Cold Comfort Farm (1995)

In England in the early 1930s, twenty-year-old Flora Poste, recently orphaned, and left with only one hundred pounds a year, goes to stay with distant relatives on Cold Comfort Farm. ... See full summary »

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Malcolm Bradbury (screenplay), Stella Gibbons (novel)

Stars:

Eileen Atkins, Kate Beckinsale, Sheila Burrell

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eileen Atkins	...	Judith Starkadder
Kate Beckinsale	...	Flora Poste
Sheila Burrell	...	Ada Doom
Stephen Fry	...	Mybug
Freddie Jones	...	Adam Lambsbreath
Joanna Lumley	...	Mrs. Mary Smiling
Ian McKellen	...	Amos Starkadder
Miriam Margolyes	...	Mrs. Beetle
Rufus Sewell	...	Seth Starkadder
Ivan Kaye	...	Reuben Starkadder
Jeremy Peters	...	Urk
Maria Miles	...	Elfine Starkadder
Christopher Bowen	...	Charles Fairford
Louise Rea	...	Meriam Beetle
Sophie Revell	...	Rennet

Storyline

In England in the early 1930s, twenty-year-old Flora Poste, recently orphaned, and left with only one hundred pounds a year, goes to stay with distant relatives on Cold Comfort Farm. Everyone on the gloomy farm is completely around the twist, but Flora tries to sort everything out.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | 1930s | secret | strong female lead | strong female character | 

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Taglines:

She discovered a new branch of her family tree... the one with all the nuts.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief sensuality and language

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Em Busca da Felicidade

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,139,000, 19 July 1996

Gross USA:

$5,596,906, 4 October 1996

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films,British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),Thames International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Also featured Gareth Taplin, an accomplished British Dance Champion, who has appeared in many British films and mini series

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Goofs

Flora and Amos walk out of the farmstead to go to church. There are buildings and trees all around. Their conversation is continuous, but the next scene shows them walking straight up through a wide open field of grass with grain fields in the background. There's not a building in sight, and the only trees are in the far distance.

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Quotes

Judith Starkadder: Get back to the vicarage, Violet.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Twister/Captives/Boys/Dead Man/Cold Comfort Farm (1996)

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Soundtracks

Then I'll Be Tired of You
Composed by E.Y. Harburg (as Harburg) / Arthur Schwartz (as Schwartz)
Published by Warner Chappell Music Ltd
Arrangement by Robert Lockhart

User Reviews

Read the book

Most movie versions of books are disappointing because a good book is always a far richer experience, but this one doesn't shame its source. In fact it's an amusing romp, largely because all the actors are letter perfect -- not easy with a broadly satiric story like this one. Flora Poste's romantic notions actually produce positive results with the loutish Starkadders, such as matching the etiolated Elfine with her true love and sending the smoldering Seth off to become an American film star, while Flora herself ends the movie linked to her own very suitable suitor. Dialogue and motion picture scenery cannot reproduce the exquisitely sly writing of Stella Gibbons, however, so if you liked this movie, by all means read the 1932 book. It's a classic parody of rustic melodrama.