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Climbing High

1938 British film by Carol Reed


Summary

1938 British film by Carol Reed

FieldValue
nameClimbing High
imageClimbing High 1938 film.jpeg
captionDvd cover
directorCarol Reed
producerMichael Balcon
writerLesser Samuels
based_onan original story by Lesser Samuels
Marion Dix
starring
musicLouis Levy
cinematographyMutz Greenbaum
editingAl Barnes
Michael Gordon
studioGaumont British Picture Corporation
distributor
released
runtime78 minutes
countryUnited Kingdom
languageEnglish
budget£94,018

Marion Dix Michael Gordon

Climbing High is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and produced by Michael Balcon with a screenplay by Sonnie Hale, Marion Dix and Lesser Samuels. It stars Jessie Matthews, Michael Redgrave, Noel Madison, Margaret Vyner and Alistair Sim, and was first released in the U.K. in November 1938.

Plot

Nicky Brooke is a wealthy young man who despite his engagement to the aristocratic (and broke) Lady Constance Westaker falls for hard-up model Diana Castles after nearly running her over with his car. In an effort to distance himself from 'tabloid' created tales of his playboy lifestyle, he changes his name and attempts to woo Diana by pretending to be poor.

Cast

  • Jessie Matthews as Diana Castles
  • Michael Redgrave as Nicky Brooke
  • Noel Madison as Gibson
  • Alastair Sim as Max
  • Margaret Vyner as Lady Constance Westaker
  • Mary Clare as Lady Emily Westaker
  • Francis L. Sullivan as Madman
  • Enid Stamp-Taylor as Winnie
  • Torin Thatcher as Jim Castle
  • Tucker McGuire as Patsey
  • Basil Radford as Reggie Baird
  • Athole Stewart as Uncle
  • Kathleen Byron as model
  • Terry-Thomas as voice of cow
  • Leslie Phillips as a child actor.

Production

Climbing High was filmed at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire by Gaumont British Picture Corporation.

Reception

Writing for Allmovie, Bruce Eder considered Climbing High to be one of Jessie Matthews' best vehicles which he noted was "a surprising result considering it is devoid of the musical numbers that one would have expected from one of England's top dancing and singing talents of the period. What it has is a brilliantly piercing witty script ... superbly engaging acting performances by all concerned and superb pacing." Eder further noted that "Carol Reed was only 3 years into his career ... and was already one of the top comedy directors in England." He concluded that Climbing High was "one of the most entertaining British comedies of the period with some piercing topical humour (especially about the advertising business and political activism) that still holds today."

References

References

  1. Chapman, Llewella. "‘The highest salary ever paid to a human being’: Creating a Database of Film Costs from the Bank of England". Edinburgh University Press.
  2. "Climbing High (1938) – Carol Reed – Cast and Crew – AllMovie".
  3. (1 December 1938). "Climbing High". IMDb.
  4. "Climbing High (1939) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk.
  5. Reed, Carol. (1938-12-01). "Climbing High".
  6. Halliwell, Leslie. (1987). "Halliwell's Film Guide". Grafton Books.
  7. "Climbing High (1938) – Carol Reed {{!}} Review {{!}} AllMovie".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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