Caste (1930 film)
Caste | |
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Directed by | Campbell Gullan |
Screenplay by | Michael Powell |
Based on | the play Caste by T.W. Robertson |
Produced by | Jerome Jackson |
Starring | Hermione Baddeley Nora Swinburne Alan Napier |
Production company | Harry Rowson Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Caste is a 1930 British drama film directed by Campbell Gullan and starring Hermione Baddeley, Nora Swinburne and Alan Napier. It was made at Walton Studios.[1] Michael Powell worked on the screenplay and (uncredited) was involved with the technical side of direction.[2]
Cast
[edit]- Hermione Baddeley as Polly Eccles
- Nora Swinburne as Esther Eccles
- Alan Napier as Capt. Hawtree
- Sebastian Shaw as Hon. George d'Alroy
- Ben Field as Albert Eccles
- Edward Chapman as Sam Gerridge
- Mabel Terry-Lewis as Marquise
- Percival Coyte
Critical reception
[edit]Film historian Geoff Brown writes, "most of the film’s enlivening spice comes from the jolting surprises of tone and manner as Gullan’s cast and Powell’s visuals glide or lurch through a scenario pleasingly punctured with camera trackings, lively spots of audiovisual montage and dramatically piquant closeups. (Watch for the carefully judged shots of hands delivering and receiving a crucial telegram regarding D’Alroy’s fate.)...the film is not a fossil; it is a lively embryo, and the first important step towards Powell’s future."[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Wood p.69
- ^ "Michael Powell Discovery: Caste (35mm)". The Cinema Museum. September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ ""Where did you get this old fossil?": Michael Powell's first film Caste rediscovered - Sight & Sound". 20 October 2017.
Bibliography
[edit]- Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
- Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.
External links
[edit]- Caste at IMDb
- “Where did you get this old fossil?”: Michael Powell’s first film rediscovered: Sight & Sound website article by Geoff Brown