The Young Mr Pitt
Encyclopedia
The Young Mr Pitt is a 1942
British
, black-and-white
, biographical film
, directed
by Carol Reed
and starring Robert Donat
, Robert Morley
and John Mills
. It was produced
by Edward Black
, Maurice Ostrer, Twentieth Century Productions Ltd. and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.
. Filmed in wartime, it mirrors his struggle against revolutionary France and Napoleon with Britain's struggle against Hitler's Germany. Similar parallels were drawn between Napoleonic and contemporary history in the film That Hamilton Woman
. The period costumes were by Cecil Beaton
and Elizabeth Haffenden.
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.
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
, directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Carol Reed
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed was an English film director best known for Odd Man Out , The Fallen Idol , The Third Man and Oliver!...
and starring Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
, Robert Morley
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
and John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
. It was produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
by Edward Black
Edward Black
Edward Black may refer to:*Edward Black , Canadian minister and teacher*Edward Black , English film producer*Edward Junius Black, American politician, U.S. Representative for Georgia...
, Maurice Ostrer, Twentieth Century Productions Ltd. and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.
Synopsis
The film was a biopic of William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
. Filmed in wartime, it mirrors his struggle against revolutionary France and Napoleon with Britain's struggle against Hitler's Germany. Similar parallels were drawn between Napoleonic and contemporary history in the film That Hamilton Woman
That Hamilton Woman
That Hamilton Woman, originally titled Lady Hamilton, is a 1941 black-and-white British historical film drama which takes place during the Napoleonic wars, produced and directed by Alexander Korda for Alexander Korda Films.-Production:...
. The period costumes were by Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...
and Elizabeth Haffenden.
Cast
- Robert DonatRobert DonatRobert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
- Pitt - Jean CadellJean CadellJean Cadell was a Scottish character actress.Born in Edinburgh, she performed in the cinema and on the stage. One of her best known cinema roles was in the Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore! . She once performed opposite W.C. Fields in Hollywood, cast as Mrs...
- Mrs. Sparry - Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
- Charles James FoxCharles James FoxCharles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger... - 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....
- Eleanor EdenEleanor EdenLady Eleanor Eden was the attractive daughter of Lord Auckland, best known for at one time being rumoured to be engaged to William Pitt the Younger.... - Raymond LovellRaymond LovellRaymond Lovell was a Canadian-born film actor who performed in British produced films. He mainly played supporting roles, and was often seen as slightly pompous characters...
- George III - Agnes LauchlanAgnes LauchlanAgnes Lauchlan was a British film and television actress.Agnes Mary Lauchlan, was born on the 10th of February 1905 in Putney, London. the daughter of Henry D. Lauchlan, a surgeon and his Scottish-born wife Minnie. She married William Connelly in Surrey in 1948...
- Queen Charlotte - John MillsJohn MillsSir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
- William WilberforceWilliam WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire... - Felix AylmerFelix AylmerSir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television.-Early life and career:...
- Lord North - Ian McLean - DundasCharles Dundas, 1st Baron AmesburyCharles Dundas, 1st Baron Amesbury was a British politician.-Background and education:Charles was a younger son of Thomas Dundas of Fingask, MP for Orkney and Shetland and a commissioner of police in Scotland , who died on 10 April 1786...
- Max AdrianMax AdrianMax Adrian was a Northern Irish stage, film and television actor and singer. He was a founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre....
- Richard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester... - A. Bromley Davenport - Sir Evan NepeanEvan NepeanSir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC was a British politician and colonial administrator.-Early career:...
- Herbert LomHerbert LomHerbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
- Napoleon - Stephen HaggardStephen Haggard- Early life :Haggard was born on March 21, 1911, in Guatemala City, Guatemala and was the son of Sir Godfrey Haggard, a British diplomat and his wife Georgianna Ruel Haggard. He was the grandnephew of H. Rider Haggard, whose sister Virginia Haggard was the companion of the painter Marc Chagall,...
- Horatio Nelson - Albert LievenAlbert LievenAlbert Lieven was a German actor. He was born Albert Fritz Liévin in Hohenstein, East Prussia. He died in London, England. He was married four times, including to the actresses Susan Shaw and Valerie White....
- Talleyrand - Gordon JamesGordon JamesGordon James was a British actor who appeared in some twenty films between 1929 and 1942.Born in Manchester on 22 July 1878 as Sydney Lynn, he made his first screen appearance in the 1929 film Atlantic. He was the brother of Ralph Lynn who enjoyed enormous success as a comedy actor in the 1930s...
- minor role - Ronald ShinerRonald ShinerRonald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedic actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.-Career:...
- the Man In Stocks (uncredited)
Synopsis
William Pitt the Younger, son of a famous politician father, becomes the youngest Prime Minister the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. Both his health and his private life suffer from the strain.