Quartet (1948)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Ken Annakin
Arthur Crabtree

Writers:

W. Somerset Maugham (stories)
R.C. Sherriff (writer)

Release Date:

26 October 1948 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Four of Somerset Maugham's short stories are brought to the screen with each introduced by the author himself...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Short Story | Jealousy | Colonel | Kite | Beautiful Woman

Cast

W. Somerset Maugham	...	Himself - Host
Basil Radford	...	Henry Garnet (segment "The Facts of Life")
Naunton Wayne	...	Leslie (segment "The Facts of Life")
Ian Fleming	...	Ralph (segment "The Facts of Life")
Jack Raine	...	Thomas (segment "The Facts of Life")
Angela Baddeley	...	Mrs. Garnet (segment "The Facts of Life")
James Robertson Justice	...	Branksome (segment "The Facts of Life")
Jack Watling	...	Nicky (segment "The Facts of Life")
Nigel Buchanan	...	John (segment "The Facts of Life")
Mai Zetterling	...	Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
Dirk Bogarde	...	George Bland (segment "The Alien Corn")
Raymond Lovell	...	Sir Frederick Bland (segment "The Alien Corn")
Irene Browne	...	Lady Bland (segment "The Alien Corn")
Honor Blackman	...	Paula (segment "The Alien Corn")
George Thorpe	...	Uncle John (segment "The Alien Corn")

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Gainsborough Studios, Islington, London, England, UK

Company:

Gainsborough Pictures

Trivia:

In an unusual coincidence, Quartet has two actors who would both have eternal associations with the James Bond series. Bernard Lee, who would later play M, and Honor Blackman, who would play one of the most famous Bond girls in Goldfinger (1964), Pussy Galore. Despite the name Ian Fleming on the credits, he is not the same man who wrote the Bond novels.

Quotes:

Himself, Host: In my twenties, the critics said I was brutal. In my thirties, they said I was flippant; in my forties, they said I was cynical; in my fifties they said I was competent - and then, in my sixties, they said I was superficial.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Raiders of the Lost Archive: (#1.3)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Alouette

Finely Produced Film

Master storyteller W. Somerset Maugham introduces four of his own short stories in this beautifully presented film. Each story has its own intriguing charm, and the superior cast, headed by Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling and Cecil Parker, elevates these stories to a level of moving drama. All aspects of the production, with each segment handled by a different director, is outstanding. John Greenood's aristocratic score wraps up the film with its own unique style. A very fine English film with moving and memorable episodes.