Wikipedia

Interlude (1968 film)

Interlude is a 1968 British drama film directed by Kevin Billington, and starring Oskar Werner, Barbara Ferris and Virginia Maskell.[2]

Interlude
Directed byKevin Billington
Screenplay byLee Langley
Hugh Leonard
Produced byDavid Deutsch
Jack Hanbury
StarringOskar Werner
Barbara Ferris
Virginia Maskell
CinematographyGerry Fisher
Edited byBert Bates
Music byGeorges Delerue
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Domino Films
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • May 1968 (1968-05) (UK)
  • 2 July 1968 (1968-07-02) (NYC)
  • 15 July 1968 (1968-07-15) (USA)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.6 million (US/Canada)[1]

The film is a loose remake of the 1957 American film Interlude directed by Douglas Sirk. It was Maskell's final film as she died in January 1968, five months before its release.

Plot

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A famous male conductor gives an interview to an attractive young female reporter. He speaks a bit too frankly and ends up being given an unwanted sabbatical from conducting. He begins an affair with the young reporter during his interlude, and the accumulation of differences in their ages and background begins to mount.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot at Shepperton Studios and on location around London at various places including the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, Fountain Court in Temple, Chelsea, and the Royal Festival Hall.[3] The Zelter family home was shot at Binfield Manor in Berkshire, and Bodiam Castle and The Mermaid Inn, Rye in East Sussex were used for filming.[3] The film's sets were designed by art director Tony Woollard.[4]

Singer Timi Yuro performed the title song "Interlude".[5] Another version by Yuro was released commercially. The song was covered in 1994 as duet by Morrissey and Siouxsie Sioux.

Reception

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Variety gave an enthusiastic review, writing "All the excitement and ecstacy [sic], as well as the bittersweet, foredoomed disenchantment of extra-marital romance are contained in the original screenplay. Strong writing, superior acting and firstrate direction make this a powerful, personal drama."[4]

Time Out said, "Billington mercifully avoids the excesses of 'Swinging London', and his observant delineation of the discrepancy between the characters' would-be sophistication and their actual stock responses is, on the whole, well supported by the performances."[6]

TV Guide said the film does not capture the level of films like Intermezzo and Brief Encounter, but praised the chemistry between Werner and Ferris.[7] Renata Adler of The New York Times criticized Interlude, saying its narrative could not support the film.[8] However, she added, "There are two remarkable supporting performances: one, by Donald Sutherland, as a lisping, bumbling, thoroughly decent family friend; the other by the late Virginia Maskell, as the beautiful, intelligent wife in pain."[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1968". Variety. 8 January 1969. p. 15. Please note that this is a rental figure accruing to distributors
  2. ^ Murphy 1992, p. 154.
  3. ^ a b "Interlude". www.reelstreets.com. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Interlude". Variety. 1 January 1968. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Timi Yuro – Interlude". Discogs. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Interlude". Time Out. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Interlude". TV Guide. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b Adler, Renata (3 July 1968). "Screen: 'Interlude,' the Story of Yet Another Affair:Oskar Werner Starred With Barbara Ferris New Movie Arrives at the Cinema I". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 July 2024.

Bibliography

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  • Murphy, Robert (1992). Sixties British Cinema. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0851703244.
  • Ryan, Tom (2019). The Films of Douglas Sirk: Exquisite Ironies and Magnificent Obsessions. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1496822376.
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