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37 out of 40 people found the following review useful:
Finely Produced Film, 1 April 2000

Author: harry-76 from Cleveland, Ohio

Master storyteller W. Somerset Maugham introduces four of his own short stories in this beautifully presented film. Each story has its own intriguing charm, and the superior cast, headed by Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling and Cecil Parker, elevates these stories to a level of moving drama. All aspects of the production, with each segment handled by a different director, is outstanding. John Greenood's aristocratic score wraps up the film with its own unique style. A very fine English film with moving and memorable episodes.

13 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Who Says Cinema Can't Be Literate?, 30 May 2007

Author: theowinthrop from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Tonight, Turner Classic Movies was showing three films which in their way demonstrate how British films could be superior to their American counterparts. Anthology style movies were done in both countries, as in the American film TALES OF MANHATTAN a few years before the current film came out. But the script was based on nobody in particular as far as really popular writing was considered. The British films QUARTET, TRIO, and ENCORE, were based on short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, who was willing to do prologues and brief epilogues at the end of his films, somewhat discussing his technique as a writer. The selection were quite good, mingling comedy and pathos nicely in the tales themselves.

For example, THE ALIEN CORN is about a young, wealthy man (Dirk Bogard) who has the whole world ahead of him. He wants to be a concert pianist, and his dubious but loving parents let his practice and study. Finally they arrange to have a well known piano teacher and critic hear him. While listening as the young man plays his heart out, the critic notes the faces of his parents. As a result of this, we never know if her attitude and comment is a genuine one or made to help out the parents: she says his playing is good but is too undisciplined to ever be able to make in on the concert stage. Bogard hears this without a word. Subsequently he dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The foreman of the inquest jury (the always dependable James Hayter, here using his wonderful voice to express sorrow) says the jury finds it was accidental death, as the jurors can't imagine why Bogard would harm himself.

Irony pervades the Maugham literary world. The world's greatest painter (based on Paul Gaugin and Augustus Johns) is an absolutely selfish man who uses wife, family, friends, even enemies to get what he needs to paint in THE MOON AND SIXPENCE. Love is crazily blind as Philip Carey learns when he falls for a street drab who drains him emotionally and financially in OF HUMAN BONDAGE. The grand old man of English letter being enshrined by a mediocre writer of ambition and the second, opportunistic wife of the deceased genius, was actually a beer swilling flop whose first (and better wife) left him just as his books began to catch on in CAKES AND ALE. And ASHENDEN (the source of Hitchcock's THE SECRET AGENT) tells of Maugham's wartime activities in Switzerland, pursuing an enemy agent, and helping to arrange the murder of a nice, totally innocent bystander instead!.

So it pervades his short stories, and somewhat better effect as he can concentrate his writing on the stories. Like Joseph Conrad, who spoke Polish and French before English, Maugham could think like a French writer. So his model was frequently Guy De Maupesant. Many of his short stories end up having surprise endings, though nothing like his American opposite number William Sydney Porter (O'Henry) or like De Maupesant.

The stories are good at picking up portions of British life that we frequently overlook. THE KITE, for example, shows how the British like hobbies, and seem to find a release in them that is not always shared. The picture of lower middle class life is interesting in it's minutiae, such as how the wife of the hero wants to see a film, and suggests one with John Mills at the Majestic.

THE COLONEL'S LADY is a spoof on the "Col. Blimp" type that appeared in David Low's cartoons and the movie of 1943. Cecil Parker, who could never be outdone for being "blimpish" even when sympathetic, is an Army Colonel and wealthy landowner, who is on many committees and in many clubs. He reads the Times religiously, but little else. His wife, Mona Washburne, has just written a book - an 80 page book of poems that becomes a runaway best seller. Parker hears his friends, his fellow club members, even his mistress sing praises for the poetry. He even has to sit next to a prominent critic (Ernst Theisinger, of course) comparing the lyrics to those of Walter Savage Landor!

Parker can't believe it, but when he overhears that the book's poems are telling a story, and a sexy one, he can't stand it. He reads the poems, and asks a lawyer friend should he confront his wife, or should he try to use detectives to trace the lover she writes of. He's told to do nothing. He decides to do exactly that. But he admits one mystery to the lawyer-friend: He can't understand what the man saw in his wife!

That, by the way was the way the short story originally ended. Instead, Maugham tacked on a new conclusion - which I will leave with the reader to discover. It is touching in some ways.

QUARTET was the first of three wonderful films, before Maugham got tired of the process of anthologizing his short stories on film. Pity, for he could had continued for six or seven years, and still not exhaust his best work. Still, we should be grateful that in three films, ten of the stories did get made and very nicely.

