Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Director:

Claude Whatham

Writers:

Arthur Ransome (book)
David Wood (writer)

Release Date:

May 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Family

Plot:

On holiday with their mother in the Lake District in 1929 four children are allowed to sail over to...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Children | Boat | Summer Holiday | Kids And Family

Cast

Virginia McKenna	...	Mrs. Walker
Ronald Fraser	...	Uncle Jim
Simon West	...	John, Swallow
Suzanna Hamilton	...	Susan Walker, Swallow (as Zanna Hamilton)
Sophie Neville	...	Titty, Swallow
Stephen Grendon	...	Roger, Swallow
Kit Seymour	...	Nancy, Amazon
Lesley Bennett	...	Peggy, Amazon
Brenda Bruce	...	Mrs. Dixon
Mike Pratt	...	Mr. Dixon
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Young Billy
Jack Woolgar	...	Old Billy
David Blagden	...	Policeman

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Lake District, Cumbria, England, UK

Company:

Theatre Projects Film Productions Ltd.

A middling film of an alien world.

I certainly went into this wanting to like it; I am the kind who can be pray to the odd bout of nostalgia... For days I have seen and for those I have not. I may have seen this film as a child, but I have no strong recollection of it. It can certainly be said, however, that childhood memories are in some sense evoked by watching it, seeing as "Swallows and Amazons" deals with childhood; a decidedly different childhood, of course, but there is a link. I enjoyed mine, as the fine "fellows" here seem to; but it is an oddly regimented, conservative ideal that is espoused by the film, despite the tag of "adventure" and the promise of exploration.

I have not read any of the Ransome series of books based around these children's adventures, so I'm in no position to comment on them as fiction. I can certainly comment, though, on the merits of this film as entertainment. It is perhaps with a degree of sadness that I sense that it could not really appeal to much of today's child population. Times have obviously changed very much. But books like "Cider with Rosie" and "Carrie's War", less oppressively traditional perhaps, may still have a good chance.

The photography is unquestionably very alluring; capturing enough of the visual beauty of a golden English summer of times past. The more metaphorical sides of the "golden summer", or of childhood, are sadly never really delved into. I can see Ransome's work would perhaps read a lot better than this film plays, in this regard. The acting here, of the children, is okay for what it is. The youngest chap is the most amusing; a hapless old chap of a buffer... Roger. And I quote the "I can't see anything!" bit as prime evidence of his endearing, if not all that well played, haplessness. Titty is probably the most endearingly and memorably played, otherwise. The adults make little impression. Not enough of Ronald Fraser's "Captain Flint" figure perhaps... He does engage a bit when on screen. Interesting and perhaps amusing to see that "Zanna" Hamilton, is the same girl who went on to play Julia in "1984" as Suzannah Hamilton...

Anyway, I shouldn't be harsh on this film, but it really is flawed. It has its pleasures, and is inoffensively watchable, but one would have to be very indulgent to fully endorse it as a film. It doesn't have enough, frankly, of the wistful complexity that we all know childhood to be composed of. The past is indeed a foreign country, whereas here it is a rather enclosed, parochial and familiar one.

Rating:- ***/*****