The Young Mr Pitt
| The Young Mr Pitt | |
|---|---|
 A scene from the film |
|
| Directed by | Carol Reed |
| Written by | Frank Launder & Sidney Gilliat (screenplay); Viscount Castlerosse (additional dialogue and original novel) |
| Starring | Robert Donat, Robert Morley, Herbert Lom, Ronald Shiner |
| Music by | Louis Levy |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young |
| Editing by | R.E. Dearing |
| Release date(s) | 21 September 1942 |
| Running time | 118 min |
| Country | United Kingdom & United States |
| Language | English |
The Young Mr Pitt is a 1942 British biographical film, directed by Carol Reed and starring Robert Donat, Robert Morley and John Mills.[1] Made in black-and-white, it was produced by Edward Black and Maurice Ostrer for the British subsidiary of 20th Century Fox.
Contents |
Outline [edit]
A biopic, made in wartime, of William Pitt the Younger, it concerns his struggle against revolutionary France and Napoleon. Pitt, son of William Pitt the Elder, becomes the youngest Prime Minister the United Kingdom has ever known, wins an election on the promise of peace and prosperity, yet ironically ends up as the presiding spirit of an interminable war with Revolutionary France. Both his health and his private life suffer from the strain. The period costumes were by Cecil Beaton and Elizabeth Haffenden.
Similar parallels with the struggle against Hitler's Germany were implied in That Hamilton Woman (aka, Lady Hamilton, 1941), made by Alexander Korda in the United States[2] with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in the leads.
Cast [edit]
- Robert Donat - Pitt
- Jean Cadell - Mrs. Sparry
- Robert Morley - Charles James Fox
- Phyllis Calvert - Eleanor Eden
- Raymond Lovell - George III
- Agnes Lauchlan - Queen Charlotte
- John Mills - William Wilberforce
- Felix Aylmer - Lord North
- Ian McLean - Dundas
- Max Adrian - Richard Brinsley Sheridan
- A. Bromley Davenport - Sir Evan Nepean
- Herbert Lom[3] - Napoleon
- Stephen Haggard - Horatio Nelson
- Albert Lieven - Talleyrand
- Gordon James - minor role
- Ronald Shiner - the Man In Stocks (uncredited)
References [edit]
- ^ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/58942?view=cast
- ^ Patricia Warren British Film Studios: An Illustrated History, London: B.T. Batsford, 2001, p.33, 145
- ^ In his first English-speaking role
External links [edit]
- The Young Mr Pitt at AllRovi
- The Young Mr Pitt at the BFI Film & TV Database
- The Young Mr Pitt at the Internet Movie Database
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
This article related to a British film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This 1940s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- English-language films
- 1942 films
- 1940s drama films
- Black-and-white films
- British biographical films
- British drama films
- British films
- Cultural depictions of British prime ministers
- Films based on novels
- Films directed by Carol Reed
- Films set in the 1770s
- Films set in the 1780s
- Films set in the 1790s
- Films set in the 1800s
- Films set in England
- Films set in London
- French Revolutionary Wars films
- Georgian-era films
- Napoleonic Wars films
- Screenplays by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat
- William Pitt the Younger
- 1940s British film stubs
- 1940s drama film stubs
