The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Anthony Asquith

Writers:

Anthony Asquith (writer)
Oscar Wilde (play)

Release Date:

15 October 1952 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

They don't come any wilder than Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of manners, morals and morality!

Plot:

Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff are two men that are both pretending to be someone they are not.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Redgrave	...	Jack Worthing
Richard Wattis	...	Seton
Michael Denison	...	Algernon Moncrieff
Walter Hudd	...	Lane
Edith Evans	...	Lady Augusta Bracknell
Joan Greenwood	...	Gwendolen Fairfax
Dorothy Tutin	...	Cecily Cardew
Margaret Rutherford	...	Miss Letitia Prism
Miles Malleson	...	Canon Chasuble
Aubrey Mather	...	Merriman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ivor Barnard	...	Coach Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Anthony Asquith

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anthony Asquith		writer
Oscar Wilde		play

Produced by
Teddy Baird	....	producer
Earl St. John	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Benjamin Frankel

Cinematography by
Desmond Dickinson

Film Editing by
John D. Guthridge

Casting by
Weston Drury Jr.		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Carmen Dillon

Costume Design by
Beatrice Dawson

Makeup Department
George Blackler	....	makeup artist
Biddy Chrystal	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Roy Goddard	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Asher	....	assistant director
Bert Batt	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
David W. Orton	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ernest Archer	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
John Box	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Peter Lamont	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Arthur Taksen	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Dennis	....	sound recordist
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound recordist
Eric Wood	....	sound editor
Peter Davies	....	first assistant dubbing mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
David Harcourt	....	camera operator
Harry Gillard	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yvonne Caffin	....	costume supervisor
Dorothy Edwards	....	wardrobe supervisor: women

Music Department
Benjamin Frankel	....	conductor

Other crew
Arthur Alcott	....	production controller: Pinewood Studios
Joan Bridge	....	technicolor colour consultant
Joan Davis	....	continuity

Production Companies

• British Film-Makers (in association with)
• Javelin Films

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1952) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1976) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Rank Video Library (1987) (UK) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Pickwick Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• Carlton International (1998) (UK) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

British Film-Makers

Trivia:

Anthony Asquith's first film in colour

Quotes:

Algernon Moncrieff: I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It's very romantic to be in love but there's nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one might be accepted. One usually is I believe. Then the whole excitement is over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: Homie-Work (#5.17)" (1998)

A delicious box of bon mots!

I haven't yet seen the 2002 theatrical film version of Wilde's classic, perhaps because I can't see how anyone, not even Judi Dench, could improve upon Dame Edith Evans's immortal portrayal of that deathless battle-axe, Lady Bracknell. And then there's Margaret Rutherford and Miles Malleson wittily playing characters that fitted them to a "T." Not to mention the unctuously delicious Joan Greenwood, whose line readings caress one's ears like the aural equivalent of a framboise liqueur. Dorothy Tutin was a perfect wise-for-her-young-years ingenue. But the men, in my view, were merely serviceable, with Michael Denison, especially, somewhat of an annoyance. The Technicolor mounting, deliberately stagey, was eye candy of the best sort, like an extravagantly decorated old-fashioned box containing the sort of confections one would savor to the very last morsel. Great fun!