre roles in a career spanning over 60 years. He was best known for having played "Daddy" in th ...
as angry driver * Alec Coleman as shaving man *
Kenneth Allsop Kenneth Allsop (29 January 1920 – 23 May 1973) was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. Early life Allsop was born on 29 January 1920 in Holbeck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was married in St Peter's Church, Ealing, i ...
as interviewer *
Fanny Carby Fanny Carby (2 February 1925 – 20 September 2002) was a British character actress. She had two different roles on ''Coronation Street'': she played Mary Hornigold in 1965, then in 1987 she took the role of Vera Duckworth's domineering mot ...
as Connie * Toni Palmer as JanetBFI Screenonline - ''The End of Arthur's Marriage'' (1965) - Cast
/ref>


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:End of Arthur's Marriage 1965 television plays Absurdist fiction BBC television dramas The Wednesday Play