Autumn Crocus

Fay Compton is a teacher in Manchester. She takes a European trip with her fellow teacher, Muriel Aked. When they stop at a small Tyrolean inn, she finds herself enchanted by the mountains and by the innkeeper, Ivor Novello.

It's Novello's last movie. He's mildly ridiculous, and knowingly so, with his accent and his open manner, and his tale of being a failure as a waiter in England. Yet he is openly so, and so honest in his thoughts and actions, that for a while, I thought he was simply a man who enjoyed taking care of his guests, and whose kindness and generosity of spirit Miss Compton has fallen in love with. Her performance is perfect as a woman who has never known anything but the deadly atmosphere of England factory, trying to teach children something: 35 (Miss Compton was 40 at the time), pretending to be 29, trying to do the right thing, she is a perfect embodiment of the well-written character confronted with beauty and happiness she has never before known.

With George Zucco, Jack Hawkins, and a 19-year-old Pamela Blake.

"Autumn Crocus" is a British film that at times seems to draw attention to the stereotype that Brits are horrid world travelers who expect every country to act just like the UK! It surprised me and the same sort of thing is shown in "Shirley Valentine" (1989). And, in fact, the two films are similar in several other ways.

Two spinster school teachers decide to step out of their comfort zone and go abroad for their vacations. One is the stereotypical 'ugly Brit', as Edith complains about nearly everything. On the other hand, her younger companion, Jenny, seems to enjoy her travels. The story mostly focuses on their experiences staying in a small Austrian village in the Tyrolian mountains...where Jenny eventually falls in love. Naturally, this love has a BIG problem.

I was very impressed by the Welsh actor, Ivor Novello, in the male lead. Despite not being the least bit Austrian, he sure did a great job with his accent. Plus, when he spoke some German, he sounded German...at least to me! His acting style was also likable...very carefree and natural.

Overall, this is a very well acted and enjoyable film. Additionally, the mountain scenery is lovely and evocative. Well worth seeing.

There is great irony that this film so glorifies the quaint and charming Tyrolians considering only five years later, the UK and Austria would be at war with each other. Sad...but ironic. And, considering this, I strongly doubt if the film was re-released during these war years!

This reminded me a little of "Mr. Chips" at the start as school-mistresses "Jenny" (Fay Compton) and "Miss Mayne" (Muriel Aked) set off on a trip to Venice via one night in the Austrian Tyrol. The latter woman is a bit finicky and after two or three hotels their bus driver all but abandons them at a guesthouse run by "Andreas" (Ivor Novello). His is a cheery establishment, largely devoid of insects, that suits both women. The scenery is beautiful, the company lively and the food good - and it's only for just one night. Pretty clearly, there is soon a chemistry between "Jenny" and her host, and the rest of the film uses the Alpine scenery and a few charming songs to depict a slowly developing love story. By way of distraction there are other guests - notably the rather Bohemian "Alaric" (Jack Hawkins) and "Audrey" (Diana Beaumont) who refuse to conform to marriage and so openly flit from each other's rooms much to the chagrin and amusement of the other guests. There is something of the whimsy to this - the setting, the songs, the gentle pace of it all, and as the story throws a few obstacles into their otherwise loving path, we see both with decisions to make. I always found Novello a very engaging actor to watch - even if his roles sometimes left substance to be desired - and here he delivers, as does Compton, effectively for a pleasing ninety minutes.

"Autumn Crocus" was the first play of UK writer Dodie Smith, using pseudonym A.L. Anthony. The West End hit starred Francis Lederer in the Novello role, with Martita Hunt and Fay Compton who repeated the school teacher role in the 1934 film. Intriguingly, this 1931 plot was borrowed (or inspired?)American playwright Arthur Laurents whose 1952 play, "Time of the Cuckoo" with Shirley Booth also had a spinster school teacher seeking romance on her first trip abroad, and finding it with a handsome local. (The UK teacher longs for the Alps, while the US teacher goes for Venice.) I utterly adore Ivor Novello, but sadly must report that, in the light of modern sensibilities, here he does NOT play a romantic or sympathetic figure. Rather, he is comes off as a smarmy serial seducer of fragile tourists. To avoid a spoiler, I won't add to my list of his casual cruelties. Technically a beautiful film and an exquisite performance by Fay Compton, but today's audiences would cheer and clap rather than grow misty eyed at the conclusion.

"Time of the Cuckoo" was then filmed as "Summertime" in 1955 with Katharine Hepburn as the teacher, the seducer (Rossano Brazzi)being somewhat less caddish, thus allowing more poignancy. Then Richard Rodgers, with Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, turned the plot into the less-than-successful musical. "Do I Hear a Waltz?" Since most older woman today are single by choice and have traveled extensively, we are unlikely to see any further reincarnations of this plot.

Shy school teacher on a holiday in the Tyrolian Alps is romanced by a married man with children, for whom a second relationship is of no consequence to his morals, but is impossible with her British upbringing

Fay Compton deserved an Oscar or Bafta nom for her incredibly sensitive performance. The latter didn't exist then and the former only honored USA films. She is superb. Novello is again charming as the boy-child persona of his talkie performances, full of life and love, regardless of society's judgments. This was to be his last film.

Of the six talkies he made, I have seen five. He was totally awful in THE PHANTOM FIEND, an inept remake of his silent success under Hitchcock's direction of THE LODGER, giving an over the top melodramatic performance that was execrable under any criteria. However, of the remaining talkies I have seen, he is brilliant, with superb dramatic and comedic timing. Seek out this, plus I LIVED WITH YOU (his best), and SLEEPING CAR.

There is a subtle lesbian attraction implied between the leading lady and her traveling companion, well done.

This DVD from a private collector timed out at 1:20, six minutes short of its official timing.

Note the similarity in plot of Arthur Laurents' play THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO, later the classic David Lean film, SUMMERTIME, and still later, the Rodgers-Sondheim musical play, DO I HEAR A WALTZ?