The Edge of the World (1937)

Director:

Michael Powell

Writer:

Michael Powell (story)

Release Date:

9 September 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance

Plot:

A way of life is dying on a Shetland island fishing port, but some of the inhabitants resist evacuating to the mainland.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Evacuation | Fishing | Port | Cliff

Cast

John Laurie	...	Peter Manson
Belle Chrystall	...	Ruth Manson - His Daughter
Eric Berry	...	Robbie Manson - Her Brother
Kitty Kirwan	...	Jean Manson - Their Grandmother
Finlay Currie	...	James Gray
Niall MacGinnis	...	Andrew Gray - His Son (as Niall Macginnis)
Grant Sutherland	...	John - the Catechist
Campbell Robson	...	Mr. Dunbar - the Laird
George Summers	...	Trawler Skipper
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Margaret Greig	...	Ruth's Baby (uncredited)
Michael Powell	...	Mr. Graham - the Yachtsman (uncredited)
Frankie Reidy	...	Yachtswoman (uncredited)
Arthur Seabourne	...	Dancer at Hirta Reel (uncredited)
Sydney Streeter	...	Man at Dance (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Powell

Writing credits
Michael Powell		(story)

Produced by
Joe Rock	....	producer

Original Music by
Lambert Williamson		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Monty Berman
Skeets Kelly
Ernest Palmer

Film Editing by
Derek N. Twist		(as Derek Twist)
Robert Walters		(uncredited)

Production Management
Gerard Blattner	....	production manager (uncredited)

Art Department
W. Osborne	....	props (uncredited)
Sydney Streeter	....	chief of construction (uncredited)

Sound Department
W.H.O. Sweeney	....	sound (as W.H.O. Sweeny)
L.K. Tregellas	....	sound

Music Department
The Glasgow Orpheus Choir	....	performer: "Chorus"
Cyril Ray	....	musical director
Hugh S. Robertson	....	conductor: The Glasgow Orpheus Choir (as Sir Hugh Robertson)
Lambert Williamson	....	orchestrator (as W.L. Williamson)

Other crew
George Black Jr.	....	production personnel
Gerard Blattner	....	production personnel
W.H. Farr	....	production personnel
Arthur Seabourne	....	production personnel (as A. Seabourne)
Vernon Sewell	....	production personnel (as Vernon C. Sewell)
Sydney Streeter	....	production personnel (as Sydney S. Streeter)
W. Osborne	....	production personnel (uncredited)
Bill Paton	....	unit caterer (uncredited)
Vernon Sewell	....	skipper of supply ship (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Joe Rock Productions

Distributors

• British Independent Exhibitors' Distributors (1937) (UK) (theatrical)
• Pax Films Inc. (1938) (USA) (theatrical)
• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1948) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• BuyIndies.com Inc. (USA)
• Milestone Film & Video (????) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Glasgow Orpheus Choir  choral effect

Runtime:

81 min | UK:62 min (1940 re-issue) | UK:74 min (1990 NFA-restoration) | USA:74 min | USA:72 min (Milestone print)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Visatone Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U (video rating) (1991) | UK:U | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1991)

Filming Locations:

Foula, Shetland, Scotland, UK

Company:

Joe Rock Productions

Trivia:

New 35mm print made and shown September 1999 as part of NY Film Festival.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The wild Golden Eagle at the beginning has the falconer's jesses (leather straps) visible.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dad's Army: The Lion Has 'Phones (#3.3)" (1969)

Soundtrack:

Psalm 23

Powerful Powell

A new version was reportedly released in 1978 ,featuring a color sequence where the director and the actors-survivors went on a pilgrimage to Foula.It was called "return to the edge of the world" .This is not the version I saw and it seems that none of the other users could see it either.It's really a pity.

Powell is my favorite English director.He's the only one who 's got a sense of mystery.His pictures are art,poetry in motion.He films the sea (a harsh mistress) and the desolate landscapes in a dazzling way.His influence on David Lean ("Ryan's daughter") is obvious.But I'm almost sure old wave French Jean Delannoy (not meant pejoratively) had this movie in mind when he made his own "Dieu a Besoin des Hommes" (a story in a remote Breton island ).And the almost documentary side of the movie predates Robert Bresson's asceticism.

Some called it melodramatic:on the contrary,Powell avoids its clichés; the unmarried mother became generally an outcast,most of all the French Marcel Pagnol films revolved around this subject.But Ruth's child is a new hope for the inhabitants.The sequence when they dance to a violin tune is the one really happy moment in the whole film.

The times are changing.The way of life their fathers used to know is coming to an end.Powell's movie gains an universal meaning :the situation he depicted happened (and is still happening) here there and everywhere.