Swallows and Amazons | |
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Directed by | Claude Whatham |
Produced by | Richard Pilbrow |
Starring |
Virginia McKenna Ronald Fraser |
Music by | Wilfred Josephs |
Distributed by | EMI Films |
Release date
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £250,000 |
Swallows and Amazons is a 1974 British film based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Ransome.
In the summer of 1973, Theatre Projects adapted the story of Swallows and Amazons in colour for the big screen and went up to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria to film it on the actual locations used by Arthur Ransome to create the fictional lake of the novel.
Released by EMI in 1974, directed by Claude Whatham and produced by Richard Pilbrow, the film starred Virginia McKenna (Mrs. Walker) and Ronald Fraser (Uncle Jim) in the main adult roles, and Sophie Neville (Titty), Zanna Hamilton (Susan), Simon West (John) & Stephen Grendon (Roger) as the Swallows.
Its budget was provided by Nat Cohen of EMI Films who was hoping to repeat the success of the film of The Railway Children.
This has been made available on video, both in VHS and DVD, in the UK, but is not readily available in the US and elsewhere. In April 2010, the boat used as Swallow in the film was bought by a group of enthusiasts and has been restored to sailing condition. It is intended to give people an opportunity to sail in a boat like the original Swallow.