7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
QUARTET (Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree and Ken Annakin, 1948) ***1/2, 18 July 2008

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

A number of portmanteau films had been made before this celebrated and influential British example – the most notable to emanate from the country prior to it being the superb horror-oriented DEAD OF NIGHT (1945). QUARTET, however, took a novel concept by bringing together a handful of tales by the same (famous) author, specifically W. Somerset Maugham; the formula was subsequently even imitated in Hollywood with O. HENRY’S FULL HOUSE (1952). The renowned R2 DVD company, Network, released the film as a 3-Disc Set along with its two follow-ups – TRIO (1950) and ENCORE (1951), comprising six more short stories by Maugham; thankfully, I was able to acquire the collection recently through Network themselves during an online sale (and those films will be following in short order).

I think it’s important to note at the outset the fact that most of the so-called ‘classic’ British cinema was marked by a rather genteel quality (evident not just in the behavior of characters on-screen but also the unfussy technique adopted in their making) in comparison to, say, equivalent American product from the same era. Therefore, at a cursory viewing of the film, one might feel Leonard Maltin’s **** rating a mite excessive since there’s nothing particularly outstanding about it; what we get here, quite simply, is a display of sheer professionalism to abet Maugham’s own keen writing skills.

Anyway, the first story involves a young man’s indoctrination into “The Facts Of Life” – a promising talent at tennis, he’s sent to Monte Carlo to take part in a tournament; his conservative father (Basil Radford) advises him to use his money wisely and keep away from both gambling and women. However, once there, he does his own thing and, through a series of lucky strokes, is able to contradict his old man: not only does he win a large sum of money at the casino, but he lends some to a beautiful young woman (Mai Zetterling); she then takes the boy home with her, fully intending to rob him of his gains, but it’s he who outwits her and returns to England triumphant. The episode is also notable for being yet another teaming of that amiable odd couple comprising Radford and Naunton Wayne (first brought together in Alfred Hitchcock’s THE LADY VANISHES [1938]).

The second tale, called “The Alien Corn”, stars Dirk Bogarde as the heir to an English estate; however, his passion is piano-playing – which greatly displeases the rest of the family. His cousin (lovely young Honor Blackman) who’s besotted with him comes up with a compromise – Bogarde can study for two years in Paris, after which time he’s to be examined by a professional to determine whether he shows real promise in the field or is merely an amateur. When the time for the assessment comes, he’s pretty confident in his skills – but the judgment of the expert (Francoise Rosay) is brutally frank. The family is relieved: as for Bogarde, while he seems to acquiesce to their decision and give up the piano (even admitting to Blackman to be resigned to his fate), he commits suicide the minute he’s left to his own devices!

“The Kite” is the least of the segments, but also the oddest: George Cole and his family (Mervyn Johns and Hermione Baddeley) are kite enthusiasts, which doesn’t sit well with his fiancée Susan Shaw – who believes it to be trivial kids’ stuff. Torn between his love of the girl and his passion for the hobby (he even designs experimental models himself), he’s forced to choose – and, of course, he opts for the latter while still paying alimony to Shaw (having, by now, become his wife). The situation, however, comes to a head when he finds his ‘masterpiece’ all broken up and, naturally blaming his wife, he refuses to give Shaw her dues – which lands him in jail! The tale ends with prison visitor Bernard Lee mediating between the couple…by persuading the girl to humor her hubby and develop a fondness for kite-flying herself!

The fourth and last episode, “The Colonel’s Lady”, is the longest – and best – of the quartet: no-nonsense military officer Cecil Parker is married to dowdy Nora Swinburne; one day, he discovers that she’s been writing poetry and has managed to publish a collection. He initially scoffs at the idea but, when the book becomes a resounding success (apparently for its “earthy” depiction of a love affair), he can no longer ignore it…especially since all his colleagues (including eminent critic Ernest Thesiger) start congratulating Parker and even refer to him as the husband of a celebrity! Finally obliged to read the book for himself, which is written in the first person, he becomes jealous of Swinburne’s mysterious conquest – which is ironic (to say nothing of hypocritical on his part) since Parker himself carries on a clandestine romance with attractive society woman Linden Travers who, of course, loves Swinburne’s book (incidentally, like the afore-mentioned Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, Parker and Travers had appeared before as a couple in THE LADY VANISHES). Determined to get his wife to confess the name of the party involved in her past misdemeanor, he’s then astounded to learn that the man she was describing had been his former, younger and more caring self (at which he breaks down)!

