American Friends (1991)

American Friends (1991) (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
English ( Subtitles )

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

Running Time:
90 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1991 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Tristram Powell

Written By:
Michael Palin
Tristram Powell

Actors:
Bryan Pringle ..... Haskell
Fred Pearson ..... Hapgood
Michael Palin ..... Rev. Francis Ashby
Alfred Molina ..... Oliver Syme
Susan Denaker ..... Mrs. Cantrell
Jonathan Firth ..... Cable
Ian Dunn ..... Gowers
Robert Eddison ..... William Granger Rushden--College President
David Calder ..... Pollitt
Simon Jones ..... Anderson
Charles McKeown ..... Maynard
Roger Lloyd-Pack ..... Dr. Butler
John Nettleton ..... Rev. Groves
Trini Alvarado ..... Elinor Hartley
Connie Booth ..... Caroline Hartley

Synopsis:

Francis Ashby (Michael Palin) is a sternly conventional Oxford don on a reading holiday in the Swiss Alps. Staying in the same hotel are two friendly American women, Caroline (Connie Booth) and her spirited young ward, Elinor (Trini Alvarado). Little does Ashby, the confirmed bachelor, realise that his romantic education is about to begin. Holiday ended he has settled safely back in the all-male world of his Oxford college when, one day, he is panicked to see two familiar figures, Caroline and Elinor, strolling across the quadrangle. Women are very definitely forbidden entry to this male preserve. Inspired by his own great grandfather's story Michael Palin and Tristram Powell have written a comedy of love set against the strict conventions and rules of the time. Ashby wrestles with unfamiliar emotions and the ladies wonder which of his American friends will win him.

Monty Python's Michael Palin plays an Oxford don with acute female trouble in American Friends. While on holiday in the Swiss Alps, Palin crosses the path of American tourist Connie Booth and her adopted daughter Trini Alvarado. Both women express an inordinate desire for the bookish Palin, leading to profound changes in the lives of all concerned. Michael Palin insists that the plot of American Friends was drawn from an actual incident in the life of his own great-grandfather. The film unfolds like a good novel; slow on the uptake, but fascinating once it gets going.

Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford don on holiday alone in the Alps, meets holidaying American Caroline and her companion Elinor, the blossoming Irish-American girl she adopted many years before. Ashby finds he enjoys their company, particularly that of Elinor, and both the women are drawn to him. Back at Oxford he is nevertheless taken aback when they arrive unannounced. Women are not allowed in the College grounds, let alone the rooms. Indeed any liaison, however innocent, is frowned on by the upstanding Fellows.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 03 March, 2013.