Kipps (1941 film)
| Kipps | |
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| Directed by | Carol Reed |
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Written by |
H. G. Wells (novel) Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder (uncredited) |
| Starring |
Michael Redgrave Diana Wynyard Phyllis Calvert |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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111 minutes (UK) 82 minutes (USA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Kipps, also known as The Remarkable Mr. Kipps, is a British 1941 comedy-drama film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Carol Reed. Michael Redgrave stars as a draper's assistant who inherits a large fortune.
The day before the fourteen-year-old Arthur "Artie" Kipps leaves to begin a seven-year apprenticeship in a draper's shop, he asks his friend's sister, Ann Pornick, to be his girl. She gladly agrees.
Kipps goes to work for Mr. Shalford (Lloyd Pearson). Years pass and Kipps grows up into an unremarkable young man. One day, he attends a free lecture on self-improvement presented by Chester Coote (Max Adrian) and decides to take a course. Coote, disdaining Kipps' lower class origins, steers the young man away from the literature class he wants to take to a woodworking class taught by Helen Walshingham (Diana Wynyard), a member of the local gentry. Kipps is soon smitten with his lovely teacher, but she is mindful of his social inferiority and ignores him.
One night, actor and playwright Chitterlow (Arthur Riscoe), riding a bicycle, collides with Kipps and tears his trousers. He takes Kipps back to his lodgings to repair his clothes. They get drunk together, while Chitterlow tells Kipps about his latest play, a comedy involving a beetle. By coincidence, one of Chitterlow's characters is also called Kipps, a name the writer got from a newspaper advertisement.
When Kipps shows up for work late, he is sacked for breaking one of Mr. Shalford's strict rules of conduct. Then, Chitterlow tells Kipps that the advertisement was about him. It turns out Kipps has inherited a large house and a fortune (£26,000) from a grandfather he had never met.
Chitterlow talks Kipps into investing £300 in his new play for a half share. At the bank, they run into Mr. Coote. Coote suggests Kipps employ new solicitor Ronnie Walshingham (Michael Wilding) to look after his fortune. When Kipps finds out the man is Helen's brother, he becomes interested.
Soon, Coote and the Walshinghams have maneuvered the naive Kipps into an engagement with Helen (though no encouragement is required), but he cannot handle her attempts at his self-improvement. Then, Kipps meets Ann, now a parlour maid, on her day off. His feelings for her resurface and he kisses her. Later, when he and the Walshinghams attend a party, Kipps is mortified to find the front door opened by Ann. During the gathering, Ann overhears the news of his engagement to Helen and rushes away. Kipps finds her and tells her he loves her. They sneak away to get married.
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