''It Started in Paradise'' is a 1952 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Compton Bennett and starring Jane Hylton,

Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havis ...

and

Muriel Pavlow Muriel Lilian Pavlow (27 June 1921 – 19 January 2019) was an English actress. Her mother was French and her father Russian. Film and television career Muriel was born in Lewisham, south-east London, to Boris Pavlov, a Russian émigré and ...

. Set in the world of haute couture, the film was squarely aimed at female audiences. Its storyline of an established master of her craft being usurped by a younger, ruthlessly ambitious underling, who then years later finds the same thing happening to her – with a waspish male critic on hand throughout to provide a steady stream of acerbic, biting commentary – led inevitably to the film being dubbed the '' All About Eve'' of the fashion world. The film was made at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to ...

with sets designed by the art director

Edward Carrick Edward Carrick (born Edward Anthony Craig; 3 January 1905 – 21 January 1998) was an English art designer for film, an author and illustrator. Carrick was born in London. His father was Edward Gordon Craig, the theatre practitioner and stage d ...

. It was shot in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...

and is described by Hal Erickson of ''Allmovie'' as: "an unusually plush,

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

-esque production to come from a British studio in the early 1950s". The title is a wry suggestion that Adam, by his crafting of the fig leaves for Eve and for himself to wear, also began the fashion industry.

Plot

In 1938, Mme. Alice (Hunt), chief designer of a famous London fashion house, has lost her touch. Where once she was the most sought after designer in the city, now her creations seem locked in the past and clients are looking elsewhere for modern fashions. She is persuaded by her senior assistant Martha (Hylton) that she needs a long holiday to recapture her creative inspiration. Once Mme. Alice has departed the fiercely ambitious Martha, who has been biding her time for several years, launches a coup, designing and presenting a range of up-to-the-minute garments which are a huge success with the fashion media and bring clients flocking back to the salon. The financial backer of the business is delighted with the upturn in profits; Martha is promoted to chief designer and Mme. Upon Alice's return, whilst retaining her composure, she refuses to countenance the Salon's "Vulgar" new look, prophesies Martha's doom, and walks out, parting forever from the fashion world. Over the course of the next decade Martha, with the help of Alison (Pavlow), a talented girl she took on straight out of school, restores the house to its pre-eminent position in the London fashion world. She becomes so driven that she starts not to care whom she treads on in her quest to be the best in the business. Over the years while her professional career goes from strength to strength, she neglects friends, treats associates badly and makes business enemies. By the start of the 1950's Martha too seems to have had her day; appreciation for her designs tapers off, after a failed love affair with a deceiving lothatio, and her reputation falls. Those she has alienated on the way up are only too happy to watch her on the way down. Meanwhile, Alison, having initially declined to return after finding great success in America, eventually decides to return after all, prompted more by loyalty to one whom she loves at the company than any sentimentality for Martha. Her own designs are acclaimed innovative and contemporary by all. Now, it's Alison who's 'in', and Martha who's 'out': the cycle may begin again.

Cast

* Jane Hylton as Martha Watkins * Ian Hunter as Arthur Turner * Terence Morgan as Edouard *

as Alison *

as Mme. Alice *

Brian Worth Brian Worth (30 July 1914 – 25 August 1978) was an English actor, known for '' Scrooge'' (1951), ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951) and ''An Inspector Calls'' (1954). He died on 25 August 1978 aged 64. Educated in Britain and America, ...

as Michael * Kay Kendall as Lady Caroline Frencham * Ronald Squire as Mary Jane *

Dana Wynter Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...

as Barbara * Joyce Barbour as Lady Burridge * Harold Lang as Mr. Louis * Margaret Withers as Miss Madge *

Lucienne Hill Lucienne Marie Hill (née Palmer) (30 January 1923 – 29 December 2012) was a French-English translator and actor. She was born in Kilburn, London to an English father and a French mother. She studied modern languages at Somerville College, Oxf ...

as Mme. Lucienne * Diana Decker as Crystal Leroy * Arthur Lane as Sydney Bruce * Audrey White as Gwen, the model * Naomi Chance as Primrose, the model * Barbara Allen as Anne, the model * Dorinda Stevens as Flo the barmaid * Anna Turner as Lil the barmaid * Frank Tickle as Mr. Paul * Helen Forrest as Maureen *

Mara Lane Mara Lane (born Dorothy Bolton; 1 August 1930) is a British-Austrian actress. She appeared in more than 30 films from 1951 to 1965. Early life Lane was born in Vienna, Austria. She is the eldest daughter of Russian-born pianist mother Olga Mirono ...

as 'Little Dark Popsie' * Avis Scott as Journalist *

Conrad Phillips Conrad Philip Havord (13 April 1925 – 13 January 2016), known professionally as Conrad Phillips, was an English television and film actor. He is best known for playing William Tell in the adventure series '' The Adventures of William Tell'' ...

as 1st Photographer * Bill Travers as 2nd Photographer *

Alan Gifford Alan Gifford (born John Lennox; March 11, 1911 – March 20, 1989) was an American-born actor from Taunton, Massachusetts, who worked mainly in the UK, where he died in Blairgowrie, Scotland at age 78. Known best for his role in '' 2001: A ...

as American captain * Bruce Seton as Club Manager

Critical reception

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' gave a scathing review of the film in 1952, saying: "The boldest pen may be excused from shying away like a nervous horse at a high fence from this truly deplorable film. Its world is the world of ''Haute Couture''. It has probably got most of the details right and very admirable are some of the Technicolor backgrounds, but that is the most that can be said in its favour". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' was also less than enthusiastic, drawing comparisons with the earlier British fashion picture '' Maytime in Mayfair'' and commenting that British films about haute couture: "have a tendency to run somewhat to froth". It concluded: "Well, let's be gentlemanly about it. Maybe there are those who can find some sort of excitement in the kind of lather worked up in this film". It did, however, comment that Ronald Squire had a few good lines and the visual portrayal of the dress salon was well defined. ''Guide to British Cinema'' in 2003 described it as starting strongly, but with a disappointing climax.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:It Started in Paradise 1952 films 1952 drama films Films directed by Compton Bennett Films about fashion in the United Kingdom Films shot at Pinewood Studios British drama films Films scored by Malcolm Arnold Films set in 1938 Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in London 1950s English-language films 1950s British films