England Made Me (film)

England Made Me
Original British quad poster
Directed byPeter Duffell
Written byDesmond Cory
Peter Duffell
Based onthe novel by Graham Greene
Produced byJack Levin
StarringPeter Finch
Michael York
Hildegarde Neil
CinematographyRay Parslow
Edited byMalcolm Cooke
Music byJohn Scott
Production
companies
Atlantic Productions
Centralni Filmski Studio
Two World Film
Distributed byHemdale Film Distribution (UK)
Release date
18 November 1973
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

England Made Me is a 1973 British drama film directed by Peter Duffell, starring Peter Finch, Michael York, Hildegarde Neil, and Michael Hordern, and based on the 1935 novel England Made Me by Graham Greene.[1] Tony Wollard's art direction was nominated for a British BAFTA Award.[2] The film changes the novel's setting from Sweden to Nazi Germany. Duffel explained that he changed the location due to his lack of knowledge of Sweden in the 1930s, the use of imagery the audience would recognise and the growing menace in Europe of the time.[3]

Plot[edit]

Anthony Farrant (York) is a naive 1930s businessman who pays a visit to Germany on the way home from a business trip, and falls under the politically dubious spell of charismatic financier Erich Krogh (Finch). While Anthony was taught to value fairness and decency, in Erich's world opportunism, corruption, and decadence hold sway.

Main cast[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

The New York Times wrote of the film, "England Made Me might have worked, were Mr. Duffell and Mr. Cory less superficial movie makers. They've retained a surprising amount of the Greene plot, even a lot of original dialogue, but the story is no longer comic and rueful, just wildly melodramatic";[4] whereas Film 4 called it "an underrated adaptation of Graham Greene's novel ... Although it received little attention when first released, this fascinating character study is ripe for reappraisal now, with the relationship between the two men making for quietly gripping viewing."[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BFI Database entry". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  2. ^ Mark Deming (2014). "England-Made-Me – Trailer – Cast – Showtimes – NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014.
  3. ^ p. 155 Sinyard, N. Graham Greene: A Literary Life Springer, 19 Dec. 2003
  4. ^ "Movie Review – Film:'England Made Me':Novel by Greene' Is Lost in Adaptation – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. 11 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Film4 | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

External links[edit]