FairyTale: A True Story
Encyclopedia
FairyTale: A True Story is a 1997 film from Paramount Pictures
, loosely based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies
.
and photography
, and in anomalous phenomena of all kinds. At the time, many people believed that such phenomena could be investigated dispassionately and tested with the standard scientific (empirical
) method.
The film follows several people with their particular beliefs. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wants to see more evidence, while his friend Harry Houdini
believes that it is all trickery and fraud. In Yorkshire, Polly Wright is in deep mourning for her son Joseph, a gifted artist who died at the age of ten. Her husband Arthur is devoted to her and to twelve-year-old daughter Elsie, and worries about her future; soon, she will have to quit school and go to work in the local factory. Elsie keeps Joseph's scrapbooks, model furniture, homemade costumes and fantastic fairy-houses. Cousin Frances, recently arrived from abroad, believes her father, missing in action in World War I
, will return.
As Polly attends meetings of the Theosophical Society
to find out what they have to say about the next life, the little girls play at a nearby brook, where they occasionally see actual fairies. Subsequently, they borrow Arthur's camera and produce two photographs of themselves which apparently include fairies. These were meant only as gifts to Polly, but she immediately takes them to Theosophist lecturer E.L. Gardner, who has them analyzed by a professional. The photos are pronounced genuine, or at least devoid of tricks. That young children could be capable of photographic fraud is viewed by all the adults as extremely unlikely, and Conan-Doyle himself arrives at the girls' home with Houdini, Gardner and two new cameras. Abetted by the buffoonish Gardner, Elsie and Frances soon come up with two more photos and Conan-Doyle has the story published in The Strand. By way of apology to the fairies, the girls finish Joseph's last fairy-house and leave it in the forest as a gift.
The publicity soon attracts unwanted attention; hundreds of people invade the village, crowding it with automobiles and reporters. The fairy-house is dismantled, and the fairies leave the area. In London, the girls are welcomed as celebrities, and have a second meeting with Houdini, who tells Elsie that he never reveals how he does his stage tricks and that "people don't really want to know". The film concludes with the return of the fairies, and of Frances' father.
, the creator of the fictional Sherlock Holmes
, was a convinced believer in spiritualism, had been commissioned by the Strand Magazine
to write an article on fairies for their Christmas issue 1920. When he was preparing this article he first heard of the Cottingley Fairies
.
Conan Doyle also wrote an extensive book and analysis of the phenomena published in 1922 and titled The Coming of the Fairies
, which he claimed to be his only non-fiction book. The book contains numerous photographs and extensive, ostensibly objective, discussion of the issues.
Conan Doyle
was a true believer, whereas the magician Harry Houdini
, publicly exposed fraudulent mediums, and did not believe in spiritualistic powers. Nonetheless the two maintained a friendship for several years, and exchanged several letters about supernatural phenomena.
.
The film grossed a little over $14 million in the U.S.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, loosely based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies
Cottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
.
Plot
Early 20th Century England was a time and place ripe for believing, both in scientific advancements such as electric lightElectric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, and in anomalous phenomena of all kinds. At the time, many people believed that such phenomena could be investigated dispassionately and tested with the standard scientific (empirical
Empirical
The word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....
) method.
The film follows several people with their particular beliefs. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wants to see more evidence, while his friend Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
believes that it is all trickery and fraud. In Yorkshire, Polly Wright is in deep mourning for her son Joseph, a gifted artist who died at the age of ten. Her husband Arthur is devoted to her and to twelve-year-old daughter Elsie, and worries about her future; soon, she will have to quit school and go to work in the local factory. Elsie keeps Joseph's scrapbooks, model furniture, homemade costumes and fantastic fairy-houses. Cousin Frances, recently arrived from abroad, believes her father, missing in action in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, will return.
As Polly attends meetings of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
to find out what they have to say about the next life, the little girls play at a nearby brook, where they occasionally see actual fairies. Subsequently, they borrow Arthur's camera and produce two photographs of themselves which apparently include fairies. These were meant only as gifts to Polly, but she immediately takes them to Theosophist lecturer E.L. Gardner, who has them analyzed by a professional. The photos are pronounced genuine, or at least devoid of tricks. That young children could be capable of photographic fraud is viewed by all the adults as extremely unlikely, and Conan-Doyle himself arrives at the girls' home with Houdini, Gardner and two new cameras. Abetted by the buffoonish Gardner, Elsie and Frances soon come up with two more photos and Conan-Doyle has the story published in The Strand. By way of apology to the fairies, the girls finish Joseph's last fairy-house and leave it in the forest as a gift.
The publicity soon attracts unwanted attention; hundreds of people invade the village, crowding it with automobiles and reporters. The fairy-house is dismantled, and the fairies leave the area. In London, the girls are welcomed as celebrities, and have a second meeting with Houdini, who tells Elsie that he never reveals how he does his stage tricks and that "people don't really want to know". The film concludes with the return of the fairies, and of Frances' father.
Cast
- Peter O'ToolePeter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
as Sir Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger... - Florence HoathFlorence HoathFlorence Angela L. Hoath is a British actress best known for her 2005 appearances as Nancy in Doctor Who.The daughter of British actress Tina Martin, Hoath made her film debut in the 1993 screen adaptation of Secret Rapture at the age of eight...
as Elsie Wright - Elizabeth Earl as Frances Griffiths
- Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
as Harry HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts... - Paul McGannPaul McGannPaul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
as Arthur Wright - Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
as Edward Gardner - Phoebe NichollsPhoebe NichollsPhoebe Nicholls is an English film, television, and stage actor. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man....
as Polly Wright - Anna ChancellorAnna Chancellor-Family:Chancellor was born in Richmond, London, England, the daughter of the Hon. Mary Alice Jolliffe and John Paget Chancellor. Through her mother's mother, Lady Perdita Rose Mary Asquith, Chancellor is the great-granddaughter of The Hon. Raymond Aquith and the great-great-granddaughter of Prime...
as Peter Pan - Mel GibsonMel GibsonMel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
in an uncredited Cameo appearanceCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as Frances' father.
Background
Sir Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, the creator of the fictional Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, was a convinced believer in spiritualism, had been commissioned by the Strand Magazine
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
to write an article on fairies for their Christmas issue 1920. When he was preparing this article he first heard of the Cottingley Fairies
Cottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
.
Conan Doyle also wrote an extensive book and analysis of the phenomena published in 1922 and titled The Coming of the Fairies
Cottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
, which he claimed to be his only non-fiction book. The book contains numerous photographs and extensive, ostensibly objective, discussion of the issues.
Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
was a true believer, whereas the magician Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
, publicly exposed fraudulent mediums, and did not believe in spiritualistic powers. Nonetheless the two maintained a friendship for several years, and exchanged several letters about supernatural phenomena.
Production
Much of it was shot on location in the Cottingley area. The cinematography is by Michael Coulter the art direction is by Sam RileySam Riley
Sam Riley is an English actor and singer.-Early life:Riley was born in Menston in the Metropolitan District of Bradford in West Yorkshire, the son of "a textile agent and nursery-school teacher". He was educated at Uppingham School...
.
The film grossed a little over $14 million in the U.S.
See also
- Cottingley FairiesCottingley FairiesThe Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
- Photographing FairiesPhotographing FairiesPhotographing Fairies is 1997 fantasy film based on Steve Szilagyi's 1992 novel Photographing Fairies.- Themes :This film explores some of the themes of folk religion such as: possession, paganism, animism, hallucinogens, parapsychology and fairy...
, another 1997 film also inspired by the Cottingley FairiesCottingley FairiesThe Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
.