Fanny by Gaslight (film)
Encyclopedia
Fanny by Gaslight was a 1944
British
drama film
, produced by Gainsborough Pictures
, set in the 1870s and adapted from a novel
by Michael Sadleir
(also adapted as a 1981 mini-series). It was one of its famous period-set "Gainsborough melodramas
". Its US release was delayed for its breaking the Hays Purity Code, and 17 minutes were removed for this release.
) finishes at boarding school in 1880 and returns to London, where she witnesses Lord Manderstoke (James Mason
) fight and kill her supposed father. She soon learns that her family has run a brothel next door to her home and (on her mother's death) that he was not her real father. She goes to meet her real father - a respected politician - and falls in love with Harry Somerford (Stewart Granger
), his advisor. Manderstoke continues to thwart her happiness.
.
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, produced by Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
, set in the 1870s and adapted from a novel
Fanny by Gaslight (novel)
Fanny by Gaslight is the best known novel of Michael Sadleir. Written in 1940 and filmed in 1944, it is a fictional exploration of prostitution in Victorian London. In 1981 it was turned into a four-part BBC television series Fanny by Gaslight with Chloe Salaman in the title role....
by Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir was a British novelist and book collector.-Biography:He was born Michael Sadler, though upon beginning to publish novels he altered the spelling of his name to differentiate himself from his father, Michael Ernest Sadler, a historian and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds...
(also adapted as a 1981 mini-series). It was one of its famous period-set "Gainsborough melodramas
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
". Its US release was delayed for its breaking the Hays Purity Code, and 17 minutes were removed for this release.
Cast
- Phyllis CalvertPhyllis CalvertPhyllis Calvert was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s....
as Fanny Hooper - James MasonJames MasonJames Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
as Lord Manderstoke - Wilfrid LawsonWilfrid Lawson (actor)Wilfrid Lawson was a British character actor of stage and screen.-Life and career:...
as Chunks - Stewart GrangerStewart GrangerStewart Granger was an English-American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.-Early life:He was born James Lablache Stewart in Old...
as Harry Somerford - Jean KentJean KentJean Kent is a British film actress who appeared in a number of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s.-Biography:Jean Kent was born in Brixton, London as Joan Mildred Summerfield. She started her theatrical career as a dancer in 1931. Initially, she used the stage name of Jean Carr when she...
as Lucy Beckett - Margaretta ScottMargaretta ScottMargaretta Scott was an English stage, screen and television actress whose career spanned over seventy years. She is best remembered for playing the eccentric widow Mrs...
as Alicia - Nora SwinburneNora SwinburneNora Swinburne was a British actress, born Leonora Mary Johnson in Bath, Somerset, daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar ....
as Mrs. Hopwood - Cathleen NesbittCathleen NesbittCathleen Mary Nesbitt, CBE was an English stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in Cheshire, England in 1888, of Welsh and Irish descent, Nesbitt was educated in Lisieux, France, and at the Queen's University of Belfast and the Sorbonne...
as Kate Somerford - Helen HayeHelen HayeHelen Haye was a British stage and film actress.She began acting on the stage in 1898 and debuted in London in 1911 as Gertrude in Hamlet. Her film career began in 1917. She often worked with director Alexander Korda...
as Mrs. Somerford - John LaurieJohn LaurieJohn Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...
as William Hopwood - Stuart LindsellStuart Lindsell-Selected filmography:* The Young Mr. Pitt * Uncensored * The Man in Grey * Fanny by Gaslight * Night Boat to Dublin * Passport to Pimlico * Once a Jolly Swagman...
as Clive Seymour - Amy VenessAmy VenessAmy Veness was a British film actress. She played the role of Grandma Huggett in The Huggetts Trilogy.-Selected filmography:* Please Help Emily * Let Me Explain, Dear * A Southern Maid...
as Mrs. Heaviside - Ann Wilton as Carver
- Guy Le Feuvre as Doctor Lowenthal
- Esma CannonEsma CannonEsma Ellen Charlotte Cannon was a diminutive Australian-born character actress, who moved to England in the early 1930s.-Career:...
as Gossping maid - Ann StephensAnn StephensAnn Stephens was a British actress, popular in the 1950s. She was born in London. In July 1941 she recorded several songs including a setting of one of AA Milne's verses about Christopher Robin: "Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace" which often featured on the BBC Light Programme's Children's...
as Fanny as a child - Gloria Sydney as Lucy as a child
- John TurnbullJohn Turnbull (actor)-Selected filmography:* The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss * The Wickham Mystery * Rodney Steps In * The Midshipmaid * The Medicine Man * The Man Outside * The Iron Stair...
as Magistrate - Cyril SmithCyril Smith (actor)Cyril Bruce Smith was a Scottish actor who began his career as a child in the 1900s and went on to appear in over 100 films between 1914 and his death almost 50 years later.-Career:...
as Publican - Helen GossHelen Goss-Selected filmography:* Important People * The Reverse Be My Lot * Fanny by Gaslight * A Place of One's Own * They Were Sisters * The Wicked Lady * Pink String and Sealing Wax...
as Polly - Johnnie SchofieldJohnnie Schofield-Selected filmography:* Lassie from Lancashire * Sheepdog of the Hills * Bob's Your Uncle * Up with the Lark * English Without Tears * The Echo Murders * The Shop at Sly Corner...
as Joe - Vi KaleyVi Kaley-Selected filmography:* Lloyd of the C.I.D. * Love on the Dole * Fanny by Gaslight * The Fool and the Princess * Woman Hater * My Brother Jonathan * The Mudlark -External links:...
as Joe's wife - Peter JonesPeter Jones (actor)Peter Jones was an English actor, screenwriter and broadcaster.-Early life and career:Jones was born in Wem, Shropshire and he was educated at the Wem Grammar School and Ellesmere College. He made his first appearance as an actor in Wolverhampton at the age of 16 and then appeared in repertory...
as New client at The Shades
Plot
Fanny (Phyllis CalvertPhyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s....
) finishes at boarding school in 1880 and returns to London, where she witnesses Lord Manderstoke (James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
) fight and kill her supposed father. She soon learns that her family has run a brothel next door to her home and (on her mother's death) that he was not her real father. She goes to meet her real father - a respected politician - and falls in love with Harry Somerford (Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger was an English-American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.-Early life:He was born James Lablache Stewart in Old...
), his advisor. Manderstoke continues to thwart her happiness.
Reception
It was the second most popular film in Britain during 1944 after This Happy BreedThis Happy Breed (film)
This Happy Breed is a 1944 British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward...
.