''Midshipman Easy'' is a 1935

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by Carol Reed and starring Hughie Green, Margaret Lockwood, Harry Tate and Robert Adams. The screenplay concerns a young man who runs away from home, joins the navy and goes to sea in the 1790s. He rescues a captive woman from a Spanish ship and battles pirates and smugglers. The film was based on the novel '' Mr Midshipman Easy'' (1836) by Frederick Marryat.

Plot

Cast

* Hughie Green as Midshipman Easy * Margaret Lockwood as Donna Agnes * Harry Tate as Mr Biggs * Robert Adams as Mesty *

Roger Livesey Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'', '' ...

as Captain Wilson * Dennis Wyndham as Don Silvio *

Lewis Casson Sir Lewis Thomas Casson (26 October 187516 May 1969) was an English actor and theatre director, and the husband of actress Dame Sybil Thorndike.Devlin, DianaCasson, Sir Lewis Thomas (1875–1969) ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' ...

as Mr Easy * Tom Gill as Gascoine * Frederick Burtwell as Mr. Easthupp * Desmond Tester as Gossett * Dorothy Holmes-Gore as Mrs Easy

Production

The film was made at

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 ...

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, a ...

's Associated Talking Pictures. The film was a moderate success on its initial release in Britain. It was first released in the United States in 1951 by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a film distribution, motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later release ...

. The cliff top action sequences and rocky shore scenes of the film were shot on the Isle of Portland. It was an early role for Margaret Lockwood and the first of several collaborations between her and Carol Reed.

Critical reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

praised Carol Reed on his directorial debut, noting that he had "more sense of the cinema than most veteran British directors". Greene described the film as "simply and dramatically cut", and commented that it contained "the best fight e couldremember on the screen". Greene "unreservedly recommended he filmto children". ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

'' noted "a ripping yarn"; and ''Britmovie'' noted, "a great work of popular entertainment in its own era, Captain Marryat’s novel is a logical subject for the mass audience that attends films," but concluded, "the film’s budget was as limited as other British movies of the period, and most of it was shot at the

in London. A minor financial and critical success in England, ''Midshipman Easy'' did not even strike the British as more than a spirited bit of ephemera and there is very little about the picture to change anyone’s mind today" and ''NitrateVille'' wrote, "a rather remarkable little British film, a sort of boy's view of going to sea, that boasts several excellent performances and one that is downright astonishing...a remarkable performance by Robert Adams, a black actor, who plays Mesty. Mesty's job onboard the ship is rather vague, but he becomes Early's 'sic''protector and right-hand man. He's promoted to the rank of corporal and later saves Early's 'sic''life by fighting the Italian desperado and throwing him over a cliff. The class and bravery of this black character in a 1935 British film outpaces anything I can think of in an American film of the era."

References

External links

*
''Midshipman Easy''
at Britmovie
''Midshipman Easy''
at TCMDB {{Carol Reed 1935 films 1935 adventure films Associated Talking Pictures British adventure films British black-and-white films British war films Films based on British novels Films based on works by Frederick Marryat Films directed by Carol Reed Films set in England Films set in Italy Films set in the 1790s French Revolutionary Wars films Napoleonic Wars naval films British seafaring films Films set on ships 1930s English-language films 1930s British films Films scored by Ernest Irving English-language adventure films