''Another Shore'' is a 1948

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

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

Charles Crichton Charles Ainslie Crichton (6 August 1910 – 14 September 1999) was an English film director and film editor, editor. Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he became best known for directing many comedies produced at Ealing Studios and had a 40-yea ...

. It stars Robert Beatty as Gulliver Shields, an Irish customs official who dreams of living on a South Sea island; particularly

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

. It is based on the 1947 novel by Kenneth Sheils Reddin, an Irish judge.

Plot

The opening credits initially say "a comedy" but this is changed to "a tragedy". The orchestra plays Molly Malone as credits roll on a background of

shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...

s telling the viewer that the setting is

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Gulliver Sheils has left his career with the

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners (), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the Act of Union 1800 amalgamating ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

due to receiving a small pension. He spends every day but Sunday sitting at a park bench in

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

hoping to help a fallen wealthy elderly person who will reward him with enough money to finance his one way trip to

where he will spend the remainder of his days lolling about in the South Seas. On Sunday he loafs on an Irish beach fantasising about living in Rarotonga. There he meets an attractive

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

woman named Jennifer. She becomes intrigued that Gulliver is the first man to ignore her. The next week, a refined Scottish gentleman, Alastair McNeil sits next to him for some minutes before going to a bar. Gulliver goes to a different bar. A very quiet one. He reads a newspaper article about a car crash on Grafton Street; he realises that that location would give him a better opportunity for his scheme. He then goes to the street and waits for the next accident, but when two women crash he declines to be a witness. He waits a week on the courtroom steps .. the woman eventually sees him .. they had met before on a beach. He goes to meet her later in a bar with her friends. He resumes his stance on the steps of the bank on Grafton Street but is harassed due to his continual presence. Acquiring a small performing dog from an ill street busker partly resolves this. He is happy when the next accident happens: an old lady is hit by a car while crossing. He helps her hoping for a reward but is only given a luncheon voucher. The girl Jennifer passes somewhat tipsy and asks him to call a taxi. He joins her and they go to her palatial home. Over dinner he at last explains his plan. In his mind, he will rescue and they will reward him with an amount of money to get him to the South Seas. She clearly likes him but he runs off. He returns to his position on Grafton Street. The next accident is a Rolls-Royce hitting a boy on a bicycle. The man (the same man who earlier sat by him in the park) in the car claims the greater injury. They go to a bar together. They appear to have parallel dreams except Gulliver seeks

and the man wishes

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. They meet a third time in a lawyers office when the man goes to bewail the loss of his wife: running away with his chauffeur. A plan to go together to the South Seas is formulated to the dismay of Jennifer. On the way to the boat their car crashes on Grafton Street. Gulliver breaks his arm. Jennifer arrives and her friend Yellow takes Gulliver's place on the trip. Gulliver stays with Jennifer who he marries with Gulliver returning to his job.

Main cast

* Robert Beatty as Gulliver Sheils * Moira Lister as Jennifer * Stanley Holloway as Alastair McNeil, the rich man * Michael Medwin as "Yellow" Bingham * Sheila Manahan as Nora * Fred O'Donovan as Coghlan * Maureen Delany as Mrs Gleeson * Dermot Kelly as Boxer *

Irene Worth Irene Worth, CBE (June 23, 1916March 10, 2002), born Harriett Elizabeth Abrams, was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the British and American theatre. She pronounced her first name with three syllabl ...

as Bucsy Vere-Brown *

Bill Shine William Shine (born July 4, 1963) is a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications in the First presidency of Donald Trump, first administration of President of the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump. He spent most of his ...

as Bats Vere-Brown * Muriel Aked as Old lady * Wilfrid Brambell as Arthur Moore, the lawyer * Michael J. Dolan as Twiss

Production

''Another Shore'' was filmed on location in Dublin in

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "The acting is good generally, but Stanley Holloway is more outstanding than most of the rest of the cast. The rowdy carnival-fair scene rather spoils the film, and the young man's dream of the islands points a little to the ridiculous. The comedy and the serious side do not blend very well, but Robert Beatty's dry humour is very clever. The film is very ably produced and directed."

Box office

The film earned distributor's gross receipts of £35,371 in the UK of which £24,804 went to the producer. The film made a loss of £155,900.Chapman p 73

References

External links

*
Review
at '' Variety'' {{Michael Balcon 1948 films British comedy films British black-and-white films Ealing Studios films 1948 comedy films Films directed by Charles Crichton Films set in Ireland Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Films scored by Georges Auric 1940s English-language films 1940s British films English-language comedy films