By the way, the film is book-ended by appearances from Maugham himself – though, apparently, the epilogue was dropped in either re-issue or foreign versions (the ‘alternate ending’ included as a supplement on the DVD, then, simply reprises the concluding moments from “The Colonel’s Lady”!). For the record, I have several unwatched compendiums (mostly Italian films but also Julien Duvivier’s American-made TALES OF MANHATTAN [1942]) on various formats – and this has certainly made me game to check some of them out…

10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Don't mention the Jews!, 18 December 2007
Author: rhoda-1

If you wonder why the story "The Alien Corn" has that title, the answer tells you what has been left out, and why it is therefore so bland and restrained as to be superficial and uninteresting. Maugham gave it that title because it was about Jews. The boy's father is not some terribly, terribly dash-it-all, upper-upper English aristocrat. He is a self-made man who has devoted his life to fitting into English society. But, Maugham says, in a line no one who has read this story will ever forget, he betrayed himself with one characteristic which marked him out as entirely un-English: "He loved his son." It is this tension between the man's deep, sensual love of his son and the man's desire to fit in with the English upper class, who do not become artists, or didn't then (sort of thing foreigners and nancy boys do), that gives the story its power and pain, not simply the young man's desire to be an artist conflicting with his lack of talent. And it is a disgrace that, even after World War II, the filmmakers clearly thought that the problem of Jewish assimilation could not be part of a "civilised," classy, English entertainment.

7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Nice blend of stories by Maugham, each with a different mood..., 30 May 2007

Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

QUARTET is a subtle, understated anthology of stories by Somerset Maugham--entertaining but decidedly uneven in presentation. Nevertheless, as a study of various British personalities among the upper classes it does manage to evoke interest without furnishing any big surprises--which is what one usually expects from short stories.

What it does do, brilliantly, is show us Maugham's keen observations on human nature. MAI ZETTERLING and IAN FLEMING star in a story about a young man who fails to follow his father's advice and almost suffers the consequences; DIRK BOGARDE and HONOR BLACKMAN are the leads in a story about a man whose sole passion in life is to become a professional top-flight pianist but is told by FRANCOISE ROSAY that he has no such chance; the third story is a rather dated and foolish morality tale about a kite that just didn't make much sense to me; and the final story--probably the best--is about a man whose wife secretly writes a novel about her great love (a la "Lady Chatterly's Lover") and is confronted by her husband who demands to know who "the man" in the story really is. CECIL PARKER and NORA SWINBURNE play the couple and they're wonderful.

Nicely performed, well scripted and directed, QUARTET has an introduction by Maugham himself which manages to be self-effacing and informative.

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Four shorties introduced by S Maugham himself, 13 November 2008

Author: ksf-2 from southwest US

Somerset Maugham, who wrote tons of plays and stories, introduces his set of four shorts, while telling us a little bit about himself. In Facts of Life, Nicky (Jack Watling) learns a lesson, although we're not sure just what lesson he has learned. In Alien Corn, a young Dirk Bogarde is George Bland, a pianist who is determined to know how good he is, so he brings in an expert to evaluate. (LOVE her HAT!) In The Kite, Herbert Sunbury (George Cole) is in jail for abandoning his wife. We flash back to see what led up to it; his wife Betty (played by Susan Shaw, who was really born Patsy Sloots!) hadn't been very nice to him... In Colonel's Lady, the Colonel's wife has written a book, and EVERYONE is talking about it, much to his dismay.

Note that Hermione Baddeley (plays Beatrice Sunbury) will go on to be Mrs. Naugatuck on TV show Maude, while her sister Angela Baddeley will do mostly British TV series, most notably Upstairs, Downstairs. Probably the biggest star in this group was Dirk Bogarde, who had mixed success in both the British and Hollywood film industry. Playing his part in "Victim" may have altered his later career success. Quite an interesting bio on IMDb, worth the read. Viewers will also recognize Cecil Parker (plays Colonel Peregrine, in Colonel's Lady) from Indiscreet, with Cary Grant. Quartet is an entertaining set of Maugham stories, some have happy endings, some do not.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Bite-Sized Drama, 30 December 2011

Author: kenjha

The four episodes based on Maugham short stories are increasingly substantial, although the overall experience is somewhat unsatisfying. The first, "The Facts of Life," stars Zetterling and "The Lady Vanishes" duo of Radford and Wayne, but it doesn't make much of an impression. The second, "The Alien Corn," stars Bogarde and Blackman as cousins in love and has a surprising ending. "The Kite" is an amusing story about a family's love for kites. The last, "The Colonel's Lady," is about the scandalous publication of erotic poems by a woman of upper society; it is the longest and most developed of the quartet. Maugham himself introduces the stories and comes across as rather pompous.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Subtle and insightful--and delightful, 31 August 2011
Author: secondtake from United States

Quartet (1948)

A set of four half-hour movies built on stories by Somerset Maugham, who also introduces the movie. They all have a witty naturalism that's totally likable, and the slice of life insights are sometimes even moving. You can only get so far into complexity in a short time, but these do well at packing their narrative efficiently. Really enjoyable. And, especially for those of us who aren't British, they are a total insight into British life (mostly upper class British life, for sure, and mostly post-war era).

It's hard to go into them all in detail but I'll point out the key thing to each that makes them watchable. I'm not talking plot, but some other quality. As follows.

The Facts of Life: The most fun might be the first, logically placed. A man is given advice by his father before going to Monte Carlo (that rich person's den of temptation). And things go exactly backwards, without the son really having a thing to do with it. You mostly smile and enjoy the ride.

The Alien Corn: More straightforward (except the title), and reveals a common Maugham theme of getting the practical British old folks to appreciate an artist's sensibility. In this case it's music. And it runs into a shocking final chord. Idealism up against the wall.

The Kite: Really a tale of a marriage that comes unhinged on one basic misunderstanding. Both main characters (man and wife) are stubborn about certain principles, and it comes to a rather simple kind of violence between them. And a resolution. Touching.

The Colonel's Lady: Certainly more touching, a funny and brilliant and sad bit of writing and stunning acting. This is probably the most involved of the group, and it's just tightly made, a short story in feel, and yet with enough layers to make it really lasting.

All of these are about real life and real people, and small things that end up mattering quite a lot. It's a different experience than a single feature movie, yes, but a refreshing one, with built in refreshment breaks. If you like this approach (sort movies in group), check out the Maugham inspired sequel of sorts called "Encore."

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Multi-layered gentle irony.Moving and quietly amusing.Superb., 7 April 2009

Author: ianlouisiana from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Quite outstanding and very British in concept and execution,"Quartet" consists of four short stories by William Somerset Maugham,the poet of the English Middle classes.He peers deeply into the lace curtain stratum of our society with its triumphs and tragedies,small and large, and deals sympathetically with its denizens,a writer with a compassion for human weakness and vanity. Because,above all else,his characters are recognisably human.They may be petit-bourgois like Mr George Cole or somewhat higher up the social scale like Mr Cecil Parker or highly sensitive like Mr Dirk Bogarde,but they live their lives - as we all do - in a strange melange of thwarted ambition and satisfaction in small things... Some are reluctant to assume the role society has apparently marked out for them,tilting at the windmills of fate,determined to meet the world on their terms.Sometimes with unforeseen results. My personal favourite is the sublime "The kite" with Mr Cole as the innocent hobbyist,but all the episodes are gently ironic in the fine English way,subtle and quiet,before Monty Python's stormtroopers' jackbooted irony with the subtlety of several Panzer divisions became the fashion. The fashion for compendium pictures passed away a long time ago,sadly, but if you are looking to acquaint yourself with the genre,there is no better exemplar than "Quartet".It will engage your attention and stay in your memory;what more recommendation can you want?

Four Score, 30 May 2012

Author: writers_reign from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

There's a Term Paper waiting to be written on the 'portmanteau' film and its first task will be an attempt to clarify just what it is. The purist would probably argue that it is a film of clearly defined segments - three, four, five or even more - each boasting a different director and possibly a different writer(s); each segment reaching a definite conclusion and then fading to Black to be succeeded by the Title Card for the next segment. At the opposite end of the spectrum we find a masterpiece like Un Carnet de bal, the work of one director, Julien Duvivier and one principal writer, Henri Jeanson, in which a newly widowed Marie Bell decides on a whim to trace the men who shared the floor with her at the very first Ball she attended as a young girl and whose names, of course, are all on the Dance Card she has kept all these years. In effect there are seven segments within the film and one character (Christine) common to all. In between these extremes we find permutations of both, in some cases separate stories with a common link (Souvenirs Perdus - stories behind four pieces of lost property - Train Of Events, the lives of several people involved in a train crash, etc. Quartet is one of several films that dramatise short stories by one author (others are Le Plaisir, Guy de Maupassant and Full House, O'Henry) in this case William Somerset Maugham and it falls firmly into the purist camp having four directors and four title cards. It also features an on screen introduction by the author himself (something not possible, of course, in the case of O'Henry and Maupassant)which adds little either way. The Facts Of Life kicks things off with a jaunty, sprightly tale of a naive, unworldly youth, who, in all innocence, avoids being fleeced by a sophisticated older woman and actually reverses the situation. Next up are two rather more intense stories the first involving a young man set on an artistic career, the second a boy who resists growing up. The final story, The Colonel's Lady, has arguably the most substance and is ultimately moving. A reasonable percentage of working English actors of the day, both established and emerging, are wheeled out presumably on the scatter-gun theory that at least some of them will appeal to a cross section of film goers. Over all it stands up fairly well as it approaches its sixty-fifth birthday.

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