W. Somerset Maugham Collection - 3-DVD Set ( Trio / Quartet / Encore )

W. Somerset Maugham Collection - 3-DVD Set (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Trio / Quartet / Encore
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Cannes Film Festival
Oscar Academy Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
289 min + extras

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
3-DVD Set
Alternative Footage
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1948 - 195 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Ken Annakin
Harold French
Arthur Crabtree
Pat Jackson

Written By:
Noel Langley
W. Somerset Maugham
R.C. Sherriff
Eric Ambler
T.E.B. Clarke

Actors:
James Hayter ..... Albert Foreman (in segment The Verger)
Kathleen Harrison ..... Emma Foreman (in segment The Verger)
Felix Aylmer ..... Bank Manager (in segment The Verger)
Lana Morris ..... Gladys (in segment The Verger)
Michael Hordern ..... Vicar (in segment The Verger)
Glyn Houston ..... (segment "The Verger")
Eliot Makeham ..... Sexton (in segment The Verger)
Henry Edwards ..... Church Warden (in segment The Verger)
Anne Crawford ..... Mrs. Ramsey (in segment Mr. Know-All)
Nigel Patrick ..... Kelada (in segment Mr. Know-All)
Naunton Wayne ..... Mr. Ramsey (in segment Mr. Know-All)
Wilfrid Hyde-White ..... Mr. Gray (in segment Mr. Know-All)
Clive Morton ..... Ship's Captain (in segment Mr. Know-All)
Bill Travers ..... Fellowes (in segment Mr. Know-All) (as Bill Linden-Travers)
Dennis Harkin ..... Captain's steward (in segment Mr. Know-All)
W. Somerset Maugham ..... Himself - Host
Basil Radford ..... Henry Garnet (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Naunton Wayne ..... Leslie (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Ian Fleming ..... Ralph (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Jack Raine ..... Thomas (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Angela Baddeley ..... Mrs. Garnet (segment 'The Facts of Life')
James Robertson Justice ..... Branksome (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Jack Watling ..... Nicky (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Nigel Buchanan ..... John (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Mai Zetterling ..... Jeanne (segment 'The Facts of Life')
Dirk Bogarde ..... George Bland (segment 'The Alien Corn')
Raymond Lovell ..... Sir Frederick Bland (segment 'The Alien Corn')
Irene Browne ..... Lady Bland (segment 'The Alien Corn')
Honor Blackman ..... Paula (segment 'The Alien Corn')
George Thorpe ..... Uncle John (segment 'The Alien Corn')
Nigel Patrick ..... Tom Ramsay (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Roland Culver ..... George Ramsay (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Alison Leggatt ..... Freda Ramsay (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Charles Victor ..... Mr. Bateman (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Peter Graves ..... Philip Cronshaw (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Margaret Withers ..... Mrs. Bateman (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Margaret Vyner ..... Gertrude Wilmot (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Dorothy Bramhall ..... Secretary (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Patricia Raine ..... Office Girl (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Campbell Cotts ..... Club Member (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Michael Trubshawe ..... Ascot Man (segment "The Ant and the Grasshopper")
Kay Walsh ..... Miss Molly Reid (segment "Winter Cruise")
Noel Purcell ..... Tom, Captain (segment "Winter Cruise")
Ronald Squire ..... Doctor (segment "Winter Cruise")
John Laurie ..... Andrews, Engineer (segment "Winter Cruise")

Synopsis:

A collection of films based on the short stories of W. Somerset Maugham.
'Trio' (1950) is a collection of three vignettes adapted from short stories written by W. Somerset Maugham and introduced on screen by the writer himself. 'The Verger' follows the fortunes of Albert Foreman (James Hayter) a man of the cloth at St Neville's whose position is terminated when it emerges that he is illiterate. Forced to change his life, he rejects reading and writing lessons and instead opens a tobacconist shop. He then becomes something of an unlikely business tycoon. In 'Mister Know All' we are introduced to Max Kelada (Nigel Patrick) - the type of big-mouth everyone loves to hate. A jeweller by trade, he goes on a cruise - where his inability to keep quiet leads him into an awkward situation. When he identifies the necklace of a fellow passenger's wife as authentic, he almost reveals a secret affair. His ability to finally keep his mouth shut earns him a newfound respect. 'Sanitorium' is set in a TB ward in the Scottish countryside. New patient Ashenden (Roland Culver) checks in and begins immediately to observe the lives of the other patients. A touching romance between resident patients Major Templeton (Michael Rennie) captivates his imagination while the incessant bickering between elderly residents McLeod (Finlay Currie) and Campbell (John Laurie) provides comic relief.

'Encore' (1951) is an adaptation of three more of Maugham's short stories. 'The Ant and the Grasshopper' concerns the trials and tribulations through which a ne'er-do-well brother, Tom Ramsey (Nigel Patrick), puts his prim-and-proper businessman brother, George Ramsey (Roland Culver). The escapades that drive George to absolute distraction eventually win the hand of the world's third richest girl (Margaret Withers) for the shiftless Tom. 'Winter Cruise' finds the crew of a cargo boat becoming unglued by the endless chatter of a spinster passenger named Miss Reid (Kay Walsh.) In a desperate attempt to silence the prattling busybody, the ship's officers browbeat a French steward, Pierre (Jacques Francois) into making love to her. The results provide some astounding surprises for the officers, Pierre, and certainly for Miss Reid. In 'The Gigolo and the Gigolette', beautiful daredevil Stella Cotman (Glynis Johns) - whose job it is to entertain the jaded guests of a resort hotel by diving nightly from an eighty-foot platform into a flaming tank - is losing her nerve.

Finally, in 'Quartet' (1948), four more film versions of Maugham's stories are brought together and introduced by the man himself. 'The Facts of Life' features a young tennis player who escapes from his domineering partner and absconds to Monaco. 'The Alien Corn' features Dirk Bogarde playing a man with the ambition to be a top pianist, but he is rejected by music scholars. 'The Kite' stars George Cole as a man with an obsession for kites and little time for his wife. 'The Colonel's Lady' revolves around a stuffy colonel's search for the man his wife has been writing passionate poems about.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 25 November, 2009.

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