Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alan Hackney
Hugh Whitemore
1928 novel
by Evelyn Waugh
| Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Krish |
| Written by | Ivan Foxwell Alan Hackney Hugh Whitemore |
| Based on | Decline and Fall 1928 novel by Evelyn Waugh |
| Produced by | Ivan Foxwell |
| Starring | Robin Phillips Donald Wolfit Geneviève Page Felix Aylmer Colin Blakely |
| Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
| Edited by | Archie Ludski |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
Production company | Ivan Foxwell Productions |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,970,000 |
Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher (also known as Decline and Fall) is a 1968 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page and Donald Wolfit.[1][2] It was adapted by Ivan Foxwell, Alan Hackney and Hugh Whitemore from the 1928 novel Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.
It was the final film role for Wolfit.
Paul Pennyfeather is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself sent down after a group of drunken undergraduates remove his trousers and he is accused of exposing himself.
Forced to look for work, he seeks the services of an employment agency who secure for him a position at a sleazy Welsh boys' boarding school, presided over by the colourful Dr. Fagan.
The school's staff are an assortment of eccentric characters: Mr Prendergast, a withdrawn former clergyman; Captain Grimes, a one-legged philanderer with his eye on Fagan's daughter; and Solomon Philbrick, an undercover criminal posing as Fagan's butler. Paul, who tutors Peter Beste-Chetwynde, is enchanted at the school’s annual sports by the boy’s rich mother. Peter thinks Paul her perfect husband so invites him to vacation at their country home. The two are taken with each other but on the day of their wedding, Paul lands in prison for his inadvertent role in her tawdry business deals. There he runs across everyone from his school days, only to be sprung and sent back into the world by the powerful husband she’s married in his absence.
Cast
- Robin Phillips as Paul Pennyfeather
- Donald Wolfit as Doctor Augustus Fagan
- Geneviève Page as Margot Beste-Chetwynde
- Colin Blakely as Solomon Philbrick
- Felix Aylmer as Judge
- Robert Harris as Prendergast
- Leo McKern as Captain Grimes
- Patrick Magee as lunatic prisoner
- Donald Sinden as prison governor
- Griffith Jones as Sir Humphrey Maltravers
- Paul Rogers as Chief Warder
- Rodney Bewes as Arthur Potts
- Patience Collier as Flossie Fagan
- Kenneth Griffith as Mr Church
- Joan Sterndale-Bennett as Lady Circumference
- David McAlister as Peter Beste-Chetwynde
- Michael Elwyn as Alastair Digby-Vane-Trumpington
- Victor Maddern as 1st warder
- Kenneth J. Warren as 2nd warder
- Duncan Lamont as Police Inspector
- Michael Newport as Lord Tangent
- Rodney Bewes as Potts
- Roland Curram as Otto Silenus
- Jack Watson as gallery warder
- Helen Christie as Mrs. Clutterbuck
- Jonathan Collins as Clutterbuck
- Clifton Jones as Chokey
- Michael Nightingale as Colonel Clutterbuck
Production
The film was made with a budget of $1,970,000.[3]