The Clouded Yellow
| The Clouded Yellow | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
| Produced by | Betty E. Box |
| Written by |
Eric Ambler Janet Green |
| Based on | story by Green |
| Starring |
Trevor Howard Jean Simmons Sonia Dresdel |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Edited by | Gordon Hales |
|
Production
company |
Carillon Films
|
| Distributed by |
Rank Film Distributors (UK) Columbia Pictures (USA) |
|
Release date
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Clouded Yellow is a 1950 British mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty E. Box for Carillon Films.
After leaving the British Secret Service, David Somers (Trevor Howard) finds work cataloging butterflies at the country house of Nicholas and Jess Fenton. (The "clouded yellow" of the title is a rare species of butterfly.) After the murder of a local gamekeeper, suspicion wrongly falls on their niece, Sophie Malraux (Jean Simmons).
Somers helps Sophie to escape arrest and they go on the run together, Somers using his secret-service skills and contacts to evade the police. After a cross-country chase they arrive at Liverpool with the intention of leaving the country by ship. The true identity of the murderer is revealed in a climax on a warehouse roof.
Ralph Thomas and Betty Box had both worked for Sydney Box, first collaborating when Thomas did the trailer for Miranda (1948). They found they had a rapport, so when Shepherd's Bush Studio shut down, and Thomas left Sydney Box to go under contract to the Rank Organisation, Betty Box came with him. Their first film together was The Clouded Yellow. It was made for Box's company, Carillon Films.
The Clouded Yellow was based on an original script by Janet Green. It was developed by Sydney Box but he had decided to take a year long absence and gave the project to Box and Thomas. Green was paid £1,000.
Betty Box managed to secure a distribution contract with Rank, which enabled her to borrow enough money to finance 70% of the budget. Box managed to raise the rest from Rank and the National Film Finance Corporation, each putting up fifty percent.
Jean Simmons, who had made So Long at the Fair with Box, agreed to play the lead. Trevor Howard was borrowed from Herbert Wilcox, who had him under contract, to play the male lead. Betty Box had signed all 48 of the contracts required by the bank when James Laurie of the NFFC decided he did not like the contract and withdrew his company's finance until that was done. Rank refused to provide Box with finance to tide her over, so the producer borrowed the money against her own home. "I obviously wasn't happy about the situation, particularly as it was through no fault of my own," Box later wrote.
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