Elizabeth of Ladymead | |
---|---|
Directed by | Herbert Wilcox |
Produced by | Herbert Wilcox J.D. Wilcox |
Written by |
Frank Harvey (play) Nicholas Phipps (writer/screenplay) |
Starring |
Anna Neagle Hugh Williams |
Music by | Robert Farnon |
Cinematography | Mutz Greenbaum |
Edited by | Frank Clarke |
Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation |
Release date
|
London: 22 December 1948 |
Country | UK |
Language | English |
Box office | £154,864 (UK) |
Elizabeth of Ladymead is a 1948 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Hugh Williams, Isabel Jeans and Bernard Lee. It charts the life of a British family between 1854 and 1945 and their involvement in four wars - the Crimean War, Boer War, First World War and Second World War.
The drama was remade by the BBC as a TV production in 1949, with Patricia Burke as Elizabeth, John Robinson as John Beresford and Cathleen Nesbitt as Mother.
Four generations of women (all played by Anna Neagle in the film) have lived in Ladymead, a Georgian Mansion, while their husbands are away at war. From the Crimean War to World War II, in each case the husband returns home to find his wife more independently minded.
TV Guide wrote, "the stories are interesting at first, but by war No. 4 the film becomes pretty dull. Nice to look at, with lavish settings"; while Leonard Maltin found Anna Neagle "charming as English lady-of-the- manor with mind of her own," and described the film as a "star vehicle, unsuccessful when released, quite intriguing today for its depiction of woman's role in English society"; and Allmovie wrote, "Whenever the film becomes too repetitious, Elizabeth of Ladymead scores on the charm of Anna Neagle and her attractive deportment while wearing period costumes."