''The Four Poster'' is a 1952 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Irving Reis Irving Reis (May 7, 1906 in New York City – July 3, 1953 in Woodland Hills, California) was a radio program producer and director, and a film director. Biography Irving Reis was born into a Jewish family.http://www.hillsidememorial.org/pdfs/Di ...

and starring Rex Harrison and

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

. It is an adaptation of

Jan de Hartog Jan de Hartog (April 22, 1914 – September 22, 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. Biography Early years Jan de Hartog was born to a Dut ...

's 1951 play ''

The Fourposter ''The Fourposter'' is a play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans 35 years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael t ...

''. While it is a

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film, ''The Four Poster'' features animation by the studio

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio active from the 1940s through the 1970s. Beginning with industrial and World War II training films, UPA eventually produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Picture ...

(UPA). The animation was directed by

John Hubley John Kirkham Hubley (May 21, 1914 – February 21, 1977) was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent studio, Storyboard, Inc. (late ...

, and was his last project before leaving UPA and founding his independent studio Storyboard, Inc. In

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, ''The Four Poster''s animation became one of the key influences on the foundation of the

Zagreb School of Animated Films Zagreb school of animated films is a style of animation originating from Zagreb and Croatia, most notably Zagreb Film. It is represented by authors like Nikola Kostelac, Vatroslav Mimica, Dušan Vukotić and Vladimir Kristl. The term was coined b ...

. Director

Dušan Vukotić Dušan Vukotić (7 February 1927 – 8 July 1998) was a Yugoslav and Croatian cartoonist, author and director of animated films of Montenegrin descent. He is the best known member of the Zagreb school of animated films. Biography Vukotić ...

had come across an article about UPA's films in '' Graphis'' at an English bookstore in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. Around the same time, ''The Four Poster'' arrived in the country in "a batch of American feature films sent for possible sale to Yugoslavia", according to researcher Ronald Holloway. Vukotić and others studied the film's animation, which also gave them a greater understanding of the still images in ''Graphis''. As a result, the team began to explore design-focused

limited animation Limited animation is a process in the overall technique of traditional animation that reuses frames of character animation. Early history The use of budget-cutting and time-saving animation measures in animation dates back to the earliest commerci ...

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several ...

Plot

Cast

* Rex Harrison as John Edwards *

as Abby Edwards

References

Notes Bibliography * Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1952 films 1952 comedy-drama films American black-and-white films American comedy-drama films American films with live action and animation American films based on plays Columbia Pictures films Films about marriage Films directed by Irving Reis Films produced by Stanley Kramer Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films set in the 1890s Films set in the 1900s Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{comedy-drama-film-stub