''Ride of the Valkyrie'' is a 1967 British short

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

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

and starring

Julia Foster Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress. Early life Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. She was educated at a convent. Career Foster's credits include the films '' The Loneliness of the Long Distan ...

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters including Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and o ...

, and

Frank Thornton Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was best known for playing Captain Peacock in the TV sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel '' Grace & Favour'' (''A ...

Plot

An opera singer, dressed in full costume and dress, must navigate through the busy city streets to get to the theatre in time for his performance in

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's ''

Ride of the Valkyries The ''Ride of the Valkyries'' () is the popular name of the prelude to the first scene of the third and last act of ''Die Walküre'', the second of the four epic music dramas that constitute the operatic cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (Englis ...

''.

Cast

Production history

It was originally commissioned by producer

Oscar Lewenstein Silvion Oscar Lewenstein (18 January 1917 – 23 February 1997)Robert Murph"Lewenstein, (Silvion) Oscar (1917–1997)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. was a British theatre and film producer, who helped create some of the leadin ...

, then a director of Woodfall, as one third of a 'portmanteau' feature entitled '' Red, White and Zero'', with sections supplied by

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...

and

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Satur ...

Reisz dropped out with his section becoming Brook's ''Ride of the Valkyrie''. The two other planned sections of the film developed into what became Richardson's ''Red and Blue'' and Anderson's '' The White Bus''. Of these, only ''The White Bus'' received a theatrical release in the UK.Paul Sutton (ed.) ''The Diaries: Lindsay Anderson'', London: Methuen, 2004, p.146n.

References

External links

* 1967 films 1967 comedy films Films directed by Peter Brook Films scored by Howard Blake 1967 short films British comedy short films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language comedy short films {{short-comedy-film-stub