The Young Visiters (2003)

Alfred Salteena is a slightly bumbling gentleman who meets a young lady on a train and invites her to his home in London. She comes to see society and meet young men and bothers him to go ... See full summary »

Director:

David Yates

Writers:

Daisy Ashford (story), Patrick Barlow (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Lyndsey Marshal

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Broadbent	...	Alfred Salteena
Hugh Laurie	...	Lord Bernard Clark
Lyndsey Marshal	...	Ethel Monticue
Bill Nighy	...	Earl of Clincham
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Minnit
Simon Russell Beale	...	Prince of Wales
Adam Godley	...	Procurio
Sophie Thompson	...	Bessie Topp
Sally Hawkins	...	Rosalind
Richenda Carey	...	Lady Gay Finchling
Anne Reid	...	Mrs. Monticue
Tom Burke	...	Horace
Richard Beale	...	Middle Aged Man
James Warrior	...	Station Master
Guy Henry	...	Mr. Domonic

Storyline

Alfred Salteena is a slightly bumbling gentleman who meets a young lady on a train and invites her to his home in London. She comes to see society and meet young men and bothers him to go out and meet important people. They travel to see Lord Bernard where Alfred realises that he is not "high society" enough to win the beautiful social climber Ethel. Bernard offers to send him to a training school to help gentlemen "improve themselves", while he "entertains" Ethel at his home.

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Plot Keywords:

intentionally misspelled title | 1910s

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Young Visiters or Mr. Salteena's Plan

Filming Locations:

Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Drama Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The source novel incorporated a lot of Ashford's mis-spellings, and the film does this also - in the title, and in some of the signs which can be seen in the palace scenes (e.g. 'Prince of Whales').

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Goofs

At the public function Ethel very much wants to go to meet Earls, Lords and Ladies, there is a woman who sings the Australian Kookaburra song. The song was written in 1932. This movie takes place in Victorian England.

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Quotes

Ethel Monticue: [in an OUTRAGEOUSLY low and throaty voice, after Bernard threatens suicide] Bernard, I implore you, don't!

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Connections

Remake of The Young Visiters (1984)

User Reviews

An absurd delight

I came to this sideways from the original novella, which was an absolute hoot. The film was a wonderful adaptation, pulling dialog directly from little Daisy's masterwork and adding to it in the same flavor. At once absurd and moving, it's the slightly wobbly story of an ordinary man who aspires to a higher station and the pretty girl desperate to hobnob among the nobility herself. They embark together, yet separately, and manage to achieve most of their ambitions, but not quite all they'd hoped. The characters are vivid and portrayed by top talent in Jim Broadbent, Lyndsey Marshal, Hugh Laurie, and Bill Nighy. They're all a bit dim-witted and bombastic, but you really feel for their ineptness. It's Broadbent's show—altho he has to fight off Nighy at times as the drunken, roguish earl. Simultaneously insightful (princes are ordinary people too) and oblivious (Ethel spends an awful lot of time alone with men she barely knows), The Young Visiters is both children's literature for adults and adult literature for children.