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| name = The High Command
| name = The High Command
| image = The_High_Command_(1937_film).jpg
| image = The_High_Command_(1937_film).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption = U.S. poster
| director = [[Thorold Dickinson]]
| director = [[Thorold Dickinson]]
| producer = [[Gordon Wellesley]]
| producer = [[Gordon Wellesley]]
| writer = Walter Meade (dialogue)<br>Katherine Strueby (screenplay)<br>[[Val Valentine]] (dialogue)
| writer = Walter Meade (dialogue)<br>[[Katherine Strueby]] (screenplay)<br>[[Val Valentine]] (dialogue)
| based on = novel ''The General Goes Too Far'' by Lewis Robinson
| based_on = novel ''The General Goes Too Far'' by Lewis Robinson
| narrator =
| narrator =
| starring = See below
| starring = [[Lionel Atwill]]<br> [[Lucie Mannheim]]
| music = [[Ernest Irving]]
| music = [[Ernest Irving]]
| cinematography = [[Otto Heller]]
| cinematography = [[Otto Heller]]
| editing = [[Sidney Cole]]
| editing = [[Sidney Cole]]
| studio = Fanfare Pictures
| studio = Fanfare Pictures
| distributor = [[Associated British Film Distributors]] {{small|(UK)}}
| distributor = [[Associated British Film Distributors]] (UK)
| released = {{Film date|1937|3|22|London}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1937|3|22|London}}
| runtime = 84 minutes
| runtime = 84 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
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}}
}}


'''''The High Command''''' is a 1937 British [[drama film]] directed by [[Thorold Dickinson]] and starring [[Lionel Atwill]], [[Lucie Mannheim]] and [[James Mason]].<ref>http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac45dcf</ref>
'''''The High Command''''' is a 1937 British [[drama film]] directed by [[Thorold Dickinson]] and starring [[Lionel Atwill]], [[Lucie Mannheim]] and [[James Mason]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac45dcf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927233536/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac45dcf|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 September 2016|title=The High Command (1937)}}</ref>

It was shot at [[Ealing Studios]] and [[location filming|on location]] on the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]]. The film's sets were designed by the [[art director]] [[Holmes Paul]]. It is an adaptation of the 1936 novel ''The General Goes Too Far'' by Lewis Robinson.


==Plot==
==Plot==
This is the improbable tale of an English officer who murders a man in [[Ireland]] for chivalrous reasons. Years later, he has risen to the rank of Major-General, and is stationed in [[West Africa]]. There, his old crime is discovered, and he allows himself to be murdered rather than involve his daughter in his own disgrace.<ref name=Greene>Greene, Graham. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cC3w5Cwr7X0C&pg=PA208 The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews & Film Stories]'', p. 208 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994).</ref>
This is the tale of an English officer who murders a man in [[Ireland]] for chivalrous reasons. Years later, he has risen to the rank of Major-General, and is stationed in [[West Africa]]. There, his old crime is discovered, and he allows himself to be murdered rather than involve his daughter in his own disgrace.<ref name=Greene>Greene, Graham. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cC3w5Cwr7X0C&pg=PA208 The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews & Film Stories]'', p. 208 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994).</ref>


==Cast==
==Cast==
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*[[Wally Patch]] as Crawford
*[[Wally Patch]] as Crawford
*Archibald Batty as Capt. Coates (the prosecutor)
*Archibald Batty as Capt. Coates (the prosecutor)
*[[Henry Hewitt]] as Defence counsel
*[[Henry Charles Hewitt (actor)|Henry Hewitt]] as Defence counsel
*[[Drusilla Wills]] as Miss Isabella Hobson Tuff
*[[Drusilla Wills]] as Miss Isabella Hobson Tuff
*Cyril Howe as Julius Caesar (servant)
*Cyril Howe as Julius Caesar (servant)
Line 53: Line 55:


==Reception==
==Reception==
''[[The Sunday Times]]'' wrote of this film: "Its avoidance of reality and its slowness make it a first-class soporific in this sultry weather."<ref name=Greene /> Despite the film's faults, the novelist and author [[Graham Greene]] opined that the directing work by Thorold Dickinson made the film much better than it otherwise would have been.<ref name=Greene />
''[[The Sunday Times]]'' wrote of this film: "Its avoidance of reality and its slowness make it a first-class soporific in this sultry weather."<ref name=Greene /> Despite the film's faults, the novelist and author [[Graham Greene]] opined that the directing work by Thorold Dickinson made the film much better than it otherwise would have been.<ref name=Greene /> Greene also pointed out that Fanfare was a newly emerging British film company that was constrained by its budget, and that it still managed to use "lyric imagination" to produce memorable scenes well designed to portray the degree of "human crisis" especially at the climax when the General's secret is revealed. Greene described the "glib" review from The Sunday Times as "rather shocking" in light of the production's efforts with their financial limitations.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Greene|first= Graham|author-link= Graham Greene|date= 29 July 1937|title= The High Command/On the Avenue/Yiddle with his Fiddle|journal= [[Night and Day (magazine)|Night and Day]]}} (reprinted in: {{cite book |editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell |editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|publisher= Oxford University Press|pages= 156–159|isbn=0192812866}})</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0027741|title=The High Command}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0027741|title=The High Command}}
*[http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac45dcf ''The High Command'' (1937)] at BFI Film Forever
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160927233536/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac45dcf ''The High Command'' (1937)] at BFI Film Forever


{{Thorold Dickinson}}
{{Thorold Dickinson}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:High Command, The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Command, The}}

⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:1930s drama films]]
[[Category:1937 drama films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:1937 films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]
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[[Category:Films set in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Films set in Africa]]
[[Category:Films set in Africa]]
[[Category:Films set in Ireland]]
[[Category:Films set in 1921]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ghana]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ghana]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nigeria]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nigeria]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:1930s British films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ernest Irving]]



{{1930s-drama-film-stub}}
{{1930s-drama-film-stub}}

Latest revision as of 11:20, 12 November 2024

The High Command
U.S. poster
Directed byThorold Dickinson
Written byWalter Meade (dialogue)
Katherine Strueby (screenplay)
Val Valentine (dialogue)
Based onnovel The General Goes Too Far by Lewis Robinson
Produced byGordon Wellesley
StarringLionel Atwill
Lucie Mannheim
CinematographyOtto Heller
Edited bySidney Cole
Music byErnest Irving
Production
company
Fanfare Pictures
Distributed byAssociated British Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 22 March 1937 (1937-03-22) (London)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The High Command is a 1937 British drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Lionel Atwill, Lucie Mannheim and James Mason.[1]

It was shot at Ealing Studios and on location on the Gold Coast. The film's sets were designed by the art director Holmes Paul. It is an adaptation of the 1936 novel The General Goes Too Far by Lewis Robinson.

Plot

[edit]

This is the tale of an English officer who murders a man in Ireland for chivalrous reasons. Years later, he has risen to the rank of Major-General, and is stationed in West Africa. There, his old crime is discovered, and he allows himself to be murdered rather than involve his daughter in his own disgrace.[2]

Cast

[edit]

Reception

[edit]

The Sunday Times wrote of this film: "Its avoidance of reality and its slowness make it a first-class soporific in this sultry weather."[2] Despite the film's faults, the novelist and author Graham Greene opined that the directing work by Thorold Dickinson made the film much better than it otherwise would have been.[2] Greene also pointed out that Fanfare was a newly emerging British film company that was constrained by its budget, and that it still managed to use "lyric imagination" to produce memorable scenes well designed to portray the degree of "human crisis" especially at the climax when the General's secret is revealed. Greene described the "glib" review from The Sunday Times as "rather shocking" in light of the production's efforts with their financial limitations.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The High Command (1937)". Archived from the original on 27 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Greene, Graham. The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews & Film Stories, p. 208 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994).
  3. ^ Greene, Graham (29 July 1937). "The High Command/On the Avenue/Yiddle with his Fiddle". Night and Day. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. pp. 156–159. ISBN 0192812866.)
[edit]


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