Laughing Anne

Laughing Anne
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Produced by Herbert Wilcox
Written by Pamela Bower
Based on Story Because of the Dollars and play Laughing Anne by Joseph Conrad
Starring Margaret Lockwood
Wendell Corey
Forrest Tucker
Ronald Shiner
Music by Anthony Collins
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Edited by Basil Warren
Production
company
Herbert Wilcox Productions (as Imperadio)
Distributed by Republic (UK) & (US)
Release date
 September 1953 (UK)
Running time
 90 mins
Country UK/US
Language English

Laughing Anne is a 1953 British adventure film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, Forrest Tucker, and Ronald Shiner.[1] Its plot follows a sea captain who has a tempestuous affair with a French singer.

It was adapted from Joseph Conrad's short story, "Because of the Dollars" and from his 1923 two-act play, Laughing Anne.[2]

Plot

A woman runs off to the South Seas with a prize fighter.[3]

Cast

Production

In 1952 Herbert Wilcox announced he had signed a co production deal with Herbert Yates of Republic Pictures to make films together starring Anna Neagle and John Wayne, to be shot in color and aimed at international markets. The projects would include an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's The King's General and Joseph Conrad's Laughing Anne.[4] Laughing Anne would instead be made with Margaret Lockwood, who had signed a long term contract with Wilcox, and two Hollywood names: Forrest Tucker and Wendell Corey. (Tucker had been under contract to Republic for six years.[5]) As extra box office insurance, Ronald Shiner was cast in a leading role.[6] Lockwood's performance was done in the style of Marlene Dietrich.[7]

Release

The film had to be cut for release in the US, including removal of the word "damn" and a scene where Lockwood swam nude.[8]

Reception

The film was not well received, critically or commercially.[9]

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote:

"Always a man for pictorial respectability, Mr. Wilcox does quite nicely by an unelaborate budget, letting the Technicolor camera play over turn-of-the-century, gaslit rooms, shipboard and island exteriors and interiors. Several shots of a schooner braving awesome jungle waters are excellent. Furthermore, the film is based on a work by that master yarn-spinner and psychological prober, Joseph Conrad. The trimmings remain. But Mr. Wilcox's casual direction and a lusterless adaptation by Pamela Bower compress the story into a plodding reprise of thwarted love, sacrifice and skulduggery... In the most colorless casting, Mr. Corey is quietly effective, Miss Lockwood ranges from skittish to grim, and Mr. Forrest glares or snarls. As a sailor, Ronald Shiner takes care of the humor department. And in the role of Mr. Conrad, no less, a bearded, scholarly-looking actor named Robert Harris hears the story from Mr. Forrest in flashback on the sidelines. This much, undoubtedly, is as it should be." [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Laughing Anne (1953)". BFI.
  2. ↑ "Laughing Anne (1953) - Notes - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  3. ↑ "Laughing Anne". The Australian Women's Weekly. 21 (38). 17 February 1954. p. 52. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "TOP STARS OF U.S., U.K. FOR FILMS". The News. 58 (8, 981). Adelaide. 22 May 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "MOVIE NOTES". The Cessnock Eagle And South Maitland Recorder. 43 (4213). New South Wales. 1 May 1953. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Mason is foreign at home". The Australian Women's Weekly. 20 (28). 10 December 1952. p. 12. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Star's new style". The Sun (2595). Sydney. 18 January 1953. p. 46. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Vanishing act for Margaret". The News. 61 (9, 441). Adelaide. 12 November 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "FILM PAGE". The Mail. 43 (2, 180). Adelaide. 20 March 1954. p. 4 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE). Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9902e4d91131e53bbc4053dfb366838f649ede